Exposing William Schnoebelen

William “Bill” Schnoebelen has been making the rounds in Christian circles since the 1980s. His story is almost too good to be true: he claims to have been a former Catholic priest, Wiccan, Mormon, satanist, 90th degree Mason (there are only 33 degrees), Illuminati member, and vampire – all at the same time (first warning bell) – before becoming a Christian. He gives speeches giving an “inside look” at these organisations.

Problem is, it is too good to be true.

The guy really should’ve tried harder: he just can’t keep his story straight, and has committed outright deception.

For one thing: THERE ARE ONLY 33 DEGREES OF MASONRY! And that’s mainly the Scottish rite. Other Masonic rights have even fewer degrees. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “90TH DEGREE MASON”!

For another, there is his demonstrably false claims about Dungeons & Dragons. This connects to my post Christian Paranoia: Dungeons & Dragons – Part 1, which covers some of the lies some Christians like to purvey against the game (which I don’t play) and its players. Schnoebelen himself waded into the controversy – and in so doing accidentally put a big red flag on the validity of his testimony. From The Escapist:

Did the original authors of Dungeons & Dragons contact a real-world occultist to make the game more “realistic?”

This claim has been made by former Satanist-turned-Christian William Schnoebelen, who allegedly lived in Milwaukee during the seventies and claims that he was contacted by employees of TSR to reality-check their work.

Here is a direct quote from his article Straight Talk On Dungeons and Dragons (the emphasis in bold is his own): I was a witch high priest (Alexandrian tradition) during the period 1973-84. During some of that period (1976-80) I was also involved in hard-core Satanism. We studied and practiced and trained more than 175 people in the Craft. Our “covendom” was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; just a short drive away from the world headquarters of TSR, the company which makes Dungeons and Dragons in Lake Geneva, WI. In the late 1970’s, a couple of the game writers actually came to my wife and I as prominent “sorcerers” in the community. They wanted to make certain the rituals were authentic. For the most part, they are.

These two guys sat in our living room and took copious notes from us on how to make sure the rituals were truly right “from the book,” (this meaning that they actually came from magic grimoires or workbooks). They seemed satisfied with what they got and left us thankfully.

Ex-high priest, ex-Satanist, ex-Mormon, ex-Mason, ex-Catholic, ex-vampire, (whew!) William Schnoebelen

Schnoebelen’s story sounds convincing, but overlooks the fact that by the late seventies, D&D was already published and on the shelves for several years – which would have made it a little late to do any kind of research for it.  The Advanced version of the game saw publication in 1979, but very little changed in the way that spells were listed – the rules surrounding each spell were expanded a little and variables were adjusted to accomodate the new rule system, but none of this could be considered “reality-checking” the game against real world occultism.

There is also another inconsistency in this story. If the alleged “rituals” in these rulebooks are “authentic… (f)or the most part,” then why did these two men need to take “copious notes” from Schnoebelen and his wife?

D&D spells, as has been asserted before, are not “rituals,” or even anything used by the players. Fireballs and magic missiles, very common magical effects in D&D, are not the sorts of things that “real” high priests or Satanists can cast, or would claim to be able to cast. Schnoebelen may disagree with this premise, but until he can actually summon a ball of fire from his fingertips, his claim doesn’t hold much weight.

No names or descriptions of these two field-testing game designers are given, so we can’t even be sure if these were actual representatives of TSR, two guys pulling a practical joke on the Witch High Priest of Milwaukee, or a simple figment of Schnobelen’s imagination. In my quest for an answer to this claim, I went straight to the horse’s mouth – Gary Gygax, co-creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons – and asked him if there was any truth to this story.  His simple answer: “Pure rubbish, that assertion!”

Still, this would not be enough for some people, as it’s purely one word against another – and in Schnoebelen’s mentality, all occultists are known to lie (except the reformed ones, of course). So the only thing we have to go on would be his veracity. What other claims has he made, and how truthful are they?

Great Cthulhu – One of the monsters under Schnoebelen’s bed?

For that, I refer you to his take on Cthulhu (from Should A Christian Play Dungeons & Dragons?): Contrary to the ramblings of D&D defenders like Michael Stackpole, the Necronomicon and the Cthulhu mythos are quite real.

Yes, you heard it here first, friends – there really is a massive, octopoid aberration living in a non-Euclidean city beneath the ocean, awaiting an alignment of the stars to awaken and destroy us all.

Schnoebelen also claims to be a former vampire, and tells this story in the film Interview With An Ex-Vampire. During his time as a Satanist/vampire, he built a special trapezoidal “vampire coffin” designed to attract “vampiric dark demonic energy” to help the occupant achieve “demonic resurrection” – the same sort of coffin in which Pope John Paul II was laid to rest!

In the independent gaming documentary Über Goober, Schnobelen tells the story of how opposing warlocks would materialize in his home, attacking him and his wife via astral projection – and how a good friend of his was so adept at it that he could project himself into movie theaters to skip the admission fee.

So who do we believe?  A guy who makes a game about imaginary monsters, or a “vampire coffin designer” who actually believes in imaginary monsters, and believes that he was one, once upon a time?  I’ll let you decide that for yourself.

http://www.theescapist.com/basic_gaming_faq.htm#occultist

Man, he sounds totally sane!

An excellent breakdown of his shifting story:

William J. ‘Bill’ Schnoebelen must be one of the world’s most gullible individuals. Those in the United States and Australia have become accustomed to television fare such as “World’s Dumbest…” (here’s a blog with some of them) where the most ludicrous and irrational behavior of those who attempt to do things that normal people would find completely stupid are shown. (Things like trying to rob a police station etc.) Even things like that notwithstanding, Mr. Schnoebelen is the one who ‘takes the cake’ in terms of naivet�. He was – well, EVERYTHING! Here’s the quick run-down: he claims that he was a ‘witch’ (whatever his definition of that is) for some 16 years until he discovered that being a witch was evil. (He has created his own definitions whereby paganism is the same as witchcraft.) He was a Mormon for some 5 years until he discovered their supposed evils. And he was a Mason (for 8-9 years) until he discovered that Freemasonry (he now claims) was evil as well. Every few years, Bill seems to discover another ‘evil’ and, yes, he’ll create a history showing how he’s been involved with that and will soon have a book for sale telling you all about it while going ‘on the stump’ with speaking engagements. Yes, Bill is nothing if not dexterous with his beliefs and slow to find yet another ‘truth’ (or lucrative opportunity….). Oh, and he claims that he’s an ordained minister – although (and curious for someone who ostensibly knows things are wrong from a religious perspective) he doesn’t bother to tell us in what denomination he’s achieved this distinction. Who ordained you, Bill? Update: We spoke too soon in writing above in 1999: summer, 2000 finds Bill lecturing about ‘new world order‘ conspiracies and Biblical prophecy. In his book on Wicca, he told us how Satan was using UFOs to unite with earthlings but he’s failed to provide scientific (or any other kind of) proof of that: just his opinions. We wonder if he’ll tire of that in another few years when it’s less ‘in vogue’ and give lectures on how flying saucer supporters are evil too….    If only we knew: March, 2002 found Bill with yet another money-making activity: a video titled “Israel, Islam, and Biochemical/Nuclear Terrorism” In a breathless announcement from ‘Director’ David Bay (who’ll happily sell you a copy for just $24.95) we’re told that we’ll “Learn thoroughly about nuclear and biochemical weapons: how terrorists use them, how to spot the first signs of attack, and how to protect your family. Learn about the three kinds of nuclear terrorist weapons: backpack dirty, backpack clean, and airburst.”  Now nothing we’ve seen in Bill’s many and varied biographies indicates that he knows anything whatsoever about weapons of any kind or that he’s ever had any training and/or experience in any field that would give him even the most casual tangential exposure to such knowledge. (He was never in the military even – or if he was, he’s conveniently forgotten to mention it.) Needless to say, lack of subject expertise has never yet stopped Bill from trying to profit from a gullible public.  Mr. Bay assures us that Bill “… speaks from the unique perspective of a former Black Magick Wizard.” – life experience which undoubtedly provides some very unique insights on how to identify nuclear devices and terrorists, providing far better information than any government ever could! And in 2007 he’s figured out that he was also a vampire. It can’t get any funnier than this! (See bottom of the page.) In 2014, he’s still on the stump garnering speaking fees and dodging questions from all but the most gullible and adoring. So let’s take a few minutes to explore some of the contradictions and spurious claims of Mr. (Reverend?) Schnoebelen and see some of the discrepancies which cast severe doubt on the credibility of his claims. Bill’s Strange Life On page 12 of his book, “Masonry Beyond the Light”, Schnoebelen tells the story with great passion: reading a Jack Chick comic book, he finds Jesus. (“However, between the [Masonic] meeting and my arrival at the [Masonic] luncheon, I had made an extraordinary transition from one kingdom to another. God had moved upon my life in a miraculous way. Through a remarkable series of events I had knelt at my bedside holding a crumpled Chick tract in my trembling fingers. That tract told me that all I had to do to be acceptable in Jesus’ sight was ask Him to forgive my sins and be my Lord and Savior.”). According to the biography one finds on his web site, this occurred in 1984. From his web site, we also learn that he claims to have received a Masters in Theological Studies degree from St. Francis School of Pastoral Ministry – ostensibly a Catholic College in Milwaukee – in 1980 during the time he was apparently not ‘saved’. (On page 15 of his book, Schnoebelen claims “This was a time of considerable spiritual searching for me. I had been saved by Jesus while a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), known as the Mormons.” <emphasis added>)  Ironic, isn’t it? What’s more, during the time he claims to have been a “witch”, he was attending Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa which bills itself as “The premier Catholic Liberal Arts College”. It gets more confusing, though: Schnoebelen says on page 17 of his book “My own background in occultism, witchcraft and even satanism prior to joining the Mormon church <emphasis added> had provided me with a comprehensive knowledge of occult and esoteric (hidden, high-level) Masonry and ceremonial magik.” Putting aside the dates for a moment, one must wonder: if Bill had learned these supposedly horrid things about Freemasonry, why did he then LATER decide to BECOME A MEMBER?   Is it possible he deliberately lied when he was asked if he was joining Masonry for “mercenary motives”….? Did he WANT to be a ‘bad boy’ despite having been “saved by Jesus”? Ah, the contradictions swirl. However, if he’d lie about that, what ELSE is he lying about? The dates indicate that Schnoebelen – who left Masonry in 1984, had been a Mormon for 5 years (ostensibly 1979-84 since – as shown above – he was a Mormon when he was ‘saved’). Curiously, this was during a time he was receiving a Masters in Theological Studies degree (if his claims are true) from St. Francis School of Pastoral Ministry (1980). We think it quite odd that an individual receiving a graduate college degree in a field which would, of necessity, touch on various world religions (and, we suspect, on Freemasonry as well) would be SO confused that he couldn’t discern the supposed evil in the both the religion he was then choosing and the Masonic organization of which at that time he was a member? Ostensibly Schnoebelen was a Mason for 8 or 9 years – depending on which of his references you use and thus was a Mason in 1980 (1984 when he was ‘saved’ minus 8 or 9 years means he joined in 1975 or 1976. His theological degree was in 1980!!!) But WAIT!!! In his book on Wicca, he claims that “Over the years, we advanced to the higher levels of witchcraft. Up to our departure from the city of Milwaukee in 1984, we were presiding over one of the oldest and largest networks of covens in the Midwest.” So how can this be? Schnoebelen – as we saw above – claimed to have been a Mormon at the time he was ‘saved’ (in 1984) and yet as this quote shows, he is claiming to be a Wiccan, notwithstanding another of his quotes that he was a ‘witch’ before being a Mormon. With a Masters Degree in Theological Studies, did he not understand the difference between Wicca and Mormonism? Did he think he was both a Wiccan and a Mormon? And to add EVEN MORE…. Anti-Mason Ed Decker notes that three years after Bill became a Mason, he joined “Palladium Masonry”. Of course, this is absurd since there was never any such thing!!! It was an admitted HOAX created by the Leo Taxil in order to embarrass the Catholic Church some 80 years earlier. So here’s Bill ostensibly off joining an organization that doesn’t exist and has been a well known hoax for almost a century… Yeah, right! (In particular, see THIS SECTION on Palladium Masonry!) But let’s suppose, just for the point of argument, that somebody really had created some such organization: Bill would certainly have mentioned joining (or planning to join) such a thing to SOMEONE in his lodge, don’t you think? That person would have been quite curious about this since they’d likely never heard of it. (99.99% of Masons are probably unfamiliar with the term “Palladium Masonry” since it never existed….). SURELY it would have been pointed out to poor, gullible Bill that there was no such thing. As a Mason from Chicago wrote about this farce, “Taxil would be proud.” Ed Decker in his timeline of Bill’s life notes that Bill joined the Church of Satan in 1975 and became a Master Mason in 1976. Strange that Bill could make promise “so help me God” on the Holy Bible when he was (ostensibly) a member of the Church of Satan. Unless, of course, he lied….one way or another. An internet poster has suggested that it could be because Bill actually thought that Satan was God. ———- Think about that for a minute. If *that’s* what he thought, how can anyone be sure that he knows what he’s talking about now? Or, assuming that he was just ‘confused’ then, aren’t 20++ years of confusion enough to make one wonder about whether his head’s screwed on correctly now? Why should anyone believe it? Because it ‘sounds good’ to them now perhaps? It seems to us as if Bill has quite a tough time distinguishing between things: dates, religions, perhaps more – and thus, we trust you’ll forgive us for questioning his ability to determine what’s correct and what’s not…! And – his website (Summer, 2000) claims that he spent seven years in the Church of Satan. When was this accomplished? Wasn’t mentioned previously: perhaps Bill just forgot? And there’s yet MORE~~~ In the Summer of 2000, Bill claimed on his website that he’d been studying UFOs for nearly thirty years: as you can see from the above, this was while he was a “witch” and more…. Timelines can be SO interesting…. And, of course, we must wonder when he found time to become an expert on nuclear and biological weapons such that anyone should spend $25 to buy a video tape in which he provides information about them. Not a single mention in any of Bill’s prior bios about experience with weapons or terrorism and no mention of any kind of military service whatsoever but now: an instructional videotape! Wonder what’ll be next? Stock market advice? Tax preparation? A cure for hemorrhoids? The possibilities are endless….  *We note that as of 2006 Bill is selling all sorts of things for the bowel and pancreas so can that hemorrhoid solution be far <excuse the pun> behind?   Indeed the possibilities ARE endless. In the summer of 2002, Mr. Schnoebelen was  happy to sell you non-FDA approved health food products along with his tapes, tracts, videos and books. One, for example, was “A synergistic blend of fibers and botanicals that have been used for centuries for their cleansing properties. It works like an intestinal broom to gently cleanse and eliminate unwanted toxins and help maintain a healthy colon. This is a detoxifying, energizing and revitalizing program that can be used occasionally or on a daily basis for nutritional support.” For only $39 you can have a clean colon AND support Jesus Christ by buying things from someone who will tell you how to protect yourself from dirty backpack bombs and the evil Freemasons – as well as Satan in a UFO. Truly, truly amazing…. </sarcasm>   And in December, 2003, added to Bill’s biography is a line showing him to be “a Naturopathic doctor, a Nutritional Herbologist and a Certified Natural Health Professional.” It’s amazing that he could find the time to do a four year post-graduate science degree and some 1200 hours of clinical training to become an N.D., along with the time spent to be a ‘nutritional herbologist’ ($700 and few hours listening to audio tapes it appears) and getting that certification (another 75 hours) while all the time becoming an expert on dirty bombs – or is part of that bio, like his others and like his claims about Freemasonry, shading the truth ever so slightly (or gigantically)….??? And we’re sure that it’ll come as no surprise that he’s not listed as a Naturopathic Doctor by the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Well, maybe he just hasn’t had the time to join what with all that dirty bomb stuff to keep up-to-date on.    .. Watch out for Flying Saucers! Every time we ‘surf the web’, we’re amazed at the new things we find out about the many and varied interests of Mr. Schnoebelen. In Fall, 2005, we found … ‘Prophecy Man’ Stan Johnson plugging Mr. Schnoebelen with this advertisement. Now Bill’s a “Voodoo High Priest”, knows about ‘Black Ops’ and so much more. We can only wonder what next angst of psyche will cause Bill to admit that, yes, he was actually an expert in <whatever> but just hadn’t mentioned it before now. How many different things can this man have been involved with? Looks like Bill’s ‘hitting all the bases’ these days….   Bill Schnoebelen Will be doing 2 talks on: Exposing The Illuminati from Within & The Sons of God and the Antichrist in Topeka, KS Only!   Times:   Doors open at 12 pm Speaking from 1 pm – 6 pm & 7 pm – 10 pm Gift of $7 suggested at the door Give what you can and bring a friend   Exposing The Illuminati from Within Bill Schnoebelen was a Satanic and Voodoo High Priest, 2nd degree Church of Satan, New Age guru, occultist, channeler, 90th degree Mason, Knight Templar, and a member of the Illuminati. Bill shows how the conspiracy works and how it uses the Lodge and the highest echelons of power and technology from secret “black project” operations to form a world government. Two, 2 hr. DVD’s or VHS’s.   The Sons of God and the Antichrist Bill Schnoebelen has seen over 100 UFO�s and studied them for over 40 years. He was a member of National Investigations Committee on Airal Phenomena NICAP. Interviewed over 100 people who have been abducted. including Christians. Bill will show pictures of physical evidence of the Sons of God. He will explain their connections to black magic, fallen angels DNA and how it relates to the Mark of the Beast and a counterfeit Gospel. Bill says the Sons of God will reveal themselves and be a part of deceiving millions of people, including Christians, into denying Jesus. … Ignore the inconsistencies Each year we get one or two e-mails from ‘supporters’ (defenders) of Mr. Schnoebelen saying that while the dates he’s given about his life might not match, that his message is correct. BUT WAIT A MINUTE! How can someone be so totally confused about their own life, what various belief systems are, how organizations work and SO much more still be considered correct about other things? Isn’t this informational cherry-picking? Grab what you like to hear and try to convince others it’s correct despite the fact that all evidence indicates its source sometimes doesn’t know one end of the rope from the other. It staggers the imagination. There appear to us two possible explanations:     #1 – Bill is chronically confused – but if he is, then all of his information is just as likely to be similarly confused and thus unreliable!     #2 – Bill has fibbed – and if he has, what part of what he’s saying is the truth? Was he lying then or is he lying now? Do true Christians like he claims to be FIB about their life just to convince you that Jesus is the perfect source of all truth? Confused or fabricator: your choice – but PLEASE don’t try to convince us that he knows what he’s talking about when the above material SO clearly shows that he doesn’t. WAIT: HE’S NOW A VAMPIRE! We can only conclude that Bill is now trying desperately to fund his retirement nest egg. We now learn that – in addition to everything else – this guy was also a vampire. In fact, he’s got a 9 HOUR (can you believe it?) set of DVDs that you can buy to learn all about this previously undocumented part of his life. It would be fascinating to find out where in the scheme of things this part of his amazing life journey occurred but frankly, we’re not going to waste the money to find out.  One wonders, though, if this was during his stint at a Catholic College where he had to avoid crucifixes? Maybe he slept through day classes so he could fly around through the night….??? Oh, and those DVDs are available on his website where they seem to down-peddle this just a bit but where you shouldn’t forget to stock up on that stuff for your prostrate while you’re buying his baloney! NINE HOURS talking about it! Amazing that he’d never mentioned this part of his life some twenty years or more ago, isn’t it? What’s next, Bill? Updated May, 2006 & February, 2007 Added link to the claim of Palladium Masonry and a great picture of Bill and his hairyness in April, 2010 and added a few details in October, 2014.

Search this Site

http://www.masonicinfo.com/schnoebelen.htm

I have not reproduced the following article because it’s SO DAMN LONG, but it goes into GREAT detail PROVING that while Schnoebelen has had some small occultic involvement, he has greatly exaggerated and outright LIED about most of his life.

http://www.utlm.org/newsletters/no67.htm

(Considering its length, I won’t be surprised if most of you take your time with reading the above article. But it is ultimately a very eye-opening write-up, and I highly recommend it.)

So, there you have it. A popular “Illuminati whistleblower” who blows lies.

http://www.cepher.net/?af=59