Satanic Feminism

Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture

Author Per Faxneld

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Uses material never before analyzed by a historian of religions, or, in many cases, by anyone else
Highlights a previously unknown, significant and highly colorful current in the history of feminism and alternative religion
Sheds new light on several important names in esotericism, art and literature, by demonstrating how their ideas stand in a tradition of Satanic feminism
The inter-disciplinary approach makes visible features and connections that have previously been obscured to those working only with the material and perspective of a single field

Satanic Feminism

Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture

Author Per Faxneld

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Description

According to the Bible, Eve was the first to heed Satan's advice to eat the forbidden fruit and thus responsible for all of humanity's subsequent miseries. The notion of woman as the Devil's accomplice is prominent throughout Christian history and has been used to legitimize the subordination of wives and daughters. In the nineteenth century, rebellious females performed counter-readings of this misogynist tradition. Lucifer was reconceptualized as a feminist liberator of womankind, and Eve became a heroine. In these reimaginings, Satan is an ally in the struggle against a tyrannical patriarchy supported by God the Father and his male priests. Per Faxneld shows how this Satanic feminism was expressed in a wide variety of nineteenth-century literary texts, autobiographies, pamphlets, newspaper articles, paintings, sculptures, and even artifacts of consumer culture like jewelry. He details how colorful figures like the suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton, gender-bending Theosophist H. P. Blavatsky, author Aino Kallas, actress Sarah Bernhardt, anti-clerical witch enthusiast Matilda Joslyn Gage, decadent marchioness Luisa Casati, and the Luciferian lesbian poetess Renée Vivien embraced these reimaginings. By exploring the connections between esotericism, literature, art and the political realm, Satanic Feminism sheds new light on neglected aspects of the intellectual history of feminism, Satanism, and revisionary mythmaking.

Satanic Feminism

Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture

Author Per Faxneld

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

I: Introduction
II: Woman and the Devil: Some Recurring Motifs
III: Romantic and Socialist Satanism
IV: Theosophical Luciferianism and Feminist Celebrations of Eve
V: Satan as the Emancipator of Woman in Gothic Literature
VI: Witches as Rebels Against Patriarchy
VII: Subversive Satanic Women in Decadent Literature and Art
VIII: Lucifer and the Lesbians: Sapphic Satanism
IX: Becoming the Demon Woman: Rebellious Role-play
X: Mary MacLane's Autobiographic Satanic Feminism
XI: Sylvia Townsend Warner's Liberating Devil
XII: Conclusions
Bibliography

Satanic Feminism

Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture

Author Per Faxneld

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Author Information

Per Faxneld obtained his PhD in the History of Religions at Stockholm University in 2014. He was a visiting scholar at Cambridge University in 2015, and is currently a post-doctoral fellow at Mid-Sweden University. He is the author of two monographs on the history of Satanism and has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on various matters related to Western esotericism.

Satanic Feminism

Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture

Author Per Faxneld

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Reviews and Awards

"Faxneld's book is essential reading for anyone interested in biblical reception, the history of Christianity, Western esotericism, literature, the history of feminism, and history of art. It is also highly recommended for contemporary satanists, witches, and pagans—and those who want to understand them—as a clear exposition of the history of Satan that consequently sheds light on his relationship to these new religious movements." -- Caroline Tully, Reading Religion

"... the assemblage here is as provocative for scholarship as the original voices were to their cultures. Consider, for instance, Faxneld's observation that The Woman's Bible was "a project on which several female Theosophists were among the collaborators." This alone should motivate multiple future studies. Anyone interested in the history of feminist thought (and its villainization) should read this book." -- Spencer Dew, Denison University / The Ohio State University, Religious Studies Review

"an authoritative, wide-ranging analysis of a discourse long considered too outlandish to merit much scholarly attention. Bridging literary and religious studies, it reclaims legions of fascinating she-devils to argue persuasively for Satanic feminism as a daring and culturally significant rewriting of Christian myth." -- Dawn Coleman, History of Religions

"Satanic Feminism is strongly recommended to all those interested in understanding the crucial role of Satan in theWestern cultural imagination. ... The author does not restrict himself to a specific focus on Satanism, but interconnects several fields of study, including Western esoteric studies. ... Faxneld's volume goes far beyond prior works on the history of intellectual Satanism." -- Michele Olzi, Aries