Post #33. The Process Church of the Final Judgment: Uniting Christ and Satan in Swinging London

 

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Amid the psychedelic optimism and flower-power idealism of 1960s London, a darker and more enigmatic spiritual movement emerged. The Process Church of the Final Judgment, with its black-clad members, its Alsatian dogs, and its stark, apocalyptic theology, was a jarring presence on the streets of the swinging city. They were a religious group that sought to reconcile the seemingly irreconcilable: Christ and Satan. For The Process, these were not opposing forces, but two sides of the same divine coin, two aspects of a single, unified godhead. This was a radical and deeply disturbing theology, and it would make The Process one of the most feared and misunderstood religious movements of the 20th century.

The Origins: From Scientology to a New Revelation

The Process was founded by a charismatic and enigmatic couple, Mary Ann MacLean and Robert de Grimston. They had met in a Scientology study group in London and had quickly become disillusioned with L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings. They left Scientology and, after a period of intense spiritual experimentation, they claimed to have received a new revelation, a series of telepathic communications from a higher power.

This new revelation formed the basis of their new religion. They gathered a group of followers, mostly young, wealthy, and disaffected individuals, and formed a highly disciplined and hierarchical community. They moved to a large house in the exclusive London neighbourhood of Mayfair, which became their headquarters and their temple.

The Theology of the Process: The Unity of the Four Gods

The theology of The Process was complex and unique. It was based on the idea that the divine is composed of four distinct but unified personalities:

1. Jehovah: The god of strength, of discipline, of justice. He is a stern and demanding father-god, a figure of absolute authority.

2. Lucifer: The god of light, of love, of the spirit. He is the bringer of enlightenment, the god who encourages humanity to strive for self-knowledge and spiritual growth.

3. Satan: The god of darkness, of lust, of the flesh. He is the god of our animal nature, the force that binds us to the material world.

4. Christ: The god of unity, of synthesis, of reconciliation. He is the one who can bring the other three gods together, who can unite the warring factions of the human soul.

For the Process, the goal of life was not to choose between these four gods, but to embrace them all, to recognise that each has a role to play in the divine economy. The ultimate goal was to achieve a state of unity, to reconcile the Jehovah within with the Lucifer within, the Satan within with the Christ within.

The Practice of the Process: Therapy, Ritual, and Apocalyptic Prophecy

The Process was more than just a theological system; it was a practical and highly structured way of life. The community was organised as a strict hierarchy, with de Grimston and MacLean at the top as the Teacher and the Oracle. Members were subjected to a rigorous process of spiritual and psychological training, which included a form of intense, confrontational therapy designed to break down the ego and to reveal the individual’s deepest fears and desires.

The Process also had its own distinctive rituals and ceremonies. They published a magazine, The Process, which was filled with striking, black-and-white photography and apocalyptic, quasi-poetic texts. They were a common sight on the streets of London, where they would engage in a form of proselytising that was more like performance art than religious preaching.

At the heart of their message was a sense of impending doom. They believed that the world was on the verge of a great cataclysm, a final judgment that would be brought about by the conflict between Christ and Satan. Their mission was to prepare a spiritual elite who could survive this apocalypse and build a new world on the other side.

The Manson Connection: A False and Damaging Rumour

The Process’s dark imagery and its talk of reconciling Christ and Satan made it an easy target for suspicion and fear. In the late 1960s, a rumour began to circulate that the group was connected to Charles Manson and his murderous “family.” The rumour was based on the flimsiest of evidence – Manson had been interviewed for an issue of The Process magazine – but it was enough to cement the group’s reputation in the public mind as a dangerous, satanic cult.

The Manson connection was a false and deeply damaging accusation, and it would haunt the group for years to come. In reality, the Process was a non-violent, if deeply unconventional, religious movement. Its “Satanism” was a sophisticated psychological and theological system, not a literal worship of evil.

The Legacy of the Process: A Failed Experiment with a Lasting Influence

The Process Church of the Final Judgment was a short-lived and ultimately failed experiment. The group splintered in the mid-1970s, and its founders went their separate ways. But its influence has been surprisingly persistent. Its striking visual aesthetic has been a major influence on industrial and gothic subcultures. Its theological ideas have been explored by a variety of later occult and religious groups. And its story remains a fascinating and cautionary tale about the dangers and the possibilities of radical spiritual experimentation.

The Process was a uniquely 1960s phenomenon, a product of the same cultural and spiritual ferment that produced the psychedelic revolution and the rock and roll shamans. They were a dark and disturbing reflection of the age, a reminder that the path to enlightenment can sometimes lead through the very heart of darkness.

In our next post, we will explore the rise of a new and radically different form of magic in the 1970s: Chaos Magic, a system that would strip magic of all its dogma and reduce it to its bare, pragmatic essentials.

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