~ September 1st - 12th 2009 ~
Saturday September 12th 2009 – 8:00am For the history buffs: I’d like to start out by mentioning that Henry Louis Mencken was born on this date in Baltimore, Maryland in1880. He was a reporter, columnist and editor for Baltimore’s Sun and was considered one of America’s foremost men of letters during the first part of the 20th century. He was also one of the editors of the magazine called the Smart Set, from 1914 to 1923. Many writers contributed short stories and articles to this publication, one such writer was none other than Aleister Crowley. In September of 1916 he submitted a short story entitled The Stratagem, which had been previously published in the English Review of June 1914. Mencken describes Crowley as “something of an eccentric” and further states that “I never met him until I visited London in 1922. He had by that time taken to mysticism and was surrounded by a group of idiots who regarded him as inspired and almost, indeed, a god. Inasmuch as it was whispered in London that a certain amount of homosexuality was intermingled with the devotion of these disciples, I avoided him as much as possible, but after I got home he began bombarding me with mystical literature, all of it elaborately printed and brought out at his own expense, or that of his followers. He became, in the end, the recognised head of all the English occultists, and a figure of some consideration in the life of London.” Mencken wrote many profound statements throughout his life, like: “The objection to Puritans is not that they try to make us think as they do, but that they try to make us do as they think.” …...…… and Georg Lomer was born in Loosten near Wismar on this date in 1877. He was a noted German occultist, astrologer & rune scholar A true believer in the forgotten Aryan heritage, a member of the List Society and the author of a remarkable work entitled Seven Hermetic Letters. He died in 1957. …...….. and it was on September 12, 1952 while four boys, were playing football on the school ground in the small in West Virginia town of Flatwoods, that they saw a spherical object land on top of a nearby hill. Frightened but curious, they decided to check it out. As they headed out the night was getting foggy and there was a mist in the evening air, others joined them. However, when climbing the hill, the dog that had run ahead soon came running back with his tail between his legs. That is when everyone in the group saw it; a huge round glowing, hissing object. Then, just to the left, something moved and one of boys shined a flashlight in its direction. Fear gripped everyone as they saw a creature about 10 feet tall with what they later described; “… a bright red face, bright green clothing, a head which resembled the ace of spades, and clothing which, from the waist down, hung in great folds.” The creature then slowly moved toward them but no one stuck around to greet it. The frightened group fled back down the hill. ……… and finally, on September 12, 1958 the movie The Blob opened in theaters. It is about a mysterious blob-like creature that comes to Earth in a meteor. It is discovered by teenagers who witness the blob’s destructive power but the people of a nearby small town refuse to listen to them and, in the meantime, every time the blob eats someone it just keeps getting bigger and bigger; just like a girl I use to date.
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Friday September 11th 2009 – 10:10am The 'Private Talk' that was scheduled tonight at Love Sake's Clerk House has been canceled. This means that outsiders can attend tonight's 'Open House' if they'd like. There is no official topic, just bring questions etc and we'll figure the topic out as we go. I know it's a short notice but such is life. Please pass the word around if you know of someone who wants to attend. It begins at 6:30pm. Since this is around supper time feel free to bring food and drink, which doesn't have to be shared.
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10:00am One of my new favorite websites - http://www.dumblaws.com/. Here are a few dumb Laws in California - "You are not permitted to wear cowboy boots unless you already own at least two cows.", "Sunshine is guaranteed to the masses", "Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship", "Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool.", "No vehicle without a driver may exceed 60 miles per hour" or my personal favorite - "It is a misdemeanor to shoot at any kind of game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale." ... ya got to love this State. So politically correct it borders on crazy. :)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:55am I wish to send a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY out to a very dear Virgonian friend of mine; Matt Marcus. Have a great day! I hope the little misses gives you an appropriate spanking for the event! I owe you a beer the next time we meet at Manny's. :)------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:50am For the history buffs: Fitz Hugh Ludlow was born on this date in NewYork City in 1836. In 1856 and published his first article titled Apocalypse of Hasheesh, the following year he released his most famous work titled The Hasheesh Easter. He also served as the editor of Vanity Fair from 1858-1860. He studied law and passed the bar in 1859, but chose to write rather than practice law. He lived only thirty-four years but possibly far more in the subjective eternities of time that he experienced under the addiction and influence of hashish which encompassed most of his brief live. Today we know only the scaffolding of events over which his life was draped, but this gives a hint at least of the man behind The Hasheesh Eater. He died on September 12, 1870. ...……. And David Herbert Lawrence, more commonly known as D. H. Lawrence, was born on this date in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England in 1885 to an illiterate coal miner father and a refined, educated mother. Lawrence was a teacher for awhile in a London suburb when his poems and short stories brought him to the attention of Ford Madox Ford, editor of the influential English Review. Lawrence went on to become one of the most influential and controversial writers of the 20th century; best known as the author of Lady Chatterley’s Lover. In 1910 he borrowed Miss Grace Crawford’s copy of Aleister Crowley’s book of poetry titled Ambergris. In a letter back to Miss Crawford he wrote, “If Ambergris smells like Crowley, it is pretty bad. Civet cats and sperm whales – ugh!” He later added, “I didn’t like it.” Toward the end his health continued to decline due to tuberculosis and in February of 1930 he entered a sanatorium in France. He died there on March 2nd 1930. …...….. and the Wiccan Priestess, Silver Ravenwolf, was born on this date in the heart of Pennsylvania in 1956. She claims to have been interested in the magickal arts since her childhood and she once commented, “York, Cumberland, and Lancaster counties are alive with magick.” She is a Wiccan in the tradition Head of the Black Forest Clan and is an Elder of Family of Serphant Stone. She wrote such books as; To Stir A Magick Cauldron, To Ride A Silver Broomstick, American Folk Magick, Angels, Beneath A Mountain Moon, Witches Runes (book and set), Teen Witch, Silver’s Spells For Prosperity and Halloween. ……… and it was on September 11, 1995 when well over 1,500 gathered at an airfield in northern Bulgaria in the town of Shtraklevo; lured there by three self-styled mediums, Radka Trifonova, Zdravka Krumova and Ekaterina Nikiforova. The mediums, wearing identical dresses they had sewn for the occasion, claimed they had received communications from the planet Krissi which stated that eight spaceships piloted by extraterrestrials would arrive on this date at 11am to help humanity. One of the pledges that the Krissians promised, besides fixing the Earth which was supposedly cracking in half, was that they would help this poor Balkan country pay its $12.9 billion foreign debt. However, thirty minutes after the scheduled arrival, the three told the crowd that warplanes flying in the region were scaring off the aliens and their spaceships would not be able to land. After about an hour had passed, the mediums then proclaimed that they had received a message from the aliens who said that they weren’t coming because President Zhelyu Zhelev had declined to meet with them. In the end Police had to usher the women away from the angry crowd.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday September 10th 2009 – 9:15pm About the previous posting, Ricky writes - "Jerry 93! I'm stuck on the 'no coincidences in magick' with this one! (and a terrible sense of humor) WOW! What does this sign from the Gods mean!? :) 93 93/93 Ricky ." ........... Reply: No comment. :)
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7:15pm In regards to yesterday 8:06am posting about Sept.9, 2009 being 999 my friend Cranny sent me this article. Its about yesterday's plane hijacking in Mexico by FLORES!!!!!Fanatic hijacked Mexican plane after 'revelation'
MEXICO CITY – A Bolivian religious fanatic briefly hijacked a jetliner from the beach resort of Cancun as it landed in Mexico City on Wednesday, police said. All passengers and the crew were released unharmed.
The Bible-carrying hijacker used a juice can he said was a bomb to hold the 103 passengers and crew on the tarmac for more than an hour. Masked police stormed the aircraft with their guns drawn and escorted several handcuffed men away without firing a shot. Police later said there was only one hijacker.Flores, 44, told investigators he hijacked Aeromexico Flight 576 after a divine revelation, according to Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna. Flores said Wednesday's date — 9-9-09 — is the satanic number 666 turned upside down.Flores, speaking to reporters after he was detained, said he took control of the aircraft with "a juice can with some little lights I attached.""Christ is coming soon," he added, smiling.As the plane was landing, Flores stood up and showed his contraption to a flight attendant, saying he and three others were hijacking the plane, Garcia Luna said. Flores later told police his three companions were "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."He ordered the pilot to circle over Mexico City seven times and asked to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, saying he wanted to warn him of an impending earthquake, Garcia Luna said.Garcia Luna said Flores is a drug addict who was convicted of armed robbery in Bolivia, and has lived in Mexico for 17 years. Flores described himself as a pastor in southern Oaxaca state who had gone to Cancun to preach.Passenger Rocio Garcia told the Televisa network that the pilot made an announcement after landing in Mexico City that the airplane was being hijacked."These were scary moments," she said.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:54pm Mary replies to my email and 9:35am posting - "93 ... Thanks Jerry for the Practicus's birth chart. I see his Part of Fortune indicating failure in the area of the 9th House of spirituality and metaphysics where it resides because it has squares to his Rising and Moon in the 7th of relationships and marriage. He's got sexual issues. Women should watch out for this guy. His Moon also Squares his North Node. He will destroy any relationship that he's in and with that Mars in the 1st he'll always blame his partner. Most of his planets are above the Horizon. He is focused on Self as the world sees himself, not spirituality and with Mars he'll never see or realize this. Especially with Mars being in Sagittarius. Good luck with this one. 93 93 93/93 Mary." .... Reply: I didn't focus too hard on the Squares to his Part of Fortune, I was already too 'aughhhhhh' by my previous review of the Nodes etc but I see what you are saying. I like your interpretation of the Practicus; you've never met either him or I but you nailed him pretty good. We should collaborate on an interpretation of his chart? :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:15am Frater Petros sent an email, part of which he writes - "I liked the Epistle quite a bit. I found it to be most useful. Thanks." ... Reply: Good, just don't take the Oath of the Abyss without asking me first. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:35 Mary, who is an astrologer and who has been following the case of the Practicus' with amusement, wants to know if "the Practicus' birth chart shows any indication of the kind of meltdown you are describing that he should have been aware of? What lessons can we learn from this?" .... Good questions. First, this is a classic example of a magician being stupid and not using all the tools at his finger tips before attempting a magickal act. He claims to have picked a 'proper time' to take the Oath, he even drew up a chart etc but when I looked at the chart, as have a few other astrologers, we all see failure. I would have never chosen the chart that he picked. It only shows that he is no astrologer. Also, had the Practicus come to me, instead of sneaking behind my back, I would have advised him up front of the dangers portrayed in birth his chart. For example: his South Node is right smack on the cusp of the 10th House which depicts the Abyss in our birth chart and his South Node is in his birth sign of Virgo. A grave warning to this individual whose Sun is in Virgo. The South Node is often considered very negative and it can be unfortunate and hindering if a person is attempting to function in this area without carefully reviewing the Karma that has been accrued from a previous life, and childhood that has been brought into the present. Or in other words; it depicts undeveloped characteristic traits and accumulated undesirable habits that have been left unfinished; which can easily undermine his present incarnation. I would have never advised him to take the Oath of the Abyss knowing his accomplishment, his capability etc, it reeks of failure. I would have advised him that his desires to take the Oath is the not the direction for him to go right now; he must follow the Head of the Dragon first, which is his North Node in Pisces in the Fourth House. He needs to develop his spirituality and the ability to 'interpret' things correctly first; then and only then will his Part of Fortune (in the 9th House in Virgo) put into order. Sadly, by all his recent actions it is obvious not only to me but others that this Practicus has developed no insights in regards to interpreting natural phenomena on Malkuth. With regret, his South Node is also 'Squared' Mars in Sag in the First House which is 'Squared' to his North Node. His type of fiery personality bathed in First House ego will never ask for help, nor admit he is ever wrong once he has dug his feet in. Too much Karma in this chart. His chart overall is quite unique, it shows the capability of reaching up into the branches had he simply put his ego under control first and carefully climbed instead of trying to 'jump.' It must be remembered, our birth chart only shows 'possibilities' and thanks to 'Free Will' we can screw these up ... as in the case of this Practicus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:00am For the history buffs: Lady Godiva supposedly died on this date in 1067. According to the legends Lady Godiva was married to Leofric, the Earl of Mercia. Around 1057, she and Leofric got in a heated dispute over the taxes that he had levied on the growing city of Coventry. During the course of the argument he challenged her to ride naked through the marketplace, promising to ease the tax burden if she did so. Lady Godiva took the challenge and became legend. In the 17th century a detail was added to the Lady Godiva story which stated that she had instructed the townsfolk to stay indoors during her ride and not look at her nude body, but that a man named Tom peeked at her naked body and hence the term “peeping tom” was born. …….. also, on September 10, 1930, Carl Llewellyn Weschcke was born into a Roman Catholic family in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is president of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd, one of the largest publishers of occult and New Age books in the world. He is also a practicing magician and a former Wiccan High Priest who played a leading role in the rise and spreading of witchcraft and neo-paganism throughout America during the 1960s and 70s. …….. and finally, on this date in 1966 Walter Siegmeister died of pneumonia while searching for the tunnel openings to the interior of the Earth in South America. He is more commonly known by is pen name; Dr. Raymond Bernard, the author of the classic book titled The Hollow Earth. His theories claim that the Earth is hollow with openings at both the north and south pole. Where a race of supermen live in total peace, health and abundance, flying around in UFO’s watching over the surface dwellers in awe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday September 9th 2009 – 11:30am Mr Anonymous OTO initiates writes - "On your blog last April 27 you said that Miguel Walters of Sacramento had been thrown out of the A.'.A.'. and knowing him, along with -------------- (Practicus), I can only wonder if you think both of there connection to the old Hodos Chamelionis Camp in Sacramento has anything to do with them both being thrown out of the A.'.A.'.?" ........ Reply: I've omitted some of your logic about the 'sex magicians' of this OTO Camp. Hope you don't mind. Also, the Practicus was never expelled. Yes, Miguel & the Practicus are best of friends from the old OTO days. You are right, they have known each other for over twenty years. But in July of 2009 Miguel, who was a Probationer, was expelled from the A.'.A.'. for Qliphothic argumentative behavior with his Superiors. He was in a Pit of Because, he wouldn't listen and we had to cut his loose. Shortly thereafter he moved back to Sacramento, close to his old friend. As a magician we don't believe in coincidences; we're taught to interpret everything as a sign to either guide us or mislead us. What is really scary is that some of the phrases and comments made by the Practicus are identical to Miguel's. The similarities in emails are quite unique. Whether or not the Practicus, who was once a bright shinning Star, was consciously aware of doing this or not, is of course debatable. But a disgruntled Miguel was obviously like an infectious disease once back in Sacramento. He told anyone whose ear he could bend how he felt that he was wronged. He caused our lineage much distress. And to tell you the truth, I don't see the Practicus rebelling against Grady McMurtry's lineage a mere coincidence when, within weeks of his old friend returning to Sacramento, he too melted down in a Pit of Because. Although the Practicus has denied any connection, I would expect no less from a person who has misread 'interpreting' so many signs to have fallen into the Qliphoth as he has done. I'm not even saying that Miguel was conscious of his Kundry-like role; a true Kundry is often oblivious of their actions ... but the Kundry's affect on the subtle planes is hard to miss. We lost a good Practicus.
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8:06am Just a note, this is the 9th month, 9th day, in the 9th year ... or 999 ... ah, the Beast is turned upside down today! I wonder what it means? :/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:35am For the history buffs: On this date in 1603 Else Pfraum, a baker from Koppern, Germany, was sentenced to death for witchcraft. ……… but more important and tragic is that on this date in 1967 Snippy, the appaloosa pony, who was missing for two days, was found laying on its side -dead! Some claim that it was the victim of a UFO attack, as an experiment on Earth life-forms. UFO sightings had been going on in the area for over five years. The actual remains of the horse had no blood, all its flesh was removed, or pealed back off its head down to the neck. The bones of her neck and skull were as white as if they had bleached in the sun for years. The outer body was left alone except for most of the vital organs were removed. No brain, or spinal fluids were ever found. Odd wounds were noticed on the horse’s sides. The official US Government verdict was that the little horse was struck by lightning!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 8th 2009 -6:35am For the history buffs: Simon Forman accurately predicted through the use of astrology the exact moment of his own death and on that ill fated day while rowing down the Thames he fell dead at the oars. Yes, it happened on this date in 1611. Some historians have claimed he committed suicide. ……..... and Charles Julius Guiteau was born on this date in Freeport, Illinois in 1841, the fourth of six children of Luther Wilson Guiteau and Jane Howe. In 1860, Charles Guiteau joined the infamous ‘sex cult’ known as Oneida Community in New York, having an on and off relationship with this group for many years. On July 2, 1881 he gained infamy by assassinating President James Abram Garfield after having invisible sexual intercourse with a Spirit called ‘Lordy’ who commanded him to kill the President. At his interrogation he told the police, “Get acquainted with the science of Spiritology” and you’ll understand why I did it. His trial was one of the first in American history where ‘insanity’ became a defense. He claimed that he was innocent, and that “Lordy made him do it!” He was hanged on June 30, 1882. ……..... And how can I not mention Annie, aka Dark Annie, Chapman who was born Eliza Anne Smith in September 1841. She was the second victim of ‘Jack the Ripper’ and her body was found murdered in the back yard of the house on 29 Hanbury Street on this date in 1888. Examination of the body showed “... the intestines, severed from the mesenteric attachments had been lifted out of the body and placed on the shoulders of the corpse.” One of her friends described her as “sober, steady going woman who seldom took any drink,” but others point out that she was known to have a taste for rum. ……..... And continuing with today’s flavor, Sean Seller killed Robert Bower, a store owner and also his own mother and stepfather in Oklahoma on this date in 1985 claiming later that, “Satanism has made me a better person. I am free. I can kill without remorse.” He was executed on February 4, 1999 for the murders.
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Monday September 7th 2009 – 6:45am For those who have been following our previous blog discussions on The Oath of the Abyss in regards to the folly of a Practicus, here are some thoughts to ponder from Crowley's Book IV, the chapter on The Cup:
The idea of organization is the first step, that of interpretation the second. The Master of the Temple, whose grade corresponds to Binah, is sworn to "interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with his soul." But even the beginner may attempt this practice with advantage. 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 the 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. Postscript: So, maybe there is hope for the Practicus who went crazy in our lineage? After all, the Latin term Practicus literally means 'he who practices' - so perhaps someday he may realize his folly while in the Qliphoth of Hod, walk himself out and then simply acknowledge that he now understands how he has unconsciously been driven to practice this Art in preparation for when he will need it someday? But this is a Cancer's wishful thinking ... I am an eternal optimist.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:40am For the history buffs: On this date in 1875, in New York City, The Theosophical Society was founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Henry Steele Olcott. Its International Headquarters is presently located in Chennai (Madras), India. Theosophical Society was established with three main objects: To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color. To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science and to investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man. ……..... and Dame Edith Sitwell was born on this date in Scarbourough England in 1887. For whatever reasons, Aleister Crowley tried in vain to make a friendship with her and her brother Osbert. Regarding this Edith Sitwell wrote in her autobiography, “Although Mr. Crowley did his best to pursue an acquaintance with my brother and myself, I did not at the time wish to know him. But when, later on, I read about the sacrifice of a wretched cat, who was not properly killed during one of the obscene rites he practiced, anger made me wish I had taken the opportunity. It would have given me pleasure to have said to him: Mr. Crowley, you will go straight to hell and you will meet only yourself, over and over again.” Now there is a thought. …...….. and finally on September 7, 1953 Karl Germer officially closed Agape Lodge in southern California. The O.T.O. in the United States, for all practical purposes, no longer had an officially Chartered meeting place. The last Lodge Master was Jane Wolfe.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday September 6th 2009 – 7:05am Mercury will go Retrograde later today at 9:45pm in the sign of Virgo; which is a sign naturally ruled by this planet. ... At this point it is ok for a Robot to appear, acting as our surrogate guardian, and scream - "Danger Will Robinson!" ... This period of seemingly inevitable or fated events will be related to this planet's sphere of influence; in this case the planet represents our essential communication skills. It is here that screw-ups tend to accumulate from the deepest inner levels of our thoughts, to speaking, writing, and even to mundane objects related to this topic. If a computer is going crash, it'll be now! This is a time to bite your tongue and to beware of what you say and especially what you interpret when chatting with or writing to anyone. Mercury Retrograding in Virgo is dangerous! ... It will go Direct on Sept.29th at 6:14am.
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7:00am For the history buffs: Not much to report except the fact that Aleister Crowley’s Scarlet Woman, Dorothy Olson, was born on this date in Chicago, Illinois in 1892. She assumed the role of Scarlet Woman after Leah Hirsig resigned it.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday September 5th 2009 – 9:15am I forgot to mention in the ‘History Heap’ last month an important event that occurred on Sunday August 20th in 1989. It was on this date exactly 20 years ago that I arrived in the city of Berkeley California from Connecticut. Yes, I've been out here in the crazy area for twenty years now ... you'd think someone would have baked me a cake :(
And do I miss Connecticut? Noooooooooooooo! .... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:40am For the history buffs: Aleister Crowley, using ‘magical memory’ during a retreat on Esopus Island in NY, discovered on this date in 1918 that he was the incarnation of the magician who worked with John Dee, namely Edward Kelly. …....…. And I should point out that John (Jack) Paul Rosenberg was born on this date in Philadelphia in 1935. Inevitably, this used car salesman, abandoned his wife and four kids and ran off to San Francisco with his mistress. Here he changed his name to Werner Hans Erhard and, not yet being divorced from his first wife, he remarried. In 1971 he founded the worldwide self-awareness movement called EST. His ‘Erhard Seminar Training’ camps ironically were aimed at “helping you take responsibility for your own life.” After allegations of domestic violence, child abuse and tax fraud, which he claimed was nothing more than a plot to undermine him by Scientologists, Erhard sold EST. He then left the country, moving first to Russia, then Ireland, Costa Rica, the Cayman Islands and other places remote where he again changed his name. He is now known as Werner Spits. ……… and finally, on this date in 1975 the red-haired Manson follower Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme is quoted as having turned to a bystander saying, “What a beautiful day.” She then pulled a gun and pointed in at President Ford in an attempt to assassinate him. Luckily the gun didn’t go off and she was thrown to the ground screaming, “Easy guys. Don’t batter me. The gun didn’t go off. The country is a mess. This man is not your President!” [p.s. Gerald Ford and I share the same birthday, we're both Cancers born on July 14th] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday September 4th 2009 – A reminder; it saddens me to have to inform you that there are no more 'OPEN' house scheduled at Love Sake Clerk House in the near future ... Outsiders cannot attend due to the subject matter being discussed with A.'.A.'. students which are private teachings. Please pass the word around. Thank you.
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2:50pm Since it relates, in a way, with our talk on the Qliphoth of Yesod, I'd like to re-post part of a blog entry from Feb 17th 2009 which I wrote to a female A.'.A.'. student. I wrote - "... Anyway, as magicians, we clearly recognize that the Kundalini exists in Yesod. We know that the ‘serpent’ becomes aroused within this sphere but it is not at a spiritual stage because Yesod, being ruled by the Moon, is the sphere of dreams; of our animalistic nature and sexual drives. It is our libido in its sexual phase. White light schools like the Golden Dawn which are rooted in Christian thought simply tell us to avoid our sexual urges as a means of putting our animalist soul under control. This is typical Christian avoidance and bullshit ... as a Thelemites Crowley tells us to explore it. ... There is no sin. ... But how you ‘explore’ your sexuality is different than Crowley, than me or anyone else. If we shun something, or deny its existence from a psychological point-of-view it’ll only rear its ugly little head as phobias and psychosis. But don't take that wrong; I'm not saying go out and sleep with everyone and become a slut, like so many guys in the OTO so often claim [or want you to be] ... in truth, exploring your sexuality is a personal, private thing beginning with the mind and simply trying to come to terms with your Zodiac sign, its sexual proclivities and its relationship with the body that you picked to incarnate into. Understanding your incarnation on Malkuth (body) and Yesod (libido) is just like driving a car ... first you slide in behind the steering wheel, you then adjusted the seat, find the right station on the radio, you look in the mirror, you then began playing with all the knobs and buttons, and when you felt comfortable, you turn on the motor. Vroom vroom and off you went." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:15pm Here is a new website just created that you should bookmark as a 'favorite.' It seems AbeBooks just launched a brand new Weird Book Room today which is "a celebration of everything that's bizarre, odd and downright weird in books. Crazy cookbooks, unusual animal books, how to books that will teach skills you never knew you needed, books about hilarious hobbies, and books about every strange aspect of life you could possibly imagine and a few things you can't imagine." Check out some of the book titles. And I thought I wrote crazy books!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:10pm In regards to yesterday's 5:40pm posting where I mentioned how quiet its been with our weekly topic on the Qliphoth of Yesod and how, due to lack of people posting their thoughts, I'm giving everyone a D+ ... and so Ben now writes:Jerry, 93
I hope this finds you well. I’m feeling better than earlier this week, so I thought I’d throw my hat in the door (ala Houdini), or maybe my foot in my mouth. Hopefully this isn’t too much blah, blah, blah from Qabalah-land. First I’d like to touch on Yesod and the Klipoth, and then the Klipoth of Yesod. Hopefully this gets my G.P.A.’.A.’. above that D+. (I didn’t know we had gone back to letter grades.)I don’t think much needs to be said about Yesod proper that Mick and Jerri haven’t already said eloquently enough. Therefore, I’m going to skate through this part rather than recite a bunch of correspondences. Might I point out that Yesod is the lowest point of the three unmanifest triads, or Kabbalistic Worlds? Yesod becomes the repository of all of the ideas from Above that seek manifestation within our world of Yetzirah (Malkuth). Therefore Yesod would be both the Moon and the Astral Plane (or, Olam Briah); the Formative World of the Kabbalists, and the individual Nephesch. As the Moon reflects the light of our Sun, our unconscious reflects the higher aspirations of our personal Angel (and I mean this in its dualistic sense). In short Yesod (“the Foundation”) is our personal “…endless, changeless, ebb and flow of the world’s forces that…guarantee the stability of the world and provides its foundation… Some writers [Jung and his “Collective Unconscious”-B.H.] have referred to the Astral Light which is the sphere of Yesod as the Anima Mundi, the Soul of the World.” (Regardie, Garden of Pomegranates). . One might think of this as the idea that precedes the actual deed, or a “pregnant” potential. Because of this Yesod also has a pseudo-sexual component that is reflected in its correspondence to the Muladhara Chakra. Thus it is written “Everything shall return to its foundation. All marrow, seed, and energy are gathered in this place. Hence all the potentialities which exist go out through this.” (Zohar).Now, the Qlipphoth. Personally I find this subject to be quite illuminating, if approached from a dualistic framework. The word “Klipoth” is best translated (in my mind) as “husks” and is related to the verb “Klipah” or “to shed.” The idea is first alluded to in The Bahir, 48, 49 and subsequently elaborated in The Zohar and later. I don’t want to be redundant, but there was an original tree that was shattered as the spirit of God descended, those vessels (Sefiroth) then became home to the demonic elements of the Universe. These vessels were repaired or reconstructed to become the Tree of Life (or, Universe) as we understand it now, properly imbued with the spirit of God. Thus, there is a Holy and Unholy Sefiroth for the entire decad of the Tree of Life. The nineteenth century scholars refer to these Unholy Sefiroth as “Averse,” or “backwards.” They are the reverse of the Holy Sefiroth (or, a mirror image); and this presents a number of interesting possibilities. The myth is fairly complicated and well worth exploring in my mind. Kaplan’s commentary to The Bahir states ‘For initiates, this also contains a lesson for those who would enter the mystical realm. The Husks (Klipot), derived from Tohu-Chaos, are the forces that “confound people,” and cause them to have misleading visions. A complete vessel is a vision that contains a complete, understandable idea, whereas a broken vessel is one that is confounding and confusing. The state toward which one must strive is therefore Bohu, for it is what contains the true vision – “it is in it.”’ (The Bahir).I don’t want to digress too much into the concepts of “Tohu” and “Bohu” because I’ll end writing forever. They basically translate as “chaos” and “desolation” respectively, but essentially are together the key components of creation. Or, they are analogous to our talks on the Circle and the Square. Thus, without the tension that is inherent within one’s imperfection there is no will to move towards wholeness. For any further distinctions I direct the reader to the source texts.The Klipoth of Yesod. The name for the Demon (or, Klipoth) of Yesod is Gamaliel. ìàéìîâ (gamliy’el) is from the root ìîâ (gml, meaning camel, to pay, repay, or does; and esoterically “The High Priestess-lunar”) resulting in the translating of Gamaliel as “the recompense of God.” Kabbalah describes this sphere as a “distortion” of the generative quality of Yesod and prone to sexual indulgences (Mathers, Knorr von Rosenroth) and misuse of the Astral (Regardie). This is probably why Waite (from Levi) translates Gamaliel as “the obscene.” While the Demon is emblematic of a chaotic element of the sphere, Crowley (and the Greeks) tell us that Chaos is the driving creative force behind the Universe. Without that fire (Demon) harnessed by the force of the vessel (Angel) Leviathan is unable to move up the Tree (“…force and fire, are of us.” ALII,xx.).Anyway, that is enough already! Hope you’re feeling well.93 93/93 BenReply: You're lucky, you've done good and with all the incoming emails, those posted and those not, my grading curve brings your G.P.A.’.A.’. up to at least an A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:45am Wow, did I open up a can of worms with this discussion about the Qliphoth of Yesod. I have received a few emails which are dangerously unThelemic. The idea that "the Qliphoth to me represents perverse sexuality" or as another writes, "sex outside the norm" ... implies too broad a definition. What is norm? What is perverse? Have we not incarnated to gain experience and is not the only Law do what thou wilt? The act itself; whether straight forward sex, masturbation, peeing or whips, chains and bondage & etc are not automatically Qliphothic nor are they the "manifestation of the sexuality gone wrong." In truth, the exploration of our libido is a healthy thing but on the other hand the 'restrictions' or repression of such dangerously creates phantoms or shells buried deep in our psyche. When these 'negative qualities' unconsciously manifest they can take any number of the acts just mentioned into areas where others are then hurt. ... Have you learned nothing about duality below the Abyss? Everything has the opposite polarity in its constitution. You should stop trying to put 'morals' on others as defined by your childhood psychosis; instead, explore Self and ask yourself why you think specific sexual acts are Qliphothic in nature. ... As an example: virtually everyone masturbates and while many accept it as a pleasurable experience, others argue that it is a contemptible act, against God's Will. But those who speak loudest against masturbation are most likely doing it too, just behind closed doors ... and so who is creating the negative phantoms? And do not such phantoms make the Priest molest a child or the Preacher cheat on his wife with a prostitute? Who is more sexually honest; Crowley or the Pope?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:00am Regarding the Qliphoth of Yesod, Mick writes - "It’s useful for me to think of Qlipoth as the unfulfilled forms and evolutionary dead-ends of a particular sphere. That’s a broad enough frame to include every possible existing object or idea. I also like this definition because it side-steps the old binary Good/Bad thing - that whole distracting moral trap. Yesod, the sphere of the Moon is by nature reflective, magnetic and fluid. This might suggest the Qlipoth in Yesod tends toward opacity, inertia and crystallization. Yesod contains the electromagnetic repository of all images and animations of thoughts, things and events that have occurred since the foundation of the world. It’s the Akasha; sometimes called the Whore of Babalon because she (it) takes all things into [her]self. Opacity might show up as an insistence on a surface reading of things. Or it could be the use of Yesod’s reflectivity as a magickal tool unconnected to exacting measure from the Hod of Magick. One might fall into a kind of sloppy “mojo” spiced with personal superstition. The New Age movement has its share of examples. I don’t know much about Thelemic magicians but I’ll guess opacity shows up just as much there. Also, in an ocean of reflective images the experience in Yesod is fractal. (We remind ourselves of each other all the time, don’t we?) If we forget this we might lose ourselves and wander as if in a hall of mirrors.Inertia to me would be the opposite of magnetic and electric. It might show up as starts and stops, indecision, lethargy, apathy, neglect or even depression. Here is where creative sexual energy becomes morbid and dangerous unless given a suitable outlet. The aspect of “starts and stops” is daunting in itself but it also tends to bring the law of equilibration into play. Between stopping and starting one might begin equilibrating first to one end of the pendulum swing then to the other. Real equilibration can only occur when taking the view from a still point. What’s missing here is the third perspective - that of Hadit, (Chokmah) which serves as the silent axis point of the moving pendulum, and circle to this particular square.Crystallization might appear as a tendency to concretize what occurs to us in the magical realms. When we do that, we bring Yesod down to Malkuth and begin crossing the planes. A person exploring the Qlipoth of Yesod might open psychically to the repository of animations and images out of the Spiritus Mundi and tend to literalize them by mistaking them for messages from the gods. Once “getting messages,” it’s easy to lose the sense of calm receptivity that comes with communication from our higher Daemon. That is to say, the circle part of the equation. Again, this is Chokmah, the Illuminating Intelligence that has no form in itself, but seems to imbue form the moment we stop to acknowledge it. I think this is one key to flipping the switch back over from the Qlipoth to the Illuminated part of the sphere. Most people probably do this everyday on a small scale but I think it’s reasonable to say it holds true on larger scales too.MickReply : I like it. Deep but to the point. You've been paying attention.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:50am Here is a bit of Angelic lore : the Qliphoth of Yesod is ruled by the great demon Gamaliel who is often called the 'Polluted of God' or the 'Obscene One' and the demons under him (in our personal Qliphoth) are described as corrupting and loathsome who take the Foundation of Yesod in each one of us, which normally represents the place where archetypal ideas in the unconscious inevitably become reality on Malkuth and they then pollute these images in order to produce vile results. Once these images manifest on Malkuth (i.e. our reality) they become part of the order known as Ogiel, or "Those Who Flee from God." ... However, and most important, on the lowest level Yesod is ruled by the Muladhara chakra, our libido or unconscious sexual desires and on our bodies Yesod represents our sexual organs as the 'manifestors' of reality (i.e. children) as well as our 'thoughts.' ... To ignore the 'sexual' aspect of Yesod is a grave danger. ... So, ask yourself this. What childhood lessons have you seen and learned, repressed and fulfilled, regarding an unhealthy sexuality; your own and that towards the opposite sex? It is said that a person who has not learned to face the phantoms of his sexual hang-ups, and to truly Love and to understand what Love is, will never transcend beyond Netzach, the sphere of Venus.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:55am Ricky sent a second email last night where he asked a quick question - "I imagine many people, from their youthful folly, have these phantoms or illusions through their early life. How do we fortify ourselves against this Demon Choronzon so we may at least not be torn asunder by him?"Reply: You face the demonic side of the daimon daily, as you do with its angelic side. However, the concept of Choronzon is actually found only in the Abyss and it represents solely that of the 'demonic' devoid of any and all angelic influence. Remember, burn it into your mind, Crowley has clearly stated - “... 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] ... If there is any residue left uncontrolled below the Abyss, it is here where you must confront it, wrestle with it and scream get thee behind me Satan. ... How can I identify what your demonic side represents? I can't, no more than telling you what your True Will is. However, by the time you've climbed the Tree and understood the circle/squared sphere by sphere you will know your demon when you see him and hopefully, well trained and with an arsenal of angelic lessons, you will not be fooled by his 'whispers' which are but temptations offering you greatness on Earth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:30am Finally, a worthy piece about the Qliphoth of Yesod. Yesterday Ricky wrote: "Jerry 93, I had never truly understood the Qliphoth but I think I may be starting to understand. Yesod is the realm of the astral and imagination is the power whereby we penetrate it. It is the formative world and any defined 'thought' that comes into our mind is stored here. so the Qliphothic side of this sphere would seem to be, partly at least, made up of the fabrications we have made throughout our lives for any type of 'gain' on the material plane or for that matter any fabrication at all. Fabrications of things we wanted to happen or the replacement of a bad memory with a good one. In other words any time we twist the truth or tell a little white lie this is stored here. What is so dangerous about this is that, stored in Yesod is also our 'First Gift', our Foundation for this incarnation. Any time that one fabricates 'stories' to make themselves seem 'cooler' or 'better' or whatever, than they actually are they build a false foundation out of the Qliphoth of this Sphere. This is probably the most disturbing thing that I have run across in my studies. It is down right scary because it is so true and in more than a few instances I am guilty of it myself. JEC Reply : There is more crap written about the Qliphoth than the entire Tree of Life combined. It is generally considered to be an evil realm by both Qabalists and Ceremonial Magicians alike. Although more and more individuals in this New Aeon are beginning to realize that this stigma is simply a dogma fostered by religious fear mongers of the past Aeon and carried through into modern times. Yes, for every positive current there is a negative current below the Abyss but the Qliphoth is generally not evil in relationship to the Tree of Life as much as a negative relationship to our reality. It is said to be the realm filled with the lingering Shells of our thoughts, either good and bad. We now know that working in this realm and with our Demon (Square) in each Qabalistic Sphere is mandatory but only after the Angel (circle) is 100% in place. Remember, it is 'Circle Squared' ... not 'Squared Circle.' Never confuse which comes first or a fall is eminent.Also, if we do not lean to control our Demonic side but simply bury it in the deepest recesses of our mind, it will resurface, continually, over and over again. So much of our activities in adulthood can be traced to learned behavior in childhood whether unconsciously forgotten or simply continually fostered. We are all guilty of this. Since childhood we have stored thousands of thoughts both good and evil ... but either can easily be changed by how we think 'now' ... use your Imagination to your benefit. Create wisely ... "People who avoid facing facts are bounded by phantoms." (Crowley diaries October 25th 1939) ... You wrote - "Any time that one fabricates 'stories' to make themselves seem 'cooler' or 'better' or whatever, than they actually are they build a false foundation out of the Qliphoth of this Sphere." Yes, and remember this lesson of magick - "... to will a thing is at once to admit that you have not that thing." [Israel Regardie, The Tree of Life pg.55] ... You cannot give up your EGO, its the driving factor of Self in reality in order for you to gain an experience but like everything below the Abyss, it's bathed in duality. There is a False Ego and a Justifiable Ego ... chose ye well.Ricky - This can always be identified by the 'reasons' that this person will give as to why they are right. There is a need to convince others of the fabrication because they dont believe it themselves. If they can make it 'real' for others they feel it is real for them. And so they create a Pit of Because to defend themselves. This is ludicrous, for nobody but yourself can Truly know you anyway. And to try and define yourself by what others think you are is the worst sign of Demonic infestation. It is an insatiable EGO that must be the fueled with recognition from 'without'. This all goes hand-in-hand with and is fueled by the 'Wants' of this plane. JEC Reply : Very good. ... Faith needs to convert in order to prove itself worthy to itself but faith is always inferior to Certainty. ... Liber AL vel Legis I:58 - "I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable, rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice." ... The Gnostics derived their name from the Greek word for ‘knowledge,’ or Gnosis. This was not ‘knowledge’ in the sense of being mundane information passed from one person to another but was a belief that anyone could achieve salvation by obtaining personal ‘knowledge’ from God. The importance of certainty, not faith, was an essential theme in Gnosticsm. Faith was referred to as Pistis and although important in its own right, it was always considered secondary to that of Gnosis.Ricky - But how can we fix this? Israel Regardie suggests that one embrace the practices of Analytic Psychology. In fact in his book The Middle Pillar he stats that "Analysis is the logical precursor of spiritual attainment and magical experiment. It should comprise definitely the first stage of spiritual training." (pg 20) Through this sort of exercise one is able to correct the wrongs one has accumulated throughout there young life. By just recognizing these faults and remembering what actually happened, becoming OK with the outcome we, in effect, re-program our Akashic record to portray our true foundation. JEC Reply : I suggest all students research and review psychology in one form or another. Regardie was an Analytic Psychologist, he recommended what he knew best. In truth, psychology in general is part of the 'new' magick of our Aeon; embrace it - learn to Know Thyself. This is why one of the four immediate books on our reading list is James Hillman's The Soul's Code.Ricky - So how can we tell if one has entered the Qliphoth? Maybe a drive for some one to believe what they say? Maybe excessive excuses for why they are right? Or maybe the inability to admit a fault. I think we should try to remember that there is always 'something' greater than me (me=ego). This means that we should not discount that yonder beggar might be a King, and he also might have a message we were meant to hear from on high! 93 93/93 RickyJEC Reply : Good question. It takes years to fully see the opposite in everything and then to identify its positive and the negative, the good and the bad, that which is the spiritual oart related to our True Will and that which is Earthly of our Wants. Everything is bathed in this duality. Nothing is simply one or the other. When you can do this daily, almost instantly, then you've conquered the sphere in which you are attempting to position yourself on the Tree of Life. Then, and only then, will you understand and have accomplished the circle/squared.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:45am For the history buffs: Ivan IV Vasiljevich, more commonly known as ‘The Terrible’ and the first Russian ruler to be crowned Tsar, was born on this date at six o’clock in the evening in 1530. He passed the first official law in 1547 after crowning himself Tsar which made torture legal in Russia against its own people as well as the enemy, letting all share in the fun equally. …..…. And the actor Max Schreck, being his real name, was born on this date in Berlin, Germany in 1879 and ironically his surname means ‘terror’ in German. He is most famous for his portrayal of Count Graf Orlock in the 1922 vampire film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens). The film was based on Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, but sadly the filmmakers failed to get permission from Stoker’s widow which was a problem that kept the movie from audiences for decades. …........ And I should also like to point out that Antonin Artaud was born on this date in Marseille, France in 1896. He was a state-declared madman, a dramatist, poet and actor who was a theoretician of the Surrealist movement and who tried to replace “bourgeois” classical theatre with a primitive display of ceremonies in his “Theatre of Cruelty,” for which he wrote the First Manifesto in 1932. This was his most cherished dream, to establish a new type of theatre in which would be, not necessarily an artistic spectacle, but a communion between spectators and actors. As in primitive societies it would be an initiatory spectacle of magic, even a mass participation in which the entire audience would find its vitality and its truest expression. He died on March 4, 1948 in Ivry-sur-Seine. ….....….. and finally, Charles Henry Maxwell Knight was born in Mitcham, Surrey on this date in 1900. He became one of Britain’s favorite radio and television naturalists, and it was said that any visitor “to his home at Camberley might find him nursing a bush-baby, feeding a giant toad, raising young cuckoos, or ‘engaging in masculine repartee with a vastly experienced grey parrot.” He was also considered an excellent jazz musician who loved playing the clarinet, an avid cricketer and someone who had a keen interest in the occult. He was also a British spy-master during World War II, having joined MI5 in April of 1925. Knight’s close friend in MI5 was Ian Fleming, the author of numerous books about James Bond. In fact Fleming based the character for Bond’s boss, whom he simply named ‘M’, on Knight. Knight’s strong interest in the occult inevitable lead him to the writings of Aleister Crowley. He met the Beast around 1937, being introduced to him by his dear friend, Dennis Wheatley. Knight would later describe Crowley as “a well-dressed middle-aged eccentric with the manner of an Oxford don.” There are rumors that both Wheatley and Maxwell Knight jointly applied to Crowley as novices and were accepted. Although others are quick to point out that Knight’s “interest-and also Wheatley’s-was purely academic.” According to Dennis Wheatley, he was merely studying magic for use in his novels. In fact, Aleister Crowley would later become a model for some of the characters in Wheatley’s books. Some writers have suggested there were more sinister reasons why Knight wanted to meet Crowley other than ‘occult interest.’ Hinting that Knight’s first wife, Gwladys Poole, who apparently knew Crowley before marrying Knight, had a bad personal experience with the Beast. What actually transpired between the two is not recorded but some have gone so far as stating that this experience with Crowley might be indirectly responsible for her suicide on November 17th 1934, but there is absolutely no evidence to support this outlandish claim. On Wednesday January 27, 1968 Maxwell Knight died peaceably of heart failure in a hospital at the age of sixty-eight.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday September 3rd 2008 – 7:00pm Here are some paragraphs about Choronzon and the Abyss from Chapter Seven of my book ALEISTER CROWLEY and the OUIJA BOARD. Regarding the Magickal Chain I wrote:
"The chain is often misunderstood and often tragically omitted from most people’s magickal arsenal. I cannot stress it strong enough. You must obtain this implement. Furthermore, it is important that the chain contains exactly 333 links.""The symbolism behind 333 links is that it represents the sacred numeration of an entity known as Choronzon. Magicians strongly believe that this demon is as real as day and night, although a contradiction in his being implies that he doesn’t exist in the same sense as we exist. He lives in the realm of a vast astral desert known as the Abyss between the Pylons of Daath, or Knowledge. Some refer to him as the Guardian of all Shells for he guards reality from the known and the unknown. He knows the Truth or has the Knowledge behind every person’s illusions or life. This is why he is often called the Lord of Chaos and Dispersion. He brings everything to light and exposes our folly, which is something, few mortals’ want thrown in their face, especially those climbing the sacred mountain of Abiegnus toward spiritual heights. Volumes can be written on the theory behind this demon. However, just beyond the Abyss is the realm known as Binah on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. Binah is ruled by the attributes of Saturn. Crowley notes that one of the magical weapons of Saturn is the Sickle and that such can “be used in actual ceremony to threaten the spirit that Choronzon will cut short his independent existence” if he does not submit to one’s demands. In other words, the Sickle, like the chain and salt, can be used as a weapon against the spirit or elemental. Simply informing it that if it doesn’t oblige your wishes, “Choronzon will reap his Karma, and add it to the treasure of Choronzon’s storehouse.” No elemental can withstand the threat of being taken by Choronzon!""Few mortals who truly understand the nature of this demon will likewise go against him unprepared. We have already spoken of the inherent dangers of using an Ouija board and how a magician can lose all while playing in the astral realms. This was not an idle threat. Crowley warns that the biggest danger is the loss of one’s Karma, or the “Surrender of the Soul to Choronzon.” This implies that your whole existence, the very nature of the experience for which your Spirit has incarnated, has been dragged into the depths of dispersion and chaos. Remember, it’s written that all of your emotions, thoughts and experiences make up the constitution of your Shell. Everything is recorded upon this Shell as if it were a video or a movie. How tragic would it be if the experiences you were going through were composed only of madness or intellectual befuddlement caused by following false gods or concepts made by the feeble imaginations of others, as well as yourself. Such falsities and beliefs are tied to your spirit’s karma for all eternity. Yes, all eternity. Be careful, it is possible to lose your soul and it is Choronzon who will expose these follies to you if you attempt to reach his lair by seeking the Knowledge of the Shells under his domain, especially those follies relating to your own Shell."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:40pm Mercury goes Retrograde on Sunday in the sign of Virgo; which is a sign naturally ruled by the planet representing our essential communication skills. Maybe this why you all have been so quiet when it comes to discussing our weekly topic - the Qliphoth of Yesod? You're all afraid of putting your foot in your mouth. Then again, maybe its because you just don't have a clue about this topic in which case I'm giving you all a D+ ... [Luckily, I'm grading on a curve]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:00pm I love crazy news. The headline reads - “Finger Bitten Off During Health Protest.” ... In Thousand Oaks, California yesterday there was a clash between opponents and supporters of Obama's health care reform. It appears an Obama supporter disagreed with the counter-demonstrators and he took it upon himself to walk across the street, get into a fight where he bit off the left pinky of a 65-year-old man who opposed health care reform. A hospital spokeswoman said at least the man had Medicare. ... The moral: if Democrats can't convince you that they are right, they'll bite you!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3:45pm Today’s headlines read – “Ailing Manson Follower Denied Parole” - Chowchilla, Calif. (Sept. 3) - "Susan Atkins, the terminally ill Charles Manson follower who admitted stabbing actress Sharon Tate 40 years ago, lost what was likely to be her last bid for freedom Wednesday. Atkins, who suffers from brain cancer, slept through most of the four-hour hearing during which her husband-lawyer pleaded for her release and families of victims of the Sharon Tate-Labianca killings urged that she be kept behind bars until she dies." The Parole Board denied Atkins' release and they based their decision heavily on the "atrocious nature" of the 1969 killings and they said that Atkins never fully understood the magnitude of her crimes. She was born on May 7, 1948, she'll die in prison.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:25pm Frater Shiva the author of the book titled INSIDE SOLAR LODGE, OUTSIDE THE LAW, True Tales of Initiation and High Adventure (Teitan Press 2007) sent an email wherein he writes - "I continue to be amused by the adventures of your Practicus, simply because it is a movie I have seen many times. Obviously, you are posting and discussing it for the benefit of your students. I have a couple of observations: (1) The tale is similar to Frater Achad's, wherein he leaps up instantaneously to Magister status (with Crowley cheering from the sidelines) and then goes on to become the Magus and then (finally) Ipsissimus (wherein he holds himself up higher than Crowley and begins issuing orders to him). The moral is: People are going to keep on doing this very same thing, over and over. (2) Sometime in the 1940's, Crowley wrote to someone (who? I can't remember) and essentially said, "In respect to 'starting a new group,' if you'd seen as much mischief and trouble as I have, you wouldn't even think about doing such a stupid thing." [loose quote]. (3) A.'.A.'. is supposed to be a (vertical) chain system with "no member knowing anyone else as such" except the guy or gal who linked you into the chain and any new folks that are subsequently added (one at a time). Yeah! Sure! Well, there's a clause in "One Star in Site" that allows outer order group working (because of "congestion" and "need"). Yes - but every time an A.'.A.'. group forms it will certainly be interesting - sort of like a three-ring-circus. Please see my website: http://three-ring-circus.angelfire.com [note that the website is only a Summary; the whole project is 56 MB or so and too big for current posting on a site limited to 20 MB.So anyway, here's Fr.'. Achad Osher [sic?] overseeing an outer order wherein the members know each other, and apparently sometimes "know" each other in a biblical sense. There's always a wild card in every deck, and when the current incumbent Joker has faded into memory, along will come someone new, and everyone will say "Oh mein Gott! He's just like so-and-so [the incumbent Practicus Joker]! How do I know these things? Why I've seen the movie many times. In fact, I might have written the script. My own speedy travel up the path (which ended in a big crash) was replaced by starting over at the beginning and taking every step slowly and precisely without any jumping. In the book, "Inside Solar Lodge - Outside the Law [True Tales of Initiation and High Adventure]," our Joker was described as the enchantingly insane Frater Luna[tic]. In my own Star System lineage, our Joker was the interestingly warped Frater Osiris. In Crowley's game, see Frater Achad and (of course) Victor Neuberg. In other comtemporary lineages, see the guy who is in charge, who got there by "bypassing" one or more spheres and jumped directly onto Binah from some sphere inferior to Chesed. Yes it's theoretically possible, but the only sure way is to climb the Tree, limb by limb, and leave nothing out. 93"Reply: I agree, in Grady's lineage only two of us, both having known Grady, climbed the Tree sphere by sphere all the way to the top. Two others went behind our backs and swore the Oath of the Abyss; one while a Probationer, the other a Practicus. Both are from Sacramento. It's either the water or the air in that area. Anyway, the first fell long ago back in the mid-90s and the latest we decided to carefully document as a warning to others. ... I do agree, it is possible to skip spheres and jump from even Malkuth but this clause was to accomodate those rare magicians, of which I am not, nor have I seen many worthy of such a quest. The only one I have seen worthy was Grady. I think I documenmted his story about the Oath of the Abyss fairly well. The old clause about no single A.'.A.'. member knowing another went out the window almost immediately in Crowley's time. It has never been inforced. You cannot impose such a rule and then expose your students as Crowley so often did in his writings. Personally, I feel this rule was put into place in order to stop the infectious disease of gossip and mundane pettiness so prevalent in other groups like The Golden Dawn ... but with time I think Crowley realized that you cannot teach 'there is no Law beyond do what thou wilt' and then place restrictions on your students. Its kind of unThelemic. ... Still, in Grady's lineage, only those members nearest each other are 'known' to each other. The membership from afar remains secretive to them and is no one's business. But this recent meltdown in the Sacramento Valley is a classic example, a sort of reminder, as to why Crowley thought the 'clause' where A.'.A.'. members do not know or hang around with each other was a good idea. Tragically, it's human nature to congregate and in our huddling, we do stupid things.Yes, this Practicus is not the first, nor will he be the last to attempt the ordeal of the Abyss and you are correct, my postings are lessons not so much to him but to all our students throughout the world in order that we might begin to educate them as to the dangers of magickal stupidity. If the Practicus is 'falling' let him at least accomplish some good before he goes splat! Anyway, Aleister Crowley believed that the true seeker has only two real steps to take. As he wrote to Grady, he defined these as: “(1) to achieve 5=6 which means bringing your Energy up to your Heart Chakra Tiphereth where you meet your HGA [i.e. Holy Guardian Angel] & then ‘under that divine guidance’ to (2) assay the adventure of the Abyss.” ... Grady believed, as did Crowley and even myself, that more and more individuals in this Aeon will be attempting the crossing. The consciousness of the mystic has reached this stages. If we are correct, we as the teachers must be harsh in our guidance to prepare our students for this ordeal. Still, there will always be someone like the Practicus who'll go behind their teacher's back and take the Oath. The bottom line ... 'Splatians' are needed as reminders to the more serious students not to be stupid!------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:45am An A.'.A.'. initiate just sent me an email subject 'man-o-pause?' ... regarding the Practicus. It reads:Ok...I know, I know...I'm being a total and complete asshole here (but this is just for your personal amusement...I really don't know what else to do any more but poke a little fun...I know it's not funny...but, if we don't laugh a little we might just cry...), but I really do have to wonder...is it man-o-pause (better known as the mid-life crisis)? Here is some vital information that I've found on-line regarding this life threatening issue: During his late 30's and 40's, if a man has been hard-working, the fruits of his labors-a home andfamily, material possessions-will probably surround him. Then, before anything dramatic happens,small nagging doubts may appear, perhaps followed by a series of dramatic, apparently irrationalevents leading up to great change. During it all, men ask themselves questions such as: Is this allthere is? Am I a failure? Symptoms and behaviors during mid-life crisis can range from mild tosevere, including:* boredom and exhaustion, or frantic energy * daydreaming * irritability, unexpected anger * acting on alcohol, drug, food, or other compulsions * greatly decreased or increased sexual desire * sexual affairs, especially with someone much younger * greatly decreased or increased ambitionHmm...sound familiar?? Maybe he's not in the Qlippoth of Hod at all--he's just going through the change o' life and instead of buying that candy apple red Corvette he tried to take the Oath of the Abyss? Perhaps he would have had more success with the car...I hope you don't find me flippant here. Really, my only intention was to make you smile a little...what the Hell else can we do?? I waver between feeling sad and shocked, confused and amused. Today I felt a bit of levity might be in order, so I hope you will laugh and can understand where I am coming from. I too have a sick sense of humor! Reply: Yes, it made me smile alot :) and yes, you have a sick sense of humor! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:35am Yes, Mary, in regards to my 6:00am posting, I am "sort of harsh" and no, "I will not let up." I will be posting my Birthday Wishes to the Practicus every year as a reminder, not so much to him, but for all those who will become acquainted with him so that they can be forewarned about listening to any guidance or magickal theory from this person. The only Foundation that he can teach to a student in regards to Magick is intellectual at best and stupidity over-all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:40am To address an incoming email about our Open Houses. Yes, they have been closed of late. And it saddens me to have to inform you that there are no more 'OPEN' house scheduled at Love Sake Clerk House in the near future ... Outsiders cannot attend due to the subject matter being discussed with A.'.A.'. students which are private teachings. Please pass the word around. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:45am Marlene just sent me a link to this article - The Chupacabra Caught? by Mike Krumboltz. It says - "The famed chupacabra has apparently been found, and it's a Texan." [It figures] ... The article ends saying that the owner of the carcass "plans to preserve the animal and then donate it to a local museum so it can be enjoyed by others. As the taxidermist puts it, the beast is 'a tremendous conversation piece.' Sort of like the Mona Lisa or a really stellar collection of garden gnomes."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:40am Regarding the Qliphoth of Yesod, Joe writes - “93 Jerry- I often see Peer Magicians who think that they are always 'right' no matter what - and are first to pick out and point our people whom they think are 'wrong' - These are the same people whom also stated that “This IS the ways things ARE” Very black and white - and also become obsessed with things, be it a video game- or a movie series- even food or certain types of people- and act more like someone who is possessed by things which enter their realm. Responding to others takes time for them as other peoples changes, deliberate changes threaten their own “ lifestyle”- Perhaps these stars are stuck on the other side of YESOD. I do not know whatever to suggest how one can pull one self from this - for me it would be to get back to Malkuth and do one’s Pranayama and get back to regular Liber Resh Vel Helios - and at this moment the sun is just about down and I need to leave work and do just that - Aumgn ( I hope all is well !) Agape JOE from Beverly 93 93/93.”Reply: I think we’ve all had to deal with these kinds sooner or later. They forget that everything below the Abyss is perfectly Balance. This means, to use myself as an example - for every Truth that I see in my own repertoire of Knowledge, an equal number of ‘Aughhhhhhh’ will inevitably surface to prove me wrong! Maybe I’m just a sick bastard but I teach all my students to lighten up when certain things are pointed out in their writings to be wrong, just laugh and repeat the old Mantra – “Ah, ya got me!” ... To fight this implies EGO. This is something magicians must constantly be on their guard against in all spheres; especially those below Tiphereth and no amount of ritual can help these individuals ... because, as I've seen it over the years, when an egotists does a ritual it only reinforces how 'great' they are! Something will have to make them change and realize what 'Controlling the Ego' means and this 'something' can only come from within ... until then, they babble in the Sunlight and torture us all.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:45am Last night, shortly before midnight, I woke to a massive power outage or blackout affecting parts of the South Berkeley and downtown areas. It was amazing how dark and quiet it was. Berkeley Police Department reported that the outage was in the area of Telegraph Ave and Durant, extending all the way to the border with Oakland at Alcatraz. The cause is a blown transformer. We didn't get power restored in my apartment until about 5:30am. The News reports, and I quote - "No report of crime or any other unusual activities in the area except for some folks who seem to be taking advantage of the dark to light off some fireworks.” ... And on top of this, at 3:26am the city of Berkeley was hit by a small micro-earthquake! ... and damn, I should also point out that the temperature here in Berkeley hit 99 degrees yesterday and right now - its already really hot!. ... Anyway, what a way to start the day off! What next? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:00am Today the Practicus, who is still miserably lost in the Qliphoth of Hod, celebrates his 40th Birthday. It is no secret that he is a magickal failure. He claims that he wrote in his diary years ago how he had a prophetic vision how he [quote] "would take this Oath in this incarnation and I actually wrote that I believed this would occur before my 40th birthday" ... and so, nearing his 40th birthday, he claims that this was the real reason that he took the Oath of the Abyss last month and that it had nothing to do with him trying to escape his inability to prove the simplest of his magickal claims to his Superior. It was all just a coincidence. But what he fails to point out, prophetic or not, is that he fell into the Qliphoth after trying to assume Philosophus where he resided for well over a week in babbling idiocy from a pit of Because while we tried to reposition him on the Tree into the Light. But instead of listening to his teacher he dug his feet in and never properly exited the Qliphoth. Then, while in the Qliphoth, he swore the Oath of the Abyss. Knowing this, why would an Angel advise him to take the Oath of the Abyss if he wasn't ready? ... Yes, his 'dream' might have told him he'd swear the Oath by his 40th but in truth it sounds more like it was his Demon [from within the Qliphoth] who was doing all the snickering while whispering - "Ya, Ya, take the Oath before you're forty. It'll be great!" Still, in all fairness, if it was his Angel she was probably trying to warn him years ago about his 40th Birthday and not to be stupid ... but he didn’t listen, he failed. ... Happy Birthday. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:50am For the history buffs: John Humphrey Noyes was born on this date in Brattleboro, Vermont in 1811. In his youth he became swept up into religion, but lost his license to preach because of his “perfectionist” doctrine. He took its name of The Perfectionists from Mathew 5.48 and was based on the belief that man’s innate sinlessness could be regained through communion with Christ. He established the first Perfectionist commune in Putney Vermont in 1839 but because of his views on polygamy, which aroused the neighbors sense of moral ethics, Noyes was forced to flee. In 1848 he established his community at Oneida, N.Y. where he continued to develop his religious and social experiments in communal living and, for approximately 30 years, they lived in a gigantic group marriage of over 200, with shared property in larger units of group-family and group-family life. They avoided the ‘back to the land’ fantasies which were so prevalent in 1800’s communes, and which typically resulted in city people trying to be farmers and failing miserably, instead they founded businesses in and around the area. They had a complex marriage arrangement where they believed that every man and every woman was married to each other. Monogamy was considered harmful because it excluded others from sharing in connubial affection and therefore it was abolished. The idea was to engage in as many sexual relations as possible in order to keep any two members from falling in love. In these relationships they could engage in sexual intercourse, but the men were forbidden to ejaculate, either during intercourse or after withdrawal. Although, in all honesty, men were permitting to achieve ejaculation with post menopausal women and thus the Perfectionists not only were employing a novel level of birth control, but were also found a novel approach of providing older women with sexual partners. Noyes was the first to use the term “free love.” He died on April 13, 1886 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. ……….. and it was on September 3, 1967 that the widow of Karl Germer, Sascha Germer heard someone knocking at her front door. When she asked who it was, a reply was heard that it was a member of the O.T.O.. Unfortunately, when she opened the door she was immediately sprayed in the face with some kind of a gas or acid, knocked to the floor and overpowered. A drug was then injected by a syringe that totally knocked her out cold. When she came to, she found that her house had been ransacked and that many books in the library on the second floor had been stolen. Also missing were Aleister Crowley’s personal robes, various O.T.O. documents and ritual papers. Sascha tried to call the police but found that the phone lines had been cut. When she finally did notify the local Constable, he took her story, along with a few photographs but no fingerprints were taken or any serious research done. Phyllis Seckler has stated that it was obvious that “they put her story down to the wanderings of the demented mind of a lady who had been alone too long.” In other words, they didn’t believe her. They felt her house was dirty and normally in disarray. Tragically, they were not even sure her house was actually burglarized. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday September 2nd 2009 – 10:45am I received this email in regards to my comment made Monday in the 2:40pm posting about a chart not reproducing well. Mick writes - "Jerry 93 Since there's been some talk about the 5 tatwas here's, another copy of that little chart I made. It's a little denser dpi in case you still feel like using it. Hope it works. Mick 93 93/93" ........ Reply : Thanks!
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7:10am OK All, we've had a few individuals write some pretty interesting thoughts of the Sphere of Yesod. Now it's time to think about its Qliphothic and how it is affecting us when we, as magicians, are attempting to climb the Tree of Life.However, no concept has had more garbage written about it than the Qliphoth as if by its very nature it spawns confusion. In truth, to understand the Qliphoth is not that difficult. Whatever is found on the front side of a Sephiroth then its backside must contain its opposite because everything below the Abyss must contain this duality to exist; God willed it so. If there is light, there must be darkness. Both flip sides of a single coin, both storehouses of power related to the Sephiroth but as different as night and day. Yet both having a purpose to the Divine Plan. But what is the purpose in regards to the Qliphoth?Many authors will tell you that the Qliphoth contain 'astral shells' which might have been at one time humans but now they are ghosts, emptied of any Divine spark, or consciousness but this is too broad and misleading. In truth, during the course of our Life no thought is ever dissipated; everything we say or do is recording in the Akasha, or Astral Light within our personal microcosmic Tree of Life. This Akasha is like the main frame of a computer. It is simply a stored file that we can tap into and use to our benefit or detriment. Since childhood we have been 'imagining' evil or vile things and we have done numerous egotistical acts which have deliberately hurt others in order for us to benefit or gain pleasure. These specific thoughts which have been generated by our 'imagination' at the time of our actions cannot stay on the front side of our Tree. They automatically flip to the backside, into our Qliphoth, where they are stored in the Akasha that is related to the Sephiroth to which they rule. In a magician's case, if they have walked their 'thinking' into the Qliphoth and do not quickly return to the front side of their Tree, then while in the Pit of Because they will begin weaving a tale to convince themselves that while in this darkness they're actually in the light. This is a clue how a teacher can determine if a student, like the Practicus whom we've been discussing over these last few weeks, has dangerously thrown himself into a their Qliphoth. This inspid little creature after over a week in Qliphotic thought convinces himself that the solution to his troubles with his Superior is to take the Oath of the Abyss! And he thinks he's going to be sucessful. What kind of 'Foundation' has he built? To do 'anything' for 'Wants' (i.e. Self) creates Darkness and the Laws of the 'Square' will teach us how to control this Demonic side. And to do 'anything' for 'Will' (i.e. God/Goddess) creates Light and the Laws of the 'Circle' teach us how to be controlled by our Angelic side. One forces us downward, the other pulls us up. ... So, what is the Qliphoth of Yesod and what are its danger signs that magicians must be aware of? How does a magician in the Qliphoth of Yesod get out? Think about all these and send me your 'thoughts.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:10am To add in her thoughts on the Qabalistic sphere of Yesod, or the Moon, Jerri writes:93 Jerry,Mick, whose thoughts I really enjoyed reading, touches upon the "impulse of equilibration that is set into play for every event that occurs in the dualistic realms" on the Tree. In Yesod lies the seat of our Libido. The Libido itself can be described as our Soul's individual experience of the Life Force or Kundalini. We, as individual Stars experience this as our sexual drive, quest for our opposite, creative energy etc, etc. It is the underlying force that perpetuates our species and it can also drive us toward union with God (from a divided below the Abyss standpoint). It is a greater quest for our opposite. But this Life Force, experienced from a Spiritual (Spirit being the United above the Abyss) perspective is what the fabric of the Universe is made from. We ARE this energy, we are not separate from it...everything in the Universe is comprised of this energy. It is us...we are it...and there is nothing more--this is the Foundation of all.Yesod has been called the receptacle of the emanations. It is the place that all the emanations or Sephira from above coalesce. Malkuth is the final manifestation of that energy, as emanated by Yesod. Dion Fortune, in The Mystical Qabalah, pg. 238 states "Let us once and for all disabuse our minds of the idea that spirit can work directly upon matter; it never does so. Spirit works through mind, and mind works through the Aether; and the Aether, which is the framework of matter and the vehicle of the life forces, can be manipulated within the limits of its nature, which are by no means inconsiderable." The Tatwas, or 5 elemental tides are Akasha, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. This manifestation on Malkuth sensationally are our 5 senses--sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Here we find these Solar Tides crystallization in flesh and our experience of this flesh through the Ruach (or our mind). In Yesod lies the "invisible" 5th element. Israel Regardie describes the astral light (or the Aether, termed by Fortune) as "an omnipresent and all-permeating fluid or medium of extremely subtle matter; substance in a highly tenuous state, electric and magnetic in constitution, which is the model upon which the physical world is built." Garden of Pomegranates-pg 53. This suggests that Yesod is the hidden infrastructure of all matter. (Wow Jerry, starting to further grasp those Dewdrops indeed...)As a Magician, why is this important? A Foundation implies a beginning, but therein is the implication of an ending; a destination or conclusion. In simplistic terms, one way of expressing this concept is in the idea that your thoughts create your reality. The Akashic records contain everything...Yesod contains all but it exists below the Abyss so in this sphere also lies illusion, and tricky ones at that...To give an example, and a negative one might be the best to serve my purposes here, let's say you are pissed off at someone for an hour. You feel like hurting them. You want to hit them. The impression of this becomes "real" and formulates in Yesod as everything does, however the power or focus of this thought form and/or visualization will do nothing on Malkuth as it doesn't have the proper amount of power to manifest. However, if you put enough constant focus and energy on specific thoughts and visualizations...well...this brings them to indeed manifest and that's how Magick in practicality works. The reverse implication here is as equally true- if we focus upon unifying with God utilizing those same methods, prayer, visualization, fantasy, thinking...those impressions will build upon each other and we will rise upon the planes...Given this slippery, watery nature of Yesod, It is not hard to grasp here why true and accurate memory would become so vital and to see why the Magickal Diary is one of the most important weapons in a Magicians arsenal. We've established that our thoughts, fantasies and feelings create our reality. And we all know that our thoughts, fantasies and feelings LIE!!! They can build one upon the other in a pile of utter bullshit to create monsters. Well, I fear I am beginning to touch upon where we might go South in Yesod so for now, I will stop my rambling...Take care of yourself! Miss you...93 93/93 JerriReply: Nice. Not much to add nor inconstancies to correct or guide you. You laid a very good 'Foundation.' With this kinda of thinking it'll be easy for you to understand the next portion of our discussion on the Qliphoth of this sphere.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:00am For the history buffs: R. H. Bruce Lockhart was born in Anstruther in the county of Fife on this date in 1887. His father was a preparatory schoolmaster, who had migrated to England in 1906. He became Britain’s first envoy to the Bolsheviks (Russia) in January of 1912 and, for a time during 1918, he was confined in the Kremlin as their prisoner. When Aleister Crowley took his Theatrical Tour to Russia in 1913 he met with Lockart and his old friend Walter Duranty, who much admired the Russian dictator Joseph Stalin. It has long been known that Lockhart had connections both with the intelligence services and occultism, but little survives of the exact nature of his personal exploits. He wrote the classic book Memoirs of a British Agent, being an account of the author's early life in many lands and of his official mission to Moscow in 1918. (1932). Lockhart died in 1970. ……….. and it was on September 2, 1996, at night, in Iporanga Brazil, when three local police officers watched a UFO land near Serro das Mottas. They approached the area in order to obtain a better look at the object when suddenly it emitted two bright flashes of light and two small humanoids suddenly appeared. The humanoids had human-like faces with large luminous eyes and as they approached the officers decided to quickly leave the area. They did not stick around to see either the UFO or humanoids depart.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 1st 2009 – 7:30am For the history buffs: Carl Kellner was born on this date in Vienna, Austria in 1851. He was a wealthy Austrian paper chemist and a student of Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and Eastern mysticism, who had traveled extensively throughout Europe, America and Asia Minor. During his travels, he claimed to have made contact with three Adepts (a Sufi, Soliman ben Aifa, and two Hindu Tantrics, Bhima Sena Pratapa of Lahore and Sri Mahatma Agamya Paramahamsa) who supposedly taught him his ‘sexual secrets.’ In 1895, he began to discuss the idea of creating an ‘Academia Masonica’ with his associate Theodor Reuss which became known as the “Oriental Templar Order.” He died on June 7, 1905 of a mysterious illness, which no doctor was ever able to diagnose. …………. and Edgar Rice Burroughs was born on this date in Chicago, Illinois in 1875. He was the author best known for creating the jungle hero named Tarzan. He also wrote popular westerns and historical romances, but his science fiction/fantasy stories involving earthly adventurers transported to various planets, to lost islands, and even into the interior of the hollow earth, is what he is best remembered for, like his series of novels about the fictitious John Carter of Mars and his adventures on the planet Barsoom (Mars). Burroughs died in Encino, California. …………. And speaking of birthdays, John Frederick Charles ‘Boney’ Fuller was born on this date in Chichester, West Sussex, S England in 1878. He wrote the now classic book titled The Star in the West, A Critical Essay upon the Works of Aleister Crowley (1907. He was also a British general and military thinker who wrote such notable books as Tanks in the Great War (1920), On Future Warfare (1928), Foundations of the Science of War (1926), The Dragon’s Teeth (1932), War and Western Civilization (1932), A Military History of the Western World (3 vol., 1954-56), The Generalship of Ulysses S. Grant (2d ed. 1958) and The Second World War. However, after reading Fuller’s book The Secret Wisdom of the Qabalah, Aleister Crowley wrote in his diary that it is a “turgid unintelligible rant: no idea of what he’s driving at. It is a damnable shame-he did start so well.” Fuller died on February 10th in1966. ……….. and to keep up with the flavor of the day I must add that they chant, dance, beat drums and torment people at airports singing “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama ...” and their founder, the Swami Prabhupada, was born on this date in Calcutta, India in 1896. ……….. and finally, on September 1, 1939, the comedian and actress Lily Tomlin was born in Detroit, Michigan on this date. In 1985 she began performing her one-woman stage show titled ‘In Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe’ for which many profound and deeply philosophical statements were uttered, like: “When we talk to God, we’re praying. When God talks to us, we’re schizophrenic.”
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