Big Piney River as viewed from Devil’s Elbow Bridge Devils Elbow, Missouri
While most of the late seventeenth and eighteenth century was relatively quiet regarding witchcraft, dark magic, and Devil worshiping, accusations of witchcraft would once again appear in the Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The geography of the Ozark region could best be described as rolling hills, heavily forested, and composed of remote agricultural communities that were largely self-sufficient. The Ozarks were originally colonized by the French but eventually, British squatters, poor farmers, and adventurers would make their way into the region even though it was illegal for British citizens to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.
The hill folk of the Ozarks often spoke, acted, and exhibited behavior similar to those of early British settlers. These settlers did not wish to participate in modern American trade, such as the timber industry, or traditions unless they had to. This traditionalist viewpoint caused the hill folk of the Ozarks to be one of the most superstitious groups of people in America.
Similar to the Puritans of New England, the hill folk of the Ozarks believed that a witch was a woman who made a pact with the Devil in exchange for supernatural powers which she used to bring misfortune onto her neighbors. Additionally, the people of the Ozarks believed in White Witches and Cunning Folk. These “good witches” were used as clairvoyants, fortune tellers, mystics, medical healers, and dousers, which were magic folk who helped to locate ground water in the area. While the people of the Ozarks were not deeply religious like the Puritans of New England, they still believed in the existence of Satan and his ability to have a presence in the mortal world. Most of the population of the region were Methodist, which is a denomination of Protestant Christianity, similar to the Puritans of New England.
The people of the Ozarks were incredibly superstitious, so much so that at a December evening prayer meeting in Fair Grove, Missouri, the congregants perceived the face of Satan appear on the wall of the church facing the pulpit. The face had appeared after Reverends John Morgan and E. Plummer had given a sermon on righteous life and requested those who wanted to live such a life and go to heaven to stand up. When no one in the congregation responded, the minister requisition if there was anyone who would deliberately choose to spend eternity in hell to stand. One young man in the congregation promptly stood up, shocking those who were present since he was from a family that was of good standing within the community. Many members of the community were superstitious of the face on the church wall and believed it was sent there as a criticism of the young man who had stood up.
Presently, the Ozark region is still incredibly remote and although the region never executed individuals for witchcraft, the community is still incredibly superstitious, especially by modern standards. The use and belief of White Witches is still present, especially with dousers, or water witches, who as recent as 2014 were hired in California during a drought in order to locate ground water on farms whose crops were struggling due to the lack of water.
The most recent event of nationwide mass moral hysteria can be attributed to the Satanism Crisis of the 1980s. This crisis can be attributed in part to the counterculture and alternative spiritualism of the 1960s and 1970s. Young adults during this time practiced communal living, alternative lifestyles, and embraced creative rediscovery of beliefs outside Christianity. This led to general uneasiness among the parents of these young adults, who were widely traditional Christians and therefore, held a belief in the existence of Satan.
Satanic Temple’s Baphomet in front of Arkansas’ State Capital Building Little Rock, Arkansas
In 1967, the first real instance of Satan worshipping would appear with the founding of the Church of Satan by Anton Lavey in San Francisco, California. This unsurprisingly shocked and scared a lot of people as most of the United States was Protestant or Catholic, both being branches of Christianity. As previously discussed, the Christian faithspreach Satan as evil and the counter of God. The Church of Satan did not claim that Satan actually existed however, they did believe that he was unfairly expelled from Heaven and was the archetype of individualism.
After the founding of the Church of Satan, several fringe groups appeared, the most notorious perhaps being the Manson Family, led by Charles Manson. These fringe groups committed horrifying acts of violence such as the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969 where actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant at the time, and her four friends who had been staying at her home were murdered by the Manson Family. Manson taught his followers that they were reincarnated from the original Christians and that he himself was a manifestation of Jesus Christ. Additionally, they believed that an apocalyptic race war was about to erupt in the United States. The crimes of the Manson Family, which spanned from July 1 to August 10, 1969, horrified the American public, reaffirmed and convinced people that cult-like organizations were extremely violent, and that the existence of such cults threatened their personal safety in a way that was similar to how the Puritans of New England feared the existence of the Devil within their community.
Letters Written by David Berkowitz a.k.a Son of Sam to the New York City Police Captain April 17, 1977
Throughout the mid and late 1970s, several horrific crimes occurred, such as the Son of Sam killing in New York City. After being apprehended, David Berkowitz claimed to have attended several Satanic meetings in New York City parks. No evidence exists that this is in fact true, nevertheless it further reaffirmed in the existence of Satanic cults in the United States. Finally, the Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana solidified the belief in the dangers of cults as nine-hundred and eighteen people completed suicide by cyanide poisoning under the leadership of Jim Jones.
After all these horrific events, the Satanic Crisis finally erupts in the 1980s when Michelle Smith underwent hypnosis and recovered memories she had allegedly repressed regarding her upbringing within a Devil worshipping organization. Smith’s memories included graphic recounts of ritual abuse and human sacrifices. Smith’s accounts encouraged others to undergo hypnosis and similar accounts and accusations began to appear across the country.
Peggy McMartin Buckey testifies in 1989.
Perhaps what brought the Satanic Crisis to an end was the accusations of Satanic worship and ritual abuse at the McMartin Preschool located in Manhattan Beach, California. The McMartin family was accused of sexually abusing the students at the preschool and using them in secret Satanic rituals. This led to thousands of people coming forward across the country claiming that they had been forced to participate in human sacrifices and Devil worshipping. Eventually, like in Salem, those accused included political figures, law enforcement agencies, and members of the judiciary. At one point amidst the allegations, incumbent president George Bush, Sr. was accused of having knowledge of Satanic rituals.
Finally, in 1990, Michelle Smith’s statements were debunked and a widespread federal investigation concluded that these Satanic rituals were not as widespread as reported. Additionally, psychiatric and medical professionals came forward to state that repressed memories were not as accurate as the public was led to believe and that hypnosis should not be used when attempting to gain accurate information, as these individuals were extremely vulnerable to suggestion while under hypnosis.
Every one of the events discussed above in addition to the other allegations throughout American history are now believed to be moral panics by sociologists, historians, and medical professionals. With the exception of Bridget Bishop of Salem, Massachusetts, no actual witchcraft was thought to be practiced throughout American history. All of the cases of witchcraft and Devil worship in the United States have stemmed from Christian beliefs of the existence of evil forces and perceived threats to values or ideologies that were different then their own.
Further Reading:
- Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi
- “Ghost Stories” in Ozark Magic and Folklore by Vance Randolph
- “The Devil in Fair Grove,” The Springfield Republican, January 5, 1896
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