kaos

I can fully understand the negative view of the last paragraph of Waite which is quoted
by Mr Day. However, what I object to is the simple lack of effort made in the use of the
ritual of the 18 th degree. It is left as a fundamentally Christian degree with some novelty
effects. You would think that the founder of a new aeon would have had a better stab at
originality. After all why does Crowley need freemasonry at all—shouldn’t the oto be
something that strives for a new formulation of ritual? As it is the oto 5 th degree
adequately prepares the candidates for the shit that lies at the culmination of the 11°.
It is also pertinent to address the endless folly of the Knight Templar myth. Crowley
among many others failed to fully understand that the legend of the Templars was an
outer form of an altogether different struggle. As you know each of the apostles founded
an apostolic succession (or Church). Peter founded the see of Rome but John established
the esoteric church from the teaching he received directly. Both the Petrine and Joannine
churches worked from the Vatican and have influenced the Papacy. However, while the
Pope has emerged from either succession there has been, and always will be, a separate
Successor of John. The divergence between both factions was at its greatest during the
Avingnon Papacy when France took control of the Petrine church. At that time de
Molay was promoted as an opponent of Clement V. The Templars retrieved an object,
or objects, during the 1 st Crusade and returned them to Rome. They were neither held
nor transmitted through the Templar Order. The various oriental influences on their
practices and their immense wealth have been confused with these original artefacts.
By the way Joel, I looked at the book you mentioned on the Templar “Head” [The
Head of God by Keith Laidler—Ed]. It suggested that the proportions of the body
represented on the Turin shroud indicated that the Head was placed on a neckless
corpse and that this head was that which was allegedly worshipped by the Templars. In
the conclusion it was explained that the most “logical” explanation was that this head
was the embalmed head of Christ. Oh Dear. Going to all the trouble of writing a book
to come up with that. Do I need to describe the rest? It led me to that little diatribe
against the Templar faction, as I realised that this was the oto Achilles heel. Whatever
one feels about the current generated by Crowley it does to me seem strange that he felt
the necessity to align it with a small fringe masonic order (well yes he did need the
money and enjoyed the deference). However, he left a problematic legacy in that his
move could only be credible if the oto represented a hidden occult order that had
succeeded the Order of the Temple. Undermine that connection and by extension it
undermines the whole Thelemic edifice. The reason to my mind is that if the oto is
induced to respond to the allegation that their Templar inheritance is a fraud there is
no convincing reply other than the wilder fantasies of the Lincoln/Baigent variety (we
are back to the cypher manuscript controversy). Their invective will become more shrill
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