The Holy Gnostic Sacraments
The function of the sacraments is to deprive individuals of conscious structures that prevent one from having full communion with their true nature and unification with him/herself. This is applied to each individual and fully includes all of humanity.
The sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Redemption, and the Bridal Chamber are all steps in an ascent and an extinguishment.
Baptism is the first sacrament. Its function is to let one's Hylic propensity die by becoming dead to the world. The Hylic part of mankind has no part in the true life, and must consequently pass away. An individual goes into the water, into the sea, and leaves the lower self there.
The baptized rises with Christos, and has thus become the new Man/Woman, who is actually the original and primordial “Man”. The first task in this new life is to be cleansed and begin to learn to know oneself.
When an individual begins to know who they are they begin having experiences with the mystery, and once it is known you have something to confirm.
The Confirmation is our church's way of responding to the fact that the individual has conducted an internal cleansing process, and Confirmation seals this process. In addition to the sealing of the cleansing, the Confirmation is, most importantly, a way of confirming Gnosis. This concludes the mental level, or the journey of Psychic man. According to pistisistic tradition, a man/woman has received salvation at this level.
A new process has started for those who are ready for future depths of redemption, and will thus continue to map the impact of their inner Archons in their lives. Thus they may be able to discover what belongs to their true nature and what belongs to the Demiurge. At this point the Valentinian tradition becomes more prominent.
The Redemption sacrament is given when the confirmation process reaches the point at which the initiate knows the true nature of him/herself and understands its consequences. Thus begins the process of separating “Man” from the Demiurge, and supplanting it with the Christos. In psychology this would be somewhat similar to allowing the Ego to be overthrown by the Self. When this process has penetrated all levels of his/her being, he/she will receive the Redemptive Chrism, as a seal to conclude the work, and to indicate that the wedding between all opposites can take place.
The Eucharist is the perfect Sacrament, which alone will transform the individual who has recognized his true nature to become this realization.
The Eucharist is thus the perpetual wedding ceremony of the Adepts. Here they gradually experience the inner spiritual liberation while they live their mortal lives.
Besides these five sacraments is the Order itself, which consists of the ordinations. These ordinations are sacraments in their own right, and consist of Ordines Minor and Ordines Major. This is the Way of Service and Devotion. The first part is a training process; and the second part a monastic path of life, where one’s mission is to ensure the presence of the Mystery in the world, and to be a door for those who knock.