(Dark Moon Ritual Jan. 29, 2025)

10 PM EST/7PM PST Wednesday Jan. 29, 2025

(Event time zone converter: everytimezone.com/s/44217a28)

Live debut: www.twitch.tv/queersatanic

• YouTube: @CapitalAreaSatanists
• Website: CapitalAreaSatanists.org

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A Ritual for the First Dark Moon of the Lunar New Year of the Snake

Credits:
Opening and Closing of Ritual: The Organizers of Capital Area Satanists “Facing the Darkness Together: A Ritual for the First Dark Moon of the Lunar New Year of the Snake”: Piper Furiosa & Felo De Se

“Facing the Darkness Together: A Ritual for the First Dark Moon of the Lunar New Year of the Snake” © 2025 by Felo De Se, Piper Furiosa, & The Organizers of Capital Area Satanists is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Piper: 

Greetings and welcome to the latest in our cycle of lunar rituals. 

Suggested materials are :

• a candle
• matches or lighter 
• incense 
• two pieces of paper 
• A writing instrument 
• and a deck of cards 

Though if you lack any of these you can simply follow along on the video stream. The candle will be lit in the ritual, the incense may be lit now. 

We will get started in just a moment. 

*If you are not a member but are interested in getting involved, you can find a link to our Discord at capitalareasatanists.org 

Find a seated position where you can rest comfortably for about 20 minutes. (pause a moment) 

Let us begin. 

Casting the circle / calling the quarters / invocations 

Felo: 
Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. 

Allow yourself to settle into this moment, feeling the support of the earth beneath you. Allow yourself to feel firmly grounded in place. Strong and immovable by any will but your own. 

Piper: 
As you prepare your breakfast, think of others 

Felo:
——(do not forget the pigeon’s food). 

As you conduct your wars, think of others 

(do not forget those who demand peace). 

As you pay your water bill, think of others

——(those who only drink from clouds). 

As you return home, to your home, think of others 

——(do not forget the people of the camps). 

As you sleep and count the planets, think of others 

——(those who have nowhere to sleep). 

As you liberate yourself in metaphor, think of others 

——(those who have lost the right to speak). 

As you think of others far away, think of yourself 

(and say: “I wish I were a candle in the dark”). 

Piper:
I wish I were a candle in the dark. 

From “Think of Others” by Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine’s national poet 

Felo: 
You may now light your candle. With the lighting of this flame, honor the gift of knowledge bestowed upon you and which you carry forward with you. 

(Participants each light their candle) 

With the ringing of the bell, feel the space around you, already a tenuous material reality, detach itself from the mundane world. Creating room for your own inner world to briefly manifest outward. 

As within so without. 

(ring bell 3 times) 

Piper: 
We call upon Azazel, the scapegoat of the wilderness in the south 

——to illuminate and strengthen this circle. 

We call upon Lucifer, the light bringer, the air above 

——to illuminate and strengthen this circle. 

We call upon Lilith, the mother of demons in the north 

——to illuminate and strengthen this circle. 

We call upon Hekate, goddess of the witches, queen of the underworld below,

——to illuminate and strengthen this circle.

We call upon all kindred souls, equally important but not more so than our own, so often forgotten in Satanic rites gone by. 

A brief aside: Much has been said within this ritual space in the past of the pitfalls of toxic individualism, and the shortcomings of yesteryear’s satanic practices which exalt selfishness above all else. But in its better moments, one can find a message of radical self-acceptance. Of the whole person, in all its parts. And take from it an assurance of one’s own validity, often denied everywhere else. That it is acceptable and even essential to put your own needs before others’ demands and expectations of you. 

And so finally, call upon yourself, all those equally worthy parts of you, that which is at the center, to illuminate and strengthen this circle. 

[scene change to desk] 

Divination 

Felo:
If you have cards with you, cut the deck now. 

(The Hermetic Shield from A Small Collection of Specialized Spreads) 

1. Without looking at it, draw the top card and place it face down horizontally.

——May this hidden card represent the unknown and the unknowable. 

2. Draw a card and place it face up overtop of the first. 

——May this card suggest where you stand now. The current attitude or situation 

3. Draw a card and place it to the left. 

——May this left hand of material instruction offer practical advice for the immediate situation. 

4. Draw a card and place it to the right. 

——May this right hand of material instruction offer practical advice for the immediate situation. 

5. Draw a card and place it above. 

——May this card indicate unnoticed conditions and invisible systems affecting you 

6. Finally, draw a card and place it beneath. 

May this card point toward any unrecognized subconscious influences within you. Take note of meanings or connections which may intuitively come to mind.

(pause for a breath or two) 

[scene change to altar] 

Statement of purpose 

Felo: 
The purpose of the Satanic Black Mass, once merely to parody established and outmoded institutions, now–or perhaps again–it is to lash out at unjust power structures, new and old. What was once meant simply to shock and outrage is now our rallying call to action. In defiance not only of tradition, but all other forms of complacency as well. Towards a psychodrama which has progressed beyond Uncle Anton’s psychocomedy. A blasphemy which resembles not so much a goosing as a guillotine. 

However, part of our ongoing rebellion is also us engaging in the “Revolution of Reciprocal Care,” as Kelly Hayes and Mariame [M- are- ee-am] Kaba talk about in their book of the same name. We cannot have the thunder and fire needed to stoke the cleansing flames while we ourselves are depleted of any breath to catch a spark. We must engage in reciprocal care where we put on our own oxygen masks first, and then attend to others who need our help. We do this knowing that, as the wonderful saying of our queer ancestors saying went, an army of lovers cannot lose. 

And just as Satan so loved freedom and those who reject oppressive authority to defy heaven, we too understand that “love” is not some passive feeling limited to romance. Love and care are the basis of all true power and revolution. Starting inward with the self, like we do tonight, and widening like the gyre [jeye-er] to encompass everyone and everything on our beloved planet. It also gains power as it curls around, just like the curve where the wave breaks and washes away everything in its path. 

So, apostate angels and rebellious damned, join us tonight by going into that small, peaceful inner part of yourself. Know that this is just the center that *will* hold, the first point from whence everything will be circling out into the wide-open and caring revolution that we are determined to bring about. 

Piper: 
Tonight marks the beginning of the year of the snake. 

This Lunar Year begins at a time when we are all very anxious about the state of the country and the world. And we’re all looking for ways to help mitigate the harm done by those in power. But this year, and indeed, these four years, are going to be a marathon, and not a sprint.

So rather than using this new moon to plan and set intentions, we invite you to instead check in on yourself and, for the moment, only yourself. Allow yourself to acknowledge your own anxieties and fears and discomforts. The ache you may have been feeling in your chest. 

Don’t feel like you have to push those feelings away. They are as much a part of you as all the other parts of you, equally worthy of love and care. Instead, we take what we feel and we transmute it into something else. Something that first helps us breathe the oxygen of renewal more deeply, and then something that both comforts and emboldens us as our work begins to circle outward out of the self to embrace others who need our kindness and care. Perhaps let this sigil, which we will draw from the same messy, imperfect yet beautifully lovable place as our feelings, be your guide. A map that you draw as you explore this brave new world, with both good and ill creatures in it. 

[scene change to desk] 

Felo: 
Before you are two pieces of paper. One is for scratch. The other for collecting your sigils throughout this lunar year. 

On your scratch paper, write down a word or phrase which embodies you, your sense of self, or just your feelings in this moment. This will form a foundation from which to spiral out, not unlike the coiled snake. 

The more specific, the better. However, if you’re having difficulty coming up with something, consider using a simple, present tense “I” statement like “I am calm” or “I am focused”. Or even just picking a word that embodies an emotion you feel most acutely in this moment. 

(pause for longer than you think you need to) 

From what you just wrote, strike out each vowel. 

Strike out as well any redundant consonants, keeping only the first instance of each. Write out the set of unique letters that remain. 

Combine these letters into each other, forming a single character. 

Try not to overthink this. There’s no wrong way to do this. 

Now draw this character again, while adding your own flourishes to make it appear more like your idea of a sigil. Bending, adding, or omitting lines. The legibility of the original letters need not be preserved at this stage.

(again, pause for longer than you think you need to) 

You will take this final form and draw it one more time in the center of your grand sigil sheet. A pristine sheet of paper can be intimidating, so before committing your first sigil to the sheet you’ll be keeping throughout this year, mar the sheet with a random pen stroke, or tear a rip along the edge, or crumple it slightly. Something to free yourself from any expectation of perfection you may be holding yourself to. 

Take the final form of your shape and draw it one final time in the center of your imperfected paper. 

Gaze upon your sigil and concentrate on the intentions it represents. 

(about a minute of silence) 

With intentions set in place, allow your concentration to relax. Take a deep breath. With the slow exhalation, feel any tension releasing from mind and body. 

Fold this paper so as to conceal the sigil, to be carried with you and added to in the next new moon. May it be of comfort and remind you to guard your wellbeing. 

One more deep breath, and put the sigil out of mind. Allow your focus to soften and return wholly to this moment. 

[scene change to altar, close up on candle flame] 

Piper: 
In the coming cycles, this is will be the time for in-depth self-reflection. For today, however, it is enough to simply sit with yourself. Be present in the moment, as much as is comfortable. Gaze into the fire. Listen to your breath. … 

As you sit, allow your thoughts to flow freely by, undirected. If any worries or anxieties arise, acknowledge them, and let them float by. 

There is always a center and a self that one can return to. 

We will now give way to 13 minutes of silence, that you may give your inner self the time to speak and be known. If you feel that focusing on being your body would bring discomfort, just let your gaze soften into the flickering light of this candle, or any other space in the room that feels good to look upon.

(13 minutes of silence) 

Dismissing the quarters 

Piper: 
As we now come back into this present moment, you may notice some feelings of peace and calm. Or at least stillness. Now, imagine a peaceful, still calm flow through every cell of your body. As you imagine feelings of inner quietness, you can even imagine it growing into an inner patience that wasn’t there before. An inner peace, and inner tranquility. This would help you grow more peace and inner motivation in your mind. And this peace and quiet is something that can remain with you, and even grow stronger and stronger. See if you can imagine this feeling growing stronger and stronger as each day goes by. The strength of that peace can give you the confidence and will to continue our rebellions, be they small and daily or larger and momentous. 

(pause for a breath or two) 

Dismissing the quarters 

Piper: 
We now open the circle and give our thanks. 

Depart in peace, guardian of the crossroads. From you we gain the keys to rooms deep within ourselves. 

Our gratitude goes with you! Hail and farewell. 

Felo:
Hail and farewell. 

Piper:
Depart in peace, exile of Eden. Your example inspires us to guard our own autonomy. Our gratitude goes with you! Hail and farewell. 

Felo:
Hail and farewell 

Piper:
Depart in peace, you bringer of light. Your winds have come and change has begun. Our gratitude goes with you! Hail and farewell. 

Felo:
Hail and farewell

Piper:
Depart in peace, you blameless sacrifice. May we pick up the trail of your flight to freedom . 

Our gratitude goes with you! Hail and farewell. 

Felo:
Hail and farewell 

Piper:
Extend gratitude to yourself for setting aside this moment of intentionality and reflection. If you so choose, repeat to yourself “I am at the center. I am the center. There is no god where I am.” 

Felo:
“I am at the center. I am the center. There is no god where I am.” 

Ringing of bell 

Piper: 
With the ringing of this bell, return to the rational world renewed by your retreat from it and stronger for any insights gleaned and any resolve gathered, ready to work your will by the growing moonlight of this first cycle of the lunar year. 

(Rings bell 3 times) 

Until we see you under the full moon, go well and be safe. May the devil take you and keep you. Hail Satan! 

Felo:
Hail Satan!

Piper:
So it is done.