Hello everyone, I am Dr Angela Puca and welcome to my Symposium. I’m a PhD and a University Lecturer and this is your online resource for the academic study of Magick, Esotericism, Paganism, Shamanism, Satanism and all things occult. I’m now at the University College, Cork for the Conference of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism which we normally abbreviate as ESSWE Conference, that’s how we say it among us academics. I am going to deliver a paper on the Devil and re-interpretations of the Devil and its relation with pop culture. I filmed the video so that you can see it and tell me what you think about it.

So now I will leave you to it and please, as always, consider supporting my work with a one-off PayPal donation, by joining Memberships or my Inner Symposium on Patreon, that is if you want me to keep this project going and the Academic Fun going. I really appreciate any kind of help if you have the means at all, and otherwise liking, commenting, subscribing and sharing the videos with your friends is also a great way to help my project and allow me to keep doing this academic content on all things esoteric.

Now I’m gonna leave you to my paper and I hope you enjoy it and I hope I wasn’t too bad at delivering it, we will see. Future Angela will tell us. This is past Angela, prior to the paper, by the way, so I’m still nervous as you can tell.

Hello everybody. I’m Dr Angela Puca and today I will be talking about the Devil, the impact of pop culture in reshaping the archetypal adversary for contemporary magic Practitioners. So first of all I want to set the tone for the paper with a couple of quotes.

“Awake, Arise or be Forever Fallen.” from paradise lost by John Milton and “Wisest and fairest from the Angel’s sprung, God whom fate betrayed and left unsung.”

I thought that these two quotations kind of set the tone for what we’re talking about, which is not as much as a hero or what became to be seen as a hero but more like a heroic figure with some heroic tones.

First of all, let’s talk about terminology and I want to thank, I want to give thanks to Per Faxneld because we went to Dublin together, we had very long conversations – he’s kind of the expert on Satanism and also esoteric Satanism. We had a lot of conversations, so I just want to acknowledge his help in getting a better understanding of the matter.

So here in this paper, I will be using the Devil synonymously for Satan and Lucifer. And also I’m not going to touch on theological themes in Christianity but more in depictions in pop culture and how that influenced esoteric Satanism and contemporary magick Practitioners. Also the rationale, of course, for collating these figures is that in popular culture and literature these figures are used as synonymous, whereas I am, at the same time, aware that contemporary Practitioners now have established a distinction between Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil. More specifically Lucifer, or instance, in Luciferian Witchcraft, it is seen as quite different from the Devil and from Satan. So I acknowledge the difference but it’s not what I’m talking about because I’m talking about the figure of the Devil and which includes Satan and Lucifer and this happens to be the case that these are collated when it comes to pop culture and also in the scholarship, in the academic scholarship that I work with.

So first let’s talk about the romanticising of Satan. So Satan became romanticised as a figure as Van Luijk, if I’m pronouncing it right, explains in “Children of Lucifer.” There have been two cultural changes that posted a reshaped idea of Satan or indeed the Devil during the Romanticism and that happened after the Enlightenment with some also key changes that occurred in the Enlightenment, more specifically the secularisation. And during Romanticism, the process of secularisation that occurred during the Enlightenment allowed for people to not see the Devil or Satan as evil, in and of itself. So the ontological weight of this figure was lessened and that allowed for, that left enough space for people not to feel as fearful about this figure because if you have that a specific figure is associated with evil incarnate and you have a process of synchronisation that allows you not to see that as the actual evil incarnate but more as a symbol of evil, that allows you to challenge that kind of symbolism because it doesn’t feel as threatening any longer. And also during the Romanticism, you have the famous political revolutions and so the combination of the process of secularisation that allowed for the Devil to not feel as real and as scary, along with the revolutions and the association of the Devil with, you know, this person that has the arch… well he moves from being the arch-enemy of God to the person that was heroic enough to rebel against the most powerful creature on the earth. And that sort of mirrors what happened with revolutions because a monarch could have been seen as a sort of God and the people rebelling against the monarch could feel a sympathy for the Devil, in that sense, because they would be rebelling against the main power, the dominant power.

Now from the 19th century onwards. So we have this shift during the Romanticism and thanks to the process of secularisation during the Enlightenment, from the 19th century onwards the romanticised Satan has been linked to a few different traits. So sex and sexual liberation, which comes from the idea, from the concept of Satan being a fallen angel which, you know, you have the base of that in Genesis 6 and then it is expanded more in First Enoch.

Science and reason, science and reason also become associated with the figure of Satan and Lucifer as the bringer of light and because it is associated with, you know, the rebellion not only against monarchy, in the political sense, but also the rebellion against the hegemonic Christianity and also individual freedom and agency. So then when it comes to esoteric themed-investigations of Satan and the Devil, we see that there has been a very interesting influence that Satanism has played on the left-hand path and left-hand-path traditions that are still in the contemporary esoteric milieu. And Granholm and Petersen highlight the main traits of the left-hand path traditions which are an ideology of individualism, the goal of self-deification, the appraisal of life in the here and now and antinomianism, which is the rejection of social and cultural norms.

Now, this re-imagined Satan as this rebellious figure, as someone who is able to rebel against God and at the same time is a link to sexual liberation and revolution and to science and reason, these are all elements that have fostered and we see that with Kenneth Grant, for instance, and in Satanism but these have fostered the left-hand path and that’s why the left-hand-path tradition, among other things, you also see esoteric Satanism. And these are also elements that you find in esoteric Satanism as well because these are elements that are associated now with these re-imagined perceptions of the Devil.

Now when it comes to art and pop culture the first occurrences that we see, where we see a re-imagined figure of the Devil, where the Devil presents the kind of traits that I talked about, where first of all in “Paradise Lost” by Milton there was definitely a pivotal moment in literature where we see a re-imagination of the Devil, not as much as a hero but more as a heroic figure and it also inspired a lot of art. So if we see art and pop culture on a timeline we can see that literature comes first, in terms of depictions and re-imaginations of the Devil as this heroic figure that is able to rebel against the highest power and go towards a process of self-education or self-realization in its own terms. Then we have depictions in art, which I’m not really touching on. Then we have music and then it really it arrives at Esotericism, Western Esotericism and how these depictions have been incorporated esoteric Satanism, in the left-hand path and as we will see, they are also influencing or are useful to better understand contemporary Magick practices.

Then we have, of course, there are many many literary pieces that have this kind of perception of Satan, you know, representing the traits that I just showed but I just selected three representative ones. So we have “Paradise Lost” which was a pivotal moment and it really affected the perception of Satan and the Devil from that moment onwards. Then we have the Italian poem “Inno a Satana” by Giosue Carducci and here Satan is depicted as Satan, reason and meaning, matter and spirit and you can see how this links very well with the first positive depiction of Lucifer in Esotericism, which is by Theosophy and we see that first positive depiction in the Helena Petrovna Blavatsky book ( The Secret Doctrine) where she defines Lucifer as the source of light and as a source of knowledge and a link to the achievement of gnosis.

Then we have “The Hour of the Devil” by Fernando Pessoa, the Portuguese poet, and my favourite poet and in “The Hour of the Devil,” the Devil and Mary are going to a masquerade, and the Devil describes himself as the king of the interstices and of poets and of everything that is created and is able to channel a creative force that goes beyond what is bounded by limits. So it gives a sense of a boundless creativity and also of a boundless sense of self-creation. So I think that it is a short story “The Hour the Devil” or “The Devil’s Hour,” depending on how it’s translated into English. But it’s really representative, I think, of the esoteric perception that we have in the literature of the Devil in esoteric imagination.

Then we have, of course, the Rock and Metal scene which was expanded earlier and especially the Black Metal scene in Northern Europe was extremely important in setting the scene for the Devil and Satan as this figure that presents the traits that I showed earlier. So a sort of creative figure that rebels against the most powerful creature and creates his own self on his own or her own terms. So some examples that present the elements that I showed earlier where, you know, that is associated with rebellion, sexual freedom, knowing your dark side and even humanism. You have “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones, where the Devil is depicted as a man of wealth and taste. “NIB” by Black Sabbath where Lucifer is in love with humanity and this links well with certain forms of Satanism like LaVeyan Satanism. And then “Lucifer Rising” by Rob Zombie where there is the sexual love allure that you find linked to the figure of the Devil. And then of course we have Marilyn Manson, you know, the whole of Marilyn Manson in just one song where it is connected to LaVeyan themes of the Devil. So you have the rebellion against the capitalist society, the hegemony, the Christian hegemonic morality and the centralised state power. So you have LaVeyan Satanism, it’s often described as an atheistic form of Satanism, even though the words of LaVey there are, you know, also elements that could be seen as theistic and there is, of course, Esotericism as well, part of esoteric practices.

Then let’s move on to the TV shows. So this is the image that I use for my slides and it comes from Lucifer, the TV show Lucifer and it is based on the DC Comics character in the Sandman series. Lucifer in this TV show is tired of being the Lord of Hell and he’s tired of punishing people. So since he is bored and unhappy with his life in Hell he abdicates his role in defiance of his father and moves to LA where he runs his own nightclub called Lux, which means light in Latin and collaborates with the police department. And it’s interesting how he’s depicted because basically one of the reasons why he’s able to help the police department is because he is able to see the deepest desire of every person and once you know somebody’s deepest desire then you have a leverage on how to influence them.

So here we have a depiction of Lucifer that, in a way, incarnates all the elements that I said earlier. So he’s very charming and sexual, he’s able to influence people, know their darkest desires, at the same time he’s independent and he helps people. So there is also this theme of Lucifer wanting to help humanity which is also another element you define in this re-imagination of the Devil and of Satan.

Now I would say that this re-imagination of the Devil is an indicator of a general reassessment of ethics in our society, in a society that was prior, perhaps, to the Enlightenment and Romanticism, was more influenced by a Christian, dichotomous morality of good and evil. But you don’t just see that with the figure of the Devil and Satan but even with other ‘so-called’ evil figures that in recent years, in recent decades have become more nuanced. So, for instance, you have The Good Place, this is The Good Place this is Good Omens and here, in both cases, the Good Place is meant to represent sort of heaven and hell but they don’t use Christian terminology. So they call it the Good Place and the Bad Place. But then as you move forward there’s also one of the protagonists who is a moral philosopher, a professor, so there are interesting ethical discussions and you have this very romance perception of the Good Place and the Bad Place.

So you can see how it is not, you know, you don’t have a perception of good and evil in such strict terms, not even of the so-called heaven the Good Place or the Bad Place. In Good Omens you have a demon and an angel, the demon is called Crowley. And even in this case and at first, it seems like one is evil and one is good but then the more they progress, the more inevitably you realize that actually the two are interspersed and intermingled and it’s impossible to disentangle the two.

And in “Vampire Diaries” and in “Buffy” you have the demonic figures such as vampires but in both cases, you see that they actually have or develop a soul. So I think that this re-imagination of the Devil, which used to be seen as evil incarnate, and now in pop culture is depicted more as sort of the cool guy that allows you to be free and to explore, you know, your sexuality or explore your individuality beyond the binds and the limits created by society or by a certain dichotomous morality. You see that also, across the board, not just with the Devil, that’s why, perhaps analysing the Devil, who has been considered in the Christian dominant ethics in western countries, certainly in Italy and that’s where I do most of my fieldwork, even though this is not based primarily on Italy but you can see how that Christian dichotomous morality is loosening up over time. So you don’t have that very demarcated and stark sense of good and evil anymore and that, you know that re-imagination of the Devil, perhaps, helps us understand this change better.

Now let’s see why does pop culture matter. So pop culture matters for us scholars because it is a new ongoing myth-making. We see that even with new religious movements how important it is when it comes to TV shows and even comics, even video games, everything plays a massive role in how Practitioners, contemporary Practitioners create, make meaning of their practice. Because I would say that religion and religious practices are ultimately about belief-making and myth-making and meaning-making, in all these things, you know, stories are important for human beings. Stories have value for human beings and if you see a story that is gripping, that you resonate with, that will become part of the meaning-making process and the belief-making process that will inform your religious beliefs and your religious worldview as well.

Also, TV shows and generally pop culture, even video games and yeah, literature can be gateways to religious practices and beliefs. So there are many, for instance, many Pagans that got interested in Heathenry or Norse Paganism thanks to “Vikings,” the TV show because they felt it resonated with them and they got interested in Norse Paganism. So it can be, in a lot of cases, a gateway to religious practices and beliefs and so it’s important for scholars to acknowledge that so that we can better understand how these new religious movements that develop and how they develop and their conception. Also, it has a bi-directional resonance because pop culture influences viewers or consumers of the pop culture but at the same time, a show or a specific pop-culture output becomes popular only in so far as it resonates with the viewers. So it means to respond enough to the Zeitgeist of the time to become popular and at the same time by becoming popular it influences people and their beliefs and how they make meaning of the world.

Now, why is this re-imagined Devil useful and to whom? To whom? To scholars, in this case, this re-imagined Devil allows scholars to better understand a few things. So the inclusion of Lucifer, the inclusion of Lucifer by Pagan and Magick Practitioners. So, as I mentioned in my paper for the EASR on Hecate there are many Magic Practitioners that are currently working with Lucifer alongside either Hecate or Lilith and they employ Lucifer as… not employ, they work with Lucifer in a duodeistic scheme that is influenced by Wicca. So that the idea of the Goddess and the Gods, they work with Goddess and God but in this case, it’s Lucifer and Hecate or Lilith – those are the most popular combinations.

So it is this re-imagined Devil that allows Pagan Study scholars and Esoteric Study scholars to better understand how come, contemporary Practitioners, even those that are not Satanists, they do not define themselves as Satanists, how come they are employing Lucifer and Hecate, for instance, in their practice. And that is because Lucifer is now associated, just as Hecate is, to a darkness that allows to shed a light. So an enlightening darkness, if that makes sense. And also it still retains that perception of freeing you from certain boundaries. So for some people, it is useful, to something as it’s useful to work with Lucifer because it allows you to detach yourself from a certain Christian background that you may have been raised into. And also, as I said my in my paper on Hecate, you know Hecate is associated with shadow work which is connected to Jungian interpretation and Jungian psychological interpretations.

Also, it allows us to better understand the endorsement of nuanced ethics, in this case, by Practitioners because I’m talking about how it can be useful for scholars but as I said, I think this is a trend that you see in the wider culture, in wider culture but especially within Magick Practitioners, I would argue. And also the emergence of ‘hex positivity.’ I don’t know if you guys are familiar with this term but hex positivity is a thing and it’s going on among the community of Magick Practitioners, even Thelemites and hex positivity is kind of a response to the Wiccan ethics when it comes to Magick. Where, you know the Wiccan ethics say everything that you do will come back threefold. So some Practitioners feel that we can assume, you know, light and love and that nobody talks about the darker aspects of Magick and so some Practitioners have coined the term hex positivity. They talk about it on podcasts, blogs and their social media to mean that it is important to acknowledge the dark side of yourself as a Magick practitioner but also of your Magick practice.

And also the wider cultural exchange in society that inevitably affects esoteric practices. So I think that this is also important to acknowledge for us scholars because it allows us to understand better how esoteric Practitioners make meaning of their world and how they interpret their ethics. I think that this re-imagined perception of the Devil, actually, really helps and has been quite influential for Magick Practitioners across the board.

So thank you very much for your attention, and I am also on social media. I’m on TikTok and on YouTube. So in case you want to check out my work, which is not just about the Devil but I’m mostly a Pagan Studies scholar, I generally study Magick in religious practices.

So thank you for your attention.

REFERENCES

Granholm, K. (2014) Dark Enlightenment: The Historical, Sociological, and Discursive Contexts of Contemporary Esoteric Magic, BRILL.

Faxneld, P., Petersen, J. A. (2020), The Devil’s Party: Satanism In Modernity, Oxford University Press. Petersen, J. A. (2016) Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology, Routledge.