An End to the Crisis of God

Jesus is gone.

Forty four days ago we all conspired to shed his blood and put him to death. Some of us conspired through betrayal, some through denial, and others through inaction, false witness, and a myriad of other ways. We denied his humanity, we desecrated his divinity, we tied him up, led him in chains, affixed him to a beam of wood, nailed him to the cross, pierced his side and turned our backs even as he cried to the heavens and released his soul unto death.

Forty days ago he returned from death and nobody who saw him recognized his face even though he had only been in the tomb for three days. Not even his closest companions recognized him. He came back and found us all drunk and stupefied, forgetful of everything he shared with us for the years that we followed him around pretending to learn eagerly at his feet and seeing our distress, stayed with us for another forty days to assuage our grief, to instruct us of the mysteries which lie beyond and then, like the putting out of a candle, his light was absorbed into heaven and once again, Jesus was gone.We were left without him.

But he left a promise.

Good Friday

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.
- Paulo Coelho

ILLE mi par esse deo uidetur, ille, si fas est, superare diuos,qui sedens aduersus identidem te spectat et audit dulce ridentem, misero quod omnis eripit sensus mihi: nam simul te.
-Catullus, Carmina 51

“This is what is signified by the words Ana l-haqq, “I am God.” People imagine that it is a presumptuous claim, whereas it is really a presumptuous claim to say Ana ‘l-’abd, “I am the slave of God”; and Ana l-haqq, “I am God” is an expression of great humility. The man who says Ana ‘l-’abd, “I am the servant of God” affirms two existences, his own and God’s, but he that says Ana l-haqq, “I am God” has made himself non-existent and has given himself up and says “I am God”, that is, “I am naught, He is all; there is no being but God’s.” This is the extreme of humility and self-abasement.”
- Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, commentary on Mansur Al-Hallaj

“So you see, Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being.”
-Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prynn

Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath;
We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death.
Laurel is green for a season, and love is sweet for a day;
But love grows bitter with treason, and laurel outlives not May.
- Charles Algernon Swinburne

Cum ergo accepisset Jesus acetum, dixit: Consummatum est. Et inclinato capite tradidit spiritum.

- IOHANNES XIX: xxx

Lenten Meditation: Water

 

God calls us, even now, reminding us that there is no better moment than the present to begin seeking to remember our divine origins and that we have at this very moment an opportunity that we can freely take advantage of to deepen our knowledge and embody the nature of the Christ. In practicing mindfulness, we can start to see through the watery illusions which we have put about us and start remembering who we were.

The image of water as a concrete means of purification is self-explanatory, however water as a means of spiritual purification, dare I say atonement, and is one of the foundational mysteries of Christian belief – that is Baptism. The outward washing with water symbolizes an inward cleansing of the soul and is practiced to this day by many people of a variety of different faiths. In joining the symbolic path of Christ during Lent, we must wash away the accretions of falsehood from our field of perception so that we may come to better know our divine natures and be recognized for our own inherent divinity (cif. John 9:12, I Cor. 13:12).

As one who may have had more than a passing familiarity with the mystery traditions of the Greeks as well as the Egyptians in addition to his own Jewish heritage, the usage of water in purification rites would have been very clear to Jesus however, during the Lenten season, it is also into the waters that we must descend in order to die to our old ways of viewing the world and become reborn and regenerated in order to gain a more comprehensive idea of “whereto we speed ”.

For the Ancient Egyptian religions, water or mw played an important role in the lives of the sacral duties of their priesthoods so much so that an entire clerical class, w’b nswt or purification priests,  were in charge of preparing ritual space but were not allowed to enter the sanctuary where the Divine Image was kept. An interesting parallel here might be to consider the role of John the Baptist in the desert preparing the way for Jesus as the embodiment and instructor of embodying God. Also, interestingly, although the Hebrew letter mem (מ) is believed to be graphically related to the Egyptian n-water ripple this represents only the letter, “n”, the Sefer HaBahir which may be dated to the first century, informs us, “Do not read Mem, but Mayim (water).”

So, what do we find in water? Biologically, the human fetus is suspended in the waters of the womb for nine months before birth and upon exiting the womb encounters a deserted wasteland of pure potentiality but first, the first impetus of many of us at birth is to cry at the cold world we’ve been thrust into before being picked up and placed into the loving arms of our first parent whose voice we quickly learn to recognize and whose heartbeat we already know. On a spiritual nature, we already have the capacity to listen to the heartbeat of God and hear our First Parent or Protogenetiera (cf. Eugnostos the Blessed) speaking Her Wisdom into us (cf. proverbs 8:22-8:31, Wisdom 7:25-7:26) continually fostering our connection to the Sacred Flame.

Water is also emblematic of emotion, specifically connection to our emotions, and is ruled by the Moon as countless folk-legends attest. The first step in our purification then must be to be attentive to our own moods and the their waxing and waning cycles and direct our focus and offer our experiences, through blood, sweat and tears, where we might find “true life through intelligence and love ” and fulfill the great commandment given by Christ to us, that through understanding our own selves and purifying our own fluctuations, we may be able to love one another in such a way as He had loved us, even unto the watery depths.

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[1] “Je suis descendu du Ciel? Est-ce parce qu’il a habité avec les Grecs, qu’il vient ainsi converser avec nous? Que de commun ce qu’il a appris des Égyptiens, et ce que nos pères nous ont appris?” Palaprat, B.R. Lévitikon: ou Exposé des principes fondamentaux de la doctrine des chrétiens-catholiques-primitifs: suivi de leurs évangiles, d’un extrait de la Table d’or… et précédé du statut sur le gouvernement de l’Eglise et la hiérarchie lévitique

[2] “Μέχρι τοῦ βαπτίσματος οὖν ἡ Εἱμαρμένη, φασίν, ἀληθής· μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο οὐκέτι ἀληθεύουσιν οἱ ἀστρο 4.78.2 λόγοι. Ἔστιν δὲ οὐ τὸ λουτρὸν μόνον τὸ ἐλευθεροῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ γνῶσις, τίνες ἦμεν, τί γεγόναμεν· ποῦ ἦμεν, ἢ ποῦ ἐνεβλήθημεν· ποῦ σπεύδομεν, πόθεν λυτρούμεθα· τί γέννησις, τί ἀναγέννησις.” ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ΘΕΟΔΟΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΛΟΥΜΕΝΗΣ ΔΙΔΑΣΚΑΛΙΑΣ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΥΣ ΟΥΑΛΕΝΤΙΝΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΤΟΜΑΙ, Clement of Alexandria

[3] Kaplan, Aryeh (ed.), Bahir

[4] Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie, Eliphas Levi

This Little Light of Mine

As I’m sure we’re all well aware, the season of Advent is quickly approaching. Last weekend, we experienced the feast day of one of my personal favorite saints, Saint Martin of Tours, whose feast in many ways represents the culmination of the octave of All Saints and All Souls day. From the late 4th Century to the Middle Ages, a period of fasting beginning on the day after St. Martin’s Day, November 11. This fast period lasted 40 days, and was, therefore, called “Quadragesima Sancti Martini”, which means in Latin “the forty days of St. Martin.” As times and history would have it, this period of fasting would later develop into the four Sundays of Advent familiar to many in the Western Churches.

Personally, around Saint Martin’s feast day, I start mentally preparing myself for the Christmas season and coming up with personal meditations and reflections as we begin to approach the darkest half of the year which, paradoxically, is also the time of year where the light of the Sun is symbolically reborn and begins to grow and wax once again. For anyone whose read Frazer or Joseph Campbell or has familiarity with contemporary neo-Paganism, the symbolism of the Christ Child being born around Winter Solstice and bringing light into the world is not a terribly novel idea, but it’s that mythic cycle that we can use to help ourselves to illuminate the depths of our own spiritual experiences in a cyclical way.

Last year I experienced a particularly deep and profound spiritual Advent season by intentionally participating in a local parish’s celebration of the season and also deepening my friendship with many at Hagia Sophia community as well as my own relationship with members of my community in the Apostolic Johannite Church. During this period, I thought about and sketched out some notes for a more family or individual based Advent celebration for members of the greater Gnostic community to follow at home since many lack regular access to churches and temples. Inspired by the idea of the Four Luminaries of the Secret Book of John as guardians of the macrocosmic Christ Consciousness, I put together this ritual that can be performed individually or as a small group for people wanting to participate meaningfully in the Advent Season.

Maybe my presentation here is a little premature, but it is my hope that those who wish to participate with me in this might also be inspired by the meditations I will be writing about this season using the readings suggested.

Emmanuel, icon written by Betsy Porter
egg tempera, shell gold, and gold leaf on shaped panel, 9.5 x 12.5 inches, 2007
photograph by Richard Anderson

Advent Wreath Service

The family or group gathers around the wreath (which is not yet lit).

Leader:

The One has brought forth the One, then One, and these Three are but One: the + Father, +the Word and +the Thought.

Lord, open my lips.

People:            And my mouth shall proclaim Your praise.

Leader:           O God, make speed to save me.

People:            O Lord, make haste to help me.

Leader:           Glory be to God, whose grace and mercy be upon us forever.

All                       Amen.

A member of the community comes to the altar or wherever the Advent wreath is placed and gives the Leader a candle or other source of fire.

Leader

I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.

Leader:

“For from the light, which is the Christ, and the indestructibility, through the gift of the Spirit the four lights appeared from the divine Self-Begotten. He expected that they might attend him. And the three are Will, Thought, and Life. And the four powers are Understanding, Grace, Perception, and Prudence.

On the appropriate Sunday, the candles are lit and the following names are intoned as the candles are lit.

First Sunday

And grace belongs to the light-aeon Armozel, which is the first angel. And there are three other aeons with this aeon: Grace, Truth, and Form.

Second Sunday

And the second light is Oriel, who has been placed over the second aeon. And there are three other aeons with him: conception, perception, and memory.

Third Sunday

And the third light is Daveithai, who has been placed over the third aeon. And there are three other aeons with him: understanding, love, and idea.

Fourth Sunday

And the fourth aeon was placed over the fourth light Eleleth. And there are three other aeons with him: Perfection, Peace, and Wisdom.

After each reading, the Leader concludes with the following from the Apocryphon of John.

Leader

These are the lights which attend the divine Self-Begotten, and these are the twelve aeons which attend the son of the mighty one, the Self-Begotten, the Christ, through the will and the gift of the invisible Spirit. And the twelve aeons belong to the son of the Self-Begotten. And all things were established by the will of the Holy Spirit through the Self-Begotten Christ.”

Phos Hilaron (said together)

O gracious Light, pure brightness of the ever-living Father in heaven, O Christ, holy and blessed! Now as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing your praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Scripture Reading

After the reading

Reader: The Word of the Lord

All: Thanks be to God

The Peace

Leader: The peace of the Lord be with you

All: And also with you

All may exchange the peace

Leader: The Lord be with you

All: And also with you

Leader:  Let us pray

The Lord’s Prayer

Prayer of Witness

Leader

O Lord our God, let us never be removed from the Gnosis which is our innermost nature. Fill us with strength and with the grace which you have bestowed upon us to that we may carry the light to those in ignorance, to our brothers and sisters, daughters and sons. Therefore I believe and I bear witness. I go to Life and to light.

All                   Amen.

Final Blessing

Leader:          The Lord bless us and keep us.

All                   Amen.

Leader           The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us.

All                      Amen.

Leader            The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. ALL                     Amen.

Leader:           Let us bless the Lord.

People:            Thanks be to God.

Put out the candle or candles

Here are suggested readings for the weeks of Advent. Alternately, one could use the vesper readings from June Singer’s A Gnostic Book of Hours.

First Week

Sunday Matthew 25:1-13

Monday Isaiah 1:16-18

Tuesday Isaiah 60:1-3

Wednesday Psalm 43: 3-5

Thursday Isaiah 58:6-9

Friday 1 John 2:8-11

Saturday 1 John 3:1-2

 

Second Week

Sunday Isaiah 40:1-5

Monday Revelation 1:7-8

Tuesday Matthew 22:41-45

Wednesday Hosea 11:3-4

Thursday Psalm 130

Friday Micah 6:6-8

Saturday Jeremiah 14:8-9

 

Third Week

Sunday Isaiah 9:6-7

Monday Isaiah 7:10-14

Tuesday Isaiah 11:1-6

Wednesday Isaiah 40:10-11

Thursday Isaiah 52:7

Friday Jeremiah 33:14-16

Saturday Malachi 3:1-2

 

Fourth Week

Sunday John 3:16-21

Monday Luke 1:1-25

Tuesday Luke 1:26-38

Wednesday Luke 1:39-56

Thursday Luke 1:57-66

Friday Luke 1:67-80

Dec. 24 Matthew 1:18-25

Lenten Journey

For many of us who grew up in mainline Christian churches, perhaps the most familiar association with the Lenten season is the aspect of “giving up” something for the symbolic forty days leading from Ash Wednesday to the feast of Pascha, or Easter, as a symbolic spiritual discipline or asceticism. In and of itself there is nothing intrinsically wrong with giving up something for Lent, especially if it is something that is normally a hindrance to one’s usual spiritual practice but, from a pneumatic perspective, it misses the point entirely.

As Father Samuel Osborne+ of Ecclesia Gnostica noted in his Ash Wednesday homily, “Chocolate must be a particularly grave hindrance to spirituality if so many people try to give it up year after year.” Having observed this phenomenon myself for many years, I’m frequently in awe at all the things people are willing to give up for Lent under the impression that it will assist them in their journey closer to God all the while forgetting to pray, read scripture, and perform small acts of charity when possible. The journey we undertake during the Lenten season must be one of intentional imitatio Christi – an imitation of Christ.

During Lent, we seek to foster the Sacred Flame within us that was sparked during Adventide and fan it into a “holy and formless Fire shining flashingly through the depths of the Universe[1]” in time for Pentecost. In order to make that fire shine accordingly, we take Lent as an opportunity to arrange our interior life optimally in order to receive that Holy Spirit in much the same way as having appropriate kindling wood, coals, and protection from external elements is essential toward building a fire when in the wilderness.

Everything about Lent is a deserted wilderness, the wilderness in which John the Forerunner recalls the words of Isaiah, “I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD[2]”; and which Jesus went into for forty days before beginning his public, earthly ministry. In a similar fashion, we must journey into the spiritual wilderness and rely entirely on the Christ within, the Sacred Flame, to preserve us from the hostilities of our more base concerns and darker cognitions that assail us on a regular basis in the forms of addictions, negative self-talk, depression, mental distractions, and everything else that prevent us from being in constant, conscious communion with God.

More esoterically, we can view Lent as a kind of philosophical month – much like that discussed in alchemical treatises – the period of time it takes to refine raw matter into its fullest potentiality. Appropriately, we begin with Ash Wednesday as calcinatio; the First Sunday of Lent as dissolutio; the Second Sunday as separatio, during which we recognize the Christ without and the Christ within and our perpetual yearning toward God; the Third Sunday as conjunctio, when we understand the inseparability between our perceptions of separateness from God; the Fourth Sunday as fermentationem; Palm Sunday as distillatio, during which our experience comes to “a head”; and, finally, Pascha as coagulation – complete identification with the Christ.

Regardless of how one would like to interpret the Lenten journey, the primary importance is that some change – no matter how small – take place and help us grow in our experience (γνῶσις) of the Sacred Flame. Although Lent is the liturgical recognition of this process, it is something that can be taken up at any point of the year or at any point in one’s life. The process of transformation is as unique to each person as their relationship is to Christ and there is no litmus test of success or failure. As the Lenten season continues, it is my simple prayer that we all change and grow in our connection to the Sacred Flame.

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[1] Psell., 14; Pletho, 25. Z

[2] John 1:23

Candlemas

Jumping the gun a bit (because I’m excited), tomorrow is a day of day of celebration in for many things: for the greater pagan community, Imbolc and the commemoration of Bride (or Brigid); but for Christians and Gnostics we commemorate an important day, the commemoration the presentation of the Christ in the temple.

The Feast of the Presentation also called Hypapante (Greek, “meeting”) or, more commonly Candlemas, is considered to be one of the Twelve Great Feasts and is celebrated by Christians world-wide in commemoration of the gospel account of Mary and Joseph’s presentation of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem to complete Mary’s ritual purification forty days after giving birth in obedience to the Law of Moses. By most accounts, the Feast of the Presentation is among the most ancient feasts of the Church and is held in particularly high regard amongst Eastern Christians for being one of the combined feasts of Mary and Jesus – the “Light of the World” who, for the first time in his life, enters into the Temple of Jerusalem symbolically, perhaps, of the Light of God being inflamed in the Temple for all and The All to behold.

In the contemporary Gnostic lectionary, the intent for this feast centers on the “Kindling of the Light in Darkness” as explicitly mentioned in the gospel lesson from the Gospel of Thomas: “Within a man of light there is light and he lights the whole world. When he does not shine, there is darkness.” In the Gospel of Luke which is traditionally read on this date in the outer Church, after Mary and Joseph had made their temple offerings, Mary is approached by a pious man named Simeon who is described in the account as being, “righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: [with] the Holy Spirit upon him” (Luke 2:25) who, upon beholding the infant Jesus prophecies to Mary: “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul; that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

Between the different sets of readings, the lessons from the Gnostic lectionary are a bit more comforting perhaps and less morose than the experience of a new mother being approached by a holy man saying: “Your kid is finally going to show everyone the light of God, probably die a nasty death, and you’re going to experience some trauma – but it’s okay, since it’s all for the better.” In many respects it’s much easier to focus on the contemplative and intentional cultivation of the Sacred Flame within us but, as we see here, it is because of that same type of cultivation that the prophet Simeon was able to sustain himself on the single hope in seeing the Lord. The light which Simeon beheld that day was also the same Sacred Flame that Mary had lovingly and patiently carried within her womb for nine months, gave birth to during one of the darkest nights of the year and, forty days later, presented openly into the world after purifying herself.

Cultivation of the Sacred Flame is something that takes much effort, but when dutifully attended, yields much joy. From the Gospel of Luke we can conjecture that the prophet Simeon himself spend many hours in prayer and supplication and participated regularly in the ritual functions of the Temple. The prophetess, Anna, who is also mentioned in this account, seems to have never left the Temple precinct following her being widowed – a tragic experience for a woman in first century Israel – by her husband some many years earlier. In the case of Simeon, prior to encountering Christ, his experience could be considered something of a “Dark Night of the Soul” looking for the consolation of Israel. Both become inflamed with ecstasy (Gk. ekstasis) by their experiences of “seeing the Light” and prophecy their respective good news which included the foreshadowing Mary would experience herself during the passion of Jesus.

Mary’s position in this is equally one of joy in gaining a brief, illuminative moment affirming the role her son would play in the world as well as a shocking revelation of the suffering she herself would experience in the role of her son’s life. At the time of this event Mary would have still been a very young woman, not even out of adolescence, and to hear such a short time after giving birth that her son’s life was already set, essentially, as a tile for “falling” in a huge domino configuration of events that would tragically pierce through her own soul must have been a very terrifying prospect. As any of us who have attempted to embark on any serious endeavor know, sometimes the fear of failure is enough to make us think twice about doing what we have to do. Yet, through the foresight granted, Mary was able to make the preparations needed within her and for her child to ensure that his mission would fulfill the prophecy of success foretold by Simeon.

The candles which are blessed on this day not only serve to remind us to enkindle and nourish the Sacred Flame within us, but to encourage us to be living examples of that same faith, generosity and love exemplified by Simeon, Anna and Mary in our willingness to share that Sacred Flame with all the world in spite of the difficulties which we know will invariably arise in our course as we seek to go forth into the dark and uncertain territories that we will eventually have to walk through ourselves on the path. With the foreknowledge we have been given through scripture, life experience and prayer, we will find greater light even in dark and confusing situations. As our perceptions are purified by these experiences, and illuminated by understanding, we will be better equipped to handle these rough spots and enlighten others – whomever we meet – along their own paths.

 

Illumination: a Meditation on Advent

Advent Candles

In a brief departure from my series on prayer, I would like to focus on exploring the season of Advent which is now drawing toward its fourth week this Sunday. For those who grew up in the West, the Advent Wreath is one of the many visible Christian symbols of the Christmas season, right up there with the Christmas tree and Crèche. Until recently, when I attended a service at a local Protestant church, I was under the impression that most churches had some established tradition of lighting the Advent candles on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas – apparently I was wrong – which gave me pause to think even more intently on the beauty of this simple ritual which my friend, Brother Pier-Giorgio Winsor O.S.E. has explored extensively on his blog, Gnostic Devotions.

Advent, from the Latin word adventus meaning “[the] coming”, is a season observed in many Western Christian Churches, encompassing the four Sundays leading up to the feast of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is a period of expectant waiting and introspection and mirrors in many ways the similar forty days of fasting and contemplation experienced during Lent leading up to the Feast of the Resurrection, or Easter. Even though the season of Advent is one of expectant waiting and preparation, it is interesting to note that this period of expectant waiting is not without its degree of sorrow in that although we await the symbolic birth and coming of Christ, we also know that his incarnation must inevitably end in his tragic sacrifice. Similarly during Lent, which is a season oftentimes morosely associated with gloom and sorrow of a world without God, there is the ting of joyful expectancy of the Resurrection.

During both seasons we find ourselves in a period of darkness culminating in moments of light. In Advent, we turn inward and seek to find that light within. This light, though difficult to discern at times, is none-other than the light of the indwelling Christ drawing us toward God. As written in the Gospel of John 1:4-5, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” The secret flame, which burns in the heart of every woman and every man, is the light of the Christ even though at times we may not comprehend it in the darkness of our limited perspectives being made incarnate in the world of matter. For this reason, we light physical candles to help guide us as the star which the three magi followed in the weeks leading up to the nativity.

There is a particular irony that Advent occurs during the darkest part of the year, a season during which many people must struggle with seasonal affective disorder and other forms of depression brought about by the lack of light provided by the sun. In a consumerist culture, as such we find ourselves in the United States and Europe, one might note a particular seasonal effective disorder as well during which we expend much energy and thought and stress trying to procure personal effects to give to other people or effectively plaster ourselves with alcohol and other destructive substances to handle our depressions and anxieties. Likewise, there is a similar irony that occurs in Lent which is symbolically the darkest spiritual season in the liturgical calendar leading up to Easter, which always occurs on the first Sunday following the full moon after the vernal equinox – a time leading to the greatest physical light.

In the Book of Sophia we are encouraged: “Seek…after the Light, so that the power of your Soul that is in you may live. Do not desist from seeking by day and by night, until you find the purifying mysteries of the Light which refine the body of matter and make it a pure Light very refined.” Advent, being a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ who is the Light of the World, is an ideal time to refine our search for the light since it is in total darkness that light is most visible. Whether one subscribes to the belief in transmigration of souls or not, there is the belief held by some followers of Buddhism that even in spite of the less-than-ideal circumstances that lead to physical incarnation in a human body, the very fact of being human is the most ideal forms of incarnation for one to have in order to achieve Buddhahood – a similar parallel may be drawn in our own personal process of theosis.

As we prepare this weekend to light the final Advent lamp, let us meditate upon that light which is the light of the gnosis, contained within the vessels which represent the fullness (pleroma) and are fueled by sacred chrism representing the holy wisdom (sophia), that maintains the flame of faith (pistis). These are the four principal characteristics that have define Gnosticism from the beginning and are the four characteristics which principally define the totality that is the Word (logos) who became flesh, incarnating in the body of the eternal child whose birth we commemorate on Christmas.

A Little Gnostic Divine Office for Evening

Continuing from my post yesterday on my work toward a Gnostic Liturgy of the Hours, I put together a Little Gnostic Divine Office for evening again under the inspiration of the service for the same as found in the BCP. As an ecumenical service for Gnostics across different traditions, there are some further considerations to be made, especially in regards to the rotation of readings.

A Little Gnostic Divine Office for Evening

An Act of Confession

Officiant                   We have come before God and before you and before the ordinances of the Holy Church that we may receive pardon and penance for all our sins in thought, word and deed from our birth until now and we ask of God mercy and of you that you pray for us to the Holy Father of Mercy that He forgive us.

People                       Lord, have mercy.

Officiant                   By our tongues we fall into idle words, vain talk, mockery and malice, detraction of our brothers and sisters whom we are not worthy to judge nor to condemn their faults.

People                       Lord, have mercy.

Officiant                   For numerous are the sins by which we daily offend God, night and day, in thought, in word and deed, wittingly and unwittingly, and especially by the desires the evil spirits bring to us in the flesh which clothes us.

People                       Lord, have mercy.

Officiant                   May the almighty and ineffable God, have mercy on us, forgive us our short-comings and draw us nearer to the light of gnosis. Amen.

The Invitatory and Psalter

All stand

Officiant                   God, come to my assistance.

People                       Lord, make haste to help us.

Officiant and People

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as

it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Except in Lent,    Alleluia    may be added.

O Gracious Light                                Phos hilaron

O gracious Light,

pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,

O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

 

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,

and our eyes behold the vesper light,

we sing thy praises, O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Thou art worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,

O Son of God, O Giver of life,

and to be glorified though all the worlds.

Then follows

The Psalm or Psalms Appointed

At the end of the Psalms is sung or said

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

The Lessons

One or two lessons, as appointed, are read, the Reader first saying

A Reading (Lesson) from _______________.

A citation giving chapter and verse may be added.

After each Lesson the Reader may say

The Word of the Lord.
Answer                    Thanks be to God.

Or the Reader may say

Here ends the Lesson (Reading)

A Hymn of Grace for Gnosis            from the Hymns of Hermes

We give Thee grace, Thou highest and most excellent! For by Thy Grace we have received the so great Light of Thy own Gnosis. O holy Name, fit Name to be adored, O Name unique, by which God only must be blest through worship of our Sire, of Thee who deignest to afford to all a Father’s piety, and care, and love, and whatsoever virtue is more sweet than these, endowing us with sense, and reason, and intelligence;-with sense that we may feel Thee; with reason that we may track Thee out from appearances of things; with means of recognition that we may joy in knowing Thee.

Saved by Thy Power divine, let us rejoice that Thou hast shown Thyself to us in all Thy Fullness. Let us rejoice that Thou hast designed to consecrate us, still entombed in bodies, to Eternity.

For this is the sole festival of praise worthy of man-to know Thy Majesty.

We know Thee; yea, by the Single Sense of our intelligence, we have perceived Thy Light supreme,-O Thou True Life of life, O Fecund Womb that giveth birth to every nature!

We have known Thee, O Thou completely filled with the Conception from Thyself of Universal Nature! We have known Thee, O Thou Eternal Constancy!

Form the whole of this our prayer in worship of Thy Good, this favour only of Thy Goodness do we crave: that Thou wilt keep us constant in our Love-of-knowing- Thee, and let us ne’er be cut off from this kind of Life.

The Prayers

The People stand.

Officiant                   The Lord be with you.
People                       And also with you.
Officiant                   Let us pray.

The Lord’s Prayer

Officiant and People

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our tresspasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

O Holy Mother                                    a 13^th Century Cathar prayer

Officiant and People

O Holy Mother

Rightful Queen of all the faithful souls

Who never erred

Who never lied

Follower of the rightful course

Who never doubted

Lest we should accept death

In the realm of the false god;

As we do not belong to this realm

And this realm is not ours:

Teach us Thy Gnosis

And to love what Thou lovest.

Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving                     from the Nag Hammadi Library

Officiant

The thanksgiving of one who attains to You is one thing: that we know You. We have known You, intellectual light. Life of life, we have known You. Womb of every creature, we have known You. Womb pregnant with the nature of the Father, we have known You.

People

Eternal permanence of the begetting Father, thus have we worshiped Your goodness. There is one petition that we ask: we would be preserved in knowledge. And there is one protection that we desire: that we not stumble in this kind of life. Amen

Then may be said

Let us bless the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Optionally, the Officiant may lead the Dance

The Hymn of Jesus & Dance

Officiant

I have recognized myself and gathered myself
together from all sides. I have sown no children to the ruler of
this world, but have torn up his roots;
I have gathered together my limbs that were scattered
abroad and I know thee who thou art.

Officiant

and People                Amen. Amen. Amen.

Officiant                   For the Logos danceth.

People                       Amen!

Officiant                   And the Sophia danceth.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   The Ogdoad playeth to our dancing.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   The Dodecad danceth above us.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   The Heptad danceth with us.

People                       Amen.

Officiant                   Yea, and we all dance the dance!

Officiant

and People                He who danceth not, knoweth not
what is being done.
Officiant                     May we all within the All forever dance.

Officiant

and People               Amen. Amen. Amen.

At present the suggested format for readings is to loosely follow those outlined according to the A, B, C yearly cycle in the Revised Common Lectionary. Naturally, some variations will need to be modified as a more comprehensive liturgical format is innovated or used in accordance to one’s pre-existing Gnostic community.

The current format, according to the Revised Common Lectionary is as follows:

Year A:  2007-2008, 2010-2011, 2013-2014

Year B:  2008-2009, 2011-2012, 2014-2015

Year C:  2009-2010, 2012-2013, 2015-2016

Readings for the Gnostic Gospels can be chosen from those suggested in A Gnostic Book of Hours, combining the readings of Laudes, Prime, and Terce for the Morning Office and None, Vespers and Compline for the Evening Office. These, naturally, can change according to one’s specific liturgical tradition.

Ethiopic-inspired painting of St.Tekle Haimanot by Laura James

 

A Season for Krampus

As I have written in previous entries, I am and remain a very strong supporter of the Occupy movement and what it represents as the largest and most diverse social, economic and civil rights demonstration of the past sixty years. While some may argue that it is too slap-dash and incapable of formulating a coherent set of demands, it is important to consider that it is a peoples’ movement and there are a lot of questions and concerns and demands on the plate that still need to be sorted out. Discussing politics is, however, not the purpose of this essay – instead I want to talk a little bit about Krampus.

Krampus vs. Guy Fawkes

Since the beginning of the Occupy movement, the most iconic image has been supporters and demonstrators wearing Guy Fawkes masks reminiscent of the one worn by the anti-hero “V” in the recent film, V for Vendetta based on a graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore. While I am definitely a big fan of the message of the film itself and think that there are many symbolic elements that can be utilized by participants in the Occupy, one must invariably consider that Guy Fawkes is something of a failed symbol in many ways despite the rehabilitation effort on part of the character, “V”.

The original Guy Fawkes, a British soldier and citizen, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 that was aimed at destroying the British Parliament and re-instating Catholic interests in post-Reformation England. Fawkes as inevitably discovered and was subject to trial during which he and his co-conspirators were to be “put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both”, their genitals mutilated and burnt before their eyes, their internal organs removed, their heads decapitated, and what remains survived be put on display as “prey for the fowls of the air”. Fawkes was the last to stand on the scaffold. He asked for forgiveness of the King and state, while keeping up his “crosses and idle ceremonies”, and aided by the hangman began to climb the ladder to the noose. Although weakened by torture, Fawkes managed to jump from the gallows, breaking his neck in the fall and thus avoiding the agony of the latter part of his execution. In short, he died and celebration of his death continues in England to this day in which his effigies are placed on public display every November 5^th amidst chanting and celebration and publicly burned.

Guy Fawkes on Fire

Krampus, on the other hand, is an interesting symbol whose origins from the European Alpine region are largely shrouded in mystery.  In these regions, Krampus is represented by a demon-like creature accompanying Saint Nicholas, whose job it is to dole out frighten and doll out punishments to naughty girls and boys during the Christmas season. Throughout many cities in Switzerland, Austrai and Southern Bavaria, especially the market town Berchtesgaden; young men dress up as Krampus on the evening of the fifth of December and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells with the hopes of encouraging them to engage in more responsible behavior throughout the rest of the season and the year to come.

Krampus holding the torch

While there are many good reasons for members of the Occupy movement to related to the rehabilitated image of Guy Fawkes/”V”, I am personally convinced that the image of Krampus could potentially be a much more effective iconic symbol of the Occupy movement, especially in the coming weeks leading up to Christmas which is arguably one of the biggest and most lucrative times of year for large banking institutions and corporations that have been shown to have connections to less-than-equitable business practices. Krampus represents responsibility and accountability for one’s actions while more than willing to punish those who engage in harmful practices – business and otherwise.

Krampus has a long history of political action

Even though the image of Krampus is decidedly punitive in nature – a symbol that many in Occupy would gladly see extended to plutocratic industries – it is also creative in origin in that everyone can embody Krampus and each person who don’s that mask and costume puts their own creative faculties and energy into becoming something that is unique and individual and cannot be recreated or pre-packaged. Krampus very much represents community involvement on a highly radical level, something that many Occupiers can appreciate. In addition to the homespun creativity put into making Krampus come to life, there is music, dancing, and community celebration in addition to food. These elements, which are traditional to pre-Coca Cola Christmastide are also values that can be extended throughout the rest of the year as a part of radical self-reliance and community engagement. As an agrarian, pre-Christian folk deity; Krampus’ horns equally represent fertility and the hope for real change in the darkest part of Winter through the Spring.

For the above reasons, I propose the following “Top Five Reasons Why Krampus is Better Than Guy Fawkes” with the hopes that other readers will contribute their reasons in the comments:

Top Five Reasons Krampus is Better Than Guy Fawkes

• Encourages radical community involvement.
• Actually aims to punish wrong-doings.
• Horns are much scarier than a mask and pantaloons.
• Makes reasonable demands.
• Hasn’t been usurped by Time Warner and was never a Papist tool.

While arguing over which symbol is better is arguably childish, the fact is that symbols do have their own peculiar power and can be used by those who seek to make radical changes. I’m not saying that Guy Fawkes/”V” is a bad symbol per se, however I personally feel that Krampus would be a more effective symbol for the needs and goals of the Occupy movement which, hopefully, could provide a little bit of levity as we enter into the darkest part of the year – both in terms of decreasing daylight and the overwhelming suffering brought upon millions by depression, mass-consumerism and a culture addicted to personal gain over community involvement.

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.