This has been a difficult series to write. I really don't like to dwell on this type of subject matter and there aren't any happy endings to these stories.
I've been spending a lot of time hashing out these dark themes here, and it's not really my cup of tea at all. There's so much potential for mischief in all of this, for the wrong interpretations to be made and the wrong conclusions to be drawn.
But I couldn't help but notice that a... program seems to have been reactivated.
This isn't a walk down Conspiracy Memory Lane. I couldn't help but recognize old patterns re-emerging and re-establishing themselves, into the fraught and fragile cultural consensus of these miserable times. I remember how that all worked out before. I'm not at all looking forward to seeing how it all works out today.
Certainly the volume of material in the media is nothing like it was in the 70s but we may still be at the beginning of a deluge to come. Or maybe it's more diffused through the various channels of information out there today. Or perhaps everything else is so screwed up you don't need as much pushing as before.
PLAYTIME
Under normal circumstances, having a bunch of geeks dress up in their gothiest finery and LARP it up as Satanists is pretty harmless and fairly trivial.
But they're not the problem.
The problem is when the potent, highly-charged symbolism and iconography of Satanism plays upon the minds of those who are inclined to take it all a bit more seriously.
And the more visible and socially acceptable Satanism becomes, the more of a sense of permission these individuals will feel, you can count on it.
From the militantly-skeptical Wikipedia, on Satanic Ritual Abuse.
SADLY NOT
Today's LARPing Satanists will tell you they don't believe in Satan and that they're all just dicking around with the symbolism to get a rise out of Christians.
Well, we heard that all before.
We heard that from Anton LaVey in the 60s and 70s and what followed was a wave of Satanically-inspired violent crime. We heard it from Marilyn Manson and company in the 90s and 00s and saw a new wave of Satanic murder.
Any armchair symbolist will figure out why. Just look at the imagery and iconography of Satanism; the warning colors, the blood, the weapons and fangs, the skulls and on and on. The subconscious processes this imagery, often in ways the conscious mind does not. Swimming in negative imagery can't help but damage one's emotional well-being. You're dealing with basic mammalian psychology here.
So whatever kind of song and dance these groups might be feeding the media, their visuals tell an entirely different story.
Like this...
And seriously; what's up with this Satanic preoccupation with children?
For children?
Why use the icon of Baphomet- a theistic image- at all?
And what's with that droning dirge on the soundtrack? Do they think any children- or parents- will find any of this alluring or even acceptable? Why not use science-oriented imagery to promote their allegedly science-oriented clubs?
It's a patently obvious provocation.
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Which makes perfect sense because the Satanic Temple is the brainchild of a professional provocateur, staging publicity stunts for the media to garner press for his organization, whose actual membership is almost certainly tiny.
And have you ever noticed that Satanism always seems to be a supply-side proposition? It's not as if there was a clamoring for it in the sunny mid-60s. It's like the McDonalds of cults; it creates demand through saturation.
But there's certainly no shortage of unsettling coincidences following the cult around like a lost hellhound. Their penchant for globetrotting and their obvious access to large amounts of cash money should send up a red flag for any serious students of cult activity.
And I can say that I find the timing very curious for this new documentary - Sympathy for the Devil- that is trying to rehabilitate the Process, in light of the activities of the Satanic Temple.
The question arises that if the Temple's founder is an atheist (as he claims) then why take on the mantle of a stridently-theistic cult like the Process? There's no gray area with the Process, certainly not if you even glance through their literature. Something the present-day apologists can't wish away.
There are also the connections of the Process to the Deep State. One example:
Markham also represented Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi exile who provided so much of the tainted intelligence that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq.
That's what you call connected, Jim.
And as to the neo-Satanists' claims that they're only in it for the yuks and that they don't believe in all this Devil baloney, well, I'm not sure that's entirely comforting either.
Certainly the volume of material in the media is nothing like it was in the 70s but we may still be at the beginning of a deluge to come. Or maybe it's more diffused through the various channels of information out there today. Or perhaps everything else is so screwed up you don't need as much pushing as before.
PLAYTIME
Under normal circumstances, having a bunch of geeks dress up in their gothiest finery and LARP it up as Satanists is pretty harmless and fairly trivial.
But they're not the problem.
The problem is when the potent, highly-charged symbolism and iconography of Satanism plays upon the minds of those who are inclined to take it all a bit more seriously.
And the more visible and socially acceptable Satanism becomes, the more of a sense of permission these individuals will feel, you can count on it.
From the militantly-skeptical Wikipedia, on Satanic Ritual Abuse.
Criminal and delusional satanism
A third variation of ritual abuse involves non-religious ritual abuse in which the rituals were delusional or obsessive. There are incidents of extreme sadistic crimes that are committed by individuals, loosely organized families and possibly in some organized cults, some of which may be connected to Satanism, though this is more likely to be related to sex trafficking; though SRA may happen in families, extended families and localized groups, it is not believed to occur in large, organized groups.And with sex trafficking exploding, particularly in vulnerable immigrant communities, it's almost certain we're going to hearing more about this in the future. Or a more troubling possibility is that it will be taking place and we won't hear about it, outside of marginal and/or fringe media outlets.
SADLY NOT
Today's LARPing Satanists will tell you they don't believe in Satan and that they're all just dicking around with the symbolism to get a rise out of Christians.
Well, we heard that all before.
We heard that from Anton LaVey in the 60s and 70s and what followed was a wave of Satanically-inspired violent crime. We heard it from Marilyn Manson and company in the 90s and 00s and saw a new wave of Satanic murder.
Any armchair symbolist will figure out why. Just look at the imagery and iconography of Satanism; the warning colors, the blood, the weapons and fangs, the skulls and on and on. The subconscious processes this imagery, often in ways the conscious mind does not. Swimming in negative imagery can't help but damage one's emotional well-being. You're dealing with basic mammalian psychology here.
So whatever kind of song and dance these groups might be feeding the media, their visuals tell an entirely different story.
Like this...
And seriously; what's up with this Satanic preoccupation with children?
The Portland chapter of the Satanic Temple has reportedly succeeded in bringing its "After School Satan Club" to an elementary school within city limits.
Finn Rezz, one of two heads of the chapter, told the Oregonian that the organization has been approved to begin its program, which focuses on "on science and rational thinking," on Oct. 19 at Sacramento Elementary School.
Rezz previously told the paper that most members of the Satanic Temple are atheists who see Satan as an allegory for free thought, and that the program is intended to promote "benevolence and empathy for everybody."
The purpose, Rezz told the paper, is meant to counter "the Good News Club," an after-school club put on by the Child Evangelism Fellowship, "a Bible-centered organization.Satanic Temple of Seattle spokesman Tarkus Claypool said a parent brought the Bible club to their attention because the parent was concerned the club was teaching children to evangelize to other children, according to the Associated Press.
Claypool said their curriculum teaches children logic, self-empowerment and reasoning, and they don't worship a deity.To take any of this at face value, we need to ask the following questions: If they're so interested in rationalism and science why are they serving up such dark and nightmarish imagery?
For children?
Why use the icon of Baphomet- a theistic image- at all?
And what's with that droning dirge on the soundtrack? Do they think any children- or parents- will find any of this alluring or even acceptable? Why not use science-oriented imagery to promote their allegedly science-oriented clubs?
It's a patently obvious provocation.
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Which makes perfect sense because the Satanic Temple is the brainchild of a professional provocateur, staging publicity stunts for the media to garner press for his organization, whose actual membership is almost certainly tiny.
And have you ever noticed that Satanism always seems to be a supply-side proposition? It's not as if there was a clamoring for it in the sunny mid-60s. It's like the McDonalds of cults; it creates demand through saturation.
Mind you, I have no reason to suspect the Satanic Temple of any wrongdoing or having any nefarious motives. But I do have to wonder if they are possibly being manipulated by those who do.
As has been well-documented, these kinds of groups can often give cover-- inadvertently or otherwise-- to more problematic elements. And if nothing else, the Temple is mainstreaming Satanism in ways never seen before.
History shows us again and again that Satan gets the deciding vote on how that little gambit will turn out.
Given this history and other details in the Temple's background, I'm not entirely comforted by the fact that the Satanic Temple's founder's blog is named in honor of the Process Church and prominently features the Process's swastika-like logo.
History shows us again and again that Satan gets the deciding vote on how that little gambit will turn out.
Given this history and other details in the Temple's background, I'm not entirely comforted by the fact that the Satanic Temple's founder's blog is named in honor of the Process Church and prominently features the Process's swastika-like logo.
I can't imagine I'm alone in this. Read this, from Paranoia Magazine:
(Adam) Gorightly links cults like The Process Church of the Final Judgment and the Manson Family to elements of the underworld and intelligence communities, brushing back the cobwebs of the occult to reveal a truly disturbing story that continues to haunt us today.Other researchers and investigators have linked the Process to serious criminal activity (as we've seen previously). Of course, it's all very controversial and can be very difficult to pin down, given the nature of the activity and the front groups that the Process used (or uses).
But there's certainly no shortage of unsettling coincidences following the cult around like a lost hellhound. Their penchant for globetrotting and their obvious access to large amounts of cash money should send up a red flag for any serious students of cult activity.
And I can say that I find the timing very curious for this new documentary - Sympathy for the Devil- that is trying to rehabilitate the Process, in light of the activities of the Satanic Temple.
The question arises that if the Temple's founder is an atheist (as he claims) then why take on the mantle of a stridently-theistic cult like the Process? There's no gray area with the Process, certainly not if you even glance through their literature. Something the present-day apologists can't wish away.
There are also the connections of the Process to the Deep State. One example:
(John) Markham is a former U.S. attorney with the Department of Justice. He did have ties with the Process Church from 1974 to 1980.
I did find records in the state of New York that on January 17, 1974, the Process Church of Final Judgment was formally incorporated in that state, and that the attorney for the church was John Markham. Additional legal documents were filed for the church on May 23, 1974, and again Markham was the attorney.
Another article in the Executive Intelligence's Review on June 2, 1989 raised the following question, "Was Markham just an outside counsel, or was he himself a member of Process Church? According to the Process Church's own literature, Markham appears to have been a 'lay member.'"
The church magazine that mentions Markham was The Processean, January 1974 issue.Markham was appointed to the Justice Department by William Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts and the current Vice-Presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party.
Markham also represented Ahmed Chalabi, the Iraqi exile who provided so much of the tainted intelligence that was used to justify the invasion of Iraq.
That's what you call connected, Jim.
And as to the neo-Satanists' claims that they're only in it for the yuks and that they don't believe in all this Devil baloney, well, I'm not sure that's entirely comforting either.
From Wikipedia:
The new Satanists are playing with fire and may very well get themselves burned by it. It's not inconceivable to imagine that that's precisely why they're being put on display out there.
CAST THEE OUT
Indeed, we've seen a lot of explicit Satanic symbolism in the media during the past few years, and Fox's Lucifer (sic) is a major hit. We've certainly seen a lot of reaction to all this on the Conspiranet. It starts to feel like a deliberate ratcheting up of tension and anxiety, perhaps a convenient deflection from more immediate problems. But the tension seems to be ramping up on so many fronts, doesn't it?
Ironically, The Exorcist TV series is not (nor was a revamp of The Omen franchise called Damien). Hollywood keeps throwing this stuff at us, whether we want it or not.
And usually we don't.
In fact, all of the Exorcist sequels were dead flops, which may in fact tell us something important about the original's exact nature. It was a very well-made film but was it worth the hysteria during its initial release? I don't think so.
We're seeing a lot of stories about "exorcisms on the rise", and therein lies the other problem with the mainstreaming of Satanism- the response from the opposition.
I doubt we'd see a repeat of the Satanic Panic (but we could if the program ramps up) but the more localized hysteria around "possession" can have similarly tragic consequences. A number of troubled yet otherwise innocent people have died during "exorcisms" and there are almost certainly more to come.
And the Satanic Temple's provocative encroachments into schools and other public places is only going to encourage this. Which will probably please them to no end.
Pseudo-satanismWe've seen the panic created by the Creepy Clowns, now imagine if you throw Satanism into that mix and more besides (if in fact that ship hasn't already sailed)? Or how about a Satanic-oriented mass shooting, or three?Satanic ritual abuse is also used to describe the actions of "pseudo-satanists" who sexually abuse children and use the trappings of satanic rituals and claims of magical powers to coerce and terrify victims, but do not actually believe in the rituals.A survey of more than 12,000 SRA allegations, which found no substantiating evidence for an intergenerational conspiracy, did document several examples of abuse by pseudo-satanists.
The new Satanists are playing with fire and may very well get themselves burned by it. It's not inconceivable to imagine that that's precisely why they're being put on display out there.
CAST THEE OUT
Indeed, we've seen a lot of explicit Satanic symbolism in the media during the past few years, and Fox's Lucifer (sic) is a major hit. We've certainly seen a lot of reaction to all this on the Conspiranet. It starts to feel like a deliberate ratcheting up of tension and anxiety, perhaps a convenient deflection from more immediate problems. But the tension seems to be ramping up on so many fronts, doesn't it?
Ironically, The Exorcist TV series is not (nor was a revamp of The Omen franchise called Damien). Hollywood keeps throwing this stuff at us, whether we want it or not.
And usually we don't.
In fact, all of the Exorcist sequels were dead flops, which may in fact tell us something important about the original's exact nature. It was a very well-made film but was it worth the hysteria during its initial release? I don't think so.
We're seeing a lot of stories about "exorcisms on the rise", and therein lies the other problem with the mainstreaming of Satanism- the response from the opposition.
I doubt we'd see a repeat of the Satanic Panic (but we could if the program ramps up) but the more localized hysteria around "possession" can have similarly tragic consequences. A number of troubled yet otherwise innocent people have died during "exorcisms" and there are almost certainly more to come.
And the Satanic Temple's provocative encroachments into schools and other public places is only going to encourage this. Which will probably please them to no end.
There's a lot more to this story and many more connections to explore, including some disturbing connections between the new wave of Satanists and the Deep State. But for now I've had my fill of it. I find Satanism to be incredibly depressing and really want to get my head out of this space.
