Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers

And In February -

    Announcing the 2nd Scarlet Women's Celebration Coalition FUNdraising! Yes, folks, you heard it right. Come join the Scarlet Ladies (sic) as they writhe and throw themselves around in * * Another night of luscious Wrestling. Donations Encouraged...so bring yourselves [and your wallets] to Horus Temple on February 1st. The event is planned for 8 pm. Highest bidder gets to referee. [talk about a ring-side seat?]
    There is also BRIGID - watch this space!                     -C-

from the Grady Project:

SATURDAY, 4 JANUARY: Finished The Witchcult in Western Europe by Margaret Murry, and read Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Leland. Went through about half of my physics notes.

SUNDAY, 5 JANUARY: Took Claire and Foxie over to Smith's to see the mass of the Gnostic Catholic Thelemites. They were nearly scared to death. We talked over there for some time about it and related subjects.

SATURDAY, 11 JANUARY: Went over to Smith's place this evening and talked with him at some length on the O.T.O. Many things I like, some I don't.

SATURDAY, 18 JANUARY: Moved Foxie and took her to L.A. Went down to Claire's this eve to do some studying. Didn't do much studying. She looked very wifely ironing.

SUNDAY, 19 JANUARY: Had a long talk with Parsons this eve. On occult, pure {?} evil, science. Offered to let me use his spare room for sleeping subject to wife's approval. Took Paul over to L.A. today. Very heavy traffic.

SUNDAY, 26 JANUARY: Jack, Helen and I took Paul over to O.T.O. Took the sacrement for the first time.

FRIDAY, 31 JANUARY: Car knocked some teeth in the differential while taking a gang to Lucen's in L.A. Had a swell time.

SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY: Couldn't get a car to go to C.R.S. meeting and Paul missed his street car so had him just to Katie's, while I ate dinner, to have a hilarious time with Katie, Foxie, Claire, and L. Katie convalescing from a appendectomy.

[NOTE: Grady had been keeping a diary since mid-1937 e.v. in a 365-page leather-bound pocket volume. His brief entries cover every day through his senior year at Valley Center High School in Kansas, his move to Southern California the following year to attend Pasadena City College, and his student life there. In the spring of 1940 e.v. the entries become irregular, but the following winter, during the time he was becoming acquainted with Jack Parsons and Wilfred Smith of Agape Lodge, he took up the diary again, making occasional entries, mainly for the weekends. Last August the first half of the material from this period appeared in these pages, and the remainder appears here. The diary ends altogether at this point. Grady was a college upper-classman at P.C.C. during these months; Claire and Foxie were his "two girl friends". (Grady was later to enjoy a marriage of more than fifteen years with Foxie.) Clair and Grady received Minerval and First Degree initiations into the O.T.O. together the following summer on 13 June, along with Sr. S.E.N. (the famous "Betty" of Agape Lodge).

    OK, ok! I know it's been a long time but here is another Treasury Report. This report covers July thru November of 1990e.v.
    Since the last report one major change in the financing of Thelema Lodge is that in July (and ever since) we have been paying rent on Horus Temple ($150/mo.) as well as a share of the bills. This is a way of not allowing the Lodge to be a drain upon the house and/or residents. We could use a little more help in the physical upkeep of the property sooo REMEMBER one Sunday per month is Lodge clean-up day so come early and be prepared to get down and dirty before Mass.
    All in all, we've done fairly well. We've always paid our bills on time even if it has been very close sometimes. A closer look at the monies 'in' versus monies 'out' will show that we have not always been in the black. And everyone wonders why I beg for more money! If anybody out there has ANY ideas on how to raise monies let me know! Simply drop a postcard to
536 41st St.
Oakland, CA 94609.
{Note to web edition: This address is not current}

    An explanation of the above categories may prove illuminating. The first "MASSES" is rather self-explanatory, the monies out usually go for candles as the Mass teams still supply their own wine and roses. "MEETINGS" also include classes--basically any calendar event that is not a Mass or Initiation. The "DONATIONS" category is for monies given to the Lodge apart from the other categories [thank you!] and also includes any benefits or FUNdraisers that occured. "INITIATIONS" was the most difficult to categorize. The monies earned in fees and spent in supplies is shown on that row. Below it is [*] this indicates monies recieved in fees that are for initiation in a different month than when the monies were entered in the Lodge Treasury.
    I will sign off for now and will TRY to not be so tardy on the next report.

    It is sensible to look into alternatives in providing the blood required to make a Cake of Light. Liber AL states:

    "The best blood is of the moon, monthly: then the fresh blood of a child, or dropping from the host of heaven: then of enemies; then of the priest or of the worshippers: last of some beast, no matter what." --- AL III,24:

    The use of blood in the Cakes of Light, either literal blood or a metaphor of blood, is a necessity in a properly done Gnostic Mass.

    "For perfume mix meal & honey & thick leavings of red wine: then oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften & smooth down with rich fresh blood." --- AL III,23:

    "This burn: of this make cakes & eat unto me. This hath also another use; let it be laid before me, and kept thick with perfumes of your orison: it shall become full of beetles as it were and creeping things sacred unto me." --- AL III,25:

Q: J. asked about blood and the cakes of light. Some of this has been dealt with above, but here's a bit more:

A: No animals are killed or injured, and no blood is drawn from animals by O.T.O. members for this purpose. Back in the days when farmers slaughtered for food, it didn't amount to anything special to just say a prayer of thanks and blessing before taking the animal's life for ordinary use. In many parts of the world and in some subcultures in the USA, that is still commonly done. All blood sacrifice means is saying a prayer of dedication for killing an animal in the normal course of obtaining food. In cultures like ancient Rome and in the Temple of Solomon in ancient Jerusalem, there were other blood sacrifices as well; but that's usually considered too crude for modern cultures. In O.T.O. "sacrifice" means dedication of one's abilities to a higher purpose, sometimes the act of sex, and never taking of a human life.

    The following has been added to round out the response in anticipation of additional questions regarding children and sacrifice:

    Crowley himself was so protective of children that he wrote extensively as an amateur on their education and vehemently opposed abortion. Crowley's views on education are a more than a tad naive; and his male view of abortion violated a principle he greatly avowed, that of the Tao, minding one's own business. It is certainly true that neither he nor O.T.O. has ever had any interest in injury to children beyond deploring such criminality. Some people of limited literacy have taken his writings to represent the contrary. Perhaps the most often cited is a passage from Magick in Theory and Practice, chapter XII: "A male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the most satisfactory and suitable victim." Surely it doesn't take a great literary mind to move down the page three inches to the footnote on that passage: "It appears from the Magical Records of Frater Perdurabo that He made this particular sacrifice on an average about 150 times every year between 1912 e.v. and 1918 e.v. ..." That would be a kid every two days from London to New York! Bother and nonsense! How keep such a depopulation of the neighborhood secret? Considering his Quaker background, it is simple enough to realize that any "child death" involved would have to be potential or symbolic rather than actual. To this day many Christians consider contraception killing. Crowley often used such language to mean that he had sex and took steps to divert the experience from physical conception; certainly his mystical writings provide enough instruction on that very point. Another, somewhat sexist meaning is elaborated in the rest of the footnote: "'It is the sacrifice of oneself spiritually. And the intelligence and innocence of that male child are the perfect understanding of the Magician, his one aim, without lust of result. And male he must be, because what he sacrifices is not the material blood, but his creative power' ..." Crowley's interest in human sacrifice is no more to be taken as evidence of action than the interest shown by a rancher in breeding cattle to be proof of indecent bovine advances. A thing needs to be studied if it bears on one's profession. Crowley's metathesis of human sacrifice into adult sexual Magick and lifelong self-dedication is as far from a Roman augur's fistful of pigeon guts as it is from any other ancient histrionic.

Q: A correspondent asked about pronunciation of Enochian.

A: Crowley mainly used the method taught in the Order of the Golden Dawn. Because so many Enochian words have several consonants in a row, it is impossible to pronounce these words in the manner of the English language. The Order of the Golden Dawn advocated treating Enochian as Hebrew, adding vowels where necessary to make the works pronounceable. This is perhaps based on a theory that Dee was acquainted with Hebrew, which in fact he was. Dee's use of Celtic elements in Enochian has been passed over by most authors, with W. B. Yates a notable exception. Dee employed many elements drawn from his conception of the ancient religion of the British Isles. He used the idea of stone monoliths, arrangements of stones and mountain tops. Partly from this and partly from the fact that Old and Middle English included eclipsed and glide sounds in some dialects, I feel that Dee meant Enochian to be pronounced somewhat in the fashion of Gaelic (Erse or Irish). If you use old English spellings with the rules of modern Gaelic pronunciation, you reproduce near modern English. An example would be "Lorde" which moderns would try to pronounce somewhat like "Lordy". In this case, Gaelic can drop the final vowel and simply say "Lord" as we do today. The tendency in Gaelic is to drop, glide over without aspiration (exhalation), or change many consonants and vowels, not to add them. Thus "Shidi" is pronounced "She" and "Samhain" "Soin". I feel that Gaelic rules work best for Enochian. It's an alternative I would like to see people try.

Q: JCH of MT wrote asking if Crowley's elixir of life had anything to do with Amanita Muscaria and Soma.

A: Amrita was a lecture delivered by Crowley to "The National Psychological Institute". It was redrafted many times. The word "Amrita" comes from the Hindu traditions, and refers to a sort of essence of life. Crowley uses this term in his "Temple of Solomon the King", serialized in the Equinox. Crowley's Elixir has nothing to do with Amanita Muscaria or any other vegetable or even mineral product. He claimed that it effected a renewal of the body by from 5 to 15 years under the natural age. Given Crowley's sexual methods, I suspect that the physical effect had more to do with the preparation than the substance consumed. It is an "elixir of life" in a literal sense, but not truly in a medical or alchemical one. At best, assuming that there is a chemical effect, it is like taking hormones. Crowley remarks that an attunement is involved for best effect, and that could reflect either a physiological or a psychological adaptation, or both. On the Magical level, anything is possible; but powers like this are held not to be desirable as goals. When considering Crowley's "elixir of life", it is best to remember that he died. Admittedly, Crowley experienced his Greater Feast at an advanced age for a person who lived as he did. Perhaps he did get 15 years more than he would have had ordinarily, but his elixir is no universal cure for infectious diseases.
    Allegro's theories about the common Fly Agaric mushroom are very exaggerated. This fungus is not a strong enough hallucinogen to have attracted the attention of the law makers, but it is strong enough to give trips in some cases. Unfortunately, some of these mushrooms are fatally poisonous! I have known people who ate the Amanita Muscaria, smoked it and drank infusions of it. I knew one person who was even named after it! I am happy to report that I have no personal knowledge of anyone dying from Amanita, but understand that it can and has happened. "Soma" is an ancient Hindu term for any drug that effects the mind in an enjoyable or useful way. It may have referred to one particular concoction, but the wider use of the term means that any recreational drug obtainable in India has been call "soma" at some time or other. Since Amanita Muscaria is found in many parts of the world, and is pretty to look at, it is also found in the art of most cultures. Beatrix Potter, the English story teller and illustrator, used this red-flecked-white mushroom in drawings because it makes mice look good. Some cultures use it and other substances for religious purposes. Allegro collected all that he could on the subject and stretched its significance.
    For more on plant intoxicants, you might read Magical and Ritual Use of Herbs by Richard Alan Miller and Magical Mushroom Handbook by Richard Alan Miller and David Tatelman, Homestead Book Company, Seattle.

Q: B. B. of GA asked for reading recommendations on Gnosticism.

A: I recommend the following:

Best compilation: The Nag Hammadi Library, edited by James M. Robinson, Harper & Row, 1977 --- I think this is reprinted now in paperback.

Commentary and digest of the above: The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels, Random House, 1979 --- this is blinded by an ignorant bias toward modern Christianity, but it is useful nonetheless.

Pistis Sophia", by G. R. S. Mead, John M. Watkins, 1963 (reprint) --- this is the one recommended by Crowley, but it is difficult. Crowley did not have access to the Nag Hammadi collection.

Fragments of a Faith Forgot, by G. R. S. Mead, reprinted from time to time. This is a very good, older survey and source inspection of the subject.

Q: From several correspondents, questions about differences between A A, O.T.O. and the Order of Thelemites.

A: Correspondences between O.T.O. and A A are very few. The two systems are based on utterly different approaches. Possessing a Grade or Degree in one says nothing about being in or having a particular rank in the other. O.T.O. Roman numeral degrees and A A duplex grade designations should never be interchanged. E.g., V° is not even remotely equivalent to 5° = 6.
    A A is based on the G D series of initiations to Sephirot on the Tree of Life, and Crowley remodeled it at various times. There are several points in the passage of the A A grades where some form of external initiation ceremony is used: For Probationer, the History Lection: For Zelator, Ritual CXX (Liber Cadaveris). For Adeptus, another ritualized event. For Magister, an instruction along the lines of Liber CXXXII (Liber Apotheosis). This system evolved over much of Crowley's life with major changes in the 1920s and 1940s. The Libers mentioned, excepting the "History Lection", are private within A A for the most part; but they do still exist. I wonder if Liber CXX ever was performed in fact: it requires a ceremic "boat" the size of a volkswagon and appears to involve branding the candidate! --- Crowley may have gotten carried away a bit. Additional information may be found in Magick in Theory and Practice, in the numbers of volume I of the Equinox and in Liber CLXXXV.
    O.T.O. degrees are based on Kundalini Yoga and Masonic tradition. Crowley wrote of O.T.O. in the "Constitution of The Order of Thelemites":

    "The general plan of the O.T.O. shall be put before all members of the Order so that they may be brought to an understanding of the sublime principles of that Order, which seek ---
    "(1) to instruct the individual by allegory and symbol in the profound mysteries of birth, life, and death, and thereby to assist him to discover the true nature of his purpose in life; and
    "(2) to train the community in the most enlightened institutions, wherein the True Will of the Individual and the Community will be developed and held inviolate."

Events Calendar for January 1991 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.

Thelema Lodge
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O. Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA

Phone: (510) 652-3171 (for events info and contact to Lodge)

Production and Circulation:
OTO-TLC
P.O.Box 430
Fairfax, CA 94978 USA

Internet: heidrick@well.com (Submissions and circulation only)