Satanism: Crime, Deviance and Disorders

This article deals with a phenomenon that is often spoken about, reported in the media, but about which very little empirical evidence has emerged over the years. Only a handful of criminologists have addressed this phenomenon. This stems from the belief that supernatural phenomena cannot be researched using scientific methods. However, within the phenomenological paradigm, there is room for engaging informants who report their lived experiences. Scientific opinion, as far as social sciences are concerned, confines spirituality to Theology and Anthropology. The notion of the supernatural should otherwise be confined to private life. Against this background, the authors claim that it is rather a general tendency within the scientific community to either consider the spiritual world as a superstition and a phenomenon not to be engaged in. Spirituality should thus be relegated to private discourse. Therefore, the authors endeavour to shed the light on the topic by defining concepts, presenting typologies from the literature, as well as concerning crime and Satanism. The recruitment strategies, as well as the means of control over the followers, are presented, and then specific crimes, abuse, psychological disorders and spiritual possession are discussed. The goal of this paper is to stimulate researchers to tackle this secretive phenomenon and its criminological connections as the perpetration of crime have often been reported where there was the evidence of rituals. Spirituality is the part of life for billions of people in the world and is it worth to be investigated Perhaps it is rather a lack of interest or even fear that leads to the dearth of research in this area.

Silko’s Vévé and the Web of Differing Versions

In Almanac of the Dead, Leslie Marmon Silko asks, who has spiritual possession of the Americas? This question cannot be answered outside of Silko’s premises: it is impossible for outsiders to know where Africa ends and America begins; and the truth resides in the web of differing versions. In this essay, I maintain that Silko’s novel is written as a vévé—a crossroads where Gods and ancestors are subjects capable of narration. Using Silko’s language philosophy and a through close reading of Clinton’s notebooks and radio broadcasts, I argue that slavery/colonization and black/Indian must always be thought together.

Spiritual Possession and the Role of Traditional Healers in Nepal

Spiritual possession is a relatively common phenomenon, and occurs in many cultures around the world. It is a frequent claim in Nepal that illness is caused by spiritual possession, and ill people often seek out traditional healers for treatment. Traditional healers are often not medically trained, and this could have an adverse effect on a person’s health as serious illnesses may not be managed appropriately. However, there is perhaps a role that traditional healers can play in the management of patients.Keywords: Culture; Nepal; spirit possession; traditional medicine.

Media portrayals of mental disorder in Saudi Arabia: a review of popular newspapers

Newspapers are influential sources of information and opinion on mental health, but careless reporting may reinforce stigma. This review examined portrayals of mental disorder in Saudi Arabian newspapers. A cross-sectional sample (N = 200) of relevant articles was obtained from four of the most popular newspapers. These were categorised for descriptive and thematic analysis, using an established framework. The theme of highest frequency was advocacy, actions, and concerns; such articles were likely to have a positive impact by raising public awareness. Similarly, numerous reports with the theme of treatment and recovery informed readers of developments in mental health care, potentially breaking down barriers to seeking help. The theme of blame was found in a quarter of the articles; in addition to discussing environmental and genetic factors, there were several commentaries or reports on spiritual possession, which could perpetuate stigmatising ideas. While portrayals of mental disorder in Saudi newspapers show similarities to media coverage in other countries, distinct cultural perspectives were evident, including the prevailing notion of the ‘evil eye’. The authors recommend collaboration of mental health experts, patients and family carers to devise guidelines for more accurate reporting of mental disorder by Saudi media.

Against Scarecrows and Half-Baked Christians

The aim of this paper is to trace Thomas Hobbes’s arguments for the rejection of spiritual possession in Leviathan (1651). Several layers of Hobbes’s thought converge in this subject: his suggestion regarding the sovereign’s right to control religious doctrine; his mechanistic critique of incorporeal substances; his tirade against demonology and Pagan philosophy; his ideas about fear and the natural seeds of religion; his Biblical criticism. Hobbes’s reflections over the matter of spiritual possession allowed him to simultaneously attack institutionalized and charismatic supernatural experiences, rejecting on Biblical as well as philosophical grounds the possibility of demonic and divine possession. This assault on traditional pneumatology led him to new interpretations of the notions of spirit and immateriality, a core element in Leviathan’s resignification of the interaction between nature and supernature. The paper will address Hobbes’s call for a civil exorcism―political, exegetical, and philosophical―against the spiritual powers that possess the Commonwealth.

A Paradigm shift in pre-theoretical deliberations on crime within spiritual existentialism

Explanations on the origins of life, spiritual possession and death after life cannot be explained from a naturalistic, positivistic methodological view point simply because scientists have not ventured deep enough to develop measuring instruments for these phenomena. This inadequacy in positivism has led to the exclusion of theoretical explanations of crime and desistance as a result of spirituality. The anomaly can be discharged, had it not been that a bias has developed against spiritual phenomena which is substantiated in this article. In a liberal world, emphasising freedom of conscience and speech, this is a contradiction worthy of enquiry. Our existential world has for ages been affected by behaviour, claimed to be influenced by the supernatural. The question is whether criminologists can ignore phenomena such as spiritual possession claimed by especially Africans, aboriginal peoples and some religions? Many perpetrators, by their own testimonies, as indicated in the article, have been motivated by spiritual phenomena in the perpetration of crime. It is necessary to indicate that the article does not favour a purely spiritual (or religious) approach to crime but calls for an epistemological assumption within Criminology that encourages philosophical debates and theory development, giving consideration to spirituality. This article argues for a pre-theoretical debate in criminological philosophy1 and to develop our research into a phenomenological capacity to deal with metaphysical issues.

Satanism, the Occult, Mysticism and Crime: Perspectives on the Inversion of Christianity

The philosophical premises should be the constructs and ideas from which grand theoretical perspectives can be deduced. As Himes and Schulenberg (2013:1) put it, “Philosophy and theory are perpetually linked; philosophy influences how one sees the world, theory shapes how one intentionally interacts with that world”. Let us just for a moment doubt science and challenge its dogma. What if science is not able to measure a dimension of life and then ignores it and teaches people to make this a private dimension and not to insist that this dimension also asserts itself in the public domain. What if people intuitively know that there is a spiritual world but are bombarded by scientific dogma to ignore it? Explanations on the origin of life, spiritual possession and death after life cannot be explained from a positivistic methodological view point simply because scientists have not been able to develop measuring instruments for these phenomena. To ignore sacred things and experiences and to be informed that you are “hallucinating” may be a cause for anxiety and, depression. Scientists are not comfortable when confronted by mysticism, metaphysical tendencies and religion. Despite the stance of scientists not to engage in matters that cannot be scientifically measured, millions of lives around the globe are affected by “super-natural phenomena.” The article looks at the spiritual world from a biblical perspective in order to demonstrate that Satanism and occult practices are the inverse of Christianity. The objective is to establish a cross-disciplinary approach to find answers to some crimes that seems to be motivated by spiritual possession and mystic beliefs.

Henry Irving and the Staging of Spiritualism

Spiritualism enjoys an equivocal reputation not unlike that of wrestling – for whatever their intrinsic qualities, both benefit greatly from the trappings of showmanship. Supposed spiritualist mediums first manifested themselves during the Victorian era, which seems to have been highly susceptible to such fraudsters as the American Davenport brothers – whose touring ‘seances’ were, however, greeted with rather more scepticism in the North of England than in London. While audiences seemed to enjoy the way in which such demonstrations of spiritual possession were presented in a manner resembling a professional conjuring act, professional conjurers were properly offended by such presumption. So, too, was the young Henry Irving, who, with two companions, took up a challenge in The Era, the newspaper of the variety profession, to emulate the mystical achievements of the Davenports. The following paper, which was originally presented in July 1995 at the Theatre Museum as part of the celebrations of the centenary of Irving's knighthood, traces the rise and development of the spiritualist craze, and illuminates this previously obscure aspect of Irving's career. Helen Nicholson is currently completing her PhD on the life of the Victorian actress and singer Georgina Weldon, before taking up an appointment as a drama lecturer in the English Department at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has published articles on Georgina Weldon in Occasional Papers on Women and Theatre, on the Victorian supernatural, and on Victorian fairies in History Workshop Journal.