Pagan Unbaptism Ceremonies

 

It was a year ago when I first performed an unbaptism ceremony on the holiday of Vardavar. For a number of years I would occasionally see the question of an “unbaptism” in online pagan spaces, the question would be met with smug skepticism, almost to the levels you would expect if posing the question to a group of atheists. They would argue that an unbaptism is unnecessary, the Abrahamic god only has as much power as you give them over yourself, their religion is phony so baptisms are too, etc. I, however, believe that baptisms and christenings are a kind of binding spell. You can leave the religion, but until you undo the baptism you’re still giving Yahweh a connection to your energy. This might be why people return to the religion after leaving it so often. If nothing else, an unbaptism can provide closure to religious trauma, letting you resume your spiritual journey with a clean slate. 

Initially I looked for any unbaptism ceremonies I could find, and the only one I could find was from the Church of Satan. There weren’t any pagan ones that I could see, so I decided to write my own. I turned to a poem I had read when I was studying Armenian literature by the poet Siamanto, “Prayer to Anahit on the Feast of Navasard”. The poem is about casting off Christianity and returning to paganism, even describing a ceremony in which one burns a crucifix and a rib bone symbolizing the one who converted Armenia to Christianity, Gregory the “Illuminator” (“Exterminator” would be a better epithet). I decided to enact this unbaptism on the holiday of Vardavar, a holiday that involves throwing water upon one another, this year falling on July 27. Once completing the ritual, I took on the craft name Siamanto the Foreigner. After performing the unbaptism on myself and my wife, she reported that she was able to hear the Gods more clearly when she had been having trouble before. 

I was planning on sharing this closer to Vardavar, but the ritual calls for moon water, and this being the full moon before Vardavar, tonight is your last chance to make moon water unless you already have a supply of it. This year I wrote a Kemetic version of the unbaptism as well which calls upon Hathor and Kebechet, the daughter of Anubis and Goddess of Purification.

The Hetanos Unbaptism Ceremony

What you will need:

A fire pit or chalice

A small wooden crucifix that will burn

A rib bone (from a chicken if need be), representing the rib of Gregory the “Illuminator”. For non-Armenians, it may represent the rib of whoever was most responsible for the conversion of your ancestors to Christianity. The Kemetic version can invoke Emperor Justinian who banned paganism in the Roman Empire, or Mark the Evangelist, founder of the Coptic Church. 

Optional: Any other possession you own that reminds you of your Christian past.

Moon-enchanted lunar rose water (leave a bucket of water outside overnight on the full moon before Vartavar, add rose petals soon before the ritual; if the full moon is soon enough before Vartavar you can add the rose pedals while the water soaks in the moon energy.)

The Ritual:

Start by lighting the fire. Invoke Astghik, and any other God you want to have involved. Astghik will work with most other Gods of other pantheons, but it helps for this ritual if they at least have a similar domain, be it love, water or rain.

The priest, or whoever else is leading the ritual, leads a rereading of Siamanto’s “Prayer to Anahit on the Feast of Navasard”. 

Goddess, I purge my conscience of all slothful religions.
And I walk proudly in sacred slippers toward you.
Open the marble gates of your temple. Let me bruise my
forehead on the door.
Open the altar and give back to me the hot strength
of my Artaxian forefathers.

Hear me, golden mother, fertile sister, sister of virtue,
donor of abundance, patroness of Armenians.
Hear me on this morning of the feast of Navasart
when your people rejoice.
Allow me to kneel and pray before your idol.

Listen, miraculous rose, goddess of golden feet,
white bride of nocturnal light, lover of the sun,
nakedness with a body of light, sail of Aramazt,
let the sun burn on your altar again.

I believe in you, as I stand on the hills of Pakrevant.
I, the centuries-old worshipper of God, come armed with a
spear.
I am your son, here as a supplicant apostle,
begging you to hear my lyre of Haig, a lyre born
from the soil of Koght.

I come in the robes of a pilgrim, bearing green
balsam branches and gold rosewater
in a silver pitcher to anoint your breasts.
And here with the rosewater are tears
mourning your destruction.
Deer follow my shadow as I come to you.

Let the pagan life flow again from the hills.
Let tall sons of the sun wear brocade
and arch their bows, planting their spears,
fastening their swords into necks of the bulls
on the threshold of your altars.
Let a white flock of doves fly from the shoulders
of fertile young Armenian brides toward your statue once
more.
Let the fountains of Vartavar come to life and flow
and let the maidens rise to dance,
offering their magical bodies to you, goddess of chastity.

Take your revenge now, after twenty centuries,
oh my goddess Anahid, now as I throw
into the fires of your altar, the two poisonous arms
of my cross. And I celebrate you, oh golden mother,
by burning the polluted bone from the rib
of the Illuminator.
I beg of you, oh powerful, unequalled beauty,
give your body to the sun and be fertilized,
give birth to a formidable god for the Armenians.
For us, from your diamond-hard uterus bear an invincible God!

When you get to the last verse, the participants throw their items into the fire to burn. Allowing the items to burn, the acting priest then takes the Lunar-Rosewater, reciting a hymn to Astghik:

Ձոն Աստղիկ Դիցուհու

Ողջու'յն քեզ Աստղիկ`

Բարության Դիցուհի,

Վահագնի Տիրուհի...

Օրհնյալ ես դու հայորդաց,

և օրհնյալ է քո սերն անձնուրաց:

Լուսաշող թագուհի, 

Վարդհեր Դիցուհի,

տու'ր սիրո շունչը, 

շնորհի'ր սիրո տենչը, 

որ քո պես երկնեմ սիրուց 

և այդ երկնումից նոր երգ ձոնեմ 

անմոռաց սիրուս...

Փա՜ռք Աստղիկին սիրառատ, փա՜ռք Վահագնին սիրասուն...

Dedicated to Goddess Astghik

Greetings to you Astghik

Goddess of Kindness,

Mistress of Vahagn...

Blessed are you, daughter of Armenia

and blessed is your unselfish love.

Shining queen,

Rose Goddess,

give me the breath of love

grant the longing of love

so that I can fly into love like you

and sing a new song from that sky

my unforgettable love...

Praise be to the loving Astghik, praise be to the loving Vahagn...

and calling upon Astghik to cleanse the participants of Yahweh’s energy with her pure and soothing rose water. The participants state aloud that they absolve themselves of any binding contract, Earthly or celestial, that they made with this deity through baptism or christening, rendering null and void especially any agreement made prior to their ability to fully consent (or at least revoking any consent they may have given at the time of their baptism). 

The priest then douses them in the lunar rosewater (making sure there is still enough to put out the fire with later), declaring them cleansed, and that they are now free of any lingering energetic links to Yahweh, free to follow any God they like, or none at all. 

The priest and participants thank Astghik with one more hymn, and while the items still burn, the priest and participants may now engage in a fun water fight. Once the items are sufficiently reduced to ash, the fire can be doused with what remains of the lunar rosewater.

I rewrote a Kemetic version of Siamanto’s poem calling upon Hathor and Kebechet:

A Prayer to Hathor and Kebechet on Wep Ronpet

by Siamanto the Foreigner, based on the poem by the original Siamanto 

Goddess, I purge my conscience of all slothful religions.
And I walk proudly in sacred slippers toward you.
Open the marble gates of your temple. Let me bruise my
forehead on the door.
Open the altar and give back to me the hot strength
of my sacred akhu.

Hear me, golden mother, fertile sister, sister of virtue,
donor of abundance, patroness of Kemet.
Hear me on this morning of the feast of Wep Ronpet
when your people rejoice.
Allow me to kneel and pray before your idol.

Listen, miraculous rose, goddess the of golden cow,
Golden bride of nocturnal light, Eye of the sun,
nakedness with a body of light, sail of Heru,
let the sun burn on your altar again.

I believe in you, as I stand on the hills of Kemet.
I, the centuries-old worshipper of the Netjeru, come armed with a
spear.
I am your son, here as a supplicant apostle,
begging you to hear my sistrum of Hathor, a sistrum born
from the soil of Kemet.

I come in the robes of a pilgrim, bearing green
balsam branches and gold rosewater
in a silver pitcher to anoint your breasts.
And here with the rosewater are tears
mourning your destruction.
Antelope follow my shadow as I come to you.

Let the pagan life flow again from the hills.
Let tall sons of the sun wear kohl and kilts
and arch their bows, planting their spears,
fastening their swords into necks of the bulls
on the threshold of your altars.
Let a flock of kite birds fly from the shoulders
of fertile young priestesses toward your statue once
more.
Let the waters of the Nile be purified by Kebechet and flow
and let the maidens rise to dance,
offering their magical bodies to you, goddess of chastity.

Take your revenge now, after twenty centuries,
oh my goddess Hathor, now as I throw
into the fires of your altar, the two poisonous arms
of my cross. And I celebrate you, oh golden mother,
by burning the polluted bone from the rib
of the Emperor/Evangelist.
I beg of you, oh powerful, unequalled beauty,
give your body to the sun and be fertilized,
give birth to a formidable god for the world.
For us, from your diamond-hard uterus bear an invincible God!

——

And here is a hymn to Kebechet that I wrote for the Kemetic unbaptism.

Hymn to Kebechet for Unbaptisms

Dua Kebechet, Princess of Duat

Daughter of Anpu and Anput, 

Soother of the dead and purifier of the Netjeru.

May you purify us as you do the Netjeru,

May you make the waters of Hapi pure,

And drive away all disease and poison. 

Netjeret of Libations, Mistress of the Snake,

Refresh and cleanse us as you do the dead. 

As we douse ourselves in your sacred waters,

Wash away negativity and isfet,

Let our Ba and Ka be clean and our own.

- Siamanto the Foreigner