It had to be her. Red hair, black clothing, neck tattoos.
“Are you Nox?” Ilene asked when she walked in the door.
“Yes,” she replied.
We were at a funky restaurant in East Atlanta. She led us to the back of the restaurant, through two doors, and into a hidden area.
“This is Jon,” she said motioning to a guy with a red mohawk and an enormous smile.
It was Sunday night. The night before Halloween. A sacred holiday for Jon and Nox. Ilene found them.
We settled into a corner of the room. They sat across from us. And stared.
Jon has been sober for 12 years and is married. He also has two girlfriends. Nox, not her real name, has neck tattoos, went to Harvard, and is raising three ‘hellions’ or small boys.
They are ordained ministers of Satan and leaders of the Atlanta Temple of Satan.
“Do you believe in Satan,” I asked after some small talk.
“No, Christians do,” Reverend Jon replied quickly.
Well, that’s true, I thought. Then I thought how can you worship Satan and not believe in Satan? Hmm…
“What was your religion growing up?” Ilene asked.
“Oh,” Nox replied with a small laugh, “I was a Southern Baptist.”
“You too?” I looked at Jon.
“Yeah,” he said.
Southern Baptist. I have a bold opinion about the Southern Baptist Church. Very bold.
“I like to joke that tattoos let me to the devil. They warned me and they were right. I was getting a tattoo and the artist next to me had like a plaque on his wall and was a member of the Satanic Temple. I never really understood what it was. He told me all about it and the seven fundamental tenants,” Jon said.
A few people started showing up in the room. Most wore black and had a punk rock vibe. Some outgoing, some terribly shy.
Jon continued, “So, I was also raised very Southern Baptist. I grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia. I've always been an avid atheist. I was a rebellious teenager. Part of my story is also recovering from alcoholism and from a 12-step process which gave me a lot of religious dogma. Yeah, because it forces religion down your throat very heavily. And that's a very big part of why I was drawn to the Satanic Temple as well as to find a community of people that really connects on a strong level without having to be based on superstition.”
“Is it a religion,” I asked.
“The Satanic Temple? Yes, very much so,” he quickly replied.
I learned that they believe religion is based on superstition and hate the dogma of superstition. Yet, they are a religion. They don’t believe in the devil, or Satan, but say “Hail Satan” at the beginning of the meetings. My brain was fried.
“Does everyone have red hair,” I asked because I only ask deep, important, worldly important questions.
“No,” they smiled.
The main global headquarters of the Temple of Satan is in Salem, Massachusetts and there are around 45 members of the Atlanta chapter. People come and go they said. Many folks that come to the Satanic Temple are rebels, misfits, or outcasts. Jon guessed that 65% of the members identify as queer.
“What makes you a member?” Ilene asked.
“There's a membership process. Essentially come out to events and get to know us. Don’t try to say you're selling your soul to get rich or to join the Illuminati. It's more of a safety thing than anything. As you can imagine, there are a lot of people who intentionally want to go do harm to people who identify as Satanists. Just this year the headquarters was attacked by someone trying to burn it down.”
A hate crime on a group that is perceived to hate. Another mind-bender. Humans are so interesting.
It was interesting to hear them talk about all the good they do through the Satanic Temple. Much of the activity is fundraising.
“The majority of what we do is for other causes, like raising $666 For the Women's Health Center. We collected a bunch of dog leashes for lifeline animal projects. We just raised a bunch of funds for the Satanic Temple’s Reproductive Rights Campaign. A lot of our actions go towards raising funds towards causes we believe in.”
Interesting.
I finally got around to asking what the hell, no pun intended, it’s all about…
“So, what are the beliefs?” I asked.
“We have the seven fundamental tenants of the Satanic Temple,” Jon started. He went on to recite the entire seven tenants from memory. Very impressive. I can’t remember my address half the time.
I
One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
II
The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
III
One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
IV
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.
V
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.
VI
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.
VII
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.
(https://thesatanictemple.com/blogs/the-satanic-temple-tenets/there-are-seven-fundamental-tenets)
Pretty good principles to live by I suppose. Compassion kept coming up in our conversation. Compassion for each other, for helping the community, and for people with addictions. Jon, who is 12 years sober, created a program for addicts through the Temple of Satan.
“So, what do your families think?” Ilene asked.
“Hmm, well, my brother is a pastor in the Baptist Church,” Nox said with a sigh. “We don’t speak.”
That family Thanksgiving would be interesting.
“My family doesn’t know,” Jon followed. “They will probably find out one of these days. My mother has a hard time accepting that I am an atheist. Throw in the word Satan and who knows!”
I guess it would be a delicate conversation telling your mother you worship Satan.
“Many people ask us how we can be a religion if we don't believe in superstition. When we don't believe in a God. And I think a lot of people forget that there already have been, throughout history, non-theistic religions. The one most people know about, but don't think about is Buddhism. Buddhism is a religion that does not have a belief in a Deity. No one bats an eye at that but throw the word Satan and…” Jon frowned.
“Well, who or what is Satan?” I asked.
“Yeah. So, for us, it's all about symbolism, right? You know, the idea of the gift of knowledge from eating the apple, right, a lot of that symbolism really means a lot to us. So, it's very deeply empowering. Especially when we've been force-fed shame and guilt from Christian values, and learning to celebrate who you are, no matter what that is. And I think Satanism is, as far as I know, and I could be wrong, the only religion that encourages self-discovery without shame or guilt. To fully embrace yourself and celebrate.”
I was slowly beginning to understand. They don’t believe in the guy in the sky, the devil in the pits of hell, or other religious mythology. They believe in self-empowerment, compassion, and self-reliance.
They explained that it is a celebration of the self. It is also fun. Symbolism can be fun.
“Instead of letting go and letting God, you let go and take agency for yourself,” Jon said.
As usual, it took us forever to get to the 33 questions. Finally, we asked Jon to choose a number between one and 33.
13
If you could be any animal, which would you choose?
Any animal? Ok, I've always really liked anything that is squishy. So, I would want to be like a squid or an octopus.
That is amazing. The dude likes animals that squish. Never in my life have I heard anyone say they like animals that squish. Also, what a wonderful word…squish.
11 – Nox answered
What is one word that describes you when you are at your best?
Amazing. Perfectly amazing and unbelievably awesome.
7 – Jon answered
What attributes do you value most in other people?
Compassion, compassion. That is our first fundamental tenant.
We kept chatting about life. Nox loves to cook and Jon loves his helping others, especially people suffering from addiction. They were intelligent and kind people. Eventually, the meeting would start, and I talked to an older guy standing at the bar.
“That is a great jacket,” I opened the conversation. “Where did you get it?”
“Amazon,” he replied. His jacked has hundreds of spikes coming out of it.
His name was Wolf. They all have single names that represent something. Nox, Wolf, Jon, Trey, Ilene.
In the end, it was a good experience learning about their world. In my mind, people are people. We are all just looking to belong. Looking for somewhere we will be accepted, seen, and loved.
“We are the community of outcasts, right? We've had experiences in our lives that made us feel like we don't belong because of societal standards. And now we finally found a way to be our own individualistic weirdos and make a difference in our community. We live by tenants in a very deeply meaningful way. Each of the tenants is a meaningful teacher and guidelines for self-reflection. To help really challenge me to be the best version of myself I can be.”
We are all a bunch of weirdos looking for love.
Trey