Hello fancy fiends, this is Rose reporting in from the floral glitter platoon of The Crossroads Assembly!

Can y’all believe it is December 1st already?! I have been reflecting upon how this past year–by far the busiest ever for our community–has just flooooooown by. It may be a bit silly that this first blog post on our website is about the year’s close, but we’ve been so engaged in a whirlwind of Lucifer-approved capers and larks that none of us have had time to sit down and pen any grandiloquent compositions for the site. However, the time has come to enjoy the cornucopia of 2019’s bounties!

Looking back at our calendars, I’ve counted (minus “boring” stuff like member business meetings and rehearsals) the following just for fun…

• 11 Monthly Assembly Socials 
• 12+ group outings to shows, films, community events, and activism opportunities
• 4 high holidays (we had to skip a formal summer solstice holiday celebration this year but will be back on course in 2020!) celebrated:
  • Pandemonium [Satanic Mardi Gras/misrule] in March
  • The Ecstasy of Walpurgis [Satanic New Year!!!] in April
  • The Jubilation of Persephone [mass for the Queens of Hell and ritual to affirm personal sovereignty and strength] in August
  • Conclave of Devils (Black Mass+Unbaptistm) in October
• 5 Satanic Salons: we launched this new offering in June! We have a Salon (more structured/formal discussion or educational event) on the 3rd Sunday of most months. 
• Another successful and fantastic time marching in Dallas Pride!! 
• Nightmare Fuel Film Series: Satanic Panic! We partnered with some wonderful folks and provided volunteers + event coordination collaboration in support of this mini Satan-themed horror convention for the benefit of Foundation45. Not to #humblebrag or anything, but simply MUST share because of how cute it was–some of our Crossroads volunteers got to wear the actual cloaks used by the actor “Satanists” in Fangoria’s Satanic Panic movie while manning the event entrance. They sooooo rocked them. We all had a blast!
• Mr. Marius Omnes and I had a lovely time giving a talk about Progressive Satanism for UTA’s Maverick Secular Society (check them out, they’re fantastic folks!)
• Various ad hoc activities: we did spooky crafts on Easter Sunday, worked with Sex Workers Outreach Project to create Valentine’s Day cards of support for incarcerated sex workers, had a lot of movie and game nights…and more!
• Spooky Atheists, Social Justice, and Satan…Oh My! Roundtable with LGBT Atheists & Freethinkers
• Launch of “Satanic Panic” and “A Brief History of Satanism” videos on our YouTube channel 
• There is probably more that I’m forgetting, so I’ll use this bullet point to say I am very proud of all the marvelous, creative, awesome-possum people who make up our beautiful community that I love so dearly…keep on keepin’ on! Special shout-out to our partner orgs, collaborators, and friends both local and nationwide. 

We also launched our website, TheCrossroadsAssembly.com, and introduced our denomination of Charismatic Satanism. 

Coming up this month from The Crossroads Assembly and friends:

• December Assembly Social which takes place right before the Krampus Walk in Deep Ellum on December 7th
• MERRY CHRISTLESS – a night of blasphemy (horror themed holiday event at Gas Monkey Live with dancing, live music, vendors, and more) 
• Monthly Satanic Salon on December 15th 
  • Also, later that night is the Vampire Court of Dallas’s Holiday Horror Toy Drive benefiting New Beginnings Center of Garland- check it out!
• Our Quietus of Midwinter solstice celebration+ritual on December 21st. 

When it comes to private Crossroads events, event details are exclusively available on our community forum Strangers at the Crossroads on Facebook. 

Sadly, not all was bright this year; our beloved partners at Bubastis OTO lost their temple space in the freak tornados of October 2019. We were devastated at this loss for them and we fondly remember many rapturous ritual experiences in their welcoming, opulent space. If you’d like to donate to their rebuilding and recovery efforts, you can reach out to the body master, tonyam@bubastis-oto.org.

We are really looking forward to a full year of learning and liturgy, art and advocacy, and perhaps a little tomfoolery if the calendar allows. 

I hope your winter is going swimmingly (snowingly???) and wish that a season of joy and celebration warms the hearth of you and your loved ones.

Hail you, hail Krampus, and haaaaaaaaaaail yes @hot chocolate with overflowing marshmallows!

-Rose Vespira

Co-Founder of The Crossroads Assembly and General Fearsome Sprite of the Chthonic Crushed-Velvet Unknown