Satanic Witches: The Church of Night
The fact there's many covens to be found all around the world, is something anyone who has watched the show can confirm. Many however, we never even manage to catch a glimpse of. Thankfully, this is vastly different when it comes to the Church of Night. Which is quite possibly the best known coven of them all within the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and for good reason! Let's see what this group of witches is all about, shall we?
Churches of Darkness
While the history of the Church of Night in Greendale cannot be traced that far back, the same cannot be said about the collective it's considered a part of. The Churches of Darkness, which is led by the Anti-Pope, is made up out of several different Churches. The Church of Night and the Church of Shadows are but two of many that were created as a counterpart of the Roman Catholic Church.
It is mandatory for the covens who are a part of this collective to worship Satan, making them all to be considered Satanic witches. While we've all heard of the Book of the Beast which a witch has to sign in order to join during their Dark Baptism, their actual holy book is known as the Satanic bible.
Branches of Magical Arts
There are many rules a Satanic witch needs to stick to as a part of one of these covens and thus, also as a part of the Church of Night. They for one, cannot take part in any Roman Catholic rites. Nor are they allowed to expose themselves as a witch to mortals. Both of these acts will lead to excommunication from the coven.
Due to their darker nature, members of the Churches of Darkness, specialize in a wide variety of branches of magic. One in particular is Necromancy, which is also subject to the most rules and laws. Despite their darker tendencies, Satanic witches do not wish to throw off the natural order of things. Nor do they want to mess with the cosmic balance.
Rise of the Church of Night
It comes as no surprise that the Church of Night does not truly has its origin in Greendale itself. As a matter of fact, like many covens active in the United States to date, they can be traced back to the European continent. For the Church, this was Scotland, to be exact, where they were heavily hunted by witch hunters. So much so, they needed help to escape.
Help came in the form of a mortal by the name of Dorothea Putnam, who managed to secure a boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Sadly, times were tough for witches and even in the town of Greendale, they weren't left alone. This led to them eventually sacrificing thirteen of their members while the remainder continued practicing their witchcraft in a more subdued way to not bring more bloodlust upon them.
High Priest(ess)
After the death of the Greendale Thirteen, Edward Spellman stepped up to become the leader and High Priest the Church of Night needed. Not only was he also the Headmaster of the Academy of Unseen Arts, he was also arguably the most progressive warlock within the coven. His aim was to modernize their customs and traditions. This would inevitably lead to a more tolerant view within the witch community.
Upon his death, which could be argued wasn't the accident many made it out to be, Faustus Blackwood ended up taking over. Reverting the Church of Night back to its old ways with the help of a faction he set up within the coven due to disagreements with its former leadership. Namely, the Judas Society.
During his time, the church was renamed to the Church of Judas, which likewise, followed the Five Facets of Judas. Tenets which were incredibly narrow-minded and misogynistic. Quite the opposite of Edward Spellman's Manifesto which was in use prior but had not yet been approved by the Anti-Pope. Nor would it ever get the approval they were hoping for, as Edward's plane would crash on its way to the Vatican.
Decline and Downfall
Due to Sabrina Spellman's rise to power and being placed by the Dark Lord's side, Faustus is eventually forced to disregard his position of High Priest within the Church of Night. In a last desperate attempt to keep his power however, the man ends up poisoning the entire coven. Inevitably bringing its number down to just a handful when Zelda Spellman steps in to take over as its leader.
Shortly after that, the decision is made to no longer follow Satanic beliefs. Instead, under guidance of the Spellmans, the coven invokes Hecate in hopes of regaining their magical abilities. This is how the days of the Church of Night come to an end and the coven is reformed as the Order of Hecate.