Thelema Lodge Calendar for November 1987 e.v.

Thelema Lodge Calendar

for November 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.

Copyright © O.T.O. and the Individual Authors, 1987 e.v.

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

November 1987 e.v. at Thelema Lodge

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

Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers


This Month at Thelema Lodge

Gnostic Masses every Sunday at 8 PM. Most Sundays will have Lola's Mass Class at 4:18 PM.
Luna Rituals on Nov. 4th, Full, and Nov. 20, New. Both are at 9 PM. There will also be a Couple's Massage Class on the 20th.
The Thelema Lodge Meeting will be earlier this month to improve the mailing date of the Calendar. In November it will be at 8 PM on the 10th. Come and help: Schedule a Mass, suggest a class, show up and participate in planning Lodge events. Talk to the Scribe if you want to be on the Calendar.
Minerval, Ist Degree and IInd Degree initiations are by pre-arrangement. Minerval initiation will be held on the 14th. Ist and IIInd Degrees will be on the 21st of November.
A new Lodge discipline -- Noon Yoga! Every Sunday, Lola or another will take us out back and teach us "the art of achieving true pretzelhood." If it rains, we'll do it inside -- just after Noon "Resh."
Temple and Yard Clean Up Day, 8th, starting 1:11 PM
Magic Theatre Dramatic Readings on the 17th: The Tango and Dr. Bob; two Silly Beast/D'Este Comedies. Text provided, readers & listeners welcome. 8PM
Sagittarius' Birthday Party on the 22nd, beginning at 12:30. Cake for all Archers. Come over and celebrate with us!
"Secret Meeting by Invitation only" on the 23rd
Pagan Potluck Thanksgiving and "Alice: Through the Looking-Glass" reading on the 26th. Read at 1:11 PM. Feast around 4:18. Bring copies of "Alice" and something you're thankful for.

Classes:

From Lola: Ist Degree initiation Class, in preparation for the weekend's festivities, on the 16th of November at 8 PM.
Couple's Massage Nov. 20th, same night as the New Moon Ritual. Bring someone to work with.
No Gnostic Mass Class on the 22nd, but most other Sundays will have them.
The Qabalah series with Bill Heidrick continues on the 11th and 18th. For Chesed, on the 11th, we will take up some of the methods of attainment. The class on the 18th will begin a presentation of more advanced techniques and introduce more Merkabah.
Ebony has Egyptian Literature on the 25th, which sounds dull but won't be. He told me "Texts"; but whether they are Coffin or Pyramid isn't certain yet. 8 PM
Dave's Enochiana is on the 24th at 8 PM. "Survey of True and Faithful...".
(Corrections: Last month's Enochiana description was inaccurate, there are twenty four Seniors.)
The "Mad Russian" runs a group discourse on Color on November 30th. Wear your favorite.


Coming in December at Thelema Lodge:

Full Moon Ritual on 12/4 at 9 PM
Lodge Meeting on 12/8 at 8 PM
Qabalah class on 12/9 at 8 PM
Illuminati Game and Chili Potluck on 12/12 from 1:11 PM. Yes, someone is silly enough to teach Thelemites this game. Talk to Caitlin at the Lodge to learn before this date. Various unscheduled games in November by request.
New Moon Ritual and Gift Exchange on 12/20.
There will be a Solstice Bash and Capricorns' Birthday Party.


Silent Auction

Watch this space for a special opportunity to acquire art and help the O.T.O. legal fund --- coming soon.


from the Grady Project:

Thanks to everyone who read on Gradymas, especially those who filled in at the last minute! I'm told it was a smashing success. Copies of a small book of the 11 poems read that evening are available at the Lodge for a nominal $1.00 Lodge donation. An Informal reading of Issue #2 will happen sometime nearabouts Winter Solstice.

Cyclops

Into a bowl of deepest night it peers
And probes the utmost nature of the vast
Eternal marches of the suns, to cast
With esoteric glyphs the path of years.

Steel forg'd prongs grip fast the adamant
And jumbled crags of charred obsidian
Strew close the base where, twined ophidian
The space washed girders gleam and twist aslant.

And to this rock, this deathbound airless world,
It seems the tomb of gods whose questioned Why
Has stripped them of their lone divinity

Come strange marked men who seek a knowledge furled
In deeper space. Who train this monstrous eye
To gaze forever. On infinity.

Grady McMurtry
6/5/42 e.v.

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From the Outbasket

Since the Qabalah Class is entering its last third, here's a question that relates to the latter material:

Q. Where can I learn about "Merkabah"? -- from TX

Ma'aseh Merkabah is one of the two traditional divisions of Qabalah. Most of the more important literature is quite old, and there is a great deal of it. Despite Mathers' and others' theories, traditional Jewish Qabalah is not divided into Practical and all those other types. Just the two: Ma'aseh B'ereshit and Ma'aseh Merkabah. Ma'aseh B'ereshit includes Gematria, the general study of literary criticism that produced the Four Worlds and the Tree diagram, Temurah and the other technical studies. Ma'aseh Merkabah (the Way or Path of the Chariot) is the active form of Qabalah with visions, 7 Hells and Heavens, 9 Palaces, 50 Gates of Understanding, the Vision of Ezechial and the use of the names of Angels and Demons. About all that you get in the popular books is tree climbing and a hodge-podge of names and correspondences. The real stuff is mostly in scholastic works. The Sepher Yetzirah and the Zohar include both types; the former is mostly Merkabah disguised under obliquity, and the latter comes with a kitchen sink -- so why not Merkabah?

Books to start with:
Kabbalah by Gershom Sholem, The New York Times Book Co., 1974. -- this will turn you on to some of the basic ideas and vast masses of references. Sholem is excellent for where to look, but weak in details and analysis. For example, he states that Kabbalah Denudata runs to two volumes; but my microfilm copy has three.
Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition by Gershom Sholem, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1965. This is your best bet for overview and orientation, but it's a bit prejudiced against Gentile precursors and parallel literature. Note that Merkabah is sometimes called "Hekhaloth Mysticism", especially in reference to the older works.
The Sword of Moses translation and Hebrew, M. Gaster, out of Samuel Weiser Inc., 1970. This is later derivative, perhaps 6th to 9th century. It is a treatise on the Magical Sword, and should be considered a link between Merkabah and later, fragmentary approaches.
The Secret Garden anthology by David Meltzer, Seabury Press, 1976. This is probably the best reader for gaining a perspective on Qabalistic literature. Starts with very genuine Merkabah and tends to follow surviving lines of it down to the 17th century.
The Bahir translated by Aryeh Kaplan, Samuel Weiser Inc, 1979. This is attributed to the 1st century, but that is not likely. It provides some Merkabah and is difficult reading because of the style.
The Path of the Names edited by David Meltzer, Trigram Tree Books (Berkeley), 1976. This is small collection of Abulafia, with his technique for making the letters work. It should be considered a parallel development or attempt to recover the Merkabah intensity. 13th century, after the original methods had become confused in available literature in Southern Spain.
The Book of Enoch the Prophet, translated in 1883 from the Ethioptic by Richard Laurence, Archbishop of Cashel, Kegan Paul (London) originally, but out of Wizards Bookshelf in the 1970s. This is pure Merkabah, and the morality is only a veil. It is not comprehensible without prior study. Scans as nuts otherwise.
The Book of Enoch, Charles translation from the Ethiopic, Oxford at the Clarendon Press in 1912, but in print out of Health Research. Again, pure Merkabah, and purely difficult. The footnotes gibber and mislead a good deal. Most of the drastic descriptions in the Book of Enoch are guides and tropes for visions. Most Christian scholars tend to take these descriptions too literally, and that's where the footnotes blow it.
The Book of the Secrets of Enoch Charles translation from the Slavonic fragments. Condensed Merkabah, but big holes in it. available also from Health Research.

In general, it helps to be familiar with the Theban Book of the Dead before attempting to read Merkabah literature. The Egyptian material has the same traditions, with boats in place of chariots and all the same themes and situations. Islam also uses the traditions, with Mahamet traveling through the seven heavens on his horse. There are more distant affinities in Tibetan.

Most of the Golden Dawn Pantheon is drawn from Merkabah fragments. The names of the Spirits and Intelligences, for instance, are probably survivals of the guardians of the two leaves of the doors to the hells.

Serious scholars should look to Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica by Bartoloccii, 1665 e.v. It was reprinted by Gregg Press Inc. of Ridgewood, New Jersey, 1965 e.v. This work is in Latin and Hebrew and comprises six volumes of close to 1,000 pages each. The last volume is smaller and lists the Renaissance Gentile writers. Every work known to the Vatican Library, from the earliest to the 17th century, is listed if it pertains at all to Jewish thought. Much is Qabalah. Each entry summarizes the work of one author, and there are extensive essays included on mystical topics. Large university libraries often carry this monumental study, including the University of California at Berkeley.

-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)

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Non-OTO events of interest

Check these out:

"Crossing the Rainbow Bridge", A ritual for the Transformation of Consciousness based on the book Wheels of Life: A User's Guide to the Chakra System. Sat. Nov. 21 at 8:30 PM and Sunday Nov. 22 at 2 PM. Women's Building, San Francisco. 3543 18th St. near Valencia. Advance Tickets are still available at a discount until November 14. Highest price ticket $15. Reservations (415) 322-7450.
If you remember Sr. Selene from 1977 e.v., you can see an old friend dance the Kundalini Serpent through the Chakras. Childcare available.

The Women's Spirituality Forum still has some events remaining on the Fall Schedule. Call (415) 444-7724 for information:
November 15th, "Visions of Empowering the Female Self". Presented by Melissa Farley, Ph.D.
December 19th and 20th, "Winter Solstice Retreat at Isis Oasis". Presented by Z. Budapest, Marianna Gentile-Evans and Leigh Ann Hussey.
Covenant of the Goddess/Susan B. Anthony Coven No.1

Events Calendar for November 1987 e.v.

11/1/87Yoga at the Lodge, Noon every SundayThelema Ldg
11/1/87Gnostic Mass at 8:00 PMThelema Ldg
11/4/87Luna Ritual for the full moon 9 PMThelema Ldg
11/5/87(actual full moon in Taurus 8:46 PM)
11/8/87Temple and Yard clean-up 11:11 PMThelema Ldg
(come and help out)
11/8/87Yoga at the Lodge, Noon every SundayThelema Ldg
11/8/87Gnostic Mass at 8:00 PM (East Bay)Thelema Ldg
11/8/87Gnostic Mass at 8:00 PM (SF)local O.T.O.
11/10/87Thelema Lodge Meeting 8 PMThelema Ldg
11/11/87Class #7: Qabalah SeriesThelema Ldg
Chesed (attainment) 8 PM. With Bill.
11/13/87(Last Quarter Moon)
11/14/87Minerval Initiations (Call)Thelema Ldg
11/15/87Yoga at the Lodge, Noon every SundayThelema Ldg
11/15/87Gnostic Mass Class 4:18 PMThelema Ldg
11/15/87Gnostic Mass at 8:00 PMThelema Ldg
11/16/87Ist Degree pre-initiation classThelema Ldg
8:00 PM (Call for details)
11/17/87Dramatic Reading at 8 PMMagick Thea.
"Silly Beast/D'Est Plays"
11/18/87Class #8: Qabalah SeriesThelema Ldg
Binah (Merkabah) 8 PM. With Bill.
11/20/87New Moon Ritual 9 PMThelema Ldg
11/20/87Couples' Massage Class (call)Thelema Ldg
11/21/87Ist and IInd Degree InitiationsThelema Ldg
(at the Gopher Hole in Marin)
11/22/87Yoga at the Lodge, Noon every SundayThelema Ldg
11/22/87Sagittarius' Birthday Party 12:30Thelema Ldg
11/22/87Gnostic Mass at 8:00 PMThelema Ldg
(Sun enters Sagity 12:30 PM)
11/23/87"Secret" meeting by invitation onlyThelema Ldg
11/24/87Enochiana Class with Dave, 8 PMThelema Ldg
"Survey of True and Faithful ..."
11/25/87Egyptiana Class with Ebony, 8 PMThelema Ldg
11/26/87Dramatic reading of "Alice, ThruThelema Ldg
the Looking Glass" 1:11 PM
11/26/87Pagan Thanksgiving Pot-Luck 4:18 PMThelema Ldg
11/27/87(First Quarter Moon 5:51 PM)
11/29/87Yoga at the Lodge, Noon every SundayThelema Ldg
11/29/87Gnostic Mass at 8:00 PMThelema Ldg
11/30/87Class with Nick on Colors 8 PMThelema 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.

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)

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