Thelema Lodge Calendar for October 1987 e.v.
Thelema Lodge Calendar
for October 1987 e.v.
The viewpoints and opinions expressed herein are the responsibility of the contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of OTO or its officers.
Note to update: the addresses and phone numbers in these issues of the Thelema Lodge Calendars are obsolete since the closing of the Lodge. They are here for historic purposes only and should not be visited or called.
Copyright © O.T.O. and the Individual Authors, 1987 e.v.Thelema Lodge
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O.Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA
October 1987 e.v. at Thelema Lodge
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers
This Month at Thelema Lodge
Lake Lagunitas Trek on the 10th meets at Gopher Hole in San Anselmo at
11AM. Potluck-Picnic on Mt. Tamalpais running all afternoon until exhaustion.
There is parking at the Picnic grounds and a nominal entry fee per car at the
gate. Bill Heidrick will chat on the history of Thelema Lodge and walk around
in a circle. "Wear your Reeboks!" -- Lodge Mistress. More details,
directions and possible carpool info at (415) 465-9389, (415) 655-4942. Bring
food and drink.
Crowleymas on the 12th. All day Party at the Lodge. We think the entire
"Columbus Day" weekend will be a continuous celebration, and it's "Thelema
Lodge's 10th Anniversary" to boot! BYO Potluck Feast.
Magick Theatre Dramatic Reading, The Ship on the 15th at Thelema Lodge,
8PM. Readers and listeners welcome. Scripts will be available. Call Lodge
for more info.
Grady's Lesser Feast, 18th, at Lodge, beginning 2:22 PM. Also Wade's
birthday with large cake. Poetry reading from "The Grady Project." Bring
Feastfood and Apple Juice. Mass 8PM.
Thelema Lodge meeting, 20th, 8PM. Your chance to get things on the
Calendar.
Thelema Lodge Gnostic Mass every Sunday at 8PM. Mass Classes most Sundays.
The Qabalah series with Bill Heidrick continues on the 14th and 21st.
Qabalah appropriate to Tipheret will be offered on the 14th: "The Growing
Tree"; centering, projecting and multiplying the Tree of life. On the 21st,
Qabalah will be approached from the standpoint of Geborah: Tiqqun, analysis
and an intro to dangerous workings. 8PM.
Lola does Gnostic Mass Classes at 4:18PM on October 4th, 18th, November 1st
and after Doug's class on 10/11/87 e.v. No Mass class on Gradymas.
Candlemaking at 2:22 PM on the 24th (donations for materials requested).
Ebony does Eqyptiana on the 28th at 8PM. This month the focus is on the
Pyramid Texts. Hear the Priest Magicians of Egypt.
Dave runs Enochian Classes on the 6th and 27th. Sigillum Dei AEMETH on the
6th at 7:30PM and the Four Seniors on the 27th at 8:30PM.
Doug teaches Voice Class at 3PM on the 11th. "How to prevent Raspy Vocal
Cords for those who Invoke (or whatever) and sound Good too! Lola's Mass
Class immediately following.
The Nu-Babalon Wiccans have Full and New Moon Rituals: Full Moon on the
6th, after Dave's Class, about 9:30PM. New Moon, 22nd about 8PM, when we will
tie white cords for those who haven't one yet. Call the Lodge.
Erotology Study Group meets at 8PM on the 23rd. The Subject this time is
the "Choronzon Club." Further deponent sayeth not.
Thelema Lodge calling Musicians ... Do you play it? Bring it to our
events! Amplification is subject to Judgment call by Lodge Mistress, but we'd
like to see a Fraternal Jam.
from the Grady Project:
In honor of Hymenaeus Alpha's Lesser Feast on the 18th, we will read eleven
selections from The Grady Project, mostly unpublished poetry! Our project
is transcribing Fr. 777's poetry from Archives West (thanks Bill!) for
publication. We'll have some of Grady's less familiar works for your
enjoyment. Contact the Lodge if you'd like to read one. Here's a sample:
Now I know.
| I read the lines of Prophecy |
| And spoke the runic writ, |
| The red Goetia gave to me |
| The number of the Pit; |
| So on the brazen door I knocked |
| Before I could discern, |
| "I go to Put my horns in hock, |
| Please wait 'till I return." |
| Now me, I am a Patient lad, |
| Nor do I mind to wait |
| And so I sit me on a Pad |
| Before the Postern gate, |
| But cramped asana causes thought |
| And soon I had reflected |
| A tiger skin's more cheaply bought |
| Than devil hide collected. |
| So thinking thus I took to wing |
| And lit upon a rafter |
| Which would have been just dandy but |
| He sent somebody after --------
|
| Grady McMurtry |
| 12-7-41 e.v. |
Next Grady Project
More OTO Events
Ankh-af-na-Khonsu Lodge will have a combination Halloween Costume and
Laylah's Birthday party on the 30th. Begins at 9:30PM. Call (415) 549-9102
The infamous Dii Alenii Camp Halloween Bash with be on the 31st, starting
at 8PM. Call (415) 652-3848.
Gnostic Mass at Dii Alieni on the 9th, 8PM. Call (415) 652-3848.
Gnostic Mass for the 16th at 8PM, call (415) 759-6247. Nefretiti hosts.
Selene Camp meets some Fridays. Call (415) 338-2915.
The Harmonic Convergence
from Nuit Urania Oasis
In August the Aztec calendar expired, this gave people throughout the US an
excuse to be "pagan". We, on the other hand, maintained our cool and casually
strolled atop Mr. Diablo for the evening. Lola had secured an entire wing of
the beautiful summit campground, and an O.T.O. banner was hung high and
proudly. After a wonderful evening of conversation with the spirits, and
ourselves, an early trek to the top for a few meditations was climaxed with
Liber Resh (Hail RA!). Needless to say, our group's presence & organization
made us the hottest "working" bunch up there. No flying saucers, no
earthquakes, etc. It all passed quietly. The special moment, though, came
when all hiked to the "Devil's Pulpit" (where the witchdoctor of the tribe
that inhabited the mountain resided). A moment of divine silence was awoken
by the Thelemic cords of Brother Clifton's voice as he read passages from a
copy of Liber AL he'd brought. The scene was adamantly intense and very
real. There was something in the air during this "Harmonic Convergence" after
all.
Chandria and I checked out the witch community's "Merrymeet" festival, in
the Santa Cruz mountains, for something to mention on September's activities.
It was nice weather-wise, etc. The real surprise was a set of antique brass
and enamel cobra candlesticks we were magically drawn to in town, to be used
in the new Temple. We'll keep everyone informed about that.
Brother Michael.
From the Outbasket
Here's our question of the month:
Q. "What Crowley work is Liber MCLI?" -- from A.C. of NY
Liber MCLI is not a Crowley writing; but rather it is the study curriculum
put together by OTO under the former Caliph, Hymenaeus Alpha. It was written
from 1977 to 1979 as the Man of Earth Degrees opened up. Originally, this
curriculum was advisory, but it became required for the latter part of the
Caliphate of Hymenaeus Alpha after we noticed that some of the "big talkers"
among us couldn't even do a Pentagram Banishment! Under the present Caliph,
Hymenaeus Beta, MCLI is optional in most locations. A few places still
require MCLI for passage through the first few degrees. It was intended to be
minimum attainment good report for Minerval through IIIrd, considered the "Man
of Earth" degrees at the time it was written. Later, IVth and Prince of
Jerusalem were considered to be "Man of Earth" degrees as well. IVth Degree
initiation symbolically brings the candidate through the mysteries of the
Temple of Jerusalem, while the PI initiation uses a hyperbole of the shock of
finding the Temple destroyed in the Holy City. IVth and PI concentrate on
teaching the Man of Earth to survive loss of system and ideals. Minerval
through IIIrd are devoted to bringing the candidate from conception to puberty
and the beginning of adult life.
The number of the Liber, MCLI or 1151, was derived in traditional fashion.
This was the "Man of Earth" curriculum. "Man of Earth" in Hebrew is "Adam Ha-
Aretz", 
. When these Hebrew letters are
converted to number, there are four possibilities, depending on the use of
final letters. The root number is obtained without finals:
1+4+40+5+1+200+90= 341.
This value is useful, but not good for the primary value of this Liber
for three reasons. First, it was felt that numbers below 1000 should be
reserved for general things; and this was to be an OTO limited work. Second,
the gematria is too strong on 341. This is the numeration of the three Mother
Letters: Aleph, Mem and Shin (
). They can be assembled to spell words: 
contains the mystery of the conventional Tree of Life; and it is a Qabalistic spelling of "Shem", the archetypical divine name. 
,
as a word with the letters in that order, signifies "to pass away" and
"night". 
signifies "fallow", "guilt" and "trespass". Finally,
Crowley had already used CCCXLI for Liber HHH. We next tried the number with
Tzaddi taking final value (900), and that yielded 1151. The check of gematria
was right: "Aish-Kanaazen", 
, means "A
Canaanite", which also can be taken to signify "Man of Earth", and is a term
used for the Jewish people of Eastern Europe. Not only does that match the
subject of the curriculum, but the Hasidic movement started among the
Ashkenazi. Hasidism brought knowledge of Qabalah into Masonry -- see Jacob
Katz, Jews and Freemasons in Europe, 1723-1939, Harvard University Press,
1970. Besides, "Etenan", 
, also totals 1151 and
signifies "harlot's hire", "gift", "fruit" and figuratively, a gift to or from
an idol. That's the number of the Man of Earth curriculum alright! Besides,
if you try to pronounce the Roman numerals, the sound suggests "Mickey" as in
"Mickey Mouse", American slang for something easy to learn.
The Minerval part of Liber MCLI came from Crowley's oral tradition and the
construction of the Minerval Ritual. There were seven parts to compose a
"Eucharist": 1. Study "Liber AL". 2. Keep a Magical Diary. 3. Do the ritual
Liber Resh daily. 4. Lesser Pentagram Banishment. 5. Will at the main
meal. 6. Study Magick in Theory and Practice. 7. Keep in touch. Of these
seven components, #1 and #5 are part of the Minerval ritual directly. #2 was
always a recommendation of Crowley's. #6 served as a beginning to the studies
mentioned in the Minerval ritual. #3, #4 and #5 were the three rituals that
Crowley said every Thelemite should do daily --- according to private
instruction received by Hymenaeus Alpha when he studied with Crowley in the
1940s e.v. #7 was necessary to maintain membership. Grady McMurtry provided
the ideas for this section. We prepared instructional materials and taught
classes on this portion of the curriculum.
The Ist Degree curriculum was less traditional, and Bill Heidrick wrote it.
The First requirement was simply to keep up the Minerval curriculum. The
Second requirement offered the Ist Degree a choice of four rituals to learn:
The Star Ruby -- Crowley's alternate to the Lesser Pentagram Ritual; The
Mass of the Pheonix --- Crowley wrote that Magicians do it daily; Liber V
vel Reguli -- Crowley's kundalini ritual; or Liber Samekh -- Crowley
recommended this for Knowledge and Conversation of the HGA. All of these
rituals are in Magick in Theory and Practice, and they provide a reasonable
variety of ways to go in OTO. The Third requirement was study in either
Qabalah, Divination, Yoga, Astral Working or something similar. Part Four
enjoined doing some work that "will endure beyond your own physical lifetime"
as a preparation for the middle degrees of OTO. Part Five was volunteer
service. Part Six was to join a group of OTO members. Part Seven was to make
a "point of view" study of the Magical Diary started in the Minerval
curriculum. James Graeb and others reviewed and accepted the Ist Degree
portion with no significant changes.
The IInd Degree curriculum in Liber MCLI was more of a joint effort, with
Heidrick writing four of the requirements and Graeb adding suggestions on the
remaining three. Part One was to continue the previous work. Part Two dealt
with ritual: Learn Liber Reguli (it summarizes the full initiation range of
OTO Chakra development); do group ritual; write original ritual; record ritual
workings in the Magical Diary. Part Three was a list of essential columns to
learn in Crowley's Liber 777. These columns comprise an absolute minimum
without which understanding of Crowley's system is impossible: I-the Key
scale to the Tree of Life. II-the names of the parts of the Tree of Life and
Hebrew Alphabet in Hebrew spelling. III-English translation of II. VII-
Astrological correspondences. XIV-Tarot correspondences. XV & XVI-principal
color correspondences. LIV & LV-correspondences to the pentagram (some copies
had a typo here that directed people up the Rivers of Paradise). CLXXIX-The
Tarot Trump number system. Part Four was a requirement to learn the signs,
words, grips and to perform the obligations of the OTO degrees. Part Five was
a general study of Alchemy, Astrology, Qabalah, Tarot, Yoga and an elective.
One of these was to be a major field of study. Part Six was a requirement to
take supportive or sustaining responsibilities toward OTO. Part Seven was a
direct reference to the Chakra correspondence of IInd Degree initiation.
The Third degree curriculum was to be made up by the initiate. It was to
have seven parts, beginning with study of all that had gone before and ending
with meditation on the Chakras.
Copies of Liber MCLI should be available from all OTO initiators, but since
it was made optional that seems to have lapsed. You can get one by sending an
SAE to: Ordo Templi Orientis; P.O.Box 430; Fairfax, CA 94978 USA. Don't
forget to include a note stating that you wish Liber MCLI. You will get
back in the mail one sheet of paper, printed on both sides. There is nothing
much there that isn't here, and some of the information about phone numbers
and requirements is out of date. It really needs to be revised to reflect the
current addresses and rules.
-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)
Previous Outbasket Next Outbasket
Events Calendar for October 1987 e.v.
| 10/4/87 | | Gnostic Mass 8PM | | Thelema Ldg
|
| 10/6/87 | Enochiana with Dave 8PM | Thelema Ldg |
| Full Moon Ritual after | |
| 10/9/87 | Gnostic Mass 8PM | Dii Alieni Cmp |
| 10/10/87 | 10th Aniversary picnic in Marin | Thelema Ldg |
| 11AM departure at San Anselmo | |
| 10/11/87 | Voice Class 3pm | Thelema ldg |
| 10/11/87 | Gnostic Mass at 8PM | Thelema ldg |
| 10/11/87 | 10th Aniversary continues | Thelema ldg |
| 10/12/87 | 10th Aniversary continues all day | Thelema Ldg |
| with Crowleymas & Lodge Charter | |
| commemoration all day | |
| 10/14/87 | Qabalah Class with Bill 8PM | Thelema Ldg |
| "Tiphereth" | |
| 10/15/87 | Dramatic reading The Ship Crowley | Magick Theatre |
| play 8PM (Nietzsche Birthday) | |
| 10/17/87 | Initiations to Ist and IIIrd Deg. | Thelema Ldg |
| 10/18/87 | Gradymas party w. poetry and | Thelema Ldg |
| potluck 2:22PM | |
| 10/18/87 | Gnostic Mass 8PM | Thelema Ldg |
| 10/20/87 | Thelema Lodge meeting 8PM | Thelema Ldg |
| 10/21/87 | Qabalah Class with Bill 8PM | Thelema Ldg |
| "Geburah" | |
| 10/22/87 | New Moon ritual | |
| 10/23/87 | Erotology S.G. "Chronzon CLB" 7PM | Thelema Ldg |
| 10/24/87 | Class with Lola "Candlemaking" | Thelema Ldg |
| (donation for materials) 2:22PM | |
| 10/25/87 | Gnostic Mass 8PM | Thelema Ldg |
| 10/27/87 | Class with Dave Enochiana 8:30PM | Thelema Ldg |
| 10/28/87 | Class w. Ebony Egyptiana 8PM | Thelema Ldg |
| "Pyramid Texts" | |
| 10/30/87 | Costume Party & Laylah's Birthday 8PM | Ankh F N K. Ldg. |
| 11/31/87 | Halloween Party 8PM | Dii Aleini Cmp |
The viewpoints and opinions expressed herein are the responsibility of the
contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of OTO or its
officers.
Note to update: the addresses and phone numbers in these issues of the Thelema Lodge Calendars are obsolete since the closing of the Lodge. They are here for historic purposes only and should not be visited or called.