THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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While there is no doubting the honourable intentions of the Ma~ons and other related
spiritual organisations, a less noble form of secret society emerged in Europe and England
in the form of 'Hell-Fire Clubs'. These 18th-Century private clubs afforded an
inspirational prototype of a secret organisation devoted to hedonistic indulgence and anti­
Christian rhetoric. Hell-Fire Clubs, organisations of aristocratic young men who dabbled
in Satanism, emerged in all the European capitals in the 18th century (Kingston, 1976;
Masters, 1978). They did not embrace any coherent philosophy, but did, however,
employ the trappings of black magic ceremony, blaspheme Christianity, and indulge in
sexual activities. The growing popularity of Hell-Fire Clubs in England was such that
King George I proclaimed them illegal in 1721 (Masters, 1978; Parker, 1993).4
While secret societies - both sacred and profane - proliferated, there was also a revival in
various forms of divination in the form of astrology and Tarot cards, and the first dream
dictionary of symbolic dream meanings appeared in 1795. Importantly, pseudo-scientific
theory became enlisted in the magical revival by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), a
French doctor and member of a Masonic order. Mesmer posited the theory that planets
influenced humankind through the universal medium of a magnetic force, 'animal
magnetism', which all living organisms possessed, and which could be therapeutically
transmitted. The significance ofMesmer's supposedly scientific discovery for the revival
of magic was that he seemed to have demonstrated the existence of a mysterious natural
force which was responsive to human will, and could influence others' behaviour
(Cavendish, 1977).
2.8 19th Century magic and Romantic Satanism
Enlightenment rationality had no sooner taken hold of Europe than a vigorous reaction, in
the form of the Romantic movement occurred. The burgeoning renewal of magical
4 As part of the proceedings, Sir Dashwood, head of the Hell-Fire 'Order', had defrocked priests conduct
Black Mass in a derelict abbey. The exact nature ofDashwod's cult is unclear, but it certainly incorporated
aspects of sex magic and Satanism (Masters, 1978). Anton LaVey, one of the founders of modem
Satanism, was significantly influenced by the Hell-Fire clubs.