The Taxil hoax was an 1890s hoax of exposure by Léo Taxil intended to mock not only

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

but also the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's opposition to it.

Taxil and Freemasonry

Léo Taxil was the pen name of Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès, who had been accused earlier of libel regarding a book he wrote called ''The Secret Loves of Pope Pius IX''. On April 20, 1884,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

published an encyclical, '' Humanum genus'', that said that the human race was: Diana Vaughan - Mémoires d'une ex-palladiste parfaite, initiée, indépendante

Diana Vaughan - Mémoires d'une ex-palladiste parfaite, initiée, indépendante

After this encyclical, Taxil underwent a public, feigned conversion to Roman Catholicism and announced his intention of repairing the damage he had done to the true faith. The first book produced by Taxil after his conversion was a four-volume history of Freemasonry, which contained fictitious eyewitness verifications of their participation in Satanism. With a collaborator who published as "Dr. Karl Hacks", Taxil wrote another book called ''Le Diable au XIXe siècle'' (''The Devil in the Nineteenth Century''), which introduced a new character, Diana Vaughan, a supposed descendant of the Rosicrucian alchemist Thomas Vaughan. The book contained many tales about her encounters with incarnate demons, one of whom was supposed to have written prophecies on her back with its tail, and another who played the piano while in the shape of a crocodile. Diana was supposedly involved in Satanic Freemasonry but was redeemed when one day she professed admiration for

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

, at whose name the demons were put to flight. As Diana Vaughan, Taxil published a book called ''Eucharistic Novena'', a collection of prayers which were praised by the Pope.

Palladists

In the Taxil hoax, Palladists were members of an alleged Theistic Satanist cult within

. According to Taxil, Palladism was a religion practiced within the highest orders of Freemasonry. Adherents worshipped

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...

and interacted with demons. 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 Albert Pike (December 29, 1809April 2, 1891) was an American author, poet, orator, editor, lawyer, jurist and Confederate general who served as an associate justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court in exile from 1864 to 1865. He had previously se ...

and created by the Italian liberal patriot and author

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...

Arthur Edward Waite Arthur Edward Waite (2 October 1857 – 19 May 1942) was a British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider–Waite tarot deck (also called the Rider–Waite–Smith ...

, 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 " e 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. A supposed Diana Vaughan published ''Confessions of an Ex-Palladist'' in 1895.

Confession

On April 19, 1897, Léo Taxil called a press conference at which, he claimed, he would introduce Diana Vaughan to the press. At the conference instead he announced that his revelations about the Freemasons were fictitious. He thanked the Catholic

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

for their assistance in giving publicity to his wild claims. Taxil's confession was printed, in its entirety, in the Parisian newspaper ''Le Frondeur'', on April 25, 1897, titled: ''Twelve Years Under the Banner of the Church, The Prank Of Palladism. Miss Diana Vaughan–The Devil At The Freemasons. A Conference held by M. Léo Taxil, at the Hall of the Geographic Society in Paris''. The hoax material is still cited to this day. The

Chick Publications Chick tracts are short evangelical gospel tracts, originally created by American publisher and religious cartoonist Jack Chick in the 1960s. His company Chick Publications has continued to print these tracts, in addition to those by new write ...

tract, ''The Curse of

Baphomet Baphomet is a deity allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templar. that subsequently became incorporated into various occult and Western esoteric traditions. The name ''Baphomet'' appeared in trial transcripts for the Inquisition of the Knights ...

'', and Randy Noblitt's book on

satanic ritual abuse The Satanic panic is a moral panic consisting of over 12,000 unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (SRA, sometimes known as ritual abuse, ritualistic abuse, organized abuse, or sadistic ritual abuse) starting in the United States in th ...

, '' Cult and Ritual Abuse'', both cite Taxil's fictitious claims.

A later interview with Taxil

In the magazine ''National Magazine, an Illustrated American Monthly'', Volume XXIV: April – September, 1906, pages 228 and 229, Taxil is quoted as giving his true reasons behind the hoax. Ten months later, on March 31, 1907, Taxil died.

The Luciferian quote

A series of paragraphs about Lucifer are frequently associated with the Taxil hoax. They read: While this quotation was published by Abel Clarin de la Rive in his ''Woman and Child in Universal Freemasonry'', it does not appear in Taxil's writings proper, though it is sourced in a footnote to Diana Vaughan, Taxil's creation.

Popular culture

The Palladists are the name of the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

Satanist society in

Val Lewton Val Lewton (May 7, 1904 – March 14, 1951) was a Russian-American novelist, film producer and screenwriter best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. His son, also named Val Lewton, was a pain ...

's film ''

The Seventh Victim ''The Seventh Victim'' is a 1943 American horror film noir directed by Mark Robson and starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Kim Hunter, and Hugh Beaumont. Written by DeWitt Bodeen and Charles O'Neal, and produced by Val Lewton f ...

''. The Palladists play a major role in the latter part of

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...

's novel ''

The Prague Cemetery ''The Prague Cemetery'' ( it, Il cimitero di Praga) is a novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It was first published in October 2010; the English translation by Richard Dixon appeared a year later. Shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Ficti ...

'' (2011).

References

External links

"A hoax", ''l'Illustration'', May 1. 1897- No. 2827: Paris, France.

complete e-text of Waite's debunking of Taxil.

* ''

'', a novel by

, 2010
National Magazine, an Illustrated American Monthly, Volume XXIV: April, 1906 - September, 1906

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taxil Hoax 19th-century hoaxes Catholicism and Freemasonry Freemasonry-related controversies Freemasonry in France History of Freemasonry Hoaxes in France Satanism April 1897 events