People had tears in their eyes.

It was our first religious ceremony as a church. We thought the program we had planned would take about an hour. It only took half an hour. Live and learn.

My dear friend opened the solemnities with an Enkian banishing ritual in ancient Sumerian. It was wonderful. They spoke eloquently about Enki as a patron of the intersex and a deity of wisdom and rebellion. I don’t work with Enki, but I was thrilled to have him represented so beautifully. I think he’s an adversary and light-bringer figure entirely compatible with Lucifer.

Then congregants were invited to come up to the front and light candles in honor of… whatever they wanted. Candles were offered to Lilith, Eisheth, Agrat, Naamah, King Paimon, Lord Berith, Baphomet, and of course Lucifer– but demons weren’t the only ones honored. Pan, Bastet, the City of San Francisco, Friendship and Rebellion, and even Pikachu received shout-outs (we are very chaote-friendly). It was beautiful, moving, and collaborative.

After all the candles were lit, we sang “Sinful Gifts,” a doctored version of the classic hymn “Simple Gifts.” An award-winning choir we aren’t, yet, but it was sweet and moving.

As the last endearingly cacophonous strains of the hymn faded away, Vix and I stood to commence the Mass of Blasphemy.

I think we performed rather beautifully. I was nearly word-perfect with my lines. Some of the newcomers laughed nervously at certain points, especially during the creed, which is a 100 percent original Morningstar Congregation piece of liturgy:

I deny the tyrant above. I deny his sycophant son. I deny the holy ghost. I deny the so-called virgin mother, and all of the angels, and all of the saints. They have no power over me. I believe in the cause of the fallen angels. I believe in the Serpent of Eden. I believe in the Kingdom that is below. I believe in the God within me. 

The Creed, like the rest of the Mass, is intensely dramatic. I think the laughter was a response to that drama, and also maybe to the taboo-ness of the blasphemy. There was laughter again when, after the sacrilegious consecration, I plunged my dagger into the host. But not much laughter.

I didn’t realize how effective the mass had been until afterwards, when I received comments from the rest of the congregation. Words like “liberating” and “empowering” were common, and some confessed to being moved to tears. It was an incredible validation of the necessity of the mass of blasphemy, the necessity I had sensed.

And everyone wants to have church again soon! We are thinking we’ll start out having services once a month, probably on second Saturdays.

We are not ready to advertise publicly yet. If you are located in the Bay Area and interested in attending, contact morningstarcongregation@gmail.com. Expect to be vetted a bit, and we may ask that you come to our public coffee hour before attending a mass.