~ June 6th - 17th, 2008 ~

(the latest entries are always added to the top)

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. - AL I:40

Tuesday June 17th 2008 – 8:30am Ed Wormuth writes, “I started reading the copies of Cornelia you so generously provided me with. [very hard to put down] I have almost finished the 2nd one. This stuff is Dynamite! Great job.” ….. Reply: Glad you are enjoying them.

7:45am Here is a great quote from Aleister Crowley on sex magick - "You may after about 50 years more experience come to the conclusion that valuable as women are in the work, it is better to do without them." ... He wrote this in a letter to Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones)

7:30am I saw the NEWS this morning; Stan Winston, Hollywood special-effects maestro died on Sunday at age 62. He won visual effects Oscars for 1986's Aliens, 1992's Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 1993's Jurassic Park.

5:50am For the history buffs: Sir William Crookes was born on this date in 1832. Spiritualism was very much in the forefront of society in the nineteenth century, especially after the ghostly events in 1854 involving the Fox sisters of Hydesville, New York. This and other incidences of supposed poltergeist-like levitations, rappings and materializations, fascinated Crookes, who was deemed as a scientist of international repute. Although initially skeptical, believing Spiritualism to be little more than superstition and trickery, he decided to investigate. He would explain his reasoning for his inquiry: “I consider it the duty of scientific men who have learnt exact modes of working to examine phenomena which attract the attention of the public, in order to confirm their genuineness or to explain, if possible, the delusions of the dishonest and to expose the tricks of deceivers.” One of the first people who he studied the famous medium Daniel Dunglas Home, whom he came to believe was endowed with a powerful psychic force. Crooke undertook his experiments under strict scientific conditions, whenever that was possible. Of all his experiments, the one that made him most famous was with the medium Florence Cook. Through her mediumship, there occurred a series of materializations of the Spirit Katie King, which lasted almost three years. Crooke took an unbelievable forty-four pictures of this entity. However, the scientific community was never convinced and they even accused him of complicity with Florence Cook, and of having a love affair with her who, at the time, was only a teenager. Still, Crooke held fast to his experiments and pictures as being factual. He never lost faith about the reality of Spirit phenomena. He would later become a member of the Society for Psychical Research. In one of his address this association in 1898, he said: “'Thirty years have passed since I published an account of experiments tending to show that outside our scientific knowledge there exists a Force exercised by intelligence differing from the ordinary intelligence common to mortals. I have nothing to retract.” His most notable book is the Phenomena of Spiritualism (1874). He died in London on 4 April 1919. ……. And Miriam Samos, more commonly known as Starhawk the Wiccan author, was born on this date in 1951. She has authored or co-authored nine books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1978), which has long been considered an essential text for the Neo-Pagan movement. …….. and it was on June 17, 1952 that Jack Parsons, the ex-Lodge Master of Agape Lodge OTO in southern California, died. He and his wife, Marjorie Elizabeth Cameron, had their trailer already packed and were ready to move to Mexico for a time but this date would end their plans. Jack accidentally dropped a can of mercury fulminate in his ground floor laboratory. His lab was an old four-car garage apartment that had once been the stable of the estate located at 1071 South Orange Grove Avenue, which had once been Agape Lodge. The first people to arrive after the blast found the huge stable doors blown off their hinges, two walls gone, windows shattered and a gaping hole torn through the ceiling timbers revealing the second floor apartment. They found Jack Parsons underneath a massive double-tub laundry fixture that had landed on top of him along with a section of the wall. All the newspapers at the time reported that he was actually conscious even though he was badly burned and mangled. In fact, Jane Wolfe would later tell Grady McMurtry that Jack “was in so deep a case of shock that he gave instructions regarding the removal of a bath tub which had landed on his back. Yet getting to the hospital [Huntington Memorial Hospital] he became inarticulate, lapsed into unconsciousness” and he died shortly thereafter. One newspaper wrote that, “The explosion blew off his right forearm, tore a gaping hole in his jaw and shattered the other arm and both legs.” Jane also told Grady, “Jack was badly mutilated, no one was permitted to see the body.” He was later cremated on July 19th. Jane wrote, “There was no service for Jack; Candy [i.e. Cameron] and two young men, in silence held a lighted-candle vigil.” Jack’s obituary referred to the service simply as - “secret rites.” …….. and it was in June 17, 1963 that the British author and lecturer, John Cowper Powys, died at the age of 91 in Wales. He met Aleister Crowley only once. He  briefly discussed this meeting saying, “The only time I met Aleister Crowley was when I had to be the Speaker at a Foyle’s Literary Lunch and I had him at my side and I treated him to a bottle of wine which he had finished before my speech was over!” …….. and finally, on June 17, 1996 near Barrio Candelaria, Puerto Rico, at night, Debra Hernandez heard noises in her backyard and upon investigating she encountered a bizarre creature tearing its way through a coop filled with helpless, excited and crazied chickens. She described the creature as “black with pointed ears and enormous fangs.” Startled by the intrusion, the Chupacabra dropped its prey and ran away.

Monday June 16th 2008 – 8:20pm Carol writes, “Loved your AA ‘group meeting’ posting but are not Live-Journals in conflict with what Crowley wrote about no group meetings for AA? He could not have envisioned the computer-internet age and it does seem to me that so many of Gunther-Breeze AA initiates bathe in “slackness and gossip” on a group level using this medium.”  … Reply; I 100% agree with you which is why my blog is not a LiveJournal and which is why I try to steer my students away from participating in them. As for my blog; it is a reflection of my Clerk House of which I am the center; the Sun. It contains everything which amuses me; incoming and outgoing emails, balanced carefully with an historical lesson every day, with magickal theory, quotes and guidance. Even though it may seem so at times, at no time do I let my blog become reduced to the kind of mindless live psycho-babble where ‘outsiders’ are in constant minute by minute control of the direction of thought affecting others. … Sadly, I have seen many a good magician fall by the wayside because they let their studies slide into ‘slackness’ while they converse for hours upon hours with idiots. My studies, my writing, comes first, if I have free time during the day I answer emails and if I think that some of the replies might benefit others, I post them on my blog. If people reply back and it's good, I post it … if I read an email and it’s from an idiot I simply hit the ‘delete’ button. [AL III:42]

7:10pm Regarding a question that I received yesterday about our Clerk Houses and if they are not in conflict with AA principles of no group meetings. Yes, in some ways I agree but Aleister Crowley also once wrote to Frater Achad [Charles Stansfeld Jones] - "I should lose no time in forming a group, but do it on your own personal responsibility and not as for the AA because the AA discourages group working, which is only another name for slackness and gossip, but by getting people together you may be able to stimulate one or two worthy persons to take up the cause"... and with the above in mind our Clerk Houses were formatted (Liber AL vel Legis III:41) as personal ‘Lights’ encompassing a specific individual's learning experience, nothing more and although AA thought may be mentioned, a Clerk House meeting is simply a 'meeting' where people can come together and discuss anything they’d like and they don't have to be an initiate of the AA to attend. Is that not what Crowley suggests to do? We have absolutely NO group AA rituals ... unlike some AA branches which get together to create a Temple, rehearse a ritual and then put AA initiates through Liber TROA vel Pyramidos. If they drink, eat, talk or gossip at anytime before or after is this not in violation of what Aleister Crowley stated?

6:35pm I replied to my friend Richard - "Ah, Kenneth Grant. I bought his books as they came out starting back in 1974. I agree completely with you when you write how you were “… struck by the vast difference between the totos and cotos. The cotos live in a hermetically sealed bubble which contains a shrine to their long-dead bride (perfectly preserved as on the day she died). Conversely, the totos are a living organism. Whilst an individual may not personally like the smell, colour or shape of the flowers sprouting from the Grant-plant, it is at least producing new ones; unlike the cotos, who revere a dead stick preserved in amber.” … I continued, "I personally have all Grant’s books, love his writings and although I don’t agree with everything he writes, I admire his tenacity to stand up and speak his mind. ... Although I should point out that I am against calling Breeze’s OTO the Caliph OTO, or coto. … In some ways it’s very insulting to both Grady and Crowley. It must be understood that since Grady’s death in 1985 the OTO has become totally gutted and restructured more so along the lines of Theodore Ruess’ Masonic ideas rather than Crowley’s Thelemic views or Grady’s; in fact, its 100% a different animal than what I grew up in. The biggest tragedy is that Breeze’s OTO threw out the Caliphate or the religious [Thelemic] structure that Crowley had instituted to balance the Masonry. You should search Grady’s bio Index for Caliphate and you’ll understand why the OTO today sucks. In my views it is important never to refer to the Frater Hymenaeus Beta’s OTO as the coto or Caliphate OTO … I’d possibly call it the BOTO. … for Breeze or the ‘bullshit’ OTO. … Anyway, the distinction between Grady’s OTO and Breeze’s OTO is found by the terms the yoga and the commissar; religion and politics; or a quest for vertical movement off Malkuth and a structure rooted only in a horizontal movement on Malkuth. Have you ever read Arthur Koestler’s The Yogi and the Commissar (1945)?  Crowley made Grady hunt down a copy to understand the importance of the Caliphate. Grady told me to do the same."

5:00pm Dave in Florida writes, “Who came up with the curricula for Bonewitz's bachelors degree? [note: see today's For the History Buff section-6:30am] Your blog is like a non-linear dynamical system of knowledge for me. Small perturbations caused by the postings of the history buff sessions stimulate an ever widening influence on my research and world view. This is one mechanism by which magic can be set loose to work in the world. Changes in the microcosm can grown an ultimately influence the macrocosm. As above so below, Down below reflected up above. Thanks again. Keep the pebbles dropping in the pond.” …… Reply: you are too kind. ... Actually, Bonewitz enrolled in U.S. Berkeley in 1966 and in the same year he was initiated into the ‘Reformed Druids of North America’ and he became an ordained priest in 1969. Since U.C. Berkeley allowed students to ‘create their own degree course’ he decided to take what he knew, that being ‘Magic and Thaumaturgy’ and run with it. So he came up with the curriculum during the freedom-type Hippie years here in Berkeley and it was approved by his professor for his Bachelor of Arts degree. The rest they say is history. ... of interest; in 1971 he attended the annual Aleister Crowley Birthday Party here in Berkeley. Grady McMurtry, who also attended, would later remark, “Stupid me, I thought he was Jewish, name, appearance, etc., but trust that clever Phyllis [i.e. his wife]. She just right out asked him if he wasn’t a Catholic, and he said, well, yes, in a way.” The author Israel Regardie would later joke to Grady in a letter that he too, had made the same mistake about ‘Bonewitz’ by calling him “a smart-aleck Jew” with “a fat ego,” admitting the Jewish part, of course, was wrong.

6:30am For the history buffs: Alice Bailey, who was a Theosophist, a prolific writer and the founder of an international esoteric movement, was born on this date in Manchester, England, the daughter of an engineer in 1880. …..…. On June 16, 1881 the New Orleans newspapers, on this date, announced that Marie Laveau, the renown Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, had died earlier on this date at the age of 87. This is noteworthy because she continued to be seen in and around town after her ‘supposed’ demise. However, Marie bore fifteen children. Historians now believe that Marie Laveau really did die in 1881 and that her daughter, Marie Laveau-Glapion, a striking look alike, took over the role of Voodoo Queen. Marie the II was about 50 years old when her mother died and this theory accounts for sightings all the way into the early twentieth century of the Voodoo Queen being seen in New Orleans. However, her mother, the real ‘Voodoo Queen of New Orleans’, was born in 1794 in Vieux Carre. Her father, Charles Laveau, was said to have been a wealthy white planter and her mother, Darcantel Marguerite, a mulatto with a strain of Indian blood. She described herself as being mulatto, quadroon, and sometimes just as “yellow.” She was a tall statuesque woman, with “curling black hair, good features, dark skin that had a distinct reddish cast, and fierce black eyes.” She married Jacques Paris, a free man of color, on August 4, 1819. However, a  short while after the wedding he disappeared and Marie began calling herself the ‘Widow Paris.’ It is certain that she was both feared and respected. Though apparently adept with charms and potions of all kinds, Marie’s real power came from her extensive network of spies and informants. It seems the New Orleans elite had the habit of carelessly detailing their most confidential affairs to their slaves and servants who then reported to Marie their secrets both out of respect and fear. As a result, Marie had an almost ‘magical knowledge’ of the workings of political and social power in New Orleans. When her daughter, with her uncanny resemblance to Marie, became a priestess, legends of Marie Leveau’s power only grew because now she was ageless and could appear in more than one place at a time. In the end we can say that Marie was no charlatan who deceived her followers with tricks and intimidation. She clearly had a great passion and devotion for Voodoo. Her most famous religious mark was probably the rituals on the banks of Bayou St. John held every June 23, St. John’s Eve. Voodoo rituals were also held occasionally on the shore of nearby Lake Pontchartrain at Marie’s cottage, Maison Blanche. It was said that sometimes she would dance about with her large snake, whom she called Zombi, wrapped around herself. All in all, Marie Leveau is a figure shrouded in mystery. She was a Voodoo priestess and a devoted Catholic. She wove spells and charms but wielded even more influence through her earthly network of spies and informants. She ruthlessly wielded her power yet went to great pains to help the injured, sick, and downtrodden. In the final analysis, we will never know her true character, but it seems a mistake to try to choose between these disparate sides of Marie Leveau: this fascinating and complex woman was all of these things and more. …..…. It was on June 16, 1924 that Idries Shah, writer and savant, was born in Simla, India. He died in London on November 23, 1996. Idries Shah greatly extended the western knowledge of the Sufi teachings. ……. And finally, on June 16, 1970 Issac Bonewits graduated from The University at Berkeley at a time when the Berkeley’s individual ‘group-study program’ allowed people to create their own degree course. He was the first and last person ever to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Magic and Thaumaturgy. Sadly, the publicity about Bonewits’ degree so embarrassed the University administrators that ‘Magic, Witchcraft and Sorcery’ has been banned from the individual group-study programs ever since.

Sunday June 15th 2008 –  9:50am Jerry writes - "OK, you all had your fun, no more jokes.

9:45am Carol writes - "What is the difference between the Gunther-Breeze AA lineage and a pepperoni pizza? ... Answer: One will at least give you sustenance to live by!”

9:10am Mike writes - "Why did the Gunther-Breeze AA initiate cross the road? .... Answer: to chase down the chicken and convince him he’s illegitimate."

9:00am John writes - "Why did the chicken cross the road? ... Answer: To get away from all Gunther-Breeze AA initiate's petty psychobabble about legitimacy!"

7:25am Carol writes - "If, as you said, anyone can make a connection. Then I still don't understand why all the debating?" .... Reply: Hi Carol! Haven’t heard from you in awhile. Glad to hear you’re OK. You ask a good question. It deals with copyrights, money and control on this plane. Motta's ex-AA members who run the AA within the OTO are 'control freaks.' They took over the OTO, the copyrights and they want to run it all and they can't as long as there are legitimate lines of AA lineage other than themselves. They don’t openly come out and say anything about their ‘lineage’ because in the past they always put their foot down their throat and were caught in lies, so over the years they ‘foster’ the AA legitimacy debate within their Probationers and Neophytes to do the dirty work. … My advice to you and others – “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).  Let the children squabble on Malkuth for the coins and you and others should not fret about such things, stick with your program and remember that the Grail’s Kundry is not necessarily a person; it can be a job, money, books or possessions, or anything which keeps your focus onto this plane (i.e. the base of the Sacred Mountain) rather than toward the spiritual. Remember, we get numerous emails from their AA initiates every month from individuals who want to jump ship. On the other hand, not one of our AA initiates over the years have ever left us to join them. That is a fact. However, we are forced to turn down the majority of their initiates simply because their emails reek of anger, frustration, and disgruntled behavior over their treatment in Gunther-Breeze’s AA lineage and like an infectious disease; it’s not a good start in ours. Tragically, they made their bed and they must sleep in it. I think some of their lineage’s attacks on the credibility of others stem from their Probationers and Neophytes realization that what they joined may not be their best choice and so they attack others in the hope to pacify an unconscious need not to have been wrong … acceptance is everything to children and group peer pressure swallows them up in a Pit of Because. 

6:10am Yes, I agree Frank, you wrote - “… as I see it, the ONLY one’s ever whining about AA legitimacy are members of that damn Breeze-Gunther crew who run the OTO. Anyone who knows any history at all will tell you that they were all expelled by Motta for fraud and other reasons. No?” …. Reply: Yes, I agree. Over the last twenty years about 95% of ALL debating stems from their members. It’s the old childhood “King of the Hill’ game. If you can debate, lie, distort the facts and bad-mouth others then perhaps it’ll shift the focus off your own legitimacy and make you the 'new' King. Children must play. … But Frank, never forget that Aleister Crowley published all the AA literature and by his own admission he did this so that anyone can make the connection and establish a link with the AA even if they don't have a 'direct' superior. Do the leg-work and - success is your proof. So the debating of legitimacy is kinda frivolous and a waste of time, no?

5:45am For the history buffs: On this date in 1648 a woman named Margaret Jones, who had been practicing medicine and who lost several of her patients, was tried, convicted and became the first person in the state of Massachusetts to be hanged for witchcraft. ……. Also, near Twain Hart, California on this date in 1996 a woman reported seeing a large bubble like UFO hovering near a river. The object was described as gelatinous, transparent and an opaque gray color. Inside she claims to have seen several figures, although only in silhouette and with no discernible features

Saturday June 14th 2008 – 7:45pm Heather sent an email today. She writes, “I love the picture of your friend's morning coffee! It's somehow totally appropriate to get a laugh out of me considering the debate going on in the comments of one of my most recent LJ posts where multiple anonymous posters are debating how official is our and other's A.'.A.'. lineages. I love how quick people are to try to debunk that which they are not a part of yet will not or can not point to the true order they claim to aware of.” …… I replied: I avoid live journals because too often it gives an idiot a few minutes of undeserved notoriety. The AA debate has ranged for years but in truth anyone criticizing another’s legitimacy under the guise of ‘Anonymous’ are simply spiritual cowards. Mystery is the enemy of Truth, or so the AA teaches us and if a person cannot state who they are and then stand by their 'word' in the light of day, then they are simply not worth the toilet paper to wipe my ass. Remember, ‘Anonymous’ usually implies an individual who is ignorant of the facts, wallowing in the 'Pit of Because' and who is merely listening to the rhetoric of others; yes verily, the slaves shall serve. Our AA lineage has impeccable credentials and there is no debate. I would not put too much credence in anything these people say; most are simply ‘Curb Dweller’ which is a reference to a cockroach-like person who resides so low on the evolutionary ladder that being in the gutter seems perfectly normal to them.  Don't lower yourself to their level.

8:25am I want to thank my dear

friend from da East for sending me

this picture of

his breakfast table.

7:00am I received this email - "Dear Friends, You are cordially invited to the Launch party for The Red Goddess at midday on the Summer Solstice Saturday June 21 at Atlantis Bookshop in London, England. Please be prompt as from there we will be proceeding to the British Museum for a ritual reading at the John Dee exhibit. We are deliberately evoking BABALON on this date at this time in this location.  We will then be returning to Atlantis for champagne cocktails and spirited discussion. To reserve your place please call 020 7405 2120 or email info@theatlantisbookshop.com  We look forward to seeing you there. If you cannot make it, do a raise a glass to Her at the Solstice. In Nomine Babalon, Scarlet Imprint x … We have also attached the public press release below for The Red Goddess, if you belong to any online groups or are the webmaster of a news site, please feel free to post. We very much appreciate your support.

Dear Friends, Scarlet Imprint are delighted to announce the publication of: The Red Goddess for midday Summer Solstice June 21. This title is now available for you to order. The Red Goddess is an octavo book of 260pp, printed throughout in red and black ink, and with four luscious plates. The standard edition is strikingly bound in white book cloth, scarlet endpapers, and embossed with the seven pointed star of BABALON. Each and every book is perfumed and consecrated. It is being prepared in a strictly limited and hand-numbered edition of seven hundred and seventy-seven copies. A copy can be yours for thirty-seven English pounds plus postage. In addition, 49 devotee copies of The Red Goddess are being quarter bound in black moroccan goat and finished in scarlet silk with hand marbled endpapers. These fine books will be bound by Brian Settle. Each one a work of art and rare beauty in a world of mass production. We will only sell these direct to individuals who contact us and explain why they wish to own a copy, a necessary step given the speculators who seek to profit from our work. These are magickal books, for a magickal purpose, and that is their value. We do accept installments, as we want our books to reach the right people. The devotee copies will each cost an hundred and fifty six English pounds plus secure delivery. The Red Goddess is an ecstatic journey through the unheard history of BABALON, from Revelations back through the Ishtar Gate and forward into a living modern magickal current. This is an explicit and challenging vision of a very modern Goddess coming into power. This is more than a history, it is a passionate account of living magick and the transcendent power of Love. The epic sweep of the text takes us from Babylon to Jerusalem to Rome, and onwards to Apocalypse. It looks at the angelic work of renaissance mage John Dee. It lays bare the excesses of Aleister Crowley, and unlocks the secrets of Waratah Blossoms. It explains the immolation of the Californian antichrist-superstar Jack Parsons and his relationship with Scientology founder L.Ron Hubbard. This is the missing history of the Holy Whore. Thirteen essays conclude the book on subjects including: roses, mirror magick, BDSM, aphrodisiac drugs, the information age, love vs lust, and the meaning of apocalypse. Intelligent and balanced reviews for the previous edition from both readers and people of standing in the occult community can be found at www.scarletimprint.com Those working with Ishtar, Inanna, Lilith, Kali, Sekhmet, Bast, Freya, Pomba Gira, Erzulie, witchcraft, Tantra, sacred sex and ritual transgression will find much here to intrigue, inspire and challenge them. The Red Goddess is suitable for anyone with blood in their veins, regardless of tradition, background or experience. It is a Love story. To secure your copy please credit our paypal account for £37 plus postage scarletimprint@gmail.com  [Postage rates are: UK First Class £4 , Europe £6 ,Worldwide £10 ] If you do not have a paypal account and wish to pay by cheque (uk residents only), please email us and we will forward you our postal address. If you need our IBAN and SWIFT numbers for an international bank transfer again, email us and we will provide you with them. Full details can be found at www.scarletimprint.com .  This is an important book for these times. In Nomine Babalon  Scarlet Imprint x.

6:05am After yesterday’s historical tome, it’s another quiet day but for the history buffs: Simon of Sudbury (Simon Tybald), Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of all England, was murdered on this date in London in 1381. His demise began when Richard II introduced the unpopular Poll Tax. This caused the infamous ‘Peasants Revolt’ led by Wat Tyler, which inevitably led to a mob of peasants storming the Tower of London, dragging Simon of Sudbury out to Tower Hill and then, after ‘many blows,’ beheading him. Afterwards they took his head and stuck it on a pole over London Bridge. His mummified head is still kept preserved in a glass case in St Gregory’s Church in Suffolk, so shriveled that it looks more like a skull. His body is buried at Canterbury, where ghostly footsteps have been heard for year, rumored to be the ghost of Simon looking for his head. …...… and it was on June 14, 1968   that the creepy, eerie gothic film titled Rosemary’s Baby opened of this date. It was about a young newlywed couple who moves into a large, rambling old apartment building and become friendly with the eccentric next-door neighbors, who turn out to be members of a Satanic coven. However, prior to finding this out, Rosemary has a nightmarish dream in which she is making love to Satan. She then imagines herself impregnated so that her baby can be used in the New Yorkers’ evil cult rituals. The front of the building, which is shown in the movie, is none other than the entrance-way to the famous Dakota on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where John Lennon was later assassinated.

Friday the 13th of June , 2008 – 6:15am I received this official ad from my dear friend Adam Kendall P.M. (Henry Wilson Coil Library & Museum of Freemasonry Grand Lodge of F. & A.M. of California). The email starts off stating “Please Read to your Lodges and other Organizations, Friends, Family & other Interested People” It seems that on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at the Henry Wilson Coil Library & Museum of Freemasonry and the San Francisco Scottish Rite Bodies will Present ‘Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall” … it will be “A book reading and multimedia presentation by Louis Sahagun, author of the forthcoming biography on Brother Manly P. Hall, a member of Pacific-Starr King Lodge No. 136, patron member of the San Francisco Research Society, member of the California San Francisco Bodies of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite, Founder of the Philosophical Research Society, noted Mystic and Author of many books such as the famous Secret Teachings of All Ages! Manly P. Hall's prolific writings revealed to thousands how wisdom could be found in the myths and symbols of the ancient Western teachings. The dramatic story of his life and death provides a panorama of twentieth century mysticism. …. Re: the book and author: “In 1919, a Canadian teenager with a sixth grade education arrived by train to the wilds of Los Angeles. Within a decade he had transformed himself into a world-renowned occult scholar. His name was Manly Palmer Hall, author of the landmark publication The Secret Teachings of All Ages, regarded as the best introduction to Western esoteric ideas, and the founder of the Philosophical Research Society, which houses one of the biggest occult libraries in the United States. Hall became the 20th century’s most prolific writer and speaker on ancient philosophies, mysticism and magic, and a confidante of Hollywood celebrities and politicians. In 1990, he died—some say he was strangled—in what remains an open-ended Hollywood murder mystery worthy of Raymond Chandler. Master of The Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall offers an intimate portrait of this elusive luminary. Author Louis Sahagun draws from Hall’s massive archives and a wealth of interviews to provide an insider’s view of the birth of a metaphysical subculture that continues to have a profound influence on movies, television, music, books, art and thought. Louis Sahagun is a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times. He contributed to a Times series on Latinos in Southern California that won a Pulitzer Prize. His work ranges from religion and the environment to crime and politics. He lives with his wife and daughter in California. Mr. Sahagun will be available to sign copies of his book and answer any questions following the presentation. … Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. San Francisco Bodies, A. & A.S.R.2850 19th Ave. (@ Sloat), San Francisco, CA 94132 (415) 664-4700 ALL ARE WELCOME!!  ADMISSION is FREE!!" ....... Reply: It soulds like a great event.

5:50am Mick sent a blurb about the picture of the crab at the top of this blog. He writes, “I remember once reading an interesting thing about the Heike crabs and how their shells had evolved to look strikingly like the fierce Samurai visages seen in the old Japanese prints. [As I think you pointed out in the blog] For generations, the local fishermen made a practice of throwing back any crabs that resembled the Samurai mask as a sign of deference to the spirits of fallen warriors - maybe believing that the crabs contained Samurai spirits themselves. At any rate, Nature (naturally) took its course and the selected genes of the "warrior crabs" eventually clarified into the striking resemblance we see today. A fine example of how actions prompted by "belief" can directly influence the forms that Nature expresses. Here's where human imagination accepts an invite to the dance of natural selection... Would this qualify as a kind of evolutionary doodling? In the human equation is "evolution" to be an art-form seeking beauty in principle? Something more??? When I was in sixth grade, I read ‘Origin of Species’. It struck my imagination like a bell. The idea of a vast evolutionary tide at work in Nature made a deep impression on me at the time. It's influenced the way I give meaning to things as an adult for sure.” ....... Reply: Yes, I too see the face of the Samurai warrior! I also see the face of Jerry in the morning starring in a mirror after a long night drinking at the bar! Ah, evolution! but is Jerry de-evolving back to a crab!

5:30am For the history buffs: It was on June 13, 1662 that Mary Sanford was hanged in Hartford, Connecticut after being accused of witchcraft. This took place almost thirty years before the witchcraft hysteria broke out in Salem Village. (Hoadley’s Record Witchcraft Trials : Records Particular Court case No.2:174-175) Even though the witchcraft hysteria continued in Connecticut until 1697, Mary Stanford, who was born on February 16th 1620 in Essex, England, was the last person executed in the state for witchcraft. We also know that her husband Andrew Sanford was listed amongst the Roll of Names as having an indictment cast against him but he was acquitted. Their son Andrew Sanford the IInd, born in 1643, would grow up and have a family and his genealogical tree is well documented in New England. One of Mary Stanford’s most recent descendants is none other than J. Edward Cornelius, more commonly known in the occult world as Frater Achad Osher 583. ……. And I would also like to mention that William Butler Yeats, whom Aleister Crowley described as “a lank dishevelled demonologist who might have taken more pains with his personal appearance without incurring the reproach of dandyism,” was born on this date in Dublin, Ireland, the oldest of four children in 1865. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. He died at the age of 73 on January 28, 1939. ……. And Dr. Gerald Gardner, of Gardnerian witch fame, was born on this date in a small town called Blundellsands, which is near Liverpool, England in 1884.  He believed that he was a descendant of ‘Grissell Gairdner,’ who was burned as a witch at Newburgh in 1610.  Some historians claim that Aleister Crowley was paid a suitably large fee from Gerald Gardner to compose rituals which could be used in his new Gardnerian witch-cult although many modern Gardnerian Witches try to deny this fact as if trying to distance themselves from the evils of Old Crow. Is there a connection between the two?  There is, in fact, an actual OTO Charter reportedly given to Gerald Gardner from Crowley giving him the right to begin an O.T.O. Camp but under careful scrutiny this document becomes suspect. First of all, the document is written completely in Gardner’s handwriting with the exception of the signature of ‘Baphomet.’ Second, the official greeting which Crowley always methodical uses is quoted incorrect as ‘Do what thou Wilt shall be the law,’ which is something Old Crow would never do. There are other obvious uncertainties, like Crowley calling Gardner ‘beloved son’ - which is also highly unlikely. Gardner authored such books as High Magic’s Aid, Witchcraft Today, The Meaning of Witchcraft, Kris and Other Malay Weapons. He died on February 12, 1964 at the breakfast table on board a ship after suffering a fatal heart attack on this date. The following day he was buried on shore in Tunis, his funeral was attended only by the Captain of the ship in which he traveled. …… and shall we continue? It was on June 13, 1888 that Fernando Pessoa was a Portuguese poet born in Lisbon on this date. He did something rather unique. He wrote his poetry under 73 different names. Four of these: his own, Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Álvaro de Campos, are well known. Each of his personas has his own putative biography, physical characteristics, relationship to the others, poetic voice, and outlook, and in part reflects Pessoa’s disbelief in the idea of an integrated personality. Among Pessoa’s collections, which include poems in English, are Sonnets (1918), English Poems (1922), and Mensagem (1934). He knew Aleister Crowley during his infamous stunt in 1930. This is when the Portuguese papers in Lisbon announced finding a note at the mouth of Boca de Inferno, a dangerous piece of water celebrated as a place for “suicides.” The note, in Crowley’s hand and placed under his personal cigarette case to keep it from blowing away, was simply saying how he couldn’t live without his 19 year old Scarlet Woman, Hanni Larissa Jaeger, whom he also refers to as “The Monster.” The Press around the world, due to the instigation by Pessoa, jumped on the fact that Crowley had committed suicide. However, in Crowley’s private 1930 diary he wrote, “Sept. 21. I decided to do a suicide stunt to annoy Hanni. Arrange details with Pessoa.” Obviously the stunt worked because he and Hanni were reported as being ‘seen’ together shortly after his suicide. Although some people believed this to be true, other didn’t and, while Crowley and Hanni were in Germany, the Portuguese newspapers still carried reports of ‘sightings’ of the Beast in Portugal as if he were the Loch Ness monster of Lisbon. To complicate the story even further, The Oxford Mail of October 14th 1930 even went as far as reporting that preparations were being planned in London to hold a séance in order to contact the spirit of Aleister Crowley! As for Pessoa, he died on November 30th 1935. …...… and it was on June 13, 1941 that Grady Louis McMurtry, the man who would inevitably take over the Ordo Templi Orientis after Karl Germer’s death, took Minerval & First Degree Initiation on this date and thus joining the OTO. …...… and how I can I forget to mention Whitley Strieber? He was born on June 13, 1945 in San Antonio, Texas. He is a writer best known for his horror novels The Wolfen and The Hunger. He also wrote the best-seller titled Communion: A True Story, which professes to be a non-fictional description of his subjective experiences with non-human entities from a UFO, which looks exactly like the drawing of an entity Aleister Crowley saw out in Montauk in 1918 called LAM. According to Strieber’s story it all began on December 26, 1985, at a secluded cabin in upstate New York. He had gone sliding with his wife and son, they later ate Christmas dinner leftovers and then went to bed early. Six hours later, Whitley Strieber found himself suddenly awake and being abducted by aliens. …….. OK, start screaming enough is enough, stop with the history babble! But I can’t. I have to tell you that it was on this date in 1949 that a quiet British gentleman, the son of a plumber by the name of Cyril Henry Hoskin fell off a ladder and suffered a serious head injury. When he finally came around he seemingly had forgotten who he was while remembering a totally new identity as a Tibetan monk. This was the ‘birth date’ of the author known as Tuesday Lobsang Rampa. His most famous book, read by hundreds of thousands of people, was The Third Eye (1956). He died of complications of the heart on January 25, 1981. ......... OK, although I have other things to mention, I'll stop.

Thursday June 12, 2008 – 6:10am Not much to report today for the history buffs: On this date in 1920 the silent film actress, Jane Wolfe, left New York destined for Cefalu to join Aleister Crowley’s commune known as the Abbey of Thelema.

Wednesday June 11th 2008 – 8:30am Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

Madame Blavatsky’s answer: “Because he was unwittingly acting on

instructions emanating from my immediate superiors in the Himalayas.”

6:00am For the history buffs: Issberner Haldane was born on this date in 1886. He was Lodge Master of the German Ordo Novi Templi (Order of the New Temple), or ONT. This Order had been founded by Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels, believed by many to be the first person to use the swastika in Germany, which later became the symbol of the Nazi party. Lanz, devoted himself and his writings entirely to the rebirth of paganism and the worship of Wotan, the ‘War God’ of the ancient German people. ……. And Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki was born on this date in St. Helier, the Channel Isles in 1929. She is one of the most respected and experienced esoteric practitioners currently at work in the British Isles. She heads a correspondence school known as the Servants of the Light School of Occult Science. She has also published about eighteen books on occult and spiritual subjects; most notable being The Ritual Magic Workbook (1986), Highways of the Mind: The Art and History of Patchworking (1987), First Steps in Ritual (1990), The Tree of Ecstasy (1991), Daughters of Eve: The Magical Mysteries of Womanhood (1993), The Shinning Paths: An Experiential Journey Through the Tree of Life (1997) and The Tree of Ecstasy: An Advanced Manual of Sexual Magic  (1999). ……. And it was on this date in 1936 that the writer Robert E. Howard, a life-long victim of very severe and chronic depression, shot himself in the head while sitting in his car and died eight hours later at the age of thirty. He is most famous for introducing his most enduring character, Conan the Cimmerian in 1932. The first Conan the Barbarian story was titled The Phoenix on the Sword and was published in the December 1932 issue of  the pulp magazine Weird Tales. ……. And for the Thelemites; Jane Wolfe was admitted as an AA Probationer on this date in 1921, during her residence at the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu. Her admitting Superior was Aleister Crowley. As is customary in the AA, two copies of the Probationer oath were prepared, one to be retained by the Probationer, and one to be retained by the Order. The original of the copy Crowley retained is presently in the major university library collection at the Warburg. The original of Jane’s own signed and sealed copy, has long been preserved by Soror Meral.

Tuesday June 10th 2008 – 5:50am For the history buffs: Bridget Bishop was the first woman to be put on trial in the historical Salem witch hunts and was hung on this date in 1692. She was born in England in 1640. When she was twenty years old she married George Wasselbe. They moved to Salem, Massachusetts but, within six years, she became a widow. Soon afterwards, she married another man by the name of Thomas Oliver. They had a daughter who they named, ironically, Christian. Their marriage was a very stormy one at times, and they sometimes quarreled in public. Being that the community was a Puritan one, this act was looked upon with scorn. In fact, they both were taken to the county courts after two such incidents and once, after they had had a violent argument, they had to stand together in the town square, bound together back-to-back, and gagged as punishment for their sinfulness. When Oliver died in 1679, his death was thought to be suspicious, and Bridget was accused of practicing witchcraft. The case was eventually dismissed. She went on to marry a third man by the name of Edward Bishop. Bishop was a well-respected man in Salem. He not only owned a sawmill, but he also helped to found the Beverly Church. Their marriage was no different from her first two marriages, as she and Bishop quarreled and bickered often. Bridget Bishop was certainly not a typically submissive Puritan wife. Finally, on April 18, 1692, Bridget Bishop was arrested again and charged with being a witch. This time she was found guilty and on June 10, the High Sheriff took Bridget Bishop to what would come to be called ‘Witches Hill,’ a barren and rocky elevation on the west side of town, and hanged her from the branches of a great oak tree. ……. And Immanuel Velikovsky was born in Vitebsk, Russia on this date in 1895. In his book, Worlds in Collision, he proposed a theory that many ancient myths and traditions were actually based on real events, such as worldwide global catastrophes of perhaps even of celestial origin and that these had such a profound effect on the human psyche of our ancestors that they affected their beliefs and culture. However, although his book reached number one on the best-sellers list, his well researched  theory was banned from a number of academic institutions and he became ostracized from the general academic community, who threatened a boycott against any publisher who printed his books. For nearly a decade prior to the early Sixties, Velikovsky was persona non grata on most college and university. He died on November 17, 1979 at the age of 84 in Princeton, New Jersey. He often stated that, “... science is proving I was right all along.” ……. And I should point out that it was on June 10, 1969 when a young boy by the name of Saul who was living at the Solar Lodge, or Brayton Ranch in California decided to burn down his own Quonset hut or bedroom dwelling, hoping that it would force the adults to allow him and his sister to stay in the main house. A Solar Lodge member publicly stated that this was because the children “liked to listen to the adults talking instead of sleeping as they should.” Regrettably the fire got out of hand and within moments explosions occurred. The entire ranch was ablaze. In the end it was reduced to rubble and debris. ……. And finally, Michael Aquino left Anton Lavey’s Church of Satan in San Francisco and formed his own group, The Temple of Set, on this date in 1975.

Monday June 9th 2008 – 8:00am Last night, around eight, we had an Earthquake here in Berkeley. It was only 1.6 magnitude …. I’ve had gas worse than this!  [Of interest: the USGS Earthquake site shows that the Bay Area has had about 118 earthquakes in our area over the last week.]

6:00am For the history buffs: Jeanne Marie Bouvières de la Mothe Guyon, also known simply as Madame Guyon died on this date in Blois, France  1717. She was a major leader in the ‘Quietest Movement’ which was a heretical form of religious mysticism founded by Miguel de Molinos, a 17th-century Spanish priest. The belief behind quietism states that true spiritual perfection lies only in the complete passivity of one’s soul and the annihilation of one’s Will through divine love in the eyes of God can lead to redemption. Molinos and his doctrines were condemned by Pope Innocent XI in 1687 and a commission in France found most of Madame Guyon’s works also intolerable. …..…. And Wilfred T. Smith was born illegitimately in Tonbridge, Kent, England on this date in 1885. He moved to Canada in January of 1907 where he worked at numerous jobs before landing a position at the British Columbia Electric Railway. It was here, around 1912 that a co-worker named Charles Stansfeld Jones (1886-1950) turned him on to Crowleyanity and where he inevitably joined the OTO. Smith later joined Aleister Crowley’s AA as a Probationer in March of 1916; taking the magickal motto of Nubem Eripiam (I will snatch away the cloud). In June of 1921 he swore the AA Oath of the Abyss and assumed the magickal motto of Frater Velle Omnia Velle Nihil 132 (To will all, to will nothing). In early April of 1922 Smith moved to southern California where he began working for the Department of the southern California Gas Company in Los Angles. Here he establishment Agape Lodge No.2. Smith was also the person whom Aleister Crowley stated; he “is not a man at all; he is the Incarnation of some God.” Wilfred T. Smith died in Southern California on April 27, 1957 from cancer of the Prostate. ……... And on June 9, 1901, Priscilla Pardridge, better known as the noted author Eden Gray, was born in Chicago, Illinois. She wrote such books as Mastering the Tarot, A Complete Guide to the Tarot and Tarot Revealed: A Modern Guide to Reading the Tarot Cards. …..…. And to continue, Linwood Vrooman Carter, more commonly known simply as Lin Carter, was born on this date in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1930. His first book The Wizard of Lemuria came out in 1965. He is also noted as the author of the ‘Thongor series,’ or Thongor of Lemuria (1966), Thongor Against the Gods (1967), Thongor in the City of Magicians (1968), Thongor at the End of Time (1968), Thongor & the Dragon City (1970) and Thongor Fights the Pirates of Tarakus (1970). He also wrote and released the classic H. P. Lovecraft biography in 1972 titled Lovecraft: A Look Behind the Cthulhu Mythos. He died of cardiac arrest brought on by chronic emphysema in Montclair, New Jersey on February 7, 1988. He was cremated. …...… and on June 9, 1944 Ron (Jerrold) Johnson, MUFON’s Deputy Director of UFO Investigations, died. He was 43 years old and had just passed a recent physical examination with the proverbial flying colors. At the time of his death he was attending a meeting being held by The Society of Scientific Exploration in Austin, Texas. It was during the slide show, when several people sitting close to him, heard an odd gasp sound. When the lights were turned on they found Johnson slumped over in his chair, his face an odd shade of purple, with blood oozing from his nose. A soda can, from which he had been sipping, was sitting on the chair next to him. …..... and finally,  it was on June 9, 1949 that Agape Lodge of the O.T.O. moved into its new location at 1003 South Orange Grove Avenue in Pasadena.  A procession led the way into the house; Jane Wolfe carrying a picture of Aleister Crowley followed by Wilfred Smith with Liber Al vel Legis.  Behind him was Regina Kahl with The Stele and last was Jack Parsons with the Holy Ark.

Sunday June 8th 2008 – 6:35am Here is story to help kick off the upcoming summer. The headlines in August of 2006 read ‘Deck Chair Trapped Testicles’ and the brief article reads: “A Croatian man got a nasty surprise when he tried to get out of his deck chair and found his testicles had got stuck. Mario Visnjic had gone swimming naked in the sea at the Valalta beach in western Croatia, reports 24sata. His testicles had shrunk while in the cool sea and slipped through the wooden slats when he sat back down on his wooden deckchair. But as he lay in the sun they expanded back to normal size and got stuck between the slats. He was eventually freed after he called beach maintenance services on his mobile phone and they sent a member of staff to cut the deck chair in half." … Ah, I think most men can relate to the tragedy of this situation so remember this story the next time you go out to a nudist beach, take a dip in the chilly ocean and then sit down on a wooden deck chair to soak up some of the warm Sun’s rays. The physics are relatively simple to grasp: your family jewels naturally shrivel in cold water and, while you're napping, they slip through one of the gaps in your wooden beach chair but as the little critters warm up they slowly returned to their normal size and you’ll only realize your dilemma when you try to stand up!

6:20am For the history buffs: John G. Bennett was born on this date in 1897. He was a British scientist, mathematician, and philosopher who integrated scientific research with studies of Asiatic languages and religions. He traveled widely and worked with many spiritual leaders. While in Constantinople in 1921, shortly after World War I and the Russian Revolution, he met both G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky. These meetings shaped the direction of his spiritual development. He is also the man responsible for letting the world know that Gurdjieff’s book Meeting With Remarkable Men was only an ‘allegory’ with little truth therein. Of the many books he wrote, most will remember Ennegram Studies, The Way To Be Free, The Dramatic Universe: Man and His Nature and volume two of this book called The Foundations of Moral Philosophy. He died at the age of 77 on December 13, 1974 while taking his daily walk through the grounds of Sherborne House. ……. And on June 8, 1902 Grant Lewi, the famous Astrologer, was born in Albany, New York. Under the pseudonym of ‘Oscar’ he provided a short outline of his life in his book Astrology for the Millions. In the late thirties and forties, Lewi edited the Horoscope Magazine but in 1950 he resigned in order to begin his own magazine, The Astrologer. He moved to Arizona around this period and he passed away July 15, 1951, having already determined the exact moment of his own death by using astrology. Lewi’s two major works, Astrology for the Millions and Heaven Knows What have remained popular even to the present day.

Saturday June 7th 2008 – 5:40am For the history heap: Karl Kellner died on this date in 1905 of a mysterious illness, which no doctor was ever able to diagnose. He was born on September 1, 1851 in Vienna, Austria. He was a wealthy Austrian paper chemist and a student of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and Eastern mysticism, who had traveled extensively throughout Europe, America and Asia Minor. During his travels, he claimed to have made contact with three Adepts (a Sufi, Soliman ben Aifa, and two Hindu Tantrics, Bhima Sena Pratapa of Lahore and Sri Mahatma Agamya Paramahamsa) who supposedly taught him his ‘sexual secrets.’ In 1895, he began to discuss the idea of creating an ‘Academia Masonica’ with his associate Theodor Reuss which became known as the “Oriental Templar Order.” …….. another person to have died on this date was Henry Miller, who passed quietly in his sleep on this date in 1978. He was born on December 26, 1891in Manhattan, New York. He was the author of such famous works as Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and The Rosy Crucifixion, to name just a few. Like many individuals he had a brief encounter with Aleister Crowley. It is believed that Henry met the Great Beast through the French astrologer Conrad Moricand in 1933. His friend, Anais Nin, has stated in a chapter simply titled “November 2, 1934” from her book Incest, that “Henry has fallen under the spell of a remarkable old man {Aleister Crowley} who is fantastic and psychic, a painter gone mad in Zurich.” In a letter to his childhood friend Emil Schnellock written in October of 1935, Henry Miller included a short but interesting story describing an event which took place between him and Crowley. Obviously the Beast scared him. He writes that after he heard Aleister Crowley boast one day of the ease with which he could read men’s minds, he made it a point of keeping quiet in his presence. He then told Anais Nin, “I said nothing about my worries at all” in front of Aleister Crowley-or in other words he kept trying to blank out his mind. Why? Miller further explains, “I wouldn’t want that guy tampering with me. No sir!”

Friday June 6th 2008 – 6:23am Dave asks, “You haven’t put out any new Cornelias in quite awhile. The last issue I have is number 17. Are there going to be anymore?” …… Reply: Ya, you’re right. No.17 was the last and it was released on March 16th. Compared to the hectic release, one after another of the earlier issues, things have slowed down! In truth, I’ve had a few very pressing projects that need completion and second, Mercury is Retrograding and will be for a few more weeks. In the mean time I am ‘retrograding’ and molting too, shedding old and beginning new, having my ups and having my downs, a Crab walks sideways awhile and then shifts his steps in the opposite direction – in other words, don’t ask such difficult questions right now.

6:10am Regarding the schedule change with no Open House on Friday the 20th Jay writes, “Doing anything good (or bad as your preference may be) on the 20th?” … Reply: With Mercury going direct the day before who knows, maybe I’ll put on my hunting outfit, get my weapon and go in quest of the elusive poontangasaurus which seems to be ever prevalent in our area! I need a new trophy!

6:05am For the history buffs: Jeremy Bentham died on this date in London in 1832. He left behind a large estate, which he willed to be used to finance the newly established University College in London. However, as a stipulation of getting his money, he also willed that his cadaver, per his instructions, was to be dissected, embalmed, dressed, and placed in a chair in a cabinet in a corridor of the main building of University College, where to this day it still resides. …....... and I should point out that on June 6, 1926 Alex Sanders the Self-proclaimed “King of the Witches” who rose to fame in the 1960’s by establishing the Alexandrian tradition was born. He is noted for making the unfulfilled promise to “make Aleister Crowley look like a Boy Scout.”  He died on April 30, 1988 after a long battle with lung cancer. His funeral became a mass media event, with Witches and Pagans from all over the country attending to pay their last respects.  During the course of the funeral a pre-recorded tape was played in which Alex Sanders declared that his son “Victor” should succeed him as “King of the Witches.”

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