April 1992 Thelema Lodge Calendar/Newsletter (April & May events)
Mailed free within 100 miles of San Francisco California
Copyright (c) O.T.O. and the Individual Authors, 1992 e.v.
Limited license is hereby granted to reproduce this file without fee, with
this message intact. This license expires April 1993 e.v. unless renewed
in writing. No charge other than reproduction costs is permitted under this
license to the receivers of copies of this file without O.T.O. written
permission.
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O. Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA
Temple Location: 588 63rd St.
Oakland, California
(Entrance in back, downstairs)
Phones: TEMPLE PHONE: (415) 654-3580
LODGE MASTER: (415) 658-3280
Messages Only: (415) 454-5176
Compuserve: 72105,1351
Calendar events in the San Francisco Bay Area for April 1992 to May
1992 e.v., in brief. Always call the contact phone number before
attending. Some are limited in size, change location and may be subject to
other adjustments.
When you call, you don't get lost or disappointed. Initiations are private.
Donations at all OTO events are welcome.
***********************************************************************
4/1/92 Illuminati Game, 7:30 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/5/92 Lodge Council & LOP 3:33 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/5/92 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/6/92 Thelema Lodge Meeting 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/8/92 Feast of Liber AL Ch. I, at Lola's (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
Call to attend. 8 PM
4/9/92 Feast of Liber AL Ch. II, 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
at Thelema Lodge, call to attend
4/10/92 Feast of Liber AL Ch. III, at (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
Jerry's, Call to attend. 8 PM
4/12/92 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/13/92 Ladies' T 5:30PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/14/92 "R U Sirius" class at Lola's (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
Call to attend. 8 PM
4/18/92 Initiations at Thelema Lodge (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
call to attend
4/19/92 Mass workshop 4:18 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/19/92 Easter Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/23/92 Magick in Theory and Practice (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
Study Circle with Marlene 7PM
4/25/92 Jerry's Logorrhea. Call to attend. (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/26/92 Lodge Clean-up 1:11 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/26/92 Taurus Birthday 4:18 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/26/92 Gnostic Mass 8:00 PM (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
4/29/92 Magick Theater Reads Crowley 7:30PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
"Why Jesus Wept"
5/3/92 Lodge Council & LOP 3:33 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/3/92 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/4/92 Thelema Lodge meeting 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/5/92 Beltane
5/9/92 Jerry's Videorhea 6:30 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
Call to attend
5/10/92 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/12/92 Planetary Magick a la Agrippa (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
with Mark S. Class 7:30 PM
Invocation 9 PM
5/14/92 Magick in Theory and Practice (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
Study Circle with Marlene 7PM
5/17/92 Mass Workshop 4:18 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/17/92 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/20/92 Class on Banishing Rituals 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
with Bill Heidrick
5/23/92 Thelema Lodge initiations (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
Call to attend
5/24/92 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/27/92 Basic Astrology with Grace 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/28/92 Magick in Theory and Practice (510) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg
Study Circle with Marlene 7PM
5/30/92 Jerry's Logorrhea 6:30 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
Call to attend
5/31/92 Lodge Clean-up begins 1:11 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/31/92 Gemini Birthday party 4:18 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
5/31/92 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (510) 654-3580 Magick Thea
*************************************************************************
The Hermit
Aeons of evolution
& grope thru the slime & the mud
Cellular convolution
of synapse, nerve, & blood
life's a maze in passage
must somehow end in good
So staff in hand I roam the land
in pilgrim's cloak and hood
& I long for that moment
of perfection
when my only thought
is serene reflection
How I came to dwell
In this hallowed mansion
at the end of Time
In the last dimension
-fra Criss Piss
'72
*************************************************************************
CROWLEY CLASSICS
The Ouija Board: A Note
by The Master Therion
[Originally published in "The International" (New York) XI:10 (October 1917
e.v.), p. 319. Crowley's work nearly fills this entire issue, and he may have
also written the opening editorial, which includes the statement: "To read
"The International" is a liberal education, and the best of it is that it is
all done by kindness!"]
Suppose a perfect stranger came into your office and proceeded to give
orders to your staff. Suppose a strange woman walked into your drawing room
and insisted on being hostess. You would be troubled by this. Yet, people
sit down and offer the use of their brains and hands (which are, after all,
more important than offices and drawing rooms) to any stray intelligence that
may be wandering about. People use the Ouija Board without taking the
slightest precautions.
The establishment of the identity of a spirit by ordinary methods is a
very difficult problem, but the majority of people who play at Occultism do
not even worry about this. They get something, and it does not seem to matter
what! Every inanity, every stupidity, every piece of rubbish, is taken not
only at its face value, but at an utterly exaggerated value. The most
appallingly bad poetry will pass for Shelley, if only its authentication be
that of the planchette! There is, however, a good way of using this
instrument to get what you want, and that is to perform the whole operation in
a consecrated circle, so that undesirable aliens cannot interfere with it.
You should then employ the proper magical invocation in order to get into your
circle just the one spirit that you want. It is comparatively easy to do
this. A few simple instructions are all that is necessary, and I shall be
pleased to give these, free of charge, to any one who cares to apply.
It is not particularly easy to get the spirit of a dead man, because the
human soul, being divine, in not amenable to the control of other human souls:
and it is further not legitimate or desirable to do it. But what can be done
is to pick up the astral remains of the dead man from the Akasha and to build
them up into a concrete mind. This operation, again, is not particularly
profitable. The only legitimate work in this line is to get into touch with
the really high intelligences, such as we call for convenience Gods,
Archangels, and the like. These can give real information as to what is most
necessary for our progress. And it is written in the Oracles of Zoroaster
that unto the Persevering Mortal the Blessed Immortals are swift.
finis
*************************************************************************
from the Grady Project
Dance of the Gargoyle
Elemental-spirit flame-
Splay of snout and horny hoofed.
Deadly as a tiger lame
Bronze of claw and palate roofed,
Black as pigment, night the hue
Of scaly hide, ocher eyes,
Stir the cauldron; churn and strew
Smoke across the boiling skies.
And upon its wivern head
Hideous beyond compare-
Wattled monster of the hood-
Vanity with heavy tread
Stamps a livid imprint there:
"This is beauty, this is good."
-Grady L. McMurtry
9/17/42 e.v.
[This sonnet was previously published in
"The Grady Project" #3 (1988 e.v.).]
*************************************************************************
DRAMA
The RITE OF OURANOS
(published with the permission of Andrew Clay)
This experimental
production was inspired by
Crowley's "Rites of Eleusis".
It was written and produced by
Frater U.P. with distinguished
assistance. Invocations
selected by Susan O'Farrell.
Gaia's song to Kronos written
by Terri Sal.
First performance: 18th
December 1991 e.v., 8:30 PM
(Sol in Sagittarius, Luna in
Taurus) at the No Theatre in
Oakland.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Aquarius Sister Susan O'F.
Mercury Brother Michael S.
Prometheus Brother John B.
Gaia Sister Terri S.
Ouranos Brother Andrew C.
Kronos Brother Lew
Titans Brother Eric S.
Venus Sister Stacey G.
SCENE. --- "The foothills of Mt Olympus - if not under the stars, there is a
backdrop of the night sky - electric cords and appliances lie in a
confused net on the floor and amongst audience - there is a pool at
the back of the stage - "AQUARIUS" sits at poolside - "MERCURY" enters
bearing a silver throne"
AQUARIUS. Good, you've come.
MERCURY. Yes, I've made it, and there's the throne. Still, I don't
quite grasp the scheme of what you propose. How do we begin to visit the
Lord Ouranos? He is locked out in the abyss; he is invisible to us. His
light shines beyond our skies, and he is Lord to a frozen void.
AQUARIUS. Truly, to seek him is difficult, and I know of no ship or
wing that could sail to him. Yet I mean to journey not through Space, but
Time - to before the beginning, when Chaos was all, and Ouranos touched
even this terrestrial ground.
MERCURY. Pierce the veil of Time? By what means?
AQUARIUS. Here. I have brought along an invocation ["she tears pieces
of script from her robes, gives them to" MERCURY]. This should produce the
desired effect. We must return to the primal singularity where all laws
are suspended. You may begin.
[MERCURY "performs Star Ruby, after which they trade off reading chapters
of ARARITA - before the final chapter they are interrupted"]
PROMETHEUS ["offstage"]. Hold! Please wait!
MERCURY. What? Hello? Who speaks?
PROMETHEUS ["enters"]. I am Prometheus the Titan.
MERCURY. What? Art thou freed?
PROMETHEUS. My life was ransomed. It is a long tale that I will not
relate here. Tell me this: are you the company that seeks to perform a Rite
to the exiled Lord Ouranos?
AQUARIUS. We are.
PROMETHEUS. With your leave, I'd like to join you.
AQUARIUS. Why do you seek him?
PROMETHEUS. For one, he is my grandfather; but I alone of his
descendants am truly of his temper. He also sought enlightenment and
freedom also, like me, paid for it dearly. Now that I am an exile no
longer, I wish to see that first exile, as to look in a mirror. If you go
to do him homage, please take me! You'll not find a more willing
companion.
AQUARIUS. It is done. Perhaps you can be useful to us.
MERCURY. Well met, sir. I always thought they were hard on you on
Olympus. Silence is golden, as they say! But that's not how I am. I hate
secrecy.
PROMETHEUS. Man will be poisoned by knowledge, they said. He will grow
like a precocious weed and trample Earth in childish arrogance. Time will
tell, I suppose. Yet surely people can learn from their errors!
MERCURY. Time will tell, as you say.
AQUARIUS. Prometheus, if you will, please conclude our reading.
[PROMETHEUS "reads last chapter of" ARARITA]
AQUARIUS. Now, Brother Mercury, perform this ["hands him a sheet"].
MERCURY. As you will ["He banishes Earth and invokes Air".]
AQUARIUS. Now, brothers, let us read this last together.
["Together they recite the invocation of the First Aethyr (Enochian) -
when they finish, all lights go out - silence - softer light slowly
returns"]
AQUARIUS. Brother Mercury, know you the hour?
MERCURY. I don't think we'll find a timepiece here. Time has yet to
hang his weights. Gods, what stars! What light!
AQUARIUS. They sing each to each, like bells.
MERCURY. And this air! No - what do we breathe? The milk of lightning?
the tails of comets?
PROMETHEUS. We breathe our freedom. My lungs ache for joy.
MERCURY. Quite a trick! A fine incantation! Aquarius, you have led us
well. ["Strides across stage"] Look at this space! Naught for leagues!
Indeed heaven has been spread upon the earth! But is all a void?
AQUARIUS. Nay, we stand upon the Earth, mother of all life. With luck,
we may glimpse the form of Gaia, wife to the Lord Ouranos, strolling upon
the land, and from her have word of him.
MERCURY. What of Lord Ouranos? When can we expect him?
AQUARIUS. "Expect"? Expect to be surprised. Time does not bind him.
PROMETHEUS: But it can wound him. And shut him out.
["Enter" GAIA]
MERCURY. Look, there she is!
AQUARIUS. Hail, Gaia, Queen of Goddesses!
ME. & PR. Hail!
AQUARIUS. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
GAIA ["long pause - not comprehending - speeks slowly"]. Who could you
be?
AQUARIUS. We are beings you cannot yet know - your future offspring.
GAIA. Future?
MERCURY. Yes, we travelled from thence through the wondrous
intercession of the stars.
GAIA. I did not know there was a future.
PROMETHEUS. How's that?
GAIA. All has been thus. All ... continues ... Yet you are strange ..
why are you here?
PROMETHEUS. To do homage to the Lord Ouranos, your husband.
GAIA. Homage? ... To him? ["looks up"]
MERCURY. It is our custom to honor the gods, each in turn; yet Ouranos
has been omitted, for he is invisible to us - in our time, that is.
GAIA ["pause"]. And you are my - my children?
MERCURY. Grandchildren, actually.
PROMETHEUS. Where is the Lord Ouranos?
GAIA. Among the stars, I suppose. ["Uncomfortable silence"]
MERCURY. Well, this is a strange and interesting place. ["Paces"] Kind
of desolate. ["Peers around"] Like bouncing around in your own head.
GAIA ["addresses" AQUARIUS]. Tell me more of your world, of your time.
AQUARIUS. It is beautiful. It is a place of plenty where -
["A rustling is heard and" OURANOS "drops down from above"]
OURANOS ["looks at" GAIA "- points at newcomers"]. Mmmm-mmwaarrrrrrht!
["He is incapable of human speech. He points accusingly at" GAIA "and
makes like he has a big belly"]
GAIA. No, I didn't just have more children. They came from - they came
from the future!
[OURANOS "looks at them incredulously, then backs away, miming that he is
about to be hung"]
GAIA. No, they're nice, they like you! They came to see you!
AQUARIUS. Hail, Ouranos, first of the gods!
MERCURY. Hail, Ouranos, genius of the stars!
PROMETHEUS. Hail to thee, grandfather.
AQUARIUS. See, we are prepared to enthrone thee. [MERCURY "brings the
throne around behind" OURANOS] Be seated, and we shall honor thee with
praise!
[OURANOS "hesitates, confused, then sits - the" OLYMPIANS "arrange
themselves before him - he fidgets, peeling off the aluminum foil
from the throne and making a mask with it on his face"]
MERCURY. Hail, thou that - [OURANOS "mimes that he wields a sceptre,
then bursts out laughing - he leaps up, toppling the throne"]. Well, so
much for that.
[OURANOS "points at" AQUARIUS, "makes inquisitorial noises"]
AQUARIUS. I am Aquarius, the Water-bearer, of the Air element, and the
Star is my emblem. [OURANOS "is pleased, points from sky to her to himself
and the company -" AQ "smiles, nods."] Yes, Every man and every woman is a
star.
MERCURY. And I am Mercury, Messenger of the Gods, who rules over
swiftness and cunning, calculation and memory. In one of my guises I gave
writing to man. [OURANOS "is impressed - makes scribbling gestures - goes
offstage and returns with a copy machine - he starts it churning off pages"]
That's amazing!
GAIA ["after machine has spewed out several reams"]. Turn it off!
[OURANOS "sticks out his tongue and yanks the cord - he promptly turns on
another device"]
PROMETHEUS. Grandfather, I am Prometheus. In later times I gave fire
to man, to give him power and brighten his intelligence.
[OURANOS "grabs him, makes wild gesticulations and runs out -" GAIA "shuts
off any devices left on"]
MERCURY ["after pause"]. Well, it's certainly surprising that the poor
fellow can't speak! What a strange turn!
GAIA. It's too humble for him.
MERCURY. What? so he gibers like a baboon?
GAIA. He's like that ... either over your head or completely
ridiculous. ["pause"] But you ... you are like him, a little. You partake
of his mind.
AQUARIUS. Tell us of your children, Gaia. Are they well?
GAIA. Well, the Titans are fine; Cronos especially turned out to be a
strong boy. But then I - ["pause -" GAIA "is on the verge of tears "]
MERCURY. Is something wrong?
[OURANOS "enters bringing a lit sparkler (or with torch) and a
blackboard. He sets up the blackboard and gives the sparkler to"
PROMETHEUS "- makes explosive gestures - draws molecular diagrams to
explain fire"]
MERCURY. What is he doing?
AQUARIUS. Imparting to Prometheus the secrets of fire. [To" PROMETHEUS]
Do you follow him?
PROMETHEUS. I think so. Gods, how beautiful. The interplay of light
and the inmost structures of matter produce rainbows and candleflames, and
the furnaces of our bodies - all from the discrimination of tiny beings,
their attractions and repulsions - they are like onions, enfolded,
intricately ordered, and they try to fill each other's deficiencies, in so
doing releasing light and vibration, and so there is fire! - in our lungs
and sinews as well as raging through forests - and a thousand other
combinations as well - Lord Ouranos, these are wonders, yet they surround
us.
[OURANOS "leaps and nods and makes noises"]
MERCURY. All that in a candleflame! I'm impressed! And more so that
you understand him. Certainly went over my head.
PROMETHEUS. We do understand each other well.
(To be continued with the "tears of Gaia" in the next issue)
*************************************************************************
FROM THE OUT BASKET
Here are the membership figures from Agape Grand Lodge, showing the
population of OTO by Degree and location, world wide:
O.T.O. active membership from accounting at end February 1992 e.v.
ADV ----------------- 72
Associates ---------- 273
Minervals ----------- 605
Ist Degrees --------- 483
IInd Degrees -------- 291
IIIrd Degrees ------- 198
IVth Degrees -------- 111
Vth Degrees --------- 67
Higher Degrees ------ 31
=====
2,131 All
1,786 of which are initiates.
Known addresses by regions at end February 1992 e.v.
(Associates and initiates both) Total: 1726 in 32 countries
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
The views and opinions stated within this web page are those of the
author or authors which wrote them and may not reflect the views and
opinions of the ISP or account user which hosts the web page. The
opinions may or may not be those of the Chairman of The Skeptic Tank.