Thelema Lodge Calendar for August 1993 e.v.
Thelema Lodge Calendar
for August 1993 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, 1993 e.v.Thelema Lodge
Ordo Templi Orientis
P.O.Box 2303
Berkeley, CA 94702 USA
August 1993 e.v. at Thelema Lodge
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers
Events of August
New this month: Enochian Chess Class on the 8th, and a chat about the O.T.O.
SF Bay area history from the mid 20th century with Bill Heidrick on the 18th.
Please see the calendar at the back of this issue for ongoing events:
Masses, a Gnostic Mass workshop, Open House, Burmese Astrology, Academia
Masonica and Initiations are all scheduled.
Archivist Anecdotes
Friends & Acquaintances
of Aleister Crowley
Part VIII
Anthony Powell
This novelist, best known for his book A Dance to the Music of Time, was
born in London on December 21st of 1905. He first came to know of Aleister
Crowley when he was a young man in 1911. It was a story his mother told him.
It appears she was waiting for a train to take her to a luncheon on the
outskirts of London. "At the station my mother noticed getting into one of
the compartments a man whose appearance made her feel a sudden sense of
extreme repulsion. At her destination, this man reappeared on the platform.
She found herself almost praying that he would not be her fellow-guest at the
luncheon. Needless to say he was. It was the magician, Aleister Crowley."
Anthony asked his mother what they talked about during the luncheon, she
simply replied, "Horrors."1
Twenty years later he would be sitting across the table from the Great
Beast himself at a similar luncheon, like his mother before him, meeting
Aleister Crowley for the first time.
In route to the restaurant he writes, "I wonder whether I should be met in
the lobby by a thaumaturge in priestly robes, received with the ritual
salutation: 'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law'; if so, whether
politeness required the correct response: 'Love is the law, love under
will.'"2
"The reality at Simpson's was less dramatic. Instead of a necromantic
figure, sonorous invocation, a big weary-looking man rose from one of the
seats and held out his hand. He was quietly, almost shabbily, dressed in a
dark brown suit and grey Homburg hat. When he removed the hat the unusual
formation of his bald and shaven skull was revealed; so shaped as to give the
impression that he was wearing a false top to his head like a clown's."3
Both gentleman talked on numerous subjects, Anthony with his pint of beer
and "Crowley drinking a glass of milk." Powell later wrote that throughout
the luncheon "it was never quite clear what he had really hoped to gain from
our meeting; perhaps merely hungering for a new listener."4
Years passed by, and both occasionally would come into contact with each
other. In fact, often when he was living in London, Anthony Powell would look
out the window of his apartment and notice Aleister Crowley walking down the
street. "Hatless, heavily bespectacled, he was dressed in green plus fours,
as for golf."5 Years after Crowley's death Anthony Powell would visit George
Sims, a rare book dealer in London. Apparently when discussing stories
regarding Aleister Crowley's last days in Netherwood, he told him that he
believed "Aleister Crowley was probably the least eccentric figure living in
the seaside boarding-house."6 If he believed that Aleister Crowley wasn't
that eccentric, it makes you wonder who else he knew in the area?
Like many writers who knew Aleister Crowley, when Anthony Powell wrote his
novel, entitled The Kindly Ones,7 in 1962 he used elements of Crowley, "as one
of the components of Dr.Trelawney".8
--- Frater Archivist
Notes:
1. Infants of the Spring, The Memoirs of Anthony Powell Vol.I, Holt, Rinehart and Winston,
NY, 1976, pg. 11. The Archives of
HA File No.1356.
2. Messengers of Day, The Memoirs of Anthony Powell Vol.II, Holt,
Rinehart and Winston,
NY, 1978, pg.82. The Archives of HA File No.674.
3. Ibid pg.82.
4. Ibid pg.83.
5. Ibid pg.85.
6. Unpublished Letter, George F.Sims to Louis Wilkinson, November 5th, 1951.
The Archives of HA File No.1561.2.
7. The Kindly Ones by Anthony Powell, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1962.
The Archives of HA File No.1750.
8. Anthony Powell by Neil Brennan, Twayne Publishers, Inc., NY,
pg.49.
The Archives of HA File No.1357.
Previous Archivist Anecdotes
Crowley Classics
Here is a Liber in Class D, from Equinox III-1, "The Blue Equinox". This is Crowley's orientation lecture for the A
A, but it really gives little insight into the details of the rupture with the G D which sundered Crowley's illusions of faith in human authority and gave rise to the great effort of his life. For that, see the "Primary Sources" column below in this issue.
LIBER
LXI
vel CAUSAE
A
A
The Preliminary Lection including the History Lection
THE PRELIMINARY LECTION
In the Name of the Initiator, Amen.
1. In the beginning was Initiation. The flesh profiteth nothing; the mind
profiteth nothing; that which is unknown to you and above these, while firmly
based upon their equilibrium, giveth life.
2. In all systems of religion is to be found a system of Initiation, which
may be defined as the process by which a man comes to learn that unknown
Crown.
3. Though none can communicate either the knowledge or the power to achieve
this, which we may call the Great Work, it is yet possible for initiates to
guide others.
4. Every man must overcome his own obstacles, expose his own illusions. Yet
others may assist him to do both, and they may enable him altogether to avoid
many of the false paths, leading no whither, which tempt the weary feet of the
uninitiated pilgrim. They can further insure that he is duly tried and
tested, for there are many who think themselves to be Masters who have not
even begun to tread the Way of Service that leads thereto.
5. Now the Great Work is one, and the Initiation is one, and the Reward is
one, however diverse are the symbols wherein the Unutterable is clothed.
6. Hear then the history of the system which this lection gives you the
opportunity of investigating.
Listen, we pray you, with attention: for once only does the Great Order
knock at any one door.
Whosoever knows any member of that Order as such, can never know another,
until he too has attained to mastery.
Here, therefore, we pause, that you may thoroughly search yourself, and
consider if you are yet fitted to take an irrevocable step.
For the reading of that which follows is Recorded.
THE HISTORY LECTION
7. Some years ago a number of cipher MSS. were discovered and deciphered by
certain students. They attracted much attention, as they purported to derive
from the Rosicrucians. You will readily understand that the genuineness of
the claim matters no whit, such literature being judged by itself, not by its
reputed sources.
8. Among the MSS. was one which gave the address of a certain person in
Germany, who is known to us as S.D.A. Those who discovered the ciphers wrote
to S.D.A., and in accordance with the instructions received, an Order was
founded which worked in a semi-secret manner.
9. After some time S.D.A. died: further requests for help were met with a
prompt refusal from the colleagues of S.D.A. It was written by one of them
that S.D.A.'s scheme had always been regarded with disapproval. But since the
absolute rule of the adepts is never to interfere with the judgment of any other person whomsoever --- how much more, then, one of themselves, and that
one most highly revered! --- they had refrained from active opposition. The
adept who wrote this added that the Order had already quite enough knowledge
to enable it or its members to formulate a magical link with the adepts.
10. Shortly after this, one called S.R.M.D. announced that he had formulated
such a link, and that himself and two others were to govern the Order. New
and revised rituals were issued, and fresh knowledge poured out in streams.
11. We must pass over the unhappy juggleries which characterized the next
period. It has throughout proved impossible to elucidate the complex facts.
We content ourselves, then, with observing that the death of one of his two
colleagues, and the weakness of the other, secured to S.R.M.D. the sole
authority. The rituals were elaborated, though scholarly enough, into verbose
and pretentious nonsense: the knowledge proved worthless, even where it was
correct: for it is in vain that pearls, be they never so clear and precious,
are given to the swine.
The ordeals were turned into contempt, it being impossible for any one to
fail therein. Unsuitable candidates were admitted for no better reason than
that of their worldly prosperity.
In short, the Order failed to initiate.
12. Scandal arose and with it schism.
13. In 1900 one P., a brother, instituted a rigorous test of S.R.M.D. on the
one side and the Order on the other.
14. He discovered that S.R.M.D., though a scholar of some ability and a
magician of remarkable powers, had never attained complete inititiation: and
further had fallen from his original place, he having imprudently attracted to
himself forces of evil too great and terrible for him to withstand.
The claim of the Order that the true adepts were in charge of it was
definitely disproved.
15. In the Order, with two certain exceptions and two doubtful ones, he found
no persons prepared for initiation of any sort.
16. He thereupon by his subtle wisdom destroyed both the Order and its chief.
17. Being himself no perfect adept, he was driven of the Spirit into the
Wilderness, where he abode for six years, studying by the light of reason the
sacred books and secret systems of initiation of all countries and ages.
18. Finally, there was given unto him a certain exalted grade whereby a man
becomes master of knowledge and intelligence, and no more their slave. He
perceived the inadequacy of science, philosophy, and religion; and exposed the
self-contradictory nature of the thinking faculty.
19. Returning to England, he laid his achievements humbly at the feet of a
certain adept D.D.S., who welcomed him brotherly and admitted his title to the
grade which he had so hardly won.
20. Thereupon these two adepts conferred together, saying: May it not be
written that the tribulations shall be shortened? Wherefore they resolved to
establish a new Order which should be free from the errors and deceits of the
former one.
21. Without Authority they could not do this, exalted as their rank was among
adepts. They resolved to prepare all things, great and small, against that
day when such Authority should be received by them, since they knew not where
to seek for higher adepts than themselves, but knew that the true way to
attract the notice of such was to equilibrate the symbols. The temple must be
builded before the God can indwell it.
22. Therefore by the order of D.D.S. did P. prepare all things by his arcane
science and wisdom, choosing only those symbols which were common to all
systems, and rigorously rejecting all names and words which might be supposed
to imply any religious or metaphysical theory. To do this utterly was found
impossible, since all language has a history, and the use (for example) of the
word spirit implies the Scholastic Philosophy and the Hindu and Taoist
theories concerning the breath of man. So was it difficult to avoid
implication of some undesirable bias by using the words order, circle, chapter, society, brotherhood, or any other to designate the body of
initiates.
23. Deliberately, therefore, did he take refuge in vagueness. Not to veil
the truth to the Neophyte, but to warn him against valuing non-essentials.
Should therefore the candidate hear the name of any God, let him not rashly
assume that it refers to any known God, save only the God known to himself.
Or should the ritual speak in terms (however vague) which seem to imply
Egyptian, Taoist, Buddhist, Indian, Persian, Greek, Judaic, Christian, or
Moslem philosophy, let him reflect that this is a defect of language; the
literary limitation and not the spiritual prejudice of the man P.
24. Especially let him guard against the finding of definite sectarian
symbols in the teaching of his master, and the reasoning from the known to the
unknown which assuredly will tempt him.
We labour earnestly, dear brother, that you may never be led away to
perish upon this point; for thereon have many holy and just men been wrecked.
By this have all the visible systems lost the essence of wisdom.
We have sought to reveal the Arcanum; we have only profaned it.
25. Now when P. had thus with bitter toil prepared all things under the
guidance of D.D.S. (even as the hand writes, while the conscious brain, though
ignorant of the detailed movements, applauds or disapproves the finished work)
there was a certain time of repose, as the earth lieth fallow.
26. Meanwhile these adepts busied themselves intently with the Great Work.
27. In the fullness of time, even as a blossoming tree that beareth fruit in
its season, all these pains were ended, and these adepts and their companions
obtained the reward which they had sought --- they were to be admitted to the
Eternal and Invisible Order that hath no name among men.
28. They therefore who had with smiling faces abandoned their homes, their
possessions, their wives, their children, in order to perform the Great Work,
could with steady calm and firm correctness abandon the Great Work itself: for
this is the last and greatest projection of the alchemist.
29. Also one V.V.V.V.V. arose, an exalted adept of the rank of Master of the
Temple (or this much He disclosed to the Exempt Adepts) and His utterance is
enshrined in the Sacred Writings.
30. Such are Liber Legis, Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente, Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli and such others whose existence may one day be divulged unto
you. Beware lest you interpret them either in the Light or in the darkness,
for only in L.V.X. may they be understood.
31. Also He conferred upon D.D.S., O.M., and another, the Authority of the
Triad, who in turn have delegated it unto others, and they yet again, so that
the Body of Initiates may be perfect, even from the Crown unto the Kingdom and
beyond.
32. For Perfection abideth not in the Pinnacles, or in the Foundations, but
in the ordered Harmony of one with all.
Previous Crowley Classics Next Crowley Classics
Qabalah
Sepher Yetzirah
Bibliography
Copies and translations of the Sepher Yetzirah:
Kalish, Isidor; first published English translation, 1877 e.v., includes
Hebrew text.
Reprinted by AMORC and others.
Stenring, Knut; first published in 1923, later editions exist. Compares
several texts,
includes "32 intelligences addition."
Suares, Carlo; English translation of the French edition, Shambala Press.
Previously part published in Tree #2, Summer 1971.
Westcott, Wm. Wynn; translation first published in 1911, later editions exist.
Includes 32 intelligences and a few notes on the fifty gates --
taken from Kircher's 17th century Oedipus Aegyptiacus with little
regard for accuracy.
Work of the Chariot, 1970. Available in several forms, with or without Hebrew text.
Studies:
The Origin of Letters & Numerals According to the Sepher Yetzirah, by Phineas
Mordell, 1914 and 1975. Published by Samuel Weiser, Inc. Uses a
linguistic approach. Many of the theories are of value, but the
author is too loose with the text.
De Arte Cabalistica, by Johannes Reuchlin, 1517. Contains the earliest
printed version of major portions from the Sepher Yetzirah in a
European language (Latin).
Manuscripts of the Yetzirah abound, mostly in Hebrew. There is an early
English translation of the Yetzirah among the MSS in the collection of the
Percy family (Dukes of Northumberland) at Alnwick Castle. The latter may have
been acquired through the influence of John Dee, tutor to the Percy's in the
16th century. See A.C.L.S. British Manuscripts Project, Alnwick 123, Reel 0
41, for a microfilm copy of this MS --- Available through major University
Libraries.
Previous Part of the Sepher Yetzirah
from the Grady Project:
The Great White Hunter
or: Bill Green Redivivus
| In the forms jungle primeval, |
| Like a Knight Medieval |
| Our "Wild Bill" Green will seek his foes |
| Slash red tape and step on toes. |
| Stalking the wily bureaucrat |
| In his native habitat. |
| Straightening out the young green peas |
| Lost in forest, finding trees. |
| Up to all his usual tricks, |
| Shrink his eyeballs with a "fix". |
| For the sacred cow of rubber |
| Hone his fangs, carve the blubber, |
| Smiling while he eviscerates. |
| Lifts his voice and deprecates |
| A pay scale that will guarantee |
| Organize stupidity.
|
| In this deck there's just one joker |
| He's a card, bright and ochre, |
| Who should be dealt with, back to back. |
| He's a living One-Eyed Jack!
|
| (and the One-Eyed Jacks are Wild, Son!)
|
| 11/20/59 |
| -- Grady L. McMurtry |
Previously unpublished. The original is in the Archives of HA (Hymenaeus
Alpha), File No.1203. Frater A.O. 583 VIII°
Previous Grady Project Next Grady Project
Primary Sources
A.C. Inspects the GD:
Crowley broke off his effort at "Seeking the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel", the Abramelin Retirement, to undertake an inspection and restoration of the Golden Dawn temple in London. He traveled to Paris for instructions from Mathers and then proceeded to London for the fateful confrontation with the "refractory temple". For the official story, see Equinox I-3, "Temple of Solomon the King" part 3; Liber LXI (above in this issue) and Confessions, pp. 195 and ff., with scattered references before and after. For the actual record, read below from Crowley's diary of the time.
This selection is taken from Crowley's 1900 e.v. notes, from the end and following the Shin of Shin preliminary operation, with permission of Fr. H.B. and O.T.O. Dr. J. P. Kowal conserved this material in rough form, and the Shin of Shin journal in this version contains the names of the spirits and days. The TS of the Shin of Shin ritual (Abramelin Retirement) at the H.R.Humanities Research Center in Austin has many omissions and paraphrases, which are given more correctly in the Kowal TS. Crowley's 1900 e.v. diary selection currently available on IBM PC diskette file will be revised at a future date to include missing text and repair corruptions. In the mean time, here are the details of the last period of Crowley's Golden Dawn experience. The notes in parentheses are comments and expansions of initials from the MS by Kowal or an earlier transcriber. Notes in curly brackets are by your present editor. Apparent original parentheses are rendered here in square brackets.
We open from the latter part of the Shin of Shin operation, with Crowley nipping up to London on a check to see what's wrong. This commences about the last week of March, 1900 e.v., but notes summarize events up to the beginning of 1900 e.v.
Copyright © O.T.O.
Sunday {March 25th, 1900 e.v.?}:
12.10 A.M. I have invoked {Coptic: God presiding over the Earth of Water
Castle in Enochian Chess, evidently same as Egyptian "Shu". See note on
page 141 in Liber 777 2nd revision, Chico edition, to col. XX.} as I never
invoked before. First L(esser) B(anishing) R(itual of the) Pentagram.
Vibrate 
with S. from R., then inv(oke){initial letter of the
above Coptic deity name, H.R.H.R.C. TS gives "Shu" and omits the first
sentence.} impromptu, and assumed his form and attributes. Charged
tel(esma) by will and sealed by K.A.P. (?K.A.D.) R and C by lamp and lo! I
saw you to the end. Now for the vision.
I fancy I must have got too active: I saw little, and fell asleep. But
my dreams were all that they should be.
An idea that the planetary, etc., influence at time of waking determines
dreams.
Monday: Trouble getting P.W. Shu vision cut off by sleep.
Tuesday: Ski on Hills.
Wednesday: Revise climbing paper with O.E(ckenstein). Dreams much better
all this time.
Thursday: I had gone to sleep meditating L.V.X. and woke v{ery} early still
doing this [Curious dreams of prison-breaking - eventual arrival at
Eastbourne - regatta - tendency to Eastbournehabits.]
Now L. Yod = 
Lamed = 
and HICES = Moon. On Tree Does V = and Teth =
serpent --
V = 
as rebirth (Phoenix Wand) X = Samech and Osiris
(Note. In pencil on opposite side of note-book. L, sowing seed. V,
apparent corruption, X, resurrection). Now I think there is a change of god-form here connoted. Chief Adept with
wand = Thoouth or HICES {777 Ibid. Water of Earth Queen} with Crook and
Scourge = {Coptic: 777 Ibid. Spirit of Earth King}. Second Adept would be
HOOR or {Coptic: 777 Ibid. Earth of Earth Castle} or more obviously Apophis.
The question is whether Apophis is not only the evil dyad: but the dual
nature. I clearly get the pyramid formula of attracting light. Yet the
manner of vibration is difficult. (Added later in pencil "Closing of plumes
of Amoun"). There is a great equilibration of officers: and they seem to
overlap and interchange. Thus S. has sword sacred to Osiris and T. to Isis
while C. has the Caduceus. Yet in function are the officers very similar to
0
= 0
.
Friday: Another useless day.
Saturday: Either Thursday or Friday night I dreamt of beginning the
Operation, and of some obstacle on the second day.
Heard this evening from Deodate. S.O.(Second Order) apparently mad.
Resolved to write to D.D.C.F. (Mathers) offering myself. I invoke 
to
give me an answer in my dreams. Got him visibly.
Sunday {April 1st?}: A most extraordinary dream! A woman-tapir on an
island, and a beautiful girl and her younger sister! Love all, latter at
last. I seem to remember very little. Anyway, what doth this portend? I
leave for London Monday: as it is written: "His Face was Fixed as a Flint to
go unto Jerusalem".
Monday: Journey all day and night.
Tuesday: Arrive at 10 L.G.P. Go to E.S.D. Bring him back and trap Gnothi
Seauton in attempting Laura. He seems nearly as big a blackguard as myself.
I misbehave as usual. Oh Lord, how long?
Wednesday: To V.N. (G.C.Jones)
Thursday: Why, they haven't got the 4 scales! (Refers I think to a G.D. MSS
on the four scales of colour.)
Friday: V.N. Kicks me out [as S.S.D.D. (Florence Farr.) will visit him?]
C.S. comes in evening.
Saturday: Find Vault locked (the G.D. Temple). See M.W.Th (Blackden). V.N.
wires. D.D.C.F.'s (Mathers) letter forwarded to me. Fidelis (Elane
Simpson) appoints Sunday morning. D.D.C.F. accepts my services.
(Note. On opposite page a Tarot divination "Shall I go to london re S(econd)
O(rder)? Fortune and hope to the Universe. The Imperator? The fortune of
the Imperator will change. Hope that reconcilement will avert destruction
by fire. The U(niverse) shall be led to the Initiatrix to the Sun."
Another divination on the next page. "Good fortune and unexpected help in
the matter. The strife inspires a change. An involuntary change finally
decides for glory, gain etc.").
Therefore do I rejoice, that my sacrifice is accepted. Therefore do I again
postpone the Operation of Abramelin the Mage, having by God's Grace
formulated even in this a new link with the Higher, and gained a new weapon
against the Great Princes of the Evil of the world.
A M E N
----
Wanted. [1] Full attr(ibutio)n Enochian Alphabet to Geom(ancy) and
Coptic. etc. [Not done.]
[2] Symbolism 5 = 6 [if having to act as C(hief) A(dept)]
[3] Magot and Kore.
[4] H.P.K. (Harpocrates) formula of invisibility
[5] Comment (?Current) for vault -strength & wisdom etc.
(Note. Above in pencil. Items 2 - 5 ticked)
Sunday {April 8th, 1900?}: Saw Fidelis and received her allegiance to S.R.
(Mathers) and that of Perseverantia. Also promise to help. Left London.
Monday: Reached Paris. Am selected as the messenger of D.D.C.F. (Mathers)
after a long talk with him and V.N.R. (Mathers' wife). My proposals are
substantially approved.
Tuesday: Action begins to be taken.
Wednesday: Letters etc. written
Thursday: Instructions and symbols received.
Friday: Left Paris 11.50 A.M. The history of my mission: is it not written
in the Book of the Chronicles of the Revolt of the Adepti?
----
A Consideration
It was told me by a V.H.Frater since resigned concerning a certain fog or
mist about me. V.N.R. (Mrs Mathers) confirms this. It floats about me and
is m. b. to obsess or vampirize.
----
It is written "Clouds and darkness are under his feet".
----
Banish (with) Pentagram and Hexagram. Purify (by) water and fire.
Invoke Higher by names HICES {in addition, two other deity names - Coptic:
777 Ibid. but corrupt, probably Earth of Earth Castle and Spirit of Earth
King deities}
Conjure fog to v(isable) A(ppearance). By names Binah, Jesod. Purify it
(by) Water and Fire.
Compel its obedience. Command it to place itself beneath feet.
Invoke higher, Use 
formula.
Close. Great speech and Key-word.
----
Notes on London row.
S.S.D.D. (Florence Farr.) cannot work longer with S.R.(Mathers), as she
knows he is definitely working against England, and using o(dd?) b(rethren?)
of O(rder) for this end. C.S. = LLB
----
20 Jan 1900. V.N. (G.C.Jones) hears from S.R.(Mathers) that S.S.D.D.
(Florence Farr) wants Isis (Urania Temple in London) close. L(evavi)
O(culos)(Bullock) confirms as S(econd) O(rder) resolution. The 3 questions
are put
D.D.C.F. (Mathers) is told "astral jar" in I(sis) U(rania) T(emple). This
is a lie.
Politics the real basis.
----
D.D.C.F's reply "Take it or leave it!" Will not close I(sis) U(rania)
T(emple).
Meeting. V.N. (Jones) crushes L.O. (Bullock). Vote of censure on V.N.
suggested. M.W.Th (Mahawani Thesi. Blackden){Latin Cross symbol in text} to
stop rowdiness.
They write again. S.S.D.D. will continue until successor found. Hole and
corner meeting arranged. S.S.(D.D.) has heard from S.R. (Mathers) and slept
on it; will show it and does! Contents secret. V.N. has seen it.
They ask for further information and tell S.R. of "Committee". V.N. attends
a meeting and they write "Please further information of circ(umstances)
Founding (of) O(rder).
General meeting S(econd) O(rder). Committee gets itself elected.
Committee thinks it has power to arraign S.R. at its bar, or call on him to
resign (as Imperator.)
Apparently D.D.C.F. (S.R. = Mathers) ipse "doubts" authenticity of M.S.S.
(the cypher M.S. on which the rituals of the G.D. were founded.)
N.B. The do not approve of S(apere) A(ude. Wynn Westcott.). V.N. Distrusts
Resurgam.
Hist(orical) Lecture (of the G.D.) 3 
W.W(inn) W(estcott) S.A. translates
Cipher. (Cypher states) "Apply to G(ermany). They do. G.H.S. S.D.A. L.L.L. object to S(apiens) D(ominabitur) A(stris. Fraulein Sprengel.) when
dead. O(rder) - T(emple) work contrary to practice (of the German brethren
of whom S.D.A. a member): yet they would allow her work to go on as far as
her M.S.S. were concerned. But no more. S.R. (Mathers) establishes new
link: goes Paris.
----
Another lie. S.R.'s latest V.N.
----
C.S. very shy of talking. Undesirable class of people being admitted.
Thinks whole thing - everything will collapse. They have no obligation to a
forger and therefore can continue on their own. Z.2 [One of the S(econd)
O(rder) documents] all rot: even more than other knowledge. Revolt scheme
nearly universal.
----
M.W.Th (Blackden). Point merely technical - warrant etc. Any strong lie
will secure his allegiance and that of many others. D(emon) E(est) D(eus)
I(niversus. W.B.Yeats.) and possibly S.S.D.D. (Florence Farr.) Cipher
authenticity he has never heard question. If S.R. (Mathers.) is not 7 = 4
then there is no S(econd) O(rder) and no G(olden) D(awn) and no obligations
and no nuffin. S(apere) A(ude. Winn Westcott) yielded from fear.
A scheme of action proposed by P(erduabo. Crowley) to S.R. (Mathers)
----
1. S(econd) O(rder) to be summoned at various times during two or three
days. They find, on being admitted one by one, a masked man in authority
and a scribe. These questions etc pass after pledged secrecy re the
interview.
a]. Are you convinced of the doctrines and knowledges received in 5 = 6?
b.i] Then their origin can spring from a pure source only?
b.ii] I degrade you to be a L of P or P of V.
c]. Are you satisfied with the logic of the statement? Do you solemnly
promise to cease these unseemly disputes as to the headship of this order?
I for my part can assure you that from my own knowledge D.D.C.F. is really a
7 = 4.
d.i]. Then you will sign this paper. It contains a solemn reaffirmation of
your ob(ligation) as a 5 = 6, slightly expanded. Pledge to support
heartily the new regulations.
d.ii]. I expel you from the order.
2. The practice of masks is to be introduced. Each member will know only
the member who introduced him. Severe test of the c(andidate)'s moral
excellence - courage - earnestness - humility - refusal to do wrong - to be
inserted in Portal or 5 = 6 ritual.
3. Outer (order) to be summoned. Similar regulations announced to them.
New pledge required - that they will not communicate the identity of anybody
they happen to have known to any new member.
4. Reorg(anisation) of O(rder).
----
Fidelis and Perseverantia (just back). Will affirm authority of chief -
demand opening of rooms etc. Will aid chief in any way, placing their time
(or that of Fidelis in particular) at D.D.C.F.'s disposal. Resurgam said to
hold similar views. But Perseveratia opposes him on astral (Lake Harris).
Must be one authority.
D.E.D.I. (W.B.Yeats) has said "We have enough for all mag(ical) advancement
in this life and can get on without S.R.".
All agree there is no ob(jection or ? object) to return MSS.
Non Sine Numine (Col Webber) loyal (to Mathers).
----
Instructions from Paris
1. See M.W.Th (Blackden), get addresses of (members of) S(econd) O(rder).
If he cannot get them, wire S.R. (Mathers.)
2. Yale lock on doors, 50 keys. Put on at once (Note. Later A.C. added
here in ink "Done".) 12 Masks of Osiris to be made.
3. Alter hinged doors. No door except Venus to be used.
4. Letter to Fidelis (Elaine Simpson.). Locks. Miss Cracknell's secrecy.
Letter to Resurgam to give up key to F(idelis?)
5. Circular to S(econd) O(rder)
"C et V.H. Fra [or Sor.]
"You are cited to appear at headquarters at ____ A.M. on the _____
inst.
D.D.C.F."
Zelatores called first: Theorici after.
6. Hire chucker-out.
7. Authority [a] to A.C. to be legal [b] to Perdurabo (for) S(econd)
O(rder). [c] Envoy and Council [d] Perdurabo (for) Outer (order).
8. Robes of C(hief) A(dept). Wand. Resurgam S(econd) A(dept). Fidelis
T(hird) A(dept).
9. 5 questions and answers.
10. Pledge of allegiance.
11. M.W.Th prepares new warrant and sends to Paris to sign.
12. New chiefs. Resurgam Sub-Imp(erator). V.N. Praemonstr(ator) if all
well. List of present chefs sent over and exact offices to be sent. Will
Resurgam act as Repre(sentative) in Lond(on) S(econd) O(rder) and Sub-
Imp(erator) in I(sis) U(rania) T(emple). Fid(elis) and Pers(everantia).
Chiefs of Isis.
13. Sapiens dominabitur astris (Note by transcriber. Mrs. Horos had palmed
herself off as S.D.A. to Mathers in Paris. Soon after giving these
instructions he found that he had been taken in.) Woman. v{ery} stout.
v{ery} fair, she changes youth to age and vice versa. 5 = 6 or more.
(Note. A.C. added later here "Mrs Horos or Hores or Dutton".)
Magus sidera regit. Man. Looks young (25-30) short. Very fair. Does not
look strong but is extremely so. 4 = 7 (Note. A.C. added later "Theo.
Horos. Bald patch growing over it v{ery} yellow"){N.B. The Horos couple
were not only frauds on Mathers and the others, but ended up in jail later
on conviction for sexual molestation of minors in their care -- Ed.}.
Sapientia ad beneficiendum hominibus. V{ery} dark rather like Emery
(Florence Farr.) Mrs Dr Adams. (Note. This name probably added later.)
They may say they have come to settle up G(olden) D(awn). Accept nothing
from these but wire S.R. (Mathers.). Don't be had by conjuring. Be
courteous but firm.
Warnings. If I am feeble or ill or worried, and if fires refuse to burn,
she (Mrs Horos?) may be expected. They are "celibates". What ho! The real
H.P.B(lavatsky) and the real S(apeins) D(ominabitur) A(stris. Fraulein
Sprengle) can incarnate in her. They (her forces) have been against S.R.
(Mathers) for long. Prob(ably) known Brodie Innes. Maybe Jesuits.
Her occult name is Swami Vive Ananda.
Weapons against them. Separate them. Arrest them for theft at very last
resort - travelling bags of S.R. stolen. Wire their real address to S.R. if
found. MacG(regor) symbols - tartan and dirks. Shoulder plaid overhead to
isolate. H.P.K. (Harpocrates.) Use their own currents against them.
Symbol of {Latin cross with circle about juncture -- a R&C emblem used later
by Crowley in his journals to indicate heterosexual intercourse, but here
enclosed within a larger circle -- Ed}. Use only to invoke aid of D.D.C.F.
in the matter of present Order trouble. Keep absolutely private.
Seal of Saturn to strike fear: of Jupiter (for) authority and geniality.
Mercury (Note Alchemical {
} not astrological {
} figure for Mercury in MSS
-- Transcriber) to ally my soul to forces of divine light.
Symbols of Saturn over or r(ight) and l(eft) of or at door, so that those
who pass come under terror of Saturn.
Symbol of Sun to my r(ight), Moon to my l(eft), Jupiter at my chair or
behind, "to reestablish harmony of place for certain time".
Mercury (astrological symbol for Mercury. -- Transcriber) about hair of persons to make 'em talk.
----
Fidelis says Resurgam not trusted and too slow.
----
{Notes end and narrative journal resumes,
Friday, April 13th?, 1900 e.v. -- ED.}
Friday: Left Paris on this business. Cab lamps catch fire. Slight trouble
at first with Perseverantia: so put her through questions. Ditto Resurgam.
Slept Paddington Hotel. Runaway horse. Fidelis' fire has refused to burn.
Saturday: Rose-Cross whitened. Rubber macintosh nowhere near the fire
catches light.
Fire not too anxious to burn.
Perseverantia informs me of the real charge against me. This is "sex-
intemperance on Lake Harris lines in order to obtain magical power (both
sexes are here connoted)"!!!
I had a long dream re. Horos lot. They were at Boleskine and wanted to get
some one M.S.
I had nobody I could trust at all and it was Hell and Tommy for a long
while. The end tragic for them.
Sunday: Sent Aubery Grahame to M.W.Th (Blackden) with letter
Monday: Saw landlord (of Isis Urania Temple lodge room.) and convinced him.
Saw Fidelis and arranged final details capture of Vault. Engaged chucker-
out at a public house in Leichester Square.
In the morning I was very badly obsessed and entirely lost my temper --
utterly without reason or justification. 5 times at least horses have
bolted at sight of me {Remember what Crowley was wearing at the time! --
ED}. Horse bolted with Fidelis on Saturday night. Fires at 15 R.R. refuse
utterly to burn.
Tuesday: Recaptured vault. Suspended Cracknell, H. et S. and S.S.D.D. came.
Fight. Police. Victory.
Wednesday{April 18th, 1900 e.v.?}: Letters sent off.
----
Of course, that wasn't the end of it. The London members went off to the courts, promptly got Crowley "chucked out" and resumed local control of the temple. In the end, the Golden Dawn sputtered a bit and fragmented, some parts staying with Mathers and others going their own way. The Stella Matutina and Waite eventually came out of this. Newspapers of the times were full of scandal and jokes about the whole episode et seq. This was the seed that quickly matured into The Argentum Astrum and probably also the beginning of Crowley's publicity problems. Crowley continued for a time under G.C.Jones as mentor/Magus before striking off on his own.
What caused the rift in the London Golden Dawn? Human nature and confusion of the plains would be a short answer. Speaking from over a decade and a half of experience with more than 150 O.T.O. Camps, Oases and Lodges, I note that people will tend to gossip and form cliques. This is harmless if not taken seriously or allowed to progress to malice. When people become enamored of "magical attacks" and "dread forces of evil", they tend to confuse the material and mental plains. Once charges are preferred against what others may be doing in their minds alone, paranoia sets in and morbidity is not far behind. The solution in O.T.O. is to require strict evidence of material wrongs with the U.S. Federal Rules of Evidence as a guide. Magical attack? Certainly does happen, but take a cup of Chamomile tea and don't call me in the morning! In the Golden Dawn then, as in O.T.O. now, there were people of all interests and points of view. Some were fascinated with spiritual progress and magic(k). Some were really looking for a mystical "arts and crafts" hobby club. These different types do not tend to get along, and O.T.O. manages this diversity by allowing different groups to form along the lines of their own interests on the Camp level. If one thing can prevent such discord it is this: Pax Templi, the Peace of the Temple. Without that little bit of mutual respect and civility, all secret societies decay in discord eventually.
-- Ed.
Previous Primary Sources Next Primary Sources
From the Outbasket
Here are questions and answers from Grand Lodge correspondence, substantially edited for
publication.
GS of Slovenia asked about using other rituals with Liber Samekh.
On the use of other rituals with Liber Samekh, the most important thing is to remember to banish before and after Liber Samekh -- either with the
Star Ruby or the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. Other rituals can be used with Samekh, but Liber Reguli may be too much to do with Samekh on the same day.
JL of AL asked about the Averse, and Inverted Pentagrams.
About that terminology: Averse, rotated, flipped, upside-down, inverted, reversed -- what to call them? There are two principal morphic ways to transform the more normal, point to top pentagram. You can rotate it in a plane by 180 or you can flip it top-to-bottom. Other than 72 incremental partial rotations, that's all that can be done. These two ways end up with different assignments of the elements to the points. Crowley settles which to use in the Thoth Tarot. If you will look at the four minor trumps having the value "5" in the suits, you will find hints on some and a definite assignment to the points on one. That establishes the elemental correspondence, and the manner of inversion, etc. Crowley tended to use language in two senses about these pentagrams: 1. point to top dominated by spirit or point to bottom dominated by matter. 2. disregarding dominance, the use in ritual. The latter has to do with tracing, and in at least one (possibly two -- it's been a while since I reviewed the originals for old
O.T.O. Newsletter #4) -- typescript with drawn in examples of the way of tracing the "Averse Pentagrams" and the unicursal hexagram. Crowley complicates things by referring to these unusual orientations with a number of different synonyms. That may sometimes be a distinction, but usually it's just different words for the same thing.
TS of MI asked for books to read about Qabalah.
This is a very large topic, and many confusing books have been written. Read any general introduction, with emphasis on the parts of the Tree of Life. After this, you might tackle the Sepher Yetzirah as a preliminary to what comes after. There are two principal divisions of Qabalah, despite other divisions made by Mathers &c.: Berashit and Merkabah. The former is in line with study of the Hebrew letters and the parts of the Tree of Life. The latter is the advanced study. Sub-topics include the 50 gates of Understanding, the parts of the Soul and many others. You might like to acquire a copy of Mathers' Kabbalah Unveiled for the sake of the introduction only (the main text is a badly edited and multigenerational translation of the more obscure parts of the Zohar). Better still would be Ginsburg's essay on The Kabbalah -- which Mathers plagiarized to write his own introduction. This source is the origin of the material developed by many other authors: Knight, Fortune, Crowley, Case and most of the new-age writers. It is very condensed.
-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)
Previous From the Outbasket Next From the Outbasket
THE HISTORY HEAP
AUGUST
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law -- Liber AL vel Legis I:40
| August 1, 1555 |
The most prolific of John Dee's skryers and one of Aleister Crowley's earlier incarnations, Edward Kelly, was born on this date in Worcester, England.
|
| August 1, 1912 |
Iona de Forrest, the girlfriend of Victor Neuburg, commits suicide on this date by shooting herself. Neuburg was convinced that Aleister Crowley put a spell upon her as a 'Circe' and had actually murdered her.
|
| August 2, 1939 |
It was on a Wednesday at 3:15pm that Dr.Herbert Spencer Lewis of AMORC gave up his earthly vehicle and died. He had been called many things during his life, including "a boastful, pilfering Imperator with Black Magic connections!"
|
| August 3, 1918 |
Aleister Crowley begins a retreat on Esopus Island with Frater Achad and writes, "Having been trying to get into dhyana for half an hour: not the least use. What's wrong? If this goes on, I shall be eligible for membership in the Theosophical Society."
|
| August 6, 1795 |
On this date in a cell at the fortress of San Leo the body of Cagliostro was found strangled to death. Some claimed it was his jailers. No one knows where he was buried, or if he really died here ... so the story goes.
|
| August 8, 1918 |
Aleister Crowley, during a retreat on Esopus Island in NY with Frater Achad, discovers through 'magical memory' that he is the incarnation of Eliphas Levi.
|
| August 10, 1935 |
Robert Moore DeGrimston, the co-founder of the splinter Scientologist group called the 'Process', was born on this date.
|
| August 12 |
The Feast of the Marriage of the Beast with His Bride.
|
| August 12, 1831 |
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the Priestess of the Occult, was born on this date. She was the founder of Theosophy.
|
| August 12, 1903 |
Aleister Crowley marries Rose Kelly at Dingwall, Scotland.
|
| August 12, 1917 |
Franz Hartman dies.
|
| August 16, 1929 |
Aleister Crowley marries Maria Teresa de Miramar in Germany. His new Scarlet Woman was also called 'The High Priestess of Voodoo'. It has been said that "Crowley had only married Maria in the first place for the same reason he had married Rose, as a joke." The marriage would not last, and Maria would return to Nicaragua and die in a seedy hotel room of an overdose of heroin.
|
| August 18, 1634 |
Urbain Grandier of Loudun is found guilty.
|
| August 20, 1890 |
Howard Phillips Lovecraft is born on this date in Providence, Rhode Island, the only child of Winfield and Sarah Lovecraft. His fans should best remember that if the great god Cthulhu calls, he'll call collect!
|
| August 21, 1614 |
The Countess Elisabeth Bathory dies at the age of 54 while confined in prison, a prison which was her own castle Csejthe. She was walled up in her bedroom with only a tiny slit to pass food through. Even the windows were walled up. She was a sadist and mass-murderer whose victims total well over six-hundred! Their blood was drained so that she could preserve her famous beauty.
|
| August 22, 1905 |
Aleister Crowley and others begin their attempt at climbing Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas. Crowley has stated that "the Himalayas had cured me of the habit of going to the Alps. I could not play any longer with dolls after wooing such grown-up girls as Chogo Ri and Kangchenjunga."
|
| August 24, 1918 |
Aleister Crowley, using 'magical memory' during a retreat on Esopus Island in NY, discovers that he is the incarnation of Cagliostro.
|
| August 28, 1987 |
The international head of the Society Ordo Templi Orientis, Mr. Marcelo Ramos Motta dies of "myocardial infarction and pulmonary edema". Although we'd like to say he died on this date, the official statement says that sometime between the morning of August 26 and the morning of August 28, 1987 he died. This Brazilian had a way of obscuring the facts, even his own death!
|
| August 29, 1979 |
Fredrich Mellinger died in Bad Wiesse, Germany.
|
| August 29, 1990 |
Manly P. Hall dies. |
Love is the law, love under will. -- Liber AL vel Legis I:57
A.O.583 VIII°
Previous History Heap
Events Calendar for August 1993 e.v.
| 8/1/93 | | LOP & Adviser Council 3:33 PM | | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/2/93 | Thelema Lodge meeting 8:00 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/8/93 | Enochian Chess Class 3:33 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/12/93 | Burmese Astrology w/Kathy 7:30 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/13/93 | Academia Masonica 7:30 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/15/93 | Gnostic Mass 4:18 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/18/93 | Bay Area OTO History w/Bill 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/19/93 | Minerval initiations (Call to go) | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/21/93 | IInd Deg. Initiations (Call) | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/22/93 | Open House 3:33 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/25/93 | Liber XV Workshop 7 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/26/93 | Burmese Astrology w/Kathy 7:30 PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 8/29/93 | Gnostic Mass 4:18 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.