Hallowing of a Bell
T Polyphilus
The bell that rings in the Gnostic Mass is not described in any detail. Its location is unspecified, and there is not even any clear direction as to who should ring it. Many clergy have justifiably interpreted the chapter on “The Bell” in Liber ABA (Part II, Chapter XIV) to offer a description of the ideal material design of the bell itself, but such is only an educated inference.The ritual which follows details the procedure for an instrumental sacrament performed by clergy to confer a durable consecration on a bell for use in Church ceremonies. Given the absence of such direction from past or present patriarchs, it is obviously not required of any bell in Church use. In the rubric for “ordinary hallowing” below, the HALLOWER may be any member of the clergy under orders, and the ASSISTANT may be any confirmed member of the Church. The ceremony may be conducted publicly if desired.
The ritual calls for the use of another, previously-hallowed bell. By this means, the bell being hallowed is brought into a vibratory communion with the larger Church. On the occasion of this ceremony, the owner (clergy or congregation) of the bell being hallowed should document both the name of the saint to whom the new bell is dedicated, and (to the extent known), the series of bells through which the call of the Church descends to it.
Necessarily, this feature raises the question of "extraordinary hallowing," in which no previously-hallowed bell is available. Such a ceremony can and should be conducted privately by a bishop. Recognized Bishops of the Gnosis who are interested in the technique that I use may inquire directly for details.
A bell consecrated by this ritual is considered to hold its charge unless actively desecrated.
The bell to be hallowed hangs above a central double-cube altar. It is suspended by a thong or chain so that it hangs freely to resonate with the vibrations made by the voices of the HALLOWER and the others gathered. There is a lit candle, a copy of Liber Legis, a small bowl of salt water, a burning censer, a vial of holy oil, and for ordinary hallowing, another bell which has already been hallowed. These tools may be on the central altar or otherwise near to hand.
HALLOWER (facing East with the appropriate gesture): Apo pantos kakodaimonos!
ASSISTANT (in the East): Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
ALL: Love is the law, love under will.
ASSISTANT recites the Nepios:
Now I begin to pray: Thou Child,HALLOWER recites from DCCC:
Holy Thy name and undefiled!
Thy reign is come; Thy will is done.
Here is the Bread; here is the Blood.
Bring me through midnight to the Sun!
Save me from Evil and from Good!
That Thy one crown of all the Ten
Even now and here be mine. AMEN.The HALLOWER lights the incense.
I am that I am, the flame
Hidden in the sacred ark.
I am the unspoken name
I the unbegotten spark.
I am He that ever goeth,
Being in myself the Way;
Known, that yet no mortal knoweth,
Shewn, that yet no mortal sheweth,
I, the child of night and day.
I am never-dying youth.
I am Love, and I am Truth.I am the creating Word,
I the author of the aeon;
None but I have ever heard
Echo in the empyrean
Plectron of the primal paean!
I am the eternal one
Winged and white, the flowering rod,
I the fountain of the sun,
Very God of very God!I am he that lifteth up
Life, and flingeth it afar;
I have filled the crystal cup;
I have sealed the silver star.
I the wingless God that flieth
Through my firmamental fane,
I am he that daily dieth,
And is daily born again.The HALLOWER cleanses the bell with salt water.
HALLOWER: Asperges me Therion hyssopo et mundabor, lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.
The HALLOWER collects smoke from the censer in the mouth of the bell.
HALLOWER: Accendat in nobis Therion ignem sui amoris, et flammam aeternae caritatis.
The HALLOWER circumambulates the altar deosil thrice, reciting each time:HALLOWER: O Lion and O Serpent that destroy the destroyer, be mighty among us.
The HALLOWER makes the Sign of the Enterer at the beginning of each recitation, while passing the East. He stops to the west of the altar, faces the bell, and raises his hands in prayer.HALLOWER: Oremus, dilectissimi nobis, pro ecclesia sancta gnostica: ut eam Dominus et Domina nostra fortificare, adunare et custodire dignetur toto orbe terrarum: subjiciens ei principatus et potestates: dentque nobis audentiam et liberam vitam degentibus, glorificare Legem verum. Oremus.
The HALLOWER recites the Collects of the Gnostic Mass as follows:HALLOWER: Lord visible and sensible of whom this earth is but a frozen spark turning about thee with annual and diurnal motion, source of light, source of life, let thy perpetual radiance hearten us to continual labour and enjoyment; so that as we are constant partakers of thy bounty we may in our particular orbit give out light and life, sustenance and joy to them that revolve about us without diminution of substance or effulgence for ever.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the outside of the Bell.HALLOWER: Lord secret and most holy, source of life, source of love, source of liberty, be thou ever constant and mighty within us, force of energy, fire of motion; with diligence let us ever labour with thee, that we may remain in thine abundant joy.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the outside of the Bell.HALLOWER: Lady of night, that turning ever about us art now visible and now invisible in thy season, be thou favourable to hunters, and lovers, and to all men that toil upon the earth, and to all mariners upon the sea.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the outside of the Bell.HALLOWER: Giver and receiver of joy, gate of life and love, be thou ever ready, thou and thine handmaiden, in thine office of gladness.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the outside of the Bell.HALLOWER: 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 they glory unto men — 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!
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the outside of the Bell.HALLOWER: Mother of fertility on whose breast lieth water, whose cheek is caressed by air, and in whose heart is the Sun’s fire, womb of all life, recurring grace of seasons, answer favorably the prayer of labour, and to pastors and husbandmen be thou propitious.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the outside of the Bell, completing the points of a hexagram.HALLOWER: Mysterious Energy, triform, mysterious Matter, in fourfold and sevenfold division, the interplay of which things weave the dance of the Veil of Life upon the Face of the Spirit, let there be Harmony and Beauty in your mystic loves, that in us may be health and wealth and strength and divine pleasure according to the Law of Liberty; let each pursue his Will as a strong man that rejoiceth in his way, as the course of a Star that blazeth for ever among the joyous company of Heaven.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the top point of the Bell.HALLOWER: Be the hour auspicious, and the gate of life open in peace and in well-being, so that she that beareth children may rejoice, and the babe catch life with both hands.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the inside of the Bell.HALLOWER: Upon all that this day unite with love under will let fall success; may strength and skill unite to bring forth ecstasy, and beauty answer beauty.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the inside of the Bell.HALLOWER: Term of all that liveth, whose name is inscrutable, be favourable unto us in thine hour.All stand, head erect, eyes open.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the inside of the Bell.HALLOWER: Unto them from whose eyes the veil of life hath fallen may there be granted the accomplishment of their true Wills; whether they will absorption in the Infinite, or to be united with their chosen and preferred, or to be in contemplation, or to be at peace, or to achieve the labour and heroism of incarnation on this planet or another, or in any Star, or aught else, unto them may there be granted the accomplishment of their wills; yea, the accomplishment of their wills.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER makes a + with oil upon the inside of the Bell, completing the corners of a square.HALLOWER: “I await Thee in sleeping, in waking. I invoke Thee no more; for Thou art in me, O Thou who hast made me a beautiful instrument tuned to Thy rapture.” (Liber VII, VII:13)
The ASSISTANT rings the previously hallowed bell.HALLOWER (makes each + with bell): May this bell be hallowed and consecrated. In the name of + CHAOS and of + BABALON and of + BAPHOMET. In honour of the worthy Saint ... [names a saint chosen from the canon of Liber XV]. Might and majesty be thine. AUMGN.
ALL: So mote it be.
HALLOWER: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
ALL: Love is the law, love under will.
HALLOWER: May all those who attend the sound of this bell always profess the Law of Liberty.
ALL: So mote it be.
The HALLOWER rings the new bell. All depart.