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Lucifers Den 155
being catapulted into the national media following
attacks by Catholic countercultists and, later,
attacks by secular anticultists.
Dimitri was able to expand the BSL because he
filled a need on Italian talk shows. Although such
programs desired to air episodes devoted to
sensationalistic topics like Satanism, simply
presenting anticultist spokespersons warning
viewers about the dangers of Satanic cults was not
entertaining enough. Older Italian Satanist
groups studiously avoided media attention.
Dimitri, however, eagerly jumped into the fray.
And, while typically held up as an object for
ridicule by such programs, he was always
contacted afterwards by people interested in
becoming involved in the BSL. Dimitri also came
to be regarded favorably by the black metal music
subculture. Thus by 1996, his fledgling group had
managed to grow to several hundred participants
in different parts of Italy.
Although arrested for the relatively minor
charge of obscenity in 1992, Dimitri’s legal problems
really got under way in 1996. In that year, he
and some of his followers were charged with
raping a female priestess who had refused to
comply with the sexual requirements of her position.
Dimitri and his codefendants were also
charged with child abuse because children had
participated in BSL rituals. Part of the evidence
presented in the case was the BSL book (never
intended for public circulation), the Infernal
Gospel (Vangelo Infernale). This “gospel” seemed
to suggest that pedophilia and sex abuse were
acceptable to Satanism. Nevertheless, all of the
principal charges were dismissed the following
year. Dimitri was, however, convicted on a minor
tax violation.
For Further Reading:
“The Children of Satan: Deconstruction of a Scam.”
http://www.panix.com/~blackout/deconstructio
n.html
Introvigne, Massimo. “The Gothic Milieu: Black
Metal, Satanism, and Vampires.”
http://www.cesnur.org/testi/gothic.htm
Lucifers Den
Lucifers Den developed in two historical stages. It
was initially founded in 1990 in Big Spring, Texas,
by Brian Nalls when he was fifteen. It started as a
high school study group. The group began having
meetings once a week, and eventually started
holding monthly rituals out of school as well.
After high school, Nalls went on to study religion
in college, eventually studying with a nondenominational
church in which he was ordained in 1997.
He had also studied and practiced Wicca, shamanism,
and magic. The second stage of the group
began in May of 1997 when Nalls brought Lucifers
Den online. By then, he was in southern
California. Starting small, it eventually expanded
into a stable organization.
The philosophy of Lucifers Den is based on
Anton LaVey’s Satanism, as expressed in The
Satanic Bible and other works. LaVey’s Satanism is,
however, regarded as a foundation to build upon
rather than as an orthodoxy to be defended.
Lucifers Den holds monthly meetings and hosts
various activities within the larger Satanic movement
on a regular basis. It also offers such services
to the public as lectures, classes, Satanic weddings,
funerals, and baptisms.
Unlike some Satanists who become involved in
the movement simply to revel in the bizarre,
Lucifers Den takes Satanism very seriously.
Among other things, the organization is dedicated
to dispelling the misconceptions of Satanism
promoted by Hollywood, published works of
fiction, and sensationalist books. The group also
makes a studious effort to stay out of the bickering
that often takes place within and among Satanic
churches, which Nalls regards as consuming time
better spent on other matters.
Offering education and other services to the
general public, Lucifers Den intends to overcome
many walls and boundaries that others were not
able to overcome in the past. To this end, the
group does not provoke hate toward anything or
anyone. Unlike many other Satanists, Lucifers Den
does not regard itself as anti-Christian (or anti
anything, for that matter), and does not tolerate
religious bashing of any kind.
See also LaVey, Anton Szandor
For Further Reading:
Lucifers Den official site:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi/LUCIFERSDEN