September 1 - Satanist Church Rents Out Oklahoma City Civic Center for Exorcism

Those seven members will take the stage Oct. 21 for the ritual, which Hale described as an exorcism to extract the gods of what he called the "right handed path" or traditional religions, such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. "It's a parody of the Catholic rite of exorcism. It's just a blasphemy ritual," Hale said.

Hale, the son of an all-faith Christian minister, has been a practicing Satanist for more than 30 years. Though there are varying threads in Satanism, including some who believe in spirits, all modern Satanists believe in one god -- themselves, he said. "Satanism is pretty much your own god. I am my own god," Hale said. "We don't worship anyone but ourselves."

But gone was the devil worship many associated with Satanism. In its place, a religion where god doesn't exist but rituals are used to empower the believer. "They're atheists. They don't believe in an afterlife," Lewis said. "They don't believe in a heaven or a hell." LeVey, he said, "had this notion that rituals kind of tapped some power in the human being that could help them, influence their lives for the better. He said there's something in the human being that needs ritual."