New ‘satanic panic’ sweeps world as Epstein linked to demon in ‘disgusting’ idea

A fresh wave of “satanic panic” is gripping the world as conspiracy theorists claim demons are pulling the strings of global elites, with the frenzy only intensifying after the release of the Epstein files

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A new ‘satanic panic’ is sweeping the world as conspiracy theorists fuel claims demons are the ones really running things. And it’s only getting worse following the release of the Epstein files.

People online have linked late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to a demonic figure known as “Baal”, with the claims fuelled by a viral misreading of a financial document released as part of the dump.

Richard Raiswell, a history and classics professor and expert in the devil in the western tradition at University of Prince Edward Island, said: “We’re undergoing a bit of a satanic renaissance.”

He said it is often an “easy way of sort of explaining individual misfortune”.

But he said relying on demons as an explanation for such evil “would be pathetic if it wasn’t so disgusting”.

The prof, who said he has witnessed first-hand an exorcism, said it echoes previous such phases that have broken out across the globe.

While the claim elites are being ruled by some sort of sinister force differs slightly from the fear rock bands groom children with their music hiding demonic incantations, the beliefs are rooted in the same issues.

He said it stems from the 1970s and 1980s, when mass hysteria broke out after unfounded claims that a network of Satanic cults was ritually abusing children in daycare centres in the US and Canada.

The emotional trigger nowadays remains the violation of children, the expert said.

And modern panics often gain traction because they are built around truth, especially with the Epstein files.

The prof said: “And when you start reading the list of the kind of things that are in this category of demonic now I mean it goes from classic things such as pedophilia, cannibalism, the World Bank, and now immigrants, outsiders…They got nothing in common at all beyond the fact that these are things which at various points have caused anxiety for Christians.”

Today’s discourse frequently frames the confirmed crimes of Epstein and his associates not simply as criminal acts, but as evidence of a so-called “satanic global elite” engaged in literal demonic rituals, including sacrifices.

For instance, a viral claim emerged from a scanned document in the Epstein files where a line intended for a bank’s name appeared to read “Baal.name”.

While experts identified this as a clerical or scanning error, conspiracy theorists seized upon it as proof that Epstein named a bank account after Baal, an ancient deity whose role shifted from a life-giving storm god to a symbol of ultimate evil in Western demonology.

Similarly, Epstein’s private island, Little St. James, features a blue-and-white striped building widely dubbed a “temple of Moloch” online, with allegations of child sacrifice.

Prof Raiswell said: “[The reason people use satanism is because] it’s ready and it’s very easy. The classic example is ‘why do bad things happen to me?’

“‘I’m just basically a decent person and yet my crops have died in the field, but my neighbour over the road, his crops are doing fine’. Well, maybe I’ve been cursed or maybe some demons are acting’. So, it’s a very easy way of sort of explaining individual misfortune.”

He added: “The devil’s tricks are limited. He always does the same sort of thing.

“It’s ultimately the same stuff we were accusing witches of in the 16th century. It’s the same stuff in the 1980s.”

Addressing real-world horrors like the Epstein case, he said: “Humanity has a very high ability to be exceptionally vile to other people.”

But such atrocities do not require the presence of demons to be explained, he added.

Relying on demons as an explanation for such evil “would be pathetic if it wasn’t so disgusting”.

Finally, when asked about the conspiracy theory that demons are controlling the elites, he said: “It’s absolute crap. It’s been widely disproven.”

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