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The Serpent Flame

Volume I I - Number I - Summer Solstice 201 4 e.v.

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OTO Canada Newsletter

The Serpent Flame is published quarterly by OrdoTempli Orientis Canada, a branch of Ordo TempliOrientis, an international rel igious organization withbusiness offices at JAF Box 7666, New York, NY1 011 6, and corporate headquarters at 24881 AliciaParkway E-529, Laguna Hil ls, CA 92653. • TheSerpent Flame is available for download in PDFformat at the OTO Canada website: www.oto-canada.org

Copyright ©201 4 e.v. Ordo Templi Orientis Canada.All rights reserved and assigned to the respectiveauthors.

The viewpoints and opinions expressed herein arethe responsibi l ity of the contributing authors.

The Serpent Flame

The Official Organ of OrdoTempli Orientis Canada

Content

1 To Those Who Would PracticeMagick

3 Atra Materia4 Vantage Point7 The Control & Direction of

Consciousness1 2 The Four Winds Prayer1 4 RAHOORKHUIT1 6 Art & Poetry20 Book Review21 Meditation22 National Officiers and Local Body

Contacts

Executive Editor: Frater IskandarTechnical Editor: Frater LiberOriginal Artwork: Orlee AndromedaeEditorial Address: [email protected]

To Those Who Would Practice Magickby Frater Rudra

Amon-Ra Lodge, Toronto

Real magick can be dangerous. This is a fact, but it has had somevery unfortunate consequences in the occult community today.There are a rash of so-cal led teachers whose approach to magickseems to be to instruct people to avoid actual ly doing it unti l theyare deemed ‘ready. ’ For the students of many of these teachers,that is a time that wil l never come simply because the teacherhasn’t ever reached that point themselves. Beware of anyone whocannot plainly state what results they have obtained and exactlywhat methods they used to get them. If they start talking in vagueterms about ‘mysteries beyond your grade’ or workings ‘toopersonal’ to describe, they are frauds. This is the antithesis of theapproach that Aleister Crowley demanded. I was a practicingceremonial magician for several years before I came to Thelema in2004, a conversion brought about by the simple fact that I foundLiber AL to be the most simple and effective way to control thespirits I was working with. Because of my background, I tend tohave people asking me how to start practicing magick. This is myadvice.

The best way to start practicing magick is to take no half-measures,and if you don’t bite off more than you can chew from time to time,you’re playing in the bush leagues. The sooner you can makemistakes, the better. I am not going to pretend that the mistakesdon’t have consequences, (they wouldn’t be mistakes if they didn’t)but the reality is that if you try anything new, you are going to makemistakes. And if you are trying to do anything important, thosemistakes are going to have consequences. Since virtual ly nobodydoes magick to get things that are unimportant to them, you wil ldefinitely notice the consequences. Lust of result, even for thegreatest magician, is often the last thing you are able to lose, butexpecting to be able to do magick effectively through study alone isas unrealistic as expecting to be able to play the guitar by learningto read music. You must not only practice, but you wil l be ratherbad at it for some time. There is no way around this.

Systems such as the Goetia, to name a famil iar culprit, are often

© Ordo Templi Orientis Canada

© Ordo Templi Orientis Canada - Page 2

Volume II - Number I - Summer Solstice 2014 e.v.OTO Canada Newsletter

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warned against as too ‘high level’ or ‘advanced. ’This is pure bunk peddled by snake-oilsalesmen trying to pass themselves off asteachers to gratify their egos. The sooner youstart making mistakes with these systems, thesooner you learn how to avoid them. Thebeginning of someone’s magical career is abetter time to make those mistakes than a laterstage, when there is a hell of a lot more to lose(pun intended). Make your mistakes in thebeginning! I t won’t be pleasant, but it’s betterthan making them later or not making them atal l . Evocation may be difficult, but it is notcomplicated, and the result is plain. Either thespirit appears and speaks, or it does not. Even ahosti le or difficult spirit has a way of encouragingthe aspiring magician to continue in the work,simply by virtue of the fact that it has shown upat al l .

I t has been entirely my experience working withthese kind of systems that the consequences ofan error early in one’s career are nowhere nearas far-reaching and destructive as they can belater. I f you make a mistake while steering atricycle you might have a bad day, but if youmake a mistake while steering a freight trainyou’re going to make the evening news. Themore experience a magician has with trying tokeep smaller forces on the intended course, theless l ikely they wil l wind up at the wheel of amajor wreck. I t is easy to get lost in ‘theory’when approaching ceremonial magick. Imagineif I insisted that I know the ful l detai ls of exactlyhow a cellular phone works before I am wil l ing touse it to call anyone. This is an absurd way toapproach any technology, magick included. Themore practical experience one has actual lydoing rituals and getting results, the lessimportant those theoretical issues become.The key is to try different things and see whatworks the best. There are no intel lectual

arguments in real magick. Did you do the ritual?Did it work? What did you do? Can you repeatit? These are not matters of opinion, they are notideas belonging to one school of thought oranother, they are demonstrable facts. The howsand whys are subject to debate, but cause andeffect is, if the magician is fol lowing Crowleysinstructions about how to record the experiment,plain as day. This is the thing that gives magickits scientific character when it is studied inaccordance with our prophet’s system. Theaspiring magician who is capable of pickingthemselves up, dusting themselves off andhopping back in the saddle after a botched ritualworking is the kind of person we need to have.

The bottom line is that we have the mostamazing tools imaginable at our fingertips, if weonly choose to use them in our real l ives ratherthan simply admiring them from a distance.There are far too many people looking forreasons to NOT do magick. As my personalfavorite black magician l ikes to say, “I don’t askmyself ‘why, ’ I ask myself ‘why not?’”

As Thelemites we have a significant advantage.The Book of the Law is no mere ‘rel igious’ text.The essential power wielded by those wordsbrought me to Thelema in a concrete way, bydemonstrating actual power. The book did not‘appeal’ to me, it wasn’t something that I initial ly‘l iked, ’ but when I used it in ritual there was noquestion that the spiritual forces I was workingwith held it in high regard. I had tried to rely onspiritual authority using a number of differentholy books when I started working with Enochianmagick, and none of them had any effect. I couldget the angels to show up with no problem, butthey had no interest in interacting with me in anyway. They would approach my circle, regard meone would some kind of insect, and vanishwithout comment. The first time I used Liber AL



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in one of these rituals the effect wasinstantaneous. A star of Babalon appeared tome, almost in the form of a question. The angelwas asking if I was a Thelemite. When I told itthat I was, (not real ly sure what would happen,as I had never identified myself that way before)I began what would evolve into a series ofconversations that set my life on an entirely newcourse.

Atra Materia by Orlee Andromedae



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Vantage PointTo my son, Autarch 65,

and my daughter, Laylah Inamorataby Soror Laylah

Daughter of Sunset Lodge, Vancouver

Welcome, o children, to our starry dance!

The Earth is our vantage point from which, aswe rotate and revolve and wobble and ti lt andnod, we see Space.The celestial sphere is a projection of the Earth’ssphere onto Space. That is to say, the Earth isspheroidal, not so Space. Space is extended asit were to kiss the face of the Earth. Like a fi lmof soap over a bubble of air.

The cycle of days and nights is our diurnalrotation projected onto Space. By day we facethe star around which we revolve, the Sun. Bynight we turn away from the Sun. To see a dayand a night go by is to feel one ful l spin of ourrotation.

The directions of East and West are projectionsof the course of the Earth’s rotation onto Space.To see our eastern horizon regularly dipping andthe western rising is to feel the eastward courseof the Earth’s spin.

Into the stooping starl it Space we wove stories,assembling stars into iconic constel lations. Theconstel lations fixed by the Earth’s rotational axisto a band of declinations adjacent to the eclipticwe call Fixed Stars or Zodiac.

The plane of the ecliptic bejewelled with the beltof Zodiac is the orbit of our annual revolvingaround the Sun projected onto Space. Inspringtime, we currently al ign with Virgo to facethe Sun aligned with Pisces. By mid spring, wepass by Virgo and align with Libra to face the

Sun aligned with Aries. At the closing third ofthe season we pass on to alignment withScorpius and Ophiuchus to face the Sun alignedwith Taurus. And so on ti l l , in a year, we alignwith Virgo again. The subtle stel lar l ights of theSun’s al l ies are veiled before us by the blazingsunrise. Our own all ies behind us we see risingin the East as we turn to them at sunset. To seeour eastern horizon disclose them one by oneover the course of a year is to feel our revolvingaround the Sun. To see how the zodiacal beltappears to reel westward is to feel the Earth’seastbound revolution. East is the direction ofthe Earth’s revolution as well as that of theEarth’s rotation.

The Zodiacal belt does not girdle but fits looselythe equatorial bel ly of the Earth. I ts one partbeing always tucked away under her belly, wenever see it ful ly but always obliquely. As wereckon our annual path around the Sun by theconstel lations of the Zodiac, we call them Signs– like the road signs or the space-marks of ourvoyage. As we reckon the Sun’s apparentannual path around the Earth, we call themHouses – like the domici les wherein the Sunseems to rest alternately throughout the year.The requirement of the solar calendar is to have1 2 signs or 1 2 stations in regard. So the currentconsensus has Scorpius covering up for thethirteenth constel lation of the ecliptic plane,Ophiuchus, the snake holder, in antiquity alsoknown as Potnia theron.

As we rotate and revolve we never pass thestars of declinations above the Zodiac. The axisof our rotation keeps these stars always aboveus, always rotating as it were. We call this haloof stars the Primum Mobile. The least mobileones among them mark the axis of our rotation.The one pole of the Earth’s axis is currentlyapproximated by Polaris and the other by the



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apparently empty enclosure between theconstel lations of Chamaeleon, Mensa, Hydrus,Octans and Apus.

The directions of North and South areprojections of the poles of the Earth’s axis ontoSpace. As we revolve around the Sun, thecircumpolar stars appear to rotate in awiddershins direction in the northern hemisphereand in a deosil direction in the southernhemisphere. To see how the boreal starry dancecomplements the austral is to feel the distinctpoles of the Earth’s rotational axis.

That even the polar declinations seem not to becompletely fixed but rather describing a circlehowever small indicates how the axis of ourrotation itself wobbles. Our current North Star isPolaris in Ursa Major; about four mil lennia ago itwas Thuban in Draco. In its wobbling, theEarth’s axis describes the figure of a doublecone with points meeting at the Earth’s centre.To watch the poles of the Earth’s axis trace theful l circle is to feel the Earth’s wobble. Our axiswobbles at the average rate of one degree withevery seventy-some years, or one degree perl ifetime of an individual. As a race, we witnessthe completion of 30 degrees of that wobbleapproximately every 2000 years.

The precession of the equinoxes is the course ofthe Earth’s wobble projected onto Space. As theEarth’s axis wobbles throughout eons,equinoctial and solsticial points appear to movedeosil along the ecliptic, traversing oneconstel lation of the Zodiac per every twomil lennia. Currently, the two equinoxes fal l nearthe first degree of Pisces and the first degree ofVirgo, and they are moving towards the lastdegree of Aquarius and the last degree of Leo.Similarly, the two solstices currently fal l near thefirst degree of Sagittarius and the first degree of

Gemini, and their trend is towards the lastdegree of Scorpius in place of Ophiuchus andthe last degree of Taurus.

Thus, currently, Pisces mark the vernal equinoxin the northern hemisphere and the autumnal inthe southern. Virgo marks the autumnal equinoxin the northern hemisphere and the vernal in thesouthern. Sagittarius marks the winter solsticein the northern hemisphere and the summersolstice in the southern. Gemini mark thesummer solstice in the northern hemisphere andthe winter solstice in the southern.

To see that by the end of our individual l ife theequinoxes begin to arrive a day earl ier, or 30days earl ier within the span of two mil lennia, isto feel the deosil course of the Earth’s wobble.

The obliquity of the ecliptic, or the loose hangingof the Zodiac belt, is the projection of the Earth’saxial ti l t onto Space. That is to say, the Earthrotational axis is not perpendicular to the planeof the Earth’s revolution around the Sun but,rather, ti l ted about 23 degrees away from theperpendicular position. The other way to look atthis is to say that the Earth’s rotational plane andthe Earth’s orbital plane intersect, or close azero angle at the equinoxes, and form an angleof about 23 degrees at the solstices. At theequinoxes the Earth shows the ful l length of heraxis to the Sun, one of her voluptuous flanks inthe spring and the other in the fal l . At thesolstices she discloses to his thirsty gaze a bitmore of her poles, up her skirt and down hershirt in summers and winters. To watch theapparent seasonal trajectory of the Sun’s zenith,reaching maximum heights in the summer andmaximum lows in the winter, is to feel the ti lt ofthe Earth’s axis.

The coincidence of the apparent trajectories of



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the Moon and the majority of the planets of thesolar system with the ecliptic is the projectiononto Space of the relative approximation of theEarth’s orbital plane to theirs. To see how theMoon and these planets fol low at night along theecliptic and in the wake of the Sun is to feel therelative intimacy of the planes of our revolvingaround the Sun.

The slight variation in the degree of obliquity ofthe ecliptic is the projection of the nodding of theEarth’s axial ti l t onto Space. As the Earth’s axiswobbles and its each pole trace a circle, thosecircles are drawn with an undulating l ine ~~~.So the imaginary cones traced by our axis havea thousand-petal lotus, and not a circle, as theirbases. To watch how the tempo of theprecession of equinoxes varies at variedintervals is to feel the Earth’s axis nod.Were we to use an ideogram to represent theessentials of our particular vantage point fromwhich - as we rotate and revolve and wobbleand ti lt and nod and move otherwise - we seeSpace, we could find suggestive a line and acircle l ike this:

Were we to give it an iconic representation, wecould invoke the image of Atlas supporting theGlobe, and say:

Hail to the Enduring One who provides for usour astral view!



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The Control & Direction ofConsciousnessby Frater AL H-ShMATh


In committing oneself to undertake the GreatWork, one of the fundamental tasks is learningto understand the nature of consciousness. Thisstudy is ongoing, and all results should beconsidered to some extent prel iminary, as eachnew insight, discovery and idea whichcontributes to the expansion of one’sunderstanding offers the potential for modifyingthe picture of one’s consciousness as a whole.

On the level of the ordinary human personalitythere is a tendency to conceal the secret hiddenSelf beneath many obscuring veils. When onedoes catch a glimpse of this True Self, it seemslike being in touch with deity, and often theexperience is translated thus. But most often theordinary personality level is obl ivious to itshigher, True Nature, due to its propensity fordeclaring itself “I , ” and to its tendency to becomebeguiled by the il lusory nature of the world ofmatter. Accordingly, the first matter of the Workis to determine one’s True Nature, and one’strue trajectory through life, by coming to adeeper understanding of the True Self.Undertaking this task requires undoing theobscuring effects of the human personality.

These obscuring effects come from the fact thatthe consciousness of the individual is most oftenin a state of self-confl ict, a “civi l war” of sorts. Acommon practice of governments and mil itarypowers is to promote confl ict between thevarious tribes under their power, with themental ity that a people divided against itselfcannot offer any real and focused resistanceagainst their mutual oppressors, whereas shouldthe peoples join forces they would be much

stronger in a shared goal. We can use this as away of looking at human consciousness as well .Most often various parts of the overal lconsciousness of the individual are in direct (orindirect) confl ict with other parts, very much tothe detriment of the overal l “machine” of theconsciousness. The individual may be obliviousto these various confl icting parts of the self. Infact, it is quite common for someone to becomedespondent at recurring fai lures and frustrations,pleading, “Why does this always happen to me?”or, “Why doesn’t anything I do ever work out?”or, “No matter how hard I tryQ” So how doesthis state of inner war come about?

Whatever one does habitual ly becomes a forceof habit.

The above phrase may seem redundantlyobvious, but most habit forming occurs withoutconscious intent. The many and myriad ways inwhich the simple principle of habit formingmanifests throughout the various levels ofconsciousness is almost mind-boggling whenreally confronted. Habits are akin to instinct, inthe sense that they seem to happenautomatical ly, though they are learned. I t is easyenough to think of ways in which habit formingcan manifest in both positive and negative ways,such as maintaining a discipl ined and healthyl ifestyle versus constantly watching TV andsmoking; or practicing a musical instrumentversus fal l ing into self-destructive habits. Eitherway, the principle is that whatever one doeshabitual ly becomes a force of habit. Part of thereason for habit forming is that “higher” modesof conscious effort, such as trying to mental lywork out a series of bodily movements as onegoes through them, expends a great deal ofenergy and thus puts a much greater strain onone. By laying the same movements down intothe “muscle memory,” using the habit-forming



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method of repetition, they can instead be carriedout virtual ly without the conscious mind evenbeing aware of them, so smooth and uninhibitedcan the motions thus become. This uses so littleenergy comparatively that it can be described as“second-nature.” Yet indeed all levels ofconsciousness seem to develop habits, indifferent ways; and often the habits formed mayoutl ive their usefulness, and even findthemselves at odds with newer goals, or newerhabits. Habits are also of course constantly laidin without the conscious intention, simplybecause whatever one does habitual ly becomesa force of habit. Even the conscious mind canoften find itself at fault for getting in the way ofhabits which would otherwise be quite functionaland beneficial , merely by becoming conscious ofthem, or questioning them. Even if the simpleprinciple of habit forming turns out not todescribe entirely comprehensively why onemight posit one’s consciousness as being in astate of inner confl ict with itself, it is certainlyexemplary of the kinds of difficulties that arisefrom not having all of the machinery of the mindand body working in the same direction, towardthe same goals.

The first matter, therefore, is to put al l of one’sconsciousness under some degree of control inorder to direct al l of consciousness toward ashared goal, instead of being divided againstitself. Since the goal must be One, theconsciousness must be One; one must find acentered, balanced point from which to govern.And it wil l help exceedingly if one is able tosimply acknowledge from the outset that thereare any number of levels and aspects ofconsciousness of which one is not aware. I t wil ldo no good to proclaim one’s dominion as beingalready complete from the outset, based merelyon the evidence of which the conscious mindcan be aware. Also, there wil l be much energy

wasted if one attempts to solve all of thesemental confl icts without having an idea of theactual state of affairs, and it would be just aseasy to inadvertently feed into greater confl ict inspite of the best of intentions. This points to theefficacy of practices such as meditation, whichattempts to quiet the mind and allow thetendencies of the mind and consciousness torelax and settle. At the very least this methodleads to much less chaos of noise within themind, promotes a condition of greater clarity andthereby makes the work easier to undertake.There are also exercises based on trainingmental focus upon fixed ideas or objects; thesetoo aid in quieting extraneous noise, but alsobenefit from putting into practice the directing ofthe general consciousness toward a sharedpoint of focus. Ritual too serves to focus themind, surrounding oneself as much as possiblewith sensory input that reinforces the chosenpoint of focus, using motions, visual izations andwords which serve to train al l aspects ofconsciousness to move in tandem toward thatpoint. But these approaches may also bereinforced by any number of other methods,whether special ized in the sense of requiringone to separate oneself from the mundaneworld; or integrated in the sense of being simplethings that one may do within one’s daily routineto aid in the gradual cause of control anddirection of consciousness, uti l izing the principleof habit-forming.

Mental focus is a very important factor for thesubject at hand – and not just on the ordinarylevel of mental focus alone. An artist in the act ofcreating, in the best moments, becomesabsorbed in a special state of mind, in which thefocus upon the work being forged attains a levelof ecstatic union. Artist and art merge into one:the writer merges with the characters in thestory; the pianist pours out the emotions of the



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piece, resonating with them in each and everynote; the painter caresses the three-dimensionalfeatures of even an imaginary subject. This statecan be reached also in other forms of suchmental focus, not merely in artistic expressionbut in any scenario where the entire focus istrained upon a given subject, to the exclusion ofal l else. This is very much like a form of tunnelvision. There are also varying degrees and typesof this state, dependent upon the circumstances;and they may come in as simple a form as beingtotal ly present in the moment. But they are mostefficacious when one forgets oneself, one’s self-awareness is lost and one is able to unify ascompletely as possible in that moment. I t is insuch states that one acts with a surety andconfidence that is impossible when overly self-critical, and it often seems in such states thatone can do no wrong; that one is a force ofNature, one with Nature. One may compel acrowd of people to hang on every word, or openthe minds of students to new perspectives asthough opening a gateway into a new world.One may feel an intense intuition that one knowsthe mind of an artist as intimately as his ownwhen so focused upon that artist’s work.Communication seems to be in its purest state inthis condition, and one feels sure that others can“feel” one’s meaning, almost as thoughinformation were exchanged by osmosis as itwere, rather than passing through somemedium. Especial ly when in this state during theact of creating, one feels compelled to describethe state as “channeling” something; one feelsessential ly as though one were merely a vehicleor conduit, the channel through which someforce is able to work. And it would seem that, inorder to become a better, a purer, and a moreexpressive artist, one needs to allow oneself tobecome a better such channel. The term “al low”is used here, because it often seems all tooeasy to get in one’s own way in this process.

Many an artist has been frustrated by periods of“writer’s block,” which may be caused by anynumber of things, but which are often simply theresult of trying too hard, or otherwise beingunable to attain that ecstatic state. Being tooself-conscious causes one to fal l from it, and soone needs to learn how to allow it to happen –there is always time to go back over the resultswith a critical eye at a later time; and eventual lyone can develop the knack for having a criticaleye to one extent or another while this creativeprocess is at work, without “staunching the flow,”though it general ly seems best to al low the flowto remain as unhindered as possible.

I t is also obvious that some people show greaternatural talent than others. Some are certainlyborn prodigies, and for such individuals it is easyto believe that they simply have a natural knackfor applying the creative forces. I t is especial lyeasy to believe this when one only sees theresults, and fails to see the years of gruelingstudy and dedication, and the countless hours oftoi l that goes into such results. And even thenthere are those who seem quite capable of “justdoing,” who seem to need to put very l ittle effortinto their work and yet sti l l achieve greatness.These are very much the exception to the rule;but regardless, what we can learn from them isthe power of the spirit of letting go, and “justdoing.” In order to achieve a level of control overthis unification process as herein described, andto take it beyond a certain point, one must havea set of theories, practices and general ways ofunderstanding and delving into the process. Thisis akin to any other art or science. Take music, inwhich Mozart may be said to have been anexample of a sort of “divine prodigy.” Regardlessof his natural talent, it was sti l l very muchnecessary for him to practice constantly thebasic scales and patterns on the instrument; tolearn and put into practice his knowledge of



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music theory; to learn from and practice withother musicians and composers; and, once hehad absorbed any such information, toexperiment and go beyond what he had learned.Such work trains the habits, and lays them in sodeeply as to al low them to be expressedgraceful ly and with a minimum of effort orresistance. Essential ly al l of this work breaksdown any barriers and any limitations in order toal low the expressive act the most completefreedom possible.

Okay, but what has this to do with Magick? In acertain sense, Magick is the study of everythingwhatsoever: phi losophy, rel igion, science, andany number of other subjects which overlap withthese. I t is an attempt to understand andmanipulate the underlying laws of the Universe.But one’s ordinary l ife fal ls as much into this fieldof work as anything else – more so in manyways, since one can hardly hope to becomeMaster of the Universe if one’s l ife is adistracting shambles. So learning to understandand govern the mechanism of the mind and ofconsciousness as a whole is fundamental as anongoing study in tandem with Magical andmystical practices. In order to gain perspective,and to pry into the depths of consciousnessbeyond a certain point without simply losingtrack, one needs a map – a theoretical structureand a general set of guideposts which enableone to make sense of things. As music theoryprovides a map for the musician, which providesa clear idea of what sounds, musical effects andemotional qualities wil l be produced under mostgiven situations, so too the Qabalah provides amap for the human soul or psyche. But even thismap of the individual soul is simply the mirror orlower-scale projection of the Qabalistic map ofthe Universe itself.

One’s own “soul map” shouldn’t be taken merely

to cover one’s psyche alone, but instead itshould be understood that it describesessential ly one’s own personal universe – theuniverse of which one is aware. For everythingof which one is aware resides within one’sconsciousness, and can thus be posited as anextension of oneself. And this is simply amicrocosm of the overal l Universe itself. By thislaw of correspondence it is posited that theUniverse itself is consciousness, and thatconsciousness flows freely through all things.The implications that this has for the individualare massive, as it extends the l imits of one’scapabil ities to affect and interact with one’suniverse indefinitely outward. This means thatwe may use consciousness to accomplish thingsthe l imits to which we have no reason to definein hard-and-fast terms from the outset. And evenshould experiment seem to demonstrate l imits toour abil ities, these limits may in fact eventual lybe surmountable given further understanding ofthe conditions. But to make a start: one mustunderstand one’s present conditions andtrajectory, and our Qabalistic Map can aid in this.In addition, it may also provide the necessaryperspective for learning to hone oneself as achannel.

But what is this force that is being channeled? Itis the force that gives the greatest sense ofartistic fulfi l lment; it is the force that gives one asurety of one’s actions, and a conviction that isin accord with deep intuitive faith; it is the forcethat impresses one with a sense of somethinggreater than oneself, whether it be a presence ora purpose. We may call it the Wil l , as this isindeed tied to that Higher Wil l with which wewish to align ourselves. I t is difficult to know forsure what words shall serve best in describingthis force, but I choose to describe it by both Wil land by Spirit interchangeably, as a means ofemphasizing its role both in relation to the



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individual and in terms of the Qabalistic“roadmap” which describes the different levels ofthe constitution of human consciousness, beingas it is associated with the Chiah, or Life Force.

In looking at the Qabalistic levels of the psyche,the Chiah, Neshamah, Ruach and Nephesh, wemay simplify the visual ization by thinking ofthese in terms of their attributions to the Lettersof Tetragrammaton: IHVH, respectively.Currently I feel strongly that there may besomething very useful in picturing the process ofthe “descent of Spirit” in these terms: the Wil l , orSpirit, is ejaculated (I ); is given Form in thewomb of (H); is harmonized into a new birth, asguided by the Directing Faculties (V); and final lymanifests in the Final Form (H) in the Nepheshand Guph, that is, on the material (or near-material , as the case may be) plane. This beingthe intel lectual ization of the process, the processitself requires “ecstatic mental focus,” asdescribed above, and the working in tandem ofthe different levels of consciousness. Havingnow posited the continuity of Nature, and itsgeneral underlying quality as being that ofcontinuous consciousness, there would seem tobe incredible potential in this channeling ofSpirit, and in the control and direction ofconsciousness toward a given goal. But howdoes one next decide upon the goal? Especial lyif, as posited at the outset, the humanpersonality is most often “oblivious to its higher,True Nature, due to its propensity for declaringitself ‘I , ’ and to its tendency to become beguiledby the il lusory nature of the world of matter”? Wehave a method and we have a map, and thesemay lead us increasingly inward, and aid us ingaining self-mastery. But once again, one musttruly understand oneself and one’s trajectory,lest one’s efforts should turn out to be in vain, oreven self-defeating.

In order to be sure that one is aiming in adirection that is true, one must be sure ofoperating from the position of the True Self, andnot merely from the intel lectual-level ego, whichis fickle and general ly lacks the perspectiveneeded to be sure of its mark. Therefore thenext step in the process is to identify oneselfwith the True Self. In order to do this, one mustuse the very notion of Mental Focus toward thatgoal, putting al l aspects of consciousness undercontrol and directing them to that one sublimetask, as if to become an archer for whomnothing exists any longer but to fire the arrow ofaspiration, straight and true, into the heart of theSelf. Here l ies that experience called in oursystem the Knowledge & Conversation of theHoly Guardian Angel, the goal of unification withthe Higher Self. I can but speculate on the truenature of this experience; but in keeping with thesubject of this paper I would say that one musttrain the Mental Focus entirely on this Inner Self,so that every part of the Magician should be incomplete accord with this aim, even as thearcher becomes the target. He may gain therebythe ecstatic union with that hidden force whichwas once viewed as a separate deity, but whichnow harmonizes with the aspirant and can everafterward lend subtle guidance and surety to hisactions. Perhaps it may be said that this union isl ike unstopping a dam, and the Spirit is al lowedto be channeled in greater force. Or perhaps theintegration of al l parts of consciousnessnecessary to make this experience happen hasthe effect of refining the entire self, analogous tofortifying a water transfer system so that water isno longer lost as it is channeled from one placeto another. The implication, whatever theanalogy, is that one must integrate al l aspects ofone’s consciousness in order to achieve thisunion with the Higher Self; and that this unionforges one into a better, more sure channel forthe Inner Light, and gives one a centered



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perspective from which to understand oneselfand one’s trajectory, as has been the goal fromthe outset. A consciousness that was once atcivi l unrest; an individual who was once at themercy of his own tendencies; a man who wasonce just as l iable to work against himself as hewas to succeed in his own cause, simplybecause of the difficulty in attaining a rel iablesense of perspective from which to direct al l ofhis own energies; now that man has become aMagician with a centered self, a focused mind,and the empire of his consciousness under hiscontrol & direction. Of course the Work goesonQ life continues. The mundane is as much apart of the Magician’s experience as theMagical, and habit forming wil l sti l l requirediscipl ined oversight. But now there is a clearsense of one’s place, a clear orientation on thePath forward, and much greater potential tosatisfy oneself of one’s self-expression in theworld. One has become a more effective andrefined channel; and in so doing has alignedwith the True Wil l and resolved the importantinitial difficulties of l ife. But the first step towardthis is the proper integration of the differentaspects of consciousness, for which we havethe symbolism of the Qabalah for asimplification. We may begin with the FourElements and their correspondences inconsciousness, and apply the Alchemicalformula of Solve et Coagula, thus to separatethem and then to reintegrate them in a morealigned form, so that we may thereby dedicatethe whole of our consciousness to our goal. Andthis may be described as simply as “the control& direction of consciousness.”

The Four Winds Prayerby Frater ZNHN


This prayer may be used as an alternative to Liber Resh.

Unlike Resh, this prayer is based on the Path of Tav and

Yesod .

DAWN

At dawn, face East, give the Sign of the Enterer,

draw the wavy lines ofAquarius, and say:

I invoke the airy visage of Man,Rippled corrugate clouds, outwards they fanThe astral outl ine of sparkled Nuet,Fi ltered faces meet above in duet.

Give the Sign of Silence.

The sun rises, hawk headed Hormakus;and marks the aquil ine Aquarius.

Give the Sign of Shu.

NOON

At noon, face South, give the Sign of the

Enterer, draw the Leo symbol, and say:

I invoke the flaming Leonine maw,The coronation of the goddess MauThe blinding outl ine of the bri l l iant ray,The Zenith to the arch-ed bark of day.


The sun peaks, with solar hawk headed Ra,and marks the flaming height of Leo's draw.

Give the Sign of Thoum Ash Neith.



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SUNSET

At sunset, face West, give the Sign of the

Enterer, draw the head of the Eagle symbol, and

say:

I invoke the watery Eagle's beak,Heka, mistress of Hesar; strong and meekThe milky mirage of puce, pink-purpled,Myriad souls enter the underworld.


The sun sets, going forth as the god Toum,and marks Scorpius' poison glo-om.

Give the Sign of a Auramouth.

MIDNIGHT

At Midnight, face North, give the Sign of the

Enterer, draw the head of the Ox, and say:

I invoke the earthy head of the Ox,The rays of Satem invisibly blockedThe darkness of sky supported by Shu,The light above from Draco of the Jews.


The sun is hidden, as Khephra at nightand marks the earthy Taurus' del ight.

Give the Sign of Set Fighting.

SPIRIT

When the Moon is seen, once per day, and at

any time, give the Saluting Sign of an Adeptus

Minor.

Notes:

The prayer is attributed to the Four Winds in the form of

the Kerubs of YHVH in Kether of Assiah, and as appearing

on the Path of Tav. I t is broken into five sections at the

correct times of the day. Dawn, East and Air; Noon, South

and Fire; Sunset, West and Water; Midnight, North and

Earth. The element of Spirit is directed as Luna in the

night sky; i .e. the Moon and thus represents the lowest

vessel of the Ruach Elohim in Yetzirah of Assiah, i .e. the

planets as a blind for sephirotic forces.

This Prayer is a redaction of a larger ceremonial work

originally published in Hermetic Virtues, Volume V Edition

18—Winter Solstice 2011.



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RAHOORKHUITby Frater Per Ardua ad Astrum


Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

I offer this acrostic on RAHOORKHUIT for the Serpent

Flame, with accompanying photograph. Photo credit is

Alex Waterhouse-Hayward. By explanation: "I was invited

to be part of Alex Waterhouse-Hayward’s Red Rebozo

project, a series of photographs of Vancouverites from all

walks of l ife who are posed wearing a red shawl formerly

belonging to his mother. He then asked his subjects to

write a few words to accompany the photograph. In a

sl ightly subversive Thelemic manner I posed in a loose

Sign of Osiris Rising, and wrote my thoughts in an acrostic

on the name Rahoor-khuit. The entire series can be found

at:

http: //blog.alexwaterhousehayward.com/201 4/05/caitl in-legault-art-model.html

Love is the law, love under will.

Rebozo draped over my shoulders, warming myskin in the coolness of the house. The roughwool is heavy and textured, from a time whenpeople made things by hand.

Alex says, "You are in an exclusive club now.The Red Shawl Club." We are all woventogether under the magic eye of his cameralens, our blood red l ives frozen in a moment oftime.

How many others have been touched by thisfabric, how many more wil l join the club? Whatinvisible threads have led me here, l ikeAriadne's cord guiding me safely through themaze?

Over time and across space, Bell 'sInterconnectedness Theorem binds us together,entangl ing our unseen quanta in the sticky websof l ife. Like the Śrīvatsa engraved on mywedding band reminds me, our messymacroscopic selves stick together l ike tarbabies, through love and hate, memory, dream,and fantasy.

Over land and sea the rebozo travelled fromMexico to Argentina, and eventual ly here toVancouver. All those who touched it left animpression, helped it on its journey to reach myshoulders.

Redness shines forth from it, the dye it carriesabsorbing al l colour but for that shade which itreflects back into my eyes, the tint of fresh bloodnow over my skin, but also within me.

King scale crimson, Homer's wine-dark sea,blood of the great mother that birthed theuniverse. The secret river carrying DNAmessages through eternity, ferrying molecules of



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oxygen, glucose, serotonin, dopamine,endorphin, food for thoughts, giving rise to self-consciousness, becoming electrical activitycarried mimetical ly from one brain and body toanother.

"Hands reveal much about persons," Alex tel lsme. The hands of this tool-using primate aresmooth and manicured, muscled for precisemovements on the instrument of my choice, andbear the emblems of my devotion to my wife. Ihold them crossed, right over left, in a sign ofsecret Art.

Under the rebozo we all sit: musician, dancer,writer, actor, butcher, baker, candlestick-maker,tinker, tai lor, soldier, spy. I imagine the red shawlgrowing, weaving itself longer and larger tocover the city, the country, wrapping the entireplanet unti l every man, woman, and child isprotected and preserved in its embrace.

I perch on the chair and face into the cameralens, as curious to see myself as to know howthe photographer sees me. Wil l I recognizemyself, or does my memory of my face comefrom another place and time?

Time is captured, fixed in the photograph'splate, this moment never to reappear, yetforming another vibrating strand in the web ofreality. I f I l ift my arm, and sl ide over a l ittle in theframe, I think there's room enough for you too,dear Reader.



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31 5by Soror Tournesol


I found you in the landscape as I disappeared.A gamelan purred as the ocean took fl ight in al l directions.

Quietly, we stood in the hil ls,reverberating.

In the morning, you open like a window,(and just so, my understanding is gone,)

leaving nothing but crows.

Art & Poetry

by Bella Thelema, Victorious City Lodge, Victoria



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Duality

Do what you wil lThis existences is a real-fiction

Produced by duality threaded by paradoxBi-star system in a split galaxy in a dual universe

Feel the might of the dual swordThe grand seesawPositive/NegativeMan/Women

Matter/anti-matterLife/Death

God and LuciferAs above, so below

And you the point in the centerOf al l of itAha

The Magician

The magician is a professional madmanWho is this human being?A beast from the blue jewel

In the cosmic bellySoaking up realitySpitting out i l lusionWith heels below hell

And his skul l beyond heavenHe knows no eternal reward is worth wasting the dawn

HahaheQHe knows.

Endless

Endless HWYExistence always felt that wayLike a serpent biting its tale

A heavenly 8

SilenceThe sound of the infinite

HydrogenFather of creation

The one in al l and all in one0

The number of godAlpha Omega

From nothingness all comes and nothingness wil l al l return.

by Sol Nero Di Nuit




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Blood Magick by Orlee Andromedae, Amon Ra Lodge, Toronto



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Art by Soror J and design by Frater ZNHN



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Book Reviewby Frater ΦΑΙΝΩ

Mystic Rose Oasis, Montréal

Marco Pasi’s Aleister Crowley and the Temptation of Politics (Durham: Acumen, 201 4) is a ground-breaking book in the effort to make sense of Crowley's political ambiguities. Dispassionatelydetached from the subject's mystique and unique personality, Pasi successful ly presents Crowley'spolitical bel iefs with the intention to show them for what they were: ambiguous, perhaps evencontradictory on one level, but pragmatic on a deeper level. For Crowley, pol itics was a means toan end, and he would engage in the thick mess of it if it served his purpose. Pasi very correctlyframes his study in the l ight of Crowley's professed personal mission as the Prophet of Thelema.

This book is part of a new generation of academic l iterature genuinely interested in Crowley, andhas a lot of new information to offer, especial ly with respect to Crowley’s sol icitous attitude towardsBritish intel l igence, and his association with Fernando Pessoa; a Portuguese poet and associate ofCrowley’s in the early 1 930s seldom known in the English-speaking world. Pasi offers solidanswers to the legitimate questions surrounding Crowley’s (or rather, his disciples’) early interest inrevolutionary and reactionary movements in Europe in the first half of the 20th century e.v.

Pasi's approach has been to present Crowley's l ife, extract the political ly sal ient aspects of hisbiography, examine both his involvement in politics and his relationship with his political ly involvedcontemporaries (on this point Pasi selected J. F. C. Ful ler, Tom Driberg, Walter Duranty, GeraldHamilton, Maxwell Knight, and Fernando Pessoa as noteworthy case studies), and to test thestrength of the accusations that were brought against Crowley by his detractors, e.g. those thatbranded him a renegade of counter-initiation.

The result is a finely crafted narrative that can entertain a scholarly discussion without beingpedantic. Pasi can discuss a highly controversial character without fal l ing into the never-endingrabbit hole of conspiracy theory. Furthermore, Pasi’s style encapsulates in its conciseness a workof remarkable scope. This book no doubt required a lot of courage and determination to write, giventhe tendency Crowley has of getting forced into political categories that fit the agendas of both hisdevotees and adversaries. Crowley is dead. And not unl ike most dead creative geniuses, his l ife



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and legacy have been interpreted in several ways. When it comes to a political interpretation ofCrowley, Pasi does a good job at setting the record straight.

I recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a good study of Crowley’s political activitiesand beliefs. The fact that the archives of the Order contributed to Pasi’s research may be ofparticular interest to O.T.O. initiates.

Meditation by Orlee Andromedae



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National Officers and Local Body ContactsO.T.O. Canada

http: //www.oto-canada.org

• Frater Superior's Representative, Frater Iskandar [email protected]

• O.T.O. Canada Secretary, Soror L.I.T.L. - L.U.W. [email protected]

• O.T.O. Canada Treasurer, Frater Mercurius [email protected]

• O.T.O. Canada Quartermaster, Soror Laylah [email protected]

• O.T.O. Canada Initiation Secretary, Frater Scarabaeus [email protected]

See also the International O.T.O. website: http: //www.oto.org/

Local Bodies

British Columbia

Vancouver - Daughter of Sunset Lodge

• http: //www.daughterofsunset-oto.org/

• [email protected]



Victoria - Victorious City Lodge

• http: //vcl-oto.org/


Ontario

Toronto - Amon Ra Lodge

• http: //www.amonralodge.org/


• amonralodgesecretary@gmail .com

Québec

Montréal - Mystic Rose Oasis

• http: //www.facebook.com/OrdoTempliOrientisMontreal

• http: //mysticrose.magiqc.net/

• Secretary: fraterl iber@gmail .com

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