Thelema Lodge Calendar for February 1987 e.v.

Thelema Lodge Calendar

for February 1987 e.v.

The viewpoints and opinions expressed herein are the responsibility of the contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of OTO or its officers.

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

February 1987 e.v. at Thelema Lodge

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers

Attention IXth Degree
and all Masters and Mistresses
of Lodges, Oases, Chapters
Tribes and Camps of O.T.O.!

This Thelema Lodge Calendar contains information from Grand Lodge. Please read the below under the Grand Lodge News section and communicate to your affiliated members as the situation warrants. To our non-O.T.O. friends, I hope you will find this glimpse into our wider activities informative. It is hard to get a balanced idea of O.T.O. from just one aspect. The purely local material in the Thelema Lodge Calendar reflects only a small part of the Order. Those who are considering Associate or Full, Initiated membership may benefit from this wider perspective on the O.T.O.

This Month at Thelema Lodge

Bill Heidrick will begin an eight to ten meeting series of classes on Tarot in February at Thelema Lodge. These classes are intended to help both beginning and advanced students with Tarot Divination and Meditation. Slides, displays, reading demonstrations and information materials will be featured. Over thirty different style decks are a part of the presentation, and many rare views of the paintings and drawings used by Frieda Harris to execute Crowley's designs for the Thoth Deck will be shown, some for the first time. The approach combines historical accuracy with tradition and Qabalah.

February 11th will open the series with an introduction to Tarot. Some of the oldest decks and the origins of the cards will be investigated via slide show and lecture. The role of Eleanor of Aquitaine in the tradition of Tarot is a part of this evening. Of special interest to readers of the cards, the theory and mystery of divination by device will be presented.

February 18th will focus on the Major Trumps. Each of these 22 cards relates directly to European History and pre-Roman mythology. Passes through the Major Trumps will provide connectivity and insights into human nature. Astrological correspondences to the major Trumps in several different traditions will be noted, but the chief system used in the series is the English method and variations of Blake, Mathers and Crowley (Golden Dawn system). Tape recorders welcome; but don't forget extra batteries and cassettes, the teacher is a talker.

Also this month, we have already had the Brigit ritual and Gnostic Mass on the 1st. Valentine's day on the 14th will probably be held at Dii Alieni Camp, but call for information. Note that we presently lack full facilities for the ancient form of this observance, but you have to be in Rome for that anyway.

Gnostic Masses every Sunday. Donations welcome. 6:00 PM

A Pyramidology class by Richard Segal will be offered on the 12th.

The Thelema Lodge Meeting on the 13th is the best time to become a member of the Lodge, and the day to setup the Calendar for March. Friday the 13th will be celebrated by a "Black Magick Party" after the meeting. What Dave has in mind, I do not know; but I don't think it's either soft shoe or cursing.

Speaking of Brother Dave, he will present Enochian Chess on the 17, at 9:00 PM --- that's an hour later than most of our week-day classes and meetings, please note.

Astrology for Beginners starts with Lucia on the 19th and continues on the 26th.

Egyptiana with Ebony will be the treat of the day on the 25th.

Initiations to Minerval through IIIrd Degree will be held this month, and the Lodge should be contacted for details. The Minerval initiations are set to coincide with a members-only New Moon party on the 28th.

Looks like a full schedule!

A Valentine for Brigit

Folks inside a 90-mile radius of the SF Bay Area received a separate announcement of the February 1st Brigit ritual, and a Valentine's Day event is also planned. For those who wonder what it all means, here's the info:

is the name of the Goddess of unfailing wells and streams in Ireland. She is honored on the first day of the Spring Season, in the Celtic Calendar. The Spring Equinox, considered first day of Spring in most modern calendars, is actually Midspring in many of the ancient traditions. is celebrated for a fortnight, ending on the 14th and 15th of February in what used to be a frenetic sex fest. The Christian informal calendar calls this "Valentine's Day", but it has been known for the last 1500 years as "The Eve of the Feast of the Purification". Bishop Gelasius pronounced February 15th the dies februatus, day of purification, in 494 e.v. Like many virtuous words, this one is now much misunderstood today. Read below for more about it.

If you would like to see what Brigit

, the Goddess, looks like, take up a traditional Star Trump from a Tarot Deck. If you have the Waite, Case or Marseilles decks, those would be the best places to look. The Thoth Deck changes the posture of the figure in this Trump. A woman kneeling on one leg is also found carved over sacred wells in various places in Europe. One Such carving is shown on plate 14 of John Sharkey's popular picture book, Celtic Mysteries. The Romans changed her name to Coventina, just as they changed the name of Hern

to Cernunnos. Brigit

has some elements in common with the Norse Frigga and the Greek Aphrodite. She was worshipped anciently in times of drought by the drowning of human and other sacrifices in her sacred waters; but she was more commonly thought of as the Lady of the Lake with a dash of motherhood, a wipe of virgin and a soupcon of Belle Dame sans Merci thrown in. Her popularity continued when the Goddess was temporarily declared to be a Saint by the Catholic Church. To this day, shouting " Hai Brigit

!" in Erin is like whistling in an aviary.

Turning to the end of the Oimelc

Festival, we reach Valentine's Day on the 14th. St. Valentine is not considered genuine by the modern Christians, but the day is celebrated with such remarkable traditions that it must come from something. Soror Rowen asked me what the occasion was in ancient times, wisely reckoning that Christian holydays cover pagan ones. The end of the festival of Oimelc

is one answer. Yet, Spring for the Ancient Irish was not only early; but considered a dark time, with Winter. We have to go South for this one. Valentine's day turns out to be the eve of the Roman Lupercalia, one of two annual feasts to worship the God Faunus. Faunus-Lupercus was the aspect of this God of nature, farming, animals and oracle in the Lupercal grotto of the Palatine Hill. The Roman Faunus and the Greek Pan are often considered to be the same Deity. The ritual of Lupercalia is known in general, and the rites were observed in Rome until 494 e.v. Jupiter's High Priest, the Flamen Dialis, officiated. The Flamen sacrificed some he-goats and a dog (wolf and prey) and smeared the bloody knife on the faces of couple of young boys. The knife was wiped vigorously with a milk soaked bit of wool fleece and the resulting mess held up as a trick to make the boys laugh. After this, the youths, called Luperci, would run near-naked through the streets. All they wore was an apron of goat skin and thongs in their hands from the skins of the sacrificial goats. These thongs were called februa, or purifiers, and were used to beat the women who jumped in front of the runners as they passed through the city. In the quaint parlance of scholarly writing, this is characterized as a cure for "barrenness". ***Leather Guild please note, this is definitely your day!*** My source, Dictionary of Classical Antiquities by Oskar Seyffert, goes on to say that these thongs of the Luperci gave us the name of the month of February. Bet you didn't know that!

Armed with this information, it is possible to guess the significance of the tokens of Valentine's Day. The cherubs with red hearts on their bodies are the blood-stained Luperci. The grotto of the Palatine Mount was traditionally the cave of the Wolf Mother of Romulus and Remus, and gave us our Lover's Bowers. The Valentine Card is a symbol for the token of virginity displayed after first night. The mysterious shape of the Valentine Heart, so far from an anatomical depiction of that organ, is clearly the shape left by the stain of a sacrificial knife on an unfolded bit of fleece. This same shape is also produced by taking the "virgin's test" with a cloth. Such cloths were often preserved for many years, and the practice of keeping them continues in some rural parts of Europe to this day. Young men gave their Roman sweethearts a notice of intentions on the eve of the Lupercalia in the form of a replica of the Flamen's fleece. Ecce Valentine!

Notice:

In an earlier issue of the Thelema Lodge Calendar, we carried a notice for Boleskine House.

This notice announced advance sales of the Jimmy Page sound track to the earlier version of Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising film. Issues of possible copyright infringement have recently been raised in the wake of an announcement for this record on MTV. Boleskine House is not related to the place of the same name in the British Isles, and is not owned or directed by O.T.O. The gentleman who provided this offer through our publications assured us that he had secured the rights to publicaly release this recording. It now appears that he was mistaken, and the release is unlikely. An investigation into the matter is proceeding on the part of O.T.O. and the owners of the material. The Entrepreneur maintains that he acted in good faith, and will have to prove it to the satisfaction of all concerned. That not withstanding, any who placed an order for the record should inquire of the seller at P.O.Box 94, Carmichael, CA 95608. It may take 60 days or more for the matter to be resolved clearly enough for the seller to make a proper response to such inquiry. We will try to keep you posted on developments.

Thelema Lodge in particular and the O.T.O. in general make every reasonable effort to insure that notices in our publications are genuine. Whenever we find a serious problem, we will pull the add and inform our readers. We are not responsible for mistakes and misrepresentations by others, but do recognize a moral obligation to do what we can to inform and protect the Thelemic Public. The small scale of most providers of Thelemic goods and services, coupled with shortages and delays in shoe-string operations, makes it difficult to confirm all details. This pro-bono advertiser seemed reliable on the basis of past performance and strong assurances. Mr. Anger evidentally over-looked an earlier copy of the advertisement when it was sent to him via the Order's monthly over a year ago. As far as we can tell, the other listings we have carried are correct.

Grand Lodge News
Magical Link delayed again.

Because of a disputed advertisement and an issue of copyright, Grand Lodge regrets to announce that the latest issue of the Magical Link has been recalled before mailing. The regular January issue was to be combined with the February issue (see the January Thelema Lodge Calendar) to start a new series of the 'Link. This means that no January and no February issue of the Magical Link has yet been mailed, and our members should not be worried that something has gone wrong with their addresses. Unfortunately the latest issue had been printed and sub-shipped for final mailing. The call from the Caliph to stop mailing came in about 2 hours before it would have gone out. O.T.O. sustains a loss of about $300 because of this, but honor and duty require destruction of the printing. The issue will be reprinted with a disclaimer replacing the offending material. Our members will receive the issue late, but will indeed get it. Grand Lodge particularly wishes to thank Ebony, Lotte, Nick and Stephen of Thelema Lodge for the work that they put in on preparing this aborted mailing, as they have for so many other, successful mailings of the 'Link. It is painful to see such labor lost in such an unexpected way. For more information, see above in this issue of the Thelema Lodge Calendar, regarding the Lucifer Rising sound track record.

IXth Degree Members' meeting

The first regular IXth Degree Members meeting and election of the tenure of Hymenaeus Beta will take place in San Francisco, March 21st and 22nd of this year. Unlike previous meetings, save the election of the Caliph at the special meeting in 1985 e.v., this meeting will be limited in attendance to IXth Degree Members only. The Offices of Grand Treasurer General, Grand Secretary General and four Emirs (six out of seven members of the Supreme Council) are up for election. Steps are planned toward next-generation reconstruction of the international O.T.O. structure; and functional Ammendments of the present Articles and Bylaws are expected. The USA Electoral College will also meet in this time period and place, and changes are also envisioned in that body along the lines of the Blue Equinox Constitutional plan.

For non-IXth Degree members, informal meetings can be set up privately with individual IXth Degree Members between the two days of the meeting. Although the agenda of the meeting is still in development, it is expected that the first day of the meeting will be discussions; and the second day will have the actual voting. Controversial topics and topics requiring further involvement outside the IXth Degree can be addressed at these informal meetings before the voting. In addition, Ammendments require passage by the Supreme Council at a separate meeting. This will provide further opportunity of review of the issues.

Members traveling some distance by air to attend the elections should consider Eastern and Continental Airline's low fares far enough ahead to book flights. These seem to be the least expensive at this time, and have restrictions against cancelling.

Billing coming

Talk about a dumb thing to do in the month before election! Still, comes the bills. Quarterly dues and sundry bills are expected to be in the mail around the end of February. Due date will be in April for most of the assessments. The Grand Treasurer General, who seeks re-election, trusts that the message and the messenger are properly differentiated in the minds of the billed IXth Degree members. Last quarter there was a break-down in secondary billing through the Electoral College. Closing dates were extended in some cases to late December to compensate for this.

Events Calendar for February 1987 e.v.

2/1/87	O.T.O. Brigit Ritual Noon at
	New Horizons
2/5/87	Hriliu Camp Gnostic Mass every Thurs	Hriliu Camp
	7:30 PM
2/6/87	Abrahadabra Camp meeting 8PM	Abrahadabra C.
2/6/87	Selene Camp meeting most Fridays 8PM	Selene Camp
2/8/87	Gnostic Mass at 6 PM	Thelema Ldg
2/10/87	Hypatia Camp at Dii Alieni	Hypatia Cmp
2/11/87	Tarot Divination: Introduction with	Thelema Ldg
	Bill 8PM
2/12/87	Pyramidology Class w. Richard Segal 8PM	Thelema Ldg
2/12/87	Hriliu Camp Gnostic Mass 7:30 PM	Hriliu Camp
2/13/87	Thelema Lodge meeting 8PM	Thelema Ldg
2/13/87	"Black" Magick party after meeting	Thelema Ldg
2/14/87	Valentine's Day party (Ancient Roman	Thelema Ldg
	Fest of Lupercalia for Faunus)
2/15/87	Gnostic Mass at 6 PM	Thelema Ldg
2/17/87	Enochian Chess 8PM with David	Thelema Ldg
2/18/87	Tarot Divination. Major Trumps with Bill	Thelema Ldg
	8PM
2/19/87	Astrology for Beginners with Lucia 8PM	Thelema Ldg
2/19/87	Hriliu Camp Gnostic Mass 7:30 PM	Hriliu Camp
2/20/87	Abrahadabra Camp meeting 8PM	Abrahadabra C.
2/21/87	Initiations: Ist and IInd Degrees	Thelema Ldg
	Call for place date and time
2/22/87	Gnostic Mass at 6 PM	Thelema Ldg
2/23/87	Nur Alal Ufuk Oasis meeting	Nur Alal Ufuk O.
2/23/87	Dii Alieni Camp lecture and demo on	Dii Aleini C.
	William James
2/24/87	Hypatia Camp meeting 8PM	Hypatia Camp
2/25/87	Egyptiana Class with Ebony 8PM	Thelema Lodge
2/26/87	Astrology for Beginners with Lucia 8PM	Thelema Ldg
2/26/87	Hriliu Camp Gnostic Mass 7:30 PM	Hriliu Camp
2/27/87	Class on Dragons, Gnostic Mass ++	Thelema Ldg
	with Sharon 8PM
2/28/87	Minerval initiations and New Moon Party	Thelema Lodge
2/28/87	O.T.O. Board 4:18 at Lola's	Grand Lodge

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.

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)