THE EROTONOMICON #2

Congress, Cum, and Demons

By NATHANIEL HARRIS

Come forth, o children, under the stars, & take your fill of love!

Liber Al, Aleister Crowley

Amongst the most infamous formulae of the left hand path, as well as our most spiritually crucial, is the Black Mass.  Since the Middle Ages such ritual has been the very epitome of witchcraft in the popular imagination. Many readers may complain that the Black Mass was an invention of the Inquisition, having no real place in the truth of witchcraft.  Without doubt, they are correct in their statement as to its origins.  However, this does not mean that witches have never gathered in such conventions. Frequently written of by practitioner and layman alike, and often illustrated in the most graphic and lurid detail, the Black Mass has emerged as a confusion of fact and fiction, reality and fantasy.  Contemporary accounts show two diametrically opposed viewpoints.  The first is that of the clergy, who insist that such assemblies are held where the faithful servants of Satan indulge in the most obscene rites, at which the Devil actually appears and copulates with his cohorts in a vile and debauched orgy.  Alternatively, scholars maintain that the Black Mass is and was nothing more than the drug crazed hedonistic indulgences of the dilettantes.

    There are elements of truth and falsehood in both viewpoints.  Such confusion has often been engendered by none other than the witches and sorcerers themselves, who have deliberately varied their rituals and allowed adaptation wherever it has been felt appropriate. The student seeking historical research into the various formulae of the Black Mass, as employed by a variety of magical societies, may do little better than to seek out Anton LaVey’s The Satanic Rituals.  The novel Lá-Bas by J.K. Huysmans (1891) contains what appears to be an eye witness account, and it is fairly certain that the author was involved in esoteric circles. For the sake of context, this author confesses that he has not only attended several Black Masses during his career, but also facilitated their performance.  Such have employed both heterosexual and homosexual formulae.

    The Black Mass, when performed with sincerity, is directly comparable to the workings of the Left Hand Path Tantric.  Their purpose is less that of a puerile desire to ‘worship the Devil’, for such would merely result in the negative imprinting of Christian fear and guilt upon our consciousness.  Rather, their intent is that of liberation; hence the coupling of averse Christian symbolism and the erotic content of such rites.  If God were a reality, such would bring thunder, lightning and damnation upon our heads.  The fact that it does not frees us from the superstitious fear of such. 

    The Black Mass serves as a means by which the true magick of self -realisation may be revealed and employed. Each traditional element of the rite, from the trampling of the cross to the employment of a naked woman as altar, has its source in Gnostic and pagan mysteries, as were inherited by the Witches. Turn the crucifix upside down, and it is not merely the inversion of a Christian symbol, but an ancient Pagan image known as the Hammer of Thor, with obvious phallic implication. The sexual content of the Black Mass has its probable origins in the fertility theme that lies at the roots of much witchcraft, and the illuminatory sexual knowledge of the Hermeticists. They became ‘sinister’ when the pagan rites were no longer considered the revival of an old religion, but ‘evil’ activities born of heresy. In short, these are the valid expressions of timeless mystery, yet employing post-Christian elements for purposes of deconditioning.  Their correct employment is thus one of personal empowerment in every sense.

    As with the Left Handed Tantric circle, the participants of the Black Mass confront those taboos placed upon them by society.  Through deliberate acts of sexual blasphemy, they break through the ‘mind forged manacles’ and achieve personal liberation.  Such formulae are dangerous, because they bring us face to face with our own psychological blockages and anxieties. The use of transcendental sexual formulae is of course completely antithetical to the views of the Church, as is the idea that religious observance should be in any way fun.

The Complete EROTONOMICON Part II is printed SilKMilK s p o o l # 2 ; and Part I in SilKMilK s p o o l #1