Interesting article, but he's not really talking about anything new - it's well known at this point that accusations of Satanic witchcraft and Demonology as it was called by King James I (first of England or sixth of Scotland depending on how you count, monarchies are weird) were tools of political maneuvering, asset seizure and assassination. There's also a long, rich history of accusations of witchcraft being the basis for the mass execution and extermination of entire Christian sects, weirdly prominently. From the covenanters to the Knights Templar, a hell of a lot of believers were killed because they swore loyalty to god or the church, not the crown. Knights Templar are a classic example, you can read all about it in your Complete Book of Demonolatry pg 120-121 but to give you the gist in 1307 King Phillip IV arrested the entire order on the basis of it being a Satanic cult, on pretty shaky evidence - the main reason for the arrests was seizure of assets and investments, and the king owed the Templars a great deal of money.
If you want to delve into the topic with more detail, I recommend the following books...
- Malleus Maleficarum (Or, the Hammer of Witches)
- Holy Bible, KJV Edition (I recommend this version specifically so you can see the progression from King James V to King James VI / I and get the context behind the developing Satanic panic of the time)
(I actually don't have great books to recommend yet on King James the Sixth, still reading a bunch to try and get the best recommendation - in the meantime, Scottish History Tours on YouTube is excellent)
- Demonology, by King James I (Given how fundamental this book is to the development of modern Satanism, this is a really important read. It's also complete bullcrap mostly
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
Worth your time if only to understand propaganda)
- Devils of Loudun, The Alleged Possession of the Urusline Nuns, and the Trial and Execution of Urbain Grandier, Told by an Eye-Witness (Originally published in 1887 and limited to 250 copies, you can get reprints from Forgotten Books or read it for free thanks to the Gutenberg Project -
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45282 )
- The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology (Comprehensive doesn't even begin to cover this one, highly, HIGHLY recommended)
Christianity in particular has a fascination with rewriting history in it's favor constantly, that the other major faiths centered on the same god (ie, Islam, Judaism) doesn't suffer from. In particular in those faiths, there are less schisms and there's a tendency for more modern treatises and translations of a text or subject to stand alongside the original texts, warts and all to give some context of the time. Christianity? Not so much. Named entities became Daimons in Greek bibles of the 2nd century, Daimon became Demon, Dante Alighieri expanded Hell in the 14th century to also include every believer of every faith that wasn't Christianity, and the greater church ran with the PR and propaganda, pagan faiths were demonised alongside actual Satanists and the good old fashioned schisms of heretic believers from a different denomination (and this IN PARTICULAR makes research difficult, alongside historical revisionism). Christianity in particular has a long and bloody history of rewrites and editing.
Hope the book recommendations help!