Diane Vera

According to the news story What washed up on the Keansburg beach? by Alyssa Passeggio, Bayshore Courier (New Jersey, U.S.A.), May 9, 2008:

Keansburg Police Deputy Chief James Pigott said Patrolman Michael Deaney responded to a finding of four garbage bags and two shopping bags containing headless chickens and the innards on April 17. There are no suspects, Pigott said.

The April incident brought back memories of findings of animal parts on the Keansburg beach last year, which non-traditional faith expert Laurie Cabot characterized as a ritual performed by individuals practicing Santeria, San Paulo, Voodon or Satanism.

"Satanism"??? In a statement by Laurie Cabot??? That's Laurie Cabot, the well-known modern Pagan Witch from Salem, Massachusetts, I presume? Now presenting herself as an "expert," not just on Pagan Witchcraft but on "non-traditional faiths" in general?

Did she really say that "Satanists" might be responsible for a pile of chicken remains??? Or the hoof of a "deer, goat or sheep" mentioned later in the article?

If so, shame on her. Surely she ought to know better by now. She has no excuse for such an ignorant claim.

The best-known form of Satanism, LaVeyan Satanism, specifically prohibits animal sacrifice, as do most other forms of Satanism too, including most forms of theistic Satanism. (LaVeyan Satanists are mostly atheistic and regard Satan as just a symbol.)


More about Satanism and animal sacrifice, including my own view:

Here's my own view on animal sacrifice, as stated on my page about animal sacrifice on my Theistic Satanism site:

... I personally do not practice animal sacrifice, nor do I endorse it in the context of Satanism. The traditional idea behind animal sacrifice is that it somehow feeds the gods. I do not believe that Satan needs to be "fed." Apparently some other, lesser gods or other spirits do need or want that particular kind of attention. But Satan Himself does not seem hungry for human worship of any kind, let alone sacrificial worship.

As far as I can tell, the vast majority of theistic Satanists do not practice animal sacrifice either. I've run into a few who do, and, so far, I have not been favorably impressed. To be fair, I should mention that the few animal sacrificing theistic Satanists I've spoken to did seem to be motivated by a sincere religious belief and, contrary to popular stereotype, did not seem to me to be just thrill-killers. Nevertheless they seemed to me to be extremely immature, both intellectually and emotionally, and they had an unnerving tendency to emulate the most obnoxious fundamentalist Pentecostal/charismatic-type Christians in many respects. I'm still open to the possibility that I might someday meet an animal sacrificing theistic Satanist whom I can respect, but at this point it seems highly unlikely.

Animal sacrifice doesn't make sense in the context of most forms of theistic Satanism that I'm aware of. But it does make sense in the context of traditional folk religions. And it makes sense for Satanists to favor the religious freedom of traditional folk religions. It makes sense for us to uphold the religious freedom of all who practice animal sacrifice in a reasonably humane manner - even the relatively few Satanists who do so, however misguided the rest of us may think they are.

I should add here that most Satanists, including most theistic Satanists, oppose animal sacrifice much more staunchly than I do.


What about "Devil worshipers"?

Perhaps Laurie Cabot really said "Devil worshipers" rather than "Satanists." However, even if you accept the typical LaVeyan semantic gerrymandering distinction between "Satanists" and "Devil worshipers," it is still highly unlikely that even a ritual by "Devil worshipers" would leave behind a bagful of headless chickens, or hooves of deer, sheep, or goats. As I said, even most theistic Satanists do not practice animal sacrifice. Furthermore, among the few who do practice animal sacrifice, most don't live on farms and are unlikely to have access to live farm animals.

As far as I am aware, the only public theistic Satanist sect known to practice animal sacrifice is the followers of "Brother Nero." (See my page about "Brother Nero" et al.) As far as I am aware, they typically sacrifice hamsters, not chickens, and they require that the animal be all-black.

There have been, of course, numerous teenage Satanic dabblers who have believed that they needed to sacrifice animals. But the average American teenager is unlikely to know where to get a live chicken. Nor does the average American teenager have easy access to deer, goats, or sheep either.

Hence an animal-sacrificing teenage Satanic dabbler is far more likely to use animals more readily available, such as mice. Anyone can purchase a humane mouse trap at a hardware store, thus can easily capture a live mouse. And there's no law against killing mice, although leaving their remains in the wrong places could violate local anti-littering or sanitary laws. (For more about the legalities of animal sacrifice, see Animal sacrifice and the law on my page about animal sacrifice.)

The sacrifice of farm animals, such as chickens, sheep, and goats, is an almost sure sign of a genuinely old religious or magic(k)al tradition of pre-industrial origin, not something cooked up by modern Americans or other modern Westerners - as are nearly all forms of Satanism including so-called "orthodox traditional" Satanism. (See my pages about so-called traditional Satanism and orthodox Satanism.)


So, did the Aborishas do it?

I also question whether the particular animal remains discussed in the Bayshore Courier article are really attributable to Aborishas (Santeros) or other Afircan Diaspora religion practitioners either. The news story says that the accused suspects, "Diana Hernandez and her son, Alain," are "admitted Aborishas, followers of the Santeria religion, ... but they denied any involvement in the incident."

Indeed, it also seems very unlikely to me that a Santero would leave headless chickens in garbage bags. That seems to me like a very non-traditional - and not very reverent - way to dispose of a sacrifice. More likely they would just leave the remains on the ground in some remote place, it seems to me. (That is, if they believe that the chicken remains need to be left behind at all, as distinct from just offering the blood to the Orishas and eating the rest of the chicken themselves.)