~ July 1st - 16th, 2008 ~

(the latest entries are always added to the top)

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

Wednesday July 16th 2008 – 8:05am For the history buffs: Today is the date of the ancient Egyptian celebration for the birthday of the God ‘Set.’ …..…. And I should also mention that it was on July 16, 1821 that Mary Baker was born in Bow, New Hampshire, the youngest in a brood of six. In 1877 she married Asa Gilbert Eddy and became known as Mary Baker Eddy. She was the founder of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College and the Church of Christ, Scientist, or Christian Scientists in Boston, Massachusetts in 1889. It was the belief of the Christian Scientists to use healing by faith as an affirmation that human suffering is not what God creates, but is rather a mode of human perception. Critics are quick to point out that her methods were neither Christian, nor especially scientific and that her techniques to heal illness were so ineffective that when her husband became ailing, he died. Mary Baker Eddy passed away on December 3, 1910 at her home in Chestnut Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. …..….. On this date in 1945, at exactly 5:29:45, the first Atomic Bomb was tested in New Mexico. Witnesses said that the light of the explosion soon turned orange as the atomic fireball began shooting upwards at over 360 feet per second, reddening and pulsing as it cooled. The characteristic mushroom cloud of radioactive vapor materialized at around 30,000 feet. Beneath the cloud, all that remained of the soil at the center of the blast site were fragments of jade green radioactive glass created by the heat of the reaction. What was astonishing is that a blind girl saw the flash 120 miles away. …..…. It was on July 16, 1996, around noon, in Los Villares, Jaen, Spain, 66-year-old Dionisio, a retired farmer, was walking through a field and had sat down on a rock next to a tree. Suddenly he smelled a very strong and pungent odor in the air. He also began hearing a low hum. Looking around he noticed a UFO hovering near the ground, next to some nearby power lines. The metallic object was shaped like a dome and it had several black glass oval shaped windows. On one side of the object he could clearly make out what appeared to be an inscription resembling ‘IOIO’ and from the top of the object there were some cables that were apparently connected to the nearby power lines. Dionisio also noticed an unbelievably curious fact, when he started to walk away he turned and could no longer see the object. Inquisitively, as he approached the area, he was able to see it again as well as seeing three figures standing next to it. They were about six-feet tall, Asian in appearance with slanted eyes, two men and one woman, wearing tight fitting silvery outfits with boots. They also had large hands with five long well defined fingers and their mouths were slit-like. Then, all of a sudden, the witness felt something strike his chest and looking up he noticed that the woman was pointing at him. Soon he began hearing voices in his head but admittedly he could not figure them out and he became so frightened that he ran and hid behind some nearby rocks. That is when he claimed to hear the humming sound again, as well as smelling the pungent odor. When he peered over the rocks he noticed that the humanoids and the UFO were gone. He called the local authorities and investigators found ground traces of evidence at the site that something had landed. During the same period in time other witnesses in the region also reported seeing low flying lights and objects.

Tuesday July 15th 2008 – 7:50am Ed Warmuth writes, "I'm so glad you were able to enjoy that bottle of wine on such an auspicious occasion as your birthday. Best wishes for the coming year, Heinz! ... I just finished #4 of Cornelia. I feel like I have cache of exotic confections up on my bookshelf awaiting me, each one better than the last. I want to mention again that I especially appreciate the variety you include in each issue, much like the format of the original Equinox series."

7:10am For the history buffs: The F.B.I. director J. Edgar Hoover sent the military a ‘Memorandum for Mr. Ladd’ on this date in 1947 because he was furious that they were not letting the F.B.I. examine the downed UFO, or ‘disc recovered’ and its occupants. .... I'd type more into this section but it seems my eyeballs are in backwards and I need an icepack.

Monday July 14th 2008 – 10:00pm I've received lots of other Happy Birthday emails today, thanks to you all. ... p.s. first bottle of wine is empty, I'm on my second. Big smile here.

9:44pm My old Scorpio girlfriend, Robert DiFronzo, who helped me start the OTO back in Connecticut in 1977 writes, “Dear Jerry, Happy Birthday ! Thinking of you and hoping you are well and having a good birthday. I was going to call, but seem to have misplaced your phone # ; could you send it to me again ? Let me know how you are doing.  Best wishes always, Bert.” 

9:20pm My dear old friend Tony Iannotti writes, “93! I will never forget you, even if I sometimes forget your birthday!  All the Beast! 93, 93/93!”

8:05pm Awhile ago my dear friend Ed Warmuth, whom I took initiation with into the Minerval degree OTO back in 1977, visited and brought a bottle of Windram wine called 'Thelema' which had actually been shipped from from South Africa. Thomas James Windram was an old friend of Aleister Crowley who started a winery in that country and who ran the OTO in that area. Anyway, we forgot to open it that night but I must say that the Gods work in strange ways. Tonight, on my birthday, I sit here and drink it on the occasion of my 57th birthday! Thank you Ed; it’s a fitting gift! I lift my glass and toast to all my friends.

7:45pm Luis Alvarado called me to wish me a Happy Birthday and afterwards, when going online, I found his significant other, David Miles sent me an email - "Happy Birthday Big Boy.”

6:00pm Ben Hance called to wish me a Happy Birthday ... Thanks!

5:10pm Carol writes, “93 Hope you’re having a great birthday. I tried calling earlier but you ain’t picking up your phone. Either you’re out on the avenue or you got company. Either way you enjoy yourself and remember, young Asian girls are going to kill you. But at least you’ll go with a smile. Luv ya! 93s C”

4:35pm Miguel Walters writes, "93! Hope your day is delightful beyond all comparisons. :-)  I think it would be very cool for you to write a history buff piece on yourself for the day. :-) ."  

1:35pm I received this email: “Jerry, 93!  Happy Lesser Feast to you! I hope in the next one I get to buy you a pint of beer. Ricardo 93 93/93.”

12:20pm Yes, I haven’t uploaded any of the morning’s incoming entries since my History Buff section, I’ve been preoccupied. So listed ‘below’ are a few of the emails that have come in between 7:45am to present. … Now for the record; I didn't forget to mention myself in today’s history section; so stop asking. Yes, I was born on this day in 1951. I’m just a typical Crab; the older I get, the crankier I become, especially on my Birthday Day.

11:55pm I received this email with the subject: "57 Reasons that make us smile today! Happy Birthday Jerry!" and the email read- "Jerry 93! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! From all of us at Pirate Guitars and Trans-Surreal Studios. LOVE and 93s Leigh and Luna."

10:00am Arden, a fellow Crab, writes "Happy solar return!" ... adding:

Hail unto thee who art Frater Achad Osher 583 in thine abode,

Even unto thee who art Frater Achad Osher 583 in thy residence;

Who travellest over the area in thy conveyance,

At the peregrinations of the sun.

Tahuti standeth in his splendor at the prow,

And Ra-Hoor abideth at the helm.

Hail unto thee from the abodes of Arden

8:05am Rey DeLupos for New Mexico writes, "Happy Lesser Feast Day, Jerry. Tonight I shall raise a pint in honor of this auspicious day of your birth. Thankfully for me we were allowed to cross paths in this incarnation -- the Gods are kind. :) I hope this day is replete with joy, happiness and good friends.  So mote it be!"

7:45am Dave Solina from Florida writes, “I hope you have a wonderful birthday today. All the best on your 57th!”

5:40am For the history buffs: Helen Schucman, a professor of medical psychology at Columbia University, was born on this date in 1909. In 1965 she responded to an authoritative ‘inner voice’ that was being channeled through her, who identified himself as Jesus Christ, and who urged her to take down his message. What she received would be called A Course in Miracles. It is a self-study course in spiritual psychology which focuses on the principles of universal love and forgiveness. It is seemingly Christianity improved wherein Jesus tells us that he wants less suffering, sacrifice, separation, and sacrament. He also wants more love and forgiveness. Why is it called A Course in Miracles? According to Schucman, the voice said to her: “This is a course in miracles, please take notes.” …..…. and sadly, it was on July 14, 1969 that Gabriel Montenegro died of heart trouble. He had three funeral services. The first was Catholic, performed by his daughter Sister Marie Angelica, a nun at Notre Dame. The second was a Masonic service overseen by the F. & A. M. Lodge # 434 in Daly City, since Montenegro was a 33Degree Mason. And the third was a Christian ceremony in Spanish to accommodate all his relatives who had come up from Mexico. He was buried at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California. He originally joined the O.T.O. back on August 6th 1948, taking Minerval Initiation at Agape Lodge. He was born in Zapotlan Mexico in 1907 and claimed to have received “the highest initiations from Toltec priests.” Many people who knew Montenegro simply accepted this statement without question. However, modern historians are quick to point out that this was a ludicrous claim considering that the Toltec empire emerged around the 10th century in Mexico and within two centuries it all but ceased to exist. Where Montenegro found a Toltec priest seven centuries later is anyone’s guess. Be that as it may, he was legitimately the representative of the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua in Mexico and later he even became a 33°  Mason of the Antient & Accepted Rite for Mazatlan. He was a member of Crocker Lodge Nº 454 in Daly City, California. To say he was a colorful character is an understatement. …….…. Nothing else of interest happened on this date that I can think of.

Sunday July 13th 2008 – 6:15am For the history buffs:The Elizabethan scholar, Dr. John Dee who was born on this date in 1527 was said to have translated the Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred into English.  It was one of these editions that Wilbur Whateley used to call forth the Old Ones in Dunwich Massachusetts at his families estate. …...… and also, Margaret Alice Murray was born in Calcutta on this date in 1863. In the 1920’s she began writing about her theories on the origins and organization of witchcraft predating Christianity. She became the eminent and respected anthropologist, archaeologist and Egyptologist with such noted works as Witchcraft, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) The God of the Witches (1933) and the Divine King in England (1954). She died on November 13, 1963. ....… and to continue with birthday notices; Gérard-Anaclet-Vincent Encause, better known by his pseudonym ‘Papus,’ was born on this date in Corogna, Spain in 1865. He was a physician, hypnotist, and author who popularized occultism with su ch books as The Tarot of the Bohemians. A book described by Paul Foster Case which “... employed an incorrect attribution of the major trumps to the Hebrew alphabet” amongst other things. On March 23, 1895 he joined the Golden Dawn but soon thereafter he ‘resigned.’ On October 25, 1916 he joined the French army medical corps when World War I first broke out. Sadly, while working in a military hospital, he contracted tuberculosis and died in 1916 at the age of 51. He was the man, whom it has been written, who had a “... willingness to confer and receive high sounding but meaningless occult dignities.” …..… and I should also mention the birthday of Clifford Bax, who was born on this date in Knightsbridge, London in 1886.  He was a noted British playwright and author of such classic works as The Immortal Lady, The Rose Without a Thorn and The House of Borgia, to name only a few. Many of this gentleman’s plays were written with historical themes in mind. He was also co-editor of an art & literature magazine titled The Golden Hind, founded by Austin Osman Spare between 1922-24. In addition to plays, Bax also wrote numerous books. One volume, Some I Knew Well, contains sixteen chapters about various famous people whom he had met over the years. The fifth chapter is titled, “Aleister Crowley: Black Magician.” He met Crowley at the Kulm Hotel in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in the late winter of 1904. Crowley and his wife Rose were vacationing there after recently returning from Egypt where Crowley had received The Book of the Law. Clifford Bax remained one of Crowley’s friend throughout his life. Bax died in his London home at the age of 76 on November 18th 1962.

Saturday July 12th 2008 – 8:45am Rey Delupos of New Mexico read today’s blog entry & writes, “It was duly noted in my calendar and I intend to keep Grady's image in my heart today. I have extended your message to my friends.” … and then adding, “Here are the lyrics I was listening to when I read you post this morning seemingly appropriate.” … The song is titled ‘Full Circle’ by Loreena McKennitt From the recording "The Mask And Mirror"

Stars were falling deep in the darkness as prayers rose softly, petals at dawn

And as I listened, your voice seemed so clear so calmly you were calling your god

Somewhere the sun rose, o'er dunes in the desert such was the stillness, I ne'er felt

before

Was this the question, pulling, pulling, pulling you in your heart, in your soul, did you find

rest there?

Elsewhere a snowfall, the first in the winter covered the ground as the bells filled the air

You in your robes sang, calling, calling, calling him in your heart, in your soul, did you

find peace there?

7:15am Today is the GREATER FEAST of our beloved Frater Hymenaeus Alpha 777 aka Grady Louis McMurtry who shed his earthly vehicle and died twenty-three years ago in California on July 12, 1985. He was lying in his hospital bed at Brookside Hospital in San Pablo, discussing forms of meditation with a friend when he softly said, “I think my path is more the Sufi Path.” When questioned what he meant, he simply looked up and said, “I don’t know.” He then closed his eyes and quietly passed away. Grady once wrote that; “The moment of ultimate self-embarrassment is when you die. That is when you wake up.” In other words, you get to review your whole incarnation for all its good and bad, shake your head and then prepare for the next. On July 15th, his body was prepared at the Apollo Crematory in Emeryville, California. He was dressed as Saladin, in a turban with his favorite red robe. A bouquet of roses was placed in his arms shortly before he was cremated. Grady’s ashes remained in the possession of the O.T.O. for almost a year. Then, on July 12th 1986, a large group of individuals boarded a boat rented at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. About three miles past the Golden Gate Bridge, with help of the Neptune Society, his ashes were spread out across the Pacific Ocean. It was written, “From the fire of cremation to the waters of the great sea, by formula and verse did we rejoice him on his way.” A single rose was then tossed into the water, cut from the same bush as the bouquet that had been placed in his hands when he was cremated. As his ashes slowly vanished beneath the waters, one of Grady’s poem was read to send him off on his last voyage -The Redeemer That is in  the Waters.

THE REDEEMER

THAT IS IN THE WATERS

O who will go with the mermen bold

With the mermen, wild and free

O who will rule from the castle old

In the Chasm of the sea

And who will brave the abyssal cold

For all eternity?

O I will go with the mermen bold

With the mermen, wild and free

And I will rule from the castle old

In the Chasm of the sea

And I will brave the abyssal cold

For one eternity!   

7:00am For the history buffs: Alan Miller (aka Dr Christopher Hyatt), the author and publisher of Thelemic works, the founder of Falcon Press, was born on July 12, 1943 in Chicago, the son of a Chicago police lieutenant. He died on February 9th 2008 at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. …… and speaking of birthdays; Peter Koenig was born on this date in Zurich, Switzerland in 1959. Considered by some to be one of the more prolific researchers on the history of the O.T.O., while proselytizing that no branch of the Order, outside of certain European claims, is genuine. Others are quick to point out that Koenig is notorious for taking history completely out of context for his own personal agenda. One author summed it up quiet nicely: “Part of this problem is rooted deep in the animosity that some Europeans have toward Americans. Who, I might add, have always resented the O.T.O. Grand Lodge moving to this country. Even to this day some Europeans continually stamp their feet, whine and slander all that is American simply in the hope of fostering their own supremacy.” Although Koenig has written many books he’ll always be remembered for How To Make Your Own McOTO.

Friday July 11th 2008 – 6:35am For the history buffs: On this date in 1861 the Royal Navy ship, the Bacchante, was rounding the tip of Africa when it was confronted with the sight of The Flying Dutchman. This ship, whose real name has remained unknown, supposedly sank off the coast in 1641. It is probably the most famous ghost ship known; doomed to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa forever. The legend has it that when the ship was sinking a Dutchman named Captain Cornelius vander Decken screamed out a curse: “I WILL round this Cape even if I have to keep sailing until doomsday!” What makes this sighting in 1861 so unique is that one of the people reporting the sighting was the midshipman, who at this time was only a prince, but he would inevitably become King George V of England. The lookout man who had first seen the Flying Dutchman is recorded in the ship’s records as saying; “A strange red light as of a phantom ship all aglow, in the midst of which light the mast, spars and sails of a brig 200 yards distant stood out in strong relief.” Unfortunately, an ironic twist to the story is that he was so distraught that a few days later he accidentally fell from a mast and died. …...… and on July 11, 1948 that the author Lon Milo DuQuette was born in Long Beach, California. On November 15, 1975 he took Minerval Initiation into Aleister Crowley’s OTO in Dublin, California. He later established the Heru-Ra-Ha Chapter of this Order in southern California. He has authored over ten books on magick and the occult; releasing such titles as Aleister Crowley’s Illustrated Goetia (1992); often referred to as the Goetic coloring book. He also wrote the classic magickal volume titled The Magick of Thelema (1993) as well as Angels, Demons & Gods of the New Millennium (1997). He released My Life in Spirits: A Magical Autobiography in 1999. Some reviewers have called this a “remarkable book.” Others have stated that it is “worthy of a permanent and honored place in the library of American spiritual literature.” Still another reviewer commented that “The book reads like someone who really did partake of the spirits [wink wink] and forgot to tell what really happened between him and Grady Louis McMurtry.”

Thursday July 10th 2008 – 5:15pm For the history buffs: Austin Osman Spare joined the AA. assuming the magical motto Frater YIHOVEAUM, or ‘I AM-Aum’ as a Probationer on this date in 1910. Crowley toward the end of his life believed Spare to have become a Black Brother because of his cultivation of self-love through pleasure.” …….. and it was on this date in 1925 that Meher Baba began his period of silence. A few days earlier one of his disciples asked, “But if you keep silent, how will you teach us?” To which he simply answered, “I have come not to teach, but to awaken.” He did not speak again for the remainder of his physical lifetime and his Silence remained unbroken for 44 years right until he dropped his physical body on January 31, 1969. ……… and finally, on July 10, 1996 Belinda Kaiser, of Miami Florida, awoke to find that her 1994 Lexus had deep fang marks, an inch and a half deep, on the fender. Scratch marks also covered the hood and ‘something’ had ripped off and chewed up a plastic guard. A neighbor named Orlando Barriga told her that he saw a strange black creature sprinting across his lawn earlier that night. Another neighbor found giant cat-like prints in the sand of her children’s play pen area.

Wednesday July 9th 2008 – 1:50pm The headline News reads 'Thousands Expect Apocalypse in 2012' and the article states: "Survival groups around the world are gearing up and counting down to a mysterious date that has been anticipated for thousands of years: Dec. 21, 2012. Across the United States, Canada and throughout Europe, apocalyptic sects and individuals say that is the day that the world as we know it will end, ABCnews.com reports. Ancient Mayan societies, known for their advanced mathematics and astronomy, followed a 'long count' calendar that lasted 5,126 years. When their charts are translated to the Gregorian calendar, the international standard used today, time runs out on Dec. 21, 2012. Believers say there are other links besides just the Mayan calendar that portend catastrophe. The sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years on the same day, which marks the winter solstice. Some say that will disrupt the energy flow to Earth, or that the high rate of sunspots or sun flares that NASA has predicted for 2012 could affect Earth magnetic fields. Scientists have tried to squash the doomsday scenario as another empty prophesy, but it’s clear there are thousands who consider the possibility of a worldwide catastrophe occurring on that date very real." ...... Here is some Wisdom according to Cornelius : If you really believe this impending Apocalypse to be true then in January of 2012 start getting as many Credit Cards and loans as you can, live a life of utter joy and run bills up out your ying-yang because after December 21st who's going to around to demand payment? Even, on the remote chance that you're wrong and the Apocalypse doesn't happen, your lawyers at least will have a great argument for insanity as the reason why you should be exempt from paying off your debt! ... Either way, you win!

1:15pm Mary asks, "How did the doctor's visit go yesterday?" ... I replied, "he's got cold hands."

11:50am Ed also writes, “I finally started “Cornelia” #3 which is most elucidating and remarkable.  Thank you again for this great service of providing these materials. I continue to read your blog with relish. [ketchup and mustard stain and make it hard to read]. … I read with great interest the Lineage page you offered a link to.  I did not know that Germer had the title “Caliph”, nor did I know that you had this title. My heartfelt congratulations to you for accepting this mantle. Your body of work [of which I have barely scratched the surface] shows there is no resting on laurels involved.  Keep up the great work! …… Reply: Glad you are enjoying the CORNELIAs ; 18 issues released in a year and half, not bad; no laurel sitting here! … Yes, Germer was definitely the first Caliph; Aleister Crowley acknowledged that in writing and for my readers information, consider this quote from Vol. I of Grady’s biography – In The Name of the Beast : “There are those within the present day OTO who argued adamantly that the term Caliph is not a Masonic title in Reuss’ structure and therefore it has no place within the boundaries of the fraternity, which is why shortly after Grady’s death Frater Hymenaeus Beta officially removed this office and discarded it within the fraternity. However, many forgot that the Order is of the Oriental or Eastern Templar, with its mysteries and ritualistic symbolism in the man of Earth degrees based around Saladin, who was an Islamic warrior and Sultan. As for the term Caliph [or Caliphate], it also originated in Islam. It appeared shortly after the prophet Muhammed died in 632. At the time the question arose as to how the community should be governed now that the prophet was dead. There were no cut and dry solutions for a continuity of spiritual leadership. The first ruler acted as the Messenger of the Law, a khalifatu-r-rasuul that can be translated literally as ‘successor’, although more correctly, a religious successor to the prophet Muhammed himself. Now, if we are to consider Aleister Crowley as the prophet of the New Aeon, of Thelema, as Mohammed was to Islam, then the title fits quite nicely with what Crowley had chosen for Karl Germer and Grady within the confines of the OTO, both of whom were “bloodied” by war. This is why Crowley created the Caliphate, or so Grady always claimed. It was to appoint the spiritual descent of authority from him rather than just a mundane position of leadership as insinuated by a Masonic title. In other words, it was Crowley’s intention to create a Thelemic Caliphate lineage that would stress living and studying The Book of the Law and keeping it in the forefront of everyday life above all else in a manner similar to how the Islamic Caliphate works. Crowley felt that if he did not establish a Caliphate the OTO could easily slip back into old Aeonic thought, possibly even placing little importance on The Book of the Law." ... Anyway, I was very disgusted with OTO policies about throwing the Caliphate aside like an old worn pair of shoes. Thelema meant more to me than that and I remembered what Crowley had written to Grady or that “he could not establish the order of the Caliphate”; quoting John Bunyan’s “My Sword to him that can get it” and, with that in mind – I grabbed the sword and have never looked back.

11:25am Ed also wrote - “... received a copy of James Hillmans "The Soul's Code" in the mail last week. Fascinating stuff! I didn't know he had taught at Syracuse University. I took a couple of courses there from a Professor Miller, i.e. the psychology of religion,  that used Hillman's books. [The Myth of analysis and Revisioning Psychology] These courses dealt with archetypes and explored radical Jungian and Freudian psychology and were some of the most inspiring I have ever taken. [Michael and Michelle also took at least one of them].” …. Reply: The Soul's Code is such a great 'magickal' text. It was Mike Ripple, the old Lodge Master of Ra-Hoor Khuit Lodge OTO in Syracuse if my readers are wondering, who turned me onto Hillman back in 1978. Long time ago. I’ve been an avid reader ever since.

11:15am Ed Wormuth writes, "I read with interest your recent blogs about women and sexuality.  Your suggestion to study ones sign to understand specific proclivities sounds apt, but you seem to be referring to sun sign.  wouldn't rising and moon be equally revealing?" .... Reply: Most definitely. Astrology teaches us that the three most important things in our chart to understand are the Sun, Moon and Rising sign. In some ways the rest is fluff. All three of these refer to the Fates which dictated our incarnation in Plato's Myth of Er. The first fate being Lachesis who teaches us ‘what has been’ while the second, Klotho, shows us ‘what is’ and Atropos unfolds ‘what shall be.’ These three Moirae or Fates refer to Lachesis (our Sun Sign), Klotho (our Moon) and Atropos (our Rising Sign) when combined mathematically they formulate what is referred to in astrology as the ‘Part of Fortune’ or more properly ‘Lot of Fortune’ in our chart. The term 'Lot' in The Myth of Er refers to the 'life' that we chosen to incarnate into and basically, if we mix our Sun, Moon and Rising Sign in one bowl we’ll have a better idea of how our over-all incarnation comes across to others. In other words; if we had to sum up our incarnation regarding our material well-being, our body, our fortune and our health then the Lot of Fortune is it; it’s what we’ve chosen as an incarnation in a nutshell but equally important; it gives us an indication of what and how we shall make use of those things that we’ve been given at birth.

11:00am My friend David writes, “93 Like a pebble in the pond of the cosmos, mercury did have several personal bombshells for me that waited until the fourth of July to burst. How nice. At this point I think I am going to swear off women completely for a while. I will rent ones if things get really bad.  I'd say this is a perfect time to "know" myself, in the biblical sense. LOL. Oh man that so funny it hurts. Honestly I need to know myself before I can get into a relationship with someone else. I hope your doing well. All my healing wishes sent your way. Take care my friend. 93 93/93” .... Reply: It hurts to read it too. LOL back at ya.  :)-   

6:10am Luna sent a new drawing. She writes - “93! this is a work in progress....finding the yokai ...the psychedelic transmuted daimon in Grady Louis McMurtry's "Oblivion" poem. I receive great strength in tapping into my own preconceived ideas of how I psychically work in the magickal matrix by continuing to share with you all my work Love and 93s Luna.”  ... Click HERE if you'd like to see her drawing.

5:30am For the history buffs: Nikola Tesla was born on this date in 1856, at the stroke of midnight, in Smiljan, Croatia. He was an Austrian-educated electrical engineer who immigrated to New York in 1884. At first Telsa worked with Thomas Edison but soon parted ways due to Edison’s desire to work with direct current, while Tesla favored alternating current. Many of Tesla’s eccentricities and visionary prophecies were humorously winked at without scorn but some found his ‘terrestrial stationary waves’ abit too much. With these he believed could make the Earth a huge conductor that would be as responsive as a tuning fork to electrical vibrations of a certain frequency. It was his dream to link the entire world together through telephones, telegraph systems, by transmitting pictures and even text from one end of the globe to the other within minutes, and delivering mail between specially set-up terminals, using electronic messaging. As brilliant as these early Internet visions were, he received caustic criticism for his ideas about communication with other planets, or his assertions that he could split the Earth like an apple, and his claim of having invented a death ray capable of destroying 10,000 airplanes at a distance of 250 miles. Toward the end Tesla was a complete recluse, living in a series of seedy New York hotel rooms with only his pet pigeons for company. After his death in a seedly New York hotel room on January 7, 1943 he slowly became regarded as an underappreciated prolific inventive genius, poet, a humanitarian visionary and mad scientist. Earlier, a Federal Judge had even ruled that he was the true inventor of the radio even after his strange view of openly proclaiming to everyone that its crystals were actual ‘living beings.’ …..….. and on July 9, 1910 D. H. Lawrence wrote in a letter to Miss Crawford a brief reply, “If Ambergris smells like ‘Crowley,’ it is pretty bad. Civet cats and sperm wales - ugh!” …….. and the classic movie titled Freaks opened in theaters on this date in 1932. It is a story about a carnival barker who displays a sideshow freak called the Feathered Hen and how she became such. It begins with Cleopatra, a trapeze artist with the carnival, who is adored by a midget named Hans. Frieda, Hans’ fiancée (also a midget), warns Hans that Cleopatra is only interested in her money. Cleopatra also has an affair with Hercules, the strong man, and when Frieda lets it slip that Hans is to come into an inheritance, Cleopatra and Hercules plan to get the money be having Cleopatra marry Hans. During the wedding reception, Cleopatra, although openly romantic with Hercules, is accepted by the freaks, but is revolted and mocks them. The freaks decide that they no longer need Hercules in their carnival and have a new career for Cleopatra all lined up, and make sure she doesn’t ‘chicken’ out. ……… and on the same day as the movie opened, July 9, 1932, my old friend here in Berkeley, California named Arden Schaeffer was born. He was a member of Starhawk's original Compost Coven which lasted from 1975 to 1977; studied and practised ritual Magick; in the early 1980s he was ordained a priest in the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica by Hymenaeus Alpha 777. And he is mentioned in a lengthy article in the OTO Newsletter Vol.I No.1 May 1977. He was also a close friend of the noted Berkeley astrologer named Grace. ……... and to continue, on July 9, 1992 Herman Slater, aka ‘Horrible Herman’ and ‘Lord Govannon’, died of AIDS in New York City. He was very controversial witch. He owned the Magickal Childe occult shop at West 19th Street in Brooklyn Heights. He was also a notorious prankster who ‘published’ the infamous manuscript known as the ‘Necronomicon’ of Lovecraftian infamy, after a ‘mysterious monk’ (wink-wink) named Simon “delivered” the manuscript to his store, which was then called The Warlock Shop. Sadly, many people to this day still believe that this book is real. Simon also wrote The Hoodoo Bible, The Witch’s Formulary and Spellbook and A Book of Pagan Ritual.

Tuesday July 8th 2008 – 1:05pm Sorry for not posting alot of the incoming emails from today and last night but I've been preoccuppied with health issues and I have a doctor's appointment of sorts later today. Nothing serious so don't worry ... just bla bla bla. The Heart is doing fine!

5:20am For the history buffs: On this date in 1637 Robert Fludd the alchemist and author of the all-encompassing History of the Macrocosm and Microcosm (Utriusque Cosmi Maioris scilicet et Minoris Metaphysica, Physica atque Technica Historia ) in which he attempted to include all the known knowledge of his time, died in London at the age of 63. ……. And Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society and considered by many to be the most remarkable woman who has ever made an impact on the thought of the Western world, became an American citizen on this date in 1878. ……. And I should mention that it was on July 8, 1913 that a St. Louis housewife, with very little education, named Pearl Curran communicated with an entity through an Ouija board who began by spelling out, “Many months ago I lived. Again I come. Patience Worth (is) my name.” Over the next five years she obtained twenty-nine bound volumes of material from short stories, plays and full-length novels to simple epigrams and poems. Many were acclaimed as literary masterpieces. There is little doubt of the remarkable relationship fostered between Pearl and an entity calling itself Patience. However, with fame came pressure and criticism. To remain amongst her newly found literary friends Pearl began to deny that an Ouija board was responsible for producing the stories. She began claiming authorship herself. Those close to her knew otherwise. Some even pointed out that she was actually too stupid to perpetrate such a fraud. Even philologists who studied her works have stated that with Curran’s limited education and child-like intelligence there was no way she could have produced novels where the majority of the words were of Anglo-Saxon derivation of a medieval nature. More perplexing to the scholars was that her novels did not contain even one word that had entered the English language after the seventeenth century. If she was a fraud, she was a damn good one. …….. and finally,ir was on July 8, 1916 that Aleister Crowley & Hilarion (Jane Foster) attempted to create a ‘Magickal Child’ as heir to his magical current. The child would inevitably take on the form of Charles Stansfeld Jones, Frater Achad but in the end, he failed at his task.

Monday July 7th 2008 – 9:00pm Luna sent a "New Drawing Combo of Grady's 'The Abyss' poem and an 'Eos' Yokai."  I love it!  She writes, "93! Inspired by Jerry's blog today ...7/708. drawn at the seven o'clock pm hour....and inserting the text of Grady's "The Abyss" poem, selected by scrying with bibliomancy from his book of poetry at 7:00pm tonight. enjoy 93s )O( " Click HERE to view her latest artwork.

5:20pm A reply - "It is imperative for each Zodiac sign to intimately understand their sexuality and to live by the ancient Greek axiom of “Know Thyself.” This is not a command to simply know what transpires in the depths of your soul but also of those things mundane regarding your flesh. You picked the body in which you desired to incarnate. Your life has certain sexual characteristics and desires due to your Zodiac sign which no other could have offered you. Why deny these urges? Explore them. Study your Sign. People frequently avoid talking to their mate or others about sexuality out of fear of being ridiculed or thought a pervert. Many spend their entire lives living their sexual fantasies within their mind; far away from reality. I once asked a girlfriend about her sexual thoughts; it took months for her to finally open up and feel comfortable enough to talk about her sexuality and what she wanted from a man. They weren't anything all that awful, she was just embarrassed to talk about them. But once the cat was out of the bag, we began enjoying a rich relationship as she became more and more comfortable in her skin. But the real joy was that we learned to converse more intimately so that we could spend hours just talking to each other about sacred things that stirred in the depths of our soul; we were able to put our Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost back on the bookshelf. Sex itself was no longer reduced to an animalistic drive by dirty little school children who quickly disrobed in a dark bedroom to get laid."

An afterthought for my readers:

And you read your Emily Dickinson,

And I my Robert Frost,

And we note our place with bookmarkers

That measure what weve lost.

Like a poem poorly written

We are verses out of rhythm,

Couplets out of rhyme,

In syncopated time

Lost in the dangling conversation

And the superficial sighs,

Are the borders of our lives.

Simon & Garfunkel

The Dangling Conversation

2:45pm I just got back after walking to the printers to pick up CORNELIA No.18. Damn, its HOT out. ... Anyway, I found an email waiting for me Jerri in Sacramento. She writes, "I liked your comment about how some women get upset if men are gawking at them up there on the alter. I've known one to get upset when people WEREN'T! ... You're right...it must be a crazy Asian thing!"  ..... Reply: I'm glad you are enjoying the blog. It's been lively today. ... Ya it's an Asian thingy; complicated by Mari being a Pisces with a Leo Rising, Cancer Moon. I walked her home one night; we had a great good-night hug; then she took some harmless things that I said earlier, thought about it overnight and spun it into a paranoid hissy-fit of distortion that even I couldn't walk her out of. When I read her email in the morning, I said, "What?" It wasn't fair; I hadn't finished my first cup of coffee yet. The sad part was that we weren't even going out! So how is that she broke up with me? Women! Auggghhhh! I wonder why I'm still single. ... Editorial Note: Before anyone asks, Mari lives west of me and Jerri is the good Pisces to the east.  

12:00pm Boy, today fired up the women! Some emails I can't post. I guess we can say, yes, Mercury has gone direct! Anyway, Mary asks a simple question - “93 Jerry Out of curiosity, do you have any sexual scruples or have you always been, for lack of better terms, an explorer of perversity? 93 93/93 Mary” … Reply: I am a Cancer and astrologers like to point out that we can be a pretty straightforward if not boring lovers and I agree. But, in truth, don’t blame us Crabs. We are ruled by the Moon and more than any other sign we will always embrace the Light of our partner’s Sun in order to become Full and happy; which means that I often mimics my partner’s proclivities before my own. I have been with women whom I’ve tried to express sex magick or my sexuality and they’ve gotten uptight and standoffish by the slightest perversity. To me, these women simply want to get laid and so I oblige them ... because I tend to go with my heart rather than my perversity and if it makes them happy, well .... OK, I'm stupid. LOVE is the bane of a Cancer! ... On the other hand; if I find a cute woman who likes to talk, play and who wants to explore their own sexuality, then this Crab becomes … lets say ... a bottom feeder?  I have been both extremes.

11:40am Carol writes, after seeing my 9:34am posting – “What, you can’t publish me email? I don’t mind.”  ... OK, Carol, if you don't mind, I don't. ... She wrote, “93 Jer You are such an asshole at times. Stop with the humor. If you are seriously concerned about our pussies being misused by fucking idiot men in OTO then teach us what you know about our mysteries! As you might say, lay the first brick for us. Stop always dancing. Luv ya. 93s C” ... After putting a copy of her email into my diary I added an 'ouch' after it. I then replied: "Never use the terms ‘pussy’ and ‘lay’ in the same paragraph to a man when talking about sex. My thoughts got sidetracked for a moment by a smile. Anyway, it is difficult to put such things into writing for both men and women because sex magick works on archetypal levels through our mortal vehicles and ‘words’, being mundane babblings, are often taken wrong. First and foremost; Zodiac signs need to be taken into consideration when talking on this topic. You’re an Aquarius. If I wrote to you, I’d approach the subject to reflect your proclivities in relationship to mine; so we both can get on the same page sexually in order to discuss ‘both’ our Mysteries; not just yours. As an example: psychology clearly informs us that eroticism excites the human ‘libido’ and if stirred, ‘genius’ descends as two people merge in a symbiotic understanding of things not normally found in an everyday relationship. Cryptic? Not really. But I can tell you this, bland sex magick talk, devote of arousal, is like wallowing in mud hoping to find a gem. In other words; teaching sex magick in writing, if it doesn’t excite, it’s not doing its job. My writings on the topic to you must arouse us both into a state where ‘Words’ flow [or guidance is given] not from our general consciousness. If we are both on the same page, we BOTH grow while learning about Self. That is a clue to sex magick; it requires two people to ‘merge’ physically or mentally in a sexual manner in order to produce a ‘child’ or spawned Genius for both. Other women, of other signs, might be offended by what is said regarding your and my sexual thoughts on magick, they may even deny them as fact because its not part of their sexuality and they may even become hostile."

11:25am Luna writes, "J 93! While reading Dawn's sweet question, and your sweet reply to her...a yokai flew in with it.  It was fleeting, but after I write this I will go try to see her again...I can feel her in my home here.  Much like the energy that came through with Mari?, the lovely lady I did that silly funny collage about...the one with you in the shower, and her hands to her mouth. So....I am going to go find the yokai that flew in while reading Dawn's message on your blog....and I will draw it today. Much love and sweetness...innocence is truly a joyous and beautiful part of being a woman/priestess....I enjoy forever being and re-being a "virgin"...it is one of the secrets of the female sex magick...and effervescent bright sparkly tingling of Nuit that comes through no matter how old a woman may be. In my Dom days there were several women out there who made a good living being harsh, nasty, cynical jaded, basically unfriendly role playing types.  Maybe I am old fashion...but I, also prefer the sparkly night inky-purple-enchantingly innocent Nuit emanating from the altar, rather than a cigar smoking crossing guard with tired feet and a pissed off look on her face. Have a beautiful day. 93s Luna." .... Reply: You probably mean Aisha. Mari is a cute Piscean woman who flipped out and as to why, I don't really know. I saw her one night, it was great and the next day she sent me a scathing tirade saying she never wants to see me again which made no sense. I think it's an oriental thing. Anyway, Aisha is somewhere in Japan and I haven't heard fro her in months.  ;( 

10:50am I just had a great question from a girl named Dawn, she askes, “If you are talking about sex magic does this mean that there is actual sex involved or are you talking metaphor? ... My reply, “No more than learning about cars means you want to drive.”

10:45am Here is an excerpt from another email I wrote today - "The modern OTO Gnostic Mass is a classic example of ‘mud’ with no excitement. Sex magick cult, phooey! I get more aroused by watching TV. If women in OTO today really want to know its Mysteries they must first realize that there is a reason why they’re NUDE on the Gnostic altar – bare and rejoicing! Do you know that some Priestess out here in California actually get upset if a man gawks at them or gets excited while they’re sitting naked on the Altar? Idiots – the term 'Priestess' should be replaced by “Flaccid Spreaders” and they wonder why the OTO has been going nowhere in recent years.”  … Ah, yes, the secret behind the letters O.T.O., or two balls and a phallus, is that the T pointing downward implies a limp penis!

10:37am Luna writes, "J 93! I don't need to buy or steal any new socks. I can start my own women's circle and have them knit them for me. What was I thinking? 93s." ..... Reply: You are a dangerous women!  :)

10:30am Regarding my blog postings today of 8:35am and 9:08am; Luna writes, "I am smiling. I worked as a Dominatrix in my earlier days. I am imagining a man showing up at my dungeon door, telling me to give him money and to get on my knees. Now, how does that work? I need some new socks ... maybe I will go to K Mart today and try this at the cashier station? :) ! 93s )O(." .... Reply: Ha Ha Ha. You are truly a priceless gem. You clearly understand and I am always amazed why others don't. The world is a unique playground for us that is filled with many toys and rather than devote all our energy trying to make a square ball, play with it as is - or find another game in town.

9:34am I cannot print Carol's reply. :)-

9:08am Carol quickly fired off an email to me - “Hey Jer 93. I read your blog. You should be ashamed of yourself. Stop picking on women in the OTO. Some are quite smart and really nice to be around. Why don’t you mention some of the positives things about OTO women instead of just negatives? Luv ya. 93s C.” ..... I replied, “Carol 93. Are there positive things? :) ... OK, you’re right; I do get a bit too over negative but not about any specific women as much as the spider’s web to which they’ve been drawn. If the shoe was on the other foot and a male friend joined a women’s group that simply used men and then bitched about it, I’d ask the same questions - “What were you thinking?” … OK, so here is a positive statement about OTO women … some of them smell pretty and look nice in a dress. 93 93./93 Jerry.”

8:35am I received an email this morning to which I replied - Well, I’m not sure how to take your email. On the one hand you state “considering your views on the oto and women---i thought you would enjoy this  :).” … while on the other hand the link goes to a announcement for the second biennial celebration of the female half of the Thelemic pantheon of women and men of the Ordo Templi Orientis in Sacromento. Your thoughts send kinda mixed messages; were you serious or joking? In other words, I’m not sure what ‘views on women’ you are referring. I kinda like you guys a lot; sometimes with appropriate herbs and spices and other times just plain with a cold beer. Anyone who knows me personally will attest, I’m quite a stickler for both men and women’s Mysteries but bathed in equality and both in their proper place. It’s my Cancerian humor that can send mixed messages because I love poking fun at people, both male and female, who get too caught up into things like ‘demanding equality.’ At my Clerk House I preach the age old magickal Law that to seek anything is admittance that you are not it and women in the modern OTO, who are seemingly forever trying to establish ‘Women’s Mysteries’ in a Masonic phallic initiatory system, all seem rather silly to me. I’d have more respect for these women if they kept the name OTO out of it and simply had a symposium for Thelemic Women … but to each their own and if that is what they want to do then do what thou wilt. But they should be honest with themselves; within OTO women are meant to be subservient and ‘vehicles’ for the man; that is 100% of OTO’s teachings. It’s a fact. I know some OTO women get upset when I point this out but if they want to play OTO, these women should know their place and shut up … or demand that OTO re-writes its initiation rituals to include female Mysteries and also demand that they discard all upper degree Grade Papers which detail ONLY male Mysteries. But do you think the men are going to put up with that? -No! - So, it’s always been a joke in the upper degrees amongst some men, “Ya, let the girl have a women’s meeting. Keeps em’ busy; like knitting circles” ... Editorial Note: I apologize for the insinuation that I like women with beer, I also enjoy a glass of wine from time to time. :)

6:00am For the history buffs: Florence Farr was born on this date in Bromley, Kent in 1860. She attended Queen’s College, the first woman’s college in England. She was initiated into the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in July of 1890, just past her 30th Birthday. She was the Order’s 88th member. Her motto was Sapientia Sapienti Dono Data, or Wisdom is a gift given to the Wise. She quickly progressed through the grades, and on the Winter Solstice of 1891 was the second member to be initiated through the 5=6 Ritual. The following year, she was elevated to Praemonstratrix of the Order. The Golden Dawn then went through difficult times. On April 1, 1897, after MacGregor Mathers and his wife had moved to Paris, Florence Farr assumed the head of the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn in London. However, in March of 1900, MacGregor Mathers dismisses her from her position as his London representative. Finally, in January of 1902, she severed all her ties to what was left of the Order. In 1912, she moved to Ceylon. She died of cancer on April 29th 1917, all alone in a Colombo hospital. As was the Hindu custom, she was cremated and her ashes scattered in a sacred river. It has been written that she was “... not a nymphomaniac, nor was she really interested in sex, but she was almost incapable of saying no to any man who asked her to sleep with him.” Aleister Crowley was rumored to be one such gentleman. …..…… and the writer Robert Anson Heinlein was born on this date into a family of seven children in the little town of Butler, Missouri in 1907. Two of his books which are most memorable are Starship Troopers (1960) and Stranger in a Strange Land (1962). ……..… and it was on July 7, 1930 that the creator of the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, died in Crowborough, Sussex, England at age 71. He was an avid spiritualist and strongly believed in the possibility of communicating with the dead, a subject that he lectured on extensively in his travels throughout the world. After his own death the London ‘Times’ reported: “All sincere British mediums are now sitting in the darkness, waiting for a spirit message from Sir Arthur.” A week later his wife held a ‘public’ séance at Albert Hall in London where she claimed to have spoken with her deceased husband but when newsmen badgered her to reveal his message, she simply smiled and replied, “Oh, it is beautiful and sweet - but private.”

Sunday July 6th 2008 – 11:20am Here is joke that was just sent to me - A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter dead. As the panda stands up to go, the manager shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!" The panda yells back at the manager, "Hey man, I'm a PANDA! Look it up in the dictionary!" The manager opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for panda:  "A tree dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterized by distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves."

11:00am It's done. YEA!!!! CORNELIA No.18 goes off to the printers today and I should have it back and ready to ship by mid-week. The last issue of Cornelia No.17 was released in March … but then again, we always said that our publication would have absolutely no due dates.  If we put out two issues a month, or one, or one every six months or so, you’ll get it when we get it! How’s that for Thelemic Rights - OURS! ... I am only saying this because we’ve received lots of emails inquiring about when this issue was going to be released. - Patience is a virtue. - Anyway, we begin this issue by releasing AN OPEN EPISTLE ON LIBER COLLEGII SANCTI, Sub Figura CLXXXV because it reflects the old A.'.A.'. Grades within the modern structure of the man of Earth. Of course, we do not adhere to many of the old ‘Obligations and Tasks’ as set up by Aleister Crowley. We do, however, feel it is very important to at least inform our students of the requirements and it is our view that it would do no one any harm in our lineage if they still want to try achieving them – do what thou wilt. This issue is also important because we are concluding two of our major series which have run since the first issue of Cornelia appeared in January of 2007. The first series is IN QUEST OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL Chapter Thirteen – The Last Two Moons and The Spiritual Stage of the Hermit and the other series coming to an emd is the MEMOIRS OF AN OTO INITIATE Being an Historical Romp into a Quasi-Magickal Fraternity in California, Chapter Eleven. The memoirs in this issue detail the last days of the OTO lawsuit here in Berkeley [1989-1992] and the truth as to how it concluded. It also mentions my stepping down as Lodge Master of Thelema Lodge, OTO in 1993. This issue concludes with a great biography of MARCHESA CASATI who was considered one of Europe’s most beautiful and notorious female celebrities - truly a counterpart of eccentricity to rival the likes of even the Great Beast himself which is probably why they hated each other. … We also add in SOME BLOGGISH THOUGHTS from the on-line magickal blog entries of J. Edward Cornelius from the month of just November 2007; being enjoyable ‘tidbits’ of magickal thought to chew on. ... This issue promises to be an enjoyable read. We are taking orders NOW!

6:15am For the history buffs: On this date in 1187 Salah ad-Din Al-Ayyubi, more commonly known as Saladin the revered hero of Islam who united Arab forces and recaptured the holy city of Jerusalem from Christian Crusaders, marched the captive Knights Templars before him to give all them the choice of conversion to his faith or death ... all decide upon death and were killed to the last man. Some place the figure at 666 killed. …..….. and on July 6, 1935 the 14th Dalai Lama, Lhama Thondup, was born in a peasant family in northeastern Tibet in the city of Taktsir. In Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama is believed to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion and when the Dalai Lama dies his soul is believed to pass into the body of an infant. When Lhama Dhondrub was recognition as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama he was renamed Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, and became known as Yeshe Norbu, the Wishfulfilling Gem or Kundun. As a teenager the Dalai Lama became the head of the Tibetan government in its fight against the occupying forces of the People’s Republic of China but in 1959 he was forced to flee his country into exile. His travels in the cause of peace and for a free Tibet have made him an international celebrity, and in 1989 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Price

Saturday July 5th 2008 – 7:10am Why did the chicken cross the road?

Answer: The Moon became conjunct with the chicken's natal Mars in its fourth house.

7:05am For the history buffs: Phineas Taylor Barnum was born on this date in 1810 in Bethel, Connecticut, the first child of Philo Barnum and his second wife, Irena Taylor. While it is true, P. T. Barnum was the founding force behind one of America’s most famous circuses, the Barnum & Bailey Circus, or the ‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ he is mostly associated with the circus sideshow and the display of freaks. He is often quoted as saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute” but, in truth, he never said this. It was something one of his competitors said about the caliber of people who frequented P. T. Barnum’s sideshows. ……… and G. I. Gurdjieff has been described “as an insane driver who would not last two minutes on a modern road.” Fritz Peters tells that he frequently drove too fast on the wrong side of the road, often he would miss his turn and refusing not to retrace his steps he would look for a new route on his map. One such route brought him head on into a tree outside Paris on July 5, 1924 which was almost near fatal.

Friday July 4th 2008 – 5:20am For the history buffs: On this date in 1971, a contemporary and friend of H. P.  Lovecraft, August William Derleth, died in Sauk City, Wisconsin. He is considered Wisconsin’s most prolific author with 150 books already in print and forty manuscripts still to be published. He was the founder of Arkham House. …..…... And on this date in 1974, in the early morning hours just outside Oakland, Nebraska, Emery Wickstrom and his two sons Nick & Tom saw a bizarre creature. They said that it was only about the size of a medium dog but it had a flat, monkey-like face, a curved tail and it ran upright and it also leaped as it ran across the road at a fast speed. …..…. And it was on July 4, 1982 that Hugh Lynn Cayce, the son of the ‘Sleeping Prophet’ Edgar Cayce, died of cancer at the age of 75. …..…. And finally, on July 4, 1996 near Fayetteville, Arkansas, a couple of guys reported that they had just finished firing off the last of their fireworks in a pasture and then walked away toward a patch of woods to enjoy the warm night for a few minutes. In the woods they noticed a light about hundred yards away. Thinking that it was somebody shooting off more fireworks, they walked towards it. As they approached, they saw in a clearing, three triangular shaped objects hovering just above the ground. They were UFOs. Lights were pointing down off each point of the triangles. Three strange beings were also noticed standing nearby, speaking among themselves in gruff voices. The beings were described as tall and covered with very thick hair that covered their bodies completely. After a few moments the beings seem to sniff the air and glanced immediately in the guys direction. Realizing they had been seen, the beings quickly ran into their ships, which shot then away into the sky emitting a bright burst of light, knocking the witnesses to the ground. The craft seem to elongate as they accelerated.

Thursday July 3rd 2008 – 5:45pm Ricardo replied to my 8:50am posting by writing, "The movie Fando & Lis was the first work from Jodorowski I encountered. I became acquainted with his tarot when he came for a brief visit to the Bay Area a few years ago. He was helping Camoin with his agoraphobia when it came to him that Camoin, being a blood descendant of the owners of the print that printed the tarot of Marseille since the 13th century, should reconstruct the original design and offer it to the world. They both embarked on a 5 year project trying to reconstruct the original figures, colors and proportions. The original set had become distorted with the advent of the printing press (which only allowed a limited set of colors) and with subsequent artistic liberties taken by printers without esoteric knowledge. Jodorowski sees the tarot of Marseille as a strictly visual tool, where the story is told from the point of view of visual arts. He also reconstructed a mandala where every card of the tarot interacts with the whole, and where the whole create a unity that is dynamic and profound. I have constructed the mandala numerous times with my students and by myself and it never fails to produce a powerful cleansing effect in the temple, opening doors to magical currents and teachings." ... He also added, "Last time I visited you, I was struck the same way by your paintings of the major arcana. They interconnect in meaningful ways forming a puzzle that reveals a macrodimensional picture of these magical and sacred archetypes." ... Reply: You are too kind. The Mandala image that Ricardo attached to his email of Jodorowski  tarot, plus other info not included here, is quite fascinating. Bravo!  Thanks for sharing it with me.

9:52am Here is another amusing historical blurb for July 3. It seems over the years a ghostly body, wrapped in a white flag, has been seen being thrown from the ruins of Burgh Castle, an old Roman fort, in Bradwell, Suffolk, England, always on this particular date. The haunting is said to go back to the time immediately after the Roman Legions had left Britain. It began, according to legend, when a large band of Saxons commanded by a man called Siberg attacked the Danish forces lead by a cruel leader named Gonard. Unable to beat the Danes, Siberg sent a messenger to his half-brother Cerdag, asking for help. In the meantime Gonard launched an attack on Siberg’s camp, killing a large number of Saxons. He then sent an arrogant message to Siberg telling him to come to Burgh Castle with the remainder of his men where one last battle would be fought to determine who gets the land. However, Siberg went to the castle alone, to met with Gonard to discuss peace. This infuriated Gonard who ordered the Siberg be bound and thrown into a pit. Four days later Siberg’s forces tried to rescue him but were massacred as they attempted to storm to castle. Those Saxons who survived, were captured or wounded, were tied to stakes and tortured to death. Two days later, Gonard had a ‘glorious vision’ in which he saw a white angel and a black angel fighting in the skies, and then clutching each other’s throat as they fell downwards into the sea. Knowing that Siberg was an interpreter of such visions, Gonard ordered him released from the pit and brought to him. Gonard asked what the vision meant? Siberg said nothing for a while, then slowly pointed over Gonard’s shoulder towards the sea behind him. On the horizon was a fleet of Saxon ships sailing towards the fort. Cerdag had arrived with the relief force and upon landing he sent a messenger to the fort under a white flag demanding that the Danes surrender. However, once the gates were opened to let the messenger into the fort, instead of discussing the Saxon terms, the messenger was immediately killed. His body was then wrapped in his white flag and thrown over the walls of the fort. Upon seeing this barbarity Cerdag gave the order to attack; he took no prisoners. Tragically, both Siberg and Gonard died in the battle.

9:45am Mary, from Oregon, writes sarcastically about my 8:55am posting - "Ya, the OTO really lost a gem when del Camp resigned." ... Reply: Be kind. I don't think you know the 'real' Gerald, he's a nice Capricorn with a Gemini Rising, born in the year of the Rat ... although you do sum up his book quite nicely by writing: "... his heart seems to be in the right place ... if only he used that to write the book instead of his brain."

9:15am Check out this new webpage that we've added

onto our website - "THE BLOODLINE of Grady Louis

McMurtry’s branch of A.'.A.'." ... click HERE.  Hope you

enjoy it.

9:10am Check out AU HA CLERK HOUSE's new

website: click HERE. It is still a work in progress so bookmark it and occasional browse it to see what is new.

8:55am Frank asks - "What is your view on Gerald Del Campo's new book The Heretic Guide to Thelema (2008)?" ... Reply: Personally, Gerald is a really nice guy but if you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean and this easily comes across when reading his book.

8:50am My dear friend Ricardo Flores sent me Jordorowski’s Tarot de Marseille deck. It's quite beautiful. If you are not familiar with who Alexandro Jordorowski is; his biography refers to him as a “philosopher, scholar in comparative religion, playwright, director, producer, composer, actor, mime, comic book writer, tarot card reader and historian, and psychotherapist.” He was born in Chile on February 7th 1929. He's done such classic films as EL TOPO (1970) and THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973). I replied to Ricardo, "I love the tarot deck. It has been a crowd pleaser here since quite a few of us are Jordorowski fans. Have you ever seen Jordorowski’s FANDO & LIS (1968)?  On the DVD there is a long documentary-interview of him talking about his life from A to Z; from his early theater to behind the scenes of his movies; while showing great clips of his plays and other stuff. I never realized the tarot deck which occasional appears through-out this documentary was actually his. It was a pleasant surprise. … FANDO & LIS is his very first feature length film which is loosely based on a play written by Fernando Arrabel. The story of the film follows two young people in the rubble of a destroyed city, Fando and his paraplegic girlfriend Lis, searching for a mythic city called Tar where all their wishes will be fulfilled; which is kind of like heaven or Eden or a metaphor for the suburbs. Although film entirely in black & white, it’s quite twisted."

8:35am This last month or so has been a hectic non-stop nightmarish rollercoaster for me; working at a 28 hour day! Aughhhhh!!! Life is never easy for me but, in truth, I’d have it no other way. ... ... For now, I'm taking a week off before I'll jump right into another project and I’m playing catch-up. On the 24th Evelyn asked a great question – “Recently you mentioned the phrase "black brother" as used by Crowley. I've heard this reference also used about Austin Osman Spare but have not read a satisfactory explanation as to what Crowley meant in relation to the artist. Could you elaborate on this phrase generally, or point to any references?” … Reply: Sadly, there are not many great references; most people lack an understanding of ancient Qabalistic thought and they usually write about this subject from a ‘white-light’ Victorian perspective; Crowley included at times. Anyway, to understand your question I must first point out that it is often difficult for magicians to grasp how they can go from Chesed-4 (below the Abyss) to Binah-3 (above the Abyss) on the Tree of Life when there are no paths connecting these spheres directly to each other. Aleister Crowley stated a profound piece of wisdom in Magick Without Tears when he wrote, “It is most necessary that you should understand what happens when one goes from Adeptus Exemptus 7=4 to Magister Templi 8=3. As you see from a glance at the Tree of Life, this advance entails the Crossing of the Abyss; and there is no Path. That means that one must jump.” … In Truth, no magician can ‘stay above the Abyss’, it’s a misnomer to say such. You simply throw yourself in and try to establish, what Crowley calls the “wires” from the above to below; wherein you actually reside. … Connecting the wires occurs when the magician is able to reconcile and understand all opposites in order that all disappears and naught remains; but Qabalistically what happens by this Union is that mother (Binah-Understanding) and father (Chokmah-Wisdom) unite in order to produce a child; the child called Daath (Knowledge). … If the child is ‘birthed’ correctly it implies that the beauty of Gnosis (Knowledge) descends below the Abyss and the magician sees the “world below in a different Light” ... but it is important to always remember that because Daath (Knowledge or Gnosis) inevitably emerges below the Abyss it, like everything below the Abyss,  immediately becomes bathed in duality. Understanding the duality of Daath correctly is the certainty behind how the Gnostics obtained Gnosis (Knowledge) and were able to wear the Crown of God but this duality is also why Knowledge can become a False Crown … in other words; if the oath of the Abyss is taken for egotistically reasons and is unjustifiable wherein a person no longer desire to fulfill the Will of God but rather something which is limiting and restrictive as is his personal Wants, his desires and proclivities … then such a person wears a False Crown [of Knowledge] being that of the serpent whose tail is rooted in Malkuth. … and they are called a Black Brother.

5:45am For the history buffs: Franz Kafka was a Czech writer born on this date in Prague to German-speaking Jewish parents in 1883. His uniquely imaginative works combine a realistic, sometimes grotesquely exact description of details with an overall atmosphere of fantasies, dreams, and nightmares. He portrays a world in which people are deprived of spiritual security, and tortured by anxiety and loneliness wherein all objects and events are described with a precision while bathing them without a purpose or meaning. Kafka wrote three novels and many short stories. In his novel The Trial (1925) a man is arrested, he is convicted in a mysterious court  and all his attempts to learn the nature of his guilt are futile as he dies in ignorance and is executed. Another novel, The Castle (1926), presents the futile struggle of a newcomer to win acceptance in a village and gain entry to a castle of an unknown supreme authority. Amerika (1927) is an extremely comic novel about the adventures of an adolescent European immigrant in America. Kafka’s best-known short stories include The Judgment, The Metamorphosis, In the Penal Colony, and A Hunger Artist. He died in a sanatorium in Kierling of tuberculosis on June 3, 1924. …..….. and it was on July 3, 1886 that the Rosicrucian Adept and member of the S.R.I.A., Kenneth Mackenzie died. …..…. And Pearl Driver was born on this date in 1899. On August 9, 1933 she met   Crowley who would proclaim her as his ‘new’ Scarlet Woman later that year. ………. And Raoul Loveday was born on this date in 1900. Years later this 23-year-old Oxford undergraduate, along with his wife Betty May, would join Aleister Crowley at the Abbey of Thelema of Cefalu. Here he became known as Frater AUD or Adonis. Then tragedy struck. On February 16, 1923 Raoul died at the Abbey of gastro-enteritis after drinking impure water, not at the abbey as most historians claim, but somewhere from a stream along a thirteen mile route between the abbey and a monastery that he and Betty May had visited. Rumors still persist that this is a lie and that Raoul’s death actually occurred due to drinking cat’s blood during a Satanic ritual. Regardles how Raoul died, three days before Crowley recorded in his Magical Record that he felt a current of magical force, “heavy black and silent” threatening the Abbey. …….. and it on on July 3, 1915 that a small boat rowed up to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. In the prow of the boat was Aleister Crowley, claiming to be an Irishman, along with Leila Waddell, whose mother was an Irish refugee of the last generation and who believes herself an Irish patriot. She was a violinist and she played Irish songs to accompany the moment. Also in the boat was J. Dorr, an Irish editor who has published papers in both Ireland and England, and Patrick Gilroy, an Irish agitator. Everyone in the boat called themselves members of the secret Revolutionary Committee of Public Safety of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic, and their early morning mission was to declare the independence of the Irish Republic, which included a declaration of war against England. Crowley, in an act of utter defiance, tore up his British Passport and unfolded as Irish flag, proclaiming loudly; “I unfurl the Irish flag. I proclaim the Irish Republic. Erin go Bragh. God save Ireland.” Afterwards the newspapers reported, “The party left the launch and went to Jack’s restaurant for breakfast.” ……… and I should point out that Carroll ‘Poke’ Runyon (Magister Thabion) was born on this date in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1935. He earned a Masters Degree in cultural anthropology from California State University, is an initiate of an ancient Tibetan tantric order, and has served as an officer in three active Golden Dawn temples. He is also a 32nd Degree Freemason and a former soldier in the U.S. Army’s Special Forces. He is the founder of America’s oldest continually practicing Lodge of ritual magick, the Order of the Temple of Astarte (OTA) in Southern California. Runyon is best known in the occult field for his discovery and development of the facial reflection technique for summoning spirits to visible appearance. He has been practicing and teaching Western ceremonial magick for 32 years and is the writer/narrator of the very successful VHS video The Magick of Solomon and The Book of Solomon’s Magick.

Wednesday July 2nd 2008 – 6:50am My Aleister Crowley quote - "I thought of the Book of the Law as a book. I now see it as a Comment on the creative word, Thelema."  [from a letter to Frater Achad]

6:45am For the history buffs: Nostradamus died on this date in 1568. He was buried standing upright in one of the walls of the Church of the Cordeliers at Salon, with a marble plaque attached to the wall in his memory. However, rumors began to circulate almost immediately that there was a secret document in his coffin that would decode all his prophecies. After almost hundred and thirty years of fearing looters, his body was finally removed for safekeeping and no document was found; just an amulet. The greatest story regarding his body occurred one night in 1791 during the French Revolution. This is when soldiers from Marseilles broke into the church and ransacked tombs in search of loot. The very next morning they were ambushed by Royalists. Ironically, the soldier who had used Nostradamus’ skull as a wine glass the night before, died by a sniper’s bullet. ……… and it was on July 2, 1881 that President Garfield was shot by an ex-Oneida Community member Charles Guiteau.  After having invisible sexual intercourse with a Spirit called ‘Lordy’ Guiteau was commanded to kill the President. At his interrogation he told the police, “Get acquainted with the science of Spiritology” and you’ll understand why I did it. ……… and it was during a severe thunderstorm on this date in 1947 that a UFO crashed on a rancher’s property in Roswell, New Mexico. Later, on July 8, the USAAF issued a press release stating, “USAAF Recovers a Flying Disk,” but the very next day the US Government changed their story and said it was merely a weather balloon. ……… and on July 2, 1947 in Lake Okanagan in British Columbia a number of boaters saw the monster known as ‘Ogopogo’ simultaneously. One of the witnesses, a Mr. Kray, described the animal as having “a long sinuous body, 30 feet in length, consisting of about five undulations, apparently separated from each other by about a two-foot space, in which that part of the undulations would have been underwater...There appeared to be a forked tail, of which only one-half came above the water. From time to time the whole thing submerged and came up again.” ……. And finally, on July 2, 1961, like his father who had committed suicide some thirty years earlier, Ernest Hemingway died at age 61 in his home in Ketchum, Idaho of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He had rose early, as he had done most of his entire adult life, he selected a shotgun from a closet in the basement and went upstairs to a spot near the entrance-way of the house and shot himself in the head. If he had waited a little more than two weeks he could have celebrated 62nd birthday. Of all his novels, it is not what Hemingway published that brings him notoriety amongst Crowleyites as much as what was deleted from his 1926 classic The Sun Also Rises. It originally contained a short story based on an incident where Ford Madox Ford snubbed Hilaire Belloc only for Hemingway to later realize that Ford had mistaken the identity of the individual whom he had snubbed. It was not Hilaire Belloc at all, but rather the Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley.

Tuesday July 1st 2008 – 5:40am For the history buffs: The infamous Vampire of Dusseldorf, ‘The Lover of Blood’ was executed in prison on this date in 1881 for his crimes, and as Peter Kurten moved toward the guillotine his final recorded statement was, “... after my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck?” smiling he added, “That would be a pleasure to end all pleasures.” …...… and Elisabeth Klarer was born on this date in South Africa in 1910. She was this country’s first and most famous UFO contactee. She claimed that she and her sister first saw a UFO back in 1927. Then, in 1957, in the Drakensberg Mountains of Natal, she was contacted by Akon, a scientist from the planet Meton, one of seven supposed planets nearest us which are inhabited. Her first book of these experiences was published in 1980, titled Beyond the Light Barrier. She died in February 1994 at the age of 83. ……... And it was on July 1, 1942 that Aleister Crowley’s tarot cards, which were painted by Frieda Harris, were shown in the Berkley Galleries to the public. …..…. And on July 1, 1951 the most famous case of spontaneous human combustion occurred in St. Petersburg, Florida to Mary Hardy Reeser, a 67-year-old widow. The next morning, her next door neighbor came by to visit but discovered the doorknob too hot to touch and she immediately went for help. The Police, upon entering the apartment, discover Mary’s body sitting in her easy chair, surrounded by a blackened circle on the floor, four feet in diameter. Her 175-pound body, or what was left of it, was reduced to a pile of ashes, leaving only a section of her backbone, a shrunken skull the size of a baseball, and one foot completely undamaged encased in a black satin slipper which stretched just beyond the four-foot circle. The police report states, since no chemical accelerants was ever found, that the cause of death of Mrs. Reeser occurred when her highly flammable rayon-acetate nightgown caught fire, perhaps because of a dropped cigarette. However, one medical examiner stated that the 3,000-degree heat required to destroy the body should have destroyed the apartment as well and, in fact, damage was unbelievable minimal and confined only to the four foot circle. Even stranger was the fact that the ceiling and upper walls were not even covered with soot. …...…. And I must point out that it was on July 1, 1952 that Phyllis Seckler attained to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, that attainment, or consequence, which marks the Adeptus Minor Grade, 5=6, of the AA, the full initiate of the Sephirah Tiphereth. She shared her results with Karl Germer. Many letters survive of their subsequent correspondence of the subject. …...…. And to round off today in history; it was on July 1, 1996 near Fayetteville, Georgia that a woman reported that she awoke, froze and was unable to speak, as she watched a small five foot tall grayish humanoid with thin limbs, large dark slanted eyes, and a teardrop shaped face sitting on her bed. It then moved quickly across to her husband’s side of the bed toward the foot in a sort of sitting, scampering kind of motion. It jumped off and continued on across the room where it joined at least three other similar creatures, all of whom wore dark cloak like garments and dark hats, similar to a Panama. They all huddled next to the wall on her husband’s side, talking quietly in an unknown language. All of a sudden the woman later reported that she felt unbelievably tired and she fell back to sleep. Shortly after awakening in the morning she frantically related the ‘experience’ to her husband who, besides recalling nothing unusual during the night, thought she was crazy. However, neither of them could explain the odd orange-brown stains on the carpet at the foot of the bed or the similar stain on the sheet, which had been clean when they went to sleep the night before.

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