Satanic Panic: A Deep Dive into Conspiracy and Confusion with Rodney Orpheus and Phil Hine

In the 1980s, a young Northern Irishman set out from home and became involved with the Pagan community of Northern England. Hanging out at a shop called The Sorcerer's Apprentice, he met a fellow traveler in the occult. Rodney Orpheus and Phil Hine spent the ensuing years producing Pagan News, a 'zine that served as the newsletter of the Paganlinks community – but it was much more than just a newsletter or calendar of upcoming events. Their work served as activism for a historically shunned culture in which participation itself was considered a political statement.

Rodney Orpheus and Phil Hine have now put the best of Pagan News into a book that chronicles events from 1988-1992, ranging from the cultural scene to the Satanic Panic, a social hysteria that boiled into public officials calling for witches to be wiped off the face of the earth. Rodney and Phil join Erica Lukes and Jack Brewer of Expanding Frontiers Research to discuss their new book, Delinquent Elementals: A Pagan News Anthology, available from Mark Pilkington and Strange Attractor Press:

Delinquent Elementals | Strange Attractor

Phil Hine is a British occult author and researcher. He has gained international recognition through his books Condensed Chaos, Prime Chaos and The Pseudonomicon. His most recent work is Queerying Occultures (Original Falcon Press, 2023).

Rodney Orpheus is a Northern Irish musician, record producer, writer, and technologist. He is known for his work with the musical group The Cassandra Complex and for his books Abrahadabra: Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic Magick and Grimoire of Aleister Crowley.