Paganicon 2018’s theme is Fire and Ice, and at least one way to interpret this focus is the joining of absolute opposites. With this in mind, Leaping Laughter Oasis, O.T.O., offers a presentation of the Gnostic Mass for Paganicon.
Aleister Crowley wrote the script for the Gnostic Mass — which we often call Liber XV (Book 15) — in 1913 while travelling in Russia. It isn’t surprising, then, that the overall structure is similar to the Mass of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Its purpose, however has been updated to apply to the Aeon of the Crowned and Conquering Child and is focused on the same union on opposites as this conference. It also calls forth many of the principles of Thelema.
It is the central rite of Ordo Templi Orientis and its ecclesiastical arm, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica. The ceremony calls for five officers: a Priest, a Priestess, a Deacon, and two acolytes. The end of the ritual culminates in the consumption of the Eucharist, consisting of a goblet of wine and a Cake of Light, after which the congregant proclaims “There is no part of me that is not of the gods!”
