Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
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Blake, William 29<br />
(because God requires that we love one another).<br />
There are, however, limits to what ends the Mass<br />
can be put. For instance, Grill<strong>and</strong>us goes on to<br />
relate how a priest had devised prayers designed to<br />
cause four nuns to fall in love with him. He then<br />
paid other priests to include them in the Mass.<br />
This was considered a minor <strong>of</strong>fence—criminal<br />
but not heretical—<strong>and</strong> the <strong>of</strong>fending priest was<br />
banished from Rome temporarily.<br />
It is only a short step from this tradition <strong>of</strong> the<br />
priestly deployment <strong>of</strong> the Mass for selfish ends to<br />
the fully developed notion <strong>of</strong> the Black Mass.<br />
Despite the emergence <strong>of</strong> a substantial literature<br />
on <strong>Satanism</strong> <strong>and</strong> the dark rite, however, the fully<br />
developed Black Mass seems to have had almost<br />
no existence outside <strong>of</strong> the literary productions <strong>of</strong><br />
ecclesiastical writers. The basis <strong>of</strong> most early<br />
accounts were the confessions extracted under<br />
torture by <strong>of</strong>ficials <strong>of</strong> the Inquisition. The one<br />
well-documented case <strong>of</strong> devil-worshipers practicing<br />
a form <strong>of</strong> the Black Mass was a group <strong>of</strong><br />
courtiers around Louis XIV who used black magic<br />
in the attempt to remain in favor with the king.<br />
The government was almost brought down when<br />
the practice was discovered.<br />
See also Sabbat<br />
For Further Reading:<br />
Cavendish, Richard. The Black Arts. New York:<br />
Capricorn Books, 1967.<br />
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The <strong>Encyclopedia</strong> <strong>of</strong> Witches<br />
<strong>and</strong> Witchcraft. New York: Facts on File, 1989.<br />
LaVey, <strong>An</strong>ton Sz<strong>and</strong>or. The Satanic Bible. New York:<br />
Avon, 1969.<br />
Black Roses<br />
A heavy metal b<strong>and</strong> whose lead singer is Satan<br />
corrupts a small town in middle America in this<br />
1988 film. The rock b<strong>and</strong> creates a musical passage<br />
into the underworld through which the teens fall<br />
after listening to the lyrics. They then turn into<br />
evil monsters <strong>and</strong> start killing family members. A<br />
naïve English teacher saves teens from their fate.<br />
Blake, William<br />
The work <strong>of</strong> the English mystical poet <strong>and</strong> artist<br />
William Blake (1757–1827) is full <strong>of</strong> visions <strong>of</strong><br />
angels, including fallen angels (“demons”). Blake,<br />
who is known to many for such poems as “Tiger,<br />
tiger, burning bright,” was born in London. He<br />
attended Henry Pars’s drawing school in the<br />
Str<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> at the age <strong>of</strong> fifteen he was apprenticed<br />
to the engraver James Basire. After ending his<br />
apprenticeship in 1779, he went to the school <strong>of</strong><br />
the Royal Academy, where he first exhibited a<br />
picture in 1780.<br />
In 1783 his friends paid for the printing <strong>of</strong><br />
Poetical Sketches, <strong>and</strong> in 1784 Blake married<br />
Catherine Boucher, who was destined to be very<br />
important for his work. In 1789, Blake issued<br />
Songs <strong>of</strong> Innocence, the first considerable work to<br />
be executed by his novel method <strong>of</strong> “illuminated<br />
printing,” combining text <strong>and</strong> decorations on a<br />
simple etched plate.<br />
By 1795, Blake lived through the American <strong>and</strong><br />
French revolutions, which left a deep impression<br />
on his mind. His Songs <strong>of</strong> Experience are permeated<br />
by undertones <strong>of</strong> indignation <strong>and</strong> pity for the<br />
human state. He was also deeply influenced by<br />
study <strong>of</strong> the philosophers as well as <strong>of</strong> mystical<br />
writers such as Paracelsus, Jakob Boehme, <strong>and</strong><br />
Emanuel Swedenborg. Among Blake’s illuminated<br />
books are The Marriage <strong>of</strong> Heaven <strong>and</strong> Hell, a work<br />
mixing satires on Swedenborg with metaphysical<br />
<strong>and</strong> religious discussions; The Book <strong>of</strong> Thel, a delicate<br />
allegory <strong>of</strong> the descent <strong>of</strong> the soul from eternity<br />
into mortal life; Visions <strong>of</strong> the Daughters <strong>of</strong><br />
Albion, in which free love is defended; The First<br />
Book <strong>of</strong> Urizen, containing an account <strong>of</strong> the<br />
creation <strong>of</strong> the material world <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> humankind<br />
burdened with the problem <strong>of</strong> evil; Europe; The<br />
Book <strong>of</strong> Los; The Book <strong>of</strong> Ahania; The Song <strong>of</strong> Los.<br />
His two later <strong>and</strong> longer poems are Milton <strong>and</strong><br />
Jerusalem. In Milton the whole problem <strong>of</strong> an evil<br />
world is correlated with his own psychological<br />
struggles. It is in this poem that Blake asks whether<br />
Jerusalem could have been built amid Engl<strong>and</strong>’s<br />
“dark, Satanic mills.” In his final epic Jerusalem, on<br />
the other h<strong>and</strong>, Man awakes from error <strong>and</strong> is<br />
finally redeemed by union with God. His last<br />
major poem, The Everlasting Gospel, is a series <strong>of</strong><br />
fragments expressing his unorthodox view <strong>of</strong><br />
Christianity <strong>and</strong> the life <strong>of</strong> Christ. He painted<br />
several pictures, with occasional engravings done<br />
for the booksellers. For instance, upon suggestion<br />
<strong>of</strong> the painter John Linnell, Blake engraved his