-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006250214X/qid%3D927352586/002-3461835- 2263828 <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/006250214X/qid%3D927352586/002-34 61835-2263828">Amazon.com: A Glance: Ritual Abuse : What It Is </A> ----- Ritual Abuse : What It Is, Why It Happens, and How to Help by Margaret Smith ASIN: 006250214X Availability: This title is out of print. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Synopsis Ritual abuse, perpetrated by secretive cults within groups as diverse as Christian sects, Satanic worshipers, and even day-care providers, often involves the drugging, torture, rape, and exposure of children to animal or human sacrifice. Smith's courageous work offers clear insights and hard facts about this most underestimated form of child abuse. >From the author, Margaret Smith , May 3, 1998 additional resources Even though this book is no longer in print, I consider it to have been a success. In its lifetime, this book sold several thousand copies (in the 5 digits) and was translated into German. I have heard that copies may still be available through used bookstores or other hard-to-find book resources. Please feel free to also visit the following web-site for an on-line copy of my second book "It's Love and Unity I Want". www2.netcom.com/~comfort - Margaret ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Customer Comments Number of Reviews: 2 [EMAIL PROTECTED] from White Plains, New York , April 2, 1998 A very honest and hard look at the affects of ritual abuse. Unfortunatly this book told me about me. I hope people will read it and try to help the innocent victims of this terrible crime. I admire Margaret Smith's courage and strength to write this book in order to educate and help people know and understand, and that there is hope for survival. A reader from Michigan , January 21, 1998 A hard read, but one that is imbued with hopefulness. Of the books currently available on ritual abuse, Margaret Smith's is the clearest and cleanest. She shares information in a factual way without glossing over the experiences of survivors. This is a hard read, but one that is imbued with hopefulness, and belief in survivability. Anyone who seeks to understand the nature of good and evil should read this book, and work honestly with the reactions that will unavoidably come up. ----- an excerpt from: Ritual Abuse Margaret Smith©1993 HarperCollins Publishers 10 East 53rd Street New York, NY 10022 ISBN 0-06-250214-X 213pps ----- Preface If there is even a small chance that one ritual abuse claim is true, we owe it to all potential victims to explore the problem of ritual abuse in greater depth. Why immediately discount those who say they were ritually abused when history reveals that religious and political obsession often leads to violence? Innocent women, children, and men were tortured during the Inquisition because of religious obsession. Adolf Hitler, in the name of political obsession, turned a whole country into a murdering nation by killing innocent Jews and other minority groups. Recently, near Waco, Texas, we once again saw how the obsessive spiritual beliefs of a group, led by David Koresh who said he was the second coming of Christ, led to violence. Ritual abuse survivors say they were violently abused in religious rituals by groups that were using them as magical tools or that were trying to indoctrinate them into the belief system of the group. They say the groups are extremely violent and secretive, and hence do not live in communal settings, as was the case in Waco, Texas. Are claims of ritual abuse really that bizarre after we reflect upon the historical acts of groups that were obsessed with religion and politics? There is some truth to the claim that a few advocates for ritual abuse survivors have irresponsibly approached the topic of ritual abuse. Nevertheless, it is hasty to discount all accusations of ritual abuse merely because some advocates do not appear credible. It is not beyond the realm of possibilities that there are dangerous religious cults in our communities. Four states have now passed laws specifically prohibiting ritual child abuse. A number of studies have been conducted that illustrate the marked similarities in abuse allegations of adult and child ritual abuse survivors. Convictions have been obtained in over ten court cases in which the children made allegations of ritual abuse. We need to know more about the problem. We need to know who the groups are and what are the belief systems of the people ritually abusing children. We need to know how prevalent the problem is. We need to know how to protect the children and how to help the adults heal. We need legislation to protect the victims. We need you to care. As you read this book, you may find that some ritual abuse allegations are more difficult to believe than others. All we ask is that you believe what you can. If legislation is passed specifically prohibiting this type of criminal activity-and if our law enforcement officials are encouraged to investigate such cases-the activities of such groups will be revealed to the public. Chapter 1 What Is Ritual Abuse? Betrayal is too kind a word to describe a situation in which a father says he loves his daughter but claims he must teach her about the horrors of the world in order to make her a stronger person; a situation in which he watches or participates in rituals that make her feel like she is going to die. She experiences pain that is so intense that she cannot think; her head spins so fast she can't remember who she is or how she got there. All she knows is pain. All she feels is desperation. She tries to cry out for help, but soon learns that no one will listen. No matter how loud she cries, she can't stop or change what is happening. No matter what she does, the pain will not stop. Her father orders her to be tortured and tells her it is for her own good. He tells her that she needs the discipline, or that she has asked for it by her misbehavior Betrayal is too simple a word to describe the overwhelming pain, the overwhelming loneliness and isolation this child experiences. As if the abuse during the rituals were not enough, this child experiences similar abuse at home on a daily basis. When she tries to talk about her pain, she is told that she must be crazy. "Nothing bad has happened to you;' her family tells her Each day she begins to feel more and more like she doesn't know what is real. She stops trusting her own feelings because no one else acknowledges them or hears her agony. Soon the pain becomes too great. She learns not to feel at all. This strong, lonely, desperate child learns to give up the senses that make all people feel alive. She begins to feel dead. She wishes she were dead. For her there is no way out. She soon learns there is no hope. As she grows older she gets stronger She learns to do what she is told with the utmost compliance. She forgets everything she has ever wanted. The pain still lurks, but it's easier to pretend it's not there than to acknowledge the horrors she has buried in the deepest parts of her mind. Her relationships are overwhelmed by the power of her emotions. She reaches out for help, but never seems to find what she is looking for The pain gets worse. The loneliness sets in. When the feelings return, she is overcome with panic, pain, and desperation. She is convinced she is going to die. Yet, when she looks around her she sees nothing that should make her feel so bad. Deep inside she knows something is very, very wrong, but she doesn't remember anything. She thinks, "Maybe I am crazy." The State of Illinois Public Act #87-1167 Effective January 1, 1993 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Illinois: RITUALIZED ABUSE OF A CHILD—EXCLUSIONS—PENALTIES—DEFINITION. (a) A person is guilty of a felony when he commits any of the fol-lowing acts with, upon, or in the presence of a child as part of a ceremony, rite, or similar observance. (1) actually or in simulation, tortures, mutilates or sacrifices any warm-blooded animal or human being; (2) forces ingestion, injection or other application of any narcotic drug, hallucinogen or anaesthetic for the purpose of dulling sensitivity, cognition, recollection of, or resistance to any criminal activity; (3) forces ingestion or external application of human or animal urine, feces, flesh, blood, bones, body secretions, nonprescribed drugs or chemical compounds; (4) involves the child in a mock, unauthorized or unlawful marriage ceremony with another person or representation of any force or deity, followed by sexual contact with the child; (5) places a living child into a coffin or open grave containing a human corpse or remains; (6) threatens death or serious harm to a child, his or her parents, family, pets, or friends which instills a well-founded fear in the child that the threat will be carried out; or (7) unlawfully dissects, mutilates or incinerates a human corpse. A cult is a group of people who share an obsessive devotion to a person or idea. The cults described in this book use violent tactics to recruit, indoctrinate, and keep members. Ritual abuse is defined as the emotionally, physically, and sexually abusive acts performed by violent cults. Most violent cults do not openly express their beliefs and practices, and they tend to live separately in noncommunal environments to avoid detection. Some victims of ritual abuse are children abused outside the home by nonfamily members, in public settings such as day care. Other victims are children and teenagers who are forced by their parents to witness and participate in violent rituals. Adult ritual abuse victims often include these grown children who were forced from childhood to be a member of the group. Other adult and teenage victims are people who unknowingly joined social groups or organizations that slowly manipulated and blackmailed them into becoming permanent members of the group. All cases of ritual abuse, no matter what the age of the victim, involve intense physical and emotional trauma. Violent cults may sacrifice humans and animals as part of religious rituals. They use torture to silence victims and other unwilling participants. Ritual abuse victims say they are degraded and humiliated and are often forced to torture, kill, and sexually violate other helpless victims. The purpose of the ritual abuse is usually indoctrination. The cults intend to destroy these victims' free will by undermining their sense of safety in the world and by forcing them to hurt others. In the last ten years, a number of people have been convicted on sexual abuse charges in cases where the abused children had reported elements of ritual child abuse. These children described being raped by groups of adults who wore costumes or masks and said they were forced to witness religious-type rituals in which animals and humans were tortured or killed. In one case, the defense introduced in court photographs of the children being abused by the defendants[1] In another case, the police found tunnels etched with crosses and pentacles along with stone altars and candles in a cemetery where abuse had been reported. The defendants in this case pleaded guilty to charges of incest, cruelty, and indecent assault[2] Ritual abuse allegations have been made in England, the United States, and Canada.[3] Many myths abound concerning the parents and children who report ritual abuse. Some people suggest that the tales of ritual abuse are "mass hysteria." They say the parents of these children who report ritual abuse are often overly zealous Christians on a "witch-hunt" to persecute satanists. These skeptics say the parents are fearful of satanism, and they use their knowledge of the Black Mass (a historically well-known, sexualized ritual in which animals and humans are sacrificed) to brainwash their children into saying they were abused by satanists.[4] In 1992 I conducted a study to separate fact from fiction in regard to the disclosures of children who report ritual abuse.[5] The study was conducted through Believe the Children, a national organization that provides support and educational sources for ritual abuse survivors and their families. The first question in the study asked parents whether they were fearful of satanism prior to their child's disclosure of the ritual abuse. The results indicated that only two of the eleven parents were fearful of satanism. Eight of the parents reported they knew nothing about the elements of a Black Mass before their child first told them about the ritual abuse. The parents who are accused of being overly zealous Christians on a modern-day witch-hunt express frustration, as exemplified by one mother in the study. Parents don't want to believe this would happen to their child. When my daughter said the janitor had touched her vagina, I suggested maybe it was her tummy instead. I didn't want to believe any of it. But I couldn't shut out what she was saying. The public needs to know that going through the disclosure process is excruciating for the child and the parents. There were occasions when I vomited after hearing disclosures, many nights I didn't sleep at all, and countless tears were shed. It would have been much easier not to believe it—she would have been forced to repress the trauma and would have had to deal with the overwhelming guilt I felt, the fear of retaliation, the outrage, and grief of having lost the relationship I thought I had with my child. She lost her innocence and her right to a normal childhood, and I lost my faith in the world and in our legal system. She blamed me for sending her to the preschool where she was abused. I had to absorb her anger, pain-all her overwhelming feelings-without taking it personally. A hard thing to do when you want your child's love so much. We have repaired that bond that was frayed by the abuse, but there are scars that will never go away. Why would any parent want to put themselves-and their child-on such an emotional roller coaster? What have the children or parents gained from making ritual abuse allegations? We have been ridiculed, ostracized, and abandoned. I think of the old adage, "Kids lie to get out of trouble, not to get in trouble." Making allegations of ritual abuse gets you in big trouble! Why would anyone-child, parent, or survivor-lie about something so objectionable and unacceptable by most members of society? The children not only describe seeing a human or animal killed, but having to participate in the killing. By disclosing they are incriminating themselves-getting themselves in trouble-at least, that is their perception of what will happen. They have no motive to do that unless they are telling the truth. Another mother in the study said her six-year-old child never verbally disclosed the ritual abuse, but the behavior of her child made her speculate the child was abused in a systematic, violent fashion. She knew nothing about the Black Mass before her child started acting out the ritual abuse. She began drawing pictures of witches, people with knives, pictures with the bones exposed in the throat area. She also would get into trance-like states, and at one point pulled a knife on her brother. On another occasion, she had placed a butcher knife at her throat and was lovingly caressing the blade of the knife. Two days later she pointed a pair of scissors at her chest and asked where her heart was. She consistently, for two-and-a-half years (from age four), has bound and gagged just about every stuffed animal and Barbie doll she owns. Her drawings also include bondage. All eight of the children in this study who told their parents about the ritual abuse-as opposed to only acting out the abusewere under the age of five. One grandmother in the study noted in detail what her grandson, age three, and granddaughter, age two, told her the first time they mentioned the ritual abuse. To me, his grandmother, [the boy said,] "Mommy cut my penis with her teeth. There was a lot of blood, here," he said, indicating his lower abdomen. We had observed a couple of months prior, a cut on his penis after a visit with his mother. It had since healed. At that point it would never have occurred to us that she would have done it. We assumed he had accidentally injured himself. My granddaughter [said]: "Sally [her mother] pooped on me." The grandmother was asked in the questionnaire how she knew the two children were telling the truth. She said, The fear, the tone of voice, the clinging, the shame. Also, I know them. I know the perpetrator. There was a sense of intense gratitude from the children that I believed them. After the children told her about the abuse, the grandmother made a number of phone calls to find a therapist for them. Both children are now in therapy, talking about their experiences. In the same questionnaire, the childrens therapist also noted her recollections of the children's first disclosures of abuse. First disclosure was regarding Morris abuse—Mom touched chest, vagina, penis, pooped and peed all over me, put me inside a pillow case, put us in a bathtub and covered it so we couldn't get out, tied us up with ropes ... The therapist also noted why she believed the children. There was a great deal of intensity of feeling and trauma communicated. Showed intense fear of retaliation, had flashbacks during sessions and would become physically and verbally abusive and violent. Would curl up in a fetal position and become mute. Consistency of report over time. The therapist provided a list of behaviors exhibited by the two children that indicated ritual abuse. Description and artwork delineating a group of individuals wearing different costumes with different cult "jobs." Fear of being killed by cult. Flashbacks. Sudden changes in behavior and voice when describing events. Sexual acting out during sessions. Violent outbursts—i.e., breaking mirrors. Fear of being confined. Intense separation anxiety. Obsession with confining, tying up self and others during play. Acting out the administration of drugs during their play. Setting up ritual scenes repeatedly in the sand tray. Artwork reflecting ritual acts, lots of blood. Appearing to have multiple personalities or fragments. The grandmother reported the crimes to the police, but no charges were filed. At the end of the questionnaire, the grandmother described her frustration and rage about her inability to protect the two children from their mother. It is open season on children under the age of four in this country. They're not "court-worthy." Public education is a must. Whenever any crime is committed that is of a satanic or occult/cult nature it should at least be public knowledge that the occult or a cult member was involved in the crime and that, if correct, it was ritualistic. If the media and law enforcement have to pussy-foot around the term "satanic" fine. But "ritualistic" or "cult-like," "cult-style," "occult overtones"? Why not? it would go a long way in educating the public. And if something was overtly done in the name of Satan or in an act of worship to Satan, if that was the intent of the perpetrator, whether or not it is the official doctrine of the church of Satan, it should be included in newspaper accounts, and all other media accounts of the crime. A crime is a crime is a crime! The practice of ritual abuse is a difficult topic for many people to confront. The children are tortured and brainwashed in order to assure their loyalty to the group. The memories of ritual abuse survivors are often so graphic and perverse that some people question whether any of these stories could be true. Yet ritual abuse survivors experience overwhelming pain and trauma-related symptoms as they remember the ritual abuse: They experience violent flashbacks; their bodies feel the same sensations they felt at the time they were attacked. This is the same traumatic memory process experienced by other torture survivors and by war veterans who were traumatized on the battlefield. Ritual abuse is a real, systematic practice happening in our country today. RITUAL ABUSE IN PRESCHOOLS The main purpose of cults that ritually abuse children is to indoctrinate as many members as possible. The more people they are able to get involved in their group, the easier it is for them to justify what they are doing. Often cults will infiltrate schools, churches, daycare centers-anywhere they can go in order to recruit new members. The children who are abused in these settings are usually under the age of five and are unable to protect themselves from the manipulations of the cults. The cults appear to search for such victims because they are easier to brainwash. In the last five years, two studies were conducted comparing the similarities of reports of ritual abuse in day-care centers. The theory behind the research is that children from different parts of the country report remarkable similarities in the details of the ritual abuse. Since the children have no contact with one another, it is suggested that the similar stories indicate a widely practiced sexualized ritual that involves animal or human sacrifices. In 1987 Believe the Children conducted a study on multivictim, multiperpetrator child abuse in day-care settings.[6] Parents of victims and professionals working with victims of abuse were asked to complete a questionnaire detailing the reports of these abuses. Ninety-four percent of the respondents noted that the child reported being sexually abused by a group of adults. Seventy-eight percent of the respondents noted the child was photographed nude during the abusive acts. Fifty-nine percent of the respondents said the child described being drugged during the abuse, and 58 percent reported the child said he or she was forced to watch the mutilation or killing of animals. Sixty-four percent of the respondents reported that the child said he or she was silenced by threats that the child's parents would be killed if the child ever told of the abuse. Some respondents stated the children described the use of robes (48 percent), candles (36 percent), and knives (36 percent) during the abuse. See Table 1.1 for a summary of these results. A second study, conducted by therapist Pamela Hudson, noted the similarities in the finite details of ritual abuse allegations from nine day-care centers in five different states.[7] In these cases, either the police or the parents of the children defined the abuse as ritual child abuse. No standard definition of ritual abuse exists for parents and professionals. Believe the Children provided Hudson with the names of parents from each of the nine day-care centers in which ritual abuse had been reported. The parents in each of these cases initially contacted Believe the Children to receive information and referrals that would enable them to help their children recover from the trauma of this abuse. The parents were interviewed over the phone regarding the details of what occurred during the ritual abuse. In all these day-care centers (100 percent), medical examiners found evidence during examination commensurate with sexual abuse. All the reports (100 percent) said that the children had been filmed or photographed while the abuse took place. Parents also stated that the children described having been injected with drugs or poked with needles (100 percent). In nearly all of the reports (88 percent) from these day-care centers, children said they had been forced to watch animals being tortured and killed. The parents (100 percent) stated the abusers had threatened to kill the children's parents, siblings, or pets if the children ever told. In all the preschools (100 percent), parents noted that the children had been sexually abused by individuals wearing masks, robes, and carrying candles. Parents reported that the children (100 percent) said they had been taken away from the center for further abuse in churches, graveyards, or other day-care centers. See Table 1.1 for a summary of these results. The first study mentioned above compared the differences in individual ritual abuse cases from across the country. The results indicated remarkable consistency in the details of the ritual abuse. The second study examined the abuse allegations in day-care centers in which ritual abuse was reported. The results illustrated that in spite of the vague definition of ritual abuse available to parents and law enforcement professionals, there are remarkably detailed similarities in the types of abuse perpetrated against these children in different environments. Table 1.1 compares similarities in the results of the two studies. One limitation of the studies that some people suggest is that these children and adults were led-by parents, childrens agencies, or prosecutors-to report abuse that never occurred. It is speculated that the parents, agencies, or prosecutors were aware of the elements of a Black Mass, and they brainwashed the children into believing things had happened that never actually occurred. Some people suggest that parents of children who report ritual abuse are paranoid or delusional fundamentalist Christians who see satanists.[4 under every tree. However, as noted in the study I conducted through Believe the Children, none of the parents who participated in that study identified themselves as fundamentalist Christians. Many of the parents said they did not attend church on a regular basis. Again, almost none of the parents were fearful of satanism prior to their child's disclosure of the ritual abuse. Table 1.1 Comparison of Allegations of Ritual Child Abuse Individual Cases Day-Care (Children) Centers Sexually abused by adults 94% 100% Photographed nude 78% 100% Drugged during abuse 59% 100% Mutilation or killing of animals/humans 58% 88% Silenced by threats of harm to family 64% 100% Use of robes, candles, and/or knives 48% 100% during ritual It is not in the best interests of children's agencies and prosecutors to brainwash children to report abuse that never occurred. children's agencies are there to protect children from violence. They have no personal investment in brainwashing children for their own gain. In fact, it is more difficult to protect children who report ritual abuse. Prosecutors base their success on how many cases they are able to win. Brainwashing children to make ritual abuse allegations diminishes the prosecutor's chances of winning the case, and hence it is counterproductive. It is extremely difficult to win a ritual abuse case. in fact, a number of parents of ritually abused children report that law enforcement professionals attempt to downplay the ritual elements the child describes. Prosecutors realize that if they bring the case to trial as "ritual abuse," they will have a difficult time convincing the jury of the credibility of the child's testimony. By ignoring the ritual abuse allegations, the prosecutors are able to maintain a higher conviction ratio, thus furthering their own careers. ADULT SURVIVORS OF CHILDHOOD RITUAL ABUSE The reports of abuse by these children are echoed in another study, which examines the similarities in abuse histories reported by adult survivors of childhood ritual abuse. Lynda Driscoll and Cheryl Wright, Ph.D., conducted a study through the University of Utah in 1991 on the experiences of adult ritual abuse survivors.[8] The adult survivors of ritual abuse who volunteered for the study were in therapy for childhood trauma at the time they participated in the research. Thirty-seven adult survivors of childhood ritual abuse completed the questionnaire. Thirty-six of the survivors were female. Like the children, 89 percent of the adult survivors said they had been molested by a group of adults, and 57 percent of the survivors said they had been photographed during the abuse. Seventy-eight percent of the survivors reported having been drugged during the abuse. Eighty-four percent of the survivors reported they had been forced to witness or participate in human sacrifice. Fifty-seven percent of the survivors reported having been told that their parents or relatives would be killed if they ever told anyone about the ritual abuse. The adult survivors noted that as children, they had been abused by a group of individuals wearing robes (95 percent) and masks (60 percent). Survivors reported having been abused in group members' homes (64 percent), wooded areas (64 percent), cemeteries (47 percent), churches (47 percent), and their own homes (43 percent). Table 1.2 presents the similarities between the adult survivors' memories of ritual abuse and the results of the two studies described earlier in this chapter on children's memories of ritual abuse. Some people suggest that therapists who treat ritual abuse survivors brainwash their clients into believing they experienced things that never happened. Others say that survivors are delusional or merely seeking attention.[9] By labeling someone as "mentally ill" or downright crazy, one can immediately discount everything the person says. This tactic is successful in shaming most ritual abuse survivors into silence. Table 1.2 Comparison of Allegations of Child and Adult Survivors of Ritual Abuse Individual Adults Cases Day-Care in (Children) Centers Therapy Sexually abused by adults 94% 100% 89% Photographed nude 78% 100% 57% Drugged during abuse 59% 100% 78% Mutilation or killing of animals/humans 58% 88% 84% Silenced by threats of harm to family 64% 100% 57% Use of robes, candles, and/or knives during ritual 48% 100% 95% It is not realistic to suggest that people would identify themselves as ritual abuse survivors merely because they are bored or want attention. Women and men who identify themselves as ritual abuse survivors find themselves blamed for the abuse. They are not believed by therapists, police officers, clergy, or friends, even though many ritual abuse survivors are respected members of our communities. They remember the abuse through a traumatic memory process that includes all the emotional feelings and physical sensations they experienced during the abuse. Another common tactic used to discredit survivors and their advocates is to compare current talk of ritual abuse to the witchhunts of the seventeenth century. This argument is an emotional plea that taps into society's justifiable guilt about the injustices committed during the Inquisition and the Salem witch-hunts, when innocent victims were publicly humiliated and slaughtered in the name of the Christian God. The witch-hunts were one of the most inhumane and unjust times in all of history. Consequently, it is important to understand the very clear distinctions between the witch-hunts of the past and what we hear about ritual abuse today. First, the witch-hunts were primed by the publication of a sin-gle book, Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of the Witches), in 1486. In this book, the authors, both Christian monks, delineated the characteristics of a "witch." One example of "normal female witch behavior" in the book describes how a female witch takes the spirit away from the male sex organ, which results in male impotence or castration. Punishments of female witches included bathing in boil-ing water, crushing by heavy weights, tearing the flesh from the breasts with searing-hot pincers, and torture of the female sex organs. These punishments are similar to the graphic stories told of ritual abuse today. However, during the witch-hunts, the punish-ments were committed in order to restore the Christian God's bless-ing onto the community. In Salem, Massachusetts, in the 1690s, five types of evidence were accepted as proof of witch behavior. One type of evidence included forcing the accused witch to say the Lord's Prayer in public. Since witches were assumed to say the Lord's Prayer backwards, if the accused made a slip, this proved she was indeed a witch. The second type of evidence was the witness of people who blamed their own misfortunes on the magical powers of the accused. The third type of evidence was the presence of "devil's marks" on the accused-warts, moles, scars, or other bodily imperfections. The fourth was a confession of guilt-often obtained under torture. The final type of evidence was reports from people who said they had seen floating ghostlike forms of the accused. In those days, people accused of witchcraft—most of them innocent women—were not given a trial. In Europe even children accused of witchcraft were condemned to horrifying punishments. When the community decided a person was a witch, the punishment was torture or execution. Sometimes the community imprisoned the person in a stockade for onlookers to taunt and harass.[10] Clearly, what we have today is not a witch-hunt. Law enforcement and overly zealous Christians have not been given a license to go after anyone they want. No criteria exists to help therapists, parents, children's agencies, and prosecutors determine who is a "satanist." In fact, the people accused of ritual abuse today have few common characteristics. They are not card-carrying members of the Church of Satan; they are a variety of people accused of similar acts. What we have today is a cross section of people from around the world who are talking about a common ritual context in which children are being abused. Each time we discount the memories of ritual abuse survivors, we make a very clear choice. If there is a chance these children and adults are telling the truth, and children are being horribly abused in rituals today, then we have a responsibility to these victims to take seriously those people who are talking about it. As a society, we have the responsibility to protect the victims, both the children and adults, from further harm. THE SURVIVORS Much of the information in this book is based on a sociological study of ritual abuse. The survivors who volunteered for this study were adult survivors of childhood ritual abuse. They completed a detailed questionnaire, which is presented in Appendix A. All survivors were required to be in therapy at the time they completed the questionnaire, to assure that survivors had support while they confronted such a painful topic. Ritual abuse survivors are not social outcasts. They are not freaks. Many people may be surprised to find out that most survivors of ritual abuse are functioning members of our society. During the past ten years, a number of organizations have formed to provide education and support for people whose lives have been affected by ritual child abuse. Each of the following organizations and newsletters placed announcements asking for volunteers to complete a questionnaire on ritual abuse: Believe the Children is a national organization that provides support and education for families of children who have been ritually abused in day-care settings. The Ritual Abuse Awareness Network is a national organization that provides educational material on ritual abuse. Healing Hearts of Berkeley, California, provides workshops and educational materials for therapists and survivors. Voices in Action is an organization for survivors of incest and also provides information on ritual abuse. Survivorship and Many Voices are newsletters to which many ritual abuse survivors subscribe. Gender, Race, and Occupation Fifty women and two men responded to the announcements and completed the questionnaire. Fifty of the survivors in this study are white, one is Asian, and one is African-American. Nearly all of the survivors were employed at the time they completed the questionnaire. The following is a list of their occupations: o four college students o four counselors o four disability recipients o four homemakers o three college professors o three teachers o three artists o two administrative assistants o two nurses o two office managers o one data coordinator o one human services employee o one lead systems analyst o one medical technician o one management analyst o one chauffeur o one botanist/writer o one dental assistant o one carpenter o one office worker o one engineer o one laboratory technician o one feminist health-care administrator o one director of religious education o one owner and director of a learning center Six survivors chose not to answer this question. One survivor said, "I'm a person trying to live. That is my occupation." The survivors who volunteered for this study are in many ways like most members of society. They go to work, have relationships, and struggle with the same day-to-day problems we all experience. Geographical Location Most of the survivors who volunteered for this study lived in Califorma (40 percent), possibly because more resources are available for ritual abuse survivors in California than in any other state. Sig nificantly more therapists in California are trained to treat survivors of ritual abuse, and support groups exist to help them. A number of rape crisis teams and sexual assault centers in the state are trained on ritual abuse. Survivors of ritual abuse who live in California are probably more likely to search for help than survivors who live in other states, where resources for ritual abuse survivors are not readily available. Table 1.3 lists all the states where survivors in this study lived at the time they answered the questionnaire. Socioeconomic Status At the turn of the century, when child abuse was first acknowledged, it was described as "child mistreatment as a result of poverty." The state identified the children as the problem, not the parents who abused them. The children were sent to rehabilitation homes because it was believed that they posed a future threat to the larger society.[11] Today society is aware that child abuse is a problem in all socioeconomic classes. This study shows that ritual abuse is not confined to a single social class (see Table 1.4). It is easier for most of us to imagine that people who were severely abused were raised in the lower class. It is difficult to imagine that the wealthy, powerful people in our communities—those people who often have control over our livescould beat and molest their children. It is even more frightening to imagine that such people are members of cults. Religious Upbringing Many readers will also be surprised to learn that nearly all the survivors in this study reported having been raised in a family that practiced a mainstream religion (see Table 1.5). Many survivors in this study who were abused by their families stated that their parents were pillars of the religious community. This made it very confusing when the memories of the ritual abuse surfaced. One survivor noted in detail her religious upbringing: ... our family was strictly religious ... I can safely say that I did not miss church on Sunday more than five times during the entire time from when I was born till age eighteen. We had family prayers before every meal and family devotions many nights. The children were all baptized infants and "confirmed" into the church at age thirteen. My mother (one of the abusers) spoke to us numerous times about how important it was to her to have Christian faith, and how calling on the Lord in time of trouble is the only way to make it in life. Table 1.3 States and Countries from Which Questionnaires Were Mailed California 40% Minnesota 2% Washington 10% Connecticut 2% Colorado 8% Montana 2% Ohio 6% Kentucky 2% New York 4% Indiana 2% Louisiana 4% Massachusetts 2% Georgia 4% Wisconsin 2% Florida 2% Canada 2% Texas 2% Japan 2% Virginia 2% Table 1.4 Social Class in Which Survivors Were Raised Upper class 4% Working class 32% Upper-middle class 30% Lower class 4% Middle class 30% Table 1.5 Religion in Which Survivors Were Formally Raised Protestant 63% Atheist 4% Catholic 19% Born-Again Christian 2% None 6% Other: Non-denominational Jewish 4% Christian 2% Aleister Crowley, a well-known British occultist living at the turn of the century, made a reference to a hidden church behind our traditional churches. In his book The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, he describes his search for "truth" through the occult. He stated that in his search, he continued to meet people who told him that "behind the exterior of the church is an interior church, the most hidden of all communities, a Secret Sanctuary which preserves all the mysteries of God and nature. It was formed after the fall of man. It is the hidden assembly of the Elect." Intrigued by this hidden church, Crowley spent a number of years in search of this Secret Sanctuary. He was led by friends to a number of secret societies and fraternal orders that claimed to carry a secret knowledge about God.[12] In light of this theory about a "secret church within the church," it is not surprising that survivors in this study reported their parents were members of churches and religious organizations that are not satanic in nature. Age of Survivors The ages of people who responded to the questionnaire ranged from twenty-four to fifty-five at the time of this questionnaire; the average age was thirty-six (see Table 1.6). The small number of survivors in their twenties who volunteered for this study may indicate that remembering such extreme trauma is difficult to do at a young age. Most survivors of ritual abuse are unable to remember the abuse until they are financially stable. During their twenties, children sometimes still depend on their parents for financial assistance. Dependence on the family of origin is often much greater before children establish a family of their own. It is difficult to confront the memories of abuse until the survivor has achieved a certain amount of distance from the abusers. Table 1.6 Ages of the Survivors Who Participated in This Study 20 to 25 4% 26 to 30 13% 31 to 35 15% 36 to 40 29% 41 to 45 19% 46 to 50 12% 51 to 55 8% 56 to 60 0% It is also likely that mid-life crisis drives both survivors and nonsurvivors to confront their pasts. At this time, people start to question what they are doing with their lives. They ask themselves, "What is really important? Have I found what I am looking for?" They begin to reflect on childhood issues, such as abuse, that they have forgotten or tried to ignore. People in their fifties and sixties are probably more likely simply to accept the things they dont believe they can change. Their time of raising a family is over. What's done is done. At this point, it seems easier to let the past be the past and to accept that they may have lost many things they believe can never be regained. Limitations of the Study The results of this study do not represent the experience of all ritual abuse survivors. A number of limitations to this study make it impossible to generalize about survivors. First, the survivors who completed this questionnaire are only the survivors who have remembered. Ninety-seven percent of the survivors in this study said that at some point during their lives, they were amnesic of their ritual abuse experience. This means an unknown number of survivors are presently unaware of their ritual abuse history. What we know about these people is what we can infer from information provided by remembering survivors. These remembering women and men often can describe what their lives were like before they remembered the ritual abuse. However, it is likely that remembering survivors have more symptoms of trauma than nonremembering ritual abuse survivors. It is probable that the very symptoms of trauma that drove them into therapy also enabled them to remember the abuse. Appendix B lists a number of symptoms survivors had before they remembered the ritual abuse, and which might have suggested they were ritually abused as children. Second, the requirement for survivors to be in therapy limits the results of this study Survivors who are unable to find satisfactory therapy because of financial limitations are inadequately represented. Survivors who have looked to clergy or other means for their emotional support are also not represented here. Finally, as this book will illustrate, many survivors have grown weary of being revictimized by mental health professionals and have given up therapy altogether. CHILD ABUSE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Why do we hear so much about child abuse today? One reason is that disciplinary techniques considered acceptable less than fifty years ago are now legally defined as child abuse. For example, earlier in this century, schoolchildren were regularly paddled and whacked with rulers or boards on their knuckles and bottoms as a means of discipline for minor infractions. Today physical child abuse is legally defined as any assault against a child that leaves a physical injury—a mark. Until less than thirty years ago, there were no laws to protect children from violence. Not only were children beaten at school, but the church in the early 1800s also made a number of public statements advocating corporal punishment. The church declared that before the age of five, parents must literally beat the spirit out of the child or else the child would become "spoiled." This church suggestion followed the old saying, "Spare the rod, spoil the child." Physical punishments that left marks on children, acts that are now illegal, were practiced in schools as "discipline' and encouraged by religious authorities. The cyclical nature of violence is a clear consequence of child abuse. Sometimes those who were abused as children can feel a strong, almost uncontrollable impulse to reenact the abuse on their own children. Unless these parents realize that they are stuck in a cycle that must be broken-unless they find some way to control themselves from acting on impulse-they often act on their feelings and hurt the child. The implications are clear: If hitting a child was once an acceptable form of discipline, and the desire to harm a child is passed from generation to generation, then it is likely that many people abuse children today without defining it as such. This cycle of violence against children-and the fact that violence against children was socially acceptable in this country less than fifty years ago-keeps many people from honestly confronting the problem. Our inability to protect children from violence has allowed cults that practice ritual abuse to flourish. Dissociation It is difficult to imagine that people who have experienced ritual abuse could be alive and functioning in our society today. It is even more difficult to imagine that survivors go to college and teach at our local universities. Where do all their feelings go? How could someone be exposed to so much pain and not feel it today? The answer is a process refer-red to as dissociation-escaping an intolerable situation by detaching oneself mentally and emotionally. When children are exposed to extreme pain, their minds desperately try to stop it. Sometimes the mind is successful, sometimes it is not. When it is successful, children are able to completely forget about the abuse and the pain it caused. Traumatic amnesia is common among ritual abuse survivors. When children are severely abused by people who have control over their every movement (such as parents or guardians), the pain from the abuse becomes too much for them to allow in their daily experiences. For example, it would be too overwhelming for a child to go to school each day and remember being ritually abused in a cult the night before, so the child learns never to think about the abuse except for when it is happening. A child who is ritually abused over time develops a mental place that remembers only the abuse, and another place that attempts to live a "normal" life at school and with people outside the cult. Unfortunately, when the child learns to forget about the abuse, he or she is at the complete mercy of the abusers. What saved the child's sanity and life, the amnesia, is often the most powerful force that keeps the child from leaving the group later. By cutting off from the reality of the abuse in the cults, the child is able to stop the pain. But by forgetting, the child is also unable to make choices that would prevent further victimization as an adult. Amnesia of severe trauma is a widely acknowledged consequence of war. War veterans are often amnesic about the most traumatic events they faced on the battlefield. The traumatic memories veterans experience are usually in the form of flashbacks. Their minds actually believe they are back at that very same moment when the trauma occurred. During the flashbacks, the veterans experience all the physical sensations and emotions they experienced at the time of the trauma. Within the last decade, professionals have noted these same traumatic symptoms in people who were severely abused as children, Often the symptoms of trauma from child abuse have been falsely identified by professionalseven by the child abuse survivors themselves-as hypersensitivity, hypochondria, or even schizophrenia. The physical and sexual attack on a child by a parent or guardian is easily compared to the trauma soldiers face during a battle. However, in many ways the violent attack on a child by a parent may result in greater pain. First, children are utterly dependent on adults to meet all their physical needs. The enemy, the adult abuser, is also the same person who is keeping the children alive by feeding them and clothing them. In war, soldiers are usually not ambivalent toward the enemy. They don't have to live with the enemy or smile at them every day. Second, children's minds cognitively have a difficult time separating truth from lies. They are unable to protect themselves from the manipulation abusers use to control them. The adult mind can rationalize, think for itself, and sort through lies. Third, children abused by their parents often know of no other world than the violent, cold world in which they are being raised. The minds of adult soldiers are already aware of their own identity and past prior to the trauma they face during battle. Finally, children are emotionally the most vulnerable creatures on the earth. They are affected by every verbal or physical blow, whereas most adults have already learned to mentally protect themselves from attack. The problem of ritual abuse is complex, as this book will make clear. I do not want to shelter anyone from the truth, and as a result this book may be very painful to read. At times the survivor's predicament may appear hopeless, but this is not the case. In awareness, there is hope. In education and in support, there is hope. I would like this book to serve as a validation and support resource for all of us who have been through the ordeal of ritual abuse and to provide comfort and understanding for our hidden places of silenced pain. pps. vii-24 NOTES 1. "Sensational Cases Across the Country," "Cases from the Bay Area and the West:' San Francisco Examiner (September 28, 1989): A9. 2. "Vortex of Evil," New Statesman and Society (October 5, 1990). 3. Beth Marlin, "The Cannibal Case," Canadian Lawyer (October 1987): 24-27. 4. Arthur Lyons, Satan Wants You (New York: The Mysterious Press, 1988), 146 and 153. 5. Margaret Smith, Children Abused in Violent Rituals: Fact or Fiction? (Woodland, CA: Reaching Out, 1992), 3-16. 6. Believe the Children, "Multi-victim Multi- perpetrator Ritualized Abuse Survey," preliminary results, June 1987. Unpublished manuscript. 7. Pamela Hudson, Ritual Child Abuse: Discovery, Diagnosis and Treatment (Saratoga, CA: R & E Publishers, 1991), 26-28. 8. Lynda N. Driscoll and Cheryl Wright, Ph.D., "Survivors of Childhood Ritual Abuse: Multi-generational Satanic Cult Involvement:' Treating Abuse Today 1, no. 4 (September/October 1991): 5-13. 9. J. Johnson and S. Padilla, "Satanism: Skeptics Abound," Los Angeles Times (April 23, 1991): A20. 10. Steven Pfohl, Images of Deviance and Social Control (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985), 24-40. 11. Steven Pfohl, "The Discovery of Child Abuse," Social Problems 24:3 (February 1977): 310-23. 12. Aleister Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, edited by John Symonds and Kenneth Grant (London: Arkana, 1979), 16. --[cont]-- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kr DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. 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