Jason Pennington-Miller stepped up to the podium for the Board of County Commissioners meeting to give an opening invocation on January 16, 2024. He ended his speech with “Hail Satan.”
Before ending his invocation, Miller praised freedom of expression, intellectual inquiry, and the beauty of the natural world.
The Washoe County Commission had previously approved the proposal to host an invocation at the start of their meetings.
Commissioner Clara Andriola, who had pitched the idea, left the room when Miller spoke. Andriola said she “totally disagreed with the invocation presenter.”
Online, this unexpected opening to a county meeting got mixed reactions, from admiration to admonishment.
Miller explained that the invocation he gave was not used for religious purposes.
“An invocation is simply just words. You don’t have to be of religious faith, or lack of faith, to be able to give an invocation,” Miller said during a recent interview at The Ravens Realm, a small metaphysical shop on Rock Blvd.
Reno Satanic describes itself as a non-theistic satanic community in Northern Nevada. It started in the summer of 2019. The group says it does not believe in Satan but rather uses Satan as a “Symbol of Rebellion.” The Reno Satanic said they “value the idea of Satan in the sense of the Adversary,” according to its website renosatanic.com.
“Hail Satan, which in Satanism, means hail ourselves. We take on the name as part of ourselves. We don’t worship a deity,” Miller said.
Miller is 30 years old, and he is the founder of Reno Satanic. He hosts rituals such as the Spring Equinox along with other activities as a representative for Reno Satanic. He has participated in volunteer work in the past alongside the Reno Satanic community, helping out with Karma Boxes for people in need.
Miller, as well as the Reno Satanic community, have taken part in LGBTQ activism such as the Northern Nevada Pride Parade yearly, giving out free buttons and having a “Sign your name in the Devil’s book” gimmick, a play off the 1970s film The Devil’s Rain.
Miller said that Reno Satanic has a private Facebook and Discord group chat that is used for networking and for members to be their “authentic self.” He hosted a Spring Equinox Ritual Workshop on March 22nd.
Rituals for the Spring Equinox included nailing the Holy Bible shut for what they call “Closing the Book of Lies”. This is a ritual in which members take turns hammering nails into the Bible. The ritual, according to Miller, was made to “take back control of ourselves as individuals.” He said it was made to show that the Bible doesn’t define them, that the Bible was made to be in his words a “tool of enslavement for the unjust.”
During the recent Spring Equinox ritual, a statue of Baphomet is shown. The statue is a hermaphrodite figure with the head of a goat and the body of a human. It has wings, horns, and a pentagram on its forehead. It is the official symbol for The Satanic Temple and represents duality, balance and rebellion.
Members of the group wrote letters about a time someone had lied to them as a prompt for the Spring Equinox. The prompt was first posted on March 17th. Members placed these letters in the “book of lies” during the Spring Equinox event to nail the book closed.
Alice, who didn’t disclose her last name for privacy reasons, is 30 years old and is a member of the Reno Satanic. She has been a member for the past two years and attended the recent Spring Equinox.
“That ritual helped me to let go of that [lie]. It didn’t erase the event… but I’m not stuck on it anymore, I can move on and grow,” she said during an interview over the phone on April 4th.
Other rituals during the Spring Equinox included burning a slip of paper over one of two candles, black for blessings and white for curses.
Alice said the ritual was, “equivalent to praying for someone…I’m not praying to a god to help them, just sending that positive energy, that good vibe.”
Reno Satanic’s prerituals include biting into what they call the “forbidden fruit”, which is biting into an apple. Miller says that this ritual is used to “take back power” and is mostly a feminine ritual based on the story of Eve from the Bible. The last ritual is what they call “The Destruction of the Host”, where they smash real communion wafers.
Reno Satanic uses these rituals as a catharsis, saying that it’s for giving members confidence more than for the use of magic.
Alice said that ever since she was 18 years old, she has struggled with depression and anxiety, explaining that she wasn’t able to overcome these struggles through therapy or religion. She was an atheist her whole life and developed a community with Reno Satanic.
“Since I can’t believe in something greater, such as a god, what I can do is start to believe in myself,” she said.
Alice says that Reno Satanic makes her feel better and more accepting about her flaws, mental health struggles, and herself. The reason for this is because she says it’s easier for her to remember that she’s human and makes mistakes. She said that it also helped her be more accepting of other people by treating others the way she wants to be treated.
Miller says that Reno Satanic stands for rebelling against mainstream norms and it’s made for a person to focus on oneself.
“An athlete might have a specific song they always listen to before a game because they are trying to bring out a state of mind, and that’s essentially a ritual even if it’s probably not looked at like that,” Alice said.
The number of people who are a part of the Reno Satanic are kept anonymous due to safety reasons, according to Miller. The group also doesn’t own a building due to safety reasons as well.
Reno Satanic is not the only such group facing safety related concerns.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, on April 8, 2024, a man by the name of Sean Patrick Palmer was arrested for throwing a pipe bomb at The Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts. He will be sentenced on June 12th, facing five to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
“It’s a safety concern to also have property, as there’s too many people out there who are fearful of satanism to this day,” Miller said.
After telling her father that she is a part of Reno Satanic, Alice says their relationship wasn’t any different from before, which is loving and healthy.
She hasn’t been in a situation where she withheld disclosing her membership for Reno Satanic. She said she would withhold this information if there was an “aggressive mob of people walking down the street saying they were hunting satanists.”
Reno Satanic is not a part of The Satanic Temple or The Church of Satan. It is considered an independent group. Miller said that the Reno Satanic doesn’t have a structured membership and that membership is judged by involvement.
Miller said Reno Satanic doesn’t have extreme occult like practices such as hurting animals, people, or sacrificing babies. He also said that there are no extreme satanist groups in Reno who use such practices that he knows of.
“That wouldn’t be satanism,” he said.
When asked if there was any violence involved in Reno Satanic, Alice said she never heard anyone raise their voice. She also said that Reno Satanic is accepting, tolerant, and genuine.
“It’s easy to fear something you don’t know anything about. It’s easy to fear the unknown,” she said.
Our Town Reno reporting and photo by Teagan Greer