Posts
Happy Thelemic New Year, everyone! It's that time again, for the Office of the Readings.
The Thelemic dates that you may see written online are arrived at by counting the number of 22-year cycles since 1904 to obtain the upper case Roman numeral, and then counting the years of the current cycle to get the lower case one. Within each 22-year cycle, many Thelemites ascribe the Major Arcana trumps of the Tarot to the years in order starting with The Fool and ending with The Universe. So the year that we're about to enter into is V:iii, attributed to the Empress card.
This post will remain the top article here for the duration of the Thelemic Holy Days from March 20th to April 10th. The Rite of the Office of the Readings is performed for all of the readings beginning on March 20th.
This year I'm pleased to announce that like last year, this year's Office of the Readings will be presented at Leaping Laughter Lodge, the Minneapolis local body of Ordo Templi Orientis. In order to synchronize our series with the Lodge's equinox ritual scheduled for March 19th, the Prologue of the Unborn will be read preceding the Invocation of Horus on that date.
Rituals
The Invocation of Horus
The Rite of the Office of the Readings
Readings
March 19
Liber VII, Prologue of the Unborn, preceding the Invocation of Horus.
March 20 - Saturn/Earth, The Universe
Liber LXV, Cap I.
Liber VII, Cap II.
March 21 - Fire/Spirit, The Aeon
Liber LXV, Cap IV.
From "The Four Zoas" by William Blake.
March 22 - Sol, The Sun
Liber VII, Cap IV.
From "A Mithraic Ritual" Translated by GRS Mead.
March 23 - Pisces, The Moon
Liber VII, Cap VI.
From “Dark Night of the Soul”, Book II, Cap 8 by San Juan de la Cruz.
March 24 - Aries, The Emperor
Liber Tzaddi vel Hamus Hermeticus.
From the “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu, Cap 37 and 39.
March 25 - Mars, The Tower
Liber VII, Cap I.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 16th Æthyr.
March 26 - Capricornus, The Devil
Liber A'ash.
Relevant to Liber A'ash is my solution to the mystery of the duck.
From Liber CXI, Cap 174-175.
March 27 - Sagittarius, Art
Liber DCCCXIII, Cap VII.
From “The Vision of the Universal Mercury” by G.H. Frater S.R.M.D.
March 28 - Scorpio, Death
From Liber Arcanorum.
From Liber CXI, Cap 192-194.
March 29 - Water, The Hanged Man
Liber LXV, Cap III.
"I. N. R. I." by Frater Achad.
March 30 - Libra, Adjustment
Liber Libræ.
Selections from “The Spiritual Guide” by San Miguel de Molinos.
March 31 - Jupiter, Fortune
Liber VII, Cap III.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 20th Æthyr.
April 1 - Virgo, The Hermit
Liber VII, Cap V.
"The Emerald Tablet of Hermes" by Hermes Trismegistus.
April 2 - Leo, Lust
Liber Stellae Rubeæ.
From “The Daughter of Fortitude” Received by Edward Kelly.
April 3 - Cancer, The Chariot
Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni.
"Maha Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" (The Heart Sutra, Buddhist text. Translation by the Kuan Um School of Zen).
April 4 - Gemini, The Lovers
Liber LXV, Cap II.
From Liber DCCCXXXVII, The Law of Liberty.
April 5 - Taurus, The Hierophant
Liber LXV, Cap V.
From “On Christ and Antichrist” by Hippolytus, Cap 2.
April 6 - Aquarius, The Star
Liber DCCCXIII, Cap VI.
From “The Thunder, Perfect Mind” (Gnostic text).
April 7 - Venus, The Empress
Liber VII, Cap VII.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 7th Æthyr.
April 8 - Luna, The Priestess
Liber AL, Cap I.
“Vajrasattva, Primordial Buddha of Diamond or Rainbow Light” From Songs and Meditations of the Tibetan Dhyani Buddhas.
April 9 - Mercury, The Magus
Liber AL, Cap II.
“Visvapani, The Bodhisattva and Spiritual Emanation of Amoghasiddhi” From Songs and Meditations of the Tibetan Dhyani Buddhas.
April 10 - Air, The Fool
Liber AL, Cap III.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 22nd Æthyr.
If you would like to perform this series and have questions, feel free to e-mail me here. All Office of the Readings posts may be viewed here. Our Office of the Readings series is based on this ritual series by the Companions of Monsalvat.
The Thelemic dates that you may see written online are arrived at by counting the number of 22-year cycles since 1904 to obtain the upper case Roman numeral, and then counting the years of the current cycle to get the lower case one. Within each 22-year cycle, many Thelemites ascribe the Major Arcana trumps of the Tarot to the years in order starting with The Fool and ending with The Universe. So the year that we're about to enter into is V:iii, attributed to the Empress card.
This post will remain the top article here for the duration of the Thelemic Holy Days from March 20th to April 10th. The Rite of the Office of the Readings is performed for all of the readings beginning on March 20th.
This year I'm pleased to announce that like last year, this year's Office of the Readings will be presented at Leaping Laughter Lodge, the Minneapolis local body of Ordo Templi Orientis. In order to synchronize our series with the Lodge's equinox ritual scheduled for March 19th, the Prologue of the Unborn will be read preceding the Invocation of Horus on that date.
Rituals
The Invocation of Horus
The Rite of the Office of the Readings
Readings
March 19
Liber VII, Prologue of the Unborn, preceding the Invocation of Horus.
March 20 - Saturn/Earth, The Universe
Liber LXV, Cap I.
Liber VII, Cap II.
March 21 - Fire/Spirit, The Aeon
Liber LXV, Cap IV.
From "The Four Zoas" by William Blake.
March 22 - Sol, The Sun
Liber VII, Cap IV.
From "A Mithraic Ritual" Translated by GRS Mead.
March 23 - Pisces, The Moon
Liber VII, Cap VI.
From “Dark Night of the Soul”, Book II, Cap 8 by San Juan de la Cruz.
March 24 - Aries, The Emperor
Liber Tzaddi vel Hamus Hermeticus.
From the “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tzu, Cap 37 and 39.
March 25 - Mars, The Tower
Liber VII, Cap I.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 16th Æthyr.
March 26 - Capricornus, The Devil
Liber A'ash.
Relevant to Liber A'ash is my solution to the mystery of the duck.
From Liber CXI, Cap 174-175.
March 27 - Sagittarius, Art
Liber DCCCXIII, Cap VII.
From “The Vision of the Universal Mercury” by G.H. Frater S.R.M.D.
March 28 - Scorpio, Death
From Liber Arcanorum.
From Liber CXI, Cap 192-194.
March 29 - Water, The Hanged Man
Liber LXV, Cap III.
"I. N. R. I." by Frater Achad.
March 30 - Libra, Adjustment
Liber Libræ.
Selections from “The Spiritual Guide” by San Miguel de Molinos.
March 31 - Jupiter, Fortune
Liber VII, Cap III.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 20th Æthyr.
April 1 - Virgo, The Hermit
Liber VII, Cap V.
"The Emerald Tablet of Hermes" by Hermes Trismegistus.
April 2 - Leo, Lust
Liber Stellae Rubeæ.
From “The Daughter of Fortitude” Received by Edward Kelly.
April 3 - Cancer, The Chariot
Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni.
"Maha Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra" (The Heart Sutra, Buddhist text. Translation by the Kuan Um School of Zen).
April 4 - Gemini, The Lovers
Liber LXV, Cap II.
From Liber DCCCXXXVII, The Law of Liberty.
April 5 - Taurus, The Hierophant
Liber LXV, Cap V.
From “On Christ and Antichrist” by Hippolytus, Cap 2.
April 6 - Aquarius, The Star
Liber DCCCXIII, Cap VI.
From “The Thunder, Perfect Mind” (Gnostic text).
April 7 - Venus, The Empress
Liber VII, Cap VII.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 7th Æthyr.
April 8 - Luna, The Priestess
Liber AL, Cap I.
“Vajrasattva, Primordial Buddha of Diamond or Rainbow Light” From Songs and Meditations of the Tibetan Dhyani Buddhas.
April 9 - Mercury, The Magus
Liber AL, Cap II.
“Visvapani, The Bodhisattva and Spiritual Emanation of Amoghasiddhi” From Songs and Meditations of the Tibetan Dhyani Buddhas.
April 10 - Air, The Fool
Liber AL, Cap III.
From Liber CDXVIII, The 22nd Æthyr.
If you would like to perform this series and have questions, feel free to e-mail me here. All Office of the Readings posts may be viewed here. Our Office of the Readings series is based on this ritual series by the Companions of Monsalvat.
3 comments:
I'm soooo amazed with the diversity of material in these readings!!! Too bad i'm such a lazy bum and it's hard for me to read all of them :) Is this all part of Thelema? I mean you the readings are from Gnostic, Budhist, Christian etc. sources... I was fascinated by Thelema since the first time I've read about it in various conspiracy theory websites (you know, the ones that say Thelema is satanic and Crowley is the Antichrist and so on haha), even though i couldn't understand it at the time in esoteric terms, so to speak. But after i started researching into magick and began practicing the damn thing it was like a veil was lifted off my eyes and i understood things more in their real meaning. What blew me away was the doctrine of "Do what thou wilt...", which was something i knew on the inside all my life i think, but i couldn't express into thought, let alone into words.
Anyway, i don't want to change religions or anything, because even though i'm an orthodox christian who thinks he believes the real meaning of Christ's teachings, i mostly agree with every system of belief out there, whether it's pagan, eastern, african, amazonian, (satanist) etc. and i see it as part of the whole thing. So, i suspect that there are certain books, texts and articles that explain the doctrine of Thelema out there and even though i dislike reading in general, i kindly ask you to point me to those texts :D
Most of the first readings for each day are from the Holy Books of Thelema, received texts of various sorts written by Aleister Crowley. Most of the second readings are from others considered "Gnostic Saints." For example, Siddhārtha (that is, Siddhārtha Gautama, the Buddha) is a Gnostic Saint, so some of the readings are from Buddhist sources. There are also Gnostic Saints who were Christian, such as Hippolytus, who are likewise included. Here's the full official list:
http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Gnostic_Saints
It should also be noted that in the Christian tradition, Augustine delivered the following statement as part of a sermon on the First Epistle of John, which sounds pretty Thelemic to me:
"Love and do what you will. Whether you hold your peace, through love hold your peace. Whether you cry out, through love cry out. Whether your correct, through love correct. Whether you spare, through love must you spare. Let the root of love be within. For of this root can nothing come except that which is good"
Augustine also put forth other ideas that are particularly problematic from a Thelemic standpoint, such as the original sin/"total depravity" doctrine. But you can still see glimmers of Thelemic ideas in quotes like that above.
I will definitely look into that when I get a chance. I honestly feel that Thelema, like other spiritual concepts out there, is more intune with the teachings of the Christ, than the dogmatic views of either the orthodox or the catholic church so I'm highly interested in incorporating those concepts more thoroughly. To be more exact, I want to understand how can an individual balance their need of spiritual and material fulfilment with the virtue of helping others, in a way that each side won't interfere with each other, but rather work together for the benefit of all. It's complicated :) Anyway, thanks for the answer!
Post a Comment