Did Travis Scott's Astroworld Contribute To Another Round of Satanic Panic?

If you haven't seen, the music festival Astroworld that occurred in Houston, TX this past weekend unfortunately turned into tragedy. 8 concertgoers were left dead (with many more injured) after fans of Travis Scott carried out his typical "crowd surge" by storming forward to the stage - leaving fans crushed, suffocating, and gasping for air. While Scott has since made a statement and apologized for the events, many are calling for him to be held responsible for the lives lost, as well as the concert promoter Live Nation.

"My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival. Houston PD has my total support as it continues to look into the tragic loss of life."

For months leading up to the festival, Houston officials claim they expressed concerns about the event's security and medical preparedness. In addition to a crowd of 50,000 fans, the venue raised alarms by having a lack of exits and inadequate medical and security professionals on site. Concertgoers have taken to platforms such as TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to recount their experiences, as well as raise alarm in regards to Scott's treatment of his fans.

But what exactly went down at Astroworld? If you're paying attention to the internet, there are some interesting theories that align pretty closely with a phenomenon that took America by storm in the 1980s - a movement referred to as "Satanic Panic."

A clever stage setup or Satanic sacrifice?

In addition to the logistical concerns raised prior to the concert, Scott's show itself has raised a lot of eyebrows. The aesthetic of the stage setup being somewhat of a portal has led many online conspiracists to wonder if this was some sort of Satanic ritual being carried out by Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner.

Satanism has always been a typical American scapegoat for any type of mass casualty event and it appears that Astroworld is no different. Scott's stage setup with the phrase "see ya on the other side" along with images of his transformative wardrobe has led many people to believe that the casualties were intentional. While personally I wouldn't expect any less from the QAnon crowd, the implication of this is something that is a longstanding practice of Satanic Panic.

What is Satanic Panic?

Satanic Panic, otherwise known as the ritual abuse scare, sparked in the 1980s after an account by a Canadian psychiatrist named Lawrence Pazder claimed one of his patients told him about a Satanic ritual from her childhood at the hands of a worldwide cult. It ultimately was the unjust (and untrue) hysteria that convinced average Americans that an underground cult was committing mass acts of child abuse.

Americans ran with this idea that Satanists wanted to harm their children and would go to any lengths necessary to do it - including, but not ending with, music, movies, and literature. Police tips regarding Pagan symbolism were rampant and parents were searching for underground tunnels containing these symbols outside of preschools and elementary schools.

Satanic Panic was one of the many ripples that came after the presence of women increased in the workplace. As more women began to work, the traditionalist way of life dwindled away. This included the idea that men were the head of the household and women should be stay-at-home mom's taking care of the children while their husband worked. As the increased need for double income and/or financial independence grew, less people started having children and more people began putting the children they did have into daycare. If parents couldn't afford daycare, the children were often left with babysitters, family members, and many others who probably had no business being left alone with a child.

This happens with an overwhelming and sharp increased awareness of adult and childhood sexual abuse. The problem is (even to this day), many refuse to accept that the abuse could be coming from churches, family members, and daycare providers. The book released by Dr. Pazder titled "Michelle Remembers" brought a lot of these fears into black and white, as it accused a mysterious (and mythical) group of Canadian Satanists of abusing his female patient. The book implied that any claims of child abuse could be linked to ritualistic practices. The book became a bestseller and all of a sudden, any threat to the nuclear family must be evil. And what is the ultimate evil? Satan himself.

If there was a problem, the immediate assumed villain was the Satanists. This even became a training method for police forces and social workers regarding any claims of abuse. The first question asked was, "are you part of a Satanic cult?" Then the incident happened in 1983 where a Manhattan Beach woman accused a preschool employee of abusing her son. The case was dropped in 1986 due to weak evidence - evidence that included claims of a "goat man" and gruesome animal sacrifices. Shortly after, the FBI was trained on symbolism such as the cross of Nero, the horned hand, and the pentagram. Agents even traded Satanic calendars and pamphlets among each other, along with the names of Satanic groups (which were really feminist astrologers).

The nighttime news show, 20/20, even did a story about Satanic worship in 1985. The story described animal mutilations, Satanic graffiti, and implied that Satanic messages were being coded backwards in current pop music. The story also implied that Satan was thriving and that members of the occult were very secretive. Anchor Hugh Downs led by saying they were skeptical, but they ran the story anyway. They also contradicted themselves by saying any links between crime and the occult were to be taken as speculation, but the public obviously didn't care.

Three years after the 20/20 story aired, NBC decided to do their own two-hour special titled Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground, hosted by Geraldo Rivera. 20 million viewers tuned in to see interviews with abused children, as well as an interview with rockstar Ozzy Osbourne. As many know, Osbourne was accused of Satanic practices several times over the course of his career, especially when his (exaggerated) reputation for biting the heads off animals exploded.

TV specials aside, Satanism claims began to leech into corporate America. Procter & Gamble was involved in a lawsuit after a Kansas couple accused the company of using their products to support Satanic worship. The couple even distributed pamphlets claiming that the P&G logo was a subtle depiction of Satan. The company eventually chose to change their logo, but they did lots of damage control and defended their products and their brand to religious groups all the way up to the late 2000s.

Over the course of the decade, more than 200 people were charged in criminal cases related to the occult or Satanic worship. Many of the dozens who actually got convicted were eventually freed. Most of the cases brought into the courts system were dropped due to a lack of evidence or weak witnesses.

Why is Satanic Panic even relevant in 2021?

Well, how often to modern Christians accuse people of being evil? How many times have you watched a tragic event unfold and a lot of reactions are immediately something like, "the Devil is hard at work!"

Satanic Panic has never gone away. Religious groups continue to push a narrative of "fear the Devil" and that evil is responsible for everything bad that happens on this Earth. Or simply is the explanation for anything they simply don't want to see. According to them, the LGBTQ+ community is wicked and we're just a bunch of Satan worshipping heathens who care more about pleasure than salvation Not only that, but they assume gays are all pedophiles which is a direct link to the connection between Satanic Panic and child abuse.

Travis Scott being accused of Satanism isn't the only time it has happened in 2021, either. Earlier this year, Lil Nas X was accused of Satanism for his "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" music video, where he depicted himself sliding down to hell on a stripper pole and giving Satan a lapdance. Pop star Billie Eilish has also referenced Lucifer in her music, while Madonna literally burned crosses in the "Like a Prayer" music video in 1989.

I don't think this is exclusive to Travis Scott and it very could be people grasping at straws to continue to try and fight against the power the Kardashian/Jenner family have. Not only that, but also to try and explain the bizarre events occurring at Kanye West's Sunday Service events. He and Scott have a common denominator in the Kardashian/Jenner family.

While Scott's concert practices have proven to be unsafe in the past and have now cost concertgoers their lives, I don't personally think this was some sort of ritual. I think it's nothing more than more evidence that crowd surging is a fatal practice that never should happen in a public setting and that Scott's negligence will likely cost him millions of dollars... if not his career. But, nonetheless, people always want something to blame and it seems that this event unfortunately has just become another chapter in Satanic conspiracy theories.