Gothic Satanism - Overview:
Gothic Satanism was invented by the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th century CE, just prior to the time of the Witch burnings. The belief offered the neatest solution to the dilemma of theodicy -- the theological conflict caused by the presence of evil in the universe that was created by an all-loving, moral God. The Church theorized that Satan worship existed, was widespread, and was a massive threat to the established order. These beliefs gave the legal and moral justification for the Witch burnings (sometimes called the burning times or the female holocaust).
Many Christians today (particularly from the conservative wing of Protestantism) still believe that Satanism exists. However, it is an imaginary religion that either does not exist in reality, or is extremely rarely practiced. Law enforcement organizations have been searching for some scrap of evidence of its existence since the "Satanic Panics" of the early 1980s, without success.
Gothic Satanism - Origins:
Two Dominican priests, Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger wrote a book circa 1486 CE called: The Malleus Maleficarum (The Witches' Hammer). It became the main reference text for the genocide. They wrote that Gothic Satanists:
Are mostly women because that gender is more impressionable, more perfidious, more carnal, more vengeful, and (intellectually) more like children than are men. God, being male, has mostly preserved men from heresy;
Kill, bewitch and induce plagues in animals;
Stop cows from giving milk;
Cause impotence, sterility, abortions and miscarriages;
Ride at night on broomsticks to meet in the forest to engage in sexual orgies;
Drink the blood of unbaptized infants. Devour infants' bodies, or convert them into soup, or bake them in an oven, or convert their bones into ritual instruments;
Offer their own children to demons;
Kill or place curses on people by simply looking at them, saying a phrase, causing lightning to strike them, blowing in their face, pushing pins into a wax doll made in the image of the victim, etc.;
Beat, break, stab or step on a crucifix whenever they can.
A second reference text was Francesco Maria Guazzo's Compendium Maleficarum, which was written about 1620 CE. He described how Satan worshipers:
Ride through the air on the back of a goat or a staff;
Anoint themselves with magical oil and fly on their own;
Anoint themselves with a cream or make a certain sign, and immediately become invisible;
Appear to change shape from human to animal and back;
Change people and animals from male to female and back;
Swear homage and obedience to Satan
Received a Satanic brand on their bodies;
Rejoice, dance, eat and drink in the presence of Satan who appeared at Satanic orgies in the form of a hideous and deformed black goat;
Suffocated, pierced and killed their own infants, cut off their extremities, and cooked the remains.
The inquisitors tortured suspects until they were willing to confess to anything in order to end the pain. This produced abundant testimony for the court records as "evidence" of the existence of Satan worshipers. However, it is essentially all worthless.
A very small number of individuals have drawn on the vast amount of anti-Satanic literature written by Christian authors. They have created their own version of Gothic Satanism that does include an inverted Christian cross symbol, black masses, reciting Christian prayers backwards, etc. However, they seem to be isolated followers without any central organization. They do not engage in infant abuse, baby killing or any other criminal activities. Theirs is a religion that was inspired by and grew out of Christian hate literature.
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