A Thelemic Wedding Ceremony
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A Thelemic Wedding Ceremony
Written and performed for the first time on November 9, 2019 e.v.
Temple Set Up
Central or Super Altar in the East, holding the Font, the Cup, the Incense burning, a single candle, the Bell, and the Cord. Stele of Revealing in the East above the altar.
Ceremony
Opening of the Temple; LBRP is performed, purification and consecration of the Elements from Liber XV.
Everyone is seated. The Officiant addresses the People, informing them about the nature of the ceremony, what to expect and their parts (if any). He also asks them to silence their cell phones and hold their cheers/applause until the Bell rings, signaling the end of the ceremony.
Music begins, signaling the beginning of the ceremony.
The Groom holds the Wand and stands on the Officiant’s right-hand side. The Attendants (dressed in all black or all white) enter in pairs and walk down the aisle. Those in white line up on the side where the Bride will be, and those in black line up with the Groom. The Maid of Honor enters by herself and stands in her designated place. The flower girl enters, carpeting the aisle with rose petals.
The Officiant motions for everyone to stand. The Bride enters carrying a bouquet with roses. As she reaches the Groom the music stops. The Bride and Groom turn to face each other, and the people sit.
Officiant: In the Book of the Law, the goddess Nuit declares “Every man and every woman is a star.” This Universe is filled with an uncountable number of Stars, who by virtue of their magnetism and gravity travel along a singular path through the vast darkness without ever encountering another Star. Once in a great while, two stars cross paths and come together. Their natural tendencies to attract and repel are equally matched, such that they circle each other in a mutually shared orbit. They journey together side by side through space, balanced and without interference.
Ladies and gentlemen, Brothers & Sisters, friends, and family, we are gathered here to witness this living metaphor, manifested in these two people who have been brought together through the Bonds of Love.
As our dear Soror Meral once said: “Without the taming power of Love, we would still be animals, for it is love that lifts us into the triad above the abyss so that we may become our true spiritual selves.”
Today, in this sacred space, we join this man and this woman, this sun and moon, this priest and priestess of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, and of the Church of Our Lady of the Silver Star, in the Holy Sacrament of Marriage - as it is only through the union of opposites that eternal truth can be revealed.
Bride: “None breathed the light faint and faery of the stars and two.”
Groom: “For I am divided for love’s sake, for the chance of union.”
Officiant: “This is the creation of the world that the pain of division is as nothing and the joy of dissolution all.”
In Thelema, the Mystery of Marriage is a magical expression of the divine. It is an alchemical process akin to that which continually creates, dissolves, and re-creates the Universe, for which the formula is “love under will,” and whose key is:
(intones) ABRAHADABRA.
Bride gives bouquet to Maid of Honor & Groom hands Wand to one of the children.
Officiant: These two people have declared to me their intention to unite, with love under will, in the Magical Mystery of Marriage. Is it your will to witness their vows?
The People: It is.
Officiant: I entered into the house of the beloved and the wine was like fire that flieth with green wings through the worlds of water.
Brother NN, do you affirm that it is your will to unite with Sister NN, with love under will, in the Magical Mystery of Marriage?
The Groom: I do.
Officiant: I am uplifted in thine heart; and the kisses of the stars rain hard upon thy body.
Sister NN, do you affirm that it is your will to unite with Brother NN, with love under will, in the Magical Mystery of Marriage?
The Bride: I do.
Officiant: “So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.”
The Officiant: (turning to face the Bride, indicates that she should recite her vows)
The Bride faces the Groom and recites the vows.
The Officiant: So mote it be.
The People: So mote it be.
The Officiant: (turning to face the Groom, indicates that he should recite his vows)
The Groom faces the Bride and recites the vows.
The Officiant: So mote it be.
The People: So mote it be.
The Officiant recharges the incense. The attendants give the rings to the Officiant.
One at a time, the Officiant dips each ring into the font and passes them through the incense. The Officiant gives the Bride's ring to the Groom, and the Groom's ring to the Bride.
The Groom (faces the Bride): Let this ring be a token of the love that seals my pledge.
The Groom places the ring on the Bride’s finger.
The Bride (faces the Groom): Let this ring be a token of the love that seals my pledge.
The Bride places the ring on the Groom’s finger.
Bride & Groom: There is no bond that can unite the divided but love.
Officiant: Love springs forth from innocence and flows into gathering pools of joy.. Therefore, I charge you to bear it always in your minds and in your hearts that the worries and shortcomings of this world shall never touch or tarnish the innocence and joy you have found in one another. Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains. Fear is the forerunner of failure; courage is the beginning of virtue.
Act passionately - think rationally - be thyself!
The Bride and Groom join their right hands. The Officiant wraps the cord around their joined hands.
Officiant: Brother NN and Sister NN, your conjoined hands are a symbol of two separate lives merging together as one. These are the hands you will work with, love with, create with, and use to build a life together. This cord is a symbol of the love that binds you together, and the connection that exists between your lives and your wills. The knots of this binding are formed not only by these cords, but also by your vows, and by the promises you make in your hearts, that you work each day to uphold throughout your union. Remember, you hold in your own hands the making or breaking of this union. No bond can unite the divided but love.
Officiant gives the Lance to the Groom to hold in his left hand.
Officiant: In thou be the essence of the Life of the sun.
The Groom: I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star.
The Officiant gives the Cup to the Bride to hold in her left hand.
Officiant: In thou be the essence of the Joy of the Earth.
The Bride: I am the blue-lidded daughter of sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night sky.
The Bride and Groom hold the weapons as in ATU VI, with their left hands.
The Bride: “For he is ever a sun...”
The Groom: “...and she a moon.”
The Bride: “...but to him is the winged secret flame...”
The Groom: “...and to her the stooping starlight.”
The Officiant: Let there be Harmony and Beauty in this mystic love; let them each find health and wealth and strength and divine pleasure in this union according to the Law of Liberty; let each pursue their True Will, with strength, in their own way, and always with joy, as the course of two Stars that blazeth for ever among the joyous company of Heaven.
The children reach across and touch the Lance and Cup holding the roses and wand as in ATU VI.
The Officiant: (raises arms in invocation) Omnia in Duos: Duo in Unum: Unus in Nihil: Haec nec Quatuor nec Omnia nec Duo nec Unus nec Nihil sunt. Gloria Patri et Matri et Filio et Filiae et Spiritui Sancto Externo et Spiritui Sancto Interno, ut erat est erit in saecula saeculorum.
(Lowers his arms and continues)
The All within this couple. This couple within the One. The One within the Void. These are neither four, nor all, nor two, nor one, nor naught.
Glory to the Father, and to the Mother, and to the Son, and to the Daughter, and to the Holy Spirit Without, and to the Holy Spirit Within, which was, and is, and ever shall be, world without end.
Bride, Groom & Officiant: (Intone) AUMN
The Children return to their spots.
The Officiant: “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.”
The People: So mote it be.
The Officiant: By virtue of the authority vested in me by the State and Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, I proclaim you Husband and Wife.
The Bride and Groom return the Lance and Cup to the Officiant who places the Cup on the altar and holds the Lance.
The Bride: (to the Groom) “I am above you and in you. My ecstasy is in yours. My joy is to see your joy.”
The Groom: (to the Bride) “Come! Lift up thine heart and rejoice! We are one, we are none.”
The Bride and Groom kiss.
Pause.
Officiant: (making crosses with the Lance on the BRIDE and GROOM thrice as in Liber XV)
The LORD bless you. +
The LORD enlighten your minds and comfort your hearts and sustain your bodies. +
The LORD bring you to the accomplishment of your true Wills, the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness. +
Officiant chimes bell 333 – 55555 – 333 to signify the end of the ceremony.