William Watson, "A Concise Dictionary of Cults & Religions
(Moody, Chicago 1991), ISBN 0-8024-1726-4
This is an impressive book which lists about 2000 individual
religious groups, UFO organizations, New Age organizations, individuals,
deities, spirit guides, activities, techniques, important texts etc, with a
brief description of each. This is followed by an extensive bibliography
and list of Christian ministries which deal with cults.
The book is written from an Evangelical Christian perspective. Essentially
all of the entries are factual in content and appear to be precise. A few
entries appear strange (e.g, references to various non-Evangelical
religious groups engaging in pornography, rape, incest, polygamy,
kidnapping, electric shock rituals, etc). Such activities appear to be
unlikely.
Watson's descriptions of some Occultic and New Age activities are a major
deviation from this otherwise accurate book. Misinformation and religious
intolerance abound. The author seems to have relied heavily on other
Evangelical-Fundamentalist Christian writers beliefs, rather than on
original documents by occultic groups. A few examples of errors are:
- P. 12: Occult The Occult traditionally consisted of many diverse
and unrelated activities such as Satanism, Wicca ("White" Witchcraft),
astrology, palm reading, Spiritualism, etc). The only factor which they
share is that they claim to possess knowledge that is not revealed to the
public but which is released gradually to their members. Watson implies
that members of the occult:
- cast spells (which is true only of Satanists and Wiccans),
- generate curses (which is true only of Satanists)
- communicate with the dead (really true only of Spiritualism)
- are anti-Christian (not true of any occultic activities, even Satanism).
- P. 31: Astrology He describes astrologers as believing
that Jesus is a "superpsychic being, not God." In reality, most astrologers
are ordinary Christians with traditional beliefs.
- P. 43: The Book of Shadows This is described as the "sacred
book of witchcraft"; this implies that it is a published book like
the Bible. In reality, it starts as a blank book into which a Wiccan records
rituals and experiences in his/her own handwriting.
- P. 58, 60 etc: Cults He describes cults as non-Christian
groups, and then defines the Church of Christ, Scientist and the Church
of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) as cults.
- P. 70: Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans He identifies
Witchcraft as a Goddess religion. Actually, they worship both a God and
a Goddess.
- P. 80: Dowsing (also known as water witching). He
incorrectly connects this practice to Spiritualism.
- P. 80: Dungeons and Dragons (R) He states that this and other
games such as DragonQuest(R) teach occultic practices. Actually, they are
fantasy role-playing games.
- P. 95: Freemasonry He repeats a quotation that a man "cannot
be an intelligent Christian and an intelligent Mason" simultaneously.
- P.108: Harmonic Convergence Watson describes this as a "gathering
of mediators". Actually, it is a specific alignment of planets.
- P. 109: Heavy Metal Music He describes this as promoting "occultic
practices, drug use, sexual abuse, murder and suicide."
- P. 130: Kahuna This is described as being associated with the
occult. Actually, it is the aboriginal Hawaiian religion with no particular
connection to the occult.
- P. 162: New Age He equates Universalism with the belief that
all religions are true. Actually, Universalism is the belief that all
people will eventually reach heaven after death. The term has also been
used to refer to Jehovah being the God of all the world, rather than
just of Israel.
- P. 173: Ouija Board This is described as leading to "insanity
and demon control".
- P. 189: Radical Faerie Movement Homosexuality is described as a
choice.
- P. 198: Runes These are described as an alphabet used by
occultists to write their pacts with Satan. Occultists do not write
pacts with Satan; that is a false residual belief left over from the
Witch burning times.
- P. 201: Santeria A branch of Santeria (Palo Mayombe) is held
responsible for murders in Matamoros, Mexico in 1989. Actually, the
murders were done by a drug running gang; their main motivation came
from repeated viewing of the movie The Believers.
- P. 202: Satanism Cultic Satanists are described as engaged
in kidnapping, prostitution and ritual sacrifices. They do not.
Their main ritual is described as the Black Mass. It is not. Black
Masses have sometimes been performed by Satanists for publicity
reasons; however these occurrences are rare.
- P. 253: W.I.C.C.A. This is described as the acronym for
Witches International Coven Council Association. No such group exists
now or has in the past. A Christian group once promoted forged documents
which stated that W.I.C.C.A. was holding a meeting in Mexico to arrange a
Satanic takeover of the world. The organization never existed; the meeting
was never held; the world (to our knowledge) has not been turned over to
Satan.
- P. 253: Wicca This is described as a synonym of Witch. It is
not; Wicca is the religion of the ancient Celtic people. Wiccan is
a synonym for what the public often calls a "white" Witch.
- P. 254: Witchcraft This is described as being motivated by
a lust for power. It is not, any more than any other religion. Covens
(groups of Wiccans) are described as usually consisting of six men, six
women and a head priestess or priest. Actually they are composed of
a minimum of 3 Wiccans, of any gender. The fixed size of a coven
is a holdover from a Middle Ages superstition. Esbats are described
as semi-monthly meetings; actually they are most often full moon gatherings.
Watson describes how rituals, spells and charms must be followed to the
letter in order to be effective. This is not true. He mentions that
ceremonies include sexual rituals and drug use. In reality, sexual
rituals are rare and are done only in private between two committed
people; drugs are not used, except for the occasional sip of wine.
He says that Lycanthropy (changing from human form into a wolf or
other animal) is taught. This is just too silly to refute. There are
other errors in this section.
The book also contains misinformation about other religions: