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“Ave Satani” is the theme song to the 1976 film The Omen. It was composed by Jerry Goldsmith and won him an Academy Award. The Omen won an Oscar for Best Score, with Ave Satani nominated for Best Song, one of the few “foreign” language songs ever to be nominated. The language is Latin.

The title means “Hail Satan” in Latin, in opposition to “Ave Christi”. In an interview, Goldsmith says that his idea was to create a kind of Satanic version of a Gregorian chant and came up with ideas while talking with the London choir-master of the orchestra that was helping him. He decided to create something like a Black Mass, inverting Latin phrases from the Latin Mass. The choir-master, according to Goldsmith, was an expert in Latin and helped him come up with phrases – instead of saying “Hail Mary”, they decided on “Hail Satan”, and so on. So the song contains various Latin phrases inverting Christ and the Mass, such as “Ave Versus Christi”, meaning “Hail Anti-Christ”, and “Corpus Satani”, an inversion of “Corpus Christi”, the body of Christ.

A version of the song has been produced by the band Fantômas, who altered some of the lyrics so that they mean “smallest blood, body spirit” rather than “we drink the blood, we eat the flesh,” and added the word “Rotted”. Other versions of the original song have been performed by the Italian vocalist Survio Tulio, and by Gregorian. It has been used in mixes of sinister music and such a concept was made into an album by Dee Snider and other musicians, entitled Oculus Infernum Van Helsing’s Curse.

The British heavy metal band Black Sabbath have used the song as an intro for many shows and tours during their tenure with Tony Martin. The American heavy-metal band, Machine Head, previously used this as an introduction track to their live performances some of which have been recorded. The Norwegian black metal band Mayhem has also used the song as an intro to shows.

Christian authors have written dozens of anti-Satanic books with lists of Satanic Ritual Days. According to the Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, in some cases the authors appear to reference the works of other conservative Christian writers. Few people, and many satanists, appear to lack major direct knowledge of Satanism and all show a general lack of familiarization with the religion.

In The Edge of Evil “Grand High Climax” is said to be a major holiday celebrated by Satanists on December 24. Evangelical Christian author Jerry Johnston says in this book that it is a celebration meant to juxtapose the Christian holiday of Christmas Eve, when the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated. However this goal to blaspheme is not always prevalent.

He claims that Grand High Climax is traditionally celebrated with a Black Mass, followed by great excesses of food, drink, sex, and merriment, but a rite called “Grand High Climax”, and the details of the activities involved, is not a rite acknowledged by all Satanic groups. It was once part of the Satanic panic and beliefs about the Witches’ Sabbath.

The most important holiday in Satanism is one’s own birthday, as it is the birthdate of one’s own god. This is a reminder that the Satanist, committed to true “vital existence”, should consider himself (or herself) the most important person in his own life. LaVey recommends that a Satanist celebrate his own birthday in any way he chooses, with as much pomp and ceremony as he sees fit. The Satanic celebration of one’s birthday can thus be seen as something of a “Black Mass”, by redirecting to oneself the sanctimony and celebration typically reserved for the many “high holy days” commemorating the births of key gods or saints in other religions.

Three Satanic holidays are named by Anton LaVey in The Satanic Bible but are not considered sacred.

One among these holidays is Walpurgisnacht, which in addition to the occult significance the date carries, also marks the formation of the Church of Satan in the year 1966, or I A. S. (Anno Satanas, “In the year of Satan”). This date is commonly celebrated by Satanists with private or group rituals, and private parties or family celebrations to commemorate the foundation of the Church of Satan.

LaVey also mentions the summer and winter solstices, and the spring and fall equinoxes as lesser holidays. These are likewise often celebrated by ritual or private party. However, they are sometimes also used to substitute popular holidays that Satanists wish to avoid imparting a Christian overtone to but still wish to celebrate in some form.

Halloween is very commonly celebrated by Satanists, but typically there is far less occult significance attached to the date by Satanists than the public might imagine. Halloween is a popular date for both private and group ritual ceremonies, but also a popular date for Satanists to hold private parties for no other purpose than to enjoy the dark fun that is commonly celebrated on that date by the public at large. If anything, Satanists seem to take a sense of irony and humor in the holiday.[citation needed]

Satanism does not specifically forbid the celebration of any holidays or festivals held by other cultures or even other religions. Entirely secular holidays are commonly celebrated by Satanists either for personal reasons or merely as an excuse to have a good time. It is not entirely uncommon for Satanists to even celebrate overtly Christian holidays such as Christmas, though the religious trappings are generally stripped from the holiday, secularizing it. Many Satanists, however, either transfer such holidays as Christmas to the Winter Solstice and either place a darker spin on it or secularize it entirely, or decline to celebrate such holidays altogether.

Of recent note, June 6th, 2006 marked a Satanic High Mass in Hollywood, California by the Church of Satan. This celebration was by invitation only and limited to 100 attendees, and was held in large part to mock the superstitious fear of the date by the public. The date 06/06/06 does not hold special religious significance in Satanism, nor does the number 666. The event was documented, and many members of the Church of Satan were interviewed, by the BBC with permission.