The Temple of Set I Read online

  The Temple of Set

  - by -

  Michael A. Aquino

  Volume I: Text & Plates

  2nd Edition

  - 2 -

  - 3 -

  © Michael A. Aquino 1975-2016 CE

  Post Office Box 470307

  San Francisco, CA 94147

  http://www.rachane.org

  ISBN-13:

  978-1497567450

  ISBN-10:

  1497567459

  - 4 -

  - 5 -

  Dedicated To

  Lilith

  Xa-Nepthys, Daughter of Set

  Maga V° of Arkte

  Grand Master of the Order of the Vampyre

  Ulbandi, Valie of the Stars

  Krel Atlan of Sith

  Guardian of the Rainbow Bridge

  - and in the United Kingdom of Earth -

  Baroness of Rachane, Argyllshire, Scotland

  - and of my heart -

  Eternally Beloved

  - 6 -

  - 7 -

  Table of Contents

  Chapter

  Page

  Preface

  11

  Part I: Construction

  15

  1

  -

  The Primal Conflict

  17

  2

  -

  The North Solstice X Working

  23

  3

  -

  Khemistry

  29

  Confronting Ancient Egypt

  29

  Egyptian History

  30

  The Neteru

  33

  Set

  35

  4

  -

  22nd and Kansas

  41

  5

  -

  Freedom at Point Zero

  49

  6

  -

  Jackal Rising

  59

  7

  -

  Remanifestation

  79

  8

  -

  The Wewelsburg Working

  85

  9

  -

  The Orders, Pylons, and Elements

  101

  10 -

  The Magi

  107

  11 -

  Roaming This World

  111

  12 -

  Cybertemple

  115

  13 -

  The Abased Eighties I: The Cloning of Nikki Sixx

  119

  14 -

  The Abased Eighties II: A Tree in the North

  129

  15 -

  A Passing-By

  137

  Part II: Concepts

  141

  16 -

  The Black Magical Theory of the Universe

  143

  A. Theory

  144

  B. Types of Theories

  144

  C. The Multiverse

  144

  D. The Objective Universe

  144

  1.

  Origin

  144

  2.

  Enforcement: Proof of the Neteru

  146

  3.

  Contentment in Plato’s Cave

  146

  - 8 -

  E. The Subjective Universe

  147

  F. Subjective/Objective Interaction

  147

  G. Collective Subjective Universes

  147

  H. The Judæo-Christian Soul

  148

  I.

  The Setian Soul: MindStar

  149

  J. Fields

  150

  1.

  Definition

  150

  2.

  Life-Fields

  150

  3.

  Telos

  151

  4.

  Thought-Fields

  152

  K. Egyptian MindStar Emanations

  153

  1.

  Khat

  153

  2.

  Ren

  154

  3.

  Khabit

  154

  4.

  Ab

  155

  5.

  Ba

  155

  6.

  Ka

  155

  7.

  Sekhem

  156

  8. Akh

  157

  L. Consciousness

  157

  1.

  Metaphysics: Consciousness as an Entity

  157

  2.

  Physics: Consciousness as an Illusion

  158

  3.

  Inconsequence

  158

  4.

  The Platonic “Pyramid of Thought”

  158

  5.

  Ouspensky’s “Psychology of Possible Consciousness

  Evolution”

  161

  M. MindStar and Body Interaction

  163

  N. Immortality of the MindStar

  164

  1.

  Jewish and Christian Afterlifes

  165

  2.

  Beyond Judæo-Christianity

  167

  O. The Prince of Darkness

  173

  P. Historical OU/SU Interpretations

  178

  Q. Personal OU/SU Perspectives

  179

  1.

  The Nartural Approach to the Objective Universe

  179

  2.

  The Non-Natural Approach to the Objective Universe

  180

  3.

  The Natural Approach to the Subjective Universe

  181

  4.

  The Non-Natural Approach to the Subjective Universe

  181

  17 -

  Initiation

  185

  A. Concept

  185

  B. Truth

  186

  C. Ekstasis

  187

  D. The Two Paths

  188

  E. Initiatory Degrees of the Temple of Set

  190

  F. Ancestry and Evolving Definition of the Grade>Degree Titles

  191

  G. Æons

  199

  H. The Pentagram of Set

  202

  - 9 -

  The Magical Chapters

  207

  18 -

  Magic

  209

  A. White Magic

  210

  B. Black Magic

  210

  C. The Call of the Fire; The Warning of Noot

  211

  19 -

  Lesser Black Magic

  213

  A. Stage Magic

  213

  B. Individual and Group Analysis

  215

  C. Ethics

  216

  20 -

  Greater Black Magic

  225

  21 -

  Medial Black Magic

  235

  Plates

  237

  About the Author

  255

  - 10 -

  - 11 -

  Preface

  In The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) L. Frank Baum had his imperiled hero Tip (the future

  Princess Ozma) tie together two sofas, palm branches, and the stuffed head of a gump (in Oz an

  elk-like creature) with rope and clothesline, sprinkle it with magic powder to bring it to life, and

  then use it to fly away to safety. 1 Nevertheless, as evident from the i
mprovised haste of its

  assembly, the gump was sorely wanting in ærodynamics, and only barely brought its passengers

  to a landing before falling apart. Tip granted its wish to be disassembled, though the stuffed head

  remained alive and continued to startle bypassers with comments throughout, presumably, the

  rest of the thirteen original Oz books.

  The Church of Satan, founded in 1966, was a bit like Baum’s gump. It was also thrown

  together in improvised haste from a variety of vaguely- or unrelated concepts and then used to

  transport its riders on an unpredictably soaring, plunging, and haphazard journey throughout

  the next nine years until its own catastrophic crash in 1975. Like the gump, it did complete the

  journey; also like the gump, it is something of an amazement that it got off the ground at all,

  much less flew as long and as far as it did. 2 The story of this “long, strange trip” is told in The

  Church of Satan, my companion history to The Temple of Set.

  I make this point because the Temple of Set, when it was founded in 1975, was an entirely

  different phenomenon. Organizationally it had the benefit of the complete experience of the

  Church of Satan upon which to draw: to improve in part, to discard in part, and of course to

  disregard when building anew. Even more crucially the Temple had from its inception a crystal-

  clear definition and understanding of its metaphysical authenticity and license. Its evolution

  over the next quarter-century would see refinements in the organization and increasing

  exploration and enhancement of the philosophy, but the original bases of both would never

  change.

  The differences between the two organizations will also be mirrored in the contrast between

  The Church of Satan and The Temple of Set. The former is a roller-coaster ride of alternately

  1 The gump was included in Walt Disney’s 1985 film Return to Oz, being a composite of Baum’s Marvelous Land of

  Oz and Ozma of Oz. In this film Dorothy Gale was substituted for Tip as the gump’s creator & rider.

  2 Arguably its stuffed head - an Anton LaVey fan club using the Church’s name - has also remained “alive and

  commenting” since the authentic Church’s 1975 conclusion.

  - 12 -

  serious, philosophical, humorous, tragic, ironic, heroic, embarrassing, frightening, and startling

  personalities, concepts, and events. “If I hadn’t lived through it myself,” more than one old

  Satanist has remarked to me upon reading COS, “I would have found it almost too bizarre to

  believe.”

  The Temple of Set will not be such a rollicking reading experience, though I daresay it will be

  a substantially more searching and informative one. Its purpose is first to explain how the

  Temple came into being and evolved organizationally, then to summarize its founding/core

  principles. Neither of these should be considered an “endgame”: The Temple constantly changes

  and improves its internal design, and its philosophy also continues to be refined, improved, and

  corrected as present and future Setians see the need and opportunity to do so.

  Certainly the initial years of the Temple were not all a smooth, steady, unified climb to the

  stars. Both senior and junior Setians have had their flaws and failings as well as their talents and

  strengths, and as a consequence the Temple has had its share of disappointments along with its

  successes. But without exception each difficulty has been honestly confronted as a learning

  experience; the result has consequently been an institution that much more substantial and

  resilient.

  An additional distinction between the two books is that while the former can indeed claim to

  embrace the entire history of the Church of Satan, this book could never hope to fulfill a similar

  goal with regard to the Temple of Set. The Church of Satan was a fairly simple, linear story, to

  which a relatively small number of individuals made significant contributions over a brief period

  of time. The Temple of Set may be more likened to an explosion within the heads of a great many

  individuals of rich and diverse backgrounds, yielding a mix of ideas that would constantly be

  shared, reconsidered, and compounded.

  The extent of this corpus of knowledge is already staggering, and of course still continues its

  exponential growth throughout a variety of communications and records systems. Among these

  are the Jeweled Tablets of Set standing reference volumes; the archives and continuing issues of

  the Scroll of Set newsletter; the Temple’s Internet public website and private “Intranet”; the

  documents and periodicals of the Temple’s many Orders, Elements, and Pylons; Temple and

  specialized reading lists, international/regional/local conclave events, and the overwhelming

  amount of personal and interpersonal workings and dialogues involving individual Setians.

  When I undertook to write this Temple of Set, therefore, I knew immediately that its focus

  would need to be more a personal perspective, more an overview of what during the adventure of

  the Temple to date has seemed to me to be particularly notable: not just because of drama or

  colorfulness, but because it played some necessary or crucial part in the unfolding of the

  adventure. It will, I think, also be my initiatory testament.

  As a comprehensive history, The Church of Satan can be read by anyone - Setian, Satanist, or

  profane - and be expected to reasonably communicate its story in proportion to the intelligence

  of each such reader.

  The Temple of Set presents a somewhat different problem. While I intend that this book be as

  direct and unambiguous as possible, Setian philosophy requires “initiatory consciousness” - not

  only an interest in the subject matter but both the intellectual and the metaphysical capacity to

  comprehend it in its ultimate sense. Within the Temple, persons possessing such capacity are

  referred to as “Elect” and are deemed to have potential for initiation. Those lacking it, best

  intentions notwithstanding, would find the initiatory experience bewildering, frustrating, and

  meaningless. Accordingly the Temple endeavors to not admit them, or to disaffiliate them as

  soon as possible if accidentally affiliated.

  It is much the same with this book. There are aspects of it that may either enter your mind

  like flame or just leave you confused and annoyed. My pleasure in the former case; my apologies

  in the latter.

  - 13 -

  The Temple of Set is divided into two main sections:

  I. Construction: The first is an overview of the origins and structural development of the

  institution. While it begins in 1975, it has no timeline-cutoff, since it is more of a conceptual

  maturation than a chronicle.

  II. Concepts: The second is an introduction to and summary of basic Setian philosophy and

  its application. It is adapted from my Black Magic, the preliminary text of the Crystal Tablet of

  Set, that part of the Jeweled Tablets of Set initiatory encyclopædia provided to new Setians Iůpon their admission to the Temple.

  If you are considering Setian initiation, this book may help you make your decision one way

  or the other. If you are not, it may serve to explain and clarify the Temple of Set to you. If it

  achieves these goals, it will have justified itself.

  Xeper.

  San Francisco, North Solstice L ÆS

  - 14 -

  - 15 - />
  Part I: Construction

  - 16 -

  - 17 -

  1: The Primal Conflict

  The story of the Temple of Set begins in 1966 of what archæologists, in an effort to be

  nonsectarian, refer to as the Common Era (CE). In that year Anton Szandor LaVey founded the

  Church of Satan in San Francisco.

  LaVey, an imposing, congenial man with a carnival and circus background, had for many

  years been an enthusiastic but cynical devotee of the occult. He accumulated a unique library

  containing many works on the more peculiar and obscure facets of human nature, together with

  the major classics of traditional occultism. Disappointed with the lack of sophistication and