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A Field Study Update on Organizational Satanism and Setianism in the United States

  • Research Note
  • Published:
Review of Religious Research

Abstract

Background

With recent attention to the organizational dynamics of contemporary Satanism, updated information on Satanic and Setian organizations is imperative for the field.

Purpose

The purpose of this research note is to update the literature surrounding Satanism and Setianism with new organizational and administrative information, which will help scholars studying these groups in developing new theoretical frameworks and interpretations.

Methods

A snowball sample interview, participant observation, and ethnographic study was conducted. In person field work was done primarily in Austin, TX, and New York, NY, where occult bookstores, wicca stores, online group pages/forums, Satanic gatherings, and goth clothing shops were frequented for a portrayal of “lived Satanism.”

Results

Findings elaborate on the authority structures of five Satanic and Setian organizations, and a long considered defunct Satanic group called the Church of Satanic Brotherhood is uncovered. Participants also elaborate on the previous schisms within the Satanic niche.

Conclusions and Implications

Field note recommendations are given to future researchers working in Satanic studies. The organizational findings inform future research and theoretical innovations, including religious organization ecology (ROE) theory.

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Notes

  1. Notably more than the growing Satanic Temple, which has 85,500 followers on Twitter. The Satanic Temple Facebook page, on the other hand, has 198,500 followers– which perhaps shows the difference in appealed demographics.

  2. Jarry refers to registered members as “…a member who has gone to our website, read our tenets, entered their name and email address, and clicked a box averring that they believe in our tenets. We have many members who are not officially registered presumably because they do not want to be on a list, even one that is private.” (Jarry, Personal Communications, 2021).

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Gordon Melton, Kevin Dougherty, Joseph Laycock, Paul Froese, Jerry Park, Stefano Bigliardi, and Massimo Introvigne for assistance in reading and editing various iterations of this paper, as well as providing recommendations for potential subjects and sources. Infinite gratitude to my deanonymized subjects and many anonymized subjects for allowing me a peek into their world for just a moment.

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  1. Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA

    Steven Foertsch

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  1. Steven Foertsch
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Correspondence to Steven Foertsch.

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Foertsch, S. A Field Study Update on Organizational Satanism and Setianism in the United States. Rev Relig Res 64, 981–996 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-022-00513-1

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