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Unholy row over Satanism night-school
Last updated at 23:22pm on 10.10.06
Self-proclaimed 'full-time sorcerer' Scott Jones
When he ran his night-school in Satanism above pubs in Coventry, occultist Scott Jones says no one was the slightest bit bothered.
Maybe the spirits down below (be they otherworldy, or from the optics) worked in his favour; who knows?
But what is certain is that the locals down in deepest Somerset, where his latest course is being held, are proving one hell of a lot less accommodating than their counterparts in the West Midlands city.
In fact as Mr Jones, a high priest in a secret order of Luciferians, prepares to don his black robes for the next session of the 10-week course at Worle village hall, the atmosphere in the rural community is turning increasingly.....er, well ..... evil.
Placard-waving protesters have already campaigned outside the hall while initial classes in the course, which also teaches witchcraft, tarot reading and meditation, were taking place.
Now the unholy row has escalated with Mr Jones receiving hate mail and petitions from members of the rural community amid mounting calls for his course to be banned.
Yesterday self-proclaimed "full-time sorcerer" Mr Jones, 35, insisted: "I would call it a self-improvement course. There's no ritual slaughtering of goats, ravishing of virgins or conjuring up of the Beast.
"Coventry is hardly the most cosmopolitan place in the world, but I've run the course there six times above pubs and no one batted an eyelid.
"I live in Worle and I'm very shocked at the level of ignorance and pettiness that has been aroused because of the course I'm running here.
"I've received lots of mail from people asking me to stop the course immediately, but there's no way that this will happen. I'm expecting to be burnt at the stake any minute."
He claims his Luciferian teachings are not connected to the Devil as portrayed in the Bible, but to the pre-Christian deity Lucifer "the bringer of light" that was worshipped by the ancient Romans.
"It's about neither good nor evil. I call it the shadow path,' he explained, somewhat mystically.
"There's no spells being cast, although one part of it does teach how to influence people, how to draw them to you or push them away.
"I'm not pressuring anyone into joining a religion. I'm simply teaching people the abilities and its up to them what they do with them."
His 15 students, who are mixed in age range from their early twenties to late sixties and pay £4 per each per class, have enjoyed their studies so far, he added.
But even Mr Jones is unable to work his magic on appeasing the majority of the locals. One resident from the nearby village of Milton wrote to Mr Jones telling him that he should be ashamed for running the course in the first place.
The pensioner, who refused to be identified, said: "I think a lot of people are horrified that such a thing could happen.
"Most people in the area are quite alarmed about the course - there's enough trouble in the world without inviting Satan in to make things worse.
"I find it extremely sad that it should have to happen and I think it should be banned."
Local councillor Roz Willis said because the village hall is run as a charity, Charity Commission rules state that cancelling the course would be breaking the law.
She said: "The Christian element in the area are very upset about the course. Personally I'm not too happy about it either but there's nothing we can do as it would be discrimination."
Reader views (3)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
Keep up the good work Scott!
- Damien Black, Exeter, Devon
Yes so maybe he's very airy-fairy and a bit misguided, but it's a free country. The people vehemently opposing him are being aggressively superstitious. Why can't they wave placards about real evils, like gambling addiction or illiteracy or violence?
- Jon, Cambridge, UK
He seems to be an eminently English Satanist and I expect that if there was anything to his powers those opposing him would have met grisly ends by now.
- Paul Nash, Dublin, Ireland
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