Jethro, the baby Jesus is gonna school YOU!!!!!

I could not believe it when I heard that for $250.00 you could learn about Evil from the experts; the Vatican was starting a course on Satanism and the Occult. Widely accepted signs of possession some of which were depicted in the 1973 movie, "The Exorcist" include speaking in unknown tongues and demonstrating physical force beyond one's natural capacity. In 1999, when the Vatican issued its first new guidelines since 1614 for driving out devils, it urged priests to take modern psychiatry into account in deciding who should be exorcised.The updated exorcism rite, contained in a red, leather-bound book, was a reflection of Pope John Paul II's efforts to convince the skeptical that the devil is very much in the world. At the time, he gave a series of homilies denouncing the devil as a "cosmic liar and murderer."
Of course you can guess that according to the Vatican, all interactions with "the occult and the esoteric" are extremely dangerous.There seem to be a number of occult related killings over in Italy in the news right now. The article continues
The class debuts as an Italian court prepares to try eight people believed to belong to a Satanic sect for their alleged role in three ritual killings. Sect members belonged to a heavy metal band called "Beasts of Satan."One of the victims was a 19-year-old stabbed to death in 1998. She may have been targeted because her killers believed she was a personification of the Virgin Mary, prosecutors allege. Another victim was shot last year and buried alive.
Though ritual murder has had a number of popular stories in the news recently. The "vampire" case in Toronto just ended in a mistrial yesterday because one of the prime witnesses may have committed perjury when she denied her interest in vampires. There was quite an interesting article in the Toronto Star today related to the case about how people create online personas that differ from their real live personality... and how in this case, delving into fantasy realms online can come back to bite (pun intended) you.Last month, there was the trial of "Jodi's Killer," Luke Mitchell, who may have been inspired by Marilyn Manson to commit the gruesome deed in a style similar to the "Black Dahlia" murder of 1940s Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short. Mitchell, who killed his girlfriend when they were both 14, was recently sentenced to 20 years behind bars and will now try to appeal the verdict. Marilyn Manson has recently spoken out to distance himself from the crime.Update (2/21): The Satanic band accused of murder in Italy started their trial today.