Lion & Serpent q A in , Anno IVviii ~ Volume 5, Number 2 Lion & Serpent q A in , Anno IVviii the Official Journal Volume 5, Number 2 of Sekhet-Maat Oasis, O.T.O. Published BI-MONTHLY (soon to be monthly again!) Vol. 5, Issue # 2, 2000 Publisher (cid:150) Sekhet-Maat Oasis Editor (cid:150) Mick Taylor ([email protected]) Production and Layout (cid:150) Joe Thiebes Contents Copyright ' 2000 Ordo Templi Orientis and individual authors. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the O.T.O. or of Sekhet-Maat Oasis. Sekhet-Maat Oasis, O.T.O. Ordo Templi Orientis P. O. Box 15037 P. O. Box 684098 Portland, OR 97293-5037 Austin, TX 78768-4098 [email protected] www.otohq.org www.sekhetmaat.com 2 Table of Contents Alchemical Tree by Frater HydraLVX..................................... Front Cover Contact Information ....................................................... Inside Cover Table of Contents......................................................................... 3 The First Page, by Frater Diapason ................................................... 4 Letters to the Editor..................................................................... 5 Saint Sinner (Manifesto), by Madeline Ray .......................................... 6 An Analysis of AUM, by Frater Doubt-Goat .......................................... 8 A Vision, by Soror Viktoria .............................................................. 9 I Love Satan! by Frater Doubt-Goat..................................................10 Liber 5 Breakdown by Frater Doubt-Goat..................... Pull-Out Centerfold Fringe Files I: the Shaver Mystery, by Mick.........................................19 Book Reviews, by Frater Diapason....................................................21 Classifieds ................................................................................22 Hesiod and the Muse, by Gustave Moreau .......................Inside Back Cover The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, by William Blake........................Back Cover 3 The First Page Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. We’ve just passed the glorious first anniversary of the Portland Thelemic Community Center which (appropriately, on many levels) began its life on April Fool’s Day, 1999. The Center has been a tremendous boon to the local community and the site of many memorable Initiations, Masses, Classes, and Social Events (remember the After-conference Party? remember the Millennium Bash? Remember when Brother... well, maybe better to forget that one...). Its existence has contributed significantly to local Order growth and prosperity, plus it’s pro- vided me personally with yet another floor where I engage in the ancient and revered prac- tice of "sweeping meditation." Upcoming: Three days of the writing of the Book of the Law: Fraters Doubt Goat and Diapa- son will be providing a cool jazz background to a "beat" reading of Chap. 1 by that indomi- table hipster, Brother J. Dig it! Visitors from the beyond: Brother T. (and partner A.) were up here from the Bay area to attend Initiations and Mass,. Brother K. came up from Southern Oregon to celebrate Gnostic Mass and handfasting with Sister J. Our favorite 10 yr. old C. was in town for a too short visit to say hello to all and sundry. New arrivals: C. and J. add another member to their brood. Congrats! Away and back again: Fra. Diapason, Sor. Isabella, and Fra. D. dropped down in Austin for a few days to attend the Kabba Colloquium and returned home with bags of new ideas and useful information. The New Word: Fra. Solis (with the help of Sor. P.A. , of course) directed and produced a top- rate Equinox Ritual (over 60 people in attendance) with an impressive, well rehearsed ritual team of local members. Bravo! Boot camp: Sor. Isabella’s and Fra. Doubt Goat’s "officer training program" has seen its first crop of graduates. Looks like a big success. Love is the law, love under will. Fraternally, Frater Diapason 4 Letters to the Editor Thank you so much for the "Abramelin for the Masses" mate- rial; it’s a beautifully simple, or is that, simply beautiful, ritual in its creation. I’m curious, however, I wonder why it was that our good [sic! Mick] Sister failed to mention the seasons for (distinct times) the gathering should one wish to do so, i.e. roots in the winter, bark in the spring, leaves in summer ,and fruit in the fall. There are slight discrepancies and blending of the seasonal harvest of course, but the above is a good "rule of thumb". Upon reading the material, I must say, that I felt subtly compelled to participate in the process from inception to consumption... David Taylor, Salem, Oregon, USA. Dearest brother Pashtananda [that be me - ed]: I have just reread evocation method 1-Babalon by Soror Viktoria on vol. 4 of the Lion and Serpent. It is so diversely excellent and beautifully worded, (and well presented in the Lion and Serpent) that I wish to thank you both. Her devotion and wisdom is vastly inspiring to me. The joy- ously beautiful and reverent invocation to Mother Babalon moves me deeply, and awakens me to the action and wisdom of my Higher True Will. Please communicate my hearty and soulful praise to her. ... Also, I find the invoking ritual of the Sphinx to be excellent (in the same vol.), and I plan on using it. I really love the short bit of prose at the end too, the image of the dancing Magus is wonderful. 2 questions to the author, or anyone else who may have the answer: The order of invoking the pentagrams is E, N, S, W. Is one to move deosil, or widdershins to each quarter? or perhaps dif- ferently to each. Also, I assume that one faces East for the final attainment. And, are these the official elemental and chakra attribu- tions of To Know, Will, Dare and Keep Silent. I have seen different attributions than those presented, but see the logic to what is given too. Are there any specific books the Author based these associations on, 777? Letters to the editor can be sent to the email or postal mail addresses Sylvanus, Sebastopol, California, USA. provided on the inside cover. 5 Saint Sinner (Manifesto) by Madeline Ray I understand why the lunatics they bash their heads into the wall they bash their brains into the brick. I understand why the poet says, (cid:147)The only war that matters is the war against the imagination. I understand what she means in those words. I understand the (cid:147)values(cid:148) (whose values?) the (cid:147)values(cid:148) of intellect, beige, minivans. No one gets paid just to be Holy anymore No one gets paid to be the Master of their realm. I understand why the lunatics bash their heads O, I understand smash their heads into the brick into the rock in to the wall. My heritage is not proud: But I am. I am proud that the clowns cannot eat me I have stepped outside of the boundary I have stepped outside of the box multidimensionalshift no-way-too-cool I am beyond- until that slow suck gravity wells the black void quakes takes me under takes me under take me through! Where there is no rest for the sinner no rest for the wicked where I hear the anthem of the singer and say, (cid:147)Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine my sins my own they belong to me.(cid:148) ME! I ACCEPT! I am proud and I am vain and I am the Whore of Babylon and I REJOICE! 6 Let me have more wickedness wickedness UPON wickedness for if this is sin, 2000 years have gotten it wrong weak jealous godling misled the masses let me laugh at it! HA! O, I AM! (and I understand) and I understand and I understand that the matter with me is that I drool self-love and poetry and paint leaks from my soles as I step defacing the concrete and all the world is joy! O, I am, and I understand that the jealous godling wants these things for himself, but I say: NO. What is it? What is it? Why? Must we be fucked up all the time slavering slaves to hate and fear and abase before the jealous godling? HA! Rise on the glory of individual divinity! O, I am and I understand why the Magick Man says, "Deliver me from evil and from good." Blessed be the demon-child God-Self Blessed be the demon-father Power Blessed be the demon-mother Love Blessed be the rage that fuels the freedom fires The destroyer is the redeemer the phoenix is ours and we shall rise up rise up from the flames to battle! This world is new again, my friends, my comrades, my others; rage, love, beauty- Come fight for your right to DREAM to be HOLY to be FREE to be VAIN to be MAD to be at peace... I understand why the lunatics they bash their heads against the walls: But I am not them. (AMEN) 7 An Analysis of AUM by Frater Doubt-Goat A-U-M Ah! (exclamation of insight) Oooh! (exclamation of experience) Mmmmm! (exclamation of satisfaction of the result) 8 A Vision 2/28/2000, 2:58pm, dies Luna by Soror Viktoria Pathworking Vision, Completion of Tav: I was standing on a windy plain at the center of a many-branched path, a crossroads which branched and branched again, no matter what path is chosen. I was standing where I always am, but this time noticing, this time seeing the airy chaos laid out not only before me, but in every direction around me. On the compass, every direction East. My map a near-blank grid of words instead of landmarks. Stopping to think, I was caught in the mesh. Stopping to think, the winding tentacles of the Road stood out from their grassy borders, doubling back into my brain. Stopping to think, I was stopped in my tracks. In this featureless landscape of the half-known & half concealed, as yet unformed, assumed and imagined future my bewilderment became frustration. The frustration became anger, the anger became urgent desperation, the urgent desperation became a weeping sadness. And still I had not moved one step in any direction. "How long, O Lord? How long?" I cried. The wheels in my head turned by the tendrils of winding roads spun faster and faster still, my eyes seeking out which Horizon was mine, my own true East. Then... In the instant In the blink of an eye In my distraction I was struck and seized square across the shoulders, Under the arms, Through the Heart And swept skywards. It was some great black bird who was neither Raven, nor Dove, nor Eagle but a little of all three bearing me off the dusty paths towards the wilderness of Unknown Heaven! The tools fell from my hands like toys outgrown, soon to recede into the land of memory. The World itself reeled giddy in my head, butterflies of the stomach now leaping in my chest with the drunkenness of a newborn perspective. And in the rustling of His feathers, In the silent thundering of His wings I heard a voice whisper: "Come and See." 9 I Love Satan! Or, An Analysis of Liber V vel Reguli by Frater Doubt-Goat Liber V can be seen as Atu XV (the Devil card) in 4-D: an invocation of Satan, or the energies of Satan (Lucifer, the Light-Bringer, the Serpent of Knowledge, etc.) into the material, manifest world. The averse pentagrams that are drawn throughout the ritual are the face of the Devil, the Goat of Mendes, and indicate the growth of Spirit into Matter or the flow of Spirit into the Material World. The standard upright pentagram is shown with spirit given to the top point, whereas in the averse pentagram, spirit is at the bottom point. The Golden Dawn considered the averse pentagram ((cid:147)see that thou doest it not!(cid:148)) as a symbol of evil, the lording over of spirit by matter. In Liber V, the averse pentagram is seen as (cid:147)spirit as foundation,(cid:148) birthing matter into existence. Just as the traditional pentagram can be seen as spirit The averse pentagram with Spirit descending into matter (i.e. the lightning bolt of creation,) at the bottom point. so can the averse pentagram be seen as matter crystallizing (cid:147)up(cid:148) from the (cid:147)ground field(cid:148) of spirit. Rather like the quantum field, where particles arise out of the vacuum to help form matter and create interaction. Or like a Tree growing from a seed. Spirit as the Root of Matter. An advanced pentagram ritual, Crowley called Liber V (cid:147)an incantation proper to invoke the Energies of the Aeon of Horus.(cid:148) The (cid:147)Energies of the Aeon of Horus(cid:148) (cid:150) called the 93 current for short, or simply 93 (cid:150) are the energies of magick, energies (cid:147)beyond(cid:148) the phenomenal world. In Setian philosophy (cid:150) i.e. as put forth by the Temple of Set (cid:150) Set is outside of the phenomenal world, beyond the world of sense and sensation, logic and reason, feeling and intuition. Man The traditional pentagram with can access this force (the so-called (cid:147)Gift of Set(cid:148), also, think of the myth of Prometheus) to affect the phenomenal world. Spirit at the top point. 11 is the number of magick because it invokes one more beyond the 10 sephiroth, one more beyond the limits of the world, i.e. the (cid:147)supra-natural.(cid:148) The Sephir Yetzirah states: (cid:147)Ten Sefirot of Nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven(cid:148) and (cid:147)Ten Sefirot of Nothingness, their end is imbedded in their beginning and their beginning in their end(cid:133)For the Master is singular. He has no second and before One, what do you count?(cid:148) Also, 11 indicates the union of the 5 and the 6, the pentagram of man and the hexagram of the divine. 93 is the special number of Thelemic magick. If we consider the Tree of Life with its 10 sepiroth as the whole of the phenomenal universe, then the number 11 represents something that is beyond that universe. 93 is the flavor of 11 with which we are dealing. The Pentagram can also be seen as representing the power of Nature, or the phenomenal universe. The averse pentagram, as representation of Satan or the Devil, also represents matter itself. Another title of Atu XV is (cid:147)The Lord of the Gates of Matter.(cid:148) Now, on to a blow by blow analysis of the ritual. The lines of the ritual are in bold and my comments are in normal typeface. 1 0