Friday, March 7, 2014

#944: Johanna Michaelsen


Johanna Michaelsen is (or was) one of the movers and shakers behind the Satanic panic trend that was all the rage among parents, fundies and the delusional in the 80s and early 90s. Indeed, the “former Satanists” who achieved something resembling superstardom in certain religious communities, in particular Lauren Stratford, could hardly have got there without Michaelsen. Michaelsen was herself a former New Ager who, after being reborn, devoted her life to fight all things New Age and all “non-traditional religions,” for all the wrong reasons, and she seems to have cared not one whit about the (utter lack of) plausibility or corroboration with regard to her “ex-Satanist” clients.

Michaelsen has in fact spread a fair share of paranoid bullshit herself about the paranormal, New Age silliness and Halloween herself. She has claimed that school shootings should be blamed on teenagers toying with the occult and rock music (blaming in particular Rammstein for the Columbine massacre), and warned that Satanists are grooming our children for a reign of terror in the immediate future by brainwashing them with Halloween. Her book Like Lambs to the Slaughter is hence a guide for parents, telling them how to prevent the occult from encroaching on their children’s souls, such as warning against letting kids watch The Smurfs. John Beardsley of rapidnet.com liked it, but was critical of Michaelsen’s sometimes acceptance of terminology from psychology and psychiatry, which in Beardsley’s view is unbiblical. You can read a longer expose of Michaelsen and her antics here.

As mentioned, Michaelsen never really rejected her previous New Age beliefs; indeed, she explicitly still claims the stuff she professed early on were correct, only that she had been deceived by Satan into thinking them innocent or even angelic rather than demonic. The stuff in question includes occult practices such as yoga and meditation, as well as influencing others through psi and summoning Jesus and other dead people during sessions.

Michaelsen was a close associate of Hal Lindsey – indeed, Johanna’s younger sister Kim was Hal Lindsey’s third wife. Johanna herself was married to Randolph (Randy) Michaelsen, currently pastor of King’s Harbor Church in Torrance. Lindsey even wrote the foreword for Johanna’s first book, The Beautiful Side of Evil, which “documented” her “occult” experiences and subsequent lapse into fundamentalist Christianity. Due to her background and connections, she was thus well poised to launch her significant contribution to the Satanic panic by mentoring Lauren Stratford. Michaelsen lost some of her clout when she fell out with Lindsey in the early 90s. Stratford, on her side, and after her story was exposed as fake, went on to change her name and start a new career as a fake holocaust survivor. It didn’t really end very well for her.

Diagnosis: Utterly, unhingedly, raving mad. And, exasperatingly, she has demonstrably had a bit of influence. Should make you weep for mankind or something.

14 comments:

  1. THANK YOU SO MUCH i waited along time for a post like this!

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  2. I see you're almost at the N's -- an entry on UFO wacknut Sheldan Nidle would be dandy.

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    1. wait so how does the order work then? do they do an alphabetical order?

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  3. so then does anyone have any info that might debunk her nonsense with that "psychic" surgeon she claimed to have worked with apparently that one was "for real"

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. There's no such thing as "freedom of speech" for the commenters on this blog. So typical of coward bloggers that sit behind their computers and contribute no real value to the world. #fake #incognitoCoward

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    1. Relax. Everything that's not spam will eventually be published, but I am not checking the in-moderation box continuously (and spammers force me to have that).

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    2. freedom of speech is about the government not be able to punish you for saying things they don't like. If this blog was punished for not allowing your comments wouldn't its rights be violated?

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  6. All one can do is LOL at the prejudicial and belittling remarks on this site. You need to write for Huffpo or such sorts.

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  7. I just talked to Pachita's son he said johanna was lying about her experience in mexico

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    1. Was wondering how you got a hold of him. And do you think he might be lying? Is thenpsychic surgery for real?

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  8. What a rude, crude and Disgusting blog.Don't believe you miraculously found Pachita's son. How convenient. Johanna teaches Biblical truth, clearly you wouldn't know that. Get saved, then you will understand what she is saying. She's told the truth, too many have confirmed all that she has said.

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    1. it wasnt a miracle at all, it took some time actually. My questions have nothing to do with anyones theology anyways

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