A Question of Attribution (conclusion)

On 4 February 2015, The Faustian Circle blog announced at the foot of its article and comments:

"The 200 maximum comments allowed per article has now been reached on this article. You may wish to continue the discussion on the new article."

And then proceeded to provide another page and thereby platform for the libellous abuse to continue. The new page, created on 4 February 2015, declared at its head:

"This section is intended to continue the debate."

But, of course, there was no debate. Just another platform for David Farrant, Anthony Hogg and Redmond McWilliams (aka "anonymous") to post false and fabricated abuse intended to incite hatred against me. Everything raised on the continuation page, moreover, had been more than adequately covered and dealt with by a rebuttal commentator, ie B.O.S., on the first page containing two hundred comments. Trolls really do like to repeat themselves year in and year out.

They collude together in their vendetta because they are exceptionally obsessed and resentful. And they all know each other. Anthony Hogg is restricted to internet contact because he resides in Melbourne, Australia, but all the others have been in personal contact with each other, meeting at Farrant's Muswell Hill Road bedsit in North London when not going on childish jaunts to Highgate Cemetery where they video themselves and have photographs taken pulling asinine expressions.

All of them are completely obsessed with the Highgate Vampire case. This is the only subject discussed or commented upon on The Faustian Circle blog. Indeed, this is the only subject the person who runs that blog appears to want to have discussed. When the initial article is read it is found couched in language and terminology that could have been written by Farrant himself. The blogger even adds a forename to my Christian and surname that has never been used by me or anyone else, apart from, of course, Farrant. The plethora of allegations in the article comprise malicious falsehood that the convicted felon David Farrant has been propagating for decades.

Notwithstanding that Kevin Chesham nowadays disingenuously claims to support Unite Against Fascism (UAF) in a cynical attempt to turn them against me, something UAF would see through in a nanosecond, Anthony Hogg and Redmond McWilliams, coming from a politically far left-wing perspective, are genuinely and vociferously anti-Fascist. Why wouldn't they be? One is mixed race while the other is a pro-active homosexual campaigner. They have nothing to gain by being anything other than anti-Fascist. Yet they are prepared to hypocritically accept a platform provided by The Faustian Circle which is ostensibly pro-Fascist and uses a symbol once the emblem of the pre-war British Union of Fascists and National Socialists. Curiously, this does not bother them in the least.

Such is the extent of their resentment and hatred against me that they will do and say anything to vent their not inconsiderable vitriol; filling the void in their empty lives with an obsession that has inevitably turned poisonous and pernicious. The question that needs to be addressed is why is The Faustian Circle aiding and abetting these anti-Fascists in their never-ending vendetta?

Indeed, why would the person running The Faustian Circle (a) refuse to meet me (which would identify The Faustian Circle blogger), (b) refuse to send me an e-mail, as I requested (which would identify his IP) and (c) remain at all times totally anonymous? A growing consensus view points to Kevin Chesham as being one possible culprit. That would make perfect sense because Chesham ticks all the boxes. If it was anyone else it would make no sense as to why I am the only person targeted on the blog that provides a voice for those harbouring enmity toward me.

For most of his life Chesham exhibited a strong fascination for Hitler and the Third Reich and the pre-war Blackshirts led by Mosley. He bought books, videos and CDs about both. I knew Kevin Chesham, on and off, for a very long time and believe that the majority of people do not fundamentally change. Following a stroke due to steroid use and a significant period in New Zealand where he became besotted with Kerry Bolton's Nazi-Occult ideological outpourings, it was realised that Chesham had grown far worse. He revealed less and less about himself on the few occasions we had contact, and was clearly up to some kind of skullduggery. Others noticed it, too.

Chesham became more and more isolated, managing to later achieve the ultimate ignominy of becoming a mouthpiece for David Farrant, a man he had always previously claimed to despise. 

Kevin Chesham ultimately became no different to Farrant and every bit as deceitful. Like Farrant, he sought his fifteen minutes of fame, but never achieved it. He became resentful of those who did, including myself and some of my more successful friends, overlooking the fact that there is a reason for our success; that it was entirely on our own merit. Walking in the footsteps of his Muswell Hill mentor, he decided to do whatever it took to be noticed, including treachery, lying and deceiving.

Thus he entered into a Faustian Pact with Farrant.

Farrant and Chesham at Highgate Cemetery in 2013.

Chesham and Farrant at the latter's Muswell Hill bedsit.

A Faustian Pact between Chesham and Farrant.

A Question of Attribution

I give testament to a refutation of Faustianism, ie a spiritual or intellectual dissatisfaction combined with a desire for power or material advantage. After Johann Faust (c 1480 - c 1538), a German scholar portrayed by Marlowe and Goethe. Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend. He is a scholar who is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, so he makes a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The Faust legend has been the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic and musical works that have reinterpreted it through the ages. Faust and the adjective "Faustian" imply a situation in which an ambitious person surrenders moral integrity in order to achieve power and success for a delimited term. This is something, as a Christian, I explicitly reject. My critics on The Faustian Circle blog, however, clearly do not.

What makes them the way they are? Obsession combined with dissatisfaction leading to resentment. In the case of David Farrant I would go even further and identify him as a prime candidate in the sense of making a Faustian Pact at the core of his being, ie his soul, if not actually signing something in his own blood. Farrant says he does not believe in the Devil' existence, but he does believe in (and admits to worshipping on the CD The Devil's Fool) Lucifer. This is semantics because for the Christian they, along with Satan, are all the same evil spirit. Devil is a name commonly given to the fallen angels, who are also known as demons. Lucifer is their chief, as in Matthew 25: 41, "the Devil and his angels." It may be said of this name, as St Gregory says of the word angel, "nomen est officii, non naturæ"- the designation of an office, not of a nature. For the Greek word (from diaballein, "to traduce") means a slanderer, or accuser, and in this sense it is applied to him of whom it is written "the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and night" (Apocalypse 12: 10). It thus answers to the Hebrew name Satan which signifies an adversary, or an accuser.

The authoritative teaching of the Church on this topic is set forth in the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council (Firmiter credimus), wherein, after saying that God in the beginning had created together two creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, that is to say the angelic and the earthly, and lastly man, who was made of both spirit and body, the council continues:

"Diabolus enim et alii dæmones a Deo quidem naturâ creati sunt boni, sed ipsi per se facti sunt mali." ("The Devil and the other demons were created by God good in their nature but they by themselves have made themselves evil.")

Here it is clearly taught that the Devil and the other demons are spiritual or angelic creatures created by God in a state of innocence, and that they became evil by their own act. It is added that man sinned by the suggestion of the Devil, and that in the next world the wicked shall suffer perpetual punishment with the Devil.

I establish the above by way of explanation of my own  total refutation of Faustianism.

The so-called Faustian Cross.

Evidence (conclusion)

The Faustian Circle's article is completely without substance or evidence. It links to the malicious rants of Don Ecker on an American blog and Kevin Chesham on his own blog, both of whom regurgitate libellous poison provided by David Farrant who has been waging a personal vendetta against me since 1970. Farrant's comments on The Faustian Circle are the same copy and pasted misrepresentation he has been repeatedly reproducing on sites since he acquired a computer earlier this century. To those who might not be aware of who he is, David Robert Donovan Farrant (born 23 January 1946) is someone who has lived off state benefits his entire life, and been arrested and charged many times. He was found guilty at London's Old Bailey criminal courts in 1974 of indecency, theft, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, threatening police witnesses with voodoo "death dolls," attempting to pervert the course of justice, malicious tomb vandalism and black magic tomb desecration. He was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment. 

The original blog posted by The Faustian Circle on 18 July 2013 devoted its article to maligning me and is recognisably Farrant's propaganda. Farrant is let off the hook, while I am smeared again and again with unsubstantiated allegations. It, therefore, came as no surprise to receive from Kevin Chesham the very next day a printed-out copy of the online page where I was misrepresented. The blog's article ended with the following statement: "For the record, Kevin Chesham is NOT a member of the Faustian Circle." Nor is anybody else! The Faustian Circle does not exist save on the internet. 

These are the accusations made against me on the original blog entry:

"Manchester is President of the British Occult Society."

The British Occult Society does not exist. It was formally dissolved in August 1988, and was an investigation bureau which examined occult claims and also researched paranormal phenomena.

"He was excommunicated from the Old Catholic Church."

I have not been excommunicated from any Church, including the OCC, and nobody has ever claimed to have excommunicated me. This lie is spread by Farrant and further disseminated by Chesham.

"Manchester was said [by Farrant and latterly Chesham] to have canvassed for the British National Front (NF) in the past, and more recently to have links to the British National Party (BNP)."

This lie has been peddled over recent years by Farrant and repeated by Chesham. Nobody else has made the allegation which is completely without any substance. I have not supported (nor canvassed on behalf of) any political party at any time. Farrant, on the other hand, switched whatever support he might have garnered at the 1978 General Election from his Wicca Workers Party to the National Front. Kevin Chesham and his wife, Beverley Mason, claimed in front of witnesses, that the pair of them were fully signed-up members of the British National Party and had attended functions.

I do not support political systems per se, and reserve my faith, loyalty and energy for spiritual matters that manifest in the traditional Catholicism I represent as an episcopally consecrated bishop.

That blog article disappeared only to be replaced by an even worse one on 9 November 2014. (November 9th was the holiest day in the Reich's calendar following the failed Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 when sixteen Nazis were killed. It was solemnly celebrated every year until the end of the war).

The replacement article accused me of running a "mystic church" and holding views on the death of Jesus Christ that are tantamount to anti-semitism. I am a Catholic who certainly reveres such mystics as St Teresa of Avila and St Francis of Assisi, but I do not hold jurisdiction over a "mystic church."

Likewise, my understanding on the death of Our Lord is commensurate with traditional doctrine.

The Faustian Circle, repeating Chesham, claims that I have "a secret room" in my house festooned with "Nazi daggers, regalia" etc. Those visitors who have been to my retreat will attest that I do not have anything of the sort. Among several antique swords, flintlock pistols and other collectables are a few items of militaria from both world wars held onto since my teenage years when it was not uncommon for those born either during or soon after the war to collect such pieces of memorabilia.

That notwithstanding, it must already be sounding very odd that an apparently Fascist blogger would be criticising me in this way, albeit erroneously, whilst welcoming hateful comments about me from people who hold left-wing views who are vociferously anti-Fascist, and, moreover, praising them with obsequious gratitude for understanding why he had to censor comments detrimental to Farrant.

Things are certainly not what they might at first appear to be where The Faustian Circle is concerned.

Evidence

"We do not believe that our Highgate articles are 'libellous' at all, but we consider them to be fair comment backed up by evidence." - The Faustian Circle blog, 20 February 2015

The article posted by the person behind The Faustian Circle, which initiated a mass of responses, largely from David Farrant, Anthony Hogg and Redmond McWilliams (the last name posts his comments anonymously when not using an absurd, fake name such as "Tim Fogsock"), was gleaned exclusively from David Farrant and Farrant's collaborator Kevin Chesham who put his own spin on matters to garner favour with his Muswell Hill mentor. These people will be examined more closely on a later entry, but for now let's examine The Faustian Circle individual's own article.

Having repeated many false allegations that trace back verbatim, directly or indirectly, to Farrant, The Faustian Circle ends by stating something about me that is borderline accurate:

"He is critical of The Faustian Circle, Dr Kerry Bolton (former Secretary of the New Zealand Fascist Union, and former leader of The Thelemic Society and the Order of the Left Hand Path, who is now more interested in Catholicism, Third Positionist Nationalism and Social Credit), Kevin Chesham, David Farrant, John Pope and Anthony Hogg. For the record, some of our members are in contact with the author Dr Kerry Bolton of New Zealand, but Kevin Chesham, David Farrant, John Pope and Anthony Hogg are NOT members of the F.C., although some of our members have read their literature, and also incidentally the books of Sean Manchester."

The "membership" of The Faustian Circle is so vast that only one person ever clicks on "like" under each and every entry made by The Faustian Circle on Facebook. His name is Bob Fuller who has forty Facebook friends, among them Gary Raikes who in 2012 founded something called "The New British Union" which proclaims itself to be a revival of the pre-war British Union of Fascists and National Socialists, using identical regalia, flags, symbols and uniforms. The New British Union opts for the post-BUF military-style uniform rather than the black fencing-style tunic that preceded it. The military-style uniform was adopted when the British Union of Fascists amended their nomenclature to the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists in 1936. According to the Birmingham Mail, 7 July 2013, "the NBU is a sinister organisation with many members claiming to be pagans or followers of satanic and wiccan cults." A far cry from the pre-war movement founded in 1932 whose leader, Sir Oswald Mosley, declared at the end of the Second World War that Fascism was dead and in later interviews accepted he had made a catastrophic error by adopting the military uniform of 1936. I was a professional photographer in the 1960s and met Sir Oswald and his wife, Lady Diana, on a number of occasions. Sir Oswald definitely eschewed pre-war Fascism, and now described himself as a European Socialist. If one was looking for a continuation of Mosley's movement today, however, one would not turn to the New British Union, which is more a parody of the original, but rather something resembling European Action whose editor, Robert Edwards, has this to say about Fascism:

"Fascism in Britain was a peculiar phenomenon of the 1930s. Even left-wing academics have acknowledged this fact and the term 'post-fascist' had entered the political lexicon long ago. However, the word has become a term of abuse, a generic term applied to anything of which left-wing political correctness does not approve. Anyone who adopts this term as a political label today, deserves a heavy dose of political enlightenment because such a posturing is not only inappropriate but it also displays an ignorance of the changing shape and nature of British politics since the Second World War. Sir Oswald Mosley always claimed that he had 'gone beyond fascism' as he emerged onto the political scene after internment, without charge or trial, during the last world war.  His Union Movement was founded in 1948 with a very clear message acknowledging that the post-war era demanded some very definite re-thinking. This re-thinking was encapsulated in the new idea of Europe a Nation, the hope that Europeans would never fight each other again and would unite in brotherhood. He made it very clear that the fascism of the Thirties had its faults and weaknesses, specifically that it 'rode roughshod over individual liberties.' Its other weakness being that it was far too narrow in its nationalism which could lead to the adoption of a belligerent attitude towards other nations, likely leading to war. There are still people today who talk rather foolishly of reviving fascism, a position which always seems to manifest itself in a fetish for uniforms and related paraphernalia. This particular penchant leaves no room for reason and serious practical thought. In Britain, the public display of political uniforms has been banned since 1936 and there is neither a desire nor a need to adopt such outward appearances again when other more effective means of propaganda are now available to us in the form of the new methods of electronic communication. There is no law against groups of people dressing up in black uniforms behind closed curtains and locked doors, when it satisfies a deep-felt need. But it is not politics; so let us make that very clear. What is the point of wearing a political uniform if the wearing of such a uniform in public is illegal? A true political mind is flexible enough to recognise a more pragmatic and realistic way and therefore rejects that which neither works nor is acceptable in the long run. There is a current trend towards reviving a 'golden era,' not surprising when most of us live in an age of empty materialism and uncertainty. Pre-war fascism did hark back to another era for inspiration. With Mussolini it was Ancient Rome and with Mosley it was England’s Elizabethan era. Having said that, we must understand that every 'golden era' had something of an illusion about it and so we must resist the temptation of dwelling on a past that seemed to offer a better picture of things. We are realists, albeit guided by an idealism, but an idealism for the future and not for the past. Fascism ended in the dust and ashes of 1945. The promises that it held for so many were dashed for good. What emerged in its place was a transcendence, upwards and forward, that looked back only for the purpose of learning lessons. The greatest virtue of pre-war fascism was its deeply held patriotism expressed in the most noble terms. Now we extend that principle of patriotism to the concept of Europe a Nation, widening the scope and appeal for a greater love of nation, beyond fascism. In the Twenty First Century we require a new creed for the purpose of carrying forward that long fought-out struggle in the interests of all our peoples in Europe. It is a synthesis of the best from all that has preceded the present time which leaves all previous political ideas totally redundant - including those of fascism!"

While I recognise that European Action is a more faithful representation of Sir Oswald Mosley's post-war ideology than New British Union, for the purpose of clarity I again make clear that I hold no allegiance or sympathy for either. My own feeling is that politics has failed people and always will.

Returning to the person behind The Faustian Circle, it is superfluous for him to state that Anthony Hogg is not one of its members. Apart from the fact that Hogg is of mixed race and has not been within a thousand miles of the United Kingdom, or indeed Europe; with his overtly left-wing views Anthony Hogg is a natural supporter of Unite Against Fascism and any similar anti-Fascist group.

The same goes for Redmond McWilliams who has contributed numerous anonymous posts to the offending blog. McWilliams is also a homosexual; so obviously not a likely supporter of Fascism.

Kevin Chesham, Redmond McWilliams and David Farrant.

Correspondence

On 17 February 2015, I tried to open a dialogue with The Faustian Circle which, in the event, proved, as I had feared, to be a pointless exercise that would grind to an unsatisfactory halt three days later.

My opening message to The Faustian Circle is published below:

To: The Faustian Circle

I am writing to object to the extremely libellous nature of comments made about me by Mr Hogg and Mr Farrant, plus some anonymous comments and those of your own, on two threads found on The Faustian Circle blog.  

The posting and, therefore, publication of this defamatory and abusive material which is designed to cause damage to my personal and professional life by the above named individuals is wholly unacceptable. The material itself is also completely false.

In the first instance, I am requesting that you remove all the aforementioned material with reference to myself and desist from publishing on the internet any further commentary about me.

In view of the extremely abusive and libellous nature of the identified pages on your blog where I am named and defamed, I must advise you that legal steps might have to be taken, including the involvement of the police. However, I hope this will not be needed and that reason will prevail.

It will not be found necessary, of course, if the offending material is removed as soon as possible, ie within the next 48 hours.

You will understand that I am legally obliged to provide this notice before taking any further action as outlined above.

Yours faithfully,

†Seán Manchester

The Faustian Circle replied:

"Wouldn't it be better to respond to the articles and comments in the comments sections of the articles in question?

"In the interests of free speech and debate we are extremely reluctant to  remove the articles.

"However, you are of course entirely free to pursue DNS action via the internet in an attempt to remove the articles and comments to which you refer.

This was promptly followed by a brief second message:

"Sorry, but we cannot accept a complaint which is not sent from a legitimate email account."

To which I responded:

I refer you to your willingness to remove material critical of Mr Farrant, as exemplified two days ago with this:

"We have removed the above comment after a lady objected to its libellous nature."

My grounds for objection are significantly greater on the grounds of the sheer volume and degree of defamation which, in my opinion, you have stimulated from the onset.

What you have personally written about me is erroneous and based on falsehood originating with Mr Farrant about whom you say nothing that is negative or that he would object over. I have no idea what your agenda is beyond repeating slurs and libel designed to cause damage to my personal and professional life. I hold no party political opinions and have never done so. I am not an occultist or a magician. I have worked in tandem with those seeking peace throughout my life and still remain a representative of Pax Christi, something which might possibly motivate your willingness, as a Fascist, to provide a platform for others to harass me, defame me and incite hatred against me.

You ask me to provide tangible evidence of who I am to somebody, namely yourself, who remains totally anonymous and is only known as "The Faustian Circle." It is quite obvious who I am. Look at the thousands of friends on my account which has been held for years. Why else would I be asking for libellous material to be removed if I was not who I say I am? You are looking for an excuse to do nothing. I am not in a position where I can do nothing because I am the victim of your actions against me.

As it stands, you are in breach of the Protection from Harassment Act, Religious Discrimination and Hatred Law, Libel Law and the fact that, under Article 8 of the Human Rights Act, everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. I believe my privacy to have been violated.

Whether or not you accept this complaint from me, whilst doing so from others who are set against me, is neither here nor there. What matters is that I have made my complaint and that you are now cognisant of it. If you wish this to now be taken further with the involvement of law enforcement to ensure my protection from the abuse you not only allow but are instrumental in initiating and prolonging, that is your choice entirely. I have acquainted you with the facts and lodged my complaint.

Yours faithfully,

†Seán Manchester

The Faustian Circle, once again, reiterated that they would need me to send an e-mail in order to authenticate who I am. To which I responded:

You are suggesting that I use my personal account (you already have my name) to post the same request as above to an impersonal account held by an anonymous stranger.

You already have my request and the reasons I have made it. The rest is obfuscation on your part. How about providing me with your real name with evidence it is genuine?

I do not like dealing with anonymous people, and do not have the resources to identify you myself. The police, on the other hand, do. Tell me your name and arrange to meet me face to face in order to determine who I am if that is so critical; though I am very much of the opinion it is a delaying tactic on your part. What difference will it make if you do receive an e-mail? Does that mean you will instantly remove all reference to myself?

Yours faithfully,

†Seán Manchester

The Faustian Circle all along failed to say whether receiving an e-mail would result in what I was requesting. However, I did follow my message with another that stated:

It occurred to me that if the only bar to you taking any action is verification via an e-mail associated with my website you could send an e-mail to just such an address: [e-mail address deleted] and, upon my receiving it, I could relay its contents exactly along with the time it was sent. I would just ask that there are no attachments, as these could cause it to be spammed out. Send a message, code or sequence of words. Anything you like.

You must ask yourself how I would be able to read your e-mail if I am anyone other than who I say I am? I shall expect your e-mail to be sent from [the e-mail associated with The Faustian Circle]. 

Yours faithfully,

†Seán Manchester

The Faustian Circle replied:

"If Sean Manchester sends us an email associated with his website as we first requested, then yes we will be able to consider his complaint."

I responded:

I presume you want an e-mail associated with my website to verify I am who I say I am? That being the case, as you remain totally anonymous and use an impersonal account for e-mail traffic yourself, send an e-mail to me containing a message or sequence of words that only the recipient could know when it is received. Send to: [e-mail address deleted]

I will then get back to you with the exact content of your e-mail sent from [the e-mail associated with The Faustian Circle].

The only other remedy to your alleged concern over my true identity is that you meet me in person. You say you are London-based. That being so, you will not have far to travel, but this would obviously be unnecessary if you send an e-mail to my account.

As the aggrieved party, I am not the one who should be on the back foot here. You continue to allow those in the business of abusing, harassing and defaming me, even when done anonymously, to post their incitements of hatred. How do you find any of this honourable? You are treating this in a manner which certainly suggests you have little intention of removing the references to me. In which case, if action is taken I, or those acting on my behalf, shall be obliged to recover costs from you.

I wouldn't listen to the baying mob you have allowed to monopolise your blog. None of them will be affected by the outcome. What is troubling is that you set this situation up in the first place, and not for the first time. As my website unequivocally states, I haven't accepted interviews on these matters for years because all there is to say has been said. There is nothing useful to add. More particularly, it's half a century ago! I live in the present and find it sad that others dwell almost permanently in the distant past; in most instances, not even their own past. My website also makes clear that, although I was a minor public figure many years, I am no longer so today. I consider myself a private person who wishes to live out his last years in relative peace. You are demonstrating an unwillingness to allow that to happen for reasons known only to yourself, which to me is ignoble and indefensible. You describe The Faustian Circle as 'a British Study Group based in London, England, which is engaged in research into the relationship between Politics and the Occult.' How does that involve me, or indeed phenomena occurring at Highgate half a century ago? I have studied aspects of the occult in the past, but I am not an occultist. I have met politicians, some of them political leaders, from the whole spectrum of politics, but I am not party political myself and never have been. Yet the overwhelming majority of comments on The Faustian Circle are about either me or an ex-convict who has frittered away his life pursuing vicious vendettas against people - of which I am one. The third element is the Highgate case which has no political dimension.

How can you possibly justify this platform for libellous abuse against me? Unless, of course, The Faustian Circle with its nostalgia for something that is quite dead is merely a smokescreen for something else? Others must be having similar thoughts.

Yours faithfully,

†Seán Manchester

The Faustian Circle responded that I have more than one Facebook account, to which I explained that previous accounts had reached full capacity as there is a limit to how many friends Facebook allow, requiring me to open new ones as more people ask to be my friend. These are perfectly legitimate reasons for having more than account. The Faustian Circle allowed David Farrant to publish on its blog the addresses of all my accounts which proves that Farrant has more than one account himself, as I have blocked him and his associates from seeing any of my accounts. To find my Facebook presence Farrant and company would require second accounts themselves. Hence I pointed out the following in my final message to The Faustian Circle, 20 February 2015:

Mr Hogg [one of those posting defamatory material about me] has various accounts on Facebook. Two are in his real name that I am aware of (there might be more for all I know) and others are in false names. The same goes for Mr Farrant's close friend Mr McWilliams (who posts anonymously on your blog). He has opened innumerable Facebook accounts in a variety of names, largely in an attempt to infiltrate groups where he is not wanted. Mr Farrant's son, Jamie, has at least two accounts in his real name and who knows how many in counterfeit names? The reason I have accumulated my accounts is legitimate. Theirs, clearly, is not.

You speak only of libel - and I am certainly libelled repeatedly and continuously on your blog - but you omit any mention of other offences occurring on your blog; offences that I have already identified to you that place you in breach of the Protection from Harassment Act, Religious Discrimination and Hatred Law, plus Article 8 of the Human Rights Act. Google no more deals with libel that it does with any of the aforementioned about which you say nothing. They are criminal and not civil offences. Hence the police possibly taking an interest with the potential for a custodial sentence in certain instances.

What I notice is your willingness to discuss the private messages I have sent you with commentators on your blog who are antipathetic toward me, while at the same time refusing to engage in any discussion with me beyond the mantra "contact us by email."

If you are genuinely concerned about establishing my identity you would do as I suggest and send an e-mail associated with my website, and I, in turn, will respond with the exact content of what you have sent, proving beyond any doubt who I am.

Moreover, if you really subscribe to "freedom of expression, even if a blog contains unappealing or distasteful content or presents unpopular viewpoints," you would not have capitulated so readily to Mr Farrant's assistant, known as Della, with the words: "We have removed the above comment after a lady objected to its libellous nature." You follow this with a note of gratitude to Mr Hogg who had reproduced something in his comment about which Della disapproved: "Thank you for understanding and for respecting the lady's wishes Mr Hogg." 

There is something strange, as well as hypocritical, about this situation. You curtail "freedom of expression" when it favours Mr Farrant, but refuse to do so when it means I am the one requesting deletion.

This has nothing to do with my not sending an e-mail or my identity not having been confirmed. You could send me an e-mail to the address associated with my website.

This is something else. Something personal. Something distinctly and uniquely aimed at me. Why else am I the only individual attacked on your blog which uses a Fascist symbol while allowing known anti-Fascists such as Mr Hogg and Mr McWilliams to post abuse that incites hatred while defaming and totally misrepresenting me? 

You seem so friendly with the anti-Fascist Mr Hogg and the anti-Fascist Mr McWilliams. Yet the self-styled Fascist "The Faustian Circle" describes itself/himself as a "Secret Order working to shape thinking and to manipulate events from behind the scenes. It encourages its supporters to be active in political organisations in Great Britain in order to influence policy and to spread the National Gnostic message. Likewise its Faustian Youth section is involved in musical subcultures such as Industrial, Black Metal, Goth, Punk/Post-Punk, Neo-Folk and such like."

You have broken the confidentiality of my private messages by making known the thrust of my correspondence on a public forum to those who consider me an enemy.

I do not believe you ever had any intention of "considering" my complaint. You merely want to engage me in something I have no intention of becoming drawn into. Your initial article is loaded against me and its false and misleading content about me has been adapted straight from the propaganda of Mr Farrant and his cronies.

You first contacted me via Royal Mail two years ago, on 19 March 2013 to be precise, when you sent your "Hail Abraxas!" leaflet that declared: "The Faustian Circle is an Occult-Fascist Secret Order." As someone who has investigated for television and radio - indeed, written about - "secret orders," allow me to inform you that genuine secret orders do not send leaflets to people like myself, much less do they open Facebook accounts and blogs which anyone in the world can read.

Finally, the envelope containing The Faustian Circle material in 2013 was addressed to me in ball-point pen ink. Albeit in capital letters, I recognised the handwriting instantly.

This dialogue has now run its course. I shall act in accordance with what is best.

Yours faithfully,

†Seán Manchester

Here is part of the leaflet and envelope I received from The Faustian Circle in March 2013:

Politics and the Occult

The Faustian Circle describes itself on Facebook and on its blog as follows:

"The Faustian Circle is a British Study Group based in England, which is engaged in research into the relationship between Politics and the Occult."

Prior to 20 February 2015, it described itself as being based in London, England.

Both its first and second incarnation devoted much energy to me and the Highgate Vampire case.

On 19 February 2015, I wrote to the blogger responsible for The Faustian Circle:

"What is troubling is that you set this situation up in the first place, and not for the first time. As my website unequivocally states, I haven't accepted interviews on these matters [about Highgate] for years because all there is to say has been said. There is nothing useful to add. More particularly, it's half a century ago! I live in the present and find it sad that others dwell almost permanently in the distant past; in most instances, not even their own past. My website also makes clear that, although I was a minor public figure many years, I am no longer so today. I consider myself a private person who wishes to live out his last years in relative peace. You are demonstrating an unwillingness to allow that to happen for reasons known only to yourself, which to me is ignoble and indefensible. 

"You describe The Faustian Circle as 'a British Study Group based in London, England, which is engaged in research into the relationship between Politics and the Occult.' How does that involve me, or indeed phenomena occurring at Highgate half a century ago? I have studied aspects of the occult in the past, but I am not an occultist. I have met politicians, some of them political leaders, from across the whole spectrum of politics, but I am not party political myself and never have been. Yet the overwhelming majority of comments on The Faustian Circle are either about me or an ex-convict who has frittered away his life pursuing vicious vendettas against people - of which I am one. The third element is the Highgate case which has no political dimension.

"How can you possibly justify this platform for libellous abuse against me? Unless, of course, The Faustian Circle with its nostalgia for something that is quite dead is merely a smokescreen for something else?"

On the previous day, when I opened a private correspondence that would last merely three days, I established my political credentials with the person behind The Faustian Circle:

"I hold no party political opinions and have never done so. I am not an occultist or a magician. I have worked in tandem with those seeking peace throughout my life and still remain a representative of Pax Christi, something which might possibly motivate your willingness, as a Fascist, to provide a platform for others to harass me, defame me and incite hatred against me."

None of the points in my conversation were addressed by the person behind The Faustian Circle.

Introduction

This blog is a troll-free area for critical examination of something calling itself "The Faustian Circle," or, perhaps I should say, someone calling themself "The Faustian Circle," which/who uses as its/his symbol the pre-war emblem of the British Union of Fascists and National Socialists (pictured above).

Comments from readers are welcome, but will be closely monitered to weed out the inevitable trolls.

The Faustian Circle is a supposedly self-styled Occult-Fascist group, allegedly formed in London, England, on New Year's Day 2013. It claims to be dedicated to promoting the creed of National Gnosticism and the doctrine of Social Darwinism in its "eternal struggle for Survival of the Fittest." 

 

The Faustian Circle claims, or, at least, it did when it first appeared, to be a "Secret Order working to shape thinking and to manipulate events from behind the scenes. It encouragea its supporters to be active in political organisations in Great Britain in order to influence policy and to spread the National Gnostic message. Likewise its Faustian Youth section is involved in musical subcultures such as Industrial, Black Metal, Goth, Punk/Post-Punk, Neo-Folk and such like." It also claims to seek contact with "like minded groups and individuals in Europe and throughout the World."

Almost eight months after its founding, this appeared on The Faustian Circle's blog on 21 July 2013:

"The Faustian Circle is now disbanded and the previously listed contact email address of the Order is no longer in use. In any case our circle of supporters never amounted to more than a handful of individuals. This blog is now suspended and will not be updated. Previous posts will be maintained as a historical archive and resource for researchers."

Eight months later, another statement was published on 26 March 2014, saying the following:

"The Faustian Circle has been relaunched after the previous Blog Master was forced to retire due to health reasons. ***** was persuaded to hand over control of the F.C. Blog to the Council of the Faustian Circle. We are glad to report that he has now made a full recovery and still supports our organisation."

(The edited out name - ***** - is exactly as it originally appeared on The Faustian Circle.)

Nobody showed any interest in The Faustian Circle until it decided to launch an attack upon myself.