Palladists

Palladists is a name for an alleged Theistic Satanist society or members of that society. The name Palladian comes from Pallas and refers to wisdom and learning.[1] It is of no relation to the architectural Palladian style of Andrea Palladio.

History

In 1891 Léo Taxil (Gabriel Jogand-Pagès) and Adolphe Ricoux claimed to have discovered a Palladian Society.[2] An 1892 French book Le Diable au XIXe siècle (The Devil in the 19th Century", 1892), written by "Dr. Bataille" (actually Jogand-Pagès himself)[3] alleged that Palladists were Satanists based in Charleston, South Carolina, headed by the American Freemason Albert Pike and created by the Italian liberal patriot and author Giuseppe Mazzini.[4]

Arthur Edward Waite, debunking the existence of the group in Devil-Worship in France, or The Question of Lucifer, ch. II: "The Mask of Masonry" (London, 1896),[5] reports according to "the works of Domenico Margiotta and Dr Bataille" that "[t]he Order of Palladium founded in Paris 20 May 1737 or Sovereign Council of Wisdom" was a "Masonic diabolic order". Dr. Bataille asserted that women would supposedly be initiated as "Companions of Penelope".[6][7] According to Dr. Bataille, the society had two orders, "Adelph" and "Companion of Ulysses"; however, the society was broken up by French law enforcement a few years after its founding.[8]

A supposed Diana Vaughan published Confessions of an Ex-Palladist in 1895. On April 19, 1897, Léo Taxil called a press conference at which, he claimed, he would introduce Diana Vaughan to the press. At the conference instead he announced that his revelations about the Freemasons were fictitious. He thanked the Catholic clergy for their assistance in giving publicity to his wild claims.[9]

Media

The Palladists are the name of the Greenwich Village Satanist society in Val Lewton's film The Seventh Victim.

The Palladists play a major role in the latter part of Umberto Eco's novel The Prague Cemetery (2011).

See also

References
  1. Palladian - Definition at the #1 Online Dictionary
  2. Waite, Arthur Edward The Hermetic Museum 2006 Lulu
  3. Characterised by Waite as "a perfervid narrative issued in penny numbers with absurd illustrations of a highly sensational type; in a word, Le Diable au XIXe Siècle, which is the title given to his memoirs by the present witness, connects in manner and appearance with that class of literature which is known as the "penny dreadful." (Waite, Devil Worship in France, ch. VII (on-line text).
  4. p.204 Hastings, James, Editor Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 12 Varda Books
  5. On-line text
  6. Reported word-for-word in Lewis Spence, An Encyclopaedia of Occultism, 1920 (reprinted 2006) p.314
  7. As seen in the blurb for The Internet Sacred Text Archive edition of Devil Worship in France and the conclusion, Waite was debunking the story of Palladists
  8. ""Pagan Protection Center" website". Archived from the original on 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
  9. "The Confession of Leo Taxil". April 25, 1897. Retrieved 2007-10-25.
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