'Satan love you!', sign of di horn and oda rituals - Inside di Satanic Temple wia Satanists gada to fellowship

Dis fit be di world largest ever gathering of Satanists - and e go soon start for Marriott hotel for downtown Boston.

For one room dem light candle dem set aside for Satanic ceremonies, on sign go welcome you to The Little Black Chapel. One raised altar tanda for one end, one white pentagram dey for floor in front of am.

Dem dey call di ritual dem dey perform for here "unbaptism", in which participants go symbolically reject di religious rites dem perform wen dem be children.

Dem wear long cloth, hooded cloak and a black face mask. Dem tie dia hands wit rope, wey dem dey cast off to represent liberation. Dem go tear pages from Bible to symbolise say dem don cancel dia Christian baptism.

E dey clear say di experience dey powerful for dem.

"As a gay child, to tell me say I be abomination and I suppose dey destroy, bin affect plenty of my thinking. Finding The Satanic Temple don really help me embrace logic and empathy."

The Satanic Temple dey recognised as a religion by di US goment, and e get ministers and congregations for America, Europe and Australia.

More dan 830 pipo collect tickets for dia late April convention, dem call SatanCon.

Members say dem no believe in Lucifer or Hell. Instead, dem say Satan na metaphor for questioning authority, and grounding your beliefs in science. Di sense of community around these shared values make am a religion, dem tok.

Dem dey use di symbols of Satan for rituals - for example wen dem dey celebrate wedding or get new name. Dat fit include to turn di cross on your altar upside-down as you dey shout: "Hail Satan!"

For many Christians, dis na serious blasphemy.

“E no dey wrong," one tok-tok pesin for The Satanic Temple, Dex Desjardins agree.” Plenty of our imagery essentially dey blasphemous.

"We get pipo wey dey wear upside down crosses. And for our opening ceremony, we dey tear Bible as a symbol of oppression, especially oppression of LGBTQ folk and women, di BIPOC community, plus anybody wey grow up wit religious trauma, dis na who plenty of our members be."

Di Satanists say dem respect everybody right to choose dia faith, and dem no dey try to make pipo vex. But Christian protesters from many denominations don gada outside di hotel, dem carry signs warning of damnation.

"Repent and believe di Gospel," one of dem tok. "Satan dey rule ova di children of pride," anoda placard tok - di letters of "pride" dem shade for di rainbow colours of di LGBTQ Pride flag. "We dey hope to show God say we no accept dis blasphemy, plus say we Catholics no abandon di public square to Satanists," anoda protester Michael Shivler tok, from one conservative Catholic group.

Di convention-goers for di lobby bin eye di protest outside. "Dem call us 'dope-smoking masturbators'," one man report. "Oooh, sky daddy dey vex for me!" someone else joke.

Hellbillies, horns, and Satanic self-pleasure

Di event take up di whole fourth floor of di hotel. Di Satanists fill am wit genderless goth chic, flamboyant robes, hand-painted horns, diabolical tattoos, and high-maintenance moustache choices. Most pipo wey dey here dey old enough to be parents, and many of dem be parents.

Dem give presentation. Dem call one of di presentation, "Hellbillies: Visible Satanism in Rural America", plus one seminar on Satanism and self-pleasure.

Political activism na one fundamental part of The Satanic Temple identity. Dem believe say religion and di state suppose dey separate, and dem dey frequently file lawsuits for America to defend say di two suppose dey separate.

Dia point dey serious, but dem like to bring joke and silliness to di fight. For Oklahoma. For example, dem want make dem build one 8ft (2.4m) Satanic statue for di state capitol wia dem build one memorial for di Ten Commandments, dem note say di First Amendment require say make all religions dey treated equally. (Dem later remove The Commandments afta one court battle.)

Di Temple also dey advocate for abortion access, dem argue say everyone suppose get autonomy ova dia own body.

Earlier dis year, The Temple open one online clinic for New Mexico, wey dey provide abortion pills by mail.

E also develop one abortion ritual for pipo wey wan spoil belle- dem design am to dey comforting and e involve reciting one affirmation before di abortion.

Dat rationale don bring about criticism from some quarters, wey include from di Catholic newspaper, di National Catholic Register wey call di ritual "nothing more dan bad imitation of religious rituals and symbols".

For inside one hall wey supporters full, di directors of TST campaign bin present updates on dia work. Dem greet di successes dem make wit shouts, applause, and di sign of di horn.

Anoda project wey dey draw headlines na di After School Satan Clubs - slogan: "Educatin' wit Satan". The Temple go rather keep religion out of schools, but dem no want make oda opposing faith groups enta di schools to evangelise to pupils.

So wia local pipo don allow dem, dem try to launch After School Satan Club, wey dey focused on community service, science, crafts and critical thinking.

Opponents say e dey make children fear, but TST say dia content dey demon-free. Dem get children song - My Pal Satan – wey get bopping animated goat, and di lines na: "Satan no be evil guy, e want make you learn and question why. E want make you catch cruise and be yourself - and by di way, nothing like hell, e no dey."

'Satan loves you!'

Dozens of artists and vendors don arrange dia shops to sell Satanically inspired crafts.

Dem get everytin from "Satan Loves You!" beanies, to toys dem model afta a goat-headed Satanist symbol wey get wings.

The Satanic Temple dey sell dia own T-shirts too. Di group no dey take membership fees, and e dey operate mostly from donations and merch sales.

One newly launched children book, wey di title na Goodnight Baphomet, make bystanders wonder.

The Satanic Temple code of guiding principles - di Seven Tenets - prioritise empathy, control over one own body, and respect for oda pipo freedoms, e include di freedom to offend. Dem translate am into children book in di form of rhymes like: "Respect everyone right to be, especially wen dem disagree. If dia words make you mad, set dem free – no dey sad!"

Araceli Rojas, wey travel from California to come here, say di belief dey relatable and e dey easy to apply. "I feel like say I be Satanist, quote and un-quote, I no just know." She say she bin first learn about TST through TikTok for 2020. "At dat point I check am out. I bin dey a little scared, And I really wan make sure say dem no dey sacrifice babies! Den I begin enta di culture, and di scene, and I start dey join meetings… and eventually I realise say no, dem no be bad pipo, di tins dem dey use na just symbol and genuinely dem be really good pipo."

Many of dem wey follow BBC tok say dia introduction to The Satanic Temple come from di 2019 documentary Hail Satan?, wey Penny Lane direct, di documentary bin explore di Temple principles and early activism.

TST say dia membership bin go up from 10,000 for 2019, to more dan 700,000 today.

Those wey gada for Boston include local goment staff, medics, engineers, artists, pipo for finance, social worker, therapist, plus circus performer. Many of dem belong to di LGBTQ community. Plenty dey married to Christians - or at least to non-Satanists.

News outlets, especially for di US, dey often present The Satanic Temple as attention-seeking pranksters wey dey pretend to be a religion, something e strongly object to.

"Pipo no dey quick take anything we say for face value, but I feel like everything we say dey pretty straightforward and we no dey misrepresent ourselves at all."

"Part of di consideration na to refuse to accept dis idea say everything must dey serious and without jokes to dey authentic," Lucien Greaves tok.

"My thinking on dat – na say notin fit dey more serious pass make we open telehealth clinic. I just hate to see us lose any sense of humour."

Greaves say e gatz adjust im life to deal wit di personal risks e dey face as America most prominent Satanist.

Some TST members feel say dem no fit acknowledge openly say dem dey involved, as dem cite risks to dia safety. Members wey don come out openly don lose dia jobs, lose dia children for custody battles, and some see fake bombs under dia cars.

Chalice Blythe, one tok-tok pesin for di Temple religious reproductive rights campaign, bin receive online harassment for di middle of SatanCon, afta one video wey go viral show her as she dey tear Bible during di opening ceremony. Dis no be di first time she go dey threatened. For 2016, one family member leak her details online and one gunman come her house. Di gunman "say Dis na wetin I dey here to do - I get dis gun wit dat bitch name on am.' I know dem later go jail.

She say she get to legally change her name.

As far as she dey concerned, e worth am. "If my enemies na pipo of a crazy evangelical mindset wey wan take my rights away - those na di kind of enemies I dey proud to get."

Typhon Nyx, wey dey im 30s, na one of di many TST members. E say im move from atheism to Satanism only recently. "Satanism stand for everything wey I believe in," e tok. "Including bodily autonomy, compassion, respect, science. And Satan represent those wey dem cast out, those wey dey think differently.

"Dem no accept my friends for Christian circles. Di appeal of Satan na say e be di accepting one, di inclusive one, and someone I fit identify wit more. "Although, I no believe say e actually exist."