Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders

by Ramsey, William

  The term Wiccan is now universally used to describe witchcraft. The word Wicca comes from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning a male witch, sorcerer or magician and wicce, a female witch or sorcerer. Gardner wrote "there are men and women witches. Each is called a wica."182 It's derivation comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for prophet or diviner. Gardner professed a comparatively simple definition of magic: "my view is that it is simply the use of some abnormal faculty."183 Wicca is a religion, like Christianity, and Witchcraft is a methodology.184 The adherents to Gardnerian Wicca follow a general rule similar to Aleister Crowley’s “Do What Thou Wilt” admonition:

  THESE EIGHT WORDS THE REDE FULFILL

  "AN YE HARM NONE, DO WHAT YE WILL.”

  Gardener described in Witchcraft Today the importance of the magical circle: "I am also permitted to tell for the first time in print the true reason why the important thing in all their ceremonies is the "Casting the Circle." Wiccans are taught that the circle is "between the worlds," that is, between this world and the next, the Dominions of the Gods. “The Old Gods are not dead. They think we are,” stated Gardner.185

  Traditionally, many rituals and even spells are performed in a circle. In a group setting, a circle shows that each person present is important to the success of the overall working. The Circle represents unity, accord, wholeness, and a safe psychic sphere within which all can find comfort and protection.186

  The circle is usually nine feet in diameter, unless made for some very special purpose. There are two circles, each of six inches, so the third circle has a diameter of eleven feet.187 When drawn, this circle is carefully purified, as also are all who celebrate the rites. Witches attach great importance to this, for within the circle is the gods' domain."188 The witches circle is intended to keep in the power of the ritual contained. Gardner stated that when the High Priest was not present, a skull and crossbones was used to represent god, death and resurrection. He also wrote that the most beautiful girl would be selected to act as high priestess and was the hostess when distinguished visitors such as the Devil turned up. An acolyte described an initiation into Gardnerian Wicca: Gardner stood in the center of a magical circle "stark naked, with wild white hair, a suntanned body, and arms which bore tattoos and a heavy bronze bracelet."189

  Every witch obtains a personal magical name in Wicca and obtains a personal knife; they have been reborn. Wiccans call this ritual knife an athame.190

  Gerald Gardner met Aleister Crowley on Beltane, May 1st, 1946. Gardner wrote that Crowley wasted money like water and that Crowley had the other mark of a charlatan: the all-pervading, almost overpowering, personal charm which brought him so many dupes:191

  By the way, Aleister Crowley was in the cults, but left in disgust. He could not stand a High Priestess having a superior position or having to kneel to her, and while he approved of the Great Rite, he was shocked at nudity. Queer man, he approved of being nude in a dirty way, but highly disapproved of it in a clean and healthy way. Also, he disapproved of the use of a scourge to release power.192

  Crowley thought witchcraft as designed by Gardner was "too tame." Gardner told a follower that he used a lot of Crowley's writings because they represented "the very spirit of paganism." Gardner himself speculated that Crowley may have invented Wicca himself. In Witchcraft Today, Gardner states that he "may have borrowed things from the cult writings, or more likely someone may have borrowed expressions from him.” Some critics have referenced this statement as an indication that Gardner based the rituals on Crowley's writings. Gardner borrowed elements from Crowley such as the Gnostic Mass, which became the basis for the Wiccan Great Rite. "There are indeed expressions and certain words used that smack of Crowley...”193 The Great Rite ceremony forming the third degree initiation into Wicca was based on the sixth degree ritual for the OTO. The male represents Baphomet and the woman represents Lady Babalon. Most of the material plagiarized from Crowley was excised between 1954-57 to placate females turned off by Crowley’s male chauvinism and to prevent ill repute upon the Craft.

  Occult author Francis King claims that Gardner paid Crowley a large fee to write the rituals of Wicca. A Crowley disciple, Gerald Yorke, verified this claim by writing that Gardner paid Crowley about 300 pounds for an O.T.O. charter. This particular charter was on display at the Witchcraft Museum on the Isle of Man. Clumsily drafted by Gardner, the Charter is signed by Crowley on the bottom left as Baphomet, his O.T.O title.194 Also, Gardner traveled to Los Angeles where he met Jack Parsons, the young rocket scientist and Aleister Crowley disciple who ran the Agape Lodge in Pasadena, California.195

  Gardner became a business partner with Cecil Williamson, a farmer, producer and former MI6 agent. Together they launched a witchcraft museum in Castletown on the Isle of Man in southern England. The first floor of the witchcraft museum was outfitted as a magicians study, containing the necessary equipment for practicing ritual magic. A drawing of a magical circle covered the floor, with an altar flanked with two pillars in the style of a Golden Dawn or Masonic temple.196 One author claimed there was a prototype of the Book of Shadows exhibited at the Witchcraft Museum and that Gardner’s first American initiate, Raymond Buckland, referred to it.

  O.T.O. CharterDrafted by Gerald Gardner, signed by Aleister Crowley

  on lower left as Baphomet

  Raymond Buckland

  Raymond Buckland established a Wiccan coven in the United States based upon Gerald Gardner’s teachings. Buckland briefly met Gardner in England in 1963. The author of over forty books on the subject of witchcraft, Buckland currently lives in Ohio. Of Gardner, Buckland stated:

  Gardner was, almost single-handedly, responsible for the resurgence of interest in the Old Religion; certainly in establishing it as a viable alternative to the established creeds. I’m happy to say that I was able to play a small part in that renaissance myself, by extending Gardener’s teachings to the shores of the United States. Today Wicca is practiced around the world.197

  Buckland acknowledged that Gardner’s interest in the Old Religion brought Wicca to the entire world. As noted earlier in this book, the West Memphis coven and Damien Echols used Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft as a reference manual and guidebook. There are important correlations between information in the Complete Book of Witchcraft and the West Memphis case.

  The Theban Alphabet

  The Theban alphabet is used almost exclusively by Wiccans as a substitution cipher to protect magical writings from prying eyes. It originated as a magical alphabet; the exact origin of the text is unknown. The Theban alphabet first appeared in print in medieval occultist Henry Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy in 1531, where its origins were ascribed to the legendary magus Honorius of Thebes.

  This alphabet is occasionally referred to as the “Runes of Honorius,” although Theban is not a runic alphabet. While it resembles some ancient alphabets, it is unknown before Agrippa’s publication. It is little used as a magical alphabet, except as an occasional substitute for Anglo-Saxon runes, or for making charms and amulets. Theban was introduced to Wicca by its founder, Gerald Gardner. To use Theban as a cipher, simply substitute Theban letters for English letters.

  Cord Magick

  Cords are an important part of magick in witchcraft. Historically, cords were used in spellcraft, especially knot magick in Egypt, Arabia, and Europe, and they continue to carry that role today.198

  Typically, a nine foot long cord (three times three) is used for the knot magick. Wiccans believe that the cord functions as a storage cell for power. Woodcuts from the Middle Ages show witches offering knotted cords for sale. Sailors would buy them, and if sailing was slow, would untie the knot and call forth wind to propel their ships. Wiccans chant the following words while engaging in cord magick:

  By knot of one, the spell’s begun,

  By knot of two, it cometh true,

  By knot of three, so mote it be,

  By knot of four, this power I store,

  By knot of five, the s
pell’s alive,

  By knot of six, this spell I fix,

  By knot of seven, events I’ll leaven,

  By knot of eight, it will be fate,

  By knot of nine, what’s done is mine.199

  Modern Wiccans and Witches use knot symbolism in the following types of spells:

  1. Bindings and banishings (especially of illness and negative energy),

  2. Channeling energy into a specific location (the energy can be captured in the knot, and then released when most needed),

  3. Fixing relationships,

  4. “tying up loose ends” in a situation.200

  Talismanic Magick

  A talisman is an object endowed with magickal powers for use by its owner. According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a talisman is “a magickal figure charged with the force that it is intended to represent.” Often, the talisman would be endowed with a magical sigil, or seal. Before working on the creation of the sigil, the practitioner would determine the intent, or goal, of the sigil. The creator of the talisman would begin by using a magical square, typically consisting of 9 numbers. The desired word or object would be spelled out by tracing the numerology of the word in the magic square, forming an abstract figure, whose meaning would be known only to the practitioner.

  Magic Square

  Sigil Examples

  Esbats and Sabbats

  The regular meetings of Witches are called Esbats. It is at these that any work is done (e.g., magick, healing). Most covens meet once a week, but there is really no hard and fast rule. There should certainly be a Circle at least once a month, at the Full Moon. Since there are thirteen Full Moons in the year, then, obviously, there will be at least thirteen meetings in the year. In addition to the Full Moons, many covens also celebrate the New Moons.201

  There are eight Sabbats in the course of the year. These are times to celebrate; to rejoice with the gods and have a good time...there’s much feasting and merriment.202

  Eight Wiccan Feasts of the Year

  1. Imbolc February 1st / 2nd

  2. Spring Equinox March 20th / 21st

  3. Beltane April 30th / 1st May

  4. Midsummer June 21st / 22nd

  5. Lughnasadh / Lammas

  August 1st / 2nd

  6. Autumn Equinox September 20th / 21st

  7. Samhain (Halloween) October 31st /November

  8. Yule / Winter Solstice

  December 20th / 21st

  12. Witches and Witch HUNTs:

  Past to Present

  There is no starting date for the witch hunts in Europe. Fear of spell-casters, sorcerers and witches date back to the beginnings of recorded history. A resurgence of widespread persecution of the practitioners of witchcraft rose during the Later Middle Ages. Estimates vary but somewhere between 40,000 to 100,000 people purported to be witches were killed during the witch trials. Often, torture was used to obtain confessions. The Catholic Church controlled ecclesiastical positions and based their condemnation of witchcraft upon the fact that individuals made a pact with the devil, making witchcraft a heresy against the Holy Roman Church. The methodology of witch trials varied from nation to nation, city to city.

  In the 14th-century, the Knights Templar were persecuted for witchcraft. The charges against them included sodomy and making pacts with the Devil. While the King of France, Philip the Fair, had much to gain financially from the destruction of the Templars, rumors of witchcraft helped solidify public outrage against the Order of the Templars.

  Prosecution of witchcraft became more common in the 15th century. Trials took place in Switzerland, Germany and France, resulting in the standard form of execution--burning at the stake. Thus, modern adherents of witchcraft refer to the Middle Age persecutions as the Burning Times. Some modern witches purport that over 7,000,000 witches were burned during the witch hunts, which is implausible considering the total population of Europe from the 15th to the 17th Centuries. The trials against witches had similar patterns---lawyers would confront the accused with one or more of the following charges:

  1)that they met regularly at Sabbats,

  2)have sex with each other or the Devil,

  3)abused, harmed or even ate children,

  4)formally renounced Christ, and/or mocked the sacraments of the Holy Church.

  In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a formal written statement or Papal Bull that gave full backing for the work of local inquisitors against witchcraft. Responding to the Papal Bull, the most infamous treatise against witchcraft and the most influential, titled Malleus Maleficarum, (“The Witch Hammer” published in 1489) was written by members of the Dominican Order in Southern Germany. Printed widely in Gutenberg presses, the Malleus Maleficarum attempted to coherently address the problem of witchcraft and devised ways to prosecute and punish magical practitioners. In 1522, Protestant reformer Martin Luther bluntly declared that witches were the Devil’s whores.

  Another important witch hunting guide, Demonolatry, was published by French lawyer Nicholas Remy in 1595. Thought to have witnessed witch trials in his youth, he became the foremost French witch hunter of his time. He blamed the death of one of his sons upon a witche’s curse, making his persecutions a personal matter. Lurid descriptions of devil worshipping witches fill the pages of Demonolatry, which soon supplanted the Malleus Maleficarum as the reference book of choice for witch hunters in Europe.

  In England, King James I ascended the throne in 1603 with a conviction that witchcraft threatened his sovereignty and subjects. Prior to his coronation as King of England and Ireland, James I witnessed witch trials while King of Scotland. 300 people were charged with witchcraft in North Berwick. In addition to sponsoring the King James edition of the Bible, he penned his own witch hunting manual, Daemonologie in 1597, which states:

  The fearefull aboundinge at this time in this countrie, of these detestable slaves of the Devil, the Witches or enchaunters, hath moved me (beloved reader) to dispatch in post, this following treatise of mine (...) to resolve the doubting (...) both that such assaults of Satan are most certainly practised, and that the instrument thereof merits most severely to be punished.203

  Daemonologie by King James I

  James passed laws that condemned to death any persons causing harm to persons or property by witchcraft. This strident approach led to unnecessary prosecutions based upon weak evidence and in one instance, required his personal involvement to defuse a fevered persecution and prevent an innocent person from punishment; i. e., burned at the stake.

  Three-fourths of the time, women were the accused in witch trials. The lawyers attending to the cases, always male, believed women were more likely to be handmaidens to the Devil, commonly perceived as a masculine figure. Also, women of the Middle Ages had less status and power, making accusations and charges easier to bring by prosecutors on more vulnerable persons. Often, confessions occurred after severe torture, the persecutor often encouraging the victim to confess in order for the punishment to stop, which would in turn lead to their condemnation and death.

  Puritan William Perkins wrote Discourse on the Damned Art of Witchcraft in 1608. He delineated all the indications of witchcraft, much of it based upon circumstantial evidence. The information in the book clearly indicates that all classes of Pilgrim society understood the myths and folklore superstitions concerning witchcraft. Trials, condemnations and executions for witchcraft began in the 1640’s in New England. Often the accusation of witchcraft occurred following personal disputes. Cases of early New England witch trials were recorded by John Hale in A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft, published in 1702. Increase Mather and his son, Cotton influenced the approach to witchcraft in seventeenth century New England. Both held a common Judeo-Christian, “providential” view of society’s place in the world, seeing all blessings and cursings dependent upon that community’s obedience to a just God. Increase Mather, a Puritan minister, an influential member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and an administrator of Harvard Col
lege, wrote An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Providence. The book vividly depicts the New England Puritans fighting on God’s side against the Devil for control of the New World. Supernatural events and descriptions of witchcraft permeate the pages, cover to cover.

  Increase Mather believed that individuals could be involved in witchcraft, but also stated “It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned.”204 His son Cotton, however, took an active role in the supporting the superstitions of the Colonial Era while a Puritan minister in Boston. He depicted New England as besieged by witchcraft and saw the primordial and pagan controlled New World just beyond the colonies as the “Devil’s Territories.”205 His fevered and apocalyptic views shaped public perceptions in the New England colonies and laid the groundwork for the Salem witch trials.