Greetings all,

I've just returned from giving a series of lectures in Norway, and found this interesting thread in my mailbox.  A lot of questions have been raised about the rituals and practices of O.T.O. and, more broadly, of the Thelemic religion.  I feel compelled to respond as Aleister Crowley's biographer, an occult historian, a 19 year member of O.T.O. currently empowered to train both clergy and initiators, and last--but certainly not least--as an academic.  I offer these credentials not to say that I'm the last word here (because I'm not), nor to speak in any "official" capacity, but to put what I am about to write in the context of my expertise, in hopes of keeping this discussion in the arena of informed academic discourse.

Early on, someone asked if the use of the word "pigs" and "piggie" in the Manson killings was a reference to some Crowley ritual.  The answer, briefly, is no.  I know of no ritual by Crowley that refers to pigs.  The two standard sources for the Manson family's "pig" references are:

a) that Charles Manson saw the Beatles' White Album as a prophetic work, and drew inspiration from its lyrics including the songs "Helter Skelter" and "Piggies."

b) the first of the killers in the Manson clan (Bobby Beausoleil) frantically wrote "Political Piggie" on the walls as a diversion to make the police believe--unsuccessfully--that the murder was politically motivated.

Other questions were raised about the Solar Lodge (not an OTO group by any stretch) and its history, and I refer any persons interested in a serious study of this period to the excellent academic article:  Starr, Martin P., 2006, "Chaos from Order:  Cohesion and Conflict in the Post-Crowley Occult Continuum," Pomegranate, 8(1):84-117.

Re the Thelemic Calendar figuring into SRA reports:  I've followed this literature closely, and presented on SRA at the annual meetings of the American Psychological Association in the 1990s.  My impression from reading the confessional literature like "Michelle Remembers" is that the purported Satanic festivals and dates emerging from these recovered memories generally bear no resemblance to any Wiccan, Thelemic, Pagan or other system of holy days with which I am familiar (and calendrical systems is a pet interest of mine).  If Thelemic terms have turned up in some account, I would be interested in a citation, as this would certainly represent the exception and not the norm.

Another poster referred to Aleister Crowley as "the black magician."  This is a label that Crowley himself categorically rejected, and over which he personally sued for libel.  Those of us engaged today in the academic study of magic must be vigilant to avoid such value-laden terminology when referring to practitioners of other faiths.  I'm reminded of a well-known paranormal belief survey which had respondents rate their agreement with the question "Witches do exist"; I've often remarked that these researchers would never ask something like "Catholics do exist" or "Muslims do exist"!

Regarding the question of Crowley as a Gnostic:  The term "Gnostic" originates with the church's late 19th-century founder, Jules Doinel; one branch of this church eventually worked its way into OTO via Doinel's successor, Johnny Bricaud.  As I see it, Crowley considered his Mass to be Gnostic in the sense that Gnosis involves knowledge that derives from direct, personal experience of the Divine (as opposed to knowledge derived from books or obtained from intermediaries like priests or gurus).  Although his ritual involves ecclesiastical officers, it also contains a requirement that congregants "communicate" with cakes and wine for precisely this reason:  That to sit by as a bystander and not participate is the antithesis of Gnosis.  [I should clarify that Crowley left no commentaries as such on his Gnostic Mass, and that these observations are the result of my understanding of Crowley's corpus of work, and of several years of celebrating the Mass as an ordained member of Ec!
 clesia Gnostica Catholica.  Bear in mind that the Nag Hammadi codices were undiscovered until 1945, and Crowley wrote his Mass in 1913, so his use of the term Gnostic is broad and generic...much like Hargrave Jennings a generation before used the term "Rosicrucian" to refer to anything the least bit mysterious or occult.]

On the topic of Cakes of Light:  Back in 1986, O.T.O. issued very strict and clear instructions on the preparation of these Cakes, particularly in response to concerns stemming from the AIDS epidemic (and because of idiosyncratic regional practices which had sprung up).  Since then, it certainly has been the policy of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica that congregants are informed of the constituent ingredients of Cakes of Light--on which I'll comment shortly; this informed consent is a standard component of most Deacons' introductory speech for new congregants.  Furthermore, many bodies/sanctuaries have adopted the policy of allowing new congregants one "freebie"...that is, they are allowed not to communicate at their first Mass if they feel uncomfortable doing so.  In any case, congregants are generally encouraged to have read the Gnostic Mass before attending the ritual for the first time.
     The recipie for Cakes of Light is twofold.  The first part involves making incense whose ingredients are specified as meal, honey, lees, olive oil and two less common pantry items:  Abramelin oil (made of cinnamon, myrrh, galangal and olive oil) and a blood product (menses, blood drawn from a finger prick, semen, or animal blood obtained legally).  The inclusion of a blood product in incense, and the practice of burnt offerings, has clear religious and magical precedent.  This incense is burned, and a small pinch of the ash is included in the batter for Cakes of Light, which itself is made of meal, honey, lees, olive oil, and Abramelin oil.  There is no "live" blood product in Cakes of Light.
     The permitted ingredients and the manner of preparation for Cakes of Light are very clearly spelled out.  Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica has a hierarchy of Father of the Church, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and Priests/Priestesses to ensure that novitiates adhere strictly to church policy in this and many other matters.  As in any organization, there is potential for novitiates, either through ignorance or zeal, to violate some church policy.  For this reason, public celebrations of the Gnostic Mass are required (except in developing areas where a waiver may be obtained) to be performed by fully ordained clergy.  I cannot overstate the effort that goes into disseminating standards and best practices among EGC clergy and OTO initiators.  The organization regularly offers certified initiator training, leadership colloquia, Gnostic Mass training, and pastoral counseling education for its members.  Whatever may have been the case 20+ years ago, it is certainly not so now.  

Finally, regarding the question of how lees are produced:  Since most vintners will look at you askance if you ask to purchase actual lees (I keep trying...), yes, it is fairly universal practice to take a sweet red wine like port and cook it over a low heat until most of the liquid evaporates and leaves a thick, syrupy liquid for the batter.  If this was your idea, bless you for making life easier!

[Apologies to everyone for neglecting to refer to your comments by name, but after catching up on all the messages I thought it easer to write a single email than to go back and respond to half a dozen different posts.]

All best,

Richard Kaczynski, Ph.D.