Theistic Satanism

Classic literary Satanist novel gets favorable review on Religion Dispatches website

2011-06-16T08:21:00.003-04:00

Some good news:

Today the Religion Dispatches site published a favorable commentary on one of the classic works of literary Satanism, Revolt of the Angels by Anatole France, written back in 1914: Devil’s Bookmark: Sex and Drugs and Hating God by Bernard Schweizer, June 14, 2011.

Schweizer remarks: "What is interesting to me is the fact that Anatole France’s hatred of God — what I call an absolute misotheism, because it seeks to destroy God rather than wrestle and quarrel with him — is happily wedded to benevolent Satanism. ... He can do this under the guise of satire, which fits his discourse rather like a jester’s motley outfit."

Schweizer's article about Revolt of the Angels is the latest in a series of Religion Dispatches articles by Schweizer on "misotheism" - hatred of God.

More about Cimminnee Holt and the definition of "Satanism"

2011-06-11T19:06:00.002-04:00

Earlier today, I posted Cimminnee Holt and the definition of "Satanism", about a religion scholar who has accepted the Church of Satan's sectarian definition of the word "Satanism." My post earlier today was my preliminary response to a news story about Cimminnee Holt, written before I found a copy of her paper itself.

Later, I read the "Methodology" section of her paper and found that she had discussed the terminology issue. I responded in a post on another blog of mine, More about Cimminnee Holt and the definition of “Satanism”. After commenting on her reasons, I concluded:

.... It is likely that Holt's acceptance of the Church of Satan's definition of "Satanism" will continue to be an anomaly among religion scholars. After all, as Per Faxneld told me during one of his visits to New York City, theistic forms of Satanism are likely to be more interesting to religion scholars than the CoS worldview.

But we theistic Satanists shouldn't take this for granted. We need to prove to the academic world that we exist in sufficiently large numbers to be worth studying. So, if you are a theistic Satanist who does not want the CoS to succeed in their attempts to monopolize the definition of "Satanism," please respond ASAP to James Lewis's current survey.

Cimminnee Holt and the definition of "Satanism"

2011-06-11T09:23:00.000-04:00

Most new-religion scholars who have studied Satanism are aware that LaVeyan Satanism isn't the one and only form of Satanism. For some examples, see my 2006 page about The definition of "Satanism" according to new-religion scholars and other observers.

More recently, Per Faxneld, a Swedish historian of religion who is now writing a book on the history of Satanism, has told me he defines Satanism as any "system in which Satan is celebrated."

So I was a bit startled to come across the Canadian news story Satanism isn’t for devil worshippers, says Canadian researcher by Derek Abma, Montreal Gazette, June 4, 2011, about research by Cimminnee Holt, a graduate student in the department of religion at Montreal’s Concordia University. She is quoted as discussing Satanism strictly in terms of the Church of Satan's definition.

Using the word "Satanism" to mean LaVeyan Satanism is a little like using the workd "Christianity" to refer only to the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. Admittedly, all too many Satanist leaders today are even worse than Christians in their insistance on sectarian definitions of "Satanism." But a scholar should use more neutral terminology, it seems to me.

The Montreal Gazette story mentions that Cimminnee Holt recently had a research paper called "Death and Dying in the Satanic Worldview" published in the Journal of Religion and Culture. Judging by the description, the title should have been "Death and Dying in the LaVeyan Satanic Worldview." There isn't just one "Satanic worldview." For example, some (not all) theistic Satanists do believe in an afterlife. Some believe in reincarnation.

I wonder: Is she unaware of the existence of other public forms of Satanism? Or has she herself become a CoS partisan? I would like to encourage her to expand her research -- or at least to stop using a sectarian definition of the word "Satanism."

The news story also briefly mentions Scott Robb, a Canadian Satanist who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on Edmonton’s city council last October.

The reporter also solicited a disapproving quote from a Christian: Rev. Bruce Gregersen, general council officer of mission and ministry for the United Church of Canada, who is quoted as saying, “We do not support, in any way, taking lightly the nature of evil or, therefore, of Satan.” I wonder what practical significance, if any, a belief in Satan has for The United Church of Canada, which is one of the most liberal Christian denominations. Googling, I found no evidence that they perform exorcisms, for example.

What's happening now: Not an "apocalypse," but important battles nonetheless

2011-06-01T08:38:00.003-04:00

Lots of people today, including some Satanists, believe we are living in the era of an imminent Apocalypse. I personally see no reason to expect a full-fledged "apocalypse" - although I do believe that we are living in a very significant era. I also do believe that we need to take our enemies (e.g. the Christian religious right wing) seriously and work to counteract them.

We live in an era of increasing religious polarization. But religious polarization has had its ups and downs over the past few centuries. What's happening now is yet another upswing.

As for war, today's wars (which typically kill tens of thousands of people) are actually not nearly as bad as many of the wars of the 1900's (which killed millions).

And Christianity is not dying. Far from it. Christianity is growing in some places, shrinking in other places. The more middle-of-the-road sectors of Christianity are shrinking, but the more fanatical forms have been growing in many countries around the world, including the U.S.A., these past several decades. Perhaps Christianity will eventually die, but if so, that's likely to take at least another few centuries.

What is new is the growth of today's new religions plus
subcultures like the goth scene. Also new is today's increasing freedom for sexual minorities (at least in some countries). We are also living in a technological Golden Age. For all these reasons, one could say that we are living in the most "Satanic" era ever. And all these trends are likely to continue, albeit with ups and downs.

In the meantime, the Christian religious right wing is a formidable foe -- although, fortunately, it also has formidable opposition.

To all who send me friend requests on Facebook

2011-05-05T02:34:00.004-04:00

To all who send me friend requests on Facebook:

Hi! As you may know, I'm the founder of two in-person Satanist groups that meet in New York City, and I'm the author of a well-known website on theistic Satanism.

There are other ways I prefer to get to know people via Facebook, rather than via my Friends list. I have chosen not to accumulate a huge "Friends" list of people I don't yet know. But you're welcome to interact with me on Facebook in one or more of the following other ways:

1) One of the best ways for us to begin interacting on Facebook would be for you to "Like" and then post on my public page: Diane Vera, polytheistic Satanist in NYC. To enable yourself to post on my page, you'll need to click the "Like" button at the top of the page.

2) You're also invited to join either or both of the following Facebook groups, if they interest you: (a) Watching Satan's avowed enemies (about anti-Satanist panic mongers and the Christian religious right wing) and (b) Counter-Evangelism (a place to brainstorm literature to counteract the fundamentalist mindset; and also a place to share ideas on how to cope with any evangelizing Christians - or Muslims, etc. - in our lives.)

3) If you live in or near New York City, or if you travel to NYC now and then, you are invited to join the Meetup groups and Facebook groups/pages listed on the following page of my Theistic Satanism site: Attention, New Yorkers!, and to meet me in person at a public meeting of one of these groups.

4) For other ways to contact me, off of Facebook, please see: the contact info on my Theistic Satanism site.

I prefer to limit my Friends list to people I already know. But you and I can get to know each other via your participation in one or more of the above-mentioned Facebook groups/pages, or via my blogs, if you would like. We can then become Facebook "friends" later, after some interaction via one or more of the means mentioned above.

Finally, to ensure your ability to stay in touch with me via my Facebook pages and groups, please read the following:

Have you noticed that you are seeing updates or getting comments from only the same people lately? That's because FB made a change. You see posts only from people you've interacted with recently, not from everyone on your Friends list, nor from all the pages you "Like". To change this, scroll down to the bottom of the "News Feed" on the homepage and click on 'Edit Options,' then click on 'Show Posts From' and change the setting to 'All Of Your Friends and Pages'.

Even then, your "News Feed" still will normally show updates only from your friends, NOT from the pages you've liked. To see updates from pages, go to this page instead of your normal "News Feed." Or, on your normal "News Feed" page, click "Most Recent" (next to "Top News" at the top of your "News Feed"), then click the drop-down menu to the right of "Most Recent," then select "Pages." PLEASE LET ALL YOUR FRIENDS KNOW ABOUT THESE CHANGES TO FACEBOOK.

I look forward to hearing from you by the means mentioned above.

The Church of Azazel in the Supernatural Season 5 DVD set

2011-04-20T21:32:00.004-04:00

The Church of Azazel proto-congregation has been featured in a mass-media documentary, one of the "Special Features" in the DVD release of Supernatural Season 5. I recently received -- finally! -- my complimentary copy of the DVD's, a 6-disk set.

It took me a while to figure out where to find the interview with Church of Azazel members. So, to make it easier for others to find:

On disk 6, click on "Special features." Then click "Apocalypse survival guides." Wait a bit, until eventually you are taken to an old cassette player with a taped label on it saying "Play Me." Click the red button. After a brief monologue, you'll then be taken to a room containing an old TV set and a pair of double doors. Click the double doors. The doors open to a library, giving you a choice of three places you can click: an exit corridor, a bookcase, and a desk. Click the bookcase. You are then taken to a pile of VHS videotape documentaries. Click on "Search for Lucifer," the second tape from the bottom.

One part of this documentary is an interview with three members of our local group, including myself. I'm in shadow in this one. (I'm gradually rerranging my life so that I can more safely show my face in the future.) The interview is preceded by some annoying ookey-spookiness, including a reference to our group as a "cult." Hello? We're certainly not a "cult" in the perjorative sense in which that word has been used since the 1970's, i.e. an authoritarian group which aggressively proselytizes, isolates its members, etc. On the contrary, members and prospective members of the Church of Azazel are specifically encouraged to explore a wide-variety of religions and worldviews.

The interview is interspersed with a mini-ritual, the Affirmation of our common purpose. I have to say I'm not entirely happy with our performance. We sound awfully stilted. Then again, it's the first time we ever tried to do a ritual in front of a camera. Hopefully we'll do better next time.

The interview itself was pretty good, and was edited reasonably well.

The segment on the Church of Azazel is followed by an interview with a Church of Satan member who makes the usual CoS distinction between (atheistic symbolic) "Satanism" and "theistic Devil worship," claiming that that all "theistic Devil worshipers" are what I call Christian-based duotheists. Hopefully most viewers will have noticed that the Church of Azazel is a counter-example to his claim.

"Satanic ritual"? Or a Christian fundamentalist/Pentecostal/Charismatic/new-Apostolic attempt to drive out Satan?

2011-03-02T18:53:00.006-05:00

According to the news story Police told fire part of satanic ritual by Jennifer Baker, Cincinnati.com, March 2, 2011: "Charmaine Ranford, 25, of Lincoln Heights, faces one count of aggravated arson. ... Ranford is accused of purposely setting a fire at the Marietta Terrace apartments at 10101 Love Court in Lincoln Heights on Monday. When police took her into custody on Tuesday, she described the act as part of a 'satanic ritual,' records show. No injuries were reported, and damage from the fire was minor, Lincoln Heights police said."

Likewise, according to the news story Woman told police she started fire to perform satanic ritual, FOX19, March 2, 2011: "CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - A Lincoln Heights woman is behind bars after police say she purposefully started an apartment fire as part of a satanic ritual. ... According to court documents, Ranford started a fire at Marietta Terrace on Monday. She admitted to starting the fire and acknowledged she was performing a satanic ritual."

But then, according to the following story: Police: Woman Claims Fire Was Attempt To Remove Satan, WLWT, March 2, 2011: "When confronted by officers, they said Ranford claimed the fire was part of a Satanic ritual. But the woman later said that the fire was to remove Satan from the items being burned, not to worship him" [Emphasis mine].

The WLWT page originally carried the "Satanic ritual" headline too, but then promptly updated it. The other sources have not yet done so.

Maybe the police and court records got Ranford's initial confession wrong? That would seem the most likely explanation. Burning objects that are believed to be inhabited by demons, or which are regarded as a source of temptation, is a very common practice among fundamentalists, Pentecostals, Charismatics, and new-Apostolics. (For some documented examples, see New Apostolic Reformation Leaders Burn Native Art by Bruce Wilson, Talk To ACtion, Tue Oct 19, 2010.) And I would suspect that not every pastor who promotes the burning of such objects is also careful to teach the congregation about fire safety.

Some Satanists, and some non-Satanist ex-Christians too, occasionally perform rites of Cathartic blasphemy that involve burning Bibles or other objects representing their past experiences with abusive authoritarian forms of Christianity. But such rituals are far less common than fundamentalists/Pentecostal/Charismatic/new-Apostolic burnings of non-Christian religious artifacts and lots of other things too, everything from pornography to Harry Potter books. Statistically, it is far more likely that Charmaine Ranford was following fundamentalists/Pentecostal/Charismatic/new-Apostolic teachings than that she was actually practicing some "Satanic ritual." Moreover, had Ranford burned a Bible or any other Christian religious artifact, or if the ritual had involved any actual Satanic symbolism, I'm sure these details would have been featured in the headlines.

I also wonder whether she really intended to confess to "arson" (an attempt to burn the entire building), or whether she just started a fire for the purpose of burning particular objects and was insufficiently mindful of fire safety. I would be interested to know how the police went about interrogating her. It is, alas, far from unheardof for cops to pressure suspects into confessing to something far worse than they are actually guilty of, if anything. It is also not uncommon for the police to make exaggerated charges against someone in anticipation of a plea bargain. Since Charmaine Ranford is also African-American, I also wonder if racism, on the part of the police, might have been a factor here.

I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect that this woman is a victim of -- among other things -- bureaucratic ignorance about the practices of her particular form of Christianity. If so, I wonder whether her church, if any, will come to her defense, or whether they too will jump to the conclusion that she was practicing "Satanic ritual" and therefore shun her.

Gnosticism and Satanism

2011-02-21T07:53:00.004-05:00

One of the oldest known forms of theistic Satanism is Gnostic-based Satanism. It's is not my cup of tea, but it's worth taking a look at, as one of the many varieties of theistic Satanism.

The ancient Gnostics were a religious movement, back in the days of the Roman Empire, that overlapped with Christianity. Scholars disagree on whether it originated as a Christian heresy or whether it was an older religious movement, with origins separate from Christianity, but which then both influenced and was influenced by Christianity.

One subset of the ancient Gnostics, known as the Ophites, venerated the Serpent of the Garden of Eden myth. They did NOT venerate the Biblical god Yahweh, whom they regarded as the Demiurge, the evil creator of a very imperfect universe for the purpose of trapping human souls in matter. They regarded the Serpent as the bringer of wisdom and an emissary of a deity higher than Yahweh. See the Ophite Gnostic scriptures referenced in the following article: The Genesis Factor by Stephan A. Hoeller.

The ancient Ophites weren't "Satanists," in the sense that they didn't identify their venerated Serpent with Satan. Nevertheless, many theistic Satanists do have a similarly favorable interpretation of the Serpent of the Garden of Eden myth. And some theistic Satanists have adopted other aspects of the Gnostic worldview as well.

According to the book Satan Wants You by Arthur Lyons, there was a pre-LaVeyan Satanist group, the Lady of Endor Coven, that existed from the late 1940's to the early 1970's, founded by Herbert Sloane, whose theology was based heavily on Ophite Gnosticism. The Biblical God Yahweh was identified with the Demiurge, and Satan was identified with the Serpent as the bringer of wisdom.

Earlier, Aleister Crowley, who either was or was not a "Satanist" depending on precisely how you define the term "Satanist," also had a worldview strongly influenced by Gnosticism.

I personally reject Gnostic theology, on grounds stated on the following pages: Post-Copernican natural theology and The here-and-now principle in theology. But I would not claim that Gnostic Satanists aren't or can't be "true Satanists." They are one of the many types of theistic Satanists and are, as far as I can tell, the oldest known type.

An interesting religious studies course website

2011-02-14T12:25:00.002-05:00

Shortly ago, I happened to come across the web page for a course called Rel 361: A Social History of Satan, taught by Dr. Adam L. Porter at Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL.

The web page lists lots of interesting and worthwhile stuff. However, it leaves out what I consider to be an important bit of history: The various famous writers, in the 1800's, who spoke favorably of "Satan" or "the Devil." These included:

William Blake - wrote "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell."
Mark Twain - wrote Letters from the Earth and A Pen Warmed in Hell
Giosue Carducci (who is considered to have been one of Italy's greatest poets) - wrote a "Hymn to Satan"
Charles Baudelaire - wrote "The Litanies of Satan"
Matilda Gage (leading 19th century feminist) - referred to Satan as the "God of Freedom" in her book Woman, Church, and State, echoing the French historian Jules Michelet's favorable portrayal of a hypothetical Satanic ceremony by medieval peasants.
George Bernard Shaw - wrote The Devil's Disciple and Man and Superman

On the plus side, it appears that the course will devote some attention to the Satanic panic of the 1980's and early 1990's.

These days, ever-growing numbers of "conspiracy theorists" are working hard to revive the panic. So, it's good to see college students being taught about the historical reality. Thank you, Dr. Porter, for including it in your course.

Exorcism, Satanic panic, and a sex scandal involving a Catholic exorcist and anti-abortion activist

2011-02-12T20:29:00.002-05:00

Given the popularity of the latest exorcism movie The Rite, and given all the talk about how the exorcism trend is scaring people back into the Catholic Church, I've written several posts about exorcism and related topics on various blogs:

Exorcism and religious intolerance, Talk To Action, February 1, 2011

Catholic exorcism and NYPD “experts on occult crimes”???, LiveJournal, February 6, 2011

The Catholic exorcism trend and Italy’s Satanic panic, Wordpress, February 9, 2011.

Bill Donohue boasts: exorcism now mainstream, LiveJournal, February 11, 2011

Preliminary response to Michael Cuneo on exorcism, Wordpress, February 12, 2011

Self deception

2011-02-04T08:34:00.005-05:00

In a comment in in the General Feedback Thread, louis syfer asked, in reply to my page "About the Joy of Satan system of respectful demon evocation": "HOW CAN YOU DECEIVE YOURSELF, OR HARM YOURSELF IF IT IS YOU THAT YOU ARE ESSENTIALLY WORKING WITH?"

First off, the Joy of Satan people do not believe that "it is you that you are essentailly working with." They believe that they are having 2-way conversations with the Demons/Gods -- who are seen as advanced anthropomorphic space aliens who are believed to have a genetic relationship to humans and who are believed to spend a lot of their time astrally projecting themselves to Earth and talking to humans.

Second, people deceive themselves all the time -- even in the mundane world. See the list of cognitive biases in Wikipedia. And much of magick is essentially self-hypnosis, which can be a valuable mental discipline but can certainly also be used in ways that deceive oneself.

"Days of Satanism" in Egypt, mid-to-late 1990's C.E.

2011-02-04T08:03:00.004-05:00

According to Nader Sadek, Let the Egyptian Uprising Set the Country's Artists Free, on artinfo.com, February 2, 2011:

The biggest conflict between the realm of art and the government in Egypt transpired in the mid-to-late 1990s and was known across the Middle East as "the days of Satanism." Thousands of heavy metal fans had formed a subculture that was perceived, and treated, as a threat to the Egyptian government. Long hair, loud and incomprehensible music, and a rebellious attitude echoed society's repressed demand for self-expression and liberation. Thousands of metal fans, from rich and poor families alike, were arrested and faced the possibility of execution under charges of apostasy, as converting from Islam to another religion (Satan worship!) is punishable by death. The metal-fans-cum-prisoners were finally freed after approximately three months. One of the victims of this event joined the growing community of bloggers committed to exposing government corruption and police brutality. While his blogs have been read internationally, more importantly he has helped build local networks intent upon raising awareness and mobilizing the dissent visible in the streets of Cairo today.

P.S., February 8, 2011: More news stories on the same topic are linked in this Facebook note.

P.S.

Jared Lee Loughner

2011-01-30T10:59:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the following on the group blog Talk To Action, about suspected mass murderer Jared Lee Loughner, who is believed to have shot Arizona Congress Representative Gabrielle Giffords:

Jared Lee Loughner and the "sovereign citizen" movement - Tue Jan 11, 2011

More about Jared Loughner's politics, plus some conspiracy debunking resources - Tue Jan 18, 2011

Religious right wingers blame Jared Loughner's actions on atheism and occultism - Tue Jan 18, 2011

In the first two posts I discuss what is known about Jared Loughner's political beliefs by people who are actually knowledgeable about various fringe political beliefs -- solid information which did NOT get much attention in the mass media, being drowned out by ill-informed debate over whether he was a leftist or a follower of the likes of Sarah Palin and Glen Beck.

In the third post, I discuss the background of the claim, by many right wingers, that Loughner is/was a Satanist or Pagan.

Talk To Action is a group blog for people who oppose the religious right wing. If you choose to post a comment there, please be sure to read their Guidelines first. (In particular, note that the majority of the people who post on Talk To Action regularly are liberal Christians. Do NOT post anything there that is disrespectful toward any of the Abrahamic religions in general, as distinct from the religious right wing in particular. And, even regarding the religious right wing, what's desired at Talk To Action is solid news and analysis, not name-calling.)

Business Insider - favorable references to Satan - wow!

2011-01-30T00:11:00.003-05:00

On the Business Insider website, the blog post Is Satan a Good Investor by James Altucher, Jan. 28, 2011, contains numerous favorable interpretations of Satan as portrayed in the Bible.

I wonder what kind of a reaction this will provoke, if any, from the more conservative and/or fanatical believers in the Abrahamic religions.

Business Insider is published here in New York City.

New York Daily News and CBS News websites quote me on Christine O'Donnell

2010-09-21T13:49:00.008-04:00

I got quoted on the New York Daily News website just now: NYC Satanist: O'Donnell Isn't One of Us by Kenneth R. Bazinet, September 21, 2010. NYC Satanists, Luciferians, Dark Pagans, and LHP Occultists got mentioned too.

P.S.: Later today, we also got mentioned -- and in a much better, less condescending way -- on the CBS News site: Christine O'Donnell's "Witchcraft" Comments Rebuffed by Satanist by Stephanie Condon.

P.S. (9/23/2010): Today, the above CBS News story was linked to by Christine O'Donnell's Younger Years: Forget Witchcraft, Think Media Goddess by Suzi Parter, Politics Daily.

P.S. (10/30/2010): My press release was mentioned in Crying Witch: Learning From the O’Donnell “Dabbling” Debacle by Spencer Dew on Religion Dispatches, October 28, 2010.

Christine O'Donnell's alleged "little midnight picnic on a satanic altar"

2010-09-19T13:22:00.004-04:00

Lately, quite a bit of mass media publicity has been given to Christine O'Donnell's claim to have "dabbled into witchcraft" and "had a little midnight picnic on a satanic altar" on one of her first dates.

It is clear that the "witch" she allegedly dated was not a serious practitioner of either Wicca or Satanism. As far as I am aware, no serious practitioner of any variant of Wicca or Satanism would have a picnic on one's altar.

To put her claim into context, we should note her tendency to confuse Satanism with not only Wicca but also rock fan culture. Back in 1997, in the Washington Post (15 June 1997), Christine O'Donnell made some pretty far-fetched claims about the alleged mass popularity of Satanism among young people. (See Remembering Christine O'Donnell: Praising Helms, Missing Lenny and Squiggy, and Worries of Rampant Satanism, Right Wing Watch, September 15, 2010.)

See also more about Christine O'Donnell on one of my other blogs.

P.S.: I just now posted comments (here and here) in reply to some nonsense about Satanism in the comments area of this page about Christine O'Donnell on Crooks and Liars.

The Devil's Blood

2010-08-29T15:47:00.004-04:00

Some good news for a change:

On August 25, 2010, the Baltimore City Paper published a favorable news story about a musician who is a theistic Satanist: Hail Satan: The devil made Dutch musician SL turn his life around—and forge a strangely moving band by Ian Grey, about “SL,” the "man behind" a Dutch band called the Devil's Blood.

I've posted my thoughts about this news story on another blog of mine.

Forthcoming comment policy

2010-08-28T13:59:00.001-04:00

I need to write up a formal comment policy sometime soon. This blog is not intended to be a forum for complete nuttiness.

Just today, someone tried to post a comment threatening mass murder of Christians. HELLO? That's an incredibly stupid idea, even "regardless of what the law says." Someone has apparently been taking black metal lyrics a little too seriously, methinks.

How bigotry against Muslims threatens Pagans and Satanists too: an example

2010-08-27T12:55:00.008-04:00

The Green Bay Gazette has a Guest column: America needs to have the real debate on Islam, in which one Dan Linssen said the following on August 20, 2010:

When our founding fathers drafted the First Amendment to the Constitution stating "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," they likely viewed religious diversity as variations of the Judeo-Christian theme prevalent throughout Europe and the colonies at the time. But things are much different today.

So, the first question we should be discussing is: Do we really mean "any" religion? Satanism is on the rise in countries like Poland, and it has become so prevalent that its practice is now allowed in the British Royal Navy.

What if the Aztec religion, complete with horrific human sacrifice and its policy of conversion or death, suddenly enjoyed resurgence? What if some religion worshipped a god of fertility and practiced pedophilia?

Do we truly believe Americans should be allowed to practice any religion? If not, we are abandoning a founding tenet of American liberty. And where do we draw the line?

I'm guessing the majority of Americans have limits to what they believe is acceptable as religion. But that's not what we espouse. We need to resolve this dichotomy.

First, "human sacrifice" and child molestation are not allowed under U.S. law, period, not even in the name of religion. Dan Linssen is grossly ignorant of constitutional law if he really thinks these are unsettled questions. He needs to look at, for example, the Supreme Court decision in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah (1993), which ruled on the legality animal sacrifice.

The 1993 Supreme Court ruling held that no law can single out animal sacrifice. But animal sacrifice can still be prosecuted under other, more general laws, e.g. against cruelty to animals, depending on the locale. Thus, animal sacrifice - at least of some species of animals - might be legal in many rural areas, where hunting is allowed and where people are allowed to slaughter their own farm animals, but still illegal in most urban areas. The point is that animal sacrifice must be subject to the same laws that govern animal-killing in general, whatever those laws might be. (See my page about animal sacrifice.)

Laws against murder and child molestation are general. They do not single out any religion. Thus, no religion is allowed to commit these crimes as part of its religious practice.

Be that as it may, the worship of "fertility gods" need not entail "human sacrifice" or child molestation. Nor does it typically involve such activities, at least in today's world. Ditto for Satanism. See the Church of Azazel statement against violent crime and vandalism, for example. There are plenty of law-abiding Pagans, and there are plenty of law-abiding Satanists too.

By the way, the decision by the British Navy to allow a Satanist to practice his religion does not imply that Satanism has become "prevalent" there.

Anyhow, Pagans and Satanists should take note of the following: See how Dan Linssen appears to be using the current wave of anti-Muslim scaremongering to argue that the government should consider taking away our rights too. And indeed, if even the constitutional rights of Muslims can be abridged, then all the more so can the rights of smaller religious minorities. We must stand up for across-the-board religious freedom, limited only by generally applicable laws with a secular purpose.

(Dan Linssen himself seems educable, though. On his blog, he does not come across like a full-blown religious right wing demagogue. However, it is highly likely that plenty of right wing demagogues will be using arguments similar to his in the not-too-distant future.)

Exposing the Christian theocratic crazies (to Deady)

2010-07-29T18:16:00.005-04:00

Deady has called my attention to an Alternet post titled Right-Wing Crazies Who Fight Witchcraft and Demons Are Taking Over a State Near You by Bruce Wilson.

I'm already well aware of it, being a regular reader of the excellent Talk To Action group blog, which has special sections titled Resource Directory for New Apostolic Reformation and Sarah Palin & The New Apostolic Reformation.

To everyone: If you happen to be in a good position to educate any mainstream journalists, religion scholars, or other mainstream published writers about the "New Apostolic Reformation" and its theocratic ambitions (and its actual attempts to infiltrate the power structure), I would very much appreciate anything you can do (after educating yourself about this matter, of course). This whole issue needs a lot more exposure.

For more about the religious right wing in general, see Resources for learning about the religious right wing on the website of New Yorkers Against Religion-Based Bigotry.

Werewolves (reply to Justin)

2010-07-29T16:38:00.002-04:00

In the General feedback thread, Justin wrote:

I would like to ask you if you could please share any knowledge that you might have regarding physical werewolves. Not the ones bound by mythology and superstition.

As far as I am aware, the only "werewolves" that exist in real life are Otherkin/Therians -- people who feel that they are the reincarnation of non-human animals (in this case, wolves) or other nonhuman entities, or who otherwise feel that they are nonhuman souls in human bodies.

As far as I am aware, they do not have any full-fledged superhuman abilities, although they may well be more likely than normal folks to have certain talents.

Forums (reply to Deady)

2010-07-14T10:53:00.002-04:00

In the General Feadback Thread, Deady wrote: "Hello, I recently joined your Theistic Satanism forum, but it seems like it's been deserted since the year 2007. Do you have any other groups that are currently active?"

Indeed I am not running Yahoo groups anymore. They are closed, though still available as archives.

These days my efforts are focussed more on building in-person groups than online groups. So far, the most successful of my in-person groups has been the NYC Satanists, Luciferians, Dark Pagans, and LHP Occultists discussion group.

Eventually I plan to build an Online Congregation of the Church of Azazel, once enough suitable people are interested. If interested, please show your interest by posting comments on my blogs and creating your own blog, as instructed on this page.

Irving Davis in Austin, Texas

2010-07-06T11:13:00.003-04:00

I just now came across the news story Satanism wrongly used at trial, death row inmate argues by Chuck Lindell, American Statesman, Austin, Texas, Tuesday, July 6, 2010.

Irving Davis, convicted of raping and killing a 15-year-old El Paso girl, has asked a Texas appeals court to throw out his death sentence, arguing that jurors should not have been told about his new religion — Satanism.

First off, I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone who rapes and kills a 15-year-old girl.

Nevertheless, the issue of how Satanism gets used in court is indeed an important matter for people of all nonmainstream religions. In particular:

Prosecutor Lily Stroud said the evidence was meant to show that Davis had chosen to affiliate with an organization that condones and encourages human sacrifice and other illegal acts.

Hello??? The particular form of Satanism he is said to have practiced is "the Church of Satan." The Church of Satan does NOT condone illegal acts. On the contrary, I think most Church of Satan members would insist that he deserves the death penalty regardless of what his religion might be and regardless of how it got used by the prosecutor. I find it hard to imagine that the Church of Satan would actually have accepted him as an active member, given the CoS's stance on violent crime, although he may have adopted the CoS belief system (or some aspects of it, at least) informally.

Thus, his interest in Satanism a la the Church of Satan is clearly not evidence of anything having to do with the crime he's convicted of, and its use by the prosecutor was clearly wrong.

John Katehis update

2010-06-28T18:32:00.006-04:00

Back on March 31, 2009, I posted about the murder of George Weber by John Katehis.

I just now came across the news story Notorious Criminal Defendants Appear in Brooklyn Supreme Court by Samuel Newhouse, Brookly Eagle, June 25, 2010, which reports on several different criminal cases including that of John Katehis. This article says:

John Katehis, of Queens, who just turned 18 on Saturday and once referred to himself as the “prince of darkness,” has pleaded self-defense for stabbing to death WABC newsman George Weber, 47, of Henry Street in Carroll Gardens.

Katehis, a self-described Satanist, was 16 when he stabbed Weber to death in March 2009 after going to his apartment in response to a Craigslist ad placed by Weber soliciting sex for about $60.

It is believed that Weber and Katehis engaged in rough bondage sex and may have used drugs together before the murder.

Katehis faces 25 years to life if convicted. He is due back in court on Sept. 3.

This article also talks about the (apparently unrelated) case of a man who burned down his own apartment building, claiming that "demons" told him to. I can't help but suspect he's just out to get himself declared insane, rather than admit a more pedestrian motive like a desire to collect insurance.

About the Katehis case itself, I found only two other recent reports via Google News, both in gay news sources: Defense in Philly Murder Case Planning to Use Variation of ’Gay Panic?’ by Kilian Melloy, EDGE (Boston), Wednesday Jun 23, 2010 (mostly about another case, but refers to the Katehis case too), and Kids Who Kill, Gay Times (U.K.), July 10 - Issue 382. Both these source are covering the story as an anti-gay hate crime, which perhaps it is, but there's also the complicating factor that the adult victim was paying a 16-year-old for sex.

I guess it's good for all the affected minority groups (gay men, BDSM people, and Satanists) that this case is not receiving a lot of ongoing publicity, although it did get quite a flurry of publicity back when the crime was originally committed. As I remarked back then: Alas, when members of unpopular minority groups commit crimes, they are too often seen as reflecting on the group as a whole, whereas, when other people commit similar crimes, they're seen as just aberrations.

Celebrity dabbler in LaVey's Satanism

2010-06-17T00:24:00.003-04:00

According to Belinda Carlisle's new memoir, Lips Unsealed, she once tried to cast a spell from LaVey's Satanic Bible when she was a pre-teen. See EXCERPT: 'Lips Unsealed' by Belinda Carlisle (CTV, Canada, June 7, 2010); Belinda Carlisle's New Book 'Lips Unsealed', ABC News, June 1, 2010; and Belinda Carlisle reveals 30-year cocaine addiction, says she once performed 'Satanic Bible' ritual by Corinne Heller, On The Red Carpet, June 2, 2010.

Amanda Knox and Italian Satanic Panic

2010-06-15T23:31:00.004-04:00

At some point I should write a post about the trial of Amanda Knox, an American who (together with her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito) was convicted, in Italy, of the murder of her English roommate, Meredith Kercher, allegedly as part of a "a premeditated ... sexual and sacrificial rite." The verdict is highly controversial, with many commentators saying there was no evidence.

Recently the prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, was convicted of abuse of office. according to the Independent (U.K.) story Knox prosecutor tainted by 'satanism' case by Peter Popham, Sunday, June 6, 2010.

Another new development: Amanda Knox is innocent, jailed Italian mobster says his brother killed Meredith Kercher by Sean Alfano, New York Daily News, June 9, 2010, and Jailed mobster claims he can prove Amanda Knox is innocent by Hada Messia and Mallory Simon, CNN, June 11, 2010.

I'll dig up more of the background of this story sometime later.

Sabbath Assembly -- Process Church

2010-06-14T23:01:00.006-04:00

I just now came across the New York Press story Just Like A Prayer: Sabbath Assembly and the power of Satan by Chris Chafin, June 14, 2010, about a band called Sabbath Assembly which has revived the hymns of the Process Church of the Final Judgment -- a 1960s religious movement that revered Satan and Lucifer alongside Jesus and Jehovah, seeking the unification of opposites.

Most of today's Satanisms, including my own, are utterly different from the Process Church, but the Prodess Church is, nevertheless, an important part of the history of Satanism.

Jason Paul Indreland's religious freedom lawsuit in Montana (U.S.A.)

2010-06-13T17:55:00.000-04:00

A possibly interesting legal case: a lawsuit filed by Jason Paul Indreland, an inmate at Montana State Prison, against Yellowstone County for alleged civil-rights violations. According to the news story Satanist inmate sues county, Billings Gazette, February 19, 2009:

Jason Paul Indreland claims in the U.S. District Court lawsuit that county jail staff took from him a religious medallion, denied him access to religious material and ridiculed and punished him for his religious beliefs.

The lawsuit also alleges that Indreland was denied medical care for his drug addiction, that he was placed in situations where violence was expected and that he suffered harassment and retaliation while incarcerated.

Indreland said he has been a practicing Satanist for the past decade and the confiscated medallion was a "protective symbol" in his religion. The lawsuit claims jail staff refused to return the medallion or allow Indreland access to a "Satanic Bible or Book of Satanic Rituals."

Indreland, 35, is incarcerated at Montana State Prison for a term of five years, with two years suspended, for felony drug possession. Indreland was convicted of the crime after Billings police found him with 15 grams of methamphetamine in March 2007.

According to a recent follow-up story, Satanist settles lawsuit against Yellowstone County for $50, Billings Gazette, Thursday, June 10, 2010:

Deputy County Attorney Kevin Gillen said the inmate, Jason Paul Indreland, has accepted the county’s offer that includes the cash amount and a commitment to review how jail inmate requests are processed at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.

...

The final agreement has yet to be signed and returned by Indreland, who was recently transferred from the Crossroads Correctional Facility in Shelby to the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.

Gillen said the county agreed to review jail inmate request procedures because the basis for denying Indreland’s request for satanic literature was not fully explained to him. Such literature is not allowed in prisons and jails across the country, Gillen said, because it promotes violence.

Hello? Satanic literature promotes violence? Depends on the particular form of Satanism, I guess. There are plenty of established Satanist groups, of various kinds, that do not promote violent crime.

There are those who promote violence in the name of other categories of religion too, including Christianity. But this obviously doesn't mean all literature of the entire religious category should be prohibited.

Unfortunately, LaVey's Satanic Bible (referred to in one of the news stories) does have sections that can be taken as promoting violence -- though only if taken out of the context of the Church of Satan's overall doctrine, which requires members to be law-abiding. LaVey did advocate vengeance, but only by legal means.

Another recent news story: Jailed Satanist's $10 million lawsuit against Billings jail settled for $50, Great Falls Tribune, June 10, 2010

Reply to recent comments

2010-06-13T17:52:00.001-04:00

In reply to recent comments in the General feedback thread:

To Kevin Staples and Coyote Walker:

If you want to correspond with me privately, please contact me via one of my other blogs, or via Meetup. Unfortunately, this blog does not give you the ability to give me your email address privately.

Kevin Staples, your request, in particular, is one best handled via private email.

Church of Azazel - statement against violent crime and vandalism

2010-03-12T12:21:00.005-05:00

The Church of Azazel proto-congregation, a theistic Satanist group based in New York City, has recently issued a statement condemning violent crime and vandalism. The statement includes the following: "We do not want to live in a lawless society, nor do we consider ourselves to be above the law. Not only would a lawless society be a very unpleasant place to live, but the world's more lawless societies -- and the more lawless neighborhoods within our own society -- are also fertile soil for the theocratic/fundamentalist religions that we oppose."

The Church of Azazel statement also warns against Satanic panics, noting that "There have been periodic panics about alleged widespread 'Satanic crime,' such as the 'Satanic Ritual Abuse' scare of the 1980's and early 1990's, in which many probably-innocent people were sent to prison. ... Satanic panics are extremely dangerous not only to Satanists but also to adherents of other minority religions (who are often regarded by fundamentalist Christians and Muslims as 'Satanic') and to atheists. They are also dangerous to ordinary mainstream Christian folks. Most of the best-publicized accusations in the 'Satanic ritual abuse' scare involved ordinary mainstream people."

"About Demons" -- publication date?

2010-03-10T01:18:00.003-05:00

I've been asked about the publication date and the last-modified date of my page About Demons.

Unfortunately, I did not keep track of the date that I first uploaded it. So the publication date will just have to be 2003. The earliest version in the Internet Archives is dated Febrary 10, 2004.

The last-modified date is much easier for me to ascertain -- April 22, 2009.

Satanic panic in Russia

2010-02-05T21:11:00.003-05:00

In Russia, it looks like we now have a combination of (1) what MIGHT be a actual small but abusive, authoritarian group which may have pressured its female members into having sex with the leader, in the name of Satanism, and (2) general panic about Satanism, with claims that Satanism poses more of a public threat than Islamic supremacist terrorists. Here are the current Russian headlines:

Satanic rapists on trial, RT, February 5, 2010

Russian Satanic cult foiled in attempt to infiltrate police, RiaNovosti, February 5, 2010

Both these stories are about a group called the Nobilis Ordo Diaboli, based in Saransk. Its founding members were 24-year-old Belarus national Alexander Kazakov and 23-year-old local Denis Danishin.

As for the "Satanic rapists": The RT story says, at the very end: "When police cracked down on the cult in 2009, they seized numerous books about Satanism and occult paraphernalia like animal sculls [sic]. The defendants claim that their sect was a mere role-playing club, and everything the members did was done voluntarily. They also deny charges of sexual abuse and violence." I have to wonder whether the women in the group were pressured, by the cops, into making false accusations against the leaders, as a way of getting themselves off the hook for whatever they might have been charged with. Anyhow, the trial is still ongoing, so it's premature to judge whether their leaders are guilty or innocent of the crimes they are accused of.

As for "infiltrating the police," if indeed that's true, I would say that religiously diverse police departments are a necessity in order to avoid religious bigotry in how the laws are enforced. I would be much more worried about theocratic Christians who "infiltrate the police" in far greater numbers than any small religious sect possibly could, for the purpose of using the police department to harass minority religions.

An earlier, related news story is Satanic cult leader arrested in central Russia, RiaNovosti, January 28, 2009.

Religious freedom in general does not seem to be one of Russia's strong suits. See the article Russian Supreme Court bans regional Jehovah's Witnesses branch, RiaNovosti, .

Information resources for new and prospective members of the Church of Azazel

2010-02-01T19:56:00.006-05:00

To the Church of Azazel main site, I've added the beginnings of a collection of Information resources for new and prospective members of the Church of Azazel, including the following new pages:

The second of the above pages includes a section on Theology and occult background of various Satanisms, with collections of links to sites about various aspects of the Western occult tradition.

I've also added a page Epistemology: What can we know about the spirit world, and on what basis?

In reply to this post, I would appreciate comments on any of the above, or suggestions for further resources to list.

Church of Azazel - our five rising gods of the modern West

2010-01-15T15:47:00.005-05:00

Recently, the NYC Church of Azazel proto-congregation held our biggest open meeting yet. A total of twelve people attended. The topic was "Lilith" and our plans to launch both our own Order of Lilith (for Church of Azazel members) and a separate, larger, allied spiritual group (for polytheists and occultists of all paths) devoted to Lilith.

Lilith is one of our five Rising Gods of the modern West: Lilith, Prometheus, Ishtar, Pan, and Lucifer-of-Sophia. Over the next several years, we plan to build both (1) internal orders devoted to each of the five rising gods and (2) associated separate larger allied spiritual groups which will aim to bring together people from a variety of polytheistic and occult paths.

I'm also in process of putting together collections of information about the five rising gods. Here are the beginnings of these collections:

This will take a while, since I have lots of other things I need to do. In the meantime, it anyone wants to help out with this, I would very much appreciate it.

I would also appreciate comments on my page about Rising Gods of the modern West. If you're a member of Meetup, you may comment in the relevant thread on our message board. Otherwise, feel free to post a comment here on this blog.

"Creed" for theistic Satanists? (to leon)

2009-11-16T12:42:00.004-05:00

"leon" posted a comment which I thought I accepted, but apparently I inadvertantly rejected it. Luckily I was able to go back and capture the text. Here it is:

Hi D,

In your view, is there a need in theistic satanism for something like a "nicene creed" for the individual (or group)?

I'm busy researchng one for myself to have a concise statement of faith, but what sayeth u?

There's no one "Creed" that would work for all theistic Satanists. Beliefs are way too varied among us. I also don't think it's desirable to try to establish an orthodoxy for all theistic Satanists, since that would contradict the freedom and independent thought which, at least in theory, are an important part of what Satan stands for in most forms of Satanism.

But I think it's okay for individual Satanist groups to have their own creeds, to establish a sense of common purpose for the particular group. I just don't think that any such creed should be applied to theistic Satanism as a whole, with the attitude that those who disagree aren't "true Satanists."

The New York City proto-congregation of the Church of Azazel now has a short ritual that is somewhat Creed-like, although not a Creed per se: Affirmation of our common purpose.

Lutheran pastor, in Texas, labels Oprah Winfrey and Mormons "Satanic"

2009-11-14T14:14:00.007-05:00

For some insight into what "Satan" means to those Christians who promote belief in Satan, see Focus on Faith: Want to Re-Define God? by Rev. Dr. Bobby W. Leggett, Trinity Lutheran Church-Blanco, November 11, 2009.

Leggett starts off by alleging that Oprah's followers are "the fastest-growing church in the world" and calls them "a cultic religion ... Satanic in what it teaches." Later in the column, Leggett says, "There are two kinds of religion in the world. First, is man-centered religion. Religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism, Communism, Satanism, humanism and Oprahism." The only other kind of religion in the world is, of course, what he calls "historic Christianity" (and perhaps Judaism and Islam?). He then says, "In any occult religion God is always reduced and the human is always elevated to be a god. ... What was the Serpents promise in Genesis, '…you shall be like God.'"

Leggett's column, by the way, appears not on the Trinity Lutheran Church website, but on the website of a supposedly secular local newspaper, the Blanco County News, in Blanco, Texas. Here in New York, it's hard to imagine a column like this getting published in a local newspaper. Texas is in the Bible Belt, after all.

However, even here in New York City, I'm pretty sure that your average evangelical storefront church pastor would agree with Leggett's column, as would at least some of the people in the Catholic hierarchy. (A somewhat similar statement, though more nuanced, appears in the Vatican document Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Waters of Life: A Christian reflection on the “New Age”: "Mind-expanding techniques are meant to reveal to people their divine power; by using this power, people prepare the way for the Age of Enlightenment. This exaltation of humanity overturns the correct relationship between Creator and creature, and one of its extreme forms is Satanism.")

Another "Satanism" hoax

2009-11-14T13:46:00.004-05:00

The Britney Spears hacking was not the only "Satanism"-related hoax these past few days. I just now came across Strange satanic church posters cause concern by Lauren Rogers, Worcester News (U.K.), Saturday 14th November 2009, about prank posters advertising an alleged "Church of Satan" gathering in a cemetery at midnight.

The news reporter seems unsure as to whether this is a hoax, but it clearly is. The Church of Satan rarely holds publicly-announced gatherings of any kind, and is highly unlikely to hold them in unauthorized locations, or to advertise them without providing contact info.

Britney Spears and her hacked Twitter account

2009-11-14T12:22:00.007-05:00

I just now ran across a bunch of stories about the hacking of Britney Spears's Twitter account on Thursday:

Britney to Satan (via Twitter): Just Kidding by Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly Music Mix, November 12, 2009

Paddy Power Britney’s Twitter Account Hacked, Paddy Power Ask: Who Next?, Gaming Supermarket, November 12, 2009

Is She Really A Satanist? Britney Spears’ Twitter Account Hacked (Update) by Robert Quigley, Mediaite, November 12th, 2009

Britney Spears Twitter Turns Satanic by Mitch Michaels, 411mania.com, 11.12.2009

Either Britney Spears is now worshipping the devil or her Twitter account has been hacked by Whitney Fay, Examiner, November 12, 2009

Britney Spears' Twitter, MySpace accounts hacked, Associated Press, via Google News, November 13, 2009

One of the above stories speculated that the hacker might be an actual Satanist or Devil worshiper. Also, Air America's copy of the AP story is titled Britney Spears' Twitter Account Hacked By Satanist -- although the AP story itself does NOT, itself, allege that the hacker was a Satanist. I think it's exceedingly unlikely that the hacker is an actual Satanist.

More likely, the hacker is just a prankster, or perhaps someone with a grudge against Britney Spears. Obviously, the hacker is someone familiar with grand conspiracy ideology, and was most likely hoping that grand conspiracy ideologists would keep the story alive forever, like the Proctor and Gamble "Satanism" hoax.

So far, the story does not appear to have been picked up by very many major media sites. And, as far as I can tell so far, even "conspiracy theorists" recognize that it's a hoax. In a story on Alex Jones's Prison Planet, a major purveyor of grand conspiracy ideology, it is acknowledged that "Chances are unless new world order and Illuminati are the names of indie bands, Brit has no clue what those terms mean. And as for the praise for Lucifer, everyone knows Britney doesn’t speak in tongues … she lip-synchs."

Neo-pentecostal exorcism of "homosexual demons"

2009-07-10T19:41:00.003-04:00

What does the Devil mean to those Christians who most fervently believe in the Devil? An interesting example can be found in the news story Apparent Gay Exorcism in Conn. Church Causes Outrage by Andrew Ramos, WPIX, via the Los Angeles Times, June 24, 2009. Some excerpts:

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WPIX) -- A video which shows an exorcism of a teen to drive out apparent "homosexual demons" has sparked outrage among several gay rights activists.

The video, which was posted on YouTube, features church elders from the Manifested Glory Ministries Church in Bridgeport performing the exorcism on the boy who is said to be 16-years-old.

...

Although the exorcism appears to be the first one of its kind captured on video, advocacy groups for gay youths say the practice happens all the time.

"I think it's horrifying," Robin McHaelen, executive director of True Colors, told the Associated Press, referring to the video posted by Manifested Glory's now-defunct YouTube page. "What saddens me is the people that are doing this think they are doing something in the kid's best interests, when in fact they're murdering his spirit."

Complete story here.

Ygraine Gidney-Mitchell on news stories about "Satanism" and crime

2009-07-06T16:33:00.001-04:00

Ygraine Gidney-Mitchell is a longtime member of the Church of Satan and very attached to the view that the CoS represents the one and only "genuine Satanism." Obviously, I do not agree with her on that point.

But she has written an otherwise very interesting article, Orlando criminal is not a Satanist. Less 80's, more justice, please, in which she makes some excellent points in response to the mass media's tendency to cast aspersions on Satanism whenever some criminal happens to have some "items ... associated with Satanism and witchcraft."

More "Satanism" scare news from elsewhere

2009-07-03T16:04:00.003-04:00

"Satanism" scares are far from confined to Africa, alas:

Hungarians fast and pray to ward off Marilyn Manson, Reuters, Thu Jul 2, 2009. About "some Catholic churchgoers in Hungary, who have posted placards in and around the churches of Sopron, a town near the Austrian border in western Hungary, which is hosting a four-day music festival that lists Manson as one of the main acts."

What the devil's going on? Headless stag sparks rumours of satanic mischief afoot, Daily Mail, 17th June 2009. The fears are not based on any evidence other than the cops' inability to think of any other motive for the killing. This news story claims, near the end: "Deer skins and heads are believed to be used in satanic rituals in a tradition that harks back to pre-Christian pagan Britain." Where on Earth did that factoid come from??? See also Satanists deny beheading deer near Northwich by y Andrew McCreaddie, Northwich Guardian, Thursday 25th June 2009. The latter article quotes only some members of the (LaVeyan) Church of Satan. We theistic Satanists need to start speaking up for ourselves too.

Rome church stops holy water over satanic rite fears, CathNews, June 16, 2009. "The Santa Maria Stella Maris church at Fiumicino, near Rome, has stopped offering holy water to worshippers because the parish priest fears it is being stolen for satanic rituals." At the end of the story is a link to the source, on a website called ADNKronos: Italy: Rome church links thefts to 'satanic rites'

Religious Symbol Intolerance by Fern Joan Marder, Newark Interfaith Spirituality Examinar. About Radioliberty.com and its list of symbols that it claims are occult-based. The Radio Liberty page begins by saying, "Occult symbols are fast replacing Christian symbols in our culture. Therefore, we encourage you to use this list to warn others, especially Christian children who intentionally wear and display them because they are popular." The RadioLiberty.com site is also full of grand conspiracy claims and even endorses a variant of ye olde anti-Jewish blood libel, with an apparently-approving link to a video titled "Zionist Jews Sacrifice Babies for Satan - Oprah Winfrey." Fortunately, stuff like this is far from mainstream here in the U.S.A. at the present time. But it is indeed growing within various fringe subcultures.

On the other hand, I also came across a very interesting recent blog post about the "Satanic Ritual Abuse" scare. I've discussed it on my Wordpress blog, in the post San Fernando Curt on the SRA scare.

Roundup of recent international "Satanism" scare news

2009-05-27T16:15:00.003-04:00

Searching Google news for stories about "Satanism," I find the following:

Crimes against Religious Leaders in Russia Likely to Trigger Witch Hunt by Paul Goble, Georgian Daily, May 27, 2009, about the concern that recent violence against mainstream religious leaders may trigger witchhunts against people of nonmainstream religions.

A bunch of stories from two days ago (May 25, 2009) about the arrest of 104 alleged "Devil worshippers" in Iran. Here's the Reutors story, containing the most detailed account I've found so far. The New York Times carried an abbreviated version. AFP carried the story today (May 27), as did Sky News. As we will see in the next batch of stories, below, there is reason to doubt the claim that the people arrested are in fact "Satan worshippers."

Some stories about prohibitions on heavy metal music concerts in the Middle East. There is currently such a ban in Jordan, according to the Global Post story Rock and a hard place by Tom A. Peter, May 25, 2009. On the other hand, the ban has been lifted in Morocco, according to the Global Voices story Morocco: When Arabs Rock by Hisham, May 24th, 2009, and The National (UAE) article Morocco’s metalheads make return by John Thorne, May 6, 2009. In both cases, heavy metal is/was banned because of rumors about "Satanist" and other un-Islamic content.

Some tales of dubious allegations of "Satanism" in South Africa: (1) South Africa: Drugs and Satanism Surrounds Child's Death Lavern De Vries, allAfrica.com, April 22, 2009, about a legal wrangle between the dead child's natural mother and foster parents, and (2) Satanist takes blame for deaths, News 24, May 13, 2009, about the "confession" of an obviously mentally ill 15-year-old girl. Hopefully it will be obvious to most people that the allegations here are unlikely to be true. South Africa has been going through quite a Satanic panic lately, according to various news stories linked in the blog entry Satanic Panic in South Africa, posted on September 29, 2008 by Richard Bartholomew.

"Witch Hunt" -- on the Bakersfield cases

2009-04-25T15:38:00.007-04:00

I recently came across this review, by Aaron Whitehead, of "Witch Hunt" a recent MSNBC TV documentary about one of the first alleged cases of "Satanic ritual abuse" back in the 1980's.

Here are some other reviews:

Los Angeles Times - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎

San Jose Criminal Law Examiner

KGET 17 - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎

Bakersfield Now

Though I didn't get to see it, I'm VERY glad that such a documentary was aired recently.

See also my collection of links about the Bakersfield cases on my "Against Satanic Panics" site.

Church of Azazel - some good news for a change

2009-04-23T20:01:00.000-04:00

As of a month ago, here in New York, I've found a very passionate co-administrator for the Church of Azazel. So, perhaps we will, finally, begin to get it off the ground as a local group.

Another local group that I run, NYC Satanists, Luciferians, Dark Pagans, and LHP Occultists, has been thriving lately too.

I've added the following to the bottom of various "Contact" pages on my websites:

My online activities are very intermittent, due to a hectic work schedule. I sometimes neglect my blogs for months at at time. If I do not promptly approve or respond to a comment you posted on one of my blogs, you may call my attention to it via Noelle, co-administrator of the Church of Azazel, via the Church of Azazel's Myspace page, which is run by Noelle.

Reply to miscellaneous old comments

2009-04-23T19:24:00.005-04:00

I was away from this blog for about six months from the fall of 2008 until early this spring. When I returned, I found quite a bunch of comments awaiting moderation. A general response:

1) A few people asked about Jew-haters in the Satanist scene. My thoughts about them are here:

Against neo-Nazism among Satanists. See especially A brief critique of anti-Jew racist ideology.

New Yorkers Against Religion-Based Bigotry, Project Against Grand Conspiracy Ideology. See especially Resources for debunking grand conspiracy claims, and for documenting their political significance.

2) Several people wrote messages that implicitly requested a private email response. I do NOT automatically get the email address of people who post on this blog. If you want an email response, you'll need to post on one of my other blogs.

3) To the person who asked about Demonolatry: The best source is the OFS Demonolatry site. See especially their books, especially The Complete Book of Demonolatry.

4)To the person who asked about "scriptures": Don't look for "scriptures" in the sense of allegedly infallible revelations. Do not trust any such claims. Think for yourself, and study history and other scholarly information that may be relevant to your beliefs, or to things that you are contemplating believing.

5) I accidentally deleted a few comments. Apologies to those whose comments I deleted (other than span and other obviously inappropriate comments).

Paranoia about "Satanist" rock music in Tunisia

2009-04-23T19:01:00.003-04:00

I recently came across the following news stories about the British rock band Anathema and a scheduled concert of theirs in Tunis, Tunisia (in Africa), which was cancelled by officials due to fears of "Satanism":

Blame The Devil For Tunisia Canceling Anathema - Pollstar, Apr 13, 2009

British Rockers Caught up in Tunisia Satanist Row - Contactmusic.com, April 10, 2009

On the murder of George Weber by John Katehis

2009-03-31T02:12:00.003-04:00

Last week there was a flurry of news stories about the death of WABC (New York) news reporter George Weber at the hands of 16-year-old John Katehis of Elmhurst, Queens.

I'm very sorry to hear about this. I feel bad for the families of both. Also, of course, I'm concerned about possible repercussions for gays and for BDSM people, and, even more so, the possible repercussions for Satanists and various religious minorities that have been popularly confused with Satanists.

According to various news reports, Weber paid Katelis for "violent sex," having contacted him via an ad on Craigslist. For whatever reason, the scene got out of hand, and Katelis ended up stabbing Weber. Katelis claims to have freaked out when Weber got out a knife first. The cops don't believe his story because of the large number of stab wounds. Katelis admits that both he and Weber were on drugs, and blames the drugs for his alleged freak out.

On some GLBT sites, such as Tips Q, there are articles about how the religious right wing is using this tragedy to vilify gays in general. Alas, when members of unpopular minority groups commit crimes, they are too often seen as reflecting on the group as a whole, whereas, when other people commit similar crimes, they're seen as just aberrations.

Some though not all news stories brought out a "Satanism" angle. The New York Post and WPIX said he was a fan of Anton LaVey. The New York Post article even mentioned the Church of Satan, yet also called Katehis a "Satan worshipper" - a bit of a contradiction, because the CoS emphatically does not believe in "worship" of anything but oneself. We were not given enough details to determine what kind of Satanism Katehis actually believed in, if any.

The Norwegian Black Metallers grow up

2008-06-08T14:11:00.001-04:00

This past week, the Village Voice published Peter Beste and the Many Shades of Black Metal by Annie Fischer, June 3, 2008, a review of True Norwegian Black Metal, a large-format coffee-table book of photos by Peter Beste, published by Vice Books.

Back in the 1990's, the Norwegian Black Metal scene was notorious for murders and church-burnings. (See various pages linked in the section on Maniacal musicians in my article Tabloid prophecy fulfillers: Satanism's real-life criminal fringe: How should law-abiding Satanists respond? on my website Against Satanic Panics.)

The Village Voice quotes Beste as saying:

"In comparison to the early behavior, they aren't terribly violent anymore," he says. "They maintain similar [political and social] views, but they just . . . well, I think they mostly just kind of grew up. They saw that burning churches didn't really serve a purpose — if anything, it made the Christian community stronger. To rid Norway of Christianity . . . it's just not a realistic goal."

I'm glad they now realize that burning or otherwise vandalizing churches serves no valid purpose whatsoever. Indeed, if the point is to attack Christianity, it's completely counterproductive even in terms of that goal, for exactly the reason Beste mentioned: It just makes the Christian community stronger, if anything. I too made that very same point several years ago in my article The purpose of blasphemy in Satanism on my Theistic Satanism website.

Private rites of blasphemy can be a good catharsis. But there is no good reason to destroy or damage other people's property in the name of Satan or Satanism.

Responses to Julian Karswell, so far

2008-05-24T22:17:00.002-04:00

So far, I've written three posts to Julian Karswell on my Wordpress.com blog. In forward chronological order, they are:

Satanisms and politics: To Julian Karswell - May 17, 2008

Further reply to Julian Karswell - May 22, 2008

Satanisms and politics: More about Julian Karswell’s blog - May 24, 2008

Below, I'll copy and paste the first section (out of eight sections) of the third post, discussing what I see as the central issue between Julian and me:

In a post titled Nature of the Beast, Julian brings up one of my biggest problems with LaVeyan Satanism:

Most Satanic thought is predicated on the creation of a vaguely right-wing state where people would prosper according to their abilities. Strangely most of the Satanists I have had contact with, or read about, have been creative, thoughtful and non-violent (unless pushed). They often have 'alternative' lifestyles and sexualities. A Satanic state, given human nature, would very quickly become a state run by those with the skills to make the most money, for the benefit of the same! I've met enough of that type of person (and their Philistine ways) to know that sensitive arty types, and sexual 'deviants' would be the first against the wall in such a state.
Are Satanists really turkeys voting for Christmas?

You've hit the nail on the head here, Julian. That being the case, why do you continue to equate "Satanism" itself with LaVey's "vaguely right-wing" value system? Why do you continue to use the term "Satanic state" to refer to LaVey's ideal society, or something very similar to that?

It seems to me that Satanists need to move away from advocacy of pure capitalism and "social Darwinism" and advocate, instead, an agenda which would actually benefit the "sensitive arty types and sexual 'deviants'" who are, in fact, Satanism's core constituencies.

What, then, is Satanism? See the What is Satanism? page on my Theistic Satanism site.

For an example of a form of Satanism I think is far better suited to Satanism's core constituencies than LaVeyan Satanism, see Hekate and the Satanic School by Tim Maroney (circa 1990, edited 2002).

In another post, Julian talks about what he calls the Children of Leviathan: "creative, unworldly, given to interests in the occult and arcane aspects of life ... attracted to the shadows rather than the light, delving into the hidden things and nature’s secret ways, rather than accepting the readily presented norms."

That's a pretty good description of what I think Satanism (or Satanisms) should be about, while at the same time encouraging practicality.

Recommended books for theistic Satanists and LHPers

2008-05-20T18:20:00.002-04:00

In the General feedback thread, asudarkdreams wrote:

Hello, this is my first post (question) so I hope it has not been asked too many times before. Since most occult books have been written or watered down by RHP authors, can you send me some recomondations? I just can't seem to find anything "different" at the stores I usually shop at.

First, I can't send you anything at all, because I don't have your email address. (Had you posted your request on my WordPress blog, I would have automatically been given the email address you used to register on Wordpress.com.) In any case, this is the kind of topic I prefer to discuss on a blog rather than via email.

Probably the best book for theistic Satanists these days is The Complete Book of Demonolatry by S. Connolly. I would also suggest other books listed on this page of the OFS Demonolatry site.

If Chaos Magick interests you, look into books by Peter Carroll and Austin Osman Spare. However, I would suggest first reading the online introductions to Chaos Magick listed on this page of my Theistic Satanism site.

If the Temple of Set interests you, look for books by Edred Thorsson and Don Webb. Also you might want to read Michael Aquino's Church of Satan history, which can be downloaded from this page on the Temple of Set site.

And, of course, no Satanist's library would be complete without Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible and Satanic Rituals. (Just don't regard LaVey's SB as an infallible "Bible," please.)

Other readers, feel free to recommend books in comments below.

Satanism and politics: Question for Julian Karswell and other LaVey-based Satanists

2008-05-15T23:49:00.007-04:00

Recently Julian Karswell, a LaVey-based symbolic Satanist, has posted friendly comments both here on this blog and on my LiveJournal blog. I appreciate his friendly attitude, although he and I evidently disagree on many things.

Like many of today's public or semi-public LaVeyans, he seems to see his Satanism primarily in societal and political terms, as an advocacy of political views consistent with LaVey's attitudes. Of course, this implies a definition of "Satanism" itself as "the worldview of Anton LaVey," a definition I staunchly reject.

I was intrigued to come across the following admission on Julian Karswell's website, regarding one of his societal goals: "This cannot be achieved under the name of Satanism."

In general, I've noticed that LaVeyans (and even some non-LaVeyan Satanists, for that matter) have a knack for picking political agendas which, in most cases, not only "cannot be achieved under the name of Satanism," but which also cannot be achieved without the support of all those right wing Protestant fundamentalist/evangelical Christians who believe that Karl Marx was a Satanist.

This leads me to ask two questions:

1) If your social and political agenda "cannot be achieved under the name of Satanism," then why call it "Satanism" at all?

2) What kind of political or social agenda could be achieved under the name of Satanism -- or, at least, would not be significantly hurt by association with the label "Satanism"?

I'll leave it to Julian Karswell, and to any other LaVeyans who happen to be reading this, to try to answer the first question. I'll try to address the second question, which I personally find much more interesting.

To what kind of social or political cause could the figure of Satan, seen in a positive or at least non-negative way, actually be relevant and appropriate in a way that large numbers of people could appreciate?

The only conceivable such cause, in today's world, would be one which calls public attention to the threat posed by the growing power of those religions which believe in a Devil (as a figure of absolute evil), i.e. the more conservative forms of Christianity and Islam. A successful "Satanism"-related social movement would need to focus on - and satirically revel in - the way in which many of the values of modern secular society are vilified by fundamentalists, both Christian and Muslim, as "Satanic." (Sort of like the Church Lady, for those old enough to remember.) It would need to appeal to a significant fraction of the many people who do not believe in a Devil.

And the vast majority of such people are leftists, liberals, or political moderates. For the most part, they are not right-wingers. Thus, LaVey's right wing views, on many issues, are completely counterproductive in terms of a social agenda that is, in any way, publicly identified with a label like "Satanism."

By the way, Julian Karswell's campaign "against charities involved in social intervention," if successful at all, is likely to affect primarily secular charities. It is not likely to have much effect on religious charities, especially fundamentalist/evangelical-oriented charities, except perhaps to cause some reshuffling of personnel. Thus, its main social impact would be to strengthen fundamentalism.

P.S., 5/17/2008: Julian apparently lives in the U.K., judging by the U.K. references in many of the posts on his blog. As I'll explain later, it does make sense to me for Satanists in the U.K. to support what are now considered right wing positions on various issues, such as immigration policy. But things are very different here in the U.S.A. More about this later, probably on my Wordpress.com blog.

More on the definitions of "Satanist" and "Pagan" - response to Chell

2008-05-15T18:30:00.002-04:00

In the comments below Hrafnkell's post Are Satanists Pagans?, someone named Chell wrote:

From Diane's post:
"The vast majority do NOT simply accept Christian beliefs except for siding with the Other Guy."
To believe in the "Other Guy," don't you have to accept at least some Christian beliefs? Where is the line drawn on those beliefs, if at all? So for Satan to exist, Christianity must be correct.

Wrong. First, many Satanists are atheists who don't believe in any gods at all, but see Satan as only a symbol. Among theistic Satanists, who do revere Satan as a deity, there are many different theologies. For examples of some of these theologies, see What is Satanism?. See also The varieties of theistic ("traditional") Satanism.

And if it is, Pagan Gods must not be worshipped.

Since when were Satanists noted for retaining Christianity's prohibitions?

Chell has a blog of her own, called "Chell's Roost." In a post titled Is this even possible?, she wrote:

Christianity is considered a monotheistic religion. But a post on Hrafnkell’s blog, a blog linked from there, and some e-mail chitter chatter has me thinking about this. In Christianity, it is believed there is one God. Yet Christians might pray not only to Jesus, but to Mary or saints (some derived from Pagan Gods) the way they pray to God, and might even honor them the way a Pagan might honor a God. This, to me, smacks of worship. How can Jesus or Mary answer a prayer that they cannot hear? And is it not divinity that gives them the ability to hear and answer those who call on them? Even if their divinity comes from their “one” God, that of Pagan Gods does not. To call on a Pagan God, does one not have to first believe in that God, even if he has relabeled her a saint? So do Christians actually worship beyond one God?

First, not all Christians pray to saints. As a general rule, Protestants don't and Catholics do. Furthermore, Catholic theology makes a distinction between "dulia" and "latria." (See the online Catholic Encylcopedia article on dulia.)

My question here is about polytheism. Along with the question on Hrafnkell’s blog about the possibility of a Satanist being a Pagan, can a Christian be a Pagan? That seems a preposterous stretch, like asking if red can be green,

A more interesting question is what Chell thinks of the African diaspora religions and other similar hybrids of Christianity and non-Abrahamic religions. Also, what does Chell think of the Western occult tradition?

"What is Witchcraft?" - some suggestions to Christopher Kimberley

2008-05-15T14:50:00.004-04:00

Here on Google/Blogspot, I recently came across a blog called What is witchcraft? by Christopher Kimberley, jam-packed with news stories, from around the world, about everything having to do with witchcraft. The majority of the news stories are about witchhunts. Some are about actual practitioners of various witchcraft traditions, and some are about ritual crimes. The witchhunt stories are primarily from Africa, as one might expect, but there are witchhunt stories from other places too, including Saudi Arabia and India. This blog has the potential to become an excellent research resource.

Some suggestions to Christopher Kimberley on how to make it more useful:

1) Add a label list to your side panel. You're already using labels on most of your posts. A label list on the side panel could serve as a topic index. (For an example, see the label list here on my own blog, on the side panel, just below the blog archive.)

2) On all posts from henceforth, use one of the following general category labels, or something similar, in addition to the kinds of labels you are already using now:

witchhunts - for all stories about witchhunts

practitioners - for all stories about actual practitioners of some witchcraft or magical tradition

ritual crimes - for all stories about ritual murders and other crimes for magical purposes, or alleged magical purposes

With the above improvements, your blog could become an extremely handy and valuable scholarly and journalistic resource.

Gwydion Tiamat's precaution against hate crimes against Satanists and Pagans - P.S. to my response to Hrafnkell

2008-05-15T10:17:00.012-04:00

In a comment beneath my previous post, "Are Satanists Pagans?" - response to Hrafnkell, Hrafnkell posted a link to the Washington Post article A Capital City With The Devil in the Details? by Dan Morse, Wednesday, April 9, 2008; Page C01.

The relevant part, on page 2 of the article, says:

The Washington Monument ... was described by Bay, the South Carolina author, as a filthy, phallic and satanic homage to the god Baal.

Unlikely, said an avowed Satanist from Laurel.

He agreed to meet at the Washington Monument recently, strolling up the Mall in a long black robe and passing through a throng of sun-drenched tourists. A government contracting employee, the 37-year-old spoke on the condition that he be identified only by his satanic name (Gwydion Tiamat). Friends' houses have been firebombed, he said, and they're just pagans.

A husband and father and the director of the East Coast office of the Brotherhood of Satan, he said "a couple of thousand" Satanists live in the Washington area. This is a group that is widely misunderstood, he said: Members don't sacrifice cats; they're not out to hurt people; they simply acknowledge that humans are carnal animals and enjoy the freedoms and indulgences that flow from that understanding. "Having a whole Sara Lee strawberry cheesecake, for example," he said.

And in one sense, he mused, while looking toward the Lincoln Memorial and the infinite regions beyond, McCain is right.

"Satan," said Tiamat, "is everywhere."

I find nothing here contradicting my earlier interpretation of Gwydion Tiamat's remark about his friends who were "just pagans." Again, it seems to me he's saying not that these particular friends of his were also Satanists, but that, if even his Pagan friends' houses got firebombed, then he, as a Satanist, would be in even more danger.

I seriously doubt his estimate of "a couple of thousand" Satanists living in the D.C. area. I think a couple hundred would be more like it, if that many.

There are, after all, far fewer Satanists than modern Pagans, even in anonymous media like Internet forums. I've seen estimates of between half a million and a million modern Pagans in the entire United States. I would not expect the number of Satanists to exceed 5% of the number of modern Pagans, which would give us a maximum of 50,000 Satanists in the entire U.S.A. More likely I would expect there to be between 10,000 and 20,000 Satanists in the entire U.S.A.

The Washington Post article starts out as follows:

Presidential candidate John McCain keeps calling Washington the city of Satan. Turns out he's not alone.

"McCain was right," said David Bay, speaking by phone from Lexington, S.C., where as director of Cutting Edge Ministries he has long asserted that Washington's streets are positioned to usher in Lucifer as "the ultimate master of Government Center."

...

Using Dupont and Logan circles as northern points, Bay instructs, you can trace various interlocking streets to form a demonic pentagram, one that bores directly into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

This is followed by a brief summary of typical anti-Masonic claims, followed by a brief retort from a Mason.

"Are Satanists Pagans?" - response to Hrafnkell

2008-05-14T00:02:00.009-04:00

On a Google/Blogger blog called "A Heathen's Day," Hrafnkell wrote a post titled Are Satanists Pagans?, which begins as follows:

The claim made by David Bay, of Cutting Edge Ministries, that the Washington Monument is "a filthy, phallic and satanic homage to the god Baal" is rightfully dismissed by Gwydion Tiamat, a self-professed Satanist. He wisely chose not to go by his given name because, as he says, friends' houses "have been firebombed." And anyway, as he says, "they're just pagans."[1]

Footnote [1] refers to "Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, May 10, 2008, "D.C.: The devil's City?" by Dan Morse. Originally published in the Washington Post" - an offline source, apparently. Anyhow, Hrafnkell goes on to say:

My jaw dropped. Satanists are Pagans?

Are they?

Did Gwydion Tiamat say his friends were Satanists? Or did he perhaps mean to say something like, "Look what happened to my friends who not even Satanists, but just Pagans. All the more so am I in similar danger, as a Satanist"?

Since the source is apparently offline, I can't easily look up the original context to see what was actually meant. Oh, well.

Next, Hrafnkell goes on for a while with the usual Pagan spiel about how Satanism is not Pagan.

Hrafnkell, please read my article What is Satanism? . Note especially the following:

There are many kinds of Satanists.

For most of the past forty years, the most public Satanist spokespeople have been atheistic symbolic Satanists, who do not believe in or worship Satan as a literal entity, but who regard Satan as a symbol of independence, pride, individual ambition, etc. The best-known symbolic Satanist organization is the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey.

There is now a growing movement of theistic Satanists, who do believe in and revere Satan as a deity.

There are many kinds of theistic Satanists. The vast majority do NOT simply accept Christian beliefs except for siding with the Other Guy. The beliefs of most theistic Satanists are based on sources other than just Christianity.

...

Many theistic Satanists are polytheistic and regard both Satan and the Christian "God" as just two of the many gods. Some believe that all the gods, including both Satan and the Christian “God,” are really just very advanced extraterrestrial humanoids. Others are polytheistic in a more traditional spiritual sense.

Hrafnkell, please see also the following articles of mine:

A Critique of Wiccan and Other Neo-Pagan Disclaimers About Satanism

Satan and "Evil" in Christianity (and Satanism)

Is Satanism a "Christian heresy"? Is Satanism "Abrahamic"?

Is Satanism "Pagan"?

Isaac Bonewits and "dualism"

I would suggest that you also read other pages in the section To Wiccans and other Pagans and occultists on my Theistic Satanism site. Most of it is addressed to Wiccans, but much of it is relevant to Heathens and other hard-polytheists too.

How they'll clean up after you at a Maltese hospital

2008-05-13T14:31:00.006-04:00

A little comic relief, from the Times of Malta:

Illum says that claims that a birth at Mater Dei Hospital had satanic connections have lead to the blessing with holy water of all places where the mother was before, during and after the birth. Sources told the paper that during her stay in hospital, the woman often spoke on satanism and asked the priest who was giving Holy Communion to stay away.

- Malta and international press digest, Times of Malta, Malta - May 10, 2008.

Laurie Cabot, "expert" on "non-traditional faiths"? - blooper on animal sacrifice

2008-05-13T11:44:00.009-04:00

The news story What washed up on the Keansburg beach? by Alyssa Passeggio (Bayshore Courier, New Jersey, U.S.A., May 9, 2008) reports the discovery of animal remains along Keansburg beach, including (1) garbage bags of headless chickens and (2) bones and hooves of deer, goat, or sheep. Cops think these are animal sacrifices and have arrested two Aborishas (Santeria practitioners).

The news story mentions a similar finding last year, on which Laurie Cabot (a well-known modern Pagan Witch) is paraphrased as blaming "a ritual performed by individuals practicing Santeria, San Paulo, Voodon or Satanism."

It's possible she was misquoted. But, if Laurie Cabot really did say "Satanism" or even "Devil worship," then she's utterly wrong.

The vast majority of Satanists, even most theistic Satanists, staunchly reject the idea of animal sacrifice. (See Animal sacrifice and Satanism on my page about Animal Sacrifice on my Theistic Satanism site.)

And the small minority of today's theistic Satanists who perform animal sacrifices would be unlikely to sacrifice chickens, sheep, and goats in particular, for reasons I explain here in my longer post on my LiveJournal blog: Laurie Cabot - willfully ignorant about Satanist views on animal sacrifice?

Anyhow, I also question the cops' claim that the recent New Jersey incident, in particular, has anything to do with a Santeria sacrifice. Garbage bags seem like a very non-traditional - and not very reverent - way to dispose of a sacrifice.

Dennis Wheatley's novels

2008-05-06T19:54:00.007-04:00

Much of the pop cultural image of Satanism is drawn from the novels of Dennis Wheatley that were published back in the 1950's and 1960's. Those novels are now being reissued, according to the news story A new lease of life for the Devil by Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer, on the website of The Guardian (U.K.), Sunday May 4, 2008.

I have copies of two Dennis Wheatley novels. I never read all the way through them, but I remember noticing one interesting (to me) thing: Whereas Anton LaVey and a lot of subsequent Satanists associate Satanism with extreme pro-capitalist views, the Satanists in Dennis Wheatley's novels were associated with Communists.

Blaming "Satanists" for Catholic clergy sex scandals???

2008-05-03T13:34:00.006-04:00

The recent flurry of Italian Catholic public pronouncements about "Satanism" might be, in part, a response to an October 2007 sex scandal involving a Vatican official, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico, director of one of three Vatican departments that make up the Congregation for the Clergy, the Vatican “ministry” for the clergy.

An undercover TV reporter caught Msgr. Stenico, on video, propositioning a young man. When confronted, he tried to excuse himself by claiming that he himself was really just doing another undercover investigation. He claimed he was investigating an alleged conspiracy of "Satanists" who were out to seduce clergy.

More details, plus links to news stories, in a post Blaming "Satanists" for Catholic clergy sex scandals??? on my LiveJournal blog.

More about Satanism and the Catholic Church in Italy

2008-05-02T00:23:00.002-04:00

I just now came across Satanic Cults in Fashion in Rome, Says Priest by Jennifer Riley, Christian Post, Tue, Apr. 22 2008. Nothing new, really. Mostly just a shorter version of the CBN article I wrote about in my previous post.

Again we have the claim: "The overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation of Italy has an estimated 800 satanic cults, with more than 600,000 followers." This article then melodramatically adds: "But Rome, home to Vatican City and the pope, is where the fiercest spiritual battle is taking place."

Some news from Italy, about Satanism and about the Catholic Church

2008-04-28T00:51:00.005-04:00

I recently came across an interesting article on the CBN website, part of Pat Robertson's empire: Is the Devil Gaining a Foothold in Rome? by George Thomas, April 21, 2008.

First, I'll skip ahead to and quote in full the most interesting part, about Marco Dimiti, the leader of a Satanist group in Italy:

But Marco Dimiti says that the Catholic Church's portrayal of Satan is part of the problem.

To many Italians, Dimitri represents the devil. He heads the Children of Satan, a group that reportedly has more than one-thousand members.

"We don't have a cult of devil worship, that would be absurd because the cult of the devil would be the cult of evil - but for us, good and evil are subjective to each individual," says Dimitri.

In 1996, Dimitri was accused of raping a 2-year old boy and a teenage girl in satanic rituals. He was jailed for 14 months before being exonerated by the Italian courts.

"True Satanism puts man at the center of the universe - and is a noble expression," Dimitri said. "I want to say to Father Amorth what I say to all exorcists. Leave people in peace!"

The rest of the article features claims by Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican's Chief Exorcist; Father Pedro Barrajón, a Catholic priest who serves in Rome; and Silvano Lilli, an evangelical pastor in Rome.

One claim is: "There are an estimated 800 satanic cults operating in the country [Italy], with more than 600,000 followers." Yeah, right. I wish.

And then Lilli says: "The devil's diabolical influence is growing in so many areas of our society. ... He needs to be driven out." He doesn't explain what he means by "the devil's diabolical influence." If he's a typical religious right winger, that means things like feminism and gay rights, I guess.

Then Amorth talks about how he does exorcisms.

After that is a discussion of the "Beasts of Satan" case, about which see this collection of news stories on my Against Satanic Panics site.

See also Italy's recent Satanic panic - and its impact on the Roman Catholic Church worldwide, and see also the collection of news stories about Exorcism, the Vatican, and the recent Italian Satanic panic on my page about Exorcism, "spiritual warfare," and anti-occultism.

Next in the CBN article are several paragraphs bemoaning the rise of "magicians, fortunetellers and faith healers" as rivals to the Church.

After that are the several paragraphs I quoted earlier about Marco Dimiti.

The article ends with more exorcism-talk by Amorth.

South African newspaper boycotted, and columnist fired, for defending rights of Satanists

2008-04-25T16:04:00.006-04:00

The following news is a few months old, but I found out about it just now.

According to a news story titled South Africa: Old Hands Save Many an Editor's Blushes by Anton Harber, AllAfrica.com (Washington), 16 April 2008:

Rapport editor Tim du Plessis recently caused a storm by hiring controversial columnist Deon Maas, and then firing him quickly. In that case, Du Plessis distanced himself and his paper from Maas's view that Satanism should be treated as just other religion, but printed it, and then backed down when facing a boycott from readers, distributors and advertisers. I viewed that as an unfortunate victory for intolerance, because it was a provocative column that did not actually degrade or threaten anyone.

I looked around for older news stories confirming this, and found the following:

Spreading the word on satanism by Jaxon Rice, Thought Leader (South Africa) - includes a translation of Deon Maas’s original article

Another translation of Deon Maas's column

The devil made Tim do it by Robert Brand, Thought Leader (South Africa) - opinion piece followed by comments

Commercial pressure leads Rapport to scrap column Mail & Guardian (South Africa), 15 November 2007

Writer fired after Satanism row, News24, 15 November 207

Outrage at journalist’s axing by Lynnette Johns, November 17, 2007

In the contested column, Deon Maas wrote, about a girl who had gotten arrested on drug charges:

What is disturbing is the fact that the police, after searching her bedroom, are also investigating her for Satanism.

...

What someone obviously forgot to tell police spokesman Inspector Paul Ramaloko, is that Satanism is a religion and that our Constitution guarantees everyone the freedom to practise the religion of their choice.

So far, so good. And this, alas, is apparently what got a lot of conservative folks in South Africa outraged enough to organize a boycott.

But Maas's column also contains some errors. He says:

The slaughtering of innocent pets, the tearing up of Bibles, the general oppressiveness that you have to live with, black painted fingernails and the fact that you generally have to be awake after midnight to practise your faith are all factors that make Anton LaVey's philosophy somewhat unacceptable to me.

None of the above activities are required in LaVeyan Satanism. Indeed the "slaughtering of innocent pets" is specifically prohibited in LaVey's Satanic Bible. Likewise in most other forms of Satanism.

Maas also says:

If Muslims think they have a hard time, they just need to consider Satanism. They really get a bum deal. Satanism still makes a better headline than Islam, even though they blow less stuff up and do more damage to themselves than to those around them.

In LaVeyan Satanism and most other forms of Satanism, Satanists aren't supposed to damage themselves.

Maas's column does include a reasonably accurate presentation of part of LaVey's list of "Satanic sins."

Copyright © 2008 Devil's Domain Press. All rights reserved.

West Memphis Three

2008-04-25T13:43:00.003-04:00

Looking up "Satanism" in Google News, I find West Memphis 3 Judge is "Ready to Get It Over With" - KAIT, AR, Apr 15, 2008. It's good to see that there's some movement on the West Memphis Three case, although it's painfully slow -- an appeal hearing is scheduled for September.

For background about the case, see the sites listed on my page about the West Memphis Three on my Against Satanic Panics site.

Hi, I'm back

2008-04-12T11:21:00.002-04:00

Due to other things going on in my life, I've had to withdraw more-or-less completely from the online theistic Satanist scene for the past 10 months.

I'm now back.

Before I left, I was in process of creating the "theistic Satanism blog network," which, as I then envisioned it, would use a PHP script to simulate a forum using blogs. The script would automatically display links to the latest posts on all blogs, organizing the posts into five categories by topic and intended audience. The idea was to replace my theistic Satanism Yahoo groups with something as similar as possible.

At least for now, I've given up on the idea, because I still don't have enough time to work on the script. Instead, at least for now, the Theistic Satanism Blog Network will be simply be a listing of blogs which link back to my Theistic Satanism Blog Network page.

If I ever do revive the script idea, I'll need to think more carefully about the details too. For example, the topicality guidelines as I then envisioned them may be too complicated to enforce.

General feedback thread

2008-04-11T22:28:00.002-04:00

I'll be linking to this post from my websites, as a place for people to post comments not pertaining to any specific post here.

Theistic Satanism blog network

2007-06-09T11:47:00.001-04:00

I hope soon to launch a blog network for discussion about theistic Satanism and related matters. It will probably be at least another month before I'm ready to roll, because it will take me a while to finish writing the needed script.

In the meantime, I would appreciate it very much if interested people could (1) experiment with blogs on one or more of thg blog hosts we'll be using, (2) email me the URL's of your blogs, and (3) begin using network tags, so that, when the network script is ready, there will be posts ready to display.

Once the script is finished, there will be pages on my Theistic Satanism site containing automatically updated lists of recent posts with particular tags on all member blogs, one such page per tag. For more information, please see my pages about the Theistic Satanism Blog Network.

I would very much appreciate comments on my drafts of network policies.

Interesting blog by a CoS LaVeyan Satanist

2007-05-21T17:33:00.001-04:00

Here on Google blogspot there is a blog by one "Magister Svengali," of the Church of Satan, titled Deep Satanism. Most of the blog isn't about Satanism, per se, except insofar as Satanism (LaVeyan or otherwise) encourages people to educate themselves and acquire wide-ranging knowledge. But the blog does have some interesting (to me, at least) recent posts on topics such as memory enhancement, the history of education, and the history of Western culture.

Copyright notices

2007-05-07T22:54:00.001-04:00

I guess I better start putting copyright notices on my blog posts. Here on Google Blogger, I just now discovered that someone had copied and pasted this LiveJournal post of mine without any acknowledgment that the post was by me. The copy is here.

Copyright © 2007 Devil's Domain Press. All rights reserved.

Trackback? testing....

2007-05-03T00:18:00.000-04:00

My Wordpress blog has automatic trackback capability. I'm now testing whether my other blogs do. I think Blogger does, but I'm not sure. Here is a link to a post on my WordPress blog.

Welsh religious right wing

2007-04-30T01:02:00.002-04:00

Although the religious right wing does not seem to be as powerful in the U.K. as it is here in the U.S.A., the U.K. does have a religous right wing.

In Wales, there's a new political party called the Welsh Christian Party, whose first big issue is to change the Welsh flag to get rid of the traditional dragon emblem, which, to these folks, symbolizes the Devil. See WELSH and SATANIC...

Full-blown alleged SRA case in Italy

2007-04-27T21:19:00.004-04:00

For at least the past few years, there has apparently been quite a bit of hysteria in Italy about "Satanism". But I was not aware of any full-blown "Satanic Ritual Abuse" allegations over there until just now:

"Grandmothers arrested over 'satanic sex abuse'"
by Richard Owen
Rome, April 25, 2007
Times Online (U.K.)

Like nearly all such cases, this one is blatantly fishy. The above article starts off as follows:

Three women teachers were among six people arrested today accused of sedating and sexually abusing children as young as 3 at a school near Rome.

The teachers — two of whom are grandmothers who had taught at the school and at Sunday school for decades — are said to have taken part in the repeated abuse of 15 children aged 3 and 5 for a year, filming them in sexual acts with satanic overtones at the teachers’ homes and in a wood.

Had there ever been any complaints about these teachers before, during their many decades of teaching? If not, it is conceivably possible that one old grandmother could suddenly start molesting kids in her old age, but two of them at the same school? I suppose that's possible too, but seems very unlikely to me.

The alleged abuse — in the town of Rignano Flaminio, 25 miles (40km) north of Rome — came to light when some of the children began describing their “games” to their parents. They drew pictures of a “man in black” who wore a hood and drank his own blood, and said they had played a game in which “a wolf chases a squirrel and eats it”.

So far, this sounds like a game that the kids could perhaps have come up with on their own, depending on what kinds of TV shows they had been watching. Kids can indeed have very gruesome imaginations.

However:

They were warned that if they told their parents about the “games”, they would be “taken away from their mothers by devils”. If the truth were to come out and they were asked who had taught them to perform sexual acts, they were to say “my father”.

How was this information elicited from the kids, I wonder? Was care taken to avoid asking the kids too many leading questions? In many alleged multiple-victim, multiple-offender (MVMO) child sexual abuse cases, there have turned out to be serious problems with the way the kids were questioned.

The parents also reported bruising and swelling around their children’s genital areas and that they had returned home from school in a confused state. Police say that the children were given tranquillisers and told they were sweets.

Assuming this is accurate, this does sound as if someone abused the kids. But it seems to me most likely that the questioning got out of hand, implicating innocent people as well as the truly guilty.

The article quotes a local priest and a former teacher at the school voicing skepticism about the charges against the teachers. But, amongst many other people in town, a lynch mob mentality is prevailing.

Thanks to iteration_x for mentioning this story in the "Satanic news" community on LiveJournal.