Who’d be reckless enough to engage in battle against the Prince of Darkness? This is a sinister story about a brash, anonymous online stalker who posts slanderous mterial on newsgroups to harass a renowned Satanist who is the “Second Beast of the Revelation”. Now the Son of Satan is taking a San Diego Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the San Francisco Superior Court in an attempt to track down the harasser and put a stop to it.
The complainant, Dr Michael Aquino, admits he was a member of the Church of Satan from 1969 until 1975, when he went on to found the Temple of Set (http://www.xeper.org/pub/tos/) in 1975. Set is the oldest known form of the Prince of Darkness, an Egyptian god whose priesthood can be traced to predynastic times. He represents the individual who, through his own hard work and magical skill, becomes a divine being. The Temple of Set’s introductory Web site for initiates says it enjoys the colourful legacy of the “Black Arts”, and uses many forms of historical Satanic imagery for artistic stimulation and pleasure. There is a warning that the “Black Arts” are dangerous, and “this is most emphatically *not* a field for unstable people”. To become a member, you have to practise the Black Arts for 16 months, and then you’ll be visited by a Setian Priest, who’ll examine your understanding of Left-Hand Path’s philosophies and your magical ability. If you pass, you get a red medallion which confirms you’ve passed from Death to Life and have shown you can “Awaken, See, and Act”. But if you’re governed by emotions such as shame, fear, or the desire for social acceptance, you can’t perform Black Magic and will have to resit the test later.
Apart from founding the Temple, Dr Aquino is also a retired Lt Colonel of the US Army where he worked in the top-secret area of “psychological operations”. There are numerous references on the Net referring to the Temple of Set as being a branch of Satanic worship. “This is erroneous,” Dr Aquino told me. “People don’t understand that Set is a non and pre-Judaeo/Christian god entirely. The Judaeo/Christian concept of `Satan’ was a corruption and caricature of Set, and other cultural gods, such as Pan, which were portrayed as `evil’ since they were in competition to the Judaeo/Christian god.” As for being the “second beast of Revelation”, Dr Aquino says: “ElectriCiti’s president, Christopher Alan, fails to comprehend a joking reference I once made concerning the superstitious projections of many fundamentalists concerning anything and anyone not-fundamentalist.”
The anonymous harasser has caused innumerable problems by hacking into the accounts of other ElectriCiti users, so accusations have been wildly hurled as hapless customers have been left trying to prove their innocence. The stalker claims to have worked in the child abuse field for 10 years, regularly accuses Aquino and his wife, Lilith, of taking part in satanic ritual abuse of children, child molestation, fraud against the US government, and “various other heinous crimes, sexual perversions, and crimes of moral turpitude”. The accusations are based on an investigation in the late 1980s into allegations of ritual child abuse at San Francisco’s Presidio day-care centre where Aquino was stationed. He was named as a suspect in the case, but wasn’t charged. Years later, he retired from the military. Now, he allegedly (Dr Aquino declined to confirm) has a $3.6 million inheritance and spends his time posting regularly to newsgroups, where Curio keeps following him around and dredging up charges of child abuse.
The Aquinos asked the ISP to revoke the harasser’s privileges, then in an attempt to obtain Curio’s details, they had to issue a subpoena, as ISPs can’t randomly give out subscriber’s details to anyone without a court order. They alleged that ElectriCiti “actively assisted” the stalker’s “hate campaign” by refusing to stop the posts. ElectriCiti president Christopher Alan says his company is a small ISP and, if he knew who the stalker was, he’d close the account, rather than face court costs ranging from at least $5000 to $15,000. In the US, there is a legal provision that states “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider”. Alan’s lawyer is asking the San Francisco court to dismiss the case as a SLAPP suit – a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” – aimed to curb debate on the Net.
After scouring the Net on Aquino’s background, I found various bizarre comments from enemies among the Church of Satan (CoS). Satanists claim Aquino gives Satanism a bad name.
“Soon after his indignant departure from the Church of Satan, Aquino tried to rip off the title `Church of Satan’ for his group, and found he couldn’t do that. He finally called his group the Temple of Set. He is clearly obsessed with the character of Spock from Star Trek. That’s where the funny hairdo comes from, along with the preposterous claims of naturally pointed eyebrows. One of his great magical Workings has been rewriting Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark several times. No calculating Christian could have done the Satanic movement more harm.”
(from http://www.inet.uni-c.dk/~haroth/Abyss/Vad/satan/cos/cos.html)
“I am a member of The Werewolf Order, an elite Satanic militia who has taken on the responsibility of preparing the spearhead for a radical Satanic dominion. Upon reading your material I was struck by its support of the drug abuser Aleister Crowley, the child molester Michael Aquino and many other useless claimants to the Satanic philosophy. The Werewolf Order stands in strict opposition to all of these practices, liberal-humanistic ideologies or in the worst case, The Temple of Shit, even a juvenile belief in a deity. All of these beliefs contradict the rational ideas presented in The Satanic Bible by Anton La Vey. I want to make it clear that there is at least one Satanic group that insists on being unholier than thou by refusing to give credence to such excreta.
(from http://www.earthlight.co.nz/users/spock/watcher/watcher3.txt)
“CoS members include productive artists like Marilyn Manson, the Electric Hellfire Club, and Adam Parfrey. The ToS had the lead guitarist from Motley Crue, until he wised up and quit.”
(http://webpages.marshall.edu/~allen12/pretend.txt)
So I asked a few questions.
What do you have a doctorate in?
B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Political Science, University of California M.P.A. Public Administration, George Washington University.
Have you engaged in any Satanic rituals involving children?
No, and the Temple of Set, since its founding has prohibited minors (under age 18) at any of its activities whatever.
Were you charged with any child molestation crimes?
Neither Lilith nor I have ever been charged or convicted of any crime whatever.
Did you leave the Army immediately after the investigation Curio refers to?
No. The investigation concluded in mid-1989. I remained in the Active US Army Reserve until 1994, when I decided to retire and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Secretary of the Army. I remain today in the Retired Reserve component of the Army as a Lt Colonel.
What do you think about ElectriCiti’s inability to assist you in tracking down the harasser?
ElectriCiti, if they did not know which one of their accounts was being used, could have created a log to discover it. They refused to do so.
Are they shying away from the main issue and pointing the finger at you for being a member of a Satanic cult?
I think it is obvious ElectriCiti is trying to misrepresent the actual issue of the lawsuit, and also to incite religious bigotry against my wife and myself. Strictly speaking, The Temple of Set is not “Satanic”, since we do not believe in Satan. Setians generally do not refer to themselves as anything but “Setian”. Nor are we a “cult” – unless all legitimate religions are to be considered “cults” – since we were legally incorporated as a nonprofit church in 1975 and received full California and US recognition that same year.
What do you think of the First Amendment Free speech rights claim by ElectriCiti?
This is not a First Amendment lawsuit, but one concerning negligence and infliction of emotional distress by ElectriCiti. Obviously ElectriCiti would like to divert attention from that. I emphasise that the Temple of Set is *not* a party to this lawsuit, and that the lawsuit is not about my religion, nor about my own personality.
Considering the effectiveness of anonymous remailers, do you think you’re just “picking” on ElectriCiti, even though their details were mentioned in some of the harasser’s e-mails?
ElectriCiti is being held accountable only for broadcasting the transmissions that originated from ElectriCiti. I requested their help politely and courteously, and gave them every opportunity to provide it. When they refused to do so, I had no alternative but to seek legal redress.
If you can’t get any results through the courts, what will you do? Can magic rituals be used to help out?
I consider this as a straightforward legal issue to be addressed quite normally by the courts.
What’s the point in being in a Temple of Set if you can’t use some sort of spiritual power to get rid of this harasser?
That’s a topic we generally do not discuss with non-Initiates for a number of reasons. Our understanding of magic is very subtle and complex. There are also many different kinds of it, and part of being a magician lies in selecting the correct kind for a given situation.
There was a mention that you were a medium for The Book Of Coming Forth By Night.
This is a ceremonial record from the Temple of Set’s founding ritual working. It is oversimplistic to call it “mediumistic”. You may call it a meditation of mine concerning the existence and essence of Set.
Are you a second beast? Or an incarnation of Set? Son of Set?
I do not believe in Christian mythology at all. I am neither the incarnation nor the son of Set – his son was the god Anubis. Setians believe that the essence of Set indwells all initiates of his religion equally.
Are you the founder and high priest of one of the foremost Satanist organisations in the world, with several hundred members?
The Temple of Set was collectively founded by about 100 initial members in 1975. I served as the High Priest until 1996, when I retired. I do not now hold any office in the Temple, though I remain a member. As noted above, the Temple is *Setian*, not “Satanist”. We do not discuss our membership figures, so Alan has no basis for the “several hundred” statement at all.
Do you have naturally pointy eyebrows?
Yes, since birth. They keep the rain off and get me in to Star Trek conventions at a discount.
Does your wife’s name, Lileth, mean “goddess of death”?
It does not mean “goddess of death” to her at all. That is evidently a pejorative superstition belonging to the Jewish/Christian religion. To her it has always symbolised the mystery and beauty of feminine magic.
Will any Temple members physically attack Mr Alan? Is he in danger from Charles Manson-type followers?
No. The members of the Temple of Set are all law-abiding ladies and gentlemen. On the other hand, Mr Alan personally emailed two threats of personal harm to me:
March 4, 1997: “I am about to go bezerker (sic) on you.” According to my dictionary, “berserk” means “marked by a display of violent, erratic behavior indicative of extreme excitement or agitation and suggestive of sudden mental imbalance”.
March 5, 1997: “By all means alert the authorities. I will be seeing you soon.”
I am conferring with my attorney on the necessity of seeking a judicial restraining order against Mr Alan to ensure the safety of my family accordingly.
Why has your group been labelled as “Satanic”? Is it to do with worship practices?
We consider “Satan” a Judaeo/Christian corruption/caricature of the pre-J/C Set. It was habitual of J/C to label competing and preexisting gods of other faiths as “demons” and “devils”.
Have you sacrificed any goats?
No animal is ever harmed in any way in Setian ceremonies. As our membership literature states quite specifically, anyone caught doing that would be expelled immediately and referred to civil animal protection authorities. Since our founding we have never had reason to invoke this.
What about sex orgies?
What consenting adults do on their own is their own business, and the Temple does not intrude.
From the material at your Web site, it seems that Setian worship rituals are devised by individual members.
Correct. We consider rituals as necessarily personal events, not rote activities.
Have you had many on-line hassles from religious bigots, or do they mostly leave your members alone?
We often joke that the definition of “cult” is “the other fellow’s religion”! Between members of different religions – and atheists/agnostics – there is always going to be debate, sometimes friendly, sometimes a bit heated. Since we are considered more exotic than most, many people have exotic opinions about us. That’s understandable, human nature being what it is. However we do not go out of our way to be offensive to anyone else, and do not try to convert anyone. The harasser is a dangerously psychotic exception – a “witch hunter”.
Is it like the Christian religion where they ask God for help?
No. We do not need to pray to Set at all.
It seems your group is more reliant on the individual to “self-empower” and take action.
Correct.
Then I asked Mr Alan of ElectriCiti:
How do you explain your inability to assist Dr Aquino?
Inability? We have plenty of ability, it’s incentive to ‘assist’ Dr Aquino we have precious little of. Gee, your ISP is asked to help your local anti-Christ obtain your true identity and address. Let me think about that for about two seconds… Ahhh, no.
This was treated as a routine Usenet spat. My first comment was `we don’t give out any information on our users’. This was well before I realised just who Dr Aquino was. [The harasser] apparently posts from a wide variety of Internet accounts, and clearly forges Usenet and mail headers. No one with any experience puts much credence in unsigned (PGP) email. All I know about satanic ritual abuse and child molestation is what I’ve seen on late night TV. I’m not an expert. Of course ElectriCiti could spend all kinds of time and money trying to determine rigorously, scientifically, empirically who Curio is, but we’re an ISP, not a detective agency. If someone hacks our system, we will deploy our SWAT team. In this case it is Dr Aquino who seeks [the harasser's] identity, not us, and we don’t know any more than anyone else. Really, truly, I have no idea who the harasser is.
Why is ElectriCiti prepared to be a sacrificial “test case” for ISPs, and are you willing to lose your business?”
Unfortunately, I don’t really have a lot of choice. Even if I knew the identity, I wouldn’t do it. Yes, even if I lost my business. In this case it’s much worse – what will a Satanist do to a vocal detractor? If something happened based on my revelation of her identity, I would carry a tremendous burden of guilt. If my users knew that I would give up their identity – especially to a despicable character – would I have any business left anyway? It’s lucky for me that Aquino is a “colourful character” and not a pillar of the community – this makes it easier for people to understand the threat.
Are you afraid of any threats from the Temple of Set followers?
I haven’t received any threats. I fully expect strange people to come out of the woodwork and attack our network, and possibly present a physical threat. Fortunately, we have been “battle tested” over the last few years as a commercial ISP. We’ve also developed a very good working relationship with the FBI as a result of previous battles with Crackers and made a lot of “big” friends in the net security community. We’ve also established very good physical security procedures, as ISPs are regular targets. Also, we do a lot of business with the local military installations. It’s good to do business with professional warriors.
Surely the First Amendment doesn’t encourage defamatory statements?
The First Amendment does not permit defamation or libel and I don’t endorse it either. The most important fact about this entire situation is that I am not in a position to judge whether any of my members are posting “true” or “false” information. The logistics of that kind of monitoring on the Internet are just impossible.
Considering the effectiveness of anonymous remailers, do you think Dr Aquino is just “picking” on ElectriCiti? Is the real problem the anarchic nature and anonymity of the Internet?
Yes, it is very clear – by [the harasser's] admission as well as indications in her recent posts – that she uses a variety of service providers. There are now over 4,000 ISPs in the US. She could hop from ISP to ISP every day, week or month if she cared to spend the money, not to mention make extensive use of anonymous remailers. Will Aquino sue every single ISP?
If Dr Aquino can’t get any results through the courts, are you afraid of the Temple of Set? Do you think you’ll get “hexed”?
Yes, I can say that dealing with Aquino has been unnerving. He does, after all, claim to be the second beast of revelation or something like that. He is the founder and high priest of one of the foremost Satanist organisations in the world, with apparently several hundred members. He is a former Lt Col in the US Army, reportedly a specialist in psychological warfare. He evidently has quite a bit of money, newspaper accounts report a $3.6 million inheritance. He has, from the quantity of his writing, way too much time on his hands.
It’s hard to believe. I quite often feel like I have to say “I am not making this up!” when telling people the story. After the recent Heavens Gate tragedy here in San Diego, people realise that cults are capable of very, very strange actions. I will fight this one tooth and nail to the bitter end and ultimately I will prevail!
[This story was a difficult one to get off the ground, as it was very difficult to get support for running in the magazine at all. It took a couple of months to get the go-ahead. I'd read about it somewhere online and it wasn't followed up by other publications at the time. A reader's survey later showed this was the most-read feature in that issue of .net.
I felt hugely hesitant because there were paedophile allegations. But what if the Satanist was innocent, as he claimed? It seemed on the online-stalker front, he was getting no assistance. The only way this rang true was that it would be humiliating for a top Satanist to admit to being harassed and not be able to deal with it. It was a big chance to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Click on the update - turns out he was being chased by a stalker who also stalked Steven Spielberg. Nice to know a Satanist was telling the truth.]
Update here.
