The Head of a Satanic Temple Explains Satanism



We do not sacrifice children. The foundation of Satanism is built upon the self and carrying out the devil’s work. Hail Satan! Hail Satan! Hail Satan! Hail Satan! Hi! My name is Zeke Apollyon and I am the chapter head for the Satanic Temple, London and UK.

I think what attracted me most to Satanism, I think how preposterous a lot of stuff that was coming from people who call themselves Christians. These people are extremists, they’re religious extremists. That use Christianity to kind of further their extremism. Some of these people have blood on their hands, and so

I figured if they could do horrible things in the name of Jesus then I could do wonderful things in the name of Satan. It’s so liberating. It is so liberating. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as in my own skin as I do as a Satanist

Because, I mean part of it is looking at like ugly sides of yourself and being able to sort of reconcile that and looking at ugly sides of humanity. No. No. I don’t want to catch anything and I’m pretty sure other people don’t either.

People get in touch with us and we just have a conversation. A lot of times what people want is community, a lot of people feel like outsiders and so they come to us because they’re looking for people that are accepting. They do not come around anymore. They don’t come around anymore.

They came over one time when we were having a big ritual and they must have seen it on my face or something ’cause I opened the door to come out to get something and they were walking up the path and I was just like, no! And they just turned around and left.

And I haven’t seen them since. We still live in a time when people who are satanists have to live incognito? But I think in terms of misconceptions about Satanists I think people think that we sacrifice babies, that we are engaged in some kind of like underground sex trafficking.

I’ve definitely met some babies that I haven’t really gotten on with very well, but I’ve never actually killed one. There’s a little girl in the window right there. Satanism, it’s been a philosophy or a way of life for people for a very long time.

For me, Satanism is really about not letting myself off the hook. And I believe for me that being a Satanist is about trying to continually advocate for people especially people who aren’t able to advocate for themselves. You could definitely go much worse than to use those things

As your way to kind of move forward. Every day! In fact somebody is probably right now, asking us to put them in touch with the devil. People ask for riches, they ask if we can allow them access to the Illuminati. Some of the weirdest interactions are people who like send us satanic prayers.

People will sometimes ask us to pass on messages to the devil. And I’m like, we’re not the devils answering service. I wish! Satanism is a love affair with the self. Actually, I think one of the things that the Satanic Temple wants to do is actually sponsor an orgy.

We do, but like we would be there as people who would fold the towels and we would make sure that there was enough condoms and lube. And we would provide sex education. A lot of us are trained. Some of us are medics. And what we would do is facilitate

What would be like a safe, consensual, group sex practice for people and it would benefit something. I think it would be great if Satanists went on Love Island. That would be amazing. I totally would. I would turn that party out.

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A brief history of the devil – Brian A. Pavlac



Satan, the beast crunching sinners’ bones in his subterranean lair. Lucifer, the fallen angel raging against the established order. Mephistopheles, the trickster striking deals with unsuspecting humans. These three divergent devils are all based on Satan of the Old Testament,

An angelic member of God’s court who torments Job in the Book of Job. But unlike any of these literary devils, the Satan of the Bible was a relatively minor character, with scant information about his deeds or appearance.

So how did he become the ultimate antagonist, with so many different forms? In the New Testament, Satan saw a little more action: tempting Jesus, using demons to possess people, and finally appearing as a giant dragon who is cast into hell. This last image particularly inspired medieval artists and writers,

Who depicted a scaled, shaggy-furred creature with overgrown toenails. In Michael Pacher’s painting of St. Augustine and the Devil, the devil appears as an upright lizard— with a second miniature face glinting on his rear and. The epitome of these monster Satans appeared in Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno.”

Encased in the ninth circle of hell, Dante’s Satan is a three-headed, bat-winged behemoth who feasts on sinners. But he’s also an object of pity: powerless as the panicked beating of his wings only encases him further in ice. The poem’s protagonist escapes from hell by clambering over Satan’s body,

And feels both disgust and sympathy for the trapped beast— prompting the reader to consider the pain of doing evil. By the Renaissance, the devil started to assume a more human form. Artists painted him as a man with cloven hooves and curling horns inspired by Pan, the Greek god of the wild.

In his 1667 masterpiece “Paradise Lost,” English poet John Milton depicted the devil as Lucifer, an angel who started a rebellion on the grounds that God is too powerful. Kicked out of heaven, this charismatic rebel becomes Satan, and declares that he’d rather rule in hell than serve in heaven.

Milton’s take inspired numerous depictions of Lucifer as an ambiguous figure, rather than a purely evil one. Milton’s Lucifer later became an iconic character for the Romantics of the 1800s, who saw him as a hero who defied higher power in pursuit of essential truths, with tragic consequences.

Meanwhile, in the German legend of Doctor Faust, which dates to the 16th century, we get a look at what happens when the devil comes to Earth. Faust, a dissatisfied scholar, pledges his soul to the devil in exchange for bottomless pleasure. With the help of the devil’s messenger Mephistopheles,

Faust quickly seizes women, power, and money— only to fall into the eternal fires of hell. Later versions of the story show Mephistopheles in different lights. In Christopher Marlowe’s account, a cynical Doctor Faustus is happy to strike a deal with Mephistopheles. In Johann Wolfgang van Goethe’s version,

Mephistopheles tricks Faust into a grisly deal. Today, a Faustian bargain refers to a trade that sacrifices integrity for short-term gains. In stagings of Goethe’s play, Mephistopheles appeared in red tights and cape. This version of the devil was often played as a charming trickster— one that eventually paraded through comic books,

Advertising, and film in his red suit. These three takes on the devil are just the tip of the iceberg: the devil continues to stalk the public imagination to this day, tempting artists of all kinds to render him according to new and fantastical visions.

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