Satanic holidays, as viewed by conservative Christian authors
Satanic Ritual Days listed in Christian Books:
There have been many dozens of anti-Satanic books written by conservative Christian authors, and sold in Evangelical book stores. In some cases, the authors appear to create information out of thin air. Others seem to copy the works of other conservative Christian writers. Few if any appear to have any direct knowledge of Satanism. We analyzed 14 books and handouts which attack Satanism. All show a general lack of familiarization with the religion.
One example of the lack of credibility of these books is their list of Satanic ritual days of celebration. We have found the following holidays listed; (book codes are listed below):
Fixed Ritual Days
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 | Movable Ritual Days
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| Periodic Meetings
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| DA: The Darkness Among Us by William Viser, (Broadman & Holman 1993), P. 134 |
| EE: The Edge of Evil, by Jerry Johnston, (Word, 1989), P. 211 |
| HC: He Came to Set the Captives Free by Rebecca Brown, (Wittaker House 1992), P. 69 |
| HS: "Halloween and Satanism by Philips and Roibie (Starburst 1987) P. 146 |
| MR: Michelle Remembers by Michelle Smith & Lawrence Pazder, (Simon & Schuster, 1980) |
| NA: "New Age, The Occult, and Lion Country by Nelson Price (Power Books 1989), Page 76 |
| NS: The New Satanists, by Linda Blood (Warner, 1994) P. 57, 216 |
| S1: Satanism by Ted Schwarz & Duane Empey (Zondervan 1988), Page 41 |
| SA: A handout of unknown origin supplied by a local Sexual Assault Centre |
| SS: Schemes of Satan by Mike Warnke (Victory House, 1991), P. 132 |
| S2: Satanism by Bob Larson, (Nelson, 1989), P. 107 |
| TH: At the Heart of Darkness by John Parker, (Pan, 1993), P. 256 |
| TS: The Satan Seller by Mike Warnke (Bridge, 1972) P. 35, etc |
| UH: Undated handout distributed at a seminar given in Dunkirk NY by Detective Paul Hart and quoted in the book In Pursuit of Satan by R.D. Hicks (Prometheus Books, 1990) |
Comments
With reference to Rebecca Brown's book, one wonders what Satanists do in England which has no Thanksgiving holiday, or in Canada which celebrates Thanksgiving on a different day from the US. She states that a Black Mass is celebrated yearly, on Easter Weekend when the moon is full. Because of the way in which Easter is defined, Satanists could not celebrate Mass yearly according to that formula; only about one year in seven. This book has been seriously damaged by an investigation by Personal Freedom Outreach, an Evangelical Christian ministry, which claims that the book is a fraud.The authors of Michelle Remembers mention that Satanists' ritual days correspond to the Roman Catholic celebrations of the liturgical year. This book has been investigated by three independent investigators; all claim that it is a hoax. The authors had presented the book in countless conferences and to hundreds of thousands of readers as an accurate record of Michelle's childhood abuse experiences.
In his book Satanism, Bob Larson states that the most important Satanic day is the individual member's birthday. Walpurgisnacht (April 30) and Halloween (October 31) are also important. But in his Appendix D, he states that Satanists have copied the seasonal calendar of Wicca.
In her book The New Satanists, Linda Blood stated that there are believed to be four major seasonal events in the Satanic calendar of which the Autumn Equinox was one. She mentioned that another is Walpurgisnacht. Presumably the others would be some combination of the remaining equinox and two solstices.
Conclusions
The Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult by Mather & Nichols, (Zondervan, 1993), P. 244, quotes The Satanic Bible as listing the main Satanic holidays as: Walpurgisnacht, Halloween, and the member's birthday. These are believed to be accurate.From the above list we see:
| None of the authors list the correct number (3) of holidays. |
| None of the authors list all of the names correctly. |
| Many authors have simply taken Wiccan holidays and attributed them to Satanists. |
| Most writers can only agree on Halloween as one of the ritual days. |
| Roman Catholic writers link Satanic holidays to Roman Catholic holy days; Protestant authors link them to Protestant holy days. |
| There is no agreement as to which seasonal celebrations are the most important. |
| There is no agreement concerning the day of the week for regular meetings. |
| Many authors appear to be copying dates from other conservative Protestant or Roman Catholic books or from common sources. |
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