College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

@nigris said

"4/1904-6/1904: the verses to chs. II and III are numbered and a typescript (Liber Al vel Legis, CCXX) was created (by Wilkinson?)."

This was done before he left Cairo. This means it was within a very few days (maybe 2-3 days) of the dictation.

@Alrah said

"
@Jim Eshelman said
"That, in fact, is one of 11 clauses of the Oath of the Magister Templi."

ponders

One is silent? 😄"

The pentalty clause after the one labelled 10.

No, that's a false generalization.

I'm not saying, BTW, that the ritua couldn't be performed as your saying. Rather, I'm saying that the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram (as originally written in the late 1880s and as passed down through the generations since) uses deosil motion.

The generalization also doesn't do justice to the question of widdershins motion. Somewhere on this forum (dating back many years) is a thread where I give about half a dozen distinct uses of counter-clockwise circling, only one of which is banishing (and that is primarily used to take down a current that was established previously in a clockwise fashion, i.e., to neutralize a previously established current by applying its complement).

@Red Eagle of Death said

"If my intention is to choose a significator from the dignitaries based on the querent's natal chart, would I do better to select a card that reflects the querent's rising or sun sign?"

the general rule of the tumb I think should be -- the Sun constellation. (assuming that the purpose of the divination should rather be that of comunicating something to the conscious selfawareness of an individual [Sol], than to the personality/Ascendent Mask in Jungian terms].)

@Blythe A. Blanche said

"I have a quick general question, which is probably incredibly basic, but I don't know how to go about obtaining the answer elsewhere: How does one find out what the astrological conditions are or will be for a certain date and time? I know there must be a recurring pattern, but it's not something I've come across in my studies. Is there a introductory-level book which might be able to assist me?"

positions of the planets are listed in the tables called Ephemeris.
(every astrology software has them, so you can calculate a chart using software and never look at them; but it's better to have them outside of a programe, so you can follow the planets' motion easier)

maybe "Astrology for beginners" could help - to just get to know what-is-what.
and here's some encyclopedic astrology info:
www.4shared.com/document/lEekXwzQ/James_R_Lewis_-The_Astrology.html
www.4shared.com/document/TvBAhJ0V/Encyclopedia_of_Astrology_-_Ni.html

don't know of a introductory book with the western Sidereal approach

In other words, Those who achieve Union & therefore are NOT are thus the chosen ones. I can dig it! Thanks Jim!

It's a reference to the A.'.A.'. 2=9 initiation, Liber Cadaveris. The second meditation in HHH is based on it.

Some interesting stuff, Alrah.

Though: change the books? A change of perspective is enough.

@Red Eagle of Death said

"In reviewing the Oaths of each Grade I noticed that 0=0 & 1=10 were the only Grades that called for a new Motto. Is the 1=10 Motto used throughout one's career in A.'.A.'. or are there larer Grades in which it is desirable to adopt as new Motto? I know that Crowley had several, but I wasn't sure if that was a Golden Dawn thing."

0=0 and 1=10 are the only places where selection of an aspiration name is required. The remainder is highly personal.

Beginning with 5=6, Crowley selected a new motto for each grade, and used these effectively to distinguish the aspect of himself speaking. On the other hand, George Cecil Jones had only two mottos - one for First Order, one for Second Order.

AC, while in the Golden Dawn, had two: one for the First Order, and another for the Second Order (5=6). That was the default G.D. standard. In the A.'.A.'., he adopted a new one for each grade beginning with 6=5.

My 2=9 oath has the same motto as my 1=10, but, soon after going to 2=9, I had a breakthrough that revealed a new "next step" clarification - a new working formula for me - and I tend to regard that new name as my motto for 2=9 even though it isn't on paper. It served me through the remainder of the Outer College (through Dominus Liminis) and was the setup for the one that came next.

Phyllis Seckler adopted one aspiration name for Probationer and another, Meral, as a Neophyte. As far as the world was concerned, that was the only "magical name" that mattered for her. But by 1980, deep into the Inner College, she'd rearticulated her Will and began using a different formula.

So, as I said... this is highly individual.

@Red Eagle of Death said

"Jim: Do you know the history behind the formula? where it originates or the first signs of it?"

Its literal history is that it was extracted, after the fact, from the Neophyte ceremony of the Golden Dawn.

There is a very specific formula underneath all the details. I've never seen it published. In fact, I've been meaning for 10 years to get it written in detail, and have only managed to give a couple of lectures on it to our Second Order so they at least have the outline. I don't know that it's the best of formulae, but it's extremely useful to understand it and, sometimes, to apply it. (Half of what you need to understand it is in Chapter 16 of the new edition of 776 1/2. The other half is an unpublished alchemical sequence.)

But, more importantly - for those who have been admitted by that formula (including Neophytes of A.'.A.'.), adapting the formula to multiple purposes is an extremely valuable practice because it builds the formula more intimately into one's cells. If this is the formula on which one is relying for one's initiation, then building it into one's cells has enormous value.

There is nothing stopping you from reading books outside the curriculum.

93,

One thing I discovered by blowing up the image on a color photocopier is that each of the 10 stars has a pentagram inside it. This isn't usually visible on the printed card. But it does connect the card to the sephirah into which this path leads, Geburah, sephirah five. And the pentagram is also a symbol of rulership over the elemental realm by Spirit.

93 93/93,

EM

@Red Eagle of Death said

"93

How does one resolve the apparent contradiction contained in verses 51-55 in chapter 3 of Liber 220*, & verse 21 of Liber 30**?

*With my Hawk's head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross. I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed & blind him. With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the Buddhist, Mongol and Din. Bahlasti! Ompehda! I spit on your crapulous creeds. Let Mary inviolate be torn upon wheels

***In the true religion there is no sect, therefore take heed that thou blaspheme not the name by which another knoweth his God; for if thou do this thing in Jupiter thou wilt blaspheme YHVH and in Osiris YHShVH. *

93 93/93"

93,

First Liber Librae is morality/karma yoga for the common man and it was a GD document; its not a Class A text.

Secondly, the Librae one appears to be asserting the perrenialist position (theyre all degraded forms of One Truth) whereas Liber AL appears to be attacking particular superstitions.

IAO131

@RosenKreutz said

"I could e-mail you a Natal Astrology course that should guide you through it all."

That would be great! Forgive the delayed response, I must have missed your post! I'll pm you my address. 😀

@Jim Eshelman said

"
@Red Eagle of Death said
"
@Jim Eshelman said
"
@Red Eagle of Death said
"In Liber 44 we are instructed to make adorations prior to carving the sign, & we are to make them as given in Liber Legis. Which adorations are being referenced? Are these the same adorations used in Resh?"

Yes, the same as in Resh, beginning, "Unity," &c."

...& ending "I, I adore Thee"?"

Ending, "Abide with me, Ra-Hoor-Khuit.""

thanks Jim 😄

The relatively minor (partial) lunar eclipse occurs in the 19th degree of the constellation Capricorn at 8:39 PM EDT.

A lunar eclipse is like a super-strong Full Moon. Anyone having a planet at 19° Capricorn, Cancer, Aries, or Libra (Sidereal) will have that planet hyper-accentuated.

First, looking at things affecting the entire world: The Full Moon has no extremely close aspects. It does fall within 5' of the Uranus/Pluto midpoint, and within a degree of the Venus/Saturn midpoint. In simple terms, this means that its main effects will be transformative and rearranging of the landscape, and involve a mix of emotional loss and deep satisfaction from duty and personal sacrifice.

In Washington, DC, it occurs just as Jupiter exactly rises. Neptune is also near the Ascendant. This means that, from the U.S. point of view the consequences will be advantageous, prosperous, victorious. This will likely be in economic areas but could also be in foreign policy etc. Expect the seemingly clear-cut victory not to be based on entirely realistic or substantiated facts or circumstances.

That's just off-the-top...

@he atlas itch said

"That a group would invite an outsider to a private Mass without informing them in advance displays really poor judgement. There are serious issues of trust involved when working with menstrual blood and sperm, such as concern over the risk of AIDs."

I had gotten really friendly with one of the Sorors there (maybe a case of too much too soon), but the rest of the body were virtually strangers.

Again, I might have been fine with it had I known prior.

@he atlas itch said

"You may want to verify whether what you perceived as "sperm" may not have been, in fact, the leavings of red wine, which can have a similar texture."

I have not been in further contact with any of the individuals involved. I am now back in my hometown.

@Jim Eshelman said

"http://aumha.org/arcane/ccxx2.htm#16

The correct spelling is

V A D
(Vav Aleph Daleth)"

In the note to Liber Reguli we are given "XI, the number of Magick AVD", & again in MWT, "AVD, the creative Magick" ...any relation to the verse?

I’ve always understood Nuit as 0 and Hadit as 1 (Kether). Certainly, that would better correspond to the vertical/horizontal balance.

@Aum418 said

"Choronzon = chaos in the normal sense, i.e. lack of coherency"

On the contrary, I would suggest Chorozon is the pure semblance of coherence and power. Its ferocious nature and endless discourse arises from the fact it has no center and therefore sterile. Its a commentary on the correct understanding of the role of the Ruach and Daath (and, IMO, the limits of language in conveying truth).

Btw an examination of Azoth provides an alchemical understanding of the Word uttered by the Magus with regard to the creative-generative nature of Chaos.