247 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
247 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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NOTES ON PERFORMANCE OF THE GNOSTIC MASS
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Numerous considerations go into the successful performance of Liber XV.
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In this short essay I will present a number of both general and specific
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suggestions for the effective working of this ritual. However, it must
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be understood from the outset that the exact mix of factors required to
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succeed varies widely with each unique combination of officers and,
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indeed, with each individual performance. It is hoped that the
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suggestions offered here will assist both offic ers and people in
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celebrating, understanding, and appreciating the Mass. It is not my
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intention to lay down any canon law. If any of these ideas strike you as
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wrong, meaningless, or superfluous, just ignore them and do your own
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will. I am greatly indebted for any small understanding that I may have
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of the Gnostic Mass to virtually everyone I know, but especially to the
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following O.T.O. brethren: Sor. Bast and Fra. Odysseus of Heru-em-Anpu
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Oasis; Sor. Phoenix a nd Fra. Shaitan of Thelema Lodge; Sor. Meral of
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418 Lodge; and above all, to Bro. Grady L. McMurtry, late Father of the
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Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica-in-Ordo Templi Orientis, who made it live
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for me and many others. In addition, I must thank Sor. Ishtar in advance
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for her almost infinite patience with my obsessive speculations, and all
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of you other readers for allowing me this opportunity to wax so very
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verbose. Before proceeding to specific suggestions it may be useful
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to consider wh ich general guidelines should govern our attitudes to the
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particular details. There are at least four different factors that
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strongly influence the effectiveness of a Mass performance: the
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Environmental conditions, the Theatrical preparations, the Conceptual
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understanding, and the Ritual energization. If we strive for excellence
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in these four areas our sanctuaries (or temples or pantheons or whatever
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you choose to call a place where a Gnostic Mass is performed) can become
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real centers of fruitful worship and love. However, we must not let the
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Perfect become the en emy of the Good; even a Mass poorly performed is
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more likely to inspire than no Mass at all. Most of the successful
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officers I have known first performed their roles long before they were
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"ready"; if you wait until everything is perfect you may well wait
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forever! If you do your best despite any constraints then success of
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some kind must result. By environmental condition I mean among other
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things the space in which the ritual is to be performed. The appropriate
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size varies depending on how many communicants are ex pected to attend,
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but any area smaller than, say, 156 square feet is suitable only for the
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subtler forms of the ceremony. Many small O.T.O./E.G.C. groups can only
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afford to rent a small space, or use the residence of a member.
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Regularly scheduled and well-performed Masses tend to eventually create
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crowd problems, especially in these smaller venues. Removing all but the
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ceremonial furniture and providing pillows for the parishioners can
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somewhat alleviate these space problems. The exact shape of the temple i
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s often dictated by circumstances, but in any event try to avoid a
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narrow or l-shaped room unless it is the only alternative. A square or
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widely-rectangular space works best because the audience can be placed
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on the North and South sides of the ceremonial "corridor", and thus be
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able to view the action before both the tomb in the West and the altar
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in the East. Try to avoid having seats that prevent their occupants from
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viewing certain parts of the ritual; people in such seats often tend to
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get bored or fru strated, which feelings, if expressed, can easily
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detract from the enjoyment of everyone else. This battle for the
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attention and involvement of the communicants is important to success,
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and forms the rationale for many of the suggestions in this essay. The
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people themselves are, in a certain sense, one of the environmental
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conditions of the Mass. Putting them in a receptive frame of mind is in
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fact the goal of most of the theatrical preparations described below.
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Another environmental consi deration derives from the necessity for the
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officers and people to kneel at various points in the ceremony. The use
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of carpets and/or small cushions is advisable to prevent both actual
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damage and the distraction which often accompanies physical discomfort.
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Finally, the environment of a Mass performance often includes
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telephones, doorbells, restless children, and many completely unexpected
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disturbances. You may prepare for these things by disconnecting the
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phone, bolting the doors , and setting age limits for attendence, or,
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you may prefer to have one or more Blackguards standing by to answer any
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"alarums", burp borborygmic babies, and catch clumsy candles. In many
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sanctuaries the Deacon is customarily the officer who appoints and
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directs these Blackguards, employing them to usher communicants, educate
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the profane, or run odd errands as occasion requires. The Mass is, on
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one level, a play. The things which make for an entertaining evening at
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the theatre - strong acting, good staging & costuming, dramatic effects
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with sound & light - all these are immensely helpful to create a
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sacramental atmosphere. Acting is more decisive in creating this
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atmosphere than all the other theatrical devices put together. To act
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implies an attitude, a characterization, a part that is played. Officers
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who read their lines in muffled, monotonous, yet tense & halting,
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voices, who miss their cues, who talk to themselves, who grin with
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embarrassment, such officers may find their faults easily overcome by
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the application of a few simple acting techniques. For most North
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Americans, appearing before an audience, even of close friends, is a
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nervous and uncomfortable experience. Two things will serve to overcome
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this handicap: repetition, and memorization. Take every opportunity to
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perform before an audience. "On-stage" experience is essential to gain
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enough familiarity to relax with the situation. Try to rehearse with
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other people as much as possible. Full dress rehearsals in the actual
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sanctuary are of cours e best, but in any event it is good to always pra
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ctice the movements as well as the lines. Even solitary rehearsals
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should be done aloud along with all the physical movements of the
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officer you are preparing to play. Reading your part aloud in practice
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lets you play around with different accentuations and intonations. Try
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to identify the various emotions you think each line might reasonably
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express. Look up all the words you aren't certain of, and consider that
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some words have more t han one meaning. Once you have begun to develop
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some personal interpretations of your role's motivation then you must
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start developing an acting style to convey your interpretation. What
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style to adopt is largely a matter of individual taste and intention;
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styles of Priesting, for instance, may range from the calm
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understatements of Cronkite or the dramatic intensities of Brando all
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the way to the histrionic artificialities of a cross between Winston
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Churchill and Bela Lugosi (believe me, I've actually seen such a
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rendition)! There is no accounting for tastes; just find the portrayal
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you are personally most comfortable with at any given performance (this
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will probably change as your understanding of the ritual grows).
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Whatever style you choose, try to be conscious of your breathing; make
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it slow and deep, without hyperventilating. Practice projecting your
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voice from the diaphragm until your words are loud and clear without
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being shouted. Opening your mouth wider than usual will also increase
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volume and clarity. Memo rization is very difficult for some and very
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easy for others. I ha ve found that it can help to outline the ritual in
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your own words, describing the actions and speeches in brief phrases.
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Once you've memorized this outline you have the sense of knowing where
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you are in the ceremony at all times; memorizing the actual wording of
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the individual speeches is much easier when you aren't worried about
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forgetting what actions come next. A truly top-notch Mass officer will
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perform from memory, but don't let the fact that you haven't yet
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memorized the Mass keep you from doing it publicly. An expressive and
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clear reading will usually top a tentative and mistake-filled attempt at
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recitation from memory. And much confidence can be gained through the
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experience of public performance. Though Crowley did provide
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theatrical suggestions for set design, costuming, props, and music he
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still left a great deal of room for creativity. Specific details of
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these aspects will be discussed later, but the general topic of lighting
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is appropriate at this point. Most officers prefer soft lighting fo r
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indoor Masses, and many insist on using candlelight only. The practice
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of using only candlelight has a subtly striking effect upon the
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communicants, and it offers no problems to officers who have memorized
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the Mass, but those who rely on scripts should realize that overly large
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numbers of candles placed all over the temple can be a major fire
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hazard. Certainly a fire extinguisher and/or fire-proof blanket are wise
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items to have on hand an ywhere candles and incense are burned
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regularly. In some instances i t would be safer to designate a
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Blackguard or even the Deacon to hold a light by which the officer(s)
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may read. When using incandescent or fluorescent lighting the amount of
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illumination can be varied by rheostats, globes, lampshades, etc. The
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use of colored lighting, spotlights on specific areas or actions,
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ultraviolet lamps, even strobe lights, are all available for endlessly
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unique experimentation. But remember that such efforts will only succeed
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if you've assembled a requi site staff of technical assista nts; the
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officers of the Mass should be free to concentrate on their
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performances. In developing your dramatic interpretation of your role
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you must reach some emotional understanding of the part, but if you wish
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to embue a characterization with the richness, symbolic suggestiveness,
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even contradictions, which these roles inherently display then you must
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achieve a conceptual understanding of the Mass as well. Commenting on
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the concepts conveyed b y the Mass is the trickiest part of my current
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task. Though it may be arguable whether Liber XV contains every secret
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of the Order, it is certainly beyond doubt that it uses symbols which if
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properly understood describe some of the most essential secrets of Ordo
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Templi Orientis (the absolutely essential secrets are, fortunately,
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impossible to express in words). What is a responsible initiate to do in
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these circumstances? I have decided that I shall in this paper boldly
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and openly declare the meanings of the Gnostic Mass' symbolism to the
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best of my mea gre ability. I do this in the resolute certainty that
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they will be completely ignored by everyone who would misuse such power
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as they contain (and also by most of those who wouldn't!). The fact that
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the Roman and Orthodox Masses also reveal the same secrets (albeit
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heavily disguised) is proof that most everyone would rather not believe
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them (or perhaps it's just my filthy mind). In his reworking of the
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earlier Christian rituals Crowley made the truth much plainer and
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elaborated many technical points previously left unme ntioned, but the
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basic idea is there all along. This enabled A.C. to adapt many lines (in
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English and Greek) directly from the "black" rituals of the Christians.
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Rather than present here a straightforward explication of the Gnostic
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Mass from this one limitless perspective I shall pepper my remarks
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throughout the following pages (thus making it harder for the paranoid
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editors of the future to catch them all!). I will also present a few
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simple bits of info rmation, misinformation, Gematria, and panarchist
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poli tical lobbying, where it seems appropriate. Numerous supplemental
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readings in the Crowley "oeuvre" might be recommended to help illumine
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the concepts underlying the Mass. Here I will only list some of the many
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I've found particularly invaluable:
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THE BOOK OF THE LAW (all, without question or answer),
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THE BOOK OF LIES (all, but especially caps. i-v, viii, xi, xii, xv-xix,
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xxi, xxiii-xxix, xxxii, xxxvi, xliii, xliv, xlix, li, liii, lvii,
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lx-lxiv, lxix, lxx, lxxv-lxxvii, lxxxii, lxxxvi-lxxxviii),
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THE BOOK OF THOTH (especially Trumps 0, III, V, VI, IX, XI, XII, XIV,
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XV, XVII, XVIII), LIBER ALEPH (all, but especially caps. xviii,
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xxii-xxiv, xxvii, lii-lviii, lxiii, lxv, lxxi, lxxxii-xcvi, ciii,
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cvi-cxiii, cxx, cxxxv-cxxxviii, cxl, cxli, cli-clxiii, clxxiii-clxxv,
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cxci, ccv-ccviii),
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LIBER ARTEMIS IOTA (first published in original edition of MAGICK
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WITHOUT TEARS),
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LIBER STELLAE RUBEAE (first published in EQUINOX, Vol.I, No.7),
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ENERGIZED ENTHUSIASM (first published in EQUINOX, Vol. I, No.9),
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MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACT ICE (all, but especially caps. 0-v, vii-ix,
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xii, xv, xviii-xx, and in Appendix vi, GRIMORIUM SANCTISSIMUM, a Latin
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version of the mass),
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TWO FRAGMENTS OF RITUAL (first published in EQUINOX, Vol.I, No.10),
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THE VISION AND THE VOICE (all indeed, but especially the 9th Aethyr and
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beyond).
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After having laid the foundations for a dramatic and meaningful
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presentation we finally come to the problem of making the Mass operate
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on a magical level. Certainly there is magick in a ceremony which
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pleases and teaches i ts audience, but we know that there is also
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another kind of magick possible. Could the officers but perform these
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prayers and invocations with their wills as well as their mouths they
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would experience an explosion of power, imparting reality to the
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blessing of the sacrament. The trick is the same as with any other
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ritual: devotion expressed in intense concentration, forgetfulness of
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doubt, and lastly, complete identification with the energies invoked.
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Success in these pr actices leads through various stages of trance;
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complete success is rewarded with samadhi. There will also be increased
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health and prosperity for the officers and communicants at a ritually
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effective Mass. Keeping a record of Masses you perform, how they go, and
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what results, is a good way to track your progress as magicians. A
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couple of other issues of minor ritual significance should be discussed
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here. Most sanctuaries perform one or more banishings before beginning
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their Masses. Though Crowley did not, as far as I know, explicitly
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suggest this practice, he did often do an LBR before partaking of the
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sacrament, and it does seem advisable. But keep in mind that an
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improperly performed banishing will often be more disruptive to your
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Mass than no banishing at all. Avoid using people who are unsure of
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their ritual to perform the final banishing before a ceremony. There is
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another ritual custom which has grown up in some sanctuaries. It is the
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practice of publicly "dedicating the energy of the Mass" to some
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particular object. While I woul d not wish to prevent anyone from doing
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these dedications they should keep in mind that the activating power
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which channels the "energy of the Mass" is Will. Any strong opposition
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on the part of officers or communicants can vitiate or destroy the
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ceremony's magical effectiveness. So if you do openly declare a special
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purpose for your Mass then you'd best choose it by discussion and
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unanimous consent. Also remember that the Mass has its own explicitly
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stated purpose (best sum med up by the Priest's triple blessing of t he
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congregation after they have communicated); hence, if you choose some
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conflicting purpose you'll certainly achieve nothing or much worse. You
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could, of course, rewrite the Mass for some specific object (thereby
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outraging a lot of silly people), but I personally think it best to let
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public performances be dedicated to the aims which Crowley wrote into
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the ritual, and to reserve specific objectives for more intimate and
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adaptable performa nces.
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(to be continued?)
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