Rite of Apocalypta
Just after the 4th Part of the Word of Set working, I wanted to encapsulate many of the Word of Set ideas and express and solidify my understanding via ritual.
I worked with the inspiration that sprung from the WOS Workings: most notably, the idea from the 1st Part which was about ‘apocalypse’.. but a different sort of apocalypse. To the non-initiate, the Apocalypse is a very scary thing. There is death, destruction, pain, and obliteration & loss. To the Initiate, ‘Apocalypse’ can be downright terrifying, for it is about revelations, the ‘lifting of a veil’ where we see the future that could be, and know that annihilation of the “self to the Self” is the only way through the gate. There can be destruction and obliteration of habits, relationships, and beliefs wound so tightly and packed so deeply it is hard to make them out in the shadows of our Self. But face them, we must, if we seek Sovereignty – and facing such ‘Apocalypse’ reveals a strength of our own being. We, in our Quest for Sovereignty, do the hard things, and face our Selves to Become.
The Apocalypse is something that happens to others; ‘Apocalypta’, is what we do to our Selves on our Quest for Regia, for Sovereignty.
For the ritual: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as marked by Dr. Dee in his Enochian system and loaded with their Christian mythos of destruction, are brought forth and enfolded into the Aeon of Set. They act as the ‘elements’ for this Rite. In the liminal point of being evoked from the mundane, they are met by the Herald of corresponding embodiments of the Prince of Darkness. As they are charged by the Word of Set, they move into the Working as a whole as Pillars of understanding on the Quest for Sovereignty. Thus, they are dual forces of destruction and construction.
The main body of the Working:
XXX Summoning the Horsemen
Herald: I call forth the Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the domain of the lost and doomed. Attend Us – We who dwell in the realm of the Sovereign. Ride with us on our Quest to rend the veil, in our Desire to bring forth Apocalypta.
Herald: From the East, War! (sign of Air) On our Quest for Meaning, we seek to identify and obliterate all which moves against us. We sharpen our minds with our focus on obtaining the prize: the pathway to our Telos. Hail: ORO-IBA-HOZ-OPI
War: Hail Lucifer!
Herald: From the West, Death! (makes sign of Water) – We are moved by that which brings us pleasure and power, yet each Choice we make necessitates the death of a thousand thousand selves that will never be. We acquire the strength to sacrifice our self, to our Self, and gain New Life. Hail, M-PHA-RS-LG-AI-OL!
Death: Hail Leviathan!
Herald: From the North: Famine! (sign of Earth) – We strip the world of the fruits of the earth and hold them for our Sovereign indulgence; We strip ourselves to nothing to find everything. The truest Nobles take the best for themselves, refine it and put it back in the world. Hail MORD-IA-HK-IGA!
Famine: Hail Belial!
Herald: From the South: Conquest! (sign of Fire) We witness those of the lower orderings, beset by inner fears and moving in mindless self-annihilation & labor, and take them in our hand. By conquering our inner fears we conquer all, and create true works of Glory. Hail, OI-PT-EA-A-PD-OKE!
Conquest: Hail Satan!
XXX Working
Herald: Behold, the Kosmos – When time is stopped, and the only center is that which is within, the Keys unleash the Aeon of Apocoylpta;
(First Part of the Word of Set/Knowledge of the Cosmos)
I am within and beyond you, the Highest of Life, in majesty greater than the forces of the Universe; whose eyes are the Face of the Sun and the Dark Fire of Set; who fashioned your intelligence as his own and reached forth to exalt you; who entrusted to you dignity of consciousness; who opened your eyes that you might know beauty; who brought you the key to knowledge of all lesser things; and who enshrined in you the Will to Come Into Being. Lift your voices, then, and recognize the Highest of Life who thus proclaims your triumph; whose being is beyond natural life and death; who came as a flame to your world and enlightened your desire for perfection and truth. Arise thus in your glory, behold the genius of your creation, and be prideful of being, for I am the same – I who am the Highest of Life.
War/Lucifer: The secret of timelessness is this: only through movement do we gain clarity, and only through Remanifestation do we see the first manifestation. The link is witnessed.
(Third Part of the WOS/Timelessness/Air)
Conceive of the Cosmos as a circle of twelve divisions alternating between life and death, binding all creatures save those whom I have touched. You were given powers greater than those ordering these divisions and extending throughout the ages of time, that with your vision and your voices you might exercise the Powers of Darkness, sending ever forth the Black Flame across the Earth and the expanses of time. Thus you are the Guardians of perfection and truth. Arise, then, and witness the wondrous creations born of your wisdom, even as I am near to you and the essence of my being is enshrined within you.
Death/Leviathan: The Watchers shudder as the Towers crumble to the stooping dragons of Our Power and Pleasure.
(The Fourth Part of the WOS/Water/Way of Power & Pleasure)
From the reaches of the south I saw the savages of the second ordering of life in their thousands, and I sought one through whom I might prepare them for a higher existence and for the wielding of a greater power throughout the time to come. And now you have the whole of the Earth for your pleasure, and for the pleasure of those in whom you have awakened the Gift of my genius, in my name, for all of your generations.
Faminie/Belial: Be Prideful of Your Coming into Being.
(The Fifth Part of the WOS/ Earth/The Road to Rulership)
My Word to the third ordering of life brings the fruits of delight to the Earth, reflecting the brilliance of the stars and the nineteen Parts of this Word. By comprehending them they came to know their relation to the first and second orderings, as well as the inspiration of their own creation and that deathless fire that burs through their past, present, and future. I bring this knowledge of your creation; I am with you in peace and comfort; and I entrust to you my essence, because thus we are the same.
Conquest/Satan: In Apocalypta we seek the mystery of our Self – I, I who am within and Beyond.
(Sixth Part of the WOS/Fire/Self-faithfulness beyond death)
Beyond you who are of the third ordering shall be those of the fourth, mighty in the Universe, who shall again come into being by a First, to recall the high orderings of the past and to witness those of the lower orderings in their mindless self-annihilation and labor, and to continue the exalted tradition of the second and third orderings. Remember my Word, because it is for you and of the power within you, and through it you shall create works of glory to you and to me.
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Herald: The Keys are activated, and each holds a secret of Sovereignty.
War/Lucifer: Here You May find the secrets of your Quest for Meaning and how to Rule your Inner World. For I know the Way to wage war on what hinders you, and I am the way to your Purpose.
Death/Leviathan: Here you May find the secrets of how to Acquire Strength and Rule in the Outer World. For I Feel what moves you, and I am the Way to making the hardest Sacrifice.
Famine/Belial: Here you May find the secret of Alchemy, and the way to become a Royal Force in the Outer World. For I hold All of the fruits of the Earth; I am the way of refinement; and I know how to put things back into the World.
Conquest/Satan: Here you may fight your darkest Inner Fears, and gain Knowledge of how to become a Royal Force in Your Inner World. For I Burnish the Fire Within that burns away all Fear, and I Know how to Shape every World.
<Workers move from Watchtower to Watchtower and communicate with each.>
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Herald: The Temple erupts into Being! From the tempering fire & ice of the black flame, it is ever razed and rebuilt, yet grows ever stronger.
(Second Part of the Word of Set/Spirit/Knowledge of Building the Temple)
Can the wings of the winds understand your voices of wonder, O enlightened ones who shine like fire in the jaws of chaos, whom I have prepared as cups for a wedding, or as the flowers in their beauty for the chamber of righteousness? Stronger are your feet than the barren stone, and mightier are your voices than the manifold winds, for you are become a Temple such as is not, but in the mind of Set. Arise, says the First of your kind; move, therefore, unto the Elect; show them the fire within you, and awaken them that they may gain the strength to live forever.
Herald: All Hail: Ad Regium per Magica!
All: Ad Regium per Magica!
<Trumpet Blast/Bell>
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