René Grigori is one of many volunteer leaders who helped form the Southern California Congregation of The Satanic Temple(TST) in 2019. At the beginning of 2020 René became the congregation’s Media Liaison and began hosting a weekly Friday Night TST Hangout. In May 2021 René was ordained a Minister of The Satanic Temple.
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This ritual was inspired by the Temple Service sermon on Internal and External Satanism by Stephen Bradford Long and the ensuing discussion. Meditation/contemplation were provided as examples of internal expressions of Satanism while embodying/living the tenets were provided as examples of external expressions. The resulting ritual is a fusion of the internal and external where contemplation of the various situations that arise in the Tarot deepens our understanding of the Tenets and helps us better apply the Tenets to the various situations in our daily lives.
Purpose
The objective of this daily ritual is three-fold: it will help the participant to develop a “sacred” space allowing them some quiet time outside of the day-to-day grind; it will help the participant develop a stronger sense of understanding the 7 Tenets; and it will help the participant to pick up on and understand Tarot symbolism while helping to develop a personal “Satanic” sense of meaning for the cards.
The Tenets
- One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward 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 one’s own.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
The Tarot
The Tarot is a deck of 78 illustrated cards. There are a variety of available decks but the most popular is the Rider-Waite-Smith (aka: Rider-Waite), deck. The deck you chose to use is up to your personal taste. If you are new to the Tarot I recommend the Rider-Waite-Smith since it is the most popular and there are many resources for understanding the symbolism of the deck.
Tools
- A candle
- Incense (optional)
- Table or Altar
- Tarot Deck
- Journal
Preparation
Be sure to select a tenet to contemplate prior to performing the ritual. There are 7 Tenets so having a “tenet of the day”, may be a good way to go. Of course, you may just want to choose any tenet that you want to contemplate based on your needs.
Before beginning the ritual make a note in your journal of which tenet you will be contemplating.
The Ritual
Begin by ensuring that noises and distractions are at a minimum. The objective is to escape the day-to-day and create a “sacred” space. With the candle, incense, cards, and journal on the table/altar before you; close your eyes and take several deep breaths. Feel yourself relax as you breathe and feel your concerns for the external world melt away. When you feel calm and relaxed, open your eyes.
Light the candle; this is both a physical and symbolic act of enlightenment. If you have incense light it as well. Incense is a great way to symbolically cleanse the space around you. Next take up the Tarot deck and shuffle the cards using whichever method works best for you. When you are comfortable that the deck is shuffled enough, spread the deck, face down, in front of you from left to right.
Recite the tenet, either silently or aloud, and select a card from the spread out deck. Place the card face up on the table/altar before you. If it is upside down right it.
Observing the card you selected note any of the following observations in your journal:
- The name of the card selected
- Your initial feelings about the card
- The background of the card (most Tarot cards have a background (the scenery), and a foreground (the primary symbols or people))
- Note any primary colors
- Note the weather
- Note any mountains, rivers, buildings, etc…
- Note the overall feeling you get from the background
- The foreground
- Note any suites in the card (Cups, Pentacles, Swords, or Staffs)
- Note any people and what actions they may be taking
- Note any symbols (a crown, ouroboros, lettering, etc…)
- Any additional feelings you may have after observing the card
Having recorded your observations of the card in your journal, begin contemplating the relevance of the card to the tenet you selected. How do your feelings about the card influence your understanding of the tenet? How might the tenet influence your feelings about the card? How might the actions of the people and/or symbols influence your understanding of the tenet? What influence might the background of the card influence your understanding of the tenet? Feel free to write down any new insights you may have about the card and the tenet in your journal.
Once you have finished your contemplation, close your eyes and recite the following: “Into the world I take a refreshed and enlightened mind. It is done. Hail Satan.”
Extinguish the candle and incense. The ritual is completed.
Satan as a symbol
In addition to the tenets you can also use this ritual to contemplate the symbolic aspects of Satan. I personally see Satan as a poetic metaphor of three primary symbols:
- Satan as the symbol of the eternal rebel who rejects arbitrary authoritarian tyranny
- Satan as a symbol of the heretic who questions so-called “sacred” laws and institutions
- Satan as the liberated individual who accepts and embraces their authentic self while respecting the freedom and autonomy of others to do likewise
One can use the ritual with each of these Satanic symbols (or any other symbols you equate with Satan), to gain deeper insights into their perception of Satan in their lives.
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Stephen Bradford Long 