A Letter On Satanism

 For many, the idea that Satanism exists really does not bother them. In the view of many, it is believed that Satanism consists of a handful of bored teenagers, drinking, having sex and performing silly rituals in the woods. When you mention to people that there are far more organized groups out there, they scoff and ask why we do not see evidence to support that statement. Well, for one, Law Enforcement does indeed find evidence of these groups and their practices. For another, the more organized these groups are, the better they are at hiding the evidence. One fact that must be understood for this letter to mean anything is that there is a devil. Satan exists. He does not show up, pitchfork in hand, arrow tipped tail and cloven feet. He does not do interviews or show up on “60 Minutes.” What he does is operate in the shadows. He is the ultimate spy. His greatest accomplishment on this earth is having convinced the world, or most of it anyway, that he does not exist. 

However, people who work in my fields, religion and the paranormal, know only too well that he is a force, an intelligent being capable of appearing as anything he wants. He is the ultimate con man; he is the king of temptation. To those who worshipped him and then tried to get out, he is a tangible force, not an abstract idea. People worship him; they even kill for him. He sits and waits for his prey. He sets up elaborate traps and quickly snares his victims. Perhaps most dangerous of all is that his victims are totally unaware that the trap they have fallen into was a result of the fallen angel. Therein lies his real power. They do his will but Satan does so in a way that makes the person think it was his/her own idea. We will now discuss the three major types of Satanists.

The Self-Styled Satanist

This group probably represents the largest “worshipers” of Satan. They, by far, make the most headlines. They consist of lonely individuals, usually in their mid to late teens. This is true of most cults and Satanism is a cult. The individual is usually one with extremely poor self-esteem. He is often hanging on the fringes at school, not really accepted by the in crowd. He most likely feels that he is unimportant, unloved and tries to find a way to “fit in.” His Satanic exposure often begins with heavy metal music with lyrics that openly accept Satan. Most often, he is into drugs, defiance and had no respect for authority figures. Since we know (or should, anyway) that “like attracts like,” others if his ilk seem to find each other. They do not tend to follow the strict rules of Satanism. Many of their rituals are made up and they incorporate their own desires into their belief systems. Most follow no organized guidelines. If it feels good, they do it.

Their rituals may include burning black candles in their bedrooms. Posters of groups like AC/DC or Black Sabbath may adorn their walls. They may have grimoires, books where they keep their rituals and spells. Many will practice their new “craft” alone. Others will find “kindred spirits to work with them. They often try to conjure up spirits. Modern science will tell you that devils and demons do not exist and thus cannot be conjured. Yet anyone who has worked in the field of the paranormal for any length of time knows that they cause “something” to happen because some of the worst hauntings they have dealt with were a direct result of satanic practices. The practitioner may move away but the negative energy they invoked remains behind and torture the good people who later move into the house. From my own experiences, spirits of the occult are far and away the hardest to deal with.

Sadly, these practitioners believe that they can conjure up and then harness demonic entities. They will draw their pentagram on the floor and believe, incorrectly, that they are safe when they are in the magical corral. That they believe they can control entities that have been around since the dawn of mankind is foolish, to put it mildly. The diabolical and demonic world hates all humans, even the ones that worship them. Perhaps they even hate them more. Yes, sometimes it seems that their spells or incantations appear to work. Sometimes bad things do happen to the people they cast spells against. Whether it is satanic intervention or just bad luck on the victim’s part, the spell caster will surely pay a price. If the spell or curse had nothing to do with the bad event in the victim’s life, the spell caster has still committed a major sin by trying to hurt that person. God does not take such things lightly. If the result of the bad fortune was a direct result of the spell casting, the spell caster now has two problems: God and the demon. Again, God does not take this lightly and the demon that performed the task will expect payment. The foolish practitioner does not realize that he cannot control forces of evil; they control him.

Once they realize that, their own lives become a living hell. That little pentagram is difficult to live in 24/7 and it offers no protection anyway. To think otherwise is plain old stupidity. These beings have been around forever and they are far wiser and meaner than even our most twisted citizens. Unfortunately, the day comes where they realize that fact. Many then try to get out but it is not quite so easy. If you have used evil to commit evil acts, you are indebted to those forces of darkness. They will not leave you alone. Your only hope then is the Church.  

Many of these self-styled Satanists enjoy the torture and slaughter of animals. These animals are often someone’s pet. To the Satanist, that is a double pleasure. They get to physically torture the helpless animal and they mentally torture the pet’s owners. This is the way they think. They delight in doing evil; they delight in hurting others. They will not feel delight when it comes time for them to pay for their actions and they will pay a dear price for it. It may be in the form of jail time. They may be plagued by the forces they conjured up, forces bent on ruining their lives as they have attempted to ruin the lives of others. In many cases, they end up taking their own lives. Whether this is done out of guilt or fear is anyone’s guess. Whichever is the case, actions have consequences. That much is irrefutable. Most of them find that out only after they have gotten in over their heads. 

Why do so many teenagers get involved with Satanism? Isolation from their peers is one reason. Drug and alcohol abuse plays another role. As the “priest” of their group, they feel in charge and respected, filling a void that they have always had. Many are attracted for easy sex. Another reason is because it is becoming more popular than ever. Go into any bookstore and wander over to the “New Age” section. In days gone by, that section was called: “Occult.” A rose by any other name… What you will find are some books on astrology, a few on UFO’s and maybe a book or two on ghosts. Then you have the psychics who talk to the dead. They write a lot too. The rest of the books are on witchcraft and spell casting. They are proliferating the market place. There are spell books for everything. You have “white” magic; you have “black magic” and now I have seen books on “green magic.” Some appear to be benign; others are somewhat sinister. You will also find the “Satanic Bible” and the “Necronomicon” there as well. Those books do sell quite well. Whatever the attraction was, the fact remains that these are dangerous individuals to be around. Some graduate to human sacrifices. The victim is often the “nerdy” kid at school. However, it is not uncommon for the parents and siblings to become the victims of a murderous rage. It is something that is increasing in frequency.  

Can these misguided people be saved? While I have my own opinion but I know that our God is one of forgiveness and I believe that He will forgive just about anything. I would imagine Satan worshipping would fall into that category. I find it hard to believe but I am not God, something the world should be very grateful for. Many of these self-styled Satanists do repent and eventually lead positive lives. I think that the extent of their involvement makes a difference but I could be wrong about that too. If a Satanist came to me as a minister and asked for forgiveness and decided that he wanted to live his life in Christ, I would certainly help him to do so. I cannot be his judge or anyone’s judge, for that matter. God is the sole judge and His decisions are what count. I would try my hardest to help that person, providing he is serious about wanting to change. After all, that is part of God’s mission to me. He wants everyone to come to Him and I would be remiss in my duties if I tried to turn someone away. I could not do that. Let us take a look at the second type of Satanist.

The Moderately Organized Satanist

The practitioners in this category are more serious about their practices than the self-styled Satanist. They tend to be older than the ones in the above category and they often have organized meetings. You hear less about them because they are fairly good about covering their tracks. They are quite dangerous to be around. They will try to suck friends and relatives in and once that has been accomplished, it is very difficult for their members to leave. The rituals performed by this group are more organized and coherent that what the teenagers do. They too may sacrifice animals and in some cases, humans but for the most part, they try to keep their actions hidden. Their victims are usually people who live on the fringe of society, people who will not be missed. That often means the homeless or runaways. The runaways are missed but the record of finding them is poor at best.

Occasionally, someone will mess up and a body will be unearthed from a shallow grave. Were they victims of a satanic sacrifice? There is often no way to know. We have enough serial killers out there dumping bodies around so there will never be a way to tell unless someone comes forward to the police. That does not happen too often because those who try often find themselves the next sacrifice. Law enforcement works hard on this problem but they have limited resources and few who are willing to come forward. In some cases, people do come forward but their stories are often discounted for one reason or another, usually because it sounds unbelievable. Nobody wants to believe that there is a devil and no one wants to believe that human sacrifices take place in our country. Wrong.

How prevalent are these groups? There is no way of knowing. When we get to the last group, that task becomes almost impossible. These groups exist because it brings people of a like mind together. It is not that much different from the self-styled teenagers. Sex, drugs and power all play roles. The only difference is that these groups are secretive. Many teenagers brag about their involvement with Satanism. It makes them look “cool” in their minds. It makes them “different,” something that appears to be quite valuable to their screwed up heads. Can people from these groups escape the horror of the life they have chosen? Yes, but it is more difficult because their lives are in danger when they announce their desire to leave. Will God forgive them and welcome them back to His fold? I feel it is the same as it is with the teenagers. Ours is a God of love. I cannot see Him turn His back on any of His creatures. He sent His Son to die for our sins so I have to believe that He will quickly forgive these people if He reads in their hearts that they are sincere and repentant.

The True Satanist

These are the truly dangerous Satanists. No one has any idea of the numbers of these groups because they are quite professional in their approach to Satanism. Although it is sometimes true with the aforementioned groups, these Satanists come from all walks of life. They may be doctors, police officers, lawyers and even sometimes, priests. Their covens are well hidden and trying to break away from these groups is almost impossible and almost always deadly. They have a structured hierarchy and they are well versed in satanic literature. Their ceremonies are not just for the sake of free sex as is true with the lesser groups. Yes they do that but there is a reason, a purpose for every ceremony they do and they follow their rituals precisely.

These Satanists do perform human sacrifices and you will not find the bodies. They are quite adept and handling them. There will be no shallow graves. Bones will not turn up in the trash. They may be cremated; they may be buried by funeral parlors. The bodies may be destroyed in some other way. This is why many people swear there are no “real” Satanists. At a lecture one time, one man said to me that if there really were satanic covens and they did the things you say they do, there should be bodies all over the place. There are, he just does not come across any. Rarely do the police either. Again, they are masters at hiding their evidence. 

Many of these covens have breeders, women who become pregnant with the intent of having a baby that will be sacrificed to their god. It is a repulsive thought but it is true. These groups tend to have strong familiar ties. It is quite common to see second and third generations of families involved in the coven. From an early age, their children are indoctrinated into the worship of Satan. They are often sexually abused by members of the coven, with the permission of their parents, it should be noted. When those children grow up, they will raise their families the same way. It continues to go on in the nicest of places, involving seemingly the nicest of people. This is not a lark to them; they take their religion very seriously. No one who comes into contact with them outside their coven will know they are Satanists. That is the way they like it. That is the life they have chosen.

It is alleged that they have the power to conjure up evil energy. Unlike the uneducated practitioners, they know they do not control the forces they conjure. Instead, they make sacrifices to them. They keep them appeased so that they can rely on their power. Yes, evil energy can be conjured up. They are smart enough to know what they are dealing with and they have a mission that is not for pure gratification, be it sexual or financial or anything else earthly. They are part of a greater plan and it is a plan that should concern us all. Their secrecy is necessary for the sake of their greater plan. For that reason, you will never hear them talk about Satan. You will also never see rings or amulets on them. Those things are for the amateurs. These people are not amateurs by any stretch of the imagination. They do not want people to know of their practices for the sake of shock value like you see with the members of the first two groups. For their plan to work, they must be anonymous.

The Satanic Plan

What is this great plan of theirs? In short, they seek world domination. They want Satan, their god to have complete rule of the world. That is why they must remain so secretive. They need to put their members in high places. Those places include big business, political positions, law enforcement, the Church, the medical field and so on. And to a very large extent, they have been successful. There are believed to be many Satanists in the Priesthood. It is believed that some of them have risen in the ranks to Bishop and even Cardinals. It is believed that there are some in the Vatican. That would make sense because it is the Church who represents the most danger to them. This may sound crazy to you but I ask you to consider this, look at the state the Catholic Church is in. It has nearly been destroyed from all of the sexual abuses and they way they were handled, or more precisely, not handled. Is it possible that it the work of the devil? Just consider the possibility.

After the Second Ecumenical Council, evil as a force has slowly been slipping from the teachings of the Church. As those teachings decreased, there has been a rise in “New Age” activity. Paranormal investigators are seeing more cases. Even more frightening, they are seeing more demonic cases. At one time, they were rare. That is not so anymore. Now, believe me, I am not saying I believe in all those demonic cases you read about on paranormal websites. I do not believe that there are thousands of exorcisms performed every year. I do believe that the numbers are rising but I do not believe in all of them. Many were misdiagnosed; some were flat out made up. However, there are a few investigators working today that I do trust and they all tell me demonic cases are on the rise. I firmly believe that a good part of that has to do with the softer stance the Church has taken when it comes to the issue of evil, real tangible evil. Evil is not a concept; it is a fact of life.

That lack of teaching has opened the door to Satanism. It has opened the door to witchcraft, necromancy and a host of other dangerous practices. I wonder how many people say the prayer of St. Michael the Archangel? I am willing to be that not many say it. I am also willing to bet that not many even know it. That is a prayer that should be said on a daily basis by everyone. I personally say it three times a day. Yes, in my case, I have witnessed evil in many forms. I have done house blessings, I have assisted at exorcisms and I recently performed one. It came with a price as they always do. I know that evil is there. It is not a concept; it is a tangible force. Everyone needs to know that as well.

I do not consider it unusual that vocations have dropped to record lows. There are fewer priests now and the shortage of Nuns has resulted in the closing of many Catholic parochial schools. They say these things run in cycles but I am not so sure about that. The Church has not exploded but it is the process of imploding in on itself. When I was growing up, most priests were looked upon with reverence. Today, most priests do not wear their clerical garb when they go out. In some cases, I believe they are afraid to because violence against priests is on the rise. Many priests, I believe, are embarrassed to be seen in clerical dress. That is a crime in itself. One should wear their collar with pride. Unfortunately today, many people associate priests with child molestation. It is a horrible image and one that the Church propagated. The Church is a victim of itself. The Holy Father is a believer in evil. He, himself has performed exorcisms. What will happen when his time is up? If teachings on evil are falling away now, while he is still alive, what will the next Pope do? Will he raise the bar or lower it?

Facing Facts

Satanism is on the rise. So are various other non-traditional “religions.” Santeria is enjoying a rebirth. Cults are forming all over the place with belief systems such as the old 70’s phrase: “If it feels good, do it.” With the way so many of us think, that is a disaster waiting to happen. We have more sexually transmitted diseases than we can presently handle. Voodoo is suddenly popular again. In some bookstores, they are selling Voodoo kits, complete with the doll. These are reputable chains doing this, not some esoteric little storefront. What are we teaching our children? The large, organized Churches are suffering in terms of attendance. They are hurting financially and their pleas for more money from the parishioners they have left are turning them off. The more they need, the less they get.

The Church needs to go back to the old days. They need to put style and mystique back in their services. I am not saying we need to go back to the days before Vatican Two. What I am saying is that those changes went too far. The old and the new need to find a middle ground, something that fits all people. The Church also needs to stop acting like a big business. They are supposed to be our spiritual teachers. If they do not do that, people will find their spirituality somewhere else. If there is a void, something will fill it. It may be something good but it may also be something bad, very bad. Parents need to do their part but they are facing something of a quandary. Most children do not go to Catholic schools anymore. The parents themselves have turned away from the Church for a variety reasons, most of which are legitimate. Even worse, today’s parent does not have the time to spend teaching their children.

Simpler Times

We need to go back to simpler times. Churches need to regain the trust of the people. In the meantime, they need to be discussing evil in Church. I have listened to many homilies and I can only remember two in the last twenty years that attempted to warn the congregation about the forces of evil that are out there or shed some light on some of the practices that are so popular today. If they do not fill the voids, there is always someone or something out there that will. One of the things I will try to do in my ministry is to convince people to go back to Church. I do not care if it is my Church, the Catholic Church or any of the other traditions. They need to hear about Christ and they need to hear about the bad one too.

For now, little Churches may provide the answer, as long as they preach God’s love for us, preach the Gospel of Christ and warn people away from the pits that are out there. The devil is smart and he knows how to set snares. He is cunning and he can appear to be good to some. It is, of course, a trap but one he has been very successful with over the years. That trap often leads to Satanism and the Churches today must be aware of that.          

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