| Misinformation about The Process: The Process held to a unique theology which worshipped God while loving Satan. Being an open and proselytizing religious organization, they were exposed to criticism by other Christians. Having such an unorthodox response to Satan, they were easily misunderstood. A book about Charles Manson, "The Family", claimed that Manson was a member of The Process. The Church obtained apologies and retractions to the book after it brought about a suit against the publisher. Because of the time it took to bring about the retractions, a large portion of book sales had occurred; so many of the books (without retractions) are on shelves today. The connection between Manson and the Process has not completely been corrected. Manson was never a registered member of The Process. A group of Processeans visited him in prison and confirmed that he had never been involved in the local Chapter . More recently, a book was published that claimed a second mass murderer, David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" was also a member of The Process. The book stated that The Process was a network of killers and that Berkowitz was a look-out and did not take part in all of the killings. This conflicts with the police investigators who believed that Berkowitz was operating on his own. If they thought otherwise, the police certainly would have investigated the Church. Berkowitz claimed to have been a ~, and to have converted to Evangelical Christianity in prison. He claimed that the "Sam" in "Son of Sam" came from the name of the Celtic God of the Dead, Samhain (which he pronounced "Sam-hane"). His story is suspect, because his pronunciation is incorrect, the Celts never had a God of the Dead, there is no God by the name of Samhain and because Satanists do not worship Celtic Gods. In reality, Samhain means "end of summer", was a Celtic seasonal day of celebration, and remains a \Vig~{jn Sabbat. Rituals: Assemblies were held in a room that had a Christian Cross on one wall and, on the opposite side of the room, a Goat ofMendes (a goat's head in a pentagram) which symbolizes Satan. The Process version of this symbol had the pentagram placed upright. The Goat of Mendes was later removed as part of Process symbolism. An round altar was in the centre of the room, covered with a Process motif. Candles were arranged on the altar pointing to the four cardinal directions; this symbolized their unity with all of creation. Frankincense was burned in the center of the altar as a symbol of Christ being at the heart of The Process. Members attending the ritual sat on cushions on the floor in concentric circles around the altar. To the rear was a music section usually with guitars, singers, sitar, piano and drums. Because Saturday was the traditional Sabbath (Sunday being the Christian day of rest), the main service of the week was called the Sabbath Assembly. It was held Saturday Evening at 7 p.m. The Christmas Assembly was held on Christmas Eve. Weddings occurred in all Chapters. The Process married same-sex couples in the same fashion as opposite-sex couples (however registry's tended to differ on the legal part of same-sex weddings). Chapters were closed on Sundays and Christmas Day. |
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