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Salem Witchcraft 235
Xango Afro-Brazilian cult ceremony in Recife, 1963: initiation of daughter-in-sainthood (filha de santo). (Fortean
Picture Library)
example in a crystal) and it draws down dark forces
or ‘entities.’ Such forces may then be used, by
directing them toward a specific goal” (Order of
Nine Angles, website). In The Satanic Bible, LaVey
explicitly criticized this theory as “asinine absurdity,”
and asserted that a true Satanist respects life—
especially small children and animals—as representing
the “purest form of carnal existence.” LaVey
did, however, go on to say that Satanists could sacrifice
“a totally obnoxious and deserving individual”
in a symbolic manner “through the working of a
hex or curse, which in turn leads to the physical,
mental or emotional destruction of the ‘sacrifice’ in
ways and means not attributable to the magician.”
Critics have asserted that here and in other
passages LaVey seems to imply that the only reason
not to physically assassinate someone else is
because of possible legal consequences.
See also Satanic Ritual Abuse
For Further Reading:
Brown, Rebecca. He Came to Set the Captives Free.
Chino, CA: Chick Publications, 1986.
Eliade, Mircea, ed. Encyclopedia of Religion. New
York: Macmillan, 1987.
Order of Nine Angles. “A Gift for the Prince: A
Guide to Human Sacrifice.” 1994. Available at
http://www.collegeofsatan.org/satanism/ONA/o
na14.html.
LaVey, Anton Szandor. The Satanic Bible. New York:
Avon, 1969.
Newton, Michael. Raising Hell: An Encyclopedia of
Devil Worship and Satanic Crime. New York:
Avon, 1993.
Wheatley, Dennis. The Devil Rides Out. 1935.
London: Hutchinson & Co., 1963.
———. The Satanist. 1960 London: Arrow Books,
1974.
Salem Witchcraft
The Salem “witches” were the protagonists of one
of the last episodes of Western witchcraft hysteria.
The relevant events took place in Salem—now
Danvers—Massachusetts, from 1692 to 1693.
Upon his return from Barbados, where he had
worked as a merchant, Rev. Samuel Parris, minis-