The Sword of Horus

Not long ago it also came to light that another rumour had been started within the ranks of the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o., that being that people ordered material from Newaeon and never received the paid for publications.  Being a scrupulously honest and extremely efficient individual [while my accusers and the rumour-makers are anything but] I may consider this defamation of character and not only ungentlemanly but also very unthelemic behaviour.  In point of fact, no one has ever failed to receive merchandise ordered from Newaeon - and Newaeon was established in 1977 E.V.!  Furthermore, Newaeon is one of the most efficient and reliable "occult" operations to be found on the face of the earth.  And, by the way, I never did receive my last full subscription from the Caliphate gang.

Now recently an ad was placed in the Llewellyn New Times regarding a free and open discussion of such subjects as Thelema, Magick, the Beast 666, drugs and satanism, and those interested in further information were requested to send a self-addressed stamped envelope, 45¢, for that information, and that does not cover the cost of the printing of the information sheets.  There will be some who claim that they wasted a 25¢ stamp requesting that information which they never received, therefore Newaeon is a cheat.  What they won't say is that they did not enclose the requested SASE and on top of that they also expected free copies of the newsletter in most cases, as if Newaeon were made of gold and they were above paying the price for what they want in the world.  I figure 25¢ is the least that they should pay for their stupidity and arrogance.

Chances are very good that if anyone has anything bad to say about Newaeon or myself they either made it up and it is a lie, or they are stupid and misunderstood what was simply and plainly printed in black and white.

Recently a woman saw on my wall a Rosicrucian Cross painting, the Tree of Life, an astrological painting and chart and said in a down-South accent, "I see all those sah-tanic symbols" and proceeded to accuse me ... me! ... of satanism.  It is worth noting that she was soon after evicted from the apartment building and spent time in the Western Psychiatric Institute before that, thanks to a telephone call I made and her own insane actions.  Kind of gives you an idea about the kind of people who are likely to "badmouth" me, doesn't it?

And now, that said, let us do a little skipping review through the publications put out by the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. and make a few comments here and there.  Nothing heavy, but perhaps rather revealing.

O.T.O. NEWSLETTER, Vol. I, No. 1, May 1977 E.V.:  Here two of the so-called "Caliphate Letters" were printed.  Apparently from Aleister Crowley as Baphomet O.H.O. of the O.T.O., the letter dated March 22, 1946 is as follows:

"... This is to authorize Frater Hymanaeus [sic] Alpha [Capt. Grady L. McMurtry] to take charge of the whole work of the Order in California to reform the Organization in pursuance of his report of Jan 25, '46 e.v. subject to the approval of Frater Saturnus [Karl J. Germer].  This authorization is to be used only in emergency. ..."

The second letter, also from Crowley, dated April 11, 1946 E.V. reads thusly:

"... These presents are to appoint - Frater Hymanaeus [sic] Alpha - Grady Louis McMurtry IX° O.T.O. - as Our representative in the United States of America, and his authority is to be considered as Ours, subject to the approval, revision, or veto of Our Viceroy Karl Johannes Germer IX° O.T.O. of 260 West 72nd St., New York City, N.Y. ..."

These two letters have been used to "prove" that the late Grady Louis McMurtry had the right to assume the position of Outer Head of the Order many years after Crowley and Germer had died.

Following these letters the poorly produced newsletter went on to say,

"With the death of Frater Saturnus (Karl J. Germer) in 1962, these articles of authorization automatically went into effect."

Crowley, poverty stricken, old and in ill health, busy with many other things, in England, was receiving all manner of wild reports from the various members of the last O.T.O. Lodge in Pasadena, California.  The members of this lodge, most of whom Crowley had never even met, were going off in a number of weird directions, and each was spreading rumours and gossip about the others.  McMurtry was merely one of them, and it was only because he was in the army during the end of World War II and stationed in England that he had the chance to spend a little time with Crowley - a very little time that he would later blow way out of porportion and exaggerate.  He seemed a little more real and substantial than the others.  At any rate, the authorization was only temporary and merely intended to mean that McMurtry was Crowley's official messenger boy.  He did not name him O.H.O. in any way and the title by which he later called him, Caliph, means virtually nothing in the O.T.O..  It was but to flatter his youthful ego and keep him pliable and willing to help out in a difficult situation.  Furthermore, Germer never gave his approval, probably more aware of the situation and McMurtry's part in it in the States than A.C., and since he never gave his approval, according to Crowley's wishes stated therein, these letters actually mean next to nothing.

Also, there is no provision in these letters validating an automatic authorization to take control of the Order after the deaths of Crowley and his legitimate successor Germer.  Thus McMurtry's was an illegal and unsanctioned act against the wishes of the last legitimate O.H.O. of the O.T.O., Aleister Crowley (Baphomet X° O.T.O.).

McMurtry, an old man wishing to be admired, cared for and supplied with those things that he was a slave to, waited until the death's of Crowley and Germer, his superiors, so that there could be no objection to his idiotic and cowardly take over and assertions.  A take over of a degenerated fraternity whose members had almost entirely quit all worthwhile work while going off in a number of weird and whacky ways.  Jack Parsons believed he had manifested Babalon on earth then blew himself up.  L. Ron Hubbard eventually started Scientology.  Et cetera.

The O.T.O. Newsletter, which was always ill-produced, never very interesting, almost never on schedule, edited by Bill Heidrick, eventually bit the dust.  I never did receive the last one or two I had paid for.

THE MAGICKAL [sic] LINK, Vol. V, No. 1, January 1985 E.V.:  Things do not seem to be going as well as they would like within the ranks of the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o..  The Azoth Encampment report, for instance, stated that "We save our strength and gear for battle.  The enemy:  discord within our Holy Order. ..."  And these reports are generally trite, boring, employing stupid humour to try and make up for the lack of worthwhile material [M.·.A.·.A.·.T.·. (sic) Encampment:  "Peace, tolerance. (sic) truth, and all that jazz, ... Why can't basketball players be members of IX° OTO? ..."], and often brief descriptions of parties they had given as if these were of major importance.

As for the "initiations" they are always going on about in their Link, I have talked with several people who have attended these over the years and every story is basically the same:  unimpressive and ill-performed, badly rehearsed, sham initiations during which neither participants nor officiants knew what they were doing, both generally being drunk or high, stumbling about, and so forth, and in some cases events directly following these so-called "initiations" were shameful, especially in the eyes of a true Thelemite, disrupting if not shattering the lives of some of the less experienced individuals who attended and were afterwards victimized by so-called high ranking officials of this pseudo-o.t.o..

It should be noted that some people have involved themselves with this group in the hope that it really was "Aleister Crowley's O.T.O." and there are a few who keep hoping that perhaps it can become that.  These are not "bad" people, but they are foolish people.

THE MAGICKAL LINK, Vol. V, No. 2, February 1985 E.V.:  "The College of Thelema gave a successful seminar over the weekend of Dec. 29 & 30 of 1984."  The so-called college, these seminars and the lady in charge of all this, Soror Meral [Phyllis Seckler] are a farce.  Those who have read my Vernal Equinox 1987 E.V. Encyclical Letter criticizing and commenting in detail upon one of these seminars will understand what I mean.  Ms. Seckler is one of those who give validity to the statement, "Those who can, do, and those who cannot, teach."  It is also interesting to note that after publishing that Encyclical, Phyllis clamped down tight, in true paranoid and insecure fashion, to prevent anyone with knowledge from attending or being represented so as to avoid being again criticized and proven the fool.

And here we are at least a decade after this group more or less organized and still we find that all is not peaches and cream.  Chancellor's Report by James T. Graeb:

"There seems to be some doubt and confusion among some of our fraters and sorors as to what is the 'true' O.T.O..  Certain groups and even high ranking individuals have asserted that they are the 'true' O.T.O. and that the O.T.O. lead by Hymenaeus Alpha as Caliph is not the successor of the 'true' O.T.O..  The individuals and groups involved need not be named herein, the Book of the Law has already done so:  'professional soldiers who dare not fight.'"

I have not found a genuine O.T.O. Lodge yet, and I do not know who Mr. Graeb was referring to as he is so vague and his words could apply to a number of individuals and equally idiotic groups.

In writing of the legal battle between Marcelo Ramos Motta and Samuel Weiser, Inc, we read:  "During the trial it came out that Motta's organization [the S.O.T.O.] had only 5 members!"  Absurd, it is true, but it also reveals the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o.'s obsession with quantity almost always at the expense of quality in regard to membership.  "Let my servants be few & secret:  they shall rule the many & the known" [CCXX I.10] seems to be wise advice.  Too bad the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. cannot take advice.

THE MAGICKAL LINK, Vol. V, No. 3, March of 1985 E.V.:  a brief and completely inconsequential letter from Crowley was printed on the first page.  A "Bonus Item" was also printed, being "the first of a 5 page essay by Crowley on his experiences with preserved food", and it is but one of the little bits of bait used to lure people into associating themselves with the group.  I do not think the rest of this was printed.  At least part 2 is missing from my copy of the next issue.  Typical.

THE MAGICKAL LINK, Vol. V, No. 4, "An. LXXX e.n. to An. LXXXI e.n.":  the death of Dr. Francis Israel Regardie [a Newaeon subscriber] was reported:  "he died suddenly of a massive hart [sic] attack while at lunch/with [sic] 2 friends."  Further:

"It is well known that Francis and Crowley had one hell of an argument and were estranged for many years.  But when Crowley died, as Francis said to me one day, 'I got so mad at the unfairness of the obituaries to the old boy that I decided to write again to set the record straight.'  We can all thank him for that.  THE EYE IN THE TRIANGLE, a biography of Crowley to set some things straight."

Crowley died in 1947 E.V. and The Eye in the Triangle was copyrighted and published in 1970 E.V..  Did Regardie stay "mad" for over two decades until he finally did something about it?  The truth:  Regardie, seeing the growing interest in Crowley in the late 60s and early 70s, tried to cash in on it by "forgiving" A.C., at least outwardly, in order to write books about him, edit books by him, and otherwise act as a parasite by writing books of watered down Golden Dawn and Crowley material.  This, however, misfired somewhat.  A little notoriety was gained, but it was not quite the source of wealth he had hoped it would be, although he managed to get by.

"I.F. regardie [sic] often praised IN THE CONTINUUM.  He called it 'fascinating' in the last letter he wrote about it before his death",

we are told.  The word "fascinating" may have been taken out of context.  In The Continuum is basically the rag of Phyllis Seckler [Soror Meral], the late Grady McMurtry's ex-wife.  But for a small portion of Crowleyana here and there and the interesting letters printed therein that were exchanged between Crowley and Jane Wolfe, there is no real value to this ill-produced bit of rubbish.  Although Phyllis obviously thinks of Jane as some kind of adept, and certainly tries to portray her that way, Crowley's own opinion of her was not very high and if one reads the exchange of letters in ITC it is easy to see why.  For one thing, Jane Wolfe had a mentality befitting a spiritualist [and Crowley loathed spiritualism] - extremely undisciplined and imagining all kinds of contact with ancient masters.  Perhaps Regardie, in a sly way, had said that it is "fascinating" to think that anyone could have a high regard for Jane Wolfe, or that perhaps those letters of Jane's made for a "fascinating" study of an unbalanced mind, or "fascinating" that anyone should think there is any real value in ITC.

The Oceania Lodge report of March 5, 1985 is revealing:

"Does anyone know where we can purchase some cheap pyramids in which to house a surplus of M.T.'s??  The egocentric climate is overbearing and the amount of real work being done incredibly negligible.  Hate to thrash a dead horse but armchair magicians englamoured of their own intellects make me sick.  If they had any real understanding they'd shut their sucking great mouths and get on with it.  And as for one Brother in particular who recently quit the Order altogether on the failure of me personally to recognize his claim all I can say is you can be what ever you want to be you don't need anyone else to O.K. it.

"It's amazing how many Brothers say they should be running this show and how little effort they put in in fact just sit on their bums and complain and reckon theyr powering the whole thing with their minds just by thinking about it.  Laughably sad.  If they spent more time sorting themselves out theyd do us all a big favour.  If you think Im being bitchy I am, Im real pissed off. ..."  [One big "sic".]

The complaint, seldom put on paper, is a common one and gives you an idea as to the kind of people that become members of the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o..  The individuals complained about are a common type in the group as a whole - and the complainer is probably no better.

Kenneth Anger is praised in this Link.  It always amazes me that the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. should praise highly people that they consider Thelemic saints but that facts prove to be incompetent idiots or raving lunatics.  Spiritualistic Jane Wolfe, mad Jack Parsons and equally mad Charles Stansfeld Jones, waster and substance abuser Grady McMurtry, and so on, and having obtained and viewed several films by Kenneth Anger ... well ... I see nothing particularly Thelemic in them and old 8mm home movies are better by far.

THE MAGICKAL LINK, Vol. V, No. 7, July 1985 E.V.:  Grady's illness was reported on - he was suffering from "a congestive heart condition" - and members of the group were asked:  "Please, no gifts of alcohol, Grady has not taken beer, wine or other alcoholic spirits for several years for health reasons."  Several years?  Then why the need to ask people, who should then know this "fact", not to send alcohol?  I have already proven in an earlier TNN that Grady was an alcoholic ... he himself admitted it in so many words in an earlier O.T.O. Newsletter.  And if, a year or two before this, he did stop taking alcohol for health reasons, a bit too late to do any good, I might add, there is plenty of evidence that he found other ways of getting "high".  And do not quote The Book of the Law to me about wines that foam and "strange drugs".  The latter phrase in particular is not to be taken too literally in the common sense, and besides this, there is a difference between enjoying all things of sense and rapture and being an addicted slave to them.

"He is a true Thelemite," the Link went on, "and the most faithful holder of Crowley's charge to perpetuate the Work."  If this were true, woe unto Thelema!  I think the Pope in Rome is more Thelemic than Grady was!

"O.T.O. is not known for white-wash and concealment of real problems."  Bull.  The group hobby is whitewashing, and although there are a vast number of problems within the group, only a few are made known.  I know young men, for instance, who were forced to please certain high-ranking officials of the group who were at the time drunk and/or high.  Know what I mean, Jim...?  And the death of Grady McMurtry, with everyone fighting over titles, degrees and who gets his property as they stood over his dying body that turned out to be a bit more aware than they would have liked.  Poor old fart, in his deathbed, with all of his "trusted" people around him, arguing over who gets what before he can even die and grow cold!  If their official tale of his death is not a whitewash then I don't know that is.

"If you hear of anything substantial said against someone in the Order, please communicate the utterance to the person. ..."  Advice necessary since there is, within the group, a great deal of badmouthing and backstabbing.  And they call this a fraternity?

"In times of stress, we all say things in anger at people when we are angry at circumstances."  Translation:  Grady's dying and the shit hits the fan.  Everyone is insisting upon their rights to property, degrees, and so forth.

"Everybody close to Grady will blow it in some way or has done so already."  Lord ... ain't that the truth!

"He cannot sign more than a couple of documents a day, owing to his tiredness. ... Grady may initial instead of sign charters and certificats.  There may be a process where Grady signs or initials a list of charters and appoints someone else to do the individual signing. ..."

Translation:  If a signature looks like a forgery and the document's validity is in question, this is the excuse for it.

"Is the O.T.O. property safe?  Relatively safe and getting more so.  The Liber AL MS, Caliphate letters and the Crowley Ring are in a bank vault.  The location of the rest of the archives is largely the same as before Grady's illness.  All such archives are guarded and locked. ..."

This was necessary to mention because more than once books and papers, mostly from the remains of the burglarized Crowley/Germer library once kept in the home of Karl Germer, were stolen while in the hands of the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o..  The thieves were members of the group.  The words of reassurance in this Link were not necessary because they feared from thieves without the group, but rather because there are so many thieves within the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. that the "archives" are in constant danger.  A fraternity?  A Thelemic fraternity?  Hardly.

THE MAGICKAL LINK, Vol. V, No. 9, September 1985 E.V.:  Grady's dead - but the nonsense lives on after him.

I note that on page 2 the Seal of the A.·.A.·. was printed upside down.  I hope it was an accident, although that is still no excuse to show such disrespect to that great order.

We are told that "the O.T.O. was incorporated forty years after Crowley ordered it done", and I cannot help wondering that if indeed he did give such an order, what kind of people would wait forty years to follow the order of their Supreme and Holy King, the Logos of the Æon of Horus?

"Hymenaeus Alpha did designate an approved successor from time to time, but withdrew the last such approval more than 18 months ago."  Translation:  either the people he picked to succeed him as Caliph proved false and untrustworthy, or they would not cater to his ego sufficiently enough to satisfy him.  And apparently Grady did not designate the current Caliph, Hymenaeus Beta, as an approved successor.  Why not?  Well, breezy Bill ... why not?  Did he consider you an ill-wind?

"Incidentally, no one has been booted out for face-to-face honest complaint around here in eight years.  But there is a wide road ahead for people who would rather slander and ripoff than stand up and face their fellow Thelemites honestly and above board.  Snakes I like, but not snakes in the grass."

No, they cannot afford to remove members from their books as they need all the names there they can get to qualify for one thing or another, but they certainly do not make it easy for a "trouble maker".  Ever feel kicked around, Emt?  And this talk is sadly amusing coming from people who have responded to my open and face-to-face [as it were] criticisms with slanders and innuendos about me behind my back, as well as nasty and often wildly insane notes from Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. members that I simply snorted at, filed, and decided to collect for later use.  And if you read the above carefully you will note that "slander and ripoff" are obviously common among the membership.  Who in their right mind would want to be a part of all this ungentlemanly, unthelemic, petty behaviour?  Before the above, in this Link, it was written that "there exists a group of the O.T.O. which includes some members most unhappy with Grand Lodge."  Big surprise.

"... a movement among a few people to withhold dues, inveigle an initiator into initiating without reporting to Grand Lodge before or after and, in general, schism away. ... Perhaps it's just that a few people want to split; and, being gutless, want to make it everybody else's fault."

Again, who would want to be associated with such dishonourable people?  And you can see here how the whole thing has gotten out of hand and how even more people unfit for membership in a Thelemic Order [as this supposedly is] are receiving "initiations" into the "Order".

THE MAGICAL LINK, Vol. V, No. 10, October 1985 E.V.:  Finally they took the incorrect k out of "Magickal", but Bill Heidrick fought it tooth and nail for a long long time, belabouring the point beyond endurance.

Hymenaeus Beta, we are told, was unanimously elected Caliph/O.H.O. ... but this really means nothing since, among other things, the entire group is founded upon falsehood and lies, and thus were not truly qualified to vote him into the office.

"His Grand Treasurer General, Frater Emt (Bro. William E. Heidrick), must be singled out for his success in establishing the Order on a sound financial and legal basis."

My understanding is that James Graeb was the moving force behind their legal basis, and their financial basis sucks - they are thousands of dollars in debt, for one thing.  But remember, they don't whitewash the facts...

"Of necessity, the first Constitutional tradition to be implemented was my secrecy as the newly-elected Caliph, X° as Acting O.H.O.," Bill Breeze, a bad actor, wrote.  "... Additionally, the traditional secrecy of the personal identities of higher-degree initiates has been implemented. ... If you want to meet me personally, stick around for VI°."

Bait to lure more suckers.  Very poor bait at that.

It appears as if this was indeed what Crowley had originally intended, but even Crowley would have to admit, if he were alive today to see all the scandals and abuses of such policies we have seen, that this is not a good idea in the 80s and 90s.  However, they insist upon playing Mysterious Magi, thinking it may give them the appearance of magical [no K] wisdom.

Heidrick, by the way, wrote in this Link:  "In the IXth Degree election, I was the last candidate in the race for Caliph, with the winner."  He was very disappointed that he had not been elected, after the sucking up and all, and if he came in second the only thing I can think is that the other losers must have been real losers indeed - and by just how much of a margin is H.B. better than Emt?

"He [H.B.]," Heidrick wrote, "has to act as O.H.O. for the time being because there is no real and unconditional O.H.O.  That makes him de facto and not de jury O.H.O.  Some day a few years from now there will be other Xth Degrees out there.  They will pick the full and de jury O.H.O., not we of the IXth Degree."

Want to bet those new X° members will be handpicked friends of the so-called de facto O.H.O., Hymenaeus Beta?

And I am certainly not the only one who disapproves of the keeping of the high-degree holder's identities secret:

"Invisible Heads of Organizations sound Old Aeon to me."  And to me too, Bill.  "But then I have always been a believer in the Diwan of the Oasis, the right to bring any problem before the face of the King."

"3/4 of the O.T.O. members," Heidrick also wrote, "are not affiliated with any Camp, Chapter or Lodge; and they would thereby get little beyond what a member of the General Public can get for their dues."

Not that that is much.  This also shows how little support the group receives from at least three-fourths of the members, and probably this 75% of the membership are all of the Associate Members, i.e. simple SUBSCRIBERS to the Link and nothing more.  If then they say they have, say, 700 members, internationally, they really only have 175, and of those 175 the number of members who actually do something besides attend parties, er, I mean initiations, is certainly much less than 175.

THE MAGICAL LINK, Vol. V, Nos. 11 and 12, November and December 1985 E.V.:  I am taking these together for the simple reason that my associate's secretary accidentally mixed these two together and I am not sure which pages belong to which numbers.  So please bear with me if you will.  It really changes nothing so far as this review is concerned.

"The Grand Lodge of the O.T.O.," we are told, which used to be headquartered in California and called Thelema Lodge, "is now AGAPE GRAND LODGE", in New York.  What I find interesting about this is that all of the nonsense - Jack Parsons, L. Ron Hubbard, Marcelo Motta, Kenneth Grant, Grady McMurtry, etc. - which has gone so far to misrepresent the O.T.O. and Thelema and tarnish their image, started in the Agape Lodge in Pasadena, California.  So the sickness takes on the original designation.

"About the Magic(k)al Link," Bill Heidrick wrote, "response has been overwhelming [sic] favorable, but only by proportion.  We have received 139 votes to keep the link and 8 to dump it.  That's out of a possible 600 to 700 votes.  Either most of the members don't care, or must have been procrastinating. ..."

Think about it.  What it means is that most of the members are procrastinators who do not give a damn because they have discovered that (a) what they joined does not add up to much, (b) they receive very little from the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o., and (c) they have very little say in anything of any importance in the group.  That is, they have found it to be a waste of time that offers them nothing in return for their dues and fees paid.

Heidrick obviously thought this pretty spiffy:

"On the subject of the 'k' in Magickal/Magical Link... MAGICAL = 105 = to subvert, ruin, change."  [Simplistic pseudo-gematria and it would be much better if he had transliterated the English word into Hebrew or Greek first as the numerical equivalents he is using for the English letters are those belonging to the Hebrew alphabet.  The Hebrew word, by the way, that equals 105 and means "to subvert..." is HPhK, i.e. Heh Pe Kaph-final.]  "MAGICKAL = Magick of the AL = 93.  M = 40/A = 1/G = 3/I = 10/C = 20/A = 1/L = 30 Total = 125"  [Again, simplistic silliness, and the total is incorrect and should be the 105 already mentioned.  "CK = 8" is then given figuring the word out another way to come up with the numeration of 93, figuring CK as the Hebrew Cheth, transliterated as Ch.  It would have been more accurate, although still overly simplistic, to represent the CK of "Magickal" as a single or double Kaph, i.e. 20 or 40.  And really it would be better to transliterate not only the single word but the entire title into either Hebrew or Greek and use the numerical equivalents attributed to these alphabets for the purpose of gematria working rather than to use the Hebrew equivalents for English characters.  And this is the Inept that Gerald Suster, author of The Legacy of the Beast, called "an American who is clearly a highly intelligent magical technologist."  Yeah.  Right.  Sure.  And I suppose daffy Qaddafi is an expert on international diplomacy and an all around lovely chap.]

Of course, Heidrick may have something here.  "To subvert, ruin, change."  Certainly the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. is, whether they all realize it or not, subverting the Work of Thelema in the world, and ruining at least the public image of the memory of the O.T.O., Thelema, and the work of Aleister Crowley.  Just as the original esoteric teachings of the Master Jesus were virtually lost when the Holy Roman Catholic Church persecuted the Gnostics, many of whom were truer followers of the Nazarene's teachings, and then perverted those teachings to suit their own political ends, so too do we find the teachings of the Master Therion being perverted by the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. and others for virtually petty personal political reasons.  History does indeed tend to repeat itself ... if we are stupid enough to allow it.

And we learn from this Link that "an unknown but small minority of O.T.O. members may actually believe in the Christian Devil."  Thelemites do not believe in the Christian Devil - but then there are probably no true Thelemites in the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. and very few sincere would-be Thelemites.

THE MAGICAL LINK, Vol. VI, No. 1, January 1986 E.V.:  In "An Interview With Caliph Hymenaeus Beta X°", the new Caliph spent a lot of time, words and energy making excuses for keeping his identity a secret.  All rhetoric.  And obviously many of those members who even bother to voice an opinion in the group do not approve of this policy.

We are also told in this Link that "Official bodies who don't have more than one member will be closed unless they serve a special function."  That is to say, up to this time many of the Oases, Chapters or what not, were groups of one.  A single person out in the middle of nowhere giving the impression to newcomers, outsiders, readers, et al, that the group is composed of many members and that the pseudo-o.t.o. as a whole is a much greater, larger and more powerful organization than it in fact is.

And will this change?  No.  Each solitary individual representing a group within the pseudo-o.t.o., so long as he or she contributes something, however small, to the group as a whole, will naturally be considered to serve a special function and allowed to continue misrepresenting the size and strength of the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o..

"We have received letters from accross the country ... the criticism has usually centered on one issue of confusion and doubt:  the secrecy in the identity of the Caliph and other high ranking members."

And this continues to be a bone of contention within the group, and rightly so.  What person, who does not wish to be a slave, who is or wishes to think of him- or herself as a self-governing Thelemite and a Magician, one who seeks to know, wants to be a part of some organization whose leaders hide behind pseudonyms.  Excuse me, but, for instance, if a president was ever elected into office here in the U.S. and I was told that his identity and the identity of his cabinet would not be divulged to the general public, I think I would then either start an underground movement to overthrow the government or simply leave the United States.  How would I know that the new president and his staff were not Communists or Nazis, or that perhaps the government had been entirely taken over by [shudder] big business?

I think it is understandable that the membership of the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. disapproves of the secrecy that their "leaders" are hiding behind.  Any man who is going to tell me how it is going to be had better be a man I know, approve of, and can communicate with directly should I wish to voice a difference of opinion.

Okay.  That does it for our walk through the publications of the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. for now.