Why SA Satanic Church co-founder left the occult behind (2024)

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Published by capeetc on July 6, 2022

Riaan Swiegelaar, a co-founder of the South African Satanic Church (SASC) recently released a viral telling of why and how he left the SASC.

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In the nearly 39-minuteemotional video, Swiegelaar took to his social media to tell his story, sharing how his life changed in the past month. It was a series of moments in his recent life that led to his decision to leave Satanism behind.

Here’s what Swiegelaar said:

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Swiegelaar started off with a disclaimer, noting that he’s not here to diss people’s beliefs. He explained that his need to reveal his story came from the multiple inquiries he’d had from hundreds of people.

“To be very honest I initially thought I will slip through the back door quietly,” he noted before adding that his telling does not come with the intention to initiate arguments about religion or beliefs.

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Swiegelaar touched on his background which entailed why and how he got involved in Satanism over four years ago. Swiegelaar explained he was part of the Christian faith almost two decades ago but had spent most of his life being an atheist.

When it came to his involvement with Satanism, Swiegelaar said that he got involved because, at that time in his life, it resonated with him being “very broken and very sad without realising it.”

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On why others join the occult, Swiegelaar noted that many others are in the same boat of brokenness.

“They are extremely broken and extremely hurt,” he said.

Things are written from a place of anger, he said of the occult. “If you are broken you will resonate with the philosophy.”

His time in the SASC was a public one. Swiegelaar explains that the church was taken publically to “stand against certain things,” something he felt attributed to his truth at the time.

Was he a victim? According to Swiegelaar, he wasn’t. However, he refers to himself as being a terrible person and monster who didn’t know unconditional love.

“Let’s start by saying that I’ve never known unconditional love in my whole life,” he added, before expressing that it was four Christians who showed him this love.

In an emotional telling, he mentioned Danie and Adelle Vrey. During a recent encounter with Adele, Swiegelaar explained that it was a simple act of love that changed everything. “To show someone love is everything, it’s not a simple thing,” he said.

He noted that he has seen the love of Christ through these people, and unconditional love in a time when he was the sort of person who would take people of this faith on.

“Religion has hurt a lot of people, including me. That’s how I got here,” he explained.

Another encounter that led to his decision to leave the SASC behind was, ironically, at a time when he was doing an interview for the Church itself. It would prove to be his last.

After dismissing the existence of Christ, an unexpected thing happened. An employee at Cape Talk where the interview had taken place came up to him, hugged and held him “in a way that I’ve never been loved,” as Swiegelaar put it.

He later found out that she was also a Christian.

Another moment that changed Swiegelaar’s life was during a ritual. Swiegelaar explained that during this ritual he had opened himself up and saw Jesus.

“And I was extremely co*cky,” he added before explaining that he challenged the figure to prove that he was Jesus.

“And he flooded me with the most beautiful love and energy, and I recognised it immediately,” Swiegelaar said in reference to the woman from the radio interview. He links that same feeling to the four Christians who changed his life. However, Swiegelaar added that this kind of love is rare, and one he never knew even when he was in Christian ministry roughly 20 years ago.

“It’s not the people who fight you and they declare spiritual warfare – that’s not the love of Christ,” he stated. Swiegelaar later added that as a gay individual with certain abilities, he never felt that he was worthy of grace, but noted that this was because of how others made him feel.

“The kingdom of God is not a gated community. The kingdom of God is open to everybody, it’s called grace,” he said in reference to the far-right religious community.

“Nobody is worthy of grace more than the next person,” he added to this notion.

Swiegelaar then took time to get a few things off his chest.

He explained that the encounters were his opportunity to choose light. He added that he’s not going to focus his life on trying to free people from Satanism, nor is he going to join a Church. However, his focus will be on healing as well as “having a space for people who were hurt by other religions and people.”

As for whether the SASC will go on, Swiegelaar thinks it will because people make their own choices. He added that the organisation existed long before he was around.

Some had asked him about his tattoos, to which Swiegelaar explained that “if you are still focused on people’s tattoos and piercings… there are much more important things to focus on.” However, he will be removing a few.

The big question asked was whether he could reveal the High Profile Satanists, which he declined based on a non-disclosure agreement and respect for people’s privacy.

Watch the full video.

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