The face of Satan is one that is ever changing: the purveyor of evil, the bringer of light, and most unexpectedly, the liberator of women. But how has this devilish symbolism morphed from one that was shunned to one that was embraced?
In the beginning, the Devil was solely a creature of malice, and the seducer of sin. Relatively early on, artists incorporated feminine features onto the Devil; a debilitating reminder to women of the fruitful temptation bestowed upon Eve in that fateful Genesis verse.
And when witch hunts became more prevalent, women were once again demonised for their “susceptibility” to the Devil’s charms, and continuously persecuted as witches. Without this narrative, women may not have been scapegoated to such a grave extent.
The Romantic Reshaping
The reshaping of Satan's image came about during the Romantics era of the late 18th and 19th centuries. Paintings and poems alike were revising the traditional perspectives of the Devil. It's around this time where the terms Satan and Lucifer became interchangeable, providing new avenues of interpretations.
Notable works include John Milton's Paradise Lost, published in 1667, and PB Shelley’s The Revolt of Islam in 1879. The latter depicts a revolution, with Cythna, a woman, at the forefront of it. She is regarded as a “satanic feminist heroine” by Swedish author and academic Per Faxneld.
In Faxneld's book Satanic Feminist: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture, he documents in great length how these perspectives were changed and embraced by feminist and occultist figures. If you are interested in reading more, we recommend buying his book - it's a little costly, but stands as the only in-depth source for the undeniable relationship between Satanism and feminism.
The Devil is in the Details
By the time of the 19th and early 20th century, Satan had been utilised by many female writers, with their words weaving in the notion of the devil being a figure of liberation. It became a popular countermyth in occultist ideologies, and in many ways, birthed feminism as we know it now.
It’s important to know that these individuals were not “devil worshippers”, but rather "devil embracers". Their goal was to twist and manipulate existing perspectives of Satan, and use it as a tool for resistance.
“When for ‘witches’, we read ‘women', we gain a fuller comprehension of the cruelties inflicted by the church upon this portion of humanity”
― Matilda Joslyn Gage; Women, Church and State, 1906
Matilda Joslyn Gage was an American author and is primarily known for her role in the first ripples of the feminist revolution.
In 1906, Gage published her book, Women, Church and State, an unapologetic criticism of the relationship between religion and misogyny. She zeroes in on the countless witch hunts that took place, and how they reflected the prejudices of the time.
Before Christianity, it was typically only males who were tried as witches - the word Wicca even means 'male witch' - but due to the authoritative role of the Church, it quickly became a sea of women being stoned and drowned for simply owning black cats.
In her book, Gage outlines the how risky it would have been for a woman to be intellectual, and how it would result in them being branded a witch. It was believed that such knowledge was “evil and dangerous”, and could only come from the Devil himself.
According to Faxneld, this critique by Gage presented the early modern witch cult as a “satanic rebellion against patriarchal injustice”.
“May I never, I say, become that abnormal, merciless animal, that deformed monstrosity— a virtuous woman. Anything, Devil, but that.”
― Mary MacLane; I Await the Devil's Coming, 1902
Another prolific figure in the satanic feminist movement was Mary MacLane. She was a popular author in her time, but was controversial, both on paper and in life.
Her debut work, a memoir published as The Story of Mary MacLane , details her lengthy fantasies of marrying the devil, and her wilfully succumbing to his tempting ways.
This in itself was a stark recreation of how Eve was depicted in the fall narrative; she was not weak or submissive, but instead empowered by her choices.
MacLane’s collection was originally - and appropriately- titled I Await the Devil’s Coming, but was of course met with contention. However, in 2013, over a century since it was first released, it was re-published under McLane's chosen title.
Despite its controversial motifs, the memoir emulates the raw and unflinching nature of the writer, as MacLane speaks openly about her bisexuality and battles with self-esteem, as well as the challenges imposed by the patriarchy.
And for a 19 year old living in an era of repression, that’s nothing short of radical.
“One doesn't become a witch to run around being harmful, or to run around being helpful either, a district visitor on a broomstick. It's to escape all that - to have a life of one's own, not an existence doled out to by others.”
― Sylvia Townsend Warner; Lolly Willowes, 1926
Sylvia Townsend Warner was a musicologist, poet and novelist. Her prime focus in life was to subvert societal norms and to empower women, which were both recurring themes in her works.
Her debut novel, Lolly Willowes; or the Loving Huntsman is both fantastical and critical in nature, and is argued to be one the most potent examples of Satanic feminism. In the story, Lolly Willowes flees her controlling family, and joins a witch cult, finding herself both liberated and empowered by the Devil.
Warner, without hesitation, criticises the gender traditions that existed at the time, and in her writings, used witchcraft as a symbolism that no longer stood for repression and inferiority.
What these authors achieved through their words is truly magickal. A symbol that once only represented inherent suffering was transformed into an emblem of hope for those suffering. Gage, MacLane, and Warner embraced the very essence of the Devil, and the empowerment of Eve's disobedience. And there is no doubt of the significance it had in the early days of the feminist revolution.