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
September 1988 e.v. at Thelema Lodge
Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers
RITES NEWS...
Saturn was great, but we lost the Humanist Hall. CALL THE LODGE AT (415)
655-4942 FOR THE LOCATION OF EACH RITE!!!
Jupiter and Sol sponsored by Hriliu Oasis. Jupiter's doors open at 8 pm
at Thelema Lodge on the 1st -- (707) 795-7529. Sol will begin at 4 pm
September 11th.
Mars is sponsored by Nefertiti Camp, on the 6th at 8 pm- (415) 654-6508.
Venus has changed hands -- Aiwass Oasis is responsible! doors open at 9
on the 16th...call the Leprechaun at (408) 427-0925.
Mercury and Luna are sponsored by Merkabah House. Doors open for Mercury
at 7:30 the 21st, Luna at 8:30 on the 26th. (415) 549-0952.
"Bear The Bowls Of Libation..."
Brooding eyes, apish browed, | |
What wierd surmise lurks there endowed | |
With formless substance! | |
Thought | |
A gray blurred sphere | |
Ringed and glowing | |
Jagged rents | |
Flashing, twisting | |
Dissolved and warpted | |
Tight coils of hate | |
Clashing, chaotic. | |
Smooth sweeping girders | |
Looping curves | |
Strange arcs that lead | |
A somewhere vague | |
Stark time is gone | |
And in its place | |
A central fire | |
A bridge of suns | |
All motives and | |
All loves are one | |
To Him whose Will | |
Because is done. | |
Words can stir the soul on their own. The essence of a groan or shout
passes even from human to animal. Names out of history and myth call forth
reaction. It is said that there are beings who heed when they are called.
Many of the words of power are such stuff. Mantra draws from the construction
of the body and brain to produce effects. Words fraught with subtleness
command the mind.
From Reuchlin's De verbo mirifico in the 15th century to Crowley's
Magick in Theory an Practice in the 20th a strange practice has gradually
emerged. The arts Notary and Qabalistic have increasingly come to bear in
vitalizing ancient noises, words and names. These are the Words of Power of
the modern magician. Reuchlin sought to trace historic roots and to expose
cultural traditions. Crowley turned spelling into poetry and meditation.
By various arts it is possible to examine the construction of a word in
parts and letters as a practice of meditation. A lexicon can turn the squares
of Abramelin into free verse. The very process of attempting meaning is the
heart of the effect. By spending minutes or hours in concentration over the
structure and meaning of traditional words we come to a land not known to the
senses. Apparitions appear, voices are heard and the dark sea beyond the
world heaves mightily beneath a gathering of elemental powers. This work teaches the language of the angels and the writing of "Sephir Raziel". The
magical language is of the mind and of thought. Patterns of association
become abstracted from physical things. Of such patterns the Sephira are
composed.
Crowley invented a new thing. It is called "FORMULA". This is not the
inflexible equate of mathematics or the dynamic of chemical reaction.
Crowley's formulas are the product of meditation on the spelling of words and
the ways of doing. When he writes of IAO, he sets forth a measured way of
change: Isis, Apophis, Osiris; Attraction, Ennui and Awakening. By turns
about a post of letters, the mind establishes awareness and command of the
turning. IAO and VIAOV are the essential pattern of his Liber Lapidis
Lazuli where vision after vision is called and driven through darkness in the
pursuit of fresh brilliance.
Although Crowley long sought a way of attributing number and meaning to the
English Alphabet, his usual method was by correspondence to Hebrew letters.
Liber Trigrammaton includes a sequential attribution which can be a basis
for number to letter correspondence in English, and the Trigrams in late
editions of Liber 777 afford an indirect linkage of English letters to the
rest of Qabalah. Although these methods may have stood for Crowley, he did
not set them forth with great clarity in his writings. Beyond this there is
the question of the meanings of the English letter names. Is "B" a bug? Is
"T" a drink? What of "D" and other less punful letters? I suspect he was
tempted to say "To Christian 'L with it!" as he strived to fulfill Liber AL,
Chapter II, Verse 55. I have seen many attempts to attribute English letters
to number; and, while most seem to work to an astonishing degree, none stands
out as greatly superior to the others. Let's avoid that here, for now. We
will simply take the Goyim to Israel, flying under a false Yamaka if we must.
Nothing will be lost by this, for understanding of Crowley's writings and
rituals is absolutely impossible without Qabalah of letters. There are those
who would attempt A A
while eschewing Hebrew Qabalah, and such is folly.
A
A
is so incomprehensible without the Hebrew Qabalah that those who
assay it in such futility completely mistake it for an intellectual pecking
order. To those who have only arithmetic, calculus is in the outer darkness.
To the knob twister, a broken TV is a mystery beyond ken.
If the word of meditation is in Hebrew, well and good. What if it is not?
You can get a back issue of the Thelema Lodge Calendar, December 1986 e.v.
issue, for $1 postpaid. The transliteration table and instructions there will
do for your needs. Those who attend my class on Magick in Theory and
Practice, currently in progress, will have a free copy of the material when
we need it. Crowley's methods of transliteration from English to Hebrew were
somewhat based on standard British and Masonic ways of representing Hebrew
with English letters. This led him to use "Hay" for "E" where "Aleph" is more
appropriate, Ayin for "O" and other substitution practices not born out by the
actual nature of Hebrew and English. He got results. Do the best you can.
There are many ways to obtain meaning from the spelling of a word, once
that word has been rendered with Hebrew or Greek letters. Crowley provides an
extended example in Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter V. The reader
should look to that for his particular method. Crowley provides many other
examples in the chapters on "Formulas" and in his notes to Liber Samekh and
Liber Reguli. In general, the technique is syncretic and inductive.
Spelling may be altered to a limited extent to improve the results. Liber
777 is the best reference for this method, and Crowley included an excerpt of
the more useful tables in Magick in Theory and Practice. By matching
various columns with either the Hebrew or Greek letter columns, a word may be
converted into a sequence of Tarot trumps, a sequence of names of things, a
sequence of astrological symbols or even a sequence of spirits. Other
possibilities include colors, herbs, deities and numbers. These
correspondences to letters may be mixed or matched, with caution. Let's take
for an example the Hebrew word "TOB", Tet-Vau-Bet, signifying "good." By
Tarot, we have Lust(Strength)-Hierophant-Magician. That could be rendered as: "The natural Forces within Teach Magick". By Astrology, the same word
becomes: Leo-Taurus-Mercury (Fire, Earth and Mixture) --- "Strong Self-image
combined with Fixity of thought breeds Adaptability." As names of the
letters, we get: Serpent-Nail-House --- a quick mental image of a snake nailed
to a building to jot down in one's book of Magick, but also the things
symbolized by such: "Kundalini yoga establishes the Union necessary to
disclose the way of the Temple." These ideas can be blended to see TOB as a
formula for attaining Magick through use of ones own physical nature.
Sometimes this business of multiple correspondence to letters is dizzying
and well nigh incomprehensible after the fact. Carlo Suares attempted a
simpler formulation in his The Cipher of Genesis. By Suares' approach, each
letter is given a meaning based on the process of abstract creation. Paul
Foster Case uses similar ideas admixed with Tarot. Unfortunately Suares'
method breaks down in the second half of the Hebrew alphabet, and it will not
do for our needs. Inspired by these mystics, I worked out my own Genesis
Code. This will be provided in the course of the Magick in Theory and
Practice class, and may appear in these pages the next time I get caught so
far behind my deadline! My Genesis Code provides a uniform way of
interpretation of Hebrew spelling of words into sentences. It is limited in
that only abstract messages emerge, but that merely fixes the method in one of
the four Qabalistic worlds. I also worked out a "Pentateuch" code for the
Hebrew alphabet that makes a word go like a nuts and bolts Tarot Reading.
But--- the thing is around here some place in a folder, under a pile of paper,
in a box or in a drawer. Finding it is like trying to get Koschai's soul!
It'll turn up one day; and then, dear reader, you will have it too.
Here are examples of my "Genesis Code", with thanks to Suares and Case:
TOB: Tet-Vau-Bet: "Power from inside - joins with - direction of action."
ELOHIM: Aleph-Lamed-Heh-Yod-Memfinal: "Being - is harmonized - for the
propagation of order - in the creation -- of matter."
ASTAROTH: Ayin-Shin-Taw-Resh-Taw: "A vision - of fire - in the Earth -
brings knowledge - to the Earth."
1582 Marty 11 | ||
Sonday. a Meridie hora .a. circiter1. | ||
![]() | ||
clothed with a long robe of purple all spangled with gold, and on | ||
his head a garland, or wreath of gold, his eyes sparkling. Of whom | ||
I asked whether the characters noted for the Table were perfect: | ||
He answered, | ||
i. | *Lundrumguffa: They are perfect. There is no question2. | |
![]() | ||
Then presently came in one, and threw the brave spirit down by the | ||
shoulders, and beat him mightily with a whip; and took all his | ||
robes, and apparel off him.: And then he remained all hairy and | ||
ugly; and still the spirit was beaten of him, who came in after | ||
him. And that spirit, which so beat him, said to the hearing of my | ||
Skryer: | ||
Uriel: Lo, thus are the wicked scourged. | ||
![]() | ||
Uriel: I am he. Write down, and mark this; for it is worthy of | ||
the Noting: | ||
ii. | *This was thy persecutor Lundrumguffa. I brought him hither to | |
let thee see, how God hath punished thy enemy. | ||
Lo, thus hath God dealt for thee: Lo, thus have I dealt for thee: | ||
Thank God. | ||
![]() | ||
Edward Talbot-- He drew the wicked spirit away by the legs; and | ||
threw him into a great pit, and washed his hands, as it were, with | ||
the sweat of his own head: for he seemed to be all in
a sweat. | ||
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sight a little while. Then he came in again; and another with him, | ||
and jointly these two said together: | ||
Glorify God forever. | ||
And then Uriel did stand behind; and the other did sit down in | ||
the chair with a sword in his right hand, all his head glittering | ||
like the sun. The hair of his head was long, he had wings, and all | ||
his lower parts seemed to be with feathers. He had a robe over his | ||
body, and a great light in his left hand. | ||
He said: | ||
Michael: We are blessed from the beginning, and blessed be the | ||
name of God forever. | ||
![]() | ||
Uriel did lean on the Square Table by. | ||
He that sat in the chair (whom we take to be Michael) said then: | ||
Michael: Go forward. God hath blessed thee. | ||
I will be thy Guide. | ||
Thou shalt attain unto thy seeking. | ||
The world begins with thy doings. | ||
Praise God. | ||
The Angels under my power, shall be at thy commandment. | ||
Lo, I will do thus much for thee. | ||
Lo, God will do thus much for thee. | ||
Thou shalt see me, and I will be seen of thee. | ||
And I will direct thy liking and conversation. | ||
iii. | *Those that sought thy life, are vanished away. | |
Put up thy pen. | ||
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----------------------------------------
![]() ![]() i. Hereby may appear that this wicked spirit foisted in the shew of the false character and names before.
1. Sunday March 11, 1582. About the third hour before noon, i.e. 9am. |
9/1/88 | Eleusian Rite of Jupiter 8PM (Call for new location) | Hriliu Oas. | ||
9/4/88 | Gnostic Mass at Sunset | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/6/88 | Eleusian Rite of Mars 8 PM (Call for new location) | Nefertitti | ||
9/7/88 | Egyptiana with Ebony 8 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/10/88 | New Moon Ritual 9:30 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/11/88 | Eleusian Rite of Sol 4 PM (Call for new location) | Hriliu Oas. | ||
9/11/88 | Gnostic Mass at Sunset | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/13/88 | Lodge of Perfection (Private) 7 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/13/88 | Open Lodge meeting 8 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/14/88 | Class on Crowley's "Magick in Theory and Practice" with Bill, 8 PM. | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/16/88 | Eleusian Rite of Venus 9 PM (Call for new location) | Aiwass Oas. | ||
9/17/88 | Ist and IInd Degree initiations | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/18/88 | Gnostic Mass at Sunset | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/21/88 | Eleusian Rite of Mercury 7:30 PM (Call for new location) | Merkabah H. | ||
9/22/88 | Autumnal Equinox Ritual 8:25 PM (Sun into Libra 12/29 PM) | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/22/88 | O.T.O. Initiate Dues increase 33% today (excluding earlier assessments and payments). Associate dues unchanged | Grand Lodge | ||
9/24/88 | Minerval initiations | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/25/88 | Libra Birthday party 4:18 PM | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/25/88 | Gnostic Mass at Sunset | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/25/88 | Full Moon ritual after Mass (Aries) | Thelema Ldg. | ||
9/26/88 | Eleusian Rite of Luna 7:30 PM (Call for new location) | Merkabah H. | ||
9/27/88 | Enochiana with Dave 8 PM "Geometry & the Hierarchy of the Watchwowers." | 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.