****** The Electronic Newsletter of Ouroboros Camp O.T.O. ******
Editor : Soror Nuntias
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& Ouroboros Camp, O.T.O. Copyright 1991 @ Ouroboros Camp and
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CONFUSIONS OF THE FORBIDDEN
(an effort to overcome cultural cliches)
The first engagement:
Drugs and Magic
Note: There is a general confusion, a "lumping together", of all
non standard practices into one category. This is a function of
"Popular Culture" and it's inherent xenophobia. Everything that
is seen as different, "Forbidden", is seen as part of the same
thing. This article is the first of a series dedicated to the
redefining of categories of nonstandard practices.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
"Let's drop acid and summon Satan!"
"Let's do a few lines an surf the Aethyrs."
Lines like these, and the sentiments behind them, have been
with us since recreation drug use and magical texts became
readily available to the edges of the Popular Culture. There are
times for Drugs, and there are times for Magic. In all but one
ritual situation, these times are mutually exclusive. The
purpose of this short treatise is not to condemn the use of drugs
for recreational purposes, but to put these two activities in
their respective domains of activity.
I. Recreational Drug Use.
This is not an encouragement to commit felonies.
Humans have been using Drugs in one form or another since
the first Neolithic Hunter Gatherer sampled an unknown
psychotropic plant and didn't die. The knowledge of which plants
generated which effects was held by who ever passed for a "wise
one" in pre-agricultural societies. With the domestication of
the Grasses (grains, not cannabis) and vines, alcohol was
stumbled upon (fermentation is a snap when you don't have
refrigeration and you need to stock pile vegetable matter).
Why do people indulge in mind altering drugs? The reasons
are multitude. To mark a celebration. To induce even greater
feelings of ecstasy, pleasure, and rapture. To gain relief from
pain and misery. To dissolve emotional blockages. To stay alert
during times of enforced prolonged wakefulness. To get more out
of life. There is a difference between drug use and drug abuse.
When a substance is consumed to add spice to the experience of
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 2 4 Nov 1991
living, then we are dealing with drug use. When a substance is
utilized to correct an intolerable physical/emotional problem,
then we are dealing with drug use.
When a chemical compound becomes the sole reason for living,
when a Neurotransmitter analog is consuming more of a budget than
rent and utilities, when it just isn't getting you off anymore
and you need six times as much just to know it isn't getting you
off anymore, that is drug abuse. When the drug is using you,
that is drug abuse.
What people do in the privacy of their own nervous systems
is nobody's business but their own. There is nothing wrong with
the quest for intensified pleasure. The only time a society
should have a say in what one ingests to attain what strange new
toys, is when the indulger infringes on other members of that
societies ability to quest for intensified pleasure, or anything
else that may or may not be their will to do.
II. Magic in Theory and Practice.
Magic is a discipline. It involves the entire being and its
tool of the body. The mind is stretched to its limits and
beyond, learning relationships, memorizing rituals, meditating on
symbols to find new connections. The body is placed in sundry
positions and movements corresponding to the relationships and
symbols the mind has committed to its new picture of the world.
Magic is a Science. What differentiates this from just
being a discipline, like one of the martial arts? To practice
magic, meticulous records must be kept. A daily record. Even
when one does no magic that day, the lack of that activity must
be recorded. Why record non-activities? Even the lack of action
is important. Days, months, or years later, the overall pattern
of action and inaction can and will be tied in with the general
scheme of things, be they fluctuations in the weather, ups and
downs in the economy, astrological and planetary fluxes or
nonfluxes. The end result of this activity is the ability to
share relevant data. If I, in my endeavors, find out through
extended study that a certain practice is most effective on a
certain day, at a certain hour, in a certain season, then I can
say "Hey, do Ritual S next Tuesday at 3:00 PM" and the other
magician will have the same repeatable results.
Magic is an Art. The ways in which a person draws their own
tarot cards, banishes the circle and charges the quarters, builds
their magical tools, while based in the general forms, laws and
correspondences of magic will be tinged with the personal
experiences of the magician. Magic is not a consumer enterprise.
My dagger will not be your dagger. My personal tarot deck (still
unplanned) will not be like your personal tarot deck. Each will
be based in the correspondences learned and taken to heart, and,
when each is constructed thusly, they will be equally correct.
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 3 4 Nov 1991
III. Before the confusion
There was a low level recreational drug culture alive and
well in America decades (centuries) before the first hippy was
conceived in the Post WWII suburbs. The Beats knew about the
effects of Cannabis when "Hip" was still "Hep".
Aleister Crowley knew about the simulations of the divine
that certain plants and drugs could induce. I know of only one
ritual that flowed from his pen that called for the use of a
drug. He did write several essays on the effects of drugs and
states of consciousness, but, since he celebrated his greater
feast close to the same time that a Sandoz chemist had that
accident that changed the world, his use of mind altering drugs
was limited to Hashish, Cocaine, Opiates, Alcohol, Absinthe, and
Peyote. It was not until after the subcultural revolutions of
the sixties that the general population even became marginally
exposed to these writings.
In the late 1940s, Sandoz Labs stumbled on Lysergic Acid
Diethylamide, while trying to find a cure for Migraines. The
psychological effects of this substance were immediately obvious,
and the uses of it in therapy were numerous. Many people who
were incurably alcoholic were cured by LSD therapy. The patients
were not the only ones to be affected by this substance.
Therapists witnessed unusual side effects, such as "Spiritual
Gratification" in their patients. Of course, like Freud before
them (who experimented with cocaine), they sampled this
substance, and witnessed the feeding of spiritual hungers, if
they weren't mentally ripped apart by the utter collapse of their
metaphoric infrastructures.
Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, while still respected
Psychiatrists at Harvard, revealed in this orgy of spiritual
gratification and metaphoric collapse. Unlike the Post Modern
Existential Angst that was popular at the time (and still vital
in today's Post Punk subculture) they did not feel backed in a
corner by this effect. They took a leap across cultures, and
incorporated a tantric buddhist world view into their clinical
psychologist approach, producing a manual for the use of
Psychedelic substances in a controlled (ritual?) environment.
Unfortunately, the confines of the world view of THE TIBETAN
VIEW OF THE DEAD could not contain the simulated Kundalini
Serpent aroused by LSD. The approaches of the Merry Pranksters
and their Acid Tests became the modus for this new altered state
of consciousness as it wild fired through the new youth cultures.
At the height of all this, a Graduate Student at UCLA introduced
the reading world to a Brujo who showed him magic and wonders
while under the influence of Datura Root, Peyote, and Psilocybin.
That Graduate student also introduced to the popular culture the
role of the Shaman in pre-industrial cultures.
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 4 4 Nov 1991
IV. The Confusion.
The Legend of Aleister Crowley is more widely known than the
actual life story. Because he was a magician, and experimented
with mind altering drugs and plants that induced states of
ecstasy --and recorded and wrote about his experiences-- he was
viewed as a drug crazed lunatic. THE DIARY OF A DRUG FIEND,
while not a celebration of the use of drugs--on the contrary, it
is the one of the most stunning anti- cocaine/heroin books
written-- brought upon him the scorn and ridicule of his society.
While it is true that in the last decades of his life he was
addicted to heroin, at the Climax of his magical career (in his
thirties and forties) he was for years at a time an abstainer.
How many sixty or seventy year olds, in our own culture, are not
able to get through their days without pain pills and
medications?
The image of Don Juan, the Yaqui Sorcerer, permeates our
popular culture. Drugs were shown as the door way to the magical
world, to the ways of power. Psychedelics made young Carlos
Casteneda see entities he couldn't normally see. What is the
proto magician to make of all this, exposed to the cliches of our
popular culture, and the suburban myths that superimpose
themselves over our lives? Many come to the conclusion that the
only way to see the Archangel Raphael is while tripping.
VI. A Small Slice of Clarity Pie
You don't need to take a psychedelic to see the Archangels.
While mind altering substances, especially the Serotonin
antagonists, are famous for their wild visual displays, they are
also notorious for them. The images and things "seen" are wild
and uncontrolled, arising and fading spontaneously. Wait a
minute, isn't this what magical entities/constructions do? Here
is the fine point. Psychedelics generate chaotic uncontrollable
images. The magician, invoking/evoking sundry magical beings, is
utilizing controlled visualization, holding the image and
correspondences of the being called. Trying to hold the
attributes of Heru-ra-ha in a consciousness while being assaulted
by memories of a pop quiz in third grade is a tall order. World
Trade Center tall.
Do not expect instant gratification from the first few
rituals of your magical career. Getting the ritual memorized in
the first place is effort enough. Just because the feathers on
the wings of Michael aren't visible on the first run through of
the LBRP is no reason to call the Pharmacy. With time, and daily
repetition, the Archangels in their elemental colors, their
armor, their faces, will be built up astral pixel by astral
pixel.
VII. Advanced conclusion and clarity
The more alert out there might be saying at this point:
"Hey, wait a minute, doesn't Liber AL encourage the use of drugs?
Especially in magick?"
The verses that can be most easily cited for this outlook
are in Liber AL, II v. 22: "...To worship me take wine and
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 5 4 Nov 1991
strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet & be drunk thereof!
They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against
self...."
Out of context, these sentences appear to encourage
unrestrained use of drugs. In the context of Liber AL, II, which
deals with Hadit, the use of drugs are seen as a means of forming
a bridge with the infinitesimal point that is Hadit. If we take
the interpretation that Hadit is also the Kundalini Serpent,
coiled at the base of the spine, the "wine and strange drugs" are
a means of rousing this serpent from its slumber, and to begin
it's journal up the spine and through the chakras.
Earlier a ritual was mentioned that uses a drug as part of
the practice. This is Liber Had. It is a practice, in some
senses a yoga, where in the magician attains union with Hadit.
It is based on verses of Liber AL, II, taken as instructions for
ritual practice. At a climax of the practice, a drug is used, as
in Liber AL, II, 22. This is not a situation where in: "I wanna
know Hadit, so I'll get ripped tonight." There is an entire
series of preliminary practices that must completed before the
drug is imbibed. It will be years before I get to that point in
my own working of Liber Had. Twenty eight year old Laphroig is
prime on my list for "Strange Drugs" to use.
Within the pages of Liber AL, there is a built in counter
argument to the cliche' of magic being a drug binge:
"There is help & hope in other spells. Wisdom says: be
strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal;
refine thy rapture. If thou drink, drink by the eight and
ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by delicacy; and
if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein!"
(II, 70)
Just a few safety tips from friendly neighborhood center of
pestilence.
[Ed. note: The following is Resolution 456, passed 8/25/84 EV.
by the O.T.O. Supreme Council.]
Confirmed sales or solicitation for sales of illegal substances
at a place and time (including time to arrive and depart on the
occasion of a meeting) of O.T.O. is grounds for expulsion; and,
in the event of complicity by officers of the O.T.O. body,
automatically closes the body. In addition, sales of illicit
substances or solicitation for sales at a place used solely by
O.T.O., regardless of the time of meetings, or by any person so
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 6 4 Nov 1991
acting as to convey either expressly or otherwise the impression
that such sales or solicitation for sales is in any way a part of
official O.T.O. activity, shall also fall under the strictures
and remedies of expulsion and closure as may be appropriate to
the actual status of the person or officer of the official body
involved. No illegal drugs are permitted at any O.T.O. events.
This is the first installment of what I hope to be an ongoing
column in the OCN. Each issue will profile an Egyptian god or
other notable celebrity. Additionally, the first few issues
will also include a profile a significant symbol of Egyptian
mythology. Other topics for this column will include Egyptian
rituals and other aspects of Egyptian life and history. The
author welcomes comments, suggestions, questions, and other
feedback.
The god which will be profiled in this issue is RA (also
spelled RE), the God of the Sun. RA was the first of all
Egyptian gods. Finding himself alone in NUN, the primal waters
which were the source of all life, he made himself pregnant. He
gave birth to SHU (air), and TEFNUT (moisture), by spitting them
out of his mouth. Shu and Tefnut mated and produced GEB (earth
god), and NUT (sky goddess). Geb and Nut mated and produced four
great-grandchildren for RA, two of each sex, OSIRIS, ISIS, SET,
and NEPHTHYS. They are known collectively as the GREAT ENNEAD
of Heliopolis (ancient religious capital of Egypt), the nine
major gods of ancient Egypt.
RA has several aspects. As ATUM (or TEM) (evening aspect of
the sun god RA) he is a man wearing the double crown of Egypt; as
KHEPRA he is a scarab beetle tirelessly rolling its ball to hide
in the sand - as tirelessly as the sun is moved across the sky;
as AUF (or EFU RA) he is a ram-headed god who wears a solar disc;
As RA he is a falcon-headed man wearing the URAEUS (the coiled
golden cobra), and sun disc.
Every day RA travelled from Manu, the hill of sunrise, across
the sky in a boat called Manjet. As he travelled he aged from
boy to old man. At night he assumed a ram's head and transferred
to the boat called Mesektet for his night journey through the
waterways of the Underworld. The reliability of his sailings,
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 7 4 Nov 1991
the eternal validity of his season-ticket, were constant facts in
Egyptian life.
RA is said to have created man from his tears; a symbolic birth
since, as we know, mankind is nothing but a problem to the gods.
And sure enough there was trouble. Men were wicked, unruly, and
treacherous. Eventually RA had had enough; he ordered HATHOR
(goddess of love, tombs, and the sky) to kill mankind. The
goddess did this deed so efficiently and enthusiastically that RA
changed his mind. Aghast at the slaughter, he ordered her to
stop. HATHOR ignored RA, and he had to resort to trickery to
cease the carnage. RA found men so distasteful that he took to
sailing, assuming a low profile, if that is possible for the sun.
There was a close interdependence between RA and the Egyptian
kings. The kings claimed not only relationship with the sun but
also identity. Thus a Pharaoh was the son of the sun, and also
the incarnation of it. RA was the sun and the king was RA. This
identification was strengthened by royal titles in which the name
RA predominated, by the wearing of the URAEUS, and by the
practice of incest in the royal family. All this ensured
stability for the king and for the priesthood of RA.
Many lesser, local and foreign gods were solarized by assuming
that they were children of RA; or by actual identification, as in
the case of AMUN. Such is the effectiveness of a strong and
ruthless priesthood with a vested interest in political power.
RA was the king of gods, and the god of kings.
The Eye is the most common of all Egyptian symbols, it is the
daughter of Ra, thus the symbol for the Great Goddess. The
Egyptian word for eye is - iret - a feminine noun. One
manifestation of Ra was as a falcon, thus the eye is the eye of a
falcon. The Eye was first associated with the sun, so in semi-
tropical Egypt the eye became the sign of destructive force,
blinding light, fire, and the emotions best described as anger
and uncontrollable fury. The Great Goddess in her terrible
aspect. Because one symbol for the terrible can flow into
another if the words for them belong to the same gender, the eye
merged with the image of an enraged, rearing cobra with its
poisonous bite. The cobra was the protector of the crown and is
shown attached to the front, just above the king's forehead.
Hence we get the fundamental symbol equation of Egyptian
religion:
Eye = Flame = Destructive Goddess = Cobra = Crown
Originally the Eye was sent to bring Shu and Tefnut back to Ra.
When the Eye returned it found that it had been supplanted in the
Ra's face by another - a surrogate eye. This was the primary
cause for the wrath of the Eye and the great turning point in the
development of the universe, for the Eye can never be fully or
permanently appeased. Ra, using the above formula, turned it
into a rearing cobra, which he bound around his forehead to ward
off his enemies. This is why, on the terrestrial plane, the eye
denotes the kingship of the pharaohs in terms of sheer power,
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 8 4 Nov 1991
while cosmically it is the 'sovereign eye' and burning heat of
the sun.
There was also the eye of Horus, son of Isis, which Seth tore
out during the great quarrel. If the Eye of Ra was the sun, then
the Eye of Horus was the moon. A well-known ancient text
explains:
'I filled the eye when it was deficient on the day when the Two
Fellows fought.
I raised the hair from the WEDJAT Eye at the time of storm.
I have seen the sun born from yesterday on the shanks of
Methuer.'
"Filled the eye" refers to Thoth mending the eye, the "Two
Fellows" refers to Horus and Seth. The second line refers to
Thoth placating Ra's eye when it bacame enraged at him after he
sent it forth to bring back Shu and Tefnut. The third line
describes the image of the morning sun as it is born everyday.
As for Methuer, that is the WEDJAT Eye.
The first line of the text relates to the fight that Horus and
Seth had when Seth tore out the left eye of Horus and flung it
beyond the edge of the world. Thoth found it lying in the outer
darkness in pieces, he brought it back and reassembled it to form
the full moon.
When Seth flung the Eye away the night sky was plunged into
darkness. This was the symbol of lunar invisibility - the new
moon. Thoth's return with the parts means the time of waxing
moon. Full moon is a sign that all is well, so Thoth is, in a
way, the saviour of the world's order - Mayet.
The second line of the text refers to the right eye, the
original Eye of the Creator, a sort of original sun, which he
sent out into the Primeval Abyss to find Shu and Tefnut. The
comment is based on a pun between 'rage' - neshen, and 'hair' -
shen. The rage of the Eye when it returned to the creator and
found that it had been supplanted by another, the neshen, is
identified with the hair which hides the eye. The latter is a
symbol for the strands of cloud which float across the sun,
hiding its light. Thus the storm that the Eye raised at the
beginning of the world is the same as the dark clouds covering
the sun. In both cases it is Thoth, the genius of the cosmic
order, who puts things right. The Egyptians were quite aware
that their creation myths were not to be believed in as
historical events but as symbols of the way in which the universe
was run.
The third line of the text returns to the naturalistic idea -
the eye of the blazing sun as it shines over the horizon at dawn.
But the symbolists are at work again. The sun emerges from the
sky beyond the world, the sky is a cow-form of the Mother Goddess
who, as we have learned, is also the Eye itself. The complex
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 9 4 Nov 1991
meshes of eye symbolism are woven all round the Egyptian Mother
Goddess and she cannot be understood or compared with other
goddesses of the same type until they are unraveled. The Eye is
the key to the religion.
The Egyptians wrote many prayers to their gods. Several of the
chapters of the Pert Em Hru (Book of the Dead) contain such
prayers. In keeping with the emphasis of this particular column
being about Ra, there is a ritual called 'The Ritual of Ra' which
is too long to be reprinted here but can be found in the book
called 'Coming into the Light' by Schueler from Llewellyn Press.
In future columns, as space allows, the rituals will be included.
The Ritual of Ra contains many of the prayers to the sun god Ra.
The ritual text informs us that the god Ra is the creative spirit
whose physical body is the sun. The best time for performing
this rather long ritual is at noon on the first day of the month.
At dawn, the sun is the body of Khepra. At dusk it embodies
Atum. Only at noon is it truly Ra. The ritual combines prayers
from 'The Papyrus of Nekht', 'The Papyrus of Ani', and 'The
Papyrus of Auf-Ankh-A', and closes with a prayer from the 'Stele
of Panehesi'.
Love is the law, love under will.
Bibliography:
Carlyon, Richard, 'A Guide to the Gods'. New York: Quill
Kaster, Joseph, 'Concise Mythological Dictionary'. Putnam
Publishing Group
Rundle Clark, R.T., 'Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt'. New York:
Thames and Hudson
Schueler, Gerald and Betty, 'Coming into the Light': Llewellyn
Modem Magick hosts several on-line real-time conferences a week.
Load up your favorite terminal program, set your parameters to
8/N/1 and dial (619) 447-5010.
Winter Conference schedule.........
Monday There is a Wicca discussion group in the Crystal
Cauldron Conf room....at 7:30 pm. Sunshine is our
moderator.
Tuesday Thelemic discussion group... 2nd Aethyr Conference
room, located in the Ouroboros Sig. All local and
remote SIG members are urged to attend. 7:00 pm
Thursday Gnostic Mass symbolism in the 2nd Aethyr at 7:30 pm
Sunday An open free for all chit-chat. No moderator,
8:00 in the Oasis. BYOL.
All times are Pacific.
Anyone who would like to host a conference or has suggestions for
new conferences, is encouraged to submit ideas to FidoNet Node
1:202/311
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ThelemaNet is down due to hardware problems, hopefully they
will be back up soon. Enjoy.
"The old gods are dead or dying and people everywhere are
searching, asking: What is the new mythology to be?"
Joseph Campbell
As you read this book you may be asking yourself: Why would
anyone want to attune to a new form of thought while there are
already very powerful, well organized religions, which have had
the benefit of thousands of years of trial and error?
The answer is quite simple: There is a phenomena which occurs in
the Universe every 2,000 years called "The Equinox of The Gods".
At this time there is a change in the Universal unconscious which
dominates the evolutionary process of humans. The different
shifts are represented by gods (usually Egyptian) who's virtues
will demonstrate the fate of the next reign. There have been (so
far as we have archaeological data) three such "shifts" in the
evolution of humanity:
1) The Aeon of Isis. This period was matriarchal. Women were
worshiped as Gods for their ability to give birth, nurture, and
otherwise care for their young. The tribes were ruled by Queens,
and the women were viewed as the strong ones. There are
indications that women did the hunting and fought battles along
side of men. It was a time of great respect for nature, as
people learned to love Her and live in harmony with Her.
2) The next Aeon was ruled by Osiris. Osiris was killed by his
jealous brother Set who cut him into pieces and threw him into
the Nile. His wife Isis, stricken with grief, gathered all of
his body parts and used the Magick of Thoth (Lord of Magick) to
resurrect Osiris. It was the era of the "sacrificial Gods". It
marked the beginning of Judaism and Christianity. This change
occurred when man realized that he had something to do with
conception, primarily; insemination. Suddenly, women were
treated as second rate citizens, weaker, and not as intelligent
as men. Man was no longer to live in harmony with Nature, man
was to have dominion over Her. Mankind was to serve the male god
as slaves. The last traces of this oppressive era are still
with us today. We can see its influence on the environment, in
South Africa, et cetera.
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 13 4 Nov 1991
3) In 1904 another such shift occurred. The angel Aiwaz
dictated the three fold "Book of The Law" and proclaimed that
Horus, the hawk-headed God, had taken his place in the Throne of
the Gods. Aleister Crowley, Victorian Age Magician, was to be
the conduit. This era marks the Aeon of the Child, the word of
whose Law is: THELEMA. This Law encompasses all True Religions,
and is capable of great tolerance which is essential to protect
the diversity it indoctrinates. Here we are dealing with the
liberation of the human race from those which have oppressed us.
Horus is the Egyptian God of war, and recently, we have seen him
do his thing in Germany (at the Berlin Wall), Yugoslavia, Poland,
The Soviet Union, South Korea, and Tienamen Square in China. The
masses cry for Freedom.
The Aeon of Osiris has had a very strong influence in the last
2,000 years. Even those who did not subscribe to its dogma are
influenced by it one way or another. Most codes of morality are
based upon its principles. This has been the case for so long
that we are presented with the opportunity to reflect on it and
see how its poison has effected the world.
It has portrayed women as trouble makers, people who cannot keep
secrets, weaker and not as intelligent as men, not trustworthy.
It has even gone as far as explaining the pain of child birth and
menstrual bleeding as punishments by God for having deceived man.
Women in this day are still fighting for the equality which they
deserve.
It has led man believe that Nature cannot go on without him. All
we have to do is watch TV or read a newspaper to find out what a
great impact we have made and how much good we have contributed
to the environment. It is inconceivable that after millions of
years of evolution there are still people who really believe
Nature is to be dominated. We are told that God doesn't live
here, and we are discouraged from showing affection or allegiance
to the Earth. We can already see what this kind of thinking has
done to the condition of our Mother.
The Church will not condone the use of condoms. It believes that
people should just "not do it". As a result the rate of unwanted
pregnancy is increasing at an alarming rate, not to mention the
sexually transmitted diseases which are destroying so many
peoples lives. It is curious to see that the same people who
oppose birth control also oppose abortion, sex education, and
Planned Parenthood. Abortion would cease to exist if education
and birth control technology was not obstructed by religious
zealots. When it comes to human sexuality, we are still in the
Dark Ages.
During the "Inquisition" thousands of innocent people were
tortured and killed in the name of God. Many of these people
were often women (mid-wives) who happened to be taking business
away from the growing medical profession. Things have not
changed much since those days. In some states they want to jail
midwives who perform their services to couples who have lost
their faith in "the scientific age". In all, most decisions our
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 14 4 Nov 1991
political leaders make abide in some form or another with old
Aeon ideas, with very little regard to common sense and
intelligence, and even less consideration to the rights of the
individual.
The burning and censoring of books and Art still occurs today.
Others have controlled what we watch, see, eat, and listen to.
We have been taught that any deviance from conventional religion
is "Satanic", evil, etc. On August 15th 1989 The Fundamentalist
Movement declared on national television that the Star of David,
the Pentagram, and even the Peace sign are signs of the Devil.
The Hexagram; a geometric representation of God, the Pentagram; a
geometric representation of Man, the Peace sign; a symbol of
Utopian society.
It is easy to see the impact this kind of thinking has had on our
global evolutionary development: Brother has turned against
brother for the sake of tradition, as in the case of the Catholic
Priest Michael Molinos. This devoted priest was sent to prison
to serve a life sentence because he published a book in which he
taught that "inward prayer" (meditation) was more effective than
outward prayer. This would have made confession via a priest
obsolete. The fact that at the time of his arrest he was one of
the most devout members of The Church had very little influence
on the power hungry individuals who condemned him. The name of
the book he wrote is: "The Spiritual Guide of Michael Molinos".
I strongly recommend it as a guide to developing a PERSONAL
relationship with God.
Fundamentalism spends millions of dollars in printed material
every year to encourage new membership while there are millions
of homeless men, women, and children who could be helped by these
same dollars. It is obvious that the priority is membership
rather than service.
For the last 2,000 years we have been told that sex is filthy.
Love-making is to be done only for the purposes of pro-creation.
This mentality is responsible for a great percentage of violent
sexual crimes, child abuse, sexual dysfunctions, psychosis, etc.
The beauty and selflessness of giving one's self to another has
been turned into a hideous crime against God.
We are told not to question the Scriptures. Man has become lazy
and gullible as a result. We don't question anything and believe
all we are told. You are expected to refrain from your own
interpretation of the Scriptures in fear that you might find
truth therein. To guard against this; the Scriptures have been
altered so much that no one knows the truth any more. This has
effected the way we view life in general. We do not question
what our politicians do, what they spray in our food, what they
put into the ground, etc. And when we do ask; we believe
everything they tell us. THELEMA demands that one think for
themselves.
A newborn child is the most innocent and pure of all things. Yet
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 15 4 Nov 1991
children are baptized by parents who have been forced to believe
the child is unclean because it is born through sin. This is an
insult and shows to what degree and for what "reasons" we do the
things we do.
Religious zealots have created a group mind which welcomes the
destruction of the planet. It is held to be a fact that before
the "savior" comes back the world must first face a terrible
ordeal. "Revelation" clearly marks the end of the Osirian
Aeon, but it is seen through the eyes of the vulgar as the end of
the world. This "group mind" has greatly effected the condition
of the planet. We have a duty to return to Nature what belongs
to Her.
There was a time when it took years to get from one part of the
country to another. We can now do it in a matter of hours; we
have reduced the world to a speck of dust. With all of this
technology there are still people dying of hunger all over the
world. Wars are being fought to keep something or to take
something from someone else. When religion stands in the way of
evolution or the creation of Utopia, it is time for a NEW
Religion.
These old ideas cannot help us to further our evolutionary
objective; they are full of hate and bigotry and can do nothing
more than to hold the human race back. The world needs an
alternative: True Freedom. The world needs the Freedom
necessary to fulfill itself as best as it can without the
interference of a twisted demented creed that was designed
specifically to control people. Nature needs to have its respect
from Man. We must learn to work with Her, not against Her, and
then perhaps we can stop the destruction of the planet.
With all that's been said above, it is hard to understand why
anyone would bother with Religion in the first place. The answer
is quite simple: Man is made up of Physical, Mental, and
Spiritual matter. To deny any of these aspects a means of
expressing itself would cause a involuntary imbalance in our
natural make-up. Also, Religion and Myth are the tools The
Beloved uses to create the beings which we have chosen to become;
just as the potter uses the wheel and the kiln to create
something which only a few moments ago existed in the imagination
of the creator.
Thelema offers the solution to the imbalance created by such an
oppressive society. As humans, it is our duty to carry the
vision of future generations on our shoulders, by evolving. This
is "The Great Work". One day The Aeon of Horus will pass, and
Thelema will no longer be the Word of the Law, and a new Order
will rule for an Aeon. There will be other battles and
principles, and it is my guess that we will be here once again to
fight for them.
The following thesis is based on the code of conduct who accept
the Law of Thelema.
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DUTY
by
ALEISTER CROWLEY
(A note on the chief rules of practical conduct to be
observed by those who accept the Law of Thelema.)
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."
"There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt."
"[...] thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and
no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose,
delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."
"Love is the law, love under will."
"Every man and every woman is a star."
A. YOUR DUTY TO YOURSELF
1. Find yourself to be the centre of your own Universe.
"I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the
core of every star."
2. Explore the Nature and Powers of your own Being.
This includes everything which is, or can be for you; and
you must accept everything exactly as it is in itself, as one
of the factors which go to make up your True Self. This
True Self thus ultimately includes all things soever; its
discovery is Initiation (the traveling inwards) and as its
Nature is to move continually, it must be understood not as
static, but as dynamic, not as a Noun but as a Verb.
3. Develop in due harmony and proportion every faculty which you
possess.
"Wisdom says: be strong!"
"But exceed! exceed!"
"Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and
rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this."
4. Contemplate your own Nature.
Consider every element thereof both separately and in
relation to all the rest as to judge accurately the true
purpose of the totality of your Being.
5. Find the formula of this purpose, or "True Will," in an
expression as simple as possible.
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Learn to understand clearly how best to manipulate the
energies which you control to obtain the results most
favorable to it from its relations with the part of the
Universe which you do not yet control.
6. Extend the dominion of your consciousness, and its control of
all forces alien to it, to the utmost.
Do this by the ever stronger and more skillful application
of your faculties to the finer, clearer, fuller, and
more accurate perception, the better understanding, and
the more wisely ordered government, of that external
Universe.
7. Never permit the thought or will of any other Being to
interfere with your own.
Be constantly vigilant to resent, and on the alert to
resist, with unvanquishable ardour and vehemence of
passion unquenchable, every attempt of any other Being to
influence you otherwise than by contributing new facts to
your experience of the Universe, or by assisting you to
reach a higher synthesis of Truth by the mode of passionate
fusion.
8. Do not repress or restrict any true instinct of your Nature;
but devote all in perfection to the sole service of your one
True Will.
"Be goodly therefore"
"The word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy
wife, if she will! O lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is
no bond that can unite the divided but love: all else is a
curse. Accursed! Accursed be it to the aeons! Hell.
"So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do
that, and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged
of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is
every way perfect."
"Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye
shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the
earth in splendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and
so shall ye come to my joy."
9. Rejoice!
"Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the
sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there
is that which remains."
"But ye, o my people, rise up & awake! Let the rituals be
rightly performed with joy & beauty! [...] A feast for fire
and a feast for water; a feast for life and a greater
feast for death! A feast every day in your hearts in
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the joy of my rapture! A feast every night unto Nu,
and the pleasure of uttermost delight! Aye! feast!
rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There is the
dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu."
"Now rejoice! now come in our splendour & rapture! Come in
our passionate peace, & write sweet words for the Kings!"
"Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall
be lovely: whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be
the seal of the promise of our agelong love. Come! lift
up thine heart & rejoice!"
"Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us.
They shall rejoice, our chosen: who sorroweth is not of
us. Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious
languor, force and fire, are of us."
B. YOUR DUTY TO OTHER INDIVIDUAL MEN AND WOMEN
1. "Love is the law, love under will."
Unite yourself passionately with every other form of
consciousness, thus destroying the sense of separateness from
the Whole, and creating a new base-line in the Universe from
which to measure it.
2. "As brothers fight ye!"
"If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him."
To bring out saliently the differences between two
points-of-view is useful to both in measuring the position
of each in the whole. Combat stimulates the virile or
creative energy; and, like love, of which it is one form,
excites the mind to an orgasm which enables it to transcend
its rational dullness.
3. Abstain from all interferences with other wills.
"Beware lest any force another, King against King!"
(The love and war in the previous injunctions are of the
nature of sport, where one respects, and learns from the
opponent, but never interferes with him, outside the actual
game.) To seek to dominate or influence another is to
seek to deform or destroy him; and he is a necessary part
of one's own Universe, that is, of one's self.
4. Seek, if you so will, to enlighten another when need arises.
This may be done, always with the strict respect for the
attitude of the good sportsman, when he is in distress
through failure to understand himself clearly,
especially when he specifically demands help; for his
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darkness may hinder one's perception of his perfection.
(Yet also his darkness may serve as a warning, or excite
one's interest.) It is also lawful when his ignorance has
lead him to interfere with one's will. All interference
is in any case dangerous, and demands the exercise of
extreme skill and good judgment, fortified by experience.
To influence another is to leave one's citadel unguarded;
and the attempt commonly ends in losing one's own self-
supremacy.
5. Worship all!
"Every man and every woman is a star."
"Mercy let be off; damn them who pity!"
"We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let them
die in their misery. For they feel not. Compassion is the
vice of kings: stamp down the wretched & the weak: this is
the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of the
world. Think not, o king, upon that lie: That Thou Must Die:
verily thou shalt not die, but live. Now let it be
understood: if the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain
in pure ecstasy for ever. Nuit! Hadit! Ra-Hoor-Khuit!
The Sun, Strength & Sight, Light; these are for the
servants of the Star & the Snake."
Each being is, exactly as you are, the sole centre of a
Universe in no wise identical with, or even assimilable to,
your own. The impersonal Universe of "Nature" is only an
abstraction, approximately true, of the factors which it
is convenient to regard as common to all. The Universe of
another is therefore necessarily unknown to, and
unknowable by, you; but it induces currents of energy in
yours by determining in part your reactions. Use men
and women, therefore, with the absolute respect due to
inviolable standards of measurement; verify your own
observations by comparison with similar judgments made by
them; and, studying the methods which determine their failure
or success, acquire for yourself the wit and skill required
to cope with your own problems.
C. YOUR DUTY TO MANKIND
1. Establish the Law of Thelema as the sole basis of conduct.
The general welfare of the race being necessary in many
respects to your own, that well-being, like your own,
principally a function of the intelligent and wise
observance of the Law of Thelema, it is of the very first
importance to you that every individual should accept
frankly that Law, and strictly govern himself in full
accordance therewith.
You may regard the establishment of the Law of Thelema as an
essential element of your True Will, since, whatever the
ultimate nature of that Will, the evident condition of
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 20 4 Nov 1991
putting it into execution is freedom from external
interference.
Governments often exhibit the most deplorable stupidity,
however enlightened may be the men who compose and
constitute them, or the people whose destinies they direct.
It is therefore incumbent on every man and woman to take
the proper steps to cause the revisions of all existing
statutes on the basis of the Law of Thelema. This Law being
a Law of Liberty, the aim of the legislation must be to
secure the amplest freedom for each individual in the
state, eschewing the presumptuous assumption that any
given positive ideal is worthy to be obtained.
"The word of Sin is Restriction."
The essence of crime is that it restricts the freedom of
the individual outraged. (Thus, murder restricts his right
to live; robbery, his right to enjoy the fruits of his
labour; coining, his right to the guarantee of the state
that he shall barter in security; etc.) It is then the
common duty to prevent crime by segregating the criminal,
and by the threat of reprisals; also, to teach the criminal
that his acts, being analyzed, are contrary to his own True
Will. (This may often be accomplished by taking from him
the right which he has denied to others; as by outlawing the
thief, so that he feels constant anxiety for the safety of
his own possessions, removed from the ward of the State.)
The rule is quite simple.
He who violated any right declares magically that it does
not exist; therefore it no longer does so, for him.
Crime being a direct spiritual violation of the Law of
Thelema, it should not be tolerated in the community. Those
who possess the instinct should be segregated in a
settlement to build up a state of their own, so to learn
the necessity of themselves imposing and maintaining
rules of justice. All artificial crimes should be
abolished. When fantastic restrictions disappear, the
greater freedom of the individual will itself teach him to
avoid acts which really restrict natural rights. Thus real
crime will diminish dramatically.
The administration of the Law should be simplified by
training men of uprightness and discretion whose will is
to fulfill this function in the community to decide all
complaints by the abstract principle of the Law of Thelema,
and to award judgment on the basis of the actual
restriction caused by the offense.
The ultimate aim is thus to reintegrate conscience, on true
scientific principles, as the warden of conduct, the monitor
of the people, and the guarantee of the governors.
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 21 4 Nov 1991
D. YOUR DUTY TO ALL OTHER BEINGS AND THINGS
1. Apply the Law of Thelema to all problems of fitness, use, and
development.
It is a violation of the Law of Thelema to abuse the natural
qualities of any animal or object by diverting it from its
proper function, as determined by consideration of its
history and structure. Thus, to train children to perform
mental operations, or to practice tasks, for which they are
unfitted, is a crime against nature. Similarly, to build
houses of rotten material, to adulterate food, to destroy
forests, etc., etc., is to offend.
The Law of Thelema is to be applied unflinchingly to decide
every question of conduct. The inherent fitness of any thing
for any proposed use should be the sole criterion.
Apparent, and sometimes even real, conflict between
interests will frequently arise. Such cases are to be
decided by the general value of the contending parties in
the scale of Nature. Thus, a tree has a right to its
life; but a man being more than a tree, he may cut it
down for fuel or shelter when need arises. Even so, let
him remember that the Law never fails to avenge infractions:
as when wanton deforestation has ruined a climate or a
soil, or as when the importation of rabbits for a cheap
supply of food has created a plague.
Observe that the violation of the Law of Thelema produces
cumulative ills. The drain of the agricultural population to
big cities, due chiefly to persuading them to abandon their
natural ideals, has not only made the country less
tolerable to the peasant, but debauched the town. And the
error tends to increase in geometrical progression, until a
remedy has become almost inconceivable and the whole
structure of society is threatened with ruin.
The wise application based on observation and experience of
the Law of Thelema is to work in conscious harmony
with Evolution. Experiments in creation, involving
variation from existing types, are lawful and necessary.
Their value is to be judged by their fertility as bearing
witness to their harmony with the course of nature towards
perfection.
=================================================================
WORD SCRAMBLE PUZZLE
=================================================================
Theme: Qabala
Unscramble the names of the Sephiroth and write your answers
in the space provided.
=================================================================
ODDS AND ENDS
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This short article was posted to the Echo's by Rebis...
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Subj: WINE LEAVINGS
Everybody knows you need to have "thick leavings of red wine" to
make proper Cakes of Light. This substance is, as Bill Heidrick
has pointed out in the January '91 e.v. TLC, the natural sediment
that accumulates at the bottom of bottles of unfiltered red wine.
Unfortunately, nearly all red wines easily available these days
are filtered. Evaporating filtered red wine gives you some kind
of sludgy stuff, but it isn't the real thing because it has no
yeast in it. We're not totally out of luck, though, because
anyone can make the real stuff at home fairly easily using
simplified winemaking techniques.
You'll need the following materials:
1. A 1 gallon or 1/2 gallon bottle of red grape juice. Concord
grape juice has some disadvantages, but it will work as a
last resort.
2. A packet of any variety of red-wine yeast.
3. A drilled stopper of the proper size to fit your grape juice
bottle.
4. A fermentation lock. This is a piece of plastic tubing with
some bends and bulbs in it -- you insert it in the stopper,
fill it about 1/3 full of water, and it allows the
fermentation gases to bubble out while preventing air from
getting in.
Items 2, 3, and 4 can be found at your local winemaking-
beermaking supply store. Such stores are actually not that hard
to find these days. In case you live in a truly uncivilized
area, many such stores do mail order. I can give you the address
and phone number of one in Southern California upon request.
Instructions:
1. Carefully dissolve a scant 1/2 tsp. of the yeast in a clean
cup containing 1/4 cup of warm water (about 90 deg F, if the
water is too hot it will kill the yeast), and let the
mixture rest for about ten minutes.
2. Open the grape juice bottle and dump in the yeast mixture.
3. Replace the bottle's lid and shake vigorously, then remove
the lid.
OURNEWS 1-03 Page 25 4 Nov 1991
4. Fill the fermentation lock with the indicated amount of
water and seal the bottle with it.
5. Keep the bottle in a warm, dark part of the house until it
stops bubbling (5 to 14 days).
6. Decant or siphon the immature wine from the bottle, leaving
a pinkish gray sediment at the bottom. This material is the
same substance as "thick leavings of red wine," just
obtained in an unusual manner. Use sparingly.
Note: although federal law now permits individuals to make wine
or beer for non-commercial use in quantities of up to 100 gallons
per year per person or 200 gallons per year per household, local
restrictions may apply.
Anno IIIxxi e.n. October 21,1991 e.v.
Sol in Libra
Luna in Aries
Dies Lunae
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Things have been fairly quiet here in the Valley of El Cajon.
We have held Initiations and participated in some very
interesting degree workshops. We are still gathering Mass
equipment, and looking forward to our first winter in a dry
temple. Speaking of the temple, Crowleymas marked the first
anniversary of it's dedication, time sure flys!
The newsletter has doubled in size every issue now. So many
good articles were submitted...... enjoy ;) If you have any
suggestions, articles, letters, etc. that you would like to see
posted in the OCN, feel free to either send them to Fido node
1:202/311 or write to...
Ouroboros Camp, O.T.O.
PO Box 12706
El Cajon, CA. 92022
