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. 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. An 1892 French book Le Diable au XIXe siècle (The Devil in the 19th Century", 1892), written by "Dr. Bataille" (actually Jogand-Pagès himself) 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.

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), 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". 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.