~ April 1st - 5th, 2008 ~
(the latest entries are always added to the top)
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. - AL I:40
Saturday April 5th 2008 – 6:25am Today we will all be celebrating The Feast for the Three Days of the Writing of The Book of the Law. [Liber AL vel Legis II:38] at Benjamin Hance’s apartment which is near mine in Berkeley, from noon until whenever. I’ll be away from my computer most of the day. [I pause, as sadness overcomes me] … Details of the gathering, with photos, will be posted sometime tomorrow. It promises to be a good one as people are assembling from all ends of California! In fact, representatives from all West Coast AA Clerk Houses will be present!
6:20am My dear friend Mick writes, "Really enjoying and getting a lot out of the blog lately. So Happy Feast-day to the blog! It was a hellofa good year. A toast to many more." ..... Reply: Thanks. It has been an amusing year at that!6:15am For the history buffs: Algernon Swinburne was born on this date in London, England in 1837. His most famous piece is titled Atlanta in Calydon: A Tragedy (1865). Aleister Crowley incorporated part of his poem in the Solar ritual found in The Rites of Eleusis that was published in The Equinox Volume I, Number 6 (1911). The part Crowley uses starts: “Before the beginning of years, There came to the making of man, Time, with a gift of tears, Grief, with a glass that ran, Pleasure, with pain for leaven, Summer with flowers that fell, Remembrance fallen from heaven, And madness risen from hell.& etc.” These same verses Crowley incorporated in the rewrites of the First Degree Initiation Ritual of the Ordo Templi Orientis. ……. And I’d like to point out that Edgar Lucian Larkin was born in a log cabin along Indian Creek, California on this date in 1847 to a father of ordinary means and a mother of high morality and nobility of mind. Having accomplished many a feat in his day, one of his claims to fame began on August 11, 1900; this is when Larkin found himself accepting the position of director of the Lowe Observatory. A volume alone could be written on the history of the Mt. Lowe Observatory in California and the astronomical discoveries of the skies recorded by its various learned astronomers but such does not necessarily warrant consideration in this book. What is to be noted is that in 1925 a writer by the name of Selvius wrote an article titled Descendants of Lemuria: A Description of an Ancient Cult in America, which was published in the Mystic Triangle in their August 1925 issue. The article was about a mystic Lemurian village hidden and concealed on top of Mt. Shasta in northern California. Selvius reported that Edgar Larkin had actually seen this Lemurian village through the Lowe Observatory telescope. Then, in 1931, Wishar Spenle Cervé published a widely read book entitled Lemuria: The Lost Continent of the Pacific in which the Selvius material appeared in a slightly elaborated fashion, which seemingly gave credence to Selvius’ story as if it was true in regards to Larkin. The following year another article appeared in the Los Angeles Times, dated May 22, 1932, by Edward Lanser. In his article he reiterates his stories about seeing strange things on Mt. Shasta and to prove that he has penetrated the Lemurian secrets he cites “no less an authority than the eminent scientist, Prof. Edgar Lucian Larkin, for many years director of the Mt. Lowe Observatory in Southern California.” He goes on to say that Larkin actual saw through his telescope huge temples and villages of marble and onyx, rivaling the in the beauty and splendor of those seen in the Yucatan. Thousands of Lemurians were seen going about their daily chores. Of course, all these Lemurian stories about Mt. Shasta went unchallenged because supposedly the original source, or Edgar Lucian Larkin, had died in 1924. Still, it is known fact that Larking did read A Dweller on Two Planets (1905) which was a ‘channeled’ book about Lemurians on Mt. Shasta and in 1913 he did openly acknowledge with absolute certainty, that he believed it. So, it’s quite possible that blinded by his ‘beliefs’ that he did focus Mt. Lowe Observatory’s telescope upon Mt. Shasta and there is no telling what he might have seen. ……. And Robert Bloch was born on this date in Chicago, Illinois in 1917. He wrote more than 200 stories, mostly fantasy, horror, and science fiction, but also mystery and crime, as well as 22 novels and a large number of non-fiction articles. He was also very active in Hollywood, penning a large number of teleplays and screenplays. He is best known to the general public for his novel Psycho (1960), which became the basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s film Robert Bloch passed away on September 23, 1994, after a long fight with cancer in Los Angeles, California. ……. And finally, it was on April 5, 1963 that Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds opened in theaters. It’s an out of the ordinary movie with a simple premise; birds of all kinds suddenly, and without provocation, attack people in increasing numbers and with increasing ferociousness. Friday April 4th 2008 – 10:40am My dear friend Dave from Oakland writes, "Happy Birthday Jerry's BLOG" ... Reply Thanks!
8:00am Hey ALL and 93s. This blog is one year old as of today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Who would have thought? This morning when I first clocked on and up-loaded stuff it was at a grand total of 30,648 hits! Not bad! I guess somebody out there must be reading these ramblings. Thanks to everyone who has made this an amusing blog ... 5:00am For the history buffs: Mantak Chia, the founder of the Universal Tao Center, was born on this date in 1944 in Bangkok, Thailand, a place which he called “the land of smiles.” He is the founder of the Healing Tao system and the Director of the International Healing Tao at the Tao Garden in Doi Saket, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Since childhood he had been studying the Taoist approach to life as well as other approaches. His mastery on this ancient knowledge, enhanced by his study of other disciplines, has resulted in the development of the Healing Tao System which is now being taught in the United Stated, Canada, South America, Africa, Europe Australia and Thailand.Thursday April 3rd 2008 – 1:30pm Luna writes, in regards to my new photo posted in the upper left - "That photo of you in 1971 is worth a thousand words. It clearly shows the clarity and intention of your brilliant mind. It shows the intent of "our generation". I can't put it into words. It just blares the reality of what our generation came here to do......and, you, my dear friend...have been true to this. Keep on keepin' on!" ..... Reply: You're too kind. People who have never experienced the 1960s and early 70s have no clue of what our generation really stood for ... and I often miss those days when we all thought we could move mountains and make a difference! [picture has ben moved to Image Archive]
10:25am Rey replies, “In looking at the cover I note that it is not the same paper stock. It is a heavier vellum paper with no notable watermark. I submit a inverse image of the front cover of Liber L for your review. :) .” 9:35am Rey, of New Mexico, sent a second email. In this he writes, "Regarding the stationary brand -- it has fallen into my lap. The stationary was British (Pirie & Sons) watermark. Also, a bit of Jack the Ripper trivia on this subject of Pirie and Sons: I'm currently reading a book by Patricia Cornwell about her theory that Jack the Ripper was an artist named Walter Sickert. It's a very good book. One thing that she talks about in detail is that many of the letters written by Jack the Ripper had a watermark from a company named A Pirie & Sons. This would have been in the 1880's. Further on in the book she talks about the original company that had this watermark, named Alexander & Sons, Ltd. from Aberdeen. On page 184 of this book (Portrait of a Killer - Jack the Ripper, Case Closed) she talks about the firm of Alexander Pirie & Sons, Ltd. started in 1770 in Aberdeen - it developed a "respected reputation" and did business in several cities in the world. This company went out of business in the 1950's. I guess the company went from Alexander & Sons, Ltd to A. Pirie & Sons See: http://tinyurl.com/28vro3 ... Reply. I read the book, own it. I enjoyed it. Thanks for the great info from it. 9:25am Rey replied, “Greeting Jerry, 93!
Thank you very much for the prompt reply -- I will
review Grady's Bio for more information on the
Berkeley story. Happy Feast Days!! -- and wishing
you complete success with the Big Event! :) …
93, 93/93 Rey P.S. I reviewed the original scan of
the manuscript and see that the watermark is a
stationary of some kind [see attachment] It is hard
to make out the brand [Pressons?] and at the top of
the wateramark it says Standard. I wonder if you
would know what brand of stationary this was written
on? Also, the front page is an addition to the
manuscript -- do you know when it was added?
1907-1909? I note in Red FlameNo. 8 page 28
that the cover became separated from the
manuscript and that Crowley never recorded its
existence or disappearance. Any additional thought would be greatly appreciated, Jerry. Thank you.” ….. Reply: Great research! I wish more students would share their findings. Thanks! Anyway, there is every indication that the cover was part of the original and later removed but to be sure, we’d have to examine it to determine if it has the same watermark. Anyone out there in Austin texas want to check this out for us?
8:10am Carol responds to my 7:15am posting with just three words – “I was 26.” …… Reply: Who said I was talking about you? :)7:30am Rey from New Mexico has a few interesting questions. First he asks, “I have a question I am hoping you might have the answer to regarding Liber L, it was suggested that the original manuscript pages of AL were glued, pasted or otherwise stuck to backing sheets. Do you know how accurate this info is?” … Reply: This is absolutely not true. I held the original manuscript when visiting Bill Breeze and it hardly portrayed something that had ever been glued to anything. … He then asks, “Also, can you remind me as to the facts of the story of how Liber AL was found int Berkeley in a garage back in the 70s-80s? And was this urban myth or based in truth? As you can see, I've got Liber AL on the brain! -- and an appropriate season for it. :).” …. Reply: Yes, Tis the season! I discussed this story fairly in-depth my book IN THE NAME OF THE BEAST Vol.II (1962-1985), a Biography of Grady Louis McMurtry, pgs 217-219. 7:15am In regards to yesterday’s 12:00pm posting about getting 'too old' Evelyn responds, “No need for sniffles. As a couple of older male friends of mine are fond of saying, ‘You're only as old as the woman you’re feeling’ And with that thought, have a lovely day!” ….. Reply: I guess, despite the occasional aches and pains, I’m doing pretty good considering the last girl I dated was 25! :) ... and Carol responded to the same posting by asking, "Too old! Too old for what? Wasn't the girl you came to California with back in 1989 just 17?" ... Reply: Hee Hee Hee. :)-4:45am For the history buffs: The American author Washington Irving was born on this date in 1783 in New York as the youngest of 11 children. He is best known for the short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Irving died in Tarrytown on November 28, 1859. ……. According to the book by George Emerson titled The Smokey God, Olaf Jansen was a Russian fisherman who sailed out of Stockholm, Sweden in his father’s sloop on this date in 1829, beginning one of the strangest recorded voyages in history into the ‘Land of the Smokey God’ which lay deep in the interior of the Earth at the North Pole, where he lived for over two years before returning home. ..….. also, Basil Wilby, better known as Gareth Knight, was born on this date Colchester, Essex, England in 1930. He had an interest in psychic matters from early childhood, and in 1953 he enrolled in the study course of the Society of the Inner Light, the London-based esoteric school founded by Dion Fortune. Working his way quickly through the grades, he was initiated into the Greater Mysteries in 1959 and became the Society’s librarian. During this time he undertook the research which led to the publication of A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism in 1965, drawn mainly from unpublished material in the Society’s archives. He is considered by many to be a leading contemporary authority on the magical applications of the Kabbalah. ….... and finally, it was on April 3, 1962 that Brenda Spencer was born in southern California. To appreciate her claim to fame see this blog's entry of January 29, 1979.Wednesday April 2nd 2008 – 6:05pm Weeks ago at my apartment we had a talk on elementals. One of my students named Jay asked about sources and I recommended reading Comte de Gablais. Today, Miguel writes, “Jay had asked about a good source for info on the elements. I’ve been revisiting Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Besides Agrippa’s classical and very useful info, Donald Tyson offers a very scholarly Appendix essay on Agrippa’s source material from ancient Greek philosophy (Plato, Aristotle, etc.). It’s academic but relays some very inspiring information. On a personal note Agrippa has been inspirational as well in presenting information congruent to that imparted by your self on the subject of the Genii. There are also some fundamental philosophical concepts presented by Agrippa about the magical path that have been consoling and inspirational. For me namely is his discussion of the three guides of Love, Hope, and Faith being assistants for bringing one to the path of truth.” ……. Reply: Thanks, I'll pass on the info. Also, I'd like to mention that Andy West, who sat in on our elemental talk, had written me earlier saying, “Jerry 93! Here is an electronic version of Comte de Gablais I found. Lightbulbs are going off. http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/cdg/index.htm I was wondering, could these elementals be both physical as in Castaneda and astral? 93 93/93 – Andy” … and to Andy's question: Yes!
12:00pm Evelyn from Belgium writes, “Saw your last two postings about our mutual friend Keith. He's such a dear isn't he? I don't expect he'd really want the year of his birth posted though!” …. Reply: Yes, he is a great friend. Actually, all the info which I posted about him for his ‘Birthday’ [March 31st] he gave me; quite awhile ago. :) Keith's born in 59, he's still younger than me. :/ I guess I'm just getting too old. [sniffle sniffle]8:45am Dr G. Powell of Dublin, Ireland asks, “I recently obtain the book Aleister Crowley and the Ouija board. I like the description of the rituals in the end and have not yet attempted any, but was wondering, he gives the one for earth with corresponding Enochian calls... I was wondering how I might obtain the correct ones for the other elements etc” ….. Reply: The Earth ritual given in the book is very traditional Enochian. Its basic structure is taken from Regardie’s tome The Golden Dawn; Book Nine. The ritual for the other three elementals are similar; just the God names, direction and Calls change, etc. You have not given a rhyme or reason as to why you want the other elemental rituals but Aleister Crowley, like Grady McMurtry, always warned magicians about trying other elemental forces before thoroughly ‘fulfilling’ and ‘controlling’ the Earth elementals first. The Qabalistic sphere of Malkuth on the Tree of Life is four-fold. Any good drawing worth its salt always portrays the sphere divided up into four sections. The proper order of elemental workings on Malkuth should always be Earth first, then Water, Fire and finally Air. Each should build upon the previous and offer the next a proper Foundation. If you go out of sequence “there is danger.” This is the reason why I didn’t give the other rituals in my book. There is no need for them for the beginner who wants to attempt an Ouija working and to publish all four rituals would imply a lack of responsibility, if not simply poor judgment on my part. 7:45am Ah, nice email Mike. You asked if I knew of any other places where you might find the term The Arcanum in the Adytum. Read CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER. The section titled THE ADEPT section XV, pg.97. 4:45am Thanks to everyone who commented about yesterday's posting of THE ARCANUM IN THE ADYTUM, The Secret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But it was an April's Fool Joke!!! 4:30am For the history buffs: Giacomo Casanova was born in Venice on this date in 1725. His memoirs are considered an unreliable account of his adventures with 122 women but they do provide an intimate portrait of the manners and life in the 18th century. He once wrote, “Real love is the love that sometimes arises after sensual pleasure: if it does, it is immortal; the other kind inevitably goes stale, for it lies in mere fantasy.” …….. and William Ellsworth Robinson, a fairly undistinguished Scottish stage magician and illusionist, was born on this date in New York in 1861. There was nothing out of the ordianary about his act and he would have simply disappeared in history had it not been for a unique offer. In 1900, he was offered a lengthy European engagement if he could imitate the real Chinese magician called Ching Ling Foo in order to exploited the western craze for orientalism. He agreed; shaved his moustache, cut his hair like a Chinese man, added a long fake ponytail and began dressing in long oriental robes. He began billing himself under the name Chung Ling Soo. He rarely spoke on stage and, if he did, it was to use such words as “much glad” in broken English. Everyone accepted him without question and he managed to keep up his Chinese pose in the public’s eye for many years, in spite of the fact that hundreds of his friends and fellow illusionists actually knew who he really was. Then, on March 23, 1918, while performing in front of the usual packed house a tragic accident ended his career. He was performing his infamous bullet catching feat which involved a gun being fired at him by an assistant. He would catch each bullet in his teeth and spit them out into a plate that he held in his hands. When inspected, the bullets had marks identical to those that were placed in the muzzle of the revolver. He had performed this trick routinely for many years but this night something went tragically wrong. The assistants fired as usual, but the trick gun malfunctioned and the magician fell to the ground. With a gasp he scream his first clearly audible English words heard on a stage in years - “My God, I’ve been shot.” The bullet had pierced his right lung. He died in London the following day. ……. And the well-known Masonic author of Morals and Dogma, and originator of the ritual for the concordant body, the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, Albert Pike, died on this date in 1891. ….. but more important for Thelemites: Charles Robert Stansfeld Jones was born on this date in Fulham Park Gardens, London in 1886. Years later, while acting as a census-taker for voter registration in Vancouver, Canada, he met the author Malcolm Lowry. Jones introduced himself as “Frater Achad, an adept in the Cabbala, a former member of the Hermetic Students of the Golden Dawn, the mystical child of the infamous Aleister Crowley, with whom he had for a time edited Equinox magazine, founder of a group of Chicagoans who called themselves the Collegium ad Spiritum Sanctum, and author of two privately printed Cabbalistic texts, The Reception of the Bride and The Anatomy of the Body of God. Lowry was dazzled: here was precisely the person he needed, just when he was needed most.” What an intro! Anyway, the history of the Ordo Templi Orientis in America began on January 1, 1915 when Jones was granted a patent by Aleister Crowley to establish the O.T.O. in North America. He created the British Columbia Lodge No.1. Jones died on February 24, 1950 in Vancouver, Canada in 1950 at the age of 64. ……. And to continue on with historical facts: Coral E. Lorenzen was born on this date in Hillsdale, Wisconsin in 1925 She witnessed several UFOs during her lifetime, the first at the age of nine, another in Arizona during 1947 and another which was seen by over 300 people in Wisconsin. In 1952 she and her husband Jim Lorenzen founded the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO). Together they share the opinion that UFOs are best explained by the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH). Coral and Jim both passed away in the early 80’s. She published such books as The Great Flying Saucer Hoax (1962), Flying Saucers, The Startling Evidence of the Invasion from Outer Space (1966) and Shadow of the Unknown (1970). ……. And speaking of birthdays: Peter Haining was born on this date in 1940. He is one of Britain’s leading authorities on horror, with a particular emphasis on early Gothic and classic ghost story. At a time when 19th century Gothic fiction was not easy to come by, his anthologists were often the only available source of such literature for the general public. He took a firm stand against the shocking and the graphic and he favored the subtle approach in stories. He also strove to broaden the repertoire of the anthology beyond the familiar handful of tales that are rehashed over and over again. Only a few of his anthologies contain pieces written by Aleister Crowley. In The Satanists ( 1970) he included a chapter called The Initiation which was actually Crowley’s Ceremonies Proper To The Obtaining Of A Familiar Spirit, or Stauros Batraxou (Liber LXX - 70) the Frog Ritual. In his book titled The Necromancers, The Best of Black Magic & Witchcraft (1972) Haining has a chapter called The Black Lodge and is incorrectly portrayed as short story written by Aleister Crowley. The name is false and the piece in question is actually Chapter XIX of Moonchild which was originally titled The Grand Bewitchment. Haining did the same thing in his next book titled The Magicians, The Occult in Fact and Fiction (1973) In this book chapter four is titled An Experiment in Necromancy which is merely Chapter XV of Moonchild. In Haining’s book titled The Dream Machine (1972) he published one of Crowley’s poems titled The Balloon and in his book Tales from The Rogue’s Gallery, A Guided Tour (1994) is republished Crowley’s story titled At The Fork in the Roads. ……. And finally, as my readers scream enough facts already, I should point out that it was on April 2, 1948 that the Aeon of MAAT, or MA-ION commenced according to Charles Stansfeld Jones, or Frater Achad and Crowley's Aeon of Horus ended!Tuesday April 1st 2008 – 5:35am It has been reported to me in an email this morning that an Antiquarian Bookstore in Maine, who wished to remain anonymous, has purchased an original handwritten copy of Aleister Crowley’s rare essay titled THE ARCANUM IN THE ADYTUM, The Secret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus [which is mentioned in Red Flame No.4 The Aleister Crowley Desk Reference] and they will be making it available for purchase in the near future. We know that in Crowley’s private diaries he references this extraordinary manuscript. There is the following entry under August 5th 1906 where Crowley briefly mentions: "My Revelation book The Arcanum in the Adytum or the Secret of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, being a commentary upon the Apocalypse.” We now know that Crowley’s essay not only prophesizes the Warrior Lord of World War II (AL III:46) but also has reference to, and I quote, “Sabzios who along with his MasterBatter will abase Thelema in the 1990s.” It seems Crowley refers to Paul” and how “like the Christian Church, Thelema in the 1990s will corrupt its message for personal gain.” More shocking is the fact that Crowley states: “I fear 1904 is not the beginning of the New Aeon but may well have been a precursor to 2012 where the world shall be destroyed by Fire to make way for the Age of Aquarius to properly take hold.” - What can be said but “Wow!” - Although, admittedly, my favorite part of the manuscript is a rough stupid little pencil drawing that Crowley does of “the monster” as he saw it [?] while living at Boleskinne near Loch Ness in 1900. I want a full copy of this essay ‘now’ but I am told that “as soon as an accurate typescript is made off the rather bad penciled handwritten manuscript, Bill Heidrick will probably release it.” I will keep everyone posted as details continue to emerge.
5:20am For the history buff: After MacGregor Mathers and his wife moved to Paris, Florence Farr assumed the head of the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn in London on this date in 1897. …….. and it was on this date in 1915 that H. Spencer Lewis founded a spurious and clandestine Rosicrucian body calling in AMORC, The Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. …….. and in was on April 1st 1960 that my dear friend Tony Iannotti was born on this date in New Haven, Connecticut. He was originally one the OTIO initiates at Brocken Mountain Lodge. …….. and Sascha Germer, a Vienna born piano teacher whose maiden name was Sascha Ernestine Andre, died on this date in 1975. She was the third wife of Karl Germer, the man who took over the Ordo Templi Orientis after Aleister Crowley’s death in 1947. Karl once remarked that, “no one has done so much as Sascha for the Great Work.” ……. I would also like to report that on this date in 1996 near San Antonio de Los Sauces, Chiapas, Mexico, Julieta Calderon awoke to discover almost twenty dead, blood-covered sheep on her property. All the animals had their throats ripped open. One of the security guards at the ranch recalled seeing a naked albino-like “person” only about twenty inches tall hiding among the bushes. He and his companion went after the creature without much success, it escaped. This was another classic sighting of the Chupacabra, or “Goat sucker.” ……. And it was on April 1, 1997 that a statue in the community of the Franciscan Sisters in Gebegamey, began weeping tears of blood. Vincent Metonnou, a journalist who witnessed the miracle wrote about it in the weekly Le Forum. He wondered why there were so many similar “signs of sorrow” appearing all over the world: “Has the world lost the way?” He concluded that the Son of Man is probably saddened by mankind’s villainy. TO THE NEXT DATES STORED IN THE ARCHIVE
"There were plants, And birds, And rocks And things”
-America's Horse With No Name
Love is the law, love under will. – AL I:57
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