November 1993 e.v. Thelema Lodge Calendar/Newsletter
Mailed free within 100 miles of San Francisco California
Printed edition otherwise: $12 per year North America, $12 per year surface
overseas, $24 per year air mail overseas.
Copyright (c) O.T.O. and the Individual Authors, 1993 e.v.
Limited license is hereby granted to reproduce this file without fee, with
this message intact. This license expires November 1994 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. This file is not to be altered or incorporated in whole or in
part within another electronic or printed publication without written
permission by O.T.O.
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O. Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA
Production Editor and Circulation:
OTO-TLC Editor
P.O.Box 430
Fairfax, CA 94978
(CIS 72105,1351)
New Lodge Location Pending. Various locations for
individual events for November (and possibly December as well).
Phone: (510) 530-3923 (beeper) & (415) 454-5176 (days & PM for messages)
Compuserve: 72105,1351 (Editor and circulation only)
Calendar events in the San Francisco Bay Area for November 1993 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.
IMPORTANT!
Thelema Lodge has once again begun relocation. No Thelema Lodge events
are held at the Oakland 49th St. Location any more. See below for details
and locations of events in November.
*************************************************************************
REMEMBER!
Thelema Lodge Events are no longer at 49th Street in Oakland.
The listed phone numbers for events are specific to locations of those events.
Events toward the end of this month may be relocated to the new Lodge Temple.
Please see the top and bottom of this file for general Thelema Lodge phones.
1/11/93 All Hallows (Xian time for Samhain) Aeon Osiris
11/6/93 O.T.O. Initiations and Samhain feast (510) 527-2855 Sirius O. &
at Sirius Oasis Thelema Ldg
11/7/93 Samhain 1:35 AM Gens Celtc
(True pre-Christian date/time)
11/8/93 Thelema Lodge meeting 7:30 PM (510) 653-3244 Thelema Ldg
at Ancient Ways store, Oakland
11/10/93 Burmese Astrology with Kathy 7:30PM (510) 843-7827 Thelema Ldg.
at Grace's in Berkeley
11/13/93 Workshop on the Greater Ritual of (510) 843-7827 Thelema Ldg.
the Pentagram with Fran. 7:30 PM
at Grace's in Berkeley
11/14/93 Gnostic Mass 7:30PM (510) 644-8335 Thelema Ldg
call for location in Berkeley. (510) 841-4901
11/17/93 Magick in Theory and Practice 7:30PM (415) 454-5176 Thelema Ldg.
with Bill: 5 Suffield Av. San Anselmo
(in Marin County)
11/20/93 Possible date for Initiations (510) 843-7827 Thelema Ldg.
Call to confirm or attend
11/23/93 "Especially for Minervals". Class (510) 644-8335 Thelema Ldg.
with Mike Sanborn. Call for locat. (510) 841-4901
11/28/93 Gnostic Mass 7:30PM (510) 530-3923 Thelema Ldg.
call for location.
11/29/93 Gnostic Mass Seminar w/Bp.Dionysys (510) 530-3923 Thelema Ldg.
*************************************************************************
New Home for Horus Temple
As we prepare this issue of the Lodge Calendar, we are hoping to finalize
leasing arrangements for a new temple and library facility for Thelema Lodge.
The location is a grand old house only five minutes walk from the Rockridge
BART station in north-east Oakland. A small household of dedicated members
will share the residential space, and will be our hosts for temple events,
library hours, classes, feasts, and rituals. Until papers have all been
signed, we cannot schedule anything at the new address, so the November
calendar resembles those for the past couple months, with two celebrations of
the Gnostic Mass in alternate temple locations, and classes scattered
throughout the Bay Area. We hope that some events toward the end of November
may be relocated to the new lodge house as we move in, so as always please
keep in touch, phone ahead, and share transportation.
O.T.O. initiations are scheduled in conjunction with Sirius Oasis on
Saturday afternoon 6th November, beginning at 1:11 sharp. They will be held
at Sirius Oasis in northern Berkeley, and all members attending should
communicate ahead of time with either the Oasis Master at (510) 527-2855 or
with the Lodge Master at (510) 530-3923. Afterwards we will celebrate through
the evening as the Sun attains 15 Degrees Scorpio for the feast of Samhain
(Sol 15 Degrees Scorpio 1:35 AM Sunday 7th November). Please bring dinner
contributions. Additional initiations late in November are being
contemplated, and may be announced at mid-month.
Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica gathers for Gnostic Mass twice in November on
Sunday evenings, 14th November and 28th November, beginning at 7:30. We will
probably be at the Milky Way House in Berkeley on the 14th, and all attending
should call (510) 644-8335 or (510) 841-4901 to confirm this location. Temple
location for the 28th has not been finalized, and will be announced mid-month,
depending upon our progress with the new lodge house. During this transition,
all are welcome to call the Lodgemaster with calendar questions at (510) 530-
3923. We hope, either in December or in January, to establish a weekly Sunday
evening celebration of the Gnostic Mass again.
The Thelema Lodge Meeting will be held once more at Ancient Ways, on Monday
evening 8th November, at 7:30. The address is 4075 Telegraph Avenue (at 41st
Street) in Oakland; call the store at (510) 653-3244 for directions. Next
month the Lodge will meet on Monday evening 6th December, probably at the new
facility.
Kathy's Burmese Astrology Group will start a new series of classes and meet
once this month, on Wednesday evening 10th November, at Grace's in Berkeley.
To be included, call ahead of time at (415) 457-8076; or (510) 843-7828.
The Thelema Lodge "Magick in Theory and Practice" Series with Bill Heidrick
gathers for a third meeting, in San Anselmo on Wednesday evening 17th November
at 7:30. The house is at 5 Suffield Avenue, and those new to class will need
to call ahead for directions: (415) 454-5176. For best results, read ahead a
bit, but at any rate bring your copy of MTP along, for elucidation and
explication. This month we will concentrate upon Crowley's magical formulae
as models of thought processes, covering chapters 5 through 7.
"Especially for Minervals" is an inquiry into some of the issues raised by
one's entry into an occult order: What is initiation? Is there a meaningful
distinction between initiates and non-initiates? Are traditional spiritual
exercises necessary for development? The evening will be conducted by Br.
Michael Sanborn on Tuesday 23rd November, beginning at 7:30. Phone (510) 644-
8335 or (510) 841-4901 for information and directions. Unlike most lodge
classes, attendance here is limited to O.T.O. initiates (Minervals and up).
It was while camping together around Algeria toward the end of 1909 e.v.
that Perdurabo and his devoted chela Omnia Vincam inspired each other to the
serial revelation and audition of the angels of the aires, ascending from BAG
to LIL in completion of a project begun years earlier while mountain-climbing
in Mexico. This autumn, Caitlin conducts her seventh annual tour through the
thirty aethyrs of Liber 418, commemorating the anniversaries of the original
workings recorded in "The Vision and the Voice". From 14th November to 20th
December, the readings in this series follow the times as well as the dates of
the original; for information regarding locations contact Soror Caitlin
herself, at (510) 654-3580.
A workshop on the Greater Ritual of the Pentagram will be led by Fran on
Saturday evening 13th November at 7:30, at Grace's in Berkeley. A
demonstration and commentary on the ritual will be offered, and all fellow-
students of ceremonial magick are welcome to participate. Call Fran at (510)
658-9393, or Grace at (510) 843-7827 for details.
The new Thelema Lodge Gnostic Mass Study Group gathers for a planning and
survey meeting, on Tuesday evening 30th November at 7:30. We hope to produce
a complete "performance edition" of the text of Liber XV (with commentary,
explanations, and source notes), and also to research the background of
Crowley's gnosticism and the nature of the E.G.C. Organizing with the
assistance of Bishop T Dionysus, this group will meet in the East Bay at a
location not yet finalized; call the Lodgemaster at (510) 530-3923 for
information.
"The Astrology of Sagittarius", with Grace, will be meeting in Berkeley
next month on Friday evening 3rd December at 7:30. Please call (510) 843-7828
to attend the class, which offers practical insights and mythological lore
related to this most philosophical sign of the zodiac. Beginners and
experienced astrologers will enjoy sharing in this workshop as we explore the
meaning of Sagittarius in all its travels with the sun, as well as in its
wagers here on earth.
*************************************************************************
Crowley Classics
The following essay was written in October 1926 e.v. and abandoned
incomplete. Despite the fact that it trails away toward the end into outline
form, Crowley had the piece typed, and sent a carbon copy to one of his
supporters, the American book collector Montgomery Evans. In an accompanying
letter, Crowley explained, "Our position is that Rabelais was a great adept, a
sort of prophet of Thelema," and refers to the essay as "rough notes. Excuse
the whole thing being so ragged, but I think it may be helpful."
The Antecedents of Thelema
by Aleister Crowley
I
IT has been remarked by some critics of the Law of Thelema that the words "Do
what thou wilt" are not original with the Master Therion: or, rather, with
Aiwass, who uttered to the scribe Ankh-f-n-khonsu, the priest of the princes,
the Book of the Law.
II
This is true enough, in its own way: we have, firstly, the word of St.
Augustine: "Love, and do what thou wilt."
This is however, as the context shows, by no means what is meant by the
Book of the Law. St. Augustine's thesis is that if the heart be full of Love,
one cannot go wrong. It is, so to say, a rider upon the theorem of St. Paul's
thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
III
Far more important is the Word of Rabelais, "Fais ce que veulx." The
sublime Doctor does indeed intend, so far as he goes, to set forth in essence
the Law of Thelema, very much as it is understood by the Master Therion
himself.
The implications of the context are significant.
Our Master makes the foundation of the Abbey of Thelema the quite definite
climax of his history of Gargantua; he describes his ideal of Society. Thus
he was certainly occupied with the idea of a new Aeon, and he saw, albeit
perhaps dimly, that "Fais ce que veulx" was the required Magical Formula.
The Cardinal Jean du Bellay, indeed, reported to Francis I that Gargantua
was "a new Gospel". It was, in fact, the Book that the Renaissance lacked;
and had it been taken as it should have been, the world might have been spared
the ignominy of Protestantism.
As the character of his parable demanded, he confines himself to painting a
picture of pure Beauty; he does not enter into the questions of political
economy (and like subjects) which must be solved in order to realize the ideal
of the Law of Liberty. But he says distinctly that the religion of Thelema is
to be contrary to all others. True, for Thelema is Magick, and Magick is
Science, the antithesis of the religious hypothesis. Also, see the Book of
the Law, III, 49-54.
There are to be no walls to the Abbey. To him, as to us, "The word of Sin
is Restriction" (AL I,41). He says plainly that constriction merely gives
rise to murders and conspiracies. It is impossible to quench the flame of the
Holy Spirit of Man; and the attempt to smother it leads infallibly to
conflagration of explosive fury.
Even in the matter of the petty restrictions of Time, the conventions with
which we all unthinkingly comply, Rabelais sees peril to the freedom of the
Soul. In his Abbey of Thelema there are to be no clocks, no fixed routine;
what must be done should be done when the need actually rises. The text is
fitness.
We should not take this passage too literally. Our time-conventions are
devised by experience to secure us the greatest possible margin of freedom.
Rabelais insists on the members of his Abbey being physically fit, so too
the Book of the Law: "Wisdom says: be strong!" (II,70) and similar passages.
There is to be no separation of the sexes, and no artificial restrictions
upon Love. The Book of the Law is even more explicit upon this most
fundamental social principle; see I,12-13; I,41; I,51-53; II,24; II,52.
With all this we find no suggestion of any communistic theories; they are
in fact specifically disowned. The ethics of the Aeon of Horus are equally
individualistic. "Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye
shall wear rich jewels" etc. (I,61). "Ye shall see them at rule, at
victorious armies, at all the joy" (II,24). See also: II,18; II,21; II,58,
etc.
Members of superstitious religions are not to be allowed to enter the Abbey
of Thelema. In the Book of the Law the attitude is not merely thus defensive:
the implication is that superstition is to be stamped out, or at least its
victims are to be definitely relegated to the slave-class. The Freeman is to
war down the serf: "on the low men trample in the fierce lust of your pride,
in the day of your wrath" (II,24). There is no place in the Abbey imagined by
Rabelais, and to be realized by the Master Therion, for those parasites of
society who feed upon the troubles caused by Restriction: officials, lawyers,
financiers, and the like. Ill disposed people--that is, those whose failure
to understand their own true Will of Freedom leads them to seek to interfere
with others--are not to be tolerated.
In the Book of the Law this is implied throughout. The True Will of every
Free Man is essentially noble. (It might well be that a man's True Will is to
see Justice established: but this is not the normal conception of a lawyer.
And so for other cases.)
Thus ends Rabelais his account of the qualifications of admission to his
Abbey: that the postulant should be filled with the spirit of Nobility, of
Truth, and of Beauty. With this idea the Book of the Law is so penetrated
that quotation would overwhelm.
We may then conclude that the masterpiece of Rabelais contains in singular
perfection a clear forecast of the Book which was to be revealed by Aiwass to
Ankh-f-n-khonsu 370 years later.
IV
Was the mighty spirit of Alcofribas Nasier aware of the prophetic fire of
his immortal book?
He has fortunately left us in no doubt upon this point; for he did not
content himself with having created in parable that Abbey of Thelema which his
eager gaze foresaw from the black abyss of those Ages not yet thrilled by the
Morning Star of the Renaissance, and dimly heralded by the Wolf's Tail of the
Reformation.
He proceeded to envelop himself in the mist of oracular speech, to
fulminate his light through dark sayings, to clothe the naked beauty of his
Time-piercing thought in the pontifical vestments of prophecy.
The reader of today plunged from the limped waters of his allegory into the
glooming gulfs of sibylline and subterranean song, is startled indeed when,
after repeated efforts to penetrate the mystery of his versicles, he perceives
the adumbration of dim forms--and recognizes them, with something of terror,
for the images of the events of this very generation of mankind!
Writing at a period when the Divine Right of Kings under the Supreme
Governance of Almighty God was yet unchallenged, Rabelais describes the rise
of Democracy. Idle people, he writes, will stir up social strife, so as
eventually to destroy all proper relations between classes and individuals.
The ignorant will have as much political power as the instructed. The dullest
and the most stupid people will be entrusted with government.
Just as we see it today! For genuine knaves are rare enough in
governments; real capacity, even for dishonesty, is baffled by our political
machinery. A clever man must at least pretend to be stupid to attain, and act
with consistently dense imbecility to maintain, his place among the rulers of
the world. No sooner is he suspected of possessing even one spark of
intelligence than the herd distrust him, butt him from his pedestal, and
trample him to death beneath their hooves!
The style of the oracle at this point becomes unfathomably obscure; it is
hard to discover what exact process Rabelais describes as the means of the
terrestrial catastrophe which culminates in universal revolution. But, the
horror at its height, the Master becomes admirably lucid in his description of
the avenging lightning which Destiny has prepared for the salvation of the
race.
A great flame will spring up, he says, and put an end to this flood. What
clearer reference could be desired to the Aeon of Horus? Is not Horus "Force
and Fire", the victorious foe of the dark waters of the Nile? Is not
GR:Tau-Omicron u-Epsilon-Gamma Alpha-Theta-Eta-Epsilon-Rho-Iota-Omicron-Nu,
the Great Wild Beast, the Lion of the Sun, the destined conqueror of
GR:Iota-Eta-Sigma-Omicron-Upsilon-Sigma, the Fish?
And so at last the elect, the sons self-chosen of Freedom, come to their
own, and the false slaves of Restriction stripped of their knavish spoils,
their hoarded dross of stupidity, and put in their proper place as slaves of
the true Men of the race. Nor does the great Magician of Touraine stop with
any mere symbolic identification; he indicates the Master Therion by name!
The very last verse of his oracle runs thus:
"O qu'est a reverer"
"Cil qui en fin pourra perseverer!"
He who is able to "endure unto the end", he insists, is to be blessed with
worship. And what is this "I will endure unto the end" but "PERDURABO", the
magical motto at his first initiation of the Master Therion?
V
Superb as is this adumbration of the Law of Thelema by Rabelais with his
Word "Fais ce que veulx", the Book of the Law gives us more--it gives us "all
in the clear light".
Although "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law", we have a
deeper truth for the strong student, a more detailed and accurate technique
for the Aspirant to practice: "The word of the Law is GR:Theta-epsilon-lambda-
eta-mu-alpha" In the analysis of this Word is to be found the master-key to
every theorem and to every problem of the day. There lies concealed from the
profane yet open to the consecrated, the proof of the nature of Aiwass
Himself, of his superiority in intelligence to any merely human being. The
whole doctrine of the Universe, the solution of every equation of Ontology, is
given thereby? So also it reveals full many a mystery of Science. I suppose
that my research has yet revealed not one tithe of its marvels; but the time
has come to disclose what truths I have discovered therein. They shall serve
both as the warrant of my work, and as the earnest (to the stern seeker after
wisdom) of further rewards--that shall surpass my holiest imagination!
VI
The Universe = 0 (or it would not be complete). But 0 = 1 + (-1).
(0 = 2) = Magick = the Will to Live.
(2 = 0) = Mysticism = the Will to Die.
"Every man and every woman is a star." (A star is an individual identity; it
radiates energy, it goes, it is a point of view. Its object is to become the
whole by establishing relations with other stars. Each such relation is an
Event: it is an act of Love under Will.)
Love = 1 + (-1) = (alpha) 0 and (beta) 2.
This is expressed by --
Mother Father
HB:Heh HB:Yod
Son (=2)
HB:Vau
Daughter (=0)
HB:heh
This process repeats itself perpetually. An Event is the ultimate thing in
the Universe: it is the conjunction of an Individual with a Possibility. Each
(I + P) is unique and infinite; so is each Event.<> The Individual is measured by the number and importance of the Events
belonging to his growth; i.e. to the number of Possibilities he has fulfilled.
I + P always = 0, such being a term in a series = Aleph-null. They are
indistinguishable, I-alpha from I-beta et cetera, as the series is
homogeneous: there are no coordinate axes. But Events are theoretically
distinguishable: E-alpha = I-alpha P-beta, E-beta = I-beta P-alpha et cetera,
so that as soon as we can define an Individual of the Second Order I', one to
whom belong Events E-alpha E-beta et cetera, we can have a practical
distinction between Events; this gives us the idea, "Events of the Second
Order" E'. Thus E'-alpha is not E'-beta, though both are composed of
identical elements--at least of indistinguishable ones. All relations are
meaningless in themselves; but one relation may be contrasted with another.
The Ego grows by establishing relations with other points of view, and
absorbing them: hence, the bigger the Ego, the less the sense of Egoity. The
Universe is a set of Events; they do not exist, they occur.<> It is a dynamic, not a static
phenomenon. Any stasis is a mere temporary resolution. Logic describes the
process of Thought, which is the essence of Action. Mathematics is the
language of Logic. A man must think of himself as a GR:Lambda-Omicron-
Gamma-Omicron-Sigma, as going, not as a fixed idea. "Do what thou wilt" is
thus necessarily his formula. He only becomes Himself when he attains the
loss of Egoity, of the sense of separateness. He becomes All-- GR:Pi-Alpha-
Nu -- when he becomes Zero. Note that Events may be considered for
convenience in any or all of three modes of projection: (alpha)
as extended in space, (beta) as extended in time, (gamma) as causally
connected. These are forms of (alpha) sensation, (beta) consciousness of
going, and (gamma) reason.
The Universe is an Act of Faith.
Its Reality is an Act of Love.
Men resent Happiness, knowing that it cannot last: but the other animals--and
wise men--accept things as they are.
Marriage is the straight-waistcoat of Love.
Art and Science consist in selecting, arranging, and presenting facts so as to
illustrate some aspect of Truth.
Law is the corpse of Justice.
Morality is the corpse of Conduct.
Religion is the carcass of Fear.
Happiness is the state of mind resulting from the free fulfillment of a
function.
A holy man is one who is not bound by normal desires.
A prostitute is one who is obliged to treat individuals as members of a class,
"ob pecuniam."
All proofs turn out on examination to be definitions. All definitions are
circular. (For A = BC, B = DE . . . W = XY, and Y = ZA.)
Consider the proposition: Thought is possible.
Realism = Romanticism, to one strong enough to worship things as they are.
The true Artist loves all his characters equally.
Punishment: increase of sensibility at the expense of control.
Reduce the A logical proposition to two: thus A and E are extreme cases of 1
and 0, and the circle is of the ellipse:
{Description of diagrams on this page: Three diagrams, each consists of two
circles on the same horizon, intersecting in a vesica. To the left, the
vesica is shaded, "S" is in the shaded portion and "P" is in the unshaded
portion to the right. To the center, the left circle is shaded, including the
vesica, same letters in the same positions. To the right, only the vesica is
shaded, "S" in unshaded area to left and "P" in unshaded area to right.}
Finis
*************************************************************************
from the Grady Project:
Renewal
I must go down
In Earth's dark crown
I must go down the slope
And sink my roots
In sandy boots
My arms a leather rope
I must be drowned
In rolling ground
Enclayed in silent hope
I must decend
The curtain rend
I must go down the Cave
In bones be traced
And, venous laced,
Possess the poisoned slave
Nor sing on high
For Kings who die:
This is the cycled grave
To be at home
In graveled loam
By Our Goddess planted
Humidity
Rigidity
Pebbled eye enchanted
Redundant soil
Be where I spoil
Spiritus decanted
I must lie still
Beneath the hill
A star-born Dragon seed
And then course up
Renewed in Goddess mead
And blossom proud,
A starry cloud,
Thrust on; such is Her need
Fair Goddess of the Windward Sky
Diana of the Groves
Divine Thy trees, Thy woodland frieze
Divine Thy treasure troves
In silence meet, in darkness greet
To share Thy Fish and Loaves
5/4/62
Published in "McMurtry: Poems" (London & Bergen: O.T.O., 1986 e.v.), and in
"The Grady Project" #3 (March 1988 e.v.).
*************************************************************************
Qabalah
Here is a different sort of look at the Tree of Life, using a bit of
imagery. This presentation will run over several issues of the "TLC". It is
adapted from the unpublished MS "Thirty-Two Emanations -- Revised" Copyright
(c) by Bill Heidrick.
The Path of Initiation
This approach to self-realization through Qabalah takes inspiration from
the lodge initiation system of the Order of the Golden Dawn and the schema of
Crowley's A.'. A.'.. A Kircher Tree of Life is used as a trellis for the
growth of consciousness from the most physical states to the most spiritual.
Each of the ten Sephiroth is treated as a type of consciousness that can be
attained through orderly passage over twenty-two connecting paths.
The Sephira Malkut
10
Malkut is the Kingdom of the physical.
Consciousness at this level is limited to physical existence and physical
sensation. Little occurs that could be called self aware thought. Reflex,
instinct and undigested memory of physical events are the highest qualities of
Malkut consciousness. This is the mental state of one who thinks only of
living from moment to moment. There is no true emotion here and no true
reason, only the mechanics of existence on earth. A purposeless life is lived
by nearly unconscious beings. The Hades of Greek and Roman legend is the
lowest level of existence, the level of spiritless, soulless shells. Malkut
is Hades unless it is joined to higher states of consciousness.
The Path of Taw
32
Malkut to Yesod
Motion in the physical world of Malkut has a way of continuing. Insects
make rhythmic sounds. Babies cry until their needs are met. Yet sometimes
the insects seem to sing without need. Sounds made by a baby are often made
for their own sake. Even the growling of frightened beasts tends to mimic
language. Such sounds and actions are music and dance to natural rhythms.
Efforts to attract a mate or parent or to repel an enemy gradually develop
into primitive art, religion and law.
The Sephira Yesod
9
Yesod is the Foundation of imagination.
When a peacock spreads his rainbow, he sees an astral peahen of great
beauty. Children feel angels bending down to love them. Fear summons
nightmares of devils and gape-jawed horror. From experiences of the physical,
dreams, visions and legends are woven. These form a consciousness once
removed from the earth, a lunar dream of lands unseen by mortal eye and filled
with music that never came from lips or instruments.
Yesod is beginning self awareness. Boundaries between self and other
become dim. Harsh physical edges of Malkut soften into mental pressures.
Yesod does not know the fiery wall between ideas that produces Hod or the
touch and flow that blends and separates in Netzach.
The Path of Shin
31
Malkut to Hod
From the pain and necessity of Malkut a harsh power grows. In the
physical world there are teeth that cut and claws that rend. The farmer
wounds earth that life may rise from red clay. A rose pricks with thorns to
guard her bloom. Among the hungry, "stranger" and "enemy" are one word. From
the rule of tooth and claw, fiery judgment rises. This is the fence about a
mind that keeps away harm and confusion. This is the dark magick of the word
"NO".
The path of shin is an exercise of merciless will upon the perceptions of
the physical senses. Only what seems to be human and helpful is allowed to
rise from the graveyard of earth.
The Path of Resh
30
Yesod to Hod
Yesod is a twilight world of many veils and soft uncertainty. Night
belongs to it, and night is a lurking place of frightful shadows. There is no
sharp edge to wound in Yesod, but neither is there healing sunlight. Mind
searches for heads to top the dreams and visions of this place. Each story
must have a meaning. Each Astral journey must have one purpose.
The path of Resh quests for rational value in the many mansions of the
mysterious moon. Only simple and clear ideas are allowed to reach the light
of day.
The Sephira Hod
8
Hod is the Glory of the rationally awake.
In a burning desert one cool oasis is paradise. Alone in such a place,
anyone can be lord or lady. Within is a pool of clear water. Outside is a
wall of fire to keep away danger. Stones are gathered from the desert in
twilight to build a palace by the pool. Trees provide fruit. Small animals
hide in burrows and beneath fragrant shrubs. The master or the mistress of
this place works solitary magick by turnings of the mind. From the path
called "Shin" bedouin riders bring flocks of analysis and synthesis to the
oasis of reason. Caravans follow the track of Resh with precious loads of
allegory and metaphor. The mercurial monarch of mind sets all in self-
consistent order, for that is the chief function of Hod.
The Path of Qof
29
Malkut to Netzach
There are soft things in the physical world. Not all is pain and
violence. Mother's milk quickens. Flowers glorify. On fruitful islands in
warm seas, stranger is friend and friends work strange magick by the moon.
The night of the earth is filled with things that cannot be seen. Some are
deadly. Others are wonderful in their happy mysteries. The wise learn slowly
how to tune nature's harp with soothing sounds for lovers and harsh pain for
the hated. This art draws up wisdom from the earth.
The Path of Tzaddi
28
Yesod to Netzach
In Yesod Alice wanders through Wonderland. She follows Diana through the
doors of twenty-eight mansions. Behind each door is a mystery. As she
travels round the circuit she waxes and wanes with the moon. This child is
near earning a woman's girdle. By following the course of dream and legend,
mind identifies with great forces. In time identification is close enough to
insure a harmony between inner self and outer life. The Righteous ones turn
with the tendency of spirit. Fighters against the grain tire and are drawn up
upon a ghostly hook of half dreamt dreams.
The Path of Peh
27
Hod to Netzach
From a towering palace of isolated mind, a youth gazes. Hod is angry
post puberty, know it all, and boredom. Bitterness grows in lonely places. A
great mind waits for recognition only to find that others have no time. Far
off the waxing light of Venus beckons. The dweller in the rational tower
cries in anguish, still alone. A journey is attempted, but Venus remains un-
impressed. Luna sometimes graces the brass parapet of Mercury's domain, but
Venus wants the Sun or even Mars. Only when the dweller in the tower casts
down the crown of obstinate pride can the journey to higher consciousness be
resumed.
When a mind is ready to sacrifice its bachelorhood or spinsterhood and
set aside some of its personal theories of how things work, that mind has set
forth on the path of Peh. This is a clumsy time, often accompanied by falling
in love with a more experienced person. It takes a lot to lure a self crowned
queen or king from an ivory tower.
The Sephira Netzach
7
Netzach is Victory of the wisdom of experience.
A woman with brilliant red hair rides a giant shell upon green waves.
She is living fire surrounded by loving water. This is one who has blessed
the world and in turn been blessed. The harshness of earth labors on her
behalf. Dreams spin secrets to delight her. The mighty invent new treasures
to woo her. She fears not. She is not confused. She is free of bonds of her
own making.
This is the consciousness of one who learns the lessons of the physical
through turning to that turns to her or him. This consciousness delights in
the half real worlds called dreams. Reason serves this mind as a book serves
a scholar or a throne a king. The consciousness of Netzach is a ship of
emotional wealth upon an obedient sea of reason, imagination, and sensation.
The Path of Ayin
26
Hod to Tipheret
In dusty halls an earth bound spirit walks. It cries aloud in anguish
for the past. Ancient chains hinder its movements. This creature shudders at
thoughts of lost love. Fear of hurt that did not happen, but could have been,
binds this spirit. A mirror reflects the comic opera. Past webs of needless
guilt and mold of wrong advice a spark of sunlight penetrates. The hero
laughs and steps toward the sun.
This is the path of letting go enough to grow. Old rules must be set
aside in time. Such rules are scaffolding to be turn down after the building
of the Temple. Old fears are short safety lines that must be cut for further
climbing.
The Path of Samekh
25
Yesod to Tipheret
Some people live a hundred lives but never live one. They have a job
with its hours and ethics. They have a home with separate hours and ethics.
Religion has its own place. Dreams belong to the night. Physics is one thing
but Magick something else. Neighbors are humans, but foreigners are wogs.
Such people have a vocabulary but no grammar. They know thousands of
definitions and fantasies, but they don't know how to weave one tapestry of
all the threads they label. "They" is never "You". "Them" is never "Us".
This is simple confusion. Be patient (that hardest and most valuable of
virtues). A theme rises in the soul to unite all separate things. Sunlight
is a new verb among old nouns. The path of Samekh is undertaken when dreams
and ideas begin to harmonize consciously.
The Path of Nun
24
Netzach to Tipheret
In time a ship of Venus reaches shore. The soul steps out and leaves its
shell behind. This craft is not abandoned. It will remain in port until the
captain returns with better cargo. The soul of the ship glides past fields
and gardens. In these gardens seeds are buried in tiny graves. They rise as
shoots to great the sun. When sound plants become golden, they are cut and
carried off. Only the best return to earth to rise again.
This soul goes beyond its earthly place to find better seed. The
strongest life grows from a seed that's hybridized between growths of heaven
and earth. The best garden grows in the place of the sun.
The Sephira Tipheret
6
Tipheret is the beauty of the best place.
A great gathering of happy people in a happy place. Long parted friends
are reunited in the light of the sun. Enemies forget their enmity in the
season of life. Merchants bring necklaces of stars and cloth of colors never
seen before. The children laugh, and no one frowns. The old cast off their
age but keep their wisdom. Warriors play and women sing. It's Fair, Althing,
and Jubilee. All the scattered bits of life have come home. The burning
desert is a beach beneath a tanning sun. The waters of the ocean cleanse all
cares. Dreams spill from storytellers' lips as history, laughter, and advice.
The soul is shining with a golden light. It sees the course of life and knows
purpose. All questions have a time for answers. All deeds have their place.
Confusion is a spray of bubbles to tickle between knowing. Along the path of
Ayin come builders of the house. From Samekh the house holder comes. Nun
provides skilled gardeners. Order serves mind with freedom.
{To be continued.}
*************************************************************************
Primary Sources
KARL GERMER
Last month we presented a letter from Karl Germer about a year after
Crowley's death. This month we have another Letter from Karl to Grady
McMurtry, about a year and a half before Crowley's Greater Feast. The present
letter discusses a visit by Germer, G.T.G. of the O.T.O. and goes over various
matters with Grady, the S.G.I.G. for California at the time. Most of it deals
with Jack Parsons' difficulties and changes at Agape Lodge in consequence.
The references to events and individuals below can be best understood by
reviewing past issues of the "TLC".
-oOo-
K. J. G E R M E R
260 WEST 72ND STREET
NEW YORK 23, N.Y.
--
ENDICOTT 2-6799
May 24, 1946.
Dear Grady,
93,
I still have to answer yours of May 15th, I'll deal with it
point by point.
I'll hold the copy of the "Drug Fiend" and "Liber Aleph" and take both on my
trip, and will give both to you personally.
No, Aleister is almost positively not coming over this year. Of course, he
would have liked to have you with him, if it would have been possible. But
with this surprise that you sprang on us, I mean "Foxie" and the expected
baby, I realize that you could not go. So we'll have to forget about this.
Re. Jack: this is quite a story. Meanwhile I've had the more or less full
story from Bro. Culling, and as I cannot make a copy, which I've sent to A.C.
... (his cable reply: SUSPECT RON PLAYING CONFIDENCE TRICK JACK EVIDENTLY WEAK
FOOL OBVIOUS VICTIM PROWLING SWINDLERS. OLLA PROCEEDING RAPIDLY.) Please
return the letter at your earliest. Culling wrote me after that (on May 21)
that he had shown my reply to Roy and Max, so that they too are fully
informed. He adds: "In the past Bro. John has stated that - 'I guess Karl &
Crowley are off on me' and later changed that 'he was withdrawing and going it
alone'. I took his statement as speculative but it appears that he now speaks
more definite that 'he is going it alone'.-- To do him credit I think he
qualifies it in his own mind that later he will have the money -- and that
also his magick will bring him credit with the O.T.O. -- i.e. he possibly
hopes his quitting is temporary."
Some opinions on Culling that I've heard were not too trustful. It was
suspected that he was the intermediate who kept W. T. Smith constantly
informed. I don't think you met him?
I want you to be fully informed, as 666 holds you in charge of the Californian
activities, with any steps you decide to be taken with my approval. He may
not realise that you can't jump up and down the west coast, and you will
hardly be able to keep your fingers on the pulse any better than I from here.
However, you know all the people personally, while I known only Max and Jane.
Let us cooperate fully. Roy is now in charge of Agape Lodge and cooperates in
harmony with Max' group. The first thing Roy is doing is to list all the
property of the lodge, furniture, paraphernalia, and the library. The latter
will now be run by a librarian in a proper business way. He has at once
changed the money policy. But why should I tell you all these details: here
is Roy's letter to me which please return.
In another two months I expect to be in Los. Angeles, so I keep any details on
abeyance until then.
Who says that there are no thelemic children? Ray and Mildred Burlingame have
produced a magnificent girl -- Laylah; and Frederic has a splendid boy, 13
months old. Do you likewise!
Jane made a remark in a recent letter that 'Jack took a beating when you were
there'. Jack seems to have an oversensitive pride, boosted inordinately by
his receiving the IX(th Degree}, his appointment as head of Agape Lodge,
considering himself a Grand Master. It went to his head apparently, and when
you turned up as a special emissary from Grand Lodge and questioned him as
everyone else -- he may have felt this as a blow and a slight. This is the
way I construct it with no facts to support it. I don't know how you stand
personally with Jack. If you feel like handling him directly, do so by all
means. My spontaneous reaction to the treatment I have received and the facts
given by Culling, were expressed in my reply to him, and for your information
I enclose the carbon. Be sure to return it after you've read it -- with the
other letters.
I would consider it perfectly legitimate if your view on Jack and your opinion
on the way how to deal with him would differ from mine. Meanwhile a letter
may be on the way from 666, both to you and to me. Use your own considered
judgment if you think you should take any action in this matter.
Write soon. Sascha and I are looking forward to meeting 'Foxie' (is she red-
haired?). We'll be in San Francisco about July 22. You might better write me
your phone number, in case we arrive at an inconvenient hour.
93 93/93
Fraternally yours.
(signed} Karl,
1 cc - letter to Culling.
3 letters from Roy
1 letter from Culling.
*************************************************************************
Pathways
I
Purple chalice
Silver grail
What is this journey
To entail?
II
The lance shines bright
The crystal sword
Of the Lady and the Lord.
III
The Morrigan shrieks
The cold wind blows,
Gleaming armor, swirling snows.
IV
Through the path
The Pilgrim goes
Into the topaz heart
Where the Lion glows.
- Firebird
(part of verse IV arranged by Aleph-Yod-Vau)
*************************************************************************
From the Outbasket
Here are responses to questions asked of Agape Grand Lodge recently. Edited
for publication.
-oOo-
AS of MA wanted to know about the "Oath of the Abyss" as a means of resolving
problems:
The Oath of the Abyss is intended to be taken at the end of an extensive
period of spiritual and psychological development. It does not aid in any
material concern. It makes any unresolved problems blow up to the point of
total catastrophe.
Put simply, too simply perhaps, the Oath of the Abyss is an affirmation to
take everything that happens or is perceived by the senses as a direct
communication between the deity and yourself. The direct application of the
Oath is to prevent distracting interpretation of visions and thoughts at the
point of "Crossing the Abyss", a spiritual event whereby an Adept seeks direct
communion with the deity. Many people try to take this oath in form only at a
stage in their development where it means little or nothing. Some people make
the same misguided attempt at a time in their life when they are pre-disposed
to paranoia, with disastrous consequences.
Sources for further information include: Crowley's "Magick in Theory and
Practice", especially chapter XVI(part one) --- this also discusses several
other types of oaths which may be more helpful. Crowley's "Confessions" ---
for an account of the experience of using oaths and affirmations throughout a
prolonged period. "Vision and Voice" --- for an account of the sort of work
in one particular manner that culminates in the "Oath of the Abyss". "Liber
Thisharb sub Figura CMXIII" --- also printed in "Magick in Theory and
Practice" toward the back of the book --- a concise discussion of the "Oath of
the Abyss".
-oOo-
JB of MN wrote to tell us that he had crossed the Abyss and expressed a
sequence of requests, withdrawals of the same requests, statements,
denigrations of the same statements and similar dichotomies.
Mundane life is difficult after the Abyss. What can a person say? You've
got your Word. Now all you can do is manifest it. At every juncture, you are
qualifying your requests with "it doesn't really matter" and you feel that you
must avow that you "know all secrets". This too shall pass. It's like
college and high school. The Sophomores know everything. What all this
really boils down to is a simple situation. You have attained. Having
attained, you must now figure out how to act as your own avatar in the mundane
world. You have to re-train your lower self to make sense while acting as the
mundane vehicle of your all too awake higher consciousness. Having discovered
the key, you must now find the lock(s) it fits. Did you ever see or read "The
Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy"? In that series, the great minds of the
galaxy finally got the ultimate answer to everything. It turned out to be
"42". The rest of the duration of the universe was insufficient time to
formulate the exact question for which this was the ultimate answer.
This level of manifestation takes years and can never be completely
accomplished in the frame of time. That's why we need more than one Magus.
Bang-slap, it's over! No such luck. Every Word is a refinement or extension
of every Word gone before. It's not unusual to take six years to find out
what your Word requires and then be the rest of your life supporting something
already begun by others as the fulfillment of that Word. Give yourself some
time. Between canvassing the mundane levels for loose tools and resolving
antimonies to get the Magus' Words of the past to harmonize with your Word,
you have a lot of ground work to do. If we can help, let me know.
Recognition is not part of the help; you don't need anybody to tell you that
you have attained what you have attained -- to even seek such recognition
would be a self-affront to your own attainment.
As to knowing the secret of the O.T.O., who doesn't? It's like the
philosopher's stone, common and despised. The trick is to know 1) that it is
the secret and 2) how to use it. The art of the alchemist does not consist in
possession of the prima materia, rather in the processes of discovery of its
true character, its projection and its multiplication.
As to being Aleister Crowley reincarnated, no rarity there either. To
reincarnate a dead author, study his works. Crowley got so deeply into
Eliphas Levi that he discovered himself to be Levi reincarnated. Reading is
the ultimate form of invocative necromancy. Every Thelemite secretly suspects
or publicly proclaims him/herself to be A.C. back from the dead. Every one of
them is right. Every one of them is wrong. You, at least, have a sensible
way of relating to this manifestation of Choronzon. Is there one particular
reincarnation of A.C.? Who cares! That's a true secret, a matter under the
law of "minding one's own business." If he remembers his own advice from the
last incarnation, Crowley-re-born is quietly laying low and enjoying the world
he helped to make as it is.
-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)
*************************************************************************
REMEMBER!
Thelema Lodge Events are no longer at 49th Street in Oakland
*************************************************************************
November 1993 e.v. Thelema Lodge Calendar (November events)
Mailed free within 100 miles of San Francisco California
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O. Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA
Production Editor and Circulation:
OTO-TLC Editor
P.O.Box 430
Fairfax, CA 94978
(CIS 72105,1351)
New Lodge Location Pending. Various locations for
individual events for November (and possibly December as well).
Phone: (510) 530-3923 (beeper) & (415) 454-5176 (days & PM for messages)
*************************************************************************
Please feel free to forward this file to any BBS willing to take it
*************************************************************************
