Thanks to Rowan Moonstone, of Oklahoma City, for the following materials. Section One is a

Thanks to Rowan Moonstone, of Oklahoma City, for the following materials. Section One is an excerpt from the May 28, 1986 broadcast of a Christian radio talk-show called "Point of View" by Marlin Maddoux, interviewing a Mr. Ed Decker on the subject of Mormonism. Section Two is the letter which Rowan wrote to request clarification. Section Three is the response she recieved, not from Ed Decker, but from a former Milwaukee witch named Bill Schnoebelen. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Decker: "... The Mormon goes up to the veil and embraces the man represen- ting the Lord. Foot to foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand to back, and mouth to ear, exactly as you do in Masonry on the five points of fel- lowship. And when the Mason whispers 'Ma Ha Bone' the Mormon says, 'Health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins and in the sinews, power in the priesthood be upon me and upon my posterity throughout all generations of time and eternity.'" Maddoux: "They say things like this in the Masons? Talk about priesthoods and so on?" Decker: "Well, no, but see, the interesting part about that same chant: I have a manuscript of a High Priest in Wicca priesthood. Again, they use the Enochian Keys, the Keys of Enoch, which is actually backward masking, backward language, and in the Grimorum Verum, which is the highest document of the highest ritual of Wicca Witchcraft. They use the, 'Health in the navel, marrow in the bone, strength in the loins and sinews,' except they use some foul language along with it, but it's word for word the same chant that is done in the Mormon temple ritual. Word for word. And so, we're dealing with Witchcraft here, we're dealing with Satanism, and this all ties together not only with Mormonism, but it carries over into Masonry. ..." ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ P O Box 21058 OKC, OK 73120 May 28, 1986 Mr. Ed Decker Box 1076 Issaquah, Wash. 98027 Dear Mr. Decker, Today I heard you speak with Mr. Marlin Maddoux on "Point of View." I was very interested to learn of the connections between Mormonism and Free- masonry. One other thing that you mentioned has me curious. You stated that you had a transcript of a Wiccan High Priest chanting "Health to the navel, Marrow in the bone, strength in the loins and the sinews, power in the Priesthood be upon me and my posterity from generation to generation through all Eternity." I find this very interesting. I myself am a Pries- tess of Wicca. You are erroneous, I believe on several counts. First, the Wicca rituals are conducted by a Priestess, as we believe that the repre- sentative of the Goddess rules supreme in the Circle. Secondly, I have never heard of the Grimorum Verbum in ANY Wicca Tradition. I myself am a Priestess in the Georgian Tradition, and have studied enough of the Alexandrian, Gardnerian, Celtic, and Isian traditions to know that there is nothing by that name in any tradition I have ever heard of. Our book of rituals is called the Book of Shadows and it contains all of the documen- tation belonging to our religion. Thirdly, I have led and participated in numerous rituals all across the country for several years and I have NEVER heard any "backward masking" or backwards language used in any ritual any- where, nor have I ever seen it used in print in any of the numerous Wicca or Pagan publications or any of the better books on the subject. The only time I have ever seen it used is in some of the terrible books that came out in the early 60's. The people who wrote these works were neither Witches, nor had most of them ever even met a Witch, let alone practiced the true teachings of the Craft. I don't know what kind of material you have in your possession, but it certainly isn't Wicca material. It may be some kind of Ceremonial Magic ritual, or Satanic in nature, but I can assure you, it isn't Wicca. I would be very interested to see a copy of this manuscript if you would be willing to Xerox me a copy of it. If you are interested in the true teachings of Wicca, I suggest you check out "What Witches Do", "Eight Sabbats for Witches", and "Witches Way" all by Stewart and Janet Farrar, "The Complete Art of Witchcraft" by Sybil Leek, "Witchcraft for Tomorrow" by Doreen Valiente, "Positive Magic" by Marion Weinstein, "Drawing Down the Moon" by Margot Adler, or "The Spiral Dance" by Starhawk. Other good books include "Witchcraft Today" by Gerald Gardner (the founder of the Gardnerian Tradition), "The Meaning of Witchcraft" by the same man, and "A History of Witches, Sorcerors, Heretics, and Pagans" by Jeffrey B. Russell. If you are interested, I would be willing to correspond with you on the subject. I don't mind if you disagree with me on theology, just get your facts straight. Please let me know if I need to send you postage for the copy of the ritual you mentioned. Thank you, and Blessed Be, (signed) Rowan Moonstone P O Box 21058 OKC. OK 73120 P.S. Two other points I forgot to mention: 1. I have never heard any foul language used in any Wicca ritual. In fact I have never heard or seen anything in a Wicca Circle that could not be done in the presence of small children (who are frequently there!). 2. Satanism and Wicca are NOT the same thing. If you read the books I re- commended to you and then read some of the works on Satanism such as Mike Warnke's "Satan Seller", "Michelle Remembers", and "The Satanic Bible" by Anton Levay, I think you will find a vast difference in the philosophies. Nowhere in the Wicca books is Child Abuse, white slavery, sexual depravity, or violence advocated. Not so in the Satanic references. There IS a BIG difference. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Box 3352 Dubuque, IA. 52001 July 2, 1986 Rowan Moonstone P.O.Box 21058 Oklahoma City, OK. 73120 Dear Ms. Moonstone, I hope you will pardon me for taking the liberty of writing to you direct- ly. Ed Decker was kind enough to forward to me a copy of the letter you sent him concerning his radio remarks on witchcraft. You see, I am the "Wiccan high priest" he mentioned, and he felt I might be able to better respond to your questions. To begin with, I must say that in all candour, I would have written just such a letter as yours in response to Mr. Decker about ten years ago. I was a sincere devotee of the Great Mother and believed that there was a profound difference between the Wicca and satanists. I thought that all that Wicca consisted of was beneficial rituals to the nature deities and rites of passage. It only took me 16 years of ardent effort to find out I was wrong and that my only hope for true spritual fulfillment in this life was in Jesus--to say nothing of my condition in the afterlife! Since you seem to doubt my existence, please allow me to list my credentials, such as they are. I was initiated into the Alexandrian rite of Wicca in 1968, and was made a 3rd degree high priest and magus in 1973. I and my wife established covens all over the Midwest--Dubuque, Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago, etc.; and have initiated over 170 people. We moved onto higher degrees in the Craft and also were made a high priestly couple in the Druidic Craft of the Wise. We were, up until our departure from the city of Milwaukee in 1984, pre- siding over the oldest and largest network of covens in the southern Wis- consin area. We have also studied under Tim and Morning G'zell and Gavin and Yvonne Frost. I don't know how long you have been involved in Wicca, and I certainly don't want to seem condescending; but I'm afraid that you are in the dark about the true nature of your religion--not only spiritual, but even his- torically. About a year after becoming a high priest (1974), I was told by my initi- ators that actually Wicca was not what it seems. Although much of the extant material written by witches (and also Dr. Margaret Murray's work) would lead one to believe that Wicca is a survival of the ancient fertility cults, still practicing in the modern world, there is not one shred of real historical proof for any connection between Paleolithic cults and modern witchcraft. Actually a careful study of Doreen Valiente's work, as well as of our tea- cher's (craft name Hieronymous) research in the British Museum would reveal that Wicca is, in fact, a manufactured religion--not much older than this century. There is no evidence for any "Book of Shadows" being older than the 1910's! I don't know what version of the Book of Shadows you use (not being fami- liar with your tradition), but the Alexandrian/Gardnerian BofS was made up out of whole cloth, mostly by the infamous satanist Aleister Crowley; with a few additions by Gerald Gardner. The only witches prior to the 1890's were, in fact, classical satanists! This is a matter of historical fact, researched by witches much more scholarly than I! Even a cursory study of such works as IL VANGELO DELLA STREGA (Gospel of the Witches) by Leland will reveal that the god of witchcraft is Lucifer (although he goes by many other names: Kernunnos, Pan, Bel, etc.). Lucifer is the enemy of Jesus Christ. Now obviously, you have the right to worship anyone you please, anyhow you please; but you must realize that the religion you follow is just a slightly sanitized version of continental Satan-worship! If you think it's just a nice little nature cult with herbs and circles, you are deluding yourself tragically. Let's look at the word "Wicca", as an example. The Oxford English Dictio- nary reveals that the word does not mean "Wise One"--nor is it pronounced "Wikka" but "Wicha!" (So much for careful research.) It means "twisted or bent, warped." As Anton Levay points out, virtually every language has a word for "witch" and ALL of them are of evil meaning: venefica ("curse- bringer"), pharmacopaeia ("poisoner"), strega ("curser"). It has only been since the 1920's that witches have been trying to make themselves sound "nice." In my own personal development as a witch (and those of all our colleagues and pupils; which is the only area I feel I can comment authoritatively upon); I found that after about 6 years it was necessary to begin pursuing the study of Satanism in order to keep growing. In short, my friend, if you aren't a Satanist yet, it's only because you haven't gotten that far in it. By the time of my tenth anniversary in the Craft, I had found it necessary to become a full-fledged satanist; but even in our earlier days, there were many things going on in circles which we would not have wanted chil- dren to see (i.e., the "Great Rite"). You are correct, there is no actual obscenity in most Wicca rituals--although I've been at several of the Madison based CIRCLE NETWORK festivals where original rituals were done in which "four-letter words" abounded. Please allow me the courtesy of responding specifically to the excellent points raised in your letter. About the actual chant mentioned by Mr. Decker--"Health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins and in the sinews; power in the priesthood be upon me and upon my pos- terity throughout all generations of time and all eternity." Is there any- thing in that chant that you, as a witch, would object to? I don't honest- ly think there is. It is a perfectly Pagan thing to work for--health, vitality and children; both now and through all time. Now you protest in your letter that the Priestess rules the circle, and that a High Priest would not be doing any chanting. That may be true in the Georgian tradition, but it is not in the Alexandrian/Gardnerian. We followed what Frederick Adams called the Royal Passions of the Year--the Sabbaths. We believed that the Goddess (and her representative, the High Priestess) reigns supreme from Beltane to Samhain because this was the time of the fertility of the earth--farming &c. Then from Samhain to Beltane the Horned God reigned supreme (and ergo, the High Priest); since the winter was the time when hunting was the only means of survival in ancient times. Therefore, in our rite, it was perfectly acceptable for the High Priest to reign and perform ceremonies during the winter sabbaths. This even went so far as to have the High Priestess crown the High Priest on Samhain (and then have the crown returned to her on Beltane). You are right in saying that the Goddess reigns supreme, in our trad. because she was thought to be eternal while the god lives and dies and then is reborn through her every Imbolc. For us, the High Priestess reigns supreme in all esbats (lunar feasts), and in half the sabbaths (solar feasts). Okay? Now, in the Alexandrian rite, the "sign" of the 2nd degree is the inverted pentagram--the symbol of the Goat of Mendez, covering the seven bottom Sephirot of the Tree of Life. In our rite, the 2nd dgree is more male- oriented, and we are taught that to invoke power and prosperity on the earth plane, it was necessary to use inverted invoking pentagrams. For us, the inverted pentagram was the symbol of the god, the upright, the sign of the Goddess. Thus, already in 2nd degree, we were skating on the fringes of satanic practice. About the GRIMORUM VERUM, don't be surprised if you haven't heard about it. Very few witches have heard of it below the grade of Adeptus Major (6th degree). It, and another grimoire, THE GREAT MOTHER, are the ritual books of the highest degrees of witchcraft I got into. Only after eleven years of hard work did I learn of their existence. To be "worthy", I needed to have seven covens under us and over 99 initiates directly linked to us. That was how we learned of it. Concerning backward masking in rituals, Brother Decker was talking about a common enough practice in the upper degrees of magick. The Enochian keys, or calls, which I trust you have heard of, were first published by Dr. Israel Regardie in his GOLDEN DAWN. Regardie, whether intentionally or ignorantly, published the calls backwards! Now many ceremonial magickians used the GOLDEN DAWN volumes as their ritual bibles, not realizing this. Anton LaVey came along in 1967 and published his SATANIC BIBLE and aluded coyly to the fact that to really work, the keys had to be said backwards-- which is correct. Therefore, any magickian worth his or her salt, would be saying the Enochian calls backwards. You are right in saying that this is not precisely Paganism, there being a slight difference between a witch and a magickian. Witches worship the gods, magickians try to command and conquer them, and believe they can be- come gods themselves. In the Alexandrian rite, we get into magick and hermetics in the higher degrees--many Wicca groups don't. All of this neglects the central dilemma you are in. You are part of a system of ritual which is ultimately controlled by Satan! It doesn't mat- ter if you don't believe in Satan, since most witches deny him. He's still there. Just because you don't believe in gravity, doesn't mean that if you jump off a cliff you won't get splattered all over the landscape! I'm afraid you're whistling in the dark. May I tell you why I left the Craft? Both my wife and I worked VERY hard to be the best possible leaders of covens. We knocked ourselves out! We studdied, we practiced rituals; we counselled our people and tried to help them with their various problems. We were desperately sincere; and thought we were worshipping the true Ancient Harmonies of the Universe. We thought Christianity was just a bigoted, monotheistic system of legalistic jive. But we were never really at peace. We did all the right things, and tried to help our people grow on the path of Wisdom, but they were never really fulfilled either. They would say they were happy, but their eyes were dark and hollow. They would say they were fulfilled, but their lives denied it. We were the ONLY married couple we knew in all our years of Wicca that didn't break up! Most of the people we tried to help got worse! Many of them became either so filled with their own egos that they could never relate to anyone else; or else they sank deeper and deeper into the mire of dope or liquor. Two or three ended up insane and institutionalized. The longest standing mar- riage in our sphere of groups (next to ours) ended with the husband an al- coholic and the wife psychotic! Now maybe this hasn't been your experience, but again--are you running a coven? Have you seen the inside of the people you work with as they hunger and strive for happiness and peace? Or have you just seen the smiling fronts they put up so everone thinks they're happy? Believe me, Rowan, there's an awful lot of really HURTING people out there in Wicca. In Milwaukee, we had psychic wars between groups. Witches in other groups were shooting each other because of adultery! Pagans like to make fun of Catholics because of all the wars they started, but let me tell you--the only difference between the Pagans and the Catholics is that the Pagans never ran a government and had the power to raise armies. I used to read THE GREEN EGG, Tim Zell's magazine from the Church of All Worlds in St. Louis, and every month there would be some vicious feud going on in the letter columns. I don't know if you go back that far or not, but it sad- dened me, even then! Why is this? Because you are dealing with sinful, fallen human beings-- that's why? The human heart is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). With- out Jesus Christ, people are going to act just like a bunch of spoiled brats! Look around you--how else can you account for the evil in the world? Killing, rapes, bigotry, wars--these are the fruits of Satan. But love, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering,--these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. You may not call yourself a satanist, but if you have not made Jesus Christ the absolute Lord of your life, then you are in Satan's power. We learned this the hard way! No amount of effort, study or practice on your part will ever bring you the peace or fulfillment you seek. Nor will belonging to any church, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, or Pagan. Christianity is not a religion, it is a RELATIONSHIP with the Lord of the universe, Jesus Christ. I don't know what your religious background (pre- Wicca) was, but don't let the churches and the bigotry confuse you. Only trusting in Jesus for salvation can make you a Christian (Romans 10:13)-- not church membership or following some bunch of legalistic rules. That was a lie foisted on the world by the Catholics, and then gradually adopted by many major denominations--but it is not what the Bible says: "If you shall confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, YOU SHALL BE SAVED. For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."--Romans 10:9-10. Those religionists who have made a career out of frightening people and making them work their way to God were preaching a lie from the pit of hell. You don't have to live your life in an agony of wondering about your fate after death. Nor do you have to worry about "karma" and the wheel of rebirth. John the Apostle wrote: "These things have I written to you THAT BELIEVE IN THE NAME OF THE SON OF GOD; that you may KNOW that you have eternal life."--1 John 5:13. Not hope--but KNOW that you can have eternal life with God forever. That's some promise! All you need to receive it is simply do these four things: 1) Admit that you're not perfect, that you're a sinner, as we all are "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"--(Romans 3:23) and re- alize that it is only by having faith in Jesus and Him only for your salva- tion that you can become a child of God and heir to the promise (Ephesians 2:8-9). 2) Pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart and take away your sins--ask Him to be your saviour (1 Timothy 2:5). 3) Make Him the Lord of your life, which means that you will do your best to keep His Word (John 14:15). This will simply be an act of gratitude for the precious gift that He has given you. 4) Then KNOW that you are saved, and that Satan has no hold on you any longer. You have full assurance of heaven--assurance that no man can give, but that Jesus can (John 14:6). It's that simple! Please consider it, Rowan. Why put your trust in books and rituals written by flawed men and women--especially since much of it is phoney? Put your trust in the Bible! God has promised that His Word (who is Jesus--see John 1:1,14) is perfect and eternal and will outlast the hea- vens and the earth. Can't you take Him at His word? Realize (as I did, after much study and research) that not one Biblical prophecy has failed to happen EXACTLY as predicted; and that Jesus Himself was the fulfillment of over 300 Old Testament prophecies. Some prophecies in Daniel were for events hundreds of years in the future, and yet all have been fulfilled. What witch or occultist has that kind of track record? Please remember we're talking about eternity here. What if your belief system is wrong? God's Word says that without Jesus you will go into the lake of fire (Revelations 21:8). Are the books and people in whom you are putting your faith for spiritual success really that trustworthy? Don't you owe it to yourself to at least investigate what I'm saying? Wicca, however noble and idealistic it might seem, is a modern, manufac- tured religion created by cleaning up continental satanism a bit. There are really only two kinds of Wiccans--the higher ups who know that Satan is their god; and the innocent ones of lower rank who think they're worship- ping nature deities. Listen to what God's Word says about that: "Professing to be wise..." (wise ones?)"...they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man --and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleaness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." (Romans 1:22-25) I'm sorry to be so longwinded, but I know just where you're coming from, and you're dreadfully, tragically wrong. Like me, you're trusting men and women instead of the God of the universe. Please, give Jesus a chance. I did, when I was finally at the end of my rope, and he lifted the incredibly heavy burden of sin off me. Believe me, Rowan, you don't know how good it feels to be with Jesus until you confess Him as Lord and Saviour. If you have any questions or com- ments, don't hesitate to write. Jesus loves you very much, and so do I. Let Him come in and bind up all your hurts. He, and He alone can do it. Thanks for your patience with this LONG letter, and know that we're praying for you! Yours in Jesus' precious name, (signed Bill) Bill Schnoebelen, aka "Christopher Syn"--my name while a witch.