Religion brought them together.
Sean Holmes found himself in need of a change. Following years of living in his sister's shadow, he found himself attracted to the seedy underbelly of society, pulled in as an addict. His drugs of choice weren't those found on the streets but those bought in stores; paint cans, glue, nail polish, cough syrup - anything he could get his hands on. And he did get his hands on these drugs; easily. Kelsey , his older sister and closest friend, refused to watch her brother live a life of destruction and pain. Instead, she chooses to not watch: with a baby on the way, she can only move on without him.
While Sean sank further into his addiction, he watched the high cannibalize his passion for the things that used to give him life. Desire and addiction stole everything he ever touched from his job to his family...everything except Andrew.
Andrew was a loner himself, living by his own types of desires unapologetically and, unlike so many before him, he wasn't deterred by Sean's addiction. He recognized that the man needed saving and he offered him a saving grace: religion. Andrew introduces Sean not only to a world of rewarding one's self but to others who share his world view like Julianne, a hardworking paralegal and single mother of one. Sean isn’t new to the religious savior game - but with teeth bared, he somehow finds himself swept along.
Albeit unsure given his previous track record with religion, Sean gives it a chance and along with it, gives Andrew a chance as well. From the religion blooms the warm embrace of the most carnal of desires but also a deep, selfless love unlike anything either of the men had ever felt. The Satanic Temple had shown him compassion when all he had faced was judgement. Now, what once seemed like a pipe dream of sobriety for Sean could become a reality but is Andrew so willing to give up his self-centered worldview as someone else joins him in his spirituality?
But that's not all Sean has to worry about.
Long forgotten (and long forgetting) Kelsey, now having settled into her own life, reaches out to her younger brother to see where exactly he ended up...only to realize that he's involved with a group of satanists. Horrified, Kelsey pushes her disaster of a marriage aside to save her little brother from a sure life of disparity. Despite the push for him to get out while he still can, Sean refuses and, instead, urges his sister to befriend Julianne with high hopes that she'll come to understand.
Little does Kelsey know how quickly she'll come around.
Ave Satanas expands on the misunderstood and misrepresented view of Satanism, specifically, The Satanic Temple and what it means to the individuals who practice it. This religion, like many before it, bring people together for good; but is too often clouded by overblown media stories and misconceptions of what it’s actually about. Here, we may explore the power of people willing to show compassion without judgement, and how these customs apply to the lives of four very different people who are all seeking the same thing: basic human desires without the judgement they, too often, carry with them.