What do you think of when you think of Satanism? It’s probably not litter picking, after-school clubs and grassroots political activism, but The Satanic Temple manages to subvert preconceptions as easily as it draws apoplectic outrage and downright hatred from the American media and Christian right.
Hail Satan? is a new documentary that shines a light on the extraordinary rise of this officially recognised and often surprising religion. Its representatives are deadpan, media-savvy and understand the shock tactic value of a good stunt. The film follows them as, amongst other activities, they attempt to stage a very public Black Mass and disrupt anti-abortion rallies with adult baby performance artists.
As Norwegian academic Jesper Aagaard Petersen says in the film, “The most interesting thing about Satanism is that people willingly choose to identify with an adversarial being… It’s a founding aspect of Satanism that you troll people. That’s the original troll isn’t it?”
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One important aspect of this new breed of Satanists is that they don’t believe in, much less worship, a literal supernatural entity called Satan. During the aborted Black Mass in Boston, TST co-founder and spokesman Lucien Greaves describes the event as “a declaration of independence from superstition”.
He adds, “Essentially we view Satan as a symbolic embodiment of the ultimate rebel against tyranny.”
For all their media manipulation and staged events, Hail Satan? also reveals a loose network of disparate people with some deeply held common beliefs. When they launch a legal campaign to get an 8.5 foot tall bronze statue of a Baphomet erected in front of the Arkansas State Capitol building, it’s not just because it looks cool – even if its torso was modelled on Iggy Pop. It’s to protest and highlight the hypocrisy of allowing a Ten Commandments monument in the same place, in a country that's supposed to guarantee pluralism and the separation of church and state.
We caught up with Hail Satan? director Penny Lane to find out what drew her to cover the story of this colourful cast of agitators…