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The 'Satanic Panic': exploring the influence of film in formulating narratives

surrounding the lived religion of the Occult and its practitioners

Preprint · November 2021

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.10877.28643

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The ‘Satanic Panic’: exploring the influence of film in formulating
narratives surrounding the lived religion of the Occult and its
practitioners

T. Kapp, BDiv., MDiv.

u16079818@tuks.co.za

Ph.D. Student, Department of Religion Studies

University of Pretoria, Faculty of Theology and Religion

Abstract:

Since the emergence of Albert Bandura’s (1971) social/observational learning theory,

it comes as no surprise that film plays an important role in helping condition our
societal perceptions; influencing our narratives about not only our lived religion, but
also that of broader society. Film thus allows us to subconsciously learn new
information through observation (Ahorsu & Danquah 2013:63). Do Nascimento (2019)
supports this notion in arguing that the stories we watch often reflect and sustain de
facto institutional and cultural narratives, whilst simultaneously encouraging many of
our actions in ‘lived society’ (Do Nascimento 2019:19). Moreover, this approach is
also relevant for ‘lived religion’: a term often used synonymously with the Christian
notion of practical theology (see Ganzevoort & Roeland 2014:3-4) and which – per
definition – is also not alien to the Occult-notion in Crowley’s philosophy of Thelema
(Crowley 1929:17-26). The Thelemic philosophy regards any (and all) willed actions
(as opposed to habitual actions) like walking the dog, brushing teeth or even gardening
as magick (Duquette 1993:1-2; Wallace 2015:25), as it enhances one’s life focus. This
paper will explore how filmic misrepresentations of the Occult in cinema, influences
societal narratives circulating around the ‘lived religion’ of the Occult and its
practitioners.

1
Introduction

Despite the semantic similarities of Christian lived religion, vis-á-vis Occult magick,
film-depictions of Christianity in especially Harold Cronk’s (2014) God’s Not Dead, Mel
Gibson’s (2016) Hacksaw Ridge or John Gunn’s (2017) The Case For Christ as
opposed to that of Occult-related spiritualities are vastly different, as it is thus arguable
that based on documentaries like Geraldo Rivera’s (1988) Devil Worship: Exposing
Satan’s Underground along with Roman Polanski’s (1968) Rosemary’s Baby,
Showmax’s (2021) Devilsdorp and many more, that the latter has been continually
subjected to misrepresentation (see Shufelt 2007:7-8) due to the influence of
capitalistic culture and popular culture (cf. Cloete 2017:3). This paper will therefore
endeavour to explore how film contributes to contemporary understandings of the
Occult; analysing its depictions and expressions of practitioners in popular culture, and
whether it contradicts or compliments true lived religion and why.

Influences of the ‘Satanic Panic’ as cultural backdrop

During the 1980-1990’s, many countries ranging from the United States, United
Kingdom, Australia to even late-apartheid South Africa (see Falkof 2012:753-754 &
Rossouw 2013) were gripped by a moral panic as a result of widespread rumours –
originally imported from the United States – concerning SRA or ‘Satanic Ritual Abuse’
(Cutler 2020:1); often also referred to as ‘Occult Ritual Abuse’ (cf. Lanning 1992:12-
13).

These events not only permeated a panic-induced media frenzy (Waterhouse

2014:19-21), but also influenced film and media entertainment where narratives of
Occult-ritual-abuse-stories: involving cases of sexual abuse and/or murder of children
as part of ‘devil worship’, were especially prevalent in live broadcasts of tabloid media
and television film; adding to the conspiracy theories’ popularity (Hughes 2015:699-
701). However, by the late 1980’s these theories’ popularity dwindled and U.S.
national news generally started avoiding the topic of ‘ritual abuse’, until the release of
Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground; a live two-hour documentary film by
American journalist Geraldo Riveira, which earned the highest ratings at that time on
NBC and remains one of the most watched documentaries in television history, even
though it was but one of many documentary films aired on the topic of ‘ritual abuse’

2
(Wright 1995:78). Moreover, Hughes (2015) adds a relevant point in arguing that “at
their core, alleged [occult] ritual abusers were updated versions of Charles
Manson…recognisably embodied in cinema’s icons of horror, like Freddy Krueger and
Jason Vorhees” (Hughes 2015:703-707).

It is worth recognising, though, that despite these widespread allegations and

pseudo-investigations of Occult-related crimes and ritualised abuse, the main driving
force behind these narratives in lived society was specific parent groups of the
Christian Right (Armstrong 2007:148-149). And although these conspiracy theories,
tracing back to Smith & Pazder’s (1980) publication Michelle Remembers, gained
massive attention across various media platforms (Waterhouse 2014:19), the main
scholarly consensus is that these allegations pertaining to ritualised forms of abuse
were socially constructed (cf. Lanning 1992:21-27; Victor 1992:248-252; Waterhouse
2014:19-23; Dunbar & Swart 2015:238-239) due to generalised paranoia in the face
of moral panic and other external threats to social order (see Waldron 2005:4-9).

Occult magick as esoteric lived religion

“…fools rush in where angels fear to tread” – Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism
(1711:36).

Before any cumulative examination of film expressions pertaining to the Occult (and
its practitioners) can be done, it is important to first rectify the general misconceptions
associated with the term occult as equative to ‘evil’, ‘sorcery’, ‘black magic’ or
associated with anything related to crime and criminality (see Armson 2007:144-145).
According to Partridge (2015) the term ‘occult’, in a narrow sense, derives from the
Latin occultus meaning ‘hidden’, ‘secret’ or ‘concealed’ (Ørberg 1998:25). In a broader
sense, it is an “unhelpfully broad umbrella term” which encompasses knowledge about
a plethora of spiritual, transgressive, supernatural, paranormal beliefs and practices:
many of which are considered “perverse, ephemeral or childish” (Partridge 2015:1-2
cf. Dyrendal et al. 2016:6-7). Apart from this, it is also worth mentioning that the Occult
deals mainly with the esoteric realm, specifically that of Western esotericism (see
Rudbøg 2013:15-16), yet even with ‘esotericism’ scholarship shows no unanimity in
formulating a universal definition.

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Masaeli (2017) attempts to define esotericism as a pre-occupation with hidden or
secret knowledge pertaining to the innermost (spiritual) consciousness; uncovered
through the exploration of mystical, transpersonal and speculative perspectives and
expressions about belief (Masaeli 2017:1). Kilcher (2019) also, in contrast, adds that
expecting a de facto universal definition is problematic (cf. Hanegraaff 2013:3-4).
Moreover, the defence of one is even more so. He thus maintains that the complexity
of defining esotericism is displayed in the vast diversity of its textual corpi and traditions
ranging from – but not limited to – gnosis and magic(k) to Theosophy and New Age
(Kilcher 2019:168).

Furthermore, academic discourse concerning esotericism has only developed into a

discipline in its own right within the last ten-to-fifteen years (see Von Stuckrad 2014:1),
since contemporary scholarship has according to Zander (2021) largely abandoned
the initial late 18th century, hegemonic French idea of esotericism being characterised
around the Greek ἐσωτερικός (esoterikos) or ἐσωτέρος (esōteros), meaning “inner,
inside” or “interior” from the root ἔσω – an older form of the word εἴσω (eisō) cf. pref.
ἐσ (es) or εἰσ (eis) – loosely meaning “in, within” or “inside” (Liddell & Scott 1961:319
cf. Liddell & Scott 1996:700).

Later translated into the Latin occultus and combined with the Greek; forming a neo-
Latin term esotericus – interpreted within this context as pertaining to knowledge which
is ‘hidden’, ‘secret’, ‘inaccessible’ -or ‘only accessible to initiates’ (Neugebauer-Wölk
2013:64; Zander 2021:14-18). Yet, esotericism has evolved beyond this simplified
narrative and is more broadly interpreted by contemporary 20th century scholarship as
a world-view finding its roots in natural philosophy, religious and literary traditions –
far removed from being regarded as something marginal, exotic or obscure (see Faivre
2010:1-7 cf. Von Stuckrad 2014:1-2). In light of this, it is therefore difficult to exactly
pinpoint with specificity (without being elusive) the entirety of the esoteric discourse
relating to the Occult, however, for the purposes of this research (and as mentioned
elsewhere) this paper will consider the example of Aleister Crowley’s (1929) esoteric
magick as but one pragmatic aspect in the entirety of the complex discourse
surrounding Occult as a form of esoteric lived religion.

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Hine (1995) writes, “magic leads us to exhilaration and ecstasy; into insight and
understanding; into changing ourselves and the world in which we participate. Through
magic we may come to explore the possibilities of freedom” (Hine 1995:11). Crowley
has had an indisputable influence on the Western esoteric discourse and the occult,
since his work has significantly impacted the formulation and development of not only
esotericism but also new (contemporary) religious movements (Pasi 2011:123), such
as modern Satanism (see Dyrendal 2012:369-371); a religious philosophy centred
around philosophical and ideological approaches to Satan as symbol for free-thought,
and self-determination (Jones 2014:37-38).

Even though the founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey (1930-1997), did not
overtly connect (credit) the origins of his ideologies to Crowley; nonetheless, his
definitions of magic(k) as illustrated in the Satanic Bible (1969) “the change in
situations or events in accordance with one’s will, which would, using normally
accepted methods, be unchangeable” (LaVey 1969:82) are arguably similar to
Crowley’s Thelema in his introductory work Magick in Theory and Practice (1929).
Especially considering its emphasis on indulgence (see Dyrendal 2012:372-373;
Shoemaker 2013:181-182), rebellion against blind-faith and his employment of the
Enochian Keys (Jones 2014:37-39 cf. Hedenborg White 2021:1-8).

The Enochian Keys were a system of ‘angelic conversations’ developed by Victorian

Occultist and mathematician John Dee; later deciphered by other contributors, which
eventually transformed Dee’s legacy into a ritualistic methodology for the invocation
of entities (Owen 2012:43-49), entities which are in Satanic (as well as Crowleyan)
magick, merely metaphorical personifications of latent powers within the mind (Jones
2014:38-39). These unique practices and religious cosmologies are collectively
assimilated within the philosophy of the Left-Hand Path (cf. Flowers 1997:1-3,35-37),
which essentially forms part of a ‘lived esotericism’ within the Occult. Crockford &
Asprem (2018) argue that esotericism as lived religion (and lived religion as a whole),
is very much different from the way it is described (and understood) in textual corpi,
because while some religions encourage strong adherence to scriptures, others
completely reject the idea (cf. McGuire 2008:11-12).

5
The point made here is to convey that even when religions are policed, and ‘correct
belief’ is assured, individuals still practically improvise on their beliefs in ways which
might (objectively) be considered in violation of their ‘theological correctness’
(Crockford & Asprem 2018:13-14). This notion also applies to ‘lived esotericism’, and
thus going beyond the appreciation of its texts as ‘counter-canonical’ it becomes
possible to, for example, identify branches of esotericism which are not necessarily
considered “rejected knowledge”, the endeavour towards searching for “higher
knowledge”, or a Faivrean “form of thought” (see Bogdan 2007:5-6 cf. Okropiridze
2021:218-224). Therefore, studying how esotericism is embodied and practiced in
everyday life could lead to new insights and also, potentially, new theorems about true
‘lived esotericism’ (Crockford & Asprem 2018:14).

Film as social learning medium in lived religion

Plate (2017) contributes to this discourse in considering the influences of film on lived
religion. He suggests that cinema remains a vital component in helping understand
how human perceptions on religion are formed in everyday life through visual media
(Plate 2017:x-xi). Mayward (2017) argues a similar point in stating that if creating a
work of art could be seen as a spiritually transformative experiential endeavour, then
surely the action of directing, editing, lighting and shooting a film could also be
examined as such (see Plate 2017:15-16).

Furthermore, it is argued that film-viewing has an intense psychological influence on

the body of the viewer (Ahorsu & Danquah 2013:63; Mayward 2017:4-5), this notion
is supported by the social or observational learning psychology theory of Bandura
(1971), in which he states that “new patterns of behavior can be acquired through
direct experience or by observing the behavior of others” (Bandura 1971:3 cf. Rasit et
al. 2015:1236-1237). Furthermore, in an earlier study, Bandura et al. (1966) explore
the theory of observation in more depth, suggesting findings that through the course
of the observation experience, transitory sensory and perceptual phenomena could be
converted into retrievable images of the corresponding events which, on the basis of
past associations, are centrally integrated and structured into perceptual responses of
the brain (Bandura et al. 1966:499-500 cf. Rasit et al. 2015:1239-1240).

6
A Malaysian study conducted by Rasit et al. (2015) consisting of 1028 respondents
between the ages of 19 and 24, also contends that Bandura’s (1971) social learning
theory/social cognitive theory corresponds to the notion that film serves as a functional
medium (see Rasit et al. 1237-1240), which may affect the behaviour and perception
of the viewer: the viewer thus learns through what he observes either directly or
indirectly, affecting changes in the film viewer, whether it be cognitive, affective or even
behavioural (Rasit et al. 2015:1240). Yilmaz et al. (2019) shares a similar perspective,
although they take a different perspective; emphasising more on Bandura’s (1977)
‘modelling’ theory, stating “behavior is learned observationally through modelling: from
observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed…” (Bandura
1977:22). Therefore, the analysing of models – in general – as well as those displayed
in ‘visual culture’ (i.e., film) can have a significant impact on the creation of meaning
in serving as behavioural examples to follow from the perspectives of viewers who
respect, relate to- or love certain characters (Yilmaz et al. 2019:422-424).

Fear, horror mise-en-scène and the Occult

One of the iconic and most ‘attractive’ genres in popular culture media and cinema is,
of course, horror. Across the board, scholars (and consumers alike) can agree that the
primary focus in horror is to stimulate one of the most primal and instinctive emotions
in the human psyche; fear. Prohászková (2012) supports this perspective and critiques
that fear has been an important human factor since the beginning of time, especially
considering it as one of the most effective vehicles vis-á-vis the impetus that
established faith in religion (see Kenny 2015:124-125).

Moreover, it was this fear of inexplicable, unknown – supernatural – and mysterious

phenomena that drove people to put their fate in the hands of the divine
(Prohászková 2012:132 cf. Kenny 2015:157-158). Yet, even though horror make us
afraid, uneasy and sometimes anxious, we still continue to consume it commercially
(Park 2018:3). Martin (2019) proposes that the primary aim of horror film is to create
suspense and terror via frightening, shocking, horrifying and disgusting through the
use of various visual and auditory leitmotifs and devices including reference to the
supernatural, abnormal, darkness, gore etc. (Martin 2019:2).

7
In lieu of this, the first puzzle that arises is how people find this enjoyable; best-selling
American horror-fiction writer Stephen King (1981) answers this in an essay originally
published in Playboy Magazine where he attests; “I think that we’re all mentally ill;
those of us outside the asylums only hide it a little better – and maybe not all that much
better, after all...the mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a job to do. It
deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained, our most base
instincts let free…” (King, 1981:1-4 cf. Shrier 2020:3-4).

In a study done on affective responses in people during their exposure to frightening

films, Hoffner (2009) identified four candidate factors present in respondents who
enjoy horror films: “suffering of the characters, perceived danger, excitement and
happy versus unhappy ending” (Hoffner 2009:285-296 cf. Allmer et al. 2012:9-10). Of
these four variables, two factors played a big role in being associated with enjoyment:
suffering of characters and perceived danger. Another study by Weaver & Wilson
(2009), compared responses from viewers by exposing them to a graphic violent film
versus its edited version, where graphically violent scenes were either toned down or
completely deleted. The study found that violence in a horror film is not per se
important in increasing enjoyability of films (Weaver & Wilson 2009:442-463).

Nummenmaa (2020) however argues that when these violent (and graphic) scenes
are administered skilfully, it can potentially increase the startle responses of ‘jump
scares’ or temporarily increase the fearfulness of the film; he maintains that a “healthy
dose of horror movies” can be psychologically beneficial within the safe and controlled
environment of a movie theatre by helping individuals build up mental resilience in
dealing with the difficult emotions of daily life (Nummenmaa 2020:20-21).

Sultana et al. (2021) disagrees and forms a cumulative study comparing theoretical
and empirical research proposing the negative effects of exposing impressionable
minds of youth aged between 12-17 years to horror movies; arguing that it may trigger
and, in some cases, cause mental health issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), Anxiety, Avoidance, Obsession and Nightmares (Sultana et al.
2021:3-10).

This is in stark contrast to the findings of Hoffner (2009), Weaver & Wilson (2009) and
Nummenmaa (2020) who focus on horror films’ entertainment value and reasons for
enjoyment, rather than their effects. Yet, while horror mise-en-scène and its propensity

8
for enjoyment in viewers is a psychologically double-edged-sword, horror in itself isn’t
just a two-dimensional concept; Prohászková (2012) introduces nine sub-genres
stemming from the original umbrella genre of horror and identifies these genres as
ranging from rural-horror to cosmic horror, as well as erotic horror to psychological
horror (Prohászková 2012:133).

One of these multi-faceted categories of horror is ‘Occult horror’, which predominantly

occupies itself with a spectrum of pseudo-Occult motifs like exorcism, the arrival of the
anti-Christ, cults, mysticism, demons, et cetera. These themes and tropes are
observably present in films such as Roman Polanski’s (1968) Rosemary’s Baby (cf.
Skrletović 2020:3-5), William Friedkin’s (1971) The Exorcist (along with its sequels and
prequels), Francis Lawrence’s (2005) Constantine, Jay Anson’s (2005) The Amityville
Horror, John Moore’s (2006) remake of (1976) The Omen, as well as James Wan’s
(2013-2021) The Conjuring Universe film series, and many others (see Wood
2018:136-156).

Fry (2010) contextualises this by arguing that over the past 50-years, U.S. filmmakers
and scriptwriters have mined the Occult (Wicca, Spiritualism, Satanism and various
other New Age beliefs); she maintains that these films reflect society’s overall attitude
to the occult (see Vosper 2013:18, 40-48) and many may find the promise of an
experience with the transcendental invigorating and exciting: Krzywinska (2002)
proposes this visual media phenomenon as “moral occult infrastructure” (Krzywinska
2002:13-14). In contrast, others who find it fearful and threatening still show enough
interest. Thus, promoting the endurance of the genre in film and writing (Fry 2010:12-
13).

Aloi (2009) provides another perspective, proposing that this increased interest in the
Occult, occurring since the fin de siècle of the late 1900’s could be considered an
“Occult Revival”, as opposed to the current milieu which presents an “occult
obsession”. He maintains that this fuller engagement with the Occult in various forms
of visual media (both fictional and authentic) has given birth to an entire cultural
zeitgeist engendering a fuller engagement with the Occult; subsequently resulting in
‘how-to literature’ as well as expert research, finding itself into the hands of fictional
writers -and vice versa (Aloi 2009:539-540).

9
De la Torre & Hernandes (2011) write that the City of Angels and its neigbour,
Hollywood, entered into a ‘virtual pact’ with the Devil ever since it discovered the
commercial opportunity and payoff from experimenting with suspense and fantasy
films that would eventually give birth to the horror (and thriller) genres (De la Torre &
Hernandes 2011:18).

A more contemporary example of this engagement with the Occult horror genre, is the
conservative right’s fascination with Hollywood and Satan (see Doostdar 2019:122-
123), promoting the idea that Hollywood images have the potential to reshape
subjectivities. Mazzarella (2017) explains this as constitutive resonance, which
considers the relational phenomenon where people and things constitute (merge with)
each other: a way of subjectively considering the construction of the self and the
cosmos, along with the self-attachment to cosmologies in which an individual feels
most alive. This phenomenon usually finds itself accompanied by ambivalent
responses of acceptance and denial (Mazzarella 2017:5).

Doostdar (2019) exemplifies this in the recounting of an experience with an Arabic

instructor (Ahmad) who believed that Peter Jackson’s (2001-2003) Lord of The Rings
films had accurate representations of demon tribes; revealed to him via a “true dream”
(see Edgar & Henig 2010:4-8) about one of his students being possessed by one,
despite the student being diagnosed with Schizophrenia (Doostdar 2019:137).

Another example Doostdar (2019) refers back to, was his attendance of a seminar
held by a group of ‘mystics’ who did exorcisms – modelling their methodologies to their
favourite Hollywood films like Francis Lawrence’s (2005) Constantine and William
Friedkin’s (1971) The Exorcism, by not just appreciating these fictional Occult horrors
for their entertainment value, but also utilising them as visual commentaries on their
own practices and beliefs. He supplements these occurrences conclusively in
maintaining that “the very same Occult relationship that enables ‘these cosmopolitans
(sic.)’ to see and experience [Occult] phenomena through Hollywood, also turns
Hollywood cinema into a medium through which to see and experience the spiritual
world in distinctive ways” (Doostdar 2019:137-139).

10
It is probable that there exists many more examples of those who approach these
fictional Occult horror films as a form of documentary realism (see Woofter 2016:41-
42). Even though it is impossible to traverse the entire horror cinema repertoire
containing depictions of modern and contemporary “occulture” (Partridge 2014:113-
114), nonetheless it is safe to argue that Western Esotericism, NRM (New Religious
Movements) and the Occult has had a complex relationship with film and popular
culture, especially in light of Hollywood horror and its sub-categories in Western
cinema, propagating (deliberately or otherwise) the vulgarisation of ‘lived esotericism’,
due to still-haunting remnants of yesteryear’s moral, ‘Satanic panic’ (Banner 2021:407-
410).

However, Apostolides & Meylahn (2014) along with Ganzevoort (2015) provide an
important critical point: even though popular culture, manifesting itself through film can
be a medium through which a resurgence in religion is very much possible, it is also
worth recognising that the religious motifs that manifest themselves in film (and other
visual media) are not always representative of traditional -or institutional religion
(Ganzevoort 2015:123-137; Apostolides & Meylahn 2014:1-6).

Ganzevoort (2011) also argues that lived religion does not function within (visual)
media, traditional or institutional spaces but rather in non-religious contexts
(Ganzevoort 2011:97-99). Cloete (2017) adds to this by suggesting that lived religion,
especially, manifests itself purely through lived actions with religious significance;
separated from traditional spaces like a coven, church or mosque (Cloete 2017:2).
Lived religion and the representations thereof are thus best reflected in ordinary life
and ordinary spaces.

Conclusion

It has been said that films are an important medium through which we see our daily
lives transformed and reflected back at us into the allegory of motion-picture. Films
also provide us with a way to escape our dreary day-to-day realities; making our lives
more tolerable by providing us with a passive lens through which we may reconsider
the threats (and opportunities) in our own immediate environments: making our
‘demons’ more approachable and thereby perhaps our ‘sacred cows’ more
threatening. Film speaks to our subconscious and (whether we like it or not) influences

11
our social perceptions and occasionally behaviour when we discover characters and
themes that resonate with us, and to whom we can relate. This subjective influence is
especially rooted in popular culture’s hermeneutic of ‘Occult (esoteric) lived religion’ in
film: regressive social narratives that originated with existential crises from the ‘Satanic
Panic’ along with fears of external danger, have all been incorporated into occult horror
films since the 1970’s-1980’s; perpetuating a revival of- and eventually, an obsession
with (irrational) perceptions that evil is out there in the form of other people and things,
instead of recognising the denial and deflection regarding that it may already be
present inside us.

Such ‘outside-in’ expressions perpetuated by regurgitated popular culture cinema

tropes, not only affect our ability to interact with our own lived religion and spirituality,
but also our mental health and subsequently how we perceive and approach these
important elements of others. It is therefore important to appeal to an ‘inside-out’
cognition: everything is not what it seems, and in applying such rational hermeneutical
considerations to film, we empower ourselves to seek out, explore and understand the
true nature and applications of unfamiliar lived religions, including perhaps that of our
own with a sort of childlike wonder. True lived religion is about finding, recognising and
appreciating the sacred in everyday life.

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