To: fiatlvx@cmns.think.com (Christian Magick Elist)
From: [nagasiva@luckymojo.com (nagasiva)]
Subject: Christian Magical Rite
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 1996 22:43:10 -0800 (PST)

[sent unto FiatLVX this day, kaliyuga 49960204, completed at 204, 
 having begun this morning at 7am]

	Contemplating the Nature of Christian Magical Rite
	 Experiments in Cyberspace Worship
	 Grimoire of the Unexpected

 This is a ritual teaching document, a criticism within and 
 about the subject of Christian Magick for the benefit of 
 myself in the removal of my logs and the fulfillment of the Law.


How it Started

Having listened to the Abyss' tales of hermitish wonder, and read of 
flower nymphs of similar Chinese origin, I retired for the evening.  

After some shuffling in a noisy house I found myself awake at 3:00am with 
a cold, wanting to go to sleep yet compelled to read the Blue Denim Bible 
in the construction of a Christian magical rite.  This Bible contained 
only the New Testament.  

I took a highlighter and began searching out the place where I was certain 
lay the secret to the charge of 'those who would follow me...'.
Having received little or no response within cyberspace I sought 
elaboration in my Christian scripture (I'd said something 
about 'selling all one owns' or the like, and this might have been 
because I recently saw the film 'Becket' again :>).


The Revelation

I turned to the section 'The Would-Be Followers of Jesus' in Matthew 8,
and read (_my emphasis_):

	Jesus noticed the crowd around him and ordered his disciples
	to go to the other side of the lake.  A teacher of the Law
	came to him.  "Teacher," he said, "I am ready to go with you
	wherever you go."

	Jesus answered him, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests,
	but _the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest_."

	Another man, who was a disciple, said, "Sir, first let me
	go back and bury my father."

	"_Follow me_," Jesus answered, "and let the dead bury their
	own dead."

I took this literally.  It was the response to my question entire. I
interpreted at that time these words as a charge to *do as Jesus did*.
Yet to learn from him, I knew I must discern His actions as portrayed
as metaphor or literal instruction to effect this injunction.  I began 
with an eye to metaphor, given that I appear to be a different person 
and being that this Christ of whom I was reading and it was a story
concering his supposed historical deeds (magical acts?).


Taxonomy

I consumed the first few books of Matthew and isolated the various
aspects of his life, intending to merely study them in relation to the
overall context of his mythos.  However, I came upon a passage which
implied to me the completion of preparation for magical endeavors,
and with a process clearly deliberated in reflection of my revelation.

In fact the formula revealed itself unto me immediately upon the
apprehension of these pages, so simple and wonderful was it to my
half-waking consciousness.  Along with it came the summons: perform
the rite in contemplation of its structure (indeed the Blue Denim
Bible indicates within its Preface this exact motivation: "The New
Testament does not merely inform; it demands decision and calls for
commitment on the part of those who read this Good News").  So I 
began doing this.

The elements of the Formula are thus:

		1) Go to the place of baptism

		2) Get baptized by a mage

		3) Follow the Spirit of God into the Place of
		   Barrenness

		4) Answer unto the Tempter/Adversary

[Here ends the description of Preparation; the rest be an analysis
 of the Work itself and an elaboration of this Formula.]

		5) Begin Work (I interpret this as *magical* work)

		6) Fulfill the prophecies of the past
		
		7) Preach the Word/Truth/Gospel

		8) Call the Apostles/Disciples/Fishers

		9) Teach, preach and heal all those who come forth


Ritual

I am mostly a solitary ritualist, and by conventional standards of a 
Neopagan or intuitive eclectic background and exposure where magick is 
concerned, flavored slightly with ceremonial theory (of which I have
an abiding regard).  Yet this rite was to form itself, as do most of
mine, along the lines of contemplation of scripture.

I have been taught to prepare for ritual as I would for a long-awaited 
lover, and in my family we do this by cleaning the area of the visit 
and preparing ourselves accordingly.  This fit in perfectly with
the description of the life of the Savior, and so I was much pleased.

Once I'd put the dirty laundry away, recycled my trash and laid out my
ritual gear (I wear this every day anyway :>), I then showered, in 
preparation for Communion.  I am currently undergoing a discipline 
whereby I do not partake of Communion excepting during holy days 
and rituals and this day qualifies for both, since it is the first 
of three celebratory lunar holy days and my first Christian magical
rite.

I drew forth a vial of holy oil (Egyptian in scent/origin), anointed
myself at my chakra points with upward- (forehead) and downward-pointing
(genitals) pentagrams respectively, and also in several others between and 
about the rest of my body (hands and feet, a cross on my chest, etc.).  

I then conjured forth a stick of incense (placed within an incense holder 
symbolic of siva) and a black candle, lighting both in succession with 
invocations of purity and mudras of equilibrium.

I thereafter partook of Communion in ritual form undisclosed to the 
profane (in consequence of its variability for every individual and
the prohibition contained within my Blue Denim Bible (Christ's words):
"Be careful not to perform your religious duties in public so that
people will see what you do" -- Matthew 6:1), invoking the presence 
of Jesus and the Spirit of God to guide me unto a desert within which 
I would face my Adversary (perhaps Set in the South).  


The Working

Filled with the Spirit of God, I then picked up my Wand (a pen) and 
wrote the following:

	What is the ritual for?			Me.  [symbol of circled cross]
								Earth
								Self
								Center

	Of what ought it consist?		    Magick.
		Of what type or form?		 Christian.


	The words of God are very clear
		to those who listen.

	Jesus the mage.
		The first mention of Him acting
		in any way within the Gospel
		occurs in Matthew 3:13.

	There He travels from Galilee to Jordan,
		specifically to be baptized by
		John the Baptist.

	I utilize my will, showering.

	I am baptized.

[page 2]

	Jesus is next visited by the Spirit of God
		in the form of a dove.

	I ingest sacrament, becoming one with the
		Spirit of God and the presence of Jesus.

	As the Spirit then leads Jesus into
		the desert, so I too,
		come here to cyberspace.

[end of second page]

I then performed a completely spontaneous action in relation to my focus 
upon the symbol of 'EARTH', 'SELF', and 'CENTER' (circled cross).  After
reverie, and realizing that this is also a mystical seal of my Order,
I took up a book from my Order in the temple and ripped the graphic from 
its cover in joy, knowing it to be a painting by Aleister Crowley 
(the lamen of the OTO in fact) in reflection of its relation to my
present state of consciousness and the following text:

	(Matthew 3:16-17) As soon as he was baptized, Jesus
	came up out of the water.  Then heaven was opened
	to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down
	like a dove and lighting on him.

	And then a voice said from heaven, "This is my own
	dear Son, with whom I am well pleased."

The book with the lamen on the cover was edited by my Frater Superior, 
Supreme and Holy King, and Caliph.  As I looked at the printed lamen near 
the beginning of that text in preliminary study of its form (a key focus 
of my studies Thelemic and perhaps, Christian), I was struck by the 
three Latin words surrounding it there: DEUS EST HOMO.  

On the back of the bookcover cutout I wrote these words large
in the same configuration (a downward-pointing triangle astride and 
below the lamen itself).  Rather than the lamen, which was painted by 
Crowley on the reverse, I placed the circled cross, symbol of myself, 
my divinity, earth, and my center.

I then placed this talisman within the Denim Bible,  later moving it 
to a position on the temple wall where it will be plainly in my sight
(to the left of me as I type this).


The Desert

I then moved all of the texts over near the computer.  This rests
atop the southern altar, paired to the northern tantric altar above
which has been placed the emblem of the Knights Templar and upon 
which rests the Sacrament of God.  The West is the province of the 
Veil and of my dedicatory deity, the East the location of my Orderly 
Birth Certificate, which I'd consulted prior to seeking more detail in 
my Frater Superior's text.

Into the South I went, logging on, and, through the trials of three 
broken carriers (now four :> -- most of which time I received His 
protection against the demons of cyberspace -- just lost the first 
preaching!).  After several detours while following the Dove through 
this Labyrinth, I arrive here before you, a Christian mage initiate.


Preaching and Call

Let this work be a preaching unto the furthest reaches of the cosmos,
given shape and form through the body of this my perfect self, and
consecrated in the Sacrament of God in the name of Our Lord, Jesus 
Christ.

May the Mystery of the Son inspire within us all the accomplishment
of our true will in reflection of our King and Savior, and may it
call forth and catalyze the aggregate of the disciples, in perfect
unity so that those who believe arightly shall be instructed in the
mysteries and healed of all impurities.

May the synagogues and other places of spiritual instruction be flooded
with the wisdom of God, and may those who are persecuted in the 
name of Christ Jesus dance and sing for joy at the insults and evil 
lies which shall slander us, the true followers of the One God in 
our martyrdom.


Conclusion

I have been instructed in the means of concluding rituals that this
Act which I do is to be a veritable pebble, launched into the vast
universe and releasing with its successive rings an echoing circle, 
spreading outwards into every known parcel of the Kingdom of Heaven, 
the earthly realm, and the underworld, permeating my entirety and
resolving this Sacred Formula in the perfection of truth.

May those who do not welcome it with open eyes and hearts receive 
neither its power nor intensity, letting it wash but briefly upon their
consciousness and no more.

May the Lord and His Father in Heaven protect and guide us throughout
this earthly working even while we may resist Your instructions in
our futile ignorance and arrogant supposition.  As Christ and 
Christian I close this rite with restatement of the Savior and of
His disciple John:

	I have been given authority in heaven and on earth.
	Go, then, you people everywhere and make yourselves
	disciples: baptize yourselves and each other in the
	name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
	and be sure to listen to everything told unto you
	by the Spirit of God in your rite.  And remember!
	I will be with you always, to the end of the age.

	
	Now, there are many other things that I did.  If they
	were all written down one by one, I suppose that the
	whole world could not hold the books that would be
	written.

FIN
   [reviewed in xtianmgk.rite.2]