What Are Patron Sinners?

A patron sinner is a historical figure who exemplifies Satanic values or ideals. Patron sinners are usually subversives, social critics, revolutionaries, artists, heretics, or criminals, although any person can be a great sinner if they undermine arbitrary authority or bankrupt social norms.

Sinners often also have a certain je ne sais quoi that makes them seem at least a bit edgier or more challenging than superficially similar activists or artists, and many of them are people we believe have not received due fame or attention, or whom we feel should be more famous for something other than they already are.

Bay Area Satanists nominate sinners once per year. Final selections are made via secret rite (secret because we’re always changing it…) and inducted at our yearly Walpurgisnacht celebration on or around April 30.

Praising figures from the past always gets sticky, because more likely than not someone whose ideals or actions we admire also held some other belief we find objectionable, and the judgment calls involved with deciding who it’s appropriate to praise are very subjective.

Still, we’re not calling any of these people saints—definitively.

Our Sinners