Why I Don't Believe The "Survivors" Of Occult Groups

Rowan Moonstone

Recently on this echo, several people have taken Pagans to task for naysaying the Christian sources dealing with former practitioners of various occult disciplines. I have researched this area thoroughly for the past five years. I've bought or read all the Christian books on the subject that I can get my hands on. I have over 1,000 clippings in the files dealing with this subject, I've got over 100 audio tapes and 20 videotapes on this subject, and I've got reams of Christian literature, and police training material to draw from. In addition to this, I grew up as a Southern Baptist and was a Sunday School teacher at the age of 16. I know whereof I speak when it comes to Christian sources.

I've also been a Witch for nigh on to 8 years now, and have networked with other Pagans all across the country, attended festivals in various states, and subscribed to many Pagan publications both in this country and abroad. I've read many books on modern and ancient Pagan religions, and can furnish a complete bibliography for anyone that's interested.

After a concentrated search through this material, I must conclude that most of the allegations of the "survivors" are fabricated and insupportable. In the rest of this report, I will give documented reasons why I believe this to be true.

6-17-82 -Province Victoria Bulletin - "A misunderstanding appeared to be the root of a satanic scare in Victoria this weekend, police sources said Wednesday. Police, hospitals and human resources ministry workers had gone on the alert following a report that a satanic group was planning Tuesday to sacrifice a human baby. The report came through the child abuse prevention HELP line in Vancouver. Victoria police said they had traced the source of the report to a church group in Vancouver. The group apparently had heard rumors of a rise in satanic activities in Victoria and had prayed that no atrocities would occur. Somehow someone interpreted that to mean that a sacrifice was actually planned, police said. That was the report that got to the HELP line. However, Tuesday passed peacefully with no evidence of any satanic activity. "

5-4-86 - New York Times-" Derry Knight told an astonishing story about his membership in a secret Satanic cult called the Sons of Lucifer and his heroic efforts to take over the leadership of the cult to free himself and 2,000 members from the coils of the devil. As he told it, it was an incredibly dangerous mortal struggle he was waging against the most evil forces in the universe, personified by some prominent politicians, including Viscount Whitelaw, the deputy Prime Minister, who were, he said, the secret masters of Britain's Satanic orders...In little more than a year, before Mr. Knight's activities aroused the suspicions of Bishop Eric Kemp of Chichester, who called in the police fraud squad, the support group contributed at least $313,000 to the anti-Satanism struggle. A jury that convicted Mr. Knight April 25 of 19 counts of fraud heard that much of the money raised by Mr. Baker had been spent by his supposedly struggling friend on call girls, fast cars, and a life of dissipation."

January 1988 New York Folklore "Satanism, Where are the folklorists? by Phillips Stevens, Jr. p 12 ( Mr. Stevens is referring to a murder of a 13-year-old girl in this incident) "While preparing me for the taping of some commentary to be aired locally following the National Geraldo Rivera TV special on Satanic cults on October 25, 1988, an investigative reporter for a Buffalo TV station was discussing That incident [the murder]. There were 13 people at that party, he said, the murdered girl being the 13th. Since the murder, six of the party goers had committed suicide...I noted that it was strange that six suicides with such a factor in common had not been reported in the news; how did he know the details? The mother of the most recent suicide had told him...I advised him to wait and check out the facts before airing this story; he called me a few days later saying no, the other suicides could not be confirmed."

1-19-89 Joplin Missouri Globe News (front page) - "Jasper County Sheriff Bill Pierce said he had no figures available on how much time and money that department has spent investigating claims. He cited a November case as an example of the fruitless searches that have been undertaken because of claims eventually fount to be false...a Blytheville, Ark. woman told authorities there she had watched satanic cultists cut the stomach of an infant, pour gasoline on the baby, and set it on fire...After agreeing to take a polygraph examination, the woman admitted the story was false. She told deputies she made the false accusations to get attention."

3-6-89 - Houston Chronicle - "A Houston -area woman who claims to be a former satanic priestess and has told audiences she witnessed the ritualistic murder of an 8-year-old Tomball girl has left law enforcement officers frustrated in their attempts to investigate her allegations. 'We have no homicide to link it to. Why she would make those claims and then be hesitant to talk with authorities is reason to question her motives,' Harris County Assistant D.A. Casey O'Brien said"

The previous three messages should tell you why I don't believe in the hysteria being generated. If anyone wants to see the entire articles that these quotes were taken from, send a SASE with 3 stamps to P. O. Box 1842, Colorado Springs, Co 80901. BB Rowan