To: alt.pagan,alt.religion.all-worlds
From: tyagi mordred nagasiva <tyagi@HouseofKaos.Abyss.com>
Subject: Re: Views on Satanism: Neopagan (LONG Review of CAW doc)
Summary: This is one of a series of docs examining the Neopagan perspective 
	 on Satanism.  This particular review is of a publication by the 
	 Church of All Worlds.
Keywords: Satanism, Neopaganism, criticism, review
Date: Kali Yuga 49940211 (slight revision 49940927)

*** 2 of 5 ***

Do what thou wilt.

What follows is a critical review of a document I found in a publication 
distributed by the Church of All Worlds (CAW).  It is somewhat 
representative of the common Neopagan attitude toward Satanists and Satanism.  
This will be a multiple-part series which also examines the meaning of 
'Satan' and 'Satanism' to Christians of various types and to those who 
apply the term to themselves (or until recently did so).

tyagi nagasiva
tyagi@houseofKaos.Abyss.com

The Order of K@s Under Satan (TOKUS)
___________________________________________________________________

Section 1.2 : Neopagans => Church of All Worlds


From:
 
|_Witchcraft, Satanism and Occult Crime: Who's Who and What's What_
| A Manual of Reference Materials for the Professional Investigator.
| (Fourth Edition - October 1991)
|
|Edited by Otter G'Zell, Church of All Worlds


Article:

|Introduction

[Much omitted throughout.]

Again we have the CAW folks telling us, with many of their friends, what
Satanism is and isn't, this time with a bit more clarity.  


|[From the Editor (Otter Zell):]
|...
|In the 1980's, Satanic themes became a significant aspect of the music
|of adolescent rebellion, popularly referred to as "Heavy Metal."
|During this same period, a new form of sadistic and violent crime
|has emerged, involving Satanic elements such as inverted pentagrams
|and crosses carved on the raped and mutilated bodies of victims.

It seems that Otter is content to ascribe a very dogmatic and limited
view regarding what constitutes an 'upright pentagram', and then
associates its 'inversion' with Satanism.  As we shall see, he portrays 
'Satanic symbols' as 'the antithesis of Witchcraft', which is interesting,
given that I know of some witches who use the point-down pentagram in
their work, and even this document he edits points out this fact.

I'm not sure that any of his last sentence is true.  It may all be a
Christian media-hype.  The 'cattle mutilations' are now, I think,
fairly well-known farces, and I'm not sure any other slew of 'bodies'
has turned up.  Corrections welcome.


|The June 1989 issue of *Life* magazine featured a seven-page color
|photo essay on Satan: "Primordial and familiar, fantastic and credible,
|most ancient and foul seducer - his presence is once again among us,
|the stuff of grisly headlines."

It is fairly obvious that, here and below, Otter accepts a Christian 
portrayal of Satan, completely.  This does appear to be the popular
understanding among Neopagans.


|Satanism exists as a perversion or inversion of Christianity, and hence
|Satanists invert the sacred symbols of the religion they oppose, such as
|the cross and the Lord's Prayer, which they recite backwards.  As Witches
|are the healers and blessers of the new Paganism, their symbols, too,
|are inverted by Satanists.  

Here Otter makes it obvious that he is only talking about a very limited
and puerile style of Satanism.  It appears that he hasn't done his
homework.  Note too the very transparent way in which he is aligning the
'healing Witches' with Christians against this boogyman.


|The basic symbol of Witchcraft is the
|pentagram, or five-pointed star, such as seen on the American flag or
|the top of a Christmas tree.  It stands on two points, with one point
|up, and symbolizes the four elements, earth, air, fire and water, plus
|spirit.  Satanists also use a pentagram, but they invert it, pointing
|downward so it forms the head of a goat, the animal reviled in
|Biblical tradition as the antithesis of the "Lamb of God."

|...

|Otter G'Zell, Editor

Note the reference to nationalism and Christianity here.   An obvious
ploy to convince Christians.  This document is *directed toward
Christians* and contains little information about organized Satanism.
The motive is becoming clear: keep the fundamentalist (f-)Christians 
at bay.

Note the reference to 'spirit' and the dogmatism of symbol.  Not only
is this a simplistic analysis, it is dangerous in that it appears to be
representing an 'authority'.  Not all Neopagans accept the notion of
'spirit', though it has been drilled into all our heads by Christians
for a long long time.

Again, Satanists do the 'bad thing' with the 'symbol of good'.  This
document is attempting to speak to the lowest intelligence, perhaps
the grade-school, and again implies the target audience: f-Christians.

=================================================================

This review was originally transmitted to alt.satanism, 
alt.religion.all-worlds, alt.pagan, talk.religion.misc, and sent email 
to Green Egg.  :>  

I intend no hard feelings on any count, even while my criticism may be 
rather terse.  I intend to hit fairly and hard the expressions of all
who say something about Satanism, from Neopagans to Christians to the
those who use the term 'Satanist' to describe themselves, and do not
assume that I have the last word on the matter.

As usual, I encourage response to and debate with my review.

(C) 1994
tyagi nagasiva
tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
TOKUS
EOF
