From Cefalu to Sacramento Part 1: Crowley through Seckler

Note: Months ago, we started exploring the history of the A.'.A.'., and I thought it would be fun to type up how we went from where Crowley started things to our current experiences. I thought it would be a couple weeks between posts, but the more I got into it, the bigger the "next" post became, until I ended up with a 6600-word essay that's definitely in the TL;DR category. I've broken that piece into several more-digestable parts that will be published over the next few weeks. 

From Cefalu to Sacramento 

Part 1: From Crowley to Seckler

Trying to figure out why there are so many different A.'.A.'. groups today led me to ask David Shoemaker how it all happened. His response began, "Well, to really understand that, you have to go back to the state of affairs when Germer died..."

We went on to have a discussion that went on over multiple evenings. These conversations filled in the gaps in my understanding, and explained the situation clearly. I had already gone through several of Jane Wolfe and Phyllis Seckler’s diaries, books, and personal correspondences, and had a pretty solid understanding of their personal experiences and the kinds of things they recorded for themselves, their superiors, and the things they said publicly. The things David Shoemaker shared filled in the practical, administrative, and functional gaps of the narrative that don’t get mentioned in magical diaries, or the kinds of letters shared between Phyllis and her superior in the Order about her HGA experiences, or in regular publications.

Reading Brother Wasserman's In the Center of the Fire provided an alternate view of the events surrounding a lot of the Order’s history, and shed some light on the peculiar impact of Marcelo Motta on the state of affairs we have to deal with today. While I completely disagree with Wasserman’s conclusions about Seckler, his memoir of the time provides a raw look at his experiences with the key players he interacted with and his own involvement with them.

Furthermore, Wasserman’s account is presented with a no-holds-barred honesty in which he documents the correlation between uncontrolled drug addiction and grandiose spiritual experiences, his own naiveté as a child of the sixties, and his fundamental lack of preparation to face the trials and ordeals he went through during this period of his life.

Tracking down reliable information relative to the claimants who trace themselves back through Grady McMurtry was more difficult. While there are reams of published materials available on the internet, much of it comes from questionable resources and unverifiable claims. Sifting through that was a nightmare full of dead ends, as you can imagine.

I ended up reaching out to my friends who trace their A.'.A.'. experiences back to Grady McMurtry, and wound up receiving an honest and clean account from a first-hand eye witness to the stuff that went down when it was going down. There are some interesting arguments related to the authority of Grady to take on students, or to represent the A.'.A.'. as its leader that, frankly, don’t make much sense to me. That said, with a couple notable exceptions, the people I’ve met in groups descended from Grady are consistently the kind of magicians I like to hang out with. They generally have done the Work, and have integrated it to the point where they can carry on a decent conversation without it degenerating into meaninglessness.

Documenting the history of the orders up through the last quarter of the 20th century e.v. is fairly easy. The people in question have left historic records, and their writings are fixed reference points to which we can refer as we discuss history. It’s historically documented. However, when we start getting past the 1970s e.v., we start to interact with people who are still alive, which makes it a lot harder to say, “this is what they did in their lives, and at the end of their incarnations in this plane, this is what they accomplished and what they’ve left us to sort through.” We simply can’t speak of the living conclusively, because they haven't, ah... concluded.

And because they haven't concluded yet, there's a lot left that can happen. Minds might change, people might see things differently, apparent successors might renounce all occultism and return to the religion of their birth, leaving everyone else wondering what the actual heck just happened, as one (cough cough cough Achad cough cough cough) does.

With this in mind, I think it’s probably best to just delineate the main points to date as they pertain to other people’s public statements, and then to focus on the events leading the A.’. A.’. to Sacramento.
Over the course of this work, I’ve been keeping track of things as they unfold using a timeline that shows the ongoing chain of events. It’s been pretty useful, I must say. I like pictures, dates, and small words to summarize things, and if a picture is worth a thousand words, then this is definitely that picture:

The Whole Enchilada

But a picture isn’t a thousand words, really. So let’s tell the story then, shall we?

We’ll begin at Cefalu.

It's April 1920, and Aleister Crowley and his whole squad is totally on point. He is Magus, he is the Prophet, he is the gate of manifestation of the Aeon of Horus, and he's got one of the very first hippy communes ever set up, in beautiful Cefalu, Sicily. He's got acolytes, disciples, and groupies. He's got it going on. The Abbey of Thelema is open for spiritual business, there's drugs, there's ceremonial magick, there's asana and pranayama, and all the sex you can imagine.

Things are going pretty well, if he does say so himself.

And he's not just a local phenomenon. His reputation and influence has spread around the world, even to the silver screen of Hollywood. He has been in touch with a young starlet named Jane Wolfe, and she has agreed to come and join him on his adventure, to participate in the grand experiment, and to devote herself to the teachings of the A.'.A.'..

When she arrived, she immersed herself into the communal life. Her diaries of the seven years she spent at Cefalu are a clear demonstration of what it was that Crowley expected from his A.'.A.'. students in real life. The exercises he assigned her, the documentation requirements, the progress made and the hand written feedback in the margins are a clear record of what it means to be a member of the A.'.A.'. the way Crowley ran things in actual practice. He came pretty close to following his own recommended approaches to things, but there were a lot of deviations as he saw fit. It's amazing to have such a complete record of what Crowley actually did with his students through her diary entries.

A Closer View of Jane Wolfe's Time at Cefalu

She spent three years with Crowley at Cefalu. She ended up leaving after Loveday died, but before Mussolini was convinced to kick Crowley out of Italy. Crowley sent her first to London, expecting her to single-handedly put together a Cefalu Mark II on her own, with little resources, few contacts, and no source of income.

This didn't exactly work out the way Crowley had hoped. Wolfe spent months trying different tactics to find a way to help Crowley accomplish his intentions, but there was little money, less support, and none of the kinds of financial windfalls that would have been necessary for her to succeed in her mission. Over time, her health deteriorated, and she eventually had to return to the United States for surgery and recuperation.

When she had recovered, she returned to the service of the OTO and A.'.A.'.  in California, joining Wilfred Smith at Agape Lodge II, which took the place of Smith’s initial efforts at Agape Lodge I in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. By the end of World War II in 1945, she was a pillar of the last remaining Thelemic community on the planet. Various individual members remained scattered around the world, and maintained communications with Crowley and Germer, but Agape Lodge had become the last active group in the body of the Order. And it was beset by the challenges of the birth pains of the Aeon, both within and without.

It was here that Wolfe met Phyllis Seckler, who became her student in the A.'.A.'.. Seckler was a pragmatic and intense person, whose experience as a high school teacher educating adolescents served her well in her later years in both the O.T.O. and the A.'.A.'.. Between June of 1940, and June of 1952, Seckler applied her tenacity, intelligence, and her Will to accomplishing the Work of A.'.A.'.. During this time, Wolfe's health again deteriorated, and eventually Karl Germer took over Seckler’s direct supervision within the A.'.A.'.. He acknowledged her attainment of the 5^○=6^□ grade in 1952, first in personal correspondence with Jane Wolfe, and later directly to Seckler.

The two continued their relationship as student and teacher throughout the rest of Germer's life. When he died in 1962, Seckler's actual grade was not a matter of public knowledge or commentary, but she was officially, per the O.H.O. of the O.T.O. and Head of the A.'.A.'., recognized as 5^○=6^□. This, as we will see, becomes important as time goes by.

In our next installment, we'll examine one of the primary sources of conflict within the Orders historically, the echoes of whose madness continue to be heard today.

United States of Hoodoo Screening and Q&A with Darius James at Leaping Laughter Lodge Tonight!

This Friday, join Leaping Laughter Lodge and Darius James for The United States of Hoodoo!

Movie night at the lodge is a normally a chance to hang out, watch some interesting films, and enjoy a lively discussion about the films as we watch, or after. This month though, we have a special treat. We’ll be showing the United States of Hoodoo, and thanks to some connections to the writer, we will have Darius James joining us via Skype after the screening for discussion on hoodoo, the making of the film, and a Q&A session! The film is focused on “how African based spirituality has influenced America´s popular culture. The old African gods have taken on new forms since their arrival on North America's shores. Their spirit now manifests itself in turn-table wizardry, improvisational skills and mind-blowing collages, rituals and performances. The film shakes up traditional and stereotypical ways of thinking about race, religion, rationality. Through meetings with musicians, writers and artists, miracle healers, gumbo cooks and Mississippi Blues men, this documentary explores a culture which has always drawn on a unique mix of different ethnic influences to produce its cultural diversity, allure, and vitality.”

Darius James was a close high school friend of Sallie Ann Glassman, who was recently interviewed by our own Deputy Lodge Master Harper Feist for the Thelema Now! Podcast. Currently, he is exploring the spiritual reality of Haitian voodoo through his friend, Val Jeanty, the electronic drummer featured in the documentary.

PLEASE NOTE: Darius has recently suffered a house fire, and without insurance is facing the huge task of replacing his hearth and home and all his possessions on his own. All donations received this month from Movie Night will be forwarded on to his crowd-funding recovery campaign. I can tell you, house fire recovery sucks, even when no one is injured.

Come one, come all, join us for an evening exploring the kind of practical magic that makes what we do meaningful in this whole “Great Work” thing we do. Suggested donation is $15 at the door, but whatever you bring will be appreciated!"

https://www.gofundme.com/tcvtsmzw

Opening Remarks of 2016 OTO Symposium "Women and the Feminine in Thelema"

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

Sweet sisters and brothers,

I’m Harper Feist, the Deputy Master of Leaping Laughter Lodge here in the Twin Cities and I am hugely honored to be the on-site Chair of this 2016 OTO Womens’ Symposium.  Thank you all for coming!

I have a short statement prepared for this august event and I have three pieces of business to address.  First, there is the matter of THANKS. Then there will be a couple of moments focused on pragmatics.  After that, I want to address the symposium logo and my infatuation with the Statue of Liberty.  The flames on the logo are the hearth fires of the OTO, maintained by the women, ignited by Liberty.

I had a teacher once who said, “If you only practice gratitude, it is enough.” In that vein, I offer thanks in what I hope is chronological order (please raise your hand as I acknowledge you):

Ixel Balamke, the master of LLL, for suggesting this crazy thing in the first place.

Rufus Opus, my partner in all the crimes and the AV dude for the conference.  Also the bourbon expert.  Good guy to know.

Nessa Cohorn, my wonder twin and US Conference Guru, for emails without count, jokes without tasteful boundaries, and that little ritual to make sure everything worked out just right. It probably resulted in someone thinking he was having a hot flash.  You and I have work to do together, you know.

To Magenta, of LLL, who knows the Twin Cities better than anyone else, and who helped my craft the FAQ email.

To our ritual team, Elizabeth, Rufus, Ixel, Hunahpu, Joni and Fr. Barabbas. You will all see later why thanks should profuse and tasty.  Standing with you, we will all be gods.

To Kat, our graceful muse and introducer par excellence.  Thanks for taking an important job, recognized at the last moment.

To Joni, my fellow moderator at the panel discussion.  Thanks for helping me swing that microphone!

To Kelly, our event photographer.  She normally shoots footage of athletic events, so I hope you do not disappoint her.

To Sam, our sound engineer and DJ. He’s seriously doing it.

To Hunahpu:  the chocolate and roses were just right.

To Josh, Kirstine and Andrew, who are ready to do anything.  Over the course of the next couple of years, you’ll know exactly what you signed up for.

To Martin, my runner.  Only time will tell how much exercise you’ll get this weekend!

To the staff of Hotel Minneapolis, who’ve been wonderful to work with and who will be showing us the best time the Twin Cities has to offer this weekend

Thanks to you all!

A brief break into the pragmatic:

The schedule is on-line only, but we’ll have a hard copy of it posted near the door.  If you need help, look for the folks with LLL on the corner of their name tag.  They all have my cell phone number and will run to ground any issue you have.

The presentation room is called Equity and is downstairs.  We’ll be having the ceremony there on Sunday afternoon after lunch.

As I mentioned, the hotel staff is here to make you visit more pleasant than you thought possible, if you need anything, they will gladly direct you at the front desk.  If we LLL folks can help further, please let us know!

So, who among you have a relationship with the Statue of Liberty?

I have loved her since I was a little Thelemite, knee-high to a groundhog….no, I mean a gopher.  This IS Minnesota, after all.  I was five when I decided that the spikes sticking out of her head were much better than a halo, and I was right.

The statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from France, and was entitled, LIBERTY ENLIGHTING THE WORLD.  She was forged in copper and transported in pieces to New York City.  The build was final and the statue dedicated in 1886. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States, and was a welcoming sight to immigrants arriving from abroad.

The American poet, Emma Lazarus, wrote a poem during the construction of the base to raise money for the erection of the statue, and it was this poem that firstly brought my attention back to the statue during my preliminary efforts at organization.  I’d like to read it to you:

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

My sisters and brothers, gaze into one another’s fierce and gorgeous eyes.  We are that lightning; we are that flame, we are the chains, broken beneath our feet.

Welcome to the 2016 OTO Women’s Symposium, “Women and the Feminine in the Thelema!”

Love is the law, love under will!

Women's Symposium Original Ritual: The Courtship of Babalon and Chaos

The Courtship of Babalon and Chaos

Closing Ritual for the OTO Women’s Symposium, August 2016

By Harper Feist

(With thanks for word wrangling by Rufus Opus, the first Chaos, and blocking help from the original team, Elizabeth Miner, Ixel Balamke and Hunahpu, Joni Watling and Frater Barrabas.)

4 and 7 is 11.

Setting

• LED candles suspended from ceiling (about 30 needed)
• Bright light over the place where B will stand
• Black veil in the east, perhaps on the dais with a throne behind
• Double-cube altar in the center
• Personae dramatis: A priest who plays Chaos, a priestess who plays Babalon, a deacon who plays a deacon, four attendants in black, one soldier at the door.

Female Attendants: sing the Babalon chant as people gather before the door.

Deacon Speech

DEACON:

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law!

Welcome to Leaping Laughter Lodge’s presentation of the original ritual entitled “The Courtship of Babalon and Chaos.” This Eucharistic rite was inspired by an essay written by Soror Helena and Frater Sabazius regarding the Creed of the Gnostic Catholic Mass. In it, the Babalon/Chaos couple was equated to other creation Goddess/God pairs, including those that are the topic of the world’s first written story, Inanna and Dumuzi. We borrow some of the original Sumerian words from this story, both the translated and transliterated texts, for the actual courtship portion of the rite.

At the heart of the rite, there is the adoration of Babalon, though, so there must be a blood sacrifice (ham this up). This will be accomplished figuratively with a small portion of wine that you will be given when you enter the temple. There will be a part in the ritual where you take the tube of wine – now your blood – and pour it into the cup brought to you by an attendant.

There will come a time in the ritual when I (Deacon) perform a brief adoration to Babalon. Please join me in any way that you desire.

Shortly after this section, you and I will share a call and response piece. I will turn outward toward the congregation to make this clear. When the call and response portion is complete, I will turn back to the action in the ritual and address myself to the Priestess and Priest.

This is the secret of the Holy Graal, that is the sacred vessel of our Lady the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, the bride of Chaos, that rideth upon our Lord the Beast.

Thou shalt drain out thy blood that is thy life into the golden cup. Thou shalt mingle thy life with the universal life. Thou shalt keep not back one drop.

Love is the law, love under will.

The people process into the temple. The female attendants give out the tubes of wine.

The Opening Scenario

Chaos sits in the east, behind a veil (on a throne on dais steps).

People gather in a vesica piscis shape. The chairs will be rearranged to that they can sit. Once all the people are in and calm, the attendants should take up their positions around the altar. They are to be living pillars in the temple.

Deacon waits for congregation to settle, then acknowledges continuous presence of chaos (talking to the curtain):

D: Blackness, blackness intolerable, before the beginning of the light. Beginning ineffable, darkness unbroken, creation awaiting in potential, energy pausing for the arrival of matter.  Holy art thou, Chaos, Chaos, ever and never present, you are the rushing, the leaping, the swirling, unpredictability, the delicious strange attractor.

D: You are the snake that devoureth the spirit of man with the lust of light. You are the sightless storm in the night that wrappeth the world about with desolation. Chaos is your name, and you are the blessed thick power and potence. You pour yourself into the material world, the creation of experience. The God we feel in the quickening pulse, the god we feel in the quickening womb.

D: Seemingly, you move without plan, without art, but all was established in the beginning, your Genesis is the butterfly’s wing.

D: Are you the dark or the light? All the double phenomena are only two ways of looking at a single phenomenon; and the single phenomenon is Peace.

CHAOS: Aye, this present Cosmos is the War of the Rose and the Cross, but I was the singular blackness, a blackness intolerable. Before “In the beginning,” it was written, “Holy art thou, Chaos, Chaos, Eternity, all contradictions in terms!”

C: Yet Cosmos must come, and in this Cosmos must the balance be set up where there was no need of balance, because there was no injustice, but only truth. But when the balances are equal, scale matched with scale, then will Chaos return.

C: Beneath my feet is the kingdom, and upon my head the crown. I AM is spirit and matter; I AM is peace and power; in me is Chaos and Night and Pan, and thus also upon Babalon my concubine, that hath made me drunk upon the blood of the saints that she hath gathered in her golden cup. And this is that which is written: Malkuth shall be uplifted and set upon the throne of Binah.

Deacon indicates that people should stand.

Babalon walks from west side of room to center on west side of altar. She is dressed in red under white wrapping, covering her entirely. She should look a lot like a mummy.  She says nothing and stands under the one bright light.

Gong begins…
ATTENDANTS: Wine Collection - Each beginning at a cardinal direction, and moving clockwise. Female Attendants in North and West, Male Attendants in East and South.

Each will collect about 15 tubes of wine.  It will likely take 7-10 minutes. The attendants should make this portion of the event impactful and heavy, by being slow, deliberate and somber. People can keep their test tubes.

DEACON: Pours out all the peoples wine into the chalice, delivers to Babalon.

BABALON: Drinks Wine from Chalice.

Gong playing peaks when she is drinking the wine. When wine is gone, silence.  
ATTENDANTS: Four attendants remove white wrapping, revealing red garments, women on the north side of the temple, men on the south. After the unveiling, the wrapping should be left on the floor, draped as artfully as possible in a second or two.

Attendants resume their places.

Adoration of BABALON.

CALL AND RESPONSE: Call and response with congregants, this should be practiced with shills before the actual ritual. DEACON: “Please repeat after me….”

D: I love thee, O Lady of Holy Lust
[Congregation Repeats]

D: I pour myself into your divine and holy Cup
[Congregation Repeats]

D: Thou who gavest us flesh to clothe our naked spirits
[Congregation Repeats]

D: thou who art the loveliness of the Great Sea
[Congregation Repeats]

D: the wet and fertile smell of soil
[Congregation Repeats]

D: the howl of the newly born
[Congregation Repeats]

D: the gasp of the newly dying
[Congregation Repeats]

D: you who art the womb of woman
[Congregation Repeats]

D: and womb of Earth
[Congregation Repeats]

DEACON: Makes the sign of Harpocrates and turns her back to the congregation. She may fall to her knees before Babalon if she desires.

D: And thou who art called by man
Mother of Abominations
the divine mystery of whose adulteries
is that thou yieldest thyself to all things
Beautiful art thou, O Babalon, and desirable
and in thy weakness hath subdued the strength of all
therefore art thou called Understanding, O Babalon,
I love thee, blessed Lady of the Night!
I beg thee, Rider of the Beast,
cremate all the dross within me
make me new again and simple
I beg thee to remove from me
that which I am no longer
Leave only the perfect structure of Now
Ignite the fuse that leads to god and God
so that I, like you, may burn in the innocent violence
of sacred incineration
And when the abyssal hole appears
I beg thee be reaching to me from the other side
as I continually pour myself into your divine and holy Cup

BABALON: Lifts Deacon to her feet, and kisses her. Then she responds:

B: There is nothing that I have not trampled beneath my feet. There is nothing that I have not set a garland on my brow. I have wound all things about my waist as a girdle. I have hidden all things in the cave of my heart. I have slain all things because I am Innocence. I have lain with all things because I am Untouched Virginity. I have given birth to all things because I am Death. Stainless are my lips, for they are redder than the purple of the vine, and of the blood wherewith I am intoxicated.

B: Stainless is my forehead, for it is whiter than the wind and the dew that cooleth it. I am light, and I am night, and I am that which is beyond them. I am speech, and I am silence, and I am that which is beyond them. I am life, and I am death, and I am that which is beyond them. I am war and I am peace, and I am that which is beyond them. I am weakness, and I am strength, and I am that which is beyond them. Yet by none of these can man reach up to me. Yet by each of them must man reach up to me. Thou shalt laugh at the folly of the fool. Thou shalt learn the wisdom of the Wise. And thou shalt be initiate in holy things. And thou shalt be learned in the things of love, in the many things of love, and all the myriad things of love.]

B: I am divided for love's sake, for the chance of union. This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all. Dissolution. I am ready to dissolve and to be dissolved, to disappear into oneness….

C: So many stories are our story, beloved one – Once I was a young god strolling near the Euphrates and I said, “I sing your name BABALON, O BABALON, As I walk, as I walk, as I pass along the banks of the august river, as I roam along the banks of the Euphrates, as I pass along the gaudy streets: O my beautiful One, may you be as a seed planted in the dark and fertile soil; may you be the root; may you be the stem; may you be the bud, and the leaf, and the flower; may you be the fruit, a beautiful ripened fruit. May you be the one who beautifies, may you be the nursing mother of the womb, may you be your own mother's womb and all wombs, the root of all, a fertile vine, oh beloved.

MALE ATTENDANTS: The male attendants open the curtain and bring forth Chaos. The shall lead him to Babalon’s side. After they do this, they should return to their positions.

B: In the style of the first story, his consort answers, “May "There is enough, there is enough" be your blessing and a splendid utterance, and may "There is none" be your abomination. May you be the owner of a house where there is enough, with a beautiful sister, beautiful children! A beautiful storehouse. May you be the male in all men. May you be the son of your god, may you be handsome, may you be praised!

B: May you be one who pleases his city's god, may you be a son who delights his mother, may you be the life-force of your city, may you be an honourable man, good offspring, may you be prosperous! May you own silver there, may you own grain there! Owning silver, may you delight in silver; owning grain, may you delight in grain! May you be valiant and joyous, may you never be blighted! May you be a soother of hearts, who never wearies of words!

C: “As I said unto the Queen of Heaven, Babalon I would go with you to our garden, yea, I would go with you to our orchard; I would go with you even unto our apple tree. There I would plant the sweet honey covered seed. There I would enter into thy garden, into thy beautiful temple.  There, with you, I would weave the Veil of Life upon the Face of the Spirit.

FEMALE ATTENDANTS: The female attendants come to either side of the pair, and join their hands, then push them gently together at the right moment. They should stand with the pair until the Sumerian portion is finished and then resume their position. B: Let them erect for me my flowered bed. Let them spread it for me with herbs like translucent lapis lazuli. For me let them bring in the man of my heart. Let them bring in to me my beautiful love. Let them put his hand in my hand, let them put his heart by my heart. As hand is put to head, the sleep is so pleasant. As heart is pressed to heart, the pleasure is so sweet.

44.šu-ni šu-ĝu-ta de-ĝa!-da-ma-ma-ne
45.ša-ba-ni ša-ab-ĝu-ta de-ĝa-da-ma-ma-ne
46.šu /saĝ\-še /ma\-al-la-na u ku-bi ze-ba an-ga
47.ša-<ab> ša-ba tab-ba-na ḫi-li-bi ku-ku-da an-ga

CHAOS and BABALON together: As hand is put to head, the sleep is so pleasant. As heart is pressed to heart, the pleasure is so sweet.

ATTENDANTS: All go behind the curtain and bring out the elements. The women bring the cakes to the north side of the Deacon, the men bring the wine to the south.

DEACON: consecrates the elements:

D: “This is the Kingship (cakes),

D: “This is the Queenship (wine).”

Deacon hands C and B cookies, they eat as at a wedding cake cutting
Deacon hands C and B wines, same here
DEACON, CHAOS and BABALON together: “To love!”

FEMALE ATTENDANTS: raise cakes

C and B both kiss the tray.
MALE ATTENDANTS: raise wine

C and B both kiss the tray.
DEACON: Remind people to hold onto their Eucharist so that can all can commune together.

ATTENDANTS: Distribute Eucharist. Men should start in the same places they began to pick up the wine, and move 180 degrees around the circle, clockwise. Women same, even though these do not overlap.

ATTENDANTS: Return any leftovers behind the curtain and resume their positions, each with a cup and cake.

ALL: Raise wine and cake, eat, and drink at once.

ALL: “To love!”

The Blessing

D: Behold the faces of your God, the beginning of comfort, whose eyes are the brightness of the heavens which provided you for the government of the earth, and her unspeakable variety, furnishing you with a power of understanding, that ye might dispose all things according to the foresight of Them that sitteth on the Holy Throne, and rose up in the beginning, saying, The earth, let her be governed by her parts, and let there be division in her, that her glory may be always ecstasy.

B: Behold the faces of your sisters, behold the faces of your brothers. So many keen minds, united in purpose, keen eyes; insightful and bold. Power and glory are yours in the now and the ever. Know that I am the seven-fold star that contains the mysteries of the Universe. Seek me in the darkness of night, in the darkness of fertile soil, in the depths of your soul. You are the many and the one. In your dissolution, there will be ecstasy.

ALL: “So mote it be!”

Overhead light extinguished to signal end of ritual. All Exit, leaving Chaos and Babalon in Darkness.

Source Material:

Inspiration:

The Creed of the Gnostic Catholic Church: an Examination, by Helena and Tau Apiryon (Frater Sabazius) - http://hermetic.com/sabazius/creed_egc.htm

Transliteration of Sumerian text:

Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literatures: http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=c.4.08*#

Ritual context:

Enheduanna, (2000). Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart. Austin TX, University of Texas Press, translated by Meador, Betty De Shong. ISBN 10-292-75242-3

Wolkstein, D. and S.N. Kramer, (1983). Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth. New York, NY, Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-06-014713-X

Thelemic descriptions of both Babalon and Chaos:

Crowley, A.C., V.B. Neuburg and M. Desti, (1998). The Vision and the Voice, with Commentary and Other Papers. Boston MA, Red Wheel/Weiser LLC. ISBN 0-87728-906-9

Much of the Deacon’s adoration of Babalon:

Feist, H. “Orison to Babalon,” unpublished.

The Progeny of Jane Wolfe and Phyllis Seckler (and My Path into the A.'.A.'.)

As we continue this series of posts, I'm going to keep it as simple as possible. I tried to write this post in several different ways, from a historical report with lots of footnotes, to a formal interview, to a FAQ-formatted piece, but nothing really worked. In the end, I decided the best way to present this information was to just tell my story, what I found along the way, and what I've heard and learned since I began.

When the A.’.A.’. finally knocked at my door telling me my time had come to join, I was one of those people who wanted to make sure that I was getting the real deal. If you've read the blog posts over at Head for the Red, you can see that for the last decade or so, I make it my goal to find a complete system as close to the source as possible with as little corruption, divergence, or piled on make-believe. It worked well for me, I traced the KBL back to its pre-Sefer Yetzira origins to my satisfaction, and discovered in the 1st through 3rd centuries the Greek Magical Papyri, the Corpus Hermeticum, and the philosophical and practical roots that made sense of all the information found later in Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy.

You'd think finding the organization created, run, and passed on by Crowley less than a hundred years ago would be a lot easier than finding the foundational documents of the Western Mystery Tradition written almost two thousand years ago.

But you'd be wrong.

After a few weeks, I remembered every negative notion I'd ever had about the Victorian era systems of magical study and practice since I was 16. I'd gotten spoiled by working with the grimoires and Greek Magical Papyri, they were written so long ago, there were only manuscripts and academic studies. There were no personalities, figureheads, no records of the egotistical conflicts that inevitably manifest when two or more are gathered in the name of magick.

I feel sorry for Harper and a couple of my closest friends who witnessed me complain and rant and vent as I found dead end after dead end, one conflicting story after another, and all the rumors and innuendo.

But I'm stubborn. I tracked various groups and their leaders down, both active and defunct.

I started with a good friend I've known for years. He is a member of a claimant group that traces itself back through Ebony Anpu to Grady McMurtry. His claimant group, while still alive and active in at least himself and his direct supervisor, didn't concern itself with whether or not they "really" had documentable claims linking them to Crowley, which mattered to me a lot. He understood, and pointed me in the direction of the major claimant groups currently in existence, and suggested that I should probably take a look at the group led by Dr. David Shoemaker if I was serious about finding something that can track itself back to Crowley.

Following up on his tips and leads, I found myself speaking with the leader of a group that claimed to be providing the teachings of the A.’.A.’.. At some point, this group had started calling its local groups "Clerk Houses," a reference to a verse in the Book of the Law, and had diverged in several other ways from the original formula of the A.’.A.’.. This group is led by a person of character who has a long and documented history of interesting relations with the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and various members of the A.’.A.’.. This group also traced itself back through Grady McMurtry. I found it is no longer taking on new members, and the conversations I had with the leader about various topics led to more questions and concerns than answers, so I took notes and moved along to the next lead.

I also looked into another claimant group, descended from J. F. C. Fuller. While members of that organization continue their personal Work, they make no claim to "legitimacy" that met the standards I'd set for myself, though all the members I've interacted with have been awesome people I respect and admire.

I found a few other groups that were claiming to be A.’.A.’. as I continued my research, but they really aren't worth mentioning. Most have a small online presence, are very vocal in their own Facebook groups, but ultimately don’t add up to much more than empty claims on the internet, and a lot of regurgitation of new age tropes from the 1980s. For example, one group said they had established connections with the Secret Chiefs on their own, I think by doing Liber Resh daily. And if it's on the internet, it has to be true, right?

Well... I wasn't convinced.

So that left three options that seemed to have some kind of weight behind them.

The first was, of course, the A.’.A.’. group that is currently advertised by and publicly affiliated with the O.T.O.. Frater Sabazius made it very clear that the O.T.O. can only work with one administrative A.’.A.’. claimant group at a time, while also making it clear that it's not within the power of the O.T.O. to confer any kind of validity or authenticity to any of the claimant groups. The claimant group that is currently the partner of the O.T.O. is led by J. Daniel Gunther. Being an O.T.O. initiate, it was important to me to look into this group's history and practices. I really prefer to have all my eggs in one ecumenical basket, as it were.

I had assumed that Gunther's group, having been recognized by the O.T.O. as a partner tradition in the spread of Thelema and the Law which is for all, was led by someone involved in all three branches of Thelema as they operate in the current material manifestations of things: the A.’.A.’., the O.T.O., and the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.). It appears that Gunther is not, in fact, a dues-current member of the O.T.O., and has no affiliation with the E.G.C.

That really matters to me.

But I wanted to give them a fair shake, so I tried to keep an open mind and kept exploring. I'd heard all kinds of opinions about the various claimant groups by this time, and while I appreciated the opinions of my friends, I understand the nature of politics in organizations, and I really wanted to read something firsthand from the sources.

A few of my friends recommended that I read In the Center of the Fire, by James Wasserman. He had studied under Motta, and was in the A.’.A.’. claimant group led by Gunther. He'd written up his experiences around the time of the formation of the O.T.O., and spoke a lot about his interactions with the people that were the major players of the times when he started getting into the O.T.O. and A.’.A.’. aspects of Thelema. He'd met and worked with Motta, he'd met with Soror Meral and Grady McMurtry. He was present at the trials that ended up establishing the validity of the O.T.O., and he had written up his experiences with these people and he published it.

So I bought his book, and I read it, and in it he clearly states that all the founding members of the A.’.A.’. administration currently partnered with the O.T.O. had either been expelled by Motta before his death, or had, according to Motta, left the A.’.A.’. on their own. Furthermore, it was notable that Soror Meral had been administering A.’.A.’. continuously for decades before the formulation of the governing “Triad” of the Gunther-led group.

This was a nail in the coffin for me, as far as this group was concerned.

This left me with two options, the group led by James Eshelman, and David Shoemaker's group.

By this time, I had the chance to read some of the things that Eshelman had published, and I personally found his "corrections" and expansions to 777 to be less than useful. Also, as I mentioned earlier, it was important to me that I join a group that was led by someone in good standing in the O.T.O.. As with Gunther, that turned out not to be the case  with Eshelman.

So I’d found several groups claiming to be “the” A.’.A.’., or who were being referenced as being an approach to the A.’.A.’., but every road had been a bust. Frankly, I was about done with the A.’.A.’. at this point. It was the Golden Dawn all over again, I thought. Schism, in-fighting, and expulsions at best, hollow claims on the internet at the worst.

So I figured, what the heck, everyone keeps telling me Shoemaker's the real deal, I'll give it one more shot.

I went into it with expectations that had been shaped by my experiences, so in other words, they were decidedly low.

I can only imagine how my early correspondences with David Shoemaker must have come across. I was tired and cranky from the experiences I'd had, and I just wanted to follow up on the Wasserman claims that Meral was really 5=6. I suspect I might have come across as a little, uhm, rude.

I honestly expected to discover in no time that she had been expelled, or hadn't actually been in the Order, or that she was a practitioner of Spiritism who channeled the Secret Chiefs through her Ouija board at parties after she'd had enough brandy.

Instead, he sent me a document that showed the correspondence between Karl Germer and Jane Wolfe (Soror Estai), and later with Soror Meral herself when he had taken over as her superior in the A.’.A.’.. It was excerpts, but he pointed me to where the full text and context had been published for reference.

I hopped on these books, and ate them up. It was a dream come true. Laid out in letter after letter were the things I had been looking for, in the kind of detail that you just can't make up.

Soror Meral was the student of Jane Wolfe, who was at Cefalu with Aleister Crowley. One of the things Shoemaker had made available publicly was her journal entries from her time at Cefalu. I had the journal in no time, and I read about her experiences, I saw her work, I saw her journal entries, and in the margins in Crowley's own handwritten admonishments, his personal advice, and his recognition of her accomplishments as she proceeded through the exercises he laid out for her. I saw her history through her own eyes, and tracked down more correspondence from the time. I saw that Crowley leaned heavily on Jane Wolfe, recognized her value (sometimes) and relied on her efforts in every way to keep Agape Lodge running the way he wanted it to be run.

I kept waiting to find the letter that expelled Jane Wolfe, or Phyllis Seckler. Almost all the women he worked with quit, or their relationships ended poorly. Many of the men too. He was a notoriously difficult person.

But that letter never came. He maintained his relationships and correspondence with Jane and Phyllis throughout his life. When I reached the correspondence from the time he died, I read about how Germer was saddled with being the head of both the A.’.A.’. and O.T.O., and how he handled himself in this new role. I saw the letters exchanged between Wolfe and Germer, and later between Seckler and Germer, between superior and student, letters of encouragement and instruction, the exchange of wisdom and of insight.

This stuff is all published, and is publicly available. Everyone interested in the historic account of what was going on between the Thelemites of that time should take a look at the bibliography at the end of this post, and add these books to your library so you can see the full story for yourself.

The preponderance of evidence was, for me, undeniable:

The Germer/Wolfe/Seckler claimant group is the only claimant group with an unbroken initiatory and administrative link extending all the way back to Crowley at Cefalu. The group never stopped initiating people, never stopped the grand experiment Crowley had begun, never disbanded, resigned, or gave up. They have simply endured, and did the Work of expressing the Law of Thelema into the world this whole time.

Not only that, but it became obvious to me that when Grady and Phyllis were working together to rejuvenate the O.T.O. after its long hiatus, there was an existing partnership and natural overlap between the O.T.O. and the A.’.A.’. administration that reflected exactly what I understood Crowley had wanted from the beginning: those people interested in the A.’.A.’. curriculum were studying it as designed, and at the same time serving in their local O.T.O. and EGC bodies, quietly and without fanfare. To this day that interpenetration of the A.’.A.’. within the O.T.O. continues. The more people I've met since my initial research into this subject and my entry into the system, the more I've found that we are everywhere, across the world, at every level of service stretching from the degrees of Minerval to Bishop, and beyond.

I was both convinced... and totally relieved. The richness of the materials, the unadulterated presentation of what was going on - warts and all - in everything I read made it clear that this wasn't some sugar-coated fantasy reinterpretation of events. Crowley could be a real jerk. Germer got angry, just like everyone else. Jane went through some horrifying personal experiences. Phyllis endured social prejudices and things we wouldn’t put up with at lodge today, and had a strong set of opinions that she didn't hesitate to express as she saw fit.

These were real people doing the real Work, and they faced the same kinds of struggles we face today. The historical research I had seen, and the work I'd done myself was fleshed out in details that made the people more than just characters in a story or in a Wikipedia article. Things I went through in my own work were reflected in the conversations between mentors and students, and in the journals of my predecessors in clear black and white, going all the way back to the source. I wished I'd had that kind of feedback as I was stumbling my way through things.

So it was an easy decision for me to join the Shoemaker claimant group. I didn't think it would matter much to anyone else, so I signed up, got the list of reading materials, and when it was time, I began the Student curriculum. It's been great. I've had confirmation of things I thought I'd understood, which made me feel good, and I've come to realize that I had totally missed some really obvious things along the way, and that's proven to be even better. My experiences doing the Work of the grades has been awesome, and I have no qualms encouraging anyone feeling like they are hearing the knock of the Order at their door to join with me in our group, it's got it going on.

And that's basically my story, and how I ended up where I'm at with this whole A.’.A.’. business.

While I made the choice that seemed best to me, I also want to make sure I mention that along the way I've spoken to a lot of members of different claimant groups. It is clear to anyone who interacts with them that a lot of important and thoughtful work is being done by initiates in the various claimant groups.

Please, refer to the Bibliography below to research things for yourself. It's all there in black and white. I'd leave it there, but...

But...

There's always a "but" in these things.

This "but" is about what happened to me as I went along, and continued to advance through the Man of Earth triad of the O.T.O.. I started to notice a trend. Whenever I would talk about joining the A.’.A.’. publicly, I got a lot of feedback.

Also, when I announced to my old blog audience that I'd joined the A.’.A.’. in a post with a link to onestarinsight.org, within my circles of friends and acquaintances in the O.T.O. I was asked some interesting questions by some people. Others came out and directly challenged my choices. It didn't take long to find that a lot of people had a lot of misinformation and had formed some very adamant opinions as a result.

And, as those who know me are aware, this is exactly the kind of thing that I think I was born to do: set the record straight about how things actually work in a way that everyone can understand, with references for further research and cited sources that should be researched so you come to your own conclusions.

So going forward, I'm envisioning the following posts to present the questions, rumors, and allegations I've heard, and the answers, truth, and documented rebuttals to these things respectively.

First, I think the history of the A.’.A.’. that led from Cefalu to Sacramento, the Crowley-Wolfe-Seckler/Germer-Wolfe-Seckler/Germer-Seckler-Shoemaker history of succession is really important to understand. It's a simple core narrative that makes sense when you look at it. There's no questionable practices, challenges, or blatantly false claims to be found in the story, and that alone speaks volumes. Without attacking anyone else, it simply presents the story of the A.’.A.’., its members, its leadership over the years, and provides the foundation necessary to understand where we are today.

The role of Motta in this history can't be ignored, since his personal history, involvement in the A.’.A.’., and subsequent claims continue to influence some public opinions today. I'll at least reference some simple and straight-forward published correspondence that addresses his role in this process according to Germer, and later in his life, James Wasserman.

Once the actual history is laid out, the next thing I'd like to address are the basic pieces of misinformation I've come across since I've started this process. I picture this post as a simple "This is what I've heard, but this is the truth" list of what people say verses the truth. I'll stick to documented things, because that's the easiest way to address this stuff.

My hope is to put a lot of these rumors and accusations to bed once and for all. There's a lot of confusion around how the A.’.A.’. claimant group Phyllis led worked in practice, and the roles of the International College of Thelema and the Temple of the Silver Star. I heard a lot of people use the word "recensions" in reference to things Seckler had done, and a lot of blatant lies about theft of library materials, allegations of profiting off the teachings of the A.’.A.’., and suggestions that this claimant group that goes directly back to Crowley without interruption is somehow a newcomer, when it's never stopped.

And then finally, I'd like to wrap up this series of posts with an opinion-editorial piece addressing the relationship between the O.T.O. and the A.’.A.’., some recent rhetoric, and how I'd personally like to see things shake out over the rest of my lifetime.

Bibliography:

Seckler, P. (2003). Jane Wolfe: Her Life with Aleister Crowley Part 1 (Red Flame Journal #10). Berkely: Red Flame Productions.
Seckler, P. (2003). Jane Wolfe: Her Life with Aleister Crowley Part 2 (Red Flame Journal #11). Berkeley: Red Flame Productions.
Seckler, P. (2010). The Thoth Tarot, Astrology, and Other Selected Writings. Sacramento: Teitan Press.
Seckler, P. (2012). The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema: Selected Writings Volume II. Sacramento: Teitan Press.
Wasserman, J. (2012). In the Center of the Fire. Lake Worth, FL: Ibis Press.

On Baphomet, the Serpent and the Lion, and the Child of Chaos and Babalon

Baphomet, by Chuk Vinson

"I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD; and in one Star in the company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which we shall return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in His name CHAOS, the sole viceregent of the Sun upon Earth; and in one Air the nourisher of all that breaths.

And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name BABALON.

And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET..."

-from the Creed of the Ecclesia Gnsotica Catholica (EGC)

Goodness, it's been a long time since I found myself at about 30,000 feet on a Southwest flight, bound to who-knows-where, memorizing the Gnostic Creed in preparation for my Confirmation in the E.G.C. It was an exciting time for me, I think I had made it to my I* in the OTO, and I was going to be confirmed in a white robe at a Gnostic Mass that was being performed by Cathy (neé Craig) Berry and Leanne Mason Berry. I didn't want to screw it up.

I remember digesting the bits about Chaos, eating it right up and understanding it in ways I couldn't explain. I remember grooving to the bits on Babalon, in whose cup I saw myself swimming in with abandon.

But then I got to that Baphomet part.

Chaos gets a whole bunch of stuff. Babalon gets less, but still, it touches on Mysteries that can be readily explored.

And then there's the Serpent and the Lion, in his name Baphomet.

It's a bit sparse, there.

I went into Levi, and read about Baphomet there. I read through a lot of the references to Baphomet in Crowley's writings that Google can provide on a site search of Hermetic.com. I looked into the Greek lion-headed serpent pieces I found here and there, and I finally just kind of gave up. It's not like I actually understood half of what I was reading, and the other half was getting consumed in all the other stuff I've been working on since then.

But then Harper went to New Orleans for a Mass at Alombrados, and while in the vicinity picked up a little picture of Baphomet that started residing in our Temple space. And she had dreams, and visions of Baphomet in her operations of the Great Work. And she made a little statue of that goat-headed god that destroys the destroyer, and he became mighty among us.

And then I started performing the Gnostic Mass as Priest. And I understood a thing about how Baphomet is the offspring of Hadit and Nuit, of Chaos and Babalon, and its role in the creation and generation of existence as we know it, as we experience it, and as we want it to feel as we dive into it, all senses blazing, and raw, and beautiful.

And then I started to see that it was also the married Red Queen and White King of alchemy, the precursor to the Stone of the Wise, in some systems. It is the energetic constant that creates, that takes the raw powers of the Sun and turns it into everything we experience, and everything we experience it through.

And I'm still young in this path. I've read through Frater Sabazius' discussion of Baphomet as the offspring of Chaos and Babalon. I'm looking forward to the 2016 O.T.O. Women's Symposium eucharistic rite that is based on the Marriage of Chaos and Babalon as discussed in that link. I'm looking forward to exploring where we end up as a result, when that Lion and that Serpent is created.

Baphomet kicks ass.

And in keeping with this theme, I received in the mail this afternoon the coolest representation of Baphomet I've ever seen. Chuk Vinson, who many of you might remember as the artist who created the work "Anatomy Occultus" that pops up in the background of my profile pics on Facebook on occasion, has finished his Baphomet piece. Here's me with the print:

It's now available from the Dove and Serpent store, and all proceeds will go to supporting the local lodge at the following link:

http://shop.doveserpent-oto.org/prints/

I can't recommend enough that you get a copy of this print in your temple space as soon as possible. The Baphomet of Levi is pretty awesome, don't get me wrong, but Chuk's work captures the animal nature of this entity that crops up when you actually get in touch with it. You can feel the coarseness of the hair, smell the goatiness of its potency, feel it move and move you at the same time when you contemplate this image.

He really nailed it.

The Progeny of Sorores Estai and Meral

93!

After Harper and I published the "Progenitrix" articles on the lives of Jane Wolfe and Phyllis Seckler within the realms of the A.'.A.'., the O.T.O., and the ongoing impacts of their lives on the promulgation of the Thelema of Aleister Crowley, it rapidly became apparent that the history of these Sisters, and of Phyllis Seckler in particular, was a subject of dispute among modern Thelemites in the Order.

Soror Meral

The number of contradictory ideas, incorrect representations, and blatantly false allegations surrounding our progenitrix that were brought to me by our brethren was astounding. I had no idea that people didn't already know this stuff.

In writing the essay on Jane Wolfe, I relied a great deal on her actual correspondence with Crowley, and her diaries at Cefalu*. I also consulted the correspondences between Seckler and Germer, and between Seckler and Wolfe. This correspondence is publicly available, and has been published for years, made available by Marlene Cornelius**, and David Shoemaker***.

I thought everyone with an active opinion on Jane and Phyllis had read this information, but apparently... not so much.

The publicly available record directly contradicts 90% of the misinformation I've heard from my sisters and brothers in the Order, and clarifies the remaining 10% that might be interpreted improperly when taken out of context. All of the documentation I found is indisputable, by even the most adamant detractors of our Sister.

Yet accusations of recension, perversion, lack of initiation, and even implications of criminal activity continue to float around the edges of the Thelemic community.

In an effort to resolve the disconnect between historic facts and the various theories and gossip I've heard exchanged with sisters and brethren in the Order, ranging from Austin, Texas, to Baltimore, Maryland, and to here in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I decided I needed to get as close to the source as possible. After all, she was with us until 2004, and it's not like I don't actually know the people who knew her best when she was alive.

So, of course, I went to David Shoemaker and asked him about some of the things people were saying.

David was one of the people closest to Soror Meral in life. He was her personal student in the A.'.A.'., and worked closely with her during the final decade of her life. As a member of a relatively small group of people who could consider themselves the heirs of her legacy, and as one of the people who actually worked with her on several of the projects that are the subject of so much confusion, it made sense to go to him and address these topics directly.

Talking to David about these subjects was quite enlightening. If you've heard his Living Thelema broadcasts, you're familiar with the calm and intelligent approach he brings to the subjects he addresses. Even extremely inflammatory accusations were met with gentle correction, supported by simple documentable facts.

Over the last couple of months I've continued to ask him questions covering topics that cover the history of the A.'.A.'. from the time of Germer's death, when there was only one recognized administration, through the development of Neo-A.'.A.'. administrations, until we reached the current state of affairs.

I spoke with him about the different methods of administration of the A.'.A.'. that Soror Meral experimented with as she progressed through her own initiations and the accomplishment of her Great Work, and came to understand more clearly how the traditional student program of the A.'.A.'. never stopped, and the actual roles the institutions such as the International College of Thelema, or the Temple of the Silver Star played under the auspices of her teachings.

After these conversations, I found myself in a much better position to understand the relationship between the A.'.A.'. and the O.T.O. historically and today.

Sisters and Brothers, a lot has gone down over the years.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be publishing the results of our interviews in a series of "Progeny of Estai-Meral" posts. It might take a while to cover all the material. There's a fair amount of it, after all. It's been more than a minute since Meral's recognition by Germer as a 5=6. Life has happened.

And it hasn't stopped.

While I get the next post together, take a few minutes and tune into this Stooping Starlight episode, featuring a rare interview with Soror Meral. Hearing her speak gives you more insight into her life, view, and personality than anything I could write about ever will. While an abridged transcript of this interview appears in The Thoth Tarot, Astrology, and Other Selected Writings (see below), the Stooping Starlight podcast provides never-before-published conversations with Soror Meral.

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* See Jane Wolfe: The Cefalu Diaries 1920-1923, available from the International College of Thelema (http://intcot.org/store)
** See Jane Wolfe: Her Life with Aleister Crowley, Parts I and II, available from Conjoined Creation
*** See The Thoth Tarot, Astrology and Other Selected Writings, and The Kabbalah, Magick, and Selected Writings Volume II, available from Weiser Antiquarian Books.