The Satanic Temple of Salem

When thinking of Salem, I tend to think of Hallowe’en. When I think of Hallowe’en, I think of devils and demons. When I think of devils, I think of a Satanic Temple.

I am a child of the 80’s, and it was during a time of frenzied news involving Satanic cults and all the crimes they were committing. I never bought into the fact (or alleged fact that so much in the media was pushing) that there was widespread Satanism throughout the world, and especially in the town just down the road, or God forbid, down the street. The hype was ridiculous, I thought. I never saw anything evil, odd, or even slightly suspicious, but the fear of it was everywhere. There was a sizeable section of society that really believed Satanic worshippers were lurking in the shadows, ready to do harm in the name of their dark lord.

I never saw it. I never believed it. And I can only assume that the rest of society slowly forgot about this mania because it didn’t exist. Not to say there aren’t those who love to be Satan’s right-hand man, but it just isn’t as many as we are led to believe.

When I was planning our trip to Salem during Hallowe’en, I was focused on seeing as much history and lore as possible. Since Salem is famous for the Witch Trials of 1692, and that had to do with the Prince of Darkness’s influence on the young girls who stood accused, what better place to visit than an actual Satanic Temple!

I was fearful that I might not be able to see the Satanic Temple because Salem can get really busy during the Hallowe’en season, and I was thinking that navigating and parking in this crowded town would make it impossible to reach this location. In my planning stage, I had considered it more of an optional stop if we were running ahead of schedule.

That we were!

Ahead of schedule and with extended hours, the Satanic Temple of Salem was a spot we could explore and with plenty of spare time to give it an honest investigation into all things in praise of Lucifer.

When we arrived, I found parking to be easy since it is out of the way of many of the Hallowe’en-esque attractions in the centre of town. It was when we opened the door to enter the Temple that we experienced the truest evil: they charged us admission! I immediately shrugged it off, thinking this proves the true nature of Satan worshippers, and paid the entry fee.

The Temple is a converted standard-sized house. The first floor included a gift shop filled with Satanic souvenirs, an art gallery, and a small room housing a large statue of Beelzebub. Upstairs had a library and what is essentially a hotel room to rent for the night, so you can say you stayed in a Satanic Temple. The bedroom was incredible. It was themed and looked appropriate for a room in this house of the Evil One.

The library was the smallest room, and I was not interested in going through all the books to learn why people are attracted to whom many Christians call the Great Liar and Deceiver. There really wasn’t a whole lot around that explained Satanism or promoted it. The Satanic Temple felt more like a themed tourist trap than an actual place of devil worship.

I felt robbed. First, because I had to pay admission to get in, and secondly, I was not enriched with more knowledge about and around the Enemy of God. I did get to see some interesting pictures and might be able to brag that I was in a temple devoted to the Father of Lies, if one can really say they worship him there.

I left disappointed. This was a place that called itself a Satanic Temple, and maybe if I had asked the teenage girls manning the cash register for more information on Satanism or even why anyone would join this counter-religion, I would have gotten the knowledge I was seeking. I did not find out whether they actually conduct their own black sabbath rituals at this location. Maybe I should find a different Satanic Temple.

Then again, maybe not. What happens if they really do all they do, like in the movies, and it is not a place for my precious soul to venture, not even with an overwhelming sense of curiosity?