HISTORY (NEOpagan, 1980s; '86)

[_Drawing Down the Moon_, by Margot Adler, Beacon Press,
 1986; p. 69]

[P.E.I.Bonewits] regards contemporary Satanism as neogothic
witchcraft because it descends from the gothic witchcraft
created by Christianity.  Most modern Satanists pattern
themselves on the ideas created by the Church and proceed
from there.  (I would amend this to say that a few modern
Satanists seem to be misplaced Neo-Pagans who have not been
able to get beyond the Christian terminology and symbolism.)

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[Ibid, p. 99]

*Who Defines the Wicca?*

...

     Carl Weschcke, publisher of Llewellyn, wrote in 'Touchstone'
[Council of American Witches newsletter] that many Witches felt
that a common definition was necessary as a "self-policing"
mechanism "to protect ourselves from misunderstanding brought
about by those whose personal power trips have exposed us to
ridicule and injury."  It was also felt that a common statement
would help dispel the sensationalist image pushed in the media,
which continued to link Wicca with Satanism....

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[Ibid, pp. 366-9]

     One of the most important books to chart the rise of
new religious movements in the United States is the 1974
Princeton University study *Religious Movements in
Contemporary America*.  Among the most unusual articles
in this large volume is anthropologist Edward Moody's
study of Satanism, "Magical Therapy: An Anthropological
Investigation of Contemporary Satanism." {NOTE: *Drawing
Down the Moon* does not include a study of Satanism
because it is not primarily a Neo-Pagan phenomenon.
Satanists (Bonewits' "Neogothic Witches") take their
myths from Judeo-Christianity.  Most worship Satan as a
symbolic figure of rebellion against Christianity.  Moody's
article is relevant here because it answers a broader
question: Why are occult and magical groups so appealing?}
Moody spent two years as a participant-observer at the
Church of the Trapezoid, a banch of Anton LaVey's Church
of Satan.  Moody set out to answer the question, "Why do
people become Satanists?"  After two years he concluded
that Satanists find that something they call "magic"
works for them, that they accomplish many of the goals
they set out to achieve.  But *how* this magic works
proved to be very complex.

     From the start, Moody found himself beset by 
difficulties.  He could not find any "traditional
sociological pigeonhole" into which the Satanist
could be placed.  He found members who were "successful"
in life and those who were "failures."  He found rich
members and poor ones, representatives of all clases
and political persuasions.  The only characteristic
common to all the members he observed was a behavioral
trait that placed them outside the cultural "norm."
Many of them displayed a lack of knowledge of the
"rules of the social game" and often felt unable to
"make the system respond."

     Moody observed that magic training for the new
Satanist recruit was a combination of many practical
skills designed to build up the ego and lessen feelings
of guilt and anxiety.  The techniques and rituals were
a combination of psychodrama, tips on social manners,
advice on how to make oneself more attractive, and
techniques to strengthen confidence.

     Moody observed a sample subject, "Billy G.," over
a period of many months.  He watched this young man
change from a person whose level of anxiety was so great
that he could not even speak to a member of the opposite
sex into a more "normal" young man who could interact
with men and women, both inside and outside the church.
Billy G. slowly worked through various rituals, many of
which were composed of behaviorist techniques to lessen
anxiety.

     In one example Moody gives a new twist to that fact
of contemporary Satanism most played up by the press:
the nude woman who acts as the altar.  In the beginning
Billy G. finds this setting so disturbing that he stands
at the back of the room.  In succeeding weeks he moves
closer.  Finally, Billy G., the son of fundamentalist
missionaries, is able to stand next to this woman, to
talk to her, to hand her a goblet or in some other way
participate in the ritual without feeling ill at ease.
He is given encouragement; he is told that his sexual
feelings are natural and not to be denied, as his
previous education had taught him.  Eventually, he is
able to meet women and to go out with them.  He becomes
socially successful.  The magic works.

     Ironically, Moody shows that the Church of Satan,
certainly one of the less "acceptable" occult groups,
actually functions as a normalizing force, a sociali-
zing force within the larger society.  It functions
much like therapy and it apparently succeeds.  Moody
comments on Billy G.:

	If he attributes this new-found power and 
	success to magic rather than to the insights
	of sociology, anthropology, or psychology,
	it is because such an interpretation is more
	in accordance with his world view and the
	categories of understanding which he uses to
	give structure and meaning to his world.

	In fact, it is sometimes difficult to argue
	against his interpretations.  If psychology
	explains personal interactions in terms of
	hypothesized "forces" at work, forces which
	are known and measured only through the
	perception of their effects, then how is
	that different, the Satanist asks, from
	magic?  Satanists say, with some justifica-
	tion, "When magic becomes scientific fact
	we refer to it as medicine or astronomy."
	(LaVey, 1969 [Cf Arthur C. Clarke -- nocT]).

     Moody ends his paper by encouraging the growth
of the Church of the Trapezoid and arguing that such
institutions socialize individuals for whom traditional
therapy has failed and, paradoxically, serve to bring
people closer to cultural norms.  Why is there a growth
of magical groups today, Moody asks.  He says that it
is "an attempt by various people to regain a sense of
control over their environment and their lives."  It is
important to note what Moody is *not* saying.  He is not
employing the standard cliche that people become 
occultists to gain power over others, although, of
course, some may join for that reason.  He is not saying
that such people want to retreat from the world.  
Instead, he is saying that they join these groups in 
order to gain a sense of self-mastery, to be in control
of their own lives *in the world*.  Moody concludes:

	This seems to be a time when many of the gods
	of the Western world, like the old traditional
	gods of the urbanizing African, are being
	challenged.  God is dead, but that means not
	just the Judeo-Christian god but also the gods
	of progress, science and technology.  We put
	our faith in "him," but now the god of progress
	is discovered to be a two-faced Janus about to
	extract a terrible price for our progress and
	comfort; the god of science has failed us and
	has not created the paradise we were led to
	expect, free from disease and ignorance and
	death.  Instead he threatens us with destruc-
	tion with either the apocalypse of atomic
	confligration or a slow death by chemical
	pollution.  The god of technology reveals his
	"true" face and our streams die, our lakes
	atrophy, and the very air is turned into a
	subtle poison.... In such time the people
	look to new gods or try to refurbish old
	ones.....

	Now that the external sources of truth, the
	experts and scientists, have failed us, many
	people have begun to look within themselves
	for their source of wisdom and security.  
	Some have begun to reassert the necessity of
	finding personal solutions.  In a certain
	sense witchcraft {NOTE: Moody does not
	distinguish between Witchcraft and Satanism,
	a flaw in this otherwise excellent essay.}
	is a product of these needs.  If the world
	of the Satanist is a criterion, the Satanist
	is training himself to be assertive and
	powerful *as a individual* [sic].  Although
	he draws a sense of securiy from his associa-
	tion with powerful forces, he is finding
	inner sources of strength.  He is casting off
	the need for powerful gods to protect and
	care for him, insisting that he is strong
	enough to care for himself.  He commands the
	gods and does not beseech them.  He is
	turning from an ethereal and other-worldly
	orientation to a somewhat more realistic
	assessment and concern with the mundane and
	real world.

     Moody's point that the occult functions as a
rationalizing force is made in another article,
"Urban Witches," in which he argues that much that
is called magic is actually a learning process of
social behavior and interpersonal games.  Magic,
he writes, allows its practitioners to cope better
"with the everyday problems of life, with the here
and now."

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