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Show Page - 6 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Sunday, October 30, 1988 Police expert says satanism can't be ignored society and God." SATANISM: (Continued from Page Pazder treated Michelle 1) from playing with a Ouija Board to the orthodox practice of actually honoring Satan as the God of Earth with bizarre variations in between that include witchcraft, voodoo, animal or human sacrifices and deeding one's soul to the devil. Ritualistic sexual abuse is defined by Ken Wooden, Child Lures Inc. for 2020's special on "Satanism in America" as "bizarre, systematic, continu ing abuse, which is mental, physical and sexually abusive of children for the purpose of implanting evil and giving a form of sacrifice to a force or diety." Dr. Laurence Pazder explained that ritualistic child abuse is "repeated physical, emotional, mental and spiritual assaults combined with a systematic use of symbols, ceremonies and machinations designed and orchestrated to attain malevolent effects, to turn the victim against self, Smith, the author of "Michelle Remembers" where a wrenching story is told of a young woman sold into Satanism as a toddler. "Satanism becomes a catchall," said Pazder who explained that while the diversity of satanic involvement is endless, it isn't accurate to lump all abuse or bizarre behavior into Satan's lap. The ramifications of acknowledging that either Satanism or abuse are significant problems in Utah County is frightening. With satanic cults in operaand adults are tion, teen-age- rs in actual mortal danger of being drawn into an occult world where demons and are the rule and the practice. Victims of ritualistic sexual abuse almost never fully redrugs cover. officials. People are hurt, families are destroyed, lives and neighborhoods are blasted apart by allegations or proven incidents. Yet the evidence left behind is maddeningly simple stuff; candles, graffiti, drawings, Local police departments have on record several teenage suicides linked to Satan- ism. "The Feast of The Beast" (a satanic ritual occuring every 28 years that includes use of human sacrifices) in 1982 was suspected as the impetus behind a startling increase in child abductions and homicides in Utah and the nation, according to local law enforcement journals. Youths today are being increasingly desensitized through rock music lyrics, video pro- ductions, movies (such as "Spellbinder") all paint an un- realistic picture of satanic worship. Even comic charac- ters who use spells and potions are depicted as evil, sweetening the image of occult-typ- e figures. "This will be an increasing SHARON MORREY Herald Staff Writer Ritual chanting and singing around lighted altars. Drug and alcohol abuse and small animals sacrifice. Teen-ageexperimenting with the occult. An unverified report of a child sacrifice. rs That doesn't mean the prac- tice satanism of can be stopped. The worship of Satan is not illegal. But the information defined in ritualistic crime reports help officials track the activity and gauge the level of community involvement. That information shows coven sites: Payson Canyon with an old bus used as a platform for coven altar worship. Inside a blacksmith's barn at Ironton where a witch and two warlocks were arrested midway through their Satanic sacramental service. In the old office building at Ironton where a vault filled with the odor of death prompted the new owners to demolish the structure. Old riding stables east of Provo where dead dogs have been found hanging mutilated amid graffiti that blasphemes Christ and advocates Satan as ruler. In Pleasant Grove where site of a the grave suicide victim was repeatedly teen-ag- e visited by hooded figures who reportedly left blood on the headstone. In the abandoned Academy Square building in Provo where paraphernalia associated with satanic rituals has been found, including dead birds, burned candles, bloodsd pentatains and spray-painte- grams. secluded parks, canlots. vacant yons, Reported "satanic" activity: In features. Urns and chalices that hold "holy water" t (a mixture of cult members blood and urine), flat stones that bear sym- bolic drawings, the Goat's Head, cryptic letters, knives tied with ribbons and wrapped candle-holder- s, prayer scrolls, small locked wooden boxes. suDoodling from teen-ag- e icide victims that feature the devil's head, the crying eye, flames, skulls. e I self-hatre- d, hand-sign- over between heavy metal rock groups and Satanism," Utah Attorney General's office representative Robert Parrish said. "Listen closely to the lyrics sometime." At a recent Critical Issues Conference in Orem, it was noted that Edward Bennett of sentenced to die for Lehi the slaying of a convenience store clerk in Las Vegas cited heavy metal music as ' , .,, .: jjm r .4 ft. m 9. rir,i.-- This pentagram was painted inside a building where satanic ceremonies occur High activity times: the number one negative ence in his life. influ- the same type of music tied to Satan- ism," said local author Jack Christiansen. "Music creates mood. Mood creates atmosphere. Every case of reported sex- ual abuse in the three major cities in Salt Lake County and from the 15 police agencies in Salt Lake County eventually comes through Vuyk's office, he explained. "There's been a lot of talk. We had the allegation of one; such case, a boy who claimed he'd been involved in that kind of thing but no one could veri-- , fy anything he said. We threw ; it out." Each of the four members ' Satanic Blood Month, the month of September. The month of May, Christian holidays. Halloween, the fire festival. Dark and stormy nights are prime activity times. During the winter months between January and March, the reports of satanic practice almost stop. The activity is for the most part completely random. "There's always er four-memb- 1, Ozzy 1, "King Diamond 1" and assorted 666s Kiss and evil faces with distorted burnt-edg- Prosecutor says satanic abuse not happening The Salt Lake County attorney's office debunks the theory that there is a ritualistic sexual abuse problem. Tom Vyuk, one of a sexual abuse investigation team for the county, said Aug. 10 in a personal interview that he has yet to handle a bonafide sexual abuse; case that ties to satanic ritual. ; "I haven't had one yet," "And we would know! : about it." on the team; Vuyk has been the past four years. He hasn't; had special training in recog- nizing ritual sex abuse, but! feels it isn't needed at this! point. "A victim will tell you' what's going on," he said. the upside-dow- n cross, the Nazi cross, "Satan rules", Signs of Satanism Heavy metal and punk rock groups are strongly tied into Satanism. Lyrics promote satanic ideals; depression, suicide, a disregard for social values. Album covers are symbolic. s from Many of the satanic ritual practice show up in the rock concerts, among groupies. "There's definitely a cross- v kmt M hvA Physical evidence found linked to satanism: Graffiti that includes the star inside a circle or pentagram, a painted naked female torso with a burning altar for the head, the maltese cross, in velvet, candles, . Stories by Signs of activities abound in valley County law officers know where Satanists meet and the kinds of signs that verify their existence. Droblem for society as these kids grow up," commented De tective Randy Johnson of the West Jordan Police Department. Johnson currently is one of a select group of "experts" who tour the country educating law officers about occult crime and its impacts. "It is definitely something of growing concern. Dealing with cult mentality and cult practices is not easy. There aren't any easy answers. The amount of information is overwhelming, endless. I'm called an expert and I'm not even close to being an expert. "I only know this for sure! We can't ignore it." Atmos- phere dictates behavior. havior shapes character," added. Be- he Local Satanism hard to link with ritualistic sexual abuse A Utah County Sheriff's seen tie-i- n clear-cu- t evidence of a with child abuse yet. s Parrish noted that while parents cannot assume their children are into Satanism by observing one or two signs, they certainly ought to be alert and question. usually placed anonymously and the sheriff's department has trouble verifying the infor- Detective Dennis Howard has been investigating for the sheriff's department since March 1988. "I see a lot of sexual abuse, a lot of cases where the kids tell us some real nightmares," Howard said. "Verifying the ritualism is the difficult part." Howard said he recently had four cases cross his desk in the same week that included testimony about the parents taking children to "sex parties, sharing them with their friends, threatening to kill them." "There's an amount of tualistic sex going ri- on in Utah I don't know how he much," explained. "But I think one case is a significant problem." Howard said he has examined a lot of scenes where Satanic rituals were evidently practiced. "We've found a dead dog hanging from a tree, little animals mutilated, graffiti. We have a fellow in the jail who tells us he's a Wicken (a practicing Satanist). "Satanists believe in gratification so we see a lot of drug and alcohol use involved." County. "Every time there's a major change in behavior, there's a major change in music. The common thread through the drugs, the occult, pornography-ithe type of music that goes along with it." gets a lot of inquiries about Satanism, a lot of "tips" about satanic practice but they're in- vestigator believes Satanism is practiced locally but hasn't mation. "We need people to report suspicious circumstances so we get the information on file and we would appreciate it if they'd leave a name. We don't have to publicize their names, but we have a better chance of seeing it through." While Howard explained that Satanists have the right to "worship" as they please, the potential for injury to others concerns the police. Burned candles left behind after a satanic ritual. Howard said the department knows several covens practice regularly in isolated areas "both in the north and south ends of the county." He explained that many of the children he sees talk about being victimized by people in masks people they don't know. "One of the problems we have is that with small children there's a certain inability to articulate what happened." Howard said the department "I think the department takes it aggressively," he commented. Utah County's detectives are trained to look for the specific clues to Satanism. The rising number of child abuse cases plus the rapid growth rate in Utah County is spurring on interest in a possible link between the child abuse and Satanic practice. Howard said the more setake Satanism police riously than most Utah County In fact, citizens. "The biggest problem is apathy. We can't make people believe there is a problem." Qn Vuyk's team carries a' "continuous case load" of 751 sex abuse cases. ; "If you want to talk other; types of sexual abuse, we have plenty of those," he said. Thei majority of those cases involve incest or live-- J who abuse their; girlfriend's children. "Any sex abuse case would! father-daught- er come through this office,"; Vuyk reiterated. "We would; know about it." He acknowledged that there may be cases that are reported to local police agencies that are discovered to be "unfounded" and subsequently thrown out at that level. "Then they, would not come to us." Vuyk denied that fruitless searches have been conducted by Salt Lake County for ritualistic evidence. "There have been no searches," he said. "Listen, I've been involved with these kids. I went out and dug up the Bishop kid's (Chil-- ! dren murdered by sex offender", Arthur Gary Bishop). I had to; see them. "So believe me, if I thoughtthere was that going! on, I'd do something about it," ; Vuyk said. ! 1 Former high priest for Satan warns of real dangers Satanism sucks the laughter out of the soul. "That's the tragedy," said former high priest for Satan and now road comic gospel preacher Mike Warnke. "I think that laughter is one of the things Satan sucks out of people's hearts." Satanists are really self-center- and hate-centere- d, ex- plained Warnke. "Where a Christian believes the best way to deal with others is to love them, turn the other cheek, show a concern for other people, in Satanism you consider yourself before you consider anyone or anything else. If someone turns the other cheek to you, you rip it off." Warnke speaks from person al exnerience. He lived Satan ism for years before he was unceremoniously dumped from his position as coven leader in 1966. He knows about the dark side of the occult, the drugs, the power the commanded by practicing cults. n, tries to warn others about the seductive cults and rally people to embrace Christ Now he instead. "Satanism is becoming enough of a problem that police departments are beginning to acknowledge its tie-i- n to a dramatic rise in serious crime," Warnke said. "Back when I was involved we practiced n. kinds nf thi The whole concept of what is bad and what is evil has escalated since then. It's a very, very progressive tvpe thing." Warnke said ritualistic child abuse may well be a basic part of Satanic practice today. "I think a lot of people would like to blame child abuse on one segment of society and I'm not sure Satanism can take all the blame. But one of self-degradi- the things we're definitely-seein- V,S.v g more and more is involvement of young people in serious crimes related to Satan worship." The practices of a local cult would depend on what books the cult leader is reading and following, pointed out Warnke "It's a do what thy wilt kind Mike Warnke ot tning. ine individual coven sets the agenda." Warnke warned that youths exposed to the imagery on video and television today can easily "get going, begin to get that power feeling and believe really evil" behavior is warranted. "The bottom line is it's a spiritual battle," Warnke said. "I got out because I was saved. That's given me strength and the joy I needed." "But I can never let down my guard." Warnke continues to get death threats and retaliatory measures against him for leaving Satanism. In his book, "The Satan Sell er," Warnke mentioned that! those who join a coven sign' their name in their own blood at the time of their spiritual' dedication. When they leave' or ' lose "faith" in Satan, their name turns green thus informing the coven of their disloyalty. " "I believe my name has turned green," said Warnke. "But Jesus is the answer Jesus is the Son of God. He! ! proved his love for us, for me on the cross. "If Jesus loves me enough J ; ! considering what I have done ' to take me back, then I have to do what I can by ! giving back laughter. I'm serving JeJ sus." |
