THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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victims may be babies or artificially aborted foetuses of female cult members, runaway
children, vagrants, or cult members who are disobedient or wish to leave the cult.
bodies ofthese victims are allegedly disposed ofthrough a variety ofmeans.
The
3.5.3 Sex magic and perversion
The use of sex in satanic rituals is not simply based on the hedonistic desire for physical
gratification, but rather on belief in the magico-religious properties of sexual energy
(Eliade, 1976). Sperm, since ancient times, has been endowed with supernatural power
(mana),as has menstrual blood (Zacharias, 1980). As was noted in the early discussion of
sexual orgies (Chapter Two), rituals involving excessive and indiscriminate sex also
serve to eradicate boundaries and "reactualize the primordial moment of the Creation or
the beatific stage ofthe beginnings, when neither sexual taboos nor moral and social rules
yet existed" (Eliade, 1976, p. 88). A range of perverse sexual activities are pursued.
These are alleged to include incest, bestiality, sodomy, paedophilia and sadism.
3.5.4 The Black Mass
The Catholic Mass is a magical ceremony which achieves magical ends. Bread and wine
are transformed into the body and blood of Christ which, when consumed, allows the
worshipper to become one with God. The Mass has historically been adapted and
corrupted for both good and destructive ends, but Satanists are alleged to consistently
perform Black Mass ceremonies (Tate, 1991). These ceremonies essentially parody the
Catholic Mass, with Satan substituted for God and prayers altered or recited backwards
(Coleman, 1994). Sacrilegious use is made of crucifixes, church candles, the Host, etc.
Blood, water or urine is substituted for wine and Christ is ridiculed and insulted. The
reason for the blasphemous inversion ofthe liturgy is the belief that Christ is a false God
and that all He represents is essentially evil (Masters, 1978). Originally the officiator of
the Black Mass was an apostate priest, but this function has now devolved to the high
priest/priestess of the coven. Whatever their validity, historical accounts of the Black
Mass provide comprehensive ritual guidelines that are easily emulated, and many satanic
cult survivors allege that this ceremony is regularly enacted.