The Satanic Temple


The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic new religious movement, founded in 2013 and headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts, United States. Established in response to the "intrusion of Christian values on American politics", congregations have also formed in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Co-founded by Lucien Greaves, the organization's spokesperson, and Malcolm Jarry, the group views Satan neither as a supernatural being, nor a symbol of evil, but instead relies on the literary Satan as a symbol representing "the eternal rebel" against arbitrary authority and social norms, or as a metaphor to promote pragmatic skepticism, rational reciprocity, personal autonomy, and curiosity.
The organization's mission encourages "benevolence and empathy" among all people, using Satanic imagery to promote civil rights, egalitarianism, religious skepticism, social justice, bodily integrity, secularism, and the separation of church and state; relying on religious satire, theatrical ploys, humor, and legal action in their public campaigns to "generate attention and prompt people to reevaluate fears and perceptions", and to "highlight religious hypocrisy and encroachment on religious freedom." The organization participates in political actions such as lobbying efforts, with a focus on exposing Christian privilege when it interferes with personal religious freedom. It considers marriage a religious sacrament that should be governed under the First Amendment's protection of religious freedom which should prevail over state laws. The group views restrictions on abortion, including mandatory waiting periods, as an infringement on the rights of Satanists to practice their religion.
TST is reportedly "the largest Satanic organization in history". Its adherents generally refer to their religion as "Satanism" or "Modern Satanism", while others refer to TST's religion as "Compassionate Satanism" or "Seven Tenet Satanism".

History

Cofounders Lucien Greaves and Malcolm Jarry met in 2012, and the Satanic Temple was active by January 2013. In an interview with The New York Times, Malcolm Jarry stated that the idea of starting a Satanic faith-based organization was first conceived to meet "all the Bush administration's criteria for receiving funds, but was repugnant to them". Jarry was referring to former president George W. Bush's formation of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
According to scholar Joseph Laycock, Jarry was inspired to organize a rally of Satanists after actions by Governor Rick Scott of Florida to promote religion. In March 2012, Scott had signed a bill that passed the Florida state legislature allowing public school students to read inspirational messages at assemblies and sporting events—a way to circumvent a Supreme Court's ruling against mandatory prayer in school. In January 2013, Jarry's pretend Satanists rallied to praise Scott for his new law which would allow satanic students "to share their love of Satan" in public schools. After this event, the Westboro Baptist Church came to Boston, where Jarry and Greaves lived, to picket the funerals of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Jarry and Greaves decided to retaliate by going to Meridan, Mississippi, to perform a "pink mass" over the grave of the mother of the Westboro's founder, Fred Phelps Sr. During the July 2013 "pink mass", gay couples made out over the grave and the Temple announced that this ritual would turn Phelps' mother gay in the afterlife. The positive publicity the event received reportedly made the Satanic Temple nationally known.

Headquarters

The Satanic Temple opened its official headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts, in 2016. The former Victorian funeral home is painted charcoal and doubles as the Salem Art Gallery. The headquarters includes a Fine Art room, La Voisin Chamber, Library, the Milton Hall exhibition space, and a room for its Statue of Baphomet. The library includes a focus on the history of Satanic panic.
The space has since come under threat on multiple occasions. Chelsea resident Daniel Lucey set fire to the Salem facility's porch on June 10, 2022. Local fire rescue personnel had the flames under control shortly after arriving on the scene. The building was occupied at the time, but everyone was evacuated and no injuries occurred; damage was limited, though the porch and several windows had to be replaced. The Salem Police Department reported a bomb threat to the headquarters on March 2, 2023, stating they were taking the threat seriously and following public safety management mandates.

Tax-exempt status

On April 25, 2019, the Temple announced it had received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service, being classified as a "church or a convention or association of churches". The Satanic Temple had previously been reluctant to pursue tax-exempt status until the Johnson Amendment was weakened by an executive order "Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty" signed by President Trump in May 2017, which TST viewed as unfairly giving higher status to religious individuals.
Announcing the new tax status co-founder Lucien Greaves stated: "In light of theocratic assaults upon the Separation of Church and State in the legislative effort to establish a codified place of privilege for one religious viewpoint, we feel that accepting religious tax exemption—rather than renouncing in protest—can help us to better assert our claims to equal access and exemption while laying to rest any suspicion that we don’t meet the qualifications of a true religious organization. Satanism is here to stay."
The Satanic Temple claims on its website to be "the only Satanic religious organization recognized as a church by the IRS and the Federal Court System."

International followers

TST was structured based on the assumption of operating within the United States. TST has had challenges acclimating to the diverse needs of international followers, chapters, and congregations. The organization was unwilling to assist members in establishing chapters where the risk of religiously motivated violence was considered too high out of concerns for their well-being. The difficulties associated with incorporating international members into the organization has led to at least one religious schism, which gave birth to another religious Satanic organization called the Global Order of Satan.

Mission, beliefs, and holidays

According to the organization's website, the mission of the Satanic Temple is to:

Tenets

The Satanic Temple has seven fundamental tenets:
  1. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
  2. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
  3. One's body is inviolable, subject to one's own will alone.
  4. 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 one's own.
  5. Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one's beliefs.
  6. People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
  7. 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.

    Holidays

The Satanic Temple promotes five holidays:
DateEvent
February 15Lupercalia
April 30Hexennacht
July 25Unveiling Day
October 31Halloween
December 25Sol Invictus

Community and subgroups

Black Mass

In May 2014, the Temple scheduled a Black Mass to be held on the Harvard University campus, sponsored by the Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club; the event was forced to relocate off campus due to significant opposition by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and school administrators.

Los Angeles Satanic Mass

On January 14, 2017, the Temple hosted what it billed as the largest Satanic gathering in history, hoping to double the attendance of the 2015 gathering in Detroit for the Baphomet unveiling. Film crews from VICE and NatGeo were on hand to document the event. The mass included three parts: Invocation Ritual, Destruction Ritual and a Bloodletting Ritual. Local Los Angeles media was also on hand to cover the event, calling the event "a bloody good time".

Pentagram ritual

On June 6, 2016, the Temple performed a pentagram ritual around the California city of Lancaster in Los Angeles County, to support California State Senate candidate Steve Hill, who hoped to be the first Satanic Temple member elected to public office.

SatanCon

On February 12, 2022, the Satanic Temple held their first SatanCon convention inside Saguaro Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. Outside the hotel, hundreds of Christians protested the convention holding crucifixes, crosses, and signs denouncing Satan.
The Satanic Temple announced the celebration of its 10th anniversary at SatanCon 2023, held April 28–30, 2023, in downtown Boston, Massachusetts.

Sober Faction

The Satanic Temple Sober Faction is a peer support group that offers a Satanic approach to recovery from addiction. Sober Faction meetings assist those who are suffering from addiction in finding sobriety without including or invoking religion in the recovery process.
The Sober Faction's method is guided by TST's Seven Tenets and utilizes the Seven Rituals, which were crafted specifically for the Sober Faction's recovery program. The ritual process promotes self-empowerment while giving structure to each individual's recovery journey.
The group recognizes and respects that there are multiple perspectives and multiple approaches to recovery. The group explicitly says that meetings are not a professional form of therapy, and that anyone struggling with addiction should also seek help from a medical professional.