Dancing with the devil: Inside the Los Angeles Satanic Temple’s biggest EVER ‘black mass’ with blood-letting, demonic cats, tattoos… and ‘destruction rituals’
- Los Angeles’ Satanic Temple chapter held its biggest event ever during Saturday night’s black mass
- The event included a destruction ritual, an invocation ritual and a bloodletting ritual, all with live music
- Guests also listened to a 45-minute lecture about demonic cats by occult expert Dr Paul Koudounaris
- Satanic Temple, which preaches ‘practical common sense and justice’, has 24 chapters across the US
LOS ANGELES – The Satanic Temple Of Los Angeles, a chapter of a nationwide satanic organization, hosted a massive ‘black mass’ Saturday night, complete with a live bloodletting ritual and a 45-minute lecture about demonic cats.
Guests could also attend a destruction ritual and an invocation ritual, both with live music. The event doubled as a fundraiser for the chapter’s causes, with include women’s reproductive rights, the First Amendment and prisoner’s rights.
The Satanic Temple, headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts, has 24 chapters across the United states. Members of the movement, which calls itself an organized religion, do not believe in a personal Satan but say they preach rationalism and reject superstition.
VIP tickets to Saturday’s massive rally cost $66.60, while other guests paid $15. Attendees, many of which wore costume, were pictured by LAist enjoying six hours of Satanic activities, including live painting and tattooing.
Doors opened at 9 pm and the evening began with a comedy set by Satanist politician Steve Hill, who ran for the state Senate in California’s 21st district last year.
‘I’m a Satanist as far as trying to get people to understand that I don’t believe in the devil any more than I believe in God,’ Hill, a Democrat, once told Time Magazine. ‘All of it is stupid. But if I have to tell people I’m the devil to get them to listen, then, OK, I’m the devil.’
Guests were treated at 10 pm to a 45-minute lecture on demonic cats by writer, photographer and occult expert Dr Paul Koudounaris, who has also researched sexual encounters between the living and the dead.
The black mass continued with a destruction ritual from 11:55 to 12:45. Several members later asked for the text of the ritual, which was praised by one attendee as an ‘intense and awe-inspiring experience’. ‘These were things that I held in my hands These were things that belonged to me These were things that I held in my heart These are things that have meaning to me These things are not dead, because they never carried life. But I gave these things life, because they have carried me,’ the ritual began according to a transcript shared by The Satanic Temple Los Angeles on Facebook.
A one-hour invocation ritual followed at 1 am. The crowd later took part in a bloodletting ritual from 2:15 am to 2:45 am.
The Satanic Temple Los Angeles had teased the event ahead of time, saying it had faced ‘rampant opposition’ in the months leading up to it.
‘We hope you will celebrate liberation, rebellion and a new global Satanic alliance,’ an announcement read.
Funds raised during the black mass will go towards the group’s campaign for women’s reproductive rights, some lawsuits regarding First Amendment issues, and will go towards helping incarcerated individuals.
Clemence Michallon
Daily Mail
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THE SATANIC TEMPLE’S SEVEN CORE BELIEFS
- One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
- The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
- One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
- The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.
- Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
- People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.
- Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.
