2,000 Greater & Lesser Mysteries

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ 2,000 Greater & Lesser Mysteries / 2,000 Greater and Lesser Mysteries.iso / oto / mys01556.txt < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-06-10 | 67.1 KB | 1,386 lines

Vol. 1 Num 3 Fall 1991 e.v. --------- * --------- - -* OUROBOROS NEWS *- - ----------------------------------- ****** The Electronic Newsletter of Ouroboros Camp O.T.O. ****** Editor : Soror Nuntias Ouroboros News is published in cooperation with Modem Magick BBS & Ouroboros Camp, O.T.O. Copyright 1991 @ Ouroboros Camp and the individual authors. All rights reserved. Please feel free to pass this Newsletter to other BBS's. The contents of the articles contained here are not always the opinion of the editor or anyone affiliated with Ouroboros Camp, Modem Magick or the O.T.O. No one agrees all the time! You are encouraged to submit articles, letters, opinions, etc.. to FidoNet Node 1:202/311 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents 1. COLUMNS .................................................. 1 2. BBS NEWS ................................................. 10 3. ARTICLES ................................................. 12 4. WORD SCRAMBLE PUZZLE ..................................... 22 5. ADS ...................................................... 22 6. ODDS AND ENDS ............................................ 24 7. CAMP NEWS ................................................ 26 OURNEWS 1-03 Page 1 4 Nov 1991 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - CONFUSIONS OF THE FORBIDDEN (an effort to overcome cultural cliches) The first engagement: Drugs and Magic Note: There is a general confusion, a "lumping together", of all non standard practices into one category. This is a function of "Popular Culture" and it's inherent xenophobia. Everything that is seen as different, "Forbidden", is seen as part of the same thing. This article is the first of a series dedicated to the redefining of categories of nonstandard practices. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. "Let's drop acid and summon Satan!" "Let's do a few lines an surf the Aethyrs." Lines like these, and the sentiments behind them, have been with us since recreation drug use and magical texts became readily available to the edges of the Popular Culture. There are times for Drugs, and there are times for Magic. In all but one ritual situation, these times are mutually exclusive. The purpose of this short treatise is not to condemn the use of drugs for recreational purposes, but to put these two activities in their respective domains of activity. I. Recreational Drug Use. This is not an encouragement to commit felonies. Humans have been using Drugs in one form or another since the first Neolithic Hunter Gatherer sampled an unknown psychotropic plant and didn't die. The knowledge of which plants generated which effects was held by who ever passed for a "wise one" in pre-agricultural societies. With the domestication of the Grasses (grains, not cannabis) and vines, alcohol was stumbled upon (fermentation is a snap when you don't have refrigeration and you need to stock pile vegetable matter). Why do people indulge in mind altering drugs? The reasons are multitude. To mark a celebration. To induce even greater feelings of ecstasy, pleasure, and rapture. To gain relief from pain and misery. To dissolve emotional blockages. To stay alert during times of enforced prolonged wakefulness. To get more out of life. There is a difference between drug use and drug abuse. When a substance is consumed to add spice to the experience of OURNEWS 1-03 Page 2 4 Nov 1991 living, then we are dealing with drug use. When a substance is utilized to correct an intolerable physical/emotional problem, then we are dealing with drug use. When a chemical compound becomes the sole reason for living, when a Neurotransmitter analog is consuming more of a budget than rent and utilities, when it just isn't getting you off anymore and you need six times as much just to know it isn't getting you off anymore, that is drug abuse. When the drug is using you, that is drug abuse. What people do in the privacy of their own nervous systems is nobody's business but their own. There is nothing wrong with the quest for intensified pleasure. The only time a society should have a say in what one ingests to attain what strange new toys, is when the indulger infringes on other members of that societies ability to quest for intensified pleasure, or anything else that may or may not be their will to do. II. Magic in Theory and Practice. Magic is a discipline. It involves the entire being and its tool of the body. The mind is stretched to its limits and beyond, learning relationships, memorizing rituals, meditating on symbols to find new connections. The body is placed in sundry positions and movements corresponding to the relationships and symbols the mind has committed to its new picture of the world. Magic is a Science. What differentiates this from just being a discipline, like one of the martial arts? To practice magic, meticulous records must be kept. A daily record. Even when one does no magic that day, the lack of that activity must be recorded. Why record non-activities? Even the lack of action is important. Days, months, or years later, the overall pattern of action and inaction can and will be tied in with the general scheme of things, be they fluctuations in the weather, ups and downs in the economy, astrological and planetary fluxes or nonfluxes. The end result of this activity is the ability to share relevant data. If I, in my endeavors, find out through extended study that a certain practice is most effective on a certain day, at a certain hour, in a certain season, then I can say "Hey, do Ritual S next Tuesday at 3:00 PM" and the other magician will have the same repeatable results. Magic is an Art. The ways in which a person draws their own tarot cards, banishes the circle and charges the quarters, builds their magical tools, while based in the general forms, laws and correspondences of magic will be tinged with the personal experiences of the magician. Magic is not a consumer enterprise. My dagger will not be your dagger. My personal tarot deck (still unplanned) will not be like your personal tarot deck. Each will be based in the correspondences learned and taken to heart, and, when each is constructed thusly, they will be equally correct. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 3 4 Nov 1991 III. Before the confusion There was a low level recreational drug culture alive and well in America decades (centuries) before the first hippy was conceived in the Post WWII suburbs. The Beats knew about the effects of Cannabis when "Hip" was still "Hep". Aleister Crowley knew about the simulations of the divine that certain plants and drugs could induce. I know of only one ritual that flowed from his pen that called for the use of a drug. He did write several essays on the effects of drugs and states of consciousness, but, since he celebrated his greater feast close to the same time that a Sandoz chemist had that accident that changed the world, his use of mind altering drugs was limited to Hashish, Cocaine, Opiates, Alcohol, Absinthe, and Peyote. It was not until after the subcultural revolutions of the sixties that the general population even became marginally exposed to these writings. In the late 1940s, Sandoz Labs stumbled on Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, while trying to find a cure for Migraines. The psychological effects of this substance were immediately obvious, and the uses of it in therapy were numerous. Many people who were incurably alcoholic were cured by LSD therapy. The patients were not the only ones to be affected by this substance. Therapists witnessed unusual side effects, such as "Spiritual Gratification" in their patients. Of course, like Freud before them (who experimented with cocaine), they sampled this substance, and witnessed the feeding of spiritual hungers, if they weren't mentally ripped apart by the utter collapse of their metaphoric infrastructures. Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, while still respected Psychiatrists at Harvard, revealed in this orgy of spiritual gratification and metaphoric collapse. Unlike the Post Modern Existential Angst that was popular at the time (and still vital in today's Post Punk subculture) they did not feel backed in a corner by this effect. They took a leap across cultures, and incorporated a tantric buddhist world view into their clinical psychologist approach, producing a manual for the use of Psychedelic substances in a controlled (ritual?) environment. Unfortunately, the confines of the world view of THE TIBETAN VIEW OF THE DEAD could not contain the simulated Kundalini Serpent aroused by LSD. The approaches of the Merry Pranksters and their Acid Tests became the modus for this new altered state of consciousness as it wild fired through the new youth cultures. At the height of all this, a Graduate Student at UCLA introduced the reading world to a Brujo who showed him magic and wonders while under the influence of Datura Root, Peyote, and Psilocybin. That Graduate student also introduced to the popular culture the role of the Shaman in pre-industrial cultures. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 4 4 Nov 1991 IV. The Confusion. The Legend of Aleister Crowley is more widely known than the actual life story. Because he was a magician, and experimented with mind altering drugs and plants that induced states of ecstasy --and recorded and wrote about his experiences-- he was viewed as a drug crazed lunatic. THE DIARY OF A DRUG FIEND, while not a celebration of the use of drugs--on the contrary, it is the one of the most stunning anti- cocaine/heroin books written-- brought upon him the scorn and ridicule of his society. While it is true that in the last decades of his life he was addicted to heroin, at the Climax of his magical career (in his thirties and forties) he was for years at a time an abstainer. How many sixty or seventy year olds, in our own culture, are not able to get through their days without pain pills and medications? The image of Don Juan, the Yaqui Sorcerer, permeates our popular culture. Drugs were shown as the door way to the magical world, to the ways of power. Psychedelics made young Carlos Casteneda see entities he couldn't normally see. What is the proto magician to make of all this, exposed to the cliches of our popular culture, and the suburban myths that superimpose themselves over our lives? Many come to the conclusion that the only way to see the Archangel Raphael is while tripping. VI. A Small Slice of Clarity Pie You don't need to take a psychedelic to see the Archangels. While mind altering substances, especially the Serotonin antagonists, are famous for their wild visual displays, they are also notorious for them. The images and things "seen" are wild and uncontrolled, arising and fading spontaneously. Wait a minute, isn't this what magical entities/constructions do? Here is the fine point. Psychedelics generate chaotic uncontrollable images. The magician, invoking/evoking sundry magical beings, is utilizing controlled visualization, holding the image and correspondences of the being called. Trying to hold the attributes of Heru-ra-ha in a consciousness while being assaulted by memories of a pop quiz in third grade is a tall order. World Trade Center tall. Do not expect instant gratification from the first few rituals of your magical career. Getting the ritual memorized in the first place is effort enough. Just because the feathers on the wings of Michael aren't visible on the first run through of the LBRP is no reason to call the Pharmacy. With time, and daily repetition, the Archangels in their elemental colors, their armor, their faces, will be built up astral pixel by astral pixel. VII. Advanced conclusion and clarity The more alert out there might be saying at this point: "Hey, wait a minute, doesn't Liber AL encourage the use of drugs? Especially in magick?" The verses that can be most easily cited for this outlook are in Liber AL, II v. 22: "...To worship me take wine and OURNEWS 1-03 Page 5 4 Nov 1991 strange drugs whereof I will tell my prophet & be drunk thereof! They shall not harm ye at all. It is a lie, this folly against self...." Out of context, these sentences appear to encourage unrestrained use of drugs. In the context of Liber AL, II, which deals with Hadit, the use of drugs are seen as a means of forming a bridge with the infinitesimal point that is Hadit. If we take the interpretation that Hadit is also the Kundalini Serpent, coiled at the base of the spine, the "wine and strange drugs" are a means of rousing this serpent from its slumber, and to begin it's journal up the spine and through the chakras. Earlier a ritual was mentioned that uses a drug as part of the practice. This is Liber Had. It is a practice, in some senses a yoga, where in the magician attains union with Hadit. It is based on verses of Liber AL, II, taken as instructions for ritual practice. At a climax of the practice, a drug is used, as in Liber AL, II, 22. This is not a situation where in: "I wanna know Hadit, so I'll get ripped tonight." There is an entire series of preliminary practices that must completed before the drug is imbibed. It will be years before I get to that point in my own working of Liber Had. Twenty eight year old Laphroig is prime on my list for "Strange Drugs" to use. Within the pages of Liber AL, there is a built in counter argument to the cliche' of magic being a drug binge: "There is help & hope in other spells. Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture. If thou drink, drink by the eight and ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein!" (II, 70) Just a few safety tips from friendly neighborhood center of pestilence. Love is the law, love under will. Frater Hoathe Iaida - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - RESOLUTION 456 [Ed. note: The following is Resolution 456, passed 8/25/84 EV. by the O.T.O. Supreme Council.] Confirmed sales or solicitation for sales of illegal substances at a place and time (including time to arrive and depart on the occasion of a meeting) of O.T.O. is grounds for expulsion; and, in the event of complicity by officers of the O.T.O. body, automatically closes the body. In addition, sales of illicit substances or solicitation for sales at a place used solely by O.T.O., regardless of the time of meetings, or by any person so OURNEWS 1-03 Page 6 4 Nov 1991 acting as to convey either expressly or otherwise the impression that such sales or solicitation for sales is in any way a part of official O.T.O. activity, shall also fall under the strictures and remedies of expulsion and closure as may be appropriate to the actual status of the person or officer of the official body involved. No illegal drugs are permitted at any O.T.O. events. - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - ANKH AND PYRAMID (News from Ancient Egypt) # 1 by Alizar "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" This is the first installment of what I hope to be an ongoing column in the OCN. Each issue will profile an Egyptian god or other notable celebrity. Additionally, the first few issues will also include a profile a significant symbol of Egyptian mythology. Other topics for this column will include Egyptian rituals and other aspects of Egyptian life and history. The author welcomes comments, suggestions, questions, and other feedback. The god which will be profiled in this issue is RA (also spelled RE), the God of the Sun. RA was the first of all Egyptian gods. Finding himself alone in NUN, the primal waters which were the source of all life, he made himself pregnant. He gave birth to SHU (air), and TEFNUT (moisture), by spitting them out of his mouth. Shu and Tefnut mated and produced GEB (earth god), and NUT (sky goddess). Geb and Nut mated and produced four great-grandchildren for RA, two of each sex, OSIRIS, ISIS, SET, and NEPHTHYS. They are known collectively as the GREAT ENNEAD of Heliopolis (ancient religious capital of Egypt), the nine major gods of ancient Egypt. RA has several aspects. As ATUM (or TEM) (evening aspect of the sun god RA) he is a man wearing the double crown of Egypt; as KHEPRA he is a scarab beetle tirelessly rolling its ball to hide in the sand - as tirelessly as the sun is moved across the sky; as AUF (or EFU RA) he is a ram-headed god who wears a solar disc; As RA he is a falcon-headed man wearing the URAEUS (the coiled golden cobra), and sun disc. Every day RA travelled from Manu, the hill of sunrise, across the sky in a boat called Manjet. As he travelled he aged from boy to old man. At night he assumed a ram's head and transferred to the boat called Mesektet for his night journey through the waterways of the Underworld. The reliability of his sailings, OURNEWS 1-03 Page 7 4 Nov 1991 the eternal validity of his season-ticket, were constant facts in Egyptian life. RA is said to have created man from his tears; a symbolic birth since, as we know, mankind is nothing but a problem to the gods. And sure enough there was trouble. Men were wicked, unruly, and treacherous. Eventually RA had had enough; he ordered HATHOR (goddess of love, tombs, and the sky) to kill mankind. The goddess did this deed so efficiently and enthusiastically that RA changed his mind. Aghast at the slaughter, he ordered her to stop. HATHOR ignored RA, and he had to resort to trickery to cease the carnage. RA found men so distasteful that he took to sailing, assuming a low profile, if that is possible for the sun. There was a close interdependence between RA and the Egyptian kings. The kings claimed not only relationship with the sun but also identity. Thus a Pharaoh was the son of the sun, and also the incarnation of it. RA was the sun and the king was RA. This identification was strengthened by royal titles in which the name RA predominated, by the wearing of the URAEUS, and by the practice of incest in the royal family. All this ensured stability for the king and for the priesthood of RA. Many lesser, local and foreign gods were solarized by assuming that they were children of RA; or by actual identification, as in the case of AMUN. Such is the effectiveness of a strong and ruthless priesthood with a vested interest in political power. RA was the king of gods, and the god of kings. The Eye is the most common of all Egyptian symbols, it is the daughter of Ra, thus the symbol for the Great Goddess. The Egyptian word for eye is - iret - a feminine noun. One manifestation of Ra was as a falcon, thus the eye is the eye of a falcon. The Eye was first associated with the sun, so in semi- tropical Egypt the eye became the sign of destructive force, blinding light, fire, and the emotions best described as anger and uncontrollable fury. The Great Goddess in her terrible aspect. Because one symbol for the terrible can flow into another if the words for them belong to the same gender, the eye merged with the image of an enraged, rearing cobra with its poisonous bite. The cobra was the protector of the crown and is shown attached to the front, just above the king's forehead. Hence we get the fundamental symbol equation of Egyptian religion: Eye = Flame = Destructive Goddess = Cobra = Crown Originally the Eye was sent to bring Shu and Tefnut back to Ra. When the Eye returned it found that it had been supplanted in the Ra's face by another - a surrogate eye. This was the primary cause for the wrath of the Eye and the great turning point in the development of the universe, for the Eye can never be fully or permanently appeased. Ra, using the above formula, turned it into a rearing cobra, which he bound around his forehead to ward off his enemies. This is why, on the terrestrial plane, the eye denotes the kingship of the pharaohs in terms of sheer power, OURNEWS 1-03 Page 8 4 Nov 1991 while cosmically it is the 'sovereign eye' and burning heat of the sun. There was also the eye of Horus, son of Isis, which Seth tore out during the great quarrel. If the Eye of Ra was the sun, then the Eye of Horus was the moon. A well-known ancient text explains: 'I filled the eye when it was deficient on the day when the Two Fellows fought. I raised the hair from the WEDJAT Eye at the time of storm. I have seen the sun born from yesterday on the shanks of Methuer.' "Filled the eye" refers to Thoth mending the eye, the "Two Fellows" refers to Horus and Seth. The second line refers to Thoth placating Ra's eye when it bacame enraged at him after he sent it forth to bring back Shu and Tefnut. The third line describes the image of the morning sun as it is born everyday. As for Methuer, that is the WEDJAT Eye. The first line of the text relates to the fight that Horus and Seth had when Seth tore out the left eye of Horus and flung it beyond the edge of the world. Thoth found it lying in the outer darkness in pieces, he brought it back and reassembled it to form the full moon. When Seth flung the Eye away the night sky was plunged into darkness. This was the symbol of lunar invisibility - the new moon. Thoth's return with the parts means the time of waxing moon. Full moon is a sign that all is well, so Thoth is, in a way, the saviour of the world's order - Mayet. The second line of the text refers to the right eye, the original Eye of the Creator, a sort of original sun, which he sent out into the Primeval Abyss to find Shu and Tefnut. The comment is based on a pun between 'rage' - neshen, and 'hair' - shen. The rage of the Eye when it returned to the creator and found that it had been supplanted by another, the neshen, is identified with the hair which hides the eye. The latter is a symbol for the strands of cloud which float across the sun, hiding its light. Thus the storm that the Eye raised at the beginning of the world is the same as the dark clouds covering the sun. In both cases it is Thoth, the genius of the cosmic order, who puts things right. The Egyptians were quite aware that their creation myths were not to be believed in as historical events but as symbols of the way in which the universe was run. The third line of the text returns to the naturalistic idea - the eye of the blazing sun as it shines over the horizon at dawn. But the symbolists are at work again. The sun emerges from the sky beyond the world, the sky is a cow-form of the Mother Goddess who, as we have learned, is also the Eye itself. The complex OURNEWS 1-03 Page 9 4 Nov 1991 meshes of eye symbolism are woven all round the Egyptian Mother Goddess and she cannot be understood or compared with other goddesses of the same type until they are unraveled. The Eye is the key to the religion. The Egyptians wrote many prayers to their gods. Several of the chapters of the Pert Em Hru (Book of the Dead) contain such prayers. In keeping with the emphasis of this particular column being about Ra, there is a ritual called 'The Ritual of Ra' which is too long to be reprinted here but can be found in the book called 'Coming into the Light' by Schueler from Llewellyn Press. In future columns, as space allows, the rituals will be included. The Ritual of Ra contains many of the prayers to the sun god Ra. The ritual text informs us that the god Ra is the creative spirit whose physical body is the sun. The best time for performing this rather long ritual is at noon on the first day of the month. At dawn, the sun is the body of Khepra. At dusk it embodies Atum. Only at noon is it truly Ra. The ritual combines prayers from 'The Papyrus of Nekht', 'The Papyrus of Ani', and 'The Papyrus of Auf-Ankh-A', and closes with a prayer from the 'Stele of Panehesi'. Love is the law, love under will. Bibliography: Carlyon, Richard, 'A Guide to the Gods'. New York: Quill Kaster, Joseph, 'Concise Mythological Dictionary'. Putnam Publishing Group Rundle Clark, R.T., 'Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt'. New York: Thames and Hudson Schueler, Gerald and Betty, 'Coming into the Light': Llewellyn - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - ----------------------------------------------------------------- OURNEWS 1-03 Page 10 4 Nov 1991 ================================================================= BBS NEWS ================================================================= * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Modem Magick Conference Schedule Modem Magick hosts several on-line real-time conferences a week. Load up your favorite terminal program, set your parameters to 8/N/1 and dial (619) 447-5010. Winter Conference schedule......... Monday There is a Wicca discussion group in the Crystal Cauldron Conf room....at 7:30 pm. Sunshine is our moderator. Tuesday Thelemic discussion group... 2nd Aethyr Conference room, located in the Ouroboros Sig. All local and remote SIG members are urged to attend. 7:00 pm Thursday Gnostic Mass symbolism in the 2nd Aethyr at 7:30 pm Sunday An open free for all chit-chat. No moderator, 8:00 in the Oasis. BYOL. All times are Pacific. Anyone who would like to host a conference or has suggestions for new conferences, is encouraged to submit ideas to FidoNet Node 1:202/311 ------------------------------ THE BBS LIST These boards are members of 93Net. All of them are operational 24 hours. Entries marked with a '*' are boards that are reachable via PC Pursuit. * BaphoNet Brooklyn, NY 1-718-499-9277 * HaditNet Memphis TN 1-901-373-4188 * Modem Magick El Cajon, CA 1-619-447-5010 Northern Lights Citrus Heights, CA 1-916-729-0304 Nu Net Victoria, BC 1-604-383-9376 The Roundtable Birmingham, AL 1-205-938-2145 * Tahuti Net Eagle Rock, CA 1-213-258-5724 Tower of BABALON Lansing, MI 1-517-487-9393 ThelemaNet is down due to hardware problems, hopefully they will be back up soon. Enjoy. Love is the law, love under will. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 12 4 Nov 1991 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - The following article is from the book 'Little Essays on New Aeon Magick' by Gerald del Campo, reprinted here with permission. - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - WHY THELEMA? "The old gods are dead or dying and people everywhere are searching, asking: What is the new mythology to be?" Joseph Campbell As you read this book you may be asking yourself: Why would anyone want to attune to a new form of thought while there are already very powerful, well organized religions, which have had the benefit of thousands of years of trial and error? The answer is quite simple: There is a phenomena which occurs in the Universe every 2,000 years called "The Equinox of The Gods". At this time there is a change in the Universal unconscious which dominates the evolutionary process of humans. The different shifts are represented by gods (usually Egyptian) who's virtues will demonstrate the fate of the next reign. There have been (so far as we have archaeological data) three such "shifts" in the evolution of humanity: 1) The Aeon of Isis. This period was matriarchal. Women were worshiped as Gods for their ability to give birth, nurture, and otherwise care for their young. The tribes were ruled by Queens, and the women were viewed as the strong ones. There are indications that women did the hunting and fought battles along side of men. It was a time of great respect for nature, as people learned to love Her and live in harmony with Her. 2) The next Aeon was ruled by Osiris. Osiris was killed by his jealous brother Set who cut him into pieces and threw him into the Nile. His wife Isis, stricken with grief, gathered all of his body parts and used the Magick of Thoth (Lord of Magick) to resurrect Osiris. It was the era of the "sacrificial Gods". It marked the beginning of Judaism and Christianity. This change occurred when man realized that he had something to do with conception, primarily; insemination. Suddenly, women were treated as second rate citizens, weaker, and not as intelligent as men. Man was no longer to live in harmony with Nature, man was to have dominion over Her. Mankind was to serve the male god as slaves. The last traces of this oppressive era are still with us today. We can see its influence on the environment, in South Africa, et cetera. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 13 4 Nov 1991 3) In 1904 another such shift occurred. The angel Aiwaz dictated the three fold "Book of The Law" and proclaimed that Horus, the hawk-headed God, had taken his place in the Throne of the Gods. Aleister Crowley, Victorian Age Magician, was to be the conduit. This era marks the Aeon of the Child, the word of whose Law is: THELEMA. This Law encompasses all True Religions, and is capable of great tolerance which is essential to protect the diversity it indoctrinates. Here we are dealing with the liberation of the human race from those which have oppressed us. Horus is the Egyptian God of war, and recently, we have seen him do his thing in Germany (at the Berlin Wall), Yugoslavia, Poland, The Soviet Union, South Korea, and Tienamen Square in China. The masses cry for Freedom. The Aeon of Osiris has had a very strong influence in the last 2,000 years. Even those who did not subscribe to its dogma are influenced by it one way or another. Most codes of morality are based upon its principles. This has been the case for so long that we are presented with the opportunity to reflect on it and see how its poison has effected the world. It has portrayed women as trouble makers, people who cannot keep secrets, weaker and not as intelligent as men, not trustworthy. It has even gone as far as explaining the pain of child birth and menstrual bleeding as punishments by God for having deceived man. Women in this day are still fighting for the equality which they deserve. It has led man believe that Nature cannot go on without him. All we have to do is watch TV or read a newspaper to find out what a great impact we have made and how much good we have contributed to the environment. It is inconceivable that after millions of years of evolution there are still people who really believe Nature is to be dominated. We are told that God doesn't live here, and we are discouraged from showing affection or allegiance to the Earth. We can already see what this kind of thinking has done to the condition of our Mother. The Church will not condone the use of condoms. It believes that people should just "not do it". As a result the rate of unwanted pregnancy is increasing at an alarming rate, not to mention the sexually transmitted diseases which are destroying so many peoples lives. It is curious to see that the same people who oppose birth control also oppose abortion, sex education, and Planned Parenthood. Abortion would cease to exist if education and birth control technology was not obstructed by religious zealots. When it comes to human sexuality, we are still in the Dark Ages. During the "Inquisition" thousands of innocent people were tortured and killed in the name of God. Many of these people were often women (mid-wives) who happened to be taking business away from the growing medical profession. Things have not changed much since those days. In some states they want to jail midwives who perform their services to couples who have lost their faith in "the scientific age". In all, most decisions our OURNEWS 1-03 Page 14 4 Nov 1991 political leaders make abide in some form or another with old Aeon ideas, with very little regard to common sense and intelligence, and even less consideration to the rights of the individual. The burning and censoring of books and Art still occurs today. Others have controlled what we watch, see, eat, and listen to. We have been taught that any deviance from conventional religion is "Satanic", evil, etc. On August 15th 1989 The Fundamentalist Movement declared on national television that the Star of David, the Pentagram, and even the Peace sign are signs of the Devil. The Hexagram; a geometric representation of God, the Pentagram; a geometric representation of Man, the Peace sign; a symbol of Utopian society. It is easy to see the impact this kind of thinking has had on our global evolutionary development: Brother has turned against brother for the sake of tradition, as in the case of the Catholic Priest Michael Molinos. This devoted priest was sent to prison to serve a life sentence because he published a book in which he taught that "inward prayer" (meditation) was more effective than outward prayer. This would have made confession via a priest obsolete. The fact that at the time of his arrest he was one of the most devout members of The Church had very little influence on the power hungry individuals who condemned him. The name of the book he wrote is: "The Spiritual Guide of Michael Molinos". I strongly recommend it as a guide to developing a PERSONAL relationship with God. Fundamentalism spends millions of dollars in printed material every year to encourage new membership while there are millions of homeless men, women, and children who could be helped by these same dollars. It is obvious that the priority is membership rather than service. For the last 2,000 years we have been told that sex is filthy. Love-making is to be done only for the purposes of pro-creation. This mentality is responsible for a great percentage of violent sexual crimes, child abuse, sexual dysfunctions, psychosis, etc. The beauty and selflessness of giving one's self to another has been turned into a hideous crime against God. We are told not to question the Scriptures. Man has become lazy and gullible as a result. We don't question anything and believe all we are told. You are expected to refrain from your own interpretation of the Scriptures in fear that you might find truth therein. To guard against this; the Scriptures have been altered so much that no one knows the truth any more. This has effected the way we view life in general. We do not question what our politicians do, what they spray in our food, what they put into the ground, etc. And when we do ask; we believe everything they tell us. THELEMA demands that one think for themselves. A newborn child is the most innocent and pure of all things. Yet OURNEWS 1-03 Page 15 4 Nov 1991 children are baptized by parents who have been forced to believe the child is unclean because it is born through sin. This is an insult and shows to what degree and for what "reasons" we do the things we do. Religious zealots have created a group mind which welcomes the destruction of the planet. It is held to be a fact that before the "savior" comes back the world must first face a terrible ordeal. "Revelation" clearly marks the end of the Osirian Aeon, but it is seen through the eyes of the vulgar as the end of the world. This "group mind" has greatly effected the condition of the planet. We have a duty to return to Nature what belongs to Her. There was a time when it took years to get from one part of the country to another. We can now do it in a matter of hours; we have reduced the world to a speck of dust. With all of this technology there are still people dying of hunger all over the world. Wars are being fought to keep something or to take something from someone else. When religion stands in the way of evolution or the creation of Utopia, it is time for a NEW Religion. These old ideas cannot help us to further our evolutionary objective; they are full of hate and bigotry and can do nothing more than to hold the human race back. The world needs an alternative: True Freedom. The world needs the Freedom necessary to fulfill itself as best as it can without the interference of a twisted demented creed that was designed specifically to control people. Nature needs to have its respect from Man. We must learn to work with Her, not against Her, and then perhaps we can stop the destruction of the planet. With all that's been said above, it is hard to understand why anyone would bother with Religion in the first place. The answer is quite simple: Man is made up of Physical, Mental, and Spiritual matter. To deny any of these aspects a means of expressing itself would cause a involuntary imbalance in our natural make-up. Also, Religion and Myth are the tools The Beloved uses to create the beings which we have chosen to become; just as the potter uses the wheel and the kiln to create something which only a few moments ago existed in the imagination of the creator. Thelema offers the solution to the imbalance created by such an oppressive society. As humans, it is our duty to carry the vision of future generations on our shoulders, by evolving. This is "The Great Work". One day The Aeon of Horus will pass, and Thelema will no longer be the Word of the Law, and a new Order will rule for an Aeon. There will be other battles and principles, and it is my guess that we will be here once again to fight for them. The following thesis is based on the code of conduct who accept the Law of Thelema. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 16 4 Nov 1991 DUTY by ALEISTER CROWLEY (A note on the chief rules of practical conduct to be observed by those who accept the Law of Thelema.) "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." "There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt." "[...] thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." "Love is the law, love under will." "Every man and every woman is a star." A. YOUR DUTY TO YOURSELF 1. Find yourself to be the centre of your own Universe. "I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star." 2. Explore the Nature and Powers of your own Being. This includes everything which is, or can be for you; and you must accept everything exactly as it is in itself, as one of the factors which go to make up your True Self. This True Self thus ultimately includes all things soever; its discovery is Initiation (the traveling inwards) and as its Nature is to move continually, it must be understood not as static, but as dynamic, not as a Noun but as a Verb. 3. Develop in due harmony and proportion every faculty which you possess. "Wisdom says: be strong!" "But exceed! exceed!" "Be strong, o man! lust, enjoy all things of sense and rapture: fear not that any God shall deny thee for this." 4. Contemplate your own Nature. Consider every element thereof both separately and in relation to all the rest as to judge accurately the true purpose of the totality of your Being. 5. Find the formula of this purpose, or "True Will," in an expression as simple as possible. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 17 4 Nov 1991 Learn to understand clearly how best to manipulate the energies which you control to obtain the results most favorable to it from its relations with the part of the Universe which you do not yet control. 6. Extend the dominion of your consciousness, and its control of all forces alien to it, to the utmost. Do this by the ever stronger and more skillful application of your faculties to the finer, clearer, fuller, and more accurate perception, the better understanding, and the more wisely ordered government, of that external Universe. 7. Never permit the thought or will of any other Being to interfere with your own. Be constantly vigilant to resent, and on the alert to resist, with unvanquishable ardour and vehemence of passion unquenchable, every attempt of any other Being to influence you otherwise than by contributing new facts to your experience of the Universe, or by assisting you to reach a higher synthesis of Truth by the mode of passionate fusion. 8. Do not repress or restrict any true instinct of your Nature; but devote all in perfection to the sole service of your one True Will. "Be goodly therefore" "The word of Sin is Restriction. O man! refuse not thy wife, if she will! O lover, if thou wilt, depart! There is no bond that can unite the divided but love: all else is a curse. Accursed! Accursed be it to the aeons! Hell. "So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." "Ye shall gather goods and store of women and spices; ye shall wear rich jewels; ye shall exceed the nations of the earth in splendour & pride; but always in the love of me, and so shall ye come to my joy." 9. Rejoice! "Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains." "But ye, o my people, rise up & awake! Let the rituals be rightly performed with joy & beauty! [...] A feast for fire and a feast for water; a feast for life and a greater feast for death! A feast every day in your hearts in OURNEWS 1-03 Page 18 4 Nov 1991 the joy of my rapture! A feast every night unto Nu, and the pleasure of uttermost delight! Aye! feast! rejoice! there is no dread hereafter. There is the dissolution, and eternal ecstasy in the kisses of Nu." "Now rejoice! now come in our splendour & rapture! Come in our passionate peace, & write sweet words for the Kings!" "Thrill with the joy of life & death! Ah! thy death shall be lovely: whoso seeth it shall be glad. Thy death shall be the seal of the promise of our agelong love. Come! lift up thine heart & rejoice!" "Is a God to live in a dog? No! but the highest are of us. They shall rejoice, our chosen: who sorroweth is not of us. Beauty and strength, leaping laughter and delicious languor, force and fire, are of us." B. YOUR DUTY TO OTHER INDIVIDUAL MEN AND WOMEN 1. "Love is the law, love under will." Unite yourself passionately with every other form of consciousness, thus destroying the sense of separateness from the Whole, and creating a new base-line in the Universe from which to measure it. 2. "As brothers fight ye!" "If he be a King, thou canst not hurt him." To bring out saliently the differences between two points-of-view is useful to both in measuring the position of each in the whole. Combat stimulates the virile or creative energy; and, like love, of which it is one form, excites the mind to an orgasm which enables it to transcend its rational dullness. 3. Abstain from all interferences with other wills. "Beware lest any force another, King against King!" (The love and war in the previous injunctions are of the nature of sport, where one respects, and learns from the opponent, but never interferes with him, outside the actual game.) To seek to dominate or influence another is to seek to deform or destroy him; and he is a necessary part of one's own Universe, that is, of one's self. 4. Seek, if you so will, to enlighten another when need arises. This may be done, always with the strict respect for the attitude of the good sportsman, when he is in distress through failure to understand himself clearly, especially when he specifically demands help; for his OURNEWS 1-03 Page 19 4 Nov 1991 darkness may hinder one's perception of his perfection. (Yet also his darkness may serve as a warning, or excite one's interest.) It is also lawful when his ignorance has lead him to interfere with one's will. All interference is in any case dangerous, and demands the exercise of extreme skill and good judgment, fortified by experience. To influence another is to leave one's citadel unguarded; and the attempt commonly ends in losing one's own self- supremacy. 5. Worship all! "Every man and every woman is a star." "Mercy let be off; damn them who pity!" "We have nothing with the outcast and the unfit: let them die in their misery. For they feel not. Compassion is the vice of kings: stamp down the wretched & the weak: this is the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of the world. Think not, o king, upon that lie: That Thou Must Die: verily thou shalt not die, but live. Now let it be understood: if the body of the King dissolve, he shall remain in pure ecstasy for ever. Nuit! Hadit! Ra-Hoor-Khuit! The Sun, Strength & Sight, Light; these are for the servants of the Star & the Snake." Each being is, exactly as you are, the sole centre of a Universe in no wise identical with, or even assimilable to, your own. The impersonal Universe of "Nature" is only an abstraction, approximately true, of the factors which it is convenient to regard as common to all. The Universe of another is therefore necessarily unknown to, and unknowable by, you; but it induces currents of energy in yours by determining in part your reactions. Use men and women, therefore, with the absolute respect due to inviolable standards of measurement; verify your own observations by comparison with similar judgments made by them; and, studying the methods which determine their failure or success, acquire for yourself the wit and skill required to cope with your own problems. C. YOUR DUTY TO MANKIND 1. Establish the Law of Thelema as the sole basis of conduct. The general welfare of the race being necessary in many respects to your own, that well-being, like your own, principally a function of the intelligent and wise observance of the Law of Thelema, it is of the very first importance to you that every individual should accept frankly that Law, and strictly govern himself in full accordance therewith. You may regard the establishment of the Law of Thelema as an essential element of your True Will, since, whatever the ultimate nature of that Will, the evident condition of OURNEWS 1-03 Page 20 4 Nov 1991 putting it into execution is freedom from external interference. Governments often exhibit the most deplorable stupidity, however enlightened may be the men who compose and constitute them, or the people whose destinies they direct. It is therefore incumbent on every man and woman to take the proper steps to cause the revisions of all existing statutes on the basis of the Law of Thelema. This Law being a Law of Liberty, the aim of the legislation must be to secure the amplest freedom for each individual in the state, eschewing the presumptuous assumption that any given positive ideal is worthy to be obtained. "The word of Sin is Restriction." The essence of crime is that it restricts the freedom of the individual outraged. (Thus, murder restricts his right to live; robbery, his right to enjoy the fruits of his labour; coining, his right to the guarantee of the state that he shall barter in security; etc.) It is then the common duty to prevent crime by segregating the criminal, and by the threat of reprisals; also, to teach the criminal that his acts, being analyzed, are contrary to his own True Will. (This may often be accomplished by taking from him the right which he has denied to others; as by outlawing the thief, so that he feels constant anxiety for the safety of his own possessions, removed from the ward of the State.) The rule is quite simple. He who violated any right declares magically that it does not exist; therefore it no longer does so, for him. Crime being a direct spiritual violation of the Law of Thelema, it should not be tolerated in the community. Those who possess the instinct should be segregated in a settlement to build up a state of their own, so to learn the necessity of themselves imposing and maintaining rules of justice. All artificial crimes should be abolished. When fantastic restrictions disappear, the greater freedom of the individual will itself teach him to avoid acts which really restrict natural rights. Thus real crime will diminish dramatically. The administration of the Law should be simplified by training men of uprightness and discretion whose will is to fulfill this function in the community to decide all complaints by the abstract principle of the Law of Thelema, and to award judgment on the basis of the actual restriction caused by the offense. The ultimate aim is thus to reintegrate conscience, on true scientific principles, as the warden of conduct, the monitor of the people, and the guarantee of the governors. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 21 4 Nov 1991 D. YOUR DUTY TO ALL OTHER BEINGS AND THINGS 1. Apply the Law of Thelema to all problems of fitness, use, and development. It is a violation of the Law of Thelema to abuse the natural qualities of any animal or object by diverting it from its proper function, as determined by consideration of its history and structure. Thus, to train children to perform mental operations, or to practice tasks, for which they are unfitted, is a crime against nature. Similarly, to build houses of rotten material, to adulterate food, to destroy forests, etc., etc., is to offend. The Law of Thelema is to be applied unflinchingly to decide every question of conduct. The inherent fitness of any thing for any proposed use should be the sole criterion. Apparent, and sometimes even real, conflict between interests will frequently arise. Such cases are to be decided by the general value of the contending parties in the scale of Nature. Thus, a tree has a right to its life; but a man being more than a tree, he may cut it down for fuel or shelter when need arises. Even so, let him remember that the Law never fails to avenge infractions: as when wanton deforestation has ruined a climate or a soil, or as when the importation of rabbits for a cheap supply of food has created a plague. Observe that the violation of the Law of Thelema produces cumulative ills. The drain of the agricultural population to big cities, due chiefly to persuading them to abandon their natural ideals, has not only made the country less tolerable to the peasant, but debauched the town. And the error tends to increase in geometrical progression, until a remedy has become almost inconceivable and the whole structure of society is threatened with ruin. The wise application based on observation and experience of the Law of Thelema is to work in conscious harmony with Evolution. Experiments in creation, involving variation from existing types, are lawful and necessary. Their value is to be judged by their fertility as bearing witness to their harmony with the course of nature towards perfection. - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- ........... OURNEWS 1-03 Page 22 4 Nov 1991 ================================================================= WORD SCRAMBLE PUZZLE ================================================================= Theme: Qabala Unscramble the names of the Sephiroth and write your answers in the space provided. 1. HRAIPTET 6. CZENTHA 2. HANBI 7. ERHTKE 3. ODH 8. KOHAMHC 4. ECEHSD 9. SYDOE 5. KMUHATL 10. BEGARHU ------------------------------------------------------ 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10. ------------------------------------------------------ Answers to last issues puzzle: 1.ANUBIS 2.ANKH 3.NEPHTHYS 4.OSIRIS 5.HORUS 6.IMSETY 7.ISIS 8.HATHOR 9.SET 10.SISTRUM 11.STELE 12.SPHINX 13.BAST 14.PAPYRUS ----------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================= ADS ================================================================= * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Ouroboros Camp is selling O.T.O. baseball caps, they are * * black with a white Lamen. Half of the profit goes to * * the Order. Hats are 11 dollars, plus 4 bucks postage, * * Make check payable to Ouroboros Camp, and mail to * * Ouroboros Camp, PO Box 12706, El Cajon, CA. 92022 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Please help to support the O.T.O. legal fund. Donations * * are tax deductable. Send your check or money order * * today!!! Address to... GTG Bill Heidrick O.T.O. * * Box 430 * * Fairfax, CA. 94978 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OURNEWS 1-03 Page 24 4 Nov 1991 ================================================================= ODDS AND ENDS ================================================================= - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This short article was posted to the Echo's by Rebis... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Subj: WINE LEAVINGS Everybody knows you need to have "thick leavings of red wine" to make proper Cakes of Light. This substance is, as Bill Heidrick has pointed out in the January '91 e.v. TLC, the natural sediment that accumulates at the bottom of bottles of unfiltered red wine. Unfortunately, nearly all red wines easily available these days are filtered. Evaporating filtered red wine gives you some kind of sludgy stuff, but it isn't the real thing because it has no yeast in it. We're not totally out of luck, though, because anyone can make the real stuff at home fairly easily using simplified winemaking techniques. You'll need the following materials: 1. A 1 gallon or 1/2 gallon bottle of red grape juice. Concord grape juice has some disadvantages, but it will work as a last resort. 2. A packet of any variety of red-wine yeast. 3. A drilled stopper of the proper size to fit your grape juice bottle. 4. A fermentation lock. This is a piece of plastic tubing with some bends and bulbs in it -- you insert it in the stopper, fill it about 1/3 full of water, and it allows the fermentation gases to bubble out while preventing air from getting in. Items 2, 3, and 4 can be found at your local winemaking- beermaking supply store. Such stores are actually not that hard to find these days. In case you live in a truly uncivilized area, many such stores do mail order. I can give you the address and phone number of one in Southern California upon request. Instructions: 1. Carefully dissolve a scant 1/2 tsp. of the yeast in a clean cup containing 1/4 cup of warm water (about 90 deg F, if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast), and let the mixture rest for about ten minutes. 2. Open the grape juice bottle and dump in the yeast mixture. 3. Replace the bottle's lid and shake vigorously, then remove the lid. OURNEWS 1-03 Page 25 4 Nov 1991 4. Fill the fermentation lock with the indicated amount of water and seal the bottle with it. 5. Keep the bottle in a warm, dark part of the house until it stops bubbling (5 to 14 days). 6. Decant or siphon the immature wine from the bottle, leaving a pinkish gray sediment at the bottom. This material is the same substance as "thick leavings of red wine," just obtained in an unusual manner. Use sparingly. Note: although federal law now permits individuals to make wine or beer for non-commercial use in quantities of up to 100 gallons per year per person or 200 gallons per year per household, local restrictions may apply. - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - + * - ----------------------------------------------------------------- OURNEWS 1-03 Page 26 4 Nov 1991 ================================================================= CAMP NEWS ================================================================= Anno IIIxxi e.n. October 21,1991 e.v. Sol in Libra Luna in Aries Dies Lunae Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Things have been fairly quiet here in the Valley of El Cajon. We have held Initiations and participated in some very interesting degree workshops. We are still gathering Mass equipment, and looking forward to our first winter in a dry temple. Speaking of the temple, Crowleymas marked the first anniversary of it's dedication, time sure flys! The newsletter has doubled in size every issue now. So many good articles were submitted...... enjoy ;) If you have any suggestions, articles, letters, etc. that you would like to see posted in the OCN, feel free to either send them to Fido node 1:202/311 or write to... Ouroboros Camp, O.T.O. PO Box 12706 El Cajon, CA. 92022 Love is the law, love under will. Fraternally, -- Soror N Ouroboros Camp Mistress -----------------------------------------------------------------