Lectionary

The Weekly Lectionary Devoted to Marduk, consists of readings scheduled for every Saturday throughout the year. These readings are drawn and adapted from extant Babylonian/Sumerian texts—chiefly the Enuma Elish, the Fifty Names of Marduk, and associated hymns and ritual inscriptions. Each entry includes a selected passage and a brief note suitable for reflection or public reading in a formal liturgical setting.

2025

2026


RUBRICS AND SEASONAL OBSERVANCES – SUMMER (June to August)

These rubrics are meant to guide the structure of ritual, vestment, and seasonal offerings for the Summer Cycle of Marduk devotion.

Vestments
Color: Gold or bright red (for fire and solar force); white for rituals of cleansing or rebuilding.

Adornments: Symbols of the sun-disc, dragon-serpent (tamed), and stylized net patterns may be used on robes, banners, or altars.

Seasonal Offerings
Grains (wheat, barley, millet), honey, milk, sesame oil

Incense: frankincense, myrrh, juniper, saffron

Liquid offerings: clarified water, date wine, sweet beer

Symbolic objects: small sun disks, copper tools, written lists of names of Marduk

Actions and Gestures
Begin rites facing east (direction of Marduk’s celestial court)

Recite at least one name of Marduk before and after each rite

Always end rituals in stillness and silence, invoking stability after divine movement


AUTUMNAL RITUAL RUBRICS – SEPTEMBER THROUGH NOVEMBER
This quarter is defined by:

Harvest – The spiritual gathering of the fruits of past efforts.

Descent – The return inward, toward the inner temple of evaluation.

Refinement – The ritual purging of excess, deceit, and imbalance.

Vestments and Colors
Color: Dark gold, amber, ochre, and crimson

Symbol: The balance-scale, the flame, the sealed tablet

Instruments: Brass bowls, censers, ceremonial plumb lines, tablets of clay or wood for writing

Seasonal Offerings
Lentils, onions, pomegranates, black sesame

Incense: cedar resin, storax, cinnamon

Liquids: fermented pomegranate juice, beer, spring water

Written confessions or acknowledgments offered on parchment and burned as ritual purification

Actions and Structure
Begin facing west, signifying the descent of the sun and introspection

Offer prayers of examination, confession, and refinement

Conclude with the lighting of a single lamp or flame, signifying Marduk’s mercy in judgement


WINTER RITUAL RUBRICS – DECEMBER THROUGH FEBRUARY
Orientation: East or Southeast – facing the rising light, return of divine order

Colors: White, blue, and bright gold

Offerings: Oil mixed with cedar, pomegranate seeds, honey, wheat cakes

Incense: Benzoin, sandalwood, frankincense

Ritual Action: Lighting of a sacred flame at the start of each rite; chant should follow silence, not precede it

Sacred Object: A single seal-stone or ring placed on the altar to represent the renewed covenant