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218 Prometheus Society
also likely a factor. It should further be noted that
in the early eighties some Amway distributors
were involved in spreading a similarly damaging
rumor that Procter and Gamble had been
purchased by the “Moonies.” This prior involvement
with an earlier rumor campaign may have
been a consideration in P&G’s decision to file its
suit against Amway.
See also Beast Computer Legend; Chick
Publications; Hellhole
For Further Reading:
Procter & Gamble. “Trademark Facts.”
http://www.pg.com/rumor/index.html
“Procter & Gamble: Stop the Lies!”
http://www.home.ch/~spaw2742/nlpg0999.htm
Robinson, Bruce A. “Christian Urban Legends.”
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_cul.htm
Prometheus Society
The Prometheus Society was founded by K. Brent
Olsen, its current director, in 1999. Based in Fresno,
California, the membership of the society is international.
It began life as the Satanic International
Network (SIN), based on the historical Satanic
Intercommunication Network. However, after
some non-Satanic left-hand path (LHP) organizations
complained about the name, it was redesignated
the Prometheus Society. It is, however, still
arguably “Satanic” in the broader sense.
The Prometheus Society is headed by a representative
council, called the Black Circle. Olsen
and several of the society’s founding members are
currently or have been members of the Temple of
Set. Among the members of the Black Circle are
Lord Egan, High Priest of the First Church of
Satan, and Walter Radtke, Priest of the Temple of
Set. There is no official connection, however,
between the Prometheus Society and any other
Satanic or LHP organization, including the
Temple of Set and the First Church of Satan.
The Prometheus Society is not a church or religion.
It is, rather, an information-based network
for practitioners of the LHP philosophy/religion.
The society is comprised of a diverse group of
“Satanists” from many traditions, and does not
sanction any particular belief over any other.
Among its membership are Setians, theistic
Satanists, atheistic Satanists, demonolaters, and
agnostic Satanists. The group aims to disseminate
accurate information, especially with regard to the
criminal connotations often ascribed to
“Satanism.”
The Prometheus Society also strives to overcome
the unfriendly and uncooperative attitude
that has developed between many LHP organizations.
The group seeks to promote rational debate
about competing ideologies in contrast to the often
rancorous exchanges that take place between different
organizations. The society also seeks to promote
intergroup cooperation in the areas of information
and archival development. The larger motivating
concern of the Prometheus Society is to develop the
LHP as a reputable philosophical or religious
option. In order for this to take place, practitioners
of the LHP must put away some of their opposition
to one another and begin cooperating at a basic
level. This concern is reflected in the writings of the
Prometheus Society, which are currently only available
on the group’s web page. Because of this stand,
the society has come under fire from some groups
that practice and study the LHP.
For Further Reading:
The Prometheus Society official website:
http://www.geocities.com/prometheus_society
The Prophecy and The Prophecy 2: Ashtown
The traditional war in heaven theme with a weird
new twist. Instead of being jealous of God’s
power, a group of disgruntled angels are jealous of
God’s love for the “talking monkeys” (also known
as humanity), which have supplanted the angels
as God’s favorites in the 1995 film. The angry
angels, led by Gabriel, plot to destroy the loyal
angels, and decide to enlist the soul of a recently
deceased war veteran as their leader. The good
angels, however, steal the soul and hide it in the
body of a young girl, and the bad angels go
looking for her. The war in heaven theme is
carried over into the 1997 sequel.
Purgatory
In the Western religious tradition, purgatory originated
as an afterlife limbo (borderland; from the
Latin limbus, border) where the spirits of the dead