SCHOLAR SPEAKS OUT

[tausirhasirim]

“Why I loved the O.T.O”

by SCHOLAR

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

My OTO body , Serpentine Splendour Lodge in Las Vegas, was a wonderful oasis of friendship. I truly enjoyed being with the members that became my friends at the Lodge. Learning from the knowledgeable friends and laughing with everyone was how we spent the day

Comments

[scholar93]

Thanks for forwarding this. I appreciate it. We shouldn't have only one side being heard.
The public needs to see both sides of the wooden coin.

SCHOLAR

BOTH SIDES

[tausirhasirim]

Yes, agreed. Too many,IMO, walk away disillusioned or angry or both, quietly. If even a fraction of the stories I have been told were a matter of record, perhaps those considering the 'paper oto' would pause and reflect and walk away before getting into something that isn't and IMHO, never was.

[michaleen]

Your story has a curiously familiar ring to it. Thanks so much for putting it into words for us. I have a question, though. You wrote:But Crowley wrote fiction and I could get more initiatory insight and spiritual training reading the edited chopped up Crowley books released to the public after the “real” goods had been removed and saved for political leverage later.
What specifically do you have in mind?

[scholar93]

Bill Breeze and Regardie, to name two, had their hands in editing and leaving out chunks of "Magick without Tears" and "The Commentary of The Book of the Law" respectively. As time went on new published copies started missing some material. Heidrick's "Magick without Tears" is online and more complete than those of more recent publication. There is more for sure, but these are just two examples.

Cheers!

[michaleen]

Okay, thanks. I have had a copy of Heidrick's MWT since the days of 5¼" floppies. I did not realize that Regardie's editorial choices carried forward in new editions.

Interesting, but not at all surprising. Breeze's doorstop edition of Book 4 is one of the most disappointing purchases of my life. I should not be at all surprised to find his influence corrupting other texts as well.

in the vault

[tausirhasirim]

Indeed....to say nothing of what's in the vault. Once I was visiting with the holy billy and he - for reasons unclear - gave me a copy of Rauschning's "Hitler As He Is" -- much mentioned in "The Morning of the Magicians") to read. I did, with page-by-page commentary in AC's hand. When I finished and handed it back, the holy one just said, "That one'll have to stay in the vault another twenty years."
(Without the AC commentary, you can read "Hitler Speaks" as "The Voice of Destruction" in this edition: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=1589801369)

Re: in the vault

[michaleen]

Fascinating. What was the gist of AC's comments and why is His Holiness sitting on it?

The archives at old Thelema Lodge had a fuckton of unpublished paper, as I recall. I wonder how much else exists?

Re: in the vault

[tausirhasirim]

I couldn't do it justice here. There are AC comments on every page. I presume it was billy's meaning that the commentary could be construed as pro-Hitler. What I come away with is AC's impression that Hitler in private was pretty much a Thelemite, but in public obfuscated the "true will" with the "national will". I guess my only point is that billy chooses to put out there what he thinks will make AC look good. Just IMHO. Also IMHO, there is a lot that is either missing, lost or held back.

Re: in the vault

[michaleen]

Many thanks and you have answered my question. I was assuming that any commentary AC made on Hitler might be, or might be construed to be, apologetic to some degree. Some years ago, I was told that AC supported the Nazis until they dragged away Karl Germer. Was wondering whether that statement was reasonably accurate or whether it merely reflected the wishful thinking of the body master that told it to me.

Agreed on Holy Billy's management of AC's image. I should expect no better.