Witches and Wizards

By this point, I've made it abundantly clear that demons are the great enemy slithering in the Atrocissimus, and it is because of these foul creatures and their Satanic master that we have so much horror in the world. Yet the simple reality of the matter is that the demons' power would never fully be manifested in this world if not for the actions of witches and wizards. These people are essentially the portals through which demonic power flows from the abyss into the material world. 

Magic users -- just like werewolves, vampires, and zombies -- have of late been rehabilitated in the media, especially TV shows and movies. Rather than twisted humans who have turned their lives over to evil for wealth and power, they've recently been portrayed as plucky teenagers expressing their independence, wise elder leaders fighting to protect the weak, or just light-hearted gifted folks out to have a good time. 

They are none of these things. They are evil, purely evil, in league with Satan and all his demons. These are very, very bad people.

Here's what I have to say about them in my first book, The House on Blackstone Hill:

Witches and wizards? Yes, they also exist, but perhaps not as you expect. Magic can only be used by gaining that power directly from a demon, so there are no good witches and wizards. They are certainly not cute little children going to quaint castles to learn these skills. These are evil, perverted people who have cruelly sacrificed the lives of many cute little children to gain these powers, which they use for their own evil purposes. 

Yes, they are very bad people but don't think that they are all alike, or even that they work in one massive whole. There are a variety of different groups of magic-users, not all of whom even know about the others.

The most organized, powerful, and closely linked to Hell itself through a cadre of demonic liaisons is the Coven Universal. Its very existence is a carefully guarded secret so that no one who is a member of it would ever admit that. These are people who, to look at, you'd never think they dealt with demons and sacrificed people to gain power. They closely guard their membership status, and since they carefully put on a veneer of normalcy, suggesting they are part of such an evil organization would seem ridiculous.

These are business people, government officials, teachers, actors, producers...anyone, really, though members of the Coven Universal tend to already either be rich and powerful or have a gnawing desire to become so. The Coven Universal is an extreme hierarchy that reaches into the highest levels of government, industry, and business all around the world. When people whisper of the Illuminati, they're unknowingly speaking of the Coven Universal.  

But not every magic-user is so formally associated. There are small covens, unaffiliated and often unaware of the existence of others, hidden away everywhere. These are usually small circles of friends who live in a tight-knit community. The coven members are often outsiders in the community and appear as odd or unusual in some way, though not always. They could just as easily be your own next-door neighbor. 

Then there are the "lone wolf" types, the individual witch or wizard who either doesn't know about covens or doesn't care. These people practice on their own, often stumbling accidentally onto the awesome power that is to be found in demonic connections. These folks typically manifest their identity as a magic-user and will use their reputation to dominate others.

Of course, it should be noted that there is a significant number of people in the modern world who would describe themselves as "witches" and who engage in their version of magic. These people are typically unconnected with the Atrocissimus and are instead just regular people practicing a form of neo-pagan Earth religion. Most assuredly not the evil, foul things to be found engaging with demons for their own power and glory.