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To Perfect This Feast: Limited Collector's Edition
A Complete Performance Commentary on the Gnostic Mass
Drawing on nearly half a century of regular performance of the Gnostic Mass--and the countless classes and training sessions they have conducted during their O.T.O. careers--James and Nancy Wasserman (Bishops Tahuti and Mara) offer a coherent look at the ritual described by Aleister Crowley as the central ritual of [the O.T.O. s] public and private celebration.
With no attempt to improve upon the teachings of the Master, they elucidate a method of performing the Mass whose entire rationale is a strict adherence to the instructions given in Liber XV. The authors have striven to understand the meaning of Crowley s text penned in the white-hot fury of his 1913 inspiration and extract the relevant spiritual teachings embedded within this elegant ritual.
A series of insights, beginning in December of 2005 e.v., revealed solutions to long-hidden performance mysteries. The authors were encouraged to share these with a broader audience.
If you are interested in Aleister Crowley and the Gnostic Mass, this book will teach you how to perform it in a manner that conforms to his instructions.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 5, 2009
About the author
James Wasserman
56 books56 followersJames Wasserman was an author and occultist, best known for his full color publication of the Papyrus of Ani, Book of the Dead. A member of Ordo Templi Orientis since 1976 and a book designer by trade, he has written extensively on spiritual and political liberty.
Wasserman began his career in 1973 at Weiser Books, then the world’s largest bookstore and publishing company specializing in esoteric literature. He worked with Brazilian occultist Marcelo Ramos Motta to publish the Commentaries of AL in 1975, for which he wrote the introduction. He supervised the 1976 Weiser edition of the Book of the Law in which the holograph manuscript was appended to the typeset text for the first time in a popular volume. In 1977, he arranged to professionally re-photograph the Frieda Harris Tarot paintings for an improved second edition of Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot deck, to which he contributed the booklet of instruction.[5][6] While still working at the bookstore, he met and befriended the legendary filmmakers and occultists Harry Smith and Alejandro Jodorowsky.
In 1977, he left Weisers to found Studio 31, where he produced the Simon Necronomicon, a volume purporting to be the mythological Necronomicon made famous by H.P. Lovecraft. In 2008, it was re-issued in a high quality 31st anniversary edition by Ibis Press. In 1994, Wasserman assembled a team of scholars, photographers and editorial staff to produce a full-color version of The Egyptian Book of the Dead, based on the Papyrus of Ani. The book was described as offering "much of value in presentation, layout and commentary" by John Baines, professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford.
Wasserman began his career in 1973 at Weiser Books, then the world’s largest bookstore and publishing company specializing in esoteric literature. He worked with Brazilian occultist Marcelo Ramos Motta to publish the Commentaries of AL in 1975, for which he wrote the introduction. He supervised the 1976 Weiser edition of the Book of the Law in which the holograph manuscript was appended to the typeset text for the first time in a popular volume. In 1977, he arranged to professionally re-photograph the Frieda Harris Tarot paintings for an improved second edition of Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot deck, to which he contributed the booklet of instruction.[5][6] While still working at the bookstore, he met and befriended the legendary filmmakers and occultists Harry Smith and Alejandro Jodorowsky.
In 1977, he left Weisers to found Studio 31, where he produced the Simon Necronomicon, a volume purporting to be the mythological Necronomicon made famous by H.P. Lovecraft. In 2008, it was re-issued in a high quality 31st anniversary edition by Ibis Press. In 1994, Wasserman assembled a team of scholars, photographers and editorial staff to produce a full-color version of The Egyptian Book of the Dead, based on the Papyrus of Ani. The book was described as offering "much of value in presentation, layout and commentary" by John Baines, professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 22, 2020
So this was an interesting and very easy and quick read. While I definitely have some feelings on his personal style and methods for performing the Gnostic Mass, I will say his (James Wasserman's) writing style is very easy to follow and engaging. I liked some of his points like the Priest breathing down the Lance when the Priest proclaims "By virtue of the Rod, be this bread/wine be the body/blood of God" for example. What I had a very time with is his fixation on gender, pronouns, and roles.
I guess that's also to note, the book claims it was written by both the Wassermans but the voice is very obviously James, as most of the commentary is on the Priest role and almost nothing on the Priestess role except for some weirdly outdated points. I would have loved to hear more about the Priestess role and Nancy's opinions on it.
Overall, I definitely got some good ideas from it as I study to begin Deconing, I think he's flat out wrong on some points, and others have given me food for thought. But as he says in the beginning of the book, these are his opinions and customs alone and its simply to assist those who can use it - picking and choosing is kinda the name of the game here and for that I appreciate the work.
I guess that's also to note, the book claims it was written by both the Wassermans but the voice is very obviously James, as most of the commentary is on the Priest role and almost nothing on the Priestess role except for some weirdly outdated points. I would have loved to hear more about the Priestess role and Nancy's opinions on it.
Overall, I definitely got some good ideas from it as I study to begin Deconing, I think he's flat out wrong on some points, and others have given me food for thought. But as he says in the beginning of the book, these are his opinions and customs alone and its simply to assist those who can use it - picking and choosing is kinda the name of the game here and for that I appreciate the work.
November 8, 2010
A beautiful guide to the Gnostic Mass.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews