Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers

    If we had to make the year 93 memorable lets use the word 'COMMUNICATION' as our goal and use it as our fourfold door into every quarter of this year. Its time for talking and working together again as a community. To heal, to reach out and once again to be as productive as a whole as we once were.

               Fraternally, Achad Osher 583 VIII°
               Thelema Lodge Master
               December 1992ev

    A Qabalistic Note: COMMUNICATION
    C8,O70,M40,M40,U6,N50,I10,C8,A1,T9,I10,O70,N50 = 372
    The year 93 x 4 = 372

    This novelist is most famous for his classic tales of Berlin in the 1930's. He is the author of Cabaret and was born in England on a Friday night just before midnight on August 26th of 1904 just a little over four months after Aleister Crowley received The Book of the Law in Cairo.
    Years later in the early thirties Isherwood met Aleister Crowley; and, in fact, they actually spent some time together in Berlin. Crowley is also fictionalized in a short story entitled 'A Visit to Anselm Oakes' which is found in Isherwood's book Exhumations, although some biographers claim the story is not about Crowley but rather a gentleman named Paul Bowles. The facts show this is not true. The story is based on Aleister Crowley.
    The best of the Crowley stories is found in one of Isherwood's biographies and is a must to quote in full, "... Christopher met Berthold in the Cosy Corner, an unpretentious, almost homely place, often overheated by a big stove, and lacking in distinctive decoration, except for a few photographs of boxers and cyclists pinned up over the bar. Christopher later took several of his friends and acquaintances there, including the practitioner of the occult, Aleister Crowley, who declared on entering: "I haven't done anything like this since I was in Port Said." Crowley then walked up to a very tough-looking youth in an open shirt, standing by the bar, and scratched the boy's chest deeply with his nails. Only a sizable gift of money succeeded in restraining the boy from beating him up on the spot." (Isherwood, A Biography by Jonathan Fryer Doubleday & Co.,Inc.NY 1978 pg.107)
    I wonder why Crowley doesn't mention this incident in any of his books? Its a great story! Although Crowley does briefly mention Isherwood in an unpublished Diary from 1931,

    "Fri.Dec.25 Big dinner Karl, Hedy, Hamilton; later Christopher Isherwood & Stephen Spender - Bill & I both went after Hedy. Cosy Corner later - great fun with boys."

    Could Isherwood & Crowley be talking about the same night? Its quite possible. After all, scratching some youth's bare chest might be just what Crowley calls "fun with boys".
    In the next issue, we will bring you yet another short but sweet tale about Aleister Crowley from one of his dear acquaintances and again its likely to be something he's forgotten about, or wants to.

    Solve Et Coagula: teile und verbinde
    Catabolism & anabolism (as performed by our bodies constantly) etc.

    Something is taken apart (analyzed) and then put back together again (synthesized). In this process the substance worked with undergoes a purification. This purification is referred to as "making gold". Gold has been viewed as pure and can be viewed similarly in 20th century chemistry, as it is the metal that combines least easily with other substances - gold hardly corrodes. Gold also symbolizes the light- and life-giver in our part of the universe.
    Making gold: there is the medieval student of the arts, that might take lead and other substances and undergo elaborate processes in attempting to form actual gold. He/she might not be too successful on the material plane as nuclear physics (that can actually change one pure substance into another) is not yet available to him/her. He/she might be more successful on the material plane by making a medical remedy, taking a plant (herb) and separating it into it's main three parts, separating out the oil (soul), the alcohol (spirit) by distillation, and burning the rest to ashes (body). The three parts will be put together again functioning as a salve or other substance depending on the nature of the original herb and specific nature of the operation. The gold is found in the process of purification, partly in the remedy, as it is healing (life-giving) and the alteration of consciousness the student undergoes during the operation. The spiritual process the student undergoes is more essential than the material outcome of the substances worked with. It relates to "Every experience is a release" (A.C.) and the oath of the abyss (found elsewhere). The more elaborate the process is, the clearer the symbols used (to carry the student beyond the rational mind), the greater the alteration of consciousness might be, the more his/her subconsciousness will be impressed.
    Examples of solve et coagula: it can be as simple as eating: breaking the food down into subparticles, absorbing them into the blood, carrying them to a site of need, where they might be synthesized to human protein (or other substances used in the body). Important here is the level of awareness of this process. Will is a helpful practice. To take something apart means, to take it's parts out of their original; place, to transform them, to give them a place again (which is usually slightly different than the starting point). Cleaning and organizing relate very well to purification and giving things "their place". The journey of the souls through this world, starting from a place of unity, undergoing all sorts of experience and returning to a place of unity can be viewed in this context. (Described in more detail in the Manifesto of Adam Weishaupt.) With the appropriate awareness any kind of action of experience can be Alchemy.

from the Grady Project:

* One what keeps time, literally. ---- 777

Previously published in The Grady Project #2 (December 1987 e.v.).

    The Sepher Yetzirah is one of the most important founding works of Qabalah. It was composed probably between the 3rd and 6th centuries of the Christian era and was later attributed to R. Akiba. For more information on the history of this work, see Gershom Scholem's Kabbalah, Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1974. Scholem's work is essential for students of Qabalah, but must be taken with considerable skepticism in its conclusions.

    Yah, Jehovah of hosts, the living Elohim, King of the Universe, Omnipotent, All-King and Merciful, Supreme and Extolled, Who is Eternal, Sublime and Most- Holy, formed and created the Universe in thirty-two mysterious paths of wisdom by three Sepharim, namely: Sfor, Sippur and Sapher {, and : These angelic names mean: Numbers, Letters and Words} which are in Him one and the same. They consist of ten Sephiroth out of nothing and of twenty-two fundamental letters. He divided the twenty-two consonants into three divisions: Three Mothers, fundamental letters or first elements; Seven Double; and Twelve Simple consonants.

    The ten Sephiroth out of nothing is analogous to that of the ten fingers {and toes} of the human body, five parallel to five, and in the center of which is the covenant with the only One {between the hands this is the tongue. Between the feet this is the circumcised penis or the broken hymen} by the word of the tongue and the rite of Abraham.

    Ten are the Sephiroth {often translated as "numbers", this word has no English true equivalent} out of nothing, and not the number nine, ten and not eleven. Comprehend this great wisdom, understand {Chokmah and Binah in the text} this knowledge, inquire into it and ponder on it, render it evident and lead the Creator back to His throne again {In other words, descend the Tree of Life to learn Ma'aseh Berishit and ascend it to accomplish the goal of Ma'aseh Merkabah.}

    The Ten Sephiroth out of nothing are infinite in ten ways: The beginning infinite {Kether}; The end infinite {Chokmah}; The good infinite {Binah}; The evil infinite {Chesed}; The height infinite {Geburah}; The depth infinite {Tiphireth}; The East infinite {Netzach}; The West infinite {Hod}; The North infinite {Yesod}; The South infinite {Malkuth} - {These last four are given in a different order in some versions.}, and the only Lord God, the faithful King, rules over all from His holy habitation for ever and ever.

    The appearance of the Sephiroth out of nothing is like a flash of lightning, being without end, His word is in them, when they go and return; they run by His order like a whirlwind and humble themselves before His throne {The divine names of the lightning bolt are: Eheieh, Yah, Yahweh Elohim, El, Elohim Gibor, Jehovah Eloh Va- Da'at, Jehovah Tzabaoth, Elohim Tzabaoth, Shadi El Chi, Adoni Melekh Ha-Aretz.}

    The Sephiroth out of nothing has its end linked to its beginning and its beginning linked to its end, just as the flame is wedded to the live coal; because the Lord is one and there is not a second one, and before one what will you count {"count" has the suggestion meaning of "consider a Sephira."}?

    Concerning the number ten of the Sephiroth out of nothing, keep your tongue from speaking and your mind from pondering it and if your mouth urges you to speak and your heart to think about it, return {from questioning the number ten of them}! as it reads: "And the living creatures ran and returned," {Ezekiel: I, 14} and upon this {Mystery} was the covenant made.

    These are the ten Sephiroth out of nothing:
    One; The Spirit of the living God {Ruach Elohim Chiim}, praised and glorified be the name {schem} of Him who lives to all eternity. The articulate word of creative power, the spirit and the word are what we call the holy spirit. Two; Air emanated from the spirit
    by which He formed and established twenty-two consonants fundamentally. Three of them are truly fundamental letters, or mothers, seven are double and twelve are simple consonants; hence the spirit is the first one.
    Three; Primitive water emanated from the air. He formed and established by it Bohu {the more substantial part of Chaos, or the waters below the upper waters of Genesis} mud and loam, made them like a bed, put them up like a wall, and surrounded them as with a rampart, put coldness upon them and they became dust, as it reads; "He says to the coldness {snow} be thou earth." {Job: XXXVI; 6}
    Four; Fire or Aether emanated from the water. He established by it the throne of glory, the Seraphim and Opanim, the holy living creatures and the angels, and of these three He formed His habitation, as it reads "Who made His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire." {Psalm CIV, 4} He selected three consonants from the simple ones which are in the hidden secret of three mothers or first elements: Air, Water, and Aether or Fire. He sealed them with spirit and fastened them to His great name {Schem, which can be spelled } and sealed with it six dimensions.
    Five; He sealed the height and turned towards above. The seal was {through Aleph}
    Six; He sealed the depth, and turned toward below. The seal was {through Aleph}
    Seven; He sealed the East and turned forward. The seal was {through Mem}
    Eight; He sealed the West and turned backward. The seal was {through Mem}
    Nine; He sealed the {North} and turned to the {left}. The seal was {through Shin}
    Ten; He sealed the {South} and turned to the {right}. The seal was {through Shin}
    {Extended note: The letters of the six seals are in different order in different versions of the manuscripts. There is also confusion about the order of South and North, right and left. The latter problem may depend on the divinity having right and left sides opposite to the human right and left. The former problem follows from the latter. Also, the oral tradition that ascribes the passage of the seals through the three Mother letters depends on numbers 2 through 4 of this section.}

    These are the ten spheres of existence out of nothing. From the spirit of the living God emanated air, from the air, water, from the water, fire or aether, from the aether, the height and the depth, the East and the West, the North and the South. {Extended Note: This is not a simple system of a single emanation. The Hindu theory of the three Gunas is closer to this than the Neoplatonic theory. Here we have a primary emanation from the three abstract qualities of numbers, letters and words (Sec. 1). The ten sephiroth are emanated in more than three spatial dimensions and interact with the letters via a complex relationship to the three Mother letters. Even the relationship of the three Mother letters to the other letters and to the ten sephiroth is not simple but compound. The higher form of the Mothers has the sequence then then . From this sequence replicates in a lower form. As we will see in the next chapter, these three Mother letters then take a different order to produce yet a still lower form of the Tree of the Ten Sephiroth. The turning point is described in section eight through permutation of the letters of the name Yah - as foretold in the first section of this chapter. The order of the three Mother letters given in this chapter is that of the "Cube of Space". The order of these Mother letters given in the next chapter defines a different kind of universe, that of the "Schem" or G D Tree of Life. These two universes (and others hinted at in this first chapter) are considered to be "one above the other" in the sense of abstraction being above the concrete.}

    There are twenty-two letters fundamentally. Three of them are the first elements, true fundamentals or mothers, seven are double and twelve are simple consonants. The three fundamental letters have as their basis the balance. In one scale is the merit and in the other the fault, which are placed in equilibrium by the tongue {This is shown in the Egyptian Book of the Dead as the Weighing of the Soul of the Dead and the Testing of the Balance by Thoth, the god of letters}. The three fundamental letters, , signify, as is mute like the water and hissing like the fire, there is among them, a breath of air which reconciles them. {The sounds of these three letters resemble the characteristic sounds of their elements: Mem is like the rolling of waves, Shin is Like the hissing of flames and Aleph is like the blowing of the wind.}

    These are the twenty-two letters which form the foundation {, the name later applied to the ninth Sephira, is the word used here in the text.}, after having been appointed and established. He combined, weighed {assigned values} and exchanged them, and formed by them all beings which are in existence, and all these which will be formed in all time to come.

    He established twenty-two letters fundamentally by the voice, formed by the breath of air and fixed them on five places in the human mouth, namely: One at the throat {guttural sounds}, Aleph , Hay , Chet , Ayin . Two at the palate {palatal sounds}, Gimel , Yod , Kaf , Qof . Three, at the tongue {lingual sounds}, Dalet , Tet , Lamed , Nun , Taw . Four, at the teeth {dental sounds}, Zain , Shin , Samekh , Resh , Tzaddi . Five, at the lips {labial sounds}, Bet , Vau , Mem , Peh .

    He fixed the twenty-two Letters of foundation on the sphere like a wall with 231 gates, and turned the spheres forward and backward. For an illustration may serve the three letters, , , . There is nothing better than joy {spelled in Hebrew} and nothing worse than sorrow or plague {spelled , in Hebrew. Thus various combinations of the same letters in this language can produce opposite meanings. This is a part of the mysticism of the letters, and also a part of the nature of Hebrew root word formations}

    But how was it done? He combined, weighed and exchanged: the with all the other letters in succession, and all the others again with ; with all, and all again with ; and so the whole series of Letters {was paired off in very possible way}. Hence it follows that there are 231 formations, and that every creature and every word emanated from one name. {Extended Note: There are only 231 ways to combine the 22 Hebrew letters into different pairs. The one name is Schem, composed of the three Mother letters Shin, Aleph, and Mem, which provide the basis for all sounds. Schem is the Hebrew word for "Name" especially "Name of the divinity." Schem is usually spelled Shin-Mem, but Aleph can be added to the middle of the word without making a difference in its pronunciation.}

    He created a reality out of nothing, called the non-existing into existence and shaped colossal pillars from intangible air. This has been shown by the example of combining the letter Aleph with all the other letters, and all the other letters with Aleph. {Of the three Mother Letters, Aleph is the most basic. It's number value is One; and Aleph is the breath of sound carrying air that is necessary to pronounce any and all of the other letters. Thus, the gates of Aleph, the combinations formed between Aleph and all the remaining 21 letters produce the actual sounds of the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet. The pairs or gates with Aleph ARE the spoken Hebrew letters.} He predetermined, and by speaking created every creature and every word by one name. For a sign of this may serve the twenty-two elementary substances {Alphabet letters} by the primitive substance of Aleph.

    The three first elements, , are typified by a balance, in one scale the merit and in the other the fault, which are placed in equilibrium by the tongue. These three mothers, , are a great, wonderful and unknown mystery, and are sealed by six rings, or elementary circles, namely: air, water, and fire emanated from them, which gave birth again to some offspring {These rings are the ways of ordering three letters, as: , male; , female; , male; , female; , male; , female}

    God appointed and established the three mothers; combined, weighed and exchanged them, and formed by them three mothers in the world {the six directions: Above, East and South are probably Male in this tradition. Below, West and North are probably Female in this tradition - this is the key to the seals of the directions.}, in the year {The six warm months are female two by two while the six cold months are male two by two} and in man, male and female {Here the first rings apply to childhood, the third and fourth to adulthood and the last rings to age}.

    The three mothers in the world are: air, water and fire. Heaven was created from fire or ether {"heaven" or "schemim" starts with the letter Shin in Hebrew}; the earth {comprising sea above land - "Mem" is both the name of and the Hebrew word for sea} from the elementary water; and the atmospheric air from the elementary air, or spirit, which establishes the balance among them.

    The three mothers produce in the year heat, coldness and moistness. Heat was created from fire, coldness from water, and moistness from air which equalizes them {fire + water = steam or moist air: Shin + Mem = Aleph, in this particular mystical sense}.

    The three mothers produce in man, male and female, breast, body and head. The head was created from fire {Shin, on the Tree of Life. The upper three Sephiroth are the three prongs of the letter Shin, while the base of the letter forms the Abyss, .}, the (belly) from water {Mem, on the Tree of Life. The upper stroke of this letter is the Sephira Yesod - which is spelled with Yod as its first letter in Hebrew - and the body of this letter Mem is the Sephira Malkuth - the Hebrew word "Malkuth" starts with the letter "Mem". In other words, Mem forms the two lowest Sephiroth.}, and the (breast in man, male and female {Aleph, on the Tree of Life forms the middle five Sephiroth by its upper two points, its lower two points and the intersection in the middle of the letter Aleph}) ->{Note: The text of Section Five is corrupt. It has here been "corrected" by comparison to sections six, seven and eight as well as an application of the "theory of cyclic permutation" from the modern mathematics of Group Theory.}

    First Division. He let the letter Aleph predominate in primitive air, crowned it {made it the top letter of the column in the middle of the Tree of Life. Descending the Tree of Life, the order of the three letters is Aleph, Mem and Shin (male) in Kether, Tiphereth and Yesod. The female order, Shin, Mem and Aleph is encountered by rising up the middle pillar of the Tree and thereby reversing this order.}, combining one with the other and formed by them the air in the world, moistness in the year, and the breast in man, male and female: in male by and in female by {Text corrected by Group Theory - see note on Section Five. Note also that the breast is the place of the lungs.}

    Second Division. He let the letter predominate in primitive water, and crowned it, combined one with the other {made Mem the top letter of the column of Mercy on the right side of the Tree of Life. The order of the three letters is Mem, Shin and Aleph in the Sephiroth Chokmah, Chesed and Netzach {a male ring} going down, and the opposite order {female ring} going up. This symbolically makes the pillar of Mercy Male as viewed from the bottom and female as viewed from the top - there is another way of considering it predominantly male - by application of the letters of the name Jehovah or Yahweh to the Tree.}, and formed by them the earth {with water over land} coldness in the year, and the belly in male and female; in male by , in female by . {Note that the belly in the human body holds most of the free water of the body.}

    Third Division. He let the letter Shin predominate in primitive fire, crowned it, combined one with the other {made Shin the top of the column of severity on the Tree of Life. The order of these three letters is Shin, Aleph, Mem in the Sephiroth Binah, Geburah and Hod going down (Male ring) and Mem, Aleph, Shin going up (Female ring). This makes the pillar of Severity, the left column of the Tree of Life, Male when viewed from the top and Female when viewed from the bottom. By the method of placing Tetragrammaton on the Tree of Life this column is considered predominantly Female}, and formed by them, heaven in the world, heat in the year, and the head of male and female {As a Hebrew word, the name of the letter Shin means "tooth"; and of course the teeth are to be found in the head}.

    One of the witnesses called by the defence styled himself MacGregor, and his full name being desired he recited a list of Christian names and the surname Mathers.
    Crowley, he said, was expelled from the Rosicrucian Order in 1905 because he had circulated libels against the witness, who was head of the Order, and because he was working against the interests of the Order.
    Mr. Simmons, cross-examining, asked the witness whether his original name was not Samuel Liddell Mathers?
    The Witness: Undoubtedly.
    Did you subsequently assume the name of MacGregor? - The name of Mathers dates from 1603. At the time the name MacGregor was forbidden on pain of death, and there is no single person of the name of MacGregor at the present day who has not had another name in the interval.
    Your name was MacGregor in 1603? (Laughter.) - Yes, if you like to put it in that way.
    You have called yourself Count MacGregor of Gleestrae? - Oh, yes.
    The witness denied that he had asserted he was Cagliostro.
    Have you ever suggested that you had any connection with King James IV. of Scotland? - Every Scotsman who dates from an ancient family must have had some connection with King James IV. as well as with the other Kings.
    Have you ever asserted that King James IV. of Scotland never died? - That is a matter of common tradition. The old tradition of that nature in Scotland forms the basis of one of Allan Cunningham's novels.
    Do you assert the James IV. of Scotland is in existence to-day? - I refuse to answer your question.
    And that his existence to-day is embodied in yourself? - Certainly not. You are confusing me with Crowley's aliases.
    Do you believe that the Count de St. Germain is living? - The witness referred counsel to traditions in the St. Germain family.
    Then we have two people who are supposed to be dead, and who are not dead? - I am not responsible for the traditions.
    Mr. Justice Scrutton (to counsel): The "Flying Dutchman" is a third, if you want to pursue this subject. (Laughter.)
    The Witness: And "The Wandering Jew." (Laughter.)
    The witness, further questioned, refused to say how many members the Order had: a great many; there were more than 200 with whom he was actually in touch. He was head of the Order. There were secret chiefs.
    Counsel asked for the names of these chiefs.
    The Witness: I am sworn not to give them. He added that he exercised the power of expulsion. He refused to say how many people he had expelled: he had expelled as many as fifteen at one time.
    Mr. Justice Scrutton: This trial is getting very much like the trial in "Alice in Wonderland." (Laughter.)

D.D. of KT asked about Summonings and the numbering of alphabets.

    Regarding summonings, the Goetia presents some problems in that it is predominantly Christian, negative and very incomplete. The full work is called the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon. Unfortunately, it is very rarely in print entire. The Greater Key of Solomon is more often in print, but like most grimories, the Christian element presents some problems. The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage is probably the best for a full generalized course of preparation and summoning. Crowley has several chapters in Magick in Theory and Practice on the subject that would help. There is quite a lot in The Golden Dawn as well, but mainly scattered except for the Enochiana in the second half. Crowley gives several examples in the Equinox.
    Crowley set up a correspondence to the order of the English alphabet in some versions of his Liber Trigrammaton, and that is a basis for assigning numbers to the letters. The Order he used in that Liber is: I L C H X T Y P A J W O G Z B F S M N E R Q V K D U. This has led to use of numbers as: I - A, 1 - 9; J - M, 10 - 18; N - U, 19 - 28. I have not seen any evidence that Crowley used these number correspondences, and there are several others in use by modern Thelemites (See the note to the Lodge Master's address in this issue). Crowley usually transliterated English into Hebrew or Greek, with a few rare instances of mixed Hebrew and Greek. He coined letter combinations in Greek such as for Stau and 6 or 31 - varying the usage quite a bit. He sometimes used odd spellings to get particular numbers.

M.M. of CA expressed difficulty with finding a copy of "The Qabalah".

    I think that one possible problem with getting a copy of The Qabalah may come from the fact that there isn't just one book. There are many books about the Qabalah, and some even call themselves by that name spelled in a variety of ways. The main works are Sepher Yetzirah and Sepher Zohar. The Zohar has never been fully translated into English and runs to several volumes. Other works you might like to look to would include Regardie's Garden of Pomegranates, Mathers' Kabbalah Unveiled (only the introduction) and whatever you can find in occult bookstores on the subject. Dion Fortune's The Mystical Qabalah is also useful, but needs to be taken with a grain of salt where she discusses "Yesod", "Netzach" and "Binah". Beyond this, the subject of Qabalah is quite complex, with many different ways to go.

Clues:
1. Ben Franklin probably went through this door.
2. A British Minister held revel here.
3. An O.T.O. group was once named after this.

Events Calendar for January 1993 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.

   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

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)