72 lines
3.8 KiB
Plaintext
72 lines
3.8 KiB
Plaintext
This is a copy of the article, "CHILD ABUSE, SATANISM AND WITCHCRAFT
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WRONGLY LINKED," from Volume 1, Number 1, "Witches League for Public
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Awareness," January, 1987, by Christine Dumas.
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(Article copied for this upload by author's permission. *rcp*)
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"Last month (November 1986), on of our networking members, PRAIRIE
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WIND, sent us an urgent mailing containing a confidential report by
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Officer Sandi Gallant of the San Francisco Police Department. This
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report contained definitions of Witches as worshippers of Satan, and
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other connections between Witchcraft and Satanism.
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"Attached to the police report, which was originally for departmental
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use only in investigating crimes of a 'satanic' nature involving child
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abuse, was a psychological study of satanic child abuse written by
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Clinical Pathologist Catherine Gould Ph.d of Brentwood and Encino, CA.
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The report further circulated, unauthorized, by the Director of a child
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abuse agency at a large conference on child abuse which took place in
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the Midwest.
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"I called Officer Gallant, who was helpful and courteous. She said
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that she knew nothing about this report being distributed at any
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conferences, and that she was well-aware of the differences between
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Satanism and Witchcraft. She has worked with San Francisco Witches,
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such as Valerie Voight, editor of 'Pagana,' and with other members of
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the Covenant of the Goddess (C. O. G.). A phone call to a C. O. G.
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member confirmed this.
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"Officer Gallant has also sent us a tape of a speech she makes
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concerning satanic crimes, and she clearly makes the distinction
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between Witchcraft and Satanism. She does not stress this difference
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as much as we would like, but I was told this is because she does not
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want her audiences to get involved in theological discussions. She does
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stress Satanism as the focal point of her talk, but she still makes some
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mistakes, such as defining a 'warlock' as a male witch. She told me
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that she used the terms 'witch' and 'Satanist' interchangeably because
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many Satanists define themselves as Witches. Also her report was not
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meant to leave the police station.
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"She says also that, 'I too, am concerned about mis-labeling, and
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share your desire for correct informational dissemination. Once again
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however, I must stress that many fringe people do incorporate a
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combination of terms and belief systems. In the long run, this (her
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report) is helpful, although I am sure distressing to you. It is
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helpful because we can automatically rule out organized groups,
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knowing they will not combine belief systems.'
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"The name of the man who was distributing this report has been sent
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to the San Francisco Police Department, as the original was copyrighted,
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and he is in violation of this copyright.. Hopefully, they will do
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something about this.
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"It is not clear what part, if any, Catherine Gould played in this
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unauthorized distribution. Her report may have been usurped by the
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man involved, or she may have been a willing participant in the
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unauthorized distribution of this misleading information. When I
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asked Officer Gallant about Ms Gould, she replied, 'Oh her! She never
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bothers to point out the differences between Witchcraft and Satanism.'
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"As PRAIRIE WIND points out, 'We are not out of the woods yet. This
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report HAS (caps, mine: *rcp*) gone to child abuse agencies around
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the country, and it looks like it has the endorsement of a Ph.d
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as well as a director of a well-respected child abuse agency AND a
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major police department.' She says further, 'If you discover that a
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police department or abuse agency has this report, encourage (or
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demand if necessary), that these people personally contact Officer
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Gallant and get this mess straightened out.'
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"Also, let us know if this report surfaces in your area. Our thinks
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to PRAIRIE WIND for her time and energy spent in bringing this to
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our attention."
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