This file has been reprinted
with permission from:


MARANATHA MANNA
A publication of WOLC radio.
Princess Anne, Md.


Sysop's Note:

In the text, Delmarva, refers to
the penninsula between the Atlantic
Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, made
up of the Eastern Shores of VA. Md.
and the state of Delaware.



-----------------------------------



November 1987

MARANATHA MANNA
P.O. Box 528
Berlin, Md.
21811

A publication of
WOLC Radio...102.5 FM


===================================



    Is Belief in the Occult
	A Threat to Delmarva?
			by

          Randy Walter



  Are there really people who cast
spells and worship Satan? And if
so, is there reason for concern?
  According to retired Delaware
State Police Major Skip Venable,
such activities are directly
responsible for crime. He is
spreading the word: Police officers
need to become aware of the belief
system behind these rituals so they
can recognize evidence of the
occult at crime scenes.

  Skip has made an indepth study of
this subject. In his present
capacity as an instructor with
Wor-Wic Technical Colleges criminal
justice program, he conducted part
of a two day seminar last month
under the auspices of the Eastern
Shore Criminal Justice Academy in
Salisbury [Maryland]. His topic was
the relationship of the occult to
crime.

  When Skip first examined the
subject, he consulted people who
knew about or were involved in the
occult. He was surprised at the
amount of activity on Delmarva.

  There is at least one authentic
witch's coven in each county on the
Eastern Shore, Skip believes. They
meet in the kind of remote
locations found on Delmarva.

  A coven normally consists of 13
members. When it becomes too large,
it multiplies. Initiates are known
only by nicknames so they cannot
identify each other in case of
investigation.

  What is there to fear from a
coven? "Looking at it from a
logical standpoint, if I have
a group of people who believe
that evil is good (the scripture
says, 'Woe to them who call good
evil and evil good'), I wouldn'T
want those people in my neighbor-
hood.
  "As a police officer, is it
beneficial to have this going on
in your community? Is it a threat
to your kids? When you get a rash
of runaways, or teen suicides, or
you go to crime scenes and
nothing explains why they happened,
see if you recognize any indica-
tions of occult activity which may
give you some type of a motive,"
Skip responded.

        ALL KINDS OF CRIMES

  During Satan worship on occult
holidays such as Halloween, a
murder/sacrifice is demanded,
usually of an animal. Pets left
outside may be stolen for this
purpose. Ritualistic criminal
activities also include rapes
and fires.

  Among the other dangers posed
by occultists are use of violence,
drugs, and deviant sex, not only
in their rituals but to recruit
new members. These things Especi-
ally threaten children, who are
easily enticed.

  "Yes you can have drugs without
a Satanist cult, but you can't have
a Satanist cult without drugs,"
skip said from behind the desk in
his office. He was reviewing photo-
graphs taken at a location near
Salisbury [Maryland], where
evidence of Satanic activities was
discovered. Teenagers had been
chased from the site.

  Inside an abandoned outbuilding
was a ritual table, obviously used
to practice curses and put pins in
voodoo-dolls. Evidence of drugs was
found. Written on the walls were
Satanic symbols and threats like
"Leave Or Die" and "Redrum"
("murder" spelled backwards, as in
a violent film called The Shining).

  Young experimenters like these
have not yet graduated into
practices which involve animal
(or on some occasions, human)
sacrifices and other crimes. But
there is a growing body of evidence
that some of the sensational crimes
which headline the news are connec-
ted with occultic activities. An
example is the "Son of Sam"
killings in New York many years
ago, now believed to be ritualistic
murders.

  Law enforcement officials are
largely uninformed in this area
according to Skip. Understanding
the motives behind the practice
of occultism and their connection
with crime was the objective of
his portion of the seminar.

       THREE BELIEF SYSTEMS

  "I thought I would develop a
course which would elaborate on
the three basic belief systems
from which all religions stem:
the Judeo-Christian biblical
view (and I separate that from
people who just call themselves
Christians), the humanist/communist
view of no supernatural, and the
occult of Eastern mysticism view.

  "I wanted to show how people
were desensitized to traditional
value systems and made receptive
for recruiting purposes to
Satanic activity. The farther we
move into the occult, the more we
become receptive to hard core
Satanic activities," he stated.

  As people get involved in
seemingly harmless activities, they
become susceptible to more danger-
ous things. Occultics screen
prospects to see how open they are
to occultic philosophy. They begin
with milder lures such as tarot
cards, Ouija boards, psychic read-
ings, astrology, reincarnation, and
other mystical experiences.

  Another aspect of Satanism Skip
wanted to convey is how dedicated
participants are to their beleifs.
Often blood oaths are sworn. Pictu-
res of family members are required
to keep initiates true to their
vows, under threat of harm to
loved ones.

  All this shows that Satanists are
not just acting out deviant behav-
ior, they are committed to a belief
system. Many are highly educated
people who strive for power -
something not as characteristic of
average persons. "We're talking
about power andego here," Skip
described.

  Does that mean that Satanit are
better criminals, thus harder to
catch? Not necessarily. But it is
more difficult to prove a conspi-
racy, which is why police officers
need to recognize patterns of
Satanic activity when crimes
result.

  "I told them not to look for
Satanists under every rock," Skip
remarked, acknowledging that not
all criminal activities like those
he described are commited by
Satan worshippers. His purpose was
to show that the conflict between
the occult and Christianity needs
to be taken seriously.

           SATAN IS REAL

  Not only police officers but
Christians need to be more aware
of Satanic activities, Skip
states. Many who say they believe
the Bible are not convinced that
Satan exsists as the character of
evil it describes. To some, he
represents more a folk anti-hero
whom Christians blame for their
own shortcomings.

  "I think the Christians, if they
do believe in Satan, think he's
going to show up in a red suit with
a pitchfork," Skip remarked.

  He noted that the occult as a
form of religious expression is
not against the law. But, he
added, "Once your religious
practices start bordering on
criminal acts, then we have a
problem."

  Skip continued, "For the
occultists, their ultimate goal
for the individual is power." This
is the same goal of for which the
New Agers and humanists strive.

  The New Age Movement ia a decep-
tive and faddish indoctrination
agent which funnels many adherents
into occultic beliefs and prac-
tices. Skip has an interest in the
New Age Movement, he says, "because
I came out of it and I recognize
it's dangers."

  He lists it's goals as a one-
world government, one-world
economic system, one-world religion
and one-world leader. Religious as
well as social and political
philosophies, can be seen confor-
ming to this man-centered response
to the world's problems.

  An attempt to implement such a
system was demonstrated in Nazi
Germany. "Hitler's was a good
example of an occultic, Eastern
mysticism type of belief system,"
says Skip.

 "A lot of people look at Hitler
as a Christian.' Some of the (Nazi)
officers had 'In God We Trust' on
their belt buckles. But when you
look at their belief system - not
what they said but what they actu-
ally believed - their writtings
revealed an occultic belief
system," he described.

  "Thats what allowed him to kill
six million Jews. He (thought he)
was just transporting them back to
another dimension, so to speak,
where they are purified and re-
incarnated and sent back."

    OFFICERS CONFIRM TEACHING

  Initially, Skip said, his stu-
dents were alittle skeptical. But
as he explained the relationship
between occultic beliefs and crimes
some officers told of complaints
in their jurisdictions which
resembled what Skip described.

  Because this occultic belief
system is based on the character
of Satan, Skip had to teach where
that character comes from - the
Bible. It was also necessary to
explain both the Christian and
occultic views to illustrate what
occultist oppose.

  Here the philosophies of the
New Age and occultism interlock.
Satanists commit crimes to create
terror and confusion. This coin-
cides with a New Age concept of
"critical instability."

  Critical instability is when the
public responds to converging
crises with increasing panic.
Eventually they reach a point where
they are willing to trade thier
personal liberties for the promise
of security and comfort.

  Lawlessness helps propel a
society to this theoretical situa-
tion, along with famine, war,
plagues, poverty, and natural
desasters. When the media play on
the sensational nature of such
events, they help these anti-
Christian elements promote fear
and set the stage for a world
system which promises to end
despair.

  "Into that power vacuum will step
someone who will probably look very
benevolent, even religious. He will
solve those particular problems for
us," Skip stated.

         SELLING A MESSAGE

  "We have to understand that we
are being sold a message," he
added. "What happens is this: Say
you and I are nice people and we
never get involved in Satanism.
But the harmonic convergence and
peace movement - we like that."

  The entertainment media also
advance the goals of the occult
by portraying their activities
in a way which instills their
values in the minds of the
viewers. According to Skip, this
is largely responsible for the
dramatic increase in young people
becoming involved in the occult.

  More significant to Skip than
conspicuous occultism, he says,
is what he calls the underground
Satanist church, which operates
most effectively when it keeps
a low profile.

  "That's the one were really
concerned with. Some who get
involved are just kids, and they're
playing around with it. You have to
understand, kids are a good recrui-
ting ground," he notes. Other prime
recruiting areas are college
campuses and military bases.

  Skip concluded, "I believe the
Bible, and I believe Jesus Christ
is coming back. Do I believe I can
stop any of this stuff? I don't
believe I can stop it, but I
believe that everybody should be
informed so they can look for it
and make their own decisions."



===================================
           End of Article
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Sysop's note:

   I wish to thank Randy Walter for
permission to reprint this article.

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