The sect of witches. Some versions of this demonological fiction

Abstract

The existence of an ancient secret organization of people conspired around Lucifer, competing against institutional Christianity or proposing alternative faiths, has stirred the imagination of theologians and artists: it has provided culture with everything from lyrical structures for popular advice and legends to extensions of official regulations against transgressions and heterodoxy, as well as scenography for similar or parodic performances of traditional representations. This article aims to compare, on one side, the demonological rulings that in the past denounced the existence of a diabolical church opposed to the Catholic Church with, on the other, some contemporary fictions that deal with Satanism, its societies, its followers, and its rites.