Theology of the Church of Satan:

·        People have created Gods in many forms; pick one that might be useful to you.

·        Satan is not closely related to the modern (post 1400 AD) concept of the Christian devil. Satanists view Satan as a pre-Christian life principle which represents the carnal, earthly, and mundane aspects of life.

·        Heaven and Hell do not exist

·        Satan is not a being, a living entity; he is a force of nature.

·        Human life is held in sacred regard. Children in particular are not to be harmed.

·        "Satan...represents love, kindness and respect to those who deserve it."

·        Black Masses (parodies of the Roman Catholic religious service) are not normally performed by Satanists (except on rare occasions for their entertainment or publicity value).

Seasonal days of celebration:

The most important of all Satanic holidays is the birthday of the individual Satanist. Of lesser importance are:

·        Walpurgisnacht (evening of April 30) and Halloween (evening of October 31),

·        Solstices in June and December,

·        Equinoxes in March and September.

LeVey did refer to "Satanic revels" in his book "The Satanic Bible." However, he was referring to the seasonal days of celebration that various cultures observed between the solstices and equinoxes. These were Halloween (the Fall climax) and Walpurgisnacht (the Spring climax).

There is a widespread but mistaken belief among conservative Christians that the term "Satanic Revels" refer to long, drawn-out celebrations held five to six weeks after each equinox and solstice. They are alleged to involve orgiastic sex and blood rituals of some type. Some suggest that they include kidnapping, forced confinement, sacrifice and dismemberment of human victims. All such activity is unsubstantiated rumor. The myth of Satanic revels may have originated in Modest Mussorgsky's composition "St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain" (popularly called "Night on Bald Mountain"). It involves "nocturnal revels, led by the demon Chernobog(often depicted as a black goat)." This was popularized by Walt Disney in his 1940 movie Fantasia.

Rituals and ceremonies:

Some Satanists practice their religion free of ritual. They simply follow a lifestyle involving the Satanic statements and rules, while avoiding the Satanic sins. Others do engage in rituals, frequently involving the following concepts:

Names used include Satan, Lucifer, Belial and Leviathan.

Ceremonies are pageants, which are used to celebrate a person or element of faith.

Magic rituals consist of three types:

1.       Lust ritual: sex magic which includes masturbation,

2.       Compassion ritual to achieve healing or happiness, and

3.       Destruction ritual (may include sticking pins in a doll; drawing a picture or writing a description of the victim's death; delivering a soliloquy, etc.). Destruction rituals are best performed by a group. If a person targeted by a destruction ritual is not deserving of it, the ritual will not harm them.

Male Satanists sometimes wear full length black robes, with or without a hood. But this practice varies across North America.

Young women generally wear sexually suggestive clothing; older women wear all black.

Many Satanists from different traditions wear amulets carrying the symbol of the Sigil of Baphomet. This is "a star which contains a goat's head, and surrounding which appear two concentric circles. Between these circles appear five Hebraic characters." 14 The star is an inverted pentagram. Although there have been many similar symbols involving the head of a goat and an inverted pentagram in a circle, this particular configuration is a registered trade mark of the Church of Satan since 1983. 15. It was first used on 1967-SEP-01; filed on 1981-DEC-14, and registered on 1983-MAY-3 as U.S. Registration # 1236878. It was canceled on 2004-FEB-07. Registration for a second version was filed on 2004-FEB-18. 14

The A.S. LaVey's book The Satanic Bible shows a symbol located over the Nine Satanic Statements. It is an infinity sign (a figure 8 on its side). A Roman cross is placed at the center of the figure with a second, longer cross piece added. This is not a Satanic symbol; it is an ancient alchemical symbol for brimstone.

Many authors, almost all conservative Christians, have described alleged Satanic rituals in which religious Satanists recite the Lord's Prayer backwards, or desecrate and use the host and wine that they have stolen from a cathedral. This is pure fiction that can be traced back to books written during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.

When the Satanic Bible was written (1969), a nude woman was customarily used as an altar, since Satanism is regarded as a religion of the flesh, not of the spirit. She reclined on an altar that was trapezoidal in shape, about 1 m high and 2 m long and placed against the West wall of the room. Her head pointed South. A live altar is now rarely used in the CoS.

One white candle is placed to the right of the altar; it symbolizes the belief of Satanists in the hypocrisy of "White Magicians" and Wiccans because of the latter's insistence on avoiding doing harm to others. At least one black candle, representing the Powers of Darkness, is placed to the left of the altar. These powers are sources of energy which are currently unknown and hidden. Additional black candles are oriented as needed to provide sufficient illumination.

The language used during magical ritual is Enochian, whose words variously sounds similar to Arabic, Hebrew or Latin. It was revealed to Dr. John Dee, court astrologer and metaphysician to Queen Elizabeth I, through his helper Edward Kelley. Kelley said that he was in contact with the Angels described in the Apocryphal book of Enoch.