Hail Satan, sometimesLatinized asAve Satanas orAve Satana, is an exclamation used by someSatanists[1] to invoke the name ofSatan in contexts ranging from sincere expression[2] to comedy or satire.[3] TheSatanic Temple uses the phrase as a sincere expression of rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions.
Believers inbackmasking think they can hear "Hail Satan" and other similar messages in some songs played in reverse, such as "Walk This Way" byAerosmith.[4] The grammatically questionable variationAve Satani is sometimes used, based on the title byJerry Goldsmith in his theme music toThe Omen.
The phrase "Hail Satan" is documented as early as 1808, where it is said in the poemThe Monk of Cambray by an evilmonk who uses his pact with Satan to advance in the ranks of theCatholic Church (and finally become Pope).[5]
The Latin versionAve Satanas (in its variant spellingAve Sathanas), often appears in literature at least from the 1800s, notably in the popular 1895faustian novelThe Sorrows of Satan,[6] and earlier in an 1862 playSt. Clement's Eve[7] (in reference to satanic undertakings supposed to take place at midnight in a district of Paris). After the phrase "Hail Satan" appeared in the1967 bookRosemary's Baby byIra Levin and the 1968film adaptation of it, where it is said by Satanists when they believe Satan's will has been accomplished, and had also appeared in other films and in stock footage, the phrase became part of the common conception of what Satanists say.[8] Some film actors were reluctant to say it, and of those who did said they felt they experienced negative life events afterwards, such as divorce.[9]
Coinciding with its appearance inRosemary's Baby, the phrase became a common greeting and ritual term in theChurch of Satan (founded in 1966), both in its English form,Hail Satan, as well as in the Latin version of it,Ave Satanas. WhenAve Satanas was used, it was often preceded by the termRege Satanas ("Reign, Satan"). (Rege Satanas can be heard in the video of a widely publicized Church of Satan wedding performed by LaVey on February 1, 1967.[10]) The combination "Rege Satanas, Ave Satanas, Hail Satan!" is found as a greeting in early Church of Satan correspondence,[11] as well as in their 1968 recordingThe Satanic Mass,[12] and ultimately in their 1969 bookThe Satanic Bible.[13] The same combination also appeared in 1969 in the non-Church of Satan record album by the rock bandCoven, in a 13 minute long "Satanic Mass" of their own.[14] The use of "Hail Satan" by Coven (as well as their use of thesign of the horns andinverted crosses on the same album) was the first time this phrase was used in rock music. The phrase is used in some versions of theBlack Mass,[15] where it often accompanies the phrase "shemhamforash" and is said at the end of each prayer. This rite was performed by theChurch of Satan[1]appearing in the documentarySatanis in 1969.[8] Someoccultists accompany it with similar addresses to other gods or figures they revere.[16] Rituals involving the phrase tend to be more likely to be mentioned in the press at Halloween.[17]
"Ave Satani", the theme song forThe Omen (1976), written byJerry Goldsmith, which won him anAcademy Award,[18] has a title which is intended to mean "Hail Satan" in Latin, in opposition to "Ave Christi". (The song contains other Latin phrases inverting Christ, such as "Ave Versus Christi", meaning "Hail Anti-Christ", and "Corpus Satani", an inversion of "Corpus Christi", the body of Christ). The song has been described as hair-raising and has inspired cover versions such as those byFantômas orGregorian.[19] The music is used in comic portrayals of stock "sinister" characters, for instance in theSouth Park episode "Woodland Critter Christmas", which involves devil-worshiping woodland creatures, a version of the "Ave Satani" is heard in the background when the animals use their demonic powers; also the episode'scommercial bumpers involving a squirrel saying "Hail Satan!" The chant is also parodied in the episode "Damien", where Damien is accompanied by the chant "Rectus Dominus Cheesy Poofs."
In 1985, the phrase received national news coverage in the United States whenserial killerRichard Ramirez, known as the "Night Stalker", shouted "Hail Satan!" as he was led from the courtroom, while raising his hand with apentagram drawn onto it.[20][21] Members of Ramirez's family denied that he said the phrase, believing that he said "We'll see,"[22] but "Hail Satan" was still being used by journalists over twenty years later as being characteristic of Ramirez.[23] In reviewing whether Ramirez was deprived of hisdue process andright to a fair trial by being restrained by leg shackles, theSupreme Court of California itself highlighted Ramirez's use of "Hail Satan" to support its conclusion that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in ordering Ramirez to be physically restrained during trial.[24]
The phrase may be used ironically by heavy metal fans as part of their rebellious ethos.[25] Heavy metal musicians may use it as part of their act or their songs, such asHail Satanas We Are the Black Legions byMütiilation. Heavy metal musicians, for instanceOzzy Osbourne, a member of theChurch of England, rarely consider themselves to be Satanists, instead using it as part of their stagepersona, arole they play.[26]RuPaul's Drag Race Season 4 WinnerSharon Needles has a song called "Hail Satan", in which she cites icons from the satanic culture.[citation needed]John Darnielle, discussing the closing refrain of "Hail Satan" inthe Mountain Goats song "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton," asserted that "if you believe in Satan, then you believe in God."[27] In an episode of the podcastI Only Listen to the Mountain Goats, Darnielle described recording this line: "The Hail Satan wasn’t written down; it was a spontaneous eruption [during recording], but it felt like a religious confession. Not obviously the dark principal that people talk about… the Satan, John Milton’s Satan. That’s not what that means. It means a celebration of two people being true to themselves. It’s a celebration of that later satanic principal of self knowledge which isn’t really satanic at all, it’s actually God-like."[28]
The ubiquity of the phrase has led to it being used inparodic imitation ofevangelism,[29] as with theMr. Show with Bob and David sketch "Hail Satan Network" which includes characters who are Satanictelevangelists.[3] It received another humorous use whenThe Simpsons characterBart Simpson was punished for using it to end thePledge of Allegiance in the episode "Burns' Heir" (1994).[30]
"Ave Satanas" is chanted in episode 5 ofAmerican Horror Story: Cult[31] and more prominently throughoutAmerican Horror Story: Delicate.
Some of those who believe inbackmasking, along with someChristian fundamentalists, believe messages such as "Hail Satan" maysubliminally inspire people to do evil,[32] a view which may have received some reinforcement when the phrase was used as part of the vandalizing of churches,[33] but its use then might have been the expression of a general anti-religious sentiment, as suggested by its use along with slogans such as "Think, don't Pray".[34] Vandalism accompanying it may include theanarchy symbol or other slogans intended to shock, such asracial slurs.[35] It can accompany symbols such as aswastika, inverted pentagram, or inverted cross. Such vandalism is usually by rebellious young people rather than Satanists, whose activities are not often criminal.[36]
Rick Alan Ross, ananti-cultist anddeprogrammer, referred to the murder trial ofScott Peterson, in which the defense made the claim that the killings were by a "Satanic cult" rather than the defendant. Ross called this a ridiculous manifestation of theSatanic panic, referred to it as a "Hail Satan Pass", similar to theHail Mary pass in football,[37] a desperate and unlikely attempt.[citation needed]
Hail, Satan! cried he, the Pope I'll be, on my bond I demand thy compliance!
—the waves seemed to roarAve Sathanas! —the wind shrieked it to the thunder,—the lightning wrote it in a snaky line of fire on the darkness,Ave Sathanas!
...he was seen at midnight in the Rue des Ursulins hanging and whirling round and round the gibbet, whiles the dead bodies, swinging in the wind, sangAve Sathanas!