Gnostic Mass
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At the risk of this being a loaded question Can anyone explain this?
Thanks in advance,
Flora -
Wellllll....
Mass is generally understood as the miracle of transmuting matter into spirit and shared with the congregation. It's communion.
Or did you mean "this?" This is a four lettered English pronoun intended to point something out to others for a shared experience.
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The prayer I pray was once a cookie.
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Somehow I thought there would be a longer answer. <!-- s:L) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/smile-l.gif" alt=":L)" title="Smile-L" /><!-- s:L) -->
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I'm still not clear on the question.
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What happens at a gnostic mass?
I have heard it is a ritual not to be missed...what about gnosis seperats this mass from others?
Keep in mind I am very green here.
F. -
If you attend a real one, you get to see a naked woman. If you go to a really real one, you get to eat some wafers containing semen. ;D
Aside from that, Takamba pretty well distilled the meaning of "mass". Some people find it very moving but I've never seen the draw. It is a ritual so it's not really possible to tell you what it "is". If you're interested, you should try to track down a local EGC body, attend one, and find out what it "does" for you. Or, if that's not possible, do a search on vimeo for the official video version from Seattle. It won't provide you with the experience of being in the ritual space but, if your imagination is good, it will give you the framework.
Why Gnostic? My understanding is that the original version (pre-Crowley) was an adaptation of a similar ritual cribbed from l'Église Gnostique de France. The whole Gnostic revival of the late 19th century was an attempt at restoring the direct interaction of individual to deity that the Roman orthodoxy had suppressed about 1500 years earlier. So this ritual is intended to be a dramatically moving representation of the direct interaction of the aspirant with god-head. I think.
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If you have a copy of my book 776 1/2, Sample Ritual No. 10 in the back is The Thelemic Mass, which is very similar to (and strongly derivative of) Crowley's Mass of the Gnostic Catholic Church.
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I decided to go to Google (that mysterious place that claims to contain all or nearly all answers to all or nearly all things) and I typed in (without quotes) "commentary on the gnostic mass" and found this: hermetic.com/sabazius/gnostic_mass.htm
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Thank you all so much!
I was just curious because recently someone was telling me that Gnosticism is the root of all true spirituality and Christianity, but that is far from my path....the idea seemed really loaded.
I'm sure that folks from all over the world have their ancient stories on connection.
I had googled it, but figured it would be more fun to talk to y'all...hi Jim!
Blessings, Flora