In vain does man build the towers of thought; nobody inhabits them: and an
unbridged river separates him from barren and ruthless nature whose beauty
only serves to add horror to its essential inanity. (Background.) On the
other hand, once more, the monuments of human aspiration serve as viewpoints
whence men may behold the flowing Force of Purity, beyond which lie summits
higher than they themselves can build, where Firmness in Aspiration (Rock),
Chastity covering Materiality (Snow), and Interior Energy bursting forth in
Light and Fire (the Volcano), soar in eternal diversity toward the immanent
Canopy of Heaven.
Love is the law, love under will.
Previous Crowley Classics Next Crowley Classics
THE CORNERSTONE
Symbolic and Philosophic Quotations related to the Doctrine of Ancient
and Accepted Freemasonry,
selected by Frater Drax
1. "I may say that the secret of the O.T.O., besides what has been mentioned
above, has proved to all intents and purposes the simplification and
concentration of the whole of my magical knowledge. All my old methods have
been unified in this new method. It does not exactly replace them, but it
interprets them. It has also enabled me to construct a uniform type of engine
for accomplishing anything that I will. My association with Freemasonry was
therefore destined to be more fertile than almost any other study, and that in
a way despite itself."
-- Aleister Crowley, "A. A. Scottish Rite," 33° [Mexico]
The Confessions (New York: Bantam Books, 1971), p. 774.
2. "The wise and well-informed Mason will not fail to be the votary of
Liberty and Justice. He will be ready to exert himself in their defense,
wherever they exist. It can not be a matter of indifference to him when his
own liberty and that of other men (with whose merits and capacities he is
acquainted) are involved in the event of a struggle to be made: but his
attachment will be to the cause as the cause of man; and not merely to
country."
-- General Albert Pike, A. A. Scottish Rite, Grand Commander 33°, Southern
Jurisdiction, USA (1871)
Morals and Dogma (new and revised edition, 1950), p. 156.
3. "Though an almost infinite diversity of creeds has come into
manifestation since the primitive doctrine of the first ages, these creeds
have all sought to achieve a single end: i.e., the restatement of that
primitive revelation which, according to the doctrines of the Cabala, was
revealed to the patriarchs by the angelic schools. A Hermetic philosopher
writing anonymously in the sixteenth century, declared in his interpretation
of The Book of the Seven Seals that there existed in the heavens above the
circles of the earth a university of divine knowledge, a sort of college of
celestials."
-- Manly P. Hall, A. A. Scottish Rite 33° (1931 e.v.)
The Phoenix (Los Angeles: Philosophical Research Society, Inc., 1968), p. 6.
Next Cornerstone
Primary Sources
Crowley's Ancestor:
Here's a letter from Crowley to F.Mellenger in 1945 e.v. Owing to the poor quality of the copy used for this item, it is not possible to definitely get the spelling of Crowley's claimed ancestor. Let's see if any of our readers can help.
| | Netherwood,
The Ridge
St. Leonards-on-Sea
19 . 7 . 45
|
| Care Frater,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Thanks for your letter of July 4th.
I have not been feeling too well for the last week or so, mostly the
treacherous and depressing weather, so I thought I had better delay my reply
until I felt equal to it.
Please disillusion the local nobility and gentry about the name Crowley.
It is
DeQu{?}rouaille -- a Dukedom in Brittany. It was Alys of that ilk who
was the great Monarch's ambassadress to Charles II. We came over with the
Duke of Richmond (later Henry VII) to fight the Battle of Bosworth and settle
down in England by stealing abbeys and becoming Sheriffs of London and Bishops
who wrote highly improper poetry and all that sort of thing. I have for this
reason always considered myself a Frenchman of the time when France was
France. I certainly do not want to claim kinship with the gutless and
dishonest imbeciles that have wrecked their country in the last 20 years.
I have had similar reports about the modern trend from McMurtry, who flew
over here a week or two ago to see me. Why should we work to rebuild our
country, everybody asks, as long as we can get other people to do it for us.
That is not the way in which any country ever was rebuilt.
Hoping that your luck will bring you in this direction earlier than you at
present expect.
Love is the law, love under will.
Yours ever,
{signed: Aleister Crowley}
Civil F. Mellinger,
PP.10045 APO887
{illegible}
Local U.S.Army |
Previous Primary Sources Next Primary Sources
An Introduction to Qabalah
Part IV - Body meditation concludes.Derived from a lecture series in 1977 e.v. by Bill Heidrick
Copyright © Bill Heidrick
In the last installment, we reached the Abyss, following a passage over the
lower seven Sephirot and paths. There will be another brief pause after the
three supernal Sephirot and their several paths. After that we will descend
down the tree with a chant of the divine names, in effect, creating a new
universe, a universe cleansed of imperfections. This is a way of healing the
soul and body, of making peace in the world.
Gather now to cross the great Abyss.
The first passage from the mortal world to the immortal one is Chet. Chet
rises upward as a yellow orange beam of light from your right shoulder to the
right half of your brain. It draws upward all of the rational thought to the
purest level of thinking, a mind without doubt, a mind without hindrance, a
mind without need, a mind with perfect clarity (vibrate "Chet").
The path of Zain rises upward to the right half of your brain from the center of your heart. It's an orange beam of light. From the golden sphere
at the center of your heart to the right half of your brain rises the path of
Zain whereby all diverse elements in your life are seen as one and understood
in clear relation to one another (vibrate "Zain").
About the right half of your brain there is a glowing sphere that seems to
be darkness, yet has the property of light. This is Binah, the crown of
understanding; simple, absolute, powerful and perfect. Here is great force
and wonderful silence, the sphere of invisible light about the right half of
your brain (vibrate "Binah").
The path of Vau is a red-orange beam of light, rising vertically from the
blue sphere on your left shoulder to the left half of your brain. This is the
path whereby all emotion is united to ascend to an immortal fire that consumes
not, neither does it diminish in its glory (vibrate "Vau").
The path of Hay is a red beam of light, ascending at an angle from the
golden radiance about your heart to the left half of your brain. This is the
path whereby all compounded feelings of living are raised up to join in the
eternal light at the left half of your brain (vibrate "Hay").
A green beam of light strikes from right to left across the hemispheres of
your brain, from the mystical shining of midnight at the right side of your
brain to the gathering of vital motion on the left side of your brain. This
the path of Dalet whereby understanding takes flame in the voice that comes in
the silence, herald of the Throne (Vibrate "Dalet").
About the left half of your brain a great sphere of all colors and no color
forms in endless turnings of light. This is Chokmah, the crown of Wisdom in
which all essence of life and emotion moves ever changing and ever constant in
its ways (vibrate "Chokmah").
A blue beam of light strikes upward from the golden sphere at your heart to
just above the top of your head. This is the path whereby all living and
experience of life is unified to become one. All thought, all feeling, all
form, all power unites along the path of Gimel (vibrate "Gimel").
A yellow beam of light rises from the right half of your brain to just
above the top of your head. This is the path of Bet where all thought is
brought to oneness. All ideas are seen at the same time, as one idea (vibrate
"Bet").
From the left half of your brain a beam of pale yellow light rises upward
to just above your head. This is the path whereby all feeling, all emotion,
and the very fire of existence becomes one, the path of Aleph (vibrate
"Aleph").
Above your head there is a great radiant white brilliance. You have no
consciousness of body, no consciousness of form. There is only the great
radiant white brilliance above you. This is Keter about which no words can be
spoken, the unsummed and indivisible all. It is oneness beyond the meaning of
word (vibrate "Keter").
About this are three veils which no mind can truly conceive, yet there are
shadows of these that we can understand a little. Beyond Keter is a great
limitless light, without color or brilliance. It extends infinitely far in
all directions. This is Ain Soph Aur, the limitless light (vibrate "Ain Soph
Aur").
Beyond there is no light, only limitless infinity. Nothing can be
recognized within, save only limitlessness. This is Ain Soph (vibrate "Ain
Soph").
And now the utmost quiet, not even a sense of the limitless, not even a
sense of absence, but simply darkness without a sense of darkness. Ain, a
word meaning nothing. Pure silence (vibrate "Ain")
Pause in perfect stillness.
Begin the creation of the world anew.
Vibrate the Divine Names of the Sephirot in succession:
1. Eheieh, a white light forms at the top of your head.
2. Yah, a light of many colors, like mother of pearl about the left side of
your brain.
3. Jehovah Elohim, a light that is unnameable about the right side of your
brain.
4. El, a blue light at your left shoulder.
5. Elohim Gibor, a red light at your right shoulder.
6. Jehovah Eloah Va-Da'at, a golden-yellow light at your heart.
7. Jehovah Tzabaoth, a green light at your left hip.
8. Elohim Tzabaoth, an orange light at your right hip.
9. Shaddai El Chai, a violet light at your loins.
10. Adonai Melekh Ha-Aretz, beneath your feet the colors of the world in
the four seasons of the year burst forth in earthly joy.
Repetition of this practice is necessary and should be done frequently. In
this way fluency and clarity of visualization can be attained. It is also
very useful to paint the Tree of Life diagram according to the above color
sequence so that these hues may become fixed in the mind. The colors have a
curious purpose. They can give meaning, but their main function is to occupy
a part of the mind that would be busy and interfering otherwise. In the type
of meditation herein outlined it is best to create the whole pattern and hold
it until Keter, then to dissolve it into Ain Soph. This is followed by a
recreation of the pattern by successive vibration of the divine Names. After
sufficient skill is attained in this practice one may elaborate the basic
pattern. Later on, when ideas of Merkabah are presented, we will better
appreciate the necessity of this fixation of the Qabalistic pattern of the
Tree in the mind.
Next: Discussion and a sample from a booklet of exercises on Tree of life
meditation in the four worlds.
Previous Introduction to Qabalah, Part IVA To be continued
From the Outbasket
MF of the UK opened an email discussion on Crowley's sexuality. Here's my part of the conversation, edited for publication. This is by no means a view of O.T.O., per say. Rather it's an example of the sort of thing one can get into discussing on the Internet, either in direct communication like this or in the various groups available.
MF offered that Crowley's Plymouth Brethren childhood might have conditioned him to see homosexuality as a mortal sin.
That's possible, but unlikely. However much the Plymouth Brethren may have
considered homosexual acts to be such a thing, there are two matters that
might argue against Crowley having ever fully understood such a definite
position while a child.
1. The Plymouth Brethren believed in predestination and the importance of
faith instead of works. That would apply to sin as well.
2. In my experience from being raised as a Catholic, heterosexual sin was
widely discussed in a general way, insufficient to clearly identify the acts
involved. Homosexual activity was only dimly alluded to, possibly out of fear
of being explicit. By the time Crowley understood the nature of such things,
he could well have been too old for full conditioning. Add to this Crowley's
own account of youthful heterosexual and homosexual experiments. He took great exception to the perceived advances of a tutor of Plymouth Brethren
orientation -- not explicitly described. He took considerable pleasure in
early heterosexual experiments, noting the perception of great dishonesty by
his family in the matter of a blackmailing maid. He fell deeply in love with
a fellow who seduced him in his teens, to judge by the poetry &c.
In my experience, Christian sexual prohibitions are most strongly imprinted
in this order, from most severe to least.
1. Pornography is prohibited.
2. Heterosexual sex is prohibited.
3. Masturbation is prohibited.
4. Homosexual sex is prohibited.
5. Bestiality (animal) is prohibited.
Fecal prohibitions are involved, coming somewhere near the level of #2.
Whatever the dogmatic structure, this sequence is apparently the most common
one imposed in practice. Typically, #1 is direct and obvious; #2 is most
strongly linked to damnation, but is vague in details; #3 is impossibly vague
in details and imposed as a "don't even think about it"; #4, if mentioned at
all, is usually imposed as a social comment on same-sex couples, sometimes as
a more detailed damnation link but not clearly described in that case. #5 is
often forgotten altogether.
MF wondered about the influence of the XIth degree approach on Crowley's sexuality.
The XIth degree is not specifically homosexual, but includes a number of
other matters not widely known outside OTO. To the extent that XIth degree
sorts of workings are homosexual, they don't include the possibility of
pregnancy. Crowley records workings of this sort between himself and women,
in his diaries. Pregnancy is possible by mishap in heterosexual workings of
this type, but very unlikely. Judging by the tension in Crowley's
descriptions, heterosexual congress was the most fought with moral
imperatives. I would say that his parents failed to significantly impress him
with practical anti-homosexual conditioning, as is the case with most
Christians. Add to that the tension of the possibility of pregnancy, and you
have the strongest bias against hetero-sexual behavior, not auto or
homogeneous sex. Crowley's writings on homosexual self-conduct mainly include
a worry that he would be less than manly in so acting. His writings on
heterosexual self-conduct mainly include an absolute stricture that some
spiritual justification be present.
MF suggested that Crowley may have tried to subconsciously rationalize his sexual conduct.
It's fairly conscious and explicit. Read Confessions, World's Tragedy,
Paris Working, some of the material in Works... and less importantly, Gospel According to St. Bernard Shaw. For a very explicit analysis of his self-
appraisal, get the Astrological charts printed in Equinox of the Gods. Look
up the aspects of those charts in "Astrology" -- not the book Complete Astrological Writings of Aleister Crowley, which only has a fragment of this
larger composition; but the two books published under Evangeline Adams' name
as Astrology, Your Place in the Sun and Astrology, Your Place Among the Stars
-- Crowley wrote 90% of them. Crowley, in the "Adams" books, describes his own
sexual and other self-perceived problems with astonishing candor and detail as
anonymous examples for those particular Astrological aspects.
MF observed that congress between two members of the same sex is often denounced as more serious in Christian sermons than "illicit" congress between two of differing sexes, taking the example of Roman Catholicism.
Two observations on that:
1. It's abstract, more so than the prohibitions against heterosexual "sin". Hence, it's virtually useless as a prohibition during "the occasion of the
sin".
2. Common though this sort of distinction may be, it is condemned by the
Roman Catholic Church, which imposes the rule that all mortal sin is to be
considered equally grave. For a lay person who has not had education in the
religion outside of the local parish, these observations often are
unavailable; but, for most laity who go on to higher education at a Catholic
college or university, it becomes quickly apparent that much of the rhetoric
of the local parish sermon amounts to heresy or violation of Church Law. This
is particularly true in the distinctions regarding sexual conduct and in a
preponderant preaching of the Manichean heresy.
MF suggested that Crowley's working out the connection between abstract prohibitions and actual prohibited practice in his teens might have set him up for further conditioning related to his earlier exposure to the "rules".
True, but what is the character of that conditioning? The teen years and
the early twenties are usually a time of rebellion and inversion of formal
rules. Crowley would have taken the superficial formulas of his family and
"acted-out" against them. The deeper values tend not to be permanently
altered by such rebellion, but the superficial formulas may continue reversed
in some part throughout life.
MF remarked that secondary conditioning in teens and 20's would have been at a time of continued exposure to the Plymouth Brethren culture.
Not in Crowley's case. His father had died by this time and Crowley was
traveling or living away from Plymouth Brethren culture much of the period.
Consider also that Crowley had a strong bias against his aunts and uncle in
regard to perceived hypocrisy during this period. His bitter denunciations of
the deeds and talk of those relatives abound in his writing down to the middle
of the 2nd decade of the 20th century. That suggests to me that Crowley had
an experience of discontinuity in regard to the Plymouth Brethren stemming
from that time. Such a discontinuity amounts to a renunciation of the formula
and expressible faith of the religion, while the less verbal ideals and
concepts of the religion are conserved on a level that may be unalterable
throughout life. Thus, one can abandon belief in a saviour and even a
personal deity, but the forms of similar beliefs then become necessary for
discussion as metaphor and the fundamental needs remain. In Crowley, this
manifested in one area as denunciation of the Plymouth Brethren idea of the
Elect, Who are Destined to Heaven and Who Guide US ALL, for an embracing of
personal Will in conformity with the Governance of the Secret Chiefs.
MF expressed curiosity as to whether Crowley's sexual preference was inherent or perhaps simply latent and environmentally evoked.
Crowley was bisexual, to the extent he was able, into his last five years
of life. Opportunity and inherent tendency seem to cover the whole range from
abstinence, through selected sexual preference to locked sexual preference.
Either strong environmental imprinting or genetic predisposition may dominate.
It would appear that there is usually a sort of democracy of the drives and
mores in operation. Crowley was extremely inhibited about sex in many ways,
as seen in his constant spiritual justification of sexual acts and in his
rhetoric on the subject in word and painting. Whatever his genetics or his
social imprinting, Crowley was, in fact, bisexual. Some forms of eroticism
are more narrowly expressed by Crowley: Autoeroticism is given it's place,
including some magical writings, but it is rarely discussed. Animal
bestiality is mentioned lightly and in passing, suggesting that it wasn't
particularly interesting to Crowley. Child-adult sexuality is either not mentioned at all or so lightly that it would appear Crowley could no more
entertain it intellectually than he could entertain justified abortion.
MF then suggested that Old Testament condemnation of homosexuality and auto- eroticism may have influenced Crowley.
Let's distinguish what is in the OT from what is said about it.
Incest is required in some instances, notably non-blood incest between a
man and his deceased brother's wife. Otherwise, incest is barred.
There is no mention that I can recall of masturbation in the OT -- the sin
of Onan being coitus interuptus to avoid impregnation of his brother's widow.
Bestiality (animal-human) is usually handled indifferently in the OT, as a
matter of some disgust but subordinate to more important violations.
Homosexuality of male variety is chiefly condemned as a frustration of
procreation, while the female variety is hardly mentioned (if it is mentioned
at all).
Inversion (dressing and/or behaving as a member of the opposite sex) is
vaguely treated, except in relation between a priest and the deity -- in which
case it appears to be required at times.
Often, as is the case with "the Sin of Onan", the text is twisted to
produce a contrary or non-present meaning. For another example, consider
Sodom and Gomoriah -- the fault requiring destruction in that case appears from
the text to be abuse of guests and strangers rather than the sometimes sexual
character of the abuse, crime against hospitality being a cardinal public sin
throughout the region in ancient times right through the present.
Instances of homosexuality abound in the OT as love and its tragedy, Saul
and David being an example that can be read between the lines. Yet, love of
that sort is as often held in high regard as it is condemned in the OT.
MF remarked that an individual tends to come to a homosexual experience as often as not blind to the actual practice itself.
That's exactly my point. Failure to detail the prohibition in childhood
results in ignorance on the occasion and a later complex that often can
neither reject nor fully accept the practice.
-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)
Previous From the Outbasket Next From the Outbasket
Events Calendar for June 1995 e.v.
| 6/3/95 | | Thelema Lodge Initiations 6:00 PM
(call to attend) | | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/4/95 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/11/95 | Lodge Luncheon Meeting, 12:30 | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/11/95 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/14/95 | Rites of Eleusis Prep. 8:00 PM | Sirius Oasis |
| 6/15/95 | Thelema Lodge Library night 8PM
(call to attend) | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/18/95 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/19/95 | Section 2 reading group, 8PM at OZ
Huysmans' La-Bas with Caitlin | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/21/95 | Summer Solstice Ritual 7:30PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/23/95 | Memoirs of the Saints at OZ 8:00PM
with "Shaykj ibn-Musa al-Ibri" | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/24/95 | 777 Poetry Society 7:30PM w.Fr.P.I. | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/25/95 | Gnostic Mass 8:00PM Horus Temple | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/26/95 | Thelema Lodge Library night 8PM
(call to attend) | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/28/95 | Liber XV Study Group w. Bp. T
Dionysys 8:00PM | Thelema Ldg. |
| 6/30/95 | Astrological Cycles with Grace
7 PM, Berkeley. Call to attend. | Thelema Ldg. |
The viewpoints and opinions expressed herein are the responsibility of the
contributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of OTO or its
officers.
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:
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Internet: heidrick@well.com (Submissions and circulation only)
A