Podcast Logo
hero

9/16/22: DIABOLIQUE – THE MECHANICS OF SATANIC PANIC W/ MARK STAVISH

Posted on September 16th, 2022 by Clyde Lewis

Are we experiencing a revival of the Satanic Panic? The right-wing group, QAnon, has been reporting over the past several years of elite pedophile rings, human ritualistic sacrifices, and the consumption of Adrenalchrome. Although there might be elements of truth to the allegations, how much of it is being promulgated by mass hysteria? The Witch Hunts are back and some people will be burned in the court of public opinion. Furthermore, we are now seeing younger people go through a religious transition from the traditional Christian belief system, to occult practices. Tonight on Ground Zero, Clyde Lewis talks with author, Mark Stavish about DIABOLIQUE - THE MECHANICS OF SATANIC PANIC.

SHOW SAMPLE:

SHOW PODCAST: 

https://aftermath.media/podcast/9-16-22-diabolique-the-mechanics-of-satanic-panic-w-mark-stavish/

SHOW TRANSCRIPT:

We see more and more people around us who have some cosmic rationale for accepting, as the simple nature of the world, the constant grinding of bones and ripping of flesh for some nebulous crusade those results in destruction. In times of war, the biggest pastime is deception.

The biggest deception of all is that all of our biased hatred and intolerance are blessed by some unseen God. That God’s word has been given and that we no longer have to fight off any viral cancerous thought form because we are protected at all times.

Perception is that the biggest lie is that God is always in control when there are controlling mechanisms that are not of the light but of the darkest realms and many people feel they have no control of fending off such a large-scale attack from a demonic army.

Good and evil have now blurred together, and those shades of gray continue to baffle even those who claim to know the mysteries of God or to understand the Devil.

The mysteries remain mysteries.

We are told that God Moves in Mysterious ways- and so do his believers, and some are mysteriously falling away to find other avenues for spiritual sustenance.

However, there seems to be some indication that the reason why the planet is in a chaotic state is because of some Dark and chaotic thought processes that have slipped in under the radar resulting in what I have called a demonic plague,

This is a concerted effort to change the rules and encourage treachery and barbarism for the promise of a reward from an unseen God.

The question you need to ask yourself is: which God is getting the adoration of our religious and government leaders? All policies now seem to be anti-religion and lack the basic foresight for a future where our children will be able to live in a world where there will be peace.

The darker forces are always showing their power when blood is spilled and pain is the new normal. It will not be surprising to see these darker manifestations appear in public, on television, and even on the radio.

There are many people who are beginning to notice the shape-shifting of people on television others are hearing what is believed to be demonic voices on their cell phones and more and more people are picking up apparitions and shapes shifters when they take digital pictures or videos.

This was unheard of 30 years ago.

Now many see it as entertainment, but is it all fascination ir is it being used as a substitute for spirituality,

A few days ago I chimed in with my opinion about the TV show that has been released by Disney called undefinedLittle Demon.undefined It is an animated show that cust kike a bad knife. It has an edge but not a point.

The discussion drifted a bit into the idea that perhaps the folks at Disney were trying to stir up some Satanic Panic, basically rubbing Christians the wrong way and having them worry some more over what their children are being exposed to.

In case you are unaware of what Satanic Panic is undefined it can be said that it was a very interesting time in our history when the devil was being conjured by evangelical groups to scare kids into going to church.

In the 1980undefineds There were events and stories connected with this phenomenon and rumors that were linked to it were powerful enough to unite conservative evangelical Protestants with feminists, police investigators, psychologists, conspiracy theorists, social workers, victim advocates, psychic mediums, anti-pornography crusaders, talk-show hosts, aspiring politicians, and the tabloid media.

It was believed that this cultural phenomenon and the hysteria that came with it was powerful enough to have people conspire to throw innocent people in prison on the charge that they have been ritualistically murdering babies who were conceived and born specifically for the purpose of being sacrificed to the devil. Such was the cultural climate in the United States during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s.

Some people believe that much of the Satanic panic began at the time that Hollywood was focusing on such devilish topics as “Rosemary’s Baby” where a woman is forcibly raped by a coven of Satanic witches and is asked to give up the child to the Devil. The film The Exorcist” which some belief is an allegory about society’s backlash against the Hollywood elite and their promiscuous behaviors leading to the demonic possession of a little girl through the use of an Ouija board.

At the time there were most certainly concerns about satanic imagery and ritual used in music and film during that time there were also many upheavals and changes during the 1960s and ‘70s would provide the right amount of future shock to warrant the perfect atmosphere for such Satanic hysteria to play out.

Geraldo Rivera produced a 1987 television special in which he claimed that, according to unnamed “experts,” over one million Satanists were actively engaged in ritual child abuse in the United States.

Claims of Satanist influence in society grew throughout the 1980s. Rock music was said to be subliminally programming teenagers to commit horrible acts, Dungeons and Dragons were alleged to be a gateway to introduce children to Devil worship, and officials were accused of participating in secretive covens across the nation.

If you are a fan of the TV show Stranger Things you will get a taste of what the Satanic Panic is all about when the townspeople of Hawkins Indiana claim that the Dungeons and Dragons group called the Hellfire Club are accused of being a Satanic cult.

Many people are aware that much of the theme in that particular plot complication was based on the West Memphis Three a group of young men accused of sodomizing and murdering three boys.

The suspects were jailed all because the leader of the group Damien Echols was a Goth-looking kid who listened to heavy metal music.

Following a 2010 decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court regarding newly produced DNA evidence and potential juror misconduct, the West Memphis Three negotiated a plea bargain with prosecutors. On August 19, 2011, they entered Alford pleas, which allowed them to assert their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them. Judge David Laser accepted the pleas and sentenced the three to time served. They were released with 10-year suspended sentences, having served 18 years.

An international network of cultists, with membership in the millions, was said to be trafficking both kidnapped children and, when corresponding numbers of missing kids couldn’t be identified, to be secretly breeding children off the grid for ritual abuse and human sacrifice.

The sad thing is that while we are seeing a new wave of suspected child abuse, trafficking, and other abuses carried out by various syndicates—the 1980’s satanic panic also produced a number of people who lied about their abuse in order to seek attention.

A lot of the claims relied on overzealous law enforcement, unsubstantiated statements from children, and above all, coercive and suggestive interrogation by therapists and prosecutors.

Some of the defendants are still serving life sentences for crimes they probably didn’t commit—and most likely didn’t even happen in the first place.

Human and child trafficking is a very serious subject undefined there are groups, mostly Christian, and some conspiracy groups that follow Qanon that are on the watch for reports of human trafficking and pedophile rings based in Hollywood and in Washington DC.

Movie Stars and Politicians are not spared in the various accusations of not only human trafficking undefined but the drinking of the blood or Adrenochrome taken from victims.

Recently, a Disney employee, a corrections officer, and several school teachers were among 160 people arrested in a seven-day long undercover human trafficking sting in Polk County, Florida.

According to WAFB9, the operation - undefinedFall Haul 2undefined - resulted in 52 felonies and 216 misdemeanor charges. One of the more notable arrests was that of a 41-year-old computer technician for Oak Ridge High School, Cameron Burke, who was out on bond for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student that began in 2020.

Other notables include a deputy Georgia police chief, a high school math teacher, a bellhop employed by Disney, and a freelance photographer often contacted by Disney. The bellhop, Guillermo Perez, 57, was arrested after trying to have sex with an undercover detective for $80, while the freelance photographer, 26-year-old Samy Claude, reportedly offered an undercover cop a bag of sour Skittles.

The correctional officer, Keith Nieves, 24, was arrested on two counts of soliciting a prostitute. The Georgia Deputy Police Chief, Jason DiPrima, 49, allegedly gave an undercover detective $180 and a multi-pack of White Claws.

The oldest of the arrests is 64, while the youngest is 19 years old, according to officials. Out of the 160 arrests, 15 people were from states other than Florida, and one was from Puerto Rico. Of the people who were arrested, police say 26 of them said they were married. Detectives also said they seized cocaine, heroin, meth, MDMA and marijuana from those they arrested as well. -The police were not surprised that at least two of the suspects were Disney employees.

NBC News recently featured a report that Satanic panic is back and is being used as a way to attack political enemies of the GOP.

The report cites a bizarre case out of Utah where David Leavitt, the prosecuting attorney for Utah County, and his wife were accused by his enemies of murdering or cannibalizing young children.

David Leavitt was up for re-election.

Leavitt was called a progressive GOP candidate, which of course brings on derision by strict conservative voters.

Some of Leavitt’s most high-profile political opponents were willing to at least wink at the allegations against him: Utahns for Safer Communities, a political action committee opposing Leavitt’s re-election, posted his news conference to YouTube with the caption, “We thinks He Doth Protest Too Much,” and on their website, the group wrote that Leavitt “seems to know more than he says.”

Leavitt lost the election, most likely not just because of the allegations against him but because of his liberal style of prosecution in a deeply conservative county where opponents labeled him as “soft on crime.” But the allegations’ impact on Leavitt was clear. After decades of serving as a city and county attorney with grander plans for public office, Leavitt now doesn’t think he’ll run again. Leavitt’s experience is one of a spate of recent examples in which individuals have been targeted with accusations of Satanism or so-called ritualistic abuse,

The rumors started on YouTube when Nicholas Rossi, an American who has been accused of faking his death and escaping to Scotland to evade rape charges in Utah, posted videos in which he accused Leavitt and his wife of leading a “ritual sex abuse cult.” Leavitt was overseeing an effort to extradite and prosecute Rossi.

As evidence for his claims, Rossi posted a 151-page statement, made a decade ago by an unnamed woman as part of a criminal case against a therapist that was later dismissed. That statement — which NBC News obtained via public records request to the Provo police department — included gory allegations of sexual abuse and mass murder from the 1980s and ʼ90s perpetrated not just by the therapist, but by more than a dozen other members of the Provo community, including David Leavitt and his wife. In a phone interview, Rossi, who posted the document to his now-defunct website, Zeus News Now, declined to share how he learned about or obtained the document.

The accusations were part of a new case from Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith. Smith, who backed Leavitt’s opponent, had just announced he was opening an investigation into “ritualistic child sexual abuse from as far back as 1990.” (Smith declined an interview with NBC News but publicly denied Leavitt’s claim that the Utah County Sheriff’s office had somehow been involved with the leak of the document. The still-open investigation has netted more than 130 tips from the public, according to a sheriff spokesperson, Sgt. Spencer Cannon.

While the current obsession with Satan and blood drinking has been the subject of online speculation conservative politicians stand accused of having been instrumental in spreading newfound fears over the ritualistic abuse of children that Satan inspires.

There has also been an effort to weave the allegations of Satanic ritual abuse together with LGBTQ rights. Those fears are powering fresh accusations of ritual abuse online, which are amplified on social media, and can mobilize mobs to seek vigilante justice.

The Witch hunts are back undefined and some people will be burned in the court of public opinion.

But there is more to the sordid mechanics of Satanic Panic. Religious demographics are changing and younger people are going through a religious transition from traditional Christian practices, to occult practices that include Witchcraft, Santeria, Paganism, and Satanism. There are also some people who are now into worshipping Nordic Gods.

There is a strange new subset of Christianity from Mexico called Santa Muerte, or Holy Death. Santa Muerte is a female folk saint whose popularity in Mexico and the United States is spreading rapidly; from being practically unheard of in the year 2000, to being worshiped by 10-12 million people today.

Statues and visages of the saint, which appear as a skeleton clad in vibrant robes and carrying a scythe, have popped up all over the world. The religion is popular among a wide variety of people in Mexico, from narco gang members to impoverished farmers, who often pray to the saint for protection. Though Santa Muerte is venerated in the same way as most saints, the Catholic church has condemned the religion, which of course hasn’t had any effect on its popularity.

Before 2001, Santa Muerte was clandestine, with devotees building personal shrines hidden in their closets. But after a woman named Enriqueta Romero unveiled the first public shrine to the saint in the Mexico City barrio of Tepito, it has spread fiercely throughout Mexico, Central America, and Latino-heavy US cities like Los Angeles and Houston.

However, now there are followers of this death cult being found in Japan, Australia, and the Philippines. This death cult is a syncretism or blending of Spanish colonial Catholicism and Aztec beliefs.

The beliefs are based on the worship of Mictecacihuatl, the queen of the underworld.

The link to Catholicism is easy to understand, seeing as Santa Muerte worship contains many of the same rituals used at the Vatican, and frankly, there are a number of cultures that worship the personification of death in some form. It can be said that the worship of a dying man on a cross can be seen as a form of cultic death worship—that is why it has been stressed by new reformed religious sects that the resurrected Jesus should be worshipped and not the iconography associated with the death and bleeding of a savior.

But many Christians in transition are rejecting Jesus completely and moving on to darker realms of worship,

If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.

Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” This accelerating trend is reshaping the U.S. religious landscape, leading many people to wonder what the future of religion in America might look like.

What if Christians keep leaving religion at the same rate observed in recent years? What if the pace of religious switching continues to accelerate? What if switching were to stop, but other demographic trends – such as migration, births, and deaths – were to continue at current rates? To help answer such questions, Pew Research Center has modeled several hypothetical scenarios describing how the U.S. religious landscape might change over the next half-century.

The Center estimates that in 2020, about 64% of Americans, including children, were Christian. People who are religiously unaffiliated, sometimes called religious “nones,” accounted for 30% of the U.S. population. Adherents of all other religions – including Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists – totaled about 6%.1

Depending on whether religious switching continues at recent rates, speeds up or stops entirely, the projections show Christians of all ages shrinking from 64% to between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) of all Americans by 2070. Over that same period, “nones” would rise from the current 30% to somewhere between 34% and 52% of the U.S. population.

However, these are not the only possibilities, and they are not meant as predictions of what will happen. Rather, this study presents formal demographic projections of what could happen under a few illustrative scenarios based on trends revealed by decades of survey data from Pew Research Center and the long-running General Social Survey.

All the projections start from the current religious composition of the U.S. population, taking into account religious differences by age and sex. Then, they factor in birth rates and migration patterns. Most importantly, they incorporate varying rates of religious switching – movement into and out of broad categories of religious identity.

SHOW GUEST: MARK STAVISH

Mark Stavish, the Director of Studies for the Institute for Hermetic Studies, is a lifelong student of esotericism with over 35 years of experience in comparative religion, philosophy, psychology, and mysticism with an emphasis on Traditional Western Esotericism. His articles have appeared in academic, specialty, and mass market publications specializing in spiritual studies, making Mark one of the leading authorities in Hermeticism today.

In addition to being a member and officer of several prominent Rosicrucian and Martinist societies, Mark served as the Director of Research for the Occult Research and Applications Project, of the Philosophers of Nature (PON).

A graduate of King’s College, in Theology (B.A.), and Communications (B.A.), and Rhode Island College (Providence), with a Master’s degree in Counseling emphasizing psycho-spiritual modalities and Psychosynthesis, Mark brings a unique blend of tradition with modern research to the application of esoteric philosophy.