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
May 1994 e.v. at Thelema Lodge
Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers
The Thelema Lodge Gnostic Mass Study Group meets with Bishop T Dionysus on
Wednesday evening 25th May, beginning late at 8:00. This group has produced a
newly-edited and comprehensively collated text of Liber XV, copies of which
are now available from Thelema Lodge. Now we can concentrate on the real work
for which the group was organized, gathering and preparing explanation,
annotations, and notes on performance techniques for the Gnostic Mass.
Participation is open to all interested students of Ecclesia Gnostica
Catholica; those unable to attend the monthly meetings are invited to contact
the group to arrange for cooperation by mail or internet.
Priestess Caitlin Aliciane offers another workshop this month on the
preparation and use of Cakes of Light in the Gnostic Mass, meeting in the
lodge kitchen on Sunday afternoon 15th May at 2:00. Although she is also
available for private tuition on the performance of Liber XV, all mass team
members are urged to take advantage of this informal opportunity to review the
E.G.C. policies with regard to Cakes of Light and share experiences with their
magical efficacy.
The Aleph Group meets each Tuesday evening in Horus Temple for practice and
discussion of the magical curriculum outlined by the Master Therion in The Book of Wisdom or Folly, originally for his "magical son" Frater Achad.
Brother Michael Sanborn is the coordinator for this group, which features
study, yoga, and meditation, using Liber CXI as a guide to Crowley's magical
system. Call (510) 601-9393 for details.
Sirius Oasis meets Wednesday evening 11th May at 7:30 in Berkeley for a
workshop on The Magick of Thelema, organized around the book recently
published by Lon DuQuette of Heru-Ra-Ha Lodge. Call the Oasis at (510) 527-
2855 for directions. The Master of Sirius Oasis also extends a special
invitation to all members and friends of O.T.O. to attend the eleventh annual
Ancient Ways Festival at Harbin Hot Springs from 18th through 22nd May. This
clothing-optional pagan gathering features rituals, workshops, hot and cold
pools, and fun. Contact Ancient Ways at (510) 653-3244 for information and
fee schedules. The Ancient Ways Festival is an independent non-O.T.O. event
at which a wide range of pagan traditions (including O.T.O.) will be
represented.
The monthly Egyptian Magical Workshop meets with Ebony at 7:30 on Thursday
evening 12th May at Thelema Lodge. This group explores the application of
ancient Egyptian magical techniques to ritual work in the aeon of Thelema,
with special emphasis on Crowley's Egyptian symbolism and the god-forms of the
Holy Books.
The Thelema Lodge Magick in Theory and Practice Series with Bill Heidrick
meets in Marin on Wednesday evening 18th May at 7:30. The location is Bill's home, at 5 Suffield Avenue in San Anselmo; those attending for the first time
should call (415) 454-5176 for directions. The M. T. & P. Series offers a
guided reading through Crowley's great manual of modern magick, with
commentary, discussion, and demonstrations. This meeting will begin with
chapter XIV, with advanced review advised for maximum comprehension.
The library at Thelema Lodge will be reorganized on two Monday evening this
month, on 9th and 23rd May, with volunteers encouraged to assist in further
cataloging and shelving. Call the lodge for information, or to arrange for
alternate library hours for private research and study.
The Grady McMurtry Poetry Society meets in the library at Thelema Lodge
every month to promote the enjoyment of verse. Participants read poetry of
their own choice to the group, which welcomes original work as well as
selections from favorite poets. Stop by on Saturday evening 28th May at 7:30
to join Frater P.I. for an evening of poetry.
The Butterfly Net meets with Ebony at Thelema Lodge on Thursday evening
26th May at 7:30. "When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir
cevinpl."
Grace offers "The Astrology of Gemini" next month on Friday evening 3 June,
beginning early at 7:00. Being multi-faceted and gifted with dexterity, many
artists are found among the twins. Most Geminis seem to have
vicariously, if not actually, kissed the Blarney Stone. So bring your talents
to the next astrology workshop and enlighten us by sharing your experiences.
The Astrology of Cancer will be offered on June 3rd, a Friday, at 7:00 P.M.
until 9:00. Being Moon ruled, Cancerians tend to love their homes and are
often the greatest of chefs. But beyond these talents let us explore the
administrative capacity of many of these sensitive souls, who may not appear
too sensitive after all.
Most events at Thelema Lodge are open to the public free of charge.
Donations are requested at many events to assist in meeting our basic rental
expenses for the temple and library facility, and the lodge thanks all our
members and friends for the generosity with enables our work to proceed.
Unless you are in frequent contact with the lodge, we request that you call
ahead for confirmation before setting forth to attend any scheduled offering.
Thelema Lodge members are encouraged to share their studies, ritual endeavors,
and other interests by offering workshops and classes at the lodge. These are
scheduled at our lodge meeting, at the beginning to the preceding month, where
the business of the lodge is also discussed and coordinated. This month's
Thelema Lodge Meeting will be held Monday evening 2nd May at 7:30 in the
library.
A meeting of the Lodge of Perfection will be hosted at Thelema Lodge on
Thursday evening 19th May at 7:30. Initiates of this O.T.O. degree are
invited to attend to discuss the work of their grade, plan activities, and
organize toward future L.O.P. initiations. Please note that in the past some
members have been confused by inaccurate use of the term Lodge of Perfection,
which is not a secret "lodge council" or a private club, but a grade of
membership in the Order.
The Rites of Eleusis are planned for this coming summer, with a preliminary
organizational meeting at Thelema Lodge on Monday evening 30th May at 7:30.
The proposal for this year's schedule is a variation on our successful
innovation last year, performing the seven planetary rites at intervals of
twelve days rather than five, beginning with a dark moon for the Rite of
Saturn on 9th July, and winding down to the Rite of Luna at the full moon on 19th September. Discussion of teams for the individual rites, and locations
for their performance, will begin at this meeting. A second meeting will be
held next month at Sirius Oasis.
I have four reasons for objecting to the Campaign of Hate. (1) I mention
the first only to earn a sneer. It is this: By hating we damage ourselves.
We undo our progress from the savage state toward the brotherhood of man.
Also, we fool ourselves by regarding our brothers as monsters. Consul
Litton, in his explorations of the Upper Salwin Valley, found most hearty
welcome in every village on his journey north. Yet in every village the
elders warned him that he could not go on, because the people of the next
village were not, like his informants, quiet, peaceable, civilized folk, but
thieves and murderers, with a specialty in poisoned bamboos, pitfalls and
spring traps. They were also cannibals. What asses hate and ignorance make
of man!
(2) The Campaign of Hate, in the second place, has upset everybody's
nerves. To conduct war properly, one must be calm and business-like. "Now
could I drink hot blood and do such bitter business as the day would quake to
look on" is quite unnecessary in the conferences of a Great General Staff.
The man who loses his temper in a fight will probably lose the fight.
(3) The Campaign of Hate, in the third place, involved the Campaign of
Lies. We are thoroughly muddled mentally, in consequence. In the same issue
of the same paper we learn from General Maurice that Germany is beaten to a
standstill; from General Pershing that America is up against a much bigger
proposition than any of the Allies, and from others that there is no food in
Germany; that England has no more ships; that Cadorna is thundering at the
gates of Vienna; that Von Hindenburg is on his way to Petrograd, et cetera ad nauseam, until we have absolutely no idea what is happening, and therefore no
idea what ought to be done. In England the lie about the million-odd Russian
troops in Flanders stopped recruiting; so did the lie that the Germans were
such cowards that they dared not advance except behind a shield of old Belgian
women; so did the lie that Liège was holding out. If Germany is starving and
on the point of revolution, why should we send troops? Hate, and fear, and
falsehood, are the worst heart-tenants in any human necessity, but worst
especially in war. The man who faces the facts in cold blood, who kills out
all emotion, is the man who gives the best chance to the Will to Conquer.
(4) The fourth reason concerns the future. The Campaign of Hate makes it
very difficult for us to come back to Common Sense. President Wilson has
emphasized this point again and again in his notes. We are not fighting the
German people, or even their rulers; we are attempting to break their
Political Will. Von Bernhardi explained long ago that this was the true
object of any war. Once we break the enemy's Political Will, peace follows
naturally, and we can all be friends again. But how can we be friends with
monsters, assassins, Huns? The press, with Hamlet, "must, like a whore,
unpack its heart with words, and fall a-cursing like a very drab, a scullion." What contemptible moral weakness! Could not the President have gone one step
further, and asked the newspapers to refrain from epilepsy?
But it is only the public who are thus intoxicated with the hashish of
hate. The rulers are busy measuring real advantages. I think the time has
come to summarize the situation, and to propose a solution. The weakness of
the Pope's note was that its appeal was sentimental.
The real enemies in this war are England and Germany.
America may be eliminated, for she, by her own showing, wants no material
advantages.
France can be eliminated by the restoration of Alsace and Lorraine. Let us
give her so much, for the sake of a little quiet, and proceed.
Russia has eliminated herself, for her Political Will has been broken by
revolution.
Belgium, Servia and Roumania have been eliminated by destruction.
We may then say that the obstacle to peace is single, the conflict of the
two unbroken Political Wills of England and Germany.
How may this conflict be composed? Firstly, one of the two may be broken.
But the objection to this solution is that whichever won would be at once
confronted by a new set of opposing wills. Neither France nor America could
tolerate a complete English victory any more than a complete German victory.
The defeat of England would throw open the competition for the mastery of the
sea; that of Germany would leave England intolerably powerful.
Now, it must be observed that at present England and Germany are both heavy
winners. Surely it is sensible for them to have "cold feet" and break up the
game! "Peace without victory" sounds awfully silly to a victorious people.
From a slave State it is the natural whine, and sounds much better than "Vae Victis." England has lost nothing so far but a few ships and men; on the
other hand, she is in possession of four-fifths of the territory of the German
Empire!
Germany has lost ships and men, no integral territory; and she is in
possession of immense tracts of conquered country.
Why, then, do not England and Germany call it off, shake hands, and go out
for a drink? Where is the essence of the conflict? What is it that England
cannot endure? There are two vital points: one, the mastery of the seas; two,
the control of the route to India. Germany is threatening both these, by (1)
the submarine campaign and her naval program; (2) the advance to Asia, the
Drang nach Osten. Germany, on the other hand, cannot possibly endure the
complete cutting off of her commerce, the grip of the "Ring of Iron." Is it
possible to come to terms on these points? I think so. Both parties are
absolutely right; for it is life or death in both cases.
I think that Germany's need of expansion can be satisfied, and the iron
ring broken once for all, by an agreement on the part of England to allow her
the fullest development, by annexation, in Germanized Russia. The change is,
in addition, about the only hope for Russia herself. NonGermanized Russia
might be made stronger and smaller under a Cossack Tsar. We have, then, the
conception of a Mittel-Europa from the Rhine to the Ural Mountains. In return
for this, Germany should withdraw her threat to England's naval supremacy by
permitting a reconstituted and strengthened France, to include Belgium, and
possibly by offering Heligoland as a naval base to England. The war has shown
the worthlessness of navies for attack upon any mainland; and England is an
Island Empire with a right to hold open her channels of communication.
Germany would also agree to a limitation of her fleet; in fact, she would no
longer need this weapon.
The only possible access to India save by sea is through Afghanistan and
Beloochistan. The idea of invasion through the Pamirs is a joke at least
fifty times as funny as that of invading Austria through the Trentino.
England must, therefore, be allowed to defend herself by expansion towards
Persia if necessary. The Turkish Empire must be reconstituted and
consolidated on a religious basis, and united under a Caliph. This will act
as a big buffer state between India and Mittel-Europa. The Turks, on the other hand, must abandon Palestine to the English, for the weak spot in
England's communications would then be the Suez Canal. This, however, would
not be so vital, once India became impregnable.
A matter of further benefit would be the federation of the South American
republics, and a Latin league of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. The
outlying States, Scandinavia, Holland, Switzerland and Greece would gradually
be forced into one or other of the great combinations by the peaceful pressure
of economic forces.
It is true that Germany, under this scheme, would be forced to surrender
her South American and African ambitions. But the South American adventures
were mainly commercial, and the proposed scheme would rather help than hinder
them. As to the German colonies, there were a weakness. Germany has no
talent for dealing with alien psychologies, and is not the collapse of the
Russian menace and the gain of that huge territory a more than adequate
compensation?
We should thus have a simplified and concentrated planet, as a preliminary
step towards world federation.
(1) The Island Empire -- Brittania.
(2) The Latin League (includes N. Africa).
(3) Mittel-Europa.
(4) Islam.
(5) Cossack Russia.
(6) Mongolia.
(7) The North American (Anglo-Saxon) Republic.
(8) The South American (Latin) Republic.
If England and Germany can agree on some such programme, there is nobody
who can stop them. (Except, of course, the unconquered and unconquerable U.
S. A.)
I heartily commend this plan to the consideration of all parties concerned.
You'll never know what you can do | |
Until you crack that sky of blue | |
And feel the dark space 'wash of you | |
You'll never, never know. | |
And in that vast sidereal sweep | |
Your old star bucket's cosmic creep | |
Will take you to strange worlds and reap | |
The commerce that they grow. | |
Of iron and ore there is no dearth | |
Or metals all for what they're worth | |
To build fleets for Imperial Earth | |
The giant ships a'row. | |
And if there should be anyone | |
From Pluto's rim to farthest sun | |
Who doesn't like what we have done | |
They know where they can blow. | |
For Earth's Galactic Empire knows | |
No combination of her foes | |
Who could our great Grand Fleets oppose | |
Out in the ether flow. | |
A spaceman's life is hard indeed | |
Without there ever being need | |
For war with any alien breed | |
To give the spaceman woe. | |
There was a time when we were told | |
The new transstellar drive would hold | |
A warp in space that we could fold | |
From here to there, like so. | |
And then what did those Brass Hats do? | |
They said, "That's just the thing for you | |
And on these ships your jolly crew | |
Can sail forever!" Oh. | |
And that's the reason why, you see, | |
No farthest nook of space is free | |
From our inquiring scrutiny | |
Above or down below. | |
But I would rather take my tuck | |
Aboard a creaking freighter truck | |
Than try a Flying Dutchman's luck | |
Oh moan the spaceman's woe. | |
On Ganymede I met a chick | |
Build like a certain house of brick, | |
'Twas then I said, "Right here I'll stick | |
And never, never go." | |
And right there I set up my shack | |
And would have stayed until the crack | |
Of Doom, but I was shanghaied back | |
Oh, hear a sailor's woe. | |
Oh, bend an elbow, lend an ear | |
And gather round so all may hear | |
The story of a life so drear | |
Oh hear the spaceman's woe. | |
A thousand years are but a day | |
Asleep aboard the "Cosmic Ray" | |
And so we snooze our years away | |
Such is the spaceman's woe. | |
And if we die out in the deep | |
There's none to wail and none to weep | |
Our bones are in dry space to keep | |
Oh hear our tale of woe. | |
Or if we've been too long in space | |
We foul our jets and then they place | |
Us in a ship for Earth, Prime Base, | |
And tie us up like so. | |
But after one year in the crate | |
We're glad to grab a sky bound freight | |
To let our nerves recuperate | |
Oh hear the spaceman's woe. | |
And when our rest has just begun | |
The long haul transgalactic run | |
Will need replacements, everyone, | |
And off again we'll go. | |
And what will this time be our fate? | |
A robot brain to navigate | |
To make of us more meteor bait | |
Oh play the dirge strains slow. | |
Or else we'll foul on piracy | |
As cruel as ever on the sea | |
They'll hull us with incendiary | |
And out our air will blow. | |
In sagas of the spaceways old | |
The tale of woe is often told | |
About the 'A-CH-ING hero bold | |
In days of long ago. | |
Who streaked his racing comet where | |
The methaned moons of Jupiter | |
Could grab him by his shortened fur | |
And end him up a glow. | |
And that is why 'tis often told | |
"There's heroes old and heroes bold, | |
But heroes bold are never old." | |
Oh drown our tale of woe. | |
This undated poem, probably written in the early 1940s e.v. with other science fiction verse, has been previously unpublished.
Derived from a lecture on 7/22/87 e.v. by Bill Heidrick
Copyright © Bill Heidrick
HISTORIC MARKER PLAQUE:
In the 19th century, Mathers published The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage. An illustration by Mona Mathers decorates the title page
of the first edition. The Mathers had what was called a "chaste marriage."
Avoiding sex apparently kept them busy with small projects into the later
hours of the night. On one evening, Mona did a sketch for hubbie's book.
They got up in the morning and took a look at the sketch. The figure of Abra
Melin was shown, bearded and with his initials in Hebrew on his chest. A
spirit held a little box out to him. That little box wasn't in the drawing
when they went to bed, but it was there when they got up. At that point, the
Mathers realized that they had something, although they might have done better
to consider that they were holding out on each other too much.
TIPS FOR THE ABRAMELIN CAMPER:
The Abramelin book was considered by Aleister Crowley to represent the
proper approach to learning Magick. According to the book, the work is "to
seek the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel". The
instruction goes more or less like this ... Do you want to learn this stuff?
First a word of discouragement, its not easy. 1,000 people try; maybe one
succeeds. Here is the rule. Get yourself a place to be private for maybe six
months or more. Six months is the minimum, not necessarily the best time, not
necessarily the proper time. Begin it at the time of quickening in the year,
Passover or Easter. Remember, you've got to go six months, and it's nice to
have decent weather. Spring is traditionally the time of all beginnings in
many religions, the season when the life of the Earth renews. It's the true
New Year, whether it's called March, April, the beginning of Aries, or the
first appearance of growth in the fields. Passover represents the passing
over of the angel of death during the ten plagues in Egypt, but most cultures
celebrate a time of escaping the dead time of the year. The angel of death
passes by in one night. Night could be Winter. When the angel of death went
by at the eleventh hour of the night, that could simply be a reference to the
darkest time of the year when there is no food, just great cold and privation.
People die then for no good reason, as though the hand of the angel of death
touched them. Just after that is the time to begin a magical working. There
are other times fixed by particular theories; but, for a good start, consider
Easter, Passover, some time in March, April or thereabouts.
TOWN CHURCH DIRECTORY:
It's better not to change, if the worker can cope with his or her original
Religion. For those who can't stay with their childhood faith, something else
will have to be used that suits them better. Modern ideas of religion are
different from those in the 14th century. Long ago, intellectual acts were
religion. Anything that didn't involve working with the hands was prayer, or
something very like it. To read a book, to study a mental discipline, meant
to pray. This categorization is still common in the orient. Discipline is
always part of religious practice, mental and otherwise. In modern times, the
study of mathematics might be considered a sort of religion. Some
mathematicians do relate it to their religion as an effort to view the
perfection of the greater universe. Music can be the form of religious
expression. Art and many other creative expressions are essentially
religious. When a book is involved there's usually a narrower expression of
religion, perhaps more mystical, formulary, or theoretical: a "read it in The
Book and say these prayers" kind of religion. Whatever it is, the one you
have is the one you use. That's it, no matter what it is. The actual type of
religion doesn't matter. Neither does the background or experience. This is
a way to do things, to proceed with learning the Sacred Magick. Such
flexibility is partly why Crowley was so turned on to the book. Here's an
author who wasn't caught in a cultural trap, writing a basic outline. If you
take the six months, you will probably fail. He says that up front. He
doesn't say why. One reason for failure in six to nine months is simple lack
of enough time to do it. Western culture is usually superficial, confusing,
and lost in small detail. There is not much tendency to get very deeply into
things. In this culture, accomplishing the work of the Sacred Magick in six
to nine months is not very likely. To the extent that one is distracted, it's
harder and should take longer. Six months, a year, maybe even ten years,
might not be enough time. A magical retirement isn't just a time without
distraction. After this kind of retreat, a person has to be permanently
changed, not merely relaxed. To proceed with such a course, it's necessary to
have something to do. The book explains how to use anything, but it doesn't
supply that thing. The subject study should have an elaborate structure, but
it's important to choose a study that isn't tied up with too many knots of worldly concern. In the middle ages religion was a good thing to choose
because religion talked about a world so far removed from the physical that
nobody had any real problems with the place. Nowadays, we have many immediate
interests quite beyond the imagination of most intensely religious people in
the middle ages. We don't have as clear a division between the sacred and the
profane as people did in ancient times. We must find something that hasn't
been poisoned by being too involved with mundane existence, something that
seems isolated from the world of day to day matters. Mathematics is very good
for that, as long as it isn't accounting, surveying or engineering. Pure
mathematics, without application, may be quite adequate. Certain special
areas of math may be better, including group theory, set theory, anything to
manipulate and combine ideas. What's needed is something with structure, and
it has to be a structure that doesn't get depressing. This discipline might
be challenging, even difficult; but it shouldn't be something that makes one
say, "Oh God, I hate this!" Many people feel that way about arithmetic.
Arithmetic isn't serious mathematics. Arithmetic is the feces of mathematics.
If you hate arithmetic, you needn't worry. You can still go on to higher math
concepts unfettered by grammar school trauma.
LOCAL GOSSIP:
Prepare for an extended time without unnecessary complications. Avoid
distractions. Grocery shopping and similar tasks should be minimized or done
quickly and efficiently. The worst distractions are conversations that
involve the lives of other people. The object is to change yourself.
Personal conversations tend to keep us unchanged, that's what they are for,
among other things. When friends or acquaintances talk and share aspects of
their life with one another, most of the conversation isn't about a problem
and interests. Most of that sort of communion is for keeping each other on
the same mental and emotional plane, smoozing a friendship, keeping mutual
influence and interdependence going. It's the stuff that monkeys do to remain
a monkey crew, primate instinctual behavior. Wolves and dogs bite each other
on the nose or smell the other end. Monkeys giber a lot and scratch each
other. People shake hands and giber a lot. It's the same principle. This
behavior interferes with changing. It keeps people the same; safe,
predictable and reliable to others in the social group --- insuring safety of
the community. In some cultures, instead of "I understand you" people say "I
see you". Talking with a person makes a mental image of that person. All the
people around you automatically try to either change you to their way or keep
you the same. That's part of being human. It's one of the reasons we gather
together and form cities. It's how our families exist. If it wasn't for
that, we wouldn't be here, even in the most simple way. Without this ability
to keep one another locked into a pattern, people wouldn't be able to raise
children. Our children take years to get self sufficient. Most animals can
put up with the little creep for six months to a year and then its gone, get
out of here, you smell bad! With us, the rug rat has to grow into something
independent over a couple of decades. It is necessary to separate yourself
from most human contact to effect change. There are families where "he beats
her up" or "she beats him up", and nobody can figure out why the family
doesn't break up. They just keep patterning themselves into the same mold.
SHORT-CUT TO RENO:
Before taking the next point, here's a particular problem. It sometimes
occurs that a couple, man and wife or less formally joined, will compact to do
the Abramelin work. Perhaps one will offer to take care of mundane affairs
while the other takes the magical retirement. After that is accomplished,
they will change places and the other will do it. This rarely works. If the
odds are 1,000 to one against for a person attaining this, the odds against
two particular people succeeding are 1,000,000 to one against! Remember that many aspects of the personality will change if the retirement is successful.
Other factors may arise which could be very disruptive to a marriage or
partnership. A magical retirement of this magnitude, especially if forced
into a short time like six months, is very risky for marriages. It's better
to consider this effort either before settling down or after raising a family,
like the Hindu rule to become a Sadhu. It isn't impossible to accomplish the
Abramelin work while married, but it requires either an arranged marriage of
convenience like the sort common in the middle ages or considerable maturity
in both parties to the marriage.
50 MILES TO NEXT REST STOP:
The environment is next. A different place is needed for the work. If
it's done at home, a part of the home must be dedicated to this purpose. A
room should be set apart. In some ethnic traditions, some religions, people
who can afford it have rooms just for meditation, just for prayer like a
little chapel. If that's not practical, a desk, a corner, even a closet can
be used. To do it cheaply, run a drapery around a room to close off
everything. Draw the drapes in front of the book cases, doors, windows and
side furniture. That will change the room into a little world. The idea is
to set up something different. It doesn't much matter what. If there are a
lot of things in the meditation place, they should not distract or interfere.
They shouldn't be things that have memories attached to them. Nothing there
should evoke memories of relatives, friends, childhood, what grandpa was like,
the taxes, or the ever dwindling supply of toilet paper. Even incidental
shapes that evoke such thoughts should be removed. All that's really needed
is an untrammeled field of view. One piece of cloth hanging down can do it,
if it's possible to get close enough so that nothing else can be seen. The
Abramelin book assumes that the student will find a place in the wilderness
and that somebody will look after ordinary needs without talking or otherwise
distracting. Variations, like Crowley's "China Walk", can also work if the
circumstances are culturally isolating and there is lots of time for
reflection. The book makes much about minimizing all human contact but makes
exception for servants. In the 14th century, common chores were pretty
demanding. Such common chores are not distraction in themselves, but only
because we remember doing them with our parents. Daily chores are family
stuff. All of those things have memories and emotional reflexes associated
with them. It is difficult to do ordinary chores without distraction from the
goal of the magical retirement. The same language that keeps you the same
kind of person extends into the things you learned as you were growing up. If
you are in a place like that where you grew up, you will think like you did
then. It's so insidious that if you get drunk on something that you haven't
gotten drunk on in ten years, you will think the way you did ten years ago.
This is part of being human. It's helpful in the work to avoid these kinds of
things.
BUMPY ROAD AHEAD:
The next step is self-discipline. The book says to start easy and get
progressively more severe. Cut back the ordinary things. Don't talk to
people, or keep it simple if it can't be avoided. The first third of this
time of retirement may involve minor efforts. Don't worry about doing it
right. The Abramelin book gives some instructions which may or may not make
sense nowadays, including how to purify the place of retirement. Those are
mostly pretty good instructions. They are not too hard to follow. Orisons or
prayers are required. Orison is speech to the deity. A prayer is often a
memorized orison. Rituals are another form of prayer. Do this for a while to
work up a consistent practice. Then comes the middle part. Do more, increase
it, add more things of that kind. In the third and final portion, go at it as
hard as possible. Get as crazy as a monk with six life-times of novinas to get through in a week. Go full blast. At that time the details of the
procedure work themselves out. In time you will achieve the experience called
"The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel". Other ways of
saying it include; "contact with the Higher Self", "attaining a Master".
Socrates would have said: "discovering the Daemon". It's said that Pythagoras
had such a personal spirit. One day he went to a seer whose job it was to
tell people what their soul or spirit was like. The seer looked at
Pythagoras, went dead pale and freaked. He didn't see a spirit. He saw a
god. This is the tradition: There is something that is part of you and yet
not part of you. Some of you dies, some of you doesn't. We have nice simple
ways of passing that off in this day and age. Most of these plastic, ready-
to-go religions come out with: "O that's your immortal soul!" "It can burn in
hell or live happily in heaven." "Don't forget to donate" (Don't let me jinx
passing the hat. Your donation is welcome at all O.T.O. events.).
Nuit -- | |
Fingers part | |
the Veil | |
of Stars. | |
Hadit -- | |
Serpent's Kiss | |
Venom's Bliss. |
Silver pulse of radiant light: | |
My spirit soars and then takes flight, | |
Exploding stars in misty seas; | |
Divers watch in ecstasy. | |
Newer visions come to birth, | |
beyond the stars . . . | |
beyond the earth. | |
{OTO lamen} | {Mark of the Beast} | |
Torquay An Ixv ![]() ![]() 93. We, {11-fold cross) Baphomet O.H.O. hereby appoint the T.I., T.I., and T.I. Fr. ![]() (Grand Master General of the Free German-Speaking Peoples) Given under our Hand and Seal {11-fold cross} Baphomet O.H.O. {seal} |
133 West 71st Street New York, N.Y. ----- ENDICOTT 2-6799 | |
March 15, 1943. | |
Care Frater, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. The present situation has made it imperative to demand from every single one who claims to membership of the O.T.O. a clarification of his status and a re-affirmation of allegiance. You are requested to search yourself earnestly and, after mature consideration, sign the attached statement - or give your reasons for refusing to do in writing. Love is the law, love under will. {Signature} LEGATE IN THE UNITED STATES OF THE GRAND LODGE OF THE O.T.O |
Mr. Karl Germer 133 West 71st Street New York, N.Y. | |
Care Frater, I herewith renew my allegiance to the principles and the constitution of the O.T.O. Especially I give my personal pledge of loyalty to the Officers of Grand Lodge themselves.
Place, date and time {signed} W.Talbot Smith |
On secrecy of O.T.O. initiation rituals:
Are the rituals kept secret just to assure the correct levels of fear and terror?
Specific instances of deliberate fear and terror are avoided in O.T.O.
ritual. Fear and terror are crude and rarely of any value in initiation;
hazing yes, initiation no. If a candidate evidences too great emotional
distress at an initiation, the initiator is supposed to use common sense and
explain that no physical harm is intended. If this occurs during an
initiation, the initiation should be stopped; and if the candidate recovers
and wants to go on either then or later, the initiation may be resumed.
The language of such ritual includes dire threats and other psycho drama
which can induce fear and terror. To avoid this undesirable result, it is
common to select at least one officer with an infectious giggle ... seriously,
we do inspect to the extent we can. O.T.O. has expelled initiation offices
permanently from membership in the rare instances in which officers at
initiations have been found to actually try to convince candidates for
initiation that penalties for violation of oath and other potential
terrorizing elements of initiation are more than symbolic.
Excessive emotional reaction destroys the ability of a candidate to
remember key elements of the initiation ceremony. This sort of thing defeats
the purpose of initiation. If simple group membership was the only goal,
hazing would accomplish this. O.T.O. bans hazing. Our initiation rituals are
more subtle, intended to manipulate the mental and perceptive state of the
candidate just enough to activate certain chakras and to impress key
information on the mind of the candidate. To this end, sudden sounds, sudden
light, brief sensory deprivation, brief falling sensations, mental puzzles and
other harmless experiences are used to accomplish these necessary effects. If
physical stress which would be harmless to a healthy individual is involved,
the instructions for the initiator include health questions and the taking of
the pulse of the candidate to insure that the candidate does not have an
undisclosed medical condition that would make the procedure dangerous. If
such a hazard is detected, either the procedure is diminished to a safe level
or the initiation is put off until the candidate is in better health.
Pregnant women near term are asked to wait until delivery and recovery before
certain initiations are undertaken. Safety before by-the-book accuracy is
required.
Humor does occur at times before initiation. It is not unusual to hear
some members tease a candidate with remarks about "the Minerval sacrifice" and
other such fal-de-role. If the candidate appears to take such kidding
seriously, the initiation does not proceed until the candidate is let in on
the joke.
Note by the way that some of what I have written above highlights why
O.T.O. initiations are believed to be ineffectual if not actually and
physically performed. Since chakra activation is involved, some physical and
sensory stimuli are necessary. The mind is induced to contain a specific
pattern of thought and a specific sensory stimulus is provided at that exact
time. This is as much physiological as psychological. You can't cure hick-
ups by reading "boo" 99% of the time.
Vibrating:
For duration, Crowley recommends a full, deep breath on each name,
completely expended. In the case of general utterance, contrasted with names,
vibration is optional but chant does help. The principle of vibrating is
sustained sound. The pitch can vary, likewise speed and volume. Different
voices help too. You can use falsetto(nasal), mouth, throat (somewhat
dangerous, too much force can cause soreness or bleeding) and basso(abdominal
resonance). Skilled vocalists can sometimes manage more than one "voice" at
once, with special training available in some Hindu approaches. On single
words, the duration per syllable is not necessarily fixed. Neither is it strictly necessary to use up the whole breath on each word, per A.C.
Experiment and record the results. Do what seems and feels right at the time.
Circles:
A magical circle defines a little world of order within a field of
indefinite and uncontrolled extent. It has elements in common with a desktop,
computer screen, home, office, persona, church, fortress and field of
concentration. More narrowly, it is a controlled microcosm, established to
give the magician a role like a deity in the center of a small universe. To
break the circle or depart from it is to void all those mental aids to
concentration. All the things used, seen and done in ritual are meaningful.
If the circle is seen as protection, breaking or leaving it amounts to saying:
"I abandon my nature and safety. Creatures of the outer world, do with me as
you may." Actions speak louder than words.
Traditional circles are made by tracing in the soil, surrounding a place
with a line of flower or sulfur, painting on a canvas floor-cloth, using a
long rope or even tracing in air with the point of a sword or wand.
Permanent, physical magical circles are relatively rare and difficult to use
--- instead, a room or sanctuary supplemented by a temporary circle usually
makes a better choice. Astral circles can be more powerful, but require
training --- a familiar example of an astral circle is the one produced by the
Lesser Pentagram Ritual. Depending on the visualizations used, an LPR circle
can actually be a sphere. For very powerful astral "circles", it is sometimes
necessary to build in a defect or "weak spot" to act as a door to the outer
universe. Otherwise, the working within the "circle" may not be able to
effect anything outside the "circle" itself. Like all other magical
"weapons", tools or symbols, the effect on the mind of the magician is the
key. A cat or dog might recognize physical boundaries, some of the time; but
a spirit is a compound thought. Such a spirit will respond, not to the
physical circle, but to the image of the circle with all its associations in
the mind of the magician.
More on the initiations:
If a ritual is as structured and didactic as the Golden Dawn initiations,
there could easily be a case for the revealing of the ritual after it has
ceased to be worked. O.T.O. initiation rituals, on the other hand, are more a
matter of guiding the candidate through experiences designed to awaken the
chakra groups corresponding to particular degrees. There is little
intellectual matter beyond form and word in the O.T.O. initiations that cannot
be found easily in Crowley's writings or those of many others. As a dramatic
ritual, the O.T.O. initiations chiefly do two things: 1) Provide a tangible
and physical point in time, witnessed, when the candidate joins a particular
O.T.O. degree. 2) Provide a series of experiences, physical tropes if you
will, intended to stir the innards and mind of the candidate to the awakening
of the subtile body. #1 could be done more easily by a diploma ceremony. #2
is severely damaged if the candidate knows what comes next after every phase.
Knowing an element in the initiation and it's explanation beforehand would
vitiate the emotional confusion designed to bring home the point and fix it in
the mind of the candidate. These emotional stresses are an essential part of
initiation in O.T.O. Nobody is intended to be "freaked out", but some
emphasis beyond simple private reading is necessary to make the whole thing
work. How many of us have tried and failed to learn some programming language
or complex computer program from a book alone. You have to go hands-on to
really get some of these things. In initiations like those of O.T.O. which
depend on the chakras of the physical body for efficacy, the rituals need to
be done. For an intellectual paradigm like the Tree of Life in the Golden
Dawn rituals, meditation alone can work. The harmless cantrips in the O.T.O.
initiations won't work properly if known in advance. You can read in books
every intellectual "secret" of the O.T.O. You may not know what particular
"secret" you are reading, but you can always get the information. Initiations are intended to make sure you know the information and to drive it home
through surprise, minor emotional stress and a real event.
5/1/94 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/2/94 | Thelema Lodge Meeting 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/3/94 | Aleph Group practice and Discussion 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/8/94 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/9/94 | Library Night 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/10/94 | Aleph Group practice and Discussion 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/11/94 | Meeting: "Magick of Thelema" 7:30PM workshop | Sirius Oasis | ||
5/12/94 | Egyptian Magical Workshop with Ebony, 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/15/94 | Kakes of Light wrkshp 2PM w/Caitlin | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/15/94 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/17/94 | Aleph Group practice and Discussion 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/18/94 | Magick in Theory and Practice 7:30PM with Bill Heidrick in Marin County (5 Suffield Ave., San Anselmo) | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/19/94 | Lodge of Perfection 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/22/94 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/23/94 | Library Night 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/24/94 | Aleph Group practice and Discussion 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/25/94 | Gnostic Mass Study Group 8:00PM with Bp. T Dionysus | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/26/94 | Buttefly Net with Ebony 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/28/94 | 777 Poetry Society with Fr. P.I. 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/29/94 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/30/94 | Rites of Eleusis Planning Meeting 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
5/31/94 | Aleph Group practice and Discussion 7:30PM | 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.