If you're from the hood, you know that thugs who are gang affiliated love to "claim their sets" when they throw up gang signs. You know some like to "tag" their names on the walls of buildings in graffiti style to put their "stamp" on things.

Even McDonald's has their logo on every hamburger wrapper, billboard and commercial. Every artist in the music industry is aware of the term "brand" when they market themselves in any form of media.

Are Satan and his followers any different? If the Anti-Christ were to come tomorrow, would you be familiar with his brand? What logo would represent Satan? Would we already be familiar with them? Would they, like McDonald's , boast the slogan: "One billion served" or rather "One billion suckered." Let's begin with a few and test your familiarity.

The first most obvious symbol is the pentagram: the standard symbol for witches, freemasonry, other occult groups and the official symbol of the church of satan. Wiccans use it for protection, direct forces or energies depending on how it's drawn. It's been found on the walls of Neolithic caves, in Babylonian drawings where it marks the path of the planet Venus and it was a secret pagan symbol of the ancient goddess Ishtar. Even the street layout of Washington D.C. is in the shape of a pentagram. To detail the origin and historic timeline of this symbol and it's use, it would take an encyclopedia.

Pull out a one-dollar bill and take a look at the pyramid on the left rear side of the bill. If you're familiar with ancient Egypt and freemasonry, you'll recognize this symbol to be the "all-seeing eye" pyramid. Its origin goes back to ancient Egypt with the eye representing the pagan god Horus (a god linked to satan). It also symbolizes enlightenment to which most credit the light-bearer himself, Lucifer. The pyramid illustration goes back to freemasonry, followers of Lucifer, and the latin inscription NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM means "new order of the ages" or "new world order". This statement alone verifies that they've been planning this for a long time. You'll find this lovely symbol on Roc-a-wear apparel. You'll even find the eye or horus on their baseball caps. Thousands of fans of this apparel line have already been introduced to this takeover without even knowing it.

The Goat of mendes or Baphomet, usually superimposed on the pentagram and within a circle. Mendes was an ancient city in Egypt where fertility Baal worship was practiced. Baal worship included perverse sexual rituals and human sacrifice. The creature that is the Baphomet is a seated hermaphroditic, winged (like a fallen angel), goat headed and goat-footed man with female breasts. The light on its forehead symbolizes the light-bearer (Lucifer). It became the official sign of the church of satan by founder Anton Lavey. You can find this beautiful (sarcasm) symbol on one of Kanye West's t-shirts, a ring Beyonce once wore on stage and also on a costume she wore as "Sasha Fierce."

"A symbol veils or hides a secret and it is that which veils mysterious forces. The energies when released can have a potent force" - 32^nd Degree Freemason Foster Bailey. 

The United States structures and buildings are filled with subtle imagery that are related to secret societies and the occult. A lot of these secret society's members own international banks, work in positions of leadership, and own powerful organizations and companies like record labels. Numerous videos are rife with these pagan and masonic images. Why? Where does this unfounded fascination with the occult come from? Is it just mere fascination? The patterns undeniably and emphatically answer no. If you're a believer, you'll believe there is no such thing as coincidence. You'll find Masonic symbols in Rihanna's video "Rude Boy." You'll find the sigil of Baphomet in her video "Umbrella." One artist denies he is a freemason despite his numerous Masonic and Skull & Bones references in his videos and images on his apparel company; not naming names but he blasphemes by calling himself Jehovah. Hhmmm...

The patterns, dance routines and symbols are there to be found to anyone who has an open mind to what lies behind the music and the artist. But why are they there? I find myself saying that it's not really important on what purpose these symbols have. I find it more intriguing on WHY they are there in the first place? When you read the quote of another famous mason, you'll start to understand why. 

"Symbols are oracular forms, mysterious patterns creating vortices in the substances OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD. They are centers of a MIGHTY FORCE, figures pregnant with an AWFUL POWER, which, when properly fashioned, loose fiery whirlwinds upon the Earth" - Mason Philosopher Manley P. Hall.

Are you kidding me? Hello! These quotes are from FAMOUS and ADMIRED men of their cult. They explain why you are being bombarded with satanic imagery. It's amazing that Satan does not hide under different gods like he used to. He's at a point where he's taking off the mask and telling people simply "Follow me" in mock imitation of our Lord Yeshua. Even in satan's own circles, he's instructed the superiors of his cults to LIE to his lower ranking followers IN THEIR OWN BOOKS! Satan isn't hiding anymore. He's on the news. He's in music. He's in politics. Do you think Jesus was joking around when he called him "the ruler of this world?" This is not to diminish the awesome sovereignty of God Almighty but only to point out the amount of authority that Satan has taken from man.

As a Christian, I don't believe these symbols have any effect on my life because of my faith in the blood of Christ. I just wonder where the outrage for this blatant form of witchcraft is. Why do we simply shrug it off? This is why I likened listening to secular music to eating poisoned candy. Why would I give the artists the pleasure of listening to their songs knowing that they are marketed to intentionally dumb down society? Music has been specifically and socially engineered to sway the masses into a way of thinking; lulled into a trance to keep you asleep, selfish and sedated. Why would I fatten the pockets of artists who have sold out for fame and riches and willfully execute this assault on the souls that are ignorant of these devices? That's what pop culture has become: a crew of social engineers.

Remember my last column. Satan has been around for millennia. He's the ruler of this world. The prince of the power of the air. As Jesus said in John 8:44, "Satan was a murderer from the beginning." Satan has hidden himself generation after generation in the form of Egypt's Horus or Osiris, Sumer's Baal, Persia's Mithras, Greece's Zeus, Rome's Jupiter, Celtic druids, all the way to the United States occult societies. Satan himself has a pattern! It's just under a different guise for each false religion. Gentiles in ancient times used to sacrifice their infants and children to the pagan god Moloch that God abhorred and warned Israel to stay away from. Now it's under the label "abortion" and "pro-choice". Do you see that Satan's character stays consistent throughout history. Consistently anti-Christ.

Church of Satan founder Anton Lavey wrote, "Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires." In other words, if it works, use it. This philosophy combined with the barrage of symbols serves to work over the subconscious mind while the music and lyrics themselves worm into conscious living. Garbage in, garbage out.

The "A-O.K." hand sign. To this day, I've used the ok sign innocently much like many of you have. To those in the U.S., it simply means "everything is all right." Look deeper into this hand gesture and you'll find it has numerous meanings in other cultures. To freemasons, the circle of this hand sign represents the female genitalia or yoni. To Hindus, it is a sacred gesture that means infinity or perfection. In tantric yoga, it's a sign of ecstasy spiritually and physically. In ancient Persia, it was symbolic of ecstatic union with the goddess. In illuminati philosophy, it's become a sign of approval from the divine king.

For satanists, some have gone far to hold the view that the three bent fingers are shaped like three six's -- 666. Three fingers represent an unholy trinity, Lucifer, the goddess (Babylon the Great) and the beast (anti-Christ) all in unison.

Does it sound too far-fetched? I thought so too because the sign is so innocent. That is until you take a look at the patterns again. One of them, you'll find Lady Gaga performing in concert, lying on her back, looking into the crowd and her hand off to the side holding the O.K. sign symbolizing 666. What's interesting is that she is MAINTAINING this gesture in what appears to be a dance move that has her lying on her back. Why maintain this gesture? It makes more sense as you notice above her the all-seeing eye pyramid is present in the background. Now, it all makes sense.

She doesn't stop here. The O.K. sign is EVERYWHERE and there is absolutely no creativity attached to its use, no explanation as to why this this gesture is worked into dances. Lady Gaga is NOT ALONE in the use of this gesture. Choreographers and photographers have convinced countless artists to do this inexplicable dance routine and pose. Either that or the artists are initiating themselves into an allegiance with the evil one through a ritual. The move and pose ONLY makes sense when you couple it with the idea of satanic symbolism being used to indoctrinate viewers subconsciously. It would be one thing if the artists were using them within the context of "everything is A-O.K." in their videos. But what we have here are the signs being subtly thrown around like some sort of initiation.

Madonna's superbowl half time show was littered with mystery religion imagery.

Pink intentionally or unintentionally did a mock-ritual of a Mason initiation.

When artists claim that they're simply expressing their art, it's sort of impossible to believe considering that this giant idol-making machine of the music industry tells them what to wear and what to do. They're manufactured. So, how can an artist say that they're independently flowing in their craft. That in and of itself flies in the face of basic high-profile music business. It's possible that a lot of these gestures and images are coincidental but can you honestly conclude that this is the case for every single one of them?

There are far too many "instances" to be "coincidences." And now that we see that there is an undercurrent of satanism breaking the surface of pop culture, are we going to continue willingly soak it up? Satan is not just confined to the obvious music of shock rocker Marilyn Manson. He's found his way into many or our seemingly innocent pop singers.

The elitists in power have an allegiance to the ruler of this world. The way they show that allegiance is through the usage of hand signs. They unleash "fiery whirlwinds" by subtly infusing satanic symbols into music videos, let alone our historical structures and buildings. To dig up the people that suggested these poses, dances and images is to unearth another Pandora's box that will need thorough research. There is no telling who is directly responsible for these symbols aside from the artist themselves.

To their credit, many artists are puppets leaning on the counsel of their managers, promoters, stylists, choreographers and video directors. Most of them may not know the dark world they're promoting. Lady Gaga herself may not know the depths of the evil surrounding her or the demonic influence inspiring her writing and performing. She may have just surmised that she's channeling her emotions through her art, which she herself called a "lie." One confused child is she.

We, Christians, sometimes sport a gold chain with a cross on it symbolizing what Christ has done for us. The occult believes in symbols just as much or more than Christians do. They believe their symbols are potent. Their hope is that your mind will be conditioned to accept them when they flash them across the screen.

They know you probably won't believe all this when it's pointed out to you. The Lord said in Hosea 4:6, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." Satan's banking on it.

The self-proclaimed Zig Ziglar of rap, Billy Delgado, is a Music Producer/Artist and Writer by day and sleeping pillow-drooler by night. He is currently producing the debut album for his band The 288's, a God-inspired Hip Hop/R&B group that combines soul-baring lyricism with an electric innovative sound, breaking from the norm and reaching all cultures & ages (save senior citizens). He still can't believe he's a family man with a beautiful wife Mari & three boys Chris, Nelson and Joshua, so he continues to pinch himself silly to this day.