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The Philosophy of Thelema  National Conference News  Kaaba Colloquium Agapé Vol

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The Philosophy of Thelema  National Conference News  Kaaba Colloquium Agapé Vol THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE U.S. GRAND LODGE OF ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS VOLUME XII A IN b UMBER B IN a N 1 ANNO IV:XIX SPRING, 2011 EV THE PHILOSOPHY OF THELEMA NATIONAL CONFERENCE NEWS KAABA COLLOQUIUM AGAPÉ VOL. XII • No. 1 AGAPÉ VOL. XII • No. 1 FROM THE EDITOR Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Care Fratres et Sorores, Welcome to the first issue of Agapé Volume XII! As you’ve already noticed, we are undergoing something of a The Official Organ of the facelift, beginning with our very first cover illustration, gen- United States Grand Lodge of erously provided by Soror Tara. This brings us nicely to our first point... Ordo Templi Orientis Call for Artwork Our Most Holy Order includes among its initiates a great CONTENTS many talented artists and we hope to feature an increasing From the Editor 2 amount of artwork in future issues. We are looking for artwork From the Grand Master 3 that can accompany articles or stand alone, and for cover art. From the Electoral College 4 We therefore encourage all our visually-creative brothers NOTOCON Update 5 and sisters to submit their drawings, paintings and photog- Kaaba Colloquium Update 6 raphy, Preferred formats are .tif, .jpg, .gif, and .png. Images The Philosophy of Thelema 7 should be no larger than 7 by 9 inches, greyscale or black-and- Speech in the Silence 11 white, and saved at a resolution of 300 dpi. Please contact the Pastoral Couseling Workshop 12 Editor agape@oto-usa,org if you have any questions. Ouarda Chapter Chili con Carnival 12 Book Reviews 12 Temple Photos Publication Announcements 14 Since we have to build pretty much all our own temple U.S. Grand Lodge Officers Directory 15 furnishings ourselves, the creation of ritual paraphernalia has become one of the primary creative outlets for our local bod- ies, so let’s share! Send in photos or your temple setups and let everyone marvel at your accomplishments. Executive Editor: Sabazius X° We are especially interested in pictures of furnishings Editor: Frater Julianus for the Gnostic Mass or other public rituals. We will also Proofreading: Frater L., Heather Lantz, Joseph consider photos of members’ personal temples. Note also that Thiebes if any persons are visible in the photo(s) we will require their express permission to publish their likeness. See the above Production & Distribution: Soror Marlene section for technical submission guidelines. Editorial Address: [new address pending] [email protected] The Directory On the Cover: Tahuti by Soror Tara Readers may wonder what happened to the directory of U.S. Grand Lodge officers that usually occupies most of this page. This list now has all the inside back cover (page 15 in this issue) to itself, where it will now be far more legible and therefore more useful as well. Agapé is published quarterly by Ordo Templi Orientis, U.S.A., a California not-for-profit religious corporation with business of- fices at P.O. Box 32, Riverside, CA 92502-0032. • O.T.O. U.S.A. Moving is a duly recognized Grand Lodge of Ordo Templi Orientis, an Speaking of contact information, Agapé will have a new international religious organization with business offices at JAF physical mailing address shortly. Watch for announcements Box 7666, New York, NY 10116, and corporate headquarters at 24881 Alicia Pkwy E-529, Laguna Hills, CA 92653. • Donations, online and in our next issue. In the meantime, the editorial legacies and bequests made to Ordo Templi Orientis U.S.A. are email address remains agape@oto-usa,org. tax-deductable to the extent permitted by law. • Agapé is dis- tributed to all O.T.O. members in good standing in the U.S.A., Love is the law, love under will. and is available for download in PDF format at the U.S. Grand Lodge website: www.oto-usa.org/docs.html • Copyright © 2011 EV Ordo Templi Orientis U.S.A. All rights reserved and assigned to Fraternally, the respective authors. The viewpoints and opinions expressed Frater Julianus herein are the responsibility of the contributing authors. Editor, Agapé SPRING • 2011 EV 2 SPRING • 2011 EV 3 A IN b • IV:XIX A IN b • IV:XIX AGAPÉ VOL. XII • No. 1 AGAPÉ VOL. XII • No. 1 FROM THE GRAND MASTER Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. In Memoriam challenged—especially if the challenger arrives under the Kenneth Grant, author, Thelemite, friend of Aleister banner of “liberation.” Crowley, and founder of the Typhonian Order, died on Janu- A fundamental human right is inalienable, not because ary 15th of this year. We send our condolences to his friends, some human or supernatural power has benevolently stipu- family and students. lated it so, but because its alienation is a breach of the Law. www.starfirepublishing.co.uk/memoriam.html Ida Craddock Books The Source of Human Rights Congratulations to Brother Vere Chappell on The ultimate source of human rights comes up as a topic the publication of his recent books on Ida Craddock occasionally. Are human rights an irrevocable gift from God, (www.idacraddock.com). I’m sure you all know by now that or are they a negotiable aspect of the Social Contract? If the his interview on the subject of Ida Craddock is now available latter, then they are no more indefeasible or inalienable than on the Thelema NOW! Podcast. I’d also like to remind every- the “right” to smoke in someone else’s house. If the former, one that Ida Craddock was inducted into our “Order of the then they can be swept away by any power that either denies Eagle” on April of 1999 EV. More information on the Orders the existence of God—or claims to have access to better infor- of the Lion and Eagle is available here: mation about God’s will than you do. hermetic.com/sabazius/lion_eagle.html Liber Oz is quite straightforward about this. The book begins with four quotes from The Book of the Law pertaining Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica to the Law, the will, and human nature: Supervision and Reporting “the law of the strong: this is our law and the joy of The E.G.C. Secretary is in the process of filling in some the world.” —AL II:2 gaps in our E.G.C. Clergy and Novice database, and our bish- “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” ops are assisting with this. If you are an active E.G.C. priest, —AL I:40 priestess, deacon or novice, please write to your supervising “thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no bishop to confirm your supervision status, and to make sure other shall say nay.”—AL I:42-3 that he or she has your dates of baptism, confirmation, deacon “Every man and every woman is a star.”—AL I:3 ordination, and priest/priestess ordination. Having a supervising bishop is an essential part of being It then quickly averts any debate about the divine origin an active novice or clergy member in E.G.C. within the U.S. of the rights enumerated therein with the following brief dec- Your supervising bishop may or may not be the bishop who laration: “There is no god but man.” ordained you. A supervisory relationship is established by This does not mean that these rights don’t have a divine agreement between the novice/clergy member and the super- origin—but rather that their divine origin is to be found within vising bishop. You may change your supervising bishop at any ourselves. These rights proceed directly from our divine/ time by mutual agreement with both bishops then notifying starry/human nature. They are a codification and explication the E.G.C. Secretary of the change. of one of our deepest natural needs as individual members of the human species; namely the need to be free—to be able to Upcoming Events make our own choices as to how we will conduct our lives, For upcoming events, please see our events calendar at so that we may be able to pursue and ultimately realize our oto-usa.org/events.html. NOTOCON VIII is scheduled for True Wills. the weekend of August 5-7 2011 EV in Detroit, Michigan. The If we cannot be free, if freedom is denied to us, then our theme is Manifest thy Glory. For more information, please vis- star-nature languishes. If we are thwarted from making the it viii.notocon.org. General information on our various con- choices necessary to do our wills, we lose our self-respect, ferences, including NOTOCON, Advanced Initiator Training our drive, our bearings, our Light. Either our wills collectively (A.I.T.), Kaaba Thelemic Leadership Seminars, and Pastoral focus on the single goal of regaining our freedom to live as we Counseling Workshops can be found at www.notocon.org. choose, or we descend into complacency, moral stagnation, and paralysis. Love is the law, love under will. A leader who oppresses and enslaves his people is like the farmer who killed the goose that laid the golden eggs. An op- Fraternally, pressed and tyrannized people is ultimately either impossible Sabazius to rule effectively or not worth ruling. In either case, such a people will not stand by their leader when he is inevitably SPRING • 2011 EV 2 SPRING • 2011 EV 3 A IN b • IV:XIX A IN b • IV:XIX AGAPÉ VOL. XII • No. 1 AGAPÉ VOL. XII • No. 1 FROM THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
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