The Satanic Panic of the 1980s:The torture-execution of tens of thousands of "Witches" and other heretics lasted for about three centuries. Superstitions about Witches, Satan, Sabbats, familiars, and other topics became imbedded in the culture. Many of the folk tales about evil "Witches" and Satan worshipers still circulate today. During the 1980s a widespread belief in the existence of modern-day secret Satanic cults surfaced. The fear was partly triggered by a series of four books: Michelle Remembers, 3 Satan Seller, Satan's Underground and He Came to Set the Captives Free. All contain what the authors claim to be personal experiences with Satanism - as victim or perpetrator. Satanists were believed to ritually abuse and sacrifice both animals and humans. All four books have been reported to be works of fiction by various Evangelical and Wiccan investigators. By the turn of the century, after through investigations by police extending over two decades turned up no hard evidence of the existence of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA), belief in its existence has largely faded. However, it still surfaces from time to time among some conservative Protestants, a few feminists, and among personnel at some animal shelters.
Why you often can't adopt a black cat at Halloween:Back in the late 1990s, when the Satanic Panic had almost run its course, belief in SRA appeared to be still strong within the animal protection community. In 1996, Nancy Suro, director of the Maxfund, a pet-adoption agency in Colorado, said:
In 1997, Deborah Thomas the executive director of the Maryland SPCA said:
In 1999, K.C. Baker of the Daily News in New York City wrote:
Some animal shelters and humane societies across North America still ban the adoption of black cats over the Halloween season. Phil Morgan is executive director of the Kootenai Humane Society in Coeur d'Alene ID. Twenty-eight of the 97 cats at his shelter in late 2006-OCT were black. He said:
Gail Buchwald, vice president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in New York City notes that black cats are adopted less frequently than other felines. She said:
Kim Intino, director of animal sheltering issues for the Humane Society of the United States said:
Are animal sacrifices happening today?Rituals involving animal sacrifices are common in various syncretistic religions which combine beliefs from West African Aboriginal religion and Roman Catholicism. These include Santeria, Vodun, Macumba, etc. Small animals like chickens and goats are ritually sacrificed in a humane manner, generally by cutting their carotid artery. They are later cooked and eaten after most rituals. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1993 determined that various ordinances passed by the City of Hialeah, FL to prohibit ritual sacrifices were unconstitutional. Some observers suspect that youths dabbling in a version of Satanism of their own creation occasionally engage in the ritual sacrifice of cats and other small animals. However evidence of this activity is sparse, and the practice appears to be extremely rare. As Franny Syufy of About.com wrote:
We suspect that when evidence of such killings are found, they are most likely the product of psychopaths, not a person or group engaged in a religious ritual. Religious Satanists are unlikely candidates for ritual sacrifices of animals because Satanists value the life force in humans and animals. Wiccans and other Neopagans have never been known to sacrifice any living entity higher on the evolutionary chain than an apple or orange.
References used:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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