Devil-worship in France - Or The Question of Lucifer

DEVIL-WORSHIP

in FRANCE

or The Question of Lucifer Arthur Edward Waite

VAMzzz

PUBLISHING

Devil-worship in France or The Question of Lucifer Author: Arthur Edward Waite

Original title: D evil-worship in France or The Question of Lucifer. A record of things seen and heard in the secret societies according to the evidence of initiates (1896) Cover image: D ante and Virgil in Hell (1850), William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) Lay-out: www.burokd.nl ISBN 978-94-92355-06-5 Š 2015 Revised publication by:

VAMzzz Publishing P.O. Box 3340 1001 AC Amsterdam The Netherlands www.vamzzz.com contactvamzzz@gmail.com

DEVIL-WORSHIP

in FRANCE

or The Question of Lucifer Arthur Edward Waite

VAMzzz

PUBLISHING

Arthur Edward Waite 2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942

4

contents

PREFACE 7 CHAPTER I

Satanism in the nineteenth century 11

CHAPTER II

The mask of Masonry 25

CHAPTER III

The first witnesses of Lucifer 39

CHAPTER IV

Ex Ore Leonis 47

CHAPTER V

The discovery of M. Ricoux 61

CHAPTER VI

Art Sacerdotal 67

CHAPTER VII

The Devil and the Doctor 77

CHAPTER VIII Dealings with Diana 119 CHAPTER IX

How Lucifer is unmasked 133

CHAPTER X

The vendetta of Signor Margiotta 145

CHAPTER XI

Female Freemasonry 161

CHAPTER XII

The passing of Doctor Bataille 167

CHAPTER XIII Diana unveiled 181 CHAPTER XIV The radix of modern diabolism 203 CHAPTER XV

Conclusion 209

Post Scriptum

5

6

PREFACE “The first in this plot was Lucifer.”

—THOMAS VAUGHAN

THE TERM MODERN SATANISM is not intended to signify the development of some new aspect of old doctrine concerning demonology, or some new argument for the personification of the evil principle in universal nature. It is intended to signify the alleged revival, or, at least, the reappearance to some extent in public, of a cultus diabolicus, or formal religion of the devil, the existence of which, in the middle ages, is registered by the known facts of the Black Sabbath, a department, however, of historical research, to which full justice yet remains to be done. By the hypothesis, such a religion may assume one of two forms; it may be a worship of the evil principle as such, namely, a conscious attempt on the part of human minds to identify themselves with that principle, or it may be the worship of a power which is regarded as evil by other religions, from which view the worshippers in question dissent. The necessity for this distinction I shall make apparent in the first chapter of this book. A religion of the darkness, subsisting under each of these distinctive forms, is said to be in practice at the present moment, and to be characterised, as it was in the past, by the strong evidence of miracles,—in other. words, by transcendental phenomena of a very extraordinary kind, connecting in a direct manner with what is generically termed Black Magic. Now, Black Magic in the past 7

may have been imposture reinforced by delusion, and to state that it is recurring at the present day does not commit anyone to an opinion upon its veridical origin. To say, also, that the existence of modern diabolism has passed from the region of rumour into that of exhaustive and detailed statement, is to record a matter of fact, and I must add that the evidence in hand, whatever its ultimate value, can be regarded lightly by those only who are unacquainted with its extent and character. This evidence is, broadly, of three kinds:—(a) The testimony of independent men of letters, .who would seem to have come in contact therewith; (b) the testimony volunteered by former initiates of such secret associations as are dedicated to a cultus diabolicus; (c) the testimony of certain writers, claiming special sources of information, and defending some affected interests of the Roman Catholic Church.

My purpose in this book is to distinguish, so far as may be possible, what is true from what is false in the evidence, and I have undertaken the task, firstly, because modern mystics are accused, en masse, of being concerned in this cultus; secondly, because the existence of modern Satanism has given opportunity to a conspiracy of falsehood which is wide in its ramifications, and serious on account of its source; thirdly, because the question itself has awakened considerable interest both within and without transcendental circles, and it is desirable to replace hazy and exaggerated notions by a clear and formal statement.

I have connected the new diabolism with France in my title, 8

because the evidence in each of its kinds has been filed by French writers, and we have no other source of information. So far as that evidence is sound, we have to thank France for producing it; but, on the other hand, should it prove that a whole city of invention has been constructed, “with all its spires and gateways,” upon a meagre basis of fact, it is just that French imagination should have full credit for the decorative art which has adorned this Question of Lucifer.

The plan of my work had been sketched, and a number of chapters written, when I found myself to some extent preceded by a writer well known to occultists under the pseudonym of Papus, who has quite recently published a small brochure, entitled Le Diable et L’Occultisme, which is a brief defence of transcendentalists against the accusations in connection with Satanism. I gladly yield to M. Papus the priority in time, which was possible to a well-informed gentleman, at the centre of the conspiracy. His little work, however, does not claim to be either a review or a criticism, and does not therefore, in any sense, cover the ground which I have travelled. It is an exposition and exoneration of his own school of mystic thought, which is that of the Martinists, and I have mentioned it in this connection in its proper place.

- Arthur Edward Waite

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VAMzzz

PUBLISHING

To Devil-worship or not to Devil-worship In Devil-Worship in France, Waite attempts to discern what is genuine from what is fake in the evidence of 19th century Satanism. To get the answers he spends a great deal of time investigating the French Masonic echelon, debunking a “conspiracy of falsehood” and determining what should be understood by Satanism and what not. Huysmans’ diabolical novel Là-Bas (1891) inspired Waite to write this sceptical analysis. His main motive to write this book, however, could very well have been its use as a lubricant for a Masonic career.

Waite took a leading role in a counterattack, after French rumour spreaders had accused Golden Dawn founders William Wynn Westcott and MacGregor Mathers of being chief Luciferworshippers. This was much appreciated by them. In the end, Waite’s Devil-Worship in France debunked the whole accusation affair - and this a year before Gabriel Jogand Pages (Leo Taxil in the book) admitted the allegations were indeed a hoax.

Arthur Edward Waite (1857 - 1942) was a scholarly mystic, Freemason, Rosicrucian and Golden Dawn member who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, mostly in academic style. A certain irony is glued to this book forever, as it was Edward Arthur Waite, who showed Aleister Crowley “The Way” when he advised the Beast 666 to read Eckhartshausen’s Cloud upon the Sanctuary, about the mysterious hidden church inside the visible church, when his foe in later days had just finished reading Waite’s Book of Black Magic and Pacts…

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