"Satanist Aleister Crowley," the pseudo-documentary continues, "has indirectly influenced many [garbled] rock groups including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Ozzy Osbourne who even wrote a song about Crowley."

Of course the implication is that all of these musical groups and individuals are "satanic".  Bloody insane.

Often the occult community as a whole is accused of trying to bring down and destroy Christianity.  Oh, there may be some crackpots and charlatans amongst us, although not really of us, who think that way, but the truth of the matter is, most of us in the community, Thelemites, Wiccans, et al, really do not think all that much about Christianity -- until it is shoved in our faces -- and we really have no desire to waste our valuable time and resources to bring the religion and all of its sects down.  Why should we seek to destroy that which is destroying itself from within?  We will just go about our work, live our lives, casually glancing over from time to time to note the steady decline of Christianity in the world and hope that the decent people who were enmeshed in Christianity at an early age are able to untangle themselves in time. When that ship finally sinks in the morass of lies its conflicted leadership has created, we in the occult community will offer a helping hand and show that Christians do not have a patent on charity and forgiveness.  Everyone errs -- to err is human.  To forgive divine.

It was only natural, I suppose, that two of the grossest insults to genuine investigative journalists everywhere would join forces and (in vain) try to make an intelligent case for the "evils" of the occult, a fanaticism that both Geraldo Rivera and Maury Terry share.  Ever since Terry, promoting his ridiculously paranoid and irrational satanic conspiracy book, The Ultimate Evil (see the revealing review in TNN VI.5; click on link for the on-line Castle version), appeared on Rivera's dog-and-pony sideshow, "Geraldo", the two have apparently become fast friends, proving again the old occult adage that "Like attracts like".  Rivera has another television program on NBC entitled "Now It Can Be Told" which basically tells the same old stories in its half hour format that we have already watched on "Hard Copy", "Inside Edition" and the rest, with the Rivera flare of pompous sensationalism at the expense of truth and accuracy.  I applaud Pittsburgh's NBC affiliate, WPXI, Channel 11, for while they run "Now" six days a week, they do so at the hours of 2:40 and 3:10 A.M. - a fact which Geraldo Rivera has expressed some irritation over.

Rivera recently rehashed some of his satanic gobbledygook on "Now" in a story about Jayne Mansfield's death.  Aside from references made to "satanic witches" and calling the notorious Voodoo mambo (priestess) Marie Laveau a "Voodoo witch" -- which is somewhat similar to referring to "a man of the cloth" as a "Christian rabbi"! -- he also took the time to use the excerpt from his now infmaous special, "Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground", to slander Aleister Crowley by claiming that "Satanism was resurrected, first by Aleister Crowley in the early 20th century..."  Never mind the provable fact that A.C. was not a satanist, did not advocate satanism, actually wrote very little about satanism while being a prolific writer, did not believe in or accept the concept of The Devil, Satan, and that he wrote of the very subject of satanism and devil worship as an extreme absurdity when he did write of these subjects at all.  To learn such facts the self-proclaimed "investigative journalist" needs only to pick up a few books written by Crowley and read them carefully.  Of course, it is a well known fact now that Rivera writes his stories before doing his research, if he actually does any research, and if the information gathered from research and interviews contradicts the story he has already written he simply tosses out those facts as if they were completely irrelevant to the "truth", that is to say, the "truth" as it exists in Rivera's intellectually perverse, ego-dominated, compulsive, paranoid and fanatic psyche.

In another installment of "Now" the David Berkowitz Son of Sam murder case was warmed up -- and really, aren't we all tired of leftovers on television -- and one of "Sam's Disciples", referred to simply as John, was "interviewed" to "prove" (?!) that there really is a nationwide Son of Sam satanic cult.  It was utter nonsense that failed to prove even that "John" had ever in any way been associated with either Berkowitz or a cult.  John, by the way, an aging, bearded man with a country and western style, is now preaching the Bible -- no doubt in his own unique style with dreams of televangelist stardom dancing in his head.

Rivera has, on "Geraldo", promoted a large number of crackpots and charlatans claiming to be such things as "satanic baby breeders" who have told horror stories that boosted his ratings while seeming to give substance to the nonsense about the virtual impossibility of a highly organized nationwide satanic cult -- such nonsense aired doing more to further the cause of satanism and interest adolescents in it than all of the PR work the Church of Satan, the Temple of Set, and other satanic groups could ever hope to produce!

One such individual has been Faye Yager.  See previous ELs in this series and TNN Vol. VI for further information about this woman.  Supposedly she protects children who have been ritualistically abused when one of their parents, grandparents or what have you has virtually kidnapped the child -- that is to say, she harbours criminals and is thus herself a criminal equally guilty of kidnapping.

Time and time again on "Geraldo" a woman would say that she knew her child had been sexually abused by his father but she had no idea that satanism was involved until she talked with Faye Yager.  And I can never forget the instance on "Geraldo" when Yager faced the camera so that the viewer could easily put him- or herself in the place of a frightened, abused child, and said very sternly that she tells the children that if they do not tell her the truth, i.e. what she wants to hear, as the child easily concludes, she will put him on an airplane and send him right back into the arms of the abusing parent.  Naturally, then, the child will tell any outrageous story she wishes to hear to avoid that!  And the result of all of this is that the satanic nonsense, provably false, creates the proverbial shadow of a doubt in an otherwise possibly legitimate case of child abuse, the case is thrown out of court, the abuser goes free, and the innocent victim, the child, is once again abused by Faye Yager and the system she perverts.

Faye Yager was taken to court near Atlanta, Georgia.  Rivera did a story on her implying that this fanatic is a saint, although I noticed that the story could be said to have only been accurate reporting of the known facts should she later be proven to be something less than a saint!  And before yours truly could put his two cents in, Yager was found not guilty simply because it could not be proven that there had been "malice of intent" in the case.  Now the jury disapproved very much of her methods, still she was found not guilty.  This sets a very dangerous precedent and seems to indicate that it is perfectly all right to break the law so long as it cannot be proven that there was malice of intent.  Think about that.  Next a mass murderer will be found not guilty simply because he truly believed that he had the best interests of his victims in mind and was only interested in setting their souls free so that they might all the more quickly rejoin their Maker in Heaven!

Anyone who believes that Faye Yager, one of Rivera's sideshow freaks, is not guilty of "kidnapping and emotional cruelty to children" should carefully review as I have the tapes of "Geraldo" in which she appears.  Any right thinking human being would want to lynch the woman for what she has really done for children and the fight against child abuse.

Oh yes ... and there is at least one very angry, frightened and emotionally distraught mother whose child is still missing, the child's whereabouts unknown -- except to the kidnapper and Faye Yager.

And finally ... I had been told that there had been an installment of "Now It Can Be Told" that I would find very interesting.  I had not seen it the first time around.  I find that almost anything else I have to do is far more important than to watch and listen to the twaddle of schlock merchant Geraldo Rivera.  However, I started setting my VCR to monitor the subjects covered on "Now" and finally I caught the repeat of the installment titled "Maniac in the Mask."

Rivera and co-hack fanatic Maury Terry rehashed the old California Zodiac case, supposedly with "new" (?) evidence that is supposed to break the case wide open.  Yeah.  Right.  Sure.  Geraldo the wonder worker.  Geraldo the saviour.  The messiah of muck.

The program focussed upon the murder of a young lady named Darlene Ferrin and even though the event occurred long after the death of Aleister Crowley on December 1st of 1947 E.V. and there was no rational way Crowley could be tied to the Zodiac, Rivera and Terry proceeded to viciously slander a man who is no longer alive to defend himself (the depths of cowardice), dragging him into the story.

If I got into every detail of the "Now" segment to show the gross absurdity and lack of truly investigative procedure involved we would have here another fifteen-page EL.  I am trying to avoid that.  So let us only concern ourselves with the idiotic slanders against Aleister Crowley, promoted and sanctioned by Geraldo Rivera in this piece of ... rubbish ... produced by Maury Terry.

DAVID PETERSON, RETIRED POLICE REPORTER:  "...he [Zodiac] had virtually copied the ritual hood of Aleister Crowley, a notorious black magician."

Flashed on the screen:  photo of a robed and hooded man, presumably Crowley, giving the sign of silence to be found on page 125 of Francis King's Magick: The Western Tradition (Avon Books, 1975 E.V.) and another of Crowley to be found facing page 480 of The Confessions of Aleister Crowley (Hill and Wang, 1969 E.V.).  Of course, to such "gentlemen" as these that took part in this nonsense, anyone who practices magic is a "black magician" and of course the Catholic priest who stands before his flock and ritually changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is not practicing magic!  I sincerely doubt that Mr. Peterson can be considered a reliable expert in such matters as esoteric art, science and philosophy, and therefore he is not capable of making such a value judgment.  Furthermore, the hood that Zodiac is said to have worn, as it has always been depicted, looks nothing like the hood design presumably worn by Crowley in this and a few more instructional photographs, and to tie Zodiac to Crowley because of this hood is patently absurd.  Why not tie in the Ku Klux Klan?  There are even Christian monks who wear hoods similar in design!  There is no reason to believe that Zodiac was in any way imitating Crowley or that he even had any real knowledge of Crowley's work, if any at all.  This is worse than circumstantial evidence.

ALEXANDER JOHNSON, ONE OF RIVERA'S TEAM:  "Crowley, who died in 1947, is regarded by many as the father of modern day ritual magic and occultism, and over the years has provided inspiration for numerous satanic crimes in America."

Flashed on the screen:  photo of young Crowley as the magician to be found again on page 125 of King's book as well as in The Confessions and elsewhere.  One might, with far more justification, say that the Judeo-Christian Bible "has provided inspiration for numerous satanic crimes in America"!  Crowley obviously did not set out to inspire crimes of any kind -- in fact, a careful study of Crowley''s literary legacy clearly shows that he discouraged criminal activity, and that he believed the whole subject of Satan and satanism to be so bloody absurd that it was hardly worth discussing and so therefore wrote very little about it.  Rivera and his team are nothing more than hack journalists, tabloid punks who pick easy targets that are incapable of defending themselves, just to get their mugs on TV, boost ratings, line their pockets, and to hell with truth and accuracy.

ALEXANDER JOHNSON went on to say that the Zodiac killings coincided with the rise of satanic cults, this, that, and so forth, and that "Aleister Crowley's O.T.O." was "active in the Bay area."  Flashed on the screen:  photo of the young A.C. again.  In the first place, "Aleister Crowley's O.T.O." died with Crowley in 1947 E.V. and the various groups calling themselves the Ordo Templi Orientis were not sanctioned or chartered by Crowley and would not be approved of by him if he were alive today.  Furthermore, there is the implication that the O.T.O. is a "satanic cult".  It was not, and neither are the various pseudo-o.t.o.s in existence today.  [Although many of the leaders and members of both the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. and the S.O.T.O. also dabble in things like satanism and so badly misrepresent Thelema and Crowley that they have contributed tremendously to the misconceptions commonly accepted as truth by the media and others.]  It was a quasi-co-masonic organization that accepted the Law of Thelema, nicely discussed in the beginning of this Encyclical Letter and not in any way, shape, or form satanic.  However, to those who believe that their particular religion is the only true religion, every other means of communion with God is by definition -- their definition -- "satanic".

The fact that a group calling itself the O.T.O. existed in the same general area that the Zodiac killings took place is irrelevant.  The same could be said for any number of groups and individuals.

MAURY TERRY brings into the story the case of another "satanic killer", one Stanley Dean Baker, and connects him, in the typically threadbare way that he put his book together, with Zodiac while Johnson informs the viewers that "Zodiac, dressed in an Aleister Crowley type ritual costume" and did such and such a thing.  Flashed on the screen:  photo of hooded (?) Crowley again.  Robes and hoods were not invented by Crowley.  They have been worn by numerous groups of magicians, monks, priests and the like since as far back as history can trace religion.  Before robes and hoods it was the skins and horns of animals.  If Baker donned a hood and/or robe it can hardly be said to be proof positive that he was a follower of Crowley's or that he had even heard the name of Aleister Crowley, and tying Crowley into yet another murderer's foul deeds in this manner is grossly unfair, ungentlemanly and downright misleading.

MAURY TERRY:  "There's a strong Aleister Crowley influence in this case.  I would focus on individuals or groups that were very enamoured of Crowley's philosophies."

Ah ... now we see it ... personal vendetta!  This is not journalistically motivated reporting.  This is getting even!

In the first place, there is not, and Terry and associates completely failed to prove that there is, "a strong Aleister Crowley influence in this case".  What he advises investigators to do will, of course, lead them astray, but it will annoy the hell out of the numerous Thelemites and students of Crowley who have complained about such nonsense as this in the past and succeeded in curbing it.  And it will certainly annoy the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. who sued, I believe successfully, Maury Terry for slanderous statements made in his book.  Apparently Terry could only get a steady job with Rivera and for the sake of truth, fairness, journalistic integrity, etc., etc., both should be fired and banned from the airwaves for their petty misuse of television, lies, slanders, and fanatic mucking around.

ALEXANDER JOHNSON:  "In addition to Zodiac's costume, and the Crowley phrases in his letters, we've discovered a remarkable similarity between Zodiac's symbol and Crowley's rose cross symbol, which is intended to make one invisible to his enemies, and sometimes also calls for blood sacrifices."

Absolutely absurd and untrue.  Idiotic at best.  Moronic.  In the first place, I have already pointed out that Zodiac's symbol, what looks like a crossed out circle, is probably not an occult symbol at all.  There is a similar astrological and astronomical symbol, for the earth, but the cross does not extend beyond the boundaries of the circle as it does in Zodiac's symbol.  Likening Zodiac's symbol to the rosy cross is ridiculous.  In all probability Zodiac's symbol was meant to imply the crosshairs in a rifle scope to jest with the police and imply that he has them all, everyone, in his sights.  Shown on the screen during the "Now" story was a simplified drawing of the Rosy Cross, and unlike the Zodiac's rough but obviously equal-armed cross, here we clearly see that the lower arm of the cross, like a Christian cross, is elongated.  Furthermore, the Rosy Cross was not Crowley's exclusive property, he did not invent it, and it is -- get this -- essentially a Christian symbol.  Crowley, who seldom employed the Rosy Cross or spoke of it in his writings, joined a Rosicrucian fraternity in his youth -- the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn -- an essentially Christian oriented order that, at one time or another, had as members such individuals as William Butler Yeats, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen and many others.  Generally speaking, the Rose on the Golden Cross is the life of Christ.  There is no recorded belief that the Rosy Cross can make one invisible that I know of, and I have been studying such things and in particular Crowley and Thelema for over two decades.  Sheer poppycock -- that is a polite way of saying "bullshit".  And the bit about "blood sacrifices" is also the pure invention of this team of liars:  Geraldo Rivera, Maury Terry and Alexander Johnson.

As for the so-called "Crowley phrases" in Zodiac's letters, absolutely no proof of this statement was given, I have read those letters and found no direct references to Crowley's philosophy, Thelema, and only by the grossest perversion of the imagination can anything in Zodiac's letters be considered in any way Crowleyian.  And even if it turned out that Zodiac read a little Crowley and used this phrase or that, out of context, misunderstanding it, neither Crowley nor Thelema could be blamed for the actions of a madman, a killer, no more than the Judeo-Christian Bible and all of Christianity could be blamed for the actions of a lunatic who kills because God told him to -- and there have been and are plenty of murderers who have found ample justification for their crimes in the pages of that book!

In the midst of all of the occult mumbo jumbo in this story, real clues were ignored -- they were not sensational enough, and besides, this story was more of a personal vendetta and an expression of fanaticism than a legitimate news story.

Darlene Ferrin was killed on July 4th, 1969 E.V., according to the "Now" story, and she was found in her car, her driver's licence out as if she was showing it to someone who was or pretended to be a police officer at the time she was shot.  Ms. Ferrin dated police officers, popped pills, was involved in transporting either drugs and/or money, and the "Now" story also, casually, as if it meant little, reported that Ms. Ferrin was blackmailing someone.  Even Maury Terry, at one point, claimed that within Zodiac's letters there was "cop jargon".

Throw out all of the garbage about the occult.  From anonymous calls made to the police about Ms. Ferrin's involvement with a "witch" and so forth it seems painfully obvious that the entire occult thing was thrown in as a red herring to misdirect the investigation -- and here we go again!  Once more we have Geraldo Rivera and Maury Terry helping the criminal!

Police.  Drugs.  Money.  Blackmail.  I think that we can come up with a more rational, logical and realistic scenario in the Darlene Ferrin murder case than the idiotic nonsense promoted by Maury Terry and Geraldo Rivera, which sounds more absurd and nonsensical than a typically idiotic "Dennis Wheatley Black Magic Story".

NBC, get smart!  Yank Geraldo Rivera and Maury Terry off the air.  Batman and Robin they ain't!  And even Catwoman and the Penguin have far more appeal than these two petty, fanatic muck masters.

1997 E.V. NOTE:  Every newsletter or encyclical letter carrying an article about such talk shows as "Geraldo" and "Now It Can Be Told", at the original time of publication, had been sent to the appropriate networks, local affiliates, as well as various newspapers -- and of course now, here, even more people can read these articles.  "Now It Can Be Told" did not last long and its quick cancellation may prove that there is indeed a God -- at the very least it proves the existence of perhaps a few intelligent program and network executives.

AUGUST 2003 E.V. NOTE:  Taking a break from putting this editorial review into HTML format, I heard on television that Geraldo Rivera has just married again for the fourth or fifth time, and he has vowed that this time he will be faithful.  The man, and I use that term loosely, admits that he has been unfaithful to his former wives -- of course in a perverse machismo way Rivera is bragging about his "manliness" -- and so of course he has also lied to his estranged wives.  This comes as no surprise to me for Geraldo Rivera, throughout his entire career, has been unfaithful to journalism and constantly lied in favour of his cheap over-painted mistress, muckraking, tabloid yellow "journalism"