Dark Wedding * * * * * My brother is a minister in one of those "universal" churches -- You know the kind that call themselves "liberal" and say that they open their doors to all decent persons of whatever beliefs. At least he _was_ a minister. And to explain that, I'm putting down what he told me, from the beginning. === It's part of my job to offer our church worship center to weddings. We send out a standard form, to get names, etc., and to let the parties know our simple rules--no rice, for instance. I'd received a form from a "Tessa Mallory," and I'd thought it best to talk about some issues, to her in person. She came to see me at the church office one summer afternoon. She was of medium height, dark haired, and very presentable; indeed I wondered if she was a model. Her jawline was strait and strong without being heavy, and her dark eyes, while intense, frequently seemed to convey a kind of detachment. With her was a soft spoken man of about 6 feet; dark hair, wearing a loose fitting black shirt and well-cut dark pants. I introduced myself, "I'm Blair, minister of this church. Welcome." I extended my hand; the young man took it, and then she did. "I'm Tessa," she said. Her eyes smiled at me, with curiosity. Desire tugged at me. "Let me explain a few things," I said. "Our church has a wide embrace--former Catholics, Muslims, Baptists. We do not care about a person's theology, so long as they don't represent a danger to their fellow human beings." She nodded. "Indeed, we don't care if you reject God or religion. We are happy to serve our atheist members." "That's very enlightened," she said, with a bit of mischief in her eyes. "Your application says 'Order of Sabazios', which I'm not familiar with." "It's a small, select group," she replied, and her fiancé nodded. "It's not a Christian group, I take it," I said. "No, it's not." "Well, I want you to know we are religious liberals. We have Jews here." Something twigged my mind. "We have Wiccans here, too," I added. "Quite happily. Would your group be of that type?" "We are not exactly Wiccans," she said, "but you might know that Sabazios was a god of fertility." "Oh," I said. "That's fine. We are liberals, remember. We see nothing wrong with venerating the harvest gods." I wanted to prevent misunderstandings, so I added. "Because your group is unusual, I must ask for and receive several undertakings" "And what are those?" she said. "I'll run them off, and you answer 'yes' or 'no.' Then you and your fiancé and I will sign the papers. "These are standard questions we developed, based on our experiences. First, there is to be no devil worship." "Fine," she said. "There are to be no animal sacrifices." "Meaning what?" "You mustn't kill any animal--you know like some voodoo groups will cut the head off a chicken." "We will not shed the blood of any animal," she said. "Those are the main things," I said. "Do you have any questions?" She looked me in the eye, as if to gauge my reaction: "What about nudity?" Well, I've heard of such things and our church has nothing against the healthy body, sex and so on. "I don't see that as a problem in a closed ceremony; not for the public. We think the body is beautiful. We are liberals, remember." I did think to add, however, "There is to be no sexual intercourse, it almost goes without saying." She frowned slightly. "Well, our church affirms the dignity of sexuality, but there laws about sexual intercourse in public places. I'm sure you understand." "I don't see that as a problem," she said, and added "of course we are talking only about public display in your building. You're not trying to say what happens otherwise, are you?" "No, of course not," I said. "One further thing," she said, "I think I put on the form; We want you to conduct the ceremony, but do so jointly with our representatives, a priest and priestess. You, since you have a license from the state, will 'marry' us. OK?" "Right," I said. "And you will have one of us as assistant, OK?" "I've conducted many joint services with varying degrees of involvement," I said. "We need to set up some curtains and back drops, that can be removed, and a few other items, stands, etc., temporarily," she stated casually. "No problem. I'm looking forward to it. Just give me my lines before the ceremony starts." "I think that's everything," I said, "we've agreed on the fee, right? $100 per hour, for 3 hours." I presented the form to her and her fiancé; they signed and returned the paper for my signature. === Near the time of the ceremony, I was in my office. A young lady came to fetch me. She introduced herself as Lucie and told me she had just started at a local university. She didn't look of that age, but college students just look younger and younger these days. She was a slender, blonde young woman, with grey-blue eyes, rather graceful, beginning to fill out at the hips. My mind imagined a small, blond-downed vulva which concealed the narrowest of virgin lips. I walked into the large, worship room; the makeover stunned me. Deep purple drapes had been strung up along the walls. We don't have an altar, but at the front, behind where it would be, was a black velvet backdrop, with various symbols in silver embroidery. I recognized some of them as snakes. In the center of the backdrop, was a "V" shaped sign, with curving ends. I thought of the ram's horns symbol for the Aries--my niece once showed me my birth chart. At the front of the room, eight people were already there; I became the ninth, and we nine formed a trapezoidal pattern. There were three men at the left, angling back to form one side, and three women, similarly at the right. The men were dressed in black, but with shirts of the deepest purple. In the front of the trousers of each man was a panel of darkest red, the width of his body, covering him down to his mid-thigh, secured at the sides. The woman were in deep red robes, severely scooped at the front, exposing most of their breasts. Each woman's robe had a panel, like a floor-length apron, at the front of the waist, running down, angling out with the robe, to its lower hem. It was secured at its sides. I was to learn the purpose of these panels, later. At the center of the back, the short side of the trapezoid, was a black dressed figure with a sash of deep scarlet, forming a row of three, together with the first man and the first woman at the sides. He wore a deep purple mantle, edged in silver, and he had a pendant on a silver chain around his neck. It was a circular piece of black stone, with the same ram's horns, done in silver, in the middle; encircling that symbol was a snake, its tail curved around into its own mouth. I recognized it as the uroboros, the symbol of life and death. In the middle, forming a second row with the second man and woman at the sides, was a woman, at the center, in a deep red robe; a small silver crescent adorned her dark hair. Around her neck was a similar pendant with the silver, ram's horn motif There was a table of waist height, about three by six feet, in front of her, the short side facing her. The table, covered with a black cloth which draped down the sides, had a chalice in the center. My assistant, Lucie, took me to the front, forming the first row nearest to the assembled group; the third man, I, and the third woman, formed the long side of the trapezoid. Lucie stood with me. The group assembled, somewhere around 50 people, were dressed well; many of the men had black dress jackets and pants of the same color. The women showed a profusion of the darker colors in their dresses: deep purples and almost black reds, and all of the dresses seemed to be buttoned or otherwise fastened in the front, at the center line, from the bodice to the lower hem. Many women had pinned silver-lavender roses to their dresses, or placed them in their hair. I saw everyone was ready, so I read the first words on my card, "Welcome all. We are gathered to witness the eternal joining of the spirits of Tessa Mallory and Sandor Karolyi." "Ave, Lords," responded the audience. The priest behind me, began to speak "Ave, Lord of Chaos, first before all things. "Before time; before the universe. "Who cannot be measured; "Who cannot be named; "From whom sprung all the gods, daimons, "Human beings, and lesser spirits." "Ave, Lord of Chaos, we call upon you," responded the group. "You gave birth to the unfathomable One." Then the Priestess began chanting, 1 "I am the Perfect One; thundering with the Power of Sophia" "Ave," responded the group. 2 "I come to those of the Earth who are with me." "Ave" 3 "I am the first and the last." "Ave" 4 "I am the honored one and the scorned one." "Ave" 5 "I am the whore and the saint." "Ave" 6 "The wife and the virgin" "Ave" 7 "The bride and the bridegroom." "Ave" 8 "You who tell the truth about me, lie about me" "Ave" 9 "You who lie about me, tell the truth." "Ave" 10 "I am shameless, and I am ashamed. "Ave" 11 "I am strength and I am fear." "Ave" 12 "I am the one called Life" "Ave" 13 "And you have called me Death." "Ave" 14 "I am the one who is called Law" "Ave" 15 "And you have called me Lawlessness." "Ave" 16 "I am godless." "Ave" 17 "And I am one whose God is exalted." "Ave 18 "I am without sin" "Ave" 19 "And the root of transgression is from me." "Ave" 20 "I am lust to outward appearance." "Ave" 21 "And chastity is in my heart." "Ave" 22 "I am the one from whom you have hidden." "Ave" 23 "And you appear to me." "Ave" 24 "I am the abiding and I am the passing away." "Ave" 25 "I am union and the dissolution." "Ave" 26 "I am the One who alone exists" "Ave, One" 27 "And I have no one who will judge me." "Ave, Ave, you are in us, O One. "We are of You." The priestess made a sign; the bride and groom entered from the rear and approached the front. Tessa was completely nude. Her beauty was striking. Her dark pubic hair, in the upper area, had been shaved into the horned "V" shape I had first seen on the backdrop. Below, the hair had been completely shaven, exposing the full lips of her sex. In the dark hair of her head were roses of the deepest red. A ribbon of the same color was across her throat, and was floating behind her, two or three feet as she walked ahead. It was adorned with symbols. A black rose was placed just above the "V," in the center of her pubic area. Her walk was stately. Her fiancé, beside her, was dressed in a neat, black dress shirt and pressed,loose-fitting trousers, with a deep red panel in front, similar to that worn by the men, but with a silver piping at the edges. "In the One, in thundering Power, came Sophia," declared the priestess. "She of desire, but her desire for the One could not pass the Limit. Her emotions live in us, Grief, Fear, Bewilderment, and Ignorance. These mark the beginning of our earthly life." "The gods were all birthed by her, after her intercourse with her consort, including beauteous Demeter--the Earth--and lastly Sabazios, whom we now call upon: Son of the Thunder Shaft, King of all Noises; he of the Earth's depths, of the power of Her fertility, of the vine and the grape; he of the Dark Goat, he, the Looser of what is inmost of our hearts, whose wine ignites frenzy; whose power is become ours in drunkenness and dance. "The offspring of Sophia, without consort, is Ialdobaoth, creator of the world. This is the story of the events before the first marriage. "Ialdabaoth was ignorant and arrogant and boasted, 'There are no other gods before me.' He made the first man, and placed him in the garden, and the man was inert; through the help of Sophia and Demeter he was then able to make Havvah (Life) the first woman, who brought life to the man. Ialdabaoth commanded Adam:" "Of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest of it, thou shalt surely die," I intoned, reading my lines from Genesis. "But serpent led them towards wisdom, and told Havvah the truth," said the priestess. "Ave," responded the audience. "That you shall surely not die: For Ialdabaoth doth know that in the day thou eatest thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods, knowing Good and Evil," I read. "And Havvah took the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." "Ave" "And the eyes of both of them were opened," I read. "Ave" "And Ialdabaoth said, 'Behold the man is become as one of us, to know Good and Evil,' and Ialdabaoth cursed the serpent, and sent both of them forth from the Garden," I read in the lines given me, and the Priestess added, "And Adam knew Havvah, and she brought forth new life, a son, Qayin, next to incur the wrath of Ialdabaoth." The Priestess continued. "Tessa stands here as representative of Havvah, first human life of Earth. Sandor takes life from her and returns it in his seed. Let the Nine-fold Ritual, the Commingling of Essences, begin; let us commence to kindle fire in dark Chaos." Then the three men and three woman began The Ritual. The third man, nearest the guests assembled, crossed to the woman at the opposite; she drew aside the black front panel, as she would an apron; to my astonishment, her pubic area and thighs were completely exposed. He half knelt, left knee to the floor and the other raised, so that she might support her left foot on it, opening access to her pubic area. He upturned his face near her vulva, and when she let go the stream, I could see him drinking. Returning to his place, the next woman behind crossed to him, and lifted his dark red panel, exposing his naked genitals. She knelt, began to suck his penis to erection and then bring it to ejaculation in her mouth. This stuff she deposited, transferred from her mouth into the man's mouth in a passionate kiss. He did not swallow, but walked toward the priestess, picked up the chalice from the table, and deposited a small amount in the silver-rimmed glass cup. He then went on to the third woman, knelt as before, and received her piss to wash the bulk of it down. "This is the first journey of three," said the Priestess. "Let the second journey begin." And the second man crossed to the second woman, knelt and greedily received urine from her . And so it went. "Let the third journey begin," said the priestess. And the same process was carried out. === I was in a state of shock, but I saw it was my turn. I read, "Now it is time for a reading from our scripture in the original, the true meaning perverted by the rabbi, Saul: "...though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, and have not lust, it profiteth me nothing. "Lust endureth long, and is never kind. It envieth any that would claim the affections of its object. It vaunteth itself; and swelleth up with blood. "It is easily provoked, and thinketh evil. "Lust rejoices in iniquity and in the lies necessary to gain its object. "It is assured it can succeed of itself, always craves, enduring all difficulties. "There is self-assurance, craving, and lust, but the greatest is lust." "Amen" The Priestess said, "Let the Lust Rite Begin." Beginning in the first row of those assembled, one man and one woman were chosen by lots passed out, and the critical lot contained a number--1, 2, or 3--randomly assigned. The number designated a man or woman at the sides, in the front, the sex being determined as opposite to that of the chosen person. After a man and woman were so chosen in the first row, the Priestess said, "In the name of the One, call the number of his representative to ignite you in love and lust." The chosen man said "2" designating the second woman at the front, who quickly approached him. The chosen woman in the row said "1," and the first man from the other side at the front likewise walked to her. The designated woman came up to the chosen man, looked into his eyes, reached for his genitals and began masturbating him. The man's cock rose quickly. The designated man, when he arrived in front of the chosen woman, hesitated; she quickly unbuttoned the lower front of her dress; he reached through the and began masturbating her genitals. The woman's eyes fluttered and then one could hear the sound of the man's fingers moving quickly in her wet vagina. The Priestess continued, "Being now afire with lust, man, approach the Bride; woman, approached the Groom. With your heat, bring them into the full flame of licentious desire." The chosen man and woman went forward to the Bride and the Groom, respectively. The man, fully erect, with Tessa's help unfastened and drew aside the front panel of her dress. His fingers disappeared into her vulva, she opening her thighs in full cooperation, and soon her knees appeared weak. The woman, dripping wet, went to the groom, undid and lifted Sandor's front panel, and quickly brought him to erection, reaching into a front opening in her dress and dipping into her own juices to make her hands slippery. "Speak to your Chosen," said the Priestess, indicating the one to the other. The groom, his voice congested, said, "Tessa, I desire you; I lovingly lust for you; I'd die just to fuck you." Tessa said, "I want you to take me Sandor; but you must wait till I am ripe and you are purified. Till the One and Sophia permit. Till all the honey has flowed." Then, as if to tantalize him, she reached into her vulva and wet her fingers. "You may suck my fingers, my love." The pattern continued down through the nine rows, and as each row's chosen persons caught fire, they approached the increasingly excited bride and groom; Sandor became more inflamed and glassy eyed with lust, and Tessa still told him he must wait. The third time, however she did not touch her vulva after she spoke to Sandor. She looked toward the Priestess and said, "I am fully in flame, I am ready." She lay on the table, her knees up, her legs apart, so the assembled group had a clear view of her aroused genitals, the inner lips visible and scarlet. The Priestess approached, drawing an ornamented silver rod, from under her cloak. The rod was perhaps of one inch in diameter, but at the end was a dazzling silver orb of almost twice that diameter. She kissed it saying, "The Phallus receives power from the Lord of Chaos, the forces of life and death from the One, the thunder from Sophia, the shaft and heated seed from Sabazios." The Priestess began stroking Tessa's genitals, and when Tessa moaned, used the wand to push her engorged labia aside, inserting the tip into her vulva. Tessa quivered as the tip was pushed inside the entrance to her vagina, and then withdrawn. The Priestess repeated the movement. The audience was hushed, then intoned, "Come, Sabazios." Tessa's excitement mounted. I too was responding to the primal energy from her writhing body. With a small scream, she climaxed, her pussy grasping the rod, which, at that point, had been thrust fully into her.