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A Sigil that is wornduring the evocation

of the Phenex

Namesake & Mascot:

The Phenex is a legendary

bird first appearing in Ancient

Egypt. It was used to symbolize

regeneration, rebirth, and the

cycles of history. Every five

hundred years the Phenex was

said to burst into flames and be

reborn from its ashes.

Alchemists, Hermetics, and

other Occultists adopted its

mythology as their own and

even referred to fellow initiatesas Phoenixes, meaning they

had experienced an allegorical

rebirth.

The thirty seventh spirit is the Phenex,

he is a great marquis and appeareth like

the bird Phoenix, having the Voice of a

Child. He singeth many sweet songs

before the exorcist, which he must not

regard, but by-and-by must bid him to

take on a human shape. Then will he

speak marvelously of all wonderful

sciences if required. He is a Poet, good

and excellent. And he will be willing to

perform thy requests. He wishes to return

to the Seventh Throne after 1200 years,

as he said unto Solomon. He governeth

twenty legions of Spirits.

~The Goetia,

Lesser Key of Solomon the King

Our spelling of Phenex differs from the more common spelling

'Phoenix' and is derived from the Goetia, an occult treatise

containing the evocations of various daemons and spirits that

were called forth by King Solomon to aid in the construction

of his Temple.

Lamen and Seal of

the Phenex Journal


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The Phenex Journal is published quarterly on the solstice

and equinox by members of the IAO Lodge.

2006, All writings, art, and graphics are copyrighted by theirattributed authors and may not be reproduced without consent.

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

Editor/Graphics:

Kevin Leon Thompson

Assistant Editors:Katie McCarley

Bron A. Rightmire

For submissions, comments,

or more information:

www.illuminism.org/phenex

Phenex JournalP.O. Box 2164

Crystal Beach, Tx 77650

TABLE OF CONTENTS

History of the Western Esoteric Tradition 4

Poetry: Phenex Rising 18

Aleister Crowley: Agent of Evolution 19

Art:Wings of a Daemon 25

Vol I

Issue I

July 21

2006 EV


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New Testament- more than just hints of an Egyptian influence. The

Ten Commandments, sections of the Book of Proverbs, the story of

the resurrection of Christ, the Holy Trinity and countless other

biblical tales and teachings are nearly identical to many earlywritings found in the Holy Books of Ancient Egypt.

1

Ancient Egyptian influence on the origins of Judeo-Christianity

constitutes a large study within the western esoteric tradition. One

only begins to understand what Judeo-Christianity represents when

one discovers its influences and predecessors. We find this

Egyptian influence at the very foundations of Judaism, when over

thirty-five hundred years ago, Moses, an Egyptian noble and priest,

led an entourage of his religious followers into the Sinai peninsula.Here they encountered several Semitic (Hebrew) tribes living on

the fringes of the Egyptian empire.2

Shortly thereafter, Moses set

out to unite these tribes and his followers by blending the mysteries

of their local God with those of his Egyptians. Tradition teaches

that his work began to take shape with the reception of the Ten

Commandments on Mount Sinai. Historians have shown us

however, that these are simply reinterpretations of the creed of the

judged from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Regardless of their

origin, these commandments laid forth the foundations onto whichthe religion of Judaism would be constructed.

3

Amen, the Egyptian

God whose name is

still invoked at the

end of Jewish and

Christian prayer.

Ancient Egypt: The Foundation

The majority of the western esoteric

movements trace their earliest origins and

teachings back to the great mystery schools

of Ancient Egypt, founded over four

thousand years ago. These esoteric colleges

served as gathering places for priests,

philosophers, and astronomers alike-

bringing together the greatest minds from

throughout the empire. It was from these

first mystery schools that many of the holy

books of Ancient Egypt emerged.

Through their contributions to theology andphilosophy, these Egyptian scholars forged

the foundations of our western religions and

cultures. We can find throughout both Judaic

and Christian scripture from the Torah to the


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into the desert to establish communal societies of worship. Though

the Essenes used many of the same holy books as the other Judaic

sects, it was their interpretation that eventually led to their

persecution and rejection from the religious authorities of the

period.

During the time of Maccabean and Roman rule over Israel, in the

first and second century BCE, the Essenes and their leadersbecame subject to a constant persecution. It was during this

persecution that the Teacher of Righteousness arose and

prophecies of a coming war between the Sons of Light (the

Essenes and their devotees) and the Sons of Darkness (Rome and

the false Judaic preists). These prophecies would later partially

hold true with the second Roman invasion by Titus Andronicus in

66CE, which shortly thereafter resulted in the destruction of the

Second Temple. This invasion is the most likely reason as to whythe Essenes buried their scrolls and holy books in the caves

surrounding their community at Qumran, near the Dead Sea.

With their lands in constant turmoil, the Essenes adopted a belief

in dualism and the rejection of this world as malicious. The Essenic

adepts were taught to rise above the material world of their

physical self in pursuit of a direct metaphysical and personal

experience with divinity. This became the predominant factor in all

of the later Gnostic communities. Many of the authors of the Dead

Sea Scrolls freely admit that their revelations and teachings cameto them by means of this form of personal illumination.

Fragment of the Habakkuk

Scroll discovered at Qumran

Essenes: A Mystical Judaism

In the second temple period

(520BCE-70CE) Judaism was

separated into three separate orders or

sects: the Sadducees, Pharisees, and

Essenes. The Sadducees were made up

of the aristocratic families, the

Pharisees constituted the peasant and

lower classes, while outside of the

mainstream classes and aristocracy

laid the Essenes. These Essenes

practiced a much older mystical form

of Judaism and separated themselvesfrom the other orders by retreating


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Prior to the excavation of the Qumran caves and the discovery of

the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1945, little was known of the Essenes

traditions, teachings, or way of life. We have learned a great deal

and still have much more to learn about these pious priests. What

can now be postulated with confidence is that the Teacher of

Righteousness and the Essenic communities were in many ways

direct predecessors to Christs teachings and the early Gnostic

communities.

to fifth century Christian, Judaic, and Hermetic groups though

diverse in there beliefs were designated collectively as Gnostics,

due to their pursuit of gnosis or divine knowledge. Rather than

accepting God on faith alone, these mystics sought union with

divinity thru mediation and ritual practice. A common attribute

among many of there teachings was that the true God was not the

creator of this world, rather the Gnostics saw the world as being

created and controlled by a lesser God, or demiurge. Becoming asChrist or obtaining Gnosis was the way to set us free from this

ruler.

It is unfortunate that the discovery of the NHL was plagued with

a bit of a disaster. Unearthed by two poor peasants, Muhammad

and Khalifah Ali, who thought they had discovered gold or jewels,

were disappointed to open one of the jars and realize they were

wrappings of papyrus scrolls. Ali was soon murdered and his

widow, believing the scrolls were worthless burnt several parts of

them in the oven. Fortunately, neighbors and friends bartered and

Gnostic God of Light Abraxas,

the central figure of Jungs

Seven Sermons to the Dead

Gnosticism:

Pursuit of the Hidden Christ

Many of the most illuminating

religious scriptures of westernreligion are those that originated

from the diverse sects of early

Gnosticism. In 1945, whole

collections of their writings were

found buried in the desert outside of

the small town of Naj Hammadi,

Egypt. This collection became

attributed to a wide-range of first


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purchased the remaining scrolls for practically nothing. Eventually

they ended up landing in the hands of private dealers, the Egyptian

Department of Antiquities, the Cairo Museum, and luckily, the

Swiss psychologist Dr. Carl Jung, who in his youth had composed

his own Gnostic Gospel entitled The Seven Sermons to the Dead.4

Jungs team quickly went to work translating his codex and it was

published between 1956 and 1975. The codex was then sent to the

Coptic Museum in Egypt, where today the entire NHL is

conserved. A complete English translation of the Naj Hammadi

was published in 1977 and with it, a rebirth of Gnostic philosophy

began to take shape.

With the discovery of the Naj Hammadi Library, the true origins

and teachings of Christianity are becoming clearer. The message of

Christ is no longer bound to simply the Canonical New Testament.In the NHL, we find many esoteric teachings that directly

contradict those the church has repeatedly used in creating their

own Dogma around Christs message, it is of no wonder why over

the ages they have attempted to destroy these documents with such

zeal. This rare find sheds valuable insight into those formative

years of Christianity and have become an invaluable resource to

both theology and philosophy alike.

Dr. Carl Jung, who many consider the father of modernGnosticism, made the assessment that Christianitys survival was

dependent upon the acceptance of its lingering Gnostic shadow.

Jung knew whole-heartedly that these early Gnostics possessed

knowledge of the soul that far surpassed that of the current western

man. He also believed he had found a link between modern man

and the early Gnostics in the form of the proto-chemistry of

Alchemy.5

Alchemy: An Occult Science

This mysterious science involved the transmutation of base metals

into gold by the means of a magickal element known as the Lapis

Philosophorum or Philosophers Stone. Though alchemy did not

simply involve the worldly science of gold making, it was also an

undertaking in the pursuit of divinity. Alchemists merged their

experiments with ancient Hermetic6

rituals and meditations as a

means of blessing and focusing their will into the experiment. For


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these reasons, it became known as the Great Work; just as the

lesser metals in which they worked with would become

transformed into gold, they too would become transformed into

something more rare and valuable, the divine man.

to rescue the nation from bankruptcy following the hundred years

war. Even the founder of modern science, Isaac Newton, was so

enwrapped in Alchemy that he filled his personal library withhundreds of treatises on the subject. His famous parable whatever

goes up, must come down can easily be interpreted as the ancient

alchemical-hermetic principle of As Above, So Below.

Dr. Carl Jungs studies in alchemy led him to the realization that

its many esoteric symbols and allegorical artworks were

projections of the unconscious mind unto matter. Jung concluded

that alchemy was not simply the transmutation of base metals into

gold; it also involved a spiritual transcendence of man.Modern Spiritual Alchemists have learned the lessons of Dr.

Jung. Having all but abandoned the transmutation of metals, neo-

alchemists have mainly focused their will strictly upon

transcendence. However, the search for the Philosophers Stone has

not ended. The recent scientific research involving monatomic

metals has caused several theorists to reevaluate certain

possibilities of material alchemy.7

The Four Elements & the

Three Alchemical Principals

Alchemy was originally founded in

ancient Egypt, and was undertaken

throughout the Dark and Middle Ages

but the science wouldnt reach its peak

in popularity until the late fourteenth

and fifteenth centuries. It was during

this period that countless alchemists

came to achieve both fame and fortune

etching their names into the history of

Europe. The fifteenth century Frenchalchemist Nicholas Flamel amassed a

considerably great wealth, funding

dozens of churches and hospitals.

Another Frenchman, Jacques Coeur,

allegedly used his alchemical fortune


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Various esoteric historians have stated these Qabalistic teachings

originally stem from an earlier Judaic esoteric practice called the

Merkavah or path of the seven chariots, which seems likely to have

been practiced in many of the Essenic and Gnostic communities. It

appears that sometime before the first century these Merkavists

began blending their own Judaic philosophy with teachings similar

to those of early Greek Pythagoreans to create the first forms of theQabalah.

The Qabalah to this day remains one of the most complete

systems of esoteric education. The Qabalistic method constitutes a

meditative and philosophical path to the divine knowledge of God

by ascending what is called 'The Tree of Life'. In the text the

Sepher Yetzirah, the creation of the earth from the heavens is

described by means of ten numerical emanations. These ten

emanations are arranged onto the Tree as sephiroths or mandalas,which are connected by twenty-two branches, each representing a

letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Both the sephiroth and branches are

ascribed certain philosophical and theological attributes. It is

through the reflection of these attributes unto one another that the

Qabalist gradually ascends the Tree, thus attaining a further

knowledge and understanding of divinity.

Throughout history Hermetics, Alchemists, Gnostics, and

Esoteric Christians have all adopted the teachings of the Qabalah

and greatly expanded on the tradition. This long-standing esoteric

Qabalah: Bridge of the West

In the early middle ages, Jewish mystics

known as Qabalists began establishing

themselves throughout Europe. TheseQabalists formed various educational

orders and academies to promote and teach

their unique system of mysticism. The

oldest writings regarding what we know of

as the Qabalah are found in the Sepher

Yetzirah, or Book of Formations. Hebrew

scholars have dated the origins of this text

to around the first or second century,

though none of the original manuscripts

have been discovered.Tree of Life Diagram.


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system now serves as a bridge between the religions of the west, as

we have seen practitioners from many different theologies and

philosophies all contribute to both its preservation and

advancement.

Cathar reform would meet a disastrous end.

At the time, the Languadoc region of France was considered a

separate principality from the French throne and many nobles in

the region were working to form a new kingdom. While the Frenchthrone was loyal to Catholicism, these nobles found it fitting to ally

themselves with their regional religion of Catharism. The Vatican

viewed Catharism as a form of heresy due to its close similarity to

the early sects of Gnosticism and in 1218, with support from the

French thrown, the church instigated what became known as the

Albigensian crusade, named after the Langudeoc stronghold of

Albigenes.

Thirty thousand crusaders swept through the hills, valleys, and

mountains for the next twenty years slaughtering hundreds of

thousands of fellow Christians. The Cathars and allied nobles

resisted to the end when, in 1246, their final major stronghold, the

mountaintop castle of Montsegur, fell to the invading armies after

ten months of siege. Rather than renounce their so-called heresy,

over two hundred Cathars willingly chose martyrdom and

surrendered themselves to the crusaders. They were all burnt alive.

Interestingly, the Languedoc region of France was also home to

many members of the Knights Templar, the order of famed warriormonks who fought in the crusades for the holy land but refused to

The Cathars:

Albigensian Crusade

In the eleventh century, the old

Gnostic tradition began raising its

head throughout the southern France

region of Langudeoc as a movement

known as Catharism began gaining

significant ground against theCatholic Church there. The Cathars

were preaching a reformation of

Christianity over four hundred years

before the Protestants; unfortunately,

The Cathars mountaintop

stronghold of Montsegur.


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take part in the Albigenisan Crusade. Several groups of Templars

even denounced it as false and unholy and hundreds of Templar

knights secretly fought alongside the Cathars, which likely helped

fuel the later tensions between the Vatican and the Order. Within

seventy years the Inquisition would be formed to destroy the

Knights Templar, they would face the same charges as the Cathars,

practitioners of heresy.

historians that the order, while excavating the catacombs deepbeneath the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, discovered various

items, including holy relics, much of the lost treasures of King

Solomon, esoteric scriptures predating the destruction of the

Second Temple, and possibly even genealogies showing a

continuation of the Davidic bloodline. Most, if not all, of these

items had been concealed in these underground chambers prior to

both the earlier Babylonian and later Roman invasions.

After the fall of Jerusalem in 1166 to the Saracens, the knightscontinued in prosperity throughout Europe becoming one of the

most powerful organizations the world had yet seen.

Commissioning dozens of Chapels, Cathedrals, and Hospitals, they

were given the highest respect by both the nobles of Europe and

the Vatican for nearly two centuries. In spite of this on Friday the

13th

, 1307, the order nearly saw its death when many of its

members including the Grand Master, Jacques Demolay, became

some of the first to feel the fury of the hands of the Inquisition. The

King of France, Phillip IV, who was extremely jealous of theTemplars influence and wealth, conspired with Pope Clement V,

Seal of the Knights Templar

depicting two knights riding

together into battle.

Knights Templars:

Guardians of the Temple

The Knights Templar, officially called

the Poor Knights of Christ and theTemple of Solomon, were the guardians

of the Temple mount following the first

crusade in 1099. Officially established

in 1118 by Lord Bullion, the knightlyorder becomes heirs to much of the

knowledge, secrets, and relics of the

western tradition. It has been

suggested rather convincingly by


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who issued a commandment that the order be arrested on charges

of heresy; hundreds of knights would be tortured and executed.

By 1314, the order in full retreat from the Inquisition, found a

safe haven in Robert the Bruces Scotland, Bruce had just

previously been excommunicated and welcomed their support.

There they played an important role in the Bruces victory of the

Battle of Bannockburn which herald Scottish Independence from

the English throne. With the order still unable to raise its head into

the open because of an ever-heightening Inquisition, they

eventually separated into different knighthoods and began forming

secret societies. Several of these societies continue to stretch their

influence and teachings into the modern era, of these the

Rosicrucians and Freemasons have remained the most notable.

Esoteric Societies:

Rosicrucians and Freemasonry

In 1614 the first of three manifestos were issued to the academics

of the European world. These books were an allegorical tale of a

mythical Gnostic philosopher by the name of Christian

Rosenkreutz. The documents emerged from an esoteric society

known as the Rosicrucians that legend indicates was founded in

In the years following these publications, Rosicrucian thought

began taking a center stage throughout Europe and came to play a

crucial hand in the reformation. In 1717, groups of self-styled

The Rosy Cross, symbol of

the Rosicrucian Order

the late fourteenth century. The actual

author of the first and second

manifestos has remained a mystery. It

has been postulated to be a number of

individuals, including the writer

Francis Bacon and the occultist John

Dee, though both of these seem

unlikely candidates. The third of thesemanifestos, The ChymicalWedding of

Christian Rosenkreutz was published

in 1616; historians attribute this work

to the German Theologian, John

Valentine Adrea, who admitted he had

composed it.


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Freemasons, somewhat involved with Rosicrucianism (many of

whose predecessors may have been responsible for the great

cathedrals adorning the old Europe skyline), united several of their

lodges under a Grand Lodge in London. The Freemasons quickly

spread their influence and began operating throughout the rest of

Europe and in the Americas as well. In todays higher

Freemasonry, much of the symbolism of its historical origins can

be found in the degrees of Knights of the Rose Cross and Knights

Templar.8

Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry since their conception were

devised as systems of service and education based around the

philosophy of their forefathers- the Knights Templar. However

several of the current orders, rites, and lodges have since lost the

secrets to the knowledge they were supposed to maintain by fallingvictim to greed, pride, and an ignorance of their historical

identities. Many groups do still hold the keys to the wisdom of the

Templars and the old saying fits, Dont throw away the whole

batch because of a few bad apples. In the last four hundred years

it has been the Rosicrucians and Freemasons who have helped

maintain the underground stream and in doing so have done a great

deal to advance the Western Esoteric Tradition.

most important contributors in history to the Western Esoteric

Tradition. Founded by Masonic and Rosicrucian adepts William

Westcott and Macgregor Mathers, the Hermetic Golden Dawn

came to attract many of the most famous names of the period.

Including the writers William Butler Yeats, Bram Stoker, Arthur

Edward Waite, and the often-misunderstood Aleister Crowley.

Seal of the Hermetic Order of

the Golden Dawn

The Golden Dawn:

Modern Occultists

In the late nineteenth century, it

was the mythical allure of London,

England, that became the major

meeting place for esotericists and

occultists. Here an order ofRosicrucian Qabalists known as the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,

though short lived became one of the


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The Golden Dawn would forever be etched into the history of

esotericism after a one time student and secretary of Crowleys, Dr.

Israel Regardie, published the complete rites and teachings of the

lower and middle grades of the order after the demise of its last

original branch in the 1930s. Though deeply criticized at the time

for doing this, Dr. Regardie viewed it as necessary since many of

the hidden teachings of the western tradition were in danger of

becoming lost forever.

This eight-volume set of the writings of the Golden Dawn and

Israel Regardies several companion works make up a complete

system of western esoteric philosophy. Today over one hundred

years after the founding of the G.D., most of the modern Hermetic

orders and many Rosicrucian societies continue to use these

publications as a basis for their outer teachings. Regardies workhas proven itself as one of the primary reasons as to why modern

occultism is reaching such a level of popularity and acceptance.

The Esoteric Reformation

With the recent overwhelming success of books and films like the

DaVinci Code, National Treasure, and the neo-Gnostic myth The

Matrix Trilogy, we find a younger generation is being introducedto many of the arcane traditions and ideas of the west. We are

witnessing the emergence of an esoteric subculture unlike any

before it; this is quickly becoming one of the more profound

philosophical movements of our era.

In our modern age, one realizes that knowledge, will, and

tolerance are becoming our highest virtues, faith still exists but as a

faith in humanity and ourselves, not in divine judgment. A religion

of this age must be models of these virtues and this way ofthinking. The esoteric traditions have always upheld this

philosophy and are now finding a comfortable place in time. New

institutes, colleges, and orders dedicated to the continuation and

preservation of this age-old wisdom have raised their heads in spite

of ongoing church efforts to denounce and destroy them. It is truer

today than in 150CE when Catholic Bishop Iraneus9

wrote in

regards to the Gnostics,

They sprout like mushrooms and fight like hydras.


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Notes:1. There is also a considerable amount of influence of Babylonian mythology in

the Old Testament, the most basic examples of this are the legends of The

Garden of Eden, the Great Flood of Noah, and the Tower of Babel. However, in

their original form each of these myths are slightly different than their biblical

counterparts. It is likely that when the Judaic people were enslaved in Babylonduring the fifth and six centuries B.C. that they begin interpreting these legends

into their own mythology. When they were freed from Babylon they brought

their new myths with them.

2. There is absolutely no archaeological evidence proving that the Egyptians had

ever enslaved the Hebrew people, as the bible states. These stories were likely

brought into their mythology following their enslavement by the Babylonians

around the fifth and six century B.C. See first note.

3. In Chapter 125 of the Egyptian Book of the Dead there is a recitation of anancient Egyptian moral code which is near identical to several of the of the Ten

Commandments from the Book of Exodus. This is just one of many examples of

Egyptian influence in Judeo-Christian scripture.

4.-The Seven Sermons to the Dead by Dr. Carl Jung was composed in 1916 in

one of the oddest incidents of the famed psychologists career. The work is

allegedly a channeling by Dr. Jung of the second century Gnostic philosopher

Basildes of Alexandria. In the Seven Sermons, Jung as Basildes explains the true

nature of the Gnostic God of Light Abraxas to a host of spirits questioning the

reality of god.

5. The name Alchemy derives from the Arabic term Al-Khemi, which occultist

Aleister Crowley stated means, that which pertains to Egypt. Tradition tells us

that Alchemy did derive from Egypt and was one of the many sciences founded

by Thoth or Hermes. See next footnote.

6. Hermeticism is a pre-christian Gnostic philosophy originating in Graeco-

Egypt, founded on the teachings of one Hermes Trismegistus, a mythological

prophet and scribe of the gods. Hermes was identified as Trismegistus meaning

Thrice-Great for being a master of all arts, sciences, and crafts. The Hermeticts

also viewed the Roman god Mercury and the Egyptian God Thoth as different

manifestations of Hermes. During and just prior to the Renaissance, intellects,artists, and alchemists, each studied the concepts of Hermeticism, and Hermes

Book of Exodus

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord

thy God in vain.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife.

Ch. 125 Book of the Dead

I have not reviled God.

I have not cursed God.

I have not slain man or woman.

I have not stolen.

I have not adultered.I have not violated any mans wife.


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Trismegistus became accepted as one of the three great religious teachers in

history that predated Christ; Moses and Zoraster being the other two.

7.-Esoteric author Laurence Gardner in his book Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark

writes extensively over the subject of Alchemy and the Philosophers Stone in

relationship to the scientific research involving monatomic metals. Anyoneinterested in the possibilities of material Alchemy may find the research and

experiments discussed in this book of great value.

8. Freemasonry is devised of several different rites each operating on its own

structure of degrees and forms of esoteric education. In the thirty-two degree

structure of the Scottish Rite an eighteenth degree initiate is known as a Knight

of the Rose Cross, the ninth and highest degree of the York Rite is a Knight

Templar.

9. Bishop Iraneus was a propagandist of the Catholic Church in the secondcentury and spent much of his life rooting out and investigating the Gnostic

Heresies. He composed five books criticizing the Gnostics, explaining why they

are heretics, and the reasons they are damned. Not surprisingly, these books

showed a distorted view of many of the early Gnostic movements and it is rather

unfortunate that with so few first hand accounts historians have had to rely on

works like Iraneus.

BibliographyJonas, Hans. The Gnostic Religion. Boston, Massachutes, 1958.

Hoeller, Stephen. Jung and the Lost Gospels Insights into the Dead Sea

Scrolls and Naj Hammdi Texts. Wheaton, Illoinis, 1989.

Murphy, Tim Wallace and Hopkins, Marilyn. Rosslyn: Guardians of the

Holy Grail. Boston, Massachutes, 1990.

Regardie Israel. The Golden Dawn 6th

Edition. St. Paul, Minnesota, 1989.

Robinson, John. The Naj Hammadi Library 3rd

Edition. New York, New

York, 1990.

Smoley, Richard and Kinney, Jay.Hidden Wisom: A Guide to the

Western Inner Traditions. New York, New York, 1999.

Yates, Francis. The Occult Philosophy. London, England, 1979


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I was burnt as a martyr

And knowledge was my sin

But Im rising from the ashes

To renew myself again

And Im seeking to avenge

The dead Basildean

I cast my seed into the desert

A millennia ago

And now a tree of knowledgeHas just begun to grow

Watered underground

By a stream that always flows

Though blocked by many dams

It has never seemed to slow

Now the tree has taken root

And Im perched atop its peekGuarding it from hylics

And those who are too weak

To understand and know

Exactly where to seek

To taste forbidden fruit

Each day of every week


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It is often that those whom stand in opposition to social norms

become the scapegoats of society. It never fails that the freethinker

is branded as a heretic. During the nineteen twenties and thirties -while a young Adolf Hitler began to plot and scheme- post

Victorian England had its finger pointing not at the future Fuehrer,

but a young poet and literary by the name of Aleister Crowley.

Aleister had made it his lifes mission to fuck with both the

Christian authorities and their social values through his own

means, occultism.

There have been numerous biographies written over Aleister and

a short essay like this will not be able to give the mans story thejustice that it deserves. I will simply try to provide a basic

assessment of the mans life and his evolution. For those who are

more interested I suggest the books Perdurabo, by Richard

Kazyinski or Crowleys own Autobiography Confessions.

A.C., as he is often referred to, was born as Alexander Edward

Crowley on October 12, 1875, just six months after the death of

famed occultist Eliphas Levi. Aleister would later stake a claim

that he was the reincarnation of Levi. During his youth and untilhis fathers death in 1887, Aleister lived exclusively amongst the

During his teenage years A.C. bounced between numerous tutors

and boarding schools, he excelled in chess and became a devout

lover of all kinds of outdoor activities. At twenty he entered Trinity

College at Cambridge as a literary student, hoping to one day

either become a poet or chess master. Here at Cambridge, he was

introduced to mountain climbing and the study of occultism, two

different subjects he met head on. However, Crowley eventually

abandons mountain climbing, his chess aspirations, and even

Aleister Crowleys

Mark of the Beast

Plymouth Brethren, a sect of fundamentalist

Christians. He was often such a delinquent to

their strict doctrines that his mother referred to

him as The Great Beast. A title that would come

to mean a great deal to Aleister, who during his

later life would style himself under the pen

name To Mega Therion, Greek for the Great

Wild Beast.


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Cambridge to dedicate himself more exclusively to what he felt

was his true calling in life, Occult Studies.

In 1898, A.C. was initiated into the Hermetic Order of the Golden

Dawn under the sponsorship of an adept named George Cecil

Jones, who Aleister remained a loyal friend to for many years. The

Golden Dawn, which is one of the more famous occult societies of

together under his leadership sent Aleister as an envoy to the

London lodge, where he wasnt received warmly. Feeling betrayed

by Mathers for using him as a pawn, Aleister left the Golden Dawn

and began travels to Mexico, Japan, and China in 1901. While in

China he began a pursuit into Oriental studies under the tutelage of

another fellow G.D. initiate, Alan Bennet. In October of 1901,

Aleister attained the rare yogic meditative state of Dharaya and

having succeeded in his original intentions withdrew himself fromhis Yogic studies at this time. The following year he set off on an

expedition to climb Chogo Ri (K2) in the Himalayas, where he

surprisingly set both an ascension and time record on the

mountain. He wouldnt return home to Scotland until spring of

1903.

In 1904, Aliester married his first wife Edith Rose Kelly, the

sister of the famous philosopher Gerald Kelly. It was upon their

honeymoon in Cairo, Egypt, that Aleister, who had only on rare

occasions performed magick in the last four years decided on the

The Hermetic Rose Cross,

worn by initiates of the G.D.

history, included amongst its

membership, Bram Stoker, William

Butler Yeats, and the actress Annie

Horniman. A.C. established a

friendship and became the student of

one of the Golden Dawns principle

founders, Samual Macgregor

Mathers. He quickly advancedthough the Golden Dawn grade work

and the 16th

of January 1900, was

granted admission into the even

more pristine inner order of the G.D.,

called the Red Rose and Golden

Cross. By this time, the Golden

Dawn was in turmoil and schism.

Mathers, attempting to hold the order


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spur of the moment to attempt showing Rose the sylphs or air

sprits. He used his favorite invocation for the operation, the

Bornless Ritual of the Augoeides or Higher Genius. While briefly

visiting Egypt the previous autumn he had used the same

invocation to fill the Kings Chamber at Khufu with astral light.

Well Rose didnt see the Sylphs as intended or any astral light but

did fall into a deep trance and kept repeating, All Osiris. Its about

the Child. Theyre Waiting.

This original channeled message from Rose led to a series of

events in Cairo that would forever change Crowleys outlook and

mission in life. Rose commanded Crowley to enter the make-shift

Temple in their Cairo flat on three consecutive days at noon.

During each of these days April 8th, 9th, and 10th, Crowley

received a dictatation from what he described as a Praeter-HumanIntelligence named Aiwass. Aiwass communicated to Crowley one

chapter each day of a text that became called theBook of the Law.

The books basic claim was that the Aeon of Osiris, that of the

Dying God, which represented the previous two-thousand years of

human history was no more. A New Aeon was upon us, the Age of

the Crowned and Conquering child, Horus. The book also

proclaimed the establishment of a simple set of religious and

philosophical commandments that would govern the next twothousand years, called the Law of Thelema.

Thelema, which is Greek for will, stood in opposition to the law

of Christianity, which was based on faith. The Law of Thelema is

summed up in theBook of the Law in three verses:Do what thou

wilt shall be the whole of the Law, There is no law Beyond do what

thou wilt, and Love is the law, love under will. These three

commandments suggested that the means of illumination lies in

discovering ones true will, and that the individual who discoversthis fills their life with love. Unfortunately this code of conduct has

been constantly misinterpreted as Do what you want. It needs to

be stated here that Will and Wants seldom coincide with one

another.

Aleister at first rejected theBook of the Law and upon returning

to Scotland stored it away in the attic of his house on Lockness

Lake. For the next five years Crowley continued enflaming himself

in the studies in Occultism, Yoga, and comparative religion. In

1909, Aleister recovered the book from his attic and upon reading


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it felt stunned and embarrassed that he had denied its message for

so long. He came to the realization that this was the testament of

his true will, to develop the religion of the New Aeon. By this time

he had also attained initiation from his original Golden Dawn

sponsor into the highest order of the occult tradition, the A:.A:.

has now become one of the most educational, grounded, and

beloved studies of Occult Science to date.

The next twenty eight years of Crowleys life was spent further

formulating, establishing, and promoting Thelema and his form of

Occult Science, or as he termed it, Scientific Illuminism. He woulddo this not only through the A:.A:. but also via another

organization, the Ordo Templi Orientis.

In 1912, Theodur Reuss the Grandmaster of the O.T.O. and the

Memphis-Misraim Rite of Freemasonry approached Aleister.

Reuss, claimed that Aleister had published the secrets of the

O.T.O. in one of his publications called theBook of Lies. Crowley

at the time being only an outer initiate of the O.T.O. and not

having ever been revealed the O.T.O.s secrets was sort ofdumbfounded as to what the hell Reuss was talking about. Theodor

then pointed out to Crowley several specific verses from hisBook

of Lies. Crowley later recalled how at that moment the hidden

secrets of the worlds spiritual traditions dawned on him. It was the

ideas of sex magick, or tantra, that was the universal symbolism in

all the religions.

Crowley accepted further initiations into the O.T.O. and took the

magickal name Baphomet. He was admitted as an outer head of the

order and given the responsibility of governing all O.T.O. initiates

Admission into the A:.A:. gave

Crowley the permission to establish his

own lineage of the outer Golden Dawn

and Red Rose and Golden Cross

orders. He immediately went to work

rewriting the orders teachings and

bringing them into alignment with the

Book of the Law. The primary reading

curriculum for these new orders werepublished in the form of a bi-yearly

ournal called, The Equinox. The

first ten-issue volume of this journal

Official Seal of the A:.A:.

Fraternity of the Silver Star


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in the English-speaking world. In 1922, when Reuss suffered a

stroke and could longer fulfill his duties and responsibilities to the

order, Aleister was proclaimed the Grandmaster of the O.T.O. by a

council of its high ranking initiates.

With the O.T.O. and A:.A:. allied under him and each

promulgating the ideas of Thelema, Crowley had begun to etch his

New Aeon philosophy into immortality. He would continue to

further his ideas and theories, writing endlessly until his death in

1947. By his late life Aleister had bankrupted himself trying to get

his various books published and spent the last ten years of his life

living in a moderate poverty. However, this did not diminish his

creative drive. His last great work was a cooperative effort with

one of his students Frieda Harris on a new set of Tarot Cards, these

were to be the most abundant in occult symbolism yet. The set wasfinished just months before his death and contain various forms of

cubist artwork, which at times borderlines on psychedelic. They

were decades ahead of their time and in many occultists opinion

are Crowleys greatest masterpiece.

Occult works have hardly ever been on best-seller lists, especially

in the early twentieth century. But selling books and making

money wasnt Crowleys gig. At times Crowley didnt even have

enough money to purchase copies of his own books. If it were notfor the abundant interest in Occultism today it would be easy to

just brush Crowley aside as a footnote in history. However, since

his death his books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and

his philosophical/religious system of Thelema is estimated as

having nearly quarter million adherents worldwide.

In fact much of the new age movement is simply an offshoot of

Thelema. Gerald Gardner, the founder of Wicca, which is by far

the largest New Age movement, may have even hired Crowley tocompose part of his Book of Shadows. Gardner was a lower

initiate of the O.T.O. and it is known that obtained from Crowley

an O.T.O. lodge charter that was never used. Ron L. Hubbard the

founder of Scientology admitted he was inspired by Crowley, and

was even a short-time colleague of Aleisters student, Jack

Parsons, the rocket scientist and founder of Jet Propulsion Labs.

Even Timothy Leary, the Harvard Psychologist and leader of the

sixties psychedelic revolution so admired Crowley that he named

him as one of the twentieth-centuries Agents of Evolution.


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Throughout his life, and even after death Aleister was called

many things including a heretic, drug-addict, charlatan, and

megalomaniac. At one time English tabloids even penned him as

the Wickedest Man in the World. However, those who have

shown so much disrespect to the man have rarely read any of his

works. I tend to agree with what Leary said about him, he was an

Agent of Evolution, and should be remembered and even admired

as such.

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law

Love is the law, love under will

There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt!

~Liber Al Vel Legis

The above image is one of the better known of Crowley, having been

reproduced in various biographies. If the image is copyrighted,please contact us, we are willing to remove it upon request.


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For I am knowledge and ignoranceI am shame and boldness

I am shameless yet ashamed

I am strength and I am fear

I am war and I am peace

Give heed to me

For I am the one who is disgraced

and the great one.

~The Thunder: Perfect Mind3rdCentury Gnostic text


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