Hmmmm! This is certainly one piece of news that will send
shock waves across the globe, especially among the Christians. The ABC news
reports that a group that worships Satan is meeting in Oklahoma City, U.S.A, to
celebrate black mass.
Black mass is known in the world over to be celebrated by
the Catholic Church.
Read more after the
cut……
A $17.50 ticket buys participants a front-row seat to the festivities, which include a performance from the band “God in a Machine” and readings that call for the renunciation of God. Male participants and audience members are encouraged to wear black, hooded, full-length robes, but evening wear is also appropriate for spectators.
Co-founder Daniels said the Sept. 21 ceremony will take
place before an altar-like table where a woman in lingerie lies (another
concession to reflect the state's nudity laws).
Daniels said the Oklahoma City ceremony will wrap up with a Satanic exorcism intended to draw the Holy Spirit from the follower's body, which contrasts with traditional exorcisms that are designed to expel the devil from the individual.
A devil-worshiping group hell-bent on hosting a satanic
black mass is planning to go ahead with its controversial ceremony this month,
despite fervent protests by residents of Oklahoma City and a lawsuit from the
Catholic Church.
The co-founder of Dakhma of Angra Mainyu told ABC News that
the religious and educational organization decided to hold the black mass in
public but it will be a “tamer” version than some traditional satanic
ceremonies by, for example, substituting vinegar for acts involving urine to
comply with state health laws.
The upcoming event has generated controversy because black
masses mock Christianity and the rituals that make up their services but
organizers see it as an integral part of their religion.
"One of the dictates of the church is not only to
educate the members but to educate the public,” Dakhma of Angra Mainyu’s Adam
Daniels said, “and to debunk the Hollywood-projected image of our beliefs.”
Daniels said all 88 tickets to the Sept. 21 event – held at
the theater in the city’s civic center - have been sold. The parks and
recreation department, which rented the space to the group for $420, cited
First Amendment protections in allowing the group to meet in a public facility.
"Mr. Daniels must abide by our local ordinances, our
fire codes and all of our state laws," Parks and Recreation spokeswoman
Jennifer Lindsey-McClintock told ABC News. "No bloodletting of any kind
will be allowed.”A $17.50 ticket buys participants a front-row seat to the festivities, which include a performance from the band “God in a Machine” and readings that call for the renunciation of God. Male participants and audience members are encouraged to wear black, hooded, full-length robes, but evening wear is also appropriate for spectators.
Anthony Briggman, an assistant professor of theology at
Emory University in Atlanta, explained that the general motivating principles
behind satanic groups – including Dakhma of Angra Mainyu – is to “parody” Roman
Catholic liturgy by “demonstrating their opposition to orthodox Christian
beliefs and practices.”
“The line between parody and mockery is a fuzzy one and it
is unclear to me on which side of the line they usually fall,” he said of
satanic groups in general.
“The goal seems to be to acquire some of the spiritual power
[and] magic that they associate with the Roman Catholic ritual of
transubstantiation, the transformation of the Eucharistic bread and wine into
the body and blood of Christ,” Briggman said.
The culmination of the event comes when the Dakhma of Angra
Mainyu deacons and priest stomp on the, in this case, unconsecrated host and
spit on it. Daniels said organizers will wear profane costumes, use explicit
language and desecrate the fake host, which Catholics believe is a form of the
resurrected Christ.
Professor Briggman said that in other instances, he has
“heard the reports of ritualistic practices of sex, bloodletting, and sacrifice
... but it is unclear to me how much these reports are hyperbole designed to
capture the attention of the press and public.”Daniels said the Oklahoma City ceremony will wrap up with a Satanic exorcism intended to draw the Holy Spirit from the follower's body, which contrasts with traditional exorcisms that are designed to expel the devil from the individual.
"Our practices have gotten it to about 22 to 25
minutes," Daniels said of the ritual.
Additional controversy has surrounded this particular event
because the Oklahoma City Archdiocese filed a lawsuit against Daniels' group
after media reports that he was in possession of a consecrated host, a wafer
that some Catholics believe is literally the body of Christ.
The host in question has since been handed over to the
archdiocese and the legal action has been stopped, but that has not put all of
the Archbishop’s concerns to rest.
"I remain concerned about the dark powers that this
satanic worship invites into our community and the spiritual danger that this
poses to all who are involved in it, directly or indirectly," Archbishop
Paul Coakley said in a statement.
The group is separate from The Satanic Temple, a national
group with similar beliefs that has long fought with Oklahoma City officials
about the right to have a statue of the devil placed prominently in the
Oklahoma State Capitol.
Lucien Greaves, the leader of The Satanic Temple, told ABC
News that Dakhma of Angra Mainyu may be timing its black mass in order to
coincide with the publicity drummed up by The Satanic Temple’s legal battle for
the devil statue.
“I have a feeling that they're rather inspired by the
attention that our activity has gotten,” Greaves told ABC News, “but I don’t
think there’s a particularly higher concentration in Oklahoma than anywhere
else.”
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