If you are relatively sane and not prone to low-watt brainwashing, you may be unaware of the vast library of Christian propaganda films out there. One of America’s most profitable and least-known cottage industries, these micro-budgeted religious epics had their heyday in the 70’s and 80’s when Midwest-based Mark IV Productions created their twelve-year Thief in the Night quadrilogy, a series of end times films featuring dead-eyed, polyester-clad actors moping their way through The Rapture. These films were shown to impressionable kids at Bible study classes and probably turned thousands of otherwise normal humans into conservative, sex-negative Jesus zombies. Made for pocket change, these films grossed millions. They are still be shown and sold today and paved the way for the even more profitable Left Behind series a couple decades later.
 

 
Christian propaganda films loved warning teenagers about the dangers of basically everything. Satan lurked on every corner, always looking for a way to break into the lucrative teen market. Sex, drugs, booze and the perils of disobeying your parents were popular subjects, but even listening to the radio was cause for concern. Which brings us to 1982’s awkwardly titled Rock: It’s Your Decision. Directed by John Taylor (not the Duran Duran guy, obviously, but how great would it be if it was?), Rock tells the story of Jeff, your average American teenager who goes to school and church and does whatever society tells him to. His only vice is the bullshit generic MOR rock he blasts on his stereo. But even that is too rebellious for his mom, who snitches on him to his church pastor, who challenges Jeff to give up rock n’ roll for a month. The pastor gives him a few choice tapes from his Christian pop collection to tide him over, though.
 

A glimpse into some of this film’s action-packed moments.
 
Once Jeff gives up rock music, he starts to realize just how fucked up and evil it was all along. How? By misinterpreting Santana lyrics (it goes “You’ve gotta change your evil ways,” dummy) and audience reactions (Jeff thinks swaying along to the music is some kind of thought control). He throws his best bud out of the house for digging Billy Joel and Lynyrd Skynyrd too much, and refuses to take his feather-haired blonde girlfriend to the unnamed “rock show”. He even heads down to the record store to bully people out of buying tasty rock n’ roll jams. What a jerk! In essence, Jeff becomes an insufferable asshole without rock music. He’s even worse to his mother now, accusing her of hypocrisy because of her soap opera addiction, and his climactic anti-rock rant at church even throws some homophobia (and Barry Manilow and fucking Captain and Tennille) into the mix.

Watch this shit, after the jump…

Pale Horse, “Through the Gateway,” screenprint

Peter H. Gilmore has long been among the world’s leading authorities on LaVeyan Satanism. An author of countless works on the subject, most notably The Satanic Scriptures, Gilmore was appointed the High Priest of the Church of Satan 15 years ago, and has since served—not without controversy, unsurprisingly—as caretaker of the Anton LaVey legacy, even writing a new introduction to The Satanic Bible, the book that changed his life in his early teens (say what you will about that, hey, at least it wasn’t Atlas Shrugged).

Gilmore has recently endeavored to curate a Satanic art exhibit called “The Devil’s Reign” (a cheeky nod to an old film) for Howl Gallery, a combination exhibition space/tattoo shop in Ft. Myers. FL. The show is traveling, and it opens tonight, April 1, 2016 at Stephen Romano Gallery In Brooklyn, and it’ll travel to Eridanos Gallery & Tattoo in Boston for an opening on May 6th. The show seeks to acquaint viewers with expressions of devils from many cultures, though deities that were turned to devils and demons by Christianity are by far the most often featured, and curiously, figures from the Lovecraft mythos make appearances. “Since all deities and devils are invented,” Gilmore writes in his foreword to the exhibit’s companion book, “Satanists can employ any, from whatever fiction they find inspirational, as a means for emotional excitement in ritual.” He continues:

Whether the artists crafted these images to purge themselves of some withheld impulses or as celebrations of others, they function as visual rituals, offering viewers much over which to ruminate. Of this tenebrous throng, some will have been or will be inscribed upon human flesh. Their bearers might wish to absorb and dominate them, or to boldly proclaim allegiance to these sovereigns of Hell.

Devilish art has long been said to mock authority, to frighten the gullible into beliefs contrary to their nature, and to both embody and expose complex elements of the human animal and his frequently savage societies. The Church of Satan proposes that one can explore and fulfill one’s desires when they are experienced as controlled indulgence, not frenzied compulsion—an Epicurean rather than Hedonistic approach. Each artwork here can thus be a means for self-reflection, or for seeing worldly perspectives that may previously have remained hidden.

 

Herb Auerbach, untitled, ink & watercolor on paper
 

Uncle Allan, “Mephisto,” pen, ink, watercolor
 

Dusty Neal, “Naamah,” ink, liquid acrylic
 
More demonic art after the jump…

 
If the amazing Tumblr Vintage Occult is any indication, Satanists really need better tailors—so many of the people interested in the dark arts are young women who have inordinate trouble keeping their torsos covered. Then again, where there’s Satanism, there’s gonna be dozens of flickering candles, so I’m not too worried about them catching cold or anything.

Vintage Occult is the best thing I’ve seen on the Internet all day and I’m betting that’s true for you too. A voluminous gallery of images from old, tattered paperback books, schlocky magazines, and straight-to-video movies, midnight classics with titles like Blood Sucking Nazi Zombies or Queen of the Vampires (“La Regina Dei Vampiri”) or my favorite, Satan in High Heels, there’s just no end to the Vampira knockoffs out there.

In case you need the warning, this is probably not something you want to be checking out in your cubicle.
 

 

 
Much more from Vintage Occult, after the jump…

The Satanic Temple of Detroit’s new Baphomet momument
 
If you were not already aware, Detroit, Michigan is the home to the very first national chapter house of The Satanic Temple. Late yesterday, TST released the first photos of a nine-foot, one-ton statue of Baphomet that they hope to display at the State Capitol in Oklahoma.
 
If you’re wondering why The Satanic Temple is hoping to house the titanic sculpture of Baphomet in Oklahoma’s State Capitol, let me clear that up for you. Although they have yet to be granted permission (and promise to sue the state if request is denied), TST wants Baphomet to sit next to the six-foot tall Ten Commandments statue (built with the help of “private” funding), that has stood on the grounds of the Oklahoma State Capitol since 2012. Coincidently, said statue was smashed up in 2014 by a guy who said he was acting on “Satan’s” orders. The statue was then restored and returned to its original spot at the Capitol. However, in an interesting turn of events late today, it looks like the controversial statue’s days are indeed numbered
 

Satan says SMASH!
 
In a decisive 7-2 decision, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the Ten Commandments statue must be removed as it violates the state’s constitutional ban on the use of public property for the benefit of a religion. While this decision does not bode well for TST, it will be interesting to see how this one shakes out given Oklahoma’s highly conservative constituency. I also wouldn’t be surprised if TST starts looking for a new home for Baphomet. Still, I think it’s safe to say that times are indeed changing in this country. And fast.
 
The massive statue will be officially unveiled on July 25th at a rather un-satanic sounding spot called Bert’s Warehouse Theater in Detroit, with entertainment provided by DJ William Morrison of Skinny Puppy/OhGr related infamy. Attendance is open to the public and tickets to the event will cost you $25 bucks. VIP tickets will run you $75 and include your very own photo with Baphomet. Dressing to impress satan is also highly encouraged. Nice.
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Satanic underwear: Baphomet briefs

 
The Satanists of Orange County, Florida (the most hellish state, obviously) had a very active 2014, and these plucky goat-worshipers show no signs of showing down. Since November they’ve been attempting to distribute “The Satanic Children’s Big Book of Activities” outside of schools, their argument being that if Bible distribution is allowed, so should Satanist materials. Curious as to what a Satanic kids’ book would look like, I checked out the book, and frankly, it’s really cute! Lots of talk about acceptance and dealing with ignorance and fear, plus coloring and word-jumbles—who could object?

The organization responsible for such wholesome edutainment is The Satanic Temple, who as a “dot-org” appear to be a legitimate non-profit, and list their missions statement as:

to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people. In addition, we embrace practical common sense and justice.

As an organized religion, we feel it is our function to actively provide outreach, to lead by example, and to participate in public affairs wheresoever the issues might benefit from rational, Satanic insights. As Satanists, we all should be guided by our consciences to undertake noble pursuits guided by our individual wills. We believe that this is the hope of all mankind and the highest aspiration of humanity.

They also include “Satanists, secularists, and advocates for individual liberty” among their flock, which leads me to believe a fair amount of their participants are actually just activists for separation of church and state—good on ‘em, I say. If you want larger PDFs of the activity book, you can find them here.
 

 

 

 

 
More after the jump…

 
Doorways to Danger is a 1990 British short film warning of the risks in flirting with the occult. Here’s the description from the Amazon listing:

Dabbling in the occult is widespread and often thought of as harmless entertainment. But this video shows why it is dangerous to get involved with spiritism, fortune telling, witchcraft, magic, and Satanism. The program introduces the real life stories of those who have been involved in these activities and shows the way out based upon a Biblical perspective.

A description also opens the video, and what comes next is pure gold: A cheesy montage of occult images with a song poem-esque number underneath warning of the hazards of looking up your horoscope and fooling around with a ouija board. And we’re off!

The anecdotal evidence that follows—offered up by supposed experts and decidedly non-experts alike—often seems scripted and/or total B.S., and the “slippery slope” examples given as gateways to full on devil worship (playing Dungeons and Dragons; watching Ghostbusters II!) are a hoot-and-a-half. One of the highlights is the segment with the band Heartbeat (“one of Britain’s top Christian groups”), who we get to see recording and then have an obviously rehearsed conversation about occult dabbling. The late ‘80s fashions they’re sporting will also surely induce a chuckle or two (and dig those hairdos!).

The video was produced by an organization calling itself the “Christian Response to the Occult.” Forming in 1982 by the Deo Gloria Trust, “to give a Christian answer to the inroads that occultism was making into society at that time,” the group later merged with the existing and ideologically similar, Reachout Trust.

Here’s Tom Poulson, the director of the CRO and the man behind Doorways to Danger:

We have a divine commission both to warn and inform our friends, family and neighbours that there is an enemy of God, actively engaged in both blinding them to and drawing them away from Jesus. We neither want to shout ‘FIRE!’ so loudly that people rush towards it, nor remain silent and see people receive life-endangering burns from their involvement with the occult.

Indeed, no one actually shouts “FIRE!” in Doorways to Danger, but to say that believing in things like “bad luck” could lead you into the arms of Satan comes pretty damn close.
 

“I’m just a storyteller.”
—Mike Warnke from the 1979 album A Christian perspective on Halloween

 
In 1973, Evangelical comedian Mike Warnke wrote a book called the The Satan Seller. A book that would propel him to fame as one of the most trusted knowledge bases in the field of Satanism and the occult (“trusted” by idiots like Bob Larson, but I digress). Warnke’s book details his experiences with ritualistic killings, child murder, orgies and rape until he was “saved” by Jesus after a six-month stint in Vietnam.
 

 
Warnke was an instant sensation to legions of Christians, and became a beacon of hope in their never-ending war between good and evil. He released volume upon volume of recordings, comedic and otherwise and has told his story to Oprah, Larry King and 20/20. Many directly credit Warnke’s incredible popularity with the sudden panic about Satanic ritual abuse and cult activity in the late 80s and early 90s.

When I saw the edited clip below, taken from a VHS recording of his 1989 comedy stand-up performance called Do You Hear Me, I was unprepared for the moment when Warnke veers off his righteous path into NSFW territory and launches into a gruesomely detailed account of a satanic ritual to the audience. Dispensing this type of hellfire was a matter of routine for Warnke, but I was completely incredulous.
 

 
And so were others. In the late 80s, Jon Trott and Mike Hertenstein, two Christian journalists working for Cornerstone Magazine decided to investigate Warnke’s wild claims. Their finds would go on to be published in a book called, Selling Satan: The Evangelical Media and the Mike Warnke Scandal. 

Shockingly, Warnke’s own family and friends laughed at the idea when Trott and Hertenstein asked them if he had lived in witches coven with 1,500 people, was ever a dope fiend or did LSD. However it was Mike Warnke himself who made his exposure as a liar-liar-pants-on-fire recovering Satanist pretty easy. My favorite example of this is a story Warnke was fond of telling about how Charles Manson attended one of his blood-soaked sacrificial rituals in 1966. The problem with this juicy tidbit was that Manson was busy that year doing his second bid in Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution due to a parole violation. (I guess it was the 80s, and Warnke probably thought to himself “No one will call me out on this if they can’t google it!” (Or something.)
 

 
In addition to the fascinating Selling Satan, cult-busting website Holy Smoke has also posted articles and sidebar columns that were originally published in Cornerstone (volume 21, issue 98 in 1992) that contain much of the blow-by-blow on Warnke’s jaw-dropping tall tales. I highly recommend you read both if this has at all piqued your interest.

Although the allegations of out-and-out fabrication were quite specific and damaging to his credibility (to say the least), Warnke never addressed the charges of his critics in his book Friendly Fire (as excerpted on the Thanks Mucho blog):

I was in the middle of the worst period of my life.  For nearly 22 years I had reigned as the number-one Christian comedian in the world, performing to sellout crowds around the globe ... My books and tapes were steady best-sellers ... I even had my own private plane.

Then suddenly, it all fell apart. In the summer of 1992, a Christian magazine published an article that called into question virtually every aspect of my life, my Christian testimony, and my ministry.  I was accused of lying about my testimony—in particular my past involvement with the occult and as a satanist—and of operating a false ministry.

The fallout was immediate. My concert schedule dried up and disappeared. My record company pulled all my tapes from the stores and cancelled my contract. Many people I thought were my friends were no longer talking to me. For months I was subjected to a very brutal and very public whipping by the media, both Christian and secular…

Was I a fake, a charlatan, a deceiver, and a liar? No. I never lied about my testimony and I never ran a fake ministry…

Others beg to differ...
 

 
Since I’m sure you’re at least a little curious about how things ended up for Mike Warnke, you can catch up with him over at his official website.
 

 
The trouble with classic silent movies is that they can be a bit of a schlep. If you’re not down to read title cards and accept nearly 100-year-old conceptions of cinematic pacing, silent film may not feel like leisurely entertainment. This is why when I suggest folks watch the 1922 Swedish/Danish documentary, Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, I strongly recommend they go for the 1968 William S. Burroughs-narrated version.
 

 
For one, the Criterion Collection version is 104 minutes long to the ‘68 version’s 77 minutes, cutting out some “fluff.” Bigger doesn’t always mean better, film buffs! Second, you get Burroughs’ genuinely spooky-as-hell voice perfectly setting the mood. Third, the new soundtrack is absolutely amazing! We’re talking weirdo jazz and early groovy synth work. I like a little camp in my horror, but it in no way relegates this classic to kitsch.
 

 
Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages was the most expensive Swedish film ever made at the time, and the movie itself is absolutely beautiful. The high production values are apparent in the elaborate scenery, costumes and props. While the film itself is nominally a documentary chronicling the hysteria surrounding the occult in Europe (primarily during the Middle Ages), most of the actual footage is reenactment of these superstitious delusions. We’re talking satanic masses, sex with the devil, broom rides, and all kinds of black magic.
 

 
Based largely on the Malleus Maleficarum, the 15th century German guide to witch and demon identification, director Benjamin Christensen makes it perfectly clear that the mass delusion of witchcraft was the true horror, and the inquisitors the real monsters. My favorite part is the depiction of witches cursing the clergy with lust; isn’t that convenient? That way, anytime a priest couldn’t keep it in his pants, he could blame a woman for seducing/bewitching him! I guess some things never change!
 

 
It was producer Brian Butler who suggested doing a piece on these comically feuding “Satanists,” some whimsical characters he found on the Internet. They called themselves “The Syndicate of the Five Points,” a reference both to the pentagram and also that they were five Satanic covens who were joining their membership together. Each component part of the Syndicate was a “cult” consisting of a “leader” and no followers.

Initially these would-be cult leaders were all friendly towards each other and would meet and hang out and bullshit about the Dark One, evil and stuff, at shopping mall food courts and so forth, but wouldn’t you know it, one of them had to go off and marry his Christian girlfriend (on Richard Simmons’ Dream-maker TV show, no less!). Then there was “The Cartoon” that tore them apart.

I don’t want to give too much away, you’ll just have to watch it. The less said beforehand, the better.

One thing I will mention is that if you watched one of the earlier clips I’ve posted here, Brice Taylor: Mind Controlled Sex Slave of the CIA, Bob Hope and Henry Kissinger, you’ll already be familiar with the late Ted Gunderson, who was a special agent of the FBI in Southern California and at one time had about 700 agents under him. That’s actually true. How a complete idiot like Gunderson—an amusing, total nut-job of the conspiracy theory set who believed any darn thing he was told—ever got in a position of power like that is a question I’ve mused about elsewhere. From the time between his earlier on-camera interview in the Brice Taylor piece and when this one was shot a month or two later, the number of “practicing Satanists” in America had dropped by one million. Remarkable, don’t you think, unless of course, Ted was just making this shit up off the top of his head, which was exactly what he was doing.

It’s also why we brought him into the piece as we couldn’t figure out how to make it work with just the Satanists alone—they were too boring, funny but not really funny enough—and we knew he’d be good value as their onscreen nemesis. Gunderson’s ridiculous paranoia elevated the piece to an entirely different, weirder place. How could we have done this without him? The man was was a genius of unintentional idiocy, a real-life Fred Willard character with a strong opinion on everything. Comedic gold for a show like mine.

Incidentally, Ted Gunderson is not the only one of this crew who is dead. “Spook,” the guy who claims to have strangled a dog, is burning somewhere in Hell. No great loss there, I’m sure most of you will agree.

I’m not quite sure what happened to Magister Nalls, but I have heard that he’s not really a Satanist anymore. The dude who calls himself “Desecration” was, I believe, the limo driver of former Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan (who obviously surrounded himself with the finest security experts that money could buy if this “evil” wackadoodle passed the fuckin’ background check!).

Yet another segment from my UK TV series of 2000-2001, Disinformation. Produced by Brian Butler. Shot by Nimrod Erez. Edited by Nimrod Erez and Doug Stone. Music by Adam Peters and Brian Butler.
 

 
Thank God for Satan, as more than 60 Catholic clergy (66 perhaps?) gather in Rome for a 6-day (another 6!) conference on “Exorcism”, this week, at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University, Rome. The event will examine how the web has made it easier than before to access information on Devil-worship and the occult, reports the Daily Telegraph:

“The internet makes it much easier than in the past to find information about Satanism,” said Carlo Climati, a member of the university who specialises in the dangers posed to young people by Satanism.

“In just a few minutes you can contact Satanist groups and research occultism. The conference is not about how to become an exorcist. It’s to share information about exorcism, Satanism and sects. It’s to give help to families and priests. There is a particular risk for young people who are in difficulties or who are emotionally fragile,” said Mr Climati.

Organizers of the event say the rise of Satanism has been dangerously underestimated in recent years.

“There’s been a revival,” said Gabriele Nanni, a former exorcist and another speaker at the course.

Over the course of 6-days, the exorcists will scrutinise the phenomenon of Satanism with “seriousness and scientific rigour”, avoiding a “superficial or sensational approach.”

In theory, any priest can perform an exorcism – a rite involving prayers to drive the Devil out of the person said to be possessed.

But Vatican officials said three years ago that parish priests should call in professional exorcists if they suspect one of their parishioners needs purging of evil. An exorcist should be called when “the moral certainty has been reached that the person is possessed”, said Father Nanni, a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. That could be indicated by radical and disturbing changes in the person’s behaviour and voice, or an ability to garble in foreign languages or nonsensical gibberish.

While the number of genuine cases of possession by the Devil remained relatively small, “we must be on guard because occult and Satanist practices are spreading a great deal, in part with the help of the internet and new technologies that make it easier to access these rituals,” he said.

The Vatican’s chief exorcist claimed last year that the Devil lurked in the Vatican, the very heart of the Catholic Church.

Father Gabriele Amorth said people who are possessed by Satan vomit shards of glass and pieces of iron, scream, dribble and slobber, utter blasphemies and have to be physically restrained.

He claimed that the sex abuse scandals which have engulfed the Church in the US, Ireland, Germany and other countries, were proof that the anti-Christ was waging a war against the Holy See. He said Pope Benedict XVI believed “wholeheartedly” in the practice of exorcism.

The church’s International Association of Exorcists was set up in 1993, and meet in secret every 2 years, with the aim “of increasing the number of official exorcists worldwide.”

Since 2005, Catholic priests can sign up to learn how to cast away evil spirits from the possessed at the Vatican-backed college, the Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum in Rome.

It runs a two-month course to teach the “spiritual, liturgical and pastoral work involved in being an exorcist.”

According to Father Giulio Savoldi, Milan’s official exorcist, requirements include “the supernatural force – the presence of God – and then suggest that the man picked to do this kind of work be wise and that he should know how to gather strength not just from within himself but from God.” The Roman Catholic’s new Exorcism RiteThe Roman Catholic’s new Exorcism Rite, which was updated in 1999 for the first time since 1614, stresses the importance of distinguishing who is really in need of an exorcism.

Father Savoldi said: “Those studying to become exorcists should also study psychology and know how to distinguish between a mental illness and a possession. And, finally, they need to be very patient.” He said the priest who undertakes the office should be himself a holy man, of a blameless life, intelligent, courageous, humble. He should avoid in the course of the rite anything resembling superstition and he should leave the medical aspects of the case to qualified physicians.

If that doesn’t turn your head, then you may enjoy Mark Kermode’s fascinating BBC documentary, Fear of God: The Making of ‘The Exorcist’, which examines the story of classic 1973 horror movie, with cast and crew, and discusses the true events inspired William Peter Blatty’s original novel.
 

 
Previously on DM

Exorcists gather in Poland

 
The rest of Mark Kermode’s documentary on the making of ‘The Exorcist’ after the jump…