The Scarlet Letter
Volume III, Number 1 | Sept.1995
Column: Smoking Dog Project
The Kiss of Will: A Ritual for Two Thelemites
by Fr. PNESOMAUMA

I. Opening

The priestess is throned in the North and silent.

The Priest is in the Center; he gives the battery: 55555-1-55555.

The Priest performs the Star Ruby, followed by the Ritual of the Mark of the Beast.

II. Elemental Evocation of the Goddess

The priest advances to the East and makes the sign of 496 in Life with the name ISIS. He conjures:

Isis art thou, and from thy life are fed
      All showers and suns, all moons that wax and wane,
All stars and streams, the living and the dead,
      The mystery of pleasure and of pain.
Thou art the mother! Thou the speaking sea!
Thou art the earth and its fertility!
Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to thee—
      To thee! 1

He circumambulates to the South and makes the sign of 496 in Light with the name HATHOOR. He conjures:

Hathoor art thou, and to thy beauty drawn
       All glories of the Universe how down,
The blossom and the mountain and the dawn.
      Fruit's blush, and woman, our creation's crown.
Thou art the priestess, sacrifice, and shrine,
Thou art the love and life of the divine!
Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, are surely mine—
       Art thine.

He circumambulates to the West and makes the sign of 496 in Love with the name VENUS. He conjures:

Venus art thou, the love and light of earth,
      The wealth of kisses, the delight of tears,
The barren pleasure never come to birth,
      The endless, infinite desire of years.
I am the shrine at which thy long desire
Devoured thee with intolerable fire.
I was song, music, passion, death, upon thy lyre—
       Thy lyre!

He circumambulates to the North and makes the sign of 496 in Liberty with the name BABALON He conjures:

Thine is the Grail and Thine the Glory now;
      Thou art the flame and fuel of my breast;
I am the star of God upon thy brow;
      Thou art my Queen, exalted, unsurpassed.
Hide me, sweet river; welcome to the sea!
Ocean of love that shall encompass me!
Life, death, love, hatred, light, darkness, return to Thee—
       To Thee!

III. Quintessential Invocation of the Goddess

The priest returns to the center and faces North. He makes the ficus with his right hand, and draws a circle over his head. He invokes.

0 circle of stars, of whom our father is but the younger brother, marvel beyond imagination, soul of infinite space, before whom time is ashamed, the mind bewildered and the understanding dark, not unto Thee may we attain unless Thine image be love. 2

He brings the ficus to his groin. He invokes:

Therefore by seed and root and stem and bud and leaf and flower and fruit do I invoke Thee.

He concentrates pneuma at his heart with the name NUIT He invokes:

Then the priest answered and said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat, o Nuit! Continuous one of heaven! Let it be ever thus, that men speak not of Thee as one, but as none. And let them speak not of Thee at all, since Thou art continuous! —AL I:27

IV. The Kiss

The priest remains in the center facing North. The priestess descends and dances widdershins about the priest, chanting:

I am the Holy Queen of Heaven!
      Eternal matter is my name.
The veiled star, the crowned eleven.
      These are my soul, as thou my flame,
O winged globe of serpents twined,
      O sun of glory in my skies!
O subtle spirit of my mind!
      O ardent rapture of mine eyes!
            Thou secret centre, motion, rest:—
            Come to my breast! Come to my breast! 3

She then proceeds to the West and faces center. He makes the sign Puer, and replies:

I am the Lord of Heaven, and I
      Am secretly arrayed and robed
In all the azure abyss of sky
      By serpents winged, wound and globed.
Thou art the Infinite of space,
      Thou the blue-lidded love of air!
I burn to kiss the exultant face,
      To grip the body bent and bare.
            O music! to my silence be!
            I come to thee! I come to thee!

He turns to face her on the final line.

She makes the sign Puella walks widdershins to the East, declaring:

The word of Sin is Restriction. 0 man, refuse not thy wife, if she will! 0 lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is no bond that can unite the divided but love; all else is a curse. —AL I:49

The priest replies (maintaining his position): I am the Secret Serpent coiled about to spring.

She chants, passionately: To me! To me! —AL I:65

He turns East to face her and makes the sign Vir, exulting: And in my coiling there is joy! —AL II:26

She takes a step towards him and makes the sign Mulier:

I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense, desire you. Put on the wings, and arouse the coiled splendour within you: come unto me! To me! Sing the rapturous love-song unto me! Burn to me perfumes! Wear to me jewels! Drink to me, for I love you! I love you! —AL I:61-63

He takes a step towards her and claps the battery 333-55555-333. In unison they say: ABRAHADABRA!

They kiss, and may make the Rosy Cross if desired.

V. Closing

The priest retires to his throne in the South.

The priestess makes the sign of Mater Triumphans and utters the secret word of the working.

The priestess seals the circle with the Harpocratic Octahedron and uses the Star Ruby as a final banishing. She gives the battery 1999999999-1.

Notes

1 This stanza and the three following are from Crowley's Tannhäuser.

2 This invocation and the two following are from Liber XV the Gnostic Mass.

3 This stanza and that of the Priest are "The Circle and the Point" by Crowley.
The basic structure of this ritual was drawn from a text by Vivienne Jones in Aquarian Arrow #7, a British periodical from the late 70's. She included it as "A Thelemic Ritual" in her article "Aspects of Western Sexual Magick." She did not claim authorship of the ritual, but credited instead an anonymous former magical co-worker and lover. I have substantially rewritten and expanded the original rubric, drawing in material from Tannhäuser and "The Circle and the Point" by Crowley, as well as other thelemic rituals like the Mark of the Beast and the Gnostic Mass.

Component rituals: The Star Ruby is Liber XXV, see Magick or my preferred version in The Book of Lies. The Ritual of the Mark of the Beast is described in Liber V vel Reguli, also in the appendices to Magick. “Harpocratic Octahedron” is my own work, published in a modified form in The Scarlet Letter Vol. 2 #3.

Signs: The N.O.X. signs are given in Liber V. The 496 signs are my own work, published in The Scarlet Letter Vol. 1 #2 in the article "Lunar Adorations."

If the ritual has a goal more specific than “love under will,” that may be declared as “the secret word of the working.”

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