Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...

Lucifer 153
when he began his ministry) who happens to be a
best-selling author of true crime stories about
mass murderers and serial killers. A young,
formerly possessed woman played by Winona
Ryder attempts to warn him of the danger.
Love (Lust) Spells
Love and the closely related drive of lust involve the
strongest of human emotions. Love spells have
been used since antiquity, and are still popular in
folklore. Traditional spells played a significant part
in many old country magics, which, according to
legend, were recommended to village girls by the
local witch. The love spell often consists of words
or incantations containing the name of the lover.
The incantations are verbalized in conjunction
with a set of actions that must be repeated upon
going to bed for a number of consecutive nights. Its
power and success are based upon a combination
of will-power, concentration, visualization, identification,
and incantation, and it is claimed that, if
the spell works, it is by the power of thought. An
herb-filled poppet or cloth doll is often used
during a love ritual. It is identified with the individual
who is the object of the spell, so that it
becomes the person during the ritual. The doll may
be marked with the name of the target person or
contain a lock of her or his hair. The purpose of
some spells, which can be considered forms of
divination, is that of seeing one’s future lover in a
dream.
This tradition has been appropriated by modern
Satanism, although Satanist spells tend to focus
more specifically on lust. A sample lust ritual is, for
example, contained in Anton Szandor LaVey’s The
Satanic Bible. After setting the mood and invoking
the appropriate energies, the male declares:
My rod is athrust! The penetrating force of
my venom shall shatter the sanctity of that
mind which is barren of lust; and as the seed
falleth, so shall its vapors be spread within
that reeling brain benumbing it to
helplessness according to my will! In the
name of the great god Pan, may my secret
thoughts be marshaled into the movements of
the flesh of that which I desire!(147–148)
If the magician is female, she asserts:
My loins are aflame! The dripping of the
nectar from my eager cleft shall act as pollen
to that slumbering brain, and the mind that
feels not lust shall on a sudden reel with
crazed impulse. And when my mighty surge is
spent, new wanderings shall begin; and that
flesh which I desire shall come to me. In the
names of the great harlot of Babylon, and of
Lilith, and of Hecate, may my lust be
fulfilled!(148)
See also Curses; LaVey, Anton Szandor
For Further Reading:
LaVey, Anton Szandor. The Satanic Bible. New York:
Avon, 1969.
Marlbrough, Ray L. Charms, Spells, and Formulas.
St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1987.
Lucifer
The name Lucifer means “light giver,” and
connotes star, applying to the morning or evening
star Venus, the brightest object in the sky apart
from the sun and moon. It has been erroneously
equated with the fallen angel Satan, because of a
misreading of a scriptural passage that applied to
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who in his
glory and pomp had set himself among the gods,
as it is reported in Isaiah 14:12: “How art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning.” Just as the brilliancy of Lucifer
surpasses that of all other stars in the firmament,
so the splendor of the king of Babylon surpasses
that of all other Oriental monarchs.
The authors of the earlier books of Hebrew
scriptures (the Old Testament), however, knew
nothing of fallen angels or evil angels, and did not
mention them. Babylonians and Assyrians personified
the morning star as Belit and Istar. Others
have speculated that the phrase “son of the
morning” might refer to the crescent moon. Others
argue for an identification with the planet Jupiter.
The Devil acquired the name Lucifer when the
early Christian theologians Tertullian and St.
Augustine identified him with the falling star in
the passage from Isaiah 14:12 quoted above. The
basis of this association was that the Devil was