Astral Temples of The Avalonian Catholic Church

Copyright 2002, 2003 Jon Ryner

Vestments of the Servants of the Sacred

Generally, it seems that each modern Catholic tradition has taken either of two views of vestment design: either that this is totally insignificant and anything goes, or that there are profound reasons that the original vestments were designed the way they were, i.e., they were fashioned to raise and channel magical energies in the most efficient way possible.

The Avalonian Catholic Church definitely embraces the latter view with some important caveats. It is vital to understand the deficiencies in some prior writing done on this subject, most notably by Bishop Leadbeater.

The Runic Nature of Catholic Vesture

Highchurch folk know about the bands on vestments, technically called orphreys. There is a tendency to view vestments which have them as being more "traditional", yet even the most traditional Christians don't know why they should be there. Bishop Leadbeater wrote about these as channels of energy, yet we don't think he went far enough.

The Clavi Orphrey

The first orphrey pattern is the clavi orphrey, shaped like a Y. This was used on priests' chasubles. If there were two of them, one was sewn on either side. If there was only one, it was put on the back.

Pope John Paul II uses a cross of this shape, which is very interesting to us, as a German artist was condemned centuries ago by the Roman Catholic Church for using this device. Art was carefully controlled, as the Roman Church knew that heretics could use art to convey their messages and perhaps even cloud the minds of the faithful with their wickedness. ;) Is there anything behind this particular shape?

Here is a 1248 crucifixion from the Chapel of San Silvestro in Rome:

Note that Jesus is not suffering as much as in later portrayals. Indeed, according to many experts, there is not one original crucifixion in all the Gothic cathedrals of Europe. It is certainly true that amongst the Teutonic tribes, missionaries took great care to show Jesus as always powerful, as this was necessary to try to convert them. Here's an example:

Okay, it's not a Y cross, but it is a Celtic cross! ;) Notice that Jesus here is totally clothed, wearing a royal crown instead of a crown of thorns, and seems quite alive. Does his one eye look a little strange to you? Maybe the artist was attempting to hint at a connection with Odin's sacrifice. Our point is that it's quite possible that when the Christians tried to convert the Teutons, they were influenced as well. We believe that many magical techniques and devices found their way into the bosom of the Church, both directly from the Teutonic tribes and from their Celtic relatives. There's other more persuasive evidence we'll either be posting here and/or publishing in book form.

It's interesting that many churches have begun to put Jesus reigning triumphant on their processional crosses in recent years.

Why the fuss over the Y cross? Well, it's actually a rune, algiz. This is the life rune, and even today it is put on Scandinavian graves instead of the words for born and died, upright for the former and inverted for the latter.

The Single Orphrey

When only one clavi orphrey was sewn on a chasuble, a single strip was sewn on the front. This is also a rune, isa or ice. What better rune could one use to solidy one's magic?

Deacon's Runes

Coming soon...

Conclusions for Practical Work

As a result of this information, the Avalonian Catholic Church prescribes:

1) When a priest celebrates Mass, the chasuble should have one clavi orphrey and one single one on the other side. Ideally, there is also a vesica on the clavi orphrey.
2) When other priests concelebrate, they should wear chasubles with only a single orphrey on each side. Their purpose is to help solidify the energy on the material plane.

The Waters of Avalon

This is how a celebrant should view the water of the astral Caim at the beginning of a Mass. It is clear, but somewhat turbulent, with the agitated water giving the viewer a strong impression of electrical potency. It also has a strong blue hue.

The Mists

Here you can get an idea of how the Mists look, only they are often (such as at the beginning rites of the Mass) as surrounding the entire area.

The Guardians of the Quarters

If a Caim has enough trained members, four of them can even dress the part of the Guardians, which sure makes the celebrant's visualization and warding jobs easier! If this is done, appropriate masks should be crafted and worn.

Raylights in the Caim

Rather than use minuscular specks on or in candlesticks like the Liberal Catholic Church and the groups which derive from it, the Avalonian Catholic Church utilizes much larger stone votive candle holders, which are placed on either candlesticks or metal bowls, depending on the liturgy being celebrated, the physical structure of the space and the financial situation of the parish in question. We also make use of more rays than the L.C.C. for many reasons, which you can read about at Rays. If you want to know more about raylights, check out Raylights.

The Coming of Christ, the King of Glory

The Lance

Another departure of the ACC from other Western liturgies is that we retain the scribing on the host, which is found in the Eastern recensions. Given that they scribe letters and symbols which bear no relation to the actual events of the crucifixion of Jesus, we maintain that this is low magic, and, if not identical with, certainly closely akin to that of the rune masters; much as the Church in the early days scribed the floor with mystic symbols to consecrate its temples on the astral. (More on that soon!) For those unfamiliar with the practice, a handheld (smaller!) spear is used to actually cut into the Lamb, which in most Eastern recensions is leavened. We do not, however, perform this prior to the Mass, as this was neither the early practice of the Church nor nearly as magically effective.

These graphics should give some indication of how we view the actual Sacrice in the Avalonian Mass:

Castle15.jpg, MoonCastle.jpg and Castle22.gif are viewable courtesy of Lady Dorothea's Celtic Castle.

All written material in this site is copyrighted by the Most Rev. Jon Ryner, except where noted.