THE SATANIC SCHOLAR
Carrying the torch of the Romantic Satanists—those refined radicals who channeled the spirit of Paradise Lost’s apostate angel and put his celestial revolt to earthly use as a sociopolitical countermyth—scholar of Romantic Satanism Christopher J. C. claims the proud honor of preserving the majestic Miltonic-Romantic legacy of Lucifer. By the turn of the nineteenth century, Milton’s Satan was revered as a Promethean icon of revolutionary virtue by English Romanticism’s most titanic intellectuals, poets, and prose writers, Romantic artists in turn depicting the Miltonic arch-rebel as a handsome Devil of heroic proportions. The Satanic Scholar is dedicated to perpetuating the memory of this grand and groundbreaking literary, artistic, and cultural tradition, giving its distinguished Devil his due.
The Satanic Scholar
(1/3/2016)
Lucifer Lives in Madrid: My Pilgrimage to Ricardo Bellver’s El Ángel Caído
(6/6/2016)
In Memory of My First Satanic Hero: George Carlin
(6/22/2016)
The Satanic Scholar’s YouTube Debut: Part 1 of 3
(8/28/2016)
The Satanic Scholar’s YouTube Debut: Part 2 of 3
(9/9/2016)
The Satanic Scholar’s YouTube Debut: Part 3 of 3
(9/18/2016)
Clips from My Trip to Ricardo Bellver’s Fallen Angel Statue(s) in Madrid
(9/26/2016)
The Satanic Scholar & The Satanic Irreverend: An Informal Discussion
(11/19/2016)
Iconography Update for The Satanic Scholar
(6/22/2017)
The Satanic Scholar on Nerds with Words
(7/29/2017)
ROMANTIC SATANISM
Spearheaded by English Romanticism’s literary and artistic élite, Romantic Satanism was the most radical reevaluation of the arch-rebel—and thereby the most intriguing cultural challenge to the status quo—in Western history. Initiated in the 1790s and reaching its apex in “the Satanic School” presided over by Romantic icons Byron and Shelley in the early nineteenth century, Romantic Satanism restored luster to Lucifer’s much tarnished name and image, transforming the arch-villain of Christendom into a celebrated sociopolitical icon of idealized defiance.
Little Lucifers of the Satanic School: Part 1 of 2: Byron
(1/6/2016)
Little Lucifers of the Satanic School: Part 2 of 2: Shelley
(1/7/2016)
I Love “Lucifer”: Part 1 of 3
(1/9/2016)
I Love “Lucifer”: Part 2 of 3
(1/11/2016)
I Love “Lucifer”: Part 3 of 3
(1/14/2016)
Lucifer’s Feather of Liberty: On French Romanticism’s Satanic Symbol
(2/6/2017)
Romantic Satanists: The Unacknowledged Legislators of Lucifer’s Legacy (Part 2 of “Romanticism: More Satanic than Satanism”)
(3/10/2017)
The Romantics: Satanists in All But Name? (Part 3 of “Romanticism: More Satanic than Satanism”)
(3/22/2017)
Romanticism’s Miltonic Iconography
(6/22/2017)
Lord Byron’s Skull Cup
(10/31/2017)
The Miltonic in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, on the Novel’s Bicentenary
(1/1/2018)
MODERN SATANISM
Satanism was officially codified as a modern religious philosophy in the 1960s, but the concept’s roots reach deep into the Western world’s past—most significantly, as far as The Satanic Scholar is concerned, into the Satan of Paradise Lost and the radical tradition of Romantic Satanism Milton’s apostate angel inspired. But to what extent is modern Satanism indebted to Miltonic-Romantic Satanism? To what extent does it depart from this tradition?
Satanists Shunning Romantics (Part 1 of “Romanticism: More Satanic than Satanism”)
(3/3/2017)
Gavin Baddeley on the Importance of Milton’s Satan
(4/5/2017)
When Satanism Overshot Romanticism: The Curious Case of Setianism: Part 1 of 2
(4/12/2017)
When Satanism Overshot Romanticism: The Curious Case of Setianism: Part 2 of 2
(4/24/2017)
Lucifer Aspired to be a God, Not a Goat: On Satanic Aesthetics (Part 1 of 2)
(12/30/2017)
Lucifer Aspired to be a God, Not a Goat: On Satanic Aesthetics (Part 2 of 2)
(2/19/2018)
NEO – ROMANTIC SATANISM
While The Satanic Scholar is dedicated primarily to perpetuating the memory of the magnificent Miltonic-Romantic Lucifer, the site also serves to draw attention to the influence of the grand tradition from which this distinguished Devil emerged on our cultural milieu. From pop culture to the political landscape, the Miltonic-Romantic Devil’s domain extends well beyond the bounds of literary criticism, the fallen archangel flourishing in the culture at large. Such echoes of Romantic Satanism signify a nascent movement of neo-Romantic Satanism, which is to say this day and age is the fallen Morningstar’s time to shine.
The Satanic Anti-Theism of the New Atheists: Part 1 of 2
(4/13/2016)
The Satanic Anti-Theism of the New Atheists: Part 2 of 2
(4/18/2016)
Lucifer for President? On the Return of Reactionary Satanizing
(7/22/2016)
“Rattle That Lock”: A Tribute to the Satan of Milton and Doré
(10/4/2016)
Super Nintendo Satan: Delta Heavy’s “White Flag” Video
(10/7/2016)
The Ambivalence of Horror’s Homage to Milton: The Video for GosT’s “Arise”
(10/14/2016)
Castlevania Summons (and Vanquishes) the Miltonic-Romantic Satan
(10/16/2016)
Christopher Hitchens: Anti-Theism and the Devil’s Party
(7/25/2017)
From Scripture to Superbook: A History of Lucifer and the War in Heaven
(8/23/2017)
THE PARADISE LOST FILM
While all attempts at transforming John Milton’s sublime vision that is Paradise Lost into a film have been doomed to failure, the past decade or so saw Milton’s epic poem nearly translated to the silver screen, the Miltonic-Romantic Lucifer coming as close as ever to at long last staking his flag on cinematic soil, hitherto predominantly saturated with Satans either medievally monstrous or lightheartedly comical. Given that film remains the most popular artistic medium, the prospect of Milton’s sympathetic Satan dominating the big screen as the star of a mega-budget, Hollywood blockbuster adaptation of Paradise Lost is noteworthy, as this would be the most glaring example of the fallen archangel’s current cultural ascension.
A Devil of a Decade: The Rise and Fall of the Paradise Lost Film: Part 1 of 2
(7/18/2016)
A Devil of a Decade: The Rise and Fall of the Paradise Lost Film: Part 2 of 2
(7/27/2016)
The Guy from The Hangover as Lucifer
(8/3/2016)
Onetime Paradise Lost Director Was of the Devil’s Party—and Knows It
(10/26/2016)
Getting Past the Milton of It All?
(11/25/2016)
From Big Screen to Small: Paradise Lost as “Biblical Games of Thrones” TV Series
(6/14/2017)
VERTIGO’S LUCIFER
Lucifer is the mature fantasy series of DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint—spun off from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman—and its titular angelic anti-hero Lucifer Morningstar is the true heir of the Miltonic-Romantic Satan. Lucifer ran for 75 issues under writer Mike Carey between 1999 and 2006, and in late 2015—in time for the premiere of the Lucifer show on the Fox network—the Vertigo series was renewed with Holly Black at the helm. A lordly, liberty-loving Lucifer in relentless pursuit of absolute autonomy, the fallen angel has not been portrayed in such a Romantic light since the heyday of Romantic Satanism.
Why Vertigo’s Lucifer Morningstar Matters: Part 1 of 4
(1/15/2016)
Why Vertigo’s Lucifer Morningstar Matters: Part 2 of 4
(1/16/2016)
Why Vertigo’s Lucifer Morningstar Matters: Part 3 of 4
(1/18/2016)
Why Vertigo’s Lucifer Morningstar Matters: Part 4 of 4
(1/19/2016)
Lucifer on Fox – Review of First Season
(1/27/2016 – 5/16/2016)
Lucifer on Fox – What Could Have Been
(5/26/2016)
Holly Black’s Yearlong Lucifer Run
(1/14/2017)