Adelaide University Occult Club ban outrage: ‘We won’t summon Satan’
Adelaide University Occult Club will launch an appeal against a move to deregister the group, which features Satanists, Wiccans and other pagans.
Tertiary
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Adelaide University Occult Club is claiming censorship over a student union’s move to deregister the group, which includes Satanists and witches.
The university union’s clubs committee has voted not to renew the occult club’s affiliation for the coming year.
About 30 people are members of the occult club, which meets on campus to discuss books and similar interests, but club president Ashley Towner says it does not practise witchcraft or magic.
In March, the Adelaide University Union’s clubs committee placed the club’s application to re-register on hold pending further discussions. Now the occult group’s request has been denied, Ashley is planning an appeal.
“I feel like it really is very much about censorship,” Ashley said.
“The people on the committee who have made this decision, the only reason they could be doing this is they personally disagree with our beliefs.”
Ashley said a complaint had been lodged about the group, relating to concerns it might summon Satan – but members neither planned to do that, nor believed it was even possible as they didn’t believe in the figure.
“Satanists tend to be atheists who like the aesthetic of the Satan myth – the idea of Satan coming down and convincing people to try the apple to gain knowledge and that sort of thing, or a lot of them view Satan as someone who rebelled against an authoritarian god.
“It’s sort of halfway between a traditional religion and a political position.
“But the majority of our members are Wiccans or other pagans who worship the Egyptian or Greek gods, and we also have some members from mainstream religions.
“We read books that have been influential in occultism and we talk about them in the way that you would in a book club.”
Ashley understands being denied membership means the group may not book meeting areas on-campus, hold events or apply for grants.
That was despite support within the community, including a 570-signature petition “demanding that the Adelaide University Union treats us fairly”, and a unanimous motion of support at a Student Representative Council meeting attended by more than 150 people earlier this year.
Adelaide University Union president Oscar Zi Shao Ong did not answer questions about how many complaints were lodged, or their contents.
“The motion to fully register the Occult Club failed because a resolution must have the support of at least three voting members and, unfortunately, there were insufficient voting members for the motion,” he said.
“When this occurs, clubs are able to appeal to the (union) board, with the next meeting taking place in June.”
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