THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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At this point, the increasingly reluctant satanic members feel terrified, helpless, and
trapped in a situation from which escape does not seem possible. To stay in the cult
would result in continued persecutory attacks from Satan and the possessing demons, with
the real possibility of becoming a sacrificial victim. Leaving the cult would result both in
further enraged attacks by demonic forces, and retaliatory victimisation by committed cult
members. Subjects responded to this impossible situation with despair and hopelessness.
There seemed to be no means ofescaping the unendurable torment. Consequently, four of
the subjects cont~mplated suicide, and two made serious attempts to kill themselves as a
desperate escape measure.
For all the subjects, the only possible chance of breaking free from Satanism lay in
salvation by a supernatural power stronger than Satan. Given the dualistic theology of
Satanism, and the status of Christianity as the cult's implacable foe, salvation by Satan's
arch-enemy, God, appeared to be the only possible means of escape. All of the subjects
consequently appealed to God, previously a hated and denigrated figure, to save them
from destruction by Satan. Traditional Christian denominations underplay the existence of
Satan as a malevolent force, whereas the newer Charismatic Christian movement assumes
the literal reality of Satan as an actively malign figure, from whom people must be rescued
in the name of Jesus Christ. For this reason, six of the subjects approached Charismatic
Christian churches, or were "rescued" by individuals associated with these churches. Only
subject two approached God directly, without the mediation of institutionalised
Christianity.
All of the other subjects then underwent Christian exorcism rituals to break Satan's hold
over them, and to expel the possessing demons. The effect of these "deliverance"
ceremonies upon the subjects was dramatic, and they experienced some combination of
the following: convulsions, burning sensations, visceral pain, vomiting, loss of motor
control, sensations of dying, visual hallucinations, uncontrollable impulses to growl,
scream and swear, hearing demonic spirits using the subject's vocal apparatus to address
the exorcist, and being physically flung about the room by demonic forces. These bizarre
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