Gnostic Rituals
The full details of the Gnostic religion will never truly be known. Much of the literature on the religion was destroyed long ago when government was trying to abolish Gnosticism altogether. Therefore, there is also little known about the religion’s structure. There is still some literature available that allows some insight into the Gnostic religion, as well as some popular belief as to how the religion operates.
There was no one Gnostic church. Most individuals who chose to study the religion did so on there own however, there were some Gnostic groups that were formed within Christian churches. These groups did so on their own also and without actual structure from the church. Unlike The Bible in Christianity, there was no one scripture that was considered the main source of guidance for the Gnostic religion. There were however, many different scriptures that were used by the many different Gnostic groups.
The masses that they held looked quite similar to one that you would see in the Roman Catholic church however, they were quite different. Instead of celebrating Christ, they celebrated Thelema, which is a profound understanding of who the individual is and their sense of true will. There are five main people involved in the ceremony. These are the priest, the priestess, a deacon, and two acolytes who were called “children.” The Masses all ended the same way, which is with the congregation drinking from a glass of wine and consuming a small piece of Cake of Light. This was to celebrate the Eucharist. The ritual ended with the congregation saying, “There is no part of me that is not of the gods.”
The majority of these scriptures were written by, or credited to, women. Mary Magdalene was a very important figure in these writings and the only person that was more important than her was Jesus. The Supreme God was described as sometimes being male and other times being female, depending on who wrote that particular scripture and for which group it was being used by. In all groups, women were always considered as equal to men. This may be because what the world thought was not only disregarded but thought of as evil. A person’s “rank” was determined by their special knowledge, or ability to acquire Gnosis, not their gender.
Once a member had passed away, the other members of the group would pour a substance over their head and recite ritual chants. This was thought to help the soul soar above the Achons heavens, which were dangerous places, and get closer to the Supreme God. This ritual was also sometimes done as a person was dying, rather than after they had passed. Once becoming a member, each individual had to be baptized into the religion and the members would chant, “In the name of the Father unknown to all, in the Truth, Mother of All, in the One who came down upon Jesus, in the union, redemption and communion of powers.”
