From Francis X. King's "Witchcraft and Demonology"
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Many of the unhappy people who approach both Catholic priests
and groups of charismatic Christians for their help claim that
they are either persecuted by demons or possessed by devils.
When asked to suggest a reason, or reasons, for hell's
particular interest they tend to admit that they have dabbled
in black magic or have participated in witchcraft rituals, or
have been members of satanic societies which allegedly worship
the Devil.

The stories told by those who claim to have been involved in
satanism tend to bear an uncanny resemblance to one another.
They were, they say, participants in ceremonies involving
the sacrifice of animals, perverted sexuality, urine drinking
and other unpleasant practices. One could draw the
conclusion that either there are a very large number of
groups engaging in similar perverted practices or that many
mentally disturbed individuals share the same fantasies.

On the whole both possibilities seem fairly unlikely. It is
more probable that some of those who ask for the help of
Christians in dealing with the attacks of demons are entirely
deluded or fraudulent but that others have become mentally
afflicted -- or even authentically possessed -- as a result
of participating in the rites of satanic, or pseudo-satanic,
groupings.


_A hellish spice_

There is a certain amount of evidence that such groupings do
actually exist, although it seems likely that their member-
ship is far smaller, and their activities less iniquitous,
than Christians concerned with occultism tend to believe.

There may even be some self-styled groups of diabolists
whose activities are, save from a strictly theological point
of view, totally innocent. Some years ago I met the leaders
of one such 'satanic' group and came to the conclusion that
none of their activities were particularly blameworthy and
that they called themselves satanists for no better reason
than that it gave them the publicity they desired.

Other groups have motives for their activities which stem
from a perverted eroticism. A certain amount of blasphemy
is employed in order to give a hellish spice to pursuits
which are very little different from those of suburban
'swingers' -- lechery rather than Lucifer worship is
predominant.

Notwithstanding these provisos it cannot be denied that
there have been, and probably still are, black magical
groups whose doings have been evil in the extreme. The
Manson 'family', responsible for a number of sadistic
murders, including that of Sharon Tate, provides the best
example of such a group in our own times.


_Church of Satan_

The Manson gang were described as 'kooks and creeps out
of their minds on drugs' by Anton La Vey [sic], who
founded the California-based Church of Satan in the
1960s and, strangely, does not seem to believe in the
personal existence of the Devil. For La Vey satanism
is not devil worship but 'the worship of life' and, as
such, 'concerned with the fullest gratification of the
ego on this plane of existence'.

In spite of this statement, which makes it sound as
though La Vey's diabolism was never more than an assertion
of the pleasures of the senses, there is no doubt that
he and his numerous followers -- at one time the member-
ship of the Church of Satan was estimated at approaching
25,000 -- are deeply involved in the occult, of which he
has a wide ranging knowledge.

Nor is there any doubt that La Vey has frequently
celebrated the Black Mass on the bodies of nude women --
indeed, he has been filmed doing so. La Vey's Black
Masses, however, are lacking in the horror of the
authentic rite, and the 'human sacrifices' which are
incorporated in them are no more than the solemn
spanking of volunteer victims. Amusingly enough the
'sacrifice', unless a masochist, is allowed to wear
heavily padded trousers.

Nevertheless, the Church and groups derived from it are
regarded with horror by a good many Christians.
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captions near pictures:

	In spite of the somewhat curious costumes
	once worn by Anton La Vey, founder of the
	Church of Satan, he has written books which
	are clearly the product of a penetrating
	intellect.
	---------------------------------------------

	Milton, it has been claimed, unwittingly made
	Satan the hero of his epic poem, *Paradise
	Lost*. Certainly this is how he is discerned
	by contemporary satanists, who see him as the
	arch-rebel and individualist.
	---------------------------------------------

	Like many other practitioners of magic, both
	black and white, Anton La Vey cluttered his
	home with skulls and the impedimenta
	traditionally associated with sorcery.

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

	"Witchcraft and Demonology", by Francis X. King, 
	 Crescent Books, 1991; pp. 136-7.
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