Thelema Lodge Calendar for September 1992 e.v.

Thelema Lodge Calendar

for September 1992 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

September 1992 e.v. at Thelema Lodge

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

Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers

September Events

Unless otherwise noted, events are at 544 31st St. in Oakland, the new location of Thelema Lodge. 63rd St. events are at the old location: 588 63rd St., Oakland.

Gnostic Masses every Sunday at 8 PM this month at 63rd Street.

Initiations on the 19th, by prior arrangement only. Call the Lodge Master more than a month ahead to arrange for your own initiation; call nearer the event to attend at the Lodge.

Lodge meeting 8PM on the 7th. The Lodge Council and LOP meetings at 3:33 PM on the 6th are limited in attendance to members of appropriate degree and Lodge affiliation.

A birthday party for all Libras is back at the 63rd Street location on the 27th, starting at 4:18 PM with Gnostic Mass as usual at 8PM

Grace continues Astrological Analysis with two classes this month on the 2nd and 16th, 8 PM at the Lodge.

Tantra OP Gnosis is offered on the 29th and Mark will teach "Locating the Planets" at 7 PM on the 30th, both at 588 63rd St.

Ritual Workshops a Success

Our Archives contain ten different versions of the Minerval Ritual. On August 4th we attempted to show the growth of this ritual from the early handwritten Crowley version through Frater Achad, W.T.Smith, Yorke and Frank Bennett's copies amongst others. The differences between many of these versions are quite remarkable. We also touched on the different study programs available to our Initiates. A similar workshop on the First Degree Ritual was held on August 18th.

We are planning to hold a Second Degree Ritual Workshop on September 15th at which we will review twelve assorted versions of this ritual from Crowley's through Bennett, Smith's and C.F. Russell's amongst others. As always attendance is limited to initiates of the degree or above.

It is our intention through this review to show the historical growth of these Rituals which led to the current definitive release of the Fall Equinox 1990 'Annotated Rituals'.

Jerry's Logorrhea

The rants of our Lodge Master are becoming well known in and around the Bay Area. Some people have often remarked on how amazing it is that one individual can talk so much on any one subject without coming up for air (although occasional beer breaks are noticed). The topic of the logorrhea will be determined a few days before September 26th so call for details then.

Slide Show - Grady and the East Coast O.T.O.

On the evening of September 11th, our Lodge Master J. Edward Cornelius will share with the Bay Area early history of the O.T.O. as seen from the East Coast circa 1977-80. Many early Grady McMurtry slides will be shown along with other notables of this period. Bring you own refreshments and popcorn. Approximate time 8:00 p.m. for the slide show to begin.

New Esoteric Film Night for Thelema Lodge and Friends.

Come enjoy an evening of home video, varying films, conversation to follow. Bring snacks and/or beverages if you desire. Future film nights will include opportunity for preselection and notification of film titles. First film will be a selection of one of four to choose on the night of the film, which will be Friday the 18th of September at 7PM at the 31st St. address. Call for information. We are soliciting people's lists of their video library titles, and other people interested in assisting and setting up these film nights. We hope to encourage intelligent, artistic and crazed input and conversation.

Crowley Classics

Some selections from Astrology, Your Place in the Sun and Astrology, Your Place Among the Stars by Evangeline Adams.

Now wait a minute! How can books by Mz. Adams go under Crowley Classics! Well, you see it's like this ... Crowley wrote 70% of them or so. In Chapter 77 of Confessions, Crowley goes into his first meeting with Evangeline Adams. That was during his WWI sojourn in America. There was a joint manuscript on Astrology produced, which Crowley at the time of writing Confessions thought was a publishing failure. In 1927 and 1930 e.v., Evangeline came out with the two books just cited. It is worth note that these are probably the most widely published Crowley works outside of Liber AL. O.T.O. purchased the residual rights some time ago, and what follows is fully Copyright © O.T.O.

How much of this is really Crowley? Consider the following. It appears that nearly all the interpretations and most of the descriptive material is by Crowley.

From a surviving partial typescript of Crowley's The General Principles of Astrology:

URANUS

Ouranos, Uranus, or Heaven, is said to have been the father of Saturn, who, jealous lest another son should appear, annihilated him with his scythe. This legend is but an apologue of the nature of this planet, often called Herschel after the man who rediscovered it.

This planet swims lonely in the vast abyss that separates Saturn from Neptune. If we have compared Neptune to the outpost, we may continue by saying that Uranus is the moat of the fortress, and its secret passages. And if we have called Neptune the soul of the Sea, then Uranus is the essence of Volcanic Fire. There is no planet so strange, so sinister, so occult and mysterious, or so contradictory.

From Astrology: Your place Among the Stars, page 439:

URANUS SYMBOLICALLY CONSIDERED
OURANOS, Uranus, or heaven, is said to have been the father of Saturn, who, jealous lest another son should appear, mutilated him with his scythe. This legend is but an apologue of the nature of this planet, often called Herschel after the man who rediscovered it.

This planet swims lonely in the vast abyss that separates Saturn from Neptune. If we have compared Neptune to the outpost, we may continue by saying that Uranus is the moat of the fortress, and its secret passages. And if we have called Neptune the soul of the sea, then Uranus is the essence of volcanic fire. There is no planet so strange, so revolutionary, so occult and mysterious, or so contradictory.

Both these Adams-Crowley works are available from Grand Lodge on IBM PC 5 1/4 diskettes. Write to O.T.O., P.O.Box 430, Fairfax, CA 94978 USA and request a copy of "Texts Available" for computer. This material is made available for research only. {Note to Web edition: These are no longer available on diskette, but they may be obtained by email file attachment and on various Web sites}
-- ED.

Let's have a look at what Crowley says concerning a few placements in his own birth Chart. Crowley's birth chart and charts of other important crises in his life are to be found in The Equinox of the Gods and in Equinox Vol. I, No. 10. It is very clear that he drew on his own life for many of his examples on Astrology, as he did also on the lives of Rose Kelly, Victor Neuburg and others mentioned in his writings. In these selections, only the surface has been scratched to provide "Crowley on Crowley -- Out of School".
Birth of Edward Alexander Crowley at Leamington Spa, England on 12th October, 1875 e.v., 10:52 PM, according to his published chart (as he understood the placements).

ASC 0.3° Leo
II 16° Leo : 19° Leo
III 6° Virgo
IV 4° Libra : Sun 19° Libra ; Venus 24° Libra ; Jupiter 7° Scorpio ; Mercury 13° 20' Scorpio
V 14° Scorpio
VI 27° Sagittarius : Mars 22° Capricorn
VII 0.3° Aquarius
VIII 16° ; Saturn 19° 30'
IX 6° Pisces ; Moon 20° Pisces
X 4° Aries ; Neptune 28° Aries
XI 14° Taurus
XII 27° Gemini

From Astrology: Your Place in the Sun

Sun (and Venus) in Libra:

"The most mysterious people in the world are the Chinese, who are ruled by Libra. When Sir Robert Hart, after fifty years spent among them, was going home to England, he told a young friend, who had just completed a walking tour through the country, and who sought assistance in psychological interpretation from the man whose very life had depended for half a century on his just estimate of the character of these people, that he now knew pretty well what a Chinaman would do in any given set of circumstances, but had not the least idea why he would do it. This type understands the all-important, psychological truth, that no one can defeat your purpose, except by some accident, if he does not know what that purpose is."

"...He is very sensitive; a disruption like war gives him the most terrible agony of spirit. He finds his consolation in one single consideration. He says to himself that the old civilization was lopsided, hideous, productive of ugliness and misery, and that, in order to change, to rebuild, the building must be razed to the earth; nay, more, that the foundations must be laid anew. His final judgment in the matter, therefore, is that the war is the necessary spiritual preparation for the establishment of a new era which shall be founded according to the true laws of beauty. ..."

"...You will often find a native of this sign taking a highly unpopular attitude; one such, for example, might say that he thought Germany entirely right in her invasion of Belgium, but he might nevertheless fight for England on the ground that he was English by birth, thus making a complete distinction between his moral and his social being."

"...As a rule, he is very strongly and very highly developed on the plane of sex, and this is marked sometimes by his possession of a nature intermediate between male and female, sometimes by the possession of two temperaments, one almost extravagantly masculine while the other is intensely feminine. Possessing such a range of understanding in this matter, it is natural to find the Libra native a great expert in all matters of love."

"These qualities often make the Libra native a good deal of a varietist, and under certain planetary combinations there may even appear a strain of homosexuality. This is not to be attributed to any real predilection, but to the fact of the delicate poise of the Libra nature between the two sexes.... It is true that he may perform acts of an incredibly gross nature, but his aim is never the satisfaction of a lust.... It is, of course, exasperating to the native of Venus in Libra to find himself thus ill comprehended or ridiculed, but he will feel a singular pride and security in the idea that his soul is safe from the contamination of what he considers the vulgar."

From Astrology: Your Place Among the Stars:

Moon in Pisces:

"...Taken by itself, there is great danger that the person with this position may receive totally false impressions through the senses. There is an excessive tendency to optimism and romanticism; Don Quixote must have had the Moon in Pisces. Among real people we find it in the horoscopes of Shelley, Goethe, Petrarch, and Stevenson. This position accounts for their extraordinary refusal to accept things as they are. The outside world came to them through such colored glasses that everything appeared bathed in a luminous mist."

Mercury in Scorpio:

"...They make admirable vivisectors on every plane, and they are usually quite unscrupulous in their methods and careless of what pain they may inflict. Furthermore, they are intensely secretive; they hate to commit themselves to any positive statement, but their capacity for insinuation and innuendo may well be described as infernal. They make the most dangerous enemies, and in some cases (though, fortunately, this is rare) there is something of the snake in their temperament, and they may turn suddenly and treacherously upon their antagonists. They make excellent secret-service men. They are capable of long continued dissimulation and, the imagination being exceedingly vivid, they are well fitted to deceive others. With all these qualities, goes an intense skepticism, an intolerance of the opinions of others whom they regard as inferior, and a supreme contempt for those who disagree with them. On the other hand, the secretive side of the sign may sometimes develop as mysticism or some profound interest in secret societies (particularly, of course, when Mercury is in the twelfth house) or in hidden and obscure matters of one sort or another..."

Mars in Capricorn:

"...His fierce energy is tempered to obstinacy by the earthy and Saturnian nature of the sign, but, on the other hand, the leaping Goat lends additional power and élan to his activity. He becomes tremendously magnetic and commanding, but also dour and tenacious. A striking instance of this quality expressed in the world of action is Theodore Roosevelt. One has only to contemplate his method to understand the full effect of Mars in Capricorn."

Jupiter in Scorpio:

"If Jupiter is strong in this sign, we find people with a positively fanatical faith in themselves. God is omnipotent, and He abides with them; how, then, can they ever falter on the path? The effect of ill-dignity -- say an evil aspect to Jupiter from Saturn or Mercury -- would be to upset the mental balance in this respect and to give evidence of deep-seated perversion."

Well, what to you think? Do we see a little Al in there anywhere? For others, I think you could probably reconstruct Rose's entire birth chart from the digs in these two books about alcoholic women.

- ED

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Primary Sources

Germer v. Grant,
or "will the real K.G. please stand up?":
One of the continuing sagas of the O.T.O. is the never ending Kenneth Grant question. Is he in or is he out? Is he the real head of the O.T.O. or a fraud? Is he a section eight out of the British WWII armed forces with an ongoing psychosis or a crafty author with a book selling gimmick? Was he Crowley's intended or just a Crowley limerick about his uncle? Is he honest but deluded or enlightened but deceptive? Below are three primary documents written by Karl Germer, with brief quotes from related documents and a few observations. The opinion of O.T.O. is that of Karl Germer, with the possible exception of Grant's highest pre-expulsion degree. Let the reader view the evidence and make of it what will.

Letter, 1st November, 1985 e.v., Kenneth Grant to Bill Heidrick.

Re IX°: During my stay with Crowley (1944-5) I wrote, at his suggestion, various papers, one of which happened to be an essay on sexual magick. He was very impressed by it and admitted me to the IX° on the strength of it. In 1946, David Curwen (IX°), on Crowley's instructions, completed my initiation into IX°. A year after Crowley's death, Germer insisted on regularising the situation and issued me with a Pledge Form for IX°. This was countersigned by Gerald Yorke on 5th October, 1948.

David Curwen was a IXth Degree and brought the elixir Amrita to Crowley, according to Crowley's 1946 e.v. diary. It is possible that what Grant mentions here is an incident in the preparation of the medicine. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand Grant's reference to Curwen "completing" the initiation.

The IX° pledge form includes agreement to conform to the Constitution of the O.T.O., with penalty for failure being reversal of any attempt to operate the secret. - ED.

From the Manifesto of New Isis Lodge O.T.O., by Kenneth Grant:

A Brother who foolishly takes it upon himself to withdraw from the Sovereign Sanctuary incurs his own magical death and this is entirely his own responsibility. For such links as he will have forged by the pledge demanded of him on his admittance to the Sovereign Sanctuary, and the Rites whereby he is bound to the Current which vibrates at the core of the Lodge are indissoluble and may not be undone by any so simple a Rite as the destruction of his Magical Name.

Crowley Royal Court Diary for 1945 e.v., Memoranda:

Feb.7. to Saturnus re financial policy of O.T.O. (1) A.C.'s copyrights belong to O.T.O. each new book, or set of essays, or what not, is a direct gain to O.T.O. to keep him alive & at work, with secretarial help, must be the first charge on the Funds whether labelled "Publication Fund" or otherwise. (2) Value of Grant. If I die or go to U.S.A., there must be a trained man to take care of English O.T.O...."

... goes on to affirm O.T.O. to be run by the Constitution. No other mention appears in any Crowley diary of any other sort of official duty for Grant, beyond that of personal secretary for Crowley. Grant evidently did not continue in secretarial capacity after the end of 1945 e.v. - ED.

From Karl Germer:

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
On the strength of the power vested in me by BAPHOMET, the late O.H.O. of the ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS, I hereby grant Fra AOSSIC IX° O.T.O. (KENNETH GRANT) to constitute a camp of the above-named Order in the valley of London, England.

Love is the law, love under will.
{11-fold cross} Saturn X° O.T.O.
New York, N.Y.
March 5, 1951

Letter, 28 January, 1984 e.v., Kenneth Grant To Bill Heidrick:

Karl proved very inept about the whole matter of my appointment, and when, a year or two after he had issued the Charter, I received genuine powers (inner Plane) to found New Isis Lodge as a dependent cell of the O.T.O., I did not bother with him any more.

From the Manifesto of New Isis Lodge O.T.O., by Kenneth Grant:

... one Brother is the Inner Invisible Head of the Order, known as the Master Nodens; a second Brother is the Outer Head of the Order, known as the Master Thoth; the third member of the Council is a Sister-Initiate of the Rites of Isis, whose Name in the Lodge is Sesheta.

New Isis Lodge and its parent Order, the O.T.O., both work in accord with the principles laid down in the Sacred Book of Thelema -- Liber Legis -- particulary as regards the first Chapter of that Book which forms one of the chief Texts in New Isis Lodge.

New Isis Lodge possesses special unpublished and secret documents containing knowledge of certain Magical Formulae implicit in Liber Legis, but Qabalistically or otherwise concealed from the eyes of the profane, and a Sister-Lodge in Germany has undertaken the Saturnian element of this further revelation, as New Isis has the Isaic.

From Karl Germer:

To Mr. Kenneth Grant

NOTIFICATION OF EXPULSION
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

You are notified that the very small and limited authority I gave you at one time to establish a Camp of O.T.O. in the valley of London is withdrawn, and I formally expel you from membership in the Ordo Templi Orientis.
You have grossly abused the trust that was placed in you. By printing and distributing a so-called "Manifesto" without my approval, and behind my back, you have shown lack of the sense of decency and for due authority.
By making false and misleading statements therein, printing outright lies, and generally sailing under false pretenses, you have shown moral and spiritual dishonesty and proved yourself utterly unworthy for leadership in a cause that is even slightly connected with an Order like the O.T.O., much less than with a cause like the Law of Thelema.

Love is the law, love under will.
Saturn Karl Germer X° and Frater Superior O.T.O.
Hampton N.J.
July 20, 1955

From the Manifesto of New Isis Lodge O.T.O., by Kenneth Grant

New Isis Lodge is in accord with the Master Therion (a Past Grand Master of O.T.O.); with the present Master S, who is World-Head of the O.T.O. in the Outer, and who operates in the United States of America; and with the aforementioned Lodge in Germany controlled by the Master G."

The Master S is Frater Saturnus, Fr. , Karl Germer. Grant has asserted that Germer never was the world head of O.T.O., but there it is in Grant's own Manifesto. - ED

From the Manifesto of New Isis Lodge O.T.O., by Kenneth Grant

... expulsion with no appeal availing to cause re-instatement either in the Outer Court, the Inner Order, or the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis.

Letter Karl Germer to Gerald Yorke, date unreadable:

...Grant's New Isis Lodge: what I consider improper is the reference in his Manifesto to being in accord with me as Grand Master S and a number of other references which are certainly incorrect...

Yorke came to suspect that a reference to "Master G", Master Gergorius or Eugen Grosche of Fraternitas Saturni in Germany had something to do with Germer's expulsion of Grant. - ED

From Karl Germer:

Hampton N.J.
P.O.Box 581
December 16, 1955

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.
It has been reported to me that there are people in Great Britain who are operating in the name of the O.T.O. -- ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS --. The sole authority for the English-speaking countries rests in the present Frater Superior of the O.T.O., Frater Saturnus, Karl Germer.
There is no one in Great Britain with a valid Charter of the O.T.O. in Great Britain, any activity under that title is therefore spurious.
I hereby appoint Mr. Noel Fitzgerald, London W.1. as my personal representative in matters of the O.T.O. for Great Britain - valid until revoked -; to report to me on any illegal claims or activities; meanwhile to take action as he deems advisable.

           Karl Germer
           Frater Superior O.T.O.
           Saturn {11-fold cross} X° O.T.O.

Letter from Gerald Yorke to Karl Germer, dated 30th Dec., 1955.:

Kenneth Grant is working the New Isis Lodge along the lines laid down in the Manifesto of which you have a copy. I know none of and do not ask him for the details.

From a letter to Karl Germer from Crowley, dated 6th June, 1947 e.v. (In the balance of the letter, there is no mention of Grant as a potential representative of the Order in London; but some of the other matters of the Diary note and memoranda of 1945 e.v. are repeated.):

You seem to be in doubt too about the succession. There has never been any question about this. Since your re-appearance You are the only successor of whom I have even thought since that moment. I have, however, had the idea that in view of the dispersion of so many members, you might find it useful to appoint a triumvirate to work under you. My idea was Mellinger, MacMurtrie {sic, s.b. McMurtry} and, I suppose, Roy,...

Crowley to Grady McMurtry letter, 17th June, 1947:

... In the event of my death, Frater Saturnus is of course my successor, but after his death the terrible burden of responsibility might very easily fall upon your shoulders; for this reason I should like to you keep closely in touch with me....

Many more documents bear on these issues; but, for Grant's claims, the citations here seem to be the main ones. It appears to boil down to this: Crowley did not appoint Grant to take charge. Grant was chartered to open an OTO body in England under Germer about five years after Crowley's death and in possible reflection of a suggestion made by Crowley to Germer in 1945 e.v. Grant was expelled by Germer less than five years later, apparently on grounds of userpation or apparent disloyalty. Grant continued to operate anyway, abandoning his former allegiance to Germer and going into new areas. Grant asserted his claim to rule on the basis of a vision in the face of lack of any mundane appointment or right. This may reflect Crowley's own manner in claiming to have made over the Golden Dawn into the AA at the behest of the Secret Chiefs; but it isn't valid in a legal setting. Crowley's AA didn't get him the assets and name of the Golden Dawn, the courts having little interest in astral charters. That didn't diminish the significance of the AA. Grant's achievements stand on their own; for when the Gods have been called to witness, what mortal can affirm or deny? What doesn't stand is trademark and copyright, being matters of a more temporal sphere. Time (Saturnus) will tell. - ED

Previous Primary Sources Next Primary Sources

from the Grady Project:

In September

The rains come down; the chalk grey mud of Gaul

Is foamed beneath the clash of treading tanks

And soldiers curse.

                    I used to like the Fall

And will again, I hope, stand on the banks

Of flooded strams made rich with Autumn rain,

A seasoned briar clenched between my teeth,

And breathe the stinging frost wind.

                                    Once again

Stride down the tree lined byways where the heath

Has mingled scent of sage with fern and pine

To savor there the breath of growing things

Distilled in ice-chill silence.

                                  This is mine!

This time of year when airborne ice makes wings

Around the bacchic moon, when sun and tree

Thrall the wooded land with Summer's ember.

When these campaigns are but a memory

And I am home again. In September.

-- Grady L. McMurtry

9/30/44 e.v.

Previously published in Kaaba: I:4 (April 1979 e.v.) and in The Grady Project #2 (December 1987 e.v.).

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Qabalah
The View From Tipheret

(Part IV)

by Bill Heidrick

Here, the numbers one through thirty-two represent the same things in the tables published earlier in this series and Crowley's Liber 777. These numbers are placed differently in this and later examples to facilitate explanation of the diagrams. No absolute rectitude in these associations is claimed. Anyone may make any assignments to these paths that occur to mind. The specific associations are intended as hypotheses only, not dogma.

Here is the second example of the Tree of life to be presented. It is called:

The Tree of the Two Pentagrams.

The principal change from tradition in this Tree is a redrawing of the inner paths to represent two pentagrams and a deletion of the two outer paths from Malkut. The Sephiroth have been left in their usual positions and the path numerations have been changed to reflect the new organization. Before turning attention to the meanings of the paths, a few remarks should be made concerning the symbolism of the pentagram.

A pentagram is a star of five points. It is a symbol of man, an emblem of the power of Mars (not stressed as such here), a representation of the four material elements and the ruling subtle element called spirit, an emblem of "good" when in normal orientation with a point on top and an emblem of "evil" when inverted with a point on the bottom. There is a more considerable bit of symbolism behind the "good" and "evil" orientations of the pentagram. As might be suspected, the vague generalizations "good" and evil" are underlain by more specific meanings. The "good" pentagram with point on top is a symbol of a human being in upright posture. The uppermost point is the head; the two lowest points are the legs and feet; the two middle points are the arms and hands. The head rules the limbs; therefore, the conscious mind is said to rule the powers of the body. In terms of elements, the element spirit (the head) rules fire and earth (the legs) and water and air (the arms). This pentagram is said to be "good" only because rulership by mind (or spirit) is usually considered to be a "good" state of affairs. The "evil" pentagram with point down represents a distortion of the human form. There is no uppermost point and therefore no head. The lowest point represents the sexual organs. The inverted pentagram is a symbol of a mindless (headless) human who has enormous physical drives (sexual organs). This inverted pentagram therefore represents the powers of the human body (arms and legs) responding to physical desires (sexual organs) without rule or guidance from the mind (headless). Elemental associations to the pentagram give a similar sort of conception. The elements are symbolized by the two upper and two middle points of this inverted star. The physical universe is represented by the lowest point. No spiritual force is symbolized in the inverted pentagram; the elements are in a state of chaos.

The inverted pentagram would be differently described if it was treated as an "adverse" pentagram, according to Crowley's usage. In the "adverse" form, the pentagram is rotated so that spirit is to the bottom. This treatment is therefore different in that sense from Crowley's usage. According to the Order of the Golden Dawn, the inverted pentagram is a symbol of a human form turned upside-down. The lowest point is considered to be the head. Such an inverted pentagram is held to symbolize mind (spirit) buried beneath function (the elements). There is nothing fundamentally in contradiction between these two interpretations of the inverted pentagram, beyond assignment of elements and body parts to the points.

Crowley's approach to inverted pentagrams can be seen on the Minor Arcana of the Thoth Tarot for the fives. In addition, O.T.O. Newsletter, # 4 has an article on all 24 of the pentagrams used in Crowley's approaches to ritual and symbolism, see also Thelema Lodge Calendar, May 1988 e.v.. This method of interpretation of the pentagram is only superficially derived from the Golden Dawn inversion. It carries into depths not necessary for this presentation.

The Tree of the Two Pentagrams has two pentagrams and no middle pillar

paths. These properties will be briefly analyzed in the following study. The numeration of the paths is changed to reflect the changed situation. Various correspondences to Hebrew Letters, Tarot Trumps and the like follow these numbers to the new locations. Other assignments are always possible. The symbols employed are flexible enough to provide some insights wherever they are placed. Here is the analysis of the Tree of Two Pentagrams:

Malkut .......... This Sephira represents the physical world as before, but now only the path of Taw leads upward toward Yesod. The paths between Malkut and Hod and between Malkut and Netzach have vanished. This Tree represents a state of development in which consciousness of the physical world is not obtained directly from Malkut in regard to reason and emotion (Hod and Netzach). The physical world communicates through visions and dreams (Yesod) with the higher faculties of the mind. This state is attained when a person is able to perceive "Auras" or receive other complex impressions of the state of the physical world. This change is like that experienced in learning to read. At the beginning, the words have to be spelled out letter-by-letter. Later, words and sentences are taken in at a glance. Beyond this point, the meaning of a page leaps out to the reader without any dwelling on unnecessary individual words. Effectively, the perceptions of the senses are no longer treated separately but directly assembled in Yesod as a cohesive impression of the physical world.

Yesod ........... Yesod receives the sense impressions of Malkut consciousness and transmits them by four paths to higher Sephiroth. The path from Yesod to Tipheret is deliberately broken to isolate Tipheret from direct contact with Yesod. Consciousness of living in Tipheret is no longer directly concerned with the dreams of Yesod, but derives its understanding of the Yesod consciousness from lower reason (Hod) and lower emotion (Netzach). More will be said about this later.

Hod ............. The first path from Yesod leads to Hod. This is the new path of Shin, number 31. Hod makes a rational examination along this path to discover logical meaning in the consciousness at Yesod. The three paths leading upward from Hod are in the same positions we find on the traditional Tree of Life. They have been given new numerations to reflect their changed functions.

Netzach ......... Two paths lead upward into Netzach and two lead upward from Netzach. All four are in the same positions that are found on the traditional Tree; but, like those from Hod, they have new numerations and new functions. The new path of Resh, path 30, connects Yesod and Netzach. This signifies that the relationship between lower emotion at Netzach and dreaming consciousness at Yesod has become more inquisitive and less reactive. This is not quite the same as a rational function, but it is more like intuition or the taking of omens and signs. This activity of new path 30 may be compared with the artistry of a Chef in checking the quality of his sauces. The smell, taste, appearance and consistency of a sauce are more important than precise measurement of the ingredients. Such work must be done as much by feel as by science. That is the manner of the new path of Resh. The path from Hod to Netzach has undergone a similar change. This path is now that of Qof, number 29. New path 29 is not violent. This Tree represents an advance over the state depicted in the traditional Tree of Life. Hod and Netzach have ceased to battle. Reason and emotion have joined hands. Hod and Netzach are connected by a transitory state of consciousness that resembles evolution and growth from a primitive but exact structure in Hod to a complex and living structure in Netzach. Hod provides the skeleton and Netzach grows the flesh by the path of Qof, new path 29.

Tipheret ........ Tipheret receives influence from below by two paths and transmits it above by two paths. All four of these are found on the traditional Tree of Life, but here again the numerations reflect new functions. The path that traditionally connects Tipheret with Yesod has vanished. Tipheret is no longer directly concerned with interpretation and direct elevation of the Yesod level. This activity has been delegated to the four Sephiroth just above and just below Tipheret. Tipheret has become a nerve center to coordinate the functions of Chesed, Geburah, Netzach and Hod in the lower part of the Tree. This represents a state of development in which the Tipheret life overview has become strongly established, and the influences from above and below on the middle pillar of the Tree of Life have been temporarily cut off. Receiving these influences directly would inhibit working out a world view in Tipheret. Such higher and lower influences are only permitted to reach Tipheret after they have been interpreted and filtered by other Sephiroth. Tipheret reassembles rational and emotional content in accord with the prevailing view of life, a process akin to the Spagyric technique in Alchemy (See The Alchemist's Handbook by Frater Albertus, Weiser, 1974). New path 28 from Hod transmits insights into the rational content of the physical. New path 27 from Netzach transmits emotional energy derived from the physical. New path 24 transmits powerful directives from the higher reason of Geburah. New path 21 transmits higher emotional power from Chesed. All these energies and structures are coordinated in Tipheret and sent back along the same four paths to direct activity in the physical and celestial levels of thought.

Geburah ......... Geburah connects to the other Sephiroth by seven paths in this new conception. Three of these paths connect to the lower Sephiroth, and four connect to the higher. New path 24 has been discussed in connection with Tipheret. New path 25 connects Geburah with Yesod. By this path the moral influence of Geburah is exerted to bring Yesod consciousness into harmony with higher consciousness. Yesod in its turn conveys information concerning the physical world to the Geburah level. New path 26 connects Geburah and Hod. This path exerts control over lower reason to maintain its alliance with the purpose of higher reason.

Chesed .......... Chesed has now seven paths connecting it with other Sephiroth. Four lead to lower Sephiroth and three to higher. New path 21 has been described under Tipheret. New path 23 connects Netzach with Chesed. This path sustains the lower emotional complex by keeping it in contact with higher emotional motivation. New path 22 connects Yesod and Netzach to maintain emotional balance in the conceptions taken from the physical world and to communicate these conceptions more directly into the level of Chesed. New path 20 connects Geburah and Chesed so that higher reason may be invigorated by higher emotion.

Binah ........... Four paths connect to Binah, two from below and two from above. New path 19 feeds the power of absolute rationality from Binah to Geburah. New path 18 links the emotional motivation of Chesed with the perfected order of Binah.

Chokmah ......... Four paths connect to Chokmah, three from below and one from above. New path 17 transmits the absolute energy of Chokmah to intensify the emotional directing force of Chesed. New path 16 keeps Geburah aware of the underlying energy that permeates all purpose and all creation. New path 15 asserts the rule of the energies of Chokmah over the rational abstractions of Binah.

Keter ........... Four paths communicate downward from Keter to the nearest four Sephiroth. New path 14 unifies the purposeful consciousness of Geburah. New path 13 unifies the motivating force of Chesed. Paths 12 and 11 function as they do on the traditional Tree of Life.

The Lower Pentagram:

This pentagram is inverted and shows a major concentration in Yesod. The lower pentagram is devoted to utilization and control of physical experiences as communicated through Yesod. All the semi-physical mental states; sexual excitement, hunger, anger, pleasure, etc. are examined and developed in accord with influences derived indirectly from the upper part of the Tree. Tipheret acts to coordinate and monitor the process without direct contact with its principal seat in Yesod. This inverted pentagram is not in any sense "evil." It is a special focusing of developed consciousness on the immediate connection to the physical world. Through this focusing, a powerful link between the physical and the spiritual is forged. In time this link will reappear as a path on the Tree of Two Hexagrams linking Yesod and Tipheret. At that time the lower pentagram will open into a hexagram with stabilizing effect. This double pentagram is used to build up a link between the developed states and the physical. The link that is found on the traditional Tree is primarily used to develop awareness of higher states.

The Higher Pentagram:

This pentagram is in the "normal" or upright orientation. It acts to communicate influences between the five highest Sephiroth, but its functions are not coordinated (Da'at has not yet manifested). It effectively abolishes the Abyss but does not completely link the lower Tree to the Sephira Keter. Parts of the middle pillar have been lost in establishing this star-bridge across the Abyss. Had Keter remained in direct communication with Tipheret, the Abyss would have remained. This stabilizing of the Abyss by elimination of the traditional path of Gimel is implied in the spelling and gematria of a Hebrew word meaning "abyss", Aleph-Bet-Dalet-Hay

. It is the direct link between Tipheret and Keter that destroys consciousness of the physical world. This link will be remade when the Tree has been strengthened and when Tipheret has ascended to the traditional position of Da'at.

To be continued next time with The Tree of the Pentagram and Hexagram.

Previous View from Tipheret, Part III Next View from Tipheret, Part V

From the Outbasket

Here is a question recently raised in correspondence with Grand Lodge; answer edited for publication:

From MK in NY, a question about Asanas and an apparent discrepancy in Crowley's recommendations.

The four postures described in 8 Lectures and Book 4 are designed or adapted by Crowley to fit western body styles. He felt that some of the eastern methods were excessive or dependent on what was thought in the 19th century to be a racial characteristic of Hindu bodies as contrasted with European bodies. We know now, of course, that this apparent difference amounts to little more than the way people sit down --- Europeans use chairs more often than the people of India, and consequently Europeans tend to be more stiff legged. Crowley discusses Asanas for different audiences. Liber E is part of the A

curriculum, and the instruction is given there for purposes of passing a test of success at a later date. 8 Lectures on Yoga is a set of classes Crowley taught in the early part of the 20th century. He spoke to people who had to be swayed to accept Hindu methods in the face of racial prejudice, hence disparaging remarks were used to "gentle" the listeners away from a mental block and toward learning the practices. Book 4, actually the first two of four parts (including Magick in Theory and Practice and The Equinox of the Gods as Nos. 3 & 4), was written as a primer or "first book" in the study of Crowley's system of Magick. It attempts to handle many topics briefly and simply. Magick in Theory and Practice continues with a more difficult and in-depth approach.

At one point in Book 4 Crowley remarks: "Any posture will do." This is part of a discussion on the different meanings of the word "Asana". Different Asana's do have different effects, and Crowley's recommendations refer to several that he found simple and useful in his own work. Crowley does not place great emphasis on the more elaborate effects of Asanas on the body, and he had a disparaging view of the medical basis of these various postures. We know now, from more recent advances in medicine, that the Hindu anatomical studies of antiquity were generally more accurate than anatomical knowledge in Europe down to the latter part of the nineteenth century. In reading Crowley or any other authority, always remember that you must question all unsupported facts and views. Crowley himself advocates this.

-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)

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Thelema Lodge Events Calendar for September 1992 e.v.

9/1/92	Astrological Analysis w/Grace 8PM at: 544 31st St.	Thelema Ldg
9/6/92	Lodge Council & LOP 3:33 PM at: 544 31st St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/6/92	Gnostic Mass 8 PM at: 588 63rd St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/7/92	Thelema Lodge meeting 8 PM at: 544 31st St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/11/92	Slideshow: Grady & the East Coast OTO w. Jerry Cornelius 8PM at: 544 31st St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/13/92	Gnostic Mass 8 PM at: 588 63rd St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/15/92	IInd Deg. study program 7PM w/Jerry at: 544 31st St. IInd Deg. & above only.	Thelema Ldg.
9/16/92	Astrological Analysis w/Grace 8PM at: 544 31st St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/18/92	Esoteric Film Night 7 PM, bring snacks & refreshements at: 544 31st St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/19/92	Thelema Lodge initiations Call to attend	Thelema Ldg.
9/20/92	Gnostic Mass 8 PM at: 588 63rd St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/22/92	Fall Equinox	The Gods
9/26/92	Jerry's Logorrhea, CALL TO ATTEND. at: 544 31st St. 7:30PM	Thelema Ldg.
9/27/92	Libra Birthday Party 4:18 PM at: 588 63rd St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/27/92	Gnostic Mass 8 PM at: 588 63rd St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/29/92	Tantra OP Gnosis at: 588 63rd St.	Thelema Ldg.
9/30/92	Locating the Planets with Mark 7PM at: 588 63rd St.	Thelema Ldg.