Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1991, Page 44
Not being content with this factual error enclosed within an argumentum ad
hominem, the report‟s authors follow it up with the very serious charge that Terry
illegally obtained, and then withheld, evidence in the much-publicized Lisa Steinberg
murder case. The report refers to Terry‟s acknowledgement on the Geraldo Rivera
Show that he possessed Hedda Nussbaum‟s appointment diary. The authors then
state that they called the New York City District Attorney‟s Office on October 2,
1988, and “were told that, if Terry‟s claim was indeed true, he would be guilty of
withholding evidence in a murder case -a crime.” The truth, as the authors could
have learned by contacting Maury Terry themselves, is that Terry was in the
Steinberg apartment after the police released it from crime scene status. With Joel
Steinberg‟s permission, in the company of Steinberg‟s attorney, and with the
knowledge of the police, Terry took the appointment book. If this was an illegal act,
why hasn‟t Terry been arrested? Terry has also pointed out to us that documents
going back to the early 1980‟s, in Hedda Nussbaum‟s handwriting, demonstrate that
Hedda was involved in cultic activities that overlapped with child pornography. The
police are currently in possession of these documents.
These examples underscore the report‟s failure to abide by its authors‟ criteria for
responsible commentary. The examples also undercut their claim to the valid use of
Ockham‟s Razor. This leaves their intentions suspect. The selective scholarship which marks
the Introduction dominates and distorts the reports main sections as well, and we have
many questions about the bulk of the report‟s other claims and assertions. For one thing,
the authors combine their selective scholarship with a guilt-by-association maneuver. After
soundly berating several individuals who are widely considered to be charlatans, the report
then attempts to claim that their chicanery contaminates everyone who criticizes Satanism‟s
spread. But these individuals are not representative of all those who are willing to speak out
on this topic. For another, the report‟s discussion of their generic topics -Satanism,
Witchcraft, Child Abuse, and related criminal activities -is simply too disingenuous.
CSER Error Number One: Wicca and Other Occult Religions
In their section on “Wicca and Other “Occult” Religions,” the authors attempt to portray
Witchcraft and other forms of neo-pagan religion, as well as Native American Religion, and
Santeria, Voodoo, Palo Mayombe, and other African- Caribbean-American religions, as
entirely benevolent and innocent (while characterizing Evangelical Christianity as vicious,
intolerant, and superstitious). However, the authors overlook the fact that the concept of
“black magic” appears in some form in virtually all of these religions. In keeping with its
consistent use of its original straw man, the International Satan-worshipping Conspiracy,
the report flatly states that Wicca has .nothing to do with the Devil.” This assertion, because
it appears in conjunction with a blanket claim incorporating several religions, cannot go
unchallenged. Satanic religion, “devil worship,” and Wicca all rely upon a central religious
experience which, despite variations in perspective, reflects a uniform underlying impulse
and belief system. The report completely misses the point that what ties these religions
together, and sets them apart from Biblical theology, is their reliance upon theological
concepts derived from Animism. What the ancient Greeks meant by their word (entheos),
the root of our word enthusiasm, entails a necessarily passive state of mind without which
the rituals lose their power. While the individual religions do have varying applications of
this core belief, the principle is uniform. A deity, it is believed, can be drawn into the
person, or self, of an individual, or the selves of a group, and thereby redirect the
perceptions, convictions, and actions according to the wishes of the deity. The subsequent
and perceptible shifts are accepted as the palpable signs of the deity‟s presence. This is
what these people believe happens, and, via the necessary reification of their own
sensations, what they worship. In Wicca, for example, the sought-for shift largely affects
the sexual realm.

Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1991, Page 45
CSER‟s list of Wicca-type religions possesses a common thread of magic, the goal of which
is to bring down discarnate spirits to a point where they infuse the suppliant This may be
done for purposes of expiation, in order to gain direct control over reality, or for a number
of other reasons. However, it is not comparable to practices such as kosher butchery and
the slaughter of turkeys for Thanksgiving, as the report tries to imply. The difference is in
immediate intention and ultimate goal. Kosher butchery is done in acquiescence to the
authority of a distant deity, possibly to incur the deity‟s favor, but with no intention of
infusion into the rabbi, the animal, or those who par-take of the animal. The same applies
to Thanksgiving, which is the celebration of an act which was originally performed simply to
express gratitude for sustenance.
CSER cites Michael Aquino of the Temple of Set as an authority. Here is what Aquino has to
say about bringing down the spirit of Set to infuse the celebrant:
[T]he Priesthood involves the opening of a very special kind of door: the
merging of the consciousness, indeed the personality, with that of the Prince
of Darkness himself. In this Working the Priest or Priestess in no sense loses
personal identity of Self-awareness rather one‟s consciousness is augmented,
energized, and strengthened by that of Set. Hence the Priest or Priestess -
when acting as such, for “Priesthood” is a deliberate act, not an office -is
something more than human, something more than the individual whose
human visage appears before onlookers. At such times he or she is not
“possessed,” but is rather become a veritable living Temple indwelled by the
presence of Set. Each Priest and Priestess of Set is a Temple of Set: a psyche
so purified, educated, consecrated, and initiated that is has become a fit
medium for the Prince of Darkness. Nowhere is this more succinctly illustrated
than in the ultimate admonition of the Egyptian sage to Her-Bak, at the
culmination of the latter‟s initiation as a Priest: “O Her-Bak. 0 Egypt. You are
the temple which the Neter of Neters inhabits. Awaken Him ...then let the
temple fall crashing.”7
Aquino‟s description should remove any doubt about the intention of satanist practice.
Rhetorical double-talk to the contrary notwithstanding, what Aquino is describing is indeed
possession. It is to allow one‟s self, one‟s thoughts, beliefs and acts of will, to be absorbed
into those belonging to an alien entity -and the “temple” must indeed come crashing down.
One‟s self -that is, one‟s unique, authentic non-cult personality -thus becomes the first
sacrifice to one‟s satanic Self merged with that of the Prince of Darkness. This initial psychic
casualty accounts for the reversed ethical judgments of many satanists. Restraint is
replaced by aggression, compassion fades into cruelty, and the pursuit of the experience of
power emerges as the means and the end. Satanists do not see these shifts as evil. A
knowledgeable Satanist such as Michael Aquino considers judgments of good and evil to be
subject to purely personal criteria.8 A believing and practicing Satanist is more than a
theological maverick. He or she is also a philosophical subjectivist.
Wicca is a contemporary form of traditional witchcraft. As such it incorporates attributes of
the generic craft and traits normally found in more obviously occultic practices. Wiccan
practice is a syncretistic quagmire in that it is not based on a uniform ritual, universal
theology, or coherently ordered network. It is possible, however, to discern parallels
between Wicca and the CSER report‟s description of satanic worship. The report says that
“Satanists believe that there exists an all-pervasive and creative “force of Nature” that is
responsible for the “balance” in nature ...the one thing that is necessary to personally
experience this “force,” to know it and to be able to use it to advance one‟s life, is to indulge
in earthly pleasure.”9 The similarity between Wiccan beliefs and the Satanic beliefs
expounded by the report can be observed in the book The Witches’ Goddess by Janet and
Stewart Farrar. The authors write, “paganism (and perhaps the Craft in particular is strongly