The Prodigal Witch X: Derry Mainwaring Knight

God's 007 In the spring of 1983, an unassuming, middle-aged fellow by the lofty name of Derry Mainwaring Knight appeared in Newick, East Sussex, and began attending the local Anglican church, St. Mary's. He became a regular at Bible studies and prayer meetings. He offered to hand out Christian tracts. He told the late vicar,... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch IX: Lauren Stratford Part III

continued from Part II Out of the Frying Pan, Into Another Frying Pan In the summer of 1997 a new face appeared at a support group called the Child Holocaust Survivors Group of Los Angeles. Laura Grabowski didn't share much about her background at first (she was even reluctant to identify her country of origin,... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch IX: Lauren Stratford Part II

continued from Part I Unearthing the Underground In 1989, Christian authors Bob and Gretchen Passantino teamed up with Jon Trott, one of the Cornerstone magazine writers who would expose Mike Warnke's deceptions in 1991, to investigate the story told in Satan's Underground. They had been alerted to possible problems with Lauren Stratford's testimony by another... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch IX: Lauren Stratford

space "Lauren Stratford" on Geraldo's 1988 TV special Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground The late '80s were the golden age of Satanic panic, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the woman known as Lauren Stratford launched that panic to a whole new level. How Lauren's Story Emerged The key part of... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch: A Thumbnail Sketch of Johanna Michaelsen

space Before we get into the story of Lauren Stratford, let's take a quick look at another woman who had a powerful influence on the Satanic panic of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Without Johanna Michaelsen, Stratford and other "former Satanists" might not have achieved superstardom within the Christian community. As a former New Age... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch VIII: "Elaine" Part II

space Dr. Brown's Story Rebecca Brown's story, as told in Closet Witches and in her books, is every bit as weird as Elaine's. It includes religious persecution, demonic possession on an epidemic scale, and sinister medical conspiracies. Bailey was born in Indiana in 1948. Though her parents were Christians, she came to believe that their... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch VIII: "Elaine"

space The two-for-one account of Dr. Rebecca Brown and "Elaine" plays out like every B movie you've ever seen. Satanic nurses out for blood...a marriage to the Devil...snoozy Midwestern towns run by witches...a hospital showdown between the forces of light and darkness... The "Elaine" hoax was wholly facilitated by our old friend Jack Chick, the... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch Part VII: Bill Schnoebelen

space So far, most of the ex-witches and former Satanists in this series have either faded into obscurity or died. This is not the case with Bill Schnoebelen. He was one of the very first "Ex-Men" to dominate the Christian conspiracy lecture circuit, beginning in 1984, and he is still with us. He might be... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch: John Todd Addendum

A Christian lady wrote to me after the post about the late John Todd went up, pointing me to an Answers.com page that states Raymond Buckland held a doctorate in anthropology (from King's College, Cambridge), negating my statement that Buckland was not an anthropologist. "You will be held accountable for not writting what you know... Continue Reading →

The Prodigal Witch Part VI: Tom Sanguinet

space In the '80s, a thirtysomething Texan named Tom Sanguinet made an extremely minor niche for himself as a former Wiccan high priest who converted to Christianity. His Witness for Christ Center Outreach was devoted to smearing and misrepresenting Wicca and Wiccans and educating Christians about the "evil" pagan origins of Halloween and Easter celebrations.... Continue Reading →

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