Satanism,
an inversion of religion that parodies conventional faith by venerating
evil instead of good. Despite rumors of widespread satanic crimes,
organized satanism is rare. For the most part, it appears to pose no
physical threat either to its members or to outsiders. The beliefs and
practices of ritual satanists are almost entirely unknown because of
their diversity and secrecy. Although some organized satanic activities
resemble those of witches and neopagans, the latter object to the
comparison. Ritual satanists uniformly reject the popular association
of satanism with child abuse and animal mutilation.

The modern fear of organized satanism can be traced to the wave of
panic over witchcraft that swept through Europe from about 1450 to
about 1700. Inspired in part by the rise of heterodox (in conflict with
accepted religious beliefs) but nonsatanic religious movements, this
panic is now recognized to have been groundless. Later it was believed
that satanic ritual centered on a so-called black mass, a parody of the
Catholic Mass. However, reports of such ceremonies were usually
extracted from people under duress or torture and seem to have
little basis in fact.

In the 1980s a new satanism scare arose in the United States. This
scare was based on rumors of a sophisticated network of ritual
satanists engaged in a coordinated campaign of child abduction
and abuse, including ritual sacrifice. Although satanic symbols
were occasionally found at crime scenes, no evidence for a large-
scale, organized network of satanists was uncovered. Allegations of
satanic crimes against humans were often based instead on controversial
so-called recovered memories, which are recollections brought to
consciousness through psychological therapy. Alleged ritual cattle
mutilations proved to be the work not of satanists but of animal
predators.

The satanic organizations active today are small and are of recent origin.
The most prominent, the Church of Satan, was founded in 1966 in San
Francisco, California, by American Anton Szandor LaVey, whose philosophy
is essentially a form of hedonism (the doctrine that pleasure is the principal
good). A group that grew from the Church of Satan, the Temple of Set, was
founded in 1975 by American Michael Aquino and others. As of the mid-1990s,
these two groups together had perhaps a few hundred widely scattered members.
Several smaller groups exist as well.

Contributed By:
Timothy Miller, A.B., Ph.D.Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University
of Kansas. Author of Following in His Steps: A Biography of Charles M. Sheldon.
Editor, America's Alternative Religions.

"Satanism," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2005
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2005 Microsoft Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
_____
hmmmmm. This is what I found listed on "Encarta".
The so-called black mass is listed in a chapter from the Church
of Satan's "The Satanic Bible" ( On page 99). It's interesting reading too.
I'd list an excerpt but I'd probably would be sued. (Satan likes litigation.)
I like to be informed, and I'm skeptical. I have read other information that
conflicts a bit with what is listed in Encarta. I was warned by "The
Cult Awareness Network" that they were not benevolent, and that The
Church Of Satan was a recognized religion in the United States. I supposedly
have at least 5 "Red Churches" in my area. (The Cult Awareness Network
was sunk in litigation connected to The Church Of Scientology"-who now, or
did, own them. It's too bad too, because they were a good group.)