Issue Number 9
Volume I-9
May 1976
Editor: Margaret Wendall IV°
Copyright © 1976 Temple of Set
= - by Lilith Sinclair IV°
17 April Xl
My Brothers and Sisters:
Your response to the raffle was just overwhelming, and I want to express my gratitude to you all. It is heartening to know that you care and are concerned enough to rally around the barricades with me.
This is not just an isolated incident, but an action which affects us all. It will be the catalyst which will cause a precedent to be established for all Setians and those of our philosophical persuasion yet to come.
I am no martyr going eagerly to the stake, and I dislike an uproar as much as most people do. However there are times when we must make waves, and if necessary, tip over the whole boat. I feel this to be one of them.
It would have been a simple matter to have removed my Pentagram from around my neck, as I was “requested” to do, thereby ensuring the security of my job. Yes, that would have been quite the easy and convenient thing to do. Except for me to have done so would make me as great a hypocrite as those I scorn, and would be a betrayal of the trust placed in me by the Prince of Darkness, and of my vow to Him in turn.
This I will not do.
I would have liked to thank each of you in person, but since it is not possible at this time, please accept my appreciation and gratitude in this form, and know that I shall not forget your generosity and support.
May Set ever be at your side, and may you always walk the Way of the Flames
Eight San Francisco Bay Area Setians joined with High Priest Michael Aquino and Magistra Lilith Sinclair at the High Priest’s mother’s home on Saturday, 17 April to celebrate “Rotten Saturday” (the day after “Good Friday”) and draw the winning tickets in our raffle.
Adept Al Sturrock was designated to draw the first ticket for the Equinox set, and he drew Forrest Ackerman’s name. Next Adept Bob Brink drew Marie Kelly’s ticket for the “Dee” book. The prizes were shipped to the winners on 20 April.
With the pleasurable business of the evening taken care of, we sat down to a delicious dinner, a delightful dessert of St. Honore cake, and just general conversation.
Magistra Sinclair’s reaction to our caring and generosity is well-expressed in her letter printed above. Financially the raffle was a complete success. We have written a check to the American Civil Liberties Union for $500 for the necessary court filing costs; the cost of the prizes has been taken care of, and none of the cost of getting the prizes to the winners has come out of the general treasury. If the outcome of Magistra Sinclair’s lawsuit is favorable - and signs indicate it will be - the money given to the ACLU will be returned to us and put into the Temple of Set treasury. Hopefully we’ll never need to use it for this kind of purpose again.
= - by Michael A. Aquino V°
[The following paragraphs are excerpted from an informational letter from our High Priest dated 5 March Xl.
If you are interested in other “informational” letters (or in the rest of this one), just contact the III°+ official of the Temple of Set nearest you.]
The governing axioms of the A.'.A.'. & O.T.O. were frozen about a quarter century ago with Crowley’s death. The entire magical/ philosophical system was bound so tightly to his personality that subsequent efforts to incorporate fresh data from modern sources have regularly bit the dust. By contrast the Temple of Set is deliberately designed to be able to incorporate such data as the years pass.
The position of the Temple of Set is not that it is a competitor to the A.'.A.'. & O.T.O., but rather that it is their successor [as well as the successor to the Church of Satan]. This implies that we have considered & evaluated what the old organizations had to offer, incorporated the worthwhile material into the Temple, and selectively dispensed with the
obsolete and/or inaccurate material.
Psychologically this posture is very damaging to the old organizations. Not only does it reveal their shortcomings, but
it suggests that those shortcomings are too ingrained to be corrected by reform from within. These are statements which the A.'.A.'. & O.T.O. cannot make concerning the Temple of Set.
The A.'.A.'. & O.T.O. are very sloppy in their philosophical logic. They mix theologies which by their conceptual definitions are mutually exclusive: Chinese, Hindu, Masonic, Hebrew, Egyptian, Catholic, etc. Crowley, in point of fact, was well aware of this problem. He attempted to handle it via two identifiable measures:
(1) He attempted to define all religions and philosophies as variations of a common theme. Thus they were ultimately consistent and reinforcing of one another. It was as an effort to tabulate this relationship that he wrote 777.
(2) He identified “gods” as subjective aspects of the human personality. Thus an “invoked god” could be whatever Crowley desired him to be at a given moment, regardless of the historical attributes of that god.
In the final analysis both measures proved unsuccessful. The first flies in the face of massive cultural divergences between different civilizations. There is overlap to some extent, certainly but there are also striking peculiarities unique to each religious/ philosophical system. Not only can two systems not be forced into the same mold; they cannot be said even to reinforce one another. This is because the formulators of a religious philosophy leave no “blank spaces” which other religions may fill. Input from other religions is either incorporated into the new religion as an aspect of it, or it is rejected outright.
As for the second measure, it constitutes a rejection of the independent existence of “gods”, thus clashing with Crowley’s conviction that Aiwass (speaker of the Book of the Law) was an independent intelligence. It also clashes with the logical considerations raised on the Temple of Set’s informational “red sheet” ...
On the same counts the Temple of Set has its roots in the most ancient religious philosophy of the world’s most ancient civilization. Its doctrines and mythological symbolisms are purged of later distortions, and it makes no pretense of encompassing conventional theologies. By academic standards the logical precision and factual accuracy applied to our theories are so exacting that any other existing religion would be torn to bits by them ...
Today the A.'.A.'. & O.T.O. are severely fragmented. The authoritarian design of the original structures ruled out the possibility of different opinions coexisting within the same organization. An “infallible Führer” was necessary. Obviously this role was Crowley’s during his lifetime. But he left no machinery for the orderly selection of new leaders, nor could his disciples agree among themselves as to the best methods for doing this. So today we see a flock of A.'.A.'.s & O.T.O.s, each proclaiming its own true lineage and lambasting the others ...
By contrast there is absolutely nothing like the Temple of Set anywhere. It is not too difficult to start up and A.'.A.'. or O.T.O., because the necessary rituals and documents are commercially available. Same goes for a Masonic lodge. But all of the documents crucial to the design and operations of the Temple of Set are released only through the ordained Priesthood of Set to those whom they specifically deem worthy of such material. As this data is selectively released throughout the membership of the Temple, some of it will eventually reach the general public. But by the time it does, the policy & program operations of the Temple will be another ten jumps ahead. So it will be almost impossible for anyone to “copy” the Temple, and at best such an effort would result in a group trailing far behind the authentic one.
The A.'.A.'. & O.T.O. are heavily committed to the Hebrew Cabala. From the standpoint of doctrinal cohesion, that is like trying to put an octopus in a straightjacket. As I once pointed out in the Cloven Hoof, Crowley mastered the Cabala by the ingenious trick of Lewis Carroll’s Humpty-Dumpty: It meant precisely what he wanted it to mean!
And, if you think that the rib-knifing and backbiting is rife among the hippiewiccans, you should get a load of the A.'.A.'. & O.T.O.!
This brings me to a very important point: Intrigue and backbiting do not occur among practicing magicians. They occur rather among armchair devotees whose only claim to worth is proximity to a practicing magician. Such devotees wish to “interpret” the magician and gain glamor thereby, instead of running the risks of being unique magicians themselves. But I digress.
The A.'.A.'. & O.T.O. think they practice the philosophy of the Right-Hand Path. In essence that means that they seek to unite the individual consciousness with that of God/the gods/the Universe. In this they are no different than all of the world’s conventional religions, which, via one mythology or another, seek to obliterate the unnatural self and return to non-conscious harmony with nature ...
Unlike conventional religions, however, the A.'.A.'. & O.T.O. pursue this goal via an initiatory system which, paradoxically, calls for a greater and greater use of the individual intellect. Upon becoming a “Babe of the Abyss”, according to Crowley, the Adept renounces his l.Q. and unites his consciousness with that of the Universe. But then, as a Master of the Temple, he is supposed to be more ingenious than ever at manipulating that same Universe (i.e. magic). You can see the contradictions here, and so you can see why no one except Crowley himself was ever able to attain the Magister Templi level and not make an idiot of himself.
So how did Crowley manage it? The answer is that he did not renounce his consciousness. Rather he strengthened and expanded it to the point that he was able to redesign his perceptual universe in accordance with his will. This is the identifying characteristic of the Left-Hand Path , which involves the separation and distinction of the individual from the objective universe. To develop and sustain such a presence of mind (will) is extremely difficult, because it involves the systematic wrenching-loose of the mind from the multitude of natural influences which constantly surround it.
There is also the danger that the Black Magician may attain such freedom only to lose touch with the mundane Universe of physical events - the “everyday world.” Under such conditions the Black Magician may behave in a manner dictated by the subjective universe that he has created, but which is quite inconsistent with the objective universe. Much of Crowley’s behavior as an Ipsissimus (10)=[1] falls into this category.
In summary: The Temple of Set is in a position to extract and use valuable information from the magical workings of Aleister Crowley. Fortunately the bulk of his writings are available to us on the market, but a certain amount of cross-referencing and background information may prove necessary in the long run. For this I think John Symonds (author of The Great Beast & Crowley’s literary executor) is our best bet.
So now we are “testing the water”. Hopefully the outcome will be positive, but at the same time I want you to know that we are taking the above-mentioned factors into account. I’ll be keeping you up-to-date on this.
[along with everyone else]
Following is a magical invocation composed by Magister L. Dale Seago several days prior to 7-8 March Xl. He has agreed to share it with us. Please remember that this is “confidential” material; it should be treated with respect.
= - by L. Dale Seago IV°
March 7-8, XI
au-a xaa-kua temt-kua aq Set.
Set ua ari tememu paut neteru resi abtet mehtet amentet. amma au en Set, neb keku aoi ari neteru. Tua-ten su em aru-f nefer.
au ab-a enti em Set, suten ta pen, heq tuat, xeper t’esef, semu heh. anet’-hra-k Set em sexem-k, em user-k, xenti het hert keku samau. i-na xer-k neb-a er merer xu-a em Se-nesert. Rex-a em ab-a, sexem-a em hati-a, sexem-a em arit merert xu-a. Sem-a xu-a en unnut-f nebtet kerh.
Mak embah-k neb. au ertau-na re-a, t’etu-a am-f embah neter aa neb tuat. Tua-a tu, Set. Nu-a amtu-k. Amma un-a ma hesi enti am-xet-k, t’at’at. Tua-na amu kekiu. aba-na her-k, sebi-na her ren-k. ari-sen-nek ant am-sen. ari keku ami senket.
Ter-a tut-a, xersek-a aut-a, xersek-na tut ari-a, au-a ab-kua, neteri-kua. Utu-na nest-a heq-a s em sexem-a. Tura-na, temt-a. an pesex-ua. T’etet ker aqa-ua. Per-a em samau: xepert-a. Nuk ast au neheh.
apu aref-ten uat.
Xepera Xeper Xeperu. May I rise, even I; may I gather myself together, entering to Set.
Hail Set, One, maker of mankind and of the substance of the gods of the south, east, north, and west! Ascribe praise to Set, Lord of Darkness, the Prince, creator of the gods. Adore ye him in his beautiful presence. Gratified is my heart which is in Set, the king of this earth, prince of the underworld, the creator of himself, the traverser of millions of years. Homage to thee, Set, in thy might, in thy strength, at the head of the Great House within night and darkness. I have come to thee, my lord, at the wish of my intellect from the Pool of Double Fire. I know my heart, I have gained power over my heart, I have gained the power to do what pleaseth my intellect. May I follow my intellect at its season of fire and night.
I am in thy presence, O Lord. May my mouth be given to me, may I speak with it before the great god, the lord of the underworld. I adore thee, Set. I am thy advocate. Grant that I may be like the favored ones who are about thee, the divine chiefs. I have adored those who are in the darkness. I have fought for thee, I have made the defeat of the foe for thy name. Those who rise up against thee, evil cometh among them. I am the guardian of darkness living in light.
I have destroyed my defects, I have made an end of my failings, I have annihilated the faults which belong to me, I myself am pure, I am mighty, I have commanded my seat, I rule it by my power. I have purified myself, I have gathered myself together. I am not divided. Speaking and silent I maintain an exact balance. I have come forth by night: I have become a Setian. Behold, I am the heir of eternity!
Open therefore ye the Way.
The Scroll Editor has received some interesting mail which just can’t be published here because it deals with issues our Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws prohibit. We can’t get involved in politics in the Scroll.
But there are many moral and ethical issues which we know you discuss among yourselves and with non-Setian friends. Two of these are the “right to die” issue and the proposed Constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion. How do you as Setians feel about them? Let’s get a discussion going on some of these questions, if for no other reason than to see how our opinions differ from those of our neighbors.
