Section #3 Satanic rituals are classified as a prescriptive ritual because when someone is apart of a satanic church or cult they have to show up to rituals because it’s sacred to them and their priest. Satanism is also a deity and rituals are read from the satanic bible. Satanic rituals are held in temples like normal church except they are more hidden and less noticeable than normal churches. Inside the temple it is really dark because all the windows are blocked to keep sunlight out, candles are the only thing used for light. In some temples the congregation sits or stands at their seats because of the number of members. On the other hand congregations aren’t too big of a crowd so there is standing in a circle especially during very emotional rituals. The priest stands in front of the altar during rituals. The priest does not use the altar for himself or for his bible because satanist believe believe that man’s earliest altars were living flesh and blood. There is no maximum or minimum for the number of people that can participate in a satanic ritual. If someone is alone they don’t a priest but if others join then someone has act as a priest. Most people that are involved in satanic rituals are mid aged caucasian adults, and its a mixtures of women and men. Most of the things used in satanic rituals symbolize something, the symbol of the Baphomet which, is behind the altar, represents the powers of darkness combined with the generative fertility of a goat. The original pure form of the pentagram is shown encompassing the figure of a man in the five points of the star but in satanism the pentagram is also used, but satanism represents the carnal instincts of man. Candles are used in the ritual to represent the light of lucifer, only black and white candles are used in satanic rituals. Chalice is a drink used in rituals to represent the chalice of ecstasy. The chalice is to be drunk first by the priest, then by one assistant.The priests’ sword of power is symbolic of aggressive force, and acts as an extension and intensifier of the arm with which the priest uses to gesture and point. The gong is is used to call upon the forces of darkness. It is struck when the priest says “hail satan”, but it is on in organized group rituals. Black robes are worn by the male participants. The robes may be cowled or hooded, and if desired to cover the face. The purpose of covering the face is to allow the participant freedom to express emotion in the face without concern. The ritual specialist is a women who lays on the altar sometimes naked but most of the time she is clothed or partially covered. If a female is performing the ritual alone, no women needs to be used for the altar. If no female is used for the altar, the elevated plane used for her to lie on may be used hold other devices for the ritual. My ritual does not have a altered states of consciousness during actual rituals but there was a Human Potential Movement at the time when “The Brain Machine” was being mass marketed as a tool for achieving hypnotic and other altered states of consciousness through pulsed light and sound stimulation.

Conclusion

Satanism is very different from other religions because most religions believe in altered states of conscious, spiritual flights, and having shamans. Satanism is all about being in the flesh and only believing in the things that are literal which they can see. There are priests that perform satanic rituals but the fact that any one can just be the priest when theres not one around is not very legit because since most satanic temple are hidden, probably because no one has any certificates to lead people religiously. Among contemporary historians satanism remains something of a mystery, and the meaning of relevant historical phenomena continues to be debated. Conspiracy thinking has been a major problem in the study of satanism considering how it was portrayed in rock music in the 1980’s.