Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Occultism Religion 2000 Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media Bill Ellis Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Ellis, Bill, "Raising the Devil: Satanism, New Religions, and the Media" (2000). Occultism. 1. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_occultism/1 naising thr Droit This page intentionally left blank ,. ,. GISln ~ tht ,. COl Satanism, New Religions, and the Media Bill Ellis 'THE UNIVERSITY PREss OF KENTuCKY Copyright © 2000 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 04 03 02 01 00 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ellis, Bill, 1950- Raising the devil: Satanism, new religions, and the media / Bill Ellis. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8131-2170-1 Calk. paper) 1. Satanism. 1. Title. BF1548.E45 2000 133.4'22-dc21 00-035928 This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. 9* Manufactured in the United States of America. For Elizabeth, in hopes that she will inherit a better world This page intentionally left blank There is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after. -Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 I raised the Devil, and the Devil raised me, I never shall forget when the Devil raised me. -19th-century Derbyshire conjuring charm This page intentionally left blank Qontmts Acknowledgments Xl Introduction: Demonizing Folklore xv Christian Magic and Diabolical Medicine: The Theory behind the Scare 1 The Jesus of Satan: Deliverance and Spiritualism 32 Speak to the Devil: Ouija Boards and Deliverance 62 Putting the Pieces Together: MPD and Ritual Abuse Narratives 87 The One-World Demonology: Projection and Conspiracy 120 Brits and the Black Mass: The First "Confessing Witches" 143 Hippie Commune Witchcraft Blood Rites: Satanic "Confessions" in North America 167 The Highgate Cemetery Vampire Hunt: Grave-Robbing and Rumor Panic 202 The Great Plains Cattle Mutilation Panic: Satanism Becomes News 240 Conclusions 279 Notes 289 Bibliography 301 Index 319 This page intentionally left blank acknomledgments This book is the result of an intellectual quest that began in October 1983, when I saw a popular news article describing the murder of two teenagers in a rural area in southeastern Ohio. The article reported local speculations that a "satanic cult" was responsible, and in some of the theories expressed I recognized elements from a number of adolescent legends that I had been studying. The area, like many others, had circu lated stories about mysterious groups that met at night for occult cer emonies and sacrificed those unwary enough to spy on them. I followed the case (which was never officially solved), and so began a long, dark, and often lonely journey. The reader may well wonder what motivated me to study this bizarre and often appalling subject. Primarily, I felt that the subject deserved to be addressed by trained folklorists. Much of the information being circulated on both sides of the debate over Satanism, I saw, was based on profound misunderstand ings of folk traditions. In some cases, magical healing traditions that had been carefully studied by ethnographers were being demonized as sa tanic in nature. In other cases, adolescent rituals having nothing intrin sic to do with Satanism were misunderstood as signs of cult activity. And the previously unstudied phenomenon of rumor panics seemed to be an opportunity for folklorists both to observe myths and beliefs in contem porary action and to help institutions respond to rumors about Satanism in an accurate, productive way. Overall, I thought studying and respond ing to the scare would be a way of demonstrating that the discipline of folklore was not the quaint study of the past but the dynamic study of the emerging present. Such were my professional motives, quixotic as they were. Folklorist David Hufford, who has also chosen to study elements of religious belief and practices that impact contemporary policy decisions, has argued (1995) that it is misleading for researchers to imply an atti tude of total impartiality. The crusade against Satanism scare has impor tant social consequences, and so a completely detached response is simply not possible. Following his suggestions, I would also like to layout my personal views at the outset. I do not do so to accuse or try to convert my xii • Acknowledgments readers, but to acknowledge that I hold beliefs as an individual that have influenced the course of my academic study. Knowing these, the reader can better see in what ways the book is biased. I am a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) who has taken leadership positions and on occasion taught adult Sunday school and led services. I am regularly called on to pUblicly"re ject sin, the devil, and all his empty promises." Therefore I am inclined to respect those who express and act on faith in Jesus Christ and follow his commandments to love God and neighbor. In addition, I do not dispar age belief in the devil as a force promoting evil, though I do not hold it as a central tenet of my own faith. Far more important to me is the need to acknowledge and try to reform my own tendencies toward sin. As an academic folklorist, I regularly collaborate with people of other faiths, and I find their personal integrity and good will far more important to me than any creed their religious expression may include. I hope they feel the same way toward me. Some of my close professional friends are in fact participants in the Neo-Pagan movement, and I re spect both their beliefs and the actions they have taken based on them. This does not contradict my own faith in Jesus Christ, for my under standing is that Jesus likewise honored the integrity and faith of those who practiced other faiths and instructed his disciples to do so as well. For if we respect only those of our own faith, Jesus taught, then we are doing no more than the xenophobic pagans of his day did (Matthew 5:47). I have also been personally involved in cases when people holding rank within Christianity used their position to hurt others whom I held dear. Such events initially shook my faith, and once when I was deeply troubled over such an incident, I was invited to join a Wiccan congrega tion. I declined, choosing to continue in the faith in which I was raised and which I still find rewarding. But the experiences have left me with a strong distrust of the institution of Christianity, which I feel often allows individuals to advance their own political agenda instead of the values of the church's founder. Such experiences have given me a personal insight into the legitimate reasons why some individuals may find such a new religion more rewarding than traditional Christianity. On the other hand, I see from my research that individuals in the neo-pagan movement may at times fall prey to the same institutional temptations as do some Chris tians. This is why the book stresses that the intensity of the Satanism Scare Acknowledgments Xlll may often lead its participants into sins of their own. Often teenagers' actions that could readily be understood in the context of sound ethno graphic research are misunderstood by attributing "Satanic" motives to them. Often those who lead crusades against folk devils-Christian, Pa gan, and secular-have reasons for doing so that have more to do with deflecting criticism of their own religious agendas than with any wide spread social or spiritual threat. Often age-old conspiracy theories-in cluding some once used against the early Church-have been recycled to exaggerate the importance of occult movements and attribute their mo tives to innocent people. When such things happen, truth suffers, and whatever else we may say about Satan-whether a real spiritual entity or a traditional name for a universal human defect-we know he is the father of deception. Such were the personal motivations of this work. I therefore owe a debt to all those who helped me, even though they knew that such assis tance might be misconstrued as lending support to a book that may out rage many religious sensibilities. First, Penn State University made basic groundwork for this research possible with a one-semester sabbatical in the spring of 1992 that allowed me to visit a number of folklore archives and locate many ephemeral sources from the 1960s and 1970s. Travel funds also allowed me both to present early versions of several chapters at conferences and to visit archives on the West Coast and in Great Brit ain, most importantly the British Library's local newspaper collection in Colindale.