THE CEREMONY
OF THE
SUN AND MOON

​

Being a Ritual of Marriage
designed for the Conjoining of
two souls in Nuit and Hadit.

Official Ceremony of
The Order of the T.·.G.·.D.·.
(New Order of the Golden Dawn)

​

By David Cherubim
(Frater Aurora Aureae)
Copyright © 1991 e.v.
The Order of the
Thelemic Golden Dawn.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

​

I
The Arrangement
of the Temple

The Temple shall be arranged accordingly. In the center shall be the Altar, having upon it a Cup of Wine, two Cakes of Light, the Magick Wand, the Magick Bell, the Holy Oil, two Magical Links for the Priest and the Priestess (two consecrated Rings), and The Book of the Law.

II
The Preparation
of the Ceremony

The Priest shall wear a Red (or White) Robe and the Priestess shall wear a Blue (or Black) Robe to symbolize Fire and Water (or Light and Darkness, that is, Male and Female). The Priest shall wear a Lamen of the Sun and the Priestess shall wear a Lamen of the Moon. They shall duly purify their bodies before they robe.

To begin this Holy Ceremony of the Sun and Moon, let the Priest duly banish in the Temple by the proper magical method. (Perform the Banishing Ritual of the Star Ruby, Liber XXV.) Then shall he apply the Holy Oil to himself and the Priestess shall do the same to herself, consecrating their Wills to this Great Work of Union. Then shall they kiss, uniting hands as they do so. Then shall they position themselves in their appropriate stations in the Temple, the Priest in the East of the Temple and the Priestess in the West of the Temple, facing each other.

Before conducting this Holy Ceremony, the Priest and the Priestess should meditate in their hearts upon verses 33 and 34 of Chapter I of The Book of the Law. Also they should meditate in their hearts upon verse 35 of Chapter II of The Book of the Law. Let them perform this Holy Ceremony in accordance with these holy injunctions of Thelema. They should especially meditate upon and put into proper effect the holy injunction: "the rituals shall be half known and half concealed."

III
The Proclamation
and the Oath

Priest                (In the East facing Priestess in the West.)
                           Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Priestess          (In the West facing Priest in the East.)
                           Love is the Law, Love under Will.
Priest                 What is thy Will, O Lady of the Night?
Priestess           It is my Will to sacramentally Unite.
                           And what is thy Will, O Man of the Sun?
Priest                 It is my Will to become as One.
Priestess          And by what Magick Spell shall we work our Will?
Priest                 By the Spell of this Ritual’s Mystick Seal.
Priestess          And what shall we make by this act Unknown?
Priest                A mysterious object called the
                           Philosopher’s Stone!
Priestess          Art thou prepared to do thy Will?
Priest                 I am prepared to accomplish the Grand Miracle.
Priestess          Will you take an Oath to complete this Rite?
Priest                 I will take the Oath and we will Unite.
Priestess          Then seal thy words with a precious Kiss
                           And so shall we unite in infinite Bliss!

The Priest and Priestess go to the Altar and the Priest kisses his Priestess on her lips. Then shall they unite hands above The Book of the Law on the Holy Altar, and together they shall take the Oath.

Pr & Pr             In freedom we take this Oath of Love
                          To accomplish our Will on earth as above!
                          We promise and swear, and infinitely aspire,
                          To unite as one -- our hearts desire!

                          By Fire and Water we will partake this hour
                          The Holy Sacrament of Magick Power!
                          And so shall we work our Will to Unite
                          And attain the Quintessence of this Rite!

                          This Oath we promise; this Oath we swear
                          As we enflame ourselves with Prayer!
                          In the Name of Thelema -- the Law of Liberty,
                          As we will, So mote it be!

IV
The Invocation of
the Elements

The Priest advances to the appropriate Elemental quarters and invokes the Elements by way of the Unicursal Hexagram and the appropriate verbal invocations.

Priest              (Advances to the East, traces the Unicursal Hexagram of Fire,
                        and invokes:)

                         Holy art Thou, O Lord of the Fire,
                         Thou Lord of Light, to which we aspire!
                         O Thou Flashing Flame of Eternity,
                         Come Thou forth we say unto Thee!

                         (Priest goes to the South, traces the Unicursal Hexagram of Earth,
                         and invokes:)

                         Holy art Thou, O Lord of the Earth,
                         Thou Lord of Life, our essence of birth!
                         O Thou soul of all forms that we see,
                         Come Thou forth we say unto Thee!

                         (Priest goes to the West, traces the Unicursal Hexagram of Air,
                         and invokes:)

                         Holy art Thou, O Lord of the Air,
                         Thou Lord of Liberty, to which we adhere!
                         O Thou perpetual Breath of Ecstasy,
                         Come Thou forth we say unto Thee!

                         (Priest goes to the North, traces the Unicursal Hexagram of Water,
                         and invokes:)

                         Holy art Thou, O Lord of the Water,
                         Thou Lord of Love and Mystick Rapture!
                         O Thou inscrutable Depth of the Sea,
                         Come Thou forth we say unto Thee!

The Priest now goes to the Center of the Temple, completing the Circle. He then gives the Sign of the Cross, and declares:

                         Holy art thou, ye Elements Divine,
                         Invoked and inspired to perfectly combine
                         In this Temple consecrated to Love
                         To accomplish below That which is Above!

V
The Invocation of
the Sun and Moon

The Priest and Priestess now exchange stations, so that the Priest is facing East and the Priestess is facing West.

Priest                 (Makes Unicursal Hexagram of Sol and invokes:)
                           I invoke Thee, O Thou Glorious Sun,
                           To come Thou forth that our Will be done!
                           Let Thy Light illumine this Temple
                           Making true the Magick of this Holy Ritual!

Priestess           (Makes Unicursal Hexagram of Luna and invokes:)
                            I invoke Thee, O Thou Soul of Night,
                            To come Thou forth that we may Unite!
                            Let Thy Love work its Mighty Spell
                            To make as one, both Heaven and Hell!

VI
The Conjoining
of the Sun and Moon

The Priest and Priestess shall now unite to produce the Philosopher’s Stone so that they may duly charge their Magical Links with the invoked Current of this Sacramental Ceremony of Love for the accomplishment of their Will to Unite. When this is complete, let the Priest consume the Elixir and administer the same unto his Priestess.

VII
The Charging of
the Magical Links

A portion of the Philosopher’s Stone shall be used to charge the Magical Links, which are designed to bring about the desired magical effect of this Holy Ceremony. They shall be imbued with the invoked force of the Stone. These links should be in the form of consecrated Magical Rings that shall be worn by the Priest and Priestess as true tokens of their consummation of this Sacramental Ceremony. The Priest shall do best by tracing the Sigil of the Moon on the Ring which he will administer to his Priestess, and the Priestess shall do best by tracing the Sigil of the Sun on the Ring which she will administer to her Priest.

Priest                (When tracing Sigil of Luna, let him declare:)
                          This ring I bless to unite my soul
                           With the Priestess of this Holy Ritual!

The Priest shall now kiss the Ring and place it on the proper finger of his Priestess.

Priestess           (When tracing Sigil of Sol, let her declare:)
                           This ring I bless to unite my soul
                            With the High Priest of this Holy Temple!

The Priestess shall now kiss the Ring and place it on the proper finger of her Priest.

VIII
The Proclamation
of the Rings of Power

Pr & Pr            Upon our fingers there is Magick Power,
                         Rings of a Spell, by which we empower
                         Our Will to unite in Love and Liberty --
                         A Mystic delight for all eternity!

Pr & Pr            These Rings of Love we do proclaim
                         As Links of a Power we do acclaim!
                         By their Magick we enforce our Way
                         To work our Will both Night and Day!

IX
The Proclamation
of the Union of the
Sun and Moon

Pr & Pr            This we proclaim; that we are Bound
                         In Mystick Love and Freedom Profound!
                         Our divided souls are wed in Ecstasy:
                         We are ever joined in Love and Liberty!

Pr & Pr             This we proclaim; that we are One:
                          In the Sun and Moon our Will is done!
                          We shall now celebrate with Wine and Cake
                          This blessed Union that we undertake!

X
The Celebration of
the Sun and Moon

Pr & Pr             We partake the Cake; we partake the Wine:
                          The bread and the blood -- sacraments divine!

Let the Priest and the Priestess now partake the Cakes and the Wine. When this is duly accomplished, they shall then declare:

Pr & Pr             We revel with joy in this act of zeal,
                          Partaking the elements with Love under Will!

The Priest and the Priestess shall now embrace their bodies in pure passionate ecstasy and joy, ending all with a sacramental kiss of delicious delight as a final token of their Mystick Love.

XI
The Great Work
Accomplished

The Priest and the Priestess shall now strike the Magick Bell. The Priestess shall hold the Bell on high, and the Priest shall strike the Bell 3-5-3 with his Wand. When this is duly accomplished, they shall then both proclaim:

ABRAHADABRA!

This final Word of Power seals this Sacramental Ceremony of Love with the Magical Current of the Great Work of Thelema, of which it is a proper magical glyph, being the glyph of the Magick Formula of the Mystick Union of the Rose and Cross. It is the great Reward of Our Lord Ra-Hoor-Khuit, administered unto them who are chosen and united in Nuit and Hadit.

To properly end this Holy Ceremony, the Priest shall duly perform the Banishing Ritual of the Star Ruby (Liber XXV). Then shall the Priest and Priestess depart the Temple in unison, with hands joined to symbolize their going forth together to do their Will among the legions of the living; yea, to do their Will among the legions of the living.

Love is the law, love under will.