Were practitioners of black magic and worshipers of dark gods and goddesses (particular the equivalent of Satanic archetypes) not necessarily welcomed by the mainstream folks in pagan religion and possibly even openly persecuted?

[LegateLivius]

I read Fushigi Yugi which is heavily based on Chinese mythology and ancient religions. The antagonist of the story comes from an ancient tribe of worshipers of demon Gods and they were wiped out by the governments of the lands they live in for engaging in a taboo religion.

In addition I also seen Sony Chiba's Ninja Wars and in the movie Buddhist Warrior monks were sent to raid a temple of people who worship Akuma, Japanese equivalent of demon lords, and mass fighting ensure between the dark cult and the Buddhist militants.

In the early Prince of Persia games not only is Jafar shown as evil for using dark spells, but I remember at least one installment showing he worships Ahriman or some ancient evil Zoroastrian god and the Prince fights his way to stop his ritual.

In Asterix the Gaul a few chapters of comic book stories has Asterix stopping some druids who were abusing the Celtic magick to summon a powerful creature or casting curses on people and other cliched use of black magic shown in modern TV programs like Supernatural. Despite Asterix as a Gaul worshipping Celtic gods himself.

So it makes me wonder....... Were witches and other people who practised black magic not necessarily accepted in contemporary society and same for pagans and polytheists who worshiped dark gods who were evil spirits esp those who were the equivalent of Satan in their religion?

Were they possibly even persecuted? Sure these are all works of fiction but Ninja Wars was explicitly revolved around on Buddhist cliches in Japanese culture and Fushigi Yugi was specifically based on various sacred customs of Chinese B.C. The fact that even non-Christian non-Western cultures are showing the persecution of devil-worshipers and black magick is really making me curious.

[caldrail]

Roman paganism didn't have the good/evil duality that Persian faiths introduced and Christianity adopted. That said, accusations of malign magic and the evil eye were fairly common since the Romans were superstitious (and accusational), but that was human malignancy - not divine.

There wasn't a persecution of 'dark faith believers' until people started disliking Christians. Early Christianity was not a unified movement at all and there were very diverse sects among them, and these got a bad name via rumour and misunderstandings. Accusations of drowning babies, drinking blood, cannibalism, and so forth, though the treatment meted out by Nero seeking scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 won them some sympathy.

What you have to realise is that Roman paganism didn't work like Christianity. Pagan worship was conducted in the same manner as the client/patron system that infused their society, people went to temples to ask for favours or honour their chosen god in the same way as visiting the atrium of a patrician's home every morning. There were public festivals too, of course, but paganism didn't have the communal worship of later religions, and pagan priests were available to interpret omens or administer prayers, not to lead congregations as they did later.

So the persecution of evil is something from the later christianised era, not pagan Rome.

[LegateLivius]

On 4/2/2024 at 8:11 AM, caldrail said:

Roman paganism didn't have the good/evil duality that Persian faiths introduced and Christianity adopted. That said, accusations of malign magic and the evil eye were fairly common since the Romans were superstitious (and accusational), but that was human malignancy - not divine.

There wasn't a persecution of 'dark faith believers' until people started disliking Christians. Early Christianity was not a unified movement at all and there were very diverse sects among them, and these got a bad name via rumour and misunderstandings. Accusations of drowning babies, drinking blood, cannibalism, and so forth, though the treatment meted out by Nero seeking scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 won them some sympathy.

What you have to realise is that Roman paganism didn't work like Christianity. Pagan worship was conducted in the same manner as the client/patron system that infused their society, people went to temples to ask for favours or honour their chosen god in the same way as visiting the atrium of a patrician's home every morning. There were public festivals too, of course, but paganism didn't have the communal worship of later religions, and pagan priests were available to interpret omens or administer prayers, not to lead congregations as they did later.

So the persecution of evil is something from the later christianised era, not pagan Rome.

I know its borderline going off topic territory but I have to ask why? As I read into Chinese religions, I am amazed at the amount of witch hunting various Chinese dynasties did. Fushigi Yugi actually downplays how much Qin. Tang. and other reigning monarchs went out to hunt people who worshiped what was deemed as evil spirits in Taoism, Confucianism, and other Chinese religions and philosophies. They were still hunting down witches even as late as Mao Tse Tsung's war with Chiang Kai-Shek before the Japanese invasion I learned!

And since I mentioned Japan, I am amazed at how the Sohei Samurai monks not only did purgings of cults and other people who worshipped not just Akuma but dark Yokai and other evil spirits irl but its such a common part of their pre-Meiji culture that its impossible to avoid if you read Japanese comics or watch Japanese movies and cinema or even just play video games and computer software games (and I'm not even getting into novels nevermind ancient literature).

So I'm wondering about the pathway Roman paganism took?

[caldrail]

Roman paganism was not an organised religion, it was the same social function as the client/patron relationship only this time using temples and shrines instead of atriums, and unlike the wealthy patricians, the deity was invariably absent and to the supplicant, might not have even bothered to listen, which was why a small sacrifice was such a good idea - you could even buy ready made sacrifice packages from your local priest. There were festivals of course (and from what Varro tells us, a great many of them) which were a communal function, but there was no religious group beyond influential collegia such as the Vestal Virgins.