A brief explanation of common Satanic Rituals:
Rituals, whether traditional or transgressive, often serve as stages on which individuals dramatize their values and identities. In the case of Satanism, these ceremonies can be understood less as pathological rebellion and more as meaningful enactments of self-definition. By reading Laurel Zwissler’s recent ethnographic study, “Religiously Nonreligious: The Secular Activism of The Satanic Temple” (2023), it highlights that members of The Satanic Temple view their rituals not as hollow parody, but as expressions of autonomy, protest, and communal belonging. Psychologically, these rituals function as deliberate performances of liberation, spaces where participants reject imposed religious authority and affirm secular, humanistic values.
To have a better understanding of what exactly a Satanic Ritual / Magic is, though, please turn to page 111 in the Satanic Bible.
One of the most personal of these ceremonies is the Satanic Wedding. Unlike "traditional" religious weddings that invoke divine authority, a Satanic Wedding emphasizes individual autonomy and the couple’s shared values. The ritual may include vows that highlight personal freedom, symbolic gestures such as binding with a sword or candle, and highly individualized elements chosen by the couple themselves. The point is not to replicate religious liturgy, as Satanism is seen as a post-christian perspective to religiosity. Therefore, the goal is to construct a ritual drama that affirms the couple’s worldview and their commitment on their own terms.
By contrast, the Black Mass is far more transgressive. Historically conceived as a parody of the Catholic Mass, it reverses and inverts sacred symbols and prayers. Rather than being a simple mockery, however, it can be seen psychologically as cathartic theater: an enactment of defiance, a rejection of moral strictures imposed from outside, and a way to externalize guilt or resentment that participants may have carried from earlier religious experiences. The drama of blasphemy provides an intense sense of release, as well as a provocative redefinition of identity in opposition to religious authority.
Finally, the Unbaptism ritual has gained contemporary popularity, particularly through groups like The Satanic Temple. This rite is intended to symbolically undo or reject the baptism many individuals received in childhood without their consent. By reversing this act, participants reclaim personal agency and renounce identities they feel were imposed upon them. Psychologically, the ritual dramatizes liberation from indoctrination and affirms self-ownership. In this way, the Unbaptism is less about sacrilege and more about personal reclamation, functioning as both a protest and a healing act.
Well, there you go, a simple little run down on three major rituals in Satanism. Each of these ceremonies could have (and probably deserve) their own deep dive post. However, I think it's good to leave it brief and short, for now.
