NMR ISSUE 8

Astrological Forecast 8
Book of Troth
Coyote, Flicker & Sturgeon
Editorial
Futhark Edred Thorsson
Gimli
Here We Go Again
Holaf Festival Lammas
Invocation to Artemis
Invocation to the Goddess
Lady of the Moon
Lazaris: A Question on Magick and Wicca
Letters 8
Rune Might Edred Thorsson
Support a Hebrew Pantheon
The Alchemy of Basic Ritual
The Magic of Chocolate
The Oldest Magick
The Witches' God
The Zodiac Star
Was Jesus A Pagan?

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Here We Go Again

Scot Rhoads

This year, the San Diego County Deputy Sheriffs' Association produced

An Informational Aid to Understanding Gangs, Groups, and Cults. The informational part of the book is in three sections, corresponding to the title. "Gangs" takes up a little more than twice the space of the following two sections. Since I know little about gangs, I can say nothing of its accuracy or completeness. To me, this section was interesting and seemed quite informative. It was a little thin on causes and solutions, but that may be a reflection of the available information.

The next section, "Groups," seems not to belong in this book. It has the feel of an appendix to the following section, "Cults."

"Groups" is nothing more than a list of random occult information. There are some tables containing some astrological and numerological correspondences. There is a glossary of terms, some as common as "astrology," others as obscure as "scapulimancy" (divination using fire-cracked shoulder blades). There follows another group of definitions, including such things as "mysticism," "ghosts" and "ambivalent beings." Most of the terms are neutral. Those that are not, have the negative, ill-informed definitions which we already see much too often. "Magic" retains the ubiquitous `black/white' dichotomy that even many occultists now accept (that `black' refers to evil intent rather than the waning moon, etc.). The book also claims that

"Magic is antisocial or immoral.'" "Witchcraft" also suffers from dysinformation: "There is a hairline distinction between [witchcraft and sorcery]. Though both do harm, a sorcerer is motivated by ill will, whereas a spirit possession causes a witch to do harm." And, of course, a modern Witch "Usually belongs to an ancient religion that is the counter-religion of Christianity."

This entire section is counter productive. Additionally, it has the makings of classic dysinformation: it contains the above inaccurate statements in a matrix of meaningless accurate information (e.g., every table of correspondences). It provides no information on any actual group except for a few sentences about Theosophy. It gives no hint about why people become involved, what this involvement is, what to do about, etc. All this section achieves is to intimate that everything mentioned in the section somehow relates to a vague threat that the Deputy Sheriffs want to warn you of. It is nothing more than fuel for Witch hunts—which, of course, is the subject of the following section.

The "Cults" section is strictly Satanism, and that which the editors think is Satanism. One finds out before the end of the second paragraph that Crowley is among the latter. The part of this section that actually deals with Satanism is probably reasonably accurate. Much is based on police records, for instance. It is very episodic, and consequently registers about 0.75 Geraldos on the yellow journalism meter. It is vague about what inspires people to get involved with Satanism and even more vague about what to do about it. It focuses on the child abuse aspect (which seems appropriate, since that would be the area of greatest threat). It may be informative within its narrow focus, but seems of little actual help.

The book, for the most part, lumps laissez faire/narcissistic "Satanism" and Witches with pedophillic slave traders and cattle mutilators. If the first section were as responsible, we might read that `blacks form gangs and kill people.' Of course, one would not expect the Deputy Sheriffs to endorse such an irresponsible statement, yet this is the kind of irresponsibility common to the book's other two sections.

In addition, the "Cults" section is very irregular. It is pieced together from a variety of sources, and in places it suffers from careless editing. Though most of the section uses `black witches,' `witches' and `Satanists' interchangeably, there is one paragraph (borrowed from "interviews done recently on a local TV station") that distinguishes between "black satanic" and "white" Witchcraft: "White witchcraft has been around for thousands of years. It's been practiced openly. There is no human sacrifice. They are very open about it and they often become the victims of these people, vigilantes, searching for Satanists." This laudable caveat immediately precedes this paragraph: "These people have had 2000 years to perfect their methods of secrecy, group deception and everything else. Right now, law enforcement is starting to catch up to them?'" This seriously compromises the previous paragraph. Additionally, it displays an impressive misunderstanding about its presumed subject, "black satanic witchcraft," which the speaker seems to feel began with the birth of Christ (centuries before the invention of an evil Satan). The only other positive reference to Witchcraft is an entry in yet another glossary, it is the last text before the bibliography: "The practice of the Old Religion, which focuses on the goddess in her many forms: Hecate, Aphrodite, Astarte, Diana. Women play important roles in witchcraft, commonly referred to as `the craft.'" These two references do little if anything to counter the rest of the section's obvious assumption that Witchcraft is nothing but evil Satanism.

This book also indirectly relates Witches, Wiccans and Pagans to Satanism. Ritual tools and symbols are given Satanic, negative and inaccurate definitions. The swastika "has been used by witches and warlocks." Yin-Yang, in addition to accurate meanings, represents "Good/Evil." A coven is "a group of non-traditional Satanists?" The Chalice is "used to hold blood and urine for drinking and toasting." Also, an astounding variety of things are lumped in with Satanism: the triangle, the double bladed axe (labrys), the Book of Shadows, robes, amulets, pentacles, "the Symbol of the Goddess Diana," hexagrams, astrological symbols, ritual tools like the athame and the censer. Most of these are related through a quotation from LeVey's Satanic Bible, but the book supports the notion that these things have no meaning other than Satanic. This applies to the High Holy Days as well, many of which appear in name or date in "The Satanic Calendar Explained" (a mindless litany of dates and the specific cruelties that supposedly occur on them, nearly devoid of any meaningful `explanation').

The section also includes interesting contradictions, such as claiming that the pentagram "has no other meaning other than a satanic one," seven pages before it defines a two-points-up pentagram as relating to the "black arts" vs. the one-point-up pentagram, representing "white magic."

The expertise of Clyde Rinkes, the "Manual Chairman" displays itself in statements like: "the concept of satan has found acceptance and has been codified by the late authors, Crowley, LeVey [sic], and others." When one reads that "evil in its defined sense