My travels: Lucy Neville on the Santa Muerte cult, Mexico

By Lucy Neville ("The Guardian," September 9, 2011)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/36122/?&section=occult

Mexico City, Mexico - I was 24 years old and living in Mexico City when I first encountered the Saint of Death. The image of the grim reaper was everywhere in Mexico; it dangled from the rear-view mirror of nearly every taxi and bus, and was sold in the markets at the witchcraft stalls among the herbs, candles and images of Mary and Jesus.

Here, the personification of death was known by a different name – La Santa Muerte, the Saint of Death. Although many of her devotees would happily classify their beliefs as Catholic, the church does not agree that the Grim Reaper is a saint. Some bishops condemn her followers as devil worshippers; others argue that it's just an unfortunate theological misunderstanding. Regardless, the Santa Muerte "cult" is the fastest-growing religious sect in Mexico, with more than two million followers in Mexico City alone.

It fascinated me how death itself could be considered a saint. I had read that in pre-Columbian cultures images of skeletons often symbolised health and fertility. And I liked the fact that this rogue saint, who was not a concoction of the Catholic church, was busily winning over hearts and minds. I wanted to learn more.

Her most popular temple is in the notorious suburb of Tepito, the centre of the informal economy and a police-free haven for criminals and drug traffickers. The temple itself is concealed in a private house. Attending mass would have been too risky as it took place at midnight. However, there were various shrines to La Santa Muerte in the same area, and a friend of mine knew the location of the most important one.

So, on a smoggy Saturday morning we made our way to Tepito's bustling metro station. I had been told that there was a group of gunmen permanently positioned on the top of the buildings surrounding the zone, ready to shoot dead any policeman or military personnel who dared to enter. But my companion told me that civilians were not subject to such risks and, in fact, it was a popular place to shop, given the fabulously low prices achieved through piracy and theft.

Outside the station, there were so many stalls and vendors that it took us some time before we managed to escape and cross the main road.

A lone street vendor had set up shop on a footpath. Just two commodities were sold here: alcohol and cigarettes. We knew we were getting close to the shrine as these were the customary offerings given to La Santa Muerte. The old woman at the stall smiled at us as she handed over a packet of cigarettes and a small bottle of tequila. "For The White Girl?" she asked. The Saint of Death is becoming known more and more frequently as la niña blanca – white because she is a skeleton.

Past the stall, a small crowd of people lined up in front of an archway that was covered entirely with pink and white flowers. We had found the shrine.

The crowd was respectfully silent. Grandparents hushed their restless grandchildren. We could have been at a church service, except for the presence of a few individuals who were quite obviously criminals.

To one side of the shrine was a candle shop. We decided to buy a candle to put on the shrine as most of the people in the queue were holding candles. I had read earlier that each colour of candle carried with it a meaning: red for love, white for luck and black for protection. We bought a white candle each and went back to the end of the line.

The man before us in the queue wore a black singlet, exposing his enlarged biceps which were covered in tattoos; his wrists and neck were draped in gold chains. We observed him carefully when he arrived at the shrine. First he lit a black candle and placed it down in front of him beneath the altar. Then he got down on his knees and crossed himself. With his eyes closed, he began to utter a prayer under his breath. Finally, he stood up and lit a cigarette. He took one puff and left the rest on the ashtray as an offering.

Then it was my turn. A human skeleton dressed in a white wedding gown stood proud above a sea of glowing candles, most of them black. She held a scythe in one hand and a globe of the world in the other, and her empty eye sockets stared back at me. I'll never forget the stillness that surrounded her, a stillness induced by the shared awe of the crowd.

Out of poverty and fear they had created a saint that didn't discriminate, and that seemed to embody so many elements of their pre-Hispanic past. Her popularity has been associated with the growth of narcotics trafficking. Now, five years into the drug war and more than 40,000 deaths later, the sect continues to grow. Anthropologists refer to this type of devotion as "a cult of crisis". Now more than ever, the skeleton in white is emblematic of the desperation pervading the country.

Leader of Mexico's Holy Death sect sentenced to 12 yrs

By ("Fox News Latino," September 15, 2011)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/36176/?&section=occult

Mexico City, Mexico – A leader of the Holy Death sect was sentenced to 12 years in prison for forging a voter's registration card, the Mexican Attorney General's Office said.

David Romo Guillen, who heads what is formally known as the Traditional Catholic Church, and eight other people were arrested last December on kidnapping and extortion charges.

Investigators in that case found Romo used a voting credential bearing his photograph and a different name to open bank accounts for the alleged purpose of receiving ransom payments.

Romo and the other defendants are still awaiting trial on the kidnapping and extortion charges, the AG's office said.

The Holy Death sect, which claims to have 5 million members around the world, has its principal church in Mexico City and has spread across Mexico, including to the U.S. border region, where followers erect altars, make offerings and ascribe miracles to it.

Mexican police say several drug lords number among the sect's adherents, as altars and images of the Holy Death have been discovered in raids.

Various factions within the sect appear to be embroiled in a power struggle.

Ghana aims to abolish witches' camps

By Clair MacDougall ("The Christian Science Monitor," September 15, 2011)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/36183/?&section=occult

Accra, Ghana - Ghanaian leaders and civil society groups met in the nation’s capital, Accra earlier this week to develop a plan to abolish the witches’ camps in the northern region, where over a thousand women and children who have been accused of sorcery are currently living in exile.

Deputy Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba said the ministry would be doing everything that it could to ensure the practice of families and neighbors banishing women from communities whom they suspected of being witches is abolished by developing legislation that would make it illegal to accuse someone of being a witch and gradually closing down camps and reintegrating women back into their communities.

“This practice has become an indictment on the conscience of our society,” Ms. Gariba said at the conference called Towards Banning “Witches” Camps. “The labeling of some of our kinsmen and women as witches and wizards and banishing them into camps where they live in inhuman and deplorable conditions is a violation of their fundamental human rights.”

Supreme Court Justice Rose Owusu also said that the practice violated numerous clauses in section 5 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution. That section protects human rights and outlaws cultural practices which "dehumanize or are injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a person." Ms. Owusu also called for the development of new legislation to outlaw the camps and the practice.

The witch camps of Ghana's north

There are currently around 1,000 women and 700 children living in 6 of the witches’ camps in Ghana’s northern region.

Many of them are elderly women who have been accused of inflicting death, misfortune, and calamity on their neighbors and villages through sorcery, witchcraft, or "juju," a term used throughout West Africa.

The women enjoy a certain degree of protection within these camps, located some distance from their communities in which they could be tortured, beaten to death, or lynched, but the conditions of the camps are often poor. The "accused witches," as they are sometimes referred to, live in tiny thatched mud huts, and have limited access to food and must fetch water from nearby streams and creeks.

Forced to flee

An elderly woman named Bikamila Bagberi who has lived in Nabule witch camp in Gushegu a district in the Northern Region for the past 13 years, told the story of how she was forced to leave her village. Dressed in a headscarf, faded T-shirt, and cotton skirt, Ms. Bagberi spoke softly with her head bowed as a district assemblyman translated for the conference delegates.

Bagberi’s nephew, her brother-in-law’s son, had died unexpectedly and after the village soothsayer said she caused the death of the child her family tried make her confess to murdering him through sorcery. She said that when she refused she was beaten with an old bicycle chain, and later her nephew’s family members rubbed Ghanaian pepper sauce into her eyes and open wounds.

When asked whether she could return back to her village she said the family couldn’t bring her back into the community because of the fear that she will harm others. Bagberi said she expected to spend the rest of her life in the camp.

Catalyst for action

Human rights groups have been campaigning for the closure of the witches’ camps since the 1990s, but have had little success in abolishing the practice of sending women suspected of witchcraft into exile, in part because of lack of political will and the pervasiveness of the belief in witchcraft throughout Ghana. But the brutal murder of 72-year-old Ama Hemmah in the city of Tema in Novermber of last year, allegedly by six people, among them a Pentecostal pastor and his neighbors who are accused of dousing her with kerosene and setting her alight, caused public outrage and made headlines across the world. Since Hemmah’s death, opinion pieces and articles about the issue have featured in Ghana’s major newspapers, along with feature stores on local news programs.

Emmanuel Anukun-Dabson from Christian Outreach Fellowship, a group working with the accused witches at the Nabule camp and one of the organizers of the conference, suggested that a broader cultural shift needed to take place if the camps were to be abolished.

“In Ghana, we know that when a calamity happens or something befalls a family or a community the question is not what caused it, but rather who caused it?” Anukun-Dabson said. “We are a people who do not take responsibility for our actions; rather we find scapegoats and women are the targets.”

Chief Psychiatrist of Ghana’s Health Services Dr. Akwesi Osei, who spearheaded the conference, argued that a public awareness campaign on psychological disorders, dementia, and the mental and behavioral changes associated with menopause might help the public understand behaviors and perceived eccentricities that are often associated with witchcraft.

Belief in witchcraft and supernatural powers is common throughout Ghana, and Africa countries and is often encouraged by pastors who preach in the nation’s many charismatic churches. Supernatural themes and sorcery also feature strongly in Ghanaian and West African films and television programs.

Deputy Minister Gariba has called for another meeting to develop a more concrete road map and said that the National Disaster Management Organisation would be providing the witches’ camps with water tanks and additional food supplies.

Joojo Eenstua, another organizer of the camp who works with Christian Outreach Fellowship at Nabule, said the conference marked a new era in activism on the issue and believed that significant changes and improvements to the livelihoods of the women and children living in these witches camps would follow.

“There is more public awareness than before and there is more political will and momentum around this issue,” Ms. Eenstua says.

Security forces hound shadowy underground groups

By Van Meguerditchian ("The Daily Star Lebanon," September 22, 2011)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/36224/?&section=occult

Beirut, Lebanon - It’s not exactly illegal to worship the devil in Lebanon. But it is illegal to commit blasphemy or behave in a way that is considered immoral, and it was on these grounds that eight young people were arrested last week on suspicion of devil worshipping.

The five men and three women, who were also reported to be engaging in acts of self-harm and drug abuse, were referred to the military prosecutor’s office, as one of the men was a soldier in the Lebanese Army, according to a judicial source.

Despite it being a potential criminal offense, there is little known – though no shortage of rumors – about devil worship and Satanism in Lebanon, including who is, or isn’t, a devil worshipper.

In 2003, more than 50 individuals were arrested on charges similar to last week’s case and the Internal Security Forces was ordered to crack down on underground meeting places. Only a handful were ever convicted.

Around the same time, a man who was playing a guitar and using drugs at a cemetery in Beirut was referred by former State Prosecutor Judge Adnan Addoum to the judiciary for further investigation of devil worship.

Many cases of suspected devil worship are not entirely straightforward and it’s not clear on what basis security forces differentiate between a group of young people listening to unfamiliar music and Satanists or devil worshipers.

This is not to say, however, that devil worship isn’t practiced in Lebanon.

In an interview with The Daily Star, a self-described former devil worshipper, who asked that his name not be used, said that there used to be 13 underground churches throughout the country and most of them held weekly rituals.

“Around 40 people used to gather in the underground church that I attended,” he said, adding that it was in the Kesrouan town of Bouar. “There were inverted pentagrams and other satanic signs,” he added, referring to the five- pointed star encircling the face of a goat, which is said to represent carnality.

The man, who renounced the practice six years ago and is now a marketing student, said that emotional problems initially led him to the “cult.”

“Personally, I got into it after my parents divorced when I was 10 years old,” he said, adding that most of his friends in the cult were also suffering from psychological problems at the time.

“We used to sacrifice cats and some other animals in our gatherings in warehouses,” the student said.

He also said that he used to attend similar gatherings in Saudi Arabia and there were what are called “annual red mass” gatherings with different types of animal sacrifice.

“Sometimes [we listened to] gothic and classic music and at other times it was heavy metal or death metal,” the former worshipper said. “People also took drugs as they tried to boost their moods during the mass.”

According to the former worshipper, most of the people who practice devil worship in Lebanon aren’t affiliated with any broader organization or strands of thought like “Theistic Satanism” or “LaVeyan Satanism,” linking them to groups abroad.

LaVeyan Satanism was founded by the American writer and musician Anton LaVey in 1966, and argues that man’s inherent being is Satan.

LaVey published his own bible in which he described Satan as a balancing dark force in nature.

“Although some used to call us vampires, we believed that there is God and there is Devil, but we worshiped the Devil instead of God,” the former worshipper explained.

“It is a temporary phase someone passes through … many of today’s teenagers are wearing emo clothes, which has become the new phenomenon in the country,” he said, referring to a popular style of music and dress.

But it’s not a passing trend for all. A current follower of LaVeyan Satanism, who asked to be identified as Seth, told The Daily Star that becoming a member of the cult was a personal choice for him.

“I believe Satan is in all of us … He represents man’s carnal nature,” said Seth, who first heard of LaVeyan Satanism from a friend.

“For us,” he said, “there is no God or Devil.” The 25-year-old, who lives in Beirut, worships alone. “I am my own God,” he said, “and I don’t preach it to anyone.”

Ugandan witch doctors sacrifice thousands of children

By Mark Colvin ("ABC," October 20, 2011)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/36394/?&section=occult

MARK COLVIN: A week ago, the BBC broadcast a shocking story from Uganda about widespread child sacrifice. As a result of an undercover investigation, it said many cases were not being followed up by the police, and little was being done to protect potential victims.

The reporters spoke to a witch doctor who offered to kill a child for them to bring luck to a construction project.

Peter M Sewakiryanga is director of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries in Uganda, which helped with the investigation.

He's in Australia to draw attention to the child sacrifice problem, and he spoke to me this afternoon.

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: Many people in Uganda have come to believe that when you sacrifice a child to evil spirits you get blessings, you get wealth, you get protection of some kind.

And there are many people involved in witchcraft, who are called witch doctors, who have been going on telling people that you need to sacrifice to be able to succeed in life.

MARK COLVIN: How many children get kidnapped and used in this way?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: Last year we had reports of over 9,000 children (inaudible) lost and that is based on the United States human rights report. And unfortunately the most number of these children never get to be found and it's been come to our attention that most of them have been victims of child sacrifice.

Because people do it in such secrecy, it's very hard to find them dead until you find decapitated bodies of children with ritual stuff that is around them; others are castrated for ritual, you know castrated completely, others are mutilated, others are just cut heads off and remove body organs out of their bodies, and others you will never find them.

We did an investigation with the witch doctors, an undercover investigation, and we found out that 100 per cent of all those involved in witchcraft are willing to give child sacrifice as the best remedy for a problem that is going to bring success to business, it's going to protect business.

MARK COLVIN: So the people who buy this service, they think they're going to get good luck and good health, do they?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: Yeah, they think they're going to get good luck, good health, they're going to get rich because there's a big number of people that are poor and they're going to get rich.

And the rich people want also to protect their wealth.

MARK COLVIN: Uganda is in many areas a Christian country. Are these people both practising both Christianity and witchcraft sort of side by side?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: You will find that the biggest, we have a very, very big number of people that believe in witchcraft. Uganda is …

MARK COLVIN: So it's possible to go to church on Sundays and believe in witchcraft the other days of the week?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: Most people that are practising witchcraft don't believe in god.

MARK COLVIN: Has this been happening for a long time or is it a relatively new phenomenon?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: It's come very highly in the last couple of years and it's a very complex phenomena. It's become very high now in the last four, five years.

MARK COLVIN: It's an extraordinary phenomenon because Uganda during that period has been growing quite fast and people have a lot more technology, mobile phones, computers, that sort of thing.

It's extraordinary to imagine that witchcraft should be so strong in those circumstances.

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: Yeah we have heard also foreign people coming into the country like from Tanzania. Those people that believe in the killing of albinos, that they'll get wealth.

And so any witch doctor that crosses from Tanzania to come to Uganda, they are allowed to announce on radios that they are going to offer the best spiritual power.

MARK COLVIN: They're allowed to advertise on the radio?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: Yes, they are allowed to advertise on the radio.

MARK COLVIN: For killing albino children?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: No, no, no to offer evil spiritual success or solutions to problems and once people go there is when they are brought into the practice of child sacrifice.

MARK COLVIN: So you're campaigning against it in Uganda, what are you hoping for by campaigning here? What can Australians do?

PETER M SEWAKIRYANGA: Back in Uganda we have tried to ask the government to look up the child protection laws. We have asked the government to bring all pending cases in court to a logical conclusion so that justice can prevail.

But that has not happened and why we are making this an international campaign is to ask people to sign petitions, to show the government that the whole world is behind this campaign, is asking you to bring all these pending cases in court to a logical conclusion, to ask the government to look at the child protection laws.

They can look at them and this petition to help bring justice and protect children.

MARK COLVIN: Peter Sewakiryanga, director of Kyampisi Childcare Ministries in Uganda. If you're interested in that petition he was talking about you'll be able to see it at www.kyampisi.org orwww.jubileecampaign.co.uk.

New trial ordered for leader of grave-robbing cult

By William Kleinknecht ("Star-Ledger," April 26, 2007)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/24893/?&place=united-states&section=occult

Newark, USA - A state appellate court yesterday ordered a new trial for a leader of a grave-robbing religious cult who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for directing a follower to steal human remains from two Newark cemeteries.

Miriam Miraballes, an alleged high priestess in the Palo Mayombe sect, was unfairly convicted in a 2004 trial after an expert on cults was improperly allowed to give his opinion on her guilt, according to a ruling by the Superior Court Appellate Division.

Miraballes' appellate attorney, William Welaj, also argued that 15 years was an excessive sentence for the 61-year-old Cuban immigrant, who is being held in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in Clinton. But the court said it did not have to rule on that question because it was ordering a new trial.

Paul Loriquet, a spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said his office believes the Mi raballes trial was handled properly and that it would seek to have the matter reviewed by the state Supreme Court.

Miraballes' trial in April and May of 2004 came after a highly publicized series of thefts from above-ground mausoleums at Holy Sepulchre and Mt. Pleasant cemeteries.

In one theft, the bones of Richard Jenkinson, a prominent industrialist and Newark mayoral candi date in the early 1990s, were dragged from his crypt at Mt. Pleasant.

Newark police and the FBI linked the grave robbing to practi tioners of Palo Mayombe, a religion with African roots that experts say is practiced by a small number of Cuban immigrants. Palo worship ers at times use human skulls and other remains in their ceremonies.

Miraballes -- also known as Mi riam Mirabal -- was accused of di recting one of her followers, Ramon Gonzalez, who testified at her trial, to carry out crypt thefts. She was found guilty on May 3, 2004 of seven counts of burglary, theft and conspiracy to commit theft. On June 25, 2004, Superior Court Judge Michael Ravin sentenced her to 15 years in prison.

During her trial, Marco Qui nones, who investigates religious cults for the New York Police Department, took the stand as an ex pert witness. According to the ap pellate decision, Ravin improperly allowed Dean Maglione, then an assistant Essex County prosecutor, to ask Quinones what role he be lieved Miraballes played in the cemetery thefts, instead of limiting his expert testimony to the general nature of Palo worship.

The ruling said Maglione "elicited an opinion that the '61-year-old Cuban woman' was responsible for the cemetery thefts" and that his questions "called on the expert to opine on the credibil ity of the state's case."

The 3-0 ruling, written by Judge Harvey Weissbard, found that the "question and answer were erro neously admitted" by the judge, despite the failure of Miraballes' trial attorney, Francisco Guzman, to vigorously object.

In addition, the appellate panel found that Maglione should not have been allowed to ask Quinones whether, in his expert opinion, a Palo priestess would be truthful in court testimony. Quinones responded that a Palo priestess would lie rather than reveal the cult's secrets.

The appellate court noted that the defense did not object to that question.

"It put defendant in a position," the opinion said, "where before she ever testified -- which she did not -- she was labeled as untruthful. That is unacceptable."

The burning times

By Bob Chaundy ("BBC," October 30, 2009)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/31781/?&section=occult

London, UK - Witches remain a significant cultural presence centuries after thousands of women, and men, accused of sorcery were burned at the stake. But what caused the craze for burning witches, and why did it stop?

If you're offered a trick or treat on Halloween, it's quite likely to be by someone dressed as a witch. It used to be said that those who travel on the night of 31 October should cross a piece of bread with salt in order to avoid a witch's evil clutches.

In the 16th and 17th centuries in particular, they had a simpler method. They executed them.

A frenzy of witch-hunts took place during this time in Europe, mostly in German-speaking parts, with an estimated 60,000 people put to death.

In mainland Europe and Scotland they burned them, with the peak period between 1580 and 1662 often referred to as The Burning Times. England and its colonies in north America preferred hanging.

This was a time when many believed in the supernatural and misfortune was thought to be the work of the Devil or his servants. There was a widespread belief in Europe that a strong nation was one that had a uniform religious faith. By consorting with the Devil, "witches" were committing treason and were punishable by courts enforcing anti-witchcraft statutes.

The witches, of course, were nothing like the stereotype of the carbuncled hags shrieking incantations around a cauldron full of devilish potions. They were ordinary people who were often the convenient scapegoats for anything from a death in the village to the failure of crops. Individuals would often have been branded a witch after falling out with a neighbour.

There was no average witch. Alhough most would be poor and elderly, this would vary from region to region. The accused were not even all women. Around a quarter of those executed were men.

England's most famous were the Pendle Witches from Lancashire who were convicted of murdering 17 people in 1612. Their prosecutors argued they had sold their souls to the Devil in return for being able to lame or kill anyone they pleased. The trial was meticulously documented and appeared the following year in book form. Enormous crowds flocked to Lancaster Gaol to watch 10 "witches" - eight women and two men - die on the gallows.

In the famous Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts in 1692, more than 200 individuals were "cried out against" as witches by so-called "afflicted children". Of the suspects, 19 were eventually convicted and hanged. Their accusations were believed because children were then considered to be natural witch-finders. In her book, A Mirror of Witchcraft, Christina Hole points out that 17th Century English villages routinely used children in this way and that many became quite famous.

In Scotland, where nearly 4,000 people died during a frenetic period of witch trials between 1590 and 1662, one of the popular types of evidence used against suspects was the Devil's Mark. When his followers made their pact with him, the Devil supposedly left his mark, usually an insensitive spot, upon him or her. Professional witch prickers were employed in the country to search for them.

Eventually, witch pricking came to be seen as fraudulent, and soon the whole notion of witchcraft was being discredited. There had been growing scepticism even at the time that many witch-hunts had been about score settling and that innocent people were being executed. The use of torture to exact convictions became increasingly regarded as unreliable.

Witch trials became more rigorous in the evidence they accepted. Many of the accusers at the Salem trials had claimed to have seen spectres or apparitions of the people supposedly doing them harm.

Many prominent figures of authority wrote books and pamphlets shortly afterwards pouring scorn on this phenomenon. In his biography of one of the judges, Samuel Sewall, author Richard Francis argues that the aftermath of the trials marked the birth of the modern age when the US found its conscience.

The Age of Enlightenment, with its emphasis on reason and logic, was beginning in Europe and natural causes began to replace the Devil as the reason behind much of society's ills.

By 1736, the Witchcraft Acts in England and Scotland had both been repealed. The same happened on the continent. Within a few years, several judges who condemned the Salem witches to their deaths admitted they had made a grave mistake. So what had caused this witch craze?

Modern research has debunked many myths, for example that it was church officials deliberately whipping up hysteria to rid the world of the cult of "magic", or a controlled campaign to tackle outcasts.

Rather, as Robert W Thurston puts it in his book Witch, Wicce, Mother Goose, the witch persecutions were to do with "a profound shaking of people's confidence that their world could survive". The Burning Times came in the aftermath of the Reformation, when the split in the Christian faith caused great turmoil.

Communities were also coping with wars, and pestilence like the Black Death. In England, the worst witch craze took place during the English Civil War. The Thirty Years War was also gripping Germany.

In her paper, Recent Developments in the Study of the Great European Witch Hunt, Jenny Gibbons notes that most witch-hunts took place where central authority had broken down, often in border areas "where rival Christian sects fought to impose their religious views on each other". It was partly for this reason that local secular courts meted out the harshest judgements.

In countries like Spain, Italy and Russia, where a strong, unified Church existed, there were few witch trials. When the threats receded, so did the panic and hysteria.

In his book The European Witch-Craze, historian Hugh Trevor-Roper wrote: "When a great fear takes hold of society, that society looks naturally to the stereotype of the enemy in its midst."

Modern history is littered with such witch-hunts, the Holocaust being the most extreme example. The story of the thousands of so-called witches who died a gruesome death many centuries ago still holds lessons for today.

Boy killed and mutilated in macabre ritual

By (AFP, November 15, 2007)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/26875/?&section=occult

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Argentinian police are investigating the 2006 murder and mutilation of a 12-year-old homeless boy in northeastern Corrientes believed to be the work of satanic cults.

Ramon Ignacio Gonzalez was murdered during an eclectic ritual combining different practices of the Afro-Brazilian umbanda and kimbanda, the Argentine San La Muerte (Saint Death), and other satanic cults, the province's chief prosecutor Gustavo Schmitt said.

He said police were looking for six suspected cult members identified by a 14-year-old girl, Ramoncita, a friend of the victim, who told police Gonzalez was murdered "to obtain purification by offering a young body to their gods".

The mutilated body of Gonzalez, a homeless child who lived from selling religious cards and artifacts, was found October 2006 in Mercedes, a city of 50,000 some 700km north of Buenos Aires.

The boy "was raped, impaled, tortured with cigarette burns, decapitated while still alive and then all the blood was drained from his body. They removed all the skin from his body, as well as his tongue, throat and several vertebrae", Mr Schmitt said.

The chief prosecutor said investigators "firmly believe there is an ideological culprit who ordered the murder and may even have paid to have it done".

Mr Schmitt said he had asked a judge to include in the investigation another 2005 murder case of a newborn baby found bludgeoned to death on a Mercedes street, whose body remains unclaimed and was missing some bones.

He said that in the Gonzalez murder investigation there were reports the suspects had carried out other human sacrifices.

At a Book Party, Witches and a Wiccan Prayer Circle

By Corey Kilgannon ("New York Times," August 21, 2012)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/37902/

New York City, USA - A book party Sunday night in Manhattan attracted so many witches in New York City that as one attendee, Rhea Rivera, put it, “I felt like all the brooms were just suddenly descending.”

With the obligatory broom jokes out of the way, a real discussion can begin of this event that included Ms. Rivera, a Wiccan high priestess known as Lady Rhea, and many members of the city’s Wiccan culture.

Sure, there were plenty of witches of both sexes on hand Sunday night at Sala One-Nine, a tapas restaurant at 35 West 19th Street, to celebrate a new biography of Eddie Buczynski, a leader of the Wiccan movement in New York beginning in the early 1970s.

So many friends and followers of Mr. Buczynski turned out, that the evening became one of the largest Wiccan summits in New York in years.

“It’s a blessing of the gods,” said Michael Lloyd, the author of “Bull of Heaven: The Mythic Life of Eddie Buczynski and the Rise of the New York Pagan.”

His was just one of many invocations of the Wiccan gods, which quickly turned into a giant prayer circle, with chanting and singing of Wiccan prayer and song in veneration of Mr. Buczynski, an openly gay Wiccan priest who died in 1989 from AIDS.

Working the door at the event was a strapping man clad only in a loincloth and headdress.

Most of the roughly 80 attendees were practitioners of some sort of nature-worship, with many of them prominent figures of the New York coven when it flourished from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Just beyond the restaurant’s bar was a big cake, courtesy of “The New York Coven of Witches,” according to its message in icing. Placed on a central table were photographs of Mr. Buczynski.

The party was held at Sala One-Nine because it occupies the space once filled by the Magickal Childe, a shop opened in the mid-1970s by Mr. Buczynski and his partner Herman Slater, who had previously run a similar store, The Warlock Shop, in Brooklyn Heights. For the nearly 25 years it remained open, the Childe was the center of the city’s occult, Wiccan and neo-pagan scene.

Once again the space was packed with high priests and priestesses of the New York coven – even if they were eating tapas and drinking Spanish wine, instead of buying deer’s tongue and other items for potions.

There were pagan luminaries like Margot Adler, author of the seminal 1979 neo-pagan book “Drawing Down the Moon” and a granddaughter of Alfred Adler, the pioneering Austrian psychotherapist who collaborated with Sigmund Freud. There was also Kaye Flagg, a Wiccan known as Lady Vivienne, who thrilled the crowd by reciting from memory a long incantation of Mr. Buczynski’s.

Carol Bulzone (Lady Miw) was also on hand. In the 70s, she and Ms. Rivera founded the Minoan Sisterhood, the first lesbian coven in the city. They also owned, Enchantments, a Wiccan store in Greenwich Village that was open from 1982 to 2003.

After cocktails and mingling, the group gathered in a circle and spoke about Mr. Buczynski.

Mr. Lloyd, a chemical engineer from Columbus, Ohio, who runs a coven there, thanked attendees for sharing their stories for his book, which focuses on Mr. Buczynski and the role he played in New York’s Wiccan, occult and contemporary Pagan movements that flourished from the 1960s through the 1980s.

One of Mr. Buczynski’s former partners, Bennie Geraci, 61, traveled from New Orleans, who said a few words, as did Ms. Rivera.

“We all stand on the shoulders of Edmund Buczynski,” said Ms. Rivera, who now runs the Pagan Center of New York in the Bronx, with her wife, Sandra Rivera, a Wiccan priestess known as Lady Zoradia. “He breathed life into our religion. He made us know the magic. We felt the magic.”

Then came a memorial ceremony for Mr. Buczynski. Lights were dimmed, candles were distributed, and apocalyptic choral music was turned on for a ritual that looked like something out of Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut.”

Gary Suto, a Wiccan high priest of the Minoan brotherhood, which was founded in 1975 by Mr. Buczynski as a way for gay and bisexual men to practice witchcraft together, led a group of men in chanting and singing around a central altar bearing a framed photograph of Mr. Buczynski, next to a bowl of smoldering frankincense and myrrh.

Mr. Suto, a fashion designer from Brooklyn who also goes by the Wiccan name Lord Jack in the Green, has for eight years run a weekly pagan circle for gay men.

The crowd gasped when Matthew Sawicki, a high priest of the Wica, a neo-Gardnerian tradition founded by Mr. Buczynski in 1974, invoked the ancestors using Mr. Buczynski’s own ceremonial wand.

They called Mr. Buczynski by his occult name, Lord Gywddion, and one after the other, they offered testimony to Mr. Buczynski, followed by the affirmation “Blessed Be,” a common Wiccan affirmation.

Mr. Suto asked for reminiscences about Mr. Buczynski. “The man was absolutely awesome in a circle” one said. Another yelled, “May his name be spoken for a thousand years.”

Occult hit: Witches bucking religion trend

By Mike Thomas ("Chicago Sun-Times," March 30, 2009)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/30613/?&section=occult

Chicago, USA - They don't toil over bubbling caldrons or cook lost kids. They have no use for flying monkeys. And their spice racks are more apt to contain ginger or paprika than eye of newt.

Still, witches are far from fictional. And according to the most recent American Religious Identification Survey, released earlier this month, there are more of them than ever.

While most other major religions lost ground, Wiccanism -- whose members, Wiccans, sometimes refer to themselves as witches -- and other so-called "New Religious movements" grew by more than a million members since the last ARIS survey was published in 2001. They're now an estimated 1.2 percent of the adult population.

In Chicago -- home to an unknown number of Wiccan covens (congregations) and independent practitioners --there's even a Witch School. An outgrowth of the nationally popular and long-active Web site witchschool.com, the Downstate Rossville-based organization currently offers three monthly courses and returned to town earlier this month after a five-year absence.

"One of the things that we found is that people frequently did not have access to information and wanted to learn more about Wicca and metaphysics," said the school's chancellor and one of its owners, the Rev. Don Lewis. "And we went into online teaching in order to make it more accessible to people. But it was never our intention that [the site] should replace real-time teaching."

Local classrooms include the Occult Bookstore in Wicker Park and the Life Force Arts Center in Lake View. Lewis said there's talk of expanding to St. Louis and "a number of different regions."

On a recent Friday night, Witch School CEO Ed Hubbard visited the Occult Bookstore to talk on the topic of "Magick for the Masses."

Few people attended, save for a handful of employees and one drop-in, but the show went on.

"You can change your environment by the power of your will," he declared, as a tiny digital camera taped his lecture for the YouTube channel Magick TV. "The first step is thinking. You have to have that spark."

The air smelled of honey-amber incense. Shelves and tables displayed crystals, candles and hundreds of books, with such titles as Practical Angel Magic of Dr. John Dee's Enochian Tables and The History of Witchcraft and Demonology.

In a phone interview before the event, Hubbard said a common misconception people have of witches is "that we're satanists and that we belong to the devil. That's a big one. And it's very hard because that's the dualist world of Christianity, and we just don't accept it."

Satanic Hacking Group Targets Church Sites

By Brian McWilliams ("Newsbytes," November 28, 2001)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/9404/?&place=north-america&section=occult

A group calling itself Hacking For Satan has vandalized 25 church Web sites in the past week, replacing their home pages with a message about Satanism. On Tuesday, the group attacked sites of six churches in the eastern U.S., according to the Alldas defacement archive. The page created by the attackers included an image of a goat's head in a star, known as the Sigil of Baphomet, and the words "Owned by Hacking For Satan."

The defaced page also contained a list of eight statements, such as "Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence," and an e-mail address for the group at the address Godisdead.org.

Joan Ruch, a spokesperson for Saint Mary's Parish in Annapolis, Md., said the church's Web hosting firm was still investigating how the attackers were able to penetrate the site's security Tuesday morning.

"We recognize that there are people who enjoy hacking into Web sites. As far as their message versus our message, we think God always wins," she said.

Earlier this month, the attackers similarly vandalized 19 Web sites operated by churches and other religious groups around the world.

A message at the home page of Immaculate Conception Parish, which was attacked Nov. 21, today read "The church website is back up after several months of resolving security issues ... Fr. Bob has enlisted a web team to improve the site."

Besides Saint Mary's, the church sites defaced Tuesday include Florida-based Park Springs Presbyterian, High Street Baptist of Virginia, Alabama's Mountain Top Community Church, and Westminster Presbyterian Church in New York state.

All but the Westminster church site were restored this morning.

Satanic or ritualistic crime and murder

By ("Examiner," April 14, 2009)


Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/30784/?&place=united-states&section=occult

San Luis Obispo, USA - Fifteen year old Elyse Marie Pahler was "sacrificed to Satan" by three San Luis Obispo, CA teen-agers in one of the most grisly murders on record.

The suspects Roger Casey, Jacob Delashmutt and Joseph Fiorella -- all teenagers -- took Elyse to a hidden location about a quarter-mile from her home, fed her drugs, raped her, tied a belt around her neck "to make it easier to stab her", and offered her up as the "ultimate sin against God".

Elyse knew her killers from the school bus. Delashmutt, Fiorella and Elyse attended Arroyo Grande High School in San Luis Obispo, 195 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Delashmutt was expelled from the school in September of 1995; Fiorella left in February 1996 to be home-schooled. Casey attended a nearby school. The three stabbed the girl to death at at an alleged "Satanic altar". The boys "selected and stalked" Elyse believing that a virgin sacrifice would earn them a "ticket to Hell".

Elyse disappeared July 22, 1995 and had been reported missing until Casey came forward and led authorities to her body on March 14, 1996. The girl left her house voluntarily the night she died, although it wasn't clear where she was headed or at what point she encountered her killers. If the teenagers are tried as adults and the jury finds special circumstances, they face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. If tried as juveniles, they face up to about 7 years in juvenile detention. < http://www.mayhem.net/Crime/cults1.html >

Some experts believe the Pahler murder proves their allegations that Satanic and ritualistic crimes are a very real problem in US society.

In spite of mankind's advances in the arts and sciences, there remains a number of people who have not been able to -- or refuse to -- shake-off the practices of pagan rituals, some of which date back thousands of years. Included within the broad spectrum of paganism are so-called Satanic cults which are suspect in a number of bizarre crimes throughout the United States.

According to investigative journalist and author Maury Terry, there exists a network of Satan-worshiping cults with members crisscrossing our nation. Terry, whose research takes him to just about every state of the union, participated in a special regional police conference in Ohio, co-sponsored by the American Federation of Police and the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

His expertise on the subject of ritualistic violence is a tremendous resource for the news media and law enforcement. This writer attended the conference as a result of violent incidents occurring in northern Manhattan -- my jurisdiction at the time; incidents involving animal sacrifices including the killing and mutilation of cats, dogs, chickens, and even a lamb stolen from a petting zoo.

The world of the Satanic cultist is filled with ritualistic violence, perverse sexual activity and abuse, Heavy Metal music and the use of illegal drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines (crank, speed, meth, crystal), psylocybin (an hallucinogenic drug similar to LSD), heroin and other others. This is a world which, even in the beginning of the 21st Century, continues to attract a large number of young people who follow the precepts of Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible, a volume that has millions of copies in print today.

SATANIC CULTS

It must be made clear to anyone investigating ritualistic crimes: what constitutes a Satanic cult? And what are the differences between these cults and Religious Satanists

Religious Satanists are members of a group which are well organized and structured with a hierarchy. A perfect example is Chicago's Temple of Set: a church that is recognized as a religion by the US and Illinois governments. They enjoy the same tax-exempt status as mainstream religious institutions. Surprisingly, the High Priest of the Temple of Set, Michael Aquino, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the in the US Army Reserves even while practicing his religion.

He is outspoken about his beliefs and has appeared on nationwide television (The Oprah Winfrey Show, for instance) to explain his faith and his church's practices. As far as police agencies are concerned, members of the Temple of Set have never violated the law when practicing their worship and liturgical rites including the Black Mass.

On the other hand, Satanic cults are self-styled Satanists who are sometimes involved in activity that strongly resembles college-fraternity hazing; and, as with college campus hazing, these practitioners may become extremely cruel and vicious, temporarily losing control. Their behavior mirrors the emotionally-charged, mindless behavior exhibited by angry mobs and rioters, with little or no thought to the consequences of their acts.

When substance abuse is added to the mix of these improvised rituals -- accentuated by loud, pulsating music coupled with the euphoric excitement of primal lust -- these frenzied pseudo-Satanists may indulge in behavior closely resembling the activities of a Jeffrey Dahmer or a Richard Ramirez (California's Hillside Strangler), two frightening serial-killers who openly displayed an unhealthy obsession with the occult. In several cases where the practitioners completely lost control, hapless victims fell prey to their bloodthirsty rituals and would suffer the pain of a helpless sacrificial lamb.

Although rare, reports from police departments across the country reveal that the Satanic cults may begin their worship service with the understanding that an animal or even a human being will be killed and used as a sacrifice to whomever these cult members worship. Murder is rare, but it is a possibility, especially when drugs such as crack, PCP and LSD are part of these dramatic events that are created by leaders and worshipers alike. Crack and the other substances are known to make some users extremely violent, fearless and/or dangerously paranoid and psychotic. Again, murders committed by groups of Satan worshipers are rare, but police officers and detectives investigating a crime scene or missing persons report should consider this avenue of investigation if evidence of the person's involvement with cults comes to light.

According to Ed Briggs, crime reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch , Satanic cults seduce teenagers and young adults with sex and drugs and the promise of power over others. Also, involvement in this religion is the ultimate in rebellion against parental control, especially if the parents are religious Christians, Jews, Muslims, or part of any mainstream religious organization including Religious Satanism which is recognized by the federal government as a legitimate religion deserving of all privileges enjoyed by Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc. churches and temples.

As with their rebellion against parents and parental control, Satanic cult members thrive on their rebellious behavior against society in general. The cultist's perfidy is a source of pleasure for him or her, especially the teenager who may have been forced to attend mainline church services each week..

Then, according to Briggs, an award-winning newsman, there are times when ritualistic abuse is used to break down a young person's resistance. The unwilling recruit may be repeatedly raped or sodomized or worse -- acts of bestiality are performed.

RELIGIOUS FANATICS

How many Satanic practitioners are there in the US?

"The adherents of this violent [quasi-]religion number over 300,000, " claims Lieutenant Larry Jones of the Boise, ID Police Department.

"The kids become involved in sacrificial rituals, violent song lyrics, Satanic symbolism, suicide notes or recordings, all enhanced with illegal, mind-altering drugs, which play a major role [in the drama of a Black Mass]. And the added secrecy of the cult members makes estimating their numbers impossible." says Detective Jerry Simandl, a veteran of the Chicago Police Department and assigned to the Gang Crime Task Force.

Are there any estimates based on other information or police intelligence? The San Francisco Police Department's Sandi Gallant can only estimate that " ... at most 1% of Heavy-Metal music fans become seriously involved in the occult."

It should be pointed out that when Det. Gallant talks about Heavy-Metal music, she isn't referring to bands such as Guns & Roses, Metallica and other popular musicians, but to the sub-category of HM music known as Black Metal, played by bands that are truly underground with a limited audience. However, even the tamer, well-known Metal bands such as Blue Oyster Cult occasionally enter the domain of the Black Arts (witchcraft). Several years ago, two Long Island, NY teenagers committed suicide listening to the Blue Oyster Cult hit song Don't Fear the Reaper.

THE VIOLENCE OF SATANIC CULTS

Readers should be warned that not all practitioners of Satanism are violent savages whose thirst for blood is insatiable. Those living the lifestyle of Satan-worshipers rarely commit murder and rape during their religious rituals. In fact. sadly, more people have been murdered in the name of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. than in the name of Satan.

However, there have been cases in which Satanism, the occult or involvement in the once popular game of Dungeons & Dragons proved fatal for the unsuspecting victim. One example of the total revolt against authority and parental control, and embracement of evil is a case in Bergen County, New Jersey: Thomas Sullivan, a 14 year-old Boy Scout repeatedly and methodically stabbed his mother to death before turning the weapon on himself, taking his own life. Investigation revealed an unhealthy obsession with Satan, Black Metal music, drugs and a morbid fascination with death. In this case, the actor was a loner whose Satanism was a personal and private matter, based almost entirely on what he saw on television or motion pictures.

SATANIC RITUALS

During the course of these so-called religious rituals, drug use is usually rampant and heightens the frenzy and blood-lust of the cultists. According to Pat Pulling, a criminologist Who lectures police departments on the occult and Satanism, rituals may include:

- Victim is placed in a coffin or make-shift coffin.

- Paraphernalia and symbols such are pentagrams, 666 symbols, inverted crosses, etc.

- Heavy feeding of drugs, especially hallucinogens.

- Kidnapping victims.

- Sexual abuse aimed at confusing a recruit and destroying his/her moral foundation.

- Incestuous sex acts (family is involved in the cult).

- Animal or (rarely) human sacrifice.

- Cannibalism.

- Cremation (destruction of victim along with evidence).

There is considerable ritual abuse during Satanic ceremonies. Indoctrination of the young is the purpose of much of this abuse. Ritual abuse is defined as repeated physical, emotional, mental and spiritual assaults combined with a systematic use of symbols, ceremonies and images designed to turn a person against himself and society. Drugs, again, are utilized during this process of systematic degradation.

A dramatic and arguably frightening part of Satanic religious practices is the so-called Black Mass. It is a rite dating back to the 14th Century Europe and a large part of the Satanic revival of 19th Century France. The ceremony, as practiced by self-styled, makeshift Satanic groups -- as opposed to, say, the Temple of Set, a legitimate religious organization -- is derived from the Roman Catholic or Episcopal mass with Satan the object of worship and praise. There are reports that in some cult-masses, the altar is the nude body of a young woman and the gold chalice may contain a bizarre and nauseating mixture of blood, urine and turnips. There are groups who add an hallucinogenic drug such as psylosybin or methamphetamines.

During the Black Mass, at least as it's performed by self-styled Satanic groups, animal sacrifices are commonplace and sexual experimentation follows large doses of illegal drugs. Although there have been reports of human sacrifices, especially infanticide, these incidents are extremely rare. Those claiming they are not rare but routine say that the infants used in the monstrous ceremony is one that has been conceived and raised just for the purpose of ritual murder. These police officers -- Sandi Gallant among them -- say that birth records of these babies do not exist since the children are born using midwife who's a member of the group or even a physician-member. Children born into a cult are called Generationals.

PROFILE OF THE SATANIST

Who is drawn to this religion? Who gets involved in demonic activity? Well, a profile was developed by Pat Pulling, the leading expert in this area of psychology. The profile is similar in structure to those developed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Science Unit. In fact, the creator of the Criminal Profiling System, Special Agent Robert Ressler, during his interviews with over 100 serial-killers and unusually violent criminals, found elements of the occult in the psyche of a few of these killers. Most notable is the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz, although his involvement in the occult was all but totally ignored. (I interviewed the man who coined the term serial killer, Robert Ressler, in the book Crime Talk still available at Amazon.com.)



The yet to be captured psychopathic murderer known as the Zodiac Killer is another example of a dabbler in the occult creating his own makeshift quasi-religion. However, these two men were loners and not part of any group, although Maury Terry claims there is a connection between Son of Sam and a few groups in this nation's heartland. Pat Pulling, one expert who believes -- as does Maury Terry -- in a transcontinental network, created a Ressler-styled profile for men and women likely to become involved in Satanic cults or a profile for people who are, because of their psychological makeup, susceptible to cult recruiting tactics:

- Adolescents from white, middle-class and upper-middle class homes.

- Above average intelligence but easily bored with schoolwork.

- Over- or under-achievers.

- Creative and curious.

- Some have a history of family abuse or sexual abuse.

- Rebellious teens or those with low self-esteem seeking power over others.

How do young people become involved? (Take Note: the following are opinions of so-called experts.)

- Through so-called Black-Metal music, most successful being Venom. Some of the more popular bands such as Ozzy Osbourne (of Black Sabbath fame) may touch on

Satan and evil, but they are entertainers, not cult recruiters).

- Fantasy role-playing in games such as Dungeons & Dragons. A surprisingly large number of homicides and suicides have been linked to D & D such as the Joseph Vite case in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the Juan Kimbrough case in Oakland, California. Both were murdered as part of a game of D& D.

- An unhealthy obsession with movies, books and videos about Satanism and the Black Arts (witchcraft).

- Involvement with Satanists at a rock concert or party (college campuses are ripe for recruiters). The promise of sex and drugs is an attractive incentive.

- Involvement with classmates heavily into occult, Satanism or serious fantasy role-playing.

INVESTIGATION OF RITUALISTIC CRIMES AND VIOLENCE

Investigation and prosecution are very difficult since Satanic crimes are cloaked in secrecy. It is estimated that on a small percentage of these criminal acts are ever exposed and even when the murder case uncovers perps, there is no indication of the crime being religion-inspired.

In addition, the profile of Satanic cult members indicates that they are quite intelligent and therefore adept at hiding pertinent evidence. They may even go as far as manipulating the crime scene in order to throw off investigating detectives. Because illegal drugs are very often part of their modus operandi , these cultists are doubly careful in avoiding the attention of police agencies.

Testimony given by victims are insufficient to bring cases to trial and prosecutors and district attorneys are hard to convince. According to Lieutenant Lawrence Haike of the Richmond, VA Police Department's detective bureau, "Short of commission of a crime, ritualistic [perps] are protected under the US Constitution's protection of freedom of religion...and in Satanism freedom of religion is just one step across the line from murder."

According to Detective Sandi Gallant of the San Francisco PD, there are many problems with investigation and prosecution of ritualistic crime cases. In her police training program -- offered to police agencies across the country and with a waiting list of over a year -- Detective Gallant offers the following list of case difficulties and legal roadblocks:

- Investigators disregard original statements regarding rituals and Satanism; therefore detectives and officers only document the outward appearances of the crime such as sexual abuse.

- No physical evidence is found to substantiate statements given by victims or former cult members.

- Crime scenes are never found.

- Crime scenes are found, but do not fit the descriptions given.

- Crime victims are interviewed together in the presence of parents or legal guardians. They may be ashamed to discuss their victimization in front of them or they are terrified to discuss the case because their parents or guardians are part of the cult.

- The suspects and the news media become aware of the case prematurely.

- Because of the illegal drugs involved, it may be difficult for investigators to believe the statements made by victims or former cultists, especially when drugs such as LSD and psylosybin are involved.

- There is an inability to establish a corpus delecti ("body of the crime"):

- Although murders are reported, no bodies are found (Satanists believe in cremation).

- Even though children claim they saw other children who were kidnapped, no record can be found with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children or with the FBI.

- The prosecutor wishes to downplay the Satanic or occult nature of the crime in order to avoid problems with witness credibility, etc.

- The statements of victims and witnesses may appear outlandish and the reputation of the accused may appear impeccable.

Investigators arriving at the crime scene of a homicide or suicide should remain open-minded with regard to possible ritualism or Satanic connections to the crime. The crime scene should be searched for any evidence linking the crime to occult activity. If such activity is suspected, chances are drugs may be involved.

According to Satanic Cult expert, Maury Terry, "Satanism in some cases is merely a by-product -- the real motivation of cult leaders is drugs and drug distribution."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer slaying church attendance among women, study claims

By Martin Beckford ("Telegraph," August 23, 2008)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/29252/?&section=occult

London, UK - The report claims more than 50,000 women a year have deserted their congregations over the past two decades because they feel the church is not relevant to their lives.

It says that instead young women are becoming attracted to the pagan religion Wicca, where females play a central role, which has grown in popularity after being featured positively in films, TV shows and books.

The study comes amid ongoing controversy over the role of women in all Christian denominations. Last month its governing body voted to allow women to become bishops for the first time, having admitted them to the priesthood in 1994, but traditionalist bishops have warned that hundreds of clergy and parishes will leave if the move goes ahead as planned.

The report's author, Dr Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby, said: "In short, women are abandoning the church.

"Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

"Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church.

"Women's ordination, as priests and now bishops, has dominated debate and headlines – but while looking at women in the pulpit we have taken our eyes off the pews, where a shift with more consequences for the church's survival is underway."

Her research, published in a new book called Women and Religion in the West, cites an English Church Census which found more than a million women worshippers have left churches since 1989.

Over the past decade, it claims, women have been leaving churches at twice the rate of men.

In addition, the census is said to show that teenage boys now outnumber girls in the pews for the first time.

Dr Aune says the church must adapt to the needs of modern women if it is to stop them leaving in their droves.

She believes many women have been put off going to church in recent years because of the influence of feminism, which challenged the traditional Christian view of women's roles and raised their aspirations.

Her report claims they feel forced out of the church because of its "silence" about sexual desire and activity, and because of its hostility to single-parent families and unmarried couples which are now a reality for many women.

But it also says changes in women's working lives, with many more now pursuing careers as well as raising children, mean they have less time to attend church.

Dr Aune believes churches must now introduce services and activities that fit in better with modern's women's schedules, such as Saturday morning breakfast clubs.

She said: "Gone are the days when the mother was at home during the day and had time to visit the church's coffee mornings and mother and toddler groups.

"With the pressures women face, churches must adapt to make themselves more accessible."

Christina Rees, chairman of the pro-women bishop campaign group Watch, said the report highlighted the damaging effect that traditionalist attitudes within the Church of England are having on women.

She added that the introduction of female bishops will lead to a renewed interest in the church among young people and women in particular, despite the opposition to the historic step from Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals who believe scripture and tradition teach that bishops must be male.

Ms Rees told The Daily Telegraph: "What this research reveals is that a lot of people are put off by traditional stances and attitudes. We still have a long way to go before women, particularly young women, feel as included in the church as men do.

"I'm absolutely convinced that when we have women as bishops that it will send out a very clear message that women are as valued as much as men."

The Church of England declined to comment.

The Beast satanic legacy lives on

By Sue Clough ("The Electronic Telegraph," February 13, 2001)


Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/6138/?&section=occult

THE original Aleister Crowley is now enjoying cult status on the internet, more than 50 years after his death.

He was known in his lifetime as "the Beast" and "the wickedest man alive" for his satanic beliefs and practices. He was expelled from Italy early last century after rumours of his involvement in drug fuelled orgies and the sacrifice of babies. His motto was "do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law".

He had written "for the highest spiritual working one must accordingly choose that victim which contains the greatest and purest force, a male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory and suitable victim".

Diego was innocent and intelligent and after Edward Crowley killed him, possibly as a sacrifice to his namesake, police found in his scruffy holdall a sinister piece of paper.

It was covered in references to Aleister Crowley's teachings and symbols used in his Book of Thoth. Alongside were drawings of Aztec sacrifices and temples, and allusions to biblical and ancient Greek sacrifices. He had headed the plan delendus est Pineiro - Latin for "Pineiro is to be destroyed".

Diego's surname was Pineiro Villar. There was also a reference to Diego's Spanish birthplace. Gulles de R, notorious in the 15th century for conjuring up demons, who was executed for killing children, was also mentioned.

Mark Ellison, prosecuting, said an expert had examined the plan and decided that it was "primarily concerned with human sacrifice, chiefly the sacrifice of children and plainly the fruit of considerable study of the subject".

Crowley, the son of a wealthy brewer, died in 1947. A year later in Middlesbrough, Henry Alan Bibby was born and from his early twenties had a history of mental illness. He became estranged from his family - his father is now dead and his mother lives in a home - and has made several suicide attempts. His only two relationships over 20 years ago ended when the women he chose rejected him.

So involved did Bibby become with Crowley's legacy that in 1998 he changed his name by deed poll to that of his hero and became increasingly absorbed in his works.

In recent years the works of Crowley have seen a revival with one of the most popular satanic sites on the internet. New biographies have also been published and a foundation in his name propagates his beliefs. Crowley, who became addicted to opium, died in Hastings. Believers in the occult think that the South Coast town, which is now plagued with paedophiles, has been cursed ever since.

Santeria healer charged in ritual burning accident

By (AP, July 14, 2010)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/33882/?&place=united-states&section=occult

San Juan, USA - A spiritual healer who allegedly dropped a candle into an alcohol bath where a woman was undergoing a Santeria ritual has been charged with negligent homicide in her death.

Police consider 28-year-old Stephanie Rodriguez Pizarro's death in July 2009 in a San Juan housing project to be an accident, and say she sought the treatment to help with marital and financial troubles. She died of second-degree burns over half her body.

The healer, 46-year-old Jose Cadiz Tapia, was charged Tuesday following an investigation that took about a year to complete, police said. He faces six months to three years in prison if convicted.

A lawyer could not immediately be located for Cadiz, who was released on $20,000 bond without entering a plea. A court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11.

Santeria, which mixes Roman Catholicism with the traditional African Yoruba faith, is a widely practiced faith in the Caribbean.

Satan Killer

By ("The Mirror," February 13, 2001)


Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/6130/?&section=occult

SATANIST Edward Crowley was yesterday jailed for life for stabbing to death a 12-year-old boy he had been stalking.

Devil-worshipping Crowley knifed Diego Pineiro-Villar more than 30 times after vowing that the schoolboy must die as a sacrifice.

The aimless drifter had been arrested and released three times for stalking the youngster before the frenzied attack in front of dozens of tourists

Crowley, 52, plunged a Kitchen Devil knife into Diego as the boy's half-brother Roberto, 15, bravely tried to fight him off.

Yesterday, Diego's distraught mother Angela Fernandez was dragged from the Old Bailey after hurling missiles and abuse at the killer.

Angela, 49, screamed at Crowley in the dock: "I will cut you into pieces."

She and other relatives threw water, plastic containers and court files as she heard how Crowley had formed an intimate relationship with her son which ended in murder.

Angela's 26-year-old daughter, Ruth Carolina Pineiro, then attacked her own mother in court, lashing out with her hands and shouting in Spanish: "You killed him, you didn't look after him."

The feuding family were hustled from court by police and officials. Crowley was taken back to the cells until the outburst was over.

Judge Neil Denison went on to sentence Crowley, who admitted murder, to life imprisonment.

Diego's mother was later taken to hospital after spraining an ankle in a fall outside the court.

As she was led to the ambulance, she sobbed: "Where is my son, my beautiful son. Where is he?"

Crowley, originally from Middlesbrough, was born Henry Bibby but adopted the name of his hero, the Victorian satanist writer Edward Aleister Crowley.

He had been released on bail six weeks before the murder in London's Soho on May 7 last year.

The prosecutor told the court: "He had changed his name after the occultist Aleister Crowley who died in 1947. He wrote of Black Magic and the defendant's beliefs were to influence his decision to kill Diego."

Diego lived with his family off Charing Cross Road in central London, and was playing in a nearby park in the summer of 1999 when Crowley befriended him.

The shabby loner took the boy swimming, bought him sweets and toys and later admitted having a "flirtatious but non-sexual relationship".

When Diego rejected his friendship, Crowley vowed to use him as a human sacrifice.

Diego's mother repeatedly told police he was being stalked.

Crowley was arrested three times, but officers found no evidence of any indecency.

He was finally charged with harassing the boy and was remanded in custody for psychiatric assessment in December 1999. Crowley was eventually released on bail, even though he was considered dangerous.

Less than two months later, he killed Diego.

The warped stalker had bombarded the boy's home with phone calls and haunted him at play and at school.

The youngster was given a mobile phone by police to raise the alarm, and he had an escort to school.

But as he was out walking with brother Roberto - still believing his stalker to be in custody - Crowley took the knife from a holdall and launched his attack.

Prosecutor Mark Ellison said: "Diego was joking around pretending to order pizzas on the mobile phone. Roberto heard the noise of the defendant's bag fall to the ground.

"He ran up with something in his fist and dragged Diego by the hair and appeared to punch him. Roberto dragged him by the neck but he couldn't pull him to the ground.

"He felt pain in the leg and shouted for his brother to run away. He was trying to use his mobile. Crowley ran back to Diego and grabbed him and seemed to cover him with his whole body.

"Roberto managed to get back to his feet and went back to the defendant a second time and grabbed his arm.

"He saw the blade in his hand. As he struggled, he described him being as strong as a horse."

Police later searched the holdall and found a note in classical Latin on a diagram which translated: "Diego Pineiro is to be destroyed."

It was dated two weeks before the murder.

Mr Ellison said: "In the opinion of the experts, the diagram is primarily concerned with the references to human sacrifice, for example children, and is plainly the fruit of some considerable study of the subject."

He said the date of the note indicated that the attack was pre-planned.

Diego had told Crowley the previous summer that he wanted nothing more to do with him. The killer said the rejection made him feel "isolated, emotional and depressed."

Judge Denison told Crowley: "This was in any view a savage attack with a knife on a 12-year-old boy with whom you seemed to be obsessed but who did not want to have anything more to do with you."

The judge commended Roberto and passers-by who tried to save the schoolboy.

Roberto, who was knifed in the thigh as he tried to wrench Crowley away from Diego, now lives in Spain.

Two brave waiters - Sheikh Salim, 26, and Anwar Ali Khan, 24 - ran from an Indian restaurant and wrestled Crowley to the ground.

They grabbed the knife and held him down until the police arrived.

Diego's mother was in Spain the night he died - making preparations to flee Britain and escape the deranged stalker.

She had arranged new schooling for Diego at Pontedeume near La Coruna in north west Spain.

Now she is considering taking legal action against the police.

An inquiry has been started into the mental health and child-care aspects of the case.

Scotland Yard is privately convinced that its officers took all reasonable steps given that Crowley, although clearly disturbed, had not actually committed a serious crime and showed no violent tendencies before he became a killer.

His only previous criminal record was for shoplifting.

Angela Fernandez says: "I was so close to getting my son away from this man for good and moving back to Spain.

"There can be no more evil monster than one who kills a child. My child."

In custody battle involving Satanist, law plays devil's advocate

By Manya A. Brachear ("Chicago Tribune," July 9, 2008)

Extracted from http://wwrn.org/articles/29010/?&section=occult

Rochester, USA - The T in Satan's name inked on Jamie Meyer's left leg is drawn to look like an upside-down cross. The crucifix suspended above his bed hangs upside down too.

Meyer's ex-wives say he also has turned their children's lives upside down since he joined the Church of Satan—an organization that eschews spirituality and celebrates man's selfish desires.

One of Meyer's ex-wives is citing his religious affiliation as the main reason an Indiana judge should restrict his visitation time to allow his three youngest daughters to attend Christian church. A Fulton County judge could decide the case Wednesday.

"My children are my legacy," said Meyer, 30, a factory worker. "It is because of them that I am still here today. I will always fight for my rights as a father."

Across the nation, child-custody disputes involving religion are on the rise as the frequency of interfaith marriages and religious conversions increases and fathers become more active in their kids' upbringing. Judges risk crossing the line between church and state, experts say, if they try to choose the religion in which a child should be raised.

"People continue to bring it up even though the judge tells them they won't consider a belief system," said Ronald Nelson, chairman of the American Bar Association's custody committee. "Judges are people. They are swayed by their emotions and biases just like everyone else. . . . What better bias than religion? It's a visceral thing."

Experts said the burden is on the ex-wife to show that the religion was harmful to the children.

Gaetano Ferro, immediate past president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, said the U.S. Constitution prevents judges from showing a religious preference. But the burden of proof might be on Meyer to prove the Church of Satan is an authentic faith.

"If Satanism is treated as religion, that's strike one to her case," Ferro said.

Indeed, the Internal Revenue Service defines the Church of Satan as a religion. Furthermore, that's how it defines itself.

"Satanism is the world's first carnal religion," said Peter Gilmore, high priest of the Manhattan-based organization founded four decades ago. "Satanists are thus atheists—not devil worshipers—and we see Satan as being a symbol of pride, liberty and individualism, not a deity."

Meyer embraced the Church of Satan when an ex-girlfriend introduced him to the "The Satanic Bible" shortly after his second divorce about two years ago. The book, written by the Church of Satan's founder, Anton LaVey, spoke to Meyer more than any scripture ever had. It proclaimed no God, no heaven and no hell. It said Satanism had nothing to do with the devil.

"We take it on as a name because Satan means adversary or opposite," Meyer said. "We are the opposite of spiritual religions."

The mother of Meyer's three youngest children, Kristie Meyer, said her ex-husband's public expression of satanic beliefs subjects the children to embarrassment. Her lawyer, Pat Roberts, defended his client's right to shape the religious upbringing of the children. He also said Meyer owes back child support.

Roberts wants the judge to order Meyer to drop off the children at his ex-wife's Christian church so that they can attend with her.

"Frankly, [it] can be emotionally damaging or confusing to children when they're faced with these two different forms of worship," Roberts said. "Allowing them to go to church for a couple hours on a Sunday morning is . . . not unreasonable."

Jamie Meyer's first ex-wife, Misty Hoff, said he already has alienated his oldest daughter by calling her a hypocrite for her Christian beliefs. She considers his encounter with the Church of Satan nothing but a phase.

"This character is right now one of many that he has done," she said. "Whether he believes in this or not—that's between him and God."