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

CHRONOLOGY
The following chronology includes information on earlier
manifestations of the Western occult tradition, particularly
those that provide a background for the creation
of modern religious Satanism in the 1960s.
1608 Astrologer John Dee (1527–1608) dies in
London. Dee is best known for his Enochian
Magic, a system of magic teaching
communication with angels and spirits. Some
of his Enochian Keys are included in the latter
section of The Satanic Bible.
1614 The Rituale Romanum, the Catholic Church’s
official exorcism manual, is issued during the
papacy of Pope Paul V. It was not revised until
1999.
1674 Death of John Milton (1608–1674), Puritan
author of Paradise Lost.
1692 Salem witch craze gets underway in Salem—
now Danvers—Massachusetts. During the
course of the witchcraft trials, 141 people were
arrested as suspects, 19 were hanged, and one
was pressed to death.
1717 Formal beginning of Freemasonry, when four
lodges met in London and established the
Grand Lodge, in order to “restore” Masonry.
Freemasonry influenced the rituals of
Ceremonial Magic, and, in turn, the rituals of
religious Satanism.
1810 Birth of Alphonse-Louis Constant (“Eliphas
Levi,” 1810–1875), a French occultist and
writer who is a major link in the chain that led
to modern magical practices.
1821 Birth of Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) a
French poet who wrote about alienation and
evil. One of Baudelaire’s most important
“Satanic” pieces is his “Litanies of Satan,”
which was repeated in the rituals of the
Brotherhood of the Ram, a Satanic group.
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1854 Birth of Samuel Mathers (1854–1918), a
founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden
Dawn, which had a significant but indirect
influence on modern religious Satanism
through Aleister Crowley, a one-time member
of the Order.
1858 The Fraternitas Rosae Crucis is founded by
physician P. B. Randolph (1825–1875). It is
generally considered the oldest Rosicrucian
body.
1861 The Dogma and Ritual of High Magic, the
most popular book by French occultist
Eliphas Levi (Alphonse-Louis Constant)
appears. Levi’s system was adopted and
improved by the Hermetic Order of the
Golden Dawn, and so became the source of all
modern systems of magic.
1865 The Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia founded
by Robert Wentworth Little.
1875 Birth of Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), the
most famous and influential ritual magician of
the twentieth century.
1884 Gerald Brosseau Gardner, the founder of
modern Wicca, born at Great Crosby, near
Blundell Sands in Lancashire, England.
1886 Birth of Austin Osman Spare (1886–1956),
regarded as the founder of chaos magic, a
popular form of magic in contemporary
Satanist circles.
1888 The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
founded in London, with Dr. William Wynn
Westcott, Samuel Liddell MacGregor
Mathers, and W. R. Woodman as its ruling
triumvirate.
1890 Founding of the Ordo Templi Orientis (often
referred to as the OTO), which, along with the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,