The Death Mass

Messe Mortuorum: The rite of the recogition of the passage from this stage of life into the Great Darkness.

• Ceremony is begun in accordance with The Satanic Bible.
  
• May be performed on Friday Nights which bear the number thirteen, or on All Hallows Eve.
  
• To begin at precisely Midnight.
  
• All vestments & adornments are black.
  
• Priest wears a mask {worn or painted of frightening proportions}, or the hood itself may cover the face excep for the eyes.
  
• "Marche Funebre" by Chopin to be used for the Entrance music.
  
• Tribal, or another frenzy-inducing music to be used for the Danse Noir, which resembles the fire dance. Dancers shall be nude, wearing only hoods.
  
• "Mass For The Dead" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to be played during The Recital, The Anointing, & The Resurrection Recitation.
  
• Suggestion for chalice contents: Powdered pig or goat's blood {obtained from butcher, & flesh used for food}, to be kept within the bottom of the chalice.
  
• Hydrogen Peroxide contained in a vial or vat. A relatively small amount shall be poured into the chalice where indicated, which will cause the solution to expand, bubble, & rise. The resulting conents shall consist of a thick reddish potion.
  
• Make sure a small portion of red paint is collected at the very bottom of the chalice, in order to accomplish The Anointing.
  
• The Death Mass may be peformed in two ways: Either the Priest may exit from the coffin or sarcophagus, &/or the Grim Reaper may do so in a later moment in the rite.

Five hooded phantoms enter slowly, with rhythmic steps, carrying a coffin or sarcophagus, & one black candle each. It shall be lain behind the altar. The five will place the candles in each corner of the pentagram.

Dancers will dance around the pentagram, motioning rising movements with arms, towards the coffin/sarcophagus. Congregants shall sit quietly. Near the exhaust point, a gong or loud death-bell will be sounded. The dancers will then sit upon cushions reserved for them on the floor, on the edges of the pentagram, holding the candles placed by the phantoms. After a small moment, the coffin/sarcophagus shall creak open, & exiting therefrom shall be the Priest. Concealed lighting directed upwards from the floor is recommended. Dry ice pervaids the noctuary. Priest now either stands behind the altar, or at a prepared podium.

The Lords of Death look upon our ceremony tonight! The Grim Reaper flies out through the misty darkness on this black evening! For soon we shall hear the beating of his wings!

The graves roll in moist soil, bones crack & extend forth, to reach into the world of the living! Morbid spechtres trancend from crypts & morgues to join us in fellowship! Crimson is the blood that seeps into the black earth! With eyes uncovered by decay, released from the cemetaries this Hallow's Eve, we gaze into the world beyond the grave, through the swirling smokes of the void, & into the grimly lit eyes of mortality!

Blessed be our ancestry! From their seed we are spawned, children of darkness, of one blood, kin of the elder race!

All: Blessed be our Ancestry! From their seed we are spawned, Children of Darkness, on one blood, kin of the Elder Race!

Death-tone bell resonates, as the Priest solemnly places the bucranium down. An apprentice brings a glass chalice affront, & holds it before the Priest, who has now picked up the Athame of Mortality. The Priest passes it across the wide spechtrum of the noctuary towards the congregants, while saying,

Hold it high above, then bring it down slowly, & kiss the blade. Dip the athame into the chalice, scooping the blood {paint}, smearing it in the sign of the pentagram upon the forehead. {Note: have a "screamer", or several "screamers" (may be the now veiled dancers; or hidden recorded screams) who will do just that, the second the cool blade is applied --- this will cause a shock sensation throughout the audience}.

Apprentice places chalice upon the altar, & presents a larger container, which holds the "blood" {powdered blood}. The Priest will now anoint the apprentice, then the dancers, & finally, the congregation, who will line up in single-file. Upon anointing them, the Priest says:

to which the congregaant shall reply, "Praised be to the Prince of Darkness."

He will then bow, kneeling upon the right knee before The Grim Reaper, who shall slowly lower his sickle in knighting fashion upon their shoulders. They will then each return to their seat in deep contemplation, bowing head.

When all have been anointed, The Grim Repaer will re-enter the coffin/sarcophagus. The Death-tone bell is now sounded thirteen times. All will raise heads, stand, & recite the following:

All: Life has sprung forth from death. From out of the rotting bowels, the stench-filled pits of the grave, has the blood begun to flow again! Reversed is the rigor mortis, that has, for far too long, been ingrained into flesh! Rise up! Elder ones, & come alive once again in our minds! Possess us to learn of thine ancient gnosis, thine eternal fountains of wisdom! Resurrect the life-flames, the fires of omniscience within our beings! Sustain us in the bounty of knowing, the bounty of being! Reveal thy visions unto our eyes!

After The Danse Noir, one by one, the congregants shall step before the altar & bow, then quietly depart.