October 1990 Thelema Lodge Calendar/Newsletter (October & November events) Mailed free within 100 miles of San Francisco California Copyright (c) O.T.O. and the Individual Authors, 1990 e.v. Limited license is hereby granted to reproduce this file without fee, with this message intact. This license expires October 1991 e.v. unless renewed in writing. No charge other than reproduction costs is permitted under this license to the receivers of copies of this file without O.T.O. written permission. Ordo Templi Orientis P.O. Box 2303 Berkeley, CA 94702 USA Temple Location: 588 63rd St. Oakland, California (Entrance in back, downstairs) Phones: TEMPLE PHONE: (415) 654-3580 Lodge Master: (415) 647-8147 Messages Only: (415) 454-5176 Compuserve: 72105,1351 Calendar events in the San Francisco Bay Area for October 1990 to November 1990 e.v., in brief. Always call the contact phone number before attending. Some are limited in size, change location and may be subject to other adjustments. When you call, you don't get lost or disappointed. Initiations are private. Donations at all OTO events are welcome. ************************************************************************* Date: Description: Contact: Sponsor: 10/3/90 Harvest Moon Party 7 PM (415) 654-3580 Hypatia Cmp 10/4/90 "Oriental 777" class 7:30 PM (415) 654-3580 Hypatia Cmp 10/5/90 Initiations Workshop 0th Deg 8 PM (415) 647-8147 Thelema Ldg 10/7/90 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/10/90 Massage Night 7:30 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/11/90 Rites of Eleusis '90 meeting 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/12/90 Crowleymass Open House at the Lodge (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/14/90 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/16/90 Magick Theatre 7:30 PM reads (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg "The Alchemist" by Ben Johnson 10/17/90 Magick & Qabalah # 9 with Bill 8 PM (415) 454-5176 Thelema Ldg 10/18/90 Grady Mass and Lodge of Perfection (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/19/90 Initiations Workshop 1st Deg 8 PM (415) 647-8147 Thelema Ldg 10/21/90 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/23/90 Secret Meeting. 10/24/90 Magick & Qabalah #10 with Bill 8 PM (415) 454-5176 Thelema Ldg 10/25/90 Thelema Lodge Meeting 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/28/90 Scorpio Birthday party 4:18 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/28/90 Gnostic Mass Sunset (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 10/28/90 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS 2 AM 10/31/90 Halloween (call for info) (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/1/90 "Angel Beach" at the Temple 8PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/2/90 Initiations Workshop 2nd Deg 8 PM (415) 647-8147 Thelema Ldg 11/4/90 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/7/90 N.R.D.N.A. Samhain, call for info (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/11/90 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/14/90 Liber 418 begins. (TEX -- 30) 11/15/90 Lodge of Perfection LOP 11/16/90 Initiations Workshop 3rd Deg 8 PM (415) 647-8147 Thelema Ldg 11/17/90 Panthelemic Culture Festival at (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg Gilman St. (RII -- 29) 11/18/90 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/18/90 Lodge Cleanup (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/20/90 Magick Theatre reads Crowley's (415) 654-3580 Magick. Thea "3 Wishes" 7:30 PM Temple 11/22/90 Sun to Sagittarius 5:47 AM 11/23/90 Secret Meeting (BAG -- 28) 11/24/90 (ZAA -- 27) 11/25/90 Sagittarius birthday party 4:18 PM (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/25/90 Gnostic Mass 8 PM (DES -- 26) & (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg (VTI -- 25) 11/26/90 (NIA -- 24) 11/28/90 Tentative date of Rite of Uranus (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg (TOR -- 23) and (LIN -- 22) 11/29/90 Thelema Lodge Meeting 8 PM (ASP--21) (415) 654-3580 Thelema Ldg 11/30/90 (KHR -- 2-) and (POP -- 19) ************************************************************************* from the Grady Project: The Mystical Marriage of the Soldier and the Queen I am the Virgin of the Queen. Do you accept me? I am the Representative of Heaven and Earth. Do you accept me? I am the Virgin whereby all things are accomplished, but am not myself changed thereby. Do you accept me? Who accepts my burden may never lay me down. Do you accept me? Who binds himself to me can never again be free, for I am all things to all men. Do you accept me? To seek me is to enter upon the Holy Quest for Oblivion, for you must give All that you may attain Nothing. Dare you accept me? I am the Promise and I am the Fulfillment. Dare you accept me? I am the Negative in the Supernal Union of the interpenetration of the Opposites. Dare you accept me? I am Purity beyond all comprehension of Cancellation. I am the Balance of the Wheel, and the Fiery Feather of Maat. Dare you accept me? Response: There is no holier vessel than a Maiden who has become a Virgin, for a Virgin may attain even unto the Throne of the Queen. Anthem: We are a community of the living and the dead. We are the Deathless Stars who manifest in a Higher State of Existence. We are the Serpent Flower that is Death and Second Birth. We are the next Stage of Oblivion. --Grady Louis McMurtry 6/28/62 (0920 hrs) --from "Rhadamanthus" [previously published in an O.T.O. pamphlet (1979 e.v.), "O.T.O. Newsletter" #7-8 and in "Ecclesia Gnostica" #4 (1985 e.v.)] ************************************************************************* News and Editorial Report: On September 12th, 1990 e.v., Ordo Templi Orientis and seven individual plaintiffs filed a suit in Federal Court against the City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, 10 named officers of BPD, two other individuals and as yet unidentified additional defendants. The suit asks $9.5 million in compensatory damages with additional special damages and remedies. All this arises out of the raid and matters prior and subsequent of one year ago. The damages arise from allegations of violation of civil rights, civil conspiracy, false arrest and imprisonment, slander, libel, conversion, assault, battery, malicious prosecution and abuse of process, as well as intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligence. The complaint also claims as specific causes of action matters arising from the 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 14th amendments to the U.S.Constitution and matters in California constitution and statute. The case will be heard by Federal IXth District Court Judge Eugene F. Lynch, hopefully within the next year or early in the one following. For more information on the raid and relevant matters in this case, please consult the "Thelema Lodge Calendar" for October, November, December 1989 e.v. and February of 1990 e.v. --- back issues are available at $1 each. Grand Lodge needs your contributions to the Legal Fund. The raid brought home to us the necessity of dealing with libel and slander before it leads to worse things. In the past the Grand Lodge of O.T.O. has taken legal action against libel at some considerable expense. We have always been successful, although not always to the point of fighting a case to ultimate decision by the courts. One of the controlling limitations has been money. At this time four additional unrelated legal actions are either in progress or in early stages against matters of libel or the result of libel against O.T.O. in addition to this present case. We have had to turn down one other case on the fringe of O.T.O., in large part from lack of adequate funding to proceed. For more information, see the "Magical Link", Summer 1990 e.v. issue. O.T.O. can proceed with the matters presently in hand, but only if contributions to the Legal Fund continue. Your generosity has enabled us to come this far, but justice is expensive. Please send what you can afford to: O.T.O. Legal Fund, P.O.Box 430, Fairfax, CA 94930 USA. Such contributions to the defense of our religious freedom to pursue the practice of the Thelemic religion are tax- deductible in the USA. Victories by O.T.O. in defense of its religious freedom redound to the benefit of all minority religions through establishment of precedent and demonstration of the rights of religious expression generally. The questions will arise; "Isn't this censorship? Why don't you people recognize the free speech rights of other people? Do you want to ban books just because they don't agree with you?" Answer to these points is easy to make, so much so that it has become cliche. "It isn't free speech to yell 'Fire!' in a crowded theater when there is no fire." Freedom of expression of opinion and fact is the absolute corner-stone of the Temple! To lie or negligently incite violence and breach the "Rights of Man" is nowhere tolerable, nor is it freedom. My freedom stops where yours begins, and vice versa. Every man and every woman has a right to write as he or she Wills. It is impossible to truly Will that which is false, but it is certainly possible to mistake one's true Will for a desire compounded of the lust of result and that dark perversion, universal slavery. Crowley frequently wrote that no thief, murderer or liar can be a Thelemite. What possession is of greater value in the outer world than honor and reputation? What mundane right is more essential than that of life itself and the freedom to pursue happiness? What is nobler than Truth or more despicable than Falsehood? In this year a great wealth has passed beyond the world. Frater Paragranus, Herman Metzger, has experienced his Greater Feast. He was never reconciled with the O.T.O. descended from Crowley, but his efforts in his own sphere for Thelema were important. The work of Frater Paragranus goes on with his successors. Perhaps the day may yet come when hands set at odds will join in the same task. Manly P. Hall has also passed to that ultimate experience of the mysteries he so loved to expound. His works are sometimes controversial but always interesting and often beautiful. He was never a member of O.T.O., and probably did not view Thelema with any special favor. Nonetheless, we are richer for his life and wiser for his writings. He will not be missed, for his works will endure and enlighten in his stead. Rare is the life that lives on in the minds of countless generations, a Great Work accomplished. Mimi Legallic, Soror of the Vth Degree attained the Greater Feast on 18th September, 1990 e.v. She peacefully died in her sleep, without any evident sign of illness. To her memory will stand the powers of reconciliation and love which she so ably manifested among us. Soror Mimi will be greatly missed in New York and Montreal by those who knew her well. Her hand invisibly touched the Order in many ways, always to its blessing. Raymond Gullison also attained his Greater Feast recently. He was a Thelemite of many decades standing and had known Huxley in his younger days. Although he attained well beyond four-score years of life, he never joined O.T.O. A Frater met him in the final year of his life and was able to attend his last days with bed side reading of "Liber AL". Raymond Gullison distributed three copies of Jack Parson's "Freedom is a Two Edged Sword" to friends and family just before his ultimate illness. Let his life and the manner of his passing stand witness that not O.T.O. nor any other order shall ever make Thelema its exclusive possession. "Let my servants be few & secret: they shall rule the many & the known." AL I, 10. --- TSG ************************************************************************* Presenting a song lyric without the music, that is, THE HALF LYRE: BEHIND DOOR #3 Would you willingly go like Mansur al-Hallaj to be strung up, dismembered, and tortured with zeal if you also could know with eternity's heartbeat the face of his God and how He can feel? "What a fool's heedless bargain!", the wise will confess, "of pain we know plenty from zygote to dust, but of union with God just what men do profess." Would you squander your fortune like Aleister Crowley to wind up with nothing but ring, pipe, and wit if you also could lie in the City of Pyramids, a hard silent headstone for what died in the Pit? "What an uncertain gamble!", the prudent declaim, "from mansion or hovel it's easy to choose, but from doubt or delusion the choice is the same." Would you give up a kingdom like Gautama Siddhartha? Would you die to save Satan like Jesus the Christ? Would you flee for your safety like the Prophet Muhammed, or find safety in failure to find God at all? ************************************************************************* The Orators 'ration ON LOVE AND LOVE "Nor let the fools mistake love; for there are love and love. There is the dove, and there is the serpent. Choose ye well! He, my prophet, hath chosen, knowing the law of the fortress, and the great mystery of the House of God." -- LIBER AL, I:57 "be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." -- MATTHEW, 10:16 Just as every individual expression of love is unique, there are also any number of ways to symbolize the various archetypes of love, with which strange yarns we then weave out our singular tapestries. The symbols, by their very nature, are not fully definable in words. When artists use the images of a dove or a serpent in their work they may consciously mean them to represent a multitude of different things, but within a particular culture particular interpretations will tend to dominate the audience's response. In Judaeo-Christo-Islamic cultures, for instance, the dominant view of the serpent is as a symbol of temptation and sin, of the treachery and evil which is loosed in this world. This is distinct from the majority of human cultures which revere the serpent as a symbol of immortality and the power of time, of ancient knowledge and the fertility of body and spirit. A hint of this is found in the Christian gospel, which is not surprising if we consider that the Christian religious system draws far more heavily upon pagan theology than upon Judaism for its foundations. When the book of Matthew refers to the wisdom of serpents rather than to their dangerousness it is utilizing a pagan strata of symbolism as an alternative to Old Testament symbolism, which displays as its dominant view the deadly and deceitful serpent (though of course even trends within the Old Testament itself may reflect the older pagan strata; for instance in Genesis, where a serpent is associated with the Tree of Knowledge, just as it is in the earlier Babylonian mythology, though in the Hebrew Bible the dominant voice perceives this knowledge in purely moralistic terms as a knowledge of good and evil, and not as the much more ethically neutral concept of knowledge for its own sake). Likewise, in the Judaeo-Christo-Islamic cultures, the dove has been seen in a positive light, associated with truth and purity, innocence and the holy spirit. In this case, unlike the serpent, the earliest symbolic references have remained reasonably intact among the so-called monotheists---though in many ancient and widely separated traditions birds relate most specifically to the human soul, or a part thereof, which transcends the death of the physical body. Still, even if we reject the simplistic good vs. evil view of the symbolic dichotomy between doves and serpents, we nonetheless perceive that some sort of dichotomy between these symbols does, in some mysterious manner, exist. From the words of Aiwass we have a clue to help us unveil the enigma; both creatures symbolize love--- but love itself is revealed as a bipartite phenomenon. In LITTLE ESSAYS TOWARD TRUTH Crowley writes that, "Love may best be defined as the passion of Hatred inflamed to the point of madness, when it takes refuge in Self-destruction." This is perhaps an overly dramatic way of putting it; elsewhere in the same work AC compares human beings to atoms and their relationships to molecules, and in this analogy love between people is like the energy absorbed and released in the processes of molecular combination. Here the atoms find refuge not in actual self- destruction, but rather in the temporary submersion of their individual identities into molecules whose attributes differ markedly from those characteristic of the constituent atoms on their own. As love is a psychological as well as a chemical phenomenon we might perhaps define it to include all the mental and emotional energies absorbed or released in any given integration of human psyches. As we know that many forms of energy express themselves in polarities which we usually label as positive and negative it seems conceivable that love is also an energy with two different modes of expressing itself. Here the ancient Greeks, who bequeathed to us the word 'psyche' itself, provide a few hints; they had not one, but two words for love: Agape, sometimes translated as 'brotherly love', and Eros, translated as 'sexual love'. It seems clear to me that, if we were to assign symbols to these words, the dove would be well-suited to represent Agape, while the serpent is perfectly adapted to be the emblem of Eros. The dove of peace and harmony is a veritable poem of the Holy Spirit soaring through heavenly skies of brotherly love. The serpent of wisdom and delight is a veritable phallus of Lust plunging into hellish cycles of skin-shedding immortality (of course, as with any true interpretation of symbolic interaction, the entire metaphor may be turned completely upside-down: the serpent might represent the spiritual sublimation of personality through the wand of will [cf. Avalon, THE SERPENT POWER, the rods of Moses and Aaron, etc.], while the labial wings and clitoral beak of the dove can scarcely conceal the wet and waiting cup of Babalon). Some of these identifications may be borne out by a Qabalistic analysis of Crowley's well-known Hebrew formula representing those actions performed by a purposeful will, without lust of result, LAShTAL [Lamed-Aleph-Shin-Tet-Aleph-Lamed]. The word can be divided into three parts; the first, LA, means 'not' and the last, AL, means 'god'. Each of them adds up to 31. The central element, ShT, means 'to wander'. Thus one may understand LAShTAL as meaning 'not to wander from God' which implies both the singleness of purpose and the selflessness which many qabalists have attributed to the formula. The central ShT is even more interesting in numerological terms. Crowley took the values of the Tarot cards corresponding to Shin and Teth, XX (The Aeon) and XI (Lust), which add up to 31, and used this as the value of ShT in LAShTAL. This 31, added to the two 31's of LA and AL, gives LAShTAL a full value of 93, the number of love and will. It's understandable that Crowley found this relationship quite inspiring. However, if we add in the values of ShT in the ordinary Hebrew fashion we get a value for LAShTAL of 371, which is quite inspiring in its own way. 371 graphically represents the penetration of 7 into 31. Also it is 3, a number of Chokhmah (the serpent of Wisdom), and 71, a number of Binah (the dove of Peace). Further it is 37, Yechidah, the highest soul, the symbol of Kether exemplified, and 1, the number of Kether itself. Adding up 3, 7, and 1 produces 11, the number of eternal change, the interactions of Had and Nu. Lastly, and perhaps paradoxically, it is 371, the number of Samael, the prince of the Qlipoth of Chokhmah (and it is 53 times 7, Satisfaction of Desire, the opposite of LAShTAL!). When we look more closely at the central ShT we find an even more remarkable correspondence to the dove/serpent dichotomy. As Crowley writes, "ShT supplies the last element; making the Word of either five or six letters, according as we regard ShT as one letter or two. Thus the Word affirms the Great Work accomplished: 5Degree=6Square." Thus we can say that, like love, ShT is a unity with dual aspects. Shin can represent the Holy Spirit, and thus relates to Agape, the dove. Teth means literally 'serpent', and thus here symbolizes Eros, the Lust card in the Tarot. [A note on some 5Degree=6Square symbolism: the path which links 5 (Geburah) and 6 (Tiphareth) is represented by Lamed, the ox goad which keeps the initiate in equilibrium as he/she travels the path. This Lamed, which brackets the LAShTAL formula, is a powerful formula in its own right---through balanced self-sacrifice we attain the portal beyond the Void; its value is 74, the confrontation (i.e., multiplication) of Yechidah (37) with duality (2). The Lamed path also associates with Ra-Hoor-Khuit because they both mediate between the Sun (Tiphareth) and Mars (Geburah). While Ra-Hoor-Khuit = 463 (the value of the Middle Pillar); and 463 = 370 (both A'aSh [Ayin-Shin], 'creation', and ShLM [Shin-Lamed-Memfinal], 'peace'; also 5 times 74, Lamed in Geburah) + 93, which equation describes a specialized formula of adeptship in this aeon. If Ra-Hoor-Khuit symbolizes the strength of the Adept, and Hoor-pa-kraat represents the silence of the Magister Templi, then, interestingly, the core of Heru-Ra-Ha could be called the Abyss, and we might as well say that Choronzon is a secret name of the Lord of this Aeon!] It is impossible to end this paper without some reference to Kundalini Yoga. This is the branch of yogic discipline which seeks to arouse and circulate the Kundalini Shakti (literally, 'coiled energy') through the spinal column and subsidiary channels to the entire body. This Kundalini force is often identified symbolically with the serpent, and seems clearly to be "the secret Serpent coiled about to spring" referred to in Liber Al, II:26. But is this the same serpent referred to in verse 57 of the first chapter? Crowley's comment seems to indicate that he thought so, and that "Choose ye well!" is an admonition to practice Kundalini yoga. Perhaps this is so, but I think there is also another way of viewing it. The word serpent is capitalized in II:26, but lowercase in I:57. In II:26 we read, "in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one." This shows that there are two ways to express the Kundalini energy, distinguished by their differing directions of flow. Perhaps we can correspond this dichotomy of the capital 'S' Serpent with the dichotomy of lowercase serpent and dove. Suppose we identify the dove of I:57 with the dove of the O.T.O. lamen, which represents the descent of the Holy Spirit. This descending dove may represent the process whereby the capital 'S' Serpent lifts up his head to unite with Nuit; this expression of Kundalini energy through the spirit is the essence of Agape. If this attribution holds then the serpent of I:57 can be identified with the capital 'S' Serpent when it droops down its head and shoots forth venom; this expression of Kundalini energy through the flesh is the essence of Eros. Once we adopt this perspective "Choose ye well!" becomes not a slogan but rather a call for careful balance (Lamed) in our use of the Kundalini power. We must learn through our experiences in the "House of God" (which are represented by the Tower card of the Tarot) when and how to utilize our Kundalini energy for both spiritual and sexual ecstasy. Much much more could be written about the symbolism of doves and serpents, and entire libraries remain to be written about love, but I for one would rather experience these things than write about them, and so this present paper ebbs to its end with a long lost love lyric: Heaven is waiting within your eyes Fruit of the garden between your thighs If you'll be mine Then I'll be thine Like snake and dove We'll share a love so true! -----Frater Faustus ************************************************************************* FROM THE OUT BASKET Last issue we began publication of "Ritual Aleph," a meditation ritual based on the Golden Dawn pantheon and Merkabah Qabalah. This month we conclude: RITUAL ALEPH From "Magick & Qabalah # 1", copyright (c) 1976 & 1980 by Bill Heidrick, pp. 20-29. Introduction to the Second Half of Ritual Aleph: Up to this point all is preparation and atunement. Beyond this point the part taken by the worker of this ritual becomes increasingly personal. The fourth part employs the fifty gates of understanding in a way quite similar to the "negative confession" of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. In this, seven statements of purity are made for each of the seven lower worlds or hells. These are not to be memorized, but a made up on the spot by the worker of the ritual. This fourth part is very nearly the most important part of the entire ritual. When the worker can say all forty- nine truths, declarations of purity or conscience, the fiftieth gate opens and the rest of the ritual becomes Truth. Until this point is reached, the rest can only be empty words and the summoning of earth-bound spirits. The depth of inner searching reflected in the 49 Truths then determines the success or failure of the rest of the ritual. The names of the Door angels of Part Four describe feelings of failure or guilt in the utterance of the corresponding Truths. To abate such feelings, refrain from saying "... and enter ..." Resolve to make the cause of failure vanish from your life by the power of the particular angel of that door acting through you in the days to come. After Part Five, the remaining parts are in outline only. These will be given to you in vision and dream through The Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. Second Half of Ritual Aleph In the following you will perform a sort of examination of conscience. This is in the form of a ritual descent through the seven lower levels of consciousness. At each of seven "doors" two angels are confronted. Their names in Hebrew are spoken and Seven Declarations of Purity are made. Each of these begins: "I have not..." and should be made up on the spot. Each declaration should be of a fault (for example: "I have not broken the law of this city." or "I have not cheated anyone." or "I have not abused myself unduly." &c.). The seven statements are different for each of the seven doors. There will be forty-nine in all. Use caution in choosing what to say. Don't say something that seems ridiculous or too painful. These statements will develop with practice. The intensity of each set of seven should increase as you go on; so that the first set is the easiest to say and the last the hardest. A word of advice. Try to keep aware that you are a different person in the midst of this ritual than you are in everyday life. Theoretically, there should be no problem in saying something like "I have not stolen." just after accepting change for ten dollars in a market when you actually paid five. In practice, of course, this ritual state of consciousness will influence your everyday mental state and vice-versa. Fourth Part. Say the following, remembering to include the seven statements ("I have not..." in the places where "..." appears in the text. Where "N" appears, don't say "N", but say your own name. In time, you may wish to use a different name for yourself at each of these seven doors. Such names come through Vision and Dream. There are correspondences between the seven ancient planets and these seven doors. These have been indicated above each passage. They should not be said, but they may be of help in making the seven statements at each door. Say this: "I descend in purification that Da'atim (masculine knowledge) and Da'atot (feminine knowledge) become one Da'at (pure knowledge)." "Jupiter" "At the Door of Hismael (Heh-Samekh-Mem-Aleph-Lamed), the Likeness, and Iophiel (Yod-Vau-Peh-Aleph-Lamed), the Beauty, I, "N", declare seven truths "..." and enter." "Mars" "At the Door of Bartzabel (Bet-Resh-Tzaddi-Bet-Aleph-Lamed), the Soldier, and Graphiel (Gemel-Resh-Aleph-Peh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed), the Might, I, "N", declare seven truths ... and enter." "Sun" "At the Door of Sorath (Samekh-Vau-Resh-Taw), the Banisher, and Nakhiel (Nun-Koph-Yod-Aleph-Lamed), The Smiting, I, "N", declare seven truths ... and enter." Venus" "At the Door of Kedemel (Qof-Dalet-Mem-Aleph-Lamed), the Ancient, and Hagiel (Heh-Gemel-Yod-Aleph-Lamed), the Cutter, I, "N", declare seven truths ... and enter." "Mercury" "At the Door of Taptartarat (Taw-Peh-Taw-Resh-Taw-Resh-Taw), the Derision, and Tiriel (Tet-Yod-Resh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed), the Wall, I, "N", declare seven truths ... and enter." "Moon" "At the Door of Schar Barschemoth Ha--Shartathan (Shin-Resh Bet-Resh-Shin-Mem-Ayin-Taw Heh--Shin-Resh-Taw-Taw-Nunfinal), the Prince who is the Son of the Names of the Serving Ones, and Malkah (Mem-Lamed-Koph-Heh), the Bride, I, "N", declare seven truths ... and enter." "Saturn" "At the Door of Zaziel (Zain-Zain-Aleph-Lamed), the Destroyer, and Agiel (Aleph-Gemel-Yod-Aleph-Lamed), the one called Flee, I, "N", declare seven truths ... and enter." "Thus is opened the fiftieth gate on high." Fifth Part. Say these things, being especially careful to say the names with reverence. Those names that follow the phrase "... who between them bear..." are names of the Divinity. Such divine names should be said inwardly and with awe. Say this: "Being purified outwardly and inwardly I call upon the Archangels who stand before the Holy One, bearing the names of the Ways in which Truth is perceived:" "Metatron (Mem-Tet-Tet-Resh-Vau-Nunfinal) the Youth and Sandalphon (Samekh-Nun-Dalet-Lamed-Peh-Vau-Nunfinal) the Twin who between them bear Adonai Melekh Ha-Aretz (Aleph-Dalet-Nun-Yod Mem-Lamed-Kophfinal Heh--Aleph-Resh-Tzaddifinal)." "Gabriel (Gemel-Bet-Resh-Yod-Aleph-Lamed) the Might of God who bears Shaddai El Chi (Shin-Dalet-Yod Aleph-Lamed Chet-Yod). "Michael (Mem-Yod-Koph-Aleph-Lamed) the Likeness of God who bears Elohim Tzabaot (Aleph-Lamed-Heh-Yod-Memfinal Tzaddi-Bet-Aleph-Vau-Taw)." "Haniel (Heh-Aleph-Nun-Yod-Aleph-Lamed) the Ship of God who bears Jahovah Tzabaot (Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh Tzaddi-Bet-Aleph-Vau-Taw)." "Raphael (Resh-Peh-Aleph-Lamed) the Healing of God who bears Jahovah Eloh Va-Da'at (Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh Aleph-Lamed-Vau-Heh Vau--Dalet-Ayin-Taw)." "Kamael (Koph-Mem-Aleph-Lamed) the Longing of God who bears Elohim Gibor (Aleph-Lamed-Heh-Yod-Memfinal Gemel-Bet-Vau-Resh)." "Tzadqiel (Tzaddi-Dalet-Qof-Yod-Aleph-Lamed) the Righteousness of God who bears El (Aleph-Lamed)." Sixth Part. In the practice of the ritual, pause slightly here. Then go on as before. The statement made here is only a model. The actual content of this part and parts Seven and Eight will come to you in the progress of your Work. "O'h Tzaphqiel (Tzaddi-Peh-Qof-Yod-Aleph-Lamed), Hidden Voice of God, who bears Yahweh Elohim (Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh Aleph-Lamed-Heh-Yod-Memfinal), I behold the Vision and hear the Voice by thy revealing and concealing." Seventh Part "O'h Raziel (Resh-Zain-Yod-Aleph-Lamed), Secret of God, who bears Yah (Yod-Heh), I understand the Vision and Voice. Grant me Wisdom." Eight Part. "O'h Metatron (Mem-Tet-Tet-Resh-Vau-Nunfinal), Ever Young, Never Born, Without Beginning, who art called Jahoel (Yod-Heh-Vau-Aleph-Lamed), who bears Eheieh (Aleph-Heh-Yod-Heh), Grant What is to be Granted." Ninth Part. It is desirable to have a closing ritual. This may be done in various ways; but, for now, say this: "Berashit Bara Elohim At Ha-Shmim Va-at Ha-Aretz." Bet--Resh-Aleph-Shin-Yod-Taw Bet-Resh-Aleph Aleph-Lamed-Heh-Yod-Memfinal Aleph-Taw Heh--Shin-Mem-Yod-Memfinal Vau--Aleph-Taw Heh--Aleph-Resh-Tzaddifinal Alternately, one may write down the thoughts that pass within one's mind. To this end it is best to use a secretary for oral dictation during the meditation, or a tape-recorder. The transcription or the play-back can end the working. Important! When working this ritual after much practice, make sure someone knows what you are doing. Tell that person to wake you after a set time, should you need it." -oOo- In the preparation of Ritual Aleph, use has been made of many sources widely known in the field of Qabalah and Occultism. In particular, a scholarly work by Gershom G. Scholem, "Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition", Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York, 1965, has been useful in providing Hebrew Hekhaloth phrases. ---TSG (Bill Heidrick) ************************************************************************* October 1990 at Thelema Lodge with plans for November... In the month of former Frater Superiors - our accustomed CROWLEYMAS bash October 12th will start in the late afternoon; bring something to share and party at the Lodge. GRADYMAS is hosted this year by the Lodge of Perfection: starting around 7 pm October 18th at Horus Temple - Everyone's welcome, and we'll probably read some of Grady's works. Gnostic Masses continue every Sunday at 8 pm. Thelema Lodge's monthly meeting takes place 10/25 at 8 pm; and Lodge Cleanup starts at 2:22 pm on the 21st. Bill's Magick and Qabalah series concludes on October 17th and 24th. There will be a hiatus in Bill's classes in November and a single class on a subject to be announced in December. The ten-meeting Tarot series will start in January. To arrange for/inquire about Initiations, contact Mordecai at 647-8147 - or come to his Initiation Workshops; 8 pm at Horus Temple, October 5th and 19th. All Minervals may attend on the 5th; all First Degrees welcome 10/19. (I think the Trance class is lost in the astral plane...) The Magick Theater reads "The Alchemist" by Ben Jonson (1610) in Horus Temple on Tuesday evening October 16, beginning at 7:30. The play presents the alchemical endeavor as a metaphor for capitalism, and epitomizes the shallow backlash against the spiritual sciences typical of Jacobean culture in the generation following the age of Dee and Kelly. Copies of this classic comedy will be available to all comers. The Rites '90 crew will meet at Thelema Lodge at 8 pm the 11th to coordinate with each other. At presstime, we have Rites of Uranus and Earth as well as the classic seven; Mercury is not yet taken - but this may change before the meeting. Hypatia Camp hosts a Harvest Moon party October 3rd which meets at 7 pm (at the Lodge) and may go out to watch the Moon, weather permitting. The following night; "Oriental 777", a continuation of the earlier class - the Celestial Kingdom and the Paths, 7:30 pm at Thelema Lodge. All- Masseurs- Night! 7:30 pm the 10th: tell me more, KIM!..... The Scorpio Birthday Party will start at 4:18 pm 10/28 (it BETTER!) and DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ends the same day at 2 AM...so set your clocks back- coming the first day of November - "Angel Beach" [whazzat?] -C- (The odd numbers and letters on your November Advance calendar relate to Liber 418: I'll write about them next month.) ************************************************************************* October 1990 Thelema Lodge Calendar (October & November events) Mailed free within 100 miles of San Francisco California Ordo Templi Orientis P.O. Box 2303 Berkeley, CA 94702 USA Temple Location: 588 63rd St. Oakland, California (Entrance in back, downstairs) Phones: Lodge Master: (415) 647-8147 Messages only: (415) 454-5176 Compuserve: 72105,1351 ************************************************************************* Please feel free to forward this file to any BBS willing to take it