AHC: Traditionally evil being worshiped by a major religion

Your challenge if you choose to accept it is for a major and mainstream religious group to worship a being that is considered to be traditionally evil (Think a religion worshiping Angra Mainyu, or one worshiping Ahriman, or one worshiping Loki or Fenris, or a group that worships Satan.)

This group needs not to be morally evil and they can/most likely will add things that modern people would consider morally correct into their religion. For example a form of Gnostism that worships Satan as the true god and a rebel against the evil Demiurge would count as fulfilling this challenge.

Bonus points if the religion can coexist peacefully alongside their opposite religion. For example the Gnostic Satanist coexisting alongside a group of Christians.

I heard that Loki being evil is cuz of Christian influence, maybe some sort of schism in Norse Paganism after contact with Christianity and one of them views Loki as a more nuanced force or a genuine positive light.

A less possible, more ASB example could be maybe an proto-Communal anarchist group rises up in Egypt and they worship Apophis because of its representation with Chaos over the "tyrannical RA", maybe they spread the idea that chaos= freedom and=/=destruction and entrophy and that Ra rewrote the history to make Apophis look bad.
 
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The loa of Haitian Voudou are considered to be evil by many, especially the strictly Catholic upper class. However, Voudou predates colonialism, and in West Africa it certainly didn't have any social stigma, so I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.

They also have two distinct aspects for each loa, as I understand it. There is the rada rite, directed toward the more positive aspects, and the Petra and conga rites, directed toward the more negative. One particular loa, Baron Samedi, is worshipped in both, as he both brings death and keeps it at bay. Indeed, one of his duties is to prevent the creation of zombies by ensuring that the dead decay swiftly.
 
I heard that Loki being evil is cuz of Christian influence, maybe some sort of schism in Norse Paganism after contact with Christianity and one of them views Loki as a more nuanced force.

Early Christianity regarded almost all trickster or questioner figures as evil, which is rather ironic given how thoroughly Christ challenged the status quo.
 
They also have two distinct aspects for each loa, as I understand it. There is the rada rite, directed toward the more positive aspects, and the Petra and conga rites, directed toward the more negative. One particular loa, Baron Samedi, is worshipped in both, as he both brings death and keeps it at bay. Indeed, one of his duties is to prevent the creation of zombies by ensuring that the dead decay swiftly.

He's like of a shepherd for the dead, and keeps the cycle of life going.
 
Wouldn't the worshipers of Set beating out those of Horus be an easy one for this?

In that interpretation, Set probably wouldn't be portrayed as evil.

When the Hyksos conquered Egypt, they syncretized their storm god with Set. I can't imagine that the Egyptians took that very well at first... but on the other hand, by the XIXth dynasty, the cult of Set had royal patronage, and like Kali, he was never believed to be completely evil.
 

Redhand

Banned
I'd say that Latin American Catholicism is extremely conscious of evil entities and its possible that this obsession with evil could manifest itself into outright devil worship in the cases of social revolt, much like how rebellious members of Puritan Society actually legitimately worshipped the devil. In Latin America, where conflict and lack of stability are mainstays of life, its possible that devil worship could catch hold, and with time, institutionalize given the right political and social conditions.
 
When the Hyksos conquered Egypt, they syncretized their storm god with Set. I can't imagine that the Egyptians took that very well at first... but on the other hand, by the XIXth dynasty, the cult of Set had royal patronage, and like Kali, he was never believed to be completely evil.

I should point out again, that Kali was never believed to be evil at all.
 
I'd say that Latin American Catholicism is extremely conscious of evil entities and its possible that this obsession with evil could manifest itself into outright devil worship in the cases of social revolt, much like how rebellious members of Puritan Society actually legitimately worshipped the devil. In Latin America, where conflict and lack of stability are mainstays of life, its possible that devil worship could catch hold, and with time, institutionalize given the right political and social conditions.
Don't some cartels OTL worship a death god (saint)? Santa Muerte?
 
Your challenge if you choose to accept it is for a major and mainstream religious group to worship a being that is considered to be traditionally evil (Think a religion worshiping Angra Mainyu, or one worshiping Ahriman, or one worshiping Loki or Fenris, or a group that worships Satan.)

This group needs not to be morally evil and they can/most likely will add things that modern people would consider morally correct into their religion. For example a form of Gnostism that worships Satan as the true god and a rebel against the evil Demiurge would count as fulfilling this challenge.

Bonus points if the religion can coexist peacefully alongside their opposite religion. For example the Gnostic Satanist coexisting alongside a group of Christians.

A problem is that in polytheism there really isn't singular deities or beings considered evil. It's only once you get heno and monotheism that opposing deities get that label.
 
A less possible, more ASB example could be maybe an proto-Communal anarchist group rises up in Egypt and they worship Apophis because of its representation with Chaos over the "tyrannical RA", maybe they spread the idea that chaos= freedom and=/=destruction and entrophy and that Ra rewrote the history to make Apophis look bad.

Not going to happen. When your entire society depends on regular inundations of the Nile for its survival and a single enemy raid could destroy everything you have, the idea that chaos is good and order and predictability bad is going to be a very hard sell.
 
There is an argument that Zoroastrianism's (or pre-Zoroastrian Iranic) reversal of Devas and Asuras (Daevas and Ahuras in Old Persian I think) relative to Indian religion could fit this description, although at that point, a real moral axis is hard to find in that religious context.
Even worse, the origins of Zoroastrianism and its relationships with pre-existing cults are quite murky.

I think this is one of the closest you can get. The Yazidi religion of Tawus Melek is only interpreted as 'Satanical" by the Abrahamic (mostly Muslim I believe) because of the fact Melek Taus refused to bow before Adam because of respect for a vow and Satan did because of conceited pride.

Regarding the Indo-Iranian religion thing I find it interesting (and I got this idea from a novel. Don't judge me) that the 'Asuras' (Dravidian lords) may have fled westward when the 'Devas' (Aryan cheifs invaded) in search of their allies, the Elamites.

Yet when they arrived they found the Aryan's cousins, the Iranians. The 'Asuras' (I'm guessing) must have been significantly richer than the Iranians whon they probably impressed and got turned into angels by.
 
Don't some cartels OTL worship a death god (saint)? Santa Muerte?

Santa Muerte has long been around in Mexico and Chican@ communities. She's more or less the Christianized goddess of the underworld. She's grown into patron of time (since no one, rich or poor, wharo or Indio can escape death=great equalizer) and outcasts. The poor to LGBT-Q folks to thieves and narcos all pay her respects. In other words she's not evil, but an unofficial saint that the Catholic Church frowns upon.
 
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This is similar to the Twins of the Haudenosaunee. Their names are often translated as Good Twin and Bad Twin in English, but those are really misrepresentations of how they're viewed. One is the incarnation of more positive things and other is more negative aspects life, but both are necessary for existence to function. Both aspects can be found in all living things that connect us back to the Creator.

Well shit.

Good thing I have the "but it's an ATL!" defense going for me when it comes to anthropological accuracy.
 
How plausible is the existence of a Zoroastrian equivalent of Theistic Satanism that worships Angra Mainyu instead of Ahura Mazda?

Not much.
At any rate, it is unlikely that it may gain any major traction.
A scenario like that has been suggested upthread, but it seems really far out of plausibility.
 
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