My path to Satanism – Satanic Panic

Satanic Panic

In my teen years, I was in the middle of the Satanic Panic. It started with D&D, then spread to books movies, music and emerging computer games.

I wasn’t a devoted player of D&D, I didn’t know enough people, and it was expensive to get the official guides. But, I did play a few times and thought it was amazing. Still do.

Using imagination and creativity for world building doesn’t like a dangerous thing. Sounds like a blocky game that made quite a splash not too long ago.

But, the wild stories and accusations were flying. D&D took the blame for everything.

The accusations of witchcraft made me laugh since no one who played D&D believed you could cast spells, raise the dead, etc.

I jumped at games inspired by D&D, like Ultima and Wizardy, and there was no end of talk about the content, symbols, use of magic, and how it was a gateway to the occult.

First thing I did was look up the word occult.

– Hidden and difficult to see
– Supernatural forces and events and beings collectively

Neither term came across as sinister. In fact, the second sounds like the bible.

D&D themed games sparked tremendous curiosity. I was fascinated by Ultima and all these unique words – avatar, rune, mantra, ritual, “bell, book and candle,” and dozens more.

This was decades before the Internet, so each night, I wrote down the new terms, then spent my lunch hour looking up each word in the dictionary and encyclopedia.

Again, nothing struck me as sinister or evil. In fact, I learned bits and pieces from dozens of different cultures and religions. I also learned that pentagram was just another name for a five pointed star, like the one on top of a tree.

The more I learned, the more the claims about the Satanic Panic were ludicrous – dark rituals in labyrinths beneath the city, women and child sacrifices, casting spells, blood drinking, and trying to conjure demons.

How can there be a labyrinth under a city that no one knows about?

It got more and more outrageous with the claims of mobile crematoriums to dispose of all the evidence.

That’s when I read a couple books on the dangers of Satanism. I forget the titles, but it was tale after tale of people disappearing in the night, put on altars and tortured, turned into breeders, sacrificed in rituals, and dozens of other claims.

It all sounded horrific, except for one thing, where was the evidence? How could this happen, in the middle of the city, with hundreds of sacrifices per week? Where was the proof? Something had to get left behind. Someone had to make a mistake. There had to be some sort of trail or else how did they get the story?

I’ve read Sherlock Holmes, there is always evidence, or a witness.

It was proof by lack of evidence.

According to my science teacher, that’s not the scientific method. It was so absurd I couldn’t take it seriously.

My mind was already made up that the religious zealots were out of their damn minds when they attacked the music industry.

This became the Parental Advisory label, and got slapped on any song with inappropriate content. Of course, Christians made up the list.

It wasn’t just swearing, it was about labelling lyrics as lustful, sinful, or referencing the occult. Again with the occult.