Moody observed a sample subject, “Billy G.,” over a period of many months. He watched this young man change from a person whose level of anxiety was so great that he could not even speak to a member of the opposite sex into a more “normal” young man who could interact with men and women, both inside and outside the church. Billy G. slowly worked through various rituals, many of which were composed of behaviorist techniques to lessen anxiety.
In one example Moody gave a new twist to that fact of contemporary Satanism most played up by the press: the nude woman who acts as the altar. In the beginning Billy G. finds this setting so disturbing that he stands at the back of the room. In succeeding weeks he moves closer. Finally, Billy G., the son of fundamentalist missionaries, is able to stand next to this woman, to talk to her, to hand her a goblet or in some way participate in the ritual without feeling ill at ease. He is given encouragement; he is told that his sexual feelings are natural and not to be denied, as his previous education had taught him. Eventually, he is able to meet women and to go out with them. He becomes socially successful. The magic works.
Ironically, Moody showed that the Church of Satan, certainly one of the less “acceptable” occult groups, actually functioned as a normalizing force, a socializing force within the larger society. It functioned much like therapy and it apparently succeeded. Moody commented on Billy G.:
If he attributes this new-found power and success to magic rather than to the insights of sociology, anthropology, or psychology, it is because such an interpretation is more in accordance with his world view and the categories of understanding which he uses to give structure and meaning to his world.
In fact, it is sometimes difficult to argue against his interpretation. If psychology explains personal interactions in terms of hypothesized “forces” at work, forces which are known and measured only through the perception of their effects, then how is that different, the Satanist asks, from magic? Satanists say, with some justification, “When magic becomes scientific fact we refer to it as medicine or astronomy.” (La Vey, 1969).
Moody ended his paper by encouraging the growth of the Church of the Trapezoid and arguing that such institutions socialized individuals for whom traditional therapy had failed and, paradoxically, served to bring people closer to cultural norms. Why is there a growth of magical groups today, Moody asked. He concluded that it was “an attempt by various people to regain a sense of control over their environment and their lives.” It is important to note what Moody did not say. He did not employ the standard cliché that people become occultists to gain power over others, although, of course, some may join for that reason. He did not say that such people want to retreat from the world. Instead, he said that they join these groups in order to gain a sense of self-mastery, to be in control of their own lives
in the world.
Moody concluded:
This seems to be a time when many of the gods of the Western world, like the old traditional gods of the urbanizing African, are being challenged. God is dead, but that means not just the Judeo-Christian god but also the gods of progress, science and technology. We put our faith in “him,” but now the god of progress is discovered to be a two-faced Janus about to extract a terrible price for our progress and comfort; the god of science has failed us and has not created the paradise we were led to expect, free from disease and ignorance and death. Instead he threatens us with destruction with either the apocalypse of atomic conflagration or a slow death by chemical pollution. The god of technology reveals his “true” face and our streams die, our lakes atrophy, and the very air is turned into a subtle poison. . . . In such time the people look to new gods or try to refurbish the old ones. . . .
Now that external sources of truth, the experts and scientists, have failed us, many people have begun to look within themselves for their source of wisdom and security. Some have begun to reassert the necessity of finding personal solutions. In a certain sense witchcraft
ab
is a product of these needs. If the world of the Satanist is a criterion, the Satanist is training himself to be assertive and powerful
as an individual.
Although he draws a sense of security from his association with powerful forces, he is finding inner sources of strength. He is casting off the need for powerful gods to protect and care for him, insisting that he is strong enough to care for himself. He commands the gods and does not beseech them. He is turning from an ethereal and other-worldly orientation to a somewhat more realistic assessment and concern with the mundane and real world.
27
Moody's point that the occult functions as a rationalizing force is made in another article, “Urban Witches,” in which he argued that much that is called magic is actually a learning process of social behavior and interpersonal games. Magic, he wrote, allows its practitioners to cope better “with the everyday problems of life, with the here and now.”
28
Sociologist Marcello Truzzi took a similar position. In 1972, in an article “The Occult Revival as Popular Culture,” Truzzi wrote that the revival of occultism involved a broad spectrum of individuals, many of whom were “not the simple identity-seeking variety that some have portrayed them to be.” Truzzi argued that occultists tend to be playful with ideas that were once greatly feared and that therefore the rise of occultism is evidence of a victory over the supernatural. He wrote: “What we are seeing is largely a demystification-process of what were once fearful and threatening cultural elements.”
29
In another paper, “Toward a Sociology of the Occult: Notes on Modern Witchcraft,” Truzzi wrote that Witchcraft groups have, in general, very little supernaturalism. He found most occultism to be naturalistic and pragmatic, “a kind of deviant science.” He noted that most occultists seek scientific validation of their claims and regard themselves as scientific in a philosophical sense, working within an “ultimate purview of scientific understanding,” Truzzi observed:
In this sense, it would appear that there has been a kind of secularization of magic in adaptation to the modern scientific and naturalistic world view. Thus, what were once described in the occult literature as supernatural psychic forces are now examples of extra-sensory perception of a kind basically examinable and potentially understandable in the psychologist's laboratory.
30
Taken collectively, these articles present a wealth of diverse viewpoints. These writers give the lie to the simple stereotypes about “the occult” that many people accept unconsciouslyâthat it is irrational, escapist, retreatist, and so forth. These articles show that whatever is going on here is, and has always been, much more complicated than most people generally allow.
Appendix II: Rituals
Space limitations prevent me from reprinting many of the beautiful and varied rituals and poems that modern Pagans have written. I include five here. They may give you some small idea of this literature.
Woman-Charms: A Litany
ac
by Morgan McFarland
Â
I AM THE WHITE DOE WHO SEVEN TIMES FLEES.
I am pure and fleet, for I know that capture is Death to my Soul.
I AM A GREY FLOOD UPON WHICH THE BOAT IS TOSSED.
I ebb, and I flood, and my water is uneasy.
I AM A VIOLENT WIND THAT STIRS THE DEPTHS.
I rise up in anger from my uneasy slumber.
I AM A SUN-SPIKE RIPPING THROUGH THE CLOUDS.
I shall give forth the pure ray of reality.
I AM A BIRD OF PREY WHO PROTECTS HER BROOD.
I am cunning and canny and give shelter to my children.
I BRING FORTH TERROR AS THE NIGHT-CROW.
I guard the boundaries and seek the enemy from his corners.
I AM DENSE SMOKE AND HEAVY FIRE.
I cloud the reason of Man and elevate she who would brave my flame.
I AM THE FRE-FORGED SWORD WHOSE BLADE IS BLOOD-TEMPERED.
I am the Amazon who never wounds, but destroys the usurper, row upon row.
I AM WISER THAN THE CIRCLING SALMON WITHIN THE HOLY POOL.
I am the hazel nut that feeds the Wicce and spells the lore in her ear.
I AM THE VARIECOLOURED SNAKE WHO CROWNS THE HILL OF INSPIRATION.
I inflict the deadly sting upon the heavy-footed and uninspired.
I AM THE THICKET THAT WILL HIDE NEITHER THE BOAR NOR THE ROEBUCK.
I am the Daughter who wields the spear of the Sacred Name.
I AM A TIDE MORE VIOLENT THAN ITS WAVES SPEAK.
I am the terror in the shingle's rattle against the crumbling cliffs.
I AM THE SEA WAVES WHOSE CREST IS BRILLIANT FOAM.
I shall not be stopped, and I shall ceaselessly eat away the enemy shore.
WHO KNOWS THE SECRETS OF THE UNHEWN DOLMEN?
I, who am Woman: or its stones are my living, and its portal, my heart.
I, who am Woman: or I am the structure that opens to give Life passage.
I, who am Woman: for I am also the door that takes Life into Death.
I AM PRIESTESS AND WOMAN.
I am my Mother's Daughter.
Litany of the Earth-Mother
ad
O Earth-Mother, Thou of uncounted names and faces, Thou of the many-faceted Nature in and above All, Nature Incarnate, Love and Life fulfilled; look favorably upon this place, grace us with Your Presence, inspire and infuse us with Your powers; by all the names by which You have been known, O Earth-Mother:
COME UNTO US.
Thou Whom the Druids call Danuâ
COME UNTO US.
Thou Who art Erde of the Germansâ
COME UNTO US.
Thou Whom the Slavs call Zivaâ
Thou Who art Nerthus of the Vanirâ
Thou Whom the Poles call Marzyanaâ
Thou Who art Frigga of the Aesirâ
Thou Whom the Romans call Terraâ
Thou Who art Diana to the Etruscansâ
Thou Whom the Persians call Kybeleâ
Thou Who art Iphimedeia, Mighty Queen of the Greeksâ
Thou Whom the Egyptians call Nuit, Star Motherâ
Thou Who art Ninmah of Sumeriaâ
Thou Whom the Hittites call Kubalaâ
Thou Who art Mami-Aruru of Babalonâ
Thou Whom the Caanites call Arsaiâ
Thou Who art Our Lady of Biblos in far Phoniciaâ
Thou Whom the children of Crete call Mountain Motherâ
Thou Who art Yemanja of the Umbandaâ
Thou Whom the Dahomeans call Erzulieâ
Thou Who art Shakti and Parvati of Indiaâ
Thou Whom the Tibeteans call Green Taraâ
Thou Who art Kwanyin of Chinaâ
Thou Whom the Nipponese call Izanamiâ
Thou Who art Sedna and Nerivik of the Eskimosâ
Thou Whom the Pawnee call Uti-Hiataâ
Thou Who art Cornmother of the Plainsâ
Thou Whom the Navaho call Estanatlehiâ
Thou Who art Ometeotl and Guadalupe in Mexicoâ
Thou Whom the Islanders call Hina-alu-oka-moanaâ
Thou Who art the Great Mother, the Star Goddess, the All Creating Oneâ
Mother of All, we call upon Youâ
Terra Mater, Mater Sotier, Earth-Motherâ
COME UNTO US!
Self Blessing
ae
This ritual should be performed during the new moon, but it is not limited to that phase. Need, not season, determines the performance. There is real power in the Self Blessing; it should not be used other than in time of need and should not be done promiscuously.
The purpose of the ritual is to bring the individual into closer contact with the Godhead. It can also be used as a minor dedication, when a person who desires dedication has no one who can dedicate him. This self blessing ritual may also be used as a minor exorcism, to banish any evil influences which may have formed around the person. It may be performed by any person upon himself, and at his desire.
Perform the ritual in a quiet place, free from distractions, and nude. You will need the following:
1. Salt, about one quarter teaspoon.
2. Wine, about an ounce.
3. Water, about one-half ounce.
4. Candle, votive or other.
The result of the ritual is a feeling of peace and calm. It is desirable that the participant bask in the afterglow so that he may meditate and understand that he has called the attention of the Godhead to himself, asking to grow closer to the Godhead in both goals and in wisdom.
When you are ready to begin, sprinkle the salt on the floor and stand on it, lighting the candle. Let the warmth of the candle be absorbed into the body. Mix the water into the wine, meditating upon your reasons for performing the self blessing.
Read the following aloud:
BLESS ME, MOTHER FOR I AM YOUR CHILD.
Dip the fingers of the right hand into the mixed water and wine and anoint the eyes,
BLESSED BE MY EYES THAT I MAY SEE YOUR PATH.
Anoint the nose,
BLESSED BE MY NOSE, THAT I MAY BREATHE YOUR ESSENCE.
Anoint the mouth,
BLESSED BE MY MOUTH THAT I MAY SPEAK OF YOU.
Anoint the breast,
BLESSED BE MY BREAST, THAT I MAY BE FAITHFUL IN MY WORK.
Anoint the loins,
BLESSED BE MY LOINS, WHICH BRING FORTH THE LIFE OF MEN AND WOMEN AS YOU HAVE BROUGHT FORTH ALL CREATION.
Anoint the feet,
BLESSED BE MY FEET, THAT I MAY WALK IN YOUR WAYS.
Remain . . . and meditate for a while.