~ March 1st - 11th 2010 ~
Thursday March 11th 2010 – 10:00am Do you like this 'new' photo of Aleister Crowley that surfaced?
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5:50am For the history buffs: It was on this date in 1302 that Romeo married Juliet. …….... Also, the German occultist Eugen Grosche was born on this date in 1888. On May 5th 1926 Grosche, known also as Frater Gregorius and four others formed an occult organization known as the Fraternitas Saturni. In the same year he released his infamous book titled Satanistische Magie (Satanic Magic) in which he boldly linked together Satan, the Virgin Mary, and the Barbelo-Gnostics. He died on January 6, 1964 …..…. And the writer Douglas Adams was born on this date in 1952. He is most famous as the author who solved the 'Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything' which he published in his now classic book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For those too lazy to read it - the answer is very simple; it’s 42. He died of a heart attack on May 11, 2001. …..…. And finally, it was on March 11, 1995 in Orocovis, Puerto Rico, the Chupacabra, or “goat Sucker,” killed eight sheep which were all found with three strange marks or puncture holes in the chest and were described as “completely drained of blood.” By August the Chupacabra was blamed for the death of over 150 animals throughout Puerto Rico.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday March 10th 2010 – 11:17am NEWS: We had a 2.1 magnitude earthquake hit a few miles east of us in the town of Lafayette at around nine-thorty this morning. I didn't feel it.
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11:00am Ricky sent me an email this morning, he writes – “Jerry, 93 I found myself wondering about the Pentagram ritual, the practices of Liber Resh and what exactly they would have in common to prompt an Open House regarding both. The obvious answer was that they both work with the fourfold elemental currents but pondering on it for a bit something interesting happened. I thought of something! :) I was thinking (which probably is the wrong approach) of the Tattwatic tides that are the main reason for resh and their 'manifestation' within ourselves. These elemental tides are four but there is a fifth, Akasha or Spirit. Now the idea behind Resh is to 'open the Door' or the Muladhara chakra in equal proportion so that these tides may flow through unhindered and freely. You have also written about how the fifth tide is what holds all these others together, sort of the glue that makes them functional. Now these elemental currents are essentially Prana, the active vital principal while Akasha is well Akasha, Spirit. These are seen in the LBRP as the four pentagrams (Prana) and the hexagrams (Akasha) surrounding the magickian. It would now seem that these two rituals work in concert to one, pulling the Tattwas in equal proportion and two, to order them. The idea that I am getting here is that the Tattwas Prana and Akasha working in concert according to their own respective functions is, in a sense Squaring the Circle. I'm not sure if any of this is making a damn bit of sense in writing, but I've got a fairly good picture in my head of what I am trying to say.. Hm I need to find a canvas! 93 93/93 Ricky.” Reply: I always enjoy to know when students are thinking. Yes, both rituals work with elemental currents, most rituals do but not in such an obvious manner. ... Now, about the circle and square. We need to learn how to control the 'square' or four-fold elemental qualities due to their 'creating' powers which not only created our body within our mother's womb but continually, day after day, builds a harden facade or tomb around our Spirit. This tomb must be 'loosened' ... and to perform Liber RESH vel Helios daily has a three-fold premise. Aleister Crowley has written in his Confessions, p. 674 - "Here are given the four Adorations to the sun, to be said daily at dawn, noon, sunset and midnight. The Object of this practice is firstly to remind the aspirant at regular intervals of the Great Work; secondly, to bring him into conscious personal relation with the centre of our system; and thirdly; for advanced students, to make actual magical contact with the spiritual energy of the sun and thus draw actual force for him." ... In many ways this three fold premise works as follows:Man of EarthRemind the aspirant at regular intervals of the Great WorkLovers to bring him into conscious personal relation with the centre of our systemHermit make actual magical contact with the spiritual energy of the sunTo fulfill this we must first begin to cleanse the body, making it into a Temple, which means establishing it as a vehicle. But don't cross the planes. In others words, don't give up the 'experience' for which you incarnated to become a monk thinking that its lifestyle will better suit spiritual growth of a clean Temple. I always liked the Biblical quote - "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). ... Sadly, in this fast-food society, most people want instantaneous results and if after a week or so they feel like nothing is happening they quit the practice. This is a grave mistake too often made by magicians. The 'Square' wins; another onion skin wraps the body. ... Liber RESH and the Banishings are, in a way, 'cleaning' rituals. How can you tell if they are working? It could take months, maybe even a year or more to feel the results ... no two people are alike. But sooner or later the 'New Moon' of the man of Earth grade starts to turn 'Full' as if the Light of your Star is animating it. You are 'receiving' and so obviously your Temple or body is slowly becoming a vehicle for the Light. ... If you don't do the rituals every day, but only occasionally, it just means that when you enter into the Lover grade it may be all but impossible to ascend beyond Tiphereth. But to stop here is a peak that few ever obtain, so fret not and embrace the Light for what it is. The center of your Universe, your Star.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:30am Having just finished Blair MacKenzie Blake’s new book ‘The Wickedest Books in The World, Confessions of an Aleister Crowley Bibliophile', I am inclined to review it. First, I found it an amusing read despite a few of its obvious historical flaws. You’d think, after twenty years or so, that scholars would finally get the facts straight about us Americans but nooooooo ... this book proves that the ingrained attitude runs too deep for some to bother embracing the facts. For the last time, the OTO today under Bill Breeze is NOT the COTO, or Caliphate OTO. Bill Breeze threw that 'titled' out of the Order in the mid-eighties. That is well documented. Grady McMurtry was the last official Caliphate-OTO leader. He died, as did the term COTO, back in 1985. And stop with the Kalifornia jabs. ... And to mention Grady McMurtry who had taken “the Oath of Magister Templi and entered the Qabalistic sphere of Binah as far back as December 1906” (pg.4) is abit stretching it considering the fact that he wasn't born until 1918. ... Ok, Ok, I admit it, I’m abit testy on any inaccuracies in regards to these subjects. Still, to be honest, I must remind my reader that I started off saying that I enjoyed the book. It is more of an historical autobiography of the author's life and jaunt as a Crowley Bibliophile and the things that he learned in his travels rather than a full story about Aleister Crowley himself but that, to me, was its plus. All in all I’d recommend the book but I’d warn the reader to take some of its American historical events with a grain of salt.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:25am I always thought the movie The Lost Boys (1987) was one of the more original vampire movies that Hollywood has ever made. That is why I find it really sad to hear that one of its main actors, Corey Haim, died this morning around 2:15am of an apparent drug overdose in Burbank, California. He was just 38. ... In the movie Corey played the younger of two brothers, who, with divorced mother, move to a beach town named Santa Carla which is "crawling with vampires." I liked this movie.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:15am I’d also like to send a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY out to my dear friend, artist and author, Gregory von Seewald. He was born on this date in Stamford, Connecticut in 1955. He established the Abbey of Thelema in 1983 as a magickal initiatory extension of Aleister Crowley's AA. He founded Headland Press in 1995 and some of the titles that he has published are Ordo Templi Orientis: Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask (1990), Liber LXV Commented by Aleister Crowley & Marcelo Motta (1996), Calling The Children of the Sun by Marcelo Motta (1999), along with many others, various broadsheets, pamphlets, booklets and flyers.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:00am For the history buffs, there is a lot to mention today. For starters, the legendary ‘virgin’ Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of King Henry the VIII and Anne Boleyn, publicly visited the magician John Dee’s house on this date in 1575 in order ‘to view his famous library.’ In truth, Dee was one of the secret advisers to the Queen on occult matters and who often did horoscopes for her. ............... and then on March 10, 1582 John Dee met Edward Kelly for the first time. Kelly, who was an Irish alchemist, theurgist and clairvoyant and magician, was born Edward Talbot. He and John Dee would start a long collaboration of magical experiments which reportedly summoned Angels. ............... and Nancy Clare Cunard, a close friend of Aleister Crowley and a member of his ‘inner circle’, was born on this date in Nevill Holt, Leicestershire, England in 1896. She was the only child of Sir Bache Cunard and Lady Maud Alice Burke Cunard. Her childhood was spent as part of the British upper class on the family estate of Nevill Holt. When she was fourteen, she moved with her mother to London and subsequently attended schools in London, Paris and Germany. After World War I she settled in Paris, where she became involved in the Dada, Surrealist and Modernist movements. Her three most famous volumes of poetry are Outlaws (1921), Sublunary (1923) and Parallax (1925). In 1927 she founded Hours Press which was located in an old farmhouse in La Chapelle-Reanville, Normandy. The Press specialized in publishing authors whose works had difficulty finding a home elsewhere, including Ezra Pound and Samuel Beckett. Unfortunately the press closed after only four years. Shortly afterwards she became intensely involved in the black civil rights movement in the United States. She seemed driven by the struggle and she spent several years collecting writings by and about African-Americans. She published many of these in an anthology called Negro (1934). For most of 1936-1939 she lived in Madrid with the poet Pablo Neruda, working as a freelance writer during the Spanish Civil War. She spent World War II in London, where she published the anthology Poems for France (1944). After the war, she returned to France to find that the Nazis had destroyed or stolen most of her possessions. Her later publications included Grand Man: Memories of Norman Douglas (1954), GM: Memories of George Moore (1956) and These Were the Hours (1965), which was a posthumously published memoir. ................ also, Gerard Croiset was born on this date in 1909. He was known as ‘The Dutch Clairvoyant’ and psychic healer. His versatile psychic abilities enabled him to locate missing persons, find lost objects and to solve crimes when called upon by police departments. The accuracy of his descriptions of various locations was amazing as was other information he was able to offer. He was able to tell people their life histories by just holding an object that belonged to them. This is a skill is known as Psychometry. He became well known for his gifts, even appearing being interviewed by the BBC. He died on July 21, 1980 at the age of 71. .............. and on this date in 1985 Francis Israel Regudy, better known as Israel Regardie, died of a heart attack while having dinner with friends at one of his favorite restaurants in Sedona, Arizona. ................. and finally, the author Robert Shea, who collaborated with Robert Anton Wilson to write the classic book series known as The Illuminatus Trilogy, died on Cancer on this date in 1994. He was born in 1933.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday March 9th 2010 – 3:45pm Luis sent me the following article which was published in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle. Its title was 'New Zealand woman sells souls to highest bidder' ... The article reads : "The rare spirits that went under the gavel at a recent online auction in New Zealand weren't aged brandies or hard-to-find liqueurs. Instead, two glass vials purportedly containing the ghosts of two dead people sold for $2,830 New Zealand dollars ($1,983) at an auction that ended Monday night. The "ghosts" were put up for bidding by Avie Woodbury from the southern city of Christchurch. She said they were captured in her house and stored in glass vials with stoppers and dipped in holy water, which she says "dulls the spirits' energy." She said they were the spirits of an old man who lived in the house during the 1920s, and a powerful, disruptive little girl who turned up after a session with a spirit-calling Ouija board. Since an exorcism at the property last July led to their capture, there has been no further spooky activity in the house, she said. The auction attracted more than 214,000 page views and dozens of questions before the winning bid, Trademe auction site spokesman Paul Ford said Tuesday. The name of the winning bidder was not released. Woodbury said that once an "exorcist's fee" has been deducted, the proceeds of the spirit sale will go to the animal welfare group the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals."
Reply: Have I ever mentioned that I did an Ouija ritual awhile ago, summoned the ghost of Aleister Crowley and captured his spirit in a bottle? I lured him in after placing a small picture of a naked girl, a few sprinkles of perique, a little brandy and a tiny package of heroin in the bottle. Anyway, I'm hurting for cash, anybody want to make me an offer on it? :)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:30pm In regards to my 6:06am posting, Carl writes - "Jerry, 93 Thank you very much! Yes, things are going well. I purchased and read two very fine books lately: your "Magickal Essence of AC" (I got #54) and "Progradior & the Beast" both I enjoyed very much. Hope all is well in Bezerkely: its really interesting to see protest pictures as students here provide me with far less entertainment. I've been pondering that Tower card of yours and will write with some questions: there is a lot going on in there! I picked up connections between it and the 'lower self"/"higher self" after reading your book that I hadn't noticed before! With best wishes, 93 93/93 Carl ."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11:40am Ricky writes - "Jerry, 93 Wish I could be there for the Open House on Friday! Reading over the Epistle on Liber Resh in the appendix of your new book; you've added a massive amount of new info into it! Much food for thought here, I enjoyed it immensely!" -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:10am This upcoming Open House on Friday March 12th will have a scheduled discussing on Liber RESH vel Helios, the Tattwic Tides and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram as positioned on the Tree of Life amongst other magickal topics related to Foundational Stones in the lower Ruach. Since it will begin at 6:30pm; and being near supper, feel free to bring something to eat and drink and don't feel obligated to bring enough for anyone other than yourself. Although extra beer is always welcome. ... Also, this Friday our noted street astrologer Charles will be celebrating his 50th Birthday! From personal experience, since I too am over fifty, I can only advise him that he should no longer care if his little Pisces mind starts to wander - just as long as it comes back again. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:45am A student writes - "I don’t know what you have planned to talk on, but I would like at some Open House in the not too distant future to hear more about the Thesis. I understand the lower Thesis is the biography. I have one written, organized by the astrological houses, but it is in sore need of updating. The higher Thesis, which if I understand correctly is part of the process of crossing the abyss and that there are aspects of it scattered in the sands of the abyss, I have come to understand as a “symbolic biography”. The I Ching has been my primary symbolic tool. There are 32 paths and 64 hexagrams, and I have a few intuitions as to how to try to map out the hexagrams on the paths, so that I can perhaps open the symbolic palette to include attributions on the Tree to undertake the symbolic biography.”Repliy : The I-Ching is also my primary divinatory tool when needed but I think you miss the point about the ‘symbolic biography’ ... its not rooted in something that we are researching from the point-of-view of Malkuth. Always remember the quote by Aleister Crowley – “Poetry is the geyser of the Unconscious.” Basically, what he is saying, according to Grady McMurtry, is that our (higher) Thesis can only be produced when our conscious self shuts down in order for the Above (i.e. Genius) to flow unhampered. Out higher Thesis can have no initial conscious interference; although we can fine tune it later on but initially it must be rooted in the pure Gnosis as to why we incarnated. Frater Orpheus thought that he would simply keep a magickal diary of his crossing and then make that his ‘Thesis.’ But would that not be something written daily from the point-of-view of the Below looking toward the Above? It must be the other way around. ... Also, this higher Thesis is always something archetypal in context. Remember, Crowley’s Libers or Class A material are classic examples of Gnosis descending. Grady also believed that the poems of his Angel and Abyss cycle to be his ‘Thesis’ about the Laws of his incarnation, I received my 22 major Thoth cards as my Thesis, Luis also uses the Thoth to unfold ‘his’ secrets. So the question is this, what tool shall you use to manifest your Gnosis? And the secret - your daimon has been guiding you since childhood. Your lower biography (Thesis) is not just about your general life, any idiot can write that but a magician’s bio should also be about the ‘signs’ (i.e. the reasons behind our incarnation) that they’ve been receiving from their daimon since childhood which makes them different than everybody else. Is that not what we are trying to identify by writing our bio? Why do you think Grady placed so much importance on his Agape Lodge days or his War Stories? Those who could see no further than their nose (i.e. mundane babblings) thought Grady silly or stupid, those who talked with Grady as to why he placed so much importance on these stories heard him unfold the secrets of his past, present and future on a multiple levels. You’re lower Thesis should be telling you exactly what medium you will use to channel Gnosis. Think about it. ... Hope this is a little bit of help. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9:15am I was asked in an email this morning - "Say, I had a question if you wouldn't mind. I came across the following from an old Thelema Lodge Newsletter from 1993: "On Sunday March 21st at 4:18pm Thelema Lodge will be celebrating the Equinox of the Gods and all are welcomed to attend this glorious event. Achad Osher 583 VIII° will be doing excerpts from the Ritual of Beth which was originally performed by Aleister Crowley & his wife Rose while in the Great Pyramid in 1904. This ritual has only recently surfaced. James T. Graeb will follow with the 'Evocations to Horus' which was also performed by Crowley on March 20th 1904." ... Can you please tell me what is the Ritual of Beth? Is this another name for Crowley's Liber Israfel? Thanks in advance. Happy Equinox."I replied: You tax my brain having me to remember back to a ritual that we did at Thelema Lodge almost seventeen years ago but luckily I keep fair records. This was a period when I was Lodge Master and had absolutely no control over what Bill Heidrick put in our Thelema Lodge Calendar. He edited ‘everything’ ... and often what I wrote to be submitted, and what appeared, were very different animals. The particular ritual that is mentioned in the TLC in 1993 is a classic example. Initially we were incorporating the section from the York Ms book 27 titled ‘Ritual B, To Have Any Knowledge’ but somehow the sentence “This ritual has only recently surfaced” was added. In truth; I had a copy of the original handwritten manuscript since the mid-1980s. It’s found at the Warburg. ... We used our brief version of an Equinox of The Gods ritual as an opening to the Feast, albeit slightly changed, for the next three years while I was Lodge Master etc. Sadly, the versions used in 1993-94 do not survive, or at least they haven’t surfaced yet in my file boxes from storage. The only version to survive is the 1995 version. Anyways, there are lots of stories of me fighting with Bill Heidrick about his rewriting and editing my submissionsEditorial Note: Actually, the 1995 version was shifted from being on the Equinox to being performed on the day that we celebrated The Feast of The Book of the Law. I should have mentioned that.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:00am My son & I bought two Asian horror movies last weekend for his sleep-over. I reviewed one of them, Devilman, on Sunday in my 6:40am posting. The other movie, which was actual released here in America on the big screen, is titled BLOOD, THE LAST VAMPIRE. Click HERE if you would like to read my review. Personally, I recommend that you see this movie but then again I also told you to go see Yo Yo Cop Girl, Tokyo Gore Police and Machine Girl ... which might imply to some that my judgment on 'good movies' is a bit twisted. How about if I simply say - "I mean well!"-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:06am Let me send a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY out to my dear friend Carl Mulinax in Illinois. I hope you have a great day!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:00am For the history buffs: on this date in 1929 Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie were told that they must go and were expelled from France after an inspector called on them and argued that their coffee-brewing machine was an infernal device for distilling drugs, like heroin. .............. on March 9, 1975 Joseph Dunninger died at the age of 82. He was a stage magician, excelling in mental magic and Escapologist.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday March 8th 2010 – 5:40pm I love the NEWS; six woman in the state of New Jersey were hospitalized after their "butt enhancement" surgery went tragically wrong during what was supposedly to be a simple cosmetic procedure. It seems their unlicensed doctor injected into the butts the kind of silicone used to caulk bathtubs, rather than the correct stuff ... What? I don't understand why these women are complaining and bitching. Now at least their butts won't leak ... or better yet, at least they'll never get mildew. Shall I go on? :)
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10:57am Just got back from my monthly doctor's visit. My heart is ok, my blood pressure is abit high but I am supposedly going to live ... so afterwards, to celebrate, Ben & I went to Popeyes so I could order a ten piece extra spicy box of chicken! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10:55am Ricky replied to Ben Hance's previous email [see our March 3rd 7:08am posting], writing - “Ben, 93 Thank you for the insightful and honest reply. Indeed I catch myself, all the time, viewing the phenomena in my life from the lowest possible stand point. It helps immensely when someone reminds me to look at a possible 'bigger picture.' In fact I got a good laugh at myself when I realized how narrow minded I was being. You were absolutely correct when you wrote "You embarked upon this journey for a result, you really cannot complain when you begin to get one." and I'm still getting a chuckle out of it! When you say "begin by collecting interpretations of the aspects in [my] natal chart, and try to assimilate the information" how should I go about this. What I mean is, for example, when you suggested I do research on the squares you mentioned you said get many different peoples interpretations of these aspects, which I did. But these different interpretations are so varied that one could in essence still make whatever satisfies their ego out of them. I know enough to know that this is not what we are shooting for here. So my question lies in the paradox of how can I go about assimilating this knowledge correctly, and accurately while not having Ego fully under control? The Ego is a tricky SOB and I am just trying to get some insight on how to avoid this one particular pit-fall. Would there, by chance, be a basic, unbiased set of interpretations for the major aspects that you could point me to? 93 93/93 Ricky .” ... and now Ben replies: Ricky, 93 I hope all is well, and that your craziness is reaching a tolerable level. Things should be leveling out for you.When I suggested collecting interpretations of the aspects in your chart I mean to take the individual aspects in your natal chart, i.e. Leo Sun Sign, or Saturn in your second house, and find any descriptions of that particular aspect and log it into your diary or a separate file if you prefer. The easiest way is to search online and cut and paste each interpretation into a digital file under an appropriate heading, maybe “Leo,” or “Saturn 2nd House” in this example. At this point the main idea is to familiarize yourself with the general ideas and terminology. Before the internet I used to copy interpretations out of books into my diary longhand, or photocopy and glue them in. (And we had to walk ten miles through the snow. Uphill both ways too, not like you kids today. Just kidding.) Now you could just scan the appropriate sections. Frankly I prefer the books of the authors that have become respected in the field over a lot of the current internet fare (I’ll come to this shortly), but do not overlook anything. I never cease to wonder at the damnedest places where I find things that spark an epiphany for me. Try to find areas of agreement between the different sources, and note the differences too. Especially try to find both positives and negatives for the individual aspects. It is easy for the ego to focus on the positive descriptions, but the negative traits can actually be much more revealing. As always, one of the real dangers of magick is the inflation of the ego.Now to your question of “unbiased” sources, I don’t believe that is humanly possible. I am going to recommend a number of books that I’ve found useful and were recommended to me by people that I respect highly. Obviously the Crowley text listed first is the book to own. The contents of the older volume Astrology are contained within it. This book is a reconstruction of Crowley’s original text, edited by Hymanaeus Beta, that comprised the two Evangeline Adams books, listed below, that Crowley ghost wrote. With that said, there are a couple of articles that H.B. edited out because he did not believe that Crowley authored them. We believe that this is incorrect and if you like, copies of the redacted material may be made available to you. In truth I feel that the Adams’ books are well worth owning. If you do not already own a copy of Crowley’s big red brick there are currently several new copies on Amazon.com starting at $50.40 “The Treasure House of Images” can be found in The Equinox vol. 1, no. 3, and online, and was also released as The Pathworkings of Aleister Crowley by DuQuette. Luis’ and the Hasbrouck books are both hard to find but any effort there will be well rewarded. I highly recommend them both. The rest of them are still in print and frequently turn up in used bookstores, Goodwill, etc., and are easily found in libraries:
Aleister Crowley, The General Principles of Astrology Astrology by J.F.C. Fuller (Crowley, ed.), Liber 963 Thesarou Eidolon,
“The Treasure House of Images”Evangeline Adams, Astrology Your Place Among the Stars Astrology Your Place in the Sun
Luis Alvarado, Psychology, Astrology & Western MagicLlewellyn George, A to Z Horoscope Maker and DelineatorMuriel Hasbrouck, Pursuit of DestinyMax Heindel, Message of the StarsGrant Lewi, Heaven Knows WhatDane Rudhyar, The Astrology of Personality The Pulse of Life.
Hopefully Jerry will have a book out on astrology someday; but not to worry as we’ll all go over this more in depth when you’re here.The primary aspects to look at are the Sun, Moon, and Rising signs. However you don’t want to overlook anything until you gain some familiarity with the system. Concentrate on the raw data at the moment and we’ll move into organizing it shortly.The main thing is to begin to get the basics of the system. Astrology is quite complex; Newton invented calculus to better construct his own astrological horoscopes. Take your time, we will be pursuing this line of thought for a while.I should go. You have a good week, and all my best to you and your family.93 93/93Ben."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:30am For the history buffs: It was on this date in 1989 that Aidan Breac died. He was born in 1897 and raised in a hereditary Craft family on an island off the northwest coast of Scotland. He was descended from the Carnonacae tribe of Picts who lived in the northwest of what is now Ross and Cromarty County. For the last thirty years of his life, Aidan devoted his time to teaching the Pecti Witan tradition which is presumed to be an old hereditary Scottish tradition that first came to the attention of the general public when it was mentioned by Raymond Buckland in his book Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. Pecti Wita is said to be different from other forms of Wicca, in that it is a solitary tradition. It doesn’t practice circle consecration, or group workings or the formalized rituals found in most other Wiccan traditions. The basic tools of the Pecti Witan is the dirk and staff, and rather than casting a circle, he or she simply “centers” themselves. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday March 7th 2010 – 6:40am This is my son's sleep-over weekend with his dad and as is often the case, we watched a movie. This week we watched the Japanese classic DEVILMAN (2000) This is a big budget adaptation of the long running, hugely popular horror/action anime series of 39 episodes which ran from July 1972 to March 1973. The plot is simple; long time ago our planet Earth was ruled by Demons. Although they constantly fought each other for survival they soon united in order to fight a new race of beings called 'humans.' Inevitably, after a great cataclysm, the demons lost and became imprisoned deep within the ice of Antarctica where they were suppose to remain until the ice melted, after which it was said that Satan would rise and lead them into Armageddon. Fast forward to the future ... and the movie is a good one! The demons are unleashed and Armageddon is at hand! To read my whole review, click HERE.
I have also added a few new reviews to the bottom of the second page. Click HERE. The reviews are for the first 'Eye' movie, the third or 'Eye 3' and for the classic Japanese Ringu series.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:30am For the history buffs: Thomas Aquinas, Catholic Church’s foremost philosopher and theologian who was born in 1225 at the Castle of Roccasecca, near Aquino, Italy, died on this date at the Cistercian monastery of Fossanova on his way to Lyons in 1274. He openly refuted the Canon Episcopi which often put him at odds with the Church. The Canon, or Capitulatum Episcopi had been known for hundreds of years but it wasn’t until about 906 that Regino of Prum, Abbot of Treves formally attributed it to the Council of in Ancyra (314 ce). Finally, in the 13th century, it became official and accepted Doctrine of the Church. It’s doctrine became fuel for the witchcraft trails. Needless to say the Canon created about as many problems as it solved since it defined “witchcraft as Devil-worship but declared it to be nothing more than a foolish delusion.” The Church twisted this by stating that witcheries are delusions and illusions caused by the Devil, therefore anyone who believes in such delusions is considered a Devil’s child. In his Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas imparted this piece of Christian wisdom: “Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.” …............ and it was on March 7, 1881 that the unbelievably rich William Winchester died. He was the founder of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in New Haven, Connecticut. As a result of his death his wife, Sarah Lockwood (Pardee) Winchester, inherited well over $20 million dollars which was an incredible sum in those days. She also received 48.9 percent of the company at an income of about $1000 per day, which was not taxable until 1913. A short time later, being distraught at the deaths of her husband, a friend suggested that she should speak to a Spiritualist. During the séance the medium told her, “Your husband is here.” She then provided a description of William Winchester which convince Mrs. Winchester that it was him. The medium then continued, “He says for me to tell you that there is a curse on your family, which took the life of he and your child. It will soon take you too. It is a curse that has resulted from the terrible weapon created by the Winchester family. Thousands of persons have died because of it and their spirits are now seeking vengeance.” Believing to be guided by the hand of her dead husband Mrs Winchester started traveling and didn’t stop until she reached the Santa Clara Valley in California in 1884. She then bought a six room home and, to appease the spirits, she began building the house larger and larger, without ceasing construction on the building until she died at the age of 85 on September 5, 1922. The end result was a bizarre 160-room building now termed the ‘Winchester Mystery House.’ ….......…. And I should mention that the poet W. B. Yeats joined the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn on this date in 1890. He is known as Frater Daemon Est Deus Inversus. It is a fact, Aleister Crowley and Yeats never got along. When a friend once wrote to Crowley about Yeats’ poetry, he quickly fired back, “You write of Yeats as ‘a poet in search of a pedigree’ * but who told you he was a poet? Read ME!” ….......…. And finally, on March 7, 1952 Paramahansa Yogananda died from a massive heart attack while attending a banquet in Los Angeles. He was born into a devout and well-to-do Bengali family as Mukunda Lal Ghosh. He lay in state for over twenty days and, according to a signed and notarized statement from the director of Forest Lawn Memorial Park, “no physical disintegration was visited upon his body…it was apparently in a phenomenal state of immutability.” -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday March 6th 2010 – 7:20am For the history buffs: Aleister Crowley’s Scarlet Woman, Frau Bertha ‘Billie’ Busch, was born on this date in Zurich in 1895, a half-past eleven at night. She once stabbed Crowley with a knife. …...…. And it was on this date in 1933 that Laurie Cabot was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma. She is the founder of both the ‘Cabot Science Tradition of Witchcraft’ and the ‘Witches League for Public Awareness (WLPA)’. In 1977, she received the title of ‘the Official Witch of Salem’ by the then governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis. He bestowed upon her the ‘Paul Revere’ citation which is given to citizens for their public service and, in her case it reads: “I proclaim Laurie Cabot the Official Witch of Salem for her work with children of special needs.” She is the author of such book as Practical Magic: A Salem Witch’s Handbook (1986), The Power of the Witch (1990), Love Magic (1992), Celebrate the Earth (1994), The Witch in Every Woman (1997) ….....…. Also of interest; the science fiction and horror writer H. P. Lovecraft wrote a letter on this date in 1935 to his friend Emil Petaja which stated, “In the 1890’s the fashionable decadents liked to pretend that they belonged to all sorts of diabolic Black Mass cults, & possessed all sorts of frightful occult information. The only specimen of this group still active is the rather over-advertised Aleister Crowley … who, by the way, is undoubtedly the original of the villainous character in H. R. Wakefield’s He Cometh & He Passeth by.” This is the only reported place where Lovecraft ever mentions the name ‘Aleister Crowley.’ …....…. And Jack Parsons sent Aleister Crowley a rather cryptic ‘circular letter’ dated March 6, 1946 claiming “I hardly know how to tell you, or how much to write. I am under the command of extreme secrecy.” He continued by informing Crowley that he had “the most important and devastating experience” of his entire life between February 28th and March 4th. He was referring of course to parts of his Babalon Workings. He goes on to tell Crowley, “I have been in direct touch with One, who is most Holy and Beautiful, mentioned in The Book of the Law.” He further informed Crowley that he couldn’t tell him her name because it is secret. But there “was a desire for incarnation. I was the agency chosen to assist the birth, which is now accomplished. I do not yet know the vehicle, but it will come to me, bringing a secret sign I know.” Luckily he decided that it was best not to send Crowley all the information, keeping out the Fourth Chapter to Liber AL vel Legis. Many believe that this was one of his wisest decisions. Later that evening, at the monthly Agape Lodge Meeting, Jack Parsons told everyone that he was stepping down as the Lodge Master. A special notice was given to this effect stating that Brother Roy Leffingwell “would henceforth act as executive head of Agape Lodge.”
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Friday March 5th 2010 – 9:45pm Matt sent an email and commented on the beginning of my 8:55am posting today where I wrote - "Admittedly, I'm up kinda late. I was playing plumber with one of the young Asian girls in my building into the early hours of the morning ...” Matt adds - "Laying down some pipe all night, eh?" ... Another friend adds - "So, that's what they're calling it now?"
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Tonight's OPEN HOUSE will begin at 6:30pm; and being near supper, feel free to bring something to eat and drink and don't feel obligated to bring enough for anyone other than yourself. Although extra beer is always welcome. There is nothing being scheduled for this evening but next week we shall be discussing Liber RESH vel Helios and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram amongst other magickal topics.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:55am Admittedly, I'm up kinda late. I was playing plumber with one of the young Asian girls in my building into the early hours of the morning ... be that as it may, for the history buffs: It was in 1887 that the local doctor advised an immediate operation for cancer of the tongue and Plymouth Brethren from near and far were summoned to help discover the Lord’s will in this matter. They decided that the operation should be declined and thus Edward Crowley, Plymouth Brethren preacher and father of Aleister Crowley, died on this date. …......... also, Pyotr Demianovich Ouspensky was born on this date in 1878 in Moscow, Russia. He died on October 2, 1947. In 1909, his first book, The Fourth Dimension, placed him at the age of thirty-one in the front rank of important writers on abstract mathematical theory. His second book, Tertium Organum, written in 1912 created a sensation in America. In 1915, P. D. Ouspensky, one of the most prominent thinkers of the 20th century, met G. I. Gurdjieff, who revealed to him the system of ideas that he had been searching for in his studies and travels. After establishing himself in England and later in the USA, he devoted his life to teaching the ideas now known as The Fourth Way. Ouspensky became a major contributor to twentieth century ideas and throughout his life he continued to promote Gurdjieff’s system. …......... And of interest; the movie Nasferatu, a German silent film about vampires was originally released on this date in 1922. …......... Carlos Allende died on this date in 1994. He was the mystery man behind exposing the Philadelphia Experiment. It began in 1955 when Morris K. Jessup wrote a book entitled The Case for the UFO and embarked on a tour to promote it. Fascinated by the motive abilities of flying saucers, Jessup urged his lecture audiences to encourage their legislators to fund programs for research into antigravity and Einstein’s Unified Field Theory (UFT). The object: “to establish effective and economical space travel.” Then, on January 13, 1956, Jessup received a letter from a man named Carlos Miguel Allende who scolded Jessup for suggesting that the US should continue research into UFT. Allende claimed that in October 1943 the United States navy had used Einstein’s theories in an experiment that not only rendered a destroyer totally invisible but also caused it to be teleported from the Philadelphia dock to the Norfolk-Newport News-Portsmouth area and back again in a matter of minutes. Supposedly the experiment succeeded but it left side effects so horrendous that the navy shut down the project immediately until it could figure out the problems. Because of the intense force field used in the experiment, many of the crew members continued to lapse into invisibility or ‘limbo,’ while others went completely mad. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday March 4th 2010 – 1:25pm Today was scheduled ‘The Day of Action’ demonstration or when students across the state were expected to voice their opposition to tuition hikes at UC and CSU schools. It was quite a gathering! Thousands upon thousands protesting, loud speakers, screaming. yelling & etc. All about a block from my apartment! It's never dull here in Berkeley.
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12:15pm Ricky writes - "Jerry, 93 I just received my copy of The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley, #253! Thumbing through it has gotten me even more excited than I already was! I cant wait to dive into this book! Great work, by the way, the over all lay out and presentation of the publication is very admirable! Hope your having a great day. 93 93/93 Ricky."Reply: In English Qabalah the word 'Gnosis' adds to 253.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:56am Gregory von Seewald sent me an email. He writes - "Jerry: 93. Check out "A Warrior's Life" or "O Mago" in Brazilian edition by Fernando Morais bio of Paulo Coelho has some OTO AA references, Raul Seixas Marcelo Motta song writing etc... Amazon has it cheap... hardbound 1st Ed. 93 93/93 Greg."Reply: Thanks for the info!-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:50am I received this email - "Hi Gerald. I’ve just found out about The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley via my friend Jason Newcomb. The description on Weiser Antiquarian’s site says that it is the 1st edition and therefore hardback. Will there be a paperback edition at some point? I have issue 7 of Red Flame and wanted to ask you if the material in the chapters on the Holy Guardian Angel and Obtaining Knowledge is contained in the new chapters on the HGA in this new edition of The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley? Regards, Giles"Reply: There are no plans at present to offer a paperback edition of The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley. Sorry. Yes, the basic chapters from RF7 are reworked and annotated in the new edition and, as you will note in original RF7, Chapter 4 was never included, however, this chapter is now included in the present edition. A few chapters found in the original RF7 regarding Enochian are not included in this new edition as well as all the supplementary pieces not directly related to the ME Lessons. Basically, the ‘magickal theories’ are still intact which was the meat of the original book but this new edition has far more in it; or to be precise - fifteen new chapters. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:35am for the history buffs: It all began on April 7, 1962 at Westminster College at Fulton, Missouri after Tim Zell and Lance Christie read Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land. Afterwards they ‘shared water’ and formed a water-brotherhood called ‘Atl.’ During the mid-1960s their group was centered on the University of Oklahoma campus under the name Atlan Foundation. They published a periodical, titled The Atlan Torch, between 1962-1968. Following a move to St. Louis 1968 the ‘Church of All Worlds’ (CAW) was born and became incorporated on this date; or March 4, 1968. This was the first Wiccan church to do so in the United States. The mission of the Church of All Worlds was to evolve a network of information, mythology and experience that provides a context and stimulus for re-awakening Gaia, and re-uniting her children through tribal community dedicated to responsible stewardship and evolving consciousness. In the same month they released the first issue of Green Egg. The Church of All Worlds took much of its inspiration from Robert Heinlein’s science fiction classic Stranger in a Strange Land. In this novel a human being named Valentine Michael Smith, who was born on Mars and raised by Martians, returned to Earth in 2519. He established the Church of All Worlds, built around ‘nests’, a combination of congregations and intentional communities. A basic concept was ‘grokking’, i.e., the ability to be fully empathic. Heinlein’s CAW emphasized non-possessive love and joyous expression of sexuality as divine union. Their greeting was ‘Thou art God’ or ‘Thou art Goddess’, recognition of immanent divinity in each person. The basic theology of the CAW is a pantheism focused on immanent rather than transcendent divinity, which is worshiped in female as well as a male form. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday March 3rd 2010 – 8:10am In regards to yesterday’s 4:30pm posting, I'd like to address a few incoming emails. First, yes, we use to discuss alot about sex magick more openly but inevitably we had problems with a few of our initiates who became pre-occupied with trying to figure out their little penises as magickal implements over establishing a proper internal foundation which would enable them to use them properly. They even went so far as to call themselves by trade as 'Sex Magician' in writing, which is kind of spiritually limiting oneself to the fleshy part of Malkuth; no higher. Grady McMurtry use to refer to these kind of gentleman as, and I quote, "Pecker Boys" ... which was his way of defining individuals who, claim to be magicians but who were, in truth, merely using the phrase as a means of getting laid. In the old days of the Agape Lodge the floating joke was "Hey little girl, wanna be a Priestess?" Any one who ever sat through a Grady lecture heard that story. How all the guys at Agape Lodge use to convince all the new girls that in order to be a Priestess in the Gnostic Mass you had to be 'properly prepared' ... wink wink.
Anyway, the second part of the questions that I'd like to address pertains to inquiries about yesterday’s earlier posting at 1:05am asking if ‘Abra’ and ‘Abra’ at either end of Abrahadabra refer to what Crowley means by the “Father and Son are not really two, but one" and is the central ‘Had’ the Holy Ghost. ... Bravo. It is good to see some of you are doing your homework. I cover this formula fairly in-depth in my new book, The Magickal Essence of Aleister Crowley. As for the rest of Crowley's comment about the twin Abras or - "... their unity being the Holy Ghost, the semen; the human form is a non-essential accretion of this quintessence." Consider this:Liber AL vel Legis I:26 - I am the secret Serpent coiled about to spring: in my coiling there is joy. If I lift up my head, I and my Nuit are one. If I droop down mine head, and shoot forth venom, then is rapture of the earth, and I and the earth are one.At no time does Had (Holy Ghost) mention that ‘either’ of these extremes are wrong or right. But the next verse in Liber AL clearly states that whoever “doth not understand these runes shall make a great miss. He shall fall down into the pit called Because, and there he shall perish with the dogs of Reason.” In other words ‘the great miss’ is what magickally we call - 'crossing the planes' ... and thus I end my rant with me warning guys not to become "Pecker Boys." Anybody wanna add their thoughts or comments, send them along.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:21am I have a blurb on my calendar but I can't read it, the pencil note is too faded. It seems someone's birthday is today but I can't seem to figure out who. Sorry if I offend! But I do wish to say, Happy Birthday to the one who has faded away! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:08am Ricky had previously asked Ben Hance – “... how much weight do you give natal transits? I ask because lately, specifically this whole month, everything in my immediate surroundings seems to be going haywire on an almost unreal level. Its been kinda like "really? how much more can go wrong!? oh, that much more." It was rather frustrating (well, it still is) but I took a look at my transits for this month and nearly everything is squaring or sesquisquareing everything else. Now I know that I am no astrologist. I have just never understood it that well. But since you pointed out the squares in my chart to me I've taken a long hard honest look at my life experiences up till know and can definitely see these aspects. I've now been trying to figure out how to take these aspects and use them as tools instead of hindrances. This showed me that there was something I was missing in the whole astrology thing. Now I'm just trying to understand some of the more basic parts of it. I just wanted to get your thoughts on how relevant these transits are in our magickal workings and in, well hell, life in general. I've realized, albeit a small portion of how the square effects one in their natal chart but how about on a daily level of the transits?” Ben's reply has some great info which I feel others can benefit from. He writes - "I believe that the short answer to your question on natal transits is “yes, they are relevant.” That there are outside forces and that they affect us is the basic underlying premise to magick; or, “as above, so below.” The ideas around transiting planets can become very complicated very quickly, and there is a lot of dispute between astrologers on how to exactly interpret the planets as they progress through one’s chart. I believe that these are finer questions that are resolved by actual work with one’s chart. (Always remember Crowley’s quote “solvitur ambulando” as it answers a lot of questions on this path).I personally am less interested in predictive astrology and more in the movement of the planets, including retrogrades and the planetary returns. For example, I recently experienced my Uranus half-return (Uranus in Pisces) about the time I established my Clerk House. Coincidence? Magick would say that there are no coincidences. I find that what I am most interested in though is trying to understand my own natal chart and those charts that express certain individual moments in my life. Those individual moments are not usually “mundane,” but during a Mercury retrograde, for example, I do try to be careful about what I put into writing.The question of squares (including fractions thereof) is an interesting one. I do not simply agree that they are “bad,” nor do I see them simply as “challenges” either. Frankly I see them more as a closed door. There is an old rabbinic story that I like where a Rabbi (Akiva? I can’t remember) is walking with an angel and they come upon some evil men digging a tunnel under a wall and the angel magickally completes the tunnel for them. Later they come upon a righteous man traveling down the road on a donkey and the angel slays the donkey. The Rabbi is confused and asks why the angel has done these things and is told that there was a buried treasure where the evil men were digging. By completing the tunnel the angel has denied the evil men an unjust reward. The righteous man was about to come upon some highwaymen who wanted to rob and kill the next traveler, thus the delay spared the tzaddik’s life. I believe that there is a reason that the door is closed, or the square occurs when and where it does; whether or not I know what that reason is. The real trick is to discover that reason and the individual’s correct response. Or, “know thyself.” For example, I have a Venus square Neptune that I do not see as a negative, especially at this point in my life.“The first major task for our students is to constantly keep the Great Work in the forefront of their mind. Additionally, people within the man of Earth must study and prepare themselves to overcome all restrictions created by Malkus and Nephesch which are the out-of-control spawn of their thoughts and animalistic nature. Qabalistically these correspond to the spheres of Malkuth and Yesod on the Tree of Life and these should be studied accordingly.” (Fr. AO, “Applying for Membership”). It is imperative that you begin a study of your mundane self and your environment. Remember, “as above, so below.” The natal chart is an excellent starting point, and we’ll discuss this further. I do not want to belabor the point, but begin by collecting interpretations of the aspects in your natal chart, examine, and try to assimilate that information.With regard to your frustrations to things going “haywire” this month, I refer you back to Liber ABA, II, cap. 6. “Every one who signs the oath of a Probationer is stirring up a hornets’ nest. A man has only to affirm his conscious aspiration; and the enemy is upon him.” (p. 71). You embarked upon this journey for a result, you really cannot complain when you begin to get one."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:00pm For the history buffs: Arthur Lllewellyn Jones-Machen was born in Caerleon, Monmouthshire England on this date in 1863. Arthur Edward Waite invited him to join the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn but Machen never became all that closely involved in the activities of the group. He was more focused on developing his own brand of mystical Celtic Christianity. H. P. Lovecraft counted him as one of the four “modern masters” of supernatural horror, along with Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, and M. R. James. Lovecraft would later write, “Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen.” …....…. Sonia Greene and H. P. Lovecraft were married on this date in 1924. Sonia confided to a friend, that Lovecraft, who had foresightingly read some books on sex, could indeed perform and was sexually adequate.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday March 2nd 2010 – 4:30pm Mr. Anonymous replied, rather rudely, asking why I can't spell 'IT' out for him in regards to my answer posted at 1:05pm. Well, for starters, we are dealing with areas of our mind that think in 'archetypal-like thoughts' and like any science, these are 'abstracts' which must be grasped ... not everything is so plain and simple that it can be spelt out. Never forget, magick is a science with its own set of Laws which slowly unfold their meaning the further you go, or climb upon the Tree of Life. The problem that I am faced with, in regards to some of your other comments, is that I feel that I'm trying to explain Calculus to someone who has difficulty understanding Fractions. My advice; stop looking for the 'smoking gun' which will reveal the final secrets to sex magick and ... focus on Malkuth.
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1:05pm I received an email, from someone asking to remain anonymous, who cited The Book of Lies Chapter 5 The Battle of Ants where Crowley writes "Fatherhood is unity disguised as duality." - and then he cites the Commentary to this line where Crowley adds - "... we come to an important statement, an adumbration of the most daring thesis in this book - Father and Son are not really two, but one; their unity being the Holy Ghost, the semen; the human form is a non-essential accretion of this quintessence." he then asked me if I "would care to elaborate on what Crowley means. It appears to be an essential clue to unraveling the mysteries of this book." ... Reply: Read Liber Aleph, especially De Hac Formula Considerationes Kabbalisticae. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12:35pm I've been asked where the "ritual taken from Liber AL vel Legis, which Thelemites are taught to use instead of the Pentagram" is mentioned ... see Magick In Theory and Practice; Chapter XIV Of the Consecrations, with an account of the Nature and Nurture of the Magical Link etc, Crowley's footnote where it states -"These may now advantageously be replaced by (a) "... pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." (CCXX, I, 44) to banish; and (b) "I am uplifted in thine heart; and the kisses of the stars rain hard upon thy body." (CCXX, II, 62) to consecrate. For the Book of the Law contains the Supreme Spells."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7:38am I addressed a question this morning on the Pentagram Ritual and Liber RESH vel Helios and I think others may benefit from my responce. I wrote - "From the point of view from Malkuth, or Earth in general, we can create Banishing or Evocations of any ‘number’ or intent, depending upon our beliefs. We can utilize the four elemental quadrants, or seven guardians or a single point of Light, there is no law beyond do what thou wilt. However, always remember - As Above, So Below ... all rituals work on a multitude of levels in both a macrocosmic and microcosmic level depending upon our ‘Magickal Intent’ as designed within the structure of our ritual. As for the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, most students do not fully understand its mechanics on the Tree of Life and too often they believe that it works solely on ‘Malkuth’ or the Earth ... it does not. The effects (or cleansings) are felt on Malkuth but the primary area in which the ‘magick’ occurs on the Tree of Life is always at the cross-roads of Phe and Samech whether we are consciously or unconsciously aware of it. In Notes on the Ritual of the Pentagram, Aleister Crowley’s wrote - “You are supposed to be standing at the intersection of the paths of Samech and Pe. You are facing Tiphereth (the sun), thus on your right hand is Netzach (Venus), on your left hand Hod (Mercury), and behind you Yesod (the Moon).” ... The four archangels mentioned in the Pentagram Ritual rule these four Sephiroth.The bottom line; the effect of this ritual is that it can cleanse our Temple space but few realize that on a microcosmic, or internal level, it also cleanses or prepares our Inner Temple for our daemon’s descent through Tiphereth (Sun) downward into our consciousness. Our body is not ‘automatically’ a perfect vehicle. For our daemon to descend downward unhampered and communicate we need to learn how to clean our inner space. Personally, I always begin my morning by performing the Adoration of Ra. I follow this by performing the Banishing as dictated in Liber AL. Thus, the door to the four-fold elemental Tattwas or tides are opened and I cleanse the path for ‘its’ decent and I ‘receive.’ ... Air tides are ‘Intellectual’ tides and thus I write in the morning. Although I only mention my morning Banishing in the diary, I banish after every time I do Liber Resh throughout the day. I use to reverse this order or Banish first and then do Resh but the affects, at least in my case, were not as potent. In The Confessions on p. 674 Crowley gives a brief breakdown of the layers of Liber RESH vel Helios writing: "Here are given the four Adorations to the sun, to be said daily at dawn, noon, sunset and midnight. The Object of this practice is firstly to remind the aspirant at regular intervals of the Great Work; secondly, to bring him into conscious personal relation with the centre of our system; and thirdly; for advanced students, to make actual magical contact with the spiritual energy of the sun and thus draw actual force for him."Grady always said that the exact same three-fold breakdown or structure is mimicked in the Pentagram Ritual. In the first stage it is not imperative that we place our consciousness at the cross-roads of Phe-Samech. We must simply learn to perform it on Malkuth. This being Malkuth ‘both’ in the macrocosm or world around us and in the microcosm in order to experience the affects within our body. As for the ‘design’ of the banishing ritual, regarding four-fold forces, seven genii or one Divine Light, there is no law beyond do what thou wilt. As an example; the ritual taken from Liber AL vel Legis, which Thelemites are taught to use instead of the Pentagram, is that of a single point of Light. The four-fold elemental Gods are not even mentioned. So again, the ‘number’ of participants is not important as the ‘Magickal Intent.’The second stage, where we utilize Liber Resh or the Pentagram Ritual (in any form) “to bring him into conscious personal relation with the centre of our system” ... is where a magician’s consciousness or imagination must be at those cross-roads of Phe-Samech in order for these rituals to work ... if a magician fails to realize this then they cannot properly Banish or Invoke anything through the Sun and all they achieve when performing the ritual is a ‘dramatic play’ wherein words are simply recited and motions undertaken. Again, how do we adapt the four-fold forces, seven genii or one Divine Light to the Tree at this stage ? There is no law beyond do what thou wilt. Simply study the Tree and place your ‘consciousness’ at the cross-roads when working the ritual you’ve desgned. If successful with the second stage, we tap into our inner or upper Tiphereth (i.e. Higher self) and “make actual magical contact with the spiritual energy of the sun and thus draw actual force for him."Well, I hope this gives you some food for thought ..."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:15am Weiser Antiquarian Books' Catalog # 71. Books on Egypt & The Ancient Middle East may now be viewed at: www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalog ... "The seventy-first of our on-line catalogs is devoted to Ancient Egypt and the Middle East, with a special emphasis on Egyptian archaeology, art, culture, language, history and religion." -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:10am Alot has happened on this date for the history buffs: in 1244 the Castle of Montesegur, which was the Cathar stronghold in the green valleys of Ariege in France, surrendered after a ten month siege. Some of the defenders were spared but the ‘perfect’ heretics, well over 200, who refused to denounce their beliefs, were burnt at the stake. .....……. And also on this date, Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in Springfield, MA in 1904. He is more famously known as Dr. Seuss. One of his infamously ‘created’ words, which is now used widely by everyone, first appeared in his 1950 book titled If I Ran the Zoo. In this book his character utters, “I’ll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo a Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!” This is the origin of the word ‘Nerd.’ He died on September 24, 1991. .....……. And on this date in 1908 the List Society was officially founded in Vienna. It became a mixture of well-known figures throughout Austria and Germany who were attracted to the distinctive blend of nationalism and occultism propounded by this strange, pagan mystic named Guido von List. .....……. And Curtis Fuller was born on this date in Necedah, Wisconsin in 1912. He was once the owner of FATE magazine which he had purchased from Ray Palmer in 1955.....……. And one of my favorite movies opened in theaters on March 2, 1933 - King Kong! It had a simply plot; an expedition goes to a tropical island where they discover a gigantic gorilla who inevitably takes a monkey-love kinda shine to a tiny little female blonde whom the expedition had brought along. .....……. The author Peter Straub was born on this date in 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Throughout the winter months of 1979/80 there were many discussions circling around Aleister Crowley’s OTO in regards to Peter Straub’s novel Ghost Story. Many believed that the author had improperly used the name of the Ordo Templi Orientis. The novel made mention of an evil organization and one of the characters claimed that the group “envisioned Satanism, covens; California lunacy at its worst” and when they were asked, “What is the name of the order?” The reply came back, “O.T.O.” This evil Order was also referred to as the “raw material for nightmares.” Amongst the numerous other tainted comments in the novel it also mentioned that the OTO had “a minor connection with the Manson family.” During this period in time the Order was trying to become legitimate and it strongly felt that any negative references, especially having a tenuous connection to Charles Manson, needed to be addressed and forcibly, if necessary. The OTO Board Meeting on January 27th 1980 passed Resolution No.105 that allowed the Order to retain a lawyer to sue the author for libel. To make a long story short, letters went back and forth between lawyers and Peter Straub decided to settle out of court. Future editions of his book would simply use the name XXX rather than OTO. Straub also sent a check for $20,000 in his letter of apology dated April 10th 1981. The letter briefly stated, “The first edition of my novel Ghost Story made certain references to the Ordo Templi Orientis. These references were factually incorrect. In subsequent editions of the book the name of the organization referred to has been altered. If my error caused any distress to members of the Ordo Templi Orientis, I humbly apologize to them.” It was signed, “Sincerely yours, Peter Straub.” .....……. Also, on March 2, 1954, while vacationing in Mexico with his second wife Harriet, Paul Foster Case, the founder of the Los Angeles occult school known as the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.), died. .....……. And finally, on March 2, 1955, the cult leader of the group known as ‘Aum’, Chizuo Matsumoto, was born in Kumamoto, Japan. He later changed his name to Shoko Asahara. His religious followers were responsible of the Sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo tube network which killed twelve people and injured thousands in March of 1995. Years later, broke and in need of money, the cults new leader, Fumihiro Joyu, began selling ‘pats on the head’ for a mere $12,500 dollars which supposedly transferred his “sacred energy” to the recipient. They call it the “Shakty Pat.” This might sound outrageous but this was the same group which use to sell Asahara’s bath water to raise money. However, jokes now fly that either Asahara is no longer taking baths in prison, or the authorities are simply not letting his used water to be shipped out.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday March 1st 2010 – 8:00am For those of you who are 'In the Know' of private info about my life, consider my on-line horoscope for the sign of Cancer in March. It reads - "Lights, Camera, Action! Putting your ideas for the future into action is a key theme of this transitional month, which begins with the inspirational Pisces Sun in your 9th House of Expansion and Truth and ends with it in enthusiastic Aries and your 10th House of Career. Initiating Mars' direct turn in Leo and your 2nd House of Resources on March 10 energizes you with motivation and material to fuel your ambitions. Investing in creative tools and training will enhance your competence and confidence to earn money and make a difference in people's lives. Provocative Pluto's tense square to the Libra Full Moon on March 29 in your 4th House of Roots exposes unresolved issues and unfulfilled desires; a forceful reminder that change is the natural order of things."
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1:45am For the history buffs: The Isis-Urania Temple of The Golden Dawn was officially ‘Chartered’ on this date in 1888. Later, Arthur Edward Waite would unexpectedly take charge of this Temple and refuse to have any “truck” with the Secret Chiefs whether in or out of the body. ......….. and I should also mention that it was on this date in 1925 that Henry Anthony Wilcox brought Professor Angell a strange clay figure in hopes that he might identify the hieroglyphics on the base. He begins a rambling tale with gibberish words of little meaning; like Cthulhu and R’lyeh. ......….. And finally, on March 1, 1934 Charles W. Leadbeater, the ex-Anglican minister who turned Buddhist and was a clairvoyant and Theosophist, died. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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