Who are we?
Capital Area Satanists is an autonomous collective of and for socially conscious Satanists in Maryland, DC, and Northern and Central Virginia. We focus on activism, community-building, ritual practice, and continual spiritual growth.
We welcome all people regardless of gender or sexual orientation, skin color, cultural or national origin, or immigration status.
We are anti-capitalist, anti-racist, and anti-fascist.
Our beliefs are diverse and fluid, changing with time, education, and personal inclination.
We place Satan at the center of our religious practice as a symbol of human enlightenment free from dogma, and of individual and collective liberty.
FAQs
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Satanism is a religion without official deity, clergy, creed, or rites. It is a religion that is built by each of us, as a group and separately.
We place Satan at the center of our practice as a rebel against a tyrannical and self-obsessed god, and as a bringer of the light of knowledge, just as the snake in the Garden of Eden encouraged Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satanism is based upon the ideas of knowledge free from dogma, justice free from oppression, and personal and collective liberty free from jingoism. -
Capital Area Satanists is a completely autonomous organization and unaffiliated with other Satanic groups.
We have no association with either the Church of Satan or the Satanic Temple.
We do occasionally work in collaboration with other unaffiliated regional groups who also have no association with CoS or TST. -
For most, Satan is not a literal being, but an inspiration; a mythological framework on which to model our current and future selves.
We engage in ritual, together and alone, for the same reasons anyone engages in secular rituals one could name (birthdays, family reunions, school graduation ceremonies, hugging, shaking hands, etc.): to connect with our friends, families, and communities; to recognize important occasions; to mark the passage of time.
We use the trappings of “the occult” in our rituals (reading tarot, invoking various deities or other entities, etc.) for many reasons. For some, specific ritual elements may hold personal weight, and engaging in them brings comfort, confidence, peace, motivation, and inspiration. For others, occult trappings provide a kind of gravity or earnestness to the occasion, even if they don’t find specific meaning to individual elements of a ritual.
The most important part about satanic ritual is that it’s yours. You can design each ritual to the specific time, place, and people involved without thought about what is “right” or “wrong” according to arbitrary rules. What is right and wrong in a satanic ritual is only dictated by the people involved in the ritual. No one is compelled to speak, or to stay silent, or otherwise conduct themselves in any way that doesn’t feel natural and comfortable for them in that moment.
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If you're interested in joining us, we accept member requests via Discord: https://discord.gg/Zf6D9RJ4VW