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Thelemic Symposium 2024 equinox 21 September

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Reviving Tradition: The Oxford Symposium’s Return

After a decade of “silence” the celebrated Oxford symposium rides again, as always a meeting place for the many diverse threads that make the tapestry that is Thelemic magick. Ancient but also post-modern, a style set in motion by the mage Aleister Crowley in our age. Whatever the faults of the first prophet, the symposium aims to be diverse, non-sectarian, inclusive, inspiring, and fun.

Guiding Lights: Mogg Morgan and Sef Salem

Your hosts Mogg Morgan and Sef Salem have curated a potent mix of workshops, presentations, and rituals. 

Mystical Journeys: Chapman’s Angelic Insights

For instance, Alan Chapman, a full-time teacher for fifteen years, guided hundreds of would-be initiates through the reality and myths of profound spiritual practice and experience – traditionally known as the Great Work. Hours of free retreat talks can be found at barbarouswords.com.

 Chapman shares twenty years of mystical experiences. He promises insights into methods, visions, and prophecies.

Chapman authored “Magia” and other works. He founded Ordo Magia and edits for Aeon Publishing.

Esoteric Evolution: Dr. Angela Puca’s Presentation

Dr. Angela Puca presents “From Thélème to Thelema.” She traces esoteric traditions from Rabelais to Crowley.

This presentation examines the philosophical and esoteric lineage from François Rabelais’ ‘L’Abbaye de Thélème’ to Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic doctrine. By exploring the foundational motto “Fay ce que vouldras” within ‘Gargantua’, we uncover its profound influence on Crowley’s central tenet of “Do what thou wilt”. The discussion contextualises Rabelais’ vision of freedom and natural human inclination within the broader framework of Renaissance humanism and its reinterpretation and application in Crowley’s occultism. Through this comparative analysis, we illuminate the transformation of a literary utopia into a spiritual ethos, highlighting the enduring impact of Rabelais’ work on modern esoteric traditions. “Dr Angela Puca is a university lecturer at Leeds Trinity University and holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in philosophy. In 2021, The University of Leeds awarded her a PhD in Religious Studies, which will soon be published with Brill.

Her research focuses on magic, witchcraft, Paganism, esotericism, shamanism, and related currents.  

Author of several peer-reviewed publications and co-editor of the forthcoming ‘Pagan Religions in five Minutes’ for Equinox, she hopes to bridge the gap between academia and the communities of magic practitioners by delivering related scholarly content on her YouTube Channel and TikTok ‘Angela’s Symposium.’

Serpentine Wisdom: The Morgans’ Egyptian Workshop

Mogg and Diti Morgan introduce a workshop on Egyptian Serpent Power. They’re known as the Morgan Witches.

Mogg pioneered the first Thelemic symposium in the 1980s. Diti developed Aromamagick, inspired by Kenneth Grant’s teachings. Their workshop reconnects Thelemic magick with its Egyptian origins.

The session combines lectures with hands-on experiences. Participants will sample Egyptian magick techniques. These include ancient rituals and serpent channel work.

The Morgans also explore pharaonic magick’s modern remnants. They’ll explain practices like the Egyptian Zar.

A Gathering of Minds: Notable Speakers at the Symposium

This workshop is part of a diverse program. It features notable speakers like:

  • Cavan McLaughlin discussing optimal will manifestation.
  • Caroline Wise delving into Steffi Grant’s life and art.
  • Dr. Halo Quin examines encounters with Babalon.
  • Sef Salem & Societas Astris leading a group ritual.

Daoist Mysteries: Jason Read’s Exclusive Workshop

Jason Read offers a Daoist magic workshop. It’s open to all, regardless of experience. The workshop covers talisman crafting and ‘mana’ generation.

The lineup promises an immersive magical experience.

All this plus a closing ritual, evening entertainment and Social 

For more details on these and others, visit the newly minted Symposium website:


Get your early bird tickets now

 

Serpents everywhere

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The snake charmer/Emil Otto Hoppe

A couple of weeks before Samhain/Day of the Dead, I had an insight.

This year, on our pilgrimage, to visit the ancestors, we going to perform The  Headless ritual in the graveyard. I’m not sure where this insight came from,  perhaps I was reading again too much Crowley’s stuff again.

When I asked M what does he think about performing The Headless ritual for our day of the dead extravaganza, he said it was a good idea and we should give it a go.

Later on that week, I had another insight – we must sing the headless ritual. When I say sing, I meant singing the power words.

The tune that was stuck in my head was – Schuberts’ Ave Maria…

Now, I can sing, not too bad actually, and when I’m really going for it, I can make some very cool shamanic howling, but I’m certainly not Maria Callas.

We arrived at the old farmhouse on Samhain eve, exhausted from the long drive, neither of us feel like performing any ritual, instead, we end up snoozing in front of the TV.

We agreed to do try the next day on our visit to the cemetery.

After a week or so of practising singing the power words, I felt more than ready. 

The next morning, we drove to the cemetery armed with a candle, joss sticks, and a printed version of the Bornless ritual. As soon as we start driving the weather changed from a nice sunny morning into a grey and wet one. As we turned a corner, the most beautiful rainbow appeared and a thought crossed my mind: 

The Serpent and the Rainbow

The Serpent and the Rainbow, our two ancient Haitian serpent deities that probably stand at the top of the Haitian Vodou system.

The serpent – Dambala Wedo is the ancient sky father, he is the origin of life and the ancient source of wisdom. His wife, Ayida Wedo is a water serpent with rainbow-coloured scales and her symbol is the rainbow.

The story goes like that – Dambala Wedo gave rain to the world, as the raindrops fell from the sky they formed a rainbow colour. Danbala fell in love with Ayida the rainbow serpent. They married and joined as a double helix of snakes, giving birth to the human race. (from Vodou Visions by Sallie Ann Glassman).

The rainbow reminded me why the Headless ritual would be good for this particular work (part from the urge to sing it). In the second part of the ritual that sometimes comes under the title ‘Assuming of the God form’, you can find a line that says: My name is a heart encircled by a serpent.  So the headless ritual has a serpent in it and somehow also felt connected to the energies of this time of the year.

The Orphic egg, not exactly a heart, but you get the idea.

By the time we got to the cemetery, it was very wet and we could sense a tempest was coming which reminded us that Set is a storm deity after all, aka the voice of the storm. So we lit the candle and the incense but again, something about the timing of the ritual didn’t feel right, the weather so bad we got back in the car and raced for home.

I was looking for a picture that will capture the essence of the Headless ritual, and my research led me to a very familiar one that can represent the line – My name is a heart encircled by a serpent, but also connected to the double helix formed by the serpent and the rainbow I mentioned earlier.

The more I think and study the picture and my relationship with the deity in it, the realization of why we didn’t get to perform the headless ritual as planned, was sinking in. In my opinion, preparing for a ritual sometimes is just as good and powerful as the performance itself and by the time of the ritual, sometimes you feel that things are already in motion.

For the best part of about 3 weeks, all I did was explore the ritual in so many ways so I would find the best way to sing it. In that period of time, I read it over and over again and sang the words of power numerous times. By the time we arrived at the specific date planned for it, I felt saturated and full. I didn’t want nor feel the need to do it. This resulted in a very quiet and peaceful space in my head, something like the feeling of when a ritual is completed and we say the famous words 

IT IS DONE!

XEPHER!

2 serpents circling up and around the heart

So our friend Baphomet here, got a double helix sort of serpents, possibly symbolizing the rising of the kundalini through the lingam wisdom. Both of the serpents heads point in the direction of the sternum, which is the protector of the heart. 

When we prepare for a ritual, to make it successful, we need to put ‘our heart’ into it, some will say we need to put ‘our heart and soul’, but this can be open for discussion. However, by putting ‘our heart’ into the preparations, we are consumed by the ritual, the more we study we become one with it, and we start to initiate certain elements’ energies and powers into motion, while at the time doing so we are probably not aware of it at all. By the time the day arrives, there is nothing more to do. 

The Bornless One Ritual

“I summon you, Headless One,
Who created earth and heaven,
Who created night and day,
You who created light and darkness;
You are Unas, the beautiful whom none has ever seen;
You are Iabas;
You are Iapos;
You have distinguished the just from the unjust;
You have made female and male;
You have revealed seed and fruits;
You have made men love each other
And hate each other.”
“I am Moses your prophet to whom you have transmitted your mysteries celebrated by Israel; you have revealed the moist and the dry and all nourishment; hear me.”

“I am the messenger of the beautiful Pharaoh Unas
This is your true name,
which has been transmitted to the prophets of Israel.
Hear me, Hear me,
arbathiaô reibet athelebersêth [ara]
blatha albeu ebenphchi chitasgoê ibaôth iaô
Listen to me and turn away this daimon”

“I call upon you, awesome and invisible god with an empty spirit,
arogogo-robraô
sekhmet
modoriô phalarchaô ooo

Holy Headless One. Deliver us
From the daimon which restrains us,
roubriaô mari ôdam baabnabaôth
ass adônai aphniaô
ithôlêth abrasas
aêôôy;
Mighty Headless One,
Deliver us
From the daimons that restrain.
mararraiô ioêl kotha athorêbalo abraôth,

Deliver us:
aôth abraôth basym isak sabaôth iaô”
“He is lord of the gods;
He is the lord of the inhabited world;
He is the one whom the winds fear;
He is the one who made all things
By the commands of his voice.”

“Lord, King, Master, Helper, save the Soul-Ba (Psyche)
ieou pyr
iou pyr
iaôt
iaêô
ioou
abrasax sabriam
oo yy ey oo yy
adônaie,

Immediately, immediately
Good messenger of the God
anlala lai gaia
apa diachanna choryn”

Assumption of the God form

“I am the headless daimon with my sight in my feet;
[I am] the mighty one [who possesses] the immortal fire;
I am the truth who hates the fact that unjust deeds
are done in the world;
I am the one who makes the lightning flash and the thunder roll;
I am the one whose sweat is the heavy rain, which falls upon the earth that it might be inseminated;
I am the one whose mouth burns completely;
I am the one who begets and destroys;
I am the Favour of the Aion;
My name is a heart encircled by a serpent;
Come forth and follow.”

“Subject to me all daimons,
So that every daimon,
Whether of the heavens
Or the air
Or earthly
Or under the earth
Terrestrial or aquatic,
Might be obedient to me
And every enchantment and scourge
Which is from God.”

Closure:

When you want to finish do so by for example repeating the first part of Tankhem opening and then a “license to depart”:
“I release any spirits entrapped by this working,
May you go in peace to your lovely abodes.
Farewell Headless One,
Lord of the inhabited world,
Farewell Akephalos,
The son of Nuit
Leader of the company of heaven in their diurnal motion,
Senebty, great Bull of Ombos.”

After which pour any remaining offerings such as those of the chalice on earth and clear equipment, extinguish lamps etc .

This version of the Bornless ritual was taken from Egyptian magick by Mogg Morgan

***

Inspired by the work of the 4th head, The Serpent, from Apophis by Michael Kelly.

***

Another interesting view on the serpent, you will find in the YouTube link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72T2bW8bkfA

MMM

 

 

Renenutet

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It’s the 8th day after the full moon, Ugraparbah night, a night of radiating terror. The hunger is immense and the knowledge is out there, just reach out and let it flow through you, download it and upgrade yourself. 

So, it’s a day after the last quarter of the moon and finally, the time felt right for the Renanuteth invocation, the Serpent head goddess, the mother of all serpents. We kept delaying it, as she demanded an offering of that intoxicating smoke, one needs to be very certain of time, space and mind to offer it. 

The temple space is ready,  Zar music is playing in the background and on the altar between the burning candles a silver plate with a bunch of dry leaves, our offering, Salvia divinorum.

It’s been a year since we last journeyed into the Salvia dimension and I was very nervous to cross the gates of these ancient strange worlds again.

Some of you know that I’m an experienced traveller in hyperspace and in some of the galaxies and constellations I travelled to, I feel at home, (ayahuasca, mushrooms, peyote, San Pedro, to name a few) but Salvia, is a whole different story. 

We opened the space and read the invocation:

Thōzo pithē etc  (Thermouthe Pythia)

Thermouthē

The doors are open

And seven virgins 

Shall arise from the deep earth

Their garments of purest linen

Their faces those of serpents

You are the fates of heaven

Wielding golden wands

Welcome

Hail thou seven fates of heaven

O noble and good virgins

O sacred ones 

Hail thou chrepsienthaēs?

Hail thou menescheēs

Hail thou mechran!

Hail thou ararmachēs

Hail thou echommiē

Hail thou tichnondaēs

Hail thou erou rombriesē

Hail thou seven

snake-headed goddesses

The fates of heaven

The goddesses who hold the pole in its place

Thozopithe formula

Hail thou bear goddess,

Great one

 ruling heaven. 

Reigning over the pole of the stars. 

Hail Highest one, 

beautiful-shining goddess. 

Whose element is Incorruptible. 

Hail thous Composite of the all, 

The all-illuminating, 

bond of the universe

You who stand on the pole, you who the lord god appointed to turn the holy pole with a strong hand. 

The first offering 

As soon as the first offering is done, I noticed a very subtle movement, like ripples of heat and colour emanating from the altar. I look around the room, there’s a strange glow all around the fireplace.

The colour-heat ripples around the altar are getting bigger and before I realise what is happening a wave of serpent-like fractal shapes and colours are flowing over me. I try to stay calm, letting the serpent aura engulf me. Yeah… stay calm, I keep hearing myself mumbling…

Something is moving along the altar, two serpents, one black and the other colourful.  Both glowing and moving (flowing?) down the altar along the wall towards the fireplace. The coloured serpent disappeared in the fire, and the black serpent stopped at the left of the fireplace and erected itself. Beautiful, fearsome, awesome, terrifying. Her flaming eyes pierced mine with a hypnotic gaze.

I tried to shift my gaze, to move a little but I was frozen with awe and terror. She’s getting closer, her aura is so bright and huge I can nearly touch it (that if I wasn’t freaking out here, my heart is racing. I think I’m going to faint.) Wait, she’s communicating with me. I can hear a strange whisper echoing inside my head, an ancient serpentine language vibrating down my spine. She’s taking over me, crawling up and down inside my body.

I can’t take it anymore, I cry out and fall down to my knees, I can hear myself praying in her ancient language.

Praying for mercy

Crying my heart out for Her to spare my life.

She’s gone.

My Serpent queen. 

The Second Offering 

Still shaking, I place the second offering on the altar. The smoke is thick and white.

The music is rhythmic, hypnotic, wild and tribal. I can feel it in my bones like the rhythm is part of me. I hear the ‘mama song’ and I can feel them, my three beautiful mamas, dancing around me, opening the gates for me, making me see.  The Zar company are here, with their drums and songs. His Holiness, the Nubian priest is there too. So majestic in his white robes. He stretches his arm out and invites me to approach. The music stopped and everything went quiet. 

Stillness, like we are all frozen between time and space.

The air is crackling with static electricity and energy, it feels like we are trapped in a teardrop that is gonna explode any moment now.

Cacophonia. 

An explosion of sounds, screams and shouts, and crazy rhythms are turning slowly into music and songs, these ancient songs and hypnotic rhythms I’ve heard before. The music gets louder and louder it takes over me, it’s in me, it’s coming from inside me, I am the music.

The black mama took me by the hand and started to dance. We are dancing. Blue mama is to my right and red mama to my left. More people joining in and circling us, with their drums and bells, all dancing the wild ecstatic dance. I can feel something behind me, not sure what, it sends shivers down my spine. Black mama holding my hands tight looking into my eyes and smiling, whispering in her ancient language, “keep dancing habibti”. I close my eyes and I dance and spin, I can’t feel my body, there is something on my back, I freak out but black mama’s hands are squeezing mine reassuring me to keep dancing, so I find my rhythm and let go, I  can fly. I can see the company from above in a dancing frenzy, the Nubian priest is on his knees praying and crying, the three mamas spinning like mad dervishes. 

All of these are orchestrated by the elder of the company. He is standing in the middle of all the maddens, a big grin on his face drumming his magickal drum and shouting mad order towards the sky.

I can feel he’s calling me, I can feel his drumming vibrating in my ears and heart, and I hear shouting and wild screams. Black mana’s grip is tightening around mine and I can feel her pulling me down.

I crash back to the here and now.

The Third Offering 

At this point, I’m weary and tired, but there’s no way back, it has to be done.

I inhale the smoky essence of the offering and lean back into the fluffy white clouds.

There’s a huge wheel in the distance. The wheel rotates slowly as if spinning in a very slow motion. With each rotation of the wheel, it seems that I’m moving forward towards it like it’s pulling me nearer to it somehow. 

I look down at my feet and realize that I am attached to the wheel like Leonardo de Vinci’s The Vitruvian Man.

As soon as I understand that I’m attached to the wheel, it starts to spin faster and faster. I can see myself spinning, turning, becoming an endless spiral of Fibonacci numbers, and fractals.

I close my eyes and think to myself “I can relax now”

Boom, I’m back in the room.

We closed the circle, taking extra care to see the portal tightly shut, and making sure that no strange entities lurked in the shadows. 

I don’t know when I’ll go through this portal again.