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
February 1993 e.v. at Thelema Lodge
Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers
19 June '46 | ||
Care Frater, In case this letter should miss you in New York, I am having an extra copy made and sending it to Frater H.A. (Capt. Grady L. McMurtry, 1661, Sacramento Street, Apt. 3, San.Francisco 9).
|
Crowley had a high mind for the big questions, but tended to be a little
unworldly on some matters - notably that question about an A-Bomb in the
pocket obviating the merits of other options. You can't tip off the A-Bomb
without taking yourself and the world into account. Even a small pistol is
generally less wise than a Legal Writ, for self-defense.
-- Ed.
Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming was born May 28th 1908 in England. It is written that he 'was a
large, healthy, exceedingly naughty child'. Although most people are probably more familiar with the books he's written about James Bond the British Secret
Agent 007, it is also a fact that during World War Two he was one of the heads
of the Department of British Naval Intelligence and was involved with many
different top secret operations himself.
One such story began on May 10th 1941 when Adolf Hitler's Deputy, Rudolf
Hess, took off alone in a Messerschmitt bound for Scotland. Some historians
claim he was bringing a secret 'peace offering' to end the war which the
British Government decided not to except. It was during the interrogation
that Hess spoke in strange ramblings which some viewed 'occult'. Ian Fleming
who was involved with those interrogations decided he needed help. It is best
to quote from his biography (The Life of Ian Fleming by John Pearson, The
Companion Book Club, London 1966) at this stage.
'Fleming surpassed himself by appealing to one of the most notorious men in
the whole of the British Isles. For many years he had been fascinated by the
legend of wickedness which had attached itself to the name Aleister Crowley,
necromancer, black magician and the Great Beast 666. This immensely ugly old
diabolist and self-advertiser had thrown himself into certain more unsavory
areas of the occult with a gusto that must have appealed to Fleming, and when
the interrogators from British Intelligence began trying to make sense of the
neurotic and highly superstitious Hess he got the idea that Crowley might be
able to help and tracked him down to a place near Torquay, where he was living
harmlessly on his own and writing patriotic poetry to encourage the war
effort. He seems to have had no difficulty in persuading the old gentleman to
put his gifts at the disposal of the nation.' (pg.117)
Aleister Crowley wrote a brief letter back to Ian Fleming, the Director of
Naval Intelligence; it read:
Sir:
If it is true that Herr Hess is much influenced by Astrology and Magick, my services might be used to the Department in case he should be willing to do what you wish. I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Aleister Crowley
Oh sweet adultrous harlot of the skies | |
I yearn to thee with heart of burning fire | |
And pray that I might lie between thy thighs | |
To find in one mad, all consuming quire | |
The passion promised in thy tender eyes. | |
That I might find, oh sweet incestrous one | |
The flame uniting heart to soul and mind | |
And having found this love of two and none | |
Cast off the shell that maketh mankind blind | |
Unto the glory of the dawning sun. | |
And having found my rapture in thy kiss | |
Oh daughter of the evening's purple charms | |
To know the beauty, and the carnal bliss | |
Of total dissolution in thine arms | |
My Babalon. Veiled by the dread abyss. | |
12/4/43 | |
"Oh melancholy brothers | |
Dark-dark-dark-" | |
Death is the way of thy birth | |
Pain is the curse of thy mirth | |
Sweet is the kiss of the earth. | |
Previously published in Kaaba I:4, April 1979 e.v., in Ecclesia Gnostica I:1, 1984 e.v., and in The Grady Project #2, December 1987 e.v.
Sepher Yetzirah (2nd Installment)
Section One.
The seven double letters,
with a duplicity of
pronunciation, aspirated {with a
strong outward breath} and
unaspirated {without a strong
outward breath. These two modes
of pronunciation are represented
by the presence or absence of a
dot in some forms of written and
printed Hebrew, the dot or point
being called Dagash and placed in
the center of the letter} serve as
a model of softness and hardness,
strength and weakness {At the time
of the writing of the Sepher
Yetzirah these seven letters were
pronounced each in two ways: with
outrush of air or with inward
sound. They are models for
opposite qualities and for the
seven planets with their benign
and malignant effects. Modern
scholars differ as to which of the
Hebrew letters originally had this
double quality of pronunciation,
Mordell holds that a form of
Hebrew much older than the writing
of the Yetzirah had a different
usage of this double
pronunciation. He has accordingly
attempted to reconstruct a "more
ancient" version of the Yetzirah
{See Bibliography}. Modern Hebrew
dialects retain a few of these
double pronunciations and add new
ones.}
Seven double letters, shall, as it were symbolize Life,
Peace, Wisdom, Wealth, Beauty,
Fruitfulness and Dominion {Note: this is the list according to the
researches of the G
D
. The
qualities are those listed in the
Sepher Yetzirah, but the order of
the list is different. The same
is true for associations to the
seven planets - for a comparison
of the several orderings for these
seven Double Letters which are to
be found in the different versions
of the Yetzirah, see the Stenring
translation noted in the
Bibliography}.
Seven double letters serve to
signify the antithesis to which
human life is exposed. The
antithesis of Life is Death; of
Peace, Strife or
War; of Wisdom, Folly; of Wealth,
Poverty; of Beauty, Ugliness; of
Fruitfulness, Sterility or
Childlessness; and of Dominion,
Dependence or Slavery.
The seven double consonants are
analogous to the six dimensions:
height and depth { for Above,
for Below}, East and West {
for
East,
for West}, North and South
{
for North,
for South} and the
holy temple that stands in the
center {
}, which carries them
all.
The double consonants are
seven, and not six, they
are seven and not eight; reflect
upon this fact, inquire about it,
and make it so evident, that the
Creator be acknowledged to be on
His throne again {Although this
particular statement is often
taken as a slap against the
speculations of the Gnostics, who
were very much at the peak of
their activity at the time in
which the Sepher Yetzirah was
written, there are other meanings.
If the seven double letters are
assigned to the lower seven
Sephiroth of the Tree of Life,
this may be an injunction to study
the fifty gates of understanding;
which are the meditations of each
of the lower Sephiroth taken as
containing divisions corresponding
to all the lower seven Sephiroth -
seven times seven or forty-nine
plus one, the fiftieth, to refer
to the throne of the three higher
Sephiroth. Alternately, this may
be an injunction to meditate on
the spatial or other
configurations of these letters as
a means of attaining a vision of
the letter Taw as the throne of
the Creator.}.
Herman Metzger:
Frater Paragranus, Herman Metzger,
died in 1990 e.v. at an advanced
age. His status with regard to
O.T.O. was always a puzzle. From
a doubtful claim to being somehow
affiliated with the Reuss era
O.T.O. through a claim to being
the O.H.O. of O.T.O. following the
death of Karl Germer, Fr.
Saturnus, in 1962 his stock fell
to that of discredited pretender.
Francis King, author of many books
about the O.T.O., took him for the
head of the Order for a time.
This brief presentation will
raise more questions than it will
answer, but the most important
will be made clear. We will focus
on Metzger's claims to being: 1)
high in the O.T.O. under descent
from Aleister Crowley. 2) being
Head of the O.T.O.
[Some of the letters excerpted
below are on thin paper carbons
with damage on the right margin.
This has resulted in lost words at
the ends of lines, indicated here
by ellipsis in line. Ellipsis
also indicates excerpts from a
larger body of text. Parentheses
are original, curly brackets are
notes by the Editor.]
Our first letter is from Karl
Germer (KG) to Gerald Yorke (GY),
dated 7/26/51 e.v. Note that
Germer betrays a remarkably silly
credulity about Anna Sprengel, the
mystery personality invoked in the
Golden Dawn charter forgery
scandal of the late 19th century.
Note also that the parallel to
Grant is intriguing in view of
Grant's expulsion by K.G. on
7/20/55 e.v., after Grant
manifestly failed to follow
direction or exhibit the least
understanding of the nature and
constitution of O.T.O. See also
this column in the TLC, Sept. '92
for the Grant history.
I have taken up relation with what to all expectation must be considered as the G.M. of the O.T.O. in Switzerland; heir of Reuss' follower. This young man, apparently a parallel case to Grant's., knew Frauelein Sprengel personally in the last year of her life, and I may yet be able to get very valuable material from him. Too early to say now. Clymer, direct, and through his henchmen, tried to tie him to his outfit. |
Next, a letter from KG to F.
Mellinger (FM), dated 9/15/51 e.v.
KG has commenced an effort to
instruct and regularize Metzger
under Mellinger's guidance.
Doubts remain about Metzger's
Reuss derivations. KG dismisses
Lekve's distrust of Metzger.
I also liked the letter you wrote Paragranus. It will be up to him now to decide whether he wants to visit you or not. On the whole nothing is better than a personal meeting. Many types of men cannot convey their true nature by letters. In fact, they might be misleading. I'll be interested to hear further about this. . . . Metzger: He must be the heir of a genuine tradition, deriving directly from Reuss. So we can't judge him so easily. And I have reasons to believe that he is being led directly to us. If you feel, on meeting him, that he is allright {sic}, give him our Rituals. (He has the rituals ... the German form from Reuss' follower.) I can't accept Lekve's judgment ... it is not always reliable. Besides, Metzger is young. |
Here is a separately surviving
postscript from 9/25/51 e.v. to a
letter from KG to an unknown
recipient. KG is enthused about
Metzger and still credulous about
A.S. to the point of near
absurdity. Germer was possibly a
bit blinded by an opportunity to
re-enter his old field of Crowley
publication in Germany.
P.S. Ready to post the enclosed, I find extensive mail from Germany in the mail box. From Frederic (Mellinger), Lekve, and from Switzerland. I had given F. authority to initiate Lekve and the man from Switzerland into the O.T.O., and go as far as he sees fit. The man from Switzerland stems directly from Reuss, and from Fraulein Sprengel (see LXI vel causae) - a very important connection. It is imperative that that man gets the true rituals from Baphomet and takes up the Work in a positive way. (Incidentally, he has a group of people, established a printing shop, and wants to print some of A.C.'s works; also he is starting an occult-spiritual- magical Magazine and wants to have as an introduction either an article on A.C., or the translation of Thelema Literature. . . . |
KG continued to support
Metzger, not without some
trepidations. KG to GY, 11/15/54
e.v.
Metzger is a man in whom I am inclined to trust more than in anyone else in the German groups. Yet I have learned some lessons and try to curb my weakness of trusting everybody at once. . . . Metzger is building up an organisation with a printing establishment as the sustainer in the outer. he started with practically nothing but the will and the enthusiasm and the gift of inspiring some people, especially women to follow his own devotion. I hope he will make good. . . . Metzger was a pupil of a man Dr. Pincus, an initiate of O.T.O. under Reuss, possibly without formal charter from him. Before Pincus died he took an oath from M. to continue the Work. |
This letter from KG to GY of
12/5/54 e.v. implies that Metzger
tentatively agreed with the
program for normalization into
O.T.O. under monitoring by
Mellinger, but evidently has not
completed it after the passage of
three years. The letter is mainly
concerned with Metzger acquiring
more Crowleiana.
Metzger: wrote me extensively, and explains his situation, and why he wrote you. To make it brief: he accepts any modus we dec... whether he gets material on loan, and for making copies, from ... or you, as long as he is permitted to gradually build up a complete of extant Crowleiana. But, he says, from a practical point of view, the amount of postage, safety, and speed, it would make it simple if you would send him the stuff. Postage between England and Switzerland is cheaper. His group have a house in the mountains in Switzerland, which in a way is safer than here. And they have adequate help for copying - and making nice copies. |
Karl Germer assumed Mellinger
monitored Metzger's progress
toward O.T.O. regularization.
Germer quarreled with Mellinger
from time to time, as he did with
all his representatives. The Last
Will and Testament of Karl Germer
named Frederic Mellinger co-
executor with Sascha Germer for
the O.T.O. archives. There is
some evidence of a late rupture
between Germer and Metzger.
Largely owing to Karl Germer's
pathological distrust of his
American associates, a great
obscurity continued until the mid
1980's about Metzger's true
standing in or about O.T.O.
During that time it was widely
believed that Germer had chartered
Metzger as X° for Switzerland.
Most of the documents were lost,
and only rumors and Metzger's own
claims were available. Karl
Germer died in 1962 e.v., and his
death was very inadequately
reported. Neither Mellinger nor
McMurtry were told. Metzger
immediately published his
Oriflamme with an account of his
"election" by his own Lodge to the
office of O.H.O. of O.T.O.! This
was of course impossible. No
notice for such an election had
been given, and no agreement by
the surviving O.T.O. members of
rank had been sought. Some of the
members of the dormant Agape Lodge
in California sent Brother Monti
off to visit Metzger in
Switzerland to discover what was
going on. Brother Monti (Dr.
Gabriel Montenegro) had been
brought into O.T.O. membership at the end of the 1940's, as the last
member to be initiated into O.T.O.
in the USA during the Germer days.
He was one of the highest ranking
Freemasons in Mexico at the time,
and had been forwarded up to Agape
Lodge by the non-initiating
remnant of the old O.T.O.A.
formerly led by Dr. Krumm Heller
(Fr. Huiracocha), Head of O.T.O.
for Latin America from the Reuss
days. The story of Monti's visit
may have gotten a bit embroidered
through multiple tellings, but it
is odd enough. According to Grady
McMurtry, Monti was welcomed by a
brass band when he arrived in
Stein, Switzerland. All was "hail
and well met" until he reached
Metzger's Guest House Rose. Then
it came down to the question of
the hour: "Will the O.T.O. in
California accept Herr Metzger as
O.H.O. of O.T.O.?" Monti said
"No, but we can discuss other
matters". The welcome scaled
rapidly down to bread and cheese,
and Monti retired to bed.
Awakened by a strange sound in the
night, Monti quietly crept out of
his room to see what was
transpiring. Herr Metzger was
alone at a table in the dining
room. He was well lubricated with
more wine to hand and pounding on
the table, shouting: "I am the
O.H.O.! I AM the O.H.O.! ..."
Brother Monti quietly took his
leave in the morning. Very little
more was heard from Herr Metzger
in direct communication between
Switzerland and O.T.O. in
California after that. In the
late 70's, and in ignorance of the
document which follows, the O.T.O.
in California offered to recognize
some of Metzger's claims
unilaterally as a peace gesture,
though not of course the
ridiculous claim to his being
O.H.O. This offer was rejected by
silence, and a good thing it was
too, as will be made evident just
below.
Sascha Germer, Karl's widow,
tried to probate Karl's Will. She
had been robbed by a strong-arm
assault at her home in the
California mountains and believed
OTO members responsible (they weren't, one of the individuals
she identified as involved had
died some years earlier than the
break-in). In her dotage and
hysteria, Sascha refused to
consider any American O.T.O.
claims to the O.T.O. leadership.
She wrote to Gerald Yorke, M.
Motta and Metzger to try to settle
the O.T.O. portion of Karl's will.
Motta betrayed ignorance and
confusion. Yorke knew nothing
after the 1950's, and Herr Metzger
barraged her with scraps of
documents and high sounding
minutes of meetings cribbed from
the Reuss days, including a 1917
e.v. charter to a long deceased
O.T.O. representative in
Switzerland. Sascha went over
Karl's correspondence,
underscoring passages in the
letters that seemed to favor
Metzger's character and depreciate
US O.T.O. members. The problem
was complicated in that Sascha
Germer had never been an O.T.O.
member, according to her own
Journal. She attempted to probate
Karl's Will for O.T.O. in favor of
Metzger. That much was known by
O.T.O. members in California, but
the probate was abruptly abandoned
and not resumed until after
Sascha's death in the mid 70s.
The portion of Karl Germer's Last
Will and Testament relating to
O.T.O. was finally probated in
favor of the O.T.O. Association
under Grady McMurtry (Hymenaeus
Alpha) on 7/27/76 e.v.
This letter from Gerald York to
M. Motta, 2/19/75 e.v. gives a
typical view of the confusion of
the times:
. . . I believe, but have no concrete evidence that Paragranus (Metzger) was chartered X° by Karl. But he makes no claim to the copyright in A.C.'s works, which would accrue to him if he were the only surviving national head (i.e. a fully chartered X°). . . . |
That's where the matter rested
until May of 1984 e.v. when Tom W.
of Berkeley came forward with two
boxes of papers. These had
apparently been reserved by the
Coroner following the inquest of Sascha Germer, and not handed over
with the rest of the O.T.O.
materials. The original
manuscript of Liber AL vel Legis
was returned to O.T.O. along with
these papers! That crowded out
other thoughts for quite some
time, but one special two-page
document in the boxes eventually
came to light:
Mr. Gard Chisholm Lawer 16 Court Street Jackson, Calif., U.S.A. | 1 Berlin 12 Giesebrechtstr. t. Sept. 25, 1963 | |
Re: Estate of Karl Germer, deceased
cc: Mr. Elwood Rickless Registered |
That certainly addresses the
question on Metzger's claims to
being in O.T.O. under Germer and
Crowley. It does not entirely
answer the question of who Metzger
really was. Was he like some
modern pretenders now in France,
Italy and other places who
fantasize and attempt to "re-
create" O.T.O., based on reading
books, summoning spirits or
drugging themselves out of mind?
Was he something more?
Obfuscations regarding Metzger's
actual connections may never be
removed; his possible relation to
the Reuss O.T.O. is through
Pincus, and most unclear. Metzger
was unsuccessful in his litigation
to establish his claim in
Switzerland, unlike the successful
1985 e.v. litigation by O.T.O. in
the USA.
Even though Metzger has gone on
to his Greater Feast, his group
survives. Perhaps one day the
lesser mysteries will be brought
to light; but Mellinger's letter
leaves no doubt that Metzger
failed to advance in membership in
O.T.O. under Germer and did not
become Germer's successor and
O.H.O. of the Order. - Ed.
JK of CA asked about the chapter
on Bloody Sacrifice in Crowley's
Magick in Theory and Practice
Magick in Theory and Practice, the
chapter on "...Bloody Sacrifice
and Matters Cognate". Actual
physical sacrifice is usually
pointless, but true sacrifice is
in dedication (sacrifice=to make
sacred) of one's own self and
abilities to a higher end.
Crowley intimates as much in a
footnote in that chapter. On
another point, however, it is not necessary to divert energy in
order to avoid waste. That might
seem so superficially and in the
short run. When you are doing
your will, that is living the way
you are naturally constituted to
live, you have more energy. What
may be more common here is pulling
out of a trap. If you are making
a pointless or unproductive effort
for too long a time, it may be
necessary to withdraw from that
effort and let the mind and body
strike a better balance. I am
minded of childhood resistance to
doing arithmetic - some things
just would not be solved no matter
how hard I tried. The problem
wasn't native lack of wit or
anything of that sort; rather it
was a defeatist mental state that
kept carping about the math
problem being so hard that I
couldn't make any head way. After
a break, the problem would be
quickly solved almost
effortlessly.
"In all their rule and strictest
tie of their order, there was but
this one clause to be observed:
Both Rabelais' book and the old
Hell Fire Club are considered pre-cursors to Thelema as we now
possess it in the Aeon of Horus,
not full exemplars. Moral: Check
out history, it's not always what
you think!
Clues:
1. The place is in France.
2. This was how it looked in 1812,
but the room dates from at least
the 1400s.
3. If Crowley had let the ladies
in, the person born here would
probably be in the Collects.
February 1, 1920 | Jane Cheron, one of Aleister Crowley's mistresses, allowed her home to be used for one of the 'Paris Workings' in which Crowley & Walter Duranty performed an act of buggery to the God Mercury. On this date she gave Aleister Crowley a beautiful embroidered silk of The Stele of Ankh-f-n-Khonsu which she had recently finished. |
February 1, 1945 | Aleister Crowley moves into Netherwood. |
February 1, 1967 | Anton LaVey, the Black Pope, held the infamous satanic wedding of John Raymond and Judith Case which turned into a media sensation. The photographer assigned by the San Francisco Chronicle to cover the story was Joe Rosenthal, who also took the immortal shot of the soldiers raising the American flag on Iwo Jima during World War II. |
February 10, 1840 | The mythical founder of the Golden Dawn, Fraulein Sprengel takes the Oath of 5°=6 ![]() |
February 11, 1891 | The woman born on this date, Sascha Germer. was responsible for strewing Aleister Crowley's ashes into the mud at the base of a tree in Hampton, New Jersey. |
February 11, 1906 | Aleister Crowley assumes the Oath of Adeptus Minor in the A ![]() ![]() 5°=6 ![]() |
February 13, 1935 | Karl Germer was arrested on the grounds of 'having continued communication with Aleister Crowley' and thus committed to the Nazi Concentration Camp called Esterwegen. |
February 16, 1923 | Raoul Loveday, Frater AUD aka Adonis dies at the Abbey of Cefalu, something to do with drinking cat's blood some say, others claim it was the 'water'. Three days earlier Crowley recorded in his Magical Record that he felt a current of magical force, 'heavy black and silent' threatening the Abbey. |
February 21, 1902 | Theodore Reuss is authorized to begin the Swedenborg Lodge of the Holy Grail No.15 in Berlin. |
February 21, 1943 | The first issue of The Oriflamme rolls off the press by the OTO in California. |
February 23, 1680 | La Voisin the 'Satanic High Priestess' is burned to the stake after confessing that she obtained over 2500 children during her life to be used as human sacrifices to 'satan'. |
February 24, 1902 | On this date Wynn Westcott authorizes Theodore Reuss to form a High Council in Germania of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, with Reuss as the Magus and Leopold Engel as Magus Delegatus Primus although it never took root, and by July of 1907 it folded. |
February 27, 1861 | Rudolf Steiner was born on this date in Kralijevec, Hungary. |
February 28, 1946 | On this date a great goddess appeared to Jack Parsons claiming, "yea, it is I Babalon, and this is my book ..." of which she began dictating. Thus came forth The Book of Babalon. |
February 29, 1880 | Aleister Crowley's sister, Grace Mary Elizabeth Crowley died on this date leaving young Alex an only child. |
A.O.583 VIII°
2/4/93 | Thelemite Du Jour 7:30 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/7/93 | (See text) Crowleanity, LOP &c. | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/8/93 | Thelema Lodge meeting 8 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/13/93 | Initiations, Call to attend (VIth & PI (KEW on a date near by) | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/14/93 | Gnostic Mass 4:18 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/18/93 | Liber XV Workshop 7 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/20/93 | Jerry's Logorrhea 7:30 PM (Call to attend) | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/21/93 | Gnostic Mass 4:18 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/24/93 | IInd Deg. Ritual Workshop 7:30 PM (members only, IInd and up) | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/27/93 | Initiations, Call to attend (IInd Degree) | Thelema Ldg. | ||
2/28/93 | Crowleyanity 3:33 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
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)