Saints of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica

The Gnostic Saints of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica are a series of historical and mythological figures commemorated within the current of Thelema. They were first listed in Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass, which is the central rite of Ordo Templi Orientis and its ecclesiastical arm, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica. They are found in the fifth Collect of Liber XV, titled "The Saints".

Background

Tau Apiryon, current Primate of EGC within the U.S.A., states that:

"The Fifth Collect in Part V of Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass, defines the Saints as those who have adored the 'Lord of Life and Joy', which is 'the might of man' and 'the essence of every true god that is upon the surface of the Earth', and who have manifested the glory of this Lord/might/essence unto men."[1]

In the Catholic and Orthodox churches, a saint is a person who has been canonized (officially recognized) after his or her death. In Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, death is also usually, though not necessarily, a prerequisite for sainthood, since Aleister Crowley was certainly alive when he wrote Liber XV and included himself in the list.

All of the Saints listed in the Gnostic Mass are male, and during the Collect they are invoked by the words:

"May their Essence be here present, potent, puissant and paternal to perfect this feast!"

This has been interpreted by some contemporary commentators to mean that "the invocation of the Saints of Liber XV was intended to inform the office of the Priest in his role as a male adorant of the Priestess in her role as Goddess incarnate".[1]

Modern additions

The list of Saints in Liber XV remained static from the original writing in 1913 until relatively recently. However because the original list contains the names of four previous Patriarchs of EGC, Gerard Encausse, Carl Kellner, Theodor Reuss and Aleister Crowley, this has now been taken as a precedent for the addition of the names of succeeding Patriarchs, Karl Germer and Grady McMurtry.

The current Patriarch of EGC, Hymenaeus Beta, has exercised his authority to canonise further Gnostic Saints, and two have been officially added to the original list. William Blake was so recognized in Fall 1997 e.v. based on Crowley's essay "William Blake," which described him as such.[2] Giordano Bruno was added to the list on February 17, 2000 e.v., the 400th anniversary of his martyrdom.[3]

The current official version of the Collect is included below.[4] In ordinary masses only names in italics are commemorated, with the full list reserved for special masses (e.g. rites of baptism, confirmation etc.).

Collect V: The Saints

"LORD of Life and Joy, that art the might of man, that art the essence of every true god that is upon the surface of the Earth, continuing knowledge from generation unto generation, thou adored of us upon heaths and in woods, on mountains and in caves, openly in the marketplaces and secretly in the chambers of our houses, in temples of gold and ivory and marble as in these other temples of our bodies, we worthily commemorate them worthy that did of old adore thee and manifest thy glory unto men,

Laotze and Siddhartha and Krishna and Tahuti, Mosheh, Dionysus, Mohammed and To Mega Therion, with these also Hermes, Pan, Priapus, Osiris and Melchizedek, Khem and Amoun and Mentu and Heracles, Orpheus, Odysseus, with Vergilius, Catullus, Martialis, Rabelais, Swinburne, and many an holy bard; Apollonius Tyanæus, Simon Magus, Manes, Pythagoras, Basilides, Valentinus, Bardesanes, and Hippolytus, that transmitted the Light of the Gnosis to us their successors and their heirs; with Merlin, Arthur, Kamuret, Parzival, and many another, prophet, priest and king, that bore the Lance and Cup, the Sword and Disk, against the Heathen; and these also, Carolus Magnus and his Paladins, with William of Schyren, Frederick of Hohenstaufen, Roger Bacon, Jacobus Burgundus Molensis the Martyr, Christian Rosenkreuz, Ulrich von Hutten, Paracelsus, Michael Maier, Roderic Borgia Pope Alexander the Sixth, Jakob Böhme, Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, Andrea, Robertus de Fluctibus, Giordano Bruno, Johannes Dee, Sir Edward Kelly, Thomas Vaughan, Elias Ashmole, Molinos, Adam Weishaupt, Wolfgang von Goethe, William Blake, Ludovicus, Rex Bavariae, Richard Wagner, Alphonse Louis Constant, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hargrave Jennings, Forlong dux, Sir Richard Payne Knight, Paul Gauguin, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Doctor Gerard Encausse, Carl Kellner, Doctor Theodor Reuss, Sir Aleister Crowley, Karl Johannes Germer and Major Grady Louis McMurtry.

—Oh Sons of the Lion and the Snake! With all thy saints we worthily commemorate them worthy that were and are and are to come.

May their essence be here present, potent, puissant and paternal to perfect this feast!"

Full list

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

V

W

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Gnostic Mass: Annotations and Commentary by Helena and Tau Apiryon (2004)
  2. ↑ Crowley, Aleister The Revival of Magick (1998) Thelema Media ISBN 978-0-9726583-9-3
  3. ↑ Agape: The Official Organ of the U.S. Grand Lodge of Ordo Templi Orientis Volume IX, Number 1 (2007)
  4. ↑ Wasserman, Bishop James (ed.) Current List of Saints (2007)
  5. ↑ http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/gmnotes.htm#Blake
  6. ↑ http://www.hermetic.com/sabazius/forlong.htm
  7. ↑ http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib15-international.html Ctrl+F Ludwig Von Fischer
  8. ↑ http://hermetic.com/sabazius/schyren.htm

References