Fortis Et Libre
Well we gather and celebrate, what else did you expect of us?!
Thank you to everyone that braved the elements this week to come and join us for a wonderful social. We can’t wait to stay toasty with you beautiful heathens this winter.
Hail to you all!
We’ve been talking about it for years, now we are finally doing it – TST Alberta brings you –
Menstruatin’ With Satan – Western Canada Edition!! The congregation(s) of Alberta, British Columbia and FOTST Canadian Prairies are running this campaign from July – October 2022.
Menstruatin’ with Satan is a campaign that aims to make menstruation products available to all people in need, especially those who may not be able to afford them without assistance. Western Canada is working in partnership with local charities, groups, organizations & shelters to put needed items in hand.
For those able to donate in person, our current drop off locations are as follows in Alberta:
Calgary:
Silvercove – 7004 Macleod Trail SW #101
Sacred Goat Tattoo – 815 1 St SW #307 *please contact*
Edmonton:
Night Shade Corsets – 8128 Gateway Blvd NW
Pride Corner – 10367 82 Ave NW
Lethbridge:
National Transmission – 131 13 St N
There are additional drop off points in secure locations for congregation members to access, please contact us via our website and we will put you in contact with someone close to you.
We are still seeking additional drop off locations in these cities:
Airdrie
Calgary
Edmonton
Fort McMurray
Grand Prairie
Medicine Hat
Red Deer
If you are interested in volunteering or own a business that can safely host a donation bin please email us through our website – http://www.thesatanictemplealberta.ca
Additionally for those that are unable to donate in person and would like to contribute to our campaign please feel free to use our Amazon Wishlist(s) as a way to help.
Alberta – https://amzn.to/3yWy1Jv
British Columbia – https://www.amazon.ca/hz/wishlist/ls/3DFS5PVIUHGBO?ref_=wl_share
Canadian Prairies – https://www.amazon.ca/hz/wishlist/ls/22AOJ620UTNBT?ref_=wl_fv_le
Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the Stonewall riots of New York City at the Stonewall Inn.
Hail Stonewall!!!
This event was an outcry from the Gay community, primarily Black and Latinx Trans women, gays and Drag Queens who were constantly experiencing harassment and violence from cops.
At the time New York refused to grant licensing to bars who served gays, which allowed police to enter the Stonewall Inn, which was a hub for Queers, and arrest 13 people. The community stood up to the cops on this night by throwing bricks. This led to 6 days of protesting. Marsha P Johnson is forever Hailed for her essential role in the riots and her ongoing activism for all of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Along with Sylvia Rivera, who was an activists with the Black liberation movement, and Black activist- Miss Major Griffin Macy. These activists were making change before and after Stonewall too, all advocating and fighting for the rights of Trans, houseless, incarcerated beings and for sex workers and people living with HIV/AIDS. Just like today, these BIPOC activists did SO much to pave the way for rights, but then were denied them.
This is the where Pride comes from! A riot!
Marsha also spoke about pride often and not being ashamed of who you are. Visibility was a part of the protests.
Pride month honours Stonewall.
“No Pride for some, without liberation for all of us”- Marsha P Johnson
There are many interpretations of Stonewall.
This is only mine through a lot of years of learning and listening. Please do your own also.
While many use this month as an opportunity to celebrate, it’s vital to honour its history.
Some Movie Suggestions:
HAIL PRIDE
TSTA supports and embraces all sexualities and genders. In true Satanic style- we hope to take part in dismantling harmful and discriminatory beliefs towards the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
Pride month is recognized and celebrated through the month of June. For many, it’s a month of celebrating, but Pride came from a riot.
On June 28th 1969, the Stonewall riots began in New York City, as Black and Latino Trans activists took the lead in fighting back after years of police raids and brutality towards the Queer community. Pride month reminds us to continue fighting for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. To honour Queer history and that BIPOC Trans and Queer activists have always been, and still are at the forefront of fighting for and gaining much of the Queer rights we have today!
“No Pride for some of us, without liberation for all of us”- Marsha P Johnson
Stay tuned for some Pride related events and posts with us. (Must me a member of our FB groups to join)
Hail Pride! Hail Satan! Hail all of you Glorious Queers and beyond!
Related Articles:
https://wams.nyhistory.org/growth-and-turmoil/growing-tensions/marsha-p-johnson/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gay-Pride
https://www.queerevents.ca/canada/pride/history
The Congregations and Congregation Candidate groups of The Satanic Temple in Canada acknowledge that Canada and Ukraine has strong familial ties. For anyone that is being personally affected by the unfolding war against tyranny in Ukraine, we hope that your family is ok.
For others, it is important to know that the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has led to a dire humanitarian crisis. If you are interested and able, the Red Cross is taking donations, and the need for medical supplies, food and shelter, and other neccesities continue to grow.
If you can help, please do so. The Canadian Government is matching private donations, making your efforts doubly effective.
We encourage everyone to remember Tenet One: “One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason”; especially as anti-Russian sentiment spreads online, remember your Russian neighbor had no part in this war.
DISCLAIMER: The following editorial is the individual opinion of Azrael Addams, and does not represent the opinions, beliefs, or views of The Satanic Temple, The Satanic Temple Alberta Chapter, or any affiliates or partners.
Here in Canada, in late January, 2022, a rag-tag convoy of vehicles lumbered its way to Ottawa under the guise of protesting mask mandates for controlling the spread of the COVID-19 virus. By early February, these protesters arrived in Ottawa to lay siege to a city that clearly did not want them, nor were they prepared for them.
The protesters wasted no time dropping the veil and revealing their true bigoted natures. Within hours, national monuments were vandalized, “Fuck Trudeau” and Nazi swastika flags flew with pride. Protesters were reported to be seen carrying openly homophobic and transphobic signage. Concurrently, the Canada/US border crossing at Coutts, Alberta was similarly blockaded. The “freedom” convoy proceeded to close the borders into Canada at Windsor as well, effectively shutting down two major auto producer’s production plants.
All the while, claiming this is for the freedom of all Canadians.
The social media spheres had no hesitation correctly exposing the double-standards at work here. In 2020, in response to the Wet’suwet’en First Nation’s protests against the construction of the CGL pipeline through their lands, the “government” of Alberta rammed The Critical Infrastructure Defence Act through Legislature explicitly for the purpose of preventing protest. Just shy of two full years later, with the border at Coutts being blockaded, and multiple heavy-vehicle protests clogging infrastructure in both Edmonton and Calgary, the act has yet to be deployed against non-First Nations protesters, despite the fact that the “freedom” convoy is, in fact, attacking critical infrastructure.
By February 9, 2022, the “government” of Alberta rolled over, and showed its belly to the bullies, by agreeing to drop all counter-COVID safety measures. No more vaccination verification, within a week, no masks for youth, and by the end of the month, no masks for anyone.
Experts agree, this is a very bad idea.
And yet, after agreeing to drop restrictions in Alberta, somehow the Coutts crossing did not immediately reopen. “Freedom” convoy protesters haven’t accepted their victory and gone home. It’s almost like that’s not the goal; that this isn’t enough.
Guess what? It isn’t.
The protesters seem to have this obsession with Justin Trudeau. That obsession seems to be driven towards removing him as Prime Minister. It seems that these protesters may be grappling with the reality that in the September 2021 federal election, that the Conservatives did not, in fact “Take Back Canada” as their slogans suggested. It stands to reason, this may really be the end goal. And if this happens, life is going to become immeasurably more difficult for a lot of people.
“But Azrael, I agree this is a problem, but what in Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell does this have to do with us?”
Our Second Tenet states “The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.” What’s happening now… all of this, is certainly unjust except from one specific, bigoted perspective that has no qualms about advertising a fascist sympathy.
Yes, I’m also including the “government” of Alberta in that bigoted perspective.
As Satanists, we have a duty to call out and call attention to institutional injustice, and where possible, struggle against it. I can think of no better example of this, than the last month of horrible behaviour from a white-privileged few.
For some of us, direct action, direct counter-protest is not feasible. For some of us, such directness would put ourselves, our loved ones, our careers, and in extreme cases, our very lives in jeopardy. And that is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s actually an act of courage to continue to participate in the struggle for justice in whatever way one can while still maintaining safe and healthy boundaries. For others, direct counter-protest is a viable option, and for those, I would like to reiterate some best-practices:
– Research the group that you would join in solidarity. There are few things more embarrassing than showing up to a “biker rally” wearing full leathers and patches, only to find the rest of the group in spandex body suits talking about electrolytes and hydration.
– Leave your TST swag at home. The general public, especially the media, will home in on the Satanic symbolism, and whatever message you intend to deliver will become lost behind the pentagrams.
– Do not seek confrontation. The goal is support and solidarity, not open warfare. If confrontation is unavoidable, seek to defend yourself and those around you that may not be capable of defending themselves. Only engage enough to break contact and attain safety for yourself and those around you.
Regardless of what form the struggle for justice takes, we should maintain the spirit of “Justice For All” rather than “justice for the few”.
Historically Lupercalia was an ancient pagan festival held each year in Rome on February 15. Although Valentine’s Day shares its name with a martyred Christian saint, some historians believe the holiday is actually an offshoot of Lupercalia. Unlike Valentine’s Day, however, Lupercalia was a bloody, violent and sexually charged celebration awash with animal sacrifice, random matchmaking and coupling in the hopes of warding off evil spirits and infertility. It should be no surprise that many of us that identify as Satanists are highly intrigued by this factual history.
No one knows the exact origin of Lupercalia, but it has been traced back as far as the 6th century B.C. According to Roman legend, the ancient King Amulius ordered Romulus and Remus—his twin nephews and founders of Rome—to be thrown into the Tiber River to drown in retribution for their mother’s broken vow of celibacy. Which very much sounds like a case of a marginalized individual being treated as an outsider for not following societal norms at the time.
A servant took pity on them, however, and placed them inside a basket on the river instead. The river-god carried the basket and the brothers downriver to a wild fig tree where it became caught in the branches. The brothers were then rescued and cared for by a she-wolf in a den at the base of Palatine Hill where Rome was founded.
The twins were later adopted by a shepherd and his wife and learned their father’s trade. After killing the uncle who’d ordered their death, they found the cave den of the she-wolf who’d nurtured them and named it Lupercal.
It’s thought Lupercalia took place to honor the she-wolf and please the Roman fertility god Lupercus. Highly pagan in practice that we would bring honour to the wild primal female lone wolf who saved us from the cruelty of conformed society. It’s no wonder witches of all folk practices would hail this day.
Lupercalia rituals took place in a few places: Lupercal cave, on Palatine Hill and within the Roman open-air, public meeting place called the Comitium. The festival began at Lupercal cave with the sacrifice of one or more male goats—a representation of sexuality—and a dog.
The sacrifices were performed by Luperci, a group of Roman priests. Afterwards, the foreheads of two naked Luperci were smeared with the animals’ blood using the bloody, sacrificial knife. The blood was then removed with a piece of milk-soaked wool as the Luperci laughed.
In modern times we of course can find many ways of enacting a sacrifice of sorts without causing harm to anyone or thing in the process. One could purchase meat locally from a butcher to host a feast, donate money to a local animal shelter, build an alter with natural items associated with the holiday etc – the choice is yours.
In Ancient Rome, feasting began after the ritual sacrifice. When the feast of Lupercal was over, the Luperci cut strips, also called thongs or februa, of goat hide from the newly-sacrificed goats.They then ran naked or nearly-naked around Palantine whipping any woman within striking distance with the thongs.
During Lupercalia, the men randomly chose a woman’s name from a jar to be coupled with them for the duration of the festival. Often, the couple stayed together until the following year’s festival. Many fell in love and married.
Over time, nakedness during Lupercalia lost popularity. The festival became more chaste, if still undignified, and women were whipped on their hands by fully-clothed men.
Of course this all seems a little extreme now days however if some are so inclined to participate in a consensual sexual endeavour of sorts then they should feel free to do so. This holiday is about celebrating our primal selves, showing our love in whatever way suits us personally.
There are several legends surrounding the life of Saint Valentine. The most common is that on one February 14 during the 3rd century A.D., a man named Valentine was executed by the Roman Emperor Claudius II after being imprisoned for assisting persecuted Christians and secretly marrying Christian couples in love.
As the story goes, during Valentine’s imprisonment he tried converting Claudius to Christianity. Claudius became enraged and ordered Valentine to reject his faith or be killed. He refused to forsake his faith, so Valentine was beheaded. This of course placed him in a place of martyrdom to which Christians have painted him as some kind of saviour – which he wasn’t really. Like always the Christians needed a reason to convert pagans already celebrating a holiday into something else the church deemed more appropriate but around/on the same day and renaming it.
Legend also tells of another story that happened during Valentine’s imprisonment after he tutored a girl named Julia, the blind daughter of his jailer. The legend states God restored Julia’s sight after she and Valentine prayed together. On the eve of his execution, Valentine supposedly penned a note to Julia and signed it, “From your Valentine.”
Some historians believe more than one man named Valentine was executed by Claudius II. Despite the ambiguity surrounding Valentine and his life, the Catholic Church declared him a saint and listed him in Roman Martyrology as being martyred on February 14. Being that most countries were founded on Christian faiths it’s why we have the holiday still to this day despite it having to deal ties to the history of Lupercalia.
Thanks to Saint Valentine’s reputation as a “patron of lovers,” he became synonymous with romance. In the late 5th century A.D., Pope Gelasius I eliminated the pagan celebration of Lupercalia and declared February 14 a day to celebrate the martyrdom of Saint Valentine instead, although it’s highly unlikely he intended the day to commemorate love and passion. In fact, some modern biblical scholars warn Christians not to celebrate Valentine’s Day at all since it’s thought to be based on pagan rituals (hehe!)
It’s true Valentine’s Day uses some of Lupercalia’s symbols, intentionally or not, such as the color red which represented a blood sacrifice during Lupercalia and the color white which signified the milk used to wipe the blood clean and represents new life and procreation.
Like many ancient traditions, there’s a lot of haziness surrounding the origins and rituals of Lupercalia and how they influenced Valentine’s Day. Lupercalia is no longer a mainstream, public celebration for obvious reasons, but some non-Christians still recognize the ancient event on February 14 (instead of Valentine’s Day) and celebrate in private.
During this holiday many of us satanists find ourselves celebrating in a variety of ways – we encourage you all to HAIL YOURSELVES – be true to your primal nature & Hail Satan!!
UPDATE 01/26/2022: Our beloved Aunt Betty got Omnomnomicron’ed! We will unfortunately be postponing Book Club until February 10th 2022. Cant wait to see you there!
The first edition of Satan’s Scripts (Book Club) of 2022 hosted by Betty Bastet!
This Month we are discussing Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture by Per Faxneld. Now, this is an oxford textbook and NOT an easy read, so don’t worry! I’m going to be selecting topics of discussion from highlights of the book you can follow with your knowledge of the text or just join in the stimulating conversation! This open discussion will be moderated to ensure we all have a space to talk about being feminists and Satanism and satanic feminists. I will remind you all of the general human respect guidelines at the beginning of the talk.**Times are given in MST, if you mix up time zones and find yourself late, please quietly join as we’d love to have you.
Please fill out the google form to attend.
Book info: (found on your major book retailers, you know the ones) https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/…/oso…
Before the time of Christmas, and a time before shopping malls, red suited jolly plump men, eggnog, and shitty but warm sweaters, our ancestors celebrated this time of year in several different ways.
Some of the most well known celebrations include Yule, Saturnalia, and The Solstice/Sol Invictus
During the time when Christian beliefs were spreading across Europe, they would observe the local creeds of various regions and traditions as well as their beliefs and various religions. They would lump every religion, clan, and belief that didn’t follow their Christ, as Pagan. Many of these regional religions all had some form of celebration around the same time of year.
In what is now known as modern Scandinavia, they would celebrate Yule. Yule is pretty similar to what we see today in regards to feasts, festivities, and celebrating the end of winter. They would celebrate the solstice, the longest night, and share in the yearly harvest. Their celebrations would last for weeks at a time. They would burn large logs and celebrate for as long as the logs burned. This where the term “Yule Log” comes from. It’s also worth pointing out that many of their fermented drinks were ready by this time of year. So let the wine, mead, and ale flow!
In Rome, they celebrated Saturnalia, a month long hedonistic celebration. It was in celebration of the Roman God Saturn, God of Agriculture. They too would have massive feasts, and copious drinking. Saturnalia would also coincide with Juvenalia, a feast to honor the children of Rome. Upper class Romans celebrated the birth of Mithra, the God of the Unconquerable Sun.
The solstice played a key part in many of these festivities. It was revered as a night of indulgence and celebration. “The longest night” meant that days were getting longer, the harshest of winter had passed, and the sun would return and help the crops grow. During these celebrations people would feast on the years harvest. They would share and exchange food and offerings so they all could live throughout the rest of the winter days. There are many different ways celebrated The Solstice, but these were the most common of practices.
Then there’s the church. When the churches influence was spreading from Rome and across Europe, they observed these ancient traditions of these “pagans”. Though they condemned many of the pagan people, they did enjoy and use many of those same traditions. It is believed that they used these celebrations as a way to coerce more followers to the church, and to help transition people from being “pagan” to being “Christian”.
In the early years of Christianity, they did not celebrate the birth of Jesus. Reason being, there is no date for his birth written in the Bible. It wasn’t until Pope Julius I declared that December 25th would be reserved for the celebration of their lord, and would then hold their Christ Mass. It’s worth noting that many historians and Christian scholars believe that his birth may have taken place in the spring. With the local traditions of Saturnalia and Juvenalia, they were able to absorb and blend the old traditions and the new.
As the centuries progressed, and the churches influence and control spread even further, pagan traditions were all but wiped out. However, many puritans still condemned Christmas due to its pagan roots. For many years, Christmas was forbidden in New England because of this. In fact, Christmas Day wasn’t a federally recognized holiday in the US until 1870.
Over the years this holiday has changed in many ways but at its core is still the same. We still feast, we still share, and we still celebrate. We all may not believe in the same gods or have the same beliefs. One thing we do have in common, is the need to come together, congregate, and be together to welcome the longer days, the bountiful harvest, and just have some good old fashioned fun!
Happy Holidays, and Happy Sol Invictus!
-Drengr Draugormur
Like most children growing up in central Alberta, I was exposed to a Yuletide season steeped in an over abundance of classic carols, candy canes, “Frosty” the snowman, gingerbread houses, family members I didn’t know hugging me and then asking “why are you wearing that?” repeatedly. Many of my cousins or friends clearly enjoyed the season, showing off their gifts or Christmas sweaters in hopes that we might share their joy and what we also received. My family was not well off so to speak, parents divorced when I was 4, we lived with my grandma for a few years until my mother got a place in the city, those years with grandma were the happiest years of my childhood. Truth be told I hated it all after the move, since I was probably about 8 years old the “magic of Christmas” was something I never felt anymore, part of it was just growing up into a tween but the other half was more personal.
The constant bustle of perceived warmth in the home around the holidays continued to be lost on me, it’s not for my mother’s lack of trying over the years that’s for sure but the focus of “the big day” and “baby Jesus” just never felt real to me. Everyone always trying so hard to have the best outfit, fanciest dinner, perfect gift, or be on their best behaviour for one fucking day; more than half the time stressed out and taking it out on those around us in ways we regret every single time.
The true meaning of Christmas seemingly lost on most of society, do we even know why we celebrate this holiday anymore? It’s clearly not about baby Jesus, or Satan..I mean SANTA – this season was nothing but a facade of shiny distractions to ignore the coldness we constantly combat within ourselves as well as outside.
It is always hard for me to enjoy this holiday when my birthday is the 21st of December; for clarification I’m not blaming anyone (I love my mother) but I think I can count on one hand the times I had birthday parties or memorable moments that stand out in my mind as “A Happy Birthday”. There were even a few years when my birthday was completely forgotten all together or lumped in with Christmas instead out of convenience to others. Now that being said, I did not care about fancy anything or expensive items, it was always about attention and time for me (time is money!) that is genuinely meaningful. I understand it’s insanely privileged for most kids to get gifts or parties of any kind at all, I was lucky and happy to get whatever my family could provide during that time of year; however, what I hated was how I was treated as insignificant to the holiday, or how the holiday had more meaning in some way. My birthday was the butt of jokes as I got older, I got split gifts all the time from almost everyone I knew, as funny as it could be, it was like I was never worth the time in anyone’s life to make an effort for anything beyond something quick because CHRISTMAS….
Anyways moving on to why any of you might still be reading this, as my Scrooge self continued to grow up in an environment of oppressive Seventh Day Adventist Christian tyranny (mom got remarried, sigh) I further buckled down on my “hate” for the holiday all together and felt it was my mission to find “true meaning” within this season. Nothing really has meaning unless you create or provide that meaning in some way, making it impactful to oneself. The greatest gift is that of knowledge, as Satanists we all agree and know this, the journey of the self is endless and we must always seek to evolve.
I came across Krampus many years later, I was heavily into norse heathenry at the time, I was reading and studying anything I could get my hands on that was legit historical mythology and our current living practices that still existed within the framework of cultural organized religions as well as society. Now like most young heathens the concept of a wild winter Devil was absolutely glorious and exactly what my black heart needed in life, so to discover that many countries still celebrated the holiday of Krampusnacht was the best news I could have hoped for. Krampus felt to me at the time a perfect embodiment of everything I felt during that season, the wild chaos to disrupt the “perfect” world of Christmas, shaking people awake to the “true meaning” of the season.
The historical origins of Krampus as a whole are actually very mixed, many northern European cultures in mountain villages had folk practices that withstood christianization as well as evolved with it, creating an even more complex and rich history of traditions we know today.
Many have interpreted the events of Krampusnacht and its folk practices are of self-inversion invented by the villagers. Old Sardinian rituals predating over 2000 years had a presence of Mamuthones – Similar to Krampi – The Ritual of Imbovament – The Ritual of Reduction of Man into Animal; the theory and understanding suggests that beastly masqueraders are meant to enact the “exorcism” of the man-beast relation through ironic beast-man inversion” The understanding of the dependence most villages (cities) have on livestock for survival, representing the cyclical quality of life during the season. With most remote towns and mountain villages being very self sustaining, this left them free to evolve their own traditions along with the new social christian culture.
Old pagan forest Gods became devils within the new christian lore but that did nothing to get rid of the old ways people of the snowy mountains enjoyed and still practiced. It just became something new, a different beast so to speak.
Horned Deities, Gods and Goddesses were not uncommon within pagan folk cultures, beliefs and practices varied from village to village but the “wild forest beast” was ever prevalent in most folk tales as well as the concept of lighting bonfires during the darkest parts of the year to drive evil spirits out and bring honour and warmth to those that share your hearth. The ritual continuation and innovation within isolated communities was a constant symbol of birth even during the darkest most hopeless times of the season, death and life are closely entwined as well as chaos and peace. The contrast is essential to the balance life requires in order for it to continue, small isolated communities understood this fact of life.
Rituals back then as well as now commonly include dance as a propitiatory rite for a good harvest, today it propitiates a good tourist season usually or however one symbolically perceives prosperity or success to carry you through the cold season and into the new year. The action of lighting a fire to drive out “evils” as well as dance in combination is to set the intention and tone of the season going forward, in addition to the symbolic costumes of becoming a beast and returning to our primal natures is quite powerful. The use of natural items as well as imitation animal parts is encouraged as it brings honour and pays respect to all things wild and untamed in nature. Part of the winter solstice season was that of bringing nature into your home and giving it a place of honour, for without a successful harvest during the rest of the year the winter could be deadly, mother nature would come knocking and it wasn’t pleasant. Gifting of items and sharing of goods was necessary for survival; without the community, without balance of nature nothing we have is possible.
One of the most common ritual practices that is still alive today is that of Mummering – or mumming, is a Christmas-time house visiting tradition practised in Newfoundland, Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom. Also known as janneying, it typically involves a group of friends or family who dress in disguise and visit homes within their community or neighbouring communities during the twelve days of Christmas. The origins of Mumming come from many if not almost all pagan folk traditions of northern Europe in some variation because of Christian conversion however the true origins are all but lost now and have evolved from a melting pot of myths & practices. Without going too off-topic but for the purposes of pagan folk traditional history, the myth & traditions of the Mari Lwyd in the UK has many similarities to that of Krampus. The Mari Lwyd traditions are less scary and chaotic (fun) than those of Krampusnacht, the origins of their mummering and visiting homes is the same.
What makes Krampusnacht unique compared to other seasonal practises that have evolved into more rosy or warm fuzzy traditions in some locations is that Krampus is arguably more popular now than ever. People are drawn to the allure of letting loose and being wild during a time of quiet and pure white perfection, the contrast and duality of the season has much to enjoy. Even more interesting is possibly why people find the ritual of Krampusnacht to be so invigorating in many ways as it allows us to confront our demons or be forced to confront them in ways we might normally not choose to but in a hopefully safe and symbolic way. While it has been common for fights to break out in the traditions of “house visits” where the battle between good vs evil is enacted sometimes too literally, social quarrels were often dealt with on this night as well.
The whole process of becoming a beast, that embodies all your wild qualities, those that society might consider to be unacceptable, covering yourself completely indistinguishable is extremely liberating as it allows one to feel free of their other identity and engage fully in the ritual.
Now that Krampus has been awoken within us we light and stoke the fires, to light the darkness and drive the evil out of ourselves as well as our communities and homes. As we are lighting our fires we begin the dance, the shaking of large bells also a symbol of clearing away the old to make room for the new. Even the birch switches / bundles of sticks are symbolic in the “clearing” away of the old – like a broom commonly used in witchcraft for cleaning as much as protection. The switches themselves, often a symbol as well as useful, were more seen as a gift from primal nature more than a tool of violence. Do not fear that which we do not understand.
Under the veil of darkness the ritual begins.
An old saying goes,
“Long night comes and cold it is
Winter’s claws now tear the veil Between the children’s world and his Krampus!
Krampus! Hail!”
“Winter passes, spring will dawn.
Darkness holds us in the chill,
Perchten comes with crashing drums to threaten and thrill.”
These old carols shed a bit of light on the poetic symbolism within the myth. The coldest, darkest, longest night of the year is the winter solstice, like that of Halloween it is said to be a time where the veil is very thin. A time of stillness so delicate that often children are the only ones to notice these subtleties, they are innocent and sensitive in ways adults are not. When referring to “his” Krampus one could assume that means all of us have a “Krampus” which might be true based on the history and myth, the man beast ritual of becoming makes a lot of sense. Claws tear the veil between the worlds, to rip open the balance of our protected innocence and the wild untamed nature we all are part of, that we all have within. Our truest selves.
Winter and it’s cold long nights do pass, like our own darkness and sadness it too shall pass, even when it seems as if there is no end in sight. Out of the darkness our primal nature will always rise, coming crashing through to threaten and thrill – trust your inner nature, it will guide you to your truth.
As within, so without. We are just like the nature around us, we all go through periods of darkness like winter but spring inevitably always comes. No matter how hard we try to fight the darkness it is part of the balance of life. Evolving and growing ever steady even in darkness, towards whatever brings us joy & symbolic light into our lives. It is on us to bring meaning to each moment, make this time we have on earth our own – one’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
The Christian Church as well as other dominant organized religions have tried to fight human nature by creating arbitrary rules over almost everything they can think of; constantly evolving their belief structures over time to fulfill their religious oligarchy that seemingly has no end in sight. As a satanist born in the most bastardized, capitalized, holiday grotesque month of the year I have made it my life’s mission to share as much of the old history I can find, keep it alive while we still can and not let those that have tried to destroy us for hundreds of years win. Not when we have the technology, the science and the knowledge to do better.
The present time is the real present of the season, time is a gift we do not get back. When you give time, spend time, that is what has real meaning to those around you this season.
The Satanic Temple Alberta 