All text by Soror Via Amore Gnostike unless otherwise noted. See commentary.
Setting
The temple is oriented east-west if the space permits, with the tabernacle of the stars in the east and the altar of the earth in the west.
Altars
Tabernacle of the stars
This can be an altar covered with a midnight blue cloth, a curtain hung on a wall, or a veil hung from posts. On the altar or hung from the curtain is an image of the stele of Djed Khonsu es Ankh or another image chosen by the priestess.
Sun altar
This altar is covered with a scarlet cloth, the color of fresh blood. It contains:
- Chalice and cover
- Paten with host
- Lance
Two thrones flank this altar.
Earth altar
This altar is covered with a black cloth. It contains:
- Bowl of water
- Container of salt
- Aspergilum
- Censer with charcoal
- Incense
Three thrones are placed behind this altar.
Moon altar
Placed in the center.
This altar is covered with a white cloth. It contains:
- Cups of wine/wine substitute and hosts for the celebrants
Officiants
Priest, priestess, and deacon. They wear white robes or albs, gold and silver cinctures, and serpent crowns.
Other celebrants may assist these officers. They can include a water bearer or stolistes and a fire bearer or dadouchos. Other celebrants are seated along the edges of the circle leaving an aisle in the center of the space.
Preparation
All tools are placed on the appropriate altars. Cups should be filled and charcoal lit. Priest, priestess and deacon change into their garments. They spend a moment in contemplation to prepare themselves for the work.
Liturgy of the Community
Introit
Priestess, priest and deacon emerge from the tabernacle of the stars and stand before the east altar. Celebrants rise.
Priestess: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
Celebrants: Love is the law, love under will.
Priestess: We have gathered to celebrate the mysteries of the mass. Is it your will to form a congregation of the Sanctuary of the Celebration?
Celebrants: It is my will.
Star Garnet
Priestess: let us perform the Star Garnet to prepare ourselves for the mysteries.
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants:
- (touch forehead) Phos
- (open arms) Cosmos
- (touch right shoulder) Dynamis
- (touch left shoulder) Schema
- (touch heart) Isos
- (draw hand down to head) Pneuma
- (draw hand down front of body) Soma
- (touch heart) Psyche
- (touch phallic genitals) Phalloi
- (touch abdomen) Delphus
- (touch heart) Syndeo
(Celebrants sit.)
Circumambulation
Priestess: She says: for I am divided for love’s sake, for the chance of union.
Priest: He says: come unto me is a foolish word, for it is I who go.
Priestess and priest walk around the circle to the west altar and sit.
Intention
Deacon: In this moment all things are possible and nothing is yet manifest. Let us make in our hearts an intention to be fulfilled by the divine union.
Liturgy of the Word
Deacon: Let us affirm our community by reciting our creed.
Creed
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants:
I believe that every person comes to an individual understanding of matter and spirit.
I believe that this understanding changes with knowledge and experience.
I believe that through gnosis we become divine.
Deacon moves to the west altar and sits.
The Lady
Deacon: Let us offer praise to the Lady. (Deacon reads title of hymn).
Hymn to Nuit
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants:
Oh Nu, Nut, Nuit,
Lady of Heaven, Great Lady,
Queen of Heaven, Star Goddess,
your eyes are the sun and moon,
your body is infinity,
all the gods and stars are born of you.
Come to us!
Defend us from evil,
protect us from grief,
purify us.
Grant us shelter
in your home among the turquoise trees
where you give to your people
sweet water, celestial air,
food prepared for yourself to eat
that we may eat and move and live.
You have promised us joy on earth,
certainty in death,
ecstasy and peace, resting in your love.
Oh midnight womb of space,
stretch yourself over us
that we may be placed among your imperishable stars
and that we may live forever.
(Deacon reads title of hymn).
(Deacon reads title of hymn).
Hymn to Babalon
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants:
O Babalon
come to us with your rage,
bearing your sword and riding your beast
fierce and implacable.
Free us!
Strike off the chains that bind us.
Surround us with your protecting fire,
burn the hands and eyes that would defile us,
so we may dance freely in your rapture.
O Babalon,
come to us in peace and joy.
Scarlet desire rises in us
demanding ecstasy.
O green womb of the earth,
you who have given birth to us,
gather us up and surround us,
nourish us and accept us,
free at last to love and be loved.
(Deacon reads title of hymn).
Mater Deum Magna
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants:
Mater,
Mater Magna,
Mater Deum Magna,
self-creating self-destroying self-renewing power of the cosmos,
divine Providence, giver of life,
source of all knowledge and ground of all being,
you call us to our lives,
you call us to our deaths,
you call us to our renewal.
Guardian of air and earth and sea
bitter to those who despise you,
sweet to those who adore you,
all-wise queen and all-giving mother,
bring us wealth and plenty, health and peace
on this day as we remember you
and every day of our lives.
The Lord
Deacon: Let us offer praise to the Lord. (Deacon reads title of hymn).
Hymn to the Lord
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants:
O Pater, Patron, Praemonstrator,
come to us as the one who shares power,
the father who lifts his daughter to the throne,
the teacher who shows the ways of wisdom,
the counselor lending a steadying hand.
O Proeliator, warrior-protector,
come to us as the son who defends the mother,
the brother who fights alongside the sister,
guardian and champion, strong companion.
O Amour, heart of hearts,
come to us as the virile lover
burning with desire and adoration
fertile and fierce and sweet.
O guide and warrior and lover,
come to us who have need of your strength,
guide us, protect us, love us as we love you.
Powers of life
Deacon: Let us offer praise to the powers of life. (Deacon reads title of hymn).
Hymn to the Powers of Life
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants:
O viriditas, river of life,
flowing through every green thing reaching for the sun,
water and air live in you,
the beauty of the mountains and the meadows,
the great forests and surging oceans,
the fierce deserts where the sun scorches the sky
and the verdant fields bathed with gentle mist.
O flumine sanguinis, river of blood,
animal life flowing in all that moves,
you are the visible sacrifice,
proof of the continuity of life.
O river of wisdom,
revelation of the Word,
singing in our souls,
whispering in our spirits,
beyond knowledge and reason
illuminate us.
May the powers of life infuse our feast.
Welcoming to the feast
Deacon: We prepare to partake in the feast that will nourish us on our journey. Remember the ancestors of your body and spirit. You may invite those you choose to share with us in this feast.
(Pause while all silently contemplate their ancestors)
May we be lifted on the wings of aspiration to answer the call of spirit.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
The Journey
Ceremony of the elements
Priestess and priest stand.
Priestess: O Pistis, Teletarch of trust, advise me on my journey.
Priest: My daughter, make the invocation of the elements of spirit, using the sacred words as I have taught you, so that you may ascend into heaven as an inquirer and behold the universe.
Priestess:
O divine Providence,
mortal flesh cannot ascend alone
to the radiance of immortal brilliance.
Sanctify my spirit through consecrations,
provide the aid I seek of you,
that I may accomplish the journey
and secure my immortal birth.
Priest: It is necessary for you, O daughter, to make the invocation of the elements of earth, air, fire, water, and aether.
Priestess:
First spirit of my origin,
air of air,
fire of fire,
water of water,
earthy substance,
sanctify my complete body
radiant and alive with soul.
Priestess:
(Holds hands over the bowl and salt)
So therefore first the priestess who governs the works of fire must sprinkle with the waters of the loud resounding sea.
(Mixes salt with water) Gi eis nero. The water bearer cleanses the world.
(The stolistes rises, takes the bowl and aspergilum from the priestess, asperges the celebrants including the officers, and returns the bowl to the priestess. If there is no stolistes the priestess fulfils this duty.)
Priestess:
(Holds hands over incense and thurible) When after all the phantoms have vanished you will see that holy and formless fire that darts and flashes in the hidden flames of the universe. Then hear the voice of fire! (Places incense on charcoal) Aeras eis photia. The fire bearer consecrates the world.
(The dadouchos rises, takes the censer from the priestess, censes the celebrants including the officers, and returns the bowl to the priestess. If there is no dadouchos the priestess fulfils this duty.)
Priestess: I am lifted on the wings of trust. (Takes priest’s hand.) Come with me and I will lift you as I rise.
Ceremony of the gate
Priestess and priest move to the moon altar.
Priestess: O Aleitheia, thou Teletarch of truth, instruct me on my journey.
Priest: You cannot pass the gate unless you give the sign.
Priestess: I know only that I am called to the journey. Can you reveal to me the truth?
Priest: Your feet are in the mud, your head is in the stars, you are soul made flesh.
Priestess: Then I am a child of earth and starry heaven.
Priest: The gate is open to you, child of earth and starry heaven.
Priestess: I am lifted on the wings of truth. (Takes priest’s hand.) Come with me and I will lift you as I rise.
Ceremony of love
Priestess and priest move to the sun altar.
Priestess:
O Eros, Teletarch of love, inspire me!
I am alone. I sing of the pain of separation. Oh love I remember you! The memory of your passion torments me. Without you the world is dark, there is no taste or scent or sight that can please me, I am fixed on the single point of my desire. Oh love do not forsake me!
Priest:
Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains.
I am the Snake that giveth Knowledge & Delight and bright glory.
Blue am I and gold in the light of my bride: but the red gleam is in my eyes; & my spangles are purple & green. Purple beyond purple: it is the light higher than eyesight.
I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.
Priestess: This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all.
Priest: (Takes the hand of the priestess and escorts to throne). Take your throne, priestess and queen. (Priestess sits. Priest moves to throne and sits).
Priestess: Join with me if you will to chant the words of our Lady.
Priestess, priest, deacon and celebrants: (Anyone who feels the priestess within joins the chant).
But to love me is better than all things; if under the night-stars in the desert thou presently burnest mine incense before me, invoking me with a pure heart, and the serpent flame therein, thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom. For one kiss wilt thou then be willing to give all; but whoso gives one particle of dust shall lose all in that hour. Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in splendour and pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy. I charge you earnestly to come before me in a single robe, and covered with a rich head-dress. I love you! I yearn to you! Pale or purple, veiled or voluptuous, I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me! To me! To me! Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you. I am the blue-lidded daughter of sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky. To me! To me!
Consecration
Priest and priestess rise from their thrones and stand at the altar of the sun.
Anamnesis
Priestess: I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.
Priest: Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor, force and fire, are of us.
Priestess: (lifts host). The elements combined to create this bread filled with viriditas. Touto esti to soma mou.
Priest: (takes paten from priestess and elevates host). May this bread nourish us in body and spirit.
Touto esti to soma mou. (Places paten on altar).
Priestess: (lifts chalice). Water is life, blood is life, the river of blood sustains us.
Touto esti to poterion to haimatos mou.
Priest: (takes chalice from priestess). May this wine renew us in body and spirit.
Touto esti to poterion to haimatos mou.
Priestess: (takes chalice from priest, uncovers, and elevates chalice).
O chalice! O grail!
O cauldron of regeneration!
O golden womb of the sun!
O triple rivers of life
flow into this cup which is prepared for you
as the tabernacle of your presence.
(Lifts host over chalice)
Touto esti to hagios pneuma. (Bell rings.)
(Replaces chalice on altar).
Deacon and celebrants go to the altar of the moon, take wine and host, and return to their chairs but remain standing.
Fractio and particulate
Priestess: (elevates host and breaks it, places one half on the paten, breaks off a particle from half and holds it over the chalice). Touto esti to oion mou. (Places particle in chalice). Ousia eis pneuma. (Places half of the host on the paten and gives the paten to the priest).
Priest: (elevates half of the host, breaks it, and breaks off particle over the cup). Touto esti to sperma mou. Ho patêr estin ho huios dia to pneuma hagion. Aumgn. Aumgn. Aumgn. (Places particle in chalice). Ousia eis pneuma.
Priestess: Ho mater estin ho thugater dia to pneuma hagion. Aim. Aim. Aim.
Priest elevates lance.
Priestess elevates chalice.
Priestess and priest together: Touto esti to hagios pneuma ensarkose.
Communion
Priestess takes host and hands paten to priest. Priest takes host. Both consume host together. At the same time deacon and celebrants consume hosts.
Priestess offers chalice to priest. Priest drinks and returns chalice to priestess. Priestess drains the chalice. While priestess drinks at the same time deacon and celebrants drink their wine.
Priestess: Syndeo.
Priest: Syndeo.
Deacon and celebrants: Syndeo.
Deacon and celebrants return cups to the central altar and sit.
Priest sits.
Priestess: let us meditate now on the intention we have brought to the work.
(Pause)
Epiclesis
Priestess: (standing)
For she has said:
I am the mother and the daughter.
I am the bridegroom and the bride.
I am the mother of my father.
I am the sister of my husband.
I am the daughter of my son.
I am the silence and the sound.
I am death and I am life.
I am the knowledge which was lost
which is sought without and found within.
I am union. I am abiding. I am joy.
I alone exist,
and when you have realized me
you shall never die
and you shall live forever.
Priest: Let us cherish within ourselves the elixir of immortality.
Deacon: There is nothing of greater value in all the world.
Benediction
Priestess:
May all in the sanctuary of the celebrants achieve our true wills.
Priest:
Our work here is complete.
Deacon:
The sanctuary of the celebrants is dissolved until another sanctuary forms to perform this rite.
(Priestess, priest and deacon retire to the tabernacle of the stars.)