Chapter 15: The Pagan Mass
It is folly for a people to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself. - Epicurus
The last chapter was important. Don’t worry about this chapter. It will not be as important. Let us review what we learned in the last chapter. We learned that Madonna is an outdated philosopher. We learned that I like pizza. We learned that all college professors are communist sympathizers. Ok now we have that part clear. You might have noticed some uncertainty in the last chapter. In the other chapters I was arrogant. I was uncertain because I have gone as far as I can go alone. For this point forward I will need other people to continue to build this Temple.
All forms of organized authority are bad. This includes governments or business leaders or organized religion. Tribal leaders are OK as long as their government dies when they die. Last thing we need is legal system that keeps growing. America used to be the land of the free. Today it has billions of laws and millions of people in jail. The simple fact is that Jefferson, Franklin and George never intended for it to get this big. The modern penal system now tries to fix your soul. Lawmakers are now the new guardians of morality. There is nothing wrong with your soul. The system is insane. We need to stop this. My solution is to return to the good old days of pagan idolatry.
Stand in the middle of the Temple with your left arm to the west and your right arm to the east. Touch your head and say, " I am." " Touch your body and say, "The Kingdom." Touch your left shoulder and say, "The Power." Touch your right shoulder and say, ‘The Glory." Put your hands together and say, "Everlasting EUOI"
All religions have some kind of truth, but are also full of lies. Behind all religions is a common reality. This reality possesses the minds of men on Earth. We can understand some of this reality by calculating signs from the Zodiac. The Age of Pisces will end about the year 2012. The new Age of Aquarius will then begin. The line dividing Pisces and Aquarius is located almost exactly between the two points that the Milky Way crosses the ecliptic. The Age of Aquarius will begin when the location of the equinox Sun passes over this point, some time between the years 1965 and 2037. In a few years the great change will first be noticeable, small at first but slowly growing. The Piscean Age was an Age of Apollo. The Apollonian religions like Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam dominated. The new Age of Aquarius will be an Age of Aphrodite, which will have a lot of vulgar sex going on. There will be pagan rituals. Temple prostitutes will become sacred again. The mystery Mother of Harlots and abominations of the Earth will rise, and we will become drunken with her fornications. Sin will become a virtue. Evil will become an art. Pain will become a pleasure. Actually, there will still be sin, evil and pain, but what was once thought true will change. The old Apollonian religions hated life, called it a sin, and tried to get some kind of spiritual ideal. They were death cults. In the Age of Aphrodite we will celebrate life.
Religious ideas should be discussed by small groups of people called Covens. They should meet each Saturday. All covens connected with a Temple should meet for a major ceremony on each of the eight Sabbaths. The eight Sabbaths should be scheduled during the Full Moons after each proper time of the year. The kind of worship that goes on in my Temple is a kind of celebration. During a festival people should have mostly fun, but there should also be some ritual.
Tools that are used in rituals can be offered to God. State why you are using it and ask for permission to use it. Be honest and state whether you will use it responsibly or not. The God you are talking to in this ritual is the one universal God; everything that happens is his choice. You cannot force him to accept your tools. You can call your God anything you want, even Satan.
The first tool you offer is yourself. Tell God that you will do as you want and you will do as you please, if that is what you intend to do. This first ritual is something you do alone in a private, dark, secret place that is underground. Then, go up to a hill you have chosen and tell God about yourself. When you feel ready, you can use the name Yod He Va He Sabaoth, which means "I am who am the creator."
Then, make an oil. Any oil that looks like Semen will do. Ask God to allow you to use this oil to represent his creative force. A little dab of this oil is placed on each of your tools to consecrate them. The two tools you need are a dagger and a wand. The dagger is a tool of air and reason, used to purify, and it is dangerous, because reason is dangerous. An Apollonian might use the dagger to threaten Demons into submission. He thinks that his will must rule over everything, or else the outside forces will tear him apart. He may turn his magic circle into a purified barrier, where forces cannot naturally enter. Such a person will live a pathetic, paranoid life. Generally I do not use my dagger much. The wand is a phallic symbol, representing creative force and fire. After your main tools are consecrated, you can bury the oil in the Earth on the hill you consider sacred. Then, place your palms together and say, "Heaven and Earth are balanced in me. My body is my Temple." You should have carefully designed your Temple, taking years to plan.
Two kinds of holy water are used, the water of life and the water of death. You make them by praying over these waters, using the proper spells that you have developed. The water of death should come from a civilized source, because civilization is death. It is sprinkled with the dagger and used to purify. Usually, a preservative like salt is mixed with water of death to keep it sterile. I usually do not use the water of death. I do use the water of life in almost all my rituals. The water of life should come from a natural source, perhaps near your sacred hill. The water of life is the blood of life. These are the events that make you. Though you these events extend to everything you touch. You sprinkle it with your wand.
Jupiter, whose element is water, has two forms. On one side of the door is EVO, who is living and full of passion; on the other side is JOVE, who is the destroyer and civilizer. On the side with JOVE is Apollo. On the side with EVO is Helios who provides the energy of life. The water of life is Venus, EVO, and Helios. The water of death is Lucifer, Zeus and Apollo. The symbol of Aquarius can be placed on anything holding the water of life. The symbol of Leo can be placed on anything holding the water of death.
It is important to never sprinkle anything on any tool or talisman dedicated to the Moon. Remember the moon represent that which should never be touched.
Some people purify their Temple in order to get rid of bad influences; I do not do this. I equate purification with sterilization and death. I want my Temple to live. I do not wish to scare away forces that may be helpful. Some people burn incense in their Temples to purify the air. Cedar incense is sacred to the counter-clockwise destroyer. I do not like the way it smells. Let us instead breathe fresh, natural air. A native American sweat lodge is sometimes said to be a place of purification, but is actually a place where life’s forces are activated and rejuvenated. I accept such life-making rituals in my Temple.
The altar should be placed in the direction to which you feel your ritual is directed. West is passion, East is reason, South is for spirit, and North is for Earth. A checkerboard design makes a good altar top. Sometimes, I accept rituals to Gods such as Apollo and Jove, because I tend to believe we should have a balance of all the forces. There are times when Jove and Apollo are necessary. You might have a different opinion as to which forces should be celebrated. Practice whatever feels right to you. The true you is what counts. You do not want a false Temple that does not represent you.
If possible, you should do your rituals with other people, because people belong in social situations. Whenever possible, the ritual should be ministered by an ordained priest, who has spent years carefully studying the meaning of the ritual. Having a professional makes the ceremony seem more official. A priest is a man or a woman who has been ordained by another priest.
The Temple belongs to the people it serves. The people even choose who they want as a priest. If a Temple needs a priest, the parishioners may ask a bishop to send them one, but the bishop cannot force the parishioners to accept the priest if they do not like him. Also, the parishioners can throw the priest out any time. The priest is simply a servant of the people. Anyone who wants to be a priest should studying with other priests. He might go to search for the truth for several years before being ordained as a priest.
The priests elect bishops. A bishop is really a priest who organizes the other priests. The bishop has no power over the parishioners and cannot tell them what to do or not to do. If you do not like one bishop, just ask another one to send you a priest. There can be different bishops who are not connected with each other. There is no pope in my cult. Priests, bishops, and celebrants are free to disagree with each other, and there should be no central organization. No one person is in power. Everyone is free to choose or not choose. A church is a body of all people who practice a religion. No one person or special interest group can claim to represent the opinions of the whole church. The Church of Holy Anarchy should be anarchy.
The priest should not preach to the people. Religions should never dictate morality. It is up to each person to decide what is good or bad. Each society invents its own standards. Perhaps sin exists only in the eye of a society and should not be part of the religion. The religion should be a ceremonial celebration of natural concepts. Too many religions worry about sin and become paranoid about it. A lot of religions like to claim they know what everyone must do by telling you that it is what God wants. They speak for God, who they think is always right, but who probably does not exist. It is possible God does not care if you sin or not. Also, it might not be a sin, even if God thinks it is. He can be wrong, too. If someone wants to confess what he believes to be a sin, he can go to anyone he wants. The priest is a normal guy; anything he says is just as good as what anyone else says. He is merely someone who knows how to minister the ceremonial formalities of a religion to the people. You can call him a holy person, but not all priests are true holy people. The true holy person is something different.
I have seen Temples that place guardian statues outside their doors to scare demons away from the Temple. I do not place these statues near my Temple because I do not want to scare anything. Every being is invited to my Temple, even Demons. Actually, these statues are there to scare people and make them think more purely by getting rid of bad thoughts, I do not think people have to be scared. My Temple is a place where people should feel comfortable about thinking anything they want.
People who attend a ritual can be called devotees, but I prefer to call them celebrants. A devotee is devoted to the cult. The celebrant just celebrates the ceremony; he does not have to be devoted to the cult. Anyone is invited to a ritual, even if they do not believe in the cult. No one should be forced to join the Temple, nor should they be expected to enjoy a ritual. They can still come back, even if they do not like it. My cult has no formal membership. People can come and go as they please. I remember the Catholic nuns would expect me to go to church. I do not enjoy the Roman Catholic ritual, and the nuns would try to make me feel guilty for not liking it. This intrusion made me hate the nuns and their magic act. They told me that their way was God’s ways and this made me hate their God. I also realized how wrong they were, because sometimes we can learn from someone who disagrees with us. No guilt should be forced on someone who does not like the ritual. His opinion is as good as anyone else’s. The cult and the church should always be open for improvement. Even God’s opinion should not be considered the only right way.
Religion should never be forced on kids. They should not be required to make chooses that they might disagree with later in life. The whole concept of religion is best avoided by anyone under twenty years old. It just causes unnecessary complications. Actually everyone should avoid religion. The nuns told me that I must accept the church or lose God. I said, "Goodbye," and looked into what other religions had to offer. Many people close their ears to opinions outside their group. It seems to me that they are denying themselves a wealth of valuable information. My Temple is a synthesis of a hundred different cults. I have tried to adopt the best parts of each.
The ritual begins by banging a gong four times, because four represents entering a new beginning. Everyone should become quiet when the gong sounds. The celebrants place their palms together to represent the balance and union of Heaven and Earth. They keep their palms together, as the priest opens the Temple by identifying himself with the four directions. He makes this identification by sprinkling some water of life with the Wand, while making a clockwise circle, beginning with the South. The priest should say, "Heh Vau Heh," to each direction, as he passes them. When he has finished the circle, he says, "It is a good day to be alive."
Prayers should be offered after the Temple is opened. During the ritual, bread is broken and given to each celebrant. The priest says, "Hoc est corpus," which means, "This is the body. " The bread is you, your Temple, the Earth, and the church of celebrants; each celebrant should try to understand what this means to themselves. After the bread is passed around, everyone can talk. A formal discussion of religious subjects should take place. The concepts being celebrated should be explained. The ritual is closed when the priest says, "Everyone may leave. Mass has ended. " After the ritual an informal discussion may take place and a feast is given to everyone who attended. You can open a Temple anywhere you want, perhaps under a big tree. Sometimes, you can use a permanent structure as a Temple.
Water of life can have different meanings. The rain dance is not simply for regular rain. Some priests make water of life in a special way by praying for the people. They bring a special kind of life to the people, or perhaps they are just insane. Each person will make up his own definition of what he thinks life is. Some of these definitions may forget the true meaning of the water of life. Idealist acts, such as praying for people, may seem good to some people who might choose to think of such acts as the water of life, forgetting that idealism is the water of death. They are actually doing the water of death and mistaking it for life. I do not exclude the water of death from my Temple. Idealism might be necessary sometimes, but do not mistake the water of death for the water of life. The water of life should be real natural water, not just some idealist insanity.
Some people believe that extremes are wrong and think that moderation in all endeavors will lead to being a well balanced. The idealistic ancient Greeks wrote about this idea of justice. I do not agree with it. My idea of justice means everything in the right place. Some things are more needed than others are. My idea of a balance is not quite as symmetrical as that of the Greeks. The Temple we build should be realistic. I want the real water of life to be our water of life.
A priest should gather the water of life from rain or a natural source. Rain represents life-giving water. A prayer is offered over the water, or maybe the prayer is not needed. The water may be good enough as is. This water is sprinkled on anything you want to identify yourself with. The water is splashed during birth and during a funeral, because the dead person is entering his next life. The priest should make this water available to anyone who wants it, and it should be free. Usually, water of life can be found in the western part of the Temple in a vase marked with the sign of Aquarius.
Ceremonies can pep people up and create all kinds of psychological effects. A major feeling in primitive religions is something called funk. It is a lot like the way you feel when you hear a song that you like. Religion involves a lot more than what I write in this book. People discover these powers as they practice ceremonies. Some of these powers can be natural and healthy parts of your culture. Beware of civilized rituals, which are made only to program people.
Dramatic rituals or dances can be performed at the Temple or at festivals. People should be encouraged to develop their own vision. Perhaps they can demonstrate what they see. Some of the best of all dramatic ceremonies are the ones that portray a person’s personal vision. Anyone who wants to volunteer an ideal can simply do so by telling the celebrants. Different opinions should be encouraged, because the Temple should celebrated the diversity in people. My religion celebrates Nature, which includes human Nature. Let us celebrate all the animals within us; they make us complete.
The celebrants choose what goes into the Temple and what does not. The Temple should be an expression of how your culture sees the world and a place where you can feel your culture. The Temple should be something people can enjoy and relate to. A Temple is influenced by a culture and can also be an influence on a culture. It is a place to build, to learn, and to enjoy. We cannot simply invent the perfect society by thinking about it, the way the ancient Greek platonist thought they could. Whatever seems to work best must be discovered by practice, and trial and error. Each society must discover what is best for themselves. Each person in this society must discover what is best for himself. No person should dictate what must go into someone else’s Temple.
After you develop your Temple, you may find the need to change something, do it, if you feel you must. One may chose a different path at anytime. Whatever feels right is probably right. Let the Temple be an expression of your feelings. Let yourself feel the Temple. Choose a feeling and ride it wherever it may go. The pagan religion is very dynamic and can be taken almost anywhere. With practice you may develop a more interesting Temple than mine. I hope you do. There are many ways to enjoy life. Perhaps we should.
You might say that only a hippie would perform these lame rituals. True, many neopagan groups are hippies, but you do not have to perform rituals the way a hippie would. The style of a ceremony can make a big difference. These rituals are of minor importance. The rituals celebrate Nature, but to really celebrate Nature, you do not need a ritual. You let the beast within live freely. Religion is an unimportant decoration in your mind. It is the way you actually live that is more important. If you enjoy life and live as part of Nature, you will be that part of Nature which is worth protecting. You will be the Sacred Grove.
Money
The only thing celebrants should bring to the Temple before each ceremony is a small piece of a plant, which is a placed on the north altar. A small leaf from any plant will do. If someone wants to offer anything to the Temple, it should be a gift or volunteer work. The priest must never accept money. So many people pray to and for money that it has become a terrible demon, and the priest should reject it, as well as everyone else. Money is an evil disease that is best avoided.
Some people want to use a church to give money to the poor. Such giving would just make the situation worse for the poor. Poverty is not caused by a lack of money, much in the same way drug addiction is not caused by a lack of drugs. You do not give an addicted man more of what he is addicted to. Money makes trade faster. We do not need trade to be this fast. We do not need this trade. All money does is run people over and crush them. Each small group of people must live by supporting themselves and no other. They should not need money to say what is what.
The church must never take or give money. A church that takes or gives money become a business and forgets how to be a real church. The priest should be able to support himself without the church paying him. If the priest wants to give anything to a person, it should be a small seed.
We must destroy all money. The priest should encourage celebrants to burn money. He should burn all his money, too. East of the Temple is a small fire, where money is burned. Money can even exist without actual cash. We should destroy the banks and the accounting machines and all the factors that make money seem real. The destruction of money can be an incredible experience to someone whose life is dominated by money. Such destruction is a sacrifice and holy act.
The church must never become a charity. People in Nature must make their own balance as part of Nature. What works in one place might not work in another. Sometimes, people die. The church must not interfere. Interfering missionaries have destroyed many cultures. All religious objects used in the Temple or by celebrants should be made by the people who use them. Each community should be learning to take care of themselves and not rely on factories for anything. If you trade and make an economic network that includes more than one society, you are making people dependent on something that will swallow them.
Once trade begins, societies specialize in specific products. The variety in there culture is lost. Anyone who wants an alternative must leave his hometown. Families break up. People end up in city slums. Young people in small civilized towns complain about nothing to do. An uncivilized tribe has more diversity and is much more fun.
A Baptism
Before us, we have someone who wishes to be comforted by life’s embrace. Let her lie in the center of the Temple, feet to the North and head to the South, left arm to the West and right arm to the East. Always use the water of life, not the water of death. We wish to stimulate life and help it grow. Take a phallus in your left hand, dip it in the water of life, sprinkle it on them and say, "Thou are the kingdom, the power and the glory, everlasting. EUOI"
Water was never meant to be used in a silly ritual. We drink water. Using water of life in any ritual turns it into water of death. You might be using it with good intentions, but don’t let your intentions fool you. Stupidity is what creates water of death. Nature was never meant to be worshiped in a Temple. It fact building a Temple to Nature is not natural. The best religion is no religion. You might wonder why I wrote this chapter about a Temple and a nature religion if I now say that it is unnecessary. I had to build it to knock it down.
Most NeoPagans such as Wiccans are nice people who do silly stuff. They do what they claim works for them. Most of us know their rituals are not going to accomplish anything. Even ceremonial psychological self-introspection will only cause you to look ridiculous. At least these Emo Goth kids are mostly harmless.
I think faith is unnecessary. I have never needed it. Some people think we need it to find purpose or morality. They think we would be lost without God to guide us. These people do not realize that purpose and morality can be found by living like a normal natural human. What people want from religion is to get the power to manipulate the universe. They want a force or a powerful being who will do what they want. They want this God to agree with their thinking and support their fantasies. They want to be more important than they really are.
Some critics of religion such as Richards Dawkins think that religious faith is evil and causes people to do evil. He is probably right. If you look at the history of religion we see all kinds of nuts doing what they claim God wants them to do. A Muslim who declares holy war and blows himself up to kill a few Jewish kid is an example of where religious thinking can lead us. Even moderate forms of worship can lead to this stupidity. We should get ride of religion completely. All the silly fairy tails that I wrote in this book should be rejected. And I mean really reject it.
Agnostics claim that we cannot know if God is real or not. This opinion might seem reasonable, but it could also be a form of self deception. Most of them still believe whatever superstitions their parents taught them but have reworded these dogmas in their minds so they can pretend to be rational or logical. They are not logical or rational. They are too stupid to admit how they really feel. The atheist Brett Keane calls them closet Christians.
Suppose someone invented a religion that had many good qualities. Then suppose this religion becames popular. The followers of this religion them start doing evil stuff that the founder never intended. It seems to me that religion is always vulnerable to becoming evil. That is why I think it is better to avoid religion. Any political or philosophical ideas that seem good can eventually cause a bad situation.
I grew up in Brazil and New York City. Fairly open-minded people surrounded me. They were generally well educated and had read books about science and history. I had never met a Christian fundamentalist until I moved to the Southern United States. What struck me was how limited the education of these Christians is. They felt no need to read books about science or history because they had the Bible. They would argue against evolution and humanism without making any attempt to understand these subjects. They preached loudly but would not listen to anyone. They also seemed to have a need to punish people who were different than they are. I wondered how such a rude religion could be so successful.
One day I was sitting on a crowded train. All the seats were taken. A man who was acting crazy walked on the train. Other people were afraid of him and would get up and let the crazy guy have the seat. I then realized that Christianity spread because normal people let crazy people get their way. Stupidity is the Christians strength.
It is easy to point your finger at someone else and say his religion is dumb. What about your own religion? I have always admired atheist. They do not need to invent gods to feel safe. This requires courage. People who do not have this courage, such as agnostics, try to invent logical sounding argument to prove that they are smarter than the atheist. Do you have the courage to be an atheist? We need this kind of strength to hold on to our seat and not give it to crazy people.
Are there such things free thinkers, or are we all restricted by what ever delusions we carry about with us? Some people say keep it real and do not be fake. I do not know if this realness is necessary. Being someone we are not is how a lot of people get by each day. Sometimes we do not even know if were being real or not. Do you feel as if this is right or wrong? It does not really matter how you feel. The universe is huge. You own particular point of view is not really all that important. There is no God who listens to your prayers. No one cares. There is no guiding light or supernatural purpose. That is the reality of you. Do not think that this lack of importance in the universe is bad. You can still do what you are biologically designed to do. You can be a natural human.
I do not know if religion is a necessary part of being human. Religion is not just faith and philosophy. It is also feelings. People seem to have some kind of built in religious instinct. Cave painting indicate people have been using religious symbols for at least 20.000 years. All modern human cultures cultivate this madness. Maybe this madness is what distinguishes modern humans from earlier forms of human. Perhaps the crazy tribes wiped out the not so crazy tribes. While writing this book I took the religious point of view in order to explore religion. Some of you might think that all I have done is create a mess. I was the crazy guy on the train.
In the story of genesis humanity lost the Garden of Eden when they ate from the tree of knowledge. The knowledge they got was of good and evil. No one has ever completely defined good and evil. What they got was the knowledge that good and evil is possible. Some people think this story represents humans gaining the ability to make moral judgments. Yea right. The story is actually about humans going insane. Why am I the only person on the train who understands this?
Science over faith
Bertrand Russell, Why I am Not a Christian, 1927. http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/russell0.htm
Francis Bacon, Novum Organum,1620. http://www.constitution.org/bacon/nov_org.htm
Richard Dawkins http://richarddawkins.net/