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418 the official newsletter of Abrahadabra Oasis of O.T.O. Anno IV:xv Sol 25° Leo, Luna The Editor’s Quill 5° Scorpio Dies Saturnii Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. August 18, 2007 e.v. Volume 2, Number 2 A number of treats are in store for you in this issue, in addition to our regular columns: A Word From the Master, and Mass Waggery. We IN THIS ISSUE have an interview with the Master of Knights Templar Oasis; a historical overview of that The Editor’s Quill 1 intriguing magical symbol, the pentagram; and Sr. Lilith an article about Swinburne, a poet who greatly A Word From the Master 1 influenced Crowley and whose work appears in Fr. Eparisteros, Master a number of Crowley’s rituals. Interview With a Master 2 Br. Casey Don’t forget to check the schedule on the Algernon Charles Swinburne 6 last page. We hope to see you at future events. Sr. Zephyra Love is the law, love under will. A Brief History of the Pentagram 8 Fr. Eparisteros Soror Lilith Mass Waggery 11 Abrahadabra Oasis Fr. Hippokleides ~~~ Events Calendar 13 A Word From the Master Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. As always, the last few months have been very busy at Abrahadabra Oasis. We’ve Copyright © 2007 continued our mission in performing the Gnostic Abrahadabra Oasis, Mass and O.T.O. initiations, but have also and the individual authors. managed to host a few notable events as well. The viewpoints and opinions expressed Richard Kaczynski, Ph.D., author of herein are the responsibility of the Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley, was contributing authors. kind enough to grace our doorstep and give a wonderful presentation on magick during the Victorian era. Dr. Kaczynski is not only an exceptional scholar on western esoteric Page 2 August, 2007 e.v. 418—Abrahadabra Oasis traditions, but an exceptional individual as well, Abrahadabra Oasis in Portland, Maine, and also spending an entire weekend with us all in casual transcribed by him. conversation and company. We hope to have Casey: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole him visit once again, and hope that you will be of the Law. able to attend any one of his talks. Steven: Love is the law, love under will. We were also graced by a visit from Bishop Roncelin of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica C: How long have you been in Ordo Templi (E.G.C.), who spent a weekend instructing Orientis (O.T.O.)? initiates on the Gnostic Mass. While these S: I started hanging around with Knights events were not open to the public, I am certain Templar Oasis (KTO) in 1999 and took my that his tutelage will both amend and improve Minerval initiation in 2000 e.v. our ongoing performances of the central public and private ritual of the Order—and for this, we C: And how long have you been master of are greatly indebted. KTO? Finally, many of us have just returned from S: I’ve been master of KTO for just over a NOTOCON—the National O.T.O. year. Conference—held just a few miles south in C: How were you first introduced to Thelema? beautiful Salem, MA. Some 250 Thelemites What initially brought you to it and to O.T.O.? from all over the country and from around the world attended the conference, which consisted S: I became interested in magic and the occult of three days of presentations and social when I was a young teenager living out in a gatherings for members of the Order. (Heartfelt semi-suburban area with no book stores in town. thanks go out to everyone involved in It was very hard to get material. I read all the coordinating this event, as well as to the citizens books in the library and picked up books at of Salem, who welcomed us all with open department stores. I had quite a collection of arms.) NOTOCON is not only a great place to new-agey type stuff, and I reached a point share ideas but is also a wonderful reminder of where I said this is all crap. I think what finally the greater brotherhood we all share as members did it for me was a book by Sybil Leek. I was of O.T.O. I look forward to the next! about halfway through it—she had recipes for spells—and I said there is no science here. All of these events serve as a constant There is nothing to it. So I got away from it. reminder that O.T.O. consists of an exceptional group of people with whom I am proud to be I was involved with a group of people who associated. If you are interested in O.T.O., you had Pagan backgrounds, and I had a friend who may—as always—contact us at any time. was into Magick, and I asked him to give me something good to read. He suggested “Drawing Love is the law, love under will. Down the Moon” by Margot Adler. It was Frater Eparisteros fascinating to see that there were really a lot of Master, Abrahadabra Oasis, O.T.O. people in involved in this, that there were diverse opinions and practices out there. But this ~~~ was like a documentary survey, so I said “I want Interview With a Master something with more meat in it.” Then he gave me Starhawk’s book, “Spiral Dance” and I Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. thought that it was good, a little fluffy, but it had The following is transcribed from an audio some seriousness to it. After I finished that, I interview done with Brother Steven, the Master said I wanted something with even more meat to of Knights Templar Oasis (KTO) in Salem, it. He said I needed to read Crowley and to go Massachusetts. The original interview was done down to Seven Stars in Central Square and get a on December 23, 2006 e.v., by Brother Casey of Crowley book. 418—Abrahadabra Oasis August, 2007 e.v. Page 3 It was funny; I actually had had The Book of made an impact on me. The quality of the the Law since I was about twelve. I was in a initiation, and the lessons that were imparted bookstore, and I saw it, recognized Crowley’s during the initiation. If I had had any doubts up name, and said, “I had to have this.” I read it to that point, after going through that, I knew I and didn’t really understand it, but I held onto was going as far as I could with this. all through this time. So when my friend My worst experience—I wouldn’t say it was mentioned Crowley, I said, “Oh, I have The the worst experience, but I could say it was my Book of the Law!” I picked up Magick Without biggest disappointment—also occurred, Tears and Book 4, and then it just hit home. I strangely enough, at my Minerval initiation. I wanted to track down O.T.O., so I got on the had been waiting for several months to take internet and found out there were two Thelemic initiation (although we were meeting in bodies in New England. There was Knights Cambridge, the initiations were taking place in Templar Oasis [KTO] in Cambridge and the Amherst) listening to people talk about the Order of Ra-Hoor-Khuit in Salem. So I sent an initiation temple. I had in my head temples of email out to both of them and said that I had just ivory and gold, something like a Masonic Hall. read these books and was interested in meeting Having read The Blue Equinox, which is the like-minded people. plan for the order, it was somewhat of a letdown I got an email back from the Order of Ra- when it turned out to be someone’s bedroom! Hoor-Khuit, saying, “Well, what do you want to What I didn’t realize at the time was that know?” Then I got an email back from Leah at The Blue Equinox is not a description of O.T.O., KTO, and she said, “We’re a group representing but a plan for its future. I see a lot of progress O.T.O. in the New England area, and we have a along that path now, a lot of changes happening. couple of events a month. Would you like to go The KTO, for example, has a dedicated 24-hour out for a drink and talk about it?” And I said, space now, and a lot of other bodies are doing “Yeah, it’s right up my alley.” We met in this that. We are all moving in that direction, and dive bar up on Massachusetts Avenue, and Leah that makes me happy. showed up with a couple of Brothers. We had a couple of drinks and pizza, talked about O.T.O., C: What do you see in the immediate future of and I realized that this was what I was looking the KTO, within the next one to two years? for. I asked for an application and got sponsored S: Well, we are hitting all the basics: right there on the spot. initiations, masses, classes. We do initiations C: What has been your best/worst or most pretty much on demand; a candidate will usually memorable experience in your time in O.T.O.? have to wait only a couple of months (to handle processing of paperwork, and so forth).