Around the time of his 18 month Great Magical Retirement, circa 1975 E.V., Frater Keallach wrote to the address given on the so-called "Caliph card" to be found in the original printing of the Thoth tarot deck.  It was quite some time before he received an answer in the form of a poorly produced newsletter, and eventually Frater K sent in the required $10.00 to become an "Associate Member" of the "O.T.O.".  All this meant was that one paid for the privilage of communication, and fortunately this was all that our brother was interested in.  Frater K did, however, have hopes that this O.T.O. might be more legitimate than Mr. Motta's, Mr. Grant's and a host of other "O.T.O.s" that he had come across in his investigations--investigations of both exoteric and esoteric forms.  He communicated mostly with Mr. Bill Heidrick, "Grand Secretary", Frater Emet (AMTh) 441, and openly, fraternally, expressed his concerns, opinions, and suggestions.  Correspondence was always horribly delayed due to the inefficiency at the O.T.O. Grand Lodge, and sometimes letters were never answered at all.  This problem seems to be common with many other correspondents to McMurtry and company, and it stems from total inefficiency and incompetence. 

Frater K also subscribes to their O.T.O. Newsletter, a publication which reeks of almost absolute incompetence.  It seems that McMurtry and company cannot obtain competent and sincerely dedicated assistants and that far too much has been given to Heidrick to do--and to judge from his editing, writing, calligraphy, secretarial work and so on, Heidrick is completely incompetent and should not be in charge of anything.  A sample of his pompous, know-it-all, buffoonery is to be found in Volume I, No. 2 of the O.T.O. Newsletter where he proposes to correct errors in Liber 777.  There, amongst a multitude of other stupidities, he tells the reader that in Column XCVII of 777, the second letter in the Hebrew word of #1 and the first letter of the word of #2 should be "Hay" and not "Chet".  #1's word is YeCHidah, and #2's word is CHiah.  Clearly 777 is correct and these letters should be, and are, Cheth (Ch) and not He (H).  As usual, in an effort to look intelligent and correct the Work of Our Father, Bill makes even the stupidest errors.  Many such examples of Bill's incompetence can be found throughout the O.T.O. Newsletter, especially in his Waite-like writings which contain so many words and yet says so little, but we will, perhaps, get to more of these at another time. 

The question is:  Why would McMurtry put such a man in charge of so much?  The answer is quite simple.  Like attracts like.  McMurtry is no more competent than his Grand Secretary, Bill Heidrick. 

Who is Grady McMurtry and upon what does he base his right to claim leadership of the O.T.O.?  The answer to both questions:  very little. 

Grady was, during World War II, in the service and a member of the Agape Lodge in California.  Obviously he was not too active in the O.T.O. during that time because he was a soldier under military restrictions during wartime.  In the O.T.O. Newsletter he writes of the good old days when he knew A.C. personally.  (This fact impresses a lot of people and it should not.  Possibly the butcher's son knew A.C. around this time, played chess with him, and listened to his stories, possibly receiving some instruction in things arcane.  That would make him today an old man who had known A.C. and really nothing more.  There must be hundreds of people who could claim this.)  It becomes apparent, as one reads the newsletter, that Grady saw and spoke with A.C. less frequently than he leads his readers and followers to believe.  Try to remember that he was a soldier during a war and could not just come and go as he pleased, whenever he pleased. 

Grady prides himself in the fact that he could not discover his own motto (which only seems to prove that he was/is less than intelligent and imaginative, not to mention that he had/has no idea as to the nature of his Angel and his own True Will), and so he asked Crowley to give him one.  The newsletter reproduces the letter and envelope upon which A.C. suggests a motto for Grady:  'YMENAIOC A 777.  Hymenaeus Alpha (A, Alpha in Greek = Aleph in Hebrew), the Graeco-Roman God of Marriage.  Aleph/Alpha is attributed to the tarot card THE FOOL.  777, the numeration of this motto, a highly overrated number in Thelemic thinking, is the Lightning Flash, i.e. the current of force DESCENDING RAPIDLY.  Now, it is humourous to note that THIS 'God of Marriage' could not keep his own marriage together.  (The separation was "magically" explained to me by Bill in a letter, which I may expand upon at another time, but what it actually boils down to is that they experienced a tremendous ego-conflict.)  THE FOOL of the tarot is not only the Divine Fool, i.e. the Initiate who appears to be foolish in the dim sight of the uninitiated, but he is also the common fool, usually depending upon whether he appears rightside up, that is ascending, or upside down, DESCENDING.  Study the motto and see if you can discover the subtle and intricate humour of Aleister Crowley. 

What gives Grady the right to claim leadership of the O.T.O.?  The so-called "Caliphate Letters" written by A.C. to Grady and reproduced in the O.T.O. Newsletter. 

The letter dated March 1946 E.V. authorizes Grady to take charge of the Agape Lodge in CA and to reform it, reporting to A.C....but all subject to the approval of Frater Saturnus, Karl Germer, then second-in-command.  Germer never gave his approval.  Furthermore, this authorization says nothing about the office of O.H.O. (Outer Head of the Order) nor anything of the like.  It merely gave him the right, if Germer approved, to get the muddled business of the now defunct Agape Lodge, from whence most of today's troubles had their origin, straightened out.  Obviously this task was not accomplished. 

The authorization was only to be used in emergency, which Grady claims is now--you know, after Germer and the others have either died or lost interest and cannot or will not be too much of a bother to his endeavours. 

Another letter dated April 1946 E.V. appoints Grady as Crowley's representative in the U.S., again, subject to the approval, revision, or veto of Karl Germer.  Once more, no word is written appointing Grady as O.H.O. or even saying that he is a possible, yet definite, successor.  And Germer, it seems, remained silent. 

June 17, 1947 is the date of a TYPED letter, supposedly signed "Aleister" by A.C. and excuses are given, by the O.T.O. Newsletter, for the shakiness of the signature.  In this letter Crowley supposedly writes that Karl, who would have been Crowley's natural successor to the office of O.H.O., would probably die relatively soon after A.C. himself and that the burden of this position MAY fall upon Grady's shoulders.  And so on and so on and so on. 

Here is what it all boils down to.  Most of the Thelemic O.T.O. at this time had fallen apart and basically only the Agape Lodge was, more or less, operating.  Aleister Crowley was an old, ill man; poverty stricken and living in England, almost imprisoned in that country by World War II action.  The members of the Agape Lodge were either losing interest or going their own weird, unsupervised ways.  Karl was the natural man in charge, but for some reason he apparently took no interest in things and let them degenerate more and more.  A.C. died.  Karl died.  To all intents and purposes, the O.T.O. died.  The Crowley-Germer Library was vandalized and robbed by a group of people similar to the Manson group.  Around this time Israel Regardie also suffered a robbery, and so on.  One gets the impression that the Secret Chiefs, utilizing the most appropriate tools, vandals and robbers, stripped certain people of their ranks and titles.  Something like a Hollywood military courtmartial.  Later, when what was left of the Crowley-Germer Library was in the care of the McMurtrys, there was another robbery, probably committed by members of the McMurtry O.T.O. (i.e. the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. as we call it now, and one of the perpetrators of this second robbery may be known to all members of the Caliphate, at least by his "magical name" -ED, 1996 E.V.).  Anyway, with no one possessing any better authorization than the flimsy stuff McMurtry has, McMurtry decided to claim leadership and foster "Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis", as they are constantly trying to brainwash others into believing, both in personal correspondence and in the O.T.O. Newsletter.  Don't believe it.  This is McMurtry's and Heidrick's O.T.O., not THE O.T.O., and with the movement to incorporate, which would be a serious blow to the O.T.O. and Thelema, considering the leadership, this "O.T.O." would become less and less like that Order of which Aleister Crowley was once the Outer Head. 

Grady was never intended to be the O.H.O..  No direct mention of this was made by A.C..  Caliph, which generally means "successor", means nothing.  It is not exactly synonymous with "O.H.O.", a very specific title of authority.  A.C. needed money to publish books before he died, and McMurtry was an excellent source.  He also employed young McMurtry as an errand boy and informer, and, to a certain degree, as a business manager.  He not only had to keep the poor young "fool" happy and satisfied, but he had to give him hope.  Seems a rather callous thing to do, but one has to remember that A.C. was running out of time.  He knew he would die soon and he still had work to do.  Crowley was forced to grasp at straws; there were so few even semi-balanced individuals to choose from to assist him.  Grady was still relatively untouched, a virgin, you might say, and could have possibly amounted to something if he would travel the Path properly.  Yet A.C. obviously had serious doubts about him; perhaps he recognized many slavish qualities in the youth (the slaves shall serve).  If he had not had doubts about Grady he would have written up a document making it quite clear that he wished McMurtry to be seriously considered as O.H.O. after Karl's death.  No such specifically worded document exists. 

I would not be surprised to discover that Germer and Crowley had had much correspondence on this subject, and that, perhaps, Germer did nothing BY ORDERS FROM ALEISTER CROWLEY.  Since the Crowley-Germer Library was conviently robbed, at least twice, we may never know for certain whether this is true or not. 

Why would Crowley and Germer choose to take such self-destructive action?  The Order had degenerated badly.  The brethren were losing interest, bickering amongst themselves, involving themselves in self-destructive projects.  Things were thoroughly out of control.  The O.T.O. in California had become a veritable Frankenstein monster.  What was left but to let it die thoroughly, quietly, and hope that one day it could, like the legendary Phoenix, be reborn, afresh and new, from the ashes of its own destruction.  That has not yet happened.  McMurtry, Motta, Grant and others must be totally burnt up, figuratively speaking.  They have the strong taint of the degenerated O.T.O.. 

But enough of speculation for now.  It seems obvious that neither Grady McMurtry nor anyone else can legitimately claim authority over the O.T.O.; that no one can truthfully claim to be the Outer Head of the Order of "Aleister Crowley's O.T.O.".  But what of Grady's qualifications to take leadership of anything? 

To begin with, here is a sample of his handwriting (February 12, 1978 E.V.): 

Graphological analysis shows this to be quite inharmonious and "inferior" handwriting.  It shows a very susceptible, jealous individual, one who is not stable, who is very nervous and inconsistant, not to mention devious.  There is a great deal of pride here, and an interest in big issues as opposed to details.  There is here displayed much too much pride and vanity; conceit and arrogance.  An illogical mind, unable to follow natural thought sequences.  This is the handwriting of a man with strong materialistic tendencies, high-strung emotionalism, one who pushes deduction to extremes, often with false and absurd conclusions.  There is, in this handwriting, superficiality, fickleness, lack of precision, affectation, too much softness, a desire to take the easy, expedient way even if it means hypocrisy and deception.  He shows himself to be hypocritical and given to secrecy and lying; disorder, carelessness, poor taste, lack of discipline, narrow views, fear of risk, confusion, false judgment, inferiority, irritability, and inconsiderateness; also deep psychological reasons of guilt, and possibility an inability to adjust to ordinary conventions and social customs.  The subject, to judge from his handwriting, is indecisive, has fluctuating will power, unsustained energy, has a very changeable temperament; he is impatient, tactless, aggressive, yearns for something out of his reach, lacking the qualifications to achieve his dreams.  Illness is also shown and, it should be noted, alcoholism. 

I would certainly not trust this man to lead me along the Magical path, nor would I trust his judgment upon anything. 

This brief excerpt from the original graphological analysis was made upon reception of the sample given, shortly after the letter's date.  In a letter dated June 11, 1979, from Grady's ex-wife, Phyllis Seckler, as she now styles herself, she says, "Grady couldn't (go through the necessary ordeals to be O.H.O.).  He is alcoholic and a slave to that and to other things."  From a letter dated October 9, 1979 she writes that many things cannot be documented because she has only her own diaries to back those things up--"He (i.e. Grady) destroyed his own!"  Further she writes, "G's mind had already been partly upset by Dr.'s perscription in Washington D.C. of an emphetamine to keep G. awake on the job.  The Dr. did not insist G. get off alcohol.  What a stupid ass!  G. simply had for a long time, a bad case of hypoglycemia."  August 13, 1979, "Physical problems, yes, due to the alcoholism, kidneys, hemorhoids, heart, high blood pressure.  Mental troubles, yes. ..." and she concludes, "In my mind, this is not the real O.T.O.  But then where might the real one be?" 

Opening communications with Phyllis, Soror Meral, was quite difficult and she changed from silent, to hostile, to very fraternal, and finally back to silent again.  Now it seems that we have to bend a few promises in order to do our Will effectively.  One should certainly not regard Soror Meral and Newaeon as allies.  Furthermore, we should state that we do not think much better of Phyllis than we do Grady.  Still, much of what she has said, though said out of a poorly disguised personal hatred, does have the ring of truth, and our other investigations tend to back her statements up.  "He gives out grades in O.T.O. and A.·.A.·. without ever seeing if the individual has done the work..." and "As to Bill, he could be more than he is, as he wishes to conform to G.'s idea of things and thus plot to be next Caliph", Phyllis has written.  From Vol. III, No. 9 of the O.T.O. Newsletter, in the section written by McMurtry himself, page 4:  "...and maybe I drink more than is good for me..." 

The McMurtry O.T.O. offers cassette tapes for sale and distribution.  Tape M-1 has a recording on it called "Crowley reads from Olla", with the command typed on the label "Do not copy", but without copyright symbol and information.  The recording of A.C. reciting "La Gitana" and "Pentagram" was taped from a record loaned to them by friends.  It is the record COPYRIGHTED by FORUM GROUP AGENCY, 133, Deans Lane, Edgware, Middlesex, England.  Also on this tape is a recording of the Bartzabel ritual, done by Grady (cars roaring and cats meowing in the background).  When I played this tape I laughed so hard it really did hurt.  The old fox, Crowley, had done it again!  Frater Hymenaeus Alpha, Caliph of the "O.T.O.", does not even know how to VIBRATE magical and divine words and names of invocation and evocation.  A.C., as we all know, often set traps for the unwary.  If the aspirant was/is sincere and careful, discerning and forthright, he/she does not fall into these traps.  Grady falls for trap after trap and is led to believe that VIBRATING these words and names means to sing-song them.  THIS IS TOTALLY FALSE.  To VIBRATE these sounds one is supposed to do exactly that, VIBRATE THEM.  The sounds are begun deep in the diaphragm and exhaled with a slight nasal quality.  The effect is quite powerful and actually does have the effect of VIBRATING the entire being, indeed, the very atmosphere.  Mere words cannot explain this well, and personal instruction is needed to teach it properly, but basically it is a very simple thing to learn.  Most great mystical secrets ARE quite simple, so simple, in fact, they are often taken for granted and not seen.  Instead of invoking any great force with this silly, off-key, sing-songing, Grady only manages to evoke great laughter.  He really is quite funny.  For a magician he makes a great comedian. 

On one of these tapes Grady "teaches" the listener how to pronounce the Hebrew words common to qabalistic studies and ceremony--and he mispronounces them oh so horribly.  It is an education in ignorance.  Now, being a "gentile" by birth, I must admit that I am not an expert in the pronunciation of Hebrew and it seems that the only time I can pronounce these difficult sounds adequately is under ceremonial conditions, when I am really "into it".  (You will note that I do not pretend to teach others that which I am not an expert in.)  I lived in a Jewish community for a good while and I can assure you that Grady's pronunciation of these qabalistic terms is so inferior that, again, I laughed my head off.  Take the tape to a Rabbi and get his opinion if you wish. 

The point?  IF Crowley had even considered Grady for the position of O.H.O. he had no other choice at the time.  Yet it seems evident that he did not seriously consider him for the position, otherwise he would have been more specific about it in his writings.  In any case, this "head" of this "order" is in no way qualified for the position, has put in charge of the "order's" very disorderly workings others as equally unqualified and incompetent as himself, and is making of the great name Ordo Templi Orientis a stupendous, magnificant joke.  And, really, it is not funny. 

In our opinion, based upon this review of the "O.T.O". Newsletter, our investigations and everything else, Grady Louis McMurtry is a silly old fool who had better wise up and see what is going on around him.  Those closest to him are using him to their own egocentric ends.  Incorporation of the "O.T.O". would be a grave mistake for it would give the wrong people too much power.  It would be better for him to formally and publically disband his "O.T.O." and chuck all ideas of incorporation into the trash.  Let the multitudes of publishers have the Crowley material.  They can be trusted to publish it and so give it better circulation and a greater chance of survival.  Their motives will be for monetary gain, but that matters little.  The only way that Grady can save face and "redeem" himself, somewhat, would be for him to disband the "O.T.O.", boot out those around him, disgracefully using him to further their own petty ambitions, and admit to everything that is being withheld.  Why did he destroy his diaries?  What of his own slavery?  How were the original Thoth tarot cards finances?  Everything. 

I here make a personal appeal to Frater H.A.:  Grady, it is time to undo the wrong of the beginning.  I do not appeal to you out of a lust for your position, a lust that others around you do have.  I have never been a member of the O.T.O. and I have no ambition to become a member.  Yet I have always loved this Order for it is/was the adopted child of Our Father the Beast 666, whose memory I love dearly. 

The battle is no good.  The "O.T.O." is losing horribly due to its internal corruption going at least as far back as the Agape Lodge.  Look at all that has been spawned of it.  I do not ask you to surrender to Newaeon.  I ask you to surrender to Fate and to the memory of Our Father.  I do not ask you to surrender because you are winning or succeeding, for verily, you are failing miserably.  You are making a mockery of the O.T.O. and when you pass on, those now around you, a pack of young fools, will utterly destroy the idea of the real O.T.O. and it will become just another "big business", with a religious, magical facade, run for personal glory and financial gain.  That is the only success that your "O.T.O." can now achieve, and that is the most abysmal failure imaginable for a Magical Order. 

Before the Phoenix can truly rise again it must be completely, utterly, totally burnt up.  Otherwise the resurrection of the O.T.O. cannot be the glorious rebirth of the Phoenix, but rather is it nothing but an act of gross necromancy, the raising of the dead, putrefied, rotting flesh in a semblance of life, but by its very existence, a mockery of life. 

We of Newaeon have no ambitions to take over the O.T.O..  We are just doing our Will of Adjustment/Justice.  In a way we are nothing more than caretakers and janitors.  We wish to keep Thelema clean and pure. 

Study the great religions of the world and you will see in every instance how, after the passing of the great prophet and teacher, the followers, either out of personal ambition or misguided dedication, destroyed the original teachings by gross misinterpretation, failure to truly understand them, and sometimes out of deliberate tampering to achieve ego-centred and personal gains. 

Do we want this to happen to Thelema and the teachings of the Beast 666, Aleister Crowley?  Do you really think that the "O.T.O.", as it is under your leadership, and as it will be after you have passed on, can do anything but harm Thelema and its teachings?  Be honest with yourself, man.  There is little time left.  Before it is too late, my brother, undo the wrong of the beginning.  Give the O.T.O. a chance to begin again, fresh, without the taint of the past and without the contamination of those about you, using you, lying, cheating, stealing, and being untrue to you, Thelema, and even themselves. 

Time is running out.  Think, man! 

(1997 E.V. NOTE:  At the time the above was written, Grady McMurtry, Hymenaeus Alpha, was still alive, and of course as Newaeon always does, a complimentary copy of the newsletter that this originally appeared in was sent to him.  Since then McMurtry has died and Bill Breeze, doing his best to keep his name a secret and calling himself Hymenaeus Beta, took control of the McMurtry O.T.O. or what is now commonly called the Caliphate O.T.O. or by yours truly the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o..  The situation is no better.  It is worse, as later Sword of Horus and Encyclical articles clearly illustrate.  -ED)

For Grady Louis McMurtry I feel no hate.  In fact, I truly love my "enemies", for without them I would have no existence.  It is my purpose, my Will, to undo the damage that they have done; to rebalance the Scales of Justice; to do the Will of Adjustment. 

Compassion fills my heart.  I see an old man, in ill-health, being used, most outrageously, by a group of ill-mannered youths.  Grady should know better than to claim that which he cannot, in all honesty, claim.  But despite all he is still a brother in the order of humanity. 

I do not write out of jealousy, as Bill Heidrick claims and would like to believe.  I do not desire any position of leaderhsip.  In fact, I would love to be left alone and to be silent, but the nature of my True Will, at this time, forbids it.  I certainly do not envy Grady or Bill.  It is all too obvious that they are "beggars".  I am rich beyond words.  I have a very full knowledge of my True Self and my True Will, and that is why I speak up.  To do my Will.  There are no petty, personal motives in what I do.  My motives are purely Thelemic, and such motives are beyond the understanding of those who are not truly Thelemic. 

Bill Heidrick, Secretary of the Grand Lodge of the McMurtry O.T.O. (i.e. the Caliphate pseudo-o.t.o. -ED), sent Frater Keallach a letter, dated March 30, responding to Part I of this article.  He could not deny anything which was written, but pointed out that incorporation of the O.T.O. has already been achieved.  This is, considering the leadership of the Order, a severe blow to Thelema.  Yet, as Frater K responded:  "I have perfect confidence in the Secret Chiefs.  That which is gained one day can just as easily be lost the next." 

In that response from Heidrick, which read like the sassiness of a naughty little boy, he resorted to his brand of "gentlemanly diplomacy" and told Frater K to shove it--which only caused Frater K to chuckle--and ended by strictly forbidding us to quote any of the letters that he had written to us in the past.  That is fine with us as we had decided not to anyway.  But it does make you wonder, doesn't it--just what IS Heidrick afraid of having repeated to the public? 

We also received a brief "letter" from a Soror Rachel of the McMurtry "O.T.O." (RHL as she transliterated Rachel in Hebrew on the envelope instead of RChL as it should be).  Rachel sent us the carbon copy of this letter, obviously too enamoured with her own writing to give up the original copy.  The letter was very poorly written and seems to be intended to cast out devils in Frater K by mail.  Aside from the fact that one first has to be possessed by devils before they can be cast out, the process of doing so by mail is difficult at best.  But what else can one expect from the people associated with the McMurtry/Heidrick "O.T.O."? 

Again Frater Keallach chuckled. 

I should note two things before I continue with this review of The O.T.O. Newsletter, McMurtry and his pseudo-O.T.O.. 

First:  although the newsletter is an inefficiently produced, nonsensical rag, it does, from time to time, publish hitherto unavailable Crowley material, though in very small doses.  For this reason alone is the publication worth subscribing to.  Just barely. 

Second:  although we of Newaeon condemn McMurtry and Heidrick for their actions and motives, we do not necessarily condemn every individual who is an Associate or Degree Member of the McMurtry "O.T.O.".  As with anything else, each case must be individually judged as if the subject was never before even considered.  We ourselves only judge things relatively, never absolutely.  Our judgments are always subject to change as circumstances are always changing.  That which we do not speak of, specifically, we reserve our judgment upon until further data is received. 

Now, to the matter at hand.  Grady Louis McMurtry and his "O.T.O.". 

It was written in Part I of this article (TNN III.1) that McMurtry, representing himself as a king of the earth, an example of a leader with self-control, and head of the O.T.O., is himself a slave to many things, alcohol for one, thus lacking self-control, and by no means the legitimate head of the Ordo Templi Orientis.  It has been established that he gives out degrees, in this Order and in the A.·.A.·., without himself completing all of the necessary tasks and without checking on whether or not those to whom he gives the degrees have completed the tasks. 

This is all very unthelemic and very damaging to Thelema and the image of Thelema. 

Newaeon has contacted, directly and indirectly, exoterically and esoterically, many of the leaders of the McMurtry "O.T.O." Lodges throughout the U.S..  The consensus is that, for the most part, they are totally unfit for leadership--that they are mere babies playing Master.  They are, generally speaking, so caught up in trying to live a fantasy, that they may never realize the reality of their dreams.  This is very bad for them, and even worse for those who allow themselves to be led by them. 

When an aspirant allows another to guide him/her along the Path, that aspirant had best be as sure as possible that the chosen guide has travelled, or is travelling, the true Magical Path.  Otherwise, both will be lost and perhaps attacked by undesirable forces and perhaps destroyed along the Way. 

Not long ago one of our most reliable operatives visited New York and attended a Gnostic Mass officiated by some of the McMurtry people in that city.  Here is what he reported: 

"On Sunday at 1:00 P.M. the Gnostic Mass commenced at 1781 Riverside Dr., Apt. # 6, 200 St., NYC.  It was held in the apt. of Kris Dowling and his Soror.  I regret I wasted 20 minutes on the subway and the experience was found wanting. 

"Gerrum Bellum (Dowling) a seemingly capable chap allowed two green neophytes to perform the service.  On a couple of occasions the priest and the priestess had forgot the rubic and were given sideline cues by Dowling and his lady.  She, his soror, chuckled in a couple of parts of the Mass when the celebrants were amiss.  I shuddered at her apparent lack of concentration and respect.  There was no build up on the Inner. 

"The irony of this experiences is that _____ and I had the damnedest time to obtain permission to (attend) the Mass.  Some fast talking and a sufficient display of familarity of the Work finally convinced them to acquiesce in our behalf.  Live and learn." 

It should be noted that this operative has always passed information on to us in a very objective manner and that he is otherwise affiliated with an organization that does not completely agree with the Work, methods and ideas of Newaeon. 

Having had guests at the Mass it would seem that those more experienced should have officiated--unless those on the sidelines were just as inept and boosted their sagging self-confidence by giggling at the inexperienced ineptitude of the poor neophytes who must have suffered a good deal of mortification. 

This is rather typical of the type of people we of Newaeon have communicated with and investigated.  Basically there are two types:  (1) the inexperienced aspirant who has joined McMurtry's "O.T.O." with the greatest hopes, and who can then go either way, and (2) those who have joined this pseudo-order so that they may pretend to be that which they cannot be in real life--kings and queens of the earth and true Thelemites. 

This is true in New York as in California, in Florida as in the other states--this is true in every branch of the McMurtry "O.T.O.". 

Because of such things, the Ordo Templi Orientis, or what groups claim to be this Order, has become a veritable three-ring circus.  In the centre of the three rings are the three major performers/clowns:  Grady Louis McMurtry, Kenneth Grant, and Marcelo Ramos Motta.  From time to time we are also amused by the antics of lesser clowns who appear and disappear, moving throughout the crowd. 

This is not the true O.T.O..  This is not Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis. 

In The Continuum is a magazine put out by Soror Meral, Phyllis Seckler/McMurtry, through her College of Thelema.  We of Newaeon feel that she and her associates are very poor teachers of Magick and Thelema, lacking true experience and knowledge upon the subjects, but we do recommend subscription to this publication for it offers hitherto unavailable Crowley material and histories (remember, possibly coloured by the persona of the writer) that are most illuminating.  It should be noted that we and the estranged wife of Grady McMurtry can hardly be considered allies.  There is a grave dichotomy between us. 

In Vol. II, No. 2 of ITC, Soror Meral tells the story of the rescue of Crowley's literary remains.  During the course of the story it is mentioned that sometime between 1972 and 1976 E.V. Grady felt the presence of an "astral watcher" in his study.  Both he and Phyllis felt uncomfortable in this room.  This became a problem for the McMurtrys, though the watcher seems to have done nothing more than watch.  They called in a friend who claimed to have psychically sensed it and who attempted to banish it.  He failed.  Later Phyllis tried, "half-heartedly" (?!), to banish it...and failed. 

Finally Phyllis became curious concerning its purpose for being there.  The two "magicians", the "Caliph of the O.T.O." and the head of the "College of Thelema", set out to find a psychic to investigate the matter and hopefully to banish the said astral watcher.  Grady brought in a woman and the two of them entered the study, shut the door, excluding Phyllis, and later reemerged with satisfied smiles on their faces.  By the manner in which Phyllis relates the story she seems to doubt that they had spent the time banishing unwanted astral visitors.  Needless to say, the watcher remained. 

Phyllis finally made contact with a Bible-toting, self-professed psychic.  This woman called the watcher a "shadow".  She also claimed that it was the shadow of a dead person, a man, an earth-bound spirit and an old man (old soul?) with an overpowering warmth and love.  From this Phyllis began to conclude that it was the shade of Karl Germer. 

There was a break in the images that was dismissed because it did not fit--as old-fashioned scientists used to dismiss the result of an experiment because it did not fit the theory.  The break was a scene, viewed by the "psychic", of children playing around an old barn. 

After this and much more of a nonsensical, spiritualistic nature, the shadow was supposed to have left. 

It was during this time that Frater Keallach, on his 18-month Great Magical Retirement, was investigating, deeply, the O.T.O. via astral journeys, the Tarot and the I Ching--and with great accuracy.  This before he had made any common contacts and exoteric investigations.  (This was also the time that he had come to know me, in a manner of speaking.)  At the time the said "watcher" was supposed to have ceased to haunt the McMurtry household, Frater K had ceased that series of astral investigations. 

The form most often assumed by Frater K in the astral state of consciousness is that of a being composed of the deepest shadow.  (Occasionally as a being composed of brilliant white light.)  Those who have been astrally visited by Frater K, without having prior knowledge of his form in the astral, have described his presence as "a shadow", sometimes "wearing a dark shadowy cloak", frequently with "brilliant, piercing eyes", and often:  "I immediately thought of Kelly and Crowley as if the two were inseparable".  (No claims regarding reincarnation are here implied.  The two "vehicles" are completely separate.) 

So who, what and why was the watcher?  The answer is obvious.  But other questions arise.  Why didn't the "magicians" attempt to communicate in the first place with the watcher, employing the approved magical methods, and then, if they felt it unwholesome, why did they not banish it themselves?  Why did they resort to employing Bible-toting psychics and spiritualists?  The very people that Our Father the Beast 666 disapproved of so strongly.  The answers to these questions are also obvious. 

One last thing:  777 = 666 + 111 (111 being the numeration of Aleph in full, ALPh, and is attributed to The Fool of the Tarot.)  This number, 777, could be interpreted as:  "The foolish pretender to the glory of the Beast." 

Think about it.