Gnostic Mass

Gnostic Mass is the central public ritual of the O.T.O. We celebrate Gnostic Mass on the fourth Saturday of each month. The public is invited to attend. See the Events page for time, place, and how to get there.

If you are attending Gnostic Mass with Horus Oasis for the first time, please show up 15 minutes early for the Deacon's Orientation. If you have questions about attending Gnostic Mass, feel free to contact any of the Horus Oasis officers using the e-mail links in the Contact page.

Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica

The Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is the ecclesiastical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis. While Horus Oasis hosts Gnostic Mass, the ritual itself is performed under the authority of, and by clergy members and novitiates of, the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica.

Membership in the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica is separate from membership in the O.T.O. and is solemnized through the rituals of Baptism and Confirmation. Membership is open to all adults. Children age 11 and older can also be baptised with the consent of legal guardians.

History

Aleister Crowley wrote Liber XV (the Gnostic Mass) in 1913 in Moscow, the year after his appointment as the Head of the British Section of O.T.O. The Gnostic Mass was first published in 1918, and was first publicly celebrated in 1933 by Wilfred T. Smith and Regina Kahl in Hollywood, California.

By the end of WWII in 1945, Agape lodge was the only active body of the O.T.O. As the fortunes of Agape lodge declined, the celebration of Gnostic Mass also became less frequent, finally stopping altogether.

But in the late 1970's the O.T.O. began to hold initiations under the direction of Grady McMurtry. One of these new initiates took it upon himself to re-institute the celebration of the Gnostic Mass, even going so far as to put the Anthem of the mass to music. Since then, as more O.T.O. bodies have been chartered, and as the membership of the E.G.C. has grown, the Gnostic Mass is now celebrated all over the world.

Texts

The original text of Liber XV, as well as several excellent commentaries, are at The Invisible Bascilica of Sabazius:
     Liber XV with Commentary
     The Invisible Bascilica of Sabazius