With Sam Smith’s…demonic performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards, all things Satanic Panic seem to be back in the news. But this recent trend actually has a long history that stretches back to the Reagan administration. Satanic Panic was preceded by the rise of evangelical Christianity that,
In some opinions, cultivated a paranoid fear of supernatural evil. This is exemplified by the “evil empire” speech delivered by President Ronald Reagan on March 8, 1983. The speech was delivered to the National Association of Evangelicals, shortly before Reagan was re-elected to a second term. Though Reagan was talking about
The Soviet Union, his use of concepts like good versus evil spoke to a sea change in Americans’ relationship with religion, especially as many joined the evangelical Christian movement. “We will never abandon our belief in God.” Because of this change, Reagan courted the favor of the Moral Majority. The Moral
Majority was a political action group formed in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell, Sr. It successfully aligned itself with conservative values and the political right, setting the stage for the conservative Republican politics that are still active in the U.S. government. After Reagan’s election in 1980, his ties to the Moral Majority continued.
A growing number of Americans were taking part in conservative Christianity that pushed back against the more liberal cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s and new religious practices like the Church of Satan. Though the Church of Satan was actually atheism dressed up like
A carnival sideshow, from the outside it was terrifying to Bible-believing evangelicals. As the 1980s progressed, it was clear that mental health services were going to be a more prominent part of American life. However, the rise of legitimate psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, and other health professionals was mirrored by the rise of
Quack practitioners as well. Dubious therapies like hypnotic regression also helped to set the stage for a Satanic Panic based on concepts like “recovered memories.” According to the British Psychological Society, recovered memories are especially controversial because they are often difficult to prove. Additionally, they may be generated whole-cloth
As patients ruminate on their experiences with the help of over-eager therapists. Adding to the confusion was the desire for fame and fortune, which seemed to push many professionals to ignore concerns as they gained renown for fighting back against evil but unseen Satanists.
The proliferation of mandatory reporting laws and strengthened child protection services over the course of the latter 20th century is also tied into the story. Unfortunately, there’s no doubt that child abuse was a persistent problem long before the 1980s. But,
The growing attention towards abuse, paired with rising concerns about the very soul of the nation, primed a powder keg. With so many Americans worried about evil in both its temporal and supernatural forms, it now seems that something explosive was bound to happen.
“Michelle Remembers,” published in 1980, was the first work to claim that Satanic practitioners were ritually abusing children. Written by Michelle Smith and psychiatrist Lawrence Pazder, the book contained lurid stories of abuse uncovered during Smith’s therapy sessions. It was during those sessions that Pazder began to use hypnotic regression.
At first, these were worldly horrors like purportedly witnessing a murder, but as the sessions continued, the recollections took on a paranormal tinge, with graveyard rituals, consumption of human remains, and even the Devil himself. At one point, Michelle claims, occultists installed horns and a tail into her own body.
“Michelle Remembers” has now been thoroughly debunked, both because Pazder used unproven methods and because no corroborating evidence was uncovered. For those who believed that well-organized Satanists were wreaking havoc in the world, this was a stark, terrifying confirmation. For others, it was a graphic, compelling story that took hold of
Their imaginations and made the changing world all the more terrifying. For Smith and Pazder, it was the ticket to a highly public and lucrative career as speakers and consultants. “The book’s already a big bestseller!” “Did you realize that?” Though the writers of “Michelle Remembers” claimed that a well-organized Satanic cult was operating
In Canada, it wasn’t long before the Satanic Panic hit the U.S. In California, the McMartin preschool case proved to be one of the most expensive and traumatic legal affairs to stem from the panic. It began with a call made in August 1983. Judy Johnson, whose son went to the McMartin
Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, told the police that her son had been abused by a teacher. In a letter, she also said that her son witnessed the teacher, Raymond Buckey, flying through the air. His mother and school administrator Peggy McMartin Buckey supposedly
Took Johnson’s son to an armory where a “goatman” was present in a “ritual-type atmosphere.” “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” During the investigation, police sent a letter to the parents that graphically referred to “possible criminal acts” and named Raymond Buckey.
This set off a panic. When interviewed, most children at first denied that anything happened but questionable interview techniques pushed them to make lurid confessions. The court case that followed dragged on for years and cost $15 million. It fizzled into nothing after investigators found no evidence to support the claims. Eventually,
Judy Johnson’s initial testimony was brought into question. After her death, it was revealed that she had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Many of the children interviewed for the McMartin preschool investigation spoke with Kee MacFarlane. MacFarlane and her team, none of whom were licensed, spoke to hundreds of children.
MacFarlane employed controversial techniques. One assistant told children that others had already divulged their “yucky secrets” in an effort to defeat the teachers who were “sick in the head.” The investigator even directly asked at least one girl if “Mr. Ray” did the touching.
When the girl denied this, the investigator repeatedly asked how Mr. Ray “would have” touched someone until the girl pointed to an anatomically correct doll’s private parts. Could young children, who spoke of secret tunnels beneath the school, goatmen, and flying teachers, be trusted when investigators like MacFarlane goaded
Them on? In at least one exchange, quoted by The New York Times, she told a child, “You’re just a scaredy cat. How come you won’t tell me?” These and other dubious techniques spread throughout the Satanic Panic. Investigators, some of whom helped to imprison accused people for years,
Relied on unproven techniques like the analysis of children’s drawings, how they played with toys, and interviews packed full of leading questions. As the panic grew, police departments began to train officers for what seemed to be a rising tide of Satanism. At least, that’s what people like Kee MacFarlane believed. MacFarlane, the
Unlicensed investigator who worked on the McMartin preschool case, told California legislators that, “Preschools in this country in some instances I think we must realize have become a ruse of larger unthinkable networks of crimes against children.” Police training for the Satanic Panic has come into question. The training taught
Police investigators to treat everything from graffitied pentagrams to heavy metal music as evidence of occult activity. One document from the Chicago Police Department, assembled by a “gang crimes and ritual abuse specialist” in 1989, alleged that even the innocuous peace symbol was really an occultic “Cross of Nero.”
While paranoia grew within police departments, practically no evidence uncovered a vast, satanic conspiracy. Yet, people like Lawrence Pazder, who co-wrote “Michelle Remembers” and helped to set off the panic, remained in high demand as a paid “expert” consultant.
As part of the Satanic Panic, people began to grow wary of the imagery and culture of heavy metal music. Tipper Gore, wife of then-Senator Al Gore, helped to form the Parents Music Resource Center in 1985. The PMRC was founded with the intent to give parents greater control
Over children’s access to music with violent or sexual imagery, including occult themes. It was tied to the same moral fears that gave rise to the Satanic Panic. At the same time, police departments and investigators were told to be especially wary of metal music, which
They were told contained hidden occult messages that led teens along a dark, otherworldly path. “Well I know he and his friends listened to devil music.” “The night Chicago died?” The paranoia surrounding the look and sound of metal music very nearly killed Damien Echols. Along with Jessie Miskelley and Jason Baldwin,
Echols was convicted of the 1993 assault and murder of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. The three young men were eventually called the “West Memphis Three.” The evidence linking the trio to the murder was scant and largely circumstantial. The convictions were
Based in part on their goth aesthetic and love of metal music, which investigators linked to occult elements that were supposedly identified at the crime scene, but never confirmed. Though Echols was initially sentenced to death, all three have now been released from prison. The true killer of the boys has never been identified.
While people grew frantic at the prospect of satanic groups abusing children, real people were being convicted on little evidence. Some, like Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three, just barely escaped execution. Others were imprisoned for many years, only to be released when people questioned the evidence presented. A few remain in prison today.
Frank and Ileana Fuster were arrested in August 1984. They were charged with committing abuse at their home daycare in Miami, Florida. Janet Reno, then serving as the Dade County state attorney, prosecuted the couple based on child testimony, a single medical test,
And Ileana Fuster’s confession. Some argued that the children were pushed to confess, much like the minors in the McMartin preschool case. Furthermore, Ileana eventually recanted, maintaining her innocence while saying she simply wanted the ordeal to be over. She was imprisoned for three years and then deported to Honduras in 1989.
A 1990 made-for-TV movie, “Unspeakable Acts,” may have influenced public perception of the case. Frank is still in prison today. Though the evidence presented at the Fuster’s investigation and trial was shaky, the truth remains that Frank had prior convictions. This points to the
Distinct possibility that some children, both in the Fuster case and beyond, may be genuine abuse victims whose stories are overshadowed by claims of conspiracies and the supernatural. Though the U.S. seemed to be the heart of a mysterious network of Satanic abusers,
The panic spread outwards into other countries. In 1992, it struck Martensville, Saskatchewan. A local daycare was targeted after children claimed to have been abused by the people working there. Some claimed to have been taken to a blue shed outside of town, which they called the “Devil
Church.” It was there that they were supposedly trapped in cages and made to participate in blood rituals. The accusations went to trial in 1993, but further scrutiny brought police investigation techniques into question. Though some of the accused were convicted, the
Vast majority of their sentences were overturned after authorities failed to produce any evidence. In 1997, Italy experienced its own Satanic Panic with the “Devils of Lower Modena.” After a local parent referred her child to a psychologist to counter possible abuse, it spun into a widespread
And paranoid investigation. Children claimed that they were made to participate in murders, blasphemies, and gory nighttime rituals held in cemeteries. Sixteen children were removed from their families and six people were convicted. As in so many other cases of Satanic Panic,
No one ever uncovered proof that satanic ritual abuse or murder had taken place. Media outlets began to grow skeptical of the moral panic beginning in the late 1980s. In 1992, the U.S. Department of Justice published a study written by Special Agent Kenneth Lanning that
Debunked the whole affair. Lanning, who was a consultant on hundreds of Satanic Panic cases, criticized the mutable definitions of Satanism used by law enforcement agencies. He also noted that some of the alarming symbols used by “Satanists” were ultimately innocuous things like heavy metal music and role-playing games.
By 1995, a television film produced by HBO, “Indictment: The McMartin Trial,” marked the growing disbelief surrounding the specter of satanic ritual abuse. The movie portrayed Ray Buckey, the accused man at the center of the McMartin preschool trial, as a victim of moral panic.
That doesn’t mean the Satanic Panic was entirely over. A training film called the “Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults” was produced in 1994. Cases bearing the marks of the panic are still in the court system. The “Devils of Lower Modena” case that supposedly
Centered on satanic ritual abuse in Italy was still being argued in court as recently as 2019. Though it’s now largely derided by mental health professionals, belief in ritual abuse committed by a highly organized and efficient underground group of devil worshippers is still out there. One
Therapist practicing in Salt Lake City, Barbara Snow, was put on probation for reportedly planting memories of satanic ritual abuse in her patients. Snow, who is still a practicing therapist, at one time treated Teal Swan, a controversial spiritual leader. Swan maintained that she had
Been the victim of Satanists. The investigation on her behalf stalled when Snow came under fire.
How did we go from this to this wow, or well at least to this. Stay tuned to find out… Hello everyone, I’m Dr Angela Puca, and welcome to my Symposium. I’m a Ph.D. and a university lecturer and this is your online resource for the academic study of magic, witchcraft, and all things esoteric. In this video, we will talk about the romanticising of Satan and how that evolved from
The conceptualisation of him as the arch-enemy of God, which is – by the way – not found in the Hebrew Bible but in the New Testament if we are to endorse a collation between Satan and the Devil.
But this, along with the history of the worship of Satan, may be topics for future videos. In fact, leave me a line in the comment section and let me know if you’d like me to cover these areas. Now we are going to discuss how Satan became a romantic hero for poets,
Artists and how that played a role in the rise of modern religious Satanism. My source for this video is going to be ‘Children of Lucifer’ by Ruben van Luijk, published by Oxford University Press. Yet, you are welcome to recommend and pursue the investigation of other academic sources.
As my long-time viewers know, I always encourage your independent research and to see my videos as appetizers rather than “the truth” on a matter. Research is always ongoing and it’s more important to master the skills to find and critically evaluate reliable sources rather than clinging onto information as
Truth. As they might and will likely be obsolete in 50 years, sometimes in 5 years. Right, premises out of the way! Let’s move onto the topic now… According to Van Luijk, Satanism is an invention of Christianity as it was within the context of
Christian religion and of a society shaped by Christianity that the idea of Satanism first arose. Christianity played, in fact, a central role in the proliferation of the concept of Satan as the Devil as well as Lucifer, lumping together different – and diverging – adversarial roles
And depictions found across the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. After all, if we define Satanism as the intentional religious veneration of Satan, it follows that there can be no Satanism without a Satan. Another element that played a significant role in the conceptualisation and imagery of Satan was the
Demonising of the Pagan Gods and of their worship. The well- known image of the devil as goat-footed and horned is reminiscent of the Greek God Pan and of the Fauni and Silvani of the Roman forests. In other parts of Europe, the devil has assimilated traits of native gods from other traditions.
For instance, in a late medieval Dutch miracle play ‘Mariken van Nieumegen’ he appears as “One- Eyed Moenen”, quite resembling the Nordic God Odin, whose worship had already been abandoned for centuries. But when and how did Satan start to be seen as a heroic figure instead of the embodiment of pure God-less evil?
Well, that happened after the Enlightenment and during the Romantic era. As Van Lujik highlights, there were two main cultural changes that fostered a reshaped idea of Satan. And these are: Secularisation and Revolution. The demise of the literal belief in Satan brought about by a more
Secular society was an essential prerequisite for the emergence of the Romantic Satan. Those who endorsed this poetic view of the Devil didn’t quite believe in the existence of a real Lucifer just as they didn’t espouse the reality of the Christian God. This transition led to abandoning the perception that Satan constituted an
Actual threat and allowed cultural space for re-imagining its mythic role and the possible relatability to our human condition. And, what appeared to be domineering during the Romantic era if not rebellion against the status quo, in the form of Revolutions?! As Satan’s fall started to be associated with proud, unlawful insurrection against
Divine authority, that appeared to mirror quite nicely that sense of popular and political insurrection against oppressing monarchs and the subjugating systems of government of the time. Giving new meaning to his role in the grand scheme of things, the Romantic Satanists
Transformed the fallen angel into a noble champion of political and individual freedom against a supreme power that deprives people of their agency, leaving submission as the only option. From the nineteenth century onwards, the romanticised perception of Satan has been linked to three key elements: sex and sexual liberation, science and reason,
Individual freedom and agency. These elements, perceived as adversarial stances to the Christianity morality, have fostered the birth of both the atheistic and theistic Satanisms. Satan, in his aspect of Lucifer the light- bringer now works against the dogmatism of religion
And, as a fallen one, he got associated with Earth, nature, and “the flesh,” particularly in its manifestations of passionate love and sex. This sexually charged representation was informed by the Book of the Watchers in First Enoch, which embeds the Lust of Fallen Angels
For the daughters of men in its narrative. Van Luijk argues that there are three crucial ways in which Romantic Satanism contributed to the late rise of modern religious Satanism. 1. For once, they mark the first historical appearance in Western civilization of an influential cultural current that positively revaluated Satan.
2. Second, they show a new, post-Christian, and post-Enlightenment way of dealing with myth and meaning. This allowed for a resurrection and reconstruction of Satan as a cosmic symbol with which modern people could sympathize and even identify. 3. Third, romantic Satanism exerted a decisive influence on the shape of the
Rehabilitated Satan that would continue to haunt nineteenth-century counter-culture and eventually emerge in modern religious Satanism. So, this is it for today’s video. Please, if you like my content and want me to keep the academic fun going consider supporting my work with a one-off donation on PayPal,
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There is a war that is being waged between good and evil. Faith in God will lead us in one direction, the lack of faith will lead us in another. I have seen many manifestations of evil. Exorcism is the only cure for one who is truly demonically possessed.
The Catholic Church knows that most of these claims are baloney. They cling to this because they’re afraid to give up that last vestige of the supernatural. If there’s no demons, maybe there’s no devil . And if there is no devil, maybe there’s no God. I am Father Vincent Lampert.
I’ve been a Catholic priest for the past 25 years. I was appointed by my archbishop to be the exorcist for Indianapolis. It was not a position that I sought. But in 2005, the archbishop selected me for the role. He told me that he wanted a priest who believed in the reality of evil,
But not one who would be so gullible as to believe that everybody who came to him was actually up against the forces of evil. When I was appointed, I became 1 of only 12 officially appointed exorcists in the United States That number has now grown to around 50.
Some people will dabble in things of the occult. Believing that perhaps they’re just fun and entertaining But what they may not fully realize, is that they’re dabbling with evil. and they could be opening up an entry point for evil into their lives Take this, all of you, and eat of it
For this is my body, which will be given up for you I’m the pastor here at St. Malachi parish in Brownsburg, Indiana The parish has approximately 2500 families just around 9000 parishioners. There are many people who laugh at the notion of demonic possession. or even the reality itself.
But the Catholic Church does teach that evil is a reality and it is personified in the person of the Devil. Over the years, exorcism has undergone many different transformations. Exorcism goes back even before the time of Christ. But exorcisms became truly efficacious, or real, with the coming of Christ.
The oldest formalized version of the rite of excorcism would date back to 1614. It was revised in 1999. Some of the manifestations I’ve witnessed over the years seem kind of incredible, incredulous. I think that the manifestations that one sees in movies such as The Exorcist – all that truly is possible.
Eyes rolling in the back of the head, foaming at the mouth, growling and snarling like a wild animal, strong stenches, the temperature in the room will drop, bodily contortions. I remember a person who began to levitate during an exorcism. Now these manifestations are meant to distract the exorcist.
I learned quickly that the exorcist should not focus on the manifestations of evil, but focus on the power of God that is at work. There’s an international association of exorcists. Which received official Vatican approval about 2 years ago. I am a member of that organization.
And there’s a gathering in Rome every other year. Demonic possession is extremely rare. 1 out of every 5000 people who contact me is a genuine case of demonic possession. FATHER: Hello Mary. How are you? Obviously this is a ministry that I cannot do alone,
So there is a lady that works with me. I jokingly like to refer to her as my exorcis-tant. She’s really the first line of defense. The majority of people that she talks to just need a listening ear. I can help answer any questions that you have.
MARY: Well I got a revolving list right now of some people that are local because they would be in our diocese. I have that one guy from southern Indiana that keeps calling. I dont think he remembers all the times that we’ve talked because he always acts like
No one has ever talked to me or ever tried to help me. FATHER: And that’s what gives credence to the fact that this is truly something of a mental health issue as opposed to something that’s demonic. MARY: Of course it doesn’t help too because I also was talking to another priest.
He was telling me that he doesn’t believe any of this. FATHER: Some people will accept what the church believes and teaches about the reality of evil. Some people won’t. I am Dr. Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, and the head of the 55000 member strong Skeptic Society. I have two graduate degrees
One in Experimental Psychology and the other in the History of Science. My speciality really is understanding belief systems how the mind works related to why we believe anything that we believe in. The investigation of exorcisms has been popular since we started the magazine really because it kinda comes and goes
Depending on what’s hot in popular culture. You know the research says 1 in 10. Americans claim that they’ve seen an exorcism. I suspect most of those are people that have seen The Exorcist or watched a documentary on TV or something like that. If you go on YouTube and just type in demon possession
There’s thousands of videos. You could spend an hour and be an expert on what they’re supposed to look like. The church has a list of criteria for what would constitute a possession. Speaking in tongues, glossolalia, is one of them. Spouting off this sort of sequence of syllables It sounds nonsensical
And then somebody interprets it. Now we know because we’ve had linguists analyze recordings of what is being said and they say this is not a language. It’s just babble. It’s lliterally a psycho-drama The music, the chanting, the dancing, the singing. It gets you caught up into it. It’s like a rave.
You feel the emotions. You feel the brain chemistry changing. The hormones pumping through your body. Contorted body postures and the writhing on the ground, the utterances. It’s just imitation. I’ve actually gone up to one of these. I could almost feel like, “Okay, here I go.” I could almost feel it coming on.
I wasn’t even a believer. This is imitation. It’s roleplaying. In addition to these exorcisms being nonsensical, from a scientific perspective. They’re also dangerous. There have been people killed. Suffocated. Tortured. It’s not a harmless exercise in entertainment. It’s potentially very dangerous. Once you start to believe something, the confirmation bias kicks in.
In which you look for confirming evidence that it’s true, and you ignore the disconfirming evidence. Everybody does it. Unfortunately, this leads to great distortions of belief. There’s no such thing as the paranormal or the supernatural. There’s just the normal, the natural, and the things we haven’t explained yet
FATHER: This is where I performed my most intense case of exorcism. It took place 5 years ago here in this convent. The items I use for exorcism. In addition in my bag, I also have the holy water that I would use. We came into the space.
The spouse who was very strong and confident in his belief The woman who was afflicted sat down here. You could smell in the air the sense of perspiration just the anxiety of what was about to take place. No sooner did the drops of water hit the head of the lady,
Then the manifestations began immediately. She exhibited vocal outbursts. Speaking in languages that she didn’t otherwise know, exhibiting strength beyond the normal capacity of a person, and also an aversion to things of a sacred nature. All this was going on while I was praying *PRAYING IN LATIN*
I commanded the demon leviathan to depart immediately. Then the demon that had been speaking in this very strong, authoritative voice began to speak like a little baby. Then looked at me and said “Hail Mary, full of grace.” and there was a shriek and all the manifestations of evil ended.
Because the presence of evil was now completely gone. FATHER: People will believe what they will. It’s not really my task to try to convince people of something. Because if you are a person of faith, you began with the premise that believing is seeing.
People that may come from more of a scientific background may begin with the premise that I have to see in order to believe.
Hello everyone, I am Dr Angela Puca and welcome to my Symposium. I’m a PhD and a University Lecturer and this is your online resource for the academic study of Magick, Esotericism, Paganism, Shamanism, Satanism and all things occult. I’m now at the University College, Cork
For the Conference of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism which we normally abbreviate as ESSWE Conference, that’s how we say it among us academics. I am going to deliver a paper on the Devil and re-interpretations of the Devil and relation with pop culture.
I filmed the video so that you can see it and tell me what you think about it. So now I will leave you to it and please, as always, consider supporting my work with a one-off PayPal donation, by joining Memberships or my Inner Symposium on Patreon,
That is if you want me to keep this project going and the Academic Fun going. I really appreciate any kind of help if you have the means at all, and otherwise liking, commenting, subscribing and sharing the videos with your friends is also a great way to help my project
And allow me to keep doing this academic content on all things esoteric. Now I’m gonna leave you to my paper and I hope you enjoy it and I hope I wasn’t too bad at delivering it, we will see. Future Angela will tell us.
This is past Angela, prior to the paper, by the way, so I’m still nervous as you can tell. Hello everybody. I’m Dr Angela Puca and today I will be talking about the Devil, the impact of pop culture in reshaping the archetypal adversary for contemporary magic Practitioners. So first of all I want to set the tone for the paper with a couple of quotes.
“Awake, Arise or be Forever Fallen.” from paradise lost by John Milton and “Wisest and fairest from the Angel’s sprung, God whom fate betrayed and left unsung.” I thought that these two quotations kind of set the tone for what we’re talking about,
Which is not as much as a hero or what became to be seen as a hero but more like a heroic figure with some heroic tones. First of all, let’s talk about terminology and I want to thank, I want to give thanks to Per
Faxneld because we went to Dublin together, we had very long conversations – he’s kind of the expert on Satanism and also esoteric Satanism. We had a lot of conversations, so I just want to acknowledge his help in getting a better understanding of the matter.
So here in this paper, I will be using the Devil synonymously for Satan and Lucifer. And also I’m not going to touch on theological themes in Christianity but more in depictions in pop culture and how that influenced esoteric Satanism and contemporary magick Practitioners.
Also the rationale, of course, for collating these figures is that in popular culture and literature these figures are used as synonymous, whereas I am, at the same time, aware that contemporary Practitioners now have established a distinction between Lucifer, Satan,
And the Devil. More specifically Lucifer, or instance, in Luciferian Witchcraft, it is seen as quite different from the Devil and from Satan. So I acknowledge the difference but it’s not what I’m talking about because I’m talking about the figure of the Devil and which includes Satan
And Lucifer and this happens to be the case that these are collated when it comes to pop culture and also in the scholarship, in the academic scholarship that I work with. So first let’s talk about the romanticising of Satan. So Satan became romanticised as a figure
As Van Luijk, if I’m pronouncing it right, explains in “Children of Lucifer.” There have been two cultural changes that posted a reshaped idea of Satan or indeed the Devil during the Romanticism and that happened after the Enlightenment with some also key changes that
Occurred in the Enlightenment, more specifically the secularisation. And during Romanticism, the process of secularisation that occurred during the Enlightenment allowed for people to not see the Devil or Satan as evil, in and of itself. So the ontological weight of this figure was
Lessened and that allowed for, that left enough space for people not to feel as fearful about this figure because if you have that a specific figure is associated with evil incarnate and you have a process of synchronisation that allows you not to see
That as the actual evil incarnate but more as a symbol of evil, that allows you to challenge that kind of symbolism because it doesn’t feel as threatening any longer. And also during the Romanticism, you have the famous political revolutions and so the combination of
The process of secularisation that allowed for the Devil to not feel as real and as scary, along with the revolutions and the association of the Devil with, you know, this person that has the arch… well he moves from being the arch-enemy of God to the person that was
Heroic enough to rebel against the most powerful creature on the earth. And that sort of mirrors what happened with revolutions because a monarch could have been seen as a sort of God and the people rebelling against the monarch could feel a sympathy for the Devil,
In that sense, because they would be rebelling against the main power, the dominant power. Now from the 19th century onwards. So we have this shift during the Romanticism and thanks to the process of secularisation during the Enlightenment, from the 19th century onwards
The romanticised Satan has been linked to a few different traits. So sex and sexual liberation, which comes from the idea, from the concept of Satan being a fallen angel which, you know, you have the base of that in Genesis 6 and then it is expanded more in First Enoch.
Science and reason, science and reason also become associated with the figure of Satan and Lucifer as the bringer of light and because it is associated with, you know, the rebellion not only against monarchy, in the political sense, but also the rebellion against the hegemonic Christianity and also individual freedom and
Agency. So then when it comes to esoteric themed-investigations of Satan and the Devil, we see that there has been a very interesting influence that Satanism has played on the left-hand path and left-hand-path traditions that are still in the contemporary esoteric milieu.
And Granholm and Petersen highlight the main traits of the left-hand path traditions which are an ideology of individualism, the goal of self-deification, the appraisal of life in the here and now and antinomianism, which is the rejection of social and cultural norms. Now, this re-imagined Satan as this rebellious figure, as
Someone who is able to rebel against God and at the same time is a link to sexual liberation and revolution and to science and reason, these are all elements that have fostered and we see that with Kenneth Grant, for instance and in Satanism but these have fostered the
Left-hand path and that’s why the left-hand-path tradition, among other things, you also see esoteric Satanism. And these are also elements that you find in esoteric Satanism as well because these are elements that are associated now with these re-imagined perceptions of the Devil.
Now when it comes to art and pop culture the first occurrences that we see, where we see a re-imagined figure of the Devil, where the Devil presents the kind of traits that I talked about, where first of all in “Paradise Lost” by Milton there was
Definitely a pivotal moment in literature where we see a re-imagination of the Devil, not as much as a hero but more as a heroic figure and it also inspired a lot of art. So if we see
Art and pop culture on a timeline we can see that literature comes first, in terms of depictions and re-imaginations of the Devil as this heroic figure that is able to rebel against the highest power and go towards a process of self-education or self-realization in its own terms.
Then we have depictions in art, which I’m not really touching on. Then we have music and then it really it arrives at Esotericism, Western Esotericism and how these depictions have been incorporated esoteric Satanism, in the left-hand path and as we will see,
They are also influencing or are useful to better understand contemporary Magick practices. Then we have, of course, there are many many literary pieces that have this kind of perception of Satan, you know, representing the traits that I just showed but I just selected
Three representative ones. So we have “Paradise Lost” which was a pivotal moment and it really affected the perception of Satan and the Devil from that moment onwards. Then we have the Italian poem “Inno a Satana” by Giosue Carducci and here Satan is depicted as Satan, reason and meaning,
Matter and spirit and you can see how this links very well with the first positive depiction of Lucifer in Esotericism, which is by Theosophy and we see that first positive depiction in the Helena Petrovna Blavatsky book ( The Secret Doctrine) where she defines Lucifer as the
Source of light and as a source of knowledge and a link to the achievement of gnosis. Then we have “The Hour of the Devil” by Fernando Pessoa, the Portuguese poet and my favourite poet and in “The Hour of the Devil,” the Devil and Mary are going to a masquerade and the Devil
Describes himself as the king of the interstices and of poets and of everything that is created and is able to channel a creative force that goes beyond what is bounded by limits. So it gives a sense of a boundless creativity and also of a boundless sense of self-creation.
So I think that it is a short story “The Hour the Devil” or “The Devil’s Hour” depending on how it’s translated in English. But it’s really representative, I think, of the esoteric perception that we have in literature of the Devil in esoteric imagination.
Then we have, of course, the Rock and Metal scene which was expanded more earlier and especially the Black Metal scene in Northern Europe was extremely important setting the scene for the Devil and Satan as this figure that presents the traits that I showed earlier. So
A sort of creative figure that rebels against the most powerful creature and creates his own self on his own or her own terms. So some examples that present the elements that I showed earlier where, you know, that is associated with rebellion, sexual freedom,
Knowing your dark side and even humanism. You have “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones where the Devil is depicted as a man of wealth and taste. “NIB” by Black Sabbath where Lucifer is in love with humanity and this links well with certain forms of Satanism like LaVeyan Satanism.
And then “Lucifer Rising” by Rob Zombie where there is the sexual love allure that you find linked to the figure of the Devil. And then of course we have Marilyn Manson, you know, the whole of Marilyn Manson in just one song where it is connected to LaVeyan themes
Of the Devil. So you have the rebellion against the capitalist society, the hegemony, the Christian hegemonic morality and the centralised state power. So you have LaVeyan Satanism, it’s often described as an atheistic form of Satanism, even though the words of LaVey there are, you know, also elements that
Could be seen as theistic and there is, of course, Esotericism as well, part of esoteric practices. Then let’s move on to the TV shows. So this is the image that I use for my slides and it comes
From Lucifer, the TV show Lucifer and it is based on the DC Comics character in the Sandman series. Lucifer in this TV show is tired of being the Lord of Hell and he’s tired of punishing people.
So since he is bored and unhappy with his life in Hell he abdicates his role in defiance of his father and moves to LA where he runs his own nightclub called Lux, which means light in Latin and collaborates with the police department. And it’s interesting how he’s depicted because
Basically one of the reasons why he’s able to help the police department is because he is able to see the deepest desire of every person and once you know somebody’s deepest desire then you have a leverage on how to influence them. So here we have a depiction of Lucifer that, in a way,
Incarnates all the elements that I said earlier. So he’s very charming and sexual, he’s able to influence people, know their darkest desires, at the same time he’s independent and he helps people. So there is also this theme of Lucifer wanting to help humanity
Which is also another element you define in this re-imagination of the Devil and of Satan. Now I would say that this re-imagination of the Devil is an indicator of a general reassessment of ethics in our society, in a society that was prior, perhaps, to the Enlightenment and
Romanticism, was more influenced by a Christian, dichotomous morality of good and evil. But you don’t just see that with the figure of the Devil and Satan but even with other ‘so-called’ evil figures that in recent years, in recent decades have become more nuanced. So, for instance,
You have The Good Place, this is The Good Place this is Good Omens and here, in both cases, the Good Place is meant to represent sort of heaven and hell but they don’t use Christian terminology. So they call it the Good Place and the Bad Place. But then as you move forward there’s
Also one of the protagonists who is a moral philosopher, a professor, so there are interesting ethical discussions and you have this very romance perception of the Good Place and the Bad Place. So you can see how it is not, you know, you don’t have a perception of good and evil in such strict
Terms, not even of the so-called heaven the Good Place or the Bad Place. In Good Omens you have a demon and an angel, the demon is called Crowley. And even in this case and at first, it seems like
One is evil and one is good but then the more they progress, the more inevitably you realize that actually the two are interspersed and intermingled and it’s impossible to disentangle the two. And in “Vampire Diaries” and in “Buffy” you have the demonic figures such as vampires but
In both cases, you see that they actually have or develop a soul. So I think that this re-imagination of the Devil, which used to be seen as evil incarnate, and now in pop culture is depicted more as sort of the cool guy that allows you
To be free and to explore, you know, your sexuality or explore your individuality beyond the binds and the limits created by society or by a certain dichotomous morality. You see that also, across the board, not just with the Devil, that’s why, perhaps analysing the Devil,
Who has been considered in the Christian dominant ethics in western countries, certainly in Italy and that’s where I do most of my fieldwork, even though this is not based primarily on Italy but you can see how that Christian dichotomous morality is loosening up over time. So
You don’t have that very demarcated and stark sense of good and evil any more and that, you know that re-imagination of the Devil, perhaps, helps us understand this change better. Now let’s see why does pop culture matter. So pop culture matters for us scholars because it
Is a new ongoing myth-making. We see that even with new religious movements how important it is when it comes to TV shows and even comics, even video games, everything plays a massive role in how Practitioners, contemporary Practitioners create, make meaning of their practice. Because
I would say that religion and religious practices are ultimately about belief-making and myth-making and meaning-making, in all these things, you know, stories are important for human beings. Stories have value for human beings and if you see a story that is gripping, that you resonate with,
That will become part of the meaning-making process and the belief-making process that will inform your religious beliefs and your religious worldview as well. Also, TV shows and generally pop culture, even video games and yeah, literature can be gateways to religious practices and beliefs. So there are many, for instance, many Pagans that got
Interested in Heathenry or Norse Paganism thanks to “Vikings,” the TV show because they felt it resonated with them and they got interested in Norse Paganism. So it can be, in a lot of cases, a gateway to religious practices and beliefs and so it’s important for scholars to acknowledge that
So that we can better understand how these new religious movements that develop and how they develop and their conception. Also, it has a bi-directional resonance because pop culture influences viewers or consumers of the pop culture but at the same time, a show or
A specific pop-culture output becomes popular only in so far as it resonates with the viewers. So it means to respond enough to the Zeitgeist of the time to become popular and at the same time by becoming popular it influences people and their beliefs and how they make meaning of the world.
Now, why is this re-imagined Devil useful and to whom? To whom? To scholars, in this case, this re-imagined Devil allows scholars to better understand a few things. So the inclusion of Lucifer, the inclusion of Lucifer by Pagan and Magick Practitioners.
So, as I mentioned in my paper for the EASR on Hecate there are many Magic Practitioners that are currently working with Lucifer alongside either Hecate or Lilith and they employ Lucifer as… not employ, they work with Lucifer in a duodeistic scheme that is influenced by Wicca.
So that the idea of the Goddess and the Gods, they work with Goddess and God but in this case, it’s Lucifer and Hecate or Lilith – those are the most popular combinations. So it is this re-imagined Devil that allows Pagan Study scholars and Esoteric Study scholars to
Better understand how come contemporary Practitioners, even those that are not Satanists, they do not define themselves as Satanists, how come they are employing Lucifer and Hecate, for instance, in their practice. And that is because Lucifer is now associated, just as Hecate is,
To a darkness that allows to shed a light. So an enlightening darkness, if that makes sense. And also it still retains that perception of freeing you from certain boundaries. So for some people, it is useful, to something as it’s useful to work with Lucifer because it allows you to detach
Yourself from a certain Christian background that you may have been raised into. And also, as I said my in my paper on Hecate, you know Hecate is associated with shadow work which is connected to Jungian interpretation and Jungian psychological interpretations.
Also, it allows us to better understand the endorsement of a nuanced ethics, in this case, by Practitioners because I’m talking about how it can be useful for scholars but as I said, I think this is a trend that you see in the wider culture, in wider culture but especially
Within Magick Practitioners, I would argue. And also the emergence of ‘hex positivity.’ I don’t know if you guys are familiar with this term but hex positivity is a thing and it’s going on among the community of Magick Practitioners,
Even Thelemites and hex positivity is kind of a response to the Wiccan ethics when it comes to Magick. Where, you know the Wiccan ethics say everything that you do will come back threefold and so some Practitioners feel that we can assume, you know, light and love and that nobody talks
About the darker aspects of Magick and so some Practitioners have coined the term hex positivity and they talk about it on podcasts, blogs and their social media to mean that it is important to acknowledge the dark side of yourself as a Magick practitioner but also of your Magick practice.
And also the wider cultural exchange in society that inevitably affects esoteric practices. So I think that this is also important to acknowledge for us scholars because it allows us to better understand how esoteric Practitioners make meaning of their world and how
They interpret their ethics and I think that this re-imagined perception of the Devil, actually, really helps and has been quite influential for Magick Practitioners across the board. So thank you very much for your attention and I am also on social media.
I’m on TikTok and on YouTube. So in case you want to check out my work, which is not just about the Devil but I’m mostly a Pagan Studies scholar, I generally study Magick in religious practices. So thank you for your attention. [Applause]
♪ Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams, it’s good to see you guys in person. You were on our show a couple years ago for your last film – Someone Like Me – and now you’re here for Satan Wants You. Really excited to talk to you. Before we get into it,
Let’s just show a clip from the trailer. This is a clip from Satan Wants You. Joining me now from Victoria is Michelle Smith – a one-time victim of abuse by a Satanic cult – and Dr. Lawrence Pazder – the psychiatrist who helped her come to terms with that nightmare.
NEWS ANCHOR: The book is called Michelle Remembers. VALERIE PRINGLE: Michelle Remembers. BOTH: We wrote it together. VALERIE: The first publicized account of such rituals. They would put me in cages, sacrifice animals. VALERIE: Eating feces, and orgies, and dismembering fetuses, these were things that you experienced? MICHELLE SMITH: That’s right.
INTERVIEWER: Who are these people? Well, they’re a secret organization, they’re a secret society. Satan. When that book came out, I mean, all hell broke loose. It was a theory that there’s a Satanic conspiracy, and there are children who were kidnapped, stolen, and sacrificed. MAN: It’s known as “The Satanic Panic”
From the 1980s and ’90s. (Sighing) Sean and Steve, hoo-ah! That’s just a little bit of the documentary, but, in the trailer, it mentioned a book called Michelle Remembers. Can you tell us about that book, Michelle Remembers, Sean? Yeah, I mean, I grew up in Victoria,
So, Michelle Remembers is by two authors from Victoria. It is set in Victoria. For me, I mean, my family moved there right after the book was published, while the Satanic Panic was unfolding, and, they were everywhere, Michelle and Larry. They were on TV. They were on the radio. They were in the newspapers.
It was this story that everyone knew about in Victoria, and, like, layer, upon layer, upon layer, of it too, right? Like, stores downtown had Satanic altars in the back, and you had to look out for these people in black, and “Don’t go to the cemetery at night.”
What was it like to grow up in that environment as a kid? Scary. Right? And this, I mean, for me too, the thing about this is, like… you know, it’s how many? Forty years later? So it’s like you forget about all of this stuff until this came back into our life.
And I had no idea, as a kid. Like, you sorta– you’re like, “Oh, yeah, they’re connected to the Satanic Panic.” But I had no idea that the story touched millions and millions of people around the world. Sean, could you just tell us a little bit about who Michelle Smith and Lawrence Pazder were?
Michelle Smith was a young woman in Victoria, in the ’70s, who started seeing her psychiatrist – Dr. Lawrence Pazder, who everyone refers to as “Larry” – when she had a bad dream after a miscarriage, and this is sorta like the genesis for this book. They go into therapy. They–
And it goes from, like, you know, once a week to every day for eight hours at a time. And then, as they start going deeper and deeper into therapy, more and more memories start– are being recovered from Michelle about this terrible abuse she suffered at the hands of a Satanic cult
When she was five years old, in Victoria, BC. NAM: And Larry actually recorded those sessions. He recorded them. There’s actually video, as well, which, apparently, was burnt, but we got one of the tapes anonymously. One of the therapy tapes that no one has ever heard is in the film.
NAM: Wow. There was video?! STEVE: He recorded everything. He was, like– like, he– He wanted to be famous, didn’t he? One hundred percent. Didn’t he learn anything from Nixon? Like… Don’t– don’t leave– don’t– I mean, don’t, like, tell on yourself like that, man. He wanted to be famous, though. Like, he wanted to be known. Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. Steve, for people who may not remember this, the Satanic Panic, it was in the ’80s and ’90s.
What exactly happened? What was it about? It was a lot of just, like, wild accusations of people who were, basically, like, taking children and sacrificing them. That was, like, the main thorough thread of what the Satanic Panic was. Many people were definitely accused of it. It happened through daycare centres, anywhere where people really had, like,
Contact with children is where you seemed to see a lot of these cases begin to erupt. And, like, a lot of the people– I just have to say this too, right, like, if you were at all different in the ’80s, this is something that you could’ve been accused of.
Like, so, I mean, we’re both queer men. So many of the people who went on trial in a lot of these daycare cases were queer, right? Or, a single woman in her 20s who wasn’t married. You know, like, these people who were not
Just part of the mainstream culture, and that sort of like, “normal,” let’s just say “American family life,” like you could’ve faced this accusation. How do you defend yourself, right? Yeah, and, Steve, you know when Colin asked you that question, you kind of laughed, and I think you laughed because it’s–
When we hear “Satanic Panic” now, in the framework of, like, 2023, it’s kind of like, “That’s ridiculous.” But when we watch the documentary– and like you mentioned, people’s lives were impacted to the point where people ended up in jail, losing their jobs, losing their livelihood.
So, looking at it from, like, a 2023 viewpoint, how did people not know that this was kind of like, “We needed to ask more questions”? STEVE: I think the questions were being asked. I think you had media that was perpetuating what was, like, thought to be happening.
Valerie Pringle, who was like one of, like, Canada’s– NAM: A very serious journalist. Right? She’s on air asking Michelle if she was eating feces. Like, it was very– and, like, it was like, the noon newscast. Like, it was very– like, it was all over the place, and, it just–
I don’t know. Like, you had law enforcement who were participating. You just had all these authority figures within our society that were saying, “This is happening. This is true.” And so, everybody just– how can– how can you deny that, right? I think police officers who were specifically, like–
Like, that was “their beat” in a way. Like, they were occult specialists, which, it just sounds kind of wild to think about it now, but that’s what they were actually assigned to do, right? It’s like an X-Files episode. (Laughing) Mm-hmm, cops for Christ. Yeah, exactly. Cops for Christ.
Can you talk about what their families were going through while they were on tour with this book? You know, I mean, this is like, for us, you know, there’s several ways to approach a doc, right? So, like, we started with the book. That’s sort of where you start,
And then you expand out from that to sort of talk to all the other people who are around that. And when we started reaching out to the family, and also doing our research and realizing that, you know, we can’t find any interviews with a single family member,
Who, at that time, came out and said, “No, this– you know, this is my version of this “and it’s not correct at all.” So, for us it’s, like, reaching out to Larry’s first ex– first wife, ex-wife, his daughter, Michelle’s sister, Michelle’s best friend. This was a, like, new territory,
A brand new territory for a doc, which is so exciting. And also, like, it was so important for us knowing how big this book was, and how far it spread, and how much media it gained for 15 years, 20 years, and people still talk about it today, to have these family members
And get that story, and create a platform for them to actually be like, “This is the truth.” Well, Blanche Barton says it, right, in the doc, when she’s talking about the talk shows and the people that come on, and it’s all the people who are victims. And, she just says, like,
“Why didn’t they bring out the family members? “Why didn’t the family members ever come on stage and actually say, like, hold them to account?” ‘Cause it would make for bad TV. However, it makes for a great documentary, so… And were they excited to finally talk to you, to someone about this? Oh, yeah. I mean, when we– you know, I was a little nervous, too, doing this, knowing that there is a lot of trauma to this film as well, right? For them, for the other victims of the Satanic Panic.
It’s like, you laugh ’cause it’s, you know, Satanic Panic, but there’s also a real serious side to this. And when we called Larry’s ex-wife, Marylyn, for the first time, I mean, that was nerve-racking. And the funny thing is, like, just said, “Hey, listen, we’re gonna do–”
“we wanna do a film and we wanted to talk to you.” (Snapping fingers) Hour-long. It was like 40 years hadn’t passed at all. She had all the stories and just really wanted to talk to us. NAM: Well, how did you approach that? Because you mentioned that people hadn’t spoken to them.
So, like, Steve, when you call them up, what do you say to them to say– to get them to trust you? You know, you mentioned it’s very traumatic. How do you get them to open up and trust the process that you’re trying to do? I think with a lot of the people
That actually participated in the doc, we contacted, of course, like, other people that were close family members, and it’s just kind of you’re testing the waters, right? You’re seeing who wants to talk, who feels like they have something to say. And like with Marylyn, she’s helped, like, multiple investigators.
She’s kept binders full of just everything, like newspaper articles, anything to do with her divorce. NAM: She recorded one of the bishops, I think. STEVE: She recorded everything. She was like– She was savvy. She was really good. Like spy thriller, right? And so, really,
It was just like the path of least resistance for us, and who felt like they wanted to stand up on the stage and do it, and that’s kind of like the path that we took. Also helped that I was from Victoria for a lot of–
’cause, I mean, a lot of the story is set there, and especially for the family, it’s a shared experience that at least I have some understanding. You know, not at all to the level that they went through, but at least what the city’s like and what actually happened there. Were you kinda surprised
That this started in Victoria, in Canada? I mean, this went on to become very influential, especially in the United States. NAM: They even met the Pope. Well, yeah, and they met the Pope exactly. I mean… (Laughing) This all started in Victoria, BC. Yes, I was surprised. Victoria’s so snoozy. It’s not that kinda city, you guys. It’s not that kinda city, so… COLIN: I guess ’cause I don’t really think– I don’t know. I guess we don’t associate Canadians with ever having that kind of, like, influence on the global stage like that, except for maybe hockey, but–
You know, I mean, one of the claims in Michelle Remembers, of course, is that Victoria was one of the Satanic capitals of the world, right? Victoria, and Geneva, Switzerland, and that was– for a time in the ’80s, that’s what some people thought, so…
And so, it just– doesn’t that kind of make it so, you know, like, people are like, “Victoria is the capital of Satanism?” And it’s like, it just makes it, like, that much more believable because it’s just not believable at all. Like, you know? It felt like that kinda had a play happening.
I appreciated the fact that you, um, let the viewer kind of make up their mind on what’s happening. Who would you say whose fault it was, ultimately, this happened? That’s tricky. COLIN: Satan, obviously. Right? COLIN: I mean, those are the traits of the Devil, right? I mean, greed, influence, power. I think that there was so many different, like, social changes that were happening at the time. Um, like, religion was much more popular. It was much more through the culture. And they had a book that just dropped at the right time, and it kinda just, it clicked.
So, trying to place blame on people, I find it really tricky, because– It’s also hard though, ’cause it’s almost like everyone’s responsible. I mean, it’s like, A, the two authors, plus the institutions, plus the Church, plus the media for participating, plus people who didn’t speak up and say, “You know…”
For me, in our film, one of the takeaways is that moment when the Wiccan police detective Charles Ennis finally says, you know, like, “We, basically, all have a responsibility “to stand up and say ‘This is a lie.’ “And even if it– you know, can’t just say it once,
“you have to say it over, and over, and over again “until, you know, everyone realizes it is a lie.” But nobody realizes it. I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful. COLIN: Do any of the people, though, who were kinda, like, promoting this idea of Satan, like, Satanic ritual abuse,
Like the journalists at the time, like the media figures– like, you know, Maury Povich was around, was popular at this time, Geraldo, Oprah. I mean, I don’t know. Do any of them– have any of them ever come out and said, “Yeah, we messed up here. “This was not, like, credible at all
“and we shoulda done a better job”? Geraldo did give an apology, so I mean, he– you’ll see in the film, there’s– he did one very notorious show that influenced, you know, according to the sociologists– NAM: It was like a three-parter, right? Yeah, that the sociologist that we spoke to said,
“You know, this spread this, “you know, from just being sort of a rumour “into 12 million households, “or 40 million households in the US suddenly were like, “‘Oh, my God. There’s Satanists everywhere.'” Like, he played a big role in that, but he did apologize in the ’90s, which is something.
I mean, ’cause people were really hurt by this. You mentioned daycare. There was a woman by the name of Margaret Kelly Michaels. What happened to her? Oy. (Sighing) Again, she was working in a school, um, with young children, and a parent had accused her, right? SEAN: Mm-hmm.
And it went on to be a super long trial. She went to prison for five years. She was accused of heinous stuff and, like, basically, she was tarred and feathered. She’s had to carry that around with her for the rest of her life, and her life has kind of been ruined by it.
Like, it’s– these types of accusations, like, when people are calling other people, or accusing them of being pedophiles, um, it really– like, it ruins your reputation and it can ruin your life, and Kelly Michaels definitely has felt that. And we should say, I mean, these cases are still being brought to justice,
These false accusations. The film premiered at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and there’s a case literally right now that is unfolding for a man who has been– you know, this is like 30 or 40 years of his life, and they’re saying, “No, this is not true now.”
Right? Like, it’s not just something from the distant past either, right? These people are still alive. There’s still people in prison. And, furthermore, you know, it’s easy to be like, “Oh, this is just the ’80s and ’90s.” This is happening right now. NAM: In what ways? Through QAnon and Pizzagate,
So that’s sort of the most recent iteration. The Satanic cult conspiracies now involving political figures and Hollywood actors drinking the blood of children to get adrenochrome, or whatever the magical chemical is, right, in the basements of pizzerias and all that stuff in the US.
And for us, I mean, this film, just this past week, there was an article, I think in The Epoch Times. Did I say that right? I don’t think I did. NAM: I think so, yeah. Yeah, did I? NAM: ‘E-P-O-C-H’, yeah, yeah. That basically there’s a Satanic ritual abuse survivor
Talking and saying– referencing our film and saying, “No, I’m actually a victim of Satanic ritual abuse.” And this is 2023, right? So, it is kind of scary. Like, this is something– I was looking for therapists– (Clearing throat) excuse me– last week, and I found a woman, downtown Vancouver,
And one of the things that she treated was ritual abuse. I was like– like, people are still– they’re still treating this. Like, it’s still, like– it’s still within society right now. Like, it is wild. You know, we’re repeating the mistakes of the past now, because a lot of people believe QAnon and Pizzagate.
People have been actually harmed by these theories. I mean, for us, this is another, like, layer to this film. I mean, what does it mean to be human? And why do we believe in things even when there’s no basis, or concrete evidence, or no basis in reality, right?
And this whole thing about storytelling constructing reality is definitely an element to this story, too, and all the different ways storytelling works, right? Like, you share information with a story, you educate somebody. But, you know, if you don’t like somebody, you can also make up a story to ruin their life and their–
You know, like, storytelling is great, it’s terrible, it’s part of being human. Mm-hmm. It truly– like when we can’t explain the things around us that are happening in our life, the easiest thing to fall back on is, a lot of the time, Satan, right? So, it’s just part of who we are.
The big thing that we saw was, like, it happened once, it’s happening again, and it’s probably gonna happen in the future. You mention, though, that, you know, I guess the first Satanic Panic of the ’80s and ’90s, when that was going on, there was a lot of social changes happening.
I think it was more visibility about LGBTQ folks, for example, and I think even now, we’re seeing, you know, more visibility of, like, trans individuals, and LGBTQ folks are also, you know, getting more acceptance, right, and I wonder if that’s playing a role. Just that, you know, the more–
The more we’re seeing changes to, like, gender, ideas around gender and race, if that’s somewhat, maybe, having a role in getting people to go down these kind of dark paths, like QAnon and that sort of thing. Well, definitely. I mean, typically, those are the people who have the devil in them, right?
Right, yeah. You know? And I think technology, too, is also another factor in this, right? Like, daytime TV, talk TV, was the thing in the ’80s and ’90s that spread this everywhere. You know, Facebook, Twitter, social media did it for QAnon and Pizzagate.
And Steve and I always talk now that where AI is, you know? We’re right at the cusp of it. Like, “What is gonna happen?” Comin’ in hot. We were just watching a video, actually, before we started, of an AI-created political commercial. And it looks real, like a hundred percent real.
STEVE: For the Republican Party? Yes. Oh, you knew exactly what I was talking about. Crazy, right? Yeah, yeah, it’s scary. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you mention– like, when I was watching the documentary, ’cause we’re talking about Satan, there’s an actual Church of Satan. What is that?
‘Cause I didn’t know what it was until I watched the documentary. The Church of Satan is– like when they try to distill it down, it’s basically, instead of following these rules, like in Christianity, of the things you’re supposed to be, they just celebrate humans as a whole. So, we have greed,
We have all of these kind of things that are considered negative parts of our lives, but the Church of Satan looks at humans as a whole person, as a whole thing, and that’s– they wanna celebrate that. Yeah, and what I love is– So, we have a former high priestess
Of the Church of Satan, Blanche Barton, as one of the participants in the film, and she says, you know, basically, “Satanism is not a tolerance of your differences. “It’s a celebration of differences,” right? It’s like, “We celebrate how different everyone is.” And I thought that was such a, like,
“Oh, who doesn’t wanna be part of that?” And it’s a complete opposite of what we’ve come to know as Satan. Mm-hmm. NAM: Right? And I thought it was really interesting that insurance companies played a role in Michelle Remembers. Do you wanna go down that– like, can you explain to us how that happened?
Because I was like, “Of course.” (Laughing) SEAN: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Money’s involved. Yeah, I mean, it’s an interesting thing. Like, both in Canada, the US, the UK, this happened, right? So, it’s like, you know, especially in Canada and the UK where there is public– what’s the word I’m looking for? Healthcare, obviously,
Where doctors are billing, like, the government. In the US, it’s different, too. But these doctors are billing and they’re bringing you in for, like, seven sessions a week, for hours, or maybe eight hours a day, and billing for it, and then the insurance companies are on the hook for it, right?
STEVE: And they were talking like millions of dollars, like, over the course of a year. And so, they kind of look at it and they’re like, “Wow, I have one of these patients. “Now, I can bring in their family members.” And all of a sudden, they’re making, like, five million dollars a year,
And so, it really turns into a scam. And this had to do with the therapists that were talking to people who were having these memories that these awful things had happened to them as part of the Satanic Panic. Yeah, I mean, here in Canada, we should say too, like, so you know, Victoria,
Michelle Remembers, that’s one thing. There was a case– like, cases in Southern Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and a really big one in Saskatchewan. It’s not just a US thing. This happened here, too, all at the same time as the US, the UK, Europe, Italy, Brazil, like, it’s Australia, New Zealand.
This was a worldwide thing. And Larry, I mean, we found one newspaper article. He consulted, it said, close to a thousand cases. A thousand of these cases. That’s a lot of money. And it really seeped into popular culture, right? Because I think, you know, Dungeons and Dragons– NAM: Music.
COLIN: Yeah, music, heavy metal. I remember an X-Files episode referencing the Satanic Panic. I mean, how– this was really widespread. Like, it really affected the public imagination in a lot of ways, didn’t it? Mm-hmm. I mean, I think it was hard not to. You hear these wild things
And your mind can just go wild with it, right? You can think of anything and it just– it really seeped into all parts of culture at the time. Like, religious horror was gigantic at the time. It’s funny because, in the book, you can actually see references to, like, The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby.
Like, somebody’s head’s spinnin’ around. Oh, yeah, you know, halfway through Michelle Remembers, there’s a woman who comes to one of the Satanic rituals and her head spins, like, it’s– Right. STEVE: Yeah. What’s funny about that book is the cover looks so much like a Stephen King novel. Right? Like Misery.
Yeah. Yeah, any, like Pet Sematary, one of those. Yeah. I think something that struck me is that people were believing this, like, Satanic ritual abuse is happening. You know, millions of children are being abducted, but, at the same time, you know, we learned in,
I guess, the early aughts, that the Catholic Church has been– you know, there’s a huge sex abuse scandal with children and priests and they’re covering it up. Women, for years, were not believed if they came forward with sexual assault, but people would believe in Satanism. Like, it’s just– it’s ironic, right?
Like, why do we go to this extreme thing and not the most logical thing? It’s weird. I mean, we’ve talked about that a lot, right? Like, it was– like, they were basically pointing their fingers saying, like, “Look over there. Look over there.”
While it was actually the Church that was doing all the things that they said that everybody else was doing. Like, it was, like, really crazy when you actually, like, look at it from that. It’s interesting. I mean, in Austin, at South By Southwest, we had an Indigenous journalist actually in the audience
For our world premiere, and it was the final question of the night, and he just started, you know, talking about residential schools and the Catholic Church, and that was a connection that we hadn’t made. But this was literally the Catholic Church stealing children and abusing them, and then neglecting them
To the point of death, right? Like, this is what the Satanists were accused of, but it was happening… For sure. …within the Church. It was just– yeah. NAM: Well, since we talked about that– we mentioned that Michelle and Larry– was he a psychiatrist or a psychologist? A psychiatrist. Psychiatrist.
They actually met the Pope. What was in it for the Church to be a part of this book, and this, what was happening with Michelle Remembers? I mean, it just got more people into the pews, right? And one of the priests, you know, thought he was gonna make a million dollars, you know? Like, they saw this as actual, like a best-seller like Jaws, right? Their editor in New York actually was the editor for Jaws. So, it’s like, all you see, you dig into this–
And that wasn’t in the movie, but it was just there’s so many layers to this story that you can’t even fit it into 90 minutes, you know? That was the main thing. So, many people just came up to us and were like, “Why can’t this be a three-parter
“or four-parter?” They just wanted more. NAM: Yeah, yeah. Well, one of the people, that was– well, Michelle wasn’t part of it. Did you ask her to be a part of it? STEVE: Yeah. And she said? She didn’t wanna participate. We contacted her twice over the course of about six months,
And she didn’t respond to the first email that we sent. And then, six months later, she did respond and she said she doesn’t wanna participate, which I understand. I mean, it’s been– I think it’s a weird part of your life to dive back into and especially if she doesn’t wanna recant, or, like,
You know, if she– What would you have asked her? Oh, God. I would’ve asked her– Like, literally, I just wanted– like this, at least in my head, was to create a space for her to tell her side of the story. Like the last piece of–
The last interview that we could find of them actually talking about this was in 1990. And then, after talking to all the family, from what we understand, Michelle has never said, “No, this is a lie.” or, basically, or “This is true.” So, it’s this grey area where I just would–
You know, if it wasn’t us, maybe there’s somebody else who can do it, but just to get what happened to her, you know? And I’m also really curious about how, you know, when you start something and you end it, from your point of view, as people were telling the story,
What did you learn at the end that you didn’t know going in, when you decided to make this project? For me, I just didn’t understand how widespread it was. I didn’t understand the Satanic Panic. I’m 42, so I, like, grew up through the ’80s, and I just didn’t know.
I didn’t know how many lives it touched. I didn’t know how widespread it was. It was just one of those things that you look at it and you’re like, “Wow, just had no idea.” And it’s, like, not that far away. If there’s one, I guess, like, takeaway
You want people to have from watching this film, what is it? And I’m thinking in the context of like we’ve talked about with QAnon and these kind of, you know, conspiracy theories. I mean, Trump’s still talking about losing the election. People are really, like, still are susceptible to this sort of thinking.
So, I guess– I don’t know. What do you– is there any, like, thing that we can do to, I guess, convince people not to go down these kind of rabbit holes? You know, I personally come from a really cynical, skeptical family. So, like, there’s a couple characters in the film
That I think people can learn a lot from – the FBI agent Ken Lanning, and the investigative journalist Debbie Nathan. I think everyone needs some more skepticism in their lives. Ask people questions. Ask “Why?” Right? And also take the time to think about rumours,
When you hear them, instead of just jumping on the bandwagon and riding off into the sunset, so… It’s really tricky though. There’s so many influences in our lives and I think it’s really hard to kind of navigate through and figure out what’s real and what’s not real.
And I think just as we go into the future, it’s gonna get harder and harder. NAM: Well, it’s a terrific documentary. How I started it is not where I ended, and then I still had a lot more questions. So, yes, maybe another two-parter? But where can people find the documentary? Do you have plans for distribution? We do. We’re gonna be playing Hot Docs. Right now, we’re finishing our festival run through spring, and then we’ll be doing our theatrical run in August. And it’ll be ready for streaming– Available on CBC starting this fall,
With a date to be announced. So, you can look for, like, SatanWantsYouFilm.com. We have all the dates, if it might be playing at a film festival in your city, or your region, and also on Instagram. If you wanna see all the Satanic stuff, follow us on Instagram. Awesome, Sean and Steve. Congratulations.
Yeah. Thank you so much for joining us today. This was great. BOTH: Thanks for having us. NAM: Thank you. ♪
– Hail oh deathless one. Who calls me from out of the pits? – [Voiceover] You can turn back now or learn the stuff they don’t want you to know. Here are the facts. In the 1980’s and 90’s people across the united states were convinced that satan worshippers worked in secret across the country. Stealing children for dark rights. Sacrificing animals and innocents and practicing sorcery.
In what became known as, “The Satanic Panic.” Numerous people alleged that they had been ritually abused during their childhood. They claimed that hypnosis and regression therapy revealed these long suppressed memories. Yet, when authorities investigated they ultimately found no proof to back up the accusations. Today the deluge of reports is considered part of
A moral panic. Like McCarthyism or witch hunts. Many people wondered if actual theistic satan worshippers existed at all. So, are there any real devil worshippers? Here’s where it gets crazy. Yes, though perhaps not the way you’d assume. Before we find devil worshippers we have to define the devil itself.
That’s tougher than it sounds. Afterall, one religion’s god may often be another group’s satan. Consider the Yazidis ethnic group. Often called devil worshippers by the nearby Muslim majority. The Yazidis worship an angel called, “Melek Taus.” Who in their religion refused God’s command to bow to Adam.
This bears great resemblance to stories of Shatam and Muslim lore. But the Yazidis don’t consider Melek Taus an evil deity. A similar disconnect occurs between gnostics and mainstream Christians. There are generally two broad camps in the world of genuine satan worship. Symbolic and theistic. The symbolic satan worshippers
Believe in philosophical aspects of satan as a concept. Or satan as an ideology. The theistic satan worshippers believe in a supernatural entity that can interact with the mortal world. Of these theistic satanists, many follow a Lucifer erratically different from the common Christian depiction.
Not an evil force, so much as a disruptive innovative one. Are there really any theistic satanists who genuinely believe they worship an inferno evil deity? While the tales of massive satanic conspiracies don’t seem to bear any fruit. There have been isolated cases of violent criminal acts
Carried out by people claiming to worship satan. And not just any ancient past either. In 2005, Louisiana pastor Louis Lamonica turned himself into the Livingston detective, Stan Carpenter. Lamonica listed in detail, ritualized child abuse that he and other members of his congregation participated in for a number of years.
This included things like animal sacrifice, ritual masks, and dedication of a child to satan. In 2011, Moises Maraza Espinoza confessed to killing his mother as part of satanic right. And there are a number of other proving crimes involving the use of satanic symbols and purported rituals. However, these crimes are not all representative
Of the satanic community. The majority of which, is law abiding. Despite these cyclical allegations of widespread, large scale of networks of devil worshippers, there simply hasn’t been any solid universally acknowledged proof. Those who believe in the conspiracies say the powerful groups have too much control to be reported.
And they point to other supposedly buried reports of abuse. Such as the infamous Franklin Case. Instead it seems that the only individuals or groups actually doing all of those sterotypical satanic things from Hollywood horror films are isolated and quite possibly, insane. Unless of course, there’s something more to the story.
Something they don’t want you to know. – So here comes satanism. Most of us would like to write off as harmless antics by some lunatic fringe. A few years ago maybe, but not now. We have seen that satanism can be linked to child abuse and murder. It has lead seemingly normal teenagers into monstrous behavior. They preach mysticism.
Other people, however, practice evil. And that is why we brought you this report tonight.
– [Narrator] On August 11th, 1676, a group of nuns were enjoying a choir performance in a convent in Sicily’s Palma di Montechiaro when they noticed one of their members, Sister Maria, was missing. They quickly left to go find her, searching through the hallways and rooms at the large monastery.
After looking around for a time, Maria was still missing, so the nuns decided to search her living quarters. As they neared the door, they became enveloped in fear, hearing screams and gasps coming from the other side. The nuns flung open the door, and what they saw would become part
Of a horrifying and bizarre mystery for the next 300 years. Demonic possession has been a popular tale of horror through the centuries, rising up in popularity every few years in the form of books, movies, and television shows. In reality, true cases of demonic possession throughout history were few and far between.
This is especially true in more recent history, with ever-advancing medical science to explain human behavior and other phenomena. Before the days of modern science, however, mankind often looked to their faith and religious leaders to help cope with things they couldn’t understand. While the scientific revolution was in full swing
By the tail end of the Renaissance and Reformation periods, Europe was largely still a world of angels and demons during the late 1600s. Faith was an important aspect of everyday life and prominent members of the church were revered for the strength of their faith. The nuns of Palma di Montechiaro were no exception.
Every aspect of their lives were devoted to the service of God above and beyond the piety of average members of society. Being so close to God, one would think they’d be the last to have their faith go astray. So, it was especially harrowing when one of their own began struggling with her faith,
Acting erratically and eventually falling victim to possible demonic forces that used her body to leave behind a cryptic coded message. This is the story of Sister Maria Crocifissa della Concezione’s letter from the devil. Sister Maria was born Isabella Tomasi to Prince Giulio Tomasi di Lampedusa in Sicily who was an ancestor to the renowned Italian writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Not much is known about Maria’s mother or what her own childhood was like before she joined the monastery. She entered the convent at age 15,
Beginning her spiritual journey of devoting her life to God while she was still just a child. The Palma di Montechiaro was a Benedictine convent, which meant it followed the teachings of St. Benedict, who founded the Benedictine Order in the sixth century, making it the oldest religious order of the Western Church.
The life of a nun is not an easy path, usually involving vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience with many waking hours devoted to prayer in an isolated monastery. It’s credible that the 17th-century Benedictine teachings were especially severe for the nuns at the Palma di Montechiaro,
With high expectations to prefer nothing to the work of God. At first, Sister Maria seemed to fall in line and adjust to her new life with the other nuns at the convent, keeping up with her studies and following along with their customs and traditions. She was involved in the choir
And over time became a skilled linguist, studying Latin, Greek, and Arabic languages, amongst others. It’s unknown exactly when her behavior began to change. But at some point, Sister Maria began to suffer from alarming fainting spells during prayer at the altar. She would let out a chilling scream
That echoed off the walls before passing out cold. Maria’s behavior became more erratic over time and she became paranoid and fearful, warning the other nuns that the devil would tempt her to serve evil rather than the good of God. At one point, Sister Maria decided to go to confession,
Where she would sit behind a divider and confess her sins to a priest and ask for God’s forgiveness. Confession is a crucial aspect to keeping one’s faith strong, and Maria likely hoped this would help ease her escalating troubles. During this particular session, however, her behavior changed suddenly,
And she began speaking disrespectfully to the priest, as if someone else was controlling what she said. She didn’t realize her transgression until after the session and became increasingly distraught. A few days later, everything would come to a head after Maria would fail to show up to a choir performance.
The night before her absence, Sister Maria was alone in her room when she began experiencing a slew of fainting spells more overwhelming than usual. Fading in and out of consciousness, she felt as though a force was taking over her body. Without realizing what was happening, Maria grabbed a quill and some parchment
And began scribbling out strange symbols across the paper, the likes of which no human being had seen before. Maria continued etching out the symbols hours into the night, her mind not fully present, but her hand writing frantically as if driven by a demonic force.
By the time the nuns found her in her room the next morning, she was in such a frightening state that she was almost unrecognizable. She was seated on the floor, exhausted and gasping for breath, the left side of her face smeared black with ink. Besides the shock of her disheveled appearance,
She was surrounded by pages of a long, bizarre letter, each page containing unintelligible lines of obscure symbols that didn’t match any known language. Unable to stand up, the nuns helped Maria lay on the ground and asked her what happened. What she told them was so shocking that one of the nuns,
Mother Sor Maria Serafica, drew up a report of her story and the haunting incident, recounting: She said that having confessed days before the demons told her that many words had spoken of irreverence toward her confessor, she saw herself surrounded by a great number of furious evil spirits sent by order of infernal Lucifer,
And taking the paper and the pen that Sister Maria Crocifissa had in order to write, and commanding one of those damned spirits to write, Lucifer was immediately obeyed, and while dictated what he wrote, the words were all against God. No one but Sister Maria herself knew the specificity of what the letter said.
The only legible word it contained, “Alas,” was found at the bottom of the page, positioned as if Maria had signed the letter off with it. Nonetheless, from what they’d experienced together that day, the nuns concluded that the letter was part of an elaborate scheme by Lucifer to turn Maria away from God.
Besides the understood opposition to God, the specific words and phrases hidden in the demonic symbols of the letters would remain a mystery for over 300 years. It wasn’t until 2017 that a group of researchers from the Ludum Science Center in Sicily were able to decode most of the pages. Strangely enough,
They discovered an algorithm on the dark web that they were able to use to help decipher it, along with a military-grade decryption software. The symbols turned out to be a scrambled combination of Arabic, Greek, runic alphabet, and Latin, all languages Maria had learned during her studies.
While 30% of the letter was still indecipherable, the phrases that were able to be translated were indeed demonic. The phrases have a cynical and irreverent tone throughout. One line reads, “God thinks he can free mortals. “This system works for no one.” The letter goes on to describe God, Jesus,
And the Holy Spirits as deadweights and created by man. “God does not exist, Trinity is fake, “there is only me.” One of the strangest portions of the translated letter cryptically references something not a part of Christianity, but the river that separates the living from the Underworld in ancient Greek mythology.
“Perhaps now, Styx is certain.” whether she eventually recovered from her ordeal or continued to struggle against her demons, Sister Maria’s fate is unknown. 345 years later, she’d become mostly a figure of mystery and legend. But in the quest to study as many details of this chilling mystery as possible,
Ludum Science Center director Daniele Abate was able to construct a psychological profile of Maria that offers a possible medical explanation for her torments: I personally believe that the nun had a good command of languages which allowed her to invent the code, and may have suffered from a condition like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder,
Which made her imagine dialogues with the devil. We believe that life as a noblewoman in the cloister caused her a lot of psychophysical stress, and this letter is the result of a bipolar disorder. But we were surprised to have found an overall logical sense despite the fact
That 30% of the document remained incomprehensible. It’s very possible that Sister Maria’s lifestyle of strict devotion to piety and isolation could have, in some ways, aggravated her mental health and plunged her into a crisis. It’s feasible that with her eminent linguistic skills, creating this letter was a way of coping
With the pressure of her life and the stress of her condition. With the absence of modern medical science, we’ll never know exactly how many of these cases of possession, hysteria, or other phenomena were actually instances of a mental health crisis, misunderstood and therefore feared. Even in recent history,
Our understanding of mental health and its importance is still rapidly evolving, with perspectives shifting from neurotypical understandings of mental wellness to an effort of centering neurodivergent experiences and de-stigmatizing mental illness. Whether explained by science or the paranormal, Sister Maria’s letter from Lucifer is certainly one of the most hair-raising mysteries
Wow! That person has it all! How did they get so good at what they do? Could be….SATAN?!?!? We’re talking Deals With The Devil on today’s Nutty History! With all those people making deals with the devil throughout history, it’s gotta be hell keeping track of all those contracts. Ugh. Can you
Imagine the work when he updated to digital? Now, how about you make a deal with me, and subscribe to this channel, click the notification bell, and like this video? Throughout the history of the church, people have been accused of witchcraft, sorcery, demonic possession,
Evil acts, and making straight-up deals with the devil. The accusers’ reasons differed: they could have an agenda against the accused and be trying to take them out with the church’s help; they could be jealous of the accused’s talents and lifestyle; they could be caught up in religious
Fervor, or maybe the accused person literally wished to sell their eternal soul in exchange for favors and a little red guy with a pitchfork that he uses to poke people in the butt appeared with a contract. They all seem like perfectly reasonable explanations and we’ll never know for sure. Deals
With the devil are especially prevalent in music, from hidden satanic messages when you play songs backward, to dark heavy metal and horror-core rap imagery, to that time the devil went down to Georgia in that one country song… I think it was called Boot Scoot Boogie. But it’s not just
Musicians selling their souls, later on, we’ll explore how one of the major rocket scientists from the early days of NASA was talked of selling his soul, practice occult rituals with the most wicked man in the world Aleister Crowley, and unleashed a moon goddess spell onto the
World with the help of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard! So who was that Aleister Crowley guy? He was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer, founder of the religion Thelema, and THE WICKEDEST MAN IN THE WORLD. Oh, and I forgot
To include that he was also a spy, drug fiend, & sex addict. Born to a wealthy British family, he rejected their fundamentalist Christianity at a young age. His mother was very strict, and called him a “devil” and accused him of worshiping Satan. Because of this, he began calling himself “the
Beast” and “The AntiChrist”. He once described a battle between God and Satan over his soul, although later he claimed to not believe in the Christian idea of satan. Crowley famously moved among occult circles, practicing magic with the help of drugs, sex, and elaborate rituals in order
To summon various demons, angels, and gods into our world. Many of Crowley’s books on the occult are used in ceremonies, teaching, and research to this day. His most famous and lasting teaching is the phrase often associated with Satanism, “Do as thou wilt”. You’d think with such a direct line to
Evil, Crowley could have asked for some guitar talent or at least some cool violin lessons. He could have been like old-school satanic soul seller Nasty Nicolo! Nicolò Paganini was a musician that just got sick of all the practice and hard work with no rewards to show for it. The
Violinist, guitarist, and composer was born in 1782 and began publicly performing at the age of 12, only to collapse under the pressure just four years later. He made a triumphant comeback on the music scene when he was 22 performing arrangements he had written that were so complex,
No one else could do them! So what happened in those years he was away from the scene? Well, I don’t need 1700s TMZ to tell me, Nasty Nicolo made a deal with the devil! Rumors of the satanic pact spread and some people even said they saw Satan on stage with Paganini,
Assisting him during concerts. The devil rumors were so persistent that Paganini was denied final rites and a proper burial upon his death. Bummer. Old Nicolo should have repented before death like Saint Theophilus of Adana or Saint Theophilus the Penitent as he was later known. Saint Theophilus
Is considered the first man to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for worldly riches and favors. The guy was unanimously elected to become a bishop in the sixth century, and he turned it
Down out of humility. Whoa. The church was going to give him a thing he wanted and he was like “No, no, I don’t deserve it” and they were like “okay, so…. We’ll give it to someone else”. And he was
Like, “You know what, now I want it.” That’s right, another dude took the bishop position and old Theo was miserable. So, he did what any reasonable person would do, he hired a sorcerer that summoned Satan himself. The devil gave Theo a contract renouncing Christ and the Virgin Mary,
Spelled out in his own blood. Theo signed it, and he became Bishop! Yay! Happy ending. Not so fast. Theophilus regretted what he did and begged the Virgin Mary for forgiveness. She appeared and said, “Nah”. But he begged and she agreed to go talk it out with God. She came back 30 days later
And told him that he was forgiven, but don’t let it happen again. But 3 days later he awoke to find the contract on his chest because Satan refused to relinquish his soul. Theo went to another bishop, who burned the contract and freed him. Then Theo died right there on the spot,
Overcome with joy. So… happy ending? I guess you’re right? I’m noticing a lot of these “selling your soul to the devil” stories don’t seem to end well for the sellers. At least some have cool legends told about them. Like Robert Johnson. Robert Johnson was an American blues guitarist,
Singer, and songwriter that recorded primarily in the 1930s. He was pioneered the Delta blues style and was a massive influence to those that followed him. He also sold his soul to the devil. According to legend, as a young man, Johnson lived on a plantation in rural Mississippi and wanted nothing
More than to become a great blues musician. One night, Johnson took his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There, he met the Devil. The Devil took his guitar, tuned it, played a few songs, and then returned the guitar to Johnson. After that, Robert Johnson
Had complete mastery over the guitar. Johnson’s lyrics included supposed clues to his talent’s origin, such as “Early this morning when you knocked upon my door / And I said, ‘Hello, Satan, I believe it’s time to go.” Johnson died under mysterious circumstances at the age of 27.
Some say it was the devil collecting his due. Others say it was the raging case of syphilis, he had. We’ll never know for sure. The life and music of Robert Johnson didn’t just influence the music of future generations, it may have convinced a few to sell their souls as well.
In Bob Dylan’s song titled “Crossroads”, perhaps itself a reference to the crossroads where Robert Johnson and the Devil made their deal, Dylan falls to his knees and pleads to “the lord” to help save his soul. From the lyrics, it would seem like he is referring to God. But the very last line says,
“And I’m standing at the crossroads, believe I’m sinking down.” Then in an interview, Dylan said, “It goes back to that destiny thing and I made a bargain with it a long time ago, I’m holding
Up my end.” “What was your bargain?” “To get where I am now,” “Should I ask who you made the bargain with?” “You know with the Chief Commander…On this Earth, and in the world, we can’t see” Jimmy Page, the guitarist for seminal English rock band Led Zeppelin, was less influenced by Robert
Johnson and more influenced by Aleister Crowley. Page read Crowley’s book ‘Magick in Theory and Practice’ at the age of 15 and became a lifelong fan of all things occult. Is it just a coincidence then that a young rocker became influenced by one of history’s most wicked men, and then grew up to
Be one of the most successful rock musicians of all time? Perhaps a deal with the devil was involved. Page was such a Crowley advocate that he purchased Crowley’s former home in Loch Ness, Scotland, which he believed was haunted. Page told stories about how people had died in that house,
And the strange sounds he heard when he stayed there. Rumors followed that Jimmy Page was a Satanist and that if you play “Stairway to Heaven” backward, you’ll hear demonic voices speaking. There’s always been rumors that the popular artist of the day is somehow in league
With the devil and with social media, it’s even more prevalent. Even Miley Cyrus has been accused of Satan worship. The pattern seems to be, look for the artist that would be the most surprising if they turned out to be a Satan worshiper, then look for clues, then make a conspiracy
Video. That’s what happened to JayZ and Beyonce. They’ve been accused of being agents of Satan as well. Also, they’re in the Illuminati. And the New World Order. Hmmm. Could be all three. Evidently when Jay-Z makes his public hand motion of putting his Roc-A-Fella diamond up’ it’s
A secret satanic symbol. Of course, it’s also the symbol of pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page, who accused Jay of stealing the sign, and as far as anyone knows DDP isn’t a satanist, so who knows the symbol’s true meaning. One man who may know the true meaning of those
Hand symbols as well as all things satanic, is Aliester Crowley’s most famous disciple, rocket scientist Jack Parsons. Jack Parsons said he tried to summon the devil when he was just 13 years old because he planned to sell his soul in exchange for a real-life rocket ship.
Jack Parsons grew up to be a pioneering rocket scientist, one of the principal founders of both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the Aerojet Engineering Corporation, and he invented the jet fuel that is used by NASA. In his 20’s Parsons converted his religion and began to study Thelema,
The occult religion started by Aleister Crowley. Parsons became friends with Crowley; the two believed themselves and each other to be powerful magicians. At one point, Jack Parsons joined forces with another powerful occultist magician, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and the two of them would work together to complete an extremely difficult series of
Rituals called “The Babylon Working” based on a ceremony described in Aleister Crowley’s novel, Moonchild. This was to bring forth a Goddess called Babylon that would help man go to the moon. Parson’s claimed the ritual was partially successful. Parsons died in 1952 from a mysterious
Accidental explosion in his home laboratory. Parsons was working on explosives for a film stunt and something went wrong, though there are those that maintain it was an elaborate suicide. Some in the Thelema society suggest that Parsons’ successful Babalon Working ritual opened up a
Gateway and marked the start of the appearance of flying saucers in the skies, leading to phenomena such as the Roswell UFO incident. Spooky stuff. The gateway could be a path to another dimension where all supernatural phenomenon since the ritual has come into our world. All thanks
To one little boy that sold his soul to the devil. For more devilishly delightful videos, click that notification bell, subscribe to this channel, and like this video. Thanks for watching!
From a hip-hop power couple to an iconic ’60s band of mop-tops, many musicians have been accused of worshiping Satan. But were they just trying to sell records? Or is there some truth buried within the fiction? Now that Lady Gaga is considered a veteran and darling of the 21st-century pop firmament, it is perhaps
Easy to forget that the clean-cut lead of “A Star is Born” was considered a particularly risque performer at the start of her career. Cultivating a freak-art image that culminated in Gaga donning a dress purportedly crafted from raw meat to the MTV Video Music Awards in 2010,
The “Poker Face” singer made a claim for being one of the strangest pop stars out there. So perhaps it was no surprise that in 2012, rumors spread that Gaga’s coordinated public eccentricities had roots in something darker: blood-thirsty satanism. As reported at the time by NME, it was rumored that while on
Tour in the U.K., the pop star had stayed at London’s Intercontinental Hotel and left behind evidence of satanic rituals — namely, a “bath full of blood.” The story was originally spread by a website called Truthquake, with a hotel worker reportedly stating:
“Lady Gaga left large amounts of blood in the suite during a stay this summer. The incident was reported to the concierge, who was told to put it out of her mind.” No evidence of Gaga’s occult leanings was ever presented, however, and her team quickly refuted the allegation, which went no further.
In recent years, it seems the biggest pop stars in the world have made the conscious choice to adopt satanic imagery in their live performances. British singer-songwriter Sam Smith, for example, drew plenty of attention in 2023 when they took to the stage at the Grammys to perform
Their new single “Unholy,” dressed as Satan with horns emerging from their red top hat. When described in such terms, such a performance doesn’t sound particularly shocking. But it seems that the combined effect of the sexualized performance from the queer singer, as well as cage dancing from their co-star, Kim Petras, a trans woman,
Saw Smith draw an angry response from many prominent online commentators. Conservative senator and 2016 presidential hopeful Ted Cruz tweeted: “This…is…evil.” Meanwhile, other Twitter users described the devilish show as “satanic” and “a tribute to Satan.” Such tweets generated thousands of likes and retweets from horrified viewers. The furor around
Sam Smith’s 2023 Grammys performance was reminiscent of that which emerged after the adoption of Devil imagery by another chart-topping queer performer: Lil Nas X. Lil Nas X has a skill when it comes to getting people talking, with his 2019 smash single,
“Old Town Road,” generating a huge amount of discourse from commentators across the political and cultural spectrum for its catchy merging of trap and country music. But in 2021, Lil Nas took things up a level with the release of “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” the video for
Which involves the viral rapper descending to hell on a stripper pole to give a lapdance to Satan. While the blending of erotic, queer, and satanic imagery drew condemnation from conservatives, the tension was ratcheted up when the accompanying merch was announced: 666 pairs of limited edition
Nike sneakers, each made with a single drop of human blood. But even those who sought to praise Lil Nas X for his incredible success in the first act of his stellar career were seemingly taken aback by the devil imagery he employed in this video. Per Rolling Stone, later that year Lil
Nas began a public feud with the BET Awards after his team was forced to confirm that the rapper was not, in fact, a “satanist or devil worshiper” before his performance at the awards ceremony. “You know I’m keeping the energy positive.” Even veteran pop superstars
Can sometimes be accused of having an unholy relationship with the devil himself. In the last two decades, there has been no bigger celebrity couple than Jay-Z and Beyoncé, whose dominance over the world of popular culture shows no sign of abating. Nevertheless,
This has not stopped fanciful theories emerging of a supposed Faustian pact between the ultimate pop power couple and Lucifer himself … or maybe it is their incredible success that attracts it? The Carters have long been fodder for Illuminati conspiracy theorists, with some claiming online
That the pair exhibit symbols on stage to show their allegiance to a shadowy cabal, and others accusing the pair of witchcraft and devil worship. One example given by music writer Peter Bebergal is the symbology featured in Jay-Z’s “On To The Next One” video, which Illuminati hunters have
Claimed shows the rapper has entered into a pact with the Masonic demon god Baphomet. The most bizarre piece of “evidence” circulating on the internet that supposedly confirms the couple’s links to hell came with the announcement in 2011 that they were to call their newborn baby girl “Blue Ivy,” after which rumors
Spread that the name spelled backward is Latin for “Lucifer’s Daughter.” The rumor persists on platforms such as Twitter, though Latin dictionaries show that this is not the case. It is no surprise that, over the course of a career spanning more than 50 years, Ozzy Osbourne,
As frontman of proto-heavy metal rockers Black Sabbath, has perpetually been associated with satanism and devil worship. The Birmingham, U.K. band caused controversy right from the start, with references to the devil, horror-inspired riffs, and dark cover art featuring ghostly figures — all of which earned the band an audience that included many real-life occultists.
Though he was the vocalist, it wasn’t Ozzy who had penned the lyrics recounting a devil encounter for their debut’s opening track, “Black Sabbath.” They were actually the work of bassist Geezer Butler, who had at one time been interested in the
Occult but had abandoned it after reportedly encountering a ghostly figure in his bedroom. Nevertheless, Ozzy became the poster boy for rock and roll devil worship during the decades that followed, an image that proved marketable for future classic albums such as 1970’s Paranoid.
He was interviewed during the so-called “satanic panic” of the 1980s, though his devilish image has become more ironic in recent years, with the metal legend jokingly claiming that his affiliation with Satan was responsible for his avoiding infection during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I don’t, I don’t want to make anybody to start
Doing all of this devil worship crap because that’s not my intention.” Heavy metal is a musical genre that has long been accused of devil worship, an association that many bands working in the style have sought to amplify and capitalize on. The classic London heavy metal outfit Iron Maiden has
Been plying their trade for almost half a century — and, as it turns out, their devilish imagery is still enough to cause an uproar. Another band that got caught up in the satanic panic of the 1980s, Iron Maiden drew much attention from concerned parents the world over with the release of
Their breakthrough album, the commercial smash-hit The Number of the Beast in 1982. “Back in the early 80s there was a bit of a problems, especially in the States, with, uh, devil worship.” As recounted in a recent interview with the Miami New Times, founder and
Bandleader Steve Harris found the accusations of satanism “absolutely hilarious,” adding: “It was so ridiculous we thought we’d do something ridiculous back.” In response, the band inserted a joke satanic message on their following record, Piece of Mind, which could only be heard when played backward.
The classic rock group Led Zeppelin is famous for its devoted and cult-like fanbase, who pore over the symbols on albums such as Led Zeppelin IV for added clues to the meaning of the music. As noted by The New Yorker writer James Wood, worried parents in the 1970s often considered the
Sound of Zeppelin’s music to be demonic, with the intensity of the guitar sounds and the frenzied, pained vocals being a far cry from much of the music that was heard on the radio at the time. Concern over the true meaning of the band’s music later mutated into rumors about hellish
Messages in their most famous songs, notably that their 1971 classic “Stairway to Heaven” contained secret satanic messages, such as “my sweet Satan,” that emerged when the song is played backward. Though the existence of such messages is a myth, the truth is that Zeppelin guitarist
Jimmy Page was certainly interested in the occult for many years, according to Wood, so much so that he purchased the home of Golden Dawn leader Aleister Crowley. Some saw this as evidence that Page would be attempting to include satanic utterances in his records,
But as Page himself argued in an appearance at the Oxford Union, “It’s hard enough writing the music one way round, [let alone] backward.” In 1966, a claim by The Beatles star John Lennon that the band was “more popular than Jesus” caused
An enormous rift between the Fab Four and millions of offended Christians. As a result, many people boycotted the band and publicly burned their records, forcing Lennon to apologize. “I just said what I said and it was wrong, or it was taken wrong.”
However, in 2010 news broke that the Liverpool rockers may finally have earned the forgiveness of at least one denomination of Christianity. Per The Guardian, it was announced in the Vatican’s L’Osservatore Romano newspaper that the Catholic Church officially excused The
Beatles for anti-religious comments made by John Lennon at the height of the band’s fame. More recently, an image has circulated online that purportedly shows the Fab Four carrying inverted crosses, accompanied by a quote said to be from their press agent which describes the musicians as openly “Anti-Christ.” However,
The fact-checking website Snopes has decisively demonstrated this to be a forgery, doctored from a photo of the band proudly holding their Member of the Order of the British Empire medals. Fellow ’60s superstars The Rolling Stones were some of the earliest musicians to
Actively encourage their association with Satan. As described in Far Out magazine, Stones frontman and lyricist Mick Jagger reportedly became infatuated with the devil after reading the satirical Soviet novel The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, in which
A rather charming version of Satan returns to a corrupt Moscow and plays havoc with the locals. Jagger incorporated Bulgakov’s version of Satan into his lyrics for the Stones’ hit “Sympathy For The Devil,” which, though a timeless classic now, drew some criticism for the band, not least from prominent Christian musicians such as
Carlos Santana. Santana reacted to the song by telling NME in an interview: “I don’t have no sympathy for the Devil … The Devil is not Santa Claus. He’s for real.” Some have even suggested that the song is cursed, and have blamed it for technical
Failures encountered by the band and their entourage at the time of composition, as well as for the fatal disaster at the Altamont Festival in 1969. While Jagger has since dropped the satanist imagery that he continued to turn to during the decade for
Titles such as 1967’s Their Satanic Majesties Request, Stones guitarist Keith Richards has continued to playfully invoke his links to the underworld, telling Rolling Stone in 2002: “I’ve had very close contact with Lucifer — I’ve met him several times.” It is perhaps unsurprising that the much-missed starman David Bowie,
Who plunged into all kinds of esoteric subjects to furnish his songwriting, had several brushes with the occult over the course of his career. Like many musicians of his generation, Bowie was keenly interested in mysticism, with the Kabbalah and the work of Alistair Crowley featuring in his album artwork, videos, and lyricism for years,
As noted by his biographer Peter Doggett in The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s. Unfortunately, Bowie’s long-term interest in the occult coincided with his growing use of cocaine, which developed into an obsession. According to the memoirs of his first wife, Angie,
At one point Bowie was becoming so paranoid that he had grown certain that Satan himself was living in his swimming pool. The addled rock star demanded an exorcism, which Angie helped to organize. Strangely, Angie claims that during the ritual, the pool did indeed
Bubble with no explanation, and a shadow in the shape of a demon was left on the bottom of the pool thereafter. She admits, however, that she too was taking cocaine at the time.
Is Satan a talented musician? Satan’s portrayal as a musician primarily originates from biblical interpretations, and his persona in popular culture, especially in connection with music genres like rock and metal. In John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” Lucifer is portrayed as the most beautiful angel, often inferred to possess musical talent. However,
The Bible itself doesn’t explicitly ascribe musical abilities to Satan. Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” depicts Satan trapped in ice, far removed from any musical connotations. Today, this concept fuels themes of temptation and rebellion in arts and music, encapsulating the struggle between good and evil. However, ascribing talents like musicianship to Satan
Is more of a human cultural construct than a theological truth. Therefore, Satan being a talented musician is largely a subjective statement, heavily dependent on one’s interpretation of religious texts and cultural narratives.
