RLB368 Contemporary Satanism

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2024

The course is not taught in Spring 2024

Extent and Intensity
1/1. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Ing. Mgr. et Mgr. Miroslav Vrzal, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. David Zbíral, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Matouš Vencálek
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course focuses on Satanism as one of the noticeable phenomena of contemporary western religion stage. The course includes the introduction of the individual movements of contemporary organised and non-organised Satanism from the second half of the 20th century to present. This phenomenon will be put into the context of New Religious Movements and the situation of religion in the late modernity. The emphasis of the course will then be put on ideological conceptions and practices of modern Satanism, the ways Satanism is perceived by the public, media and anti-cult movement, as well as on the reflection of presence of satanic elements in popular culture and metal music.
After having finished the course the students will be:
- able to describe the development of contemporary Satanism
- acquainted with various movements of contemporary Satanism
- familiar with chosen doctrines and practices of contemporary Satanism
- able to put contemporary Satanism into the context of New Religious Movements and also background of late modernity
- able to approach contemporary Satanism and to controversies associated with it from the perspective of study of religions
- understand the presence, form and way of using satanic themes in the popular horror culture and metal music
Syllabus
  • 1. Introductory lesson
  • 2. Defining contemporary Satanism
  • 3. Organised Satanism I: Church of Satan
  • 4. Organised Satanism II: Other Satanic organisations and groups
  • 5. Non-organised Satanism: Satanism as Self-religion
  • 6. Satanic panic: Satanic conspiracy, ritual sacrifices and child abuse
  • 7. Satanism, media, public and anti-cult movement
  • 8. Satanism and popular culture: Satanic themes in popular (horror) culture and their form
  • 9. Satanism and metal music I: Satanic elements in heavy metal
  • 10. Satanism and metal music II: Satanism in extreme metal focused on black metal
  • 11. Satanism in the Czech Republic
  • 12. Final test
Literature
  • LUŽNÝ, Dušan. Nová náboženská hnutí. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita. 181 s. ISBN 8021016450. 1997. info
  • MOYNIHAN, Michael a Didrik SØDERLIND. Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground. Los Angeles, CA: Feral House, 2003. 405 s. ISBN 0-922915-94-6.
  • PARTRIDGE, Christopher H. a Eric S. CHRISTIANSON (eds.). The Lure of the Dark Side: Satan and Western Demonology in Popular Culture. London: Equinox, 2009. 228 s. ISBN 978-1-845-53309-0.
  • PETERSEN, Jesper Aagaard (ed.). Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology. Farnham, England: Ashgate, 2009. 277 s. ISBN<> 978-0-7546-5286-1.
  • RICHARDSON, James T., Joel BEST a David G. BROMLEY (eds.). The Satanism Scare. New York: A. De Gruyter, 1991. 320 s. ISBN 0-202-30379-9.
Teaching methods
Lectures, readings, discussions.
Assessment methods
Requirements: 1) passing the final test (pass/fail line is 60%); 2) essay (10 norm-pages)
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Course is no more offered.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2018, Spring 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2024, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2024/RLB368