A Brief Overview of Modern Gnosticism

a contemporary seal of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica

In my previous entry, I shared my recent experiences as a Thelemic gnostic and current member of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica attending a Eucharistic service operating under the auspices of one of our sister traditions, Ecclesia Gnostica. In this particular appreciation, I mentioned some of the similarities I noticed, but not many of the differences on account of not wanting to distract myself from the experience of writing and sharing my experience. For individuals not particularly familiar with contemporary forms of Gnosticism, it might seem strange to suggest that there are many differences between different gnostic groups – after all, we’re all dirty, stinky, filthy heretics – but the truth is, as in other denominations or traditions with similar backgrounds, gnostics as individuals and as groups are very heterodox in particular viewpoints despite coming from a very similar background and even in praxis there are some strong ritual differences which may vary from sect to sect.

Episcopal seal of Jules Doinel, Eglise Gnostique Universelle Catholique

For the purposes of this essay, I’m not going to focus much on historical Gnosticism as practiced in the second and third centuries CE. This reason is twofold: first, despite having access to scriptures and first and second hand accounts of our religious forbears, early gnostic groups were widely varied and the information we have about their practices come primarily from heresiological sources which cannot be adequately trusted; secondly, contemporary Gnosticism does not represent an unbroken line of praxis or scriptural coherency from the early sects and, at best, can only be traced back to the gnostic revivals of 19^th Century Europe. This notwithstanding, I must also mention that there are elements of historical Gnosticism which have been preserved culturally as well as theologically amongst mainline Christian churches – in particular amongst the Hesychastic practices in Eastern Orthodoxy and in some of the writings of the early Church Fathers and mystics, but this is deserving of a more thorough study for a later date.

As I mentioned, contemporary Gnosticism dates back no earlier than the 19^th Century. It was during this period of European expansionism that modern Biblical archeology became a field of serious inquiry, leading to the discovery and subsequent translation of many texts that had a coherent connection to historical Gnosticism, early Christianity and late Greco-Egyptian pagan religious traditions. In 1769 the Bruce Codex was brought to England from Upper Egypt by the famous Scottish traveller Bruce, and subsequently bequeathed to the care of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Sometime prior to 1785 The Askew Codex (aka Pistis Sophia) was bought by the British Museum from the heirs of Dr. Askew. Pistis Sophia text and Latin translation of the Askew Codex by M. G. Schwartze published in 1851. During this time as well, the formation of the Theosophical Society by Mme. Blavatsky as well as the existence of various strains of esoteric Freemasonry contributed to a strong countercultural interest in esoteric Christianity, in particular Gnosticism.

A contemporary episcopal crest of the Liberal Catholic Church

All of this came to a head in 1890 when, after a series of visions and impacted by the rediscovery of various Cathar (Albegensian) documents, a librarian named Jules-Benoît Stanislas Doinel du Val-Michel (aka Jules Doinel) established the Eglise Gnostique (French: Gnostic Church) and declared a “the era gnosis restored.” The establishment of Eglise Gnostique represented a major departure from the Christianities of its day in that its liturgy and theology represented the fullest extant understanding of Cathar liturgy and theology of the day and, secondly (arguably most importantly) allowed the ordination of men and women on an egalitarian basis. It is also important to note that, in a departure from apostolic Christianity, Doinel was “spiritually consecrated” in a spiritual experience in 1888 and not into a line of Apostolic Succession. Doinel subsequently consecrated a number of bishops for the Eglise Gnostique, notable among these was Gérard Encausse founder of the closely allied Martinist Order.

The importance of apostolicity as validating one’s abilities as clergy prior to this has been one of the defining characteristics of liturgical Christian traditions prior to the Protestant Reformation going back at least as far as the Donatist controversy of the fourth and fifth centuries. The importance is emphasized most in Western Christianity which teaches that any bishop can consecrate any other baptized man as a bishop provided that the bishop observes the minimum requirements for the sacramental validity of the ceremony. This means that the consecration is considered valid even if it flouts certain ecclesiastical laws, and even if the participants are schismatics or heretics. In certain historical periods where various regions lacked formal access to bishops or in which no formal Bishophoric Seat has been established, there has been a long line of episcopi vagantes (wandering bishops) whose job it was to travel and oversee particular jurisdictions. It is from these groups that modern Gnostic groups would obtain their apostolicity, in particular through two lines: Fabré-Palaprat’s l’Église Johannites des Chretiens Primitif (Johannite Church of the Primitive Christians) and Joseph René Vilatte whose participation with the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht would also pave the way toward the development of the Liberal Catholic Church which would be deeply involved from the onset with the Theosophical movement.

As a brief departure, I would like to present the following graphical illustration of contemporary gnostic churches for the purposes of better understanding the various streams which exist currently to show their development over time while avoiding the complexity of succession:

Church	l’Église Johannites des Chretiens Primitif	Eliate Church of Carmel	Eglise Gnostique	Eglise Gnostique Universelle	The Liberal Catholic Church	Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica	Pre-Nicene Gnostic Catholic Church(Ecclesia Gnostica)	Eglise Gnostique Apostolique
Name of Founder	Fabré-Palaprat	Eugene Vintras	Jules Doinel	Jean Bricaud	James Wedgewood and Charles Leadbeater	Theodore Reuss	Duc du Palatine	Robert Amberline
Foundation	1803	1848	1890	1907	1919	1920	1952	1953

These particular churches represent the primary streams of contemporary Gnosticism, however matters are somewhat complicated by individual churches such as Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica which, while founded upon the apostolic succession bestowed on Theodore Reuss through the Bricaud and Dionel successions, represents an interesting case-study in that Reuss’ successor, Aleister Crowley, doesn’t seem to indicate whether he obtained consecration from Reuss and, secondly that it makes a near complete break with other, Gnostic Christian churches in favor of Crowley’s religious philosophy of Thelema. Due to this, there is some debate some gnostic branches today which question the validity of considering Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica as part of the gnostic community. This is deserving of further study on many grounds. Important to note, however, is that the contemporary Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica does not itself rely on Apostolic Succession from Christian lineage and, instead, according to current United States Grand Lodge representative Sabazius X°, relies solely on the authority of Aleister Crowley as To Mega Therion DCLXVI. Despite this, many bishops in EGC do have consecrations from other gnostic lineages which can be adequately traced back to early sources.

An interesting point of difference can be made by comparing three of the four major streams of Gnosticism active in North America – Ecclesia Gnostica, Ecclesia Gnostica Mysteriorum, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica and the Apostolic Johannite Church. While there are other churches that may represent varying degrees of “gnostic apostolicity”, I present these four as representative of the greater gnostic tradition due to their apostolic lines as well and the number of adherents.

Name of Church	Ecclesia Gnostica	Ecclesia Gnostica Mysteriorum	Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica	Apostolic Johannite Church
Date Founded	1953	1978	1919	1804 (original), 2000
Name of Founder	Rev. Richard Duc de Palatine	Rosamonde Miller	Theodor Reuss	Palaprat (?)
Apostolic Succession	Old Catholic and Leadbeater/Wedgwood	Old Catholic, Liberal Catholic, Palatine, Marian (?)	Palaprat, Doinel, Bricaud, Villate	Old Catholic, Roman Catholic, Palaprat, Doinel, Vilatte
Current Patriarch	Rev. Stephen Hoeller	Rosamonde Miller	Hymanaeus Beta, XII°, T Apyrion (US)	The Most Rev. Mar Iohannes IV, Ep.Gn. (CA), The Most Rev. Mar Thomas, AC, Ph.D, Ep.Gn. (US)

For now, I hope this exploration in the different traditions of modern Gnosticism provides an adequate example of the complexities involved in understanding the differences that may arise in understanding individual traditions. While historically it has been near to impossible to probe deep enough to look at this particular subgroup of the Western religious tradition, it is my hope to delve deeper into the individual schools of gnostic thought and, hopefully, be able to provide a comprehensive survey of modern Gnosticism and its relevance today.

Other Gnostics, an Appreciation

Ecclesiastic Seal of Ecclesia Gnostica

Yesterday I took a few hours out of my life to investigate another gnostic community, Hagia Sophia Gnostic Parish of Ecclesia Gnostica, in my fair city in the spirit of exploration and religious education. It was overwhelmingly a positive experience with the added benefit that their current meeting place is about three blocks from where I live. As some of my readers may know, I am a member of Ordo Templi Orientis, a Thelemic order “dedicated to the high purpose of securing the Liberty of the Individual and his or her advancement in Light, Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, and Power through Beauty, Courage, and Wit, on the Foundation of Universal Brotherhood” following the teachings of the British occultist and religious philosopher, Aleister Crowley. Within my particular tradition there exists an ecclesiastical branch, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, which administers to the religious end of the Order and whose central ritual, Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass is said to contain every secret of the order in symbol and in sign. Naturally, as a self-described gnostic, my experience was very interesting to see what gnostics outside my tradition practice. What I found was very interesting.

Upon entering the University Christian Church, I went through the maze of doors, up the elevator and waited patiently outside while their clergy prepared for celebration of the Eucharist. The priest, a very nice man in his mid-forties quickly introduced himself as I sat down to my chair admiring the temple space. It was very beautiful in its simplicity and arranged in much the same format as conventional Christian chapels. The vestments and everything else seemed to be an interesting blend of pre-Vatican II Roman Catholicism combined with various esoteric symbols, including a beautiful statue of the Sophia above the Tabernacle – something which I personally thought to be a very beautiful sentiment as well as very symbolic. In total there were roughly eight people in attendance including the priest, Rev. Sam Osborne, and his acolyte.

The ordo of the service pretty much followed the conventional missa of pre-Vatican II Roman Catholicism with some verses changed to reflect a more mystical or gnostic perspective. Starting with the ceremony of the Introit, the priest and acolyte approached the altar and reciting the intention of the day and giving the traditional opening benediction: “In the name of the Father X and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” to which we all responded, “Amen”. Next followed the ascent toward the altar in which the priest approached it with three steps, saying: “Lord of the Past, we hail Thee. Lord of the Present, we hail Thee. Lord of the Future, we hail Thee.” This I found interesting in that it is common to both the pre-Vatican II mass to recite a prayer of ascent upon coming forth to the altar, but more interesting was the similarity to how, in my tradition, upon coming out from the tomb the priest also gives three steps giving the pre-Crowley signs and steps.

I found the asperges to be particularly moving, particularly the prayer calling for the purification of the chapel from the forces of evil and obstruction and to open the hearts of those in attendance to the “indwelling Christ.” I found the kyrie and pronouncement of absolution to be very much reminiscent again of the Latin Rite, but the collects more than interested me for their inclusion of a beautifully paraphrased section from the Chaldean Oracles’ Adoration of the Lord of the Universe:

“Holy art Thou, King of the Universe.

Holy art Thou, Whom nature hath not formed.

Holy art Thou, Who art the living one among the living.

Thou art the Holy One among the Holy;

Thou art God among the Gods.

Thou art the Lord among the Lords.

Thou art the house and Thou art the Dweller in the house;

and Thou art the Alone-Begotten, Light, Life and Grace.

Pour forth Thy Glory upon us. Amen”

Following the collects came the hymn, and the Lessons which included the following from The Great Announcement, attributed to the Simon Magus:

“Of all things that are concealed and manifested, the fire which is above the heavens is the treasurehouse, as it were a great Tree from which all flesh is nourished. The manifested side of the fire is the trunk, branches, leaves, and the outside bark. All these parts of the great Tree are set on fire from the all-devouring flame of the fire and destroyed. But the fruit of the Tree, if its imaging has been perfected and it takes shape of itself, is placed in the storehouse and is not cast into the fire. For the fruit is produced to be placed in the storehouse, but the husk to be committed to the fire; that is to say, the trunk, which is generated not for its own sake but for that of the fruit.”

Followed by a gospel reading from The Gospel of Philip:

“If anyone becomes a son of the bridal chamber he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is in this world, he will not receive it in the other place. He who has received that light will not be seen, nor can he be detained; and none shall be able to torment one of this kind even if he dwell in the world. And again when he goes out of the world he has already received the truth in images. The world has become the aeon. For the aeon is for him the pleroma and it is in this manner; it is revealed to him alone, not hidden in the darkness and the night but hidden in a perfect day and a holy light.”

Following the readings, my ears perked up substantially during the Act of Faith:

“We know one secret, Supreme and Ineffable Lord,  the Father of  us all, unchanging in essence, yet ever changing in appearance and manifestation; And the Logos, the Son, the Divine Manifestation of God, the only begotten of the Great Stillness, begotten by an act of consciousness alone, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error; And the Holy Spirit, the giver of life and goodness, the principle of love and compassion, which remains here on earth to guide and care for those still groping in the darkness of matter, which with the Father and the Son, forms the wholeness upon which the manifested universe is erected; We honor one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, the communion of the Holy Aeons and Saints, Custodians of the essential wisdom of the race, who preach the great law, who live and labor unselfishly, dedicated to the advancement of all beings; We acknowledge the infinite wheel of exis¬tence, immutable laws that govern and sustain the universe. We look to the resurrection and ascension of our souls into the Universal Will and thus libera¬tion from the infinite chain of attainment. Amen.”

This interested me due to the many similarities to the Credo of my Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass:

 I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD; and in one Star in the Company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which we shall return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in His name CHAOS, the sole viceregent of the Sun upon the Earth; and in one Air the nourisher of all that breathes.

And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name BABALON.

And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET.

And I believe in one Gnostic and Catholic Church of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, the Word of whose Law is THELEMA.

And I believe in the communion of Saints.

And, forasmuch as meat and drink are transmuted in us daily into spiritual substance, I believe in the Miracle of the Mass.

And I confess one Baptism of Wisdom whereby we accomplish the Miracle of Incarnation.

And I confess my life one, individual, and eternal that was, and is, and is to come.”

Upon further research, I was more intrigued since the earliest date we have for the writing of Liber XV: The Gnostic Mass is said to have been written in 1913 while Aleister Crowley was traveling through Moscow and was inspired by the Orthodox liturgy of Saint Basil. While I have my own personal thoughts on that particular idea, considering the closer similarities to the Latin and Sarum Rites, I was more interested by the idea that possibly the EGC liturgy may have influenced this particular one since the earliest date for the liturgy of Ecclesia Gnostica is likely of no earlier date than 1953.

The offertorium, censing, lavabo and other preceding rituals to the consecration of the eucharist were not particularly unusual nor different from the symbols and prayers used in the Latin Rite. Once again my ears were perked when the priest recited the Commemoration of the Saints:

“We commemorate those who did of old adore Thee, and manifest Thy glory unto men. First of all, the Holy Virgin of Light Sophia, and Mary ever Holy. Of your blessed companion Mary Magdelena, your Holy Apostles John, Paul, Peter, Andrew, James, Thomas, James the less, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Thaddeus;  the Holy and enlightened teachers: Simon, Menander, Saturinus, Cerinthus, Basilides, Valentinus, Marcion, as well as Thy Holy Prophet Mani, and the Master of the Templars Jacob Molay, who transmitted the Light of the Gnosis to us, their successors and heirs. Hear Ye, all saints of the true church in every age, now essentially present in our midst, of you we claim heirship, with you we claim communion, and from you we claim benediction and intercession in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thus we commemorate all the saints who were, and are, and are to come.”

This very much interested me since it mirrors the words of the priest in EGC during the Consecration of the Elements: “Hear ye all, Saints of the True Church of Old Time, now essentially present…” as well as the Collect of the Saints:

“LORD of Life and Joy, that art the might of man, that art the essence of every true god that is upon the surface of the Earth, continuing knowledge from generation unto generation, thou adored of us upon heaths and in woods, on mountains and in caves, openly in the marketplaces and secretly in the chambers of our houses, in temples of gold and ivory and marble as in these other temples of our bodies, we worthily commemorate them worthy that did of old adore thee and manifest they glory unto men… Oh Sons of the Lion and the Snake! With all thy saints we worthily commemorate them worthy that were and are and are to come. May their essence be here present, potent, puissant and paternal to perfect this feast!”

I found myself very excited at this point at the possibility of a deeper relationship, even if by plagiarism, by the two churches. If plagiarism is not of a particular issue, it begs a great many more questions surrounding the liturgies of other gnostic communities – inclusive of Thelemites, whom many don’t consider gnostic due to issues of apostolicity or other issues such as our whole-scale removal of our church from “Old Aeon” Christian trappings.

Replacing the traditional Pater Noster was a unique version of the same called the Gnostic’s Prayer that I found particularly beautiful, although I’m more of a proponent of the Nepios of the “Thelemic Rite”. Communion itself was reminiscent of the Sarum and Latin Rite and I did feel that it was appropriate that I commune, if only as an act of good faith.

Following communion, Rev. Sam gave a moving – if not ideosyncretic – sermon on the lessons. Sadly, I was not able to stay longer due to a meeting with my own local bishop over coffee, but none-the-less I do intend on attending a few more of their services and talking with members of their community. Overall, I was impressed and feel that there is still much to learn about other contemporary strains of Gnosticism and much work that could be done to improve relations and dialogue between those who seek divine knowledge.

An Apology for Baphomet and SOLVE et COAGULA

Two weekends ago I was blessed, once again to attend the annual Esoteric Book Conference. As I’ve mentioned to a few of my friends offhandedly, the Esoteric Book Conference is possibly the closest thing to a “high, holy day” that I make a point of participating in surrounded by many friends and well-informed ritualists, artists and occultists from around the world. Probably the best description of the event in the weeks following, written by my dear friend and co-religionist, P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, also approaches one of the interesting turn of events this year regarding gender, identity and theology in occultism, specifically surrounding a performance piece by Australian occultist and performer, Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule entitled SOLVE et COAGULA:

“The Ancient Greek bard Orpheus can never return to the Underworld after seeking his lost love there. Immortalised yet unable to appreciate His eternal body, he was torn limb from limb by the Maenads, wildwomen in the retinue of Dionysos. The disembodied head floated off down the river of Acheron, singing ever…

A head, alone on the currents, adrift on the elements, found by the Knights Templar and become their oracle…

A head, having learnt presence, disembodied yet with heightened senses, aware now of the power of the physical form in which it is forever encased, wise and carnal, desires to make a new body…”

The performance itself, in my opinion, was one of the better pieces I’ve seen by Oryelle in recent years and did a good job of pulling together many disparate streams of Western esotericism and religion into a new and innovative form. Oryelle, who describes hirself as “a Baphometic avatar somewhat obsessed with physical reification and Malkuthian manifestation”, continues in this particular performance exploring the interplay between the dichotomies of body and spirit, male and female, light and darkness.

Maenads in the Melbourne preview production of SOLVE et COAGULA. Photo by Shami Kiely

Unfortunately, it appears that some of the imagery was lost upon some and initiated further discussion surrounding the gender disparity in the Esoteric Book Conference itself which has historically had an uneven balance of male and female presenters as well as some of the emerging dialogue of gender politics in esotericism and paganism as a whole. I think, as well, that there’s also some presumptions that need to be addressed regarding the differences in context between those who are occultists and the wider pagan community.

While good arguments can be made that occultists and esotericists should be included within the greater pagan community and vice-versa – and indeed there’s a lot of cross-over – the two cultures as they exist today operate under a vastly different set of assumptions and use dramatically different symbol sets and values. Paganism, in particular Neo-Paganism, is almost always religious in nature and represents a theological perspective that may or may not include (or approve of) magic in the personal practices of its adherents. Magicians, occultists and esotericists, while many are religious and use religious or mytho-poetic themes, generally pursue their work from an operative understanding which rarely, if ever, has anything to do with devotional practices. In short, magicians are more concerned with the technology of the sacred and paganism, as a religious umbrella, is more concerned with the relationship of the practitioner and their understanding of the sacred.

Specifically to the performance piece, a discussion was had regarding Lupus’ well-founded disappointment in the “theological monism” of the piece. In his perspective, he’s totally in the right, but in the context of this performance (and indeed most ritual magic) theology isn’t the point – rather the illustrative principals of different cultures and milieus in the vast melting-pot of Western esoteric thought and modern magic.

Eliphas Levi's Baphomet

At any rate, a small difference in understanding but the major (and it is sizable by any point), was the culmination of the first performance with the Baphometic sculpture reuniting, being made symbolically whole by the attachment of a large phallus which the performer intimates, in his ritual piece, is also emblematic of the lost phallus of Osiris. For those unfamiliar with the image of Baphomet, the most common image illustrative of this imagined “deity” comes from the writings of French occultist, Eliphas Levi:

“The goat on the frontispiece carries the sign of the pentagram on the forehead, with one point at the top, a symbol of light, his two hands forming the sign of occultism, the one pointing up to the white moon of Chesed, the other pointing down to the black one of Geburah. This sign expresses the perfect harmony of mercy with justice. His one arm is female, the other male like the ones of the androgyne of Khunrath, the attributes of which we had to unite with those of our goat because he is one and the same symbol. The flame of intelligence shining between his horns is the magic light of the universal balance, the image of the soul elevated above matter, as the flame, whilst being tied to matter, shines above it. The beast’s head expresses the horror of the sinner, whose materially acting, solely responsible part has to bear the punishment exclusively; because the soul is insensitive according to its nature and can only suffer when it materializes. The rod standing instead of genitals symbolizes eternal life, the body covered with scales the water, the semi-circle above it the atmosphere, the feathers following above the volatile. Humanity is represented by the two breasts and the androgyne arms of this sphinx of the occult sciences.”

Despite the various schools of magical thought, most esotericists and occultists would have seen little problem in the coming together of symbols since these symbols inundate the foundations of much of our modern magical practice and are, for the most part, accepted as such. However, I think that the concern by some members in the audience as being representative of gender disparity in magic, while interesting from a feminist and post-modern perspective, are largely unfounded in the contextual understanding of the image. To wit, the phallus attached at the end was one of the many human-shaped figures and was expressly meant to be female in form which occurs often as an expiation of one occult, and common sexio-magical formula that the male must receive his power from the female if he is to become truly empowered or initiated among many other possible options. From a Thelemic perspective, British occultist Aleister Crowley has much to write on the image of the Phallus in modern occultism in The Book of Lies:

“Mighty and erect is this Will of mine, this Pyramid
of fire whose summit is lost in Heaven. Upon it
have I burned the corpse of my desires.
Mighty and erect is this Phallus of my Will. The
seed thereof is That which I have borne within me
from Eternity; and it is lost within the Body of
Our Lady of the Stars.
I am not I; I am but an hollow tube to bring down
Fire from Heaven.
Mighty and marvellous is this Weakness, this
Heaven which draweth me into Her Womb, this
Dome which hideth, which absorbeth, Me.
This is The Night wherein I am lost, the Love
through which I am no longer I.”

Additionally, the image of the phallus in this context, has been regarded by Crowley as identifiable with the image of the “dying god” of which Dionysus, Osiris and Christ are the most common examples. Further, following the phallic image of the caduceus which is most explicitly described in the Levi image, Crowley writes in Confessions:

“”The caduceus contains a complete symbol of the Gnosis; the winged sun or phallus represents the joy of life on all planes from the lowest to the highest.”

These images, while fraught with some problems in the context of modern queer and feminist theory, is a well-established idea that I personally (as a cisgender, queer, bio-male) don’t find much objection to especially since, from the biological principal of these formulae, is precisely what needs to happen for the creation of the magical child. If there are other formulae, they either haven’t been written about extensively or don’t have the wide-appeal that would make sense to the general occult audience to be worth mentioning.

Theologically, the performance comes relatively short, but in the end it was never meant to be a theological dialogue and cannot be judged within a framework apart from that toward which it appeals. To judge it from a Pagan, Christian, Satanic or any other religious perspective would do an injustice to the performance, art and science of the ritual as well as to the general understanding that the Esoteric Book Conference is not a pagan event such as PantheaCon, rather a gathering of occultists and academics concerned with the development, preservation and promulgation of the ideas and theories of Esotericism.

Registering Spirits, Considerations for Post-Modern Grimoires

With the upcoming Esoteric Book Conference, I find my thoughts preoccupied with thinking about books and, by extension, the intense amount of effort that magicians have spent over the centuries in the creation and preservation of occult texts. All things considered, few things things epitomize the popular image of the magician more than a robed man*, standing in a magic circle, holding a large book in one hand and his wand in the other while shadowy images of angels and demons surround the periphery of the oratory as he seeks to contact or command representatives of the celestial and infernal worlds.

Faust in his Study

While few examples of such texts remain from the medieval age, we have enough evidence to suggest that they have existed and the practice of creating such texts is a continuing art among contemporary magicians in one form or another and, honestly, what modern-day magician doesn’t like the idea of having a beautifully bound, hand-written and illuminated book of conjurations, or Liber Spirituum? In The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, written by pesudo-Agrippa, an entire chapter is dedicated to outlining how one may make such a text:

There is extant amongst those Magicians (who do most use the ministery of evil spirits) a certain Rite of invocating spirits by a Book to be consecrated before to that purpose; which is properly called, A book of Spirits (Liber Spirituum); whereof we shall now speak a few words. For this Book is to be consecrated, a book of evil spirits, ceremoniously to be composed, in their name and order: whereunto they binde with a certain holy Oath, the ready and present obedience of the spirits therein written.

Now this book is to be made of most pure and clean paper, that hath never been used before; which many do call Virgin-paper. And this book must be inscribed after this maner: that is to say, Let there be placed on the left side the image of the spirit, and on the right side his character, with the Oath above it, containing the name of the spirit, and his dignity and place, with his office and power. Yet very many do compose this book otherwise, omitting the characters or image: but it is more efficacious not to neglect any thing which conduceth to it.

Moreover, there is to be observed the circumstances of places, times, hours, according to the Stars which these spirits are under, and are seen to agree unto, their site, rite, and order being applied.

Which book being so written, and well bound, is to be adorned, garnished, and kept secure, with Registers and Seals, lest it should happen after the consecration to open in some place not intented [sic], and indanger [endanger] the operator. Furthermore, this book ought to be kept as reverently as may be: for irreverence of minde causeth it to lose its vertue, with pollution and profanation.

Now this sacred book being this composed according to the maner already delivered, we are then to proceed to the consecration thereof after a twofold way: one whereof is, That all and singular the spirits who are written in the book, be called to the Circle, according to the Rites and Order which we have before taught; and the book that is to be consecrated, let there be placed without the Circle in a triangle. And in the first place, let there be read in the presence of the spirits all the Oathes which are written in that book; and then the book to be consecrated being placed without the Circle in a triangle there drawn, let all the spirits be compelled to impose their hands where their images and characters are drawn, and to confirm and consecrate the same with a special and common Oath. Which being done, let the book be taken and shut, and preserved as we have before spoken, and let the spirits be licensed to depart, according to due rite and order.

While we can safely assume that few books were made in such an elaborate way, we have no evidence to suggest to the contrary. Reasonably, I would wager that most of these books would have been less assuming in appearance and, depending on where and when they were written, would not have been subjected to such formal treatment. Again, I could be wrong.

Having recently read and re-read Michael Cecchetelli’s Crossed Keys, I found myself thinking about the idea of the Liber Spirituum and early grimoires not so much as a “grammary of magic” but as something much more intimate to the magician and commoner of that age, the personal psalter. These little books in many ways describe to me exactly what pseudo-Agrippa would have been writing about and would have been just as important to the magician in that both contain selections of prayers, calendrical tables and illuminations (images and seals of angels and devils). Typically only the wealthiest of persons would have had access to such beautiful examples as Saint Alban’s Psalter or the Belles Heures of Jean de France, but since evidence also suggests that the medieval magician was also most likely to have been a member of clergy or at least a part of the minor orders of the Catholic Church, it’s possible that these people would have had access to the materials in their construction.

Below I include a chart comparing and contrasting similarities and differences between most conventional psalter texts alongside with descriptions from pseudo-Agrippa on the components of the Liber Spirituum:

Comparative Anatomy of the Grimoire to Psalter
Psalter	Grimoire or Liber Spirituum (pseudo-Agrippa, et. Al.)
Calendar of church feasts	“Moreover, there is to be observed the circumstances of places, times, hours, according to the Stars which these spirits are under, and are seen to agree unto, their site, rite, and order being applied.”
Excerpts from the Synoptic Gospels
Little Office of the Virgin Mary	(No cognate in most grimoires, although version of Ars Notoria attributed to Mary)
Fifteen Psalms of Degrees	“Then let him enter the place fasting, and washed, and let him begin to pray towards the east this whole Psalm: Beati inmaculati in via, &c. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, &c. (Psal. 119 [Vulgate: 118])” (Psalm 119 mentioned in GKoS et. Al – also, used extensively in angel magic of the 72-letter Name)
Seven Penitential Psalms	(Not overtly mentioned in text, but contextually can be assumed due to presence in other grimoires, e.g. Greater Key of Solomon, Lemegeton, True Grimoire, etc.)
Litany of the Saints	Conjurations
Office of the Dead	(no cognate)
Hours of the Cross	(see “Calendar”)
Other prayers	“Holy prayers and imprecations, as well unto God, as to the holy Angels and Heroes.”
	*Plates and Medals

As we can see, there are many similarities in the construction of both texts. Of course, I have taken some personal liberty in drawing parallels between certain parts, but for the time being I feel that this should provide a basic (though imperfect) look at the construction of the two.

Today the skill needed to make such a text is more readily available than ever before and while taking a great deal of time and effort, the materials are not prohibitively expensive depending on how involved you want to make the process. Learning how to make one can also be a good exercise in fine arts – learning calligraphy, the methods of illumination, even book-binding for those who want to have complete control over every aspect of the process. Any decent art-store should have the materials needed for converting a good, blank journal into an heirloom for generations to come and, with advances in paper preservation, most modern texts would last a lot longer than ever before.

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*This is not to assume that there haven’t been female magicians, in fact there have been and independent scholar Brandy Williams has recently written an entire book on the subject.

Syncretizations of the Saints

In recent years, particularly among religious polytheists, conversation has arisen surrounding reclaiming known feast days of particular deities from the Christian veneer painted over them, thus allowing them to be once again celebrated using our calendric system which, in my opinion, seems to make a lot of sense since calculating religious dates can sometimes become cumbersome depending on the use of particular cultures (e.g. Ptolemaic, Middle Egyptian, and Akkadian calendars). To my knowledge, however, little has been discussed about converting conventional Christian images or images from one’s prevailing culture and effectively syncretizing them with one’s personal deities.

While for some this may be in bad taste at best or meet with accusations of imperializing the religious beliefs of others, I think in some way that a good argument can be made for doing so. In many cases conventional imagery of non-Christian deities tends to be relatively expensive and unless one lives in a socially liberal or urban area, it might not be in one’s best interest to openly display objects of devotion openly. While nobody should have to do so out of fear of persecution, in the world of religion as in art, sometimes the biggest flattery can be wholesale imitation of known ideas and works.

Lately I’ve embarked on a personal adventure in re-exploring a series of workings I started last year around this time focusing on the god-form of Zeus in his syncretization as  Zeus (alternately Jupiter) – Ammon. While there are some very good images of Zeus-Ammon available on the internet and in specialty stores, my love for iconography has led me to use the image of Moses the Law-Giver in my rituals since that particular image conveys to me many of the same elements as the aforementioned deity and, thankfully to Jerome’s terrible translation of Hebrew scriptures into the vulgate Latin version of the Bible, most traditional images of Moses come complete with horns or beams of light issuing from his brow – something aesthetically in common with the ancient god.

Coptic icon of Moses the Lawgiver

Below, I propose, a list of other possible syncretizations one may experiment with if so moved from Greco-Egyptian polytheism:

Popular Deity	Catholic Saint Equivalent
Agatha Tykhe	Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Anubis	Cynocephalic Saint Christopher
Aphrodite	Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Virgin Mary)
Asklepios	Saint Patrick of Ireland
Bast or Bastet	Saint Gertrude of Nivelles
Bes	Saint Bessus
Cybele	Mary as Theotokos
Demeter	Saint Lucy
Dionysus	Saint John the Baptist
The Dioskouri	Saints Cosmas and Damien
Hades	Saint Athanasius
Harpokrates (Heru-sa-Aset)	Infant Jesus of Prague
Hekate	Our Lady of Czestochowa
Hephaistos	Saint Eligius
Hermes	Jesus the Good Shepherd
Horus the Elder (Heru-Wer)	Imerius of Immertal
Kore-Persephone	Saint Philomena
Ma’at	Saint Catherine of Siena
Poseidon	Saint Nicholas
Ptah	Saint Joseph the Worker
Ra	Saint Thomas Aquinas
Thoth	Saint Isidore of Seville
Zeus	Moses the Patriarch

There are, of course, many other possible options and this list is by no means definitive, but rather illustrative of some possibilities that one may wish to experiment with. If anyone does end up taking my suggestions here or has previous experience doing the same, I would be very interested in sharing notes.

Catching Up and Doing Stuff

This past week I’ve been inspired to come back to writing after a brief hiatus from doing anything other than taking care of personal needs. It’s been nice to get back to doing something I enjoy doing as well as share my knowledge, experiences and rants since – well – I can only talk to my tarantula so much before she decides to hide in her coconut shell and roll her eyes at my bitching and bursts of manic inspiration.

In the time that I’ve been away, it seems like a lot of interesting things have come up all over the esoteric blogosphere that I’ll need to spend some time reading over and contribute my two cents at some point. Additionally, I’m finding some great writings by other magicians and occultists whose work I’m deeply impressed by which further encourages me in my pursuit.

Here’s a brief rundown of some of the blogs and entries by which I’ve been particularly impressed:

• Sarah Lawless, the “Witch of Forest Grove”, does is again and provides some great insight into the process of creating spirit bottles and fetiches in her article How to Make an Ancestor Spirit Bottle
• Conjureman Ali brings up some interesting insights on the possibility of Holy Guardian Angel(s) and initiates related discussion on  Rufus Opus’ Head for the Red regarding HGA’s and Cosmological Principals, and M.C. makes the important distinction between many of these principals Holy Guardian Angels, Helpful Spirits, S.A.’s and The Genius in The Lion Den.
• Conversation arises about the question of Wicca as a Christian heresy by Star Foster over on Patheos’ Pagan Portal. My dear friend Erynn Rowan Laurie makes some great contributions to the discussion, and well as Kenaz Filion contributes some great ideas to which Sannion responds by noting examples of  pre-Christian evangelism.  I end up joking in my head about Wicca as Christianity in Drag because I’m wrong like that.
• For those in the Pacific Northwest, the annual Esoteric Book Conference is less little over a week away and I’ll be volunteering there, as always. At the conference my close friend, sister and true Magia Femina, Brandy Williams will be unveiling her new book The Woman Magician – a long-overdue exploration of women and magic for women magicians.

As for me, I’m in the process of editing an article for Sky’s Embrace, the newsletter of Horizon Lodge Ordo Templi Orientis, deceptively titled “Simplified Goetia” and making some plans toward giving a comprehensive series of classes on practical goetic magic in the near future in Seattle.