APRIL 30TH AND YOUR LOCAL POLICE DEPT.

                 (From EarthSpirit Community Newsletter,
                  PO Box 365, Medford, MA 02155, $3/yr.)

[We  are reprinting this piece because we,  too,  were advised by friends
here  in the Seattle area that this bulletin had come across  the  police
teletype network.   PANEGYRIA has been fortunate enough to secure a  copy
of  the  police  teletype  report from a Seattle area  group  leader  who
prefers to remain anonymous.   We will be passing it on to our friends at
the ACLU in hopes it might interest them, too.]

     Recently  we  were informed by friends in the Pagan Community  of  a
police  bulletin  rumored to have been broadcast  to  police  departments
across the entire United States.  Allegedly, this bulletin informed local
authorities that April 30th is a "Satanic holiday" and advised them to be
alert for such suspicious activity as groups of people out in the  woods,
bonfires,  people holding strange rituals, and diverse "occult" activity.
Police  were allegedly urged to schedule extra patrolmen and be  particu-
larly active in their surveillance on the night of April 30th.

     We were very concerned about this report,  and since it had come  to
us through a series of sources,  we decided to check it out.   On Monday,
April 14th {1986 - WB Sysop}, one of our members questioned an officer of
her local town police force about the rumor.  The officer she spoke to is
the  local  Juvenile  Officer for that town and had a GREAT deal  to  say
about the bulletin.

     According  to this officer,  the bulletin in question did indeed  go
out to every police department in the country, and its contents were just
what  we'd heard.   However,  during the course of the conversation,  the
officer repeatedly emphasized that the purpose of the bulletin was not to
harrass or limit the legal activities of adults in any way.   "We're very
careful about people's rights,"  the officer stated, asserting repeatedly
that  adults may believe anything they want and get together  to  observe
those beliefs privately as they choose. Our interviewer made it carefully
clear to the officer what her position was,  without mentioning any buzz-
words,   so that the conversation would be on  an informed level.   "This
doesn't  have  anything  to  do with what  you're  doing,"   the  officer
insisted.

     So  just what does the bulletin mean?   According to  this  officer,
there is a great deal of concern about illegal activities associated with
Satanism.   Our officer described at length the problem of kids,  mostly
teenagers, who are devoted to particular rock groups, vocally and visibly
identify  themselves as Satanists,  and allegedly involve  themselves  in
some  fairly serious illegal activities,  including animal sacrifice  and
serious  drug abuse.   Our interviewer was rather startled to learn  that
this  is apparently an active problem in her own community and that there
has been at least one verified case of animal mutilation there.   She was
also  surprised  to learn that the police know of several such groups  in
her town,  mostly kids, with a few adults, and they're "keeping an eye on
them."   The officer also said that police know of other people  in  town
who are Witches and occultists, and emphasized that those adults were not
the subject of the bulletin.   "That's how all the departments are taking
it,"  the officer stated.  The source of the  bulletin is  apparently the
FBI.

     All  Pagans should be aware that the authorities are very  concerned
about  "Satanism"  which  they see as a movement  which  is  anti-social,
involved in destructive illegal activities, and dangerous, entirely apart
from  any Christian connotations.   While a give police department may or
may not be aware that many harmless groups exist that celebrate  Beltane,
they  will likely be checking out any odd report.   So be  discrete  this
Beltane,  and be conscious of  your local by-laws and regulations concer-
ning fires,  use of public land,  outdoor assemblies,  and anything  else
which may apply.   There is no need for Pagans to have trouble with their
local police if we promote understanding on both sides!
                                                   -EarthSpirit Community

[Ed. note:  We hope that ALL police depts.  are as enlightened as the one
in this report from the Boston area,  but don't count on it.   Maybe this
is the time to mail the Press Packet prepared by CoG, to all local police
agencies!   The FBI ought to get one,  too,  if they indeed did originate
the police bulletin.   This report naturally leads to the next one,  also
from EarthSpirit.  Read on...]
                                   ~~~

                            ENTERTAINING SATAN

     For some time now there has been considerable publicity in the media
about "Satanism."   These reports are always linked to destructive crimi-
nal  activity which includes  vandalism,  animal killings,  child  abuse,
sexual  abuse of minors,  drug use,  and even abduction and murder.   The
emphasis usually is on the anti-social rather than anti-Christian aspects
fo the new "Satanism."

     Pagans have a tendency to respond to these reports by seeing them as
a  fundamentalist Christian exaggeration and as a backlash against alter-
native  religions.   Some Pagans have openly protested the linking of the
words,  "Satanism" and "Witchcraft."   However,  it's beginning to appear
that  the  concerns about Satanism go far beyond the fears  of  fundamen-
talists or the mass media stereotypes.   It would certainly appear that a
growing number of people really are involved in serious harmful activity,
using  the  anti-Christian images of Satanism to give form and symbol  to
their attack on society.   Because the Church turned ancient Pagan motifs
into  Satanic  ones,  Pagans find their symbols and beliefs  once  again
linked to violence and hatred against society and a wish to harm  others.
Apparently, not all the recent fears about Satanism are ill-founded.

     The EarthSpirit Community feels that we need to be as well  informed
about  this  phenomenon as possible.   We are asking all our  members  to
forward to us any news clippings, reports,  or cases that you may hear of
which involve supposed "Satanic"  groups practicing destructive or crimi-
nal acts.  It is important to remember that these groups tend to be young
and  are devoted to a violent rebellion against society --  they have  no
concern for religious tolerance and reflect very badly on true Pagans and
Witches.  We need to be aware of the real danger behind the media hype.
                                                   -EarthSpirit Community

[PANEGYRIA  urges everyone to participate in this project  by  forwarding
clippings  and articles on the subject either to us or to EarthSpirit  or
CoG, attention Don Frew, at PO Box 1226, Berkeley, CA 94704.  ... and all
this talk about media hype leads us to the next article,  taken from  Red
Garters  of  California,  newsletter of the New Wiccan  Church,   PO  Box
162046, Sacramento, CA. 95816, 8x,$8/yr.]

            THOUSANDS--------- HUNDREDS//////// DOZENS OF CHILDREN ARE MISSING!

    A  dozen young faces look up from the page.   The headline begs me to
be  on the watch for these youngsters;   they are "MISSING."   A  generic
"family letter"  tearfully describes the warm loving homes that await the
return  of these prodigal sons.   Could a heart be so hard that it  could
fail to be touched by the plight of these families?

    This  particular  flyer is from Woolworth's variety  store;   similar
messages stare at me from milk cartons,  billboards, grocery bags, cereal
boxes,   and  photocopies  taped to the windows of my local  market.    I
haven't seen a T-shirt with a missing child displayed on it, but the year
is young.

    Obviously,  a  plauge of kidnappings is sweeping America.   As I  was
typing this into the old IBM,  Jim Levitis, President of Select TV,  came
on the screen and announced that FIVE MILLION kids are missing,  of which
thousands are murdered!  With a population of 60  million children in the
United States, that means that every twelfth child has disappeared.  I am
surprised  to see any of the neighborhood children left to play  ball  in
the street.

    These numbers made me wonder.   I know a lot of people, I  mean a LOT
of people!   I even know several people whose children have been sexually
molested  (in each case by a heterosexual family member).   But  I  DON'T
personally  know  anyone  whose  child has  been  abducted.    Certainly,
kidnapping happens but the numbers being presented to us are deliberately
inflated.    What are the real figures?   The FBI says that in  1985   it
investigated 67 cases of children kidnapped by strangers.  That works out
to about 1.1  in 1,000,000.   The local paperboy who careens all over  my
street,  before sunrise,  on a bicycle without reflectors or lights,   is
more  likely to die under an automobile,  than he is to be kidnapped.   I
suspect that his parents have gone to great lengths to advise him against
talking to strangers,  but they haven't invested $10  to make him visible
to  drivers.   Now  that we have our figures straight,   do we  have  our
priorities straight?

    What  about  all these other missing children?   What do we  mean  by
"missing?"   The majority of these "missing"  children are in the custody
of  their parents,  or other family member.   They are "missing"  to  the
extent  that the estranged spouse does not know the child's  whereabouts.
There  is  no reason to presume that these children are victims  of  foul
play.   This  is admittedly unjust,   but child custody  battles  do  not
warrant  frightening  60,000,000  children [or their parents  -Ed.]  with
visions of abduction, molestation, and murder.

    Most of the truly missing children are run-aways, and I fear that for
many of them, our worst fears are realized.  A life in the streets can be
brutal,  and  many of them succumb to it.    But a run-away has  only  to
present him/herself to the police, and they are safely on their way home.
If they do not,  we must presume that for some reason they prefer street-
life to home-life.  From what kind of home-life are they running away?

    Who is promoting the "missing children"  fad?  Yes, it is a fad.  One
"child finding"  organization solicits local merchants to offer discounts
through  the  organization's coupon books.   The organization then  SELLS
these  books,   each coupon bearing the description and badly  reproduced
photograph  of a "missing child."   What is the result?   The  distraught
parents  feel that something positive is being done.   The merchant  gets
the  usual  advantages  of advertising and a  few  kudos  for  supporting
community interest.   Most importantly the organization,  which is not  a
charity  but  a profit-making enterprise,   pockets the cash.   Has  this
method located any children?   Not that I have heard of.   What about the
offer  to have my child video-taped for a nominal fee?   I  doubt that  a
moving  picture  will  be much more effective than a  snapshot,   and  it
certainly will not reproduce well on the back of a box of cereal.

    To have 67 children disappear is a terrible misfortune.

    To use such misery for commercial gain is a travesty!

    A  final  question.   If you wanted to mark each individual  with  an
indellible identification so that you could keep track of them, how would
YOU go about convincing them to VOLUNTARILY mark themselves?   [Seems  to
be working, doesn't it? -Ed.]