The Bizarre History of Satanism

This month I received...

In pop culture, there are near-unanimous ideas of devil-worship and what exactly 'Satanism' is. Because of this, I wanted to explore where these concepts originated from and the psychology of why people gravitate to the concept.

Further reading:
- Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s
- Children of Lucifer: The Origins of Modern Religious Satanism
- The Invention of Satanism

00:00 Introduction
01:14 SPONSOR
02:37 An Adversary
05:13 The Witches
11:54 An Anti-Hero
14:41 Occultism
19:43 LaVeyan Satanism
22:27 The Satanic Bible
26:45 End of an Era
30:24 The Satanic Panic
34:04 Michelle Remembers
37:06 The McMartin Trial
41:51 Youth Crime
46:32 Conclusion

Additional readings by @afrontporch, Rusty Cage & Wendigoon
Additional consultation from @CoolDudeTM, @Slayerrunes & Poe

Tracklist:

[Bryan-gyzu]

After watching Wendigoon's video I more so agree that Milton did not write Lucifer to be an "anti-hero", simply more complex than previously imagined. Yes, he's depicted as a revolutionary but it's maintained that it's all not for the betterment of his fellow fallen angels but out of his own pride.

[EHiggins]

I grew up during the Satanic Panic. My folks didn't go to church so I didn't know what to believe then. My friends and I played DnD and we had Temple of Apshi for the C64. I got it from Toys 'R' Us. The "Panic" went after DnD hard back then trying to make it responsible for causing kids to worship Satan, learn "real magic", become witches, you name it. One of my friends got scared and quit playing them so we played different games. I looked through as many DnD books as I could to see where I could actually do something in the real world. Like if it was hidden or something crazy. Just game instructions. So we played a Star Trek game instead. The funny thing is Star Trek refers to religion as a myth in The Wrath of Khan which came out in 1982. So it's okay to be blasphemous if it seems "sciencey" or whatever. They were crazy times, but the music was fire, and also Satanic lol

[NeepNeepPohn]

I love that the Church of Satan is basically just a Reddit convention lmao

[Blu-Meanie]

The church of Satan and the temple of Satan are in a constant fight about which one is the more watered down version of Satanism

[DanielleAlek]

That "recovered memories" shit is strong. It creates extremely difficult scenarios. At what point do you make the distinction between an actual repressed memory and something that was artificially planted? That shit's destroyed more families than satanism ever will.
My mom is a prime example, she thinks of herself as a mental health guru and was trying to get over her childhood trauma when she found out about recovered memories. She and her """therapist""" (e.i "random person she found on the internet") managed to "uncover" memories that steadily grew more outlandish and impossible until she started claiming things about us that were physically impossible (e.i people being in two places on the same day, my father having supernatural abilities, things happening in times and places that didn't line up, ect.)
Because she thought she was a "mental health guru", whenever someone didn't agree with her, she'd diagnose them with a mental disorder and then use that diagnosis as an excuse to belittle them, gaslight them, and try to manipulate them and everyone around them. She told everyone I had BPD, my sister had DID, my brother had autism (which she treated as a very bad thing), my dad had bipolar disorder, ect. She'd try to "recover" the memories that gave people these imaginary disorders. One common one was that she'd try to convince the kids that they were molested by my father, which backfired on her when she called the police to start an investigation on him and the investigation found out that she was the one abusing them, not my father. She ended up losing full custody.
We had to make the decision to cut her out of our lives entirely when it became clear that she was a danger to the physical and mental wellbeing of the children, and no matter how innocuous an interaction with her seemed to be (even if it was just passing her in the store), she'd find a way to use any contact with any family to hurt the kids, even stalking them at school and one time attacking a bus. Of course, she'd give you long-winded explanations about how all this is made up and I'm the crazy one, and if she does admit something happened, she'll give well-rehearsed defenses of all her actions that she practices with her """therapist""".
Long story short, instead of using self-help books and weirdos on the internet, get actual, real therapy from someone who isn't gonna try hypnosis to recover your repressed traumatic memories. She'd still be a violent sociopath if it wasn't for that shit, but maybe if a real therapist actually tried to help her, she wouldn't be as dangerous to be around today as she is.

[JayLatne]

the satanic panic seems to have a lot in similar with the red panic around the same time, cold war histeria and such. I'm a huge fan of the vid and you did an amazing job

[cadoized]

7:08 "The most powerful get their magic from unbaptized babies"
that makes The VVitch's attention to detail so much more impressive, since they state in the film that the baby kidnapped and killed was unbaptized

[SSDD]

As a Christian, I love this video. There have been a lot of people who will use religion for self gain and generally awful things, and these are just a few. This taught me a history lesson about something that I had no idea was so interesting and complex. You really deserve a bigger audience and I wouldn’t be surprised if you it 200k by December!

[mathieuleader]

I like how in the adult animated sitcom Venture Bros. the Guild of Calamitious Intent's lawyer Monstroso is a parody of Anton LeVey

[goglyeye]

As someone with repressed memories that I later found out without the aid of any therapist through flashbacks; I was quite anxious to watch this video, as while this is absolutely as per usual incredibly well researched. I had a counterculture 'hippie' mother who used the 'repressed memory trauma implantment' + 'satanic panic' as an excuse to constantly deny memories i had of her own abuse (and the documented abuse of myself by several Pentecostal school members) to say that any memories I had reencountered about her or my schools abuse was fake, and was due to me inheriting worries from my schools satanic panic issues. (My mother was a counter culture hippie who did not believe in any strain of conventional religion, and was diametrically apposed to Christianity specifically, making her spending thousands on placing me in a Pentecostal private school particularly odd.) I never have spoken about my memories, flashbacks, or PTSD with any therapist, I was required to go to therapy due to the event that happened at my school, but even then I was completely guarded on it. My mother then used this to claim that any abuse I had went through was implanted by a therapist, and i was not to believe it. Including my documented, criminally charged child abuse at the private school i went to. My mother herself having a collection of dead animal parts (rat fetus, dead mice in our fridge despite no animals that need that, animals shed clean the skull of after their death from neglect.) and it feels like even with my current therapist, if i tell anyone exactly what happened it will be excused as implanted memories. something thats deeply hurtful. The abuse these women suffered from their therapist is dreadful. but the dreadful actions of these therapists have, and will, continue to make believing your own trauma memories difficult.

[BuenButter]

"do what thou wilt" is something I'm going to remember as "people can sometimes miss what the words mean for a mile"

[fantage]

"an example of how guilt manifested to those truly afraid of the devil, there was a fear of carelessly enaging in witchcraft which manifested through intrusive thoughts" oof that hit too close to home

[altohippiegabber]

"It's pronounced Crowley, like holy. not like foully" - Robert Anton Wilson

[Gamemaster]

People say that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was making people believe he didn't exist.

I'd say his greatest trick was convincing the world he ever had any power or existed at all. In that sense, Mankind is the devil and we become each other's satan, our adversary.

[DamienZshadow]

The preschool Scandal is especially unbelievable because these are grown adults listening to the most wild and outlandish stories a child could come up with. As someone who works with children, they will come up with the craziest story the fact that anyone entertain the idea that any of those were possible, is just leaving me flabbergasted. Has no one played Mad Libs with a 5-year-old before? It can go bonkers.

[Darthshadow]

As a Theistic Satanist, this was a well-made video. Missing a few things, but this really is quite the rabbit hole too descend into with so many years of history dating back to the ancient times, so it's understandable. As someone who has studied and practiced Satanism, Demonology, Occultism, Occult Philosophy, etc I can say that a lot of what people think of Satanism being today (even by self-proclaimed Satanists) is what is perpetuated by Hollywood which in turn is loosely based on Religious history and the rumors and ignorance of Christians who fabricate things, which irks me, like the whole "draw a pentagram too summon a demon", "sell your soul", "blood sacrifice", etc, etc. This is essentially all incorrect which would make for a long and interesting topic in of itself.

Satanism or at least my sect in the 'Theistic' branch views Satanism as a form of self-betterment, as well as self-indulgence in the appropriate amount, too not become self-destructive, and most of all....too be independent, compared to Christianity and most other religions that teach dependency. I've rambled on too much already, but it's a topic that I'm passionate about and I'll leave my favorite quote that I share with everyone curious of my faith and views, something that encapsulates it perfectly.

“If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all, to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human ears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of civilization.”

― Robert Ingersoll

[faerieprincess]

Amazing that you could write and produce this whole video without knowing how “heresy” is pronounced.

[chainsawcharlie]

The funny thing about Anton lavey's daughter, is that she renounced Satanism and became a priestess of the Temple of Set. I think she's a buddhist, right now.

[taylormanfred]

As an ex-Satanist who grew up in Victoria, I went to the church that was the supposed site of the Michelle rembers rituals . I used Satan to escape bullying, it worked to some extent but also caused some problems! Looking back now I must say I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time!
That was an awesome comprehensive video! I’m a new subscriber who can’t wait to see more! Thanks 🙏

[DeathShamen]

I feel like you would enjoy researching the MLO/totbl and the liber falxifer, sitra achra, liber azarate, and the neo gnostic satanisim belief set. I would greatly enjoy a deep dive into the more spiritual and personal type of Satanic belief.