~ August 11th - 17th 2009 ~
Monday August 17th 2009 – 7:05pm Ricky writes - "Jerry 93! I am always intrigued by finding new octaves, or more correctly, correlating the Octaves of the Path! In my study of the the Sacred Magic this happened when I realized Liber Pyramidos is a lower Octave of and shadows forth the Abramelin working. and in a sense each of the three Grades of MoE through the Hermit seem to have similar 'ordeals' in different Octaves. This Truly encourages me! By the study of the known one may Divine tiny glimpses of the Unknown! If only we have eyes to See. Sorry, just a burst of joy at the perfection of it all. 93 93/93 Ricky."
Reply: Burst away. I truly enjoy it ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:30pm To address my own question, or why there isn't any 'Circle Squared' degree symbols related to the Abyss; before I get any further stupid emails about parallel universes or Chaos theories, it all has to do with the Angel and Demon. Remember what Aleister Crowley said - “... when the Exempt Adept reaches the Frontier of the Abyss, his Holy Guardian Angel leaves him, and this is the one supreme terror of that passage.” [The 'Blue' Equinox III:1, Liber LXXI, The Voice of The Silence, Section III:24] so, with that in mind; if the Circle represents the Angel and the Square represents the Demonic 'forces' ... well, do I have to paint you a picture? All you have left is the 'square' when you 'jump' into the Abyss! Hence, no circle squared.And I ask myself, "But isn't the square in each symbol of A.'.A.'. grades a reference to the type of lower energy that must be controlled that is rooted in Malkuth?" Why, yes I add, and if you are left with just the square then perhaps there are secrets here ... no? Consider how Saturn is the Qabalistic sphere ruling the grade of Magister Templi and how it rules the card of the Universe. Isn't this path of The Universe located on the Tree of Life uniting Malkuth with Yesod? A wise magician will think on this in relationship to crossing the Abyss. A really wise magician will wonder why it here we find The Dweller on the Threshold! (Liber 777 Col. CLXXXIII). "It encourages me immensely; for if my Dweller on the Threshold be the most formidable devil, how vast must be the Pylon that shelters him, and how glorious must be the Temple beyond!"
John St. John, The Equinox Vol.I No.1 pg.85Note:
1. The phrase 'The Dweller on the Threshold' first appeared in Bulwer-Lytton's novel Zanoni referring to an invisible malevolent entity that attaches to human beings. 2. I should point out that the phrases most often attributed to the path of The Universe are"Cosmic Consciousness" and, more important, "Dominion and Slavery."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:15pm In our never ending struggle to Understand the Magister Templi and the Oath of the Abyss this week I suggest that my readers consider this quote from Magick Without Tears in Chapter 50 - 'A.C. and the "Masters"; Why they Chose him.' "It is most necessary that you should understand what happens when on 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. You must get rid of "all that you have, and all that you are"—that is one way to put it.The Vision and the Voice, Aethyrs XVI—end, gives an immense amount of detail; it must be studied intensely, with diligence, with Will, and with imagination. Not only the attainment of the grade, but the events which go with, or come after, it; all these are described as actual Experience. Even so, it is all extraordinarily difficult until you have been through it yourself."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2:08pm Ben sent an email. He writes - "Jerry, 93 In The Unknown God, p. 50 is the following: '...Crowley told Jones that anyone could assert their right to hold the grade of Magister Templi by swearing the Oath of the Abyss...Crowley saw no fault in one's taking the Oath when it was appropriate in one's path, but it was an extremely serious step, guarded about on all sides with snares set to destroy the presumptuous or the unworthy. In an undated note on the grade of Magister Templi (ca. 1943, HPS Papers) titled "Smith + 8=3" Crowley commented: "Now the rule is that if you claim to be 8=3, you are 8=3! And God help you! You accept the conditions - see Liber 418. If there is one drop of your blood that has not gone into the cup of 156, it corrupts the whole man." It was the only grade of the A.'.A.'. that could be so claimed. To take this step when one was unprepared for the burdens of the grade was to court the most serious danger to health and sanity. Hubris in this manner would be definitely be followed by Nemesis.' So my question is this, what is the context of the quote from Helen's papers? That quote from Crowley does seem to imply that done is done (success vs. Black Brotherhood) when it comes to the Oath of the Magister Templi. I like the way that Mr. Starr has written the whole of the above, because it seems to confirm what we've been talking about this weekend, but I feel that this could be an important point in the future. Also, when Crowley directs the reader to Liber 418 is there a passage in particular, because I immediately inferred the 13th, 7th and 6th Aethyrs?Anyway, cup o' joe around 12.30? We could talk then.93/93 BenReply : I agree, done is done but the question that we have been discussing is whether or not the Practicus even took the proper Oath of the Abyss in the first place - to get it 'done.' ... Crowley does say “A real Magical Oath cannot be broken : you think it can, but it can't. This is the advantage of a real Magical Oath." ... The key word being ‘real’ ... Yes, everything you utter in a magickal setting does comes true but one of the reasons why magicians must keep Magickal Diaries is that it helps ‘define’ things; hence the Intent and it shows us down the road what was really set in motion if the assumed ‘Intent’ doesn’t come true. I met with Ben for coffee around twelve-thirty and we discussed all this in-depth. It appears Helen's quote that is mentioned above is more generic. Ben did make a good point; that I should tell people that they should be very aware of whom they quote and if the authors are A.'.A.'. ... and most important, are they high enough up on the Tree to 'interpret' the area to which they speak. Time and time again we see people, many no higher than Malkuth, speaking from an 'authoritarian' point-of-view as if they 'know' what magicians are really doing specific areas. Also, to answer Ben's earlier question, consider this: "It is very curious; they seem to be looking for one another or for something, all the time, constantly hurrying about. But they knock up against one another and yet will not see one another, or cannot see one another, because they are so shut up in their cloaks. And a voice sounds: It is most terrible for the one that hath shut himself up and made himself fast against the universe. For they that sit encamped upon the sea in the city of the Pyramids are indeed shut up. But they have given their blood, even to the last drop, to fill the cup of BABALON.These that thou seest are indeed the Black Brothers ..." - The Vision & The Voice, 7th Aethyr------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:10am A reminder from Frater T’ai Li Heng - "For some people you can put lipstick on the pig, and it's still a pig." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:45am It's been a long, very amusing weekend; from insanity to utter joy, lots of coffee to numerous pitchers of beer. And I must add, Luna and Leigh brought smiles to my heart this weekend by giving me a huge 18" tall red demon statue. It's great! Kinda fits into my apartment perfectly. If you'd like to see it, click HERE. What do you think? :)- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:45am NEWS: It became official this morning, the National Archives in Britian released the government's complete file on the Rendlesham Forest Incident of December 1980 which is one of Britain's most famous UFO sightings. And without editing it!!! They admit to it being a UFO!!! It was among more than 4,000 pages released documenting 800 alleged encounters during the 1980s and 1990s. It seems that over the past three years the Ministry of Defense has been gradually releasing previously secret UFO papers after facing Freedom of Information demands. Wow!!! You mean UFOs are real? Come on America, when is our government going to come clean and release its files? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:30am I wrote to another student regarding coming through the Abyss and how if you start getting things handed to you on a silver platter it might imply that you are finally accomplishing your True Will and the Universe is working with you ... but, on the other hand - "Ah, the dangers of being in the Abyss; Up in Down, Light is Darkness and just when you think everything is going your way on Malkuth you find a snickering Demon hiding in the shadows. Then, just as you’re about to turn and run, your Demon hands you a diploma into The Black Brotherhood. After all, you’ve accepted his gifts on Malkuth, obviously withholding blood from the Chalice, so what do you expect?" ... Crossing is not as easy as you think. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:06am The Practicus who had the 'Oath of the Abyss' glitch recently sent me a brief email this morning, he writes - "I don't know what I 'want to do' ... but as you pointed out it may take years, if ever, for me to come to 'my senses'... so maybe just let me be for now, to sort things out on my own... for those who will label me just "another example of 'magickal obsession' where a magician inevitably finds the need to move 'on' and is labeled ‘crazy.’"... so be it."Reply: My advice is a lesson that all my students should carefully hear - I wrote: "Yes, it may take you years to 'come to your senses' ... had you taken the Oath of the Abyss ... In your case, it all depends upon how fast you can pick yourself up after the horse has bucked you, dust yourself off and ask your instructor how do I get back on? .... We all make mistakes .... the biggest you’ll make is giving everyone the excuse to label you ‘crazy’ by disappearing; hence running into the Qlipphoth of Hod. My advice is to get off your fucking ego, simply start ‘laughing’ and tell everyone ‘opps’ and move on. Its no biggie! This has been a great learning lesson for you and for others and if you truly want to ‘guide humanity’ as you claim, you’ve offered yourself as an example! ... In the A.’.A.’. there can be no better teacher. Anyway, this has been your first serious ‘glitch’ moving vertical. We’ve all had them; read Crowley’s life, Grady’s and even my own. What has happened to you is nothing special and for the record; you’ll also have other future ‘glitches’ ... nobody, I mean NOBODY climbs the Tree of Life and doesn’t sooner or later stumble. We can only truly judge where our students reside until they fall. Prior to this they can fool us as to their accomplishments. Haven’t I always taught you that according to the Qabalah we don’t belong in the Tree and that nature is constantly trying to ‘right the wrong’ and force us back to the ground? What makes you think you’re so special that you, and you alone, are not ever going to have an ‘opps’ ? An ‘opps’ is like walking into a room full of cute girls in High School with your zipper down. Yes it’s an embarassing moment. Some will laugh at you and yes you’ll want to run and hide ... but four years later does it really matter or is it just a good story? But if you ran off and hide for those four years how much have you miss out on? .... so don’t be stupid."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:50am For the history buffs: Llewellyn George was born on this date in Swansea, Wales in 1876. He is a respected name in American astrology, and his easy-to-use books took the public beyond the simple Sun signs. Many people still calculated and interpreted charts using his A to Z Horoscope Maker. In 1906, he established ‘Llewellyn Publishing,’ which is one of the oldest occult publishers is still around. Their annual Moon Sign Book, first published in 1906, is still relied on by farmers and homemakers as well as by astrologers for its invaluable advice on timing. Llewellyn George, who had been suffering from poor health for quite some time, died at age 78 on July 11, 1954 in Los Angeles, CA. …...…. And speaking of birthdays, Mae West was born on this date in Brooklyn in 1892. Much can be said about Mae West but her wisdom says it all. She wrote and delivered some of the greatest immortal lines ever recorded, like: “It’s not the men in my life, it’s the life in my men,” or “It is better to be looked over than overlooked.” She further demonstrated her talent for double entendre in her signature line: “A hard man is good to find.” And who can forget these lines? “When I’m good, I’m good. When I’m bad, I’m very good,” or “I used to be Snow White but I drifted.” However, my personal favorite quote is; “When choosing between two evils I always like to take the one I’ve never tried before.” …..….. and to continue; Ed Sanders was born on this date in Kansas City, Missouri in 1939. He and Tuli Kupferberg founded the musical band called The Fugs in 1964 which was a joyously chaotic blend of Beat-style lyrics and political rants. Many consider The Fugs as an important cultural bridge between the Beat Era and the 1960s. Sanders is also the author of the classic book on Charles Manson titled The Family. Although, it has been written that this book “though invaluable to the Mansonologist for its fetishistic information, a little Sanders goes a long way.” …...…. And finally, David Koresh was born on this date as Vernon Wayne Howell in Houston, Texas in 1959. When he was 20, he turned to the Church of Seventh Day Adventists but was inevitably expelled for being a bad influence on the young people. Sometime during the next few years, Koresh went to Hollywood to become a rock star but nothing came of this and, in 1981, he went to Waco, Texas. Here he joined the Branch Davidians, a religious sect which in 1935 had settled 10 miles outside of Waco. Soon, Koresh had an affair with then-prophetess Lois Roden who was in her late sixties. The two even traveled to Israel together. When Lois Roden died, a power struggle began between Koresh and Lois Roden’s son George. For a short time, Koresh retreated with his followers to eastern Texas but in 1987 he returned to Mount Carmel in camouflage with seven male followers, armed with five .223 caliber semiautomatic assault rifles, two .22 caliber rifles, two 12-gauge shotguns and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition. During the ensuing gunfight, Roden was shot in the chest and hands. Koresh and his followers went on trial for attempted murder, seven were acquitted and a mistrial was declared in Koresh’s case. By 1990 Koresh had become the leader of the Branch Davidians and legally changed his name, saying on the court document that the change was “for publicity and business purposes.” He said the switch arose from his belief that he was now head of the biblical House of David. Koresh being the Hebrew transliteration of Cyrus, the name of the Persian king who allowed the Jews held captive in Babylon to return to Israel. After the Jonestown fiasco federal officials (ATF) got wind that the Davidians had failed to pay taxes on a bunch of machine guns that they possessed. So they mounted the now-infamous raid on the Mount Carmel complex in February 1993 which cost ten lives, four of them ATF agents. This was followed by a 51-day siege, coordinated under the auspices of the FBI. The siege ended only when Attorney General Janet Reno ordered that the Branch Davidians be hauled out by force, using FBI extraction teams backed by snipers and tanks which lead to the infamous day of April 19, 1993 when the Branch Davidian church outside of Waco, Texas was burnt to the ground. In the end, nineteen men, thirty-four women and twenty-three children died that day, including David Koresh.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday August 16th 2009 – 6:45pm Ricky writes - "Dear Jerry 93! I was writing a tome on this question I have regarding Grady and the Abyss and decided that it was stupid so I'll just sum it up. Who did Grady get this guidance/ interpretation of the Oath from? It seems his Superior was in no way fitted to give it. Could it have been analogous to the OTO grades of VII and VIII in that they represent sort of a Macro-cosmic mirror of the event? Or was it pure Gnosis? 93 93/93 Ricky ."
Reply: Great question. Grady was taught magick by Crowley who admits that he taught Grady more magickal theory (especially about OTO) than anyone in his entire life. It is no secret that nearing the end of his life he felt the need to teach someone the secrets of 'how to interpret' his works before it died with him. Grady was all ears. Grady was also a close personal friend of Jack Parsons who swore the Oath of the Abyss, and in the old days, even right up until Grady's death, magickal theory was openly discussed and talked about amongst magicians. ... Basically, once you got some insight into 'how' to read Crowley his teachings unfold to you and in the past, everyone benefited by what each other read and experienced. We are trying to do this again on our blog; teaching theory etc. This 'openness of teaching magick' in the OTO became frowned upon after Fra. HB took over the Order in 1985 and for well over fifteen years or so we entered a dark period of discussions and writing about magickal theory. Everyone seemed more concerned with politics and who hated HB, why, and who was the real OTO bla bla bla ... As for the A.'.A.'. - Grady always said that a Third Degree OTO initiate should become a Probationer ... and yes, VIIth & VIIIth degree OTO is the horizontal to the AA's vertical and this is why, once its secrets became known as to how and why this is so, many of the old Agape Lodge members decided to swear the Oath of the Abyss upon assuming IXth Degree. The most famous being Jack Parsons. .... Many of them, of course, failed. This was because they didn't have the secrets behind VIIth & VIIIth Degree or the foundation stones; only Grady knew those ... and by the time he got back from World War II he had a falling out with some of them and he simply had no interest in sharing the vital info. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:45pm Although the whole book is great, consider a few of these quotes from Book 4 from the Sangreal Foundation, Inc (Dallas, Tx 1972) edition : "The Master of the Temple asks, on seeing a slug: 'What is the purpose of this message from the Unseen? How shall I interpret this Word of God Most High?' " - pgs. 76-77"A real Magical Oath cannnot be broken : you think it can, but it can't.This is the advantage of a real Magical Oath." - pg. 81"All impressions are disconnected, as the Babe of the Abyss is so terribly aware; and the Master of the Temple must sit for 106 seasons in the City of the Pyramid because this coordination is a tremendous task." - pg. 84"The Master of the Temple, whose grade corresponds to Binah, is sworn to "interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with my soul." But even the beginner may attempt this practice with advantage." - pgs. 85-86"And so we find once more that the Ego-idea must be ruthlessly root out before Understanding can be attained.There is an apparent contradiction between this attitude and that of the Master of the Temple. What can possibly be more selfish than this interpretation of everything as the dealing of God with my soul? But it is God who is all and not any part : and every 'dealing' must thus be an expansion of the soul, a destruction of its separateness." - pg. 86"The Master of the Temple has crossed the Abyss, has entered the Palace of the King's Daughter; he has only to utter one word, and all is dissolved. But, instead of that, he is found hidden in the earth, tending a garden." - pg. 88------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:00pm Regarding the Abyss, consider this section from Liber vel Thisharbsub figura CMXIII in Magick in Theory & Practice :0. This book is not intended to lead to the supreme attainment. On thecontrary, its results define the separate being of the Exempt Adept from the rest of the Universe, and discover his relation to thatUniverse. 1. It is of such importance to the Exempt Adept that We cannot overrateit. Let him in no wise adventure the plunge into the Abyss until he haveaccomplished this to his most perfectest satisfaction. 2. For in the Abyss no effort is anywise possible. The Abyss is passed byvirtue of the mass of the Adept and his Karma. Two forces impel him:the attraction of Binah, the impulse of his Karma; and the ease and even the safety of his passage depend on the strength and direction ofthe latter. 3. Should one rashly dare the passage, and take the irrevocable Oath ofthe Abyss, he might be lost therein through Aeons of incalculableagony; he might even be thrown back upon Chesed, with the terribleKarma of failure added to his original imperfection. 4. It is even said that in certain circumstances it is possible to fall ltogether from the Tree of Life, and to attain the Towers of the BlackBrothers. But We hold that this is not possible for any adept who hastruly attained his grade, or even for any man who has really sought tohelp humanity even for a single second, and that although his aspirationhave been impure through vanity or any similar imperfection. 5. Let then the Adept who finds the result of these meditationsunsatisfactory refuse the Oath of the Abyss, and live so that his Karma gains strength and direction suitable to the task at some future period. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:45am Mike writes and amusing email, part of which he asks - “You have stated that it is not your views that he took the Oath of the Abyss, why so and if not, what is happening to him that seemingly has you concerned?” Reply: Like all teachers, we rely on what we know; by what we’ve been taught by our teachers, by what we’ve read and of our own personal experiences first hand. Grady always told me to ‘write’ things very carefully after taking the Oath because each ‘Word’ becomes part of your Soul’s unconscious affirmation toward your conscious success or not in crossing the desert of sand. If your ‘Word’ implies even one Iota toward what YOU want to achieve, or me, me, me, me, me, then you are holding back drops of blood from the Chalice of Babalon (Binah). You fail. In fact, you cannot even enter the Abyss with this attitude; its one of its fail safe mechanism. You must enter it correctly. ... The Abyss, although it must be discussed in such a manner for people to understand, is NOT all about you. What is happening to this Practicus? I’ve seen this pattern before, most teachers have. He’s is not in the Abyss but simply in the Qlippoth of Hod; bathed in the Intellectual Pit of Because trying to ‘justify’ to ‘himself’, more so than to us, that he’s right and everyone else is wrong ... it’s a classic text book example of a magickal ‘obsessive’ meltdown. He can’t even become a Black Brother because in theory he’s never really entered the Abyss ... and tragically, unless he comes to his senses, his ‘magickal obsession' will inevitably force him to move 'on' and away from the the A.’.A.’. ... In the case of a magickal obsession this is because a person’s ego defense kicks into over-drive; they can’t face their phantoms and vaniquish a growing ego, so they often run off to create their own Order so that they can rewrite the Magickal Laws to prove their own greatness while indirectly hiding their inability to fulfill something correctly. This new quest often has them seeking out others who’ll believe them and of course, these will be people whom are always on Malkuth. Anyway, knowing this Practicus who recently attempted to swear the Oath of the Abyss, this is not his destiny. He's too good for that. I suspect him and I will be sitting here at a local bar tossing down a pitcher of beer and having a good laugh over this someday. So you ask - "Is there hope for him?" Of course, all serious magicians have ‘glitches’ or occasional magickal meltdowns. It’s why we need teachers; to pick us up, dust us off, blow our nose and point us toward where we should be going ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:40am Jay writes - "93 Jerry, As far as Liber OS Abysmi goes, I can confirm absolutely that this works. When I was about 19 I did this working on accident (I had actually never heard of it as yet, though even then I considered myself a Thelemite). I was looking to major in philosophy at the time and was wholy immersed in picking apart all ofknowledge, reality, language and ego. The catalyst was a night of that peculiar dissasociative known as Salvia Divinorum. I spent the entire next day trying to convince myself that tangible reality was real, that my body was real; I had intellectually disintegrated everything we commonly take for "reality." Even then I remember feeling that I had somehow begun to edge into the Abyss and, recognizing the danger, did everything in my power to tether myself back to Malkuth. Fortunately the struggle only lasted about two days. It's interesting to consider this "Mouth of the Abyss or Knowledge." Even then I recognized that what I was "attaining" was truly Knowledge, but I was far from prepared to assimilate it. It doesn't help that I had done this operation by accident and being unprepared to confront Choronzon head-on I had no choice but to turn and flee... Love, Jay 93 93/93."Reply: I've been married before, I understand ...------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:25am In regards to my 8:45am posting one initiate, who wishes to remain anonymous, talked to me on the phone from just down the street and said something along the lines that at least the fire of the burning Practicus is bright enough so that he can clearly see his way now! ... Ouch! ... Another person, or maybe it was me, is advising people to bring marshmallows. ... Sadly, since he was just a Practicus when he threw himself on the fire, the smoke is blowing downhill and hence, we're all choking and gagging from the fall-out. [I hope he realizes we're not laughing at him, but with him?]"The common defect of all mystical systems to that of the Aeon whose Law is Thelema is that there has been no place for Laughter." - Aleister Crowley. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:20am For those interested, read - Liber OS ABYSMI vel Daath, Svb Figvra CDLXXIV (474). Crowley says it is "An instruction in a purely intellectual method of entering the Abyss." It is known as The Book of the Mouth of the Abyss or of Knowledge (Daath). You can also find it listed on our ‘Contents’ page.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:10am Mick writes this brilliant gem, with great personal insights - "Jerry 93. Hope all went well yesterday and recent perturbations can be turned into a powerful learning process for everyone effected. I'm certainly paying attention. In a lot of ways many of the topics/events you've been teaching from over the past year have resonances in my own past history with a certain "fraternity." Being able to observe and learn has been enormously helpful in clarifying their motivations and actions toward me. Unknowingly at various times I've found myself somewhat cast in the roles being played out now in the A:.A:.. I'm pretty frequently finding myself saying, "Ah! So that's what was going on there! That's what they thought I was all about!" Fortunately for me, my intentionality has been quite a bit removed from what was perceived and so I've (more or less by heart) been able to maintain my integrity in the face of it. But these days I'm becoming more aware of some of the dynamics that happen in occult orders - legitimate and otherwise. To think now that I ever took the Oath of the Abyss myself, intented to, or even conceived of what it meant is patently absurd in the light of better understanding my journey so far. It's as if the ordeals I've gone through have been the result of that order's phantoms clashing with my own phantoms; not a spiritual process at all but a deadly, costly role-playing game for all concerned - apparently. I now consider my magickal life up to this point as a kind of simulated trial run - a Kether in Malkuth moment in eternity, if you will. Whether or not I will in ernest ever take such an oath myself seems quite far ahead of me now. And if I ever do, I think I'll do it when the forces of my discipline and training have gathered to a tangibly focused pitch - and under the personal counsel of my immediate teacher. I think the signs will be there when the time is ripe. Perhaps being able to recognize those signs is the main purpose of developing one's own highly individualized language of conversation with the so-called HGA and knowing when it's time to cut the tether.Knowing and communicating when the student's cycles of development are at their fullness is the responsibility of both the teacher and the student. I believe now the two must be in conscious harmony for the Oath to be in effect.What is the Abyss? What is that tractless emptiness beyond the stars? What is the Desert of the Real? How does the experience play out in the student's psyche and in the horizontal field of action? I'll have to contemplate that some more before I try to express my own perceptions on the matter.I remember there's a section in The Vision and the Voice that deals with the experience of the Abyss, and although the entire Book of Lies is a handbook for the so-called Babe of the Abyss, could you direct me to a particularly pertinent lie or two I might mine for clues? Any assistance is appreciated.Mick 93 93/93Reply: I like to have students read Frater Achad's Liber CLXV titled 'A Master of the Temple' which is found in The 'Blue' Equinox Vol.III No.1 pgs. 128-170. It has great insights throughout and although the journey is always different for each one of us, his path still offers you the flavor of the journey. Also, read Regardie’s The Eye in the Triangle pages 329-337. We'll also be posting other references on this blog as this topic continues to unfold. I think it is going to be a 'hot' topic ...------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:45am Mary, apparently angrily, wants to know if "we expelled this Practicus who went behind your back" and "is he doomed in your magickal Order" ...Reply: Good questions. Absolutely not, he's not expelled. It would be utterly tragic on our part, when a student hits, in this case his first 'glitch', to simply discard him. No, he's going through a difficult period and as I already told him, I am here for him, to walk him out of a silly predicament that he's walked himself into. The saving grace is that this Practicus really didn't swear the Oath of the Abyss so he doesn't have to deal with any really karmic slaps (mentioned in earlier emails today) outside of simply being silly. Who hasn't done something magickcaly silly in their lifetime? If not, then you can negatively criticize this young pup, but if you have, then offer your hand so he doesn't fall off the mountain. To explain, I wrote - " ... Like many who might accidentally read the Oath of the Abyss out of a book or some magician who thinks that they can simply utter the Oath in a magickal setting and it will set it automatically in motion ... your saving grace is that you really didn’t take the Oath. ... Your last email and previous only reads as text book examples of Crowley stating why he could hand a typist some sexual doctrine without fear of abuse, or why a child could read incantations out of magickal grimoires, or why some foolhardy could take a Magickal Oath ... and nothing at all happens to any of them. Its called training, they all lack knowing the proper ‘Intent’ behind the incantation or how they must ‘think’; especially in the case of the Oath of the Abyss in order for it to project your soul into this area. Yes, it is said that if you ‘TAKE’ the Oath it is irrevocable, but the key word here is that you didn’t take ‘The’ Oath. You simply took what you assumed to be your interpretation of such as your goal from the point of view of someone low on the Tree; which I might add is text book wrong but, in truth, it is exactly how many people interpret it. Thankfully this ‘safeguard’ is in place; otherwise we’d have lots of people running around and frying out there. ... This is why I wanted you to define your interpretation of the Oath. I needed to see, as your immediate superior in the Order, what you had ‘actually’ set in motion by what you ‘thought’ the Oath involves. Although noble, it’ll hardly throw you into the Abyss. Sorry. We should talk more. There is no shame in being silly, we’ve all done it before. There is only shame in knowing the Truth and ceasing to ignore it because your ego won’t let you face the obvious phantom you’ve unleashed. But, at least now we know what your inevitable aspiration is and we can guide you more correctly toward this goal. The bottom line, by ‘thinking’ incorrectly you did a ritual hoping for ‘Money’ but all you’re going to find is a penny. Something will always happen in magick but what you set in motion is purely Malkuthian; no higher. If you truly understood the ‘simplicity’ behind the ‘Intent’ of what the Oath implies, you sit back and go, “Ah, damn ... ” I wish you had come to me earlier, I could have guided you better but at least you have been saved [this time around] and for that I am thankful. I do not want to lose you."The bottom line, perhaps this Practicus' unconscious purpose unbeknownst to even himself has not been so much to actually take the Oath as to force us in our A.'.A.'. lineage to 'define' this process more carefully. For that we can only be thankful to him because, as all in the Inner Order know, we learn by example. He has thrown himself on the fire for other's sake down the road. Now that is noble. For this reason, we cannot expel him, nor think ill of him. He's still a magician, a Thelemite and most of all ... a friend.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:20am To Luis .... "Here is a quote to all those 'thinking' about taking the Oath of the Abyss, it is one of Aleister Crowley's first warnings of obvious failure (prior to even taking it). Grady told me to read this and study certain things before taking the Oath. If I fail to fulfill this simple task, the Oath was all but impossible."... it is the A.'.A.'., whose members are extremely careful to make no statement at all that cannot be verified in the usual manner; or where this is not easy, at least avoid anything like a dogmatic statement." Aleister Crowley
The quote above is from Book Four the Chapter VI on Dhyana. Also, do you have a copy of Regardie’s The Eye in the Triangle? If so, review pages 329-337. It’ll explain more."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:45am Dave Solina from Florida sent me this email, sorta fitting - "93 oops.... I need to slow down. I did find this amuzing.Enjoy 93 93/93 David------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:30am Greg writes - "Dear Jerry, 93 I just read your latest blog entry on the subject of "The Oath of the Abyss?" and an idea came into my mind about the possible nature of what is implied. Liber AL states that "Every man and every woman is a star." I asked myself, what happens to a star in space when it goes through a cataclysmic change? It becomes a black hole, sucking all light and matter into it's center. Is that what is meant when Grady told you that you may kill him? That he may be unavoidably drawn-in to the event horizon? This would also reflect in the fact that other people around you would be affected too? I am seeing that to take the Oath of the Abyss is the equivalent of a star going through this massive change to come out the other side as something of a completely different nature. Am i on the right track or is this Malkuthian thinking? 93 93/93 GreigReply: Greg see my earlier posting today at 7:00am on this topic but when I mentioned about how Grady told me - 'I could kill him' by taking the Oath ... It is because, if he has to put his ‘thought’ back into the Abyss (as you can do with any area on the Tree once you’ve accomplished it) then his own Angel would have to step aside while he was focusing on how to guide me properly. In other words, Grady’s Angelic side could not immerse itself into Chaos. So part of the symbiotic relationship of teacher-student is for the teacher to carefully prepare himself so that the student's actions don't knock him off the mountain. Simple enough.If this does not occur, and the student goes behind the teacher's back to swear the Oath it could be catastrophic. If, out of the blue, the teacher finds this out it is only naturally for him to immediately scream "What the fuck!" and then, in thinking about his student's actions, wham, he too is back into an area he may or may not wanted to be. He's unprepared.It has taken me over a week to re-center myself after this Practicus in our lineage, behind my back, decided to take the Oath of the Abyss. Whether or not he actually swore 'the' correct Oath or not, it still affected me and all week long I was faltering on Malkuth with silly ‘accidents.’ Like me walking off the curb the other day and almost being hit by a car by inches. My mind was so swimming with thoughts of him, how to guide him etc, that I almost did something really stupid that would have cost me my life. I also walked into a door jam going to the bathroom just after typing an email off to him, I even clumsily dropped a glass in the kitchen smashing it, I also broke my favorite cereal bowl on another day. All week long I’ve not been ‘focused’ on Malkuth. It's as if my head has been in the clouds. I can easily do something really 'dangerous' if I do not get myself 'focused.' ... This Practicus' actions have forced me back into an area of the Tree I’m not sure I was ready to deal with again; although I’m feeling far more comfortable with it now but his actions are so ego oriented and selfish; never once thinking about others. Even others in our A.'.A.'. close to this Practicus has been doing ‘stupid’ things all week. And as I wrote in the earlier posting - "... this Practicus writes how his intent is of "guiding humanity forward... and as you have taught me... if I can provide even one stepping stone for anyone in their path... then I have done much." ... Ya, like he'll succeed just fine, I say sarcastically shaking my head in disbelief. He is carrying such a karmic weight by his actions (and words) that it will be insurmountable for him to achieve anything ... so anyone thinking about taking this Oath in the future; think about others around you FIRST! Remember, if you've convinced yourself that you're taking the Oath of the Abyss for the sake of humanity, you'll only achieve shit as you stand on a mountain peak built metaphorically on the corspes of your friends, students and teacher.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:15am In regards to August 13ths posting, Heather writes - "Jerry 93! Jerri and I aren't actually disagreeing w/each other and think we both knew that.. I was just trying to point out that I don't believe that the "angel" that we referring to in this discussion IS the same as the H.G.A. We indeed live in a world of dualities and that we have to navigate all by ourselves and ultimately have to come to terms with how to reconcile this fact. I think the "angel" and the "demon" are just the two different aspects of ourselves that result from existing on this plane. The angel represents our highest intentions but can be tainted by the holier than thou morality concepts that were instilled upon us by over-zealous religious figures if we were raised in a Christian environment. The demon could represent the aspect of ourselves that is actually trying to be true to oneself just as much as that which desires to be over-indulgent and careless! I don't know who Bob and Carol are but I like to call mine the sinner and the saint... Then there is that which exists outside of the double standards, the 3rd mind, or that which can be heard above and beyond this realm once one has reconciled these Malkuthian influences.So I can never read the top part of you blog (topic of the week) on my browser for some reason because it's superimposed on top of other text. I'm excited to discuss the Oath of the Abyss though because it's a topic that I've certainly done quite a bit of psycho babbling about in the past and look forward to attempting it once more to see if I can't be clear about it now! Will you copy cut/paste it for me into an email so I can get to all the questions you presented? Thanks 93 93/93 HeatherReply: I know; I just like to have fun at times. Its my Cancer Sun, Jupiter in the First House. If you can't read part of the blog you probably use a Mac or Apple; they're incompatible with most of the world.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:00am Ricky writes - "Jerry 93, First let me say that I am no where near an Exempt Adept so for the most part I am definitely talking out of my ass. But my understanding in regards to this Oath is similar to any other Magical Oath. It is between one and ones Angel and it binds one forever to its intent. so I would say yes, it is irrevocable. I don't think you can say, "oh sorry buddy, I didn't mean that" to you Angel. I am not sure if one is thrown instantly into the Abyss. For all I know it could be a gradual realization but one thing is certain, well certain by the testimony of those who have been there. Ones Angle immediately steps aside. It may be that you stand there and look at Her/Him for a bit before you jump, or it may be that your Angle boots your ass out there, I don't know. But if your Angel 'leaves' you then it would be like chaos anyway. With no guidance from above one would be like a ship with no compass or more appropriately a wanderer in an endless Desert of night with no stars to guide you. You said that Grady told you that "you could kill [him]". I have never thought of this side of the Oath of the Abyss. With a student teacher relationship, (which ever one you might be) there is a sort of bond. Within a vertical school such as A.'.A.'. this bond runs deeper than just emotion respect, it is a bond of universes. I think it must be something like a hanging string of pearls. Your superior is above you and your students are below. If the middle pearl explodes then it can damage all others in various ways. Or like in the case of Jack Parsons you could really explode and maybe take your superior with you... :)Like I said earlier, I'm not sure, I just think...93 93/93 RickyReply. When a student begins a sentence by saying "First let me say that I am no where near an Exempt Adept so for the most part I am definitely talking out of my ass", it shows a level head. Good, stay smart. ... We have someone in our A.'.A.'. lineage who was positioned in the sphere of Hod as a Practicus who recently, behind everyone's back including his superior, took the Oath of the Abyss and then afterwards explained why he felt the need to do this and what it means to him. I just wrote to him last night saying - "Still, most of what you write has nothing to do with the Abyss. I guess I’m not getting through to you. What is sad is that you say that you haven’t taken ‘an’ oath for any egotistical reasons but, on the other hand you are indirectly saying that Crowley, Parsons, Grady and myself are all wrong with what the Oath actually entails and that you, and you alone, a low initiate no higher than the sphere of Hod, knows the truth as to what it ‘really’ implies; therefore you jumped and swore the Oath ‘correctly’ ?" ... Ricky, the reason we are having this talk on the blog is that I occassionally see a student tragically misunderstanding what the taking of the Oath implies and I thought, if I could just awaken a few other students somewhere out there in the world to be 'smart', then this discussion over the week will be worth it.Aleister Crowley - “... when the Exempt Adept reaches the Frontier of the Abyss, his Holy Guardian Angel leaves him, and this is the one supreme terror of that passage.” ... and crossing the desert of sand takes approximately four years for what Crowley carefully describes to Frater Achad as 'connecting the wires.' FOUR YEARS WITHOUT ANGELIC GUIDANCE.You analogy about how 'Grady told you that "you could kill [him]" is very good. For quite some time before I actually took the Oath Grady carefully prepared not only myself, but him and those around me. If the theory is correct; that a teacher moves forward by the actions of his students and they in turn are pulled up by his ... then what happens to a person's students if he decided to skip numerous spheres (mountain peaks) and jump into the Abyss? He can not pull them up to where he now thinks he should reside and they’ll only hold him back by their weight - the alternative? Magickally, in effect, he must cut them loose in order for himself to be successful. This was the old mountain climbing analogy that Grady always used of two people on a rope climbing the mountain (i.e. teacher and student). The teacher can only go so high until the rope becomes tight; he then must assist the student upward a few more rocks so that he too can advance. Had our recent Practicus discussed with us his ‘ambitions’ to take the Oath before doing so, as Grady did with me, I would have immediately explained what he had to do and pulled his students away from him so that he could succeed. ... but he didn't do this, he simply slit their throats and selfishly thought of only himself, not them. We're now trying hard to 'grab his student's hands' so that they don't tumble and luckily we're pulling them to safety. ... Sadly, this Practicus writes how his intent is of "guiding humanity forward... and as you have taught me... if I can provide even one stepping stone for anyone in their path... then I have done much." ... First of all, I never taught him to cast his students to the wind like they were unwanted clothes. Grady warned me that if I did such these 'loose ends' (rope) would carry such a karmic weight that it would be insurmountable for me to achieve in the Abyss. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:40am For the history buffs: Aleister Crowley married Maria Teresa de Miramar in Germany on this date in 1929. His new Scarlet Woman was also called ‘The High Priestess of Voodoo’. It has been said that “Crowley had only married Maria in the first place for the same reason he had married Rose, as a joke.” The marriage would not last and Maria would return to Nicaragua and die in a seedy hotel room of an overdose of heroin. …...…. And it was on August 16, 1951 that the French village of Pont-St-Espirit began its day of ‘St. Anthony’s Fire’. It started when villagers began eating rye bread moldy with an LSD-like ergot which was enough to create over two hundred reported cases of monstrous and terrifying hallucinations throughout the village, resulting in four deaths. …...….. on this date, August 16, 1996, near Bandirpur, Uttar Pradesh, India ten-year old Sita Devi reportedly saw a bizarre ‘werewolf’ like creature run across the grass on all four paws and grabbed her fourteen-year old brother. The creature then rose up; standing on two legs and became as tall as a man. The girl reported that the ‘werewolf’ threw her brother over its shoulders after he had apparently killed him. The creature then ‘mutated and reportedly wore a black coat, a helmet & a pair of goggles. In the same region since early July over thirty-three other children had vanished without a trace. Local villagers blamed their disappearances on “white wolves” or werewolves. …....…. And finally, the evil African dictator Idi Amin, died on this date in 2003. He was born in 1925 near Koboko, in the West Nile Province of what is now the Republic of Uganda. He ran his country into the ground before being ousted, he killed thousands of his own countrymen and legend has him involved in Kakwa blood rituals and cannibalism.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday August 15th 2008 – 6:30am For the history buffs: Thomas De Quincey was born on this date in the industrial city of Manchester, Lancashire in 1785. He was an English essayist and critic, best-known for his autobiography simply called the Confessions of an English Opium Eater, which first appeared in 1821 in the London Magazine. De Quincey was addicted to opium from his youth until his death. His influence on such writers as Poe and Baudelaire, and a number of readers tempted to experiment with opium, has been immense and notorious. In his autobiography he wrote, “If opium-eating be a sensual pleasure, and if I am bound to confess that I have indulged in it to an excess, not yet recorded of any other man, it is no less true, that I have struggled against this fascinating enthrallment with a religious zeal, and have, at length, accomplished what I never yet heard attributed to any other man - have untwisted, almost to its final links the accursed chain which fettered me.” He died in 1859 and was buried in Edinburgh, beside his wife and his two children. ….....…. Charles Godfrey Leland was born on this date in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1824. His greatest legacy lives on through his book Aradia or Gospel of the Witches (1889). It is the first major book claiming to contain material obtained directly from a practicing witch and is considered one of the most influential works to affect and influence modern Witchcraft and Wicca. He died on March 20, 1903. ….....…. And it was on August 15, 1973 that Students of the Monastery of the Seven Rays form the body of the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua (O.T.O.A.) which linked itself ‘officially’ to Aleister Crowley’s 93 Current, or so the twisted maze of Michael P. Bertiaux’s history claims, according to some sources. …...….. and on August 15, 1977 Raymond A. Palmer, born in 1910, the editor of Amazing Stories and the co-founder of FATE magazine, died at this home in Florida …….... and finally, on August 15, 1996, in the middle of the night in La Grange Georgia, a woman, sleeping with her 6-year old granddaughter on the other side of the bed, woke to hear her granddaughter coughing. She noticed that the girl was experiencing a nosebleed, she woke her, cleaned her up and they went back to sleep. About fifteen minutes later the woman reported that she rolled over to look at her granddaughter and saw a tall “angel-like” creature standing over her on the other side of the bed. She described the entity as being a tall female, with unusual blond curly hair and wearing a white robe. After about thirty seconds the entity disappeared and about fifteen minutes later it returned and stood next to the girl again. This time the entity had an Afghan type wrap spread between her outstretched hands, as she intended to wrap the girl up in it. The entity seemed to approach the little girl then suddenly vanished. During the encounter the woman felt that the entity meant absolutely no harm and was only trying to help her granddaughter. Unknown if related, but around the same time a mutilated hog was found hanging over a nearby road bridge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday August 14th 2009 – This is just a reminder that there is no 'OPEN' house tonight at Love Sake Clerk House but all local members are still invited to drop by if they'd like. ... Outsiders cannot attend due to the subject matter being discussed. Please pass the word around. Thank you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:15am Has anyone besides me ever heard the old Firesign Theatre album titled DEAR FRIENDS? They were a comedy troupe which began as live radio performers in Los Angeles during the mid-1960s. Their first album was released in 1968 but DEAR FRIENDS, their 5th album, has my favorite comedy skit on it. It is called 'Duke of Madness Motors' and it is supposedly (wink wink) “Written and performed by Aleister Crowley.” The entire skit is Aleister Crowley introducing himself and then trying to sell you a used car from the lot where he is working at The Duke of Madness Motors on the edge of the Abyss. But buyer beware! Check your CarFax to be sure that what you think you're getting will actually take you across the desert of sand! Not all cars are what they seem!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:50am am For the history buffs: FUDOSI (Federatio Universalis Dirigens Ordines Societatesque Initiationis) was established on this date in Brussels, Belium in 1934. FUDOSI was an attempt to create an autonomous federation of all true mystical orders and protect themselves and the people from frauds. It described its mission as being “to protect the sacred liturgies, rites and doctrines of the traditional initiatory Orders from being appropriated and profaned by clandestine organizations.” Sadly, due to much in-house fighting, the Order was dissolved in 1951. ……. And on August 14, 1948, for no apparent reason, frogs fell out of a clear blue sky on this date in Merionethshire, Wales.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday August 13th 2009 – 1:15pm Jerri replied to Asraiya's 10:05am posting. She writes - "Jerry 93, Hehehe...Heather may think she disagrees with me but the way I see it, we're saying a very similar thing in different language. One thing I would like to point out though, is that the messages we each receive from our Daemons comes to us totally differently, and we each deal with it differently. We can call these opposing forces within, Narcissists and Martyrs, we can call them Bob and Carol, Want and Will...it doesn't matter, call it whatever helps you to understand the energy. Just realize how the forces work within you as an individual Star and understand how you deal with those said forces. The messages for one person and the way they grasp them and/or accept them will never be the same for anyone else. We are ALL alone on this journey up the Holy Mountain, there is no other way it can be, but we can use each other as guides and signposts along the way... 93 93/93 Jerri."
Reply: Had I said this ... well, men will understand what I'm saying ...------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:05am Another of my students in Love Sake Clerk sent me this email. She writes - "Jerry 93! So I'm gonna dare to disagree with Jerri because I'm wired that way. I do not find myself trying to referee between 2 opposing forces inside much at all. I absolutely Want to do my Will and nothing else, and can we get on with it now please? I've been under oath/contract since before I came incarnate, and I renewed or reaffirmed it again when I was @20 before no one but Great Spirit and myself on top of Bell Rock (Sedona, Az) There was no reason for a witness because no one could ever validate that I held up my end of the bargain no matter what. Frankly they would only allow me to skimp out a little bit because I'm quite skilled in manipulating people of authority.. I'm the only one who will truly be able to hold me accountable. I'm not saying there's not something that likes to chit chit chatter away in my brain but as far as I can tell one's a total narcissist, and the other has a full on martyr complex! I have no idea which one is less rooted in the ego really.. They both have a seat on the short bus and are really quite proud of it. I'm just sick and tired of having to put on a facade each and everyday and pretend like I don't know what's going on really.. The narcissist freaks out about how much I have to self medicate in order to walk around essentially lying to everybody while the holy martyr freak is all for getting thrown into the loony bin as if it were punk rock civil disobedience or something... Intuition is another thing entirely. Maybe I have a unique (give me a cookie..) perspective at the moment because I just went through the (and am still going actually..) the most ridiculously intense natal Sun transits that made it all screamingly obvious to me.. I was having this utterly overwhelming cognitive dissonance thing that made me completely baffled by how uncomfortable I was to even be in my skin.. I was scared to death I might walk right into some oncoming traffic because I couldn't think about anything but the fate of the world and any attempt to stifle it so I could, I dunno walk to the store to get something to eat, gave me an anxiety attack.. BUT during all of this crazy shit my HGA came through crystal clearly! It would like make an announcement to me over a loud speaker/intercom 1-2 a day and tell me things like I need to hire an astrologer and get a professional in depth reading done (so I would learn there was nothing necessarily wrong w/me all things considering) or to schedule a massage/reiki appt. asap because I needed some help with all that energy that was about to blow out my heart chakra indeed.. (okay so I think the good one might be the narcissist sense it almost seems selfish to me to cater to my own well being.. but I intellectually realize that's more than just acceptable but more like crucial since this is the only vehicle I get without which I'll fail at least for the time being...) Hmm.. hope you can follow whatever the hell I've been trying to say so I don't have to battle my insecurity that I'm psycho babbling again when I'm not sure how much longer I can sit behind the veil so somebody has got to be ready with me!? The only thing I really Want is to not have to do this alone.. but I Will if I have to undoubtedly 93 93/93 peace, Asraiya."Reply: Two women, a Pisces and an Aquarius - disagreeing ... do I get in the middle and offer my two cents? ... Let me think :/ .... Oh, excuse me, I hear my phone ringing. I have to go ...------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:45am The NEWS: Guitar Legend Les Paul died today; he was known for an incredibly successful recording career and as the inventor of the electric guitar and multitrack recording, he was 94.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:45am For the history buffs: The Italian Inquisitor Bernardo Rategno, having studied the witch trial records preserved in the archives of the Inquisition at Como, wrote a text called the Tractatus de Strigibus in 1508. In this he states that the “witches sect” in Italy had begun to expand 150 years earlier due to a woman named Aradia de Toscano. Some place her birth having occurred on August 13, 1313 in Volterra, Italy. Others claim that she grew up a strict Catholic but somewhere in her youth she received a vision at Lake Nemi from the Goddess Diana. This lead her to wander and visit people, to heal them, and teach them about the Goddess. She encouraged people to rise up against the Catholic Church and embrace the Old Ways. She became known as the Holy Strega, a spiritual teacher and wise woman, the protectress of witches, the founder of the Strega Tradition. ‘The Legend of the Beautiful Pilgrim’ can be found in author Charles Leland’s notes for his book: Aradia, Gospel of the Witches (1899), also known as The Vangelo Delle Streghe. Leland was a folklorist who went to Italy. Here he came in contact with a Tuscan witch called Maddalena who supposedly gave him the Vangelo. ….....…. And Vintras and Abbe Boullan met for the first time on this date in 1875 in Brussels. Boullan would succeed Vintras upon death and continue his work in France. Some would claim that this meeting was the creation of early Satanism. ….....…. and Corinne Duke was born on this date in 1882 into the aristocracy of the Old South into the prominent Duke family. She was a life-long student of the ancient mysteries who devoted much of her time to study and meditation. The Rosicrucian adept, Max Heindel, became her personal teacher and associate at Mt. Ecclesia in Oceanside, California. It is here that she met another New Age pioneer, Theodore Heline who was to become her husband. From this moment on she became known as Corinne Heline. Many an inspired writing flowed through her. Her monumental work, The New Age Bible Interpretation is in seven volumes. It was followed by many other works interpreting the ancient wisdom in terms of the needs of the day. Many consider her to be truly a New Age Pioneer, opening the way to vast new fields of investigation for those who would know and be a part of the coming world of the Aquarian Age. She wrote other classics like The Bible and the Tarot, Cosmic Harp and Esoteric Music of Richard Wagner. ….....…. And I should mention that it was on August 13, 1948 that the body of Reverend Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers was buried in Richmond Cemetery with no public Mass being allowed. He was a prolific writer on Satanism, Demonology, Witchcraft and Black Magic. His works include The History of Witchcraft and Demonology (1926), The Geography of Witchcraft (1927), The Vampire, His Kith and Kin (1928) and The Werewolf (1933), to name only a few. In 1928 the noted author Lance Sieveking traveled to southern France near Cassis where he had the chance to meet the Great Beast, Aleister Crowley. During the evening, Sieveking took the opportunity to ask Crowley, “What he thought of the Rev. Montague Summers simply replied, knocking the end off his cigar with an air of an executioner, “I haven’t seen Monty Summersfor years … he takes care of that. He knows what would happen.” With curiosity ablaze, Sieveking felt he just had to ask, “What would happen?” To which Crowley replied, “I should change him into a toad.” ….....…. and it was on August 13, 1952 that People Today Magazine carried an article on “LA’s Lust Cult” about Jack Parson’s death and The Church of Thelema, with the headlines: “Weird Black Magic rites flourish in wealthy Pasadena.”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday August 12th 2009 – 8:17pm Luna just sent me an email. She writes - "Hello! Babe Cohen, Steven Cohen's mother just called me. She is inviting everyone to attend an unveiling of Shadow Igitur's headstone on August 31st at Noon. I believe it is at The Home of Peace Cemetary. Address: 1299 El Camino Real, Colma, California 94014. ... I am just giving you all a heads up. Babe would like to take us all to lunch afterwards at a restaurant that Steven would have liked to visit ... and I can't think of one off hand. ... anyway...more later." ... So, to all the friends of Steve, I'll keep you all posted with updates on this blog as the date draws near. See : Steve Cohen MEMORIAL PAGE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:55pm Ricky and I exchanged a few emails. In one I told him that I’ve been enjoying his postings ... he replied, “I too have been enjoying my blunders. How else can we learn? Thank you by the way, for keeping the blog and helping us newbies along. I have learned infinitely more since I started reading it than I had in the 4 years prior of solitary study!” .... I smiled, sat back in my chair and thought to myself - “No serious blunders yet, but some great insights into how he thinks and is assimilating the info off the blog. I hope he keeps it up!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:00pm I received this email from Ben of Leaping Laughter Clerk house. I read it, smiled and thought to myself ... "Damn, we got thinkers in our lineage!" Anyway, I hope you all enjoy Ben's email and that it offers you food for thought, it sure did for me! Jerry, 93
I hope all is well since we last talked (all both hours). I’m still trying to catch up on the Blog, but I’m enjoying it immensely. Nice and meaty of late.Anyway, I ran across this quote today (while looking for something completely different), but I thought it was a nice response to Andy and pertinent to this week’s discussion.“Genius is composed of two sides; the active and the passive. The power to execute the Will is but blind force unless the Will be enlightened. At every stage of a Magical Operation it is necessary to know what one is doing, and to be sure that one is acting wisely. Acute sensitiveness is always associated with genius; the power to perceive the universe accurately, to analyze, coordinate, and judge impressions is the foundation of all great Work. An army is but a blundering brute unless its intelligence department works as it should.” (MTP, cap. 18).I think it is even more topical if we remember that the Latinate idea of the Angel was called the ‘Genius’ (or ‘Daimon’ in Greek). This of course would contain the combined dualistic ideas of Angel and Demon that are now commonly espoused separately.Now to further shove my foot up my own ass I may as well throw my two cents in. I would say the simple answer to determining the difference between the two (which are really the same ‘Genius’) would be the focus of the whisperings. I mean that anything that prompts us to move vertically would appear to be of the Angel (moving beyond Malkuth – Will) and anything that keeps us horizontal (Malkuth – restriction of Will) would appear to be of the Demon. Or, “When men fear not that which is to be feared, that which they fear cometh upon them.” (Tao Te King, 72,1). 93/93 Ben------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:20am I received this email from Jerri in Sacramento about the Angel and the Demon. I didn't add a comment to it because, in truth, what she says I can add nothing better. It is one of those gems that I receive every now and then devoid of intellectual 'fact' vomiting and purely written from the Heart. Although, in all honesty, I really don't think that she actually wrote it. I think two little guys were whispering in either of her ears and she was simply listening. :)Jerry 93,
Again, a very subtle and slippery subject that I'm only scratching the surface of...I'm honestly not entirely happy with this, but I think you'll understand what I am trying to say... Everybody has a Daemon. It has always been with us and it is constantly whispering its guidance to us. It has been doing so since the beginning of our incarnations and this is true for everyone and everything. Our Daemons operate entirely differently for every individual Star-mine, is the exact mirror image of me. It was birthed at the exact same time as me-it is a Pisces…blah, blah, blah…it’s just like me, it’s all over me and within me. In a way, it knows me better than I even know myself, yet it is not me...but I could hardly live without it. The Daemon has a dual fold nature-one Demonic, the other Angelic. Is it not a surprise, considering the very quality of our existence; our Macrocosms and Microcosms are equal but dual fold in nature. Our Kundalini only mirrors this reality of the Universe. I remember quite a while back, I sent you this rant about how somewhere I mistakenly believed that I would Want my Will. Silly rabbit! What an absurd and childish notion..performing our True Will's can be very difficult and extremely painful (to our Egos) sometimes. Many times the Ego cries and throws it's fits when it doesn't get what it Wants. If it were so freaking easy to perform our True Will, everybody would be doing it! As Thelemites, our entire quest is in it’s honor, for Nuit’s sake. I remember having this conversation with someone once about the nature of free choice. Therein we discussed the natal chart and the fact that since we do have free choice we could change our very natures, as magicians do. I am beginning to see now just how much I disagree with the spirit of that statement. It’s premise is exactly correct, though. We can do just that…but should we? I say no. Absolutely not! We are to understand ourselves and our charts are the map. Understanding and embracing our natures (our incarnations) and that self is the purpose.. That is the Sun we seek--and that is our True Will. First, we seek Knowledge and Conversation... To try to change our nature, is to to simply Want… Clearly though, we have come to incarnate to gain some type of experience-perhaps even experiences that appear negative or unhealthy to others. How can we tell what is Want (Demonic) or what is Will (Angelic)? What messages are coming from where? My thoughts are, that one is always spiritual in nature; reflecting our Spiritual selves-asking us to get in line with our true nature (our Word) this is the Angelic side, the other represents reflections of those wishes that our individualized Egos Want-everything on this plane could be described in this light--this is the Demonic side, the divided shadow nature. Intellectually, I find it is very important to understand and reflect upon the mundane events of my life. This is one of the purposes of the Magickal journal--therein I find patterns and signs. Those facts do not lie (like we can lie to ourselves in our minds). Not only do we see the positives, but also the fuck ups. Where in our lives can we see the things that always go wrong? Why do they go wrong? Something always tells us inside…the messages that our Angels provide each of us as individuals is different as night and day, but somewhere, perhaps we could call it intuition or our gut, something always knows where we are going ‘wrong’ (denying our Will trying to fulfill our Want). …Sometimes we are lost, though. We can’t see the forest for the trees. We are blinded by the lust of our Wants. The Daemon is childlike by nature-and it seeks to please. It is a neutral force-it simply carries messages to the Gods for us, and in turn provides us messages from the Gods. We must control the Demonic aspect of the Daemon by directing it properly. We also must understand and decipher the higher messages it brings us-this is where we allow the Angelic aspect to guide us... If we ask it for what we Want, it seeks to fulfill that-and it will propel us to our wishes inception in an obsessive, maniacal, and eventually tragic fashion...if we direct it toward our Will though, our Soul is rewarded by the Spirit. The problem is not the "things" on this plane...someones Will as a female Sagittarius would look different than the Will of a male Libra, for example. One might be an alcoholic musician on Malkuth another a businessman. Nothing is wrong with either of those things--the problem is when you are the alcoholic musician pretending to be the business man...that is an example of our Want. We become enamored by these Wants, or shadows-which are simply those horizontal attachments that are illusion.This is oftentimes exactly how our lower Ego defines itself intellectually and emotionally (our bodies, our jobs, relationships, family, money, friendships, stature in society…blah, blah, blah…). Our true nature is that of Spirit. Sometimes when we do get what we Want (and it's not what we Will), we lose ourselves, forget our quest as we play with the Kundry, and then along comes our Angels to slap us upside the head (cause we've been ignoring it's messages)!! Wake up, asshole!!! When an experiment (of life) blows up in our faces, clearly something has gone wrong in our internal process, and our Angel seeks to correct our orbits-those signs come in the form of failures, perhaps. When our conscious Will and our higher Will work in concert however, there is no conflict within. Will is united and not divided. When things are going right in our lives we feel like nothing can stop us...and nothing can. The Universe is behind us. We are living our Word. Our Stars are traveling along the perfect orbit and success is our proof! Our Will isn't always easy...but, neither is it easy to be constantly disappointed when trying to fulfill the transitory Want. It will never satisfy...we are wired to fulfill our Wills...the Daemon is our guide. We decide which direction to point it in...so we must be careful what we wish for because it just might come true...and then what?93 93/93 Jerri------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:00am August 12th is when we celebrated the Thelemic holiday of The Feast of the Marriage of the Beast with His Bride in honor of Aleister Crowley and Rose Edith Kelly’s marriage on August 12, 1903. ... The story begins in the early morning hours on this date in 1903 Aleister and Rose sneaked out of her family’s house in Strathpeffer, took the train to Dingwall, Scotland and got married at 8 o’clock that morning. How did they meet? It was because Rose’s family had previously arranged for amarriage between her and a man named Howell but, although she had accepted, she was not really in love. The plot thickened when on August 11th Aleister Crowley, who supposedly was to spend time with Gerald Kelly playing golf, had forgotten to bring his golf-clubs, so instead spent time with Gerald’s sister, Rose. She bemoaned her upcoming arranged marriage and Crowley, thinking to liberate the poor girl, proposed that she marry him instead. She accepted. Their marriage inevitably led to the reception of Liber AL vel Legis. The commandment to hold this date sacred comes from Liber AL vel Legis itself which gives a list of Thelemic dates to be considered sacred. One of these is mentioned in Chapter II:37: “A feast for the first night of the Prophet and his Bride!” ... So tonight, go out and celebrate! 6:45am Damn, so much to report for the history buffs. I think I’ll just list it otherwise the paragraph will be a mile long:August 12, 1647 Matthew Hopkins died and was buried on this date. Hewas born in Suffolk, England, the son of a Puritan minister. He is perhapsthe most notorious name in the history of English witchcraft, more commonly known as “The Witch-Finder General.” He began his successfulcareer in 1644 by questioning old one-legged Elizabeth Clarke ofManningtree. By the time he had finished with her, thirty-one others hadbeen named accomplices to witchcraft. Being a ‘Witch-Finder General’was a financially lucrative trade. In a time when daily wages were as littleas 2.5 pence, Hopkins was raking in £15 to £23 per town cleansed of witches. Hopkins dressed fashionably and was able to employ twoassistants to help him with his work. He acquired a feared and an evil reputation as a ‘fingerman’ or the informer, paid by local authorities todetermine if someone was a witch, or not. During Hopkins’ reign of terror,which lasted only two years between 1645-1646, he was responsible forthe condemnations and executions of some 230 alleged witches, more thanall the other witch-hunters that proliferated during the 160 year peak ofEngland’s witchcraft hysteria. Eventually, opposition to Hopkins’ methodsgrew. In 1646, Puritan minister Reverend John Gaule of Great Staughton, wrote a pamphlet called Select Cases of Conscience towards Witches andWitchcraft, an exposé of Hopkins’ cruelty. Gaule also preached from hispulpit against Hopkins’ brutality toward people both guilty and innocent,and even hinted that Hopkins himself was a witch. In retaliation, Hopkinspublished his own pamphlet entitled The Discovery of Witchcraft. Thereare conflicting accounts of the death of Hopkins. One source claims that he died peacefully at home in Mannigtree in 1647, while another states thathe, himself, was eventually accused of witchcraft, and was hangedaccordingly. However, records show that Hopkins died “peacefully, after along sicknesse of a Consumption” or tuberculosis in Mistley on 12th August 1647. Today according to local legend, Hopkins’ ghost is said tohaunt Mistley Pond, a place where he ‘ducked and drowned many a witch.’ An apparition wearing Hopkin’s 17th-century attire is alsoreportedly seen roaming the vicinity, particularly on Friday nights near to the Witches Sabbats.August 12, 1827 On this date William Blake died in London at age 69 andwas buried in an unmarked grave at Bunhill Fields, London. He is regarded by many as one of the earliest and greatest figures of Romanticism. In hisclassic 1805 poem titled Auguries of Innocence, he captured the injustice ofthe “haves” and “have nots” of our world by writing: “Every night andevery morn. Some to misery are born; Every morn and every night Someare born to sweet delight.”August 12, 1831 Helena Hahn was born on this date in Dnepropetrovsk,Ukraine. The world would know of her by the name of Madame HelenaPetrovna Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophy Society and who hasoften been heralded as the ‘Mother’ of the modern New Age Movement.Some of her most notable books are The Secret Doctrine, An Initiation toThe Secret Doctrine , Isis Unveiled, The Key to Theosophy, The Voice ofthe Silence, Studies in Occultism and the Secret Doctrine Commentary.She died on May 8, 1891 in her home at 19 Avenue Road in London. Inthe end she was unable to walk and she suffered from numerous diseases.Her body was cremated with a third of her ashes remaining in Europe, athird going to America and the final amount being sent to India.Theosophists commemorate her death on May 8, calling it White LotusDay.August 12, 1942 On this date, in the Solomon Islands, Sergeant StephenJ. Brickner of the 1st Paratroop Brigade, 1st Marine Division, U.S. MarineCorps, reported that when he heard the air raid sirens go off, and he lookedup and observed over 150 highly polished silver objects that shimmeredbrightly in the sun, flying overhead in straight lines of 10 or 12 objects, one behind the other. He claimed that the objects had n o wings or tails and thatthey seemed to ‘wobble’ slightly as they flew over at a speed that was “alittle faster than Jap planes.” Sergeant Brickner later said, “All in all, it wasthe most awe-inspiring and yet frightening spectacle I have seen in my life.”August 12, 1943 The story has it that the U.S. Navy destroyer the U. S.S. Eldridge was made invisible on this date and teleported fromPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, to Norfolk, Virginia, in an incident immortallyknown as the Philadelphia Experiment, which has also been called ProjectRainbow. However, all records in the Operational Archives Branch of theNaval Historical Center have been repeatedly searched and no documentshave ever been located which confirm that this event ever occurred.August 12, 1955 William Breeze was born on this date in Paris, France.He was co-founder of Mystic Fire Videos which released many of Kenneth Anger’s films but he left in 1993 to pursue other interests. He was electedthe Outer Head of the Order (O.H.O.) of Ordo Templi Orientis inSeptember of 1985; succeeding Grady Louis McMurtry, or FraterHymenaeus Alpa 777, who had died in July of the same year. August 12, 1964 The British author of James Bond fame, Ian Fleming,started hemorrhaging the night before and died 1 a.m. on August 12th atthe age of 56. He is buried in Sevenhampton, near Swindon. His wife Annewho died in 1981 and Fleming’s only child, Casper, who died from a suicidal drug overdose in 1975, are both buried beside him, beneath a simple obelisk monument in the shadow of the local stone church. DuringWorld War II Ian Fleming, who worked for the Department of Naval Intelligence in Britain, hatched a scheme to have the notorious Aleister Crowley interrogate the ‘captured’ Nazi leader Rudolf Hess about ‘occult’matters. Crowley actually accepted his offer but Fleming’s superiorsdecided that it was not a good idea and they vetoed the overall plan. IanFleming ‘s biography, John Pearson, wrote in 1966: “It is a pity that thishad to be one of Fleming’s bright ideas which never came off:understandably, there was hilarity in the department at the idea of the GreatBeast 666 doing his bit for Britain.” August 12, 1983 The last experiment of the Montauk Project supposedlyoccurred on this date on the military base at Montauk on the tip of LongIsland, New York. The origins of this project date back to 1943 whenradar invisibility was being researched aboard the USS Eldridge which wasstationed at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and the events concerning the shiphave commonly been referred to as the ‘Philadelphia Experiment.’ Afterthe Philadelphia Experiments ended the government began the MontaukProject which purportedly took the earlier experiments to their next logicalstep which was time travel. Basically, what the government used was agiant radar dish connected to a special ‘Chair’ in an underground bunkerwhere a ‘psychic’ sat who acted as a radio receiver to visualize ‘things’ intothe dish, which was set at a specific frequency. It force was so powerfulthat it could make the psychic’s thoughts open a portal into the past or thefuture. However, the projected ended on this date in a disaster when agiant beast was unleashed from the psychic’s subconscious which literallydestroyed the project and prompted it be abandoned.August 12, 1996 Near Benalmadena, Spain, Juan Ramon Barrio was onhis way to his hotel when he noticed a strange bright light that descendedfrom the sky and followed his car for a couple of miles, hovering directlyover it. Suddenly the car stalled and the headlights turned off. The UFOdescended lower over the vehicle as a terrified Juan suddenly saw dozensof small bright spheres floating all around the car. One of the tiny spheresthen entered the vehicle right through the windshield. It flew in front ofBarrio’s face from left to right emitting considerable heat and then suddenlyflew out through the other windshield and left. Juan then found himselfpulling up in front of his hotel unable to account for several hours of time.The next morning he found several mysterious handprints on his vehicle,which he photographed. He also took several photos of the car and one ofthem seemed to show a large head with large black slanted eyes, staring outfrom the back seat window.No more! Sorry …------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday August 11th 2009 – 8:30pm I have something for all my students and readers to ponder. What do you think that it means when someone claims openly in writing that they are a "sex magician" ? I thought, as with any trade from being that of a doctor, to being into the martial arts, or virtually any school of thought where a serious teaching is required; that a person could not claim to ‘be’ such until they became fully trained?
I can see it now, some guy looking at a patient saying, "Hi, I'm Doctor Miller, of course, I'm not a real Doctor, I just call myself that. I still have six more years of training to go before I get certified. But you don't mind if I operate on you now, do you?"Where I going with this is simple. I’m finding many modern magicians, especially those coming out of OTO in certain areas, feel that they have this undisputed right to claim the title of "sex magician" rather than simply acknowledging that they might be a book read apprentice in the trade. This belief of 'entitlement' is based in the old OTO joke from the Agape Lodge days – “Do you wanna be a Priestess little girl?” This was due to the belief, despite what Degree they held, they had the right to have sex with the Priestess before the Gnostic Mass to ‘bless’ the Wafers. So, if the Priest 'believes' that he is a 'magician' and then has sex, he MUST be "sex magicians", no? ... But what are they really achieving if they're not an Upper Degree as yet who knows the OTO 'sexual' Secrets? ... In truth, just like the man playing Doctor, they're playing sex magician.One person said that it was his belief that these modern sex magicians are simply not being honest because they know it might hurt their chances to get laid. Ouch! But kinda true.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:45pm Ah, regarding the Angel and the Demon, Jay sent this email subject title - "May Because be accursed forever!" - where he writes - "93 Jerry, I think there's an important distinction to be made here when pondering the demon or this plane. It seems to me that this plane can and very often does serve as an instrument of the Will. As an example, it was presumably Crowley's Will to impart spiritual guidance to humanity and one instrument he used was the books he wrote. This, of course, required pen and paper (or a type writer) and eventually a publishing house and their representatives etc. I think we get into the wants when we're dealing with this plane as an end unto itself. I think anyone would be hard pressed to justify how a beer serves as an instrument of the Will, the same with drugs, cake, sex (unless you're seriously practicing 9th degree magick) und so weiter... Where the subject gets difficult to discuss-- for me anyway-- is when we look into the subtle little cues one receives when pondering whether or not one is doing his/her Will. In my personal experience, I can describe the Will as like a sudden flash, when you receive a sign or a little shard of gnosis accompanied by "praise Nuit! This seems important!" Conversely, if you have to run something round and round your mind, constantly intellectualizing it and picking it apart, trying to find an angle from which you can safely say, "ah, this is my Will," you're probably dealing with a want. I think there's a reason why the Devil is often depicted as an intellectual (here I take the Devil as the demons who rule this plane); he convinces you through the faculty of reason that the things you want on this plane are justifiable: "yeah, go ahead and take that $100 bill from Ms. Crabtree. She has a lot of money and won't even notice. Besides, you'll put it to better use than she will. What's she going to spend it on? new designer boots for her poodle? Psh!" I suppose what I'm getting at is that the Will doesn't come through reason at all. Reason is a whore. Reason is too easily Hod drooping onto this plane, falling into the pit of Because. Be he damned for a dog! Love, Jay 93 93/93."Reply: Very good, grasshopper ... but there is a wild card never to be forgotten; yonder beggar might be a King. His True Will, or reason for incarnating might be to experience what it means to an alcoholic bum on the streets. Would beer, which is a want to most, not be part of his True Will? This is why Crowley advises us not to judge other people's True Will. As long as they, as individuals, do not interfere in other people's Universes their Star may very well be fixed in the heavens of Nuit and in its proper place and thus they're following their True Will. So, be careful not to stereotype too quickly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2:10pm Lots of little earthquakes have hit the Bay Area today, in Concord, Alamo and even the neigboring town of Piedmont which is only a few miles here from Berkeley. The first in Piedmont was at 7:58am and it was a 1.5 magnitude, later at 9:05am we got whacked with at 2.6. Both little burps. Reminders here that the Earth is alive!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:50am And Ricky sent a second email under the subject "Bipolar Daimons Addentum" He writes - "Jerry 93, One final thought. Hillman brings up an interesting thought when he says "Maybe our human task is to bring our behaviour into line with it's intentions, do right by it for its sake." You have said before that the Daimon is not so advanced as a human, it is an elemental. What if our task is to redeem this creature? To see maybe if we can follow the 'Angelic' guidance over the 'Demonic' and thus rectify it in its quest!? Thereby rectifying us in the same action!? 93 93/93 Ricky." Reply: Don't go Christian on me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:40am Under the subject "Bipolar Daimons" Ricky sent this email in regards to this weeks question about Angels and Demons. He writes:Jerry 93!So Ive been pining over what you have said about the Daimon and have come to sort of a conclusion. It's got bipolar disorder. BUT the cure to this dis-ease is seems to be within our power. The Diamon is neither an Angel or a Demon but it is both at the same time. It is up to our mind set, our consciousness to determine the 'guidance' we get. If one is consciously aimlessly pursuing the wants of this plane and listening to that little voice inside their head that gives the go ahead and even encourages one to do this, 'obstacles instantly arise' but on the other hand if we know what we are striving toward, we know what will distract us from it and to give into that instead of what we know we should do is to let the demon of the Daimon take control. AC said: "A man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is wasting his strength. He cannot hope to influence his environment efficiently." A person knows (I know I do) when they have a force working against their actions and decisions. You can not 'force' nature to go the way you think it should, but you can work with it if you are within your Nature because a part can influence the whole. 93 93/93 RickyReply: A "bipolar disorder" ? I never quite heard it put this way but I'd have to say, no ... although a funny word play, its definitely not the case and if so, a person would have far more difficult issues than magick can help him with. Anyway, over all your thoughts are very good, but a bipolar disorder is a phrase used to imply different states of mood disorders from mania to depression; bound together by bouts of normalcy would imply that you consider the poles of 'Mania" and 'Depression' to reflect either the Angel and Demon. Ouch! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:35am Andy sent this email on Angels and Demons, he writes:Jerry 93!Here's some thoughts I had on determining whether daimonic guidance is coming from the Angel or the Demon. The Angel seems to personify Will. The Demon then represents Want. If everything on this plane is but a shadow of Will, and ultimately only Wants, then it seems any daimonic guidance that is dependent on this plane for its fulfillment comes from the Demon. Any guidance that is independent of this plane (i.e. helping with vertical progress up the Tree) then seems to come from the Angel. In Abramelin the magician puts the Demon(s) under their control after having successfully Invoked the Angel. It seems that we're not to shun our Wants and experience of this plane then but to put them in their proper place of subordination. The Angel always has to come first. Like Crowley says, any goal but the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel is black Magick. It's just common sense when you think about it. You can't put the cart before the horse and expect to move up the Holy Mountain. This seems even more important to remember as you move higher up and the roads get narrower and steeper. Unhook your cart there, even for a moment, and it will likely come crashing down. 93,93/93 - Andy
Reply: Very good. We require a Demon; he, according to The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. The Demons are creators of all reality and matter; not the Angels. This is why they can effectuate change in us or our surroundings so quickly, so easily and without our notice; it's their World. We're just visiting. And long after we're dead, they will still be here. ... The key to success is always rooted in the phrase 'one you control, while the other controls you.' ... this is the END goal. Both must be perfectly balanced in the 'circle squared.' At no time does Abramelin tell us that the Angel will control only us if we vanquish, kill or destroy the Demon and send him back to Hell. That is the Christian solution. It's why the World is so screwed up. It fails to adequately find the solution to the age old questions; can Light exist without Darkness? Are they not part of the same Universe? And are not the Angel and the Demon two poles of the same thing too? Yea verily, below the Abyss in the realm of Duality, how can you get rid of one and keep the other?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:30am For the history buffs: The author T. Casey Brennan was born on this date in St. Clair County, in Port Huron, Michigan in 1948. In the mid-1970s he openly proclaimed that he was “The Great Beast 666 Reborn.” Brennan wrote such classics as The Book of Joy which appeared in Earth Religion News (NY) 1976 and The Revelation of the Damned which appeared in Gnostica No.42 1977; to mention a few of best forgotten, and rightfully so, Thelemic pieces ever vomited out of a sick mind. One person, after reading Brennan’s claims, wrote, “If Crowley has reincarnated, he’s back-sliding.” The late Grady Louis McMurtry, previous head of Aleister Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis, wrote a poetic piece titled A Maiden in Love in which he immortalizes Brennan by stating that he, “did vaunt himself THE GREAT WILDe BEASTE cometh back across Ye Abysse, and did Fart and Stench about, making Muddy ye waters that had been so clear, and generally making odiferous Ye landscape, as of an ancient Oriental rice paddy teemed with night-soil that had been ex-hum-ed, and giving a stench in ye cup of hot water as becomes Instant Shit.” ... Can anyone say, "Ouch!"------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY
TO THE NEXT DATES STORED IN THE ARCHIVE
"There were plants, And birds, And rocks And things”
-America's Horse With No Name
Love is the law, love under will. – AL I:57
RETURN TO:
93
