Thelema Lodge Calendar for June 1993 e.v.

Thelema Lodge Calendar

for June 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.

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

June 1993 e.v. at Thelema Lodge

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

Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers

Greater Feasts

As April 8th, 9th and 10th are the Great Feast Days of Thelema, so also May 9th and 10th of this year became Greater Feast days of another kind. Bel Crosby and Rusty Sporer have passed into the embrace of Nuit. Brother Bel died of cancer of the prostate, and Brother Rusty died of heart failure. Both were long term members of the O.T.O. Brother Bel joined in 1980 e.v. and Brother Rusty in 1977 e.v. Both were friends of mine well before their involvement in O.T.O.

Bel had attended some of my classes back in the mid 70s, was active in the Sikh religion for many years and married Beverly S., second Grand Secretary General under the O.T.O. Corporation. He lived to an advanced age and saw more in some years than many see in a lifetime. People who attend Gnostic Mass at Thelema Lodge sometimes remark about a golden censor that Bel gave to the Order. His kindness to the Lodge also extended to gifts of fittings and large magical squares for Enochian working. Five feet from where I sit typing hangs his magical sword, given into my keeping when he passed his sixteenth lustration in life. Bel was a scholar and Enochian Mage worthy of great respect. In his retirement he remained active, attending psychic fairs and giving classes. Beverly plans to scatter his ashes at the Solstice in the holy mountains of the California Sierra. There is a private phone number available for those who knew Bel and would like to attend. Contact the Lodge for details.

Brother Rusty Sporer had just entered the aftermath of middle age when it came time to leave us. He too lived with a stronger and brighter flame than that which illuminates most lives. I knew him from his days with the Society for Creative Anachronism in Berkeley, that otherwise not magical group that holds tourneys with knights in armour at various places around the USA and Canada. A gentle giant, Rusty would sometimes bang his head on the lintels of doorways built for us lesser folk. When I had an initiation temple in my basement, I lowered the floor to make sure Rusty wouldn't hit the ceiling beams. I used to kid him that as long as my front steps wouldn't fail under him, I could defer repairs a little longer. His natural size contributed to the afflictions of diabetes, and a leg had to be amputated some years ago. His last weeks were burdened with dialysis treatments. For all the suffering and physical constraints attendant on his disease, Rusty would not accept limitation. He was one of the most traveled initiators in the O.T.O., often going out of the country when a man of lesser determination would not stir from a hospital bed. He revived the Knights of Baphomet from oblivion and made membership in this external service group available in much of the world. Rusty was a bishop in the E.G.C. both without and within O.T.O., and many of the practices of the Church owe their origin and preservation to him. His legacy will live on in Aiwass Lodge, which he founded. His correspondence as Fr. Ion was voluminous, not least important in that part that comforted the imprisoned in their hours of isolation and uncertainty. Rusty is survived by Bernadette, his lady, and by his children of earlier years. Rusty's ashes will be given into the embrace of the sea, as were those of his friend and Brother Hymenaeus Alpha, Grady McMurtry. Contact Aiwass Lodge for further information.
---- Fr. Emmet

Liber XV Workshop

Recent discoveries have clarified the original steps and signs referred to in the Gnostic Mass. Thelema Lodge will be hosting a discussion/class/- practice session on these Friday, June 4th. Class starts at 8:00pm, all interested in the Mass as Crowley intended are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Minerval Curriculum Class

Assistance in learning the Liber MCLI Minerval Curriculum. This will include doing an effective Lesser Banishing Ritual, performing Liber Resh, saying Will, keeping a magical record, daily study of Liber AL, study of Magick in Theory and Practice and staying in touch with the O.T.O. A discussion on the purpose of this curriculum will be taught by Frater Shaitan. Thursday, June 10th at 8:00pm.

Liber Samekh Class

Bill Heidrick will discuss the precursors, theory and method of the Bornless Ritual, at Thelema Lodge on June 16th, 7:30 PM. Slides and hand-outs will be used along with a demonstration of the ritual as appended to the Goetia in the Crowley-Mathers edition.

Mysteries of the Orient!

Brother Jeffrey unveils his research work on the Chinese Gods and 777 this month at Thelema Lodge. See how the Eastern Magical System on earth ties in with the western in unexpected ways on Thursday, June 17th beginning at 8:00pm.

Two for One!

The next week, Brother Jeffrey kicks off a new series called "The Giants of Will." See the great historical figures who, through sheer force of will, made a permanent impact on human destiny on Thursday, June 24th at 8:00pm.

Rites of Eleusis

Sirius Oasis is happy to host two planning meetings for Crowley's Rites of Eleusis in June. On Wednesday, June 9th we will find directors for each of the seven rites, start casting of the parts and start looking for good locations. On Tuesday, June 15th we will plan rehearsals and fill in any gaps from last week. The rites have usually been done from a full moon on Saturn day to a full moon on Moon day and go down the sephiroth of the tree of life, but we may decide to do only one each month as is done in other places. Call (510) 527-2855 for directions. Jim and Jewel will be hosting a third organizational meeting and slide show at Thelema Lodge on Friday, June 25th at 8:00pm. All interested in assuming a God-form and/or assisting in these Rites are encouraged to attend these meetings.

The Rite of Saturn is currently scheduled to start the series with the full moon on Saturday, July 3.

The Star Ruby

Marlene will hold a ritual workshop on the Star Ruby on Wednesday, June 30th at 7:30pm. We will review the performance of the ritual as well as the many researched writings on the same.

Lodge Business

The Lodge of Perfection meets at 3:33pm on Sunday, June 6th. As always, the first Sunday of the month is reserved for those members of IVth degree and above. Additionally, there will be a workshop on the Fourth Degree Ritual held on Saturday, June 26th, call for details.

Thelema Lodge Meeting will be held on Monday, June 7th at 8:00pm. This meeting schedules events for the month of July, anyone interested in hosting a class or event should attend (please bring a written description of your event). Following the 'business' part of evening, Jerry will share the entire History Heap for the month of June! Last month this was quite a success with much discussion and digression of the historical (and hysterical!) figures and events.

There are three Gnostic Masses scheduled for June, on the 13th, 20th and 27th. The Lodge opens at 3:33pm with the Mass scheduled for 4:18pm. As the solstice falls on Sunday the 20th, there are plans being made to incorporate a Solstice Ritual along with the Gnostic Mass (call for details). On June 19th Thelema Lodge will be holding First Degree Initiations. Call

Crowley Classics

A considerable correspondence took place between Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris over the design of the cards of the Thoth Tarot. Many of the letters dealt with details of the drawings and symbolism, but things did not go well after the deck was ready for publication. Quite a scrap ensued over rights and ways of doing things. The seeds of that were present even earlier, and the careful observer will find "ABRACADABRAH" instead of "ABRAHADABRAH" on the canopy of the Chariot Atu. Frieda also insisted on a water bug for the Moon Atu instead of the Scarab Crowley wanted. The following item was written by Crowley himself. Apparently the idea was to have something to show Frieda to trick her into the belief that "Higher Authority" demanded things to go in a certain direction. Even though this was written as a "leg-pull" with oddly spelled names &c., it is especially valuable for insights into Crowley's own view of his career and for details like the anticipated duration of the Aeon of Horus. Crowley wrote similar "3rd party" stuff at several periods of his life to dress-up things for public consumption and to influence his readers. Another example would be the Illuminati fragments in the Equinox Vol. I, No. 10, attributed to Adam Weishaupt but actually by Crowley himself. The present selection was entered for computer by Fr. H.B., and the interested reader will find much more available from O.T.O. on diskette for 5 1/4 IBM PC in the Crowley - Frieda Harris Letters file. See Magical Link 1988, Jul/Aug and Sept/Oct for letters detailing the symbolism of the cards and the "Primary Sources" column for another letter in this series from Frieda Harris.

An open letter to Alestair Crowley

SOCIETY OF HIDDEN MASTERS

Dear Sir

For many years we have watched your career with benevolent interest; while we have been unable to approve many of your activities in particular your policy of revealing secret knowledge which we consider dangerous if in the possession of untrained and uninitiated people, we have always respected your passionate integrity, your fanatical (and in our opinion, indiscreet) love of Truth.

In our view, this mistaken policy has been responsible for many of your own personal mishaps. For this reason we are surprised that you should acquiesce, even by silence, in so blatant and impudent a hoax as the exhibition of Tarot Cards at the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, 26/7 Conduit Street, W.1. beginning 4th August 1942.

We hereby challenge you to deny any of the statements here following: -
1. During the winter of 1898/9 you were entrusted by the Order of A

with the Secret Lecture on the Tarot, giving the initiated attributions.
2. You published these attributions at the command of the Secret Chiefs of the order in a Book of Reference numbered 777 in 1909.
3. You issued the Official Lecture of the Order on the Tarot, in the Equinox Vol. I Nos VII and VIII, March and September 1912.
4. You have made the Tarot your continual study and used it daily, since the Winter of 1898/9.
5. You have made the Tarot the skeleton or schema of all your writings on mystical and majical subjects. We would instance particularly "Ambresü", "Maji Hortus Rosarum" (The Wake-World), The Vision and the Voice, Theory and Practice of Magick.
6. You have been recognized everywhere in Europe and America (even, to a less extent, in India) as the supreme Authority on the Tarot; that is, by serious students of the subject.
7. You have contemplated the construction and publication of a properly designed and executed pack, based on the Equinox information ever since the issue of the grotesque and falsified parody which appeared under the auspices of the later H.E. Waite.
8. In a series of conversations in 1937 beginning at Mr. Clifford Bax' chambers in Albany St., W.1., you suggested to Lady Harris that she might be able to carry out this work. Although she very rightly protested that her knowledge of the subject hardly extended beyond the name, you, with the imbecile optimism characteristic of you, persuaded her that the descriptions of the cards given in the Equinox would be sufficient guide, and persuaded her to make the attempt.
9. It became obvious almost at once that the Equinox designs were artistically impracticable. Lady Harris very properly asked you to take the whole subject in hand ab ovo asque ad umbilicum. You thereupon agreed to devote your whole knowledge to the work of designing an entirely original pack of cards, incorporating the results of your 39 years of constant study of the subject with your profound - if at times unacceptably unorthodox - knowledge of comparative religion, mathematical physics, philosophy and Magick. Also that you should compose a Treatise explaining the subject in full. It appears from a notice in the Exhibition that there is a proposal to publish the cards as a pack without this book. To do so would limit their use to fortune-telling, a form of fraud against which you have constantly set your face your whole life long. We refuse to believe that you have now consented to prostitute the Sacred Wisdom of Thoth to this base and dishonest purpose and we insist upon this point being made clear.
10. On May 11, 1938, Lady Harris became officially your disciple, and was permitted to affiliate to the other Order of which you are Head, the O.T.O.
11. You made an agreement with Lady Harris by which you were to have a 66 2/3% interest in the work.
12. For the next four years approximately, Lady Harris prepared water-colours of the cards. She did this from your rough sketches and descriptions under your continual direction, subject to your constant and repeated corrections. In some cases you made her redraw and re-paint a card which you found unsatisfactory as many as five or six times. She has, when left to herself, no sense of dignify or congruity; one of us has seen some attempts which you rejected, for instance, her ideal figure for "The Fool", the Holy Ghost, was Harpo Marx. Did you really pass this and Trump I? She gave the Sphinx in Trump X a French cabahy sabre! And her first conception of "The Lord of the Winds and the Breezes; the King of the Spirits of the Air", was a clown in plate armour, waving rapier and dagger, sprawling over a demented nag, diving through a paper screen in a circus!
13. You left Lady Harris a comparatively free hand in respect of insignificant details; but at no time did she contribute a single idea of any kind to any card, and she is in fact almost as ignorant of the Tarot and its true meaning and use as when she began. We cannot however, blame you for this.
14. You have followed with as much fidelity as was possible the traditional designs of the mediaeval packs; but you have notably enriched and revified some of them, especially the Trumps, with your scholarship, as observed above in paragraph 9.
15. In every trump you have not only incorporated symbols illustrating the doctrines of Payne Knight, Hargrave Jennings, Arthur Eddington, J.G. Froyer, Bertrand Russell, J.W.N. Sullivan, Eliphanz Levi and how many others! - but introduced very many ideas purely personal to yourself and based on your own personal magical experience - see The Vision and the Voice, "The Paris Working" etc.
16. In certain cases, in order to make sure that your doctrines of the New Aeon is clearly manifest as the spiritual-magical basis of the whole work, you have given new names to the cards. Notably Trumps XI, XIV, and numerous "small" cards. You have made the final correction to the attributions - Trumps IV and XVII, according to the Book of the Law given to you in Cairo April 8, 9, and 10 1904. You have used "The Stele of Revealing" (see The Book of the Law Chap. I 49, III 19) to replace "The Last Judgment" (Trump XX) to affirm the supersession of the Aeon of Osiris the Dying God by that of Horus the Crowned and Conquering Child. The entire composition is soaked in and reeks of your own private and personal unique point of view with regard to Majick.
17. You undertook this Work with two main motives: -

1. That it should serve as a Magical Atlas of and Guide to the Universe, for this "New Aeon of Horus", that is, for the next 2,000 years.

2. That its undeniable beauty and majesty should be an intelligible vindication of the whole of your life's work. You rightly foresaw that sooner or later it would be clear that you are the sole responsible author of the Work and Lady Harris only your more or less docile and intelligent instrument.
18. You and Lady Harris were at first agreed that the Work should be put forth anonymously. She wrote to a friend "I intend to remain anonymous when the cards are shown". You had, of course, pointed out that any student of the subject would recognise your authorship at a glance.
19. Too well aware that in the past your work has been stolen and exploited by unscrupulous rascals and also that doctrinal argument of a lightly technical kind may all too frequently prove rather hard for a jury, you took the precaution of introducing certain symbols into the designs of such a character that the most stupid would be compelled to acknowledge your authorship of the Work.

Your conduct is abominable and inexcusable to allow Lady Harris to issue a catalogue crammed with the grossest errors of fact, blunders of scholarship, irrelevancies and absurdities; to allow her to make herself the laughing-stock of London by laying claim to the authorship of pictures of which all artists know her to be utterly incapable, her work having been that of a wealthy amateur persistent enough to acquire a good technique but with no personality, no "message" groping in Bloomsbury fogs for the parasitic adulation of a gaggle of sycophants.

We can understand your passionate wish to get these cards exhibited, even by a subterfuge, but you had no right to sacrifice Lady Harris and you have no right to lend yourself, even by silence to the perpetration of a hoax transparent and nausient as it must naturally be, which affects the honour of the Fraternity of Art and Letters.

We repeat that we are surprised; for whatever your faults, you have always been honourable and truthful with more than ancient Roman rigour. You must speak now.

for the Society of Hidden Masters.
Justus M.

Sic vos non vobis.

Sunur evique.

Naturally, Crowley had next to write a letter "of his own", defending himself and forcing the issue toward his intentions. Only a part of this survives; the first page is missing.

. . .

Their estimate in paragraph 6 is exaggerated: it depends on the definition of "serious students."

Nor would it be useful to deny them, as in every case their truth is guaranteed by evidence independent of my asseveration, internal evidence of documents easily accessible.

----

I do however most strenuously deny participation in the hoax. This was perpetrated by Lady Harris without my knowledge or consent; I only learnt of the exhibitions, in the first case several days after the opening, from information supplied by loyal friends.

This letter is to authorize and to request you to publicize its substance, either by a letter addressed to the Times and other newspapers, or as you in your best judgment may see fit.

Believe me,

Gentlemen,

Yours faithfully,

Aleister Crowley

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from the Grady Project:

Thy Serpent Priest

In Eden stands Thy Serpent Priest,

In Space Thy Serpent Flower;

The Heaven of Thy holy lust

Has burst my casement Tower.

4/4/62

-- Grady L. McMurtry

Published in Ecclesia Gnostica I:2 (winter, 1985 e.v. with the author's dedication "for: Julie Weber and her Magick Theater", in McMurtry: Poems (London & Bergen: O.T.O., 1986 e.v.), and in The Grady Project #3 (March 1988 e.v.).

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Archivist Anecdotes

Friends & Acquaintances
of Aleister Crowley

Part VI

Dame Edith Sitwell

This woman, born September 7th of 1887 at Scarbourough England, published an impressive amount of poetry throughout her life. In 1933 she received a medal from the Royal Society of Literature for her accomplishments and in 1954 she became "Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire", an honor bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II.

She was also a friend of Nina Hamnett and she apparently liked her very much and called her "one of the most generous people one could imagine."¹ Further she wrote that Nina Hamnett "... did not lack courage. Later on, in 1934, that black magician Aleister Crowley had Miss Hamnett and of course her publishers, Messrs. Constable, up for libel. He lost the case".² There is no indication that Mrs.Sitwell ever meet Aleister Crowley personally so he could tell his side of the story to her. She probably got an ear full from Nina about him.

Nina Hamnett's book The Laughing Torso supposedly libeled Aleister Crowley's image. The paragraph in question that he objected to was as follows, "Crowley had a temple in Cefalu in Sicily. He was supposed to practice Black Magic there, and one day a baby was said to have disappeared mysteriously. There was a goat also there. This all points to Black Magic, so people said, and the inhabitants of the village were frightened of him".³ It is very libelous and definitely false on many points, but the goat ... yes, there was one at Abbey.

Years later Aleister Crowley for what ever reasons tried in vain to make a friendship with Edith Sitwell and her brother Osbert. She wrote, "Although Mr.Crowley did his best to pursue an acquaintance with my brother and myself, I did not at the time wish to know him. But when, later on, I read about the sacrifice of a wretched cat, who was not properly killed during one of the obscene rites he practiced, anger made me wish I had taken the opportunity. It would have given me pleasure to have said to him: 'Mr Crowley, you will go straight to hell and you will meet only yourself, over and over again.,"⁴

What a scary concept! A Hell filled with thousands of Aleister Crowleys! Its a good thing she never meet Crowley to tell him that, or is it? If ever she did get the chance to tell him her 'wish' he might have actually found the idea completely enjoyable! I can see him chuckling now at the idea.

Edith Sitwell died in Hampstead, London of heart failure on December 9th 1964 at the age of 77.
--- Frater Archivist

Notes:
1. Taken Care Of, The Autobiography of Edith Sitwell Atheneum, NY 1965 pg.92

The Archives of HA File No.1385.
2. Ibid pg.92.
3. The Laughing Torso by Nina Hamnett, Constable & Co.LTD, London 1932 pgs.173-174

The Archives of HA File No.1.
4. Taken Care Of cont. pg.93.

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Point of Initial View

Blind and bornless,

What do I know beyond my mother

And what my father has given me?

I move through the cycles of life

Born a million times in a million ways

All in one million days I have just begun.

I have all power!

I have a body that captures me

I wish to break free, how much longer do I belong here?

Blind and dying,

What do I know beyond my mother

And what my father has given me?

Frater Aleph-Nun-Yod

Qabalah
Sepher Yetzirah

(6th Installment)

[Adapted to conform to the Golden Dawn correspondences in 1976 e.v. with parenthetic notes by Bill Heidrick from the Kalisch and Stenring translations. This rendering of the S.Y. is made in the public domain as a way of paying dues of another kind. The notes are in curly brackets: {}, and are not part of the original text. The Sepher Yetzirah is the ultimate basis of the Golden Dawn system of correspondences embodied in Crowley's Liber 777.]

Chapter Five. (cont.)

Section Six.

Third Division, He let the letter Qof

predominate in Sleep {K.T. assigns Laughing}, crowned it, combined one with the other, and formed by them: Pisces in the world, the month Adar in the year, and the milt of the human body, male and female.

He made them as a conflict, drew them up like a wall; and set one against the other as in warfare. {This last point is explained by the observation that these twelve letters symbolize processes in human behavior that can interfere with each other. Some further points must now be made regarding the assignments of qualities and body parts to these twelve simple letters. In the Golden Dawn Tradition, many things are subordinated to the Astrological symbolism. This was true in the case of the Double letters, where one of several natural methods of assignment in the Yetzirah was passed over to provide a better match between the Double Letters and the planets to work with Tarot Trumps. The other methods do not work as well with the G D Tarot-Astrological system, and they are therefore excluded from Liber 777. This should not make the student think that the primary method used there excludes the several systems proposed here. It is best to begin with a simple system. The serious student then must examine the other systems to determine the information contained in each of them. In the case of these Twelve Simple Letters, this is even more the case. The Golden Dawn -- Liber 777 system has shifted the twelve qualities of the simple letters to make them match the usual qualities of the Astrological signs. The Yetzirah has set up an entirely new parallel system through these qualities which deserves its own study. The same is true of the body organs mentioned here. In the Golden Dawn system, these associations are omitted entirely. The usual associations to the Zodiac signs are assumed in place of these associations in the Yetzirah to body organs. It is suggested that these associations have a particular meaning of their own, and that the serious student will in time find it useful to study that system. By all means, begin with the simpler approach given in Liber 777 and in the various works derived from the Order of the Golden Dawn. When comfortable with that approach, consider these other systems. It is the work of the advanced student of the mysteries to make these apparently diverse systems function well together -- even if the war of the simple letters is the only manner in which it may be done.

Always remember that the ideas presented in the Yetzirah are like words in their effect. The object is to first learn the simple uses of these ideas, and then to discover the uses of these ideas that are like circumlocutions, figures of speech and allegories. By that means, one can obtain the conversation of the Angels.}

Chapter Six.

Section One.

These are the three mothers or the first elements Aleph, Aleph

; Mem,

; and shin, Shin

, from which emanated three progenitors: primitive air, water and fire, and from which emanated as their offspring three progenitors and their offspring, namely: the seven planets and their hosts, and the twelve oblique points. {The production of the double and single letters from the mother letters is like the interaction of the mother letters in the six rings: Example; Beth is like Aleph combined with Shin, = + , = + , = + , = + , = + , = + + = + + = + + , = + , = + , = + , = + , = + , = + , = + , + + , = + , = + , = + , = + -- this is obtained from the symbolic meaning of the letters and the dictionary meanings of the words they can be made to form. It is not simply related to the sounds of the letters or to their number values, although a complex relationship does exist through gematria. This theoretical example of the interrelationship of the letters is taken from Brief Meanings of the Hebrew Letters by Bill Heidrick, copyright 1974 e.v.}

Section Two.

To confirm this there are faithful witnesses; the world, year and man, the twelve, the Equipoise {Fire, Water and Air in balance}, the heptade {seven-fold nature of things}, which He regulates like the Dragon, {Tali or the constellation Draco with its head and tail now taken in the simplified modern Astrology as the nodes of the Moon} sphere {the Hebrew word here is Galgal. It has the meaning of "machinery like turning wheels which drives the universe} and the heart {besides all this argument, it feels right}.

Section Three.

The first elements Shin

, Aleph, Mem and Shin are air, water and fire; the fire is above, the water below, and a breath of air establishes the balance among them. For an illustration may serve, that the fire carries the water, is the phonetic character of Mem

which is mute and Shin

is hissing like fire, there is Aleph

among them, a breath of air which places them in equilibrium.

Section Four.

Dragon {Tali} is in the world like a king upon his throne, the sphere is in the year like a king in the empire, and the heart is in the human body like a king in war. {Thus the three mother letters are like Draco, the seven double letters are like the regular motions of the planets and the twelve single letters are like the easily upset functions of the body.}

Previous Part of the Sepher Yetzirah Chapter six continues next issue.

Primary Sources

Frieda Harris:
To go with the "Crowley Classics" entry for this month, here's a letter about marketing the Thoth Tarot from Frieda Harris to Crowley. This sheds some light on Frieda's thinking and her tendency to "shy-off" when Magick and the public are concerned.

Rolling Stone Orchard
Jan. 28, 1940

Dear Aleister,

Thank you for your letter.
The No. 5 is also done.
About the Stafford Galleries. I think the best way of handling Ala Story will be for me to invite her for the weekend, show her the cards & let the suggestion that she should show them come from her. Percy has offered to drive her down & it was all fixed up, when she developed a cold & could not come. She is an erratic cove & from long experience of her I am sure she is more likely to function if she is allowed to think she is the originator of any business scheme. In spite of her alluring manners she is fundamentally a very capable business woman & she won't be persuaded to do anything that will not mean publicity or money.
There is one more thing--I do not think those cards will sell if you include any sort of ritual. People generally are afraid of being made fools of, getting bad luck by associating with black magic, especially at these times, when all the world is crossing itself to avert the evil eye, & the secular business man, whose money you need if the cards are to be reproduced, simply will not touch anything in the nature of a stunt for fear of offending his general public.
I humbly suggest that we let Ala advertise it in her own way, keeping very much in the background, for my part anonymously & so stimulate the curiosity of the public & the critics. The whole production will be unusual enough to make a mark, that is if I have done my part well enough, & I have observed that a well staged mystery is a magic of great value in attracting attention. I would even like to suggest that you do not sign your work either. To those, who know your lucid prose & classic style, it will be unmistakable, to the general public, it will be taken as a shock, but, without the suspicion that you, Aleister Crowley, are either attempting to pull their leg or poisoning them with some dangerous new creed in the attempt to raise funds or the wind. In my case I should be accused of trying to learn them, & anyhow why should we respect this insane art when "Percy Harris ought to have the poor thing locked up, he can afford it, only he is too mean."
THE WEATHER. I don't find it too bad. It is really lovely to look at. The trees are encased in ice, I have never seen anything like it, & living & walking, everything ordinary has assumed a rare & dignified aspect with the elements completely out of control. Also, the howling wind, & this new invention "icisny" which is neither raining or snowing, keeps everyone away, so I can read, paint, or cook to my entire satisfaction, also slither up & down the ladder to my studio which provides the necessary exercise & danger to stimulate me & keep me warm.
But it is much too cold for you to brave the train, also I am not quite ready to show enough work I should like to have the Universe done first, so I shall stop & take another brood on it.
The still life I sent you is the favorite "eat" of the Cotswold. I ate mine after posting some to you & I must confess, though tasty & strong meat for us babes, it did seem a bit tough, but I hoped your genius would lead you to discover how to cook them, I only baked mine in butter.

Goodnight
                Yours fraternally
                                Frieda Harris
[P.S] I should like hours of brain-picking with you. I have 1000 of things I want to ask you, I shall never remember when I see you! Qaballa, Chinese, Eddington medley & questions & demands for your sage & onion explanations pierce the ether all round me.
Have you by any chance heard G.P. Wodehouse's masterpiece on the wireless [...]! Saturday afternoons.

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Nuit

Angels awaken me ...

You weave me

Into your cloak of stars ...

The current stirs my soul

with songs of joy.

I follow my heart

To the gateways

That await my eternal presence ...

Firebird

3/15/93ev

Next Firebird Poem

Last Month's
Mystery Illustration

Last month's disguised picture was of Grady McMurtry, Hymenaeus Alpha, at the Renaissance Faire in Marin county, c. 1978 e.v. For the original, see O.T.O.Newsletter, number 6 of September of that year. Grady did I-Ching readings at the Faire, using Crowley's original sticks. Faire-goers were attracted to his appearance and manner, but it is to be hoped that not too many realized that everybody got the same fortune. Grady contrived to let the six painted sticks fall to produce the same hexagram every time! That way he could polish his performance and entertain without either prostituting the sacred arts or getting stuck and having to look up a hexagram.

The "Mystery Illustration" will take a break for now. If folks want it back, it will be continued. Please write to the editors with your likes and dislikes about the content of the TLC. Is there anything our readers would like to see more of? Less of?

Previous Mystery Illustration

From the Outbasket

Here are some questions and answers from Grand Lodge correspondence, edited for publication.

DS of NJ asks: Why did Crowley call himself the "Beast 666" when he was not a satanist?

Crowley called himself "The Beast 666" for a variety of reasons. Initially it was a matter of adolescent rebellion against his mother. Crowley's mother sometimes used to call him "Beast" when she was angry with him as a child. Otherwise, Crowley found "Revelations" fascinating, and continued his identification with this name following the explanation of the figures of "Revelations" (also called "The Apocalypse of St. John") given by the Order of The Golden Dawn. For a time in his later teens and early twenties, Crowley did fancy himself a dabbler in Satanism. All that ended when he got past the need to believe in one side or the other of the Christian myth. By his mid twenties, Crowley had stopped believing in the Christian God, Messiah and Devil or Satan. From that point he was free to learn deeper levels of meaning in "Revelations" and the mysteries generally. "The Beast 666" came to represent a Solar aspect of human incarnation to him, and that is the meaning he attached to the term until sometime after 1904 e.v. when he received The Book of the Law. That revelation provided entirely new definitions of "The Beast" for Crowley, unrelated to Christian concepts entirely. I should add that "Revelation" has been discovered to be a forgery, based on pre-Christian mysticism totally unrelated to the concepts of "Satan".

I have my grandfather's Masonic Bible, and notice that there are two letters each followed by the triangular dot in various places. They seem to be an identification of some sort.

The three dots (

) that are often found with abbreviated names like A

and G

were originally intended to represent "Masonic Honor Points". In Masonry, a freemason who has received the first three craft degrees of initiation may put these three dots after his name. Organizations made up of Craft initiated Masons traditionally place these same three dots after the letters of abbreviation of their organization names, e.g. Golden Dawn: G

instead of G.D. The practice is not strictly observed anymore in mystical organizations, but is still used in the original way by regular Masons. Now days, the three dots are often used indiscriminately to represent "mystical", "once connected to masonry", "the Christian divine trinity" and almost anything else. Some organizations, like O.T.O., do not use the three dot triangle in abbreviations of their names even though they are derived from Masonry. The practice is often not followed when an abbreviation consists of exactly three letters, since three dots or periods are already in place.

What is Associate Membership?

Associate membership in O.T.O. is mainly a way of staying on the O.T.O. Grand Lodge mailing list. Many people choose Associate membership just to get the Magical Link publication. Others become Associates until they are of full age and may be initiated. Initiates sometimes go inactive for a while and use Associate membership to stay in touch with the Order. There are other personal reasons for preferring Associate membership to Initiate membership, and Associate members sometimes get the same discounts on books and other products offered by local O.T.O groups and non-affiliated occult stores that are available to Initiates. Associate membership is available at US$10 per year, only through Grand Lodge. If you would like to take out Associate O.T.O. membership, write to the Grand Treasurer General, Agape Grand Lodge O.T.O., P.O.Box 403, Fairfax, CA 94978 USA and include $10 with your letter of request. Don't forget to include a clearly written name and address.

... How close of an association do you (Agape Grand Lodge) have with the various Camps and Oases?

O.T.O. Agape Grand Lodge (which is incorporated under the laws of the State of California and has US tax exemption as a religious organization) recognizes, governs, monitors and has the power to close all Camps, Oases, Lodges and Chapters of O.T.O.

-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)

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

Ra Hoor Camp manifested on March 30th 1993. The Camp is located in Petaluma, CA at the Home of Campmaster Frater 101. One of the goals of the Camp is to spread the word of Thelema through the use of printed materials. Several such publications already exist, in fact Thelema Lodge has already used a Ra Hoor Publication in its new Temple (plug plug). Speaking of temples, Ra Hoor Temple with its full set up of temple regalia for Gnostic Masses and even some Initiations is large enough to hold 15-20 people comfortably, so come help us fill it up (and the rest of the house too!) at the official Camp Warming Party on July 10th 1993. There will be a reading of the Book of the Law to officially open the Temple, and fun and socializing afterwards. Come ring in our new addition to the Bay area and have fun doing it! Call for more info. (707) ... ...., ask for Mike, or write:

Ra Hoor Camp OTO
925 Lakeville St., #193
Petaluma, CA 94952-3329

Also, Ra Hoor Camp is looking for those Thelemites in the Sonoma, Marin, and Napa county areas (we know you're out there) to attend classes, workshops and rituals, but before we can plan these events, we need to know if someone's interested, so contact us and help build a bastion of Thelema in the North Bay!

Love is the law, love under will
Frater 101

Rare Books for Sale:

Crowley	Condition	Price
1. Moonchild 1929, London: Mandrake Press	Good	$100.00
2. Jephthah & Other Mysteries 1899, London: Kegan Paul,etc.	Poor	$50.00
3. The Equinox, Vol.I, No.1 1909, London	Good	$100.00
4. The Equinox, Vol.I, No.2 1909, London	Good	$100.00
Non-Crowley
5. The Golden Dawn, Vol.I 1938, Chicago, Aries Press	Good	$75.00
6. The Golden Dawn, Vol.II 1938, Chicago, Aries Press	Good	$75.00

Call Barry (510) ... ....

THE HISTORY HEAP
JUNE

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law -- Liber AL vel Legis I:40

June 2, 1973
Four men row into Loch Ness, one the Rev.Donald Omand who performs an Exorcism to rid the lake of the 'demon'. It didn't seem to work, Nessie was seen soon after.

June 4, 1922
Aleister Crowley begins writing his book The Diary of a Drug Fiend.

June 6, 1926
The man who made the unfulfilled promise to "make Aleister Crowley look like a Boy Scout", Alex Sanders 'King of The Witches' called Verbius was born.

June 8, 1743
One of Aleister Crowley's previous incarnations, the Count Cagliostro, or Joseph Balsamo is born in Palermo Sicily.

June 8, 1905
Karl Kellner dies.

June 9, 1885
Wilfred T.Smith is born in Kent England, the man who Aleister Crowley stated "is not a man at all; he is the Incarnation of some God". (Other sources claim he was born 10/6/1885)

June 9, 1949
The Agape Lodge of the OTO moves into its new location at 1003 South Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena. A procession led the way into the house, Jane Wolfe carrying a picture of Aleister Crowley followed by Wilfred Smith with the Book of The Law. Behind him was Regina Kahl with The Stele and last was Parsons with the Holy Ark.

June 10, 1969
Fire destroys outbuildings on the "Solar Lodge", or Brayton Ranch in California.

June 10, 1975
Michael Aquino leaves 'The Church of Satan' and forms his own group, The Temple of Set.

June 11, 1886
Issberner Haldane is born on this date. He was Lodge Master of the German 'Ordo Novi Templi, or ONT.

June 13, 1865
W.B.Yeats described by Aleister Crowley as "a lank dishevelled demonologist who might have taken more pains with his personal appearance without incurring the reproach of dandyism" was born on this date.

June 13, 1884
Dr.Gerald Gardner born.

June 13, 1941
Grady Louis McMurtry takes Minerval & First Degree Initiation on the same night joining the Ordo Templi Orientis.

June 13, 1949
Cyril Hoskin falls off a ladder on this date, and when he finally comes around he has a new identity ... he becomes Tuesday Lobsang Rampa.

June 16, 1880
The Theosophist, Alice Bailey is born.

June 20, 1923
Norman Mudd follows Aleister Crowley to Tunis.

June 20, 1952
It was not long after the infamous Babalon Working that Jack Parsons, Frater Bellarion 210 would drop a phial of fulminate of Mercury, obtaining a crater both in Los Angeles and on the Moon in his honor. He died on this date.

June 21, 1916
Frater Achad takes the Oath of The Master of The Temple, or 'NEMO' 8 = 3 in the AA

June 23, 1981
The Temple Ov Psychick Youth is founded.

June 24, 1947
While flying over Mt.Rainer in Washington Kenneth Arnold sights a group of objects and radios in claiming they "look like saucers skipping over the surface of water, flying saucers!" ... thus the term UFO is born.

June 28, 1855
Albert Karl Theodor Reuss born.

June 28, 1940
Edgar Cayce predicted that Atlantis would rise from the Atlantic Ocean on this date.

June 30, 1925
Frederick Leigh Gardner, the man who Aleister Crowley decided was responsible for evoking Typhon-Set against him, died on this date.

Love is the law, love under will. -- Liber AL vel Legis I:57

A.O.583 VIII°

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Thelema Lodge Events Calendar for June 1993 e.v.

6/4/93	Liber XV Workshop	Thelema Ldg.
6/6/93	LOP & Adviser Council 3:33 PM	Thelema Ldg.
6/7/93	Thelema Lodge meeting 8:00 PM & The History Heap, long form	Thelema Ldg.
6/9/93	Planning for Rites of Eleusis 8PM 1st meeting, call to attend	Sirius Oas.
6/10/93	Minerval MCLI Curriculum 8PM (Minerval and higher -- call)	Thelema Ldg.
6/13/93	Gnostic Mass 4:18 PM	Thelema Ldg.
6/15/93	Planning for Rites of Eleusis 8PM 2nd meeting, call to attend	Sirius Oas.
6/16/93	Class on Liber Samekh 7:30PM w. Bill	Thelema Ldg.
6/17/93	Class: 777 & Chinese Gods w.Jeff 8PM	Thelema Ldg.
6/19/93	Initiations, Call to attend (First Degree)	Thelema Ldg.
6/20/93	Gnostic Mass & Solstice rite 4:18PM	Thelema Ldg.
6/24/93	Class: Giants of Will w.Jeff 8PM	Thelema Ldg.
6/25/93	Rites of Eleusis discussion 8PM 3rd meeting, slides &c.	Thelema Ldg.
6/26/93	IVth degree Workshop. Call to attend (IVth degree and higher only)	Thelema Ldg.
6/27/93	Gnostic Mass 4:18 PM	Thelema Ldg.
6/30/93	Star Ruby Workshop 7:30PM	Thelema Ldg.