Mass of Nuit and Babalon for 2023

This Saturday, June 17th, we will be performing the Mass of Nuit and Babalon at Leaping Laughter Lodge in Minneapolis. This is the full script for the ritual, which we have been celebrating for a number of years now with some pretty impressive results. Doors will open at 7:30 PM with the ritual to start around 8 PM. This is a public ritual, so if you live in the Twin Cities area and would like to attend you are welcome to do so.

0. The Temple

The ritual space is set up with the Holy Table and Sigillum Dei Aemeth in the center. The banishing dagger, invoking wand, and bell chime are arranged on the Table. The pitcher containing the Eucharist is placed in the center of the Sigillum. All present should have their own cups or glasses. Holy images of Our Lady Nuit and Our Lady Babalon, including the Star of Babalon, may be prominently displayed. The Lust card from the Crowley/Harris Thoth Tarot can be used as a meditation focus, if desired.

I. Opening (Adapted from "The Diamond Sapphire Gem of Radiant Light")

Magus or Sophia performs the Star Ruby.

Sophia: We take refuge in Nuit.

All: May we with all sentient beings embody the Great Work, and aspire to the unsurpassable intention, consecrating our lives unto the blue-lidded daughter of sunset, the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky.

Magus: We take refuge in Hadit.

All: May we with all sentient beings embrace the riches of the Law of Thelema, and come to know and fulfill our True Will, making our Wisdom wide and deep as the sea.

Unison: We take refuge in Heru-Ra-Ha.

All: May we with all sentient beings attain the Supreme Realization, and lead the Life which abideth in Light, that we may truly lead the multitude to freedom from all hindrances, that the Empire of Light, and the Reign of Harmony of the Crowned and Conquering Child, may be manifest here on earth.

Magus: The Word of the Law is Thelema. Every man and every woman is a star. Make of yourself a Light. Let all be a Lamp unto oneself, spreading Light in the Darkness even as the rays of the Sun shine brilliantly and indiscriminately on all.

All: In Light, may all sentient beings, boundless as the sky,
  come to know and fulfill their True Will.
  In Life, may they have happiness and the causes of happiness.
  In Liberty, may they be liberated from suffering and the causes of suffering.
  In Love, may they never be separated
  from the happiness which is free from sorrow.
  With the Law which informs these all, may they rest in equanimity,
  free from attachment and aversion.

III. The Preliminary Invocation

Magus or Sophia performs the Star Sapphire.

All: Now I begin to pray: Thou Child,
  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

Bell Chime.

IV. Invocation of Nuit (Adapted from "The Vespers of Nuit")

Sophia: Above, the gemmed azure is the naked splendor of Nuit.
  The sun is gone, the evening deepens,
  And once again we glimpse her lithe body arched for love.
  O azure-lidded woman, bend upon us!
  Accept our offerings of praise and these small lights
  A token of your greater beauty.

All: O Nuit the starry one arise
  And set thy starlight in my skies.

Sophia: The law is for all.
  In the name of Nuit, Queen of Heaven,
  In Light, Life, Love, and Liberty,
  Peace to all on whom this name reposes.
  Blessing and worship to the lovely Star,
  We honor Her bidding of mindfulness; “Ever To Me!”

All: So Mote It Be.

Sophia: Let us recite the invocation of Nuit,
  She who is Infinite Space and the Infinite Stars thereof.

All: Let our prayers arise, O Lady,
  Like incense before you,
  Let the evening sacrifice be
  The raising of our hands.

Sophia: Mother of the Sun,
  Whose body is white with the Milk of the Stars,
  Bend upon thy servants and impart unto us the secret kiss!

All: Enkindle within us the holy ecstasy
  Thou hast promised unto them that love thee;
  The ecstasy which redeemeth from all pain.

Sophia: Hast though not proclaimed:
  All the sorrows are but shadows,
  They pass and are done,
  But there is that which remains?

All: That the universe is pure joy -
  That thou givest unimaginable joys on earth -
  That thou demandest naught in sacrifice?

Sophia: Let me then rejoice, for therein I may serve thee most fully.
  Let it be thy joy to see my joy;
  Even as thou hast promised in thy Holy Book!

All: Now, therefore, I am joyful in thy love. AUMN.

Sophia: The Great Protectress cometh to me
  And as soon as she bestowed her protection upon me
  I shall move, for she hath given me my head,
  She hath brought me my bones, she hath collected my flesh,
  She hath brought me my heart in my body.

All: Nuit the great has thrown back her cloak
  And extended her arms in welcome for me.
  May I ascend and lift myself up to the sky
  As the great star in the midst of the east.

Bell Chime.

V. Invocation of Nuit/Babalon (Adapted from "Liber 963")

Magus: O Thou burning tempest of blinding sand, Thou whirlwind from the depths of darkness! Yea, as I struggle through Thee, through Thee, my strength is but as a dove's down floating forth on the purple nipples of the storm.

Sophia: O my Goddess, Thou Mighty One, Thou Creator of all things, I renounce unto Thee the ceaseless booming of the waves, and the fury of the storm, and all the turmoil of the wind-swept waters; so that I may drink of the porphyrine foam of Thy lips, and be consumed in the unutterable joy of Thine everlasting rapture.

Magus: O Thou ten-footed soldier of blue ocean, whose castle is built upon the sands of life and death; I swear to Thee by the glittering blades of the waters, to cleave my way within Thine armed hermitage, and brood as an eyeless corpse beneath the coffin-lid of the Mighty Sea.

Sophia: O Thou Sovran Warrior of steel-girt valour whose scimitar is a flame between day and night, whose helm is crested with the wings of the Abyss. I know Thee! O Thou four-eyed guardian of heaven, who kindleth to a flame the hearts of the downcast, and girdeth about with fire the loins of the unarmed.

Magus: O Glory be to Thee, O Goddess my Goddess; for I behold Thee in the lotus-flower within my heart: Thou hast emblazoned my trumpet with the lion-standard, so that I may blare forth the Glory of Thy Name.

Sophia: O Thou mighty Goddess, make me as an emerald crab that crawleth over the wet sands of the sea-shore; I beseech Thee, O Thou great Goddess! That I may write Thy name across the shores of Time, and sink amongst the white atoms of Thy Being. O Thou Goddess, my Goddess!

Magus: O Thou thirsty charioteer of Time, whose cup is the hollow night filled with the foam of the vintage of day; drench me in the shower of Thy passion, so that I may pant in Thine arms as a tongue of lightning on the purple bosom of night.

Sophia: O Thou Goddess of the Nothingness of All Things! Thou who art neither the forge of Eternity; nor the thunder-throated womb of Chaos: O Thou who art not found in the hissing of the hail-stones; nor in the rioting of the equinoctial storm! I deny Thee by the powers of mine understanding; Bring me to the unity of Thy might, and feast me on honeyed manna of Thine all-pervading Nothingness; for Thou art all and none of these in the fullness of Thy Not-Being.

Magus: Ah! but I rejoice in Thee, O Thou my Goddess; Thou coruscating star-point of Endlessness; Thou inundating fire of the Void; Thou moonbeam cup of eternal life: Yea, I rejoice in Thee, Thou fire-sandalled warrior of steel; O Thou bloody dew of the field of slaughter and death! I rejoice, yea, I shout with gladness! till the music of my throat smiteth the hills as a crescent moon waketh a nightly field of sleeping comets, at the Glory and Splendour of Thy Name.

Sophia: O my Goddess, fondle me with kisses and be merciful unto me, as I humble myself before Thee; for all my desires are as dewdrops that are sucked from silver lilies by the throat of a young god.

Magus: O woe unto me, my Goddess, woe unto me; for all the passion of my love is mazed as the bewildered eyes of a youth, who should wake to find his beloved fled away. Yet in the crumpled couch of lust do I behold as an imprint the sigil of Thy name.

Sophia: O what art Thou, O Goddess my Goddess, Thou amber-scal'd one whose eyes are set on columns? O Thou sightless seer of all things! Thou spearless warrior who urgest on Thy steeds and blindest the outer edge of darkness with Thy Glory! O how can I grasp the whirling wheels of Thy splendour, and yet be not smitten into death by the hurtling fury of Thy chariot?

Magus: O Thou Unity of all things: as the sun that rolleth through the twelve mansions of the skies, so art Thou, O Goddess my Goddess. I cannot slay Thee, for Thou art everywhere; lo! though I lick up the Boundless Light, the Boundless, and the Not, there still shall I find Thee, Thou Unity of Unities, Thou Oneness, O Thou perfect Nothingness of Bliss!

Sophia: I am the daughter of Fortitude, and ravished every hour from my youth. For behold I am Understanding and science dwelleth in me; and the heavens oppress me. They cover and desire me with infinite appetite; for none that are earthly have embraced me, for I am shadowed with the Circle of the Stars and covered with the morning clouds. My feet are swifter than the winds, and my hands are sweeter than the morning dew. My garments are from the beginning, and my dwelling place is in myself. The Lion knoweth not where I walk, neither do the beast of the fields understand me. I am deflowered, yet a virgin; I sanctify and am not sanctified. Happy is he that embraceth me: for in the night season I am sweet, and in the day full of pleasure. My company is a harmony of many symbols and my lips sweeter than health itself. I am a harlot for such as ravish me, and a virgin with such as know me not. For lo, I am loved of many, and I am a lover to many; and as many as come unto me as they should do, have entertainment.

Bell Chime.

VI. Invocation of Babalon

Magus: MADRIAX DS PRAF ARN, CHIS MICAOLZ SAANIR CAOSGO, OD FISIS BALZIRAS IAIDA NONCA GOHULIM, MICMA ADOIAN MAD IAOD BLIORB: SOBA OOAONA CHIS LUCIFTIAS PERIPSOL: DS ABRAASSA NONCF NETAAIB CAOSGO, OD TILB ADPHAHT DAMPLOZ TOOAT NONCF GMICALZ OM LRASD TOFGLO MARB YARRY IDOIGO OD TORZULP IAODAF GOHOL, CAOSGI TABAORD SAANIR OD CHRISTEOS YRPOIL TIOBL, BUSDIR TILB NOALN PAID ORSBA OD DODRMNI ZYLNA: ELZAP TILB PARMGI PERIPSAX: OD TA QURLST BOOAPIS: L NIMB OUCHO SYMP: OD CHRISTEOS AG TOLTORN MIRC Q TIOBL LEL: TOL PAOMBD DILZMO ASPIAN: OD CHRISTEOS AG L TOLTORN PARACH ASYMP CORDZIZ DODPAL OD FIFALZ L SMNAD: OD FARGT, BAMS OMAOAS: CONISBRA OD AVAVOX, TONUG: ORSCA TLB NOASMI TABGES LEVITHMONG: UNCHI OM TILB ORS. BAGLE? MOOOAH OL CORDZIZ. L CAPIMAO IXOMAXIP, OD CA CAPIMAO GOSAA: BAGLEN PI I TIANTA ABABALOND, OD FAORGT TELOCVOVIM: MADRIIAX TORZU, OADRIAX OROCHA, ABOAPRI: TABAORI PRIAZ AR TABAORI: ADRPAN CORS TA DOBIX: YOLCAM PRIAZI AS COAZIOR: OD QUASB QTING: RIPIR PAAOXT SAGACOR: UML OD PRDZAR CACRG AOIVEAE CORMPT: TORZU, ZACAR, OD ZAMRAN ASPT SIBSI BUTMONA, DS SURZAS TIA BALTAN: ODO CICLE QAA: OD OZAZMA PLAPLI IADNAMAD.

As Magus vibrates the Angelic, Sophia moves around the temple space whispering the English of the Key in the presence of the other participants.

Sophia: O you heavens which dwell in the Second Aethyr, which are mighty in the parts of the earth, and which execute the judgment of the Highest! To you it is said: Behold the face of your God, the beginning of comfort, Whose eyes are the brightness of heavens; Who provided you for the government of the earth, and her unspeakable variety, furnishing you with a power of understanding, to dispose all things according to the providences of Him that sits on the Holy Throne; and Who rose up in the beginning, saying: the earth, let her be governed by her parts, and let there be division in her, that the glory of her may be always drunken and vexed in itself. The course of her, let it run with the heavens, and as a handmaid let her, serve them. One season, let it confound another; and let there be no creature upon or within her the same. All her members, let them differ in their qualities; and let there be no one creature equal with another. The reasonable creatures of the earth, let them vex and weed out one another; and the dwelling places, let them forget their names. The works of man and his pomp, let them be defaced. The buildings of her, let them become caves for the beasts of the field; confound the understanding of her with darkness. Why? I regret that I made man. One while let her be known, and another while a stranger; because she is the bed of an harlot, and the dwelling place of him-that-is-fallen. 0 you heavens, arise! The lower heavens underneath you, let them serve you. Govern those that govern; cast down such as fall; bring forth with those that increase, and destroy the rotten. No place let it remain in one number; add and diminish, until the stars be numbered. Arise, move, and appear before the covenant of His mouth, which He has sworn unto us in His justice; open the mysteries of your creation, and make us partakers of undefiled knowledge.

Magus: “Arise, remove your earth, shake off your dust, raise yourself, that you may travel in company with spirits, for your wings are those of a falcon, your gleam is that of a star...”

Sophia: "...you shall go as a free man into the House of Circe, not bound by the fetters of Night.”

Bell Chime.

All: Instantly, I arise as my Holy Guardian Angel. In the space before me the infinite night sky filled with the milk of the stars of the body of Nuit transforms into the deep blue of an endless ocean, the source of life and seed of the mystery of my soul. Arising from the Sea of Life, a brilliant seven-pointed star appears. The star rests on a luminous purple disc, which is supported by great solar lion-serpents. Instantly, the star transforms into our Lady Babalon, She is in the form of a exceedingly beautiful naked Goddess, head thrown back, holding a chalice filled with the blood of the Saints. Brilliant light emanates from her form, filling all of infinite space with blessing and power.

Magus: BABALON, BABALON, BABALON. Move, therefore, and show yourself: Open the mysteries of your Creation. ZACARE CA OD ZAMRAN: ODO CICLE QAA.

All: ZACARE CA OD ZAMRAN: ODO CICLE QAA.

This chant continues as the visualization is maintained for a period of time. Each person visualizes himself as his or her HGA, with a Star of Babalon seated on a pedestal in his or her heart. Light in the form of a string of Stars of Babalon moves from the HGA to Babalon and flows back again.

Sophia: Let the divine light descend!

All: ABRAHADABRA!

With this vibration, the image of Babalon dissolves into red, blue and gold light, which is absorbed into the Eucharist.

Sophia: By offering all unto the Cup of Babalon, both human beings and non-human spirits will be drawn to us as allies, our influence and prosperity will increase, and the local deities and guardian spirits will delight in helping us manifest our intentions and fulfill our desires. Our spiritual precepts will be completely purified and our wisdom will radiate into every area. The dangers due to unfavorable planets and stars, unlucky days, enemies, and thieves will no longer threaten us; good fortune and well-being will increase everywhere at home and abroad. Yea! verily this is the Truth, this is the Truth, this is the Truth. Unto thee shall be granted joy and health and wealth and wisdom when thou art no longer thou.

Each participant partakes of the Eucharist as he/she wills, pouring from the pitcher into their own cups. The pitcher should not be entirely drained. The remaining Eucharist is placed on the high altar as an offering to Our Lady Babalon. Impromptu meditation or adoration may follow. When this is complete, Magus continues.

Magus: Let this rite be a benefit to all and to all who practice it. May it be sealed with that Bornless Spirit that is about it like a Thunderbolt *, and a Pylon *, and a Snake *, and a Phallus *, and is in the midst thereof like the woman that jetteth out the milk of the stars from her paps. ABRAHADABRA!

All: MAKASHANAH!

VII. Dedication of Merit

All: May the benefit of this act, and all acts, be dedicated unto the Complete Liberation and the Supreme Enlightenment of all beings, everywhere, pervading space and time: So mote it be. May the benefits of practice, ours and others, come to fruition, ultimately and immediately, and we remain in a state of presence.

VIII. Closing (Adapted from "The Vespers of Nuit")

Sophia: O boundless ecstasy of the Naught
  Who gathereth the blood of the saints into Thy cup!
  With all the sons and daughters of Thy limitless body
  We honor and love Her that is above us and within us.
  May her essence be here Mighty, Mystical,
  Mysterious and Maternal to manifest our joy!

  Hagia Thea
  Hagia kai Ischyra
  Hagia kai Athanatos
  Kyrie Apeiron.

  Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

All: Love is the law, love under will.

Magus: The law is for all. This Holy Rite is ended. Let us depart in peace.

All: I will live as the course of a Star that blazeth forever
  Among the joyous company of Heaven.

Sophia: May Babalon bless you.
  May Nuit enlighten your minds, comfort your hearts,
  And sustain your bodies.
  May the Great Goddess bring you
  to the accomplishment of your True Wills,
  The Great Work, the Summum Bonum, and to Her realm
  of Infinite Possibilities,
  Which is indeed True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.

Unison: Unto Nuit-Babalon be the glory
  In the End and the Beginning,
  Yea, in the End and the Beginning.

Bell Chime. The rite is at an end.