The cultural construction of contemporary satanic legends in Israel

Folklore, Dec, 2005 by Gabriel Cavaglion, Revital Sela-Shayovitz

Abstract

This paper is based on a text analysis of the contents of sixty-three newspaper articles published in the local Israeli press covering "Cult of Satan" activities. The response in the form of an anti-satanic movement in Israel and its rhetorical narrative are compared with phenomena in other western countries. Analysis focuses on why Satanism has remained more on the level of emergence and awareness in the press, and has not resulted in any grassroots mobilisation or official intervention in Israel.

Introduction

The main modern satanic church was founded in San Francisco in the mid-1960s by Anton Szandor LaVey, a former police photographer and circus animal trainer. He authored The Satanic Bible, which has reputed sales of over half a million copies. In his book, LaVey rejects the Christian versions of both God and the devil, and formulates a religious philosophy championing the latter as the symbol of personal freedom and individualism (Lewis 2001, 3). Other satanic churches have put forward a similar synthesis of philosophy, fraternal organisation and occult costumes for initiates, and disseminate ideals of rational self-interest, hedonism, indulgence and an anti-herd mentality. However, these churches, which only attract a few thousand believers, issue explicit directives to their members not to engage in any antisocial acts, wild orgies and debauches included (Lyons 1970, 174; Richardson 1997).

The debate on satanic churches should not be confused with discussions on adolescent Satanism. There is little doubt that groups of teenagers have been known to carry out home-made satanic rituals, sometimes mixed with drug and heavy-metal parties or gang activities involving vandalism, violence, collection of Satanist paraphernalia or cruelty to animals. What is clear is that this "wild" teenage Satanism is not connected to any international conspiracy, and it differs from religious Satanism as represented by organisations such as the Church of Satan. This interpretation is corroborated by the fact that almost all the minors arrested for delinquency who claimed that their behaviour was influenced by Satanism lacked any elaborate belief system based on traditional Satan worship.

With regard to numbers of members in official churches or satanic believers in the western world, figures range from millions in the minds of "alarmist/anxiety makers" to dozens, a claim made by rational-objectivist sceptics. Both groups generate skewed statistics that are tainted by guesswork, dubious definitions and questionable measurements (cf. Best 2001b). According to more accurate and cautious scholars, it is plausible that a few thousand people are affiliated with official churches and that similar numbers are involved in occasional self-styled Satanism (Introvigne 1994; Richardson 1997).

In Israel there is no significant presence of official satanic churches. If some form of Satanism does exist, it is primarily made up of small ephemeral groups of self-proclaimed worshippers, composed primarily of teenagers and young adults. In addition to these groups, young individuals with no group affiliations have been involved in their own "self-styled" and "wild" version of satanic rituals, sometimes influenced by western heavy-metal rock culture, popular literature, movies, Internet newsgroups and comics (Rephaeli 1995; El-Chay 2003).

In Israel, no academic or official research has been conducted to date on this phenomenon or its scope. Most of the information is based on press reports, ultra-orthodox Jewish anti-cult organisations and a few accounts by self-styled members or disgruntled ex-members. These mainly stress that this "destructive cult" is on the rise and becoming more organised. The figures are inflated to hundreds, and most of the activities are portrayed as dangerous and subversive, including acts in which unusual, outrageous, bizarre, grotesque, violent or inexplicable events are said to occur, mostly among youngsters (cf. Stevens 1990, 128). Despite the fact that official inquiries by the police and the judiciary have found no basis for allegations of a satanic conspiracy, proponents have remained undeterred.

This paper is based on a text analysis of the content of articles taken from Israeli daily newspapers with wide circulations (sixty-three in total), police bulletins and weekend tabloids. Articles were taken from the Hebrew University Microfilm Archives and newspaper archives on-line. [1] All the sources were classified under the headings of "Cults," "Satanism," "Satanic Cult" and "Devil Worship." The fact that they date back to the early 1990s is one indication that the phenomenon of wild Satanism began at that time. However, public awareness was also fanned by the press during this same time period (cf. Forsyth and Olivier, 1990).

Whether real, constructed or invented, the issue of "Satanism" in Israel emerged almost ten years after it first attracted attention and created concern in other western, mostly English-speaking, countries (Richardson, Best and Bromley 1991). Moreover, the issue was prompted by, structured and "typified" similar claims, one decade after the "moral panic" sparked by mystical, eastern and human potential groups (i.e. Scientology, Emin, ISKON, Transcendental Meditation, Moonies, and so on) had reached its apex in the country (Beit-Hallahmi 1992).