Thelema Lodge Calendar for January 1997 e.v.

Thelema Lodge Calendar

for January 1997 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.

Copyright © O.T.O. and the Individual Authors, 1997 e.v.

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

January 1997 e.v. at Thelema Lodge

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

Announcements from
Lodge Members and Officers


Mysteria Mystica Maxima

As the "first of the great religious Societies to accept the Law" of Thelema, the Ordo Templi Orientis "trains groups by way of progressive initiation" (as Crowley wrote in the introduction to the "blue Equinox"). Initiations for advancement will next be held at Thelema Lodge on Saturday evening 18th January. All active initiate members wishing to attend are asked to contact the lodge ahead of time for specific information regarding times and the degree being worked. There will be a feast following the ritual for all involved.
Initiation in O.T.O. may be requested at the lodge by application, using the newly-revised forms available from the lodge officers. The efficiency of our U.S. Initiation Secretary, Frater K.Z., has allowed the national Grand Lodge of O.T.O. to reduce the minimum period of candidacy from forty to thirty days; additional time, however, is often required by the lodge to arrange for specific initiation rituals to be scheduled according to the needs of various candidates. All candidates must take it upon themselves to maintain contact with the lodge during this period, in order to prevent confusion regarding initiation dates and requirements.


Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica

Take communion in Horus Temple on any Sunday evening with the members and friends of Thelema Lodge, when we celebrate Aleister Crowley's Gnostic Mass. Arrive by 7:30, and mass will be underway shortly thereafter. Those who have not participated previously are asked to call the lodge ahead of time for directions and information.
The lodge encourages those members who enjoy the Gnostic Mass to experiment together privately and learn the roles of the officers. It will often be helpful to discuss your progress with one of our local E.G.C. bishops, or with your favorite priest or priestess. When your new team of mass officers can perform the celebration in private with confidence, grace, and accuracy, then seek out the lodgemaster for a date on the temple schedule (usually about six weeks ahead).


Classes and Events

A new edition has recently been published by the New Falcon Press of The Law is for All: The Authorized Popular Commentary to the Book of the Law. The original editor of this work was Crowley's long-time friend Louis Wilkinson, who was asked -- despite his lack of experience as a ceremonial magician -- to refine the so-called "new commentary" for the layman, because Crowley considered himself too personally involved to take an objective view of the writings. Wilkinson's version, newly completed by Hymenaeus Beta (working with Wilkinson's son Oliver), will be the subject of a reading and discussion held on Monday evening 13th January, starting at 7:30 in the Thelema Lodge library. This meeting, especially recommended for Minervals, is open to all who wish to expand their understanding of Liber AL.

The Hanged Man, pertaining to inversion and enlightenment, will be one of our two featured images this month for the illustrated portion of the tenth meeting of the Tarot series being offered by Bill Heidrick for Thelema Lodge. The following card, Death, thirteenth of the Major Trumps in Tarot, the card of passage and transformation, will also be explored in the same manner. Then Bill will lead the group, which meets in his home in San Anselmo on Wednesday evening 22nd January at 7:30, as we shuffle up an actual deck and work step- by-step through a complete reading or two, responding to queries from those in attendance. For information or directions, call ahead at (415) 454-5176.

The Thelema Lodge Astrological Study Group continues its series on the astrological houses in the horoscope as Grace leads a discussion of the eighth house, which will be held at the Temple of Astrology in Berkeley on Friday evening 31st January. With the eighth house we face issues of the limits of personality; in particular, death and the erotic impulse are both related to this area. In earlier ages when predictions of the time, manner, and place of death were more common in horoscope interpretations, elaborate planetary schemes were developed in the eighth house to render these details. Relationships also establish the boundaries of personality, and it is this aspect of sexuality (the potential for magical rather than biological fertility), along with the whole texture of ordinary cooperations and exchanges we conduct with others, which the eighth house rules. All are welcome at this workshop, but to be included please call Grace ahead of time at (510) 843-7827. She will provide directions, and take your birth-time data for charts with which we can illustrate our ideas together.

"A magnificent magical allegory" is Crowley's recommendation of Balzac's novel Le Peau de Chagrin, the title of which is variously rendered in English as The Magic Skin, The Wild Ass's Skin, The Deadly Skin etc., and perhaps literally means "the sorry pelt." We will be reading and discussing this very enjoyable supernatural tragedy when Caitlin hosts the Section Two Reading Group meeting at Oz House on Monday evening 20th January at 8:00.
Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), author of the grand series of nearly fifty novels and many short and long stories, collectively known as The Human Comedy, was an almost scientific novelist, systematically recording the complexities of sensibility and the developing styles and values of French culture during his lifetime. Although especially concerned with the psychology of social manners, the Balzac oeuvre also contains precisely formulated studies of mystical and philosophical problems, with the story of the magic skin (a beautiful piece of onager hide which has been charged as a talisman) outstanding among the latter category. The novel was first published in 1831, but Balzac loved to go back and revise his work, and issued seven new versions of this book through 1845. The story explores the human faculty of will, about which Balzac enjoyed speaking in grandious, confidant, and progressive nineteenth-century terms as a potential "material force similar to steam-power." It would become capable of powerful new achievements when refined by the development of subtle techniques in new directions of research involving etherial mechanics, animal magnetism, mental electricity, and other marvels of the day. In another story a Balzac character claims of the human will that "nothing in the moral world could resist it when a man trained himself to concentrate it, to control the sum of it, and constantly to direct upon other men's minds the projection . . ." of his will ("Louis Lambert" in Le Livre mystique, 1835).

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Thelema Lodge library nights this month will be held on Wednesday 15th January and Tuesday 28th January, with all attending requested to call ahead for confirmation. The monthly luncheon meeting for lodge business, which also requires advance arrangements, is scheduled for Sunday afternoon 12th January. Sirius Oasis will be meeting as always on the final Monday evening of the month in northern Berkeley. Call the lodge at (510) 652-3171, Oz House at (510) 654-3580, or Sirius Oasis at (510) 527-2855 for information and directions.


Crowley Classics

This little unsigned essay in literary criticism is reprinted from The International (New York), August 1917, page 250.

Balzac: A Note

by Aleister Crowley

It is said of the artist as of the philosopher that he is inevitably limited by the spirit of his age, the Zeitgeist; that it is his highest attainment to represent that spirit in fullness. Yet the Zeitgeist is only a phase of "The Holy Spirit of Man" after all, a sort of mood conditioned by economic and climatic conditions as well as by the only noble engine of human progress, the influence of the truly great men of the race. So the Artist at his best is both the creator and preserver of mankind; he is also, in a sense, the destroyer. For he burns out the inessential and the accidental elements, and leaves only the Truth.
Honoré de Balzac was not so dynamic a force as Mohammed. One cannot be equally creator and preserver. Those men who push humanity directly, the poets and prophets, are not so perfect as the great historians in the matter of representation. The poet is always yearning to create a new heaven and a new earth; his desire blinds his vision. Shelley leaves an entirely wrong impression of his contemporaries; his passion colors his sensorium. Shakespeare, a careless easy voluptuary, minion of lordlings, and squire of fast dames, was a reactionary, so far as he was anything. The poet in him was emasculated by the court favorite. But his outlook on humanity was whole. He saw all, and, bar a trifle of snobbishness, the appanage of all Anglo-Saxons, he saw steadily and straight.
Balzac was an artist of this type. He was not biassed, as Shakespeare was, by "evil communications." His mind was in reality much more comprehensive than Shakespeare's. He knew the whole of society from the top; he was not handicapped like Shakespeare by being a climber. The Swan of Avon made a lot of portraits "out of his head"; they are fantastic and romantic figures, boyish dreams rather than things seen. Balzac paints only from nature. Practically every character in the Comédie humaine is to be found in our own environment today. Shakespeare admittedly took his material from existing story or legend. Balzac's model was life, direct. It is evident to the student that Shakespeare was observing at second hand most of the time.
The mind of the great Frenchman was moreover of infinite grasp. His whole plan was coherent. His characters appear and reappear in novel after novel, always consistent, always real. Shakespeare's characters rarely reappear; where they do, there is no development, no increase of our knowledge concerning them. Consider only the case of Falstaff, the best of such. Here the only scene that tells us more than the Gadshill scene is the death scene. Beside Balzac, Shakespeare's characters are mechanical and unreal. They are too poetic to be solid. Further, the portraits of the nobles, to take one case, are the merest smudged sketches. Who can distinguish Rivers from Hastings, or a dozen others, for example? It is only in rare instances that he takes the least trouble over them. Balzac, on the contrary, often risks boring the reader by being at too great pains to introduce his characters properly.
For these causes we must admit that Balzac is one of the first minds that the race has produced. Zola tried the same thing; but oh! with what laborious effort, what sweat of office-work! Balzac worked as hard, but in a more concentrated and natural manner. There is no forcing evident in his method. He is natural, too, where Zola is symbolistic and artificial; he is the supreme master of reality. Again, Balzac is a universalist; nothing is too small or too great to escape him. He has a sense of proportion which no other master even approaches. In a day like ours, when the Russian masters are beginning to come into their own, it is absurd that their archetype should fail to be recognized by all as such, as the first man to read, and the last. There is nothing in Tolstoi, Turgenieff, or Dostoieffsky which has not been done, and done better, by Balzac. It may be admitted that the study of Balzac is a life's work in itself; but how sublime and interesting a study! There is not a dull page in all that array of volumes.
To the American reader there is one peculiar charm. Balzac never, no matter in what height of tragedy, forgets the ever-present problem of money. He interweaves economic necessity with every tale. This is one of the great reasons of his power. Other writers occasionally introduce the topic; some base their whole theme upon it; but no one else keeps the matter in mind in the consistent way that Balzac does, treats it as a true strand of the cord of life, as it is. What Zola does in La Curée, consciously, Balzac does all the time, without seeming to perceive it. In this, and a thousand other subtle ways, he conveys the reader to a world which must instinctively be recognized by every one as reality shorn of all accidental and indifferent elements, as the Truth of Life itself. Balzac is not an author to pick up and to throw down again. He is a man to live with. He is perhaps the only writer who is genuinely educative, who is of actual use to the reader in his effort to comprehend the world he lives in. He is worth much more to the ambitious youth than any correspondence course whatever. He is the next best master to Life itself; and his lessons are not so long, so painful, and so badly arranged. One can learn more in a month from Balzac than in a year from Life. In this world to be forewarned is to be forearmed; and Balzac shows every situation, and the way it develops, in so vivid a form that one is compelled to live it in the person of every one of the actors of the drama. It is impossible to escape from the spell of the magician; you are obliged to understand his villains as well as his heroes. For he never creates false values. His figures are never puppets, carefully labelled. One realizes throughout that even the worst of us is human, that faults spring from destiny just as inexorably as more gracious qualities.
One does not understand life without the aid of literature, for one is limited by one's own small experience. Balzac puts one wise in the quickest, the most universal, and the most thorough way. It is absurd to try to wander about the planet without this supreme guide to its inhabitants. Also, one must assimilate one's own heart and mind to that guide; and to do that, one must have him on one's bookshelf, always with a gap showing the absence of the particular volume in immediate use.

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An Introduction to Qabalah

Part XXIII - The Tree in Action.

Derived from a lecture series in 1977 e.v. by Bill Heidrick
Copyright © Bill Heidrick

Here's a different sort of image:

In Violet Russell's book Heroes of the Dawn, there's a color plate on page 32. To the right, filling the frame from top to bottom, is a shadowy figure. It shows only outline, eyes and mouth. To the left is a warrior in the artist's idea of the garb of ancient Ireland, with spear and shield. Fire streams forth from the mouth of the great shadow, as the text goes: "Through the Darkness came a shaft of flame. Finn raised his shield to catch it." This is the image of a great, frightening, fire belching figure and a warrior defending himself against the fire. Qabalah uses a similar image in the formation of the Sephirot. There is a realization of something flowing, something appearing between you and the other, between the two poles. This is not an understood thing. It is merely a thing that you know exists. You may have dim knowledge as to its nature. Here it is like a torrent of fire. On the Tree of Life this is described as a lightning bolt or a sword twisting every which way, creating points of reference. In this Celtic picture, those points of reference are danger, direction, light, heat, ideas of defense, ideas of cause and steps to take. All those ideas are emitted by this ray or beam of fire, just as though they were physically part of it. This is interaction between two polarities, between a Malkut and a Keter. For the man on the ground, that's a very dangerous Keter. It may be an upside down Tree, a Tree of negativity in which he is the Malkut, the thing that must ground it, else he will fail. The great shadow figure is as a Keter or a Malkut from a different perspective. The torrent of fire is as different for the shadow figure as the spear is for the man. The shadow figure fears the spear as the man does the flame. Fear of harm or other perception of significance on either side generates all manner of ideas connecting back the other way. This is like the emergence of the Tree of Life in a situation. You see something in the window, and you want to buy it or possess it. All sorts of thoughts leap between it and yourself: How can you get the money to buy it? When will the store be open? How to get to it? These are the Sephirot appearing, but they are not connected. They are merely "there" as islets or fragments like stars of thought that don't shed light on one another. It's simply a torrent of imagery formed by a blast of energy.
Ordering such thought is the purpose of the Tree of Life diagram. The circles, the Sephirot, are the states of consciousness. They may not be ordered as they are in the diagram. They may be jumbled: desire in the wrong place, thinking confused, morality confounded with love. When these states get ordered, one becomes aware of interconnecting things, ways of going from one to another of the stages or partial steps that lay between the two polarities of one and ten, of Keter and Malkut. This kind of construction is a pulling together of the Tree of Life, so that what was made separate, the one and the ten, can be reunited. Theoretically, the unification can be done in any of the intermediate Sephirot. This is like looking at your own right hand. You see your hand as separate in the field of your attention; but a moment later it is a part of yourself, undistinguished from the rest. All of these kinds of things can be applied to almost anything in human life that has an element of polarity in it, be it yourself and other or two separate things which you chance to observe at the same time. This is a functional way to use the Tree of Life. Generally one would not need to use every path on the Tree to do such a thing. For this you have to get some knowledge of the thing and see how you are applying it unconsciously, look it up, get more aware of it. It's a matter of experiment, this sort of use of the Tree of Life. But it leads to something a little more important.

Consider now Fr. Achad's "Macrocosmic Snowflake", from his The Anatomy of the Body of God:

This is formed by laying Tree of Life diagrams around in a circle of six trees, with one central point as a common Malkut and adjacent trees overlapping Netzach and Hod, one tree to the next. In addition, each of the individual six trees that form this circular pattern have other trees of successively larger size going out in the six radial directions, such that the central point remains the Malkut of all, but each successive ring of trees overlaps the next larger, Tipheret on Yesod, Keter on Tipheret. Taken all together, a sort of snowflake is formed of Trees of Life.
You are in the center, the common Malkut point, and all the radial lines crossing overlapped Keters, Tipherets in this illustration, six classes of them. As the center is approached these goals or objects get closer and closer to the origin. This is yourself and the things that you need, feel and perceive. One can cast out from the center toward a distant objective along one of these radiants or points of view, but the energy may be insufficient to reach so far. Instead, a lesser goal is pursued in the same direction. Once that is reached, another is pursued further on, and then further ... We do these things automatically. The function of the Tree of Life in this is to help work the process in a more systematic way, a way that leaves fewer gaps and promotes coordination. These Trees not only overlap and align radially, but they also overlap side to side. From one success you can gain help in another effort, even if it is not in the same "line" or direct point of view. This is a way strength, order, and vitality grow in a human life.
In Jungian psychology, a pattern like this is called a constellation. A thought in the center relates to other thoughts by more or less complete intervening steps. Word association shows this simply: Somebody says "dog". You say "cat". Then, "rat". Then, "furry".... All these things are associated in your mind. The complex starts with one concept, and the others emerge to interrelate around it.
This is the way the Tree of Life actually works in human consciousness. It's a system of building patterns and recognizing the inner structure of those patterns. You don't have to be conscious of everything involved to benefit from such insight; but once the basic ground plan of the Tree of Life is set in mind, you can look at an evolved complex and repair or strengthen where necessary. The Tree of Life is like a trellis for a vine growing in garden. The difference between this view and what we have discussed up to this point is one of complexity. No longer a single trellis for a single vine, now the Tree becomes a pattern for design of an entire garden of many plants, and, by extension, of the human mind.


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Frater P, known to the world as John P. McClimans, 1947-1996 e.v., II° OTO, of Sirius Oasis, died in his sleep in the evening of 10th November of complications of diabetes and a heart ailment after a stroke on 24th September. Frater P was a founder of CAW (the Church of All Worlds), and a Gardnerian of the Proteus Coven of New York City; had worked in the Chicago Temple of the Pagan Way; and had COG and Spiral ministerial credentials.

from the Grady Project:

Jericho

Phantom walls and phantom halls
The universe exploding
Desiccation in the soul
A phantom wind eroding

Imago and Jericho
Our tiger blood is urgent
Son of Midnight and the Sun
A winged splendor emergent
(10-16-61)
Ram's horn and Unicorn
The star-track waves are twinkling
Disassociated sense
A sieving Siva's inkling
(10-20-61)

-- Grady L. McMurtry

This poem corresponds with the Sun trump in Tarot, one a cycle of Grady's lyrics which he entitled The Angel and the Abyss. Published first as a fragmentary quotation in The Magickal Link 3:10 (Berkeley: O.T.O., October 1983), it was first printed in complete form in McMurtry: Poems (London & Bergen: O.T.O., 1989), then in The Grady Project (Berkeley: O.T.O., December 1988).

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Remembrance

Richard Christopher Legener, better known to most of you as Criss Piss, was born on December 11, 1954 under the sign of Sagittarius. His tarot card was Art and that was truly his outlook on life. Everything he accomplished was tied in with this. His greatest satisfaction was derived from creating Art from whatever he found in his travels.
I'd never known him to spend much money on his creations. He would 'dumpster-dive" for old photographs behind photography labs and make collages. If he needed spray paint or T-shirts or just about anything for his projects he knew where he could get them for free, or they would just come to him. Not to make it seem easy; he was out there walking and working for them in his own way.
He had a particular spot where he would get boxes of blank cassettes which he would never tape other peoples music on -- he would only make his own. He would collect T-shirts out of the free bin, print them and them give away all of them -- usually with his band or Crowley/ Thelema designs on them.
He called his son, Alex, his greatest creation. Chris taught me the Art of beautiful Love.
There were times when Chris would feel as if he wasn't as successful with his Art as he would like to be, but he never changed his style to be more palatable to anyone. He was true to himself, to his heart, and that's where his Art came from.
Chris was one of the strongest propagators of Thelema I have ever met. He introduced me to the Book of the Law and when I heard him speak of it shivers would run up my spine. Yes, I know I'm biased, but my point is that he was so strong in his certainty it was inspiring. He really appreciated the way Crowley made his entire life a work of art.
I've seen Chris enlighten many people over the years with his particular form of Art -- in your face. He was studying Qabbalah and Liber Al when he was a teenager. He had a band called "Creeping Things" when he was in his 20's. One of their songs was the Enochian First Key set to punk rock.
Later, when he was 30, he had another punk band with his friends Cheryle, Charles, and Crum, called Circle Kaos. He was the singer and lyricist. The content of the lyrics were very political and, at times, very sarcastic. For example, "I hate war and Ronald Reagan, I hate all authority. I hate organized religion, pseudo-Christianity. Jerry Falwell, big False Prophet, preaching his hypocrisy. I wish Jesus was here to witness all this mockery." Circle Kaos played around Texas, then went to New York City. They were well received by the underground street kids.
When he returned to Texas and one of the members remained in New York, Chris and Charles formed another band, Ex Pistos. This band was more hardcore and the lyrics were different. They still remained political, always; but he incorporated much more magick into them.
"Scorpions and creeping things, having power in their stings. Beetle lurking, gathering, sacrificial offerings. Satan laughing with delight, brandishing a bloody knife. Lennon was the sacrifice, Victim of the Antichrist."
With songs like The Ancient of Days, Braineater, Make your Peace with Death, and Now It's Boiling (the lyrics are instructions on how to shrink a head), Chris was able to teach people esoteric ideas. The Rant, a long tongue-in-cheek "expose" on the stupidity of Christian tele-evangelists, was a favorite.
While on tour with our bands in California, we found the OTO and attended Gnostic Mass. We decided to move to Berkeley. Chris had previously visited Berkeley when in his 20's and met Grady McMurtry. We received our Minerval initiations at Thelema Lodge.
Ex Pistos remained together for about a year, but the OTO really became Chris' main focus. He organized several classes, a Yezidi mass and a Voudoun bembe. One of the events that he was most proud of was the Thelemic Arts Fest, held at Gilman Street Theater, which he and Terri Compost put together. It featured only art created by Thelemites, but was a success with non- Thelemites also.
While in California Chris advanced to Second degree OTO, was made a Gnostic bishop and joined the A A.
Chris would argue vehemently with the Christian propagandists on the University of California campus. That was definitely one of his favorite things to do. He knew the Bible inside out and could quote passages that most of the supposed Christians had never heard of. He could really piss them off with the truth. It was hilarious to watch them get flustered -- he would bring along friends to enjoy it also. But he was very serious about what he was saying.
When he returned to Austin, he continued to "debate" with Christians on the UT campus. He also would call the radio/TV talk shows and some of the hosts would become so upset that they would screen calls and recognized him even when he used different names. A group called the Crystal Methodists heard Chris on some of the shows and taped him. They will be releasing a CD with some of Chris' better conversations included.
While Chris worked at a tele-marketing firm, he still found ways to help people. He would turn them onto jobs there, or call his friends to sign them up for "beer-drinking" studies and others.
During the seven months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer he was blessed with the support of many friends and family. Throughout the summer people visited and it really meant a lot to him. Special thanks to James and Caitlin from California, to Content and Cammi from Austin, to Cheryle who never failed to cheer him up and to Carole Dixon, his sister, who was really there for him when he needed it most.
Thank you to everyone else (yes, you Charles, John, Shaun and Theta). As I said at his memorial service, Chris really believed Love is the Law, Love under Will, and he was shown that Love again and again throughout his illness.
Chris will remain with us always.

--- Ariadne


Poetry

contributed by Frater Pwdre Ser 0°

Thou Who Art I
(best recited aloud)

I was just beginning.
        Yes, Aiwaz.
                I wanted it all.
I was determined to succeed.
        Yes, Aiwaz.
                Nothing could stop me.
I made my first move,
        And I was victorious.
                Yes, Aiwaz.
I sat bathing in my glory.
        Aiwaz,
                I was.
The next move was to be difficult,
        But I was determined to succeed.
                Yes, Aiwaz.
I gathered my resources.
        I was plotting my coming victory.
                Yes, Aiwaz.
My preparations piled high,
        I was fighting to the Death.
                Yes, Aiwaz.
Aiwaz,
        I only knew victory,
                And I was granted it.
My crowning glory shone forth.
        I was brighter than the Dog's star.
                Yes, Aiwaz.
Victory was to be so easy now.
        I was to have it all.
                Yes Aiwaz.
One veiled obstacle remained:
        A single figure clad in blue.
                I was determined.
I swept aside the veil,
        And I was met by a flame of cold.
                Aiwaz?
My defenses crumbled into dust.
        I lost all that I had,
                And I was defeated.
But I worked so hard!
        I was to be victorious!
                Aiwaz, was I?
Nothing lay around me,
        But abomination and desolation.
                Aiwaz.
Were my victories all apparitions?
        What was I without victory?
                Aiwaz?
I had nothing.
        I was nothing.
                Aiwaz!
I had everything.
        I was everything.
                Aiwaz victorious!
Aiwaz.
        I am.
                I Will.


Primary Sources

Soror Estai & Frater Saturnus
Here are three letters from Jane Wolfe to Karl Germer, in 1954 and 1955 e.v. Jane recounts various going's on, ranging from bits of history about Jack Parson's Babalon Working, through the contemporary situation of Cameron Parsons, and on to fantasies of Louis Culling about L. Ron Hubbard.

5169 1/4 Fountain Avenue,
Los Angeles, 29, California.

               June 30, 1954

Dear Karl:

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

Copy of Cameron's last letter to me is enclosed. Reference to I Ching: She asked me to throw the sticks for her -- this over the phone. I do not permit an inquirer to tell me the question -- I feel much freerer. There seemed to be an urgency, so I typed it immediately, and posted it to her. I learned afterward that it had to do with her new art unfoldment, done on parchment, and which seems to have put her over -- to some extent at least. She is being talked about, etc., but I have not yet seen these paintings, which is rather annoying and disappointing.

She gave me good news: "Jane, my Messianic Drive is over -- finished!"

About two years ago, at Cameron's request, Estai endorsed a copy of Liber AL to Renee Loomer, and one to LeRoy ...... I now learn that LeRoy has organised Voo Doo Ceremonies in Pasadena and Los Angeles. His photograph shows a fine upstanding negro, with power and personality. Did A.C. ever do anything about "the obeah and the wanga"? Those are Voo Doo terms. But LeRoy would never come to see me. Cameron Renee and Paul Andre (her partner) have a growing group, so Paul told me. I was so stupid I did not ask about it; but I shall have a chance later on.

Cameron again. I have let her alone, for the most part, as she always phones or calls when in deep trouble, or in need of talking it out with some one. When here two weeks ago she told me the past year has been hideous -- that her two selves were in conflict -- that she was insane for a time -- she always carried the means of suicide -- but now thinks she has faced the lurking fears. Out of this chaos came an art expression which she has sought for years, and it is in art she is to express herself.

Phyllis. You gave me a Commentary on Liber VII some years ago, asking me not to show it to anyone. Is Phyllis now entitled to read it?

Monty is not in any position to work on Qabalah, etc., at present. Desperate about money, some of his Mexican friends plotted out a section of L.A. (East) through which to canvas for insurance (Life). This he will do every evening. It is thought he can make $50 a week after he learns the techniques. His debts are troubling him mightily -- money his sister loaned him, a Bank in Beverly Hills, his daughter's support -- the wife maintains herself.

Louis had supper with us two nights ago, he was full of talk about this and that, but after he had gone I realized I had not heard anything about the remaining books!! The fool's cap and corner for me.

Love is the law, love under will.
I visit H.Q., sit at table with Sascha and yourself,
tickle the kittens, and climb the hills. Golly!
{Jane}                       


1203 Inchon Avenue.
  Barstow, California

             July 1, 1955

Dear Karl;

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

A.C.'s letter to Jack. My recollection -- which I feel is correct -- is that Jack was to work in secret. Also that the Working, and the Result, were not to be told anyone -- Jack himself to put it out of his mind when finished.

Whether Jack followed the instructions at first, Ron Hubbard later became an assistant. Hence my shock on receiving Jack's report. I do hope that Report turns up!

You have seen Jack's pencilled Liber 49 (now in your possession). Did Ron Hubbard have aught to do with the typed Liber 49, Ron eliminating many superfluous words?

Did A.C. think Jack capable of such work? Or was Jack capable but being tested for the Four Powers of the Sphinx.

By the way, I was told (by whom? Culling?) that Ron Hubbard had some powers. For instance. That he nailed W.T.S. to a board? a cross? There he stayed till Jack could no longer tolerate Smith's pleadings to be released. Ron then let him loose.

Hubbard was a successful contributor to "Weird Stories" Magazine.

Ero, Jean and I leave early Saturday a.m. for L.A. They return the 4th.

Love is the law, love under will.
                          {Love Jane}


       1203 Inchon Ave.
Barstow, California.

     August 13th, 1955.

Dear Karl:

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

Cameron will not get to Mexico at the time she stated, July 26. She came to the Burlingames to see me the 3rd of August, and then stated she was to go the following Tuesday. She also told me somewhat of Muir. He is divorced and has with him 3 children of that marriage. In the group destined for Mexico are Muir, a second wife(?) and their three children, Cameron and the three children above mentioned. These three Cameron cares for; she also keeps conversation going, when needed. This discipline is a strain, but she feels there is something waiting for her in Mexico -- possibly a thought to keep up her spirits?? -- something she wants but fears. Also, she is without a home and has worn out her welcome now here, now there. No letter from Mexico as yet.

This from Cameron. Anger is in Majorica, for 3 years; no pictures during this period; no people other than those of his present line of thought, one of which is a group of people named "The Circle of Saturn", of Germany. Anger wrote C. at the time of the "Pleasure Dome" experiments in London, but she did not answer him. But told me she now will write him. At no time did she write Kenneth Grant -- her "instinct" prevented it.

I feel Cameron will go ahead or fall off her perch. She is hard pressed and looked worn and thin when I saw her.

Jean has written re Meeka and Louis, so I add the remark of Phyllis. "Saw Mica and Louis and was amused and annoyed. Louis still dangerous to our best interests. He is always the monkey on the lookout for the cat's paw, and unprincipled."

Cameron is pressed for money, yet refused the program. Meeka bragged about the money one could get on T.V. Smith refused. She and Louis were quite melodramatic -- especially Meeka -- who stood out front watching the actress rant and rave, preening herself on her ability and beauty. But then, sincerity is not in either one. I was glad to hear Coates, the Confidential columnist, tell the audience, the Ritual was a hodge-podge, but even so could do some damage to some people. I was surprised to hear him say there are 40 groups in L.A. who practice witchcraft and sorcery. But on thought, there are Mexicans interested in some such thing, and the negro vodoo. Cameron says that is practised in L.A.

Love is the law, love under will.

                                Love,

                                    {Jane}

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Poetry

Vortex spinning seeds of change
Blinding light and icy rage
Towers crackle in the fire
Jump the wind whirling higher . . .

(8/20/94 e.v.)           
-- Firebird, 397                           


Previous Firebird poem


From the Outbasket

Here are some edited bits from responses to recent email:

BW asked about negative spirits and depression a friend experienced.

This sounds like a classic case of attracting things that feed on pain and fear. Such spirits take the form of perceptions and mental states which tend to produce that sort of food. Saturnian states of mind and emotion are very powerful tools, but usually are poorly understood, badly aimed and inadequately contained. They leak, and attract parasites. This is connected with the Muladhara Chakra in eastern approaches. It is the same thing as the "creative crisis" or massive depression that people have to endure to reach a changed state of consciousness or to make some new thing. If it is not understood in that way, it is the principal source of suffering in humanity. These hungry spirits are always a hazard. Any major working attracts them, as does any state of depression. One simply has to keep busy and learn due proportion and balance in many aspects of living.

MP wanted to know if Magick was without limits, particularly in regard to time travel.

Magick is entirely dependent on limits. To work Magick, one changes the limits in such a way that intended things happen. The act of perceiving the physical body is a question of time. Abolish time and you have to leave aside many of the perceptions that constitute a sense of the physical. As to the limits changed to go back in time in the spirit, there are many ways to do this. The simplest is by affinity, learning and sympathizing with people of the past, including their environments, to the point that one accepts the limits that define a bygone age and place. The senses and prejudices are very important in that. One must "smell it" and be bound by the beliefs of the age.

WJ remarked the similarity of sex and prayer.

This is something that often takes a while for a Westerner to accept, or at least verbalize. Sex and Religion are essentially similar. Prayer and sexual activity are the same thing in all but outer forms, if earnest and successful as actions. Religion also includes aspects of parent-child and fear-safety, but Sex pretty much deals with the rest. This is sometimes easier to understand if one thinks of animal behavior, since the only correspondence in animal behavior to prayer is sex and the tolerant behavior associated with mating and courtship. In sexuality and prayer alike, the common point of success is utter release, followed by a sense of calm and ecstasy. There are passages in the Bible and other religious literature which describe the relationship between the worshiper and the deity in sexual modes or roles, and the Song of Solomon is only the most obvious. Most worship buildings and rites are essentially sexual, even downright gynecological, in structure and symbolism. Nearly all religions develop a rite of marriage or otherwise dignify and sanctify sexuality. Sexual abstinence in clergy is found in some religions, whereby the sexual matters are reserved for prayer directly with the deity or a feminine counterpart. Other religions permit or require marriage for clergy, commonly including a sympathetic mode between the married couple and a similar divine activity, often requiring sexual congress on the Sabbath.

-- TSG (Bill Heidrick)

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Events Calendar for January 1997 e.v.

1/5/97Gnostic Mass 7:30PM Horus TempleThelema Ldg.
1/8/97New Moon in Capricornus 8:26 PMThelema Ldg.
1/12/97Thelema Lodge Luncheon Meeting 12:30Thelema Ldg.
1/12/97Gnostic Mass 7:30PM Horus TempleThelema Ldg.
1/13/97The Law is for ALL reading and
discussion, Library, 7:30PM		Thelema Ldg.
1/15/97Thelema Lodge Library night 8PM
(call to attend)		Thelema Ldg.
1/18/97OTO initiations. Call to attendThelema Ldg.
1/19/97Sol into Aquarius 4:43 PMThelema Ldg.
1/19/97Gnostic Mass 7:30PM Horus TempleThelema Ldg.
1/20/97Section 2 reading w/Caitlin at OZ
Balzac's The Magic Skin, 8PM		Thelema Ldg.
1/22/97Tarot with Bill Heidrick, 7:30 PM
in San Anselmo at 5 Suffield Ave.		Thelema Ldg.
1/23/97Full Moon in Leo 7:11 AMThelema Ldg.
1/26/97Gnostic Mass 7:30PM Horus TempleThelema Ldg.
1/27/97Sirius Oasis meeting 8PM BerkeleySirius Oasis
1/28/97Thelema Lodge Library night 8PM
(call to attend)		Thelema Ldg.
1/31/97"The Houses in Astrology" workshop
with Grace in Berkeley 7 PM		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)

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