Priest And Priestess example essay topic

I arrived at the theatre at one thirty. Not many people were there yet. I noticed a couple of them sitting in the hallway. The priest of this congregation is Michael Es tell, whom I contacted prior to attending the mass. He told me that the Lodge Master and other officers were already inside. They were busy setting up the ritual area for this time's Ordo Templi Orientis Gnostic Mass.

At that time, no one else was allowed inside the ritual room. All other members had to wait outside. Around me, people began to come in, and the two benches in the hall were beginning to be filled up. On my right sat a heavyset man about thirty-five. He wore a black bandana and leather vest, and his arms featured more tattoos than I could count. He introduced himself as James, and a musician.

He told me that he had been initiated to the OTO six years ago, just shortly before the congregation moved from Broadway to its currently location. Aside from the OTO, he also frequently attended local Wiccan meetings. Across the narrow hallway sat Grace, a young Asian woman. She was also a Wiccan. She had been participating in the OTO for over three years now.

She came with her friend Steve, who is a senior at CUNY City College. Steve moved to New York from Texas three years ago. He was raised in an OTO family, and had attended ceremonies when he was in Taxes. More people came in while I was talking to Grace. One of them was Pete. He, like me, was attending a Gnostic Mass for the first time.

He and his father drove in from New Jersey. Pete told me that he had been reading about the OTO on the Internet. From its website, he found out about Aleister Crowley's books, and had been reading them on his own. Now after two years of solitary reading, he felt it's time to see the ceremony in motion. According to the Lodge Master, usually ten to twenty people would show up for a ceremony. This time, a total of fifteen were present.

Most of them were in their twenties and thirties, and only a few looked older than forty. Like James and Grace, most of them also had connections with various Pagan and Wiccan communities other than the OTO. Their religious symbols were visible in forms of tattoos, jewelry, and clothes. The most common ones were the Wiccan pentagon, and the Egyptian Ankh.

The Lodge Master also wore a pendant in the form of the OTO Laden. At last, the Lodge Master came out from the room, and began to collect the mandatory donation. The Gnostic Mass was about to start. The Gnostic Mass was written around 1912, it is the central ceremony of OTO's public and private celebrations. The Spiritual Father of Ordo Templi Orientis was Carl Kellner. He was a student of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and Eastern mysticism.

He and Theodor Re uss first established the Ordo Templi Orientis Grand Lodge at the beginning of the 20th century. However, it was Aleister Crowley who shaped today's OTO. After he became the National Grand Master General in 1912, he began to put together a workable system of ten numbered degrees. Its ceremonies and theological beliefs draw from many sources, including Free masonic, Rosicrucian and Illuminist, early Christian Gnostic traditions, Pagan Mystic Schools, and several other occult and mystical societies. Most of these theories and ceremonies, including the Gnostic Mass, were written down by Crowley in The Book of the Law. This fieldwork was conducted at the New York charter of the OTO, called the Tahuti Lodge.

It usually rents a studio for its ceremonies, both public and private. This time, it was using studio 4 G in the Musical Theatre Works building, near Greenwich Village area of Manhattan. This part of town has many theatre buildings and art studios. The theatre is located on the third and fourth floor of a six-story building. From what I saw, most of the rooms were rented out to various groups by the hour. This Sunday, many were apparently being used for singing or dancing practices.

The Tahuti Lodge currently has over seventy initiated members throughout the New York Metro. Its members include people of all ages and races. The Deacon admitted the congregation into the room. I looked around. At first, I couldn't see much other than the altar. There were no lights inside; the only source of illumination came from three lines of candles on different levels of the altar.

A kind of curiously strong incense floated in the air. I felt like it was trying to suffocate me. Two lines of chairs faced each other in the middle of the room, they were lining the north and south walls. I sat down.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I started to check out other areas of the room. It was not a big room, about 700 sq. ft. On the east side of the room, black and white checked stairs led up to the High Altar, which was draped in red cloth. The candles, along with a vase of red roses, and two bottles, sat on the altar. There were two objects at the center of the higher two levels. The top one was The Book of the Law, and below that was a picture of Aleister Crowley.

A purple curtain was hanging around the altar, for now it was still open. Directly opposite the altar, at the west side, was a closet. A person can easily stand inside. There was another curtain for the closet, this one a very dark color, but I couldn't say if it were black or dark red. Two rows of chairs faced each other along the north and south walls. Between all four sides, there were two small marble tables in the middle.

The one near the west end was round. There were a bowl of salt, and a glass of water on it. The other was square, a single candle, and an incense burner sat on this one. Not including officers of the mass, twelve people took the all the chairs. I sat at the west end. To my left were two men in their thirties.

One was certainly Wiccan, he wore a T-shirt with the Wiccan pentagon printed on it. Next to them sat Grace and Steve. To their left was a blonde woman about forty, she had helped to prepare the room. On the south row sat the Lodge Master near the east.

Next to him was a couple, and they quickly sat down. Pete and his father, Ray, were near the west. They were both looking around constantly, not unlike me. After everyone had taken a seat, the Deacon walked to the middle of the room. He was dressed in a white robe, with yellow patterns at the bottom. He stated the necessary procedures of the mass, and asked those who couldn't, or were not willing to perform, to leave the ceremony.

Nobody left. The Deacon moved to the side to put on the music. The Mass began. The Deacon first advanced the altar, he bowed to The Book of the Law. He then said: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I proclaim the Law of Light, Life, Love, and Liberty in the name of IA.

The congregation answered: Love is the law, love under will. He then proclaimed his believe in the Father, the Mother, in Baphomet and Thelma. The Priestess entered. She was covered in a white robe, and a blue drape on top of that.

She carried a sword, and said: Greeting of Earth and Heaven! People gave the hailing sign. Left hand on chest, and right hand held up, palm facing front. She used her sword to pull aside the curtain of the western closet. The Priest emerged as "a man among men" from within. He held a lance in his hand.

The Priest then knelt to the Priestess. She took the salt from the round table, and mixed it in the water. She returned to the west, and sprinkled the Priest over his forehead, chest, and body. She asked: Let the salt of Earth admonish the water to bear the virtue of the Great Sea.

Mother, be thou adored. Be the Priest pure of body and soul. She then moved to the square table to take the incense burner, and swung it in front of the Priest three times. She asked: Let the Fire and the Air make sweet the world.

Father, be thou adored. Be the Priest fervent of body and soul. The Deacon took from the east a red robe. The Priestess dressed the Priest in it. And said: Be the flame of the Sun thine ambience, O thou Priest of the Sun.

The Deacon took a red headdress, and a crown with a serpent on it from the east. The Priestess put it on the Priest's head. She said: Be the Serpent thy crown, O thou Priest of the Lord! She knelt to the Priest, and ran her hand up and down the lance eleven times. She said: Be the Lord present among us. The people gave the Hailing Sign, and together we answered: So mote it be.

Then marked the end of the Ceremony of the Introit. This part of the Mass is used to introduce the officers and the people into the ritual area. After this was the Ceremony of the Opening of the Veil. The Priest: Thee therefore whom we adore we also invoke. By the power of the lifted Lance.

He raised the Lance, as we repeated the hailing sign. The Priest used his left hand to take the Priestess by her right hand. Then said: I, Priest and King, take thee, Virgin pure without spot; I upraise thee; I lead thee to the East; I set thee upon the summit of the Earth. He sat the Priestess upon the altar.

He then took the water and sprinkled her five times on her forehead, shoulders, and thighs. He took the incense burner and swung it five times at the same places. He drew the curtain closed to conceal the entire altar area. The Priest, Priestess, and Deacon then took turns to pray to the Gods, as we knelt in a circle with our hands linked. When the Priestess finished her last speech with: There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt. The Priest had already ascended to the third, and top stair, then he drew the curtain apart using the lance.

There sat the Priestess. During the time the Priest gave his speech, the Priestess had taken off her white robe, though not the blue drape. She now sat half naked on the altar, with the Book of the Law on her lap. Her left hand held a goblet covered by a piece of red cloth, and her right hand held a plate of brown cookies, called the Cake of Light. We went back to resume our seats. Now both Priest and Priestess had established their place on the High Altar, the Ceremony of the Opening of the Veil was finished.

The next stage was done with the Collects, which are a set of eleven prayers addressed to the Sun, Moon, Lord, Lady, Saints, Earth, Principles, Birth, Marriage, Death, and the End. After each prayer, we answered: So mote it be. The last part of the mass was similar to what is done in Catholic Masses. We engage in communication with the Gods by advancing the altar to receive a Cake of Light and a glass of wine.

The Priest was the first to consume. He knelt, and took a piece of cake offered by the Priestess, and said: In my mouth be the essence of the life of the Sun. He then took the cup, uncover the veil, and said: In my mouth be the essence of the joy of the earth. After he consumed both in silence, I followed the others up to the altar. I first took a piece of cake from the Priestess. The Priest asked me if I prefer wine or grape juice.

I took a cup of the grape juice. Each person had to walk down from the altar to eat and drink. The cake tasted like a mixture of honey, cinnamon, ginger, and wine. After I finished them, I imitated everybody else, and spoke out: There is no part of me that is not of the Gods. The Priest drew close the altar's curtain again, when we had all finished.

He came down from the stairs, and circled the two tables three times in 8 pattern, and said: The Lord bless you. The Lord enlighten your minds and comfort your hearts and sustain your bodies. The Lord bring you to the accomplishment of your true Wills, the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness. He went back to his closet, and closed the curtain.

The Deacon came forth to announce the end of this time's Gnostic Mass. There was no provision made for spectators in the drama of the Mass. The people, both members and guests, were all expected to make the appropriate gestures, and speak the assigned words at various points in the ritual. Everyone must make an effort to join the action in the fashion indicated. As explained by the Priest, their creed does not require devotion to any living or historical leader.

Nor does it demand acceptance of miraculous events beyond the experience of any individual. However, it does include some unusual language, particularly magick names of power. Guests should assure themselves beforehand that they will be willing to speak the creed with the congregation. The Gnostic Mass is a ritual which shadows forth age-old mysteries and affirms the dawning Law of Liberty.

Members of the Church take great pleasure in participating in the rituals. When I said I saw many were crying in the hallway afterwards. The Lodge Master explained that many of them felt the overwhelming power and beauty at this ritual, and it was crucial that they share their feelings with the congregation. The mass had ended, and the room was soon cleaned up.

Pete and I each took an initiation form. Although I had already known some of the OTO ceremonial rituals, what I saw there could never have been explained on paper.