I are now a deacon
I are now a deacon
I got my Diaconate ordination last night. Visiting bishop was in town to do a mass and a couple of lectures. The first talk yesterday morning was about the mass, and some of the things that the Episcopate had decided on to make the Mass be more uniform from one body to another. This was the same talk she gave a couple months ago in Kansas City, the summation of which came back to us by way of some notes from a participant. The presentation that I saw seemed less… authoritarian. Some of the things that were decided included no “standard” huzzah’s when people communicate; they’re ok as “spontaneous expressions”. We had a few huzzah’s at the mass, but they weren’t very confident, sounding more like “Huzzah, I think, if it’s ok with you”. There were some other bits like mounting the steps, touching the priestess. Seems that touching the priestess is “not recommended”, and the reason I think is sound. Part of that was about who got to do that. It seemed like that was a “i know the priestes, so I can hug her” kind of thing, and I can understand how that might set up some confusion in newcomers because it’s not necessarily clear that that is the dynamic at play. I saw the result up close and personal at a mass in SLC when someone who was new marched right up the steps and planted a kiss on the priestess’s sternum. I probably failed in my duty, at that moment, to protect the priestess (I was positive child) and while it wasn’t a definitevely lewd gesture, it still wasn’t what anyone was expecting or desiring. Some rules are good, i suppose. The second lecture was about the Rucharist, and covered eucharistic rites in general, including the pre-christian roots in Greek Dionysian ritual. This helped me understand the protestant Christian’s perspective about the Roman Catholic Church becoming corrupted by pagan ritual. This was a relatively recent discovery, while talking to a born-again co-worker who told me that as far as his peeps were concerned, Catholics aren’t necessarily Christians (HUH?). THis talk inspired some new learnings in me, to the point that I know, now, what the various greek lines during the mass mean, which aids in remembering them (at least for me). The third talk was about the role of gender in the OTO, including whether women are honored and respected or just treated as “vessels” etc. The main takeaway for that was a list of feminine gods I think I want to research a bit. The mass itself was good. I was heartened at the level of intention and velocity showed in the setup and teardown. We’ve got some new blood in the Oasis, and they’re stepping up to the plate to get things done and it seems like it’s taking a lot less time since the Mass van has been repacked so that only what is needed is hauled up and down the basement stairs. As a Deacon, my part is much like being a Production Supervisor (from the Landmark Education world), and I know that the most powerful way to do that is more as a supervisor, not necessarily as a “doer”. This was only about my third time in the role of Deacon. I messed up three times during the mass (forgot the step and sign before the creed, had folks sit down prematurely once, got in line in the wrong order during the Priest’s circumabuations) but, as Diarmid told me before my second mass, the miracle of the mass still happened. This was also ’s first mass as priest. He did well for a first mass, but as in anything, there’s room for growth within the role, and I look forward to seeing that develop. He brought some things to the role I’d never noticed before. Specifically, I can’t look at this section the same since he enunciated it thusly:
Thou that art One, our Lord in the Universe the Sun, our Lord in ourselves whose name is Mystery of Mystery, uttermost being whose radiance enlightening the worlds is also the breath that maketh every God even and Death to tremble before Thee
Makes more sense that way. After the mass we did something called the “Treasure House of Images” (a.k.a. Liber 963), which is a long-ish poetic treatment of the zodiac, describing the relationship of each house with each sign as ascendent. This means that there were 144, no, wait, 169 speeches (with the addition of the Sun in each round). There were 13 participants, each of which wore a colored tabard with one of the 12 signs of the zodiac and spoke the speeches attributed to that sign. Given that I have already stated that I need to do more work with the houses so that I may become a better amateur astrologer, I think this text bears more study. It was a long day that started about 10:00 am and didn’t finish until almost 3 AM, but I’m glad I was there.