The Satanic Temple (TST) is bringing SatanCon to downtown Boston, Massachusetts, on April 28-30. In an Instagram post promoting the event, TST boasts that it will be “the largest satanic gathering in history.”
Referred to as a “weekend of blasphemy and remembrance,” the theme of the conference is “Hexennacht in Boston.” Hexennacht is one of the five religious holidays TST celebrates, a German feast that takes place every April and commemorates the canonization of Saint Walpurga.
A promotional video for the conference includes the Latin phrase “Sicut matribus sit satanas nobis,” which roughly translates to “Let Satan be to us as a mother.”
While TST has confirmed the conference’s location and reserved a hotel block, presenters and vendors have yet to be announced. The event will also commemorate the 10 year anniversary of TST’s founding.
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Founded in 2013, the Satanic Temple is really more of a secular humanist organization that employs religious imagery than an actual occult enclave. Nevertheless, they received tax-exempt status as a recognized religion in 2019.
According to its website, the mission of TST “is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits.”
TST is dedicating the SatanCon event to Boston mayor Michelle Wu “for her unconstitutional efforts to keep TST out of Boston’s public spaces.” TST brought a lawsuit against the city of Boston in 2021 after being denied multiple requests to deliver the invocation at a City Council meeting.
TST has argued that this was a violation of their First Amendment rights, as the City Council has long allowed clergy and representatives from other faiths to deliver the invocation.
Similarly, the conference was held in Scottsdale, Arizona, last year and was dedicated to Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane and Council member Suzanne Klapp, who also denied the group’s request to deliver the invocation at a City Council meeting there.
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TST had likewise sued the city of Scottsdale for an alleged First Amendment violation, though the court eventually ruled in favor of the city.
