February, 2020 - Light in Extension

group of people staring off at a sunset over which hangs a unicursal hexagra

The gift that unites us

The purpose of any O.T.O. local body is to assist individuals to find their respective true wills and to promulgate Thelema. Differences in local culture notwithstanding, that’s what each lodge, oasis, or camp has a duty to do.

There are many ways individuals can interact with us. There are the obvious ones like attend Gnostic Mass, take initiation, become a member, or serve as clergy.

There are the less obvious and perhaps less appreciated ones like washing glasses after Mass, taking out the trash, making a $5 donation, or even clicking “Like” on a social media post.

But all these ways of interacting with O.T.O. are done in service to our ultimate purpose, which is help individuals bring about positive life change by finding their true wills and to promulgate Thelema.

This is our unique gift. It is the impact that unites us. When we keep this cause at the forefront of whatever we do, we best serve our communal goals and thereby best serve ourselves as members.

Crowley elaborates on this supreme cause in a variety of ways. One of the most conspicuous—which appears both on the Preliminary Pledge Form and on the O.T.O. USA website—says that O.T.O. is:

…pledged to the high purpose of securing the Liberty of the Individual and his or her advancement in Light, Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, and Power through Beauty, Courage, and Wit, on the Foundation of Universal Brotherhood.

Like most things that Crowley writes, he is referencing the Holy Qabalah here. The concepts relate to the sephiroth in the following way:

Light – Kether
Wisdom – Chokmah
Understanding – Binah
Knowledge – Chesed (and arguably the whole of the Ruach as comprehended in Daath)
Power – Geburah
Beauty – Tiphareth
Courage – Netzach
Wit – Hod
Foundation of Universal Brotherhood – Yesod

the virtues of OTO as represented on the Tree of Life

This is a useful way to think about the means by which we assist individuals and promulgate the Law of Liberty.

Here is just one way to think about these means:

Light: While the light represented by Kether (Ain Soph Aur) is unlimited and therefore without opposition, it is helpful to convey this concept to our minds in opposition with darkness. We confront the darkness of the human condition when we find ourselves groping for solutions to barely understood problems. Light represents clarity about fundamental reality that comes from understanding the Law of Thelema. It is knowing that whatever difficult situation we find ourselves in, there is a solution, and that solution is to know and to do one’s true will.

Wisdom is the ability to put that solution into action based on life’s experience. A large part of that is “minding one’s own business,” i.e., making the development of one’s own true will the center and theme of one’s life without being overly concerned with the opinions of others. As a society of individuals pursuing different paths, O.T.O. offers many opportunities to practice this kind of discernment.

Understanding entails the rejection of superstition. One cannot simply will for an end to skepticism. Its end is only achieved in samadhi or in mystical union with the Divine through meditation and prayer. Short of that, ultimate reality cannot be known in and of itself. We therefore practice tolerance as a way of life. When we embody this value in our lodges, oases, and camps, we invite a great diversity of points of view, life paths, and backgrounds, thereby enriching our communities and promoting maximal growth through the intersections of these points of view.

Knowledge: We promote scientific religion. We do not demand that individuals accept premises without sufficient evidence. As a result, we do not place arbitrary restrictions on individuals’ advancement in our organization or in their self-development. Instead we give them the tools necessary for growth and fulfillment.

Power: We emphasize self-empowerment and self-control over the control or manipulation of others. We recognize that the greatest power comes from individuals having the maximum amount of control over their own lives, including their physical and emotional impulses. We align ourselves with those who reject coercion and tyranny in all its forms.

Beauty: Our spirituality is not merely private or mystical in nature. Magick is meant to create harmony between the desires of individuals and the world around them. Our spirituality is therefore sensuous in nature, as beauty is the image of the reconciliation between what is and what ought to be. We perform our rituals rightly, with joy and beauty.

Courage is not freedom from fear but rather the capacity to withstand, to carry, and to act appropriately even while experiencing fear. We do not promise that every step along this path is going to be warm cookies and ice cream. But we do provide opportunities—through initiation and through fraternity—to learn and to practice courage, truthfulness, and other forms of emotional intelligence.

Wit is the capacity to think quickly, to know how and when to apply concepts. O.T.O. consists in a diverse group of individuals from many backgrounds. As such, there are many opportunities for novel forms of interaction. Novelty throws us back on our own resources. It demands spontaneity rather than repetition. In other words, it requires learning.

Universal Brotherhood (or Sisterhood or Siblinghood as we now say) is both the foundation of all that precedes as well as its natural culmination, just as Yesod is both the “foundation” of the Tree of Life as well as the natural endpoint on the astral plane of any magical current. It is an image of the world in which the gifts inherent in all Points of View are capable of manifestation and expression to the ultimate. It is the world we are attempting to create by bringing about life change, one individual at a time.

As Crowley says in the essay “Man” in Little Essays Toward Truth:

The Quest of the Holy Grail, the Search for the Stone of the Philosophers—by whatever name we choose to call the Great Work—is therefore endless. Success only opens up new avenues of brilliant possibility. Yea, verily, and Amen! the task is tireless and its joys without bounds; for the whole Universe, and all that in it is, what is it but the infinite playground of the Crowned and Conquering Child, of the insatiable, the innocent, the ever-rejoicing Heir of Space and Eternity, whose name is MAN?

This is merely a small sample of all the ways in which O.T.O. bodies give the gift of life change with the purpose of securing liberty and free expression of all individuals. These are the gifts we should leverage for our self-development and for the growth of our communities.

What other ones can you think of?

A Path with Heart

“To open the heart requires the capacity of courage, because courage is the capacity to carry fear.”

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of presenting on behalf of Horizon at Concentric Circles, an annual interfaith pagan conference.

The talk I delivered was on the subject of Thelema as a heart-centered path. Rather than approach Thelemic magick as a means of imposing one’s desires on the world, I chose to look at it from the perspective of removing arbitrary barriers around one’s heart.

With removal of one’s armor and acceptance of one’s vulnerability come opportunities for growth and joy.

I talk about how this is the path that leads to Our Lady Babalon and the summit of spiritual wisdom.

A Path with Heart, delivered at Concentric Circles, Redmond, WA, February 22, 2020.

image of a person standing next to a rushing train, unicursal hexagram over their head, radiating them

Slow down! Preparing for communion.

Aleister Crowley mentions three ways in which a person should prepare to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist: chastity, fasting, and continual aspiration.

With regard to the preparations for such Sacraments, the Catholic Church has maintained well enough the traditions of the true Gnostic Church in whose keeping the secrets are. Chastity is a condition; fasting for some hours previous is a condition; an earnest and continual aspiration is a condition. Without these antecedents even the Eucharist of the One and Seven is partially—though such is its intrinsic virtue that it can never be wholly—baulked of its effect.
Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter 20

Presumably these preparations should be undertaken not only by the clergy consecrating the Eucharist but also Gnostic Mass congregants.

The preconditions of fasting and aspiration are unambiguous, but chastity requires some explanation. In the same passage, Crowley goes on to mention that:

The Word Chastity is used by initiates to signify a certain state of soul and of mind determinant of a certain habit of body which is nowise identical with what is commonly understood. Chastity in the true magical sense of the word is inconceivable to those who are not wholly emancipated from the obsession of sex.

While Crowley does not further specify the meaning of chastity in this context, he likely means that the act is done for the sake of Nuit and without lust of result.

Also, take your fill and will of love as ye will, when, where and with whom ye will! But always unto me. If this be not aright; if ye confound the space-marks, saying: They are one; or saying, They are many; if the ritual be not ever unto me: then expect the direful judgments of Ra Hoor Khuit!
AL I.51-52

But remember, o chosen one, to be me; to follow the love of Nu in the star-lit heaven; to look forth upon men, to tell them this glad word.
AL II.76

The Old Comment to the first verse of the Book of the Law states:

In Nu is Had concealed; by Had is Nu manifested. Nu being 56 and Had 9, their conjunction results in 65, Adonai, the Holy Guardian Angel.

And so another way of stating the same thing is to say that the consummation or consumption of the Eucharist ought to be done with one-pointed devotion to the Holy Guardian Angel, insofar as the aspirant is able to do this.

These three prerequisites of chastity, fasting, and continual aspiration bear a close resemblance with the principles represented by the chain, the dagger, and the scourge.

The chain represents fixity of thought. It corresponds with chastity or singular devotion to Nuit.

The dagger represents control of the appetites which would distract thought. It corresponds with fasting.

The scourge is meant to counteract the torpor of the Nephesh or animal soul. It corresponds with continual aspiration.

After applying the chain, dagger, and scourge to oneself, the magician then anoints themselves with the Holy Oil, symbolic of “that spark of the higher in the Magician which wishes to unite the lower with itself.” (Magick, Part II, Chapter V.) Once the principles represented by the chain, the dagger, and the scourge have been applied to oneself and are in balance with one another, the light of Jechidah or the Holy Guardian Angel naturally breaks through.

These three factors of magick form a close parallel with three factors of sama-samādhi or jhāna (Sanskrit: dhyāna) mentioned in the Buddhist tradition.

The first factor of concentration is mindfulness (sati). This is often interpreted nowadays as bare, non-judgmental awareness of the present moment, but in the context of the Buddha’s teachings, its meaning is much closer to the colloquial meaning of the term. It means keeping in mind what you’re doing. In the context of taking Eucharist, it could mean an appropriate attitude of reverence, knowing that the purpose of this ritual is communion with the divine. It corresponds with the chain and with chastity.

The second factor is alertness (sampajañña). This is the ability of the mind to be aware of what it is doing and to know the difference between path and not path. It is a discriminating faculty, and therefore it corresponds with the dagger and with fasting.

The third factor is ardency (atappa). It means being intent on what you are doing. It does not mean straining but rather continuously developing helpful skills and habits and (with the help of alertness) abandoning unhelpful ones. It corresponds with the scourge and with continual aspiration.

When these three factors join together in a meditation session and are more or less in balance with one another, right concentration naturally arises. This corresponds with the holy oil and the natural way in which the Jechidah or Holy Guardian Angel unites the aspirant with itself.

four-sided pyramid representing the way in which chastity/mindfulness, fasting/attentiveness, and aspiration/ardency work together to support dedication/concentration.

As we can see, these three prerequisites of chastity, fasting, and continual aspiration form a foundation for the consummation and consumption of a Eucharist, but they are derived from principles which are more general and which apply to any practice of magick or meditation.

This seems complicated, but putting it together is easier than it seems.

Know what it is that you are doing and why. Prior to showing up to the temple, know that you will attend a ritual, the purpose of which is to put you in communion with the Highest: whether you consider that to be Nuit, Babalon, Pan, Jechidah, or the Holy Guardian Angel.

Know that this highest spiritual power is also the source and seed of Thelema itself. It is the power articulated in the Book of the Law, and it is the power that inspired the author of the ritual, Aleister Crowley, when he wrote the ritual.

Let fasting and continual aspiration support this knowledge. If you choose to fast beforehand, know that this action creates physical space within you where the Word embodied in the Eucharist may take root. Know that your desire to know God and your attention to the Path is the nourishment that supports the growth of this knowledge—before, during, and long after the ritual itself.

After you have consumed the Eucharist and have declared, “There is no part of me that is not of the gods!,” return to your seat and sit in silent contemplation, just as the Priest did immediately after consuming his Eucharist. Enjoy communion with this silence directly and simply as possible.

Do not worry. Do not plan. Do not strive. Simply be with the silence.

And as you go about your day—afterward during fellowship, on the drive or bus ride home, when you are going to sleep that evening, or when you are hard at work the following day—remember that silence and return to it. Know it and be with it.

And know with confidence that, “To a Magician thus renewed the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel becomes an inevitable task.”

silhoutte of a person saluting the sun with a unicursal hexagram superimposed over the top

Another reason to practice Liber Resh

In the Platonic tradition, the Sun is a symbol of unity. It is the visible and sensible analog of the One Itself which gives unity in the purely intelligible realm. This One Itself transcends being and non-being. In fact it transcends all opposition whatsoever and is the sole cause of anything being whatever it is. For this reason it is also called the Good Itself.

The equivalent of the One in Thelema is Kether, which is also associated with Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Speaking in the 1st Aethyr of The Vision and the Voice, Ra-Hoor-Khuit declares:

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.

The unity of opposites represented by Ra-Hoor-Khuit transcends both our capacity of reasoning as well as our capacities of sensation or intuition. Nevertheless, the Sun serves as a visual analog of this transcendent principle, much as it did for the Platonists. Thus four times a day, Thelemites turn toward the Sun and cry aloud:

Unity uttermost showed!

It is necessary to put ourselves into contact with transcendent unity, because as conditioned beings, we do not contain unity within ourselves.

Everything that we are or could even know—about ourselves or about the world—falls into five “heaps” or khandhas. We know by means of sensible impressions (rupa); the pleasure, displeasure, or boredom arising from them (vedana); perceptions (samjna); habituated tendencies (sankhara); and consciousness (vijnana). Each of these arises and passes beyond our control. Insofar as any of these abide for awhile, they change constantly. Therefore they are unreliable, and none can be said to be a self, to contain a self, to be under the control of a self, or to be in a self. None can provide lasting happiness. Even consciousness comes and goes throughout the day, when we fall asleep, or when we die.

For this reason, Crowley declared that the principle of unity of each person—as represented by their spiritual Sun, their Holy Guardian Angel—could not be found by means of introspection.

Apart from any theoretical speculation, my Sammasiti and analytical work has never led to so much as a hint of the existence of the Guardian Angel. He is not to be found by any exploration of oneself.
Magick without Tears, Chapter 43

And yet achieving unity is the preeminent goal of Thelemic ethics.

A Man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is wasting his strength. He cannot hope to influence his environment efficiently.
(Illustration: When Civil War rages in a nation, it is in no condition to undertake the invasion of other countries. A man with cancer employs his nourishment alike to his own use and to that of the enemy which is part of himself. He soon fails to resist the pressure of his environment. In practical life, a man who is doing what his conscience tells him to be wrong will do it very clumsily. At first!)
Magick in Theory and Practice, Introduction

Therefore turning toward the Sun four times a day is not a mere religious observance. It serves an important spiritual and ethical purpose.

By turning toward the Sun, we first admit that unity is not automatically present within us. As far as we have come in life, we still have work to do on ourselves. The process is continual. We can always improve.

Second, we recognize that the principle of unity—hence the principle of self-subsistence and enduring happiness—transcends who we ordinarily take ourselves to be. We recognize that when we identify with the skandhas, we’re like a person trying to build a house on quicksand.

Thelemites sometimes talk about the difference between the small-s self, which we identify with our egos, versus the big-s Self, which we identify with Jechidah or the Holy Guardian Angel. In fact there is only one self to speak of, since what we call “self” (with the small-s) is merely an illusion. When we turn toward the Sun, we allow its radiance to dispel this illusion all together, so that our entire being can enjoy contact with that which truly deserves to be called self.

He is the Open Eye of the exalted Sun, before whom all shadows flee away: also that Secret Eye which makes an image of its God, the Light, and gives it power to utter oracles, enlightening the mind.
Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter 5

I adore the might of Thy breath,
Supreme and terrible God,
Who makest the gods and death
To tremble before Thee—I, I adore thee!
AL III.37

And then finally, having recognized the true source of unity beyond becoming, beyond opposition, we learn to surrender ourselves to it. Gradually we come to see ourselves as instruments or extensions of it. The more frequently we reestablish conscious contact with this spiritual unity or Jechidah, the easier and more habitual it is for us to find that lifeline and source of spiritual power in difficult times. We learn to tolerate misfortune with equanimity, knowing that even in the darkest hour, a radiant god stands at our backs.

And should we follow that lifeline back to its source, any one of us can pass through that “secret door / Into the house of Ra and Tum, of Khephra and of Ahathoor” and attain to direct awareness of that “center and secret of the Sun” which Crowley himself knew in his most exalted visions.