Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law January 2016 Volume 1, No. 1 Contents From the Master Page 2 Schedule of Events Page 2 2015 Year in Review Page 3 Poem Page 4 Raw Numbers Page 5 Contacts Page 6 Official Newsletter of Sword and Serpent Oasis, O.T.O. 1 Caput Draconis “And now I hear the Angel: Every particle of matter that forms the smoke of my breath is a religion that hath flourished among the inhabit- ants of the worlds. us are they all whirled forth in my breath. Now he is giving a demonstration of this Operation. And he says: Know thou that all the religions of all the worlds end herein, but they are only the smoke of my breath, and I am only the head of the Great Dragon that eateth up the Universe; with- out whom the Fiſth Aethyr would be perfect, even as the first. Yet un- less he pass by me, can no man come unto the perfections.” Aleister Crowley, Liber 418, e Vision and the Voice, the Fiſth Aethyr
Transcript
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law
January 2016 Volume 1, No. 1
ContentsFrom the Master Page 2
Schedule of Events Page 2
2015 Year in Review Page 3
Poem Page 4
Raw Numbers Page 5
Contacts Page 6
Offi cial Newsletter of Sword and Serpent Oasis, O.T.O.
1Caput Draconis
“And now I hear the Angel: Every particle of matter that forms the smoke of my breath is a religion that hath fl ourished among the inhabit-ants of the worlds. Th us are they all whirled forth in my breath.
Now he is giving a demonstration of this Operation. And he says: Know thou that all the religions of all the worlds end herein, but they are only the smoke of my breath, and I am only the head of the Great Dragon that eateth up the Universe; with-out whom the Fift h Aethyr would be perfect, even as the fi rst. Yet un-less he pass by me, can no man come unto the perfections.”
Aleister Crowley, Liber 418, Th e Vision and the Voice, the Fift h Aethyr
2 Caput Draconis
I see thee hate the hand & the pen; but I am stronger.
Brothers and Sisters,
I am writing to say THANK YOU! Thank you for all of your participation in events, thank you for your in kind donations, and thank you for paying your local monthly dues. With out these things Sword and Serpent Oasis would not be here. Each of you brings something to our family that no other can. Your unique star light makes us brighter as a whole in the effort to share the Law of Thelema with all.
2015 was a huge year for SSO, with 12 initiations from Minerval to III*! Locally we grew with 6 new welcome guests, 2 going on to become full Brothers and Sisters.
Our 13 Public performances of Liber XV gave us the opportunity to welcome 4 new members into the EGC, two being local members of SSO.
We were quite successful with our Goetia building and working the ritual. As well as building new initiation equipment, that was sorely needed. Our Enochian is still being worked on for 2016.
It isn’t all about us though is it? Many of our initiations, baptisms, and confirmations benefited OTO bodies around the region, well really the country. Candidates from California, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio have now started their path because we could offer assistance.
We were able to cover rent with dues every month of 2015! Though 4 people paying dues are not in our body, or even in our area, it still speaks to your Will to make sure Sword and Serpent is a place for people to find the light.
In closing I would like to offer the following:
• Do you want to participate more?
• Do you want to lead a class?
• What class do you want offered?
• Do you want to become consistent with your dues?
• Do you want to train for an officer role?
If you are interested in any of the above let me know. I will be happy to meet you at temple to discuss them further.
In the Bonds of the Order,
Sr. G.S.D.
EVERY 1st & 3rd THURSDAY
EVERY 2nd & 4th SUNDAY
and
GNOSTIC MASS EVERY 3rd SATURDAY
of EVERY MONTH
1/21 - Ritual Night
1/24 - OTO/Magick Class Session VII
2/4 - Temple Buildout/Upgrade Day
2/14 - Temple Buildout/Upgrade Day
2/18 - Temple Buildout/Upgrade Day
2/20 - Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass
2/28 - Temple Buildout/Upgrade Day
3/3 - Ritual Night
3/12 - Movie Night
3/13 - OTO/Magick Class Session VIII
3/17 - Ritual Night
3/19 - Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass
3/16 - Minerval (0°) Initiations
4/7 - Prep Day for 3 Days
4/8-4/10 - Three Nights in Cairo
4/16 - Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass
4/21 - Ritual Night
4/23 - II° Initiations
First Quarter 2016 Schedule of Events
From the MasterDo what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Love is the law, love under will.
Cover Art - Interior picture of Sword and Serpent Oasis Gnostic Mass setupPage 3 Art - Halloween setup at Sword and Serpent OasisPage 4 Art - Fellowship area at Sword and Serpent OasisPage 4 Poem - Sr. Levamentum
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Caput Draconis, the official newsletter of Sword and Serpent Oasis. Since the release of this issue also coincides with the beginning of a new year and consequently the OTO’s Annual Reporting period, this would be a good opportunity to start off with a 2015 year in review. Last year saw not only a change in leadership but with it new direction and new policies which have had a huge impact on the day to day operation of Oasis.
Starting with January, the New Year ushered in a change of Master and all other body officers. After two years, Fr. Aten stepped down and Sr. G.S.D. was elevated to the position, and an entirely new cadre of officers were appointed. The first task, of the new leadership, was a review of the stability of the Oasis, both from a financial and reporting point of view. After a few months of stumbling through the new team of officers were able to dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s.
The first major change to the operation of the Oasis was enacting a comprehensive membership/dues policy. Taking the lead from other area bodies, the officers developed a dues structure to ensure the long term use of the temple without depending on any one person, or couple of people. As nervous as the officers were to change the dues policy, the end result of this has been a resounding success, allowing for rent to be covered 100% by monthly dues every month this year, with change to spare.
The next task, for the Oasis, was the commissioning of building new initiation equipment to replace gear that was either completely useless or was deemed to be non-compliant. This lead to holding IIIº initiations for the first time in a long while, along with “incident” free Iº initiations, also for the first time for as long as anyone can remember. While not 2015 related, work has begun
on IV/PIº initiation equipment that will allow Sword and Serpent to host the first set of these initiations in May 2016 to be held at our Oasis.
As far as initiations go, the Oasis held under its auspices 12 initiations ranging from Minerval to IIIº, two of which were held at other bodies. Locally, we welcomed 6 new guests to our body, in addition to a new brother and a new sister as full members of our fraternity. Sword and Serpent Oasis and Sr. G.S.D. were also honored to perform the first set of Minerval initiations in the state of Tennessee (held at Obeah and Wanga Camp) in a very long time.
In addition to new policies, Sr. G.S.D. has led the way in bringing in a variety of outside resources for classes, workshops, mass and initiation teams, etc. After hosting an Initiator Training session in Dec. 2014, the Psychology Guild was contacted to bring Pastoral Counseling Workshop to Sword and Serpent, allowing the oasis to bring this much needed workshop to members from five area bodies, including SSO. Then Br. Thiebes stopped in for a Weekend of Learning, and served as Priest in
a Gnostic Mass. After NOTOCON, Br. Will, Pablo and Sr. Kevorkian graced us with a weekend of lectures and meditations, and a wonderful Gnostic Mass performed by multi-state/country team (Germany via England, California, Ohio and Texas via Panama). This doesn’t even begin to describe the other various speakers both regionally and locally who blessed the Oasis with their gifts.
From an E.G.C. perspective, the Oasis held 13 performances of Liber XV, bringing in a variety of clergy to serve the congregation. There were three masses which also delivered sacraments, bringing in four new members to the church, two being local Sword and Serpent members. In addition to the more than monthly services, the number of clergy saw growth, both actively serving as novices and those preparing to serve. While the Oasis did not see any new ordinations, it is looking forward to the potential in 2016 for an explosion of ordinations.
Socially, new and old traditions kept the Oasis lively and fun. 2015 saw the return of a Chapter Party in March, held by Ouarda Chapter for the members of
A feast every day in your hearts in the joy of my rapture!
2015 Year in ReviewDo what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
3Caput Draconis
4 Caput Draconis
Every man and every woman is a star.
the MOE. The party was so well attended and contained so much revelry that pieces of balloon were being found throughout the remainder of the year. Also the annual Halloween party was a rousing success. The decoration team not only put together incredible decorations but it also happened to be the Oasis’ five year anniversary. Coupled with a Gnostic Mass earlier in the day, the Halloween Party was jammed pack with brothers, sisters and welcomed guests. As for new traditions, taking a cue from Dove and Serpent Oasis, Movie Nights were started. At each showing, a pair of movies were shown, that not only contained some occult link but were connected in some way to each other, served up with popcorn and pizza, and the occasional margarita. Attendees had
fun, saw their favorite movies in a new light and learned quickly how to put the lime in the coconut.
Another new tradition for the Oasis, was the collation of data regarding new guests interested in the OTO and Thelema. The Oasis ended 2015 with a wealth of data regarding its outreach programs, allowing for the leadership team to make thoughtful decisions about the methods and tools used for the promulgation of the law of Thelema. For instance, 29 members of the community contacted the Oasis regarding Thelema and membership. Of those 29, 22 actually attended an event at the Oasis, 11 attended a performance of Liber XV, five took an application for Minerval, and one took his Minerval
initiation; the most used means of making contact with people interested in Thelema was having them contact the Oasis first, namely through email. So far the leading interpretation of this has been, if people know that Sword and Serpent Oasis exists, they will make the first move.
Finally and ritualistically, the Oasis focused its efforts on two fronts, Goetia and Enochian (although there
were the occasional one off rituals). Br. M. led the Goetic effort being carried over from 2014 to a productive outcome. Without outright claiming the ritual was what led to the financial boon of the Oasis, it was after this ritual that all three primary officers of the ritual and the Oasis all received a financial gain (the ritual was an invocation of Buer, to ask for an increase in funds for all those involved including the Oasis). The Enochian working, initially led by Br. H. is currently ongoing with the help of a new guest who is donating the use of his own personal Enochian equipment while the temple equipment is still being worked on. This will allow everyone to begin an Enochian working while the painting of the tablets is still going on.
The year 2015 has left the Oasis in a prime position to capitalize on a wonderfully productive year, leading 2016 to even greater success. Already the schedule has been created for the first half of the year, full of events, including a first for the Oasis – IV/PIº initiations. But the biggest take away from 2015 was how much of a group effort this was. No single person is responsible for the success of 2015. Even as Sr. G.S.D. set the pace and led the way, it was the individual members of the body who stepped up and led the individual projects that took place, be it classes, decorations, Mass, initiations, etc., even down to those who just paid dues; without which the doors would have shut.
With that, the officers of Sword and Serpent Oasis would like to thank everyone who has helped in their way to making 2015 the success it was and we look forward to what, with your help and participation, 2016 can bring for the Oasis and for each of us individually. Thank you and may our ecstasy be found in yours, may our joy be to see your joy.
Page 5 offers a more detailed look at the events held at Sword and Serpent Oasis for 2015. This is not a comprehensive list of events, it is merely the highlights.
“Note to Self”by Sr. Levamentum
Thank you, For taking the time to spend today with me. Of all the people you could have pickedWhy me. What makes me so special, worthy, and right? Naught.‘Cept I soughtAnd found what for years I had not.
We want: news and articles, original rituals and artwork, temple photos, reviews of all kinds (books, fi lms, music, events, etc.), local body re- ports, local body publication reports, publication announcements, members’ personal announce- ments (including births, marriages and Greater Feasts) and anything else pertinent to Thelema, Ordo Templi Orientis, and the activities of our members.
