“…despite the fact that there has been not a shred of credible, physical, forensic evidence to substantiate the existence of Satanic ritual abuse, anywhere in the world, there is still an international network of zealots hell-bent on reviving and spreading the myth. For a few years in the late 1990s and early 2000s the believers quietly went to ground. There was a backlash here and in the US … Believers stopped talking about Satanic or ritual abuse and instead started using the terms organised or extreme abuse … there is now a growing and dangerous fight back in the form of books and conferences featuring speakers defiantly and proudly proclaiming the existence of “ritual abuse” and how to treat “survivors”.”

A quick look at Amazon reveals that SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse) “survivors” are still writing memoirs, and two books seemingly aimed at mental health and law enforcement professionals interested in SRA cases (“Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century” and  “Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder”) were published in 2008. If the Satanic panics are making a come-back we all know what could happen next, a moral panic that will see innocent men and women jailed, sometimes for decades. Creating a situation where Pagans and occultists will have to watch their backs.

“In the United States, Canada, and Europe, people have reported being ritually abused under the banner of satanism, Christianity, various pagan and pantheistic belief systems, white supremacy movements, nazism, Santeria, voodoo, etc. At the present time, satanism is either the most common ideology under which ritual abuse is practiced or it is receiving the most attention.”

Remember, the last time this exploded into the mainstream even Oprah jumped on the Satanic Panic bandwagon (something I don’t think she ever apologized for). How do these Satan panic peddlers stay afloat when the inevitable backlashes happen and the light of truth and reason shines on their money-making schemes? One has only to look the extensive underground network of conservative evangelicals and Pentecostals who are still convinced that Satan is not only a spiritual adversary, a personification of evil, but has “troops on the ground” as it were.

“A month ago I was with my wife and two other ladies in the car, including one who was formerly a witch but now a full on born-again Christian. In fact I have personally cast out many demonic spirits out of her. She told us that one of her friend’s (who also was a witch) father was a high priest in the coven. When she was a small girl, he told her that he had a surprise for her birthday. He blind folded her and told her to cut the cake. After cutting, her blind fold was removed and she was horrified to see that she had cut through the neck of a baby. Could this be happening in Australia?? Yes, it is.”

The non-stop culture of “spiritual warfare” against imaginary Satanic “witches” and “warlocks” inevitably leads to spiritual (and sometimes physical) action against real-live Witches and ultimately the horrors of false accusation for owning the wrong books, listening to the wrong kind of music, or practicing the wrong religion. You may think it would never happen to you, but if the police ever search your home after a false accusation of “Satanic abuse”, what will they find on your bookshelf?

“If they came for you tomorrow, innocent or not, what would your bookshelf tell the world about you? Go and have a glance now, and ponder whether those volumes you’ve accumulated really are the possessions of an innocent person…”

The best way to combat this hysteria ever reaching the mainstream again is to be as out and open as possible. To be visible, outspoken, and unafraid of the “mainstream”. This doesn’t mean we have to lose the mysteries central to some of our faiths, but that  we must constantly dispel the shadows of rumor and gossip so we can combat the lies with reason. To engage with the media and press on our own terms so that never again will another innocent man or woman be jailed or put on trial by a “spiritual warrior”, unscrupulous therapist, “occult expert”, or child (grown or not) who’s imagination has been warped and led astray.

“Sword killer Morne Harmse may not have been a practising satanist, but he was dabbling in the occult.  This was according to satanism expert Dr Kobus Jonker, who testified this morning in the pre-sentencing hearing of the teenager who went on the rampage with a ninja sword at his school last year, killing a fellow pupil.  He took the stand as the expert witness called by the court.  Jonker, a retired policeman, said he had established the police’s occult-related crimes unit after being told to look into the issue by former minister of law and order Adriaan Vlok.  Between 1981 and 2000, Jonker investigated hundreds of occult-related crimes and testified in 30 to 40 murder cases. This earned him several nicknames, including “Donker Jonker”, “The Hound of God” and “God’s Detective”. His unit was disbanded after human rights groups claimed that it was not constitutional in a country that guaranteed religious freedom.”

If that names seems familiar, it’s because Jonker was essentially the face of “Satanic Panic” in South Africa. Jonker and his now-disbanded “Occult Related Crimes Unit” essentially spread Christian propaganda regarding the “occult” and “Satanism” under the auspices of law enforcement. Jonker and his group  were also profiled by Kerr Cuhulain, who pointed out the many troubling aspects to the (mis)information this unit was spreading. So what did this “expert” have to say about Harmse? That he wasn’t a Satanic murderer because he didn’t fit his almost comical list of stereotypes.

“Dr Kobus Jonker, testified that although Harmse had been experimenting with Satanism and witchcraft, his involvement in such practices was superficial … Jonker said certain items and rituals typically present in a Satanic murder were absent in Harmse’s case … the bedding and curtains in Harmse’s bedroom were coloured, whereas a practising Satanist would have had only black or red. There were also no blood smears or animal parts found in his bedroom … candle wax found on the ouija board under his bed was white, pink and yellow, whereas a Satanist would have used only black and red candles … Jonker said that on the day of the murder, Harmse had not spoken in any demonic language…”

What demonic language exactly? Backwards Latin? What? That Jonker was allowed to peddle this nonsense at a high-profile murder trial mocks the entire proceeding. The family of the murdered boy and the family of Harmse have to sit and listen while this man prates on about black and red candles? He and the judge that allowed this should be ashamed. A judgement on sentencing is expected by September 10th, let’s hope that decision is aided by real expert/clinical analysis and not the imagination of a born-again Satan-hunter.

“Korem, who wrote about the phenomenon of spreading gangs in his 1994 book Suburban Gangs, The Affluent Rebels, identified four types of juvenile gangs. Ideological gangs include people with a particular worldview, such as neo-Nazis, skinheads, anarchists or even environmental extremists. Cult gangs get into Satanism or other occult activities. Delinquent gangs are packs of kids whose activities can start with graffiti and vandalism and escalate to theft, assault and even catastrophic violence such as school shootings. At the time Korem started studying the phenomenon in the 1980s for Suburban Gangs, these delinquent gangs were the most common type. As the population of teens contracted in the ’90s, delinquent gangs fell, then rose again as the population expanded in the mid-2000s. Street gangs are a subclass of delinquent gangs.”

Cult gangs! Yeah, you see those everywhere. I heard the other day where there was a drive-by spell-casting perpetrated by the East-side LaVeyans on the West-side Setians over control of a local occult shop. A dozen Wiccans were reportedly wounded in the astral cross-fire! I’m not sure about Todd Pitock, the author of this article, but when I’m looking for an expert to quote I check their background first. While I’m sure Mr. Korem is a capable and smart individual, an expert in gangs and profiling who doesn’t list his academic and practical training should set off red flags.

Turning from something that’s faintly absurd to something intentionally funny, the Scotsman’s Edinburgh Festival guide profiles “occult comedian” Andrew O’Neill.

“It is wholly personal, fascinating stuff, original and left-field to the point of bumping into the perimeter fence. He has a spirited discussion with himself about black metal, death metal and Swedish death metal and does a couple of knock-knock jokes before carrying on to The Satanic Bible and Aleister Crowley. I suggest you do not leave Edinburgh before hearing him on the subject of the trials and tribulations of being a vegan transvestite (loved the neon pink stockings, by the way). O’Neill is a charming, genuine stage presence. Most of the time he is anecdotal or enthusiastically explaining the benefits of the occult and black magic, about which he certainly knows his stuff. What adds an extra layer of enjoyment is that he can, out of the blue (or perhaps the black) be wonderfully punny one minute and thrillingly acid the next.”

You can find out more about O’Neill at his web site. You can see a clip of him mocking British astrologers, here. Is this the first stand-up act to self-consciously bill itself as “occult”? Could Andrew O’Neill be the start of a occult-flavored comedy underground? Will Discordians start sweating now that they have some serious competition as the “funny ones” at festivals? These, and other pertinent questions remain open.

In a final, somewhat frivolous, note, gossip tabloids are alleging that pop-star Jessica Simpson hired a Witch to curse her ex-boyfriend, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

“A source told National Enquirer magazine: “Jessica is normally a really sweet girl, but she still can’t believe Tony callously dumped her.” “She found a woman in California. The two met at the star’s Beverly Hills home where they lit a candle, burned some incense and performed a couple of incantations.” The scorned singer-and-actress hopes the meeting will also taint the sportsman’s career, and is waiting in readiness for his next match on September 13, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”

I suppose interested parties can now check the sports highlights to see if Simpson got her (alleged) money’s worth. If it doesn’t work, maybe should hook up with some of the occult gangs hanging around in suburban neighborhoods, they are no doubt more “hard-core” for the down-and-dirty curse-magick.

That’s all I have for now, have a great day.

“The incident came just days after the Guardian received an anonymous email claiming Satanists were worshiping in Knutsford … Deer are said to be used in satanic rituals as sacrificial animals. It is also believed their skins are used as cloaks and headdresses during devil worship rituals.”

Naturally, actual Satanists objected to being portrayed as maniac deer-beheaders. In that same article, tucked away at the very end, the most likely scenario is reported.

“However, last week it emerged the killing could have been a failed attempt at poaching. A man who attended the scene, but would not be named, said the criminals appeared to have gutted the young stag to prepare it for sale.”

But you see, “bungling poachers” doesn’t have the same zing to it as some mythical occult underground in Knutsford. Some moron trying to make some money by poaching just doesn’t excite the audience. It’s a farce disguised as journalism, a scary puppet-show that can lead to “Satanic Panics” and ruin people’s lives.

“A four-day-old foal has been slashed across the neck at a farm in Fife. Police and the Scottish SPCA said the black and white mare is lucky to be alive after the incident near Cupar. Authorities believe last week’s attack was deliberate. Fife Constabulary have launched an inquiry and are considering whether the attack may have been carried out by pagans…”

How terrible that this has… wait a minute, did he say “pagans”? Why would he think it might be Pagans?

“…the attack may have been carried out by pagans dabbling in the occult ahead of the summer solstice on June 21 – a key date in the occult calendar. A police spokesman said: ‘We certainly will not be discounting the line of enquiry that it is related to satanists.’”

So is it Satanists or Pagans, I’m confused. They must have some evidence other than “near the Summer Solstice”, right?

“It is one isolated incident at the moment and we can’t immediately tie it to anything specific.”

Ah, so it’s merely a theory then. No actual evidence. Not that this stopped a sensationalistic (and slanderous) story from getting printed, or police from basing possible suspects on a random guess instead of actual physical evidence. Then again, maybe Pagans and Satanists roam the countryside in Scotland slashing at horses in the run-up to the Summer Solstice, and I’m just missing out on this well-known tradition.

“Wiccans are not Satanists, so you’re right to be frustrated by the prejudice of your tormentors. I know what it feels like to be told by Christians that I’m going to hell because I don’t accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It can sting. When I am castigated, I first try to understand that what seems to me to be a denial of my right to make my own religious choices is to my critics a way of sharing the gospel (lit: Good News) of the risen Christ. I also remind myself that most of those who attack my faith don’t really know it, know me, or have Jewish friends. Their condemnations arise from some cartoon fantasy of Judaism, just as condemnation of your religion stems from the common belief that Wiccans are a bunch of witches (true) and that witches are green-faced hags who ride brooms and control armies of flying monkeys (false).”

But sadly, Rabbi Gellman then feels the need to be “balanced” by defending confused/ignorant Christians and  pointing out how very, very, similar Wicca and Satanism are.

“However, you must admit that the lines between Satanism and Wicca can appear blurry even to objective outside observers. For example, both Satanists and Wiccans use a pentagram with a circle around (the pentacle) as their symbol— for Wiccans, the upright pentagram with the single point up, and for the Satanists, the inverted pentagram with the single point of the star is down. Both have similar moral maxims. According to Aleister Crowley, the Satanist behavioral code is, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” The Wiccan code (called the Wiccan Rede) is similar but clearly better: “And it harm none, do what thou wilt.” Satanists perform black magic and Wiccans white magic, but both perform magic. Magic is the assumption that God’s powers can become a person’s powers through incantations and rituals. Wiccans worship a goddess and a god. Satanists view Satan as a pre-Christian nature force and not as the nasty biblical tormentor. From the perspective of Judaism, Christianity and Islam Wicca is a limited religious idea because it limits the divine to nature. God in the Abrahamic faiths is distinct from nature, and in fact, created the natural world. Therefore, Wicca is seen as a type of pantheism, or in biblical terms, idolatry. It’s specifically rejected in Deuteronomy 18:10.”

Oh my, where to begin. Let’s see, despite popular Christian claims, Aleister Crowley wasn’t a Satanist, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law” is a truncated and often misunderstood maxim (and isn’t some sort of universal Satanic moral maxim), and large portions of modern Satanic thought aren’t theistic. Further, it would be far more accurate to say that a larger number of Wiccans are panentheistic rather than pantheistic, a subtle but important difference. Finally, it is somewhat strange to see a Rabbi lecturing a Wiccan looking for advice as to what her religion is and isn’t.

I’m not saying that modern Satanism doesn’t share some superficial similarities with Wicca, only that the two are different enough that only the truly/willfully ignorant could accurately conflate the two. I’m very glad that Rabbi Gellman was empathetic and kind to the Wiccan who wrote in looking for advice, but I’m sad that the Rabbi couldn’t resist the impulse to defend his fellow monotheists instead of rightly condemning their impolite and harassing behavior.

“Kilroy arrived at South Padre Island on March 11 with friends Billy Huddleston, Brent Martin and Bradley Moore, joining the tens of thousands of students who each year made the trek to a warm sun, alluring beaches and unfettered nightlife on both sides of the border. Sometime during a visit to Matamoros on their third day in the Valley and into the early morning hours of March 14, Kilroy became separated from his group. They never saw him alive again … Constanzo’s followers selected Kilroy at random. Most of the other victims were competitors in the drug trade.”

Now, here’s where things get tricky. Constanzo adhered to his own twisted and distorted variant of Palo Mayombe, and ran his drug operation like a cult (complete with brainwashed followers), with numerous ritualistic human sacrifices (mostly competitors) being done to “feed” his magical power. The Mexican press dubbed Constanzo and his followers “narcosatánicos” (Satanic drug dealers), sensationalistically linking Constanzo’s warped Afro-Carribean practice with Satanism. Now, twenty years later, The Brownsville Herald’s report takes the time to unwrap the tangled story interviewing anthropologist Tony Zavaleta, an expert in African diasporic religions who advised police twenty years ago and witnessed first-hand the horrifying work of the cult. Zavaleta makes it clear that Constanzo was a madman engaging in a twisted and isolated distortion of Palo.

“…they also found evidence of “Palo Mayombe,” an imported Afro-Caribbean religion. It would be engrained into their memories. Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo, the ringleader of the drug gang, gave the religion a “bad name” in the “self-styled” manner in which he practiced it, anthropologist Tony Zavaleta said … He has met with Palo Mayombe practitioners during the past 20 years in the Rio Grande Valley, other Texas locations and Mexico City and, “They all, with no exception just lament what Constanzo did and he caused them so much harm and so much damage (to their religion).” Zavaleta said he recently talked to a “santero,” a person who practices Santería, who also is a “palero” and a “padrino.” And in talking about the 20th anniversary of the Rancho Santa Elena massacres “he went into a rant about Constanzo, about ‘ese loco,’ ” Zavaleta recounted.”

Now, compare that excellent bit of journalism by Emma Perez-Trevino with the report by local television station KVUE.

“…the work of a satanic cult, the leader, a Cuban-American who promised drug traffickers protection in exchange for human sacrifices … the satanic cult’s so-called godmother was a student at Texas Southmost College, now U.T.-Brownsville … Many still refer to it as the work of the devil, just across the border from a Spring Break paradise.”

Even though KVUE also interviews Zavaleta, they don’t include any information from him about the formation of this cult, satisfied to call it “Satanism” and move on. Now think about how many people saw that television newscast as opposed to reading the two in-depth pieces from The Brownsville Herald and you start to see how religious misinformation starts to spread. I suppose “Satanist” has a bit more “zing” than “twisted and isolated offshoot of Palo Mayombe”, but it isn’t correct and clouds the true facts of this horrible event. As horrible as this case was, and no doubt as much as ethical practitioners of Palo and related faiths wish this wasn’t in their history, the truth can ultimately benefit them. If labeled “Palo”, ethical journalists can at least find and interview modern practitioners who can explain the distorted nature of Constanzo’s insane cult. But if they are “Satanists” then people make all sorts of troubling associations, and most likely triger interviews with “Satanic Panic” peddlers who have a vested interest in inflating a largely imagined threat (or genuine modern Satanists who will have little to no knowledge about the case).

A 35-year-old man imprisoned for drug possession has filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against Yellowstone County, alleging jailers interfered with his satanic religious practices while he was in jail. The lawsuit filed by Jason P. Indreland claims county jail staff took from him a religious medallion, denied him access to a “Satanic Bible or Book of Satanic Rituals” and ridiculed and punished him for his religious beliefs. The suit alleges that Yellowstone County jail staff placed “Christian natured greeting cards under (his) cell door,” that said “Jesus was ready to save and accept him.”

Could any of this have happened if there was a chaplain versed in esoteric and minority faiths there? Would the harrassment have continued if there were staff there willing to advocate for non-Christian prisoners? Maybe, maybe not, but it is clear that prisoners, no matter what they have done, deserve to practice and observe their faith so long as it doesn’t pose a significant security risk. But because these are criminals, men and women who are being punished, many are willing to overlook the endemic level of religious discrimination in prisons. Now there is always the chance that Mr. Indreland’s claims may be exaggerated, but that shouldn’t stop us from using this as an opportunity to call attention to the overall plight of religious minorities in prison and the importance of chaplaincy for all faiths.

“I predict that in the next 10 years or so, we’ll see an explosion of occult activity,” said Fr. Euteneuer. “The number of soft-core occultism in the form of things like Harry Potter, Wicca and the New Age is on the increase. These are the gateways to the hardcore stuff. Ask any inner-city police department if they’re seeing evidence of Satanism. They’re organizing whole task forces to deal with crimes having to do with these things. As society becomes more faithless, this wickedness comes and fills the vacuum.”

Quick! Find an “inner-city” police department and ask if they have an occult crimes task force (just like in the comic books)! Do they know about the slippery-slope from Harry Potter/Twilight to Wicca to Satanic abortions? Is “soft-core” occultism when they only do the Great Rite symbolically, or is it “in true” but with flattering camera angles and gauzy filters? These are serious questions that need answers! I’m so glad Catholics finished removing all the planks from their own eyes, so they could spend time telling lies demonizing helping those lost in soft-core occultism with finding the specks in theirs.

I’m still holding out hope that NCIS will buck the trend, after all, the show includes a positive goth character, so maybe the Satanic thing is a red herring, a misdirection from the true nature of the killer. One can only hope.

That turned out to be exactly the case. While I won’t give away the ending, I can say that all the ritualistic elements were explained away, and the Satanic/cult angle was indeed a red herring. They even had the goth-styled Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto (played by Pauley Perrette) specifically debunk the “Satanic” pentagram on the victim’s back.

Not the same pentagram.

This points towards the power of representation in popular media. Because NCIS has a “goth” character whose mandate is to “defy the negative stereotype”, the writers are forced to (at least partially) consider her perspective. It stands to reason that someone who goes to goth clubs, drives a hearse, and listens to Industrial music would have met a few Satanists in her time, and know they aren’t ritualistic killers (and that many of them don’t even literally believe in the entity of Satan). So writers are then, if they have any talent, forced into either explaining why these ritualistic killers are an abberation from the norm, or debunk the supposed “Satanism” invoked in the episode (which is what happened here).

Compare this to The Mentalist, where there are no characters who act as subcultural signifiers. Indeed, the main character is a “reformed” outsider (sham TV psychic) who now uses his powers of observation to debunk and mock the world he once inhabited. It’s little wonder their “Wiccan” character was a string of negative stereotypes, what was holding the writers back? Certainly not anticipated outrage from the Pagan community, we’re far too small to scare away advertisers (half of America hasn’t even heard of Wiccans if some surveys are to be believed) or garner national press for every insult. Fair treatment towards outsider views in popular media can only be expected when the outsiders are involved (whether in front of, or behind, the cameras).

Obviously, this isn’t a perfect solution, Criminal Minds was recently criticized for some ugly stereotypes about Gypsies, and they have two “outsider/geek” characters, but they do have a far better track record than most of debunking stereotypes concerning outsider and subcultural groups (I know they specifically addressed “Satanic Panic” in an older episode). This doesn’t mean I think shows should start shoehorning Pagan and Wiccan characters into their ensembles, only that visibility and involvement can make the difference between being the Furries on CSI or the goth girl on NCIS. So hats off to that show’s writers for avoiding some bad stereotypes, and including a positive “outsider”.

ADDENDUM: You can watch the entirety of this episode of NCIS online.