~ October 18th - 31st 2009 ~
Friday October 31st 2008 - HALLOWEEN PARTY TONIGHT! There is a party at Jay's (of Leaping Laughter Clerk House) & his lovely Piscean girlfriend Jennifer's apartment at 7:00pm until whenever. It's at 1942 Channing Way #205; anyone can dial #205 at the front door or just call them at (510) 665-6015. If you click HERE look at the map on the top of the page, find the mysterious unidentified #13 and you'll know where they live! It is walking distance from BART. ... Food & Drink is greatly appreciated in these very difficult financial times so you should email them billygenocide@gmail.com and see what you can bring. As for COSTUMES ... Jeniffer, quite the little artist, will be 'painting' the faces apppropriately of all those who show up without a costume, which makes things very easy for those you who don't know what to wear.
And HAPPY WEENIE DAY to all of you who have been
sending me wishful greetings and salutations. Boo back at ya!
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7:45am Dave Solina sent me a Happy Halloween greeting, writing - "I hope the veil is thin tonight so that my ancestors speak to me in my sleep." ... Reply : 93 Noble but be sure to specify which ones ... some ancestors could bring really trouble to the household if they disagree with your lifestyle. Personally, in my case, I don’t want a bunch of blithering Catholics looking around my room and saying, “What?” No telling what they’ll do after that. ... No treat for me, that is for sure ... :) 93 93/93 Jerry ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:30am I heard an amusing thing yesterday about the war in Afghanistan. We know that the Democrats want us to pull out but the Republicans want us to stay in and finish things ... it's sounds just like my Angel and my Demon sitting on my shoulder and whispering in my ear during sex. I guess that is why I'm a Republican.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:25am HAPPY WEENIE DAY! … I have a fun Halloween Story that took place on October 31, 1938 . Grady Louis McMurtry loved telling a story about a Halloween Party in 1938 which was attended by numerous science fiction types at Clifton’s Cafeteria in southern California. He recalled that there was, according to his words, “this idiot running up and down on the other side of the table,” a long conference table in the center of the room. The person was trying very hard to hide and would crawl along the floor and jump up whenever some one approached. He was wearing a horrible Halloween mask and was trying to scare everyone, especially the girls. However, no one was impressed, he wasn’t well hidden and everyone saw him crawling around the floor. Most saw him simply as an annoyance. After awhile the mask came off and who did it turn out to be? None other than a young Ray Bradbury! Years later, around 1981, when the opportunity arose to ask Ray Bradbury if the story was true. Bradbury wrote, “My God, yes, I remember Grady McMurtry, and of course what he remembers is true. Ray Harryhausen made a mask of my face and from that made a latex horror mask which I wore to the Paramount Theatre on Halloween of 1938 to see Bob Hope in The Cat and the Canary.” Bradbury continues by saying, “... Grady was probably with us when, on occasion, during the movie, I popped the mask on and shoved my face over people’s shoulders in various rows. I was 18 at the time, so I guess I may be forgiven.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday October 30th 2009 – Tonight's OPEN HOUSE is officially cancelled due to tomorrow's Halloweenie Party. I simply cannot, health wise, do two late nights back to back. ... Sorry guys. ... I hope to see ya all tomorrow night!
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7:45am Weiser Antiquarian Books Catalog # 65 - Magic: A Catalog of Second Hand and Rare Books. With Sections on Eliphas Levi and Chaos Magick, may now be viewed at : www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalog. ... There is some great stuff, check it out!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:43am Yesterday I received a very lovely email about the Practicus who recently swore the Oath of the Abyss, part of which stated - "I have been thinking lately about the nature of the Father/Son relationship (you and the Practicus) and how there comes a point in every little boy's life where he moves out of the house, and at times this does not go well. Parents have wisdom that children can't see and don't want their children to make either the same mistakes that they have, nor the mistakes that they have learned through life experience and observation. Damned kids rarely ever listen" ..... I replied : Don’t sugar coat it. I am merely a guidance counselor on the other end of the suicide hot line trying to talk some sense into a jumper. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:40am For the history buffs: Philip Arnold Heseltine was born in the Savoy Hotel in London on this date in 1894. He is an English composer, critic, and editor known for his songs and for his exemplary editions of Elizabethan music. He used his real name primarily when writing literary & editorial works while reserving his pseudonym of Peter Warlock for his musical works. Like many who were numbered amongst Aleister Crowley’s circle of friends, we may never know the full extent of Heseltine’s involvement. However, his interest in magick is believed by many to have been his downfall. The catalyst began when his wife left him. He was greatly in love with her and rumors persisted amongst his circle of friends that he used black magick in order to get her back. Although he boasted that he had succeeded in getting her back, in other ways he failed, losing both his mind and his soul. By the late twenties it became obvious that Heseltine was under serious mental strain and life in general had become unbearable by 1930. He often felt himself a failure. Dark moods of depression over-took him more frequently than not. Finally, on the morning of December 17th 1930, the woman who lived above Heseltine in his Chelsea apartment woke to the sounds of Heseltine loudly closing all his windows and locking the doors. She thought it rather strange but, instead of investigating, she went back to bed. Later, she smelled a strong odor of gas seeping out from under his door and into the hallway. She immediately summoned the Police who broke open the door and found Heseltine lying fully dressed on the couch. He was dead of coal-gas poisoning. Years later, when Aleister Crowley was writing about magickal talismans, he used Heseltine as an example of magick being applied wrong. He wrote, “You must on no account attempt to use the squares given in the Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage until you have succeeded in the Operation. More, unless you mean to perform it, and are prepared to go to any length to do so, you are a fool to have the book in your possession at all. Those squares are liable to get loose and do things on their own initiative; and you won’t like it. The late Philip Haseltine {sic}, a young composer of genius, used one of these squares to get his wife to return to him. He engraved it neatly on his arm. I don’t know how he proceeded to set to work; but his wife came back all right, and a very short time afterwards he killed himself.” ….....…. English writer Algernon Henry Blackwood wrote ghost stories and supernatural fiction, of whom Lovecraft wrote: “He is the one absolute and unquestioned master of weird atmosphere,” was initiated into the Golden Dawn on this date in 1900, assuming the motto Umbram Fugat Veritas. To understanding his motto; when Pope Urban IV (1261-1264) first established the Feast of Corpus Christi, he requested St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) to compose hymns for it, which he did called Lauda Sion. This is one of the five beautiful hymns Aquinas composed in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In once section of the hymn Aquinas wrote, “In hac mensa novi Regis, novum Pascha novae legis, phase vetus terminat. Vetustatem novitas, umbram fugat veritas, noctem lux eliminate,” which means, “On this altar of the King this new Paschal Offering brings an end to ancient rite. Shadows flee that truth may stay, oldness to the new gives way, and the night’s darkness to the light.” Thus Blackwood’s motto is often translated as “truth expels darkness.” ….....…. and finally, on this date in 1943 a young American Army Lieutenant named Grady Louis McMurtry met none other than the Great Beast himself, Aleister Crowley. It was a bright sunny morning when he came to the apartment at 93 Jermyn Street, located just off Piccadilly Circus in London. In response to his knocking, the door slowly opened, and there stood the Great Beast, Aleister Crowley, who simply asked, “Yes?” To this Grady replied, “I am Lieutenant McMurtry.” Crowley’s response was, “Well, come in dear chap!” Years later, when asked, “How could a Company Commander in the Invasion of Normandy have also been an associate of Aleister Crowley in London in the 40’s?” Grady simply replied with his typical wit that once, after he had just been balled by this little Japanese prostitute near Piccadilly Circus, while both were smoking cigarettes, he asked that age old stupid question, “How did a nice girl like you get mixed up in a lousy racket like this?” She replied, “Oh, just lucky, I guess!” This is how Grady would often explain how he managed to meet the Great Beast, Aleister Crowley, “Just lucky, I guess!”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday October 29th 2009 – 10:00am I received this email - "Thanks, Jerry, the page looks great and it really made me feel good. I put up a link to it on MySpace. I just got a new computer and scanner and will send stuff your way soon. Happy Halloween! Ariadne." ..... Reply : Happy Weenie Day back at ya!
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9:45am Ed Wormuth sent an email, he writes - "93 Jerry, I finished Symond's Bio of HPB. Most interesting, thanks for the tip. Similarly to Crowley, she took a beating in the press, and from some of those close to her. It did not diminish my interest in her writings one whit, however. and I am back to reading "Isis Unveiled" with renewed vigor. Speaking of Enigmas, you mention of Gurdjieff in this mornings blog gave me pause to reflect on this gentleman's opus: All and Everything; a truling amazing work from an equally amazing point of view [actually 2]. 1:] this is a story as told by Beelzebub to his grandson. 2:] the stated purpose of this book is "To destroy, mercilessly, without any compromises whatsoever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything existing in the world. Incicently, this man can write the longest sentences I have ever encountered ... Wont be able to make the weenie party...hope a good time is had by all. 93 93/93, Ed." ...... Reply : It was an amusing book. Few people realize that the Crowley biographer John Symonds wrote a biography on Blavatsky. [Titled: The Lady with the MAGIC EYES, Madame Blavatsky– Medium and Magician by John Symonds, NY: Thomas Yoseloff publishers, HB 1960] ... it is far more easily a read than most bios on this woman which get far too weighty and bogged down in facts, facts, facts to the point that they become boring. ..... Have a great Weenie Day!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:20am For the history buffs: James (Jemmy) Hirst died on this date at the age of 91 in 1829. He was an eccentric British bloke who wore a red coat with blue sleeves, harlequin breeches, a glossy waistcoat made of drakes feathers’ and a huge lambskin hat, a full three yards in circumference. In his Last Will and Testament he left £12 for 12 old grisly maids to carry him to his grave, with £5 for a piper and a fiddler to play as they carried him to his final resting place in the churchyard. He had been born in Rawcliffe, England in 1738, the son of a wealthy farmer. As a young man he felt the need to train one of his father’s bulls named Jupiter to be a mount for riding like a horse and for pulling his wickerwork carriage. However, when Jupiter found it difficult to pull the carriage, Hirst added a huge mast which he then fitted with sails but this was not an altogether wise move. On one particularly windy day it forced the carriage and bull out of control to crash through a shop window, earning him a ban from the town of Pontefract. If this was the only eccentric thing he did he would have been forgotten but he also tried to train an otter to fish for him for which he claimed success. Others point out that getting an otter to catch the fish wasn’t out of the ordinary but getting it to let go of the fish was a bit hard. Hirst also hunted by using pigs instead of dogs as pointers. The list of eccentricities goes on and on. When he finally married his housekeeper, he wore a toga and decided that the ceremony should be conducted in sign language. ….....…. Joseph Goodavage was born on this date in Philadelphia, PA in 1925. His first book, Astrology: A Space Age Science, was published in 1966, and Write Your Own Horoscope followed in 1968, to name but a few of his books. Goodavage passed away on April 14, 1989, in Kansas City after battling heart disease for many years. …......... also, on October 29, 1949, after being admitted into the hospital, apparently too late, G. I. Gurdjieff died but “Four hours after his death, his forehead was still warm. And when J. G. Bennett stood alone beside the body in the chapel of the American Hospital, he could hear someone breathing - even when he held his breath and closed his eyes. He suspected Gurdjieff of a last practical joke.” In truth, he was dead and thus ended the life of the man whom the British press call a “fakir and shit.” The Times magazine described him as a “remarkable blend of P. T. Barnum, Rasputin, Freud, Groucho Marx and everybody’s grandfather.” …...….. Also, Vera Stacey Wainwright died on this date in 1967. She was a woman whose poetry appeared in a book titled Poems & Masks; the ‘Masks’ were drawings done by Austin Osman Spare, whom was introduced to her by Victor Neuberg during World War Two. ….....…. And finally, on this date in 1997, Anton Szandor LaVey, the founder of the First Church of Satan and author of The Satanic Bible, died of cardiac arrest in, of all places, the Christian hospital of St. Mary’s in San Francisco. His death certificate incorrectly lists the date of his death as October 31. In 1956 he had purchased the old Victorian house on California Street in San Francisco’s Richmond district and painted it black. It was reputed to have been a den of iniquity and a speakeasy. It would become home to the Church of Satan. After his death, the house remained unoccupied, fell into disrepair and was finally demolished on October 17 of 2001.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday October 28th 2009 – 8:15am For the history buffs: Evelyn Arthur St. John Waugh was born in London into a comfortable middle-class family on October 28th 1903. The first inkling of any interest in Crowleyism on Waugh’s part appeared in a short story that he wrote in 1933 titled A Step Off The Map, subtitle: An Experiment Begun in Shaftesbury Avenue and Ended in Time. It was published in Harper’s Bazaar (London) in December of 1933. It was later edited and released in a book titled Mr Loveday’s Little Outing and other Sad Stories (1936). It was also renamed Out of Depth. The story describes a dinner party attended by an American whose name, believe it or not, is Rip van Winkle. In this story there is another character named Doctor Kakophililos, which is Greek for a “Lover of Evil.” Dr. Kakophililos is said to be “a great magician” and is described as “an elderly man, quite bald, with a vast white face that spread down and out far beyond the normal limits.” This doctor always replies in a typical Crowley fashion - “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” …......... and finally, Albert Karl Theodore Reuss died on this date in 1923. He was a singer, druggist, journalist and possibly even a spy for the Prussian Police. He claimed to have used a charter supplied to him by John Yarker to establish a “Masonic Academy” which became known as the Ordo Templi Orientis or O.T.O. Reuss was Aleister Crowley‘s predecessor as the Head of the O.T.O., who had attempted to revive the Order of the Illuminati in Munich and Berlin.
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Tuesday October 27th 2009 – 8:55am An added note: Grady told me back in Syracuse in 1984 when I swore the Oath of the Abyss in front of him that the part of the Oath which states how "I shall interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with his soul" is a double-edged sword. He reminded me that besides the immortal Gods, those Adepts like himself who reside above the Abyss as a Magister Templi are no men but Gods incarnated and he warned me that I must carefully interpret his 'Words' from this point on because his guidance was tempering me in an Alchemical furnace from Malkuth. Simply by being an MT the Gnosis that Grady consciously, or unconsciously, was channeling when he and I talked may appear trivial to others but if I missed 'specific signs' I could easily become lost. I took his warning seriously. However, the Practicus, armed with only his teachings up to Hod, knows it all ... he has discarded his teacher, a Magister Templi as was Grady, as if he were an old suit of clothing no longer needed. ... Still, I hold out hope.
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8:30am Frank writes - "93 Jer. On the 24th your 4:05pm posting stated how even "on the remote chance that the Practicus does succeed at setting himself up as a vehicle (i.e. Pyramid) he can only receive the Gnosis out of the vehicle that he has prepared ... this being Hod. This was the folly of Frater Achad. He jumped from Malkuth. He took the Oath, stopped trying to fulfill the Tree and thought himself Myself Made Perfect ... within the required four years for the ‘wires’ to be established his books were already portraying crazy. Some of the spheres had not been set up properly to received Gnosis and he was obviously twisting the data in his head which inevitably had him reversing the Tree upside down." I never thought of it this way. How soon after a person takes the Oath do they start acting crazy? You and I know from the old days when _______ took the Oath. We both saw within the year that things were 'different' and not giving us any indication of a clean vehicle. Do you ever hear from ________ anymore? I have been following your Practicus' saga. He is a text book case of lost and speaking the way of Chaos. Why aren't you slapping him? You mentioned the 'Test' also on the 24th, are you going to let us know if he passes or fails. What is exactly the 'Test' ? ... In Light. 93 93/93 F."Reply: No. ________ has fallen off the Tree somewhere; most likely roaming the streets of New York muttering to himself. ... As for your questions, you enter the Abyss and Chaos begins instantly. Choronzon immediately begins whispering in your ears to inflate the drops of ego not previously destroyed or put under control. If you jump and skip spheres, he's got a lot of juice to work with. ... Personally, I'd love to slap my Practicus but it'll do no good. Yes, most of his emails are already dripping with Words rooted in Chaos and at this point he's unable to see it although virtually everyone else around him does who has been reading his saga on the blog. So, I guess everyone else is crazy and the Practicus is sane? ... He has clearly embraced the way of his demon and this cannot be changed unless he's willing but his demon is telling him to avoid us, don't write, don't contact us ... and this is because his demon doesn't want his guidance to be exposed in the Light of Day and without a critical sounding board to his words and actions, the Practicus, we fear is lost. ... Ah, the Test; the Practicus failed it miserably. Choronzon whispered the answer, not the Gods. It showed us who is in control and which direction he is facing. ... The Test, for now, is Secret although Crowley has published the answer in numerous places.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:55am For the history buffs: The Norwegian, Olaf Jansen, whose story was told in a book called The Smokey God, was born on this date in 1811. He and his father had traveled into the hollow earth and spent time living with a race of giants, stating that, “my experiences make Marco Polo look like a piker.” …....…. And the noted World War I military tank expert, J. F. C. Fuller, signed the Oath of Probationer and joined Aleister Crowley’s AAon this date in 1910. He also wrote the now classic book titled The Star in the West, A Critical Essay upon the Works of Aleister Crowley (1907. …...…. Also, Patricia Crowther was born Pratricia Dawson on this date in 1927 in Sheffield, England. Her family lived next door to a palmist named Madame Melba, who predicted that Patricia would later develop great clairvoyancy powers and follow in the foot steps of her great-grand mother, who had been a herbalist, clairvoyant, and fortuneteller. She inevitably ended up into the Old Religion, or witchcraft and was a High Priestess initiated by Gerald B. Gardner in 1960. She is considered by some to be Gardner’s spiritual heir, and has formed many flourishing covens throughout the United Kingdom. …....…. And finally, on Ocotber 27, 1942 Aleister Crowley recorded the First and Second Enochian Calls on a phonograph. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday October 26th 2009 – 11:30am Luna writes – “93! Really enjoyed readin Chris Piss's tract! Made my morning! Hail Satan, proprietor of the Fun Place! 93s )O(.”
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6:15am We have added a special 'Memorial Page' in honor of an old friend from the Bay Area named Richard Christopher Legener, a.k.a. Criss Piss, who passed away on this date back in 1996. He was such a unique person to have met; a true Thelemite, fellow OTO Initiate and someone you never forgot once you’ve heard him talk; and in truth, we were all richer having known him. I hope that all my readers will light a candle today so that our combined light will shine forth across the Aethyrs and let Criss know that we're thinking about him and smiling. Click HERE if you'd like to view his memorial page. After today the 'link' to this page can always be found at the very bottom of our CONTENTS page under 'Memorials.' If you have any memories you'd like to share regarding Criss Piss please feel free to forward them on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:00am For the history buffs: Gilles de Rais (or de Retz) died on this date in 1440. He was a Marshal of France, one of the richest and bravest noblemen in the land, very cultured, sophisticated and supposedly a pious man. His chief claim to fame was that he fought by the side Joan of Arc. Years later, after his own arrest, his ecclesiastical accusers claimed that Gilles de Rais was a ‘heretic, sorcerer, sodomite, invocator of evil spirits, diviner, killer of innocents, apostate from the faith, idolater.’ Many historians claim that they fabricated the case against him and point out that his crimes only became ‘known’ when his servants were tortured until adequate evidence was given against their master. De Rais himself was then tortured and supposedly made a full and ready confession, not only to the 140 murdered children, of which he was charged but to the murder of at least 800. Predictably, de Rais was found guilty and in a show of public contrition and humility he begged forgiveness from the parents of the children he admitted to slaughtering. Like his beloved Joan of Arc before him, he was sentenced to death by fire. But as an act of mercy’ for not recanting his confession, he was first garroted to death before being thrown on the flames - “that the fire should not kill him but was shown a pity.” ……… And Constant Martin Chevillon was born on this date in 1880. He was the head of the European Masonic FUDOSI (Federation Universelle Des Ordres et Societes Initiatiques) who spoke openly on Masonic subjects and wrote several books in addition to countless articles on a great variety of other topics. His religious, or ecclesiastical name, was Tau Harmonius. He openly spoke against Herbert Spencer Lewis and AMORC, whom he believed was a fraud. On March 22, 1944 Chevillon was executed by the Gestapo by firing-squad. It was no secret that Nazis were dealing hard on movements which they felt would pose a threat to their new Reich, among those were chiefly Masonic orders. ……… And it was on October 26, 1910 thay Aleister Crowley performed The Rite of Jupiter of Eleusis in Caxton Hall. ……… and finally, on October 26, 1982 Sybil Leek died at the age of 65 in Florida after a long battle with cancer. One report of her death has it that a train derailed near to her Melbourne home and dosed her with a toxic gas which had caused her illness. She will be remember as a remarkable woman of many accomplishments, a gifted Psychic, Astrologer and Writer who did much to influence the revival of the modern day witchcraft movement. Aleister Crowley supposedly said to her as a young child that “This is the one who will take up where I leave off”, adding “You’d better remember that, young lady. You’ll hear all sorts of things said about me and they’ll say the same things about you, but I shall have broken the ground for you.”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday October 25th 2009 – 7:18am For the history buffs: M. Gerard Encausse, aka Papus, 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 on this date on 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 it was on October 25, 1962 that the O.H.O. of the Ordo Templi Orientis, successor of Aleister Crowley, Karl Germer, he shed his earthly vehicle. He died of prostate cancer. His successor, Grady Louis McMurtry, wrote that “... surgeons had made the incision at the level of the Lower Penal Sign known to our Order, found that the cancer was inoperable, sewed him up, and sent him home to die. Naturally Sacha was completely incapable of changing the bandages, the wound became infected, he was taken back to the hospital, and it was while the nurses were trying to clean him that he died screaming.”
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Saturday October 24th 2009 – 4:05pm To address an email – “Jer 93. Great posting today. You wrote how a person cannot stay above the Abyss but wouldn’t them being a Magister Templi mean that they automatically achieved all the spheres so they can move where they want? 93s F.” ...... Reply: Absolutely not. The key fact to always remember is that the Magister Templi cannot stay above the Abyss and he can only function out the last sphere which he spiritual accomplished. Taking the Oath does not automatically make you a Saint. If it were that easy why not have everyone simply take the Oath? Wouldn’t the world be a better place? Even on the remote chance that the Practicus does succeed at setting himself up as a vehicle (i.e. Pyramid) he can only receive the Gnosis out of the vehicle that he has prepared ... this being Hod. This was the folly of Frater Achad. He jumped from Malkuth. He took the Oath, stopped trying to fulfill the Tree and thought himself Myself Made Perfect ... within the required four years for the ‘wires’ to be established his books were already portraying crazy. Some of the spheres had not been set up properly to received Gnosis and he was obviously twisting the data in his head which inevitably had him reversing the Tree upside down.
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1:45am During a discussion this week I was asked a few amusing questions which I answered but I think I'd like to clarify them a bit more. They primarily dealt with whether or not a person taking the Oath of the Abyss can really be judged by anyone. Such a person is beyond the reach of mortals. They have, in theory, aspired to The Silver Star, or A.'.A.'. which is an Order that lays above the Abyss. Those below the Abyss are in the Outer Orders of A.'.A.'. known as either Golden Dawn or R.C. (One Star in Sight). They are not in the A.'.A.'. proper. Such person taking the Oath is said to be beyond questioning from those below the Abyss. This is why when Grady McMurtry took the Oath, his wife Phyllis who was only 5=6 could no longer judge him. Again, no mortal below the Abyss can judge a Babe. And, once uttered, the Oath of the Abyss could never be taken back. It must run its course but it may not automatically produce successful results. The consequence of taking the Oath correctly is that it throws the individual mentally and emotionally into a dark chasm of chaos, and confusion, tearing them asunder. Initially they must get this [nature of Choronzon] quickly under control but in truth, on a more mundane level, it could take a minimum of four years according to Aleister Crowley for the Chaos to subside on Malkuth and for the 'wires' [as Crowley calls them] to be established making it 'official' that you're in the City of the Pyramids and ready to receive Gnosis. But, within days, if the Oath doesn't 'stick' or if a person has no right to the claim, they'll be 'thrown out' and either cast back to the Qliphoth of the sphere where they last stood or they'll become a Black Brother.So remember; taking the Oath of the Abyss is the undisputed right of all mortals but it is not an 'automatic' guarantee that you'll reside in the City of the Pyramids.As an example; when Frater Achad (Charles Stansfeld Jones) took the Oath of the Abyss and questioned Crowley whether or not there was some proof which Crowley required of his success, Crowley simply told him, and I quote; “... on the 8=3 matter. I have no right to cross-examine. You claim it, and there is an end of the matter.” Understanding what Crowley was saying is where the confusion often arises and magicians are always quick to quote Crowley out of context as a means of avoiding the obvious. This has been a dilemma with the recent antics of the Practicus' whom we've been discussing on this blog. He has the undisputed right to take the Oath and no one can deny that nor cross-examine him nor judge him accordingly. He took it, that's it ... but by his 'Words and Actions' almost immediately after the fact, a NEMO, or No Man, or those Gods who resides Above the Abyss, can judge whether or not he had laid a proper Foundation to be successful or if he was simply fooling himself. ... Now do you see the Catch 22? If you take the Oath ... the key wording being 'IF' ... then we cannot cross-examine or judge but by your 'Words and Actions' it can be easily determine 'IF' you took the Oath. In other words, what Crowley wrote to Frater Achad is by no means Crowley saying that he can never judge Achad's actions - period, end of subject. Crowley was still Frater Achad's Superior in the Order. Is it not a fact that after taking the Oath of the Abyss Frater Achad was producing books within four years which clearly showed that the "wires" had not been established properly and that at some point he had fallen into a Qliphoth of Qabalistic confusion ... and at this point did not Crowley clearly 'judged' him? ... Remember, a Magister Templi cannot stay above the Abyss. They must immediately function out of a Sphere somewhere on the Tree that they have accomplished [hence don't be stupid and jump from too low on the Tree] ... but the greater question is whether or not such individuals are immediately working out of the front side of a specific Sphere or the Qliphotic. .... Again, by the 'Words and Actions' you will judge them. ... The ultimate question is - at what point can NEMO judge? Is it a day, a week or is it a month, or a year after a person takes the Oath? Answer: [quite simple] When is a person who takes the Oath devoid of all 'Words and Actions' below the Abyss?In other words; since I am NEMO, I can review the Practicus' attempt and determine by his 'Words and Actions' if he had done so correctly and if he did, I cannot judge him one Iota after that point. But if he has failed, I have the authority to judge him ... otherwise how can we ever say that someone has become a Black Brother or is lost in the Qliphoth? Basically, taking the Oath of the Abyss does not exempt you from ever being accused of Folly by your Superiors. As to the other question about my relentless 'banter' about the Practicus' taking the Oath of the Abyss ... and am I not judging him? Yes and no, those closest to me know how I feel on this subject. Any idiot can take the Oath and in most cases I'll simply snicker behind their back and say nothing. But the Practicus is a friend, a dear friend. I cannot just stand by and do nothing. ... From day one the reasoning for this Practicus taking Oath was 100% wrong. I tried to steer him by pointing out the obvious folly in order to shift his 'thinking' back on track but his replies only opened up further cans of worms. To determine if the Practicus was in the Abyss proper I had to continually warn him about the Qliphoth of the Sphere where he last resided due to all the obvious Shadows that he had not completely put under control. Taking the Oath of the Abyss does not negate them, it only exasperates them and it is here in Hod that he'll descend if he is succesful in the Abyss and the baggage that he's left behind will destroy him within four years, as it did to Frater Achad. I had to play the 'Devil's Advocate' [Choronzon] because, if he had come to me up front and told me of his ambitions, I would have advised him in private how to properly take the Oath as Grady did to me ... this is required of me. I could not tell him no, don't take the Oath. I must give him 100% guidance to ensure his success simply because he 'asked'. ... but the Practicus took the Oath behind our back and he was carrying 'extreme' baggage filled with Shadows from an unbalanced Left-Hand Pillar which reeked of failure whether he was successful in attaching himself to the Abyss or not. Initially I tried to steer him to 'think' correctly but he was unable to address the obvious and put it all to rest and so his solution was simply to stop answering my emails. He went into 'hiding' ... which, if he could not face and address his Phantoms from my Malkuthian point of view it kinda said that he was more so lost in the Qliphoth of Hod and not that Chronzon, far more crafty than I, was eating his Soul ..... but I knew that he read the blog and he forced me to try to reach him through this forum. My postings may appear to have been judging but never once did I say anywhere that he couldn't take the Oath or whether or not I could judge if he was worthy to take it, rather I continually pointed out that he had prepared himself foolishly and logic dictates that there is no way he could have attached himself to the Abyss with the Foundation he had created. Could he have corrected his mistakes? 100% Hell yes! But did he ever come back asking how to make it right? ... NO ... he simply said that he was automatically right, his teachers were all wrong and I'm not going to talk to you anymore. Is there any doubt that ego is talking? And the more he played this game the more it revealed his Foundation. Still, regardless if he was stupid it is only to our benefit that he succeeds in any of his magickal endeavor which is why I keep trying to drop tidbits on this blog for him to ponder and hopefully to redirect his thinking. Finally, to address another question. If there are tests for ever A.'.A.'. grade is there one for the Magister Templi? Grady did have me take a 'Test' to see if I had attached myself to the Abyss proper. He told me, success is your proof. He claimed that Crowley actually talked about this, as did Achad, as did Parsons ... and I can attest; it’s a cut & dry, undisputable proof. It is a very simple question to be answered. Grady gave me twenty four hours to give him the solution, acknowledging that in theory I should be able to answer it within an hour ... the Practicus has had the question since last Wednesday. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:30am Yesterday, at 7:48pm, we had a small earthquake, a magnitude 1.3, hit here in Berkeley, CA. We were in the middle of a heated discussion at our Open House and I doubt if any one of us felt it. At least I didn't.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:00am For the history buffs: Fritz Haarmann, the ‘Vampire’, was born on this date in 1879. At his trial, when he was asked by the prosecutor, “How many victims did you kill?” Haarmann replied, “It might be 30, it might be 40, I can’t remember the exact number.” Then, when he was asked how he had killed his victims, Haarmann replied dispassionately, “I bit them through their throats.” Fritz Haarmann, who by now was being called the ‘Hanover Vampire,’ was executed on April 15, 1920. As he was being escorted from his cell, before being beheaded, he smiled and said, “I will go to my execution as if it were a wedding.” His brain was removed and handed over to Gottingen University for studying. ……..... And it was on October 24, 1914 that Aleister Crowley left London, went off to Mexico and there, “...reached such a low state that even the toughest of whores avoided him. His body was filthy, he had a thick, beard, and he was foul-smelling. There was no telling just how far he wanted to go in his orgy of masochism because a mountain-climbing friend of his, a man named Oscar Eckenstein, rescued him in time.” ……...… and speaking of strange things; the movie From Beyond opened on this date in theaters in 1986. It is a movie loosely based on a short story by H. P. Lovecraft. It basic plot takes place in the attic laboratory of Dr. Edward Pretorius, he and his assistant Crawford Tillinghast are working on a resonator which will stimulate the pineal gland, which, Dr. Pretorius believes, is a dormant sensory organ. The experiment works and Crawford sees flatworm-type creatures swimming in the invisible ether all around him. …...…. And finally, on October 24, 2002 Harry Hay died. Hay was one of the founders of the modern gay movement as well as the Radical Faeries in 1978. Although he never personally met Aleister Crowley, he did know some of his followers in California around 1935 when he briefly worked at the Agapé Lodge of Ordo Templi Orientis, which was then located on Winona Boulevard in Los Angeles. At that time he played the organ during the Gnostic Mass. These Masses were beautifully performed with extreme seriousness, but it must be remembered that this was still California and even back then something humorous or ‘a twist’ was often added. Some believe that it must be something in the air. It was reported that Harry Hay, “mischievously slipped ‘Barnacle Bill the Sailor’ or ‘Yes, We Have No Bananas!’ slowed to dirge tempo, into the contrapuntal themes he was hired to play” for the Gnostic Mass. However, more humorous is the fact that Harry Hay frequently “dropped into his former Catholic church to play a mass earlier in the day-just to balance his sacrilege.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday October 23rd 2009 – 9:47am Tonight's gathering at Love's Sake Clerk House is Open to the public. Time: 6:30pmish .... Bring beer, or something to drink. Clothing optional.
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9:45am The noted TV show host and comedy legend Soupy Sales, the man who took thousands of pies to the face in his 5,000+ live television appearances, died Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York. He was 83. He was born on January 8, 1926 in Franklinton, North Carolina. His popular children’s show which began as a replacement for Kukla, Fran and Ollie in 1955 was suspended for a week in 1965 after he told all the children who were watching to go to “your parent's wallet”, take out those “little green pieces of paper” and send them to me. Many of his jokes went well over his young audience’s heads but inevitably they got him kicked off the air. Most notable of these was his comment, “My wife can't make a cherry pie worth a cent, but boy oh boy, does she know how to make a banana cream. I personally grew up watching Soupy Sales ... he made me laugh.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:30am For the history buffs: On this date in 1974 in New York City, John Lennon and his then personal secretary and girlfriend May Pang had just ordered pizza. It was a hot night as John stepped out onto the terrace in their upper East side apartment. Pang, who was in the bedroom, heard John frantically shouting for her to come. As Pang walked out onto the terrace, she later claimed, “my eye caught this large, circular object coming towards us. It was shaped like a flattened cone and on top was a large, brilliant red light, not pulsating as on any of the aircraft we’d see heading for a landing at Newark Airport.” It was a UFO. As it got closer John and Pang could make out a row or circle of white lights that ran around the entire rim of the craft, which were flashing on and off. Pang also recalled, “It was, I estimate, about the size of a Lear jet and it was so close that if we had something to throw at it, we probably would have hit it quite easily.” Afterwards they immediately called the local newspaper to report the sighting and were told that at least seven other people had called in claiming to have seen the UFO. As for the rest of the evening, John kept saying, “I can’t believe it... I can’t believe it... I’ve seen a flying saucer!” John cryptically referred to his experience on the cover of his album Walls And Bridges, which was released in 1974.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday October 22nd 2009 – 10:50am Frater Shiva the author of the now classic book Inside Solar Lodge, Outside the Law, True Takes of Initiation and High Adventure [The Teitan Press 2007] sent me a great email which he says that I can share with my readers. He writes:
Hi Jerry,
About 3 weeks ago you ran this "history" entry: "NEWS: Over the weekend it was revealed that new DNA tests concluded that a bullet-pierced skull long thought to be Adolf Hitler's does not belong to the Nazi dictator after all. Scientists at the University of Connecticut conducted tests on the bullet-pierced skull which had been secretly preserved for decades by Soviet intelligence and discovered that it belonged to an unidentified woman under 40. The results now cast doubt on the long-held account that Hitler swallowed a cyanide pill and then committed suicide in his Berlin bunker with his mistress Eva Braun as Allied forces were closing in on him in 1945. Their bodies were then wrapped in blankets and carried to a bomb crater outside the Berlin bunker, doused with gas and set on fire. But historians don't think the skull is even that of Eva Braun since there is no report that she ever shot herself or having been shot. According to historians the skull fragment! was the only positive physical proof that Hitler was dead. Maybe he did escape and flee to South America?"
Well, I had some experience along this line. I'm not going to tell the whole story, but we can find its essence recorded in a book. The following is scanned/excerpted from "The Heart of the Serpent" ©1993 by my student, Frater Estar. The book is now out of print. Estar didn't really get all of his facts straight, so I had to (slightly) modify his words and I have added my own comments in [brackets]. THUS THE STORY UNFOLDS:One day, S-, one of my teachers of magic [that's me] came through Tijuana to invite me to a magical encampment. He was heading south with a few people, including two Germans. I joined the passengers in the land-rover and we cruised away looking for adventure.On the road my teacher introduced me to the Germans. The old man had a mischievous smile, eyes that receded whenever you looked into them, and big, broad, short, primitive, dangerous hands. He was an ex-officer of the SS still on a mission: to take care of one of the [test tube] children of Adolph Hitler, one of the many [three] Hitler begat to make certain his genetic line would survive and have a chance at world power if he ever failed.You can imagine who the other German was - Clive, a man of breathtaking beauty, a true Teutonic god with long golden hair, medium height [6'3" is medium?], but a perfectly proportioned hero’s body. [He was under consideration for the lead role in "Conan the Barbarian" but he lost out to Arnold Schwarzenegger]. He had been trained all his life to be what he was: a superb athlete, a black belt [Karate], a genius in matters of strategy and war. He was the incarnation of Thor [Oh?]. He was in his thirties but looked twenty-six. He had a mission, too; he was going to learn magic and conquer the world!They had a plan to achieve world recognition: They planned to participate in, and win, the future Olympics, then start their own political campaign.They possessed a book called The Diary of Adolph Hitler, a compilation of Hitler’s personal notes. [No. This is incorrect. Someone else was shot in the bunker and Adolph escaped from Germany to end up in Mexico via South America. Clive had met with the aged Adolph across the border in Mexico, where he was told the whole story. Clive then wrote the book that was based on what he was told]. They had the typed manuscript and were about to look for a publisher. The manuscript was in the car and they asked my opinion. They were especially interested in my reaction to the section where Hitler describes his initiation into a circle of exotic personalities. The initiation was to help him come to terms with his world mission. I asked him, "Are you still into killing all the Jews?" "No, our war is against the multinationals who erode individualized consciousness. We are not against the race; behind the multinational corporations there are Jews in spirit but they may or may not be of Jewish blood. Those are the ones we want to exterminate.""Are you willing to use violence to do this?" I added."Well," Hitler’s son answered, "I have been trained in all tactics. You give me any weapon in total darkness and I know how to operate it instantly. But most of the time you don’t have to use violence. It’s just a matter of kidnapping the families of those you need to persuade. You don’t do anything to them or to their families, but you always get what you want.""Did you know that the whole tradition and technique of contacting the Guardian Angel is of Jewish origin?" I asked."Yes, I know. That’s why I am learning magic: to find a non-Kabalistic, non-Jewish method to accomplish that."Maybe they were crazy, I thought, but I was only twenty-five at the time, and even the prospect of a bad adventure with them was better than no adventure at all.We drove down to Ensenada and stayed for a few hours in the house of an old friend of mine. She was a mature woman who was a psychic, astrologer, and ex-yoga teacher, a rich and refined woman living in a beautiful house on the highest hill overlooking the city with a magnificent view of the bay. There I had the opportunity to see the warrior god’s horoscope. It showed a genial mind with no grounding at all, an incurable egotist.In Ensenada, after we joined with my second teacher of magic [Frater Mont], we drove into the hills to establish our encampment. The whole trip had been organized by my first teacher to test Hitler’s son’s magical abilities.At night we built a fire. My teacher and his new pupil practiced martial arts exercises for awhile. Later S- asked his apprentice to draw a magical circle of about thirty yards for protection. Since this included our vehicles, Hitler’s son answered, "I do not know if I can build a circle that big." He worked on the ritualistic procedure and after five minutes returned to us saying, "There is something very wicked out there." I got goose bumps instantly, together with a full state of alertness. I scanned with my Third Eye the peaceful valley we were in, looking for the enemy, but I couldn’t perceive anything. Could it be that my psychic senses were not keen enough to find the evil lurking in the shadows?S- then did an invocation of Thoth, the god of magic of the ancient Egyptians. Then our teacher took his new disciple away. When they returned we all slipped into our sleeping bags.I slept for about two hours, then woke up suddenly. Our fire was almost dead. The Germans were in their sleeping bags, but the magicians were gone. When I stood up I saw a fire spark in the bushes about one-hundred yards outside our circle.Still cautious of the possibility of a wicked entity, I walked in that direction. I had seen the flash of the cigarette lighter at the right moment; my teachers were there, talking."What do you think about them?" S- asked abruptly when he saw me approaching."The book’s a fake and the horoscope says he is not going to make it. Besides, I don’t know about the wickedness he saw outside," I answered. [The "fakeness" of the book is still debatable. This was merely Estar's perception].S- then said, "The wickedness was there, inside him. But something else made me realize he is not ready for further training: I offered to guide him on an LSD journey to accelerate his progress, but he refused. He said his path was that of no drugs. He was not ready to deal with his darkness yet."After this encounter, the Germans disappeared from our lives, thank God! [They disappeared from Estar's life - but not mine or Mont's for another few months, and then only when we deserted them under warning from our "contact" in the LAPD who advised me that these people were exceedingly dangerous]. They never found a publisher for their book. Hitler’s son didn’t even qualify for the Olympics; he was too old already.[The older German was introduced in "Inside Solar Lodge" as the infamous dentist "Dr. A" - He died in 1997 at age 74. Clive is still living in California].------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:40am For the history buffs: Timothy Francis Leary was born on this date in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1920. He took LSD for the first time in 1962 and wrote, “It was the most shattering experience of my life.” He once stated in an interview, “...well, I’ve been an admirer of Aleister Crowley, I think I’m carrying on much of the work that he started over a hundred years ago, and I think the 60’s themselves ... Crowley said Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, under love. Its a very powerful statement. I’m sorry he’s not around to see the glory he started.” He died on May 31st 1996 at his home in Beverly Hills, California wearing a t-shirt that read: “If you only have one wish, make it BIG.” His last words are reported to have been: “Why? Why not? WHY NOT? Why not? Why not? Why not?” and later, “Beautiful.” On February 9, 1997, a portion of Leary’s cremated remains were launched into space.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday October 21st 2009 – 9:30am For the history buffs: Today we celebrate the Feast of the miracle of the Black Christ is celebrated on this date in Panama. According to the legends a galleon sailing from Portobelo hit a fierce storm and sank but a boxed dark wooden image of Jesus Christ floated free and was washed up on a nearby beach. There it was found by the townspeople and taken back to Portobelo. The annual celebration of the Feast of the Black Christ began in many years later 1821 when a tragic cholera epidemic ravaged the Isthmus. The Portobelo residents assembled at the church, prayed before the Black Jesus and all made a vow to celebrate a feast day in his honor each October 21 if the town were spared. Oddly, the epidemic completely bypassed the town while ravaging all those around it. ….....…. And I should point out that Mary Alice ‘Linda’ Goodman gave out different birth information to different people. She always cited either April 9 or 10th as the day of her birth, and the year as 1925 with a widely varied birth time. It is even said that she bribed the record clerks in her home town to give out false information. She wanted her chart ‘never be known.’ After a tumultuous and often difficult life, she died from complications of diabetes on this date in 1995. Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs and her Love Signs, both of which were on the best seller lists for a very long time.
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Tuesday October 20th 2009 – 7:30am For the history buffs: Béla Ferenc Dezso Blasko, more commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was both on this date in in Lugos, Hungary in 1882. He shot to stardom in the title role of the 1931 film version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, wherein he set the standard for movie vampires. He also starred in such memorable movies as The Black Cat (1934), The Wolfman (1941) and Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). In 1955 Lugosi committed himself to an institution, admitting to a long time addiction to methadone. In his last years his life and career were on the skids, but he still worked a little in television and low-budget films. He died while working on what has been called one of the worst movies ever made - Plan 9 From Outer Space. …....…. And Selena Fox was born on this date in Arlington, Virginia in 1949. She has been called Americas Wiccan High Priestess, Pagan scholar, ecospiritual minister and ritual artist. She founded Circle Sanctuary which is a legally recognized Wiccan church in a worldwide Pagan ministry. In 1986 she married Dennis Carpenter, a Wiccan priest and former school psychologist who is now a renowned Pagan scholar. Selena Fox earned her master’s degree in counseling at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and became certified as a clinical psychotherapist in 1995. ……..…. And finally, on October 20, 1967 Roger Patterson, while trekking on horseback high up in Bluff Creek Valley of California, spotted a big breasted Big Foot, obviously a female and was luckily enough to film her. This was the first time someone ever captured a ‘Sasquatch’ on film.
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Monday Oct. 19th 2009 – 1:45pm Luna writes - “93! I was in Los Angeles. When we got to Leon's house in L.A. the odometer rolled to exactly 77777, on Friday night....and I saw 7s everywhere....when I drove home early this morning around 2am, I was flanked by a few cars on the freeway passing by Alameda...a few cars with double 77, one truck with 7777 and one with 777. (not many vehicles out at that time). Happy Gradymas! 93s )O(."
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6:00am In regards to yesterday's Gradymas the noted author Richard Cole writes - "Does it come with cake? ;) ." ....... Reply: For you, sure! A combination of Angel and Devil's foodcake. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:45am For the history buffs: Crowley’s Rite of Saturn of Eleusis was performed on this date in 1910 at Caxton Hall, Westminster and a review of this ritual which appeared in the Sketch stated, “...beautifully conceived and beautifully carried out. If there is any higher form of artistic expression than great verse and great music, I have yet to learn it.” …...….. also, on October 19, 1928 the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC) was Incorporated in California. Later Aleister Crowley was to write and ask H. Spencer Lewis to surrender his estates at San Jose believing AMORC to be a commercial enterprise of the O.T.O. and therefore to be his rightful property. …...…. And how can I not mention that Harris Glenn Milstead was born on this date in Towson, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore in 1945. At the age of 12, his family moved to Lutherville, another nearby district, just six houses from a boy of the same age named John Waters. Around 1966, John cast Glenn in his first film. Harris was remodeled by John and his makeup artist, Van Smith, into drag queen horror show known as ‘Divine.’ Through Waters' films, Divine became synonymous with vile, repulsive acts with an attitude to match. But throughout his career, Harris longed for a way out of that mask, wig and dress. Divine died of sleep apnea on March 7, 1988. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday October 18th 2009 – 8:30pm My dear friend Ricardo Flores from southern California writes - "93 Happy Gradymas to you too, dear friend!!! Offered a toast for him earlier today! Ricardo 93 93/93."
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7:50pm To address another question - "Did Grady give you any special guidance before you swore the Oath of the Abyss?" ..... Reply: Yes. For months he and I chatted; he suggested reading material and warned me what to do and especially, what not to do. He told me about the first, and greatest danger. This is learning how to take the Oath properly and how to have it 'stick' ... it's not that easy, otherwise everyone who reads the Oath in a book, or does something silly like taking it, could be doing irretrievable damage to the psyche for a lifetime. I have heard of literally 'hundreds' of people since the sixties [when I first got involved in Magick] who claim to have taken the Oath and who have achieved nothing more than becoming legends in their own mind. Obviously the Oath didn't stick and they were cast out. Their legacy is that they argue that the Oath 'has' stuck but they're usually too blind to realize that their every Word portrays how "it was my destiny", or my "True Will" to take the Oath .... me, me, me, me, me! Silly rabbits. How can you ever expect sucess with that attitude? The 'I' should have been under control long before you jumped. It is IMPOSSIBLE to put the 'I' under control while in the Abyss! Read The Book of Lies!!! You'll either be thrown out imediately, or you'll become a Black Brother.To address the other questions - "Is the Practicus you've been talking about doomed? And is the Quest finished in his lifetime?" ..... Reply: Good questions. No, to both. The most difficult phantom for any magician to face is the possibility that his or her 'magick' didn't work. No magickal act is 'automatically' successsful, even taking the Oath of the Abyss. You take the Oath, that's it, no 'mortal' can judge, and it is now up to the Gods as to whether or not you're worthy to stay as a Babe in the Abyss or if you'll be thrown out. By "their Words and actions on Malkuth" you'll know, and usually those around you will see the obvious long before you do. ... Thus, acting as a scientist a magician must recognize whether or not he or she was successful almost immediately, otherwise a lifetime can slip by in misery. Basically, if the Practicus can simply grasp the obvious, acting as a scientist, and review all the logical facts then he'd realize that he simply has to get up from where he fell, and continue on the Path. It is not that hard. The Practicus fell in Hod, but, if he's true to form, he will never face this phantom. The Ego is a terrible lead (Saturnian) weight at this stage and bathed in Hod, being our Intellect, he'll continually try to prove that he is Right. This is the dangers of jumping from the unbalanced Left Side of the Tree in the lower Ruach where the Ego has yet to be put under control - you 'think' you know it All. And with that in mind he'll continually point to the top of the Tree of Life while screaming "Damn it, I am in the Abyss!" ... and as his superior in the AA I will simply smile and reply - "Grasshopper, where are you pointing from?"Grady once told me that there is never any problem with blowing up a laboratory, only in denying such while the building is burning down. ... remember, the true A.'.A.'. lies above the Abyss and according to Liber LXI vel Causae - "Listen, we pray you, with attention: for once only does the Great Order knock at any one door." .. so, don't screw it up folks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:25pm Ed Wormuth writes - "And Happy Gradymas to you. 93 Jerry, Thanks for the message. I did think of Grady. And I am smiling. Please relay my apologies to Jay as I was unable to attend his celebration. 93 93/93, Ed." Note: Ed & I took Minerval Degree in the OTO together back in 1977.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:05am To address a question, "What is really Truth and how do I seek it?" ... Well, for starters, below the Abyss Truth cannot exist because ALL that is, is bathed in Duality. Everything is divided for the sake of Union and the un-initiated has yet to realize that both extremes are correct from the point of view of its defender. However, above the Abyss these contradictions act as Unity and Truth can only be seen by appreciating both opposites from the point of view of the center of the Scales of Maat. Everything is of God, act accordingly. Remember, Crowley has stated that "Initiation is, by etymology, the journeying inwards; it is the Voyage of Discovery of one's Soul. And this is Truth that stands upon the prow, eternally alert; this is Truth that sits with one strong hand griping the helm!” ... The Goddess of Truth is Maat. It is in her Scales that you'll be Judged ... Maat, according to Crowley's 777 is a ruler of the Qabalistic Sphere of Binah.Basically, below the Abyss the second real task of an initiate is to realize that Truth can never been found ... Truth is merely the ‘Path.’ Once this is understood you’ll know how to transcended Death through an act of Love; this realization [supposedly] occurs in IIIrd Degree OTO and in the degree of a Practicus; both of which work out of the Qabalistic sphere of Hod (Mercury). ... Regarding this realization, Crowley has stated that “Truth is our Path, and the Truth is our Goal; ay! There shall come to all a moment of great Light when the Path is seen to be itself the Goal; and in that hour every one of us shall exclaim : ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’” ... In Third Degree OTO are these immortal words uttered - “I am the Truth, and in my Turban is wrapped nothing but God!” In other words, finding the Holy Grail is not as important as the Quest itself.So, what is the first task?Crowley writes that “the first task of the Aspirant” is “the solution of the question” – “What is my True Will?” Ah, the Secrets of Seventh Degree .... opps, did I say too much? Sadly, with our previous blog discussions on The Book of Lies and Chastity we only laid preliminary studies required to know the secrets of this degree before we got sidetracked by a Practicus who, unable to prove his magickal claims, swore the Oath of the Abyss to get 'beyond' my criticism. So, we never really got around to discussing this degree's Mysteries; nor will we thanks to the failure of this Adept. [at least not in a public forum] The greater tragedy, as brilliant as some of his emails were, this Practicus clearly shows that he doesn't understand VIIth nor any other aspects of HOD, otherwise he wouldn't have done what he claims nor would he continually banter that I am wrong and he is right, that he is not in the Qliphoth of Hod but the Abyss [hee hee]. His 'Quest' is now rooted daily in trying to prove to himself and to others that he is right ... silly rabbit, tricks are for kids. Crowley warns us that if we lack the final secrets [basically how to enter the Abyss] we're "apt to criticise our Will from the outside" .. or by "some Canon of what seems 'right' or 'wrong."' So, dear Practicus, where do you find Truth? And how can a Babe cross the Abyss if he knows not where to look? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:00am Rey Delupos of The Queen of Heaven Clerk House writes "93! Thank you very much for this reminder, Jerry. Fortunately, I do have this as a permanent reminder in my PDA. I shall be raising a nicely chilled glass of Chardonay in Grady's Honor this evening and will be thinking of him throughout the day as I review his poetry and biography. Blessings in Light, Peace and Love to you, Jerry. 93, 93/93 Rey.” ...... Repy; Deepest respect and Love back at ya! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:50am HAPPY GRADYMAS! ... On this day, October 18th in 1918, Grady Louis McMurtry was born in Big Cabin, Oklahoma, which is a little town located in the northeast corner of the state about fifty miles outside of Tulsa. He was a close friend of Jack Parsons, who introduced Grady to the writings of Aleister Crowley. He, along with his wife Claire ‘Tommie’ Halleck Palmer took Minerval and First Degree Initiation into Aleister Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis at Agape Lodge on June 13th 1941. He later claimed that both he and Claire “took to it [the O.T.O.] like ducks to water” and that “we were instinctively at home.” Grady served in World War II. While stationed in England prior to D-Day he met Aleister Crowley who not only made him a IXth Degree initiate but also gave to him his magickal motto: ‘Hymenaeus Alpha.’ In August of 1944 Aleister Crowley sent Grady the first of the infamous Caliphate letters. Crowley felt that if he was the prophet of the New Aeon, of Thelema, as Mohammed was to Islam, then the title ‘Caliph’ fits quite nicely to designate the spiritual aspect of descent while the position of OHO represented the material. Whether or not these two positions could be held by one person was something which Crowley had yet to theoretically work out but he honestly believed that they could. Years later Grady McMurtry would fulfill both the Caliphate and become the beloved Outer Head of Aleister Crowley’s O.T.O. and establish Thelema ‘Grand’ Lodge in October of 1977 in Berkeley, California. He died on July 12, 1985 in California after a long illness. 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.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:40am For the history buffs: Nicholas Culpeper was born on this date in London in 1616. He was a noted astrologer and herbalist who wrote the classic book, Complete Herbal and English Physician. He died of tuberculosis at the relatively young age of 38 on January 10, 1654. ……… and how can not mention the fact that Cyrus Teed was born on this date in Delaware County, New York in 1839. He was a New York doctor and scientist who did unconventional experiments involving dangerously high levels of electricity. During one such experiment he was badly shocked, and was knocked out cold. During his period of unconsciousness, Teed believed that he was visited by a ‘Divine Spirit’ who informed him that he was the second messiah. Inspired by this vision he set about to apply his scientific knowledge to “redeem humanity.” He promptly changed his first name to ‘Koresh,’ being the Hebrew word for Cyrus. Of course, some believe that the heavy dose of electricity that Teed absorbed may have damaged his brain and there might be some validity to this. Following his divine visit Teed’s scientific theories began to get increasingly odd. He openly denounced the idea that the Earth revolved around the sun and instead he pioneered his own theory of the Universe, known as ‘The Hollow Earth Theory.’ According to his theory, human beings live on the inside of the planet, not the outside, gravity did not exist and humans are held in place due by centrifugal force. He believed that the Sun was a giant battery-operated contraption, and that the stars mere refractions of its light. Oddly enough, although denounced by many, Teed’s ideas caught on with some residents of his small town who began calling themselves the Koreshians and who promulgated “Koreshanity.” Many believe that Teed is the father of the ‘Hollow Earth’ theories. He died on December 22, 1908. ……… and to continue on, Richard William Gernon was born on this date in Rochester, New York in 1949. He was known as Frater 831. He served as master of Marcelo Motta’s Mentu Lodge of SOTO in Nashville, Tennessee. He had originally gone to Nashville at the instigation of James Wasserman, where he become an AA Probationer and was eventually passed to Neophyte but like many people he inevitably had a falling out with Motta. He later joined Grady McMurtry’s O.T.O.. He succeeded James Wasserman as Lodge Master of Tahuti Lodge in New York City and was a Bishop of the Ecclesia Gnostic Catholic. He died suddenly on March 15, 1989 in New York City at age 39.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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