THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE

a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | RELIGION | THELEMA | PHILOSOPHY

OTO Supreme Secret

To: alt.magick.moderated,alt.magick.tantra,alt.magick,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.magick.sex,alt.religion.sexuality,alt.sex.wizards,alt.christnet,alt.satanism,alt.evil,talk.religion.misc,alt.pagan.magick,alt.pagan,alt.religion.wicca
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (xiwangmu)
Subject: Re: OTO Supreme Secret (IX') (LONG)
Date:  5 Dec 96 21:32:17 GMT

49961203 AA1  The Revolution Continues!

E6

# A Brief Note on Sex Magick
# by Tim Maroney

apparently written in 1991 per Tim's subsequent sending.
here I hugely omit the text and focus on the particulars
of import in understanding the secrets generally, their
characterization as 'mysteries', or as 'sex magick'.
the reader is referred to the original for context:

	[ http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/sxmgk3ref ]

 
# ...the sex magick taught by Aleister Crowley and his tradition....

my target at exposure, from root to fruit.


# It is the hope of this writer, unfettered by oaths, ....
				 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
still true, Tim?  :>


# ...a few keys ....  the critical facts about the Thelemic sex 
# practices....

I'll watch for these.


# ...No true secret can be revealed in words....

apparently in relation to 'mysteries' discussed in my previous post.


[quote from MiTaP/_Magick_, no source-location, about YHVH formula shifted]

# This passage is.... a precise and complete description of the IX* 
# practice.... [and] is presented here as an example of the strange prose 
# with which the questor will do battle on the way to the center of 
# the maze.  

thanks, noted.


# The process of extracting the keys from [MiTaP] is a methodical one: 
# start with one key and use it to find more keys, then review the whole, 
# and iterate until done.  The code was made to be broken, and given a 
# few keys, the passage becomes coherent and illuminating.  The reader 
# should refer back to it throughout this essay.

this reader hopes that you will merely restate it with keys inserted,
but will find that this will not be entirely the case, so I'll do it
for you and see what we come up with. ;>

 
# There are two basic forms of the secret practices, IX* and XI*,
# though in practice these are sometimes combined and/or carried out in
# multi-partner forms.  ...centering...  around the mingled bodily 
# fluids as their material expression.  The IX* requires a man and 
# a woman, while the XI* requires the same or else two men.  ...the IX* 
# is vaginal, while the XI* is anal.  

so you are relating the vulgar practices as relating to the mysteries.
we should suppose that these are their only configurations, or that
this is the instruction given by the Order with which you are familiar?


# This is all widely known these days, thanks to people like Francis 
# King and Stephen Skinner, but the inner formulae are better kept.

please point out where F.King or S.Skinner made known the 'fact' of
the vulgar practical details widely known.

 
# ...the nature of the elixir....  is a twin child, the male-female 
# Holy Spirit of the Gnostic Mass, the living fruit of the two sexual 
# partners....

'the elixir' I presume to be 'the Elixir of Life', and yet in
'Energized Enthusiasm' Baphomet (Crowley) relates that there is some
sort of 'mysterious secretion' that he presumes to be a component of
the semen (perhaps only under particular circumstances/mindstates).


# The Book of Lies [no citation] teaches that seed and child
# and parent are mystically one, and that the seed represents the
# innermost and highest expression of the parent.  In the Star
# Sapphire, a ritual form of the IX, the invocation brings father,
# mother, son, and daughter (YHVH, above) into one point of mystic
# union, referred to as Ararita.
 
# This daughter-son, the living elixir, is made a sacrifice to the
# magical goal of the working.  ...containing a great quantity of 
# living cells.  The sacrifice of the elixir is the sacrifice of a 
# living child on the magical plane; 

en potentia, or symbolically, this makes much sense, and exposes the
conflation of terminology used by Crowley in association with his
'Satanic child-sacrifices' as you note later.  in the sacrifice of the 
Child it also ties directly into Osirian mysteries and 'Old Aeon' 
formulae, and so is more difficult to justify with New Aeonic models.


# ...the child is one and the same as the magicians' own highest 
# selves or pure will, and even part of their bodies.  ...for the 
# male magician, it is the sacrifice of "all that he is and all 
# that he has" into the "Cup of Babalon", a Satanic symbol from 
# the book of Revelation in the Bible, which is held by the
# Scarlet Woman of Babylon and in which the blood of the saints 
# is said to be mingled.

[another MiTaP quote, unidentified page-source:]
# 	For the highest spiritual working one must accordingly choose
# 	that victim which contains the greatest and purest force.  A
# 	male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence is the
# 	most satisfactory and suitable victim.
 
[AC quoting Soror I. W. E., apparently from the same source]
# 	It is the sacrifice of oneself spiritually.  And the intelligence and
# 	innocence of that male child are the perfect understanding of the
# 	magician, his one aim, without lust of result.  And male he must
# 	be, because what he sacrifices is not the material blood, but his
# 	creative power.

how are we to reconcile these words with the following?

	In the former Aeon, that of Osiris, the element of Air, which
	is the nature of that Aeon, is not unsympathetic either to
	Water or to Fire; compromise was a mark of that period.  But
	now, under a Fiery lord of the Aeon, the watery element, so
	far as water is below the Abyss, is definitely hostile, unless
	the opposition is the right opposition implied in marriage.
	But in this card [atu XII] the only question is of the
	"redemption" of the submerged element, and therefore everything
	is reversed.  This idea of sacrifice is, in the final analysis,
	a wrong idea.

		"I give unimaginable joys on earth: certainty, not
		 faith, while in life, upon death; peace unutterable,
		 rest, ecstasy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice."

		"Every man and every woman is a star."

	The whole idea of sacrifice is a misconception of nature, 
	and these texts of _The Book of the Law_ are the answer
	to it....

	...It should be the chiefest aim of the wise to rid mankind
	of the insolence of self-sacrifice, of the calamity of
	chastity; faith must be slain by certainty, and chastity by
	ecstasy....

	Redemption is a bad word; it implies a debt.  For every star
	possesses boundless wealth; the only proper way to deal with
	the ignorant is to bring them to the knowledge of their starry
	heritage.  To do this, it is necessary to behave as must be
	done in order to get on good terms with animals and children:
	to treat them with absolute respect; even, in a certain sense,
	with worship.

	_The Book of Thoth_, (Equinox III: V), by Aleister Crowley, 
		Samuel Weiser, 1981; pp. 96-7.
	_____________________________________________________________

I will note that he goes on to mention the _Magick_ text and lends
again his support for the creation of the Elixir of Life, though he
does not propose to explain how, given that sacrifice is a 'wrong
idea' or a 'misconception of nature' we are to reconcile this with
his other text on the subject as quoted above by T.Maroney.
 

# ...These twin "children" have been consecrated by other ritual 
# methods to a magical goal....  

# ...one is supposed to practice magical chastity, which is the keeping 
# apart of the genitals like any other magic tool, using them only toward 
# spiritual ends....

the terminology here is confusing to this reader.  what, for example,
are we to make of the different usage of 'spiritual' and 'magical' in
this context?  what do you mean by them?


# The male-female elixir is the expression of the Will of the working.

this sentence was rather unsupported in other text.  what is meant
here by "Will of the working"?

 
# The most common disposition of the elixir is consumption as a Eucharist.  
# This sacrifices the living fluid, and uses its energy to empower the 
# consumers spiritually.  

thus are you relating directly the 'spiritual' with "the Will of the
working"?


# ...the elixir ....  If consumed, it may be eaten fresh from the
# Lance and Graal by the partners as above, or captured into some
# vessel and cooked to prepare the Cakes of Light.  

how is it that the consumption of conjugative juices is supposed
(through the stomach linings?) to 'empower the consumers spiritually'?
why are some parts of this old blood libel ascribed metaphorically 
while others are taken to the literal?
 

[some transposition of text to facilitate critique immanent]

# ...he is claiming that the historical legend of child sacrifice, ....
# veils a sexual formula of self-sacrifice....

# ...The early Christians were accused of such practices by the
# Roman establishment, and the Gnostic Catholic Church considers this
# to be evidence of a continuity of the sexual secret from the Gnostics.
 
# This is one case in which secrecy has clearly proved damaging....  
# One could surely pick a veil that was not more damaging than the reality.  

# ...the legend of child sacrifice is not the trail of the secret, but is 
# simply an historical accusation of monstrous evil which happens to have 
# a remarkable symbolic correspondence with the IX* and which has been
# reclaimed by Crowley as such.  ...a retrofit....

I would suggest that it is not 'remarkable' at all, but an intentional
reclamation and co-option of the blood libel you mention.  this appears
to be consistent amongst the Satanic religious and gives credence to the
claim that Crowley intended the Gnostic Catholic Mass he devised to be
a retrofit to the Black Masses of old, 'consuming the cooked remains of
child sacrifices'.  a 'retrofit', as you say, and as probably pervasive
amongst the neuvo-religious, Satanic movement as I have defined it.
 

# And then there is the Moonchild formula, also known as the formula of
# the Homunculus.  The child is not sacrificed, but drawn into incarnation.  

so you see these as two DISTINCT formulae, compounded from heterosexual
union (marriage)?  one apparently cannibalistic and the other involving
some sort of avataristic manifestation.


# ...it terminates in real conception [and] is repeated several times during
# the woman's fertile period.  After conception, all other spirits are
# excluded from inhabiting the unborn child, while the desired spirit
# is drawn into it.  

it is peculiar that the consumption of the sacrament ('Eucharistic' as you
mention above) does not also contain some sort of conceptional methodology,
especially given the old folk-tales concerning how this takes place through
the consumption of various seeds (watermelon, for example, which my mother
was told and believed well into her early adulthood).

in fact, some taoist alchemists attempt *just this type of rarefaction*,
fabricating in some of their complicated bodily manipulations an 'inner'
child-self which grows, consumes and occludes the previous self in a sort
of personal transformation.  often this 'new self' is said to be made of
a new and different (often indivisible and sometimes immortal) substance,
one which we translate in European language to 'adamantine' and has
correlates to the Tantric Buddhist 'diamond-body'.


# This may be a planetary or other nonhuman spirit,
# or it may be a spirit of the recently deceased, returned to existence
# through the magical efforts of his or her former partners in sorcery.

from what paradigm would you say these ideas of 'spirituality' and 
'spirit' proceed, such that these paranormal concepts (Spiritualism
and its seances appears to be something Crowley eschewed as unfounded
or ridiculous, or at least filled with deception) would be involved
in 'the great secrets'/'mysteries' of the Order(s) he influenced?
 

# This child is intended to live, not to be sacrificed, at least until
# such time as Nuit may reabsorb him or her into Her bosom through the
# natural process of change.

the atmosphere and alchemical dedication surrounding such an event is
described within historically-based fiction in Crowley's work _Moonchild_,
and this work also contains some very important reflection on the direct
comparison between the thaumaturgic and theurgic magical paths (perhaps
in some way also relating to the two formulae you mention above).

 
# ...the above seems to have little to do with sex.  This is because 
# this presentation is a bass-ackwards adolescent, hasty to reveal the 
# climax and rushing hastily past the preliminaries.  As a result, it 
# has probably created a false impression of a stately, Apollonian rite 
# rather than a Dionysiac frenzy.  Under no circumstances should this 
# ritual foofaraw be taken as an abandonment of the ordinary heat and 
# passion of sex, or of the game of attraction and seduction which 
# forms its opening movements.  

I would also suggest that 'sex magick' is too often misunderstood to
relate to constrained domains of interaction, whereas such texts as
those which are kept secret by Crowley's Orders make somewhat clear
(and _Liber Conjunctus_ makes more plain), that it extends to all
possible metaphorical applications whatever and is thus the more
difficult to describe with conciseness.


# Sex magick should be the redemption of these ordinary elements, 
# the removal of all tinge of shame or degradation hung on sex by 
# the agricultural age's zeal to place a set of taboos over reproduction....

I agree that it should be precursed BY such a redemption.  I don't think
that of itself it should be constitute OF it.

 
# ...It has often been said that the secret of magic is
# "Enflame thyself in prayer".  This may well be done through the
# conventional ritual gestures and incantations and the symbolic
# arrangement of the chamber, which steers and enlivens the mind in the
# direction of the working, and may at last produce a psychological
# epiphany.  Sex is a powerful and direct tool for creating the same
# kind of inner conflagration which is magical reality, burning away
# all illusions (or perhaps replacing them with the illusions of a
# higher world).

it is for this reason that there are mystics who are said to have
utilized the experiences of sexuality (often with mistresses of
the arts of love) in the refinements of their consciousness or the
ascertainment of their awakening (e.g. tantric, taoist and even
some zen adepti such as Boboroshi).

 
# ...the entire preceding part of this essay is not necessary.  
# The liquid fruits of sex ought not to be casually flushed away -- 
# that would be inappropriate with respect to any product of holy 
# ritual -- but the particular means of dealing with the elixir, 
# or even of producing a joint elixir, is optional. 

but still you are claiming here that these are the vulgar means of
production and handling of such an 'elixir' in the context of what
you are calling "the IX*".


# Many cultures have practiced sex magicks and sex mysticism without
# using these particular formulae.  Taoism and Tantricism would be fine
# examples(4).

neither here nor in the note do you explain further the examples you
cite.  we may presume that you would point to alchemists and various
vama marga adepts for such an examination, yet do you derive this
claim of yours from contact with such individuals, writings of same,
or on any number of orientalists?

 
# ...there is usually a difference between sacred and mundane sex,
# ...Sacred sex has ...a quality of electricity, of otherworldliness, 
# as if the partner or partners have been stripped down to their 
# essential selves.  The place becomes automatically a temple, and 
# all perceptions are likewise transformed.  

here you seem to imply that this is the characte OF 'sacred sex'.


#"Mundane" sex of this character, which all readers of this essay 
# have probably experienced at least once in their lives, provides 
# a guideline for the aspirant....

and yet here you mention that there is 'mundane sex' which can be
'of this character'.  therefore we are left in a moat of confusion
surrounding your usage of terms.  if sex outside ritual leads to
the experience you mention is it therefore 'sacred'?  if we are to
presume that it is qualitatively the *character* of the sexual
experience which gives it its 'sacredness', might we also suggest
that it is a personal attitude and predisposition which lends the
character so described?


# ...how to create this state.

now you call 'it' a 'state', as if 'sex magick', rather than some
sort of 'practice' within certain prescribed formulae, is merely
'sexuality engaged within a particular state of consciousness'.
surely this is a common presumption about 'tantra' and 'sacred
sexuality', but you appear to be shifting from the description of
'sex magick' to 'magical sex'.

 
# The practice of magical chastity is one way.  Just as there is a
# difference between holding a charged dagger dedicated to ritual
# purposes or a kitchen knife, if the body is kept sacred to this
# purpose, then the electricity will flow more easily.  

is this here a presumption that this necessarily holds true for all
aspirants in magick?  in my own studies I find that there is quite
a diverse attitude as regards 'magical purity' and how items may
become 'charged', even whether this is at all meaningful across the
aboard as seems to be implied here.



# The O.T.O. secret instructions take this to what are ...ridiculous 
# extremes, 

any *particular* secret instructions?  any *particular* OTO? :>


# ...requiring for instance that all hair cut by a barber be collected 
# and burnt....

I read of precisely this type of superstition within a recent Usenet
post on 'Muslim Magick'.  it seems that this type of fetishism is not
at all unusual, and its suggestion within an Order's magical document
do appear to be appropriate, if indeed extreme.


# ...it can hardly be doubted that they are effective.

?????????? isn't this precisely the kind of 'certainty' about which you
earlier complained in reference to the Thelema Lodge Newsletter????????
I think it is quite important to doubt this very thing, and we might even
quote _The Book of Lies_ on the subject of doubt should we get uppity. :>
 

# As with most magical exercises, though, the secret is practice.  
# ...long practice may create a "willed will-lessness" by which a 
# psychological state may be induced when needed, 

you related this to the 'lower orders of the OTO's upper triad',
whatever this means (you didn't explain) and indicated that
through pallus-god worship a power-reservoir might be created,
stating that "the same is true for any other sexual practice."

how, exactly, do you mean to inter-relate such a reservoir with
what you are calling (confusingly to this reader) a 'willed will-
lessness'?  when would such a state be needed?  is this the 'state'
which you mention as regards 'sacred sex', or are they related?

 
# ...The action is taking place at a deeper level than the 
# consciousness, but it may cooperate with the consciousness to 
# fulfill their mutual will.  ...a Taoist process in which one 
# is active precisely by not being active, by not attempting to 
# force a particular state, but instead letting the Teh silently 
# guide one's ship toward that island in the ocean of Tao.(6)

what do you mean by 'the action' here?  apparently you are somehow
discussing this reservior, and yet how does any of this relate to
the child-sacrifice and moonchild formulae you mentioned previously?


# The XI* has been almost completely neglected, 

well, we may presume that it proceeds along similar lines, perhaps
with some Sethian/Horusian-Osirian warfare-tryst, though you don't
say this.  are you aware of speculation that your previously-mentioned
connection of "XI*" with homosexuality or anal sex is in some cases
explained as a peculiar instance involving Crowley's abhorrence to
said formulae?  that in some way the "XI*" relates not specifically
to these but to sexuality (we may presume to you 'sacred') which
involves that which is repugnant or taboo?


# ...piece it together from MTP given these keys.  

here is the text you quoted.  let me see if I can piece it together:

$	The formation of the Yod is the formulation of the first
$	creative force, of that father who is called "self-begotten",

this 'self-begottenness' could well relate to the variation I mentioned
in which the individual somehow fabricates a 'new self' through the
sexual alchemy.


$	and unto whom it is said: "Thou hast formulated thy
$	Father, and made fertile thy Mother".  

note the difference here between 'Mother' and 'Father'.  it appears
to pervade alot of Crowley's writings, both revealed and secret (of
which I've seen -- notably some possibly tainted text in F.King's
relation of the secrets of the upper degrees paints a very phallo-
centric, life-originating-via-the-male-in-sperm bias, reflected and
commented upon by P. Koenig, whose text I'll eventually review here).


$						The adding of the
$	He to the Yod is the marriage of that Father to the great
$	co-equal Mother, who is a reflection of Nuit as He is of
$	Hadit.  Their union brings forth the son Vau who is
$	the heir.  

note that they *union* brings about Vau the *son*.  that is, no 'twin'
children are born here, only a single child arises out of the union
described by this text.  it conflicts directly with the 'keys' we were
presumed to have been given above.


$		    Finally the daughter He is produced.  She is
$	both the twin sister and the daughter of Vau.

and yet here is both the completion of that conflict and is resolution,
for the daughter He "is produced" (by whom?  apparently by the son!)
and is *the twin sister of Vau.  how can she be both?  how does any
of this relate to the formulae so outlined above?  we are not
instructed as to this sonship-generating-sister-daughter or its
relation to the IXth degree secret within this essay.


$	His mission is to redeem her by making her his bride; the
$	result of this is to set her upon the throne of her mother,
$	and it is only she whose youthful embrace can reawaken
$	the eld of the All-Father.  

this is kabbalistic symbolism which has appearance in many of AC's
texts, and yet, as Crowley said elsewhere in Thoth: "redemption is 
a bad word; it implies a debt."  why would we wish to engage what
should plainly be seen as an 'Old Aeon' formula in our sex magick
which may unduly taint us in our magical studies?  have I missed
something?
  

$				      In this complex family relationship
$	is symbolized the whole course of the Universe.  It will be
$	seen that (after all) the Climax is at the end.  It is the second
$ 	half of the formula which symbolizes the Great Work we
$	are pledged to accomplish.  

apparently this second half of the formula apparently relates to 
what he above describes as 'He, enthroned upon the throne of the Mother,
embracing and awakening the eld (?) of the All-Father'.  we are somehow
supposed to know what this means?  perhaps this will help:

	And the Angel sayeth: Blessed are the saints, that their blood
	is mingled in the cup, and can never be separate any more.  For
	Babylon the Beautiful, the Mother of abominations, hath sworn
	by her holy kteis, whereof every point is a pang, that she will
	not rest from her adulteries until the blood of everything that
	liveth is gathered therein, and the wine thereof laid up and
	matured and consecrated, and worthy to gladden the heart of my
	Father.  For my Father is weary with the stress of eld, and
	cometh not to her bed.  Yet shall this perfect wine be the
	quintessence, and the elixir; and by the draught thereof shall
	he renew his youth; and so shall it be eternally, as age by age
	the worlds do dissolve and change, and the Universe unfoldeth
	itself as a Rose, and shutteth itself up as the Cross that is
	bent into the Cube."

	Ibid, quoting _Vision and the Voice_ (uncited Aeyther); pp. 137-8.
	__________________________________________________________________ 

it would seem that 'renew his youth', within this formula (YHVH) involves
the transmutation of V=> Y, thus beginning again a kind of Arthurian
re-invigoration promoted by such writers as Starhawk of her Horned Lord,
He (Y-V) dying and reborn, She ever-renewing and changeless (H-H).  and
yet I still don't see why all of this isn't straight out of the Old Aeon,
Osirian Dying God cosmology, and thus why we should not consider it 'black'.


$				    The first step of this is the
$	attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the
$	Holy Guardian Angel, which constitutes the Adept of
$	the Inner Order.

the first step being "redeem her by making her his bride", who is being
redeemed, how, and what does this have to do with either Thelemic magick
or the secrets/mysteries outlined as 'IX*' or 'XI*' above?  perhaps this
is some mirroring of the sex of the Messiah?  and yet what of the Father
who is withered like the aged Man-of-the-Year, transformed/redeemed(?)
into the Babe-of-the-New-Year?


$	The re-entry of these twin spouses into the womb of the
$	mother is that initiation described in Liber 418, which gives
$	admission to the Inmost Order of the A.'. A.'.  Of the last
$	step we cannot speak.


and it was Liber 418 which I did quote above, though for all I know
the wrong portions thereof.  note that the text here indicates that
'twin spouses' are given re-entry into the mother's womb.  it is not
clear either from the foregoing or from the essay I am critiquing
what this, of necessity, implies.  we might presume the relationship
between 'the womb of the mother' and Binah, going further to suppose
that the 'twin' analogy replicates a 'manifestation of the Will into
matter'.  yet how does this relate at all to the physical symbolism
constrained within the vulgar presentation given?  we are to somehow
presume that somehow the sacred substance of the female is created
of the male?  how does this differ from the clearly-false doctine of
the Divine-Male-Seed-Which-is-Responsible-for-Coming-Into-Life?  if
the same, why is it consistently maintained here except as the false
ideology of a male fraternity which cannot come to terms with its 
overt creative force except to sublimate the fertility of the male
to the source-male reservior?


[most of the pedestrian issues omitted]

[in MiTaP/_Magick_/etc.]
# ...The Grimorium Sanctissimum is an instruction for the IX*, under 
# a slightly different ritual form from the Star Sapphire.  

the version contained within _Magick_ makes reference to a work not
therein elaborated, called "DCLXXI", otherwise known as 'Liber Pyramidos'.
are you aware, besides some obscure publication (1976, 93 copies) where
this work may be obtained so as to complete its content?


# The essay "Energized Enthusiasm" is a fine guide to many parts of 
# the formulae, and its title describes the necessary mental attitude.  

I reproduce in appendix the essential portions of its content (posted
after this and compounded in archive).


# The Gnostic Mass of the EGC (Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, or Gnostic 
# Catholic Church) is a symbolic form.

if there are commentaries on its symbolic meaning or dedicated mentions
of its blocking and relation to sex magick, please make this plain.  I'm
not aware of any of this outside private publications I have received.

 
# The Wiccan cakes and wine ceremony is another form of the Gnostic
# Mass, but in the Wiccan tradition, the IX* is the "Great Rite"(7). 
# The symbolism of the weapon and the cup is fairly straightforward, as
# is the consumption of the cakes and wine blessed by the central
# symbolic sex act.  The Gardnerian third degree initiation ritual has
# been published by Janet and Stewart Farrar in The Witches' Way, and
# it is rife with quotes from the Gnostic Mass and the Book of the Law.
#  It also makes clear that the Wiccan Goddess is the Thelemic Nuit,
# and that the Wiccan God is her complement, Hadit(8).

with your appended note:
 
# 8  An underworld deity, one of whose names is Satan....  

in his text analyzing the origins of the Third Degree (his analysis
examining a version prior to 1959) Aidan Kelly indicates that it 
"incorporates a long quote from Crowley's Gnostic Mass, as Ferrar 
correctly points out"* [*- from papers he made accessible to me 
privately, apparent drafts to his subsequently published book].  

I do not have _The Witches' Way_.  could you quote the pertinent 
text as relates to Nuit/Hadit?  the Ferrars' _What Witches Do_ 
contains within it some errors, such as the orientation of the 
Second Degree Pentagram (point-up).  their 'symbol of the Great
Rite, The Ankh-Ha' may well be a conflated Nuit-Hadit sigil,
being comprised in this text of an inverted, Nuit-like over-arch
and an ankh.
 

# It's quite possible that the practice is barely a century old.  

this I would presume from the outset until provided some reasonable
evidence to the contrary.


# It's also possible that it was practiced in Babylonian holy brothels
# millenia ago.  

any evidence for this?


[text on secrecy vows slashed]

# 7  The creator of modern witchcraft, Gerald Gardner, was an initiate
# of the O.T.O., and he incorporated its secrets into his creation. 
# Many of the modern witchcraft groups were created from published
# works without direct contact with the Gardnerian third degree, and so
# they do not have the full secret of the Great Rite.  
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


what does it mean to 'have the full secret of the Great Rite'?
especially with your initial caveat on how difficult (nay, impossible)
to place into text these secrets, how could anyone obtain it in 'full'?


# ...Jack Parsons was trying to create a new witchcraft in Southern
# California at the same time that Gardner was working in England
# (1950, as documented in the essays on witchcraft in the recent
# collection Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword, from Falcon Press) and
# Parsons was privy to the O.T.O. secrets, so there is an alternate
# channel for transmission even in groups without a close link to
# Gardnerian initiation.

note that Parsons originally included 'The Witchcraft' as part V of 
a larger work entitled 'The Cup, the Sword, and the Crux Ansata',
and also wrote a shorter piece entitled 'Manifesto of the Witchcraft'.
his ideas of "the oldest religion in the world" included the claims
that it was comprised of the 'Guardians against the Darkness, the
Helpers on the Left Hand Side', claimed Merlin, Gawain, Arthur,
Rabelais, Joan of Arc, Dee, Cagliostro, Levi and many others as
members, and claimed to "contain the secrets of alchemy, magic 
[sic! :>], metaphysics, yoga and all occult science, and the under-
standing of the ultimate nature of all things", offering these to
"all who are able to accept them."  [_Freedom is a Two-Eddged Sword,
and Other Essays_, by John Whiteside Parsons, eds. Cameron (Parsons)
and Hymenaeus Beta, The Oriflamme, #1, Falcon Press, 1989; pp. 69-73.]

reminiscent of various Rosicrucian and Wiccan variants, no? :>

comments, corrections welcome.

E6/6/6

tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
xiwangmu
--------------------------- Energized Enthusiasm quote next post as appendix

From tyagi@bjt.net  Thu Dec  5 17:01:50 1996
Return-Path: tyagi@bjt.net
Received: from kudonet.com (kudonet.com [165.227.52.1]) by bitsy.hollyfeld.org (8.7.4/8.7.3) with SMTP id RAA21271 for ; Thu, 5 Dec 1996 17:01:46 -0500
Received: by kudonet.com (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4)
	id NAA29424; Thu, 5 Dec 1996 13:44:55 -0800
To: tyagi@hollyfeld.org
Path: kudo!tyagi
Date:  5 Dec 96 21:40:21 GMT
Message-ID: 
Newsgroups: alt.magick.moderated,alt.magick.tantra,alt.magick,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.religion.sexuality,alt.sex.wizards,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan.magick,alt.magick.order
Subject: Re: OTO Supreme Secret (IX')
Approved: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
Followup-To: alt.magick.tantra,alt.magick,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.religion.sexuality,talk.religion.misc,alt.pagan.magick
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (xiwangmu)
Reply-To: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (xiwangmu)
Status: RO

[originally-to: thelema93-l@hollyfeld.org; followups targetted]

49961203 AA1  The Revolution Continues!

E6

	Being an Appendix to the critique of 
			T.Maroney's 'Brief Note on Sex Magick':
  
	(Excerpts From 'Energized Enthusiasm; 
				A Note on Theurgy' (Liber DCCCXI))

	____________________________________________________________

	...

	The divine consciousness which is reflected and refracted in
	the works of Genius feeds upon a certain secretion, as I
	believe.  This secretion is analogous to semen, but not
	identical with it.  There are but few men and fewer women,
	those women being invariably androgyne, who possess it at
	any time in any quantity.

	So closely is this secretion connected with the sexual economy
	that it appears to me at times as if it might be a by-product
	of that process which generates semen....  Sanctity has been
	assumed to depend on chastity, and chastity has nearly always
	been interpreted as abstinence....

	To sum up, I can always trace a connection between my sexual
	condition and the condition of artistic creation, which is so
	close as to approach identity, and yet so loose that I cannot
	predicate a single important proposition....

	I shall... base my remarks... on the accepted classical
	methods of producing that energized enthusiasm which is
	the lever that moves God....

	The Greeks say that there are three methods of discharging
	the Leyden Jar of Genius.  These three methods they assign
	to three Gods.

	These three Gods are Dionysus, Apollo, Aphrodite.  In English:
	wine, woman and song....

	...sex is justly hallowed [as] the eternal fire of the race....
	The spiritual flower of this process is that at the moment of
	discharge a physical ecstasy occurs, a spasm analagous to the
	mental spasm which meditation gives.  And further, in the 
	sacramental and ceremonial use of the sexual act, the divine
	consciousness may be attained....

	The sexual act being then a sacrament, it remains to consider
	in what respect this limits the employment of the organs.

	First, it is obviously legitimate to employ them for their
	natural physical purpose.  But if it be allowable to use them
	ceremonially for a religious purpose, we shall find the act
	hedged about with many restrictions.

	For in this case the organs become holy....

	But admit its religious function, and one may at once lay
	down that the act must not be profaned.  It must not be
	undertaken lightly and foolishly without excuse.  

	It may be undertaken for the direct object of continuing
	the race.

	It may be undertaken in obedience to real passion; for
	passion, as its name implies, is rather inspired by a force
	of divine strength and beauty without the will of the
	individual, often even against it.

	It is the casual or habitual... use... of these forces which
	constitutes their profanation....

	Of the qualifying tests there is no necessity to speak; it 
	is sufficient to say that the adepts have always known how
	to secure efficiency....


	By use of the three methods in one the whole being of man
	may thus be stimulated.

	The music will create a general harmony of the brain, leading
	it in its own paths; the wine affords a general stimulus of
	the animal nature; and the sex-excitement elevates the moral
	nature of the man by its close analogy with the highest
	ecstasy.  It remains, however, always for him to make the
	final transmutation.  Unless he have the special secretion
	which I have postulated, the result will be commonplace....

	Go [to the rite] with your whole soul aflame within you, and
	your whole will concentrated on these transubstantiations,
	and tell me what miracle takes place!...

	...genius in the ordinary sense of the word has nearly always
	showed itself in the young....

	...genius can be acquired, or, in the alternative, ...it is 
	an almost universal possession.  Its rarity may be attributed
	to the crushing influence of a corrupted society....

	...so shall we be able to breed genius is we can find the
	conditions which hamper it, and remove them.

	The obvious practical step to take is to restore the rites
	of Bacchus, Aphrodite and Apollo to their proper place....

	...work patiently and in secret.  We must select suitable
	material and train it in utmost reverence to these three
	master-methods, or aiding the soul in its genial orgasm....

	The Hindus warn their pupils against the dangers of breathing
	exercises.  Indeed the slightest laxness in moral or physical
	tissues may cause the energy accumulated by the practice to
	discharge itself by involuntary emission....

	...the relief of the tension is to be found in what the Hebrews
	and the Greeks called prophesying, and which is better when
	organized into art.  The disorderly discharge is mere waste
	[Chaotic Gnosis - mu], a wilderness of howlings; the orderly
	discharge is a "Prometheus unbound," or a "L'age d'airain,"
	according to the special aptitudes of the enthused person....
	Special aptitudes are very easy to acquire if the driving force
	of enthusiasm be great.  If you cannot keep the rules of others, 
	you make rules of your own.  One set turns out in the long run 
	to be just as good as another....

	[Wine's] use is more likely to lead to trouble than mere music....

	...Small doses should be drunk, and the bowl passed on, taken
	as the worshipper deems advisable....  The slightest sign that
	intoxication is mastering [the worshipper] should be a sign...
	to pass....

	...the celebrants made no expected motion.  The movements were
	extremely small and yet extremely strong.

	This must have continued for a great length of time....

	---------------------------------------------------------------

	'Energized Enthusiasm', by Aleister Crowley, from Equinox I:IX,
		ed. by Sr. Virakam/Fr. Lampada Tradam, Samuel Weister, 
		1972; pp. 19-46.  
			[bracketed comments/restatements - mu]
	______________________________________________________________

EOF


E6/6/6

tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
xiwangmu

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races