SPEAKER:
Per Faxneld (Assoc. Professor, Södertörn University, Sweden/ Visiting Assoc. Professor, Tohoku University, Japan)
DATE:
November 17, 2023 (Fri.)
16:30-18:00
VENUE:
Tohoku University Kawauchi Campus (Sendai, Japan)
Graduate School of Intl. Cultural Studies, r. 101
(For access information, please click here)
ABSTRACT:
While never numerically significant, Satanism is intricately intertwined with broader issues central to the study of religion and culture. The idea of dangerous devil-worshipping cults has remained a stable element of conspiracy theories throughout history, as well as in the present. Accusations of involvement with demonic forces are recurring motifs in religious polemics and othering. This talk focuses on modern self-designated Satanism. The history of modern Satanism can be traced back to late eighteenth-century literary-political reinterpretations of Satan by Romantic authors such as Blake and Shelley. It then extends to Satanism in esoteric and anti-clerical contexts in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, before reaching the counterculture of the 1960s and contemporary political Satanist activism. Satanism as an openly declared identity became possible when Christianity’s influence on legal systems and social norms waned, making it a direct product of secularization. As a religious practice or coherent system of thought, modern Satanism didn’t emerge before approximately 1900, with pioneers like Stanislaw Przybyszewski and Ben Kadosh. However, Satanic thought can be traced in earlier instances, some of which continue to influence contemporary groups. This talk explores modern-day Satanist groups, including the Church of Satan (founded in 1966), the Temple of Set (founded in 1975), the Order of the Nine Angles (likely established in the 1970s), and The Satanic Temple (founded in 2012). Faxneld will demonstrate how these groups draw from a long tradition of Satanism as a form of cultural protest while adapting to evolving social conditions.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Per Faxneld is associate professor in Study of Religions at Södertörn University, Sweden, and Visiting Associate Professor at the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University.
This event will be in English, and in person only (no registration required).
The event is organized by the Tohoku University Japanese Studies International Research Cluster, the International Graduate Program in Japanese Studies, and co-hosted by the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies.
