It is often claimed there were no systematic attempts at creating a satanic ideology before Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in 1966. However, as I have shown in my book Mörkrets apostlar (2006), several such examples can in fact be found, most of them in non-English-speaking countries. This is probably an important reason why they have remained largely neglected by later satanists, since the post-war satanic milieu has been dominated by anglophone ideologists. Scholars have also tended to focus almost exclusively on Anglo-Saxon satanism.

Here I will shine some light on one of these pioneering early satanists, the Danish dairy salesman, alchemist and Luciferian Freemason Ben Kadosh (1872–1936), who published a pamphlet propagating satanism in 1906. The chapter commences with some biographical facts concerning Kadosh, with special attention given to his interactions with men of letters and fellow esotericists (the latter also being discussed further on in the text). It then attempts an encapsulation and contextualization of his system of thought, demonstrating how many of his seemingly idiosyncratic ideas are in fact comfortably embedded in contemporary discourses of various types, but also pointing out the highly original elements present. Lastly, I will discuss how the teachings of Kadosh have undergone a somewhat unexpected renaissance in the satanic milieu of today, functioning as a tool for legitimation in a Luciferian esoteric group fond of geneaologies and pedigrees.