The Temple of Set II

by Michael A Aquino

  electromagnetic fields, intense damage could have been done to those on board the Eldridge and indeed to anyone

  in its vicinity. One would prefer to think that the Navy wouldn’t cover up such a mishap, but the monkey-business

  presently going on with Project Sanguine [see Runes #III-3, review of #17F] makes one wonder. #20H is definitely

  not a ‘nut book’, but rather a careful, logical recounting of the author’s long and often frustrating efforts to uncover

  the truth [or lack thereof] behind what has become one of the more famous legends of Outer Limits-type research.

  #20H is reviewed in Runes #IV-2. [See also the fictionalized but very well done film The Philadelphia Experiment

  (Thorn EMI VHS cassette #TVA-2547, 1984).]” T.E. Bearden [in #20K]: “Reversing or lowering the

  electrogravitational charge is controlled by biasing the ground potential on the ensemble pattern transmitters,

  which can even be on-board the vehicle itself ... You can float metal ... You can even ‘dematerialize’ or ‘teleport’ it.

  The Philadelphia Experiment may have ben real after all. If so, the test ship and its personnel were ‘blasted’ into this

  strange realm ...”

  20I. Tesla: Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1981. (TOS-3)

  (TRP-3) MA: “Few turn-of-the-century scientists are more colorful, accomplished, and controversial than Nikola

  Tesla, the inventor of radio, pioneer of alternating current, namesake of the Tesla Coil, colleague of Einstein, and

  all-around ‘mad scientist’ par excellence. This lively biography, basis for a Tesla profile in Runes #I-2, not only tells

  his tale but also raises many questions [and proposes some answers] about the nature of electromagnetic energy.

  Extensive notes and recommendations for further reading & correspondence are included.”

  20J. The Command to Look: A Formula for Picture Success by William Mortensen. San Francisco: Camera

  Craft Publishing Co., 1945 [originally published 1937]. (TOS-3) (TRP-3) MA: “Although ostensibly a manual for the

  most enticing layout of photographic work, this small book was held by Anton LaVey to be among the most crucial

  for an appreciation of the artistic and audio/visual principles employed in the early Church of Satan and Order of

  the Trapezoid. It prescribes three elements for the CTL: impact, subject interest, and participation. It further

  suggests four types of visual patterns which contribute to the CTL: the diagonal, the S-curve, triangular

  combinations, and the dominant mass. In Runes #IV-3/May 1986 Stephen Flowers V°/GM reviews CTL in detail.

  Its principles were invariably utilized in Anton LaVey’s own artwork [examples in #6M, #6N and Satanis: The

  Devil’s Mass].” DW: “The connection between Mortensen and the ‘obscene angles’ of Frank Belknap Long & H.P.

  Lovecraft was made in the short story ‘The Sorcerer’s Jewel’ by Tarleton Fiske (Robert Bloch) in Strange Stories

  magazine (Feb 39). ‘Mortensen, of course, is the leading exponent of fantasy in photography; his studies of

  monstrosities and grotesques are widely known.’ The story, one of the hidden roots of the Order of the Trapezoid, is

  reprinted in Mysteries of the Worm by Robert Bloch (2nd Ed. 1993, Oakland: Chaosium - see #7J).”

  20K. Fer-de-Lance: A Briefing on Soviet Scalar Electromagnetic Weapons by Thomas E. Bearden. Ventura:

  Tesla Book Company, 1986. (TOS-4) (TRP-4) Bearden: “Scalar electromagnetics is an extension of present

  electromagnetics (EM) to include gravitation. That is, it is a unified electrogravitation, and, what is more

  important, it is a unified engineering theory. Its basis was initially discovered by Nikola Tesla. Western scientists

  are familiar only with directed-energy weapons where fragments, masses, photons, or particles travel through space

  and contact the target to deliver their effects. However it is possible to focus the potential for the effects of a

  weapon through spacetime itself, in a manner so that mass and energy do not ‘travel through space’ from the

  transmitter to the target at all. Instead ripples and patterns in the fabric of spacetime itself are manipulated to meet

  and interfere in and at the local spacetime of some distant target.” MA: “This spiral-bound book can be ordered

  directly from the TBC. Write to them at P.O. Box 1685, Ventura, CA 93002 for a current price list. Bearden is a

  retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 29 years’ experience in air-defense systems. He holds a Master’s degree

  in nuclear engineering, and is presently a senior scientist with a major aerospace company.”

  20L. The Power of Maps by Denis Wood. NY: Guilford Press, 1992. (TOS-3) Patty Hardy IV°: “The science

  and history of cartography illustrate all the subtlety involved in the objectification of experience: Beneath the cool,

  factual surface of ‘the map’ boils a stew of political conflict, psychological manipulation, and technical

  compromises.”

  - 238 -

  20M. Number Words and Number Symbols: A Cultural History of Numbers by Karl Menninger. NY: Dover,

  1992. (TOS-3) Patty Hardy IV°: “Number is one of the most powerful tools humans apply to their experience, and

  like language itself is often taken for granted. Cross-cultural and historical inquiry can hint at the strengths,

  weaknesses, and limits of the tools we have inherited.”

  20N. Keys to Infinity by Clifford A. Pickover. NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1995. (TOS-3) DW: “An introduction to

  very large and infinite numbers, fractals, vampire numbers, leviathan numbers, and other mind-stretching ideas.

  Chapter 6 is a discourse on the probable future history of computing, fractals, and the nature of Nepthys co-written

  with myself. Clifford is an IBM Fellow at the T.J. Watson Research Center. For his computer graphics work he

  received first prize in the 1990 Beauty of Physics Competition.”

  20O. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan. NY: Random House, 1996.

  (TOS-3) Robert Moffatt IV°: “This is a spirited defense of the scientific method and skeptical thinking. The occult

  world is the standing target for people wanting to sell bad thought for money. The Setian needs to be armed against

  the forces of ignorance which pursue such exploitation. As Sagan remarks, ‘Those who have something to sell, those

  who wish to influence public opinion, those in power, a skeptic might suggest, have a vested interest in discouraging

  skepticism.’”

  * * *

  F20A. The Philadelphia Experiment. New World Pictures/Thorn Video #TVA-2547, 1984. Michael Pare,

  Nancy Allen. Executive Producer: John Carpenter. MA: “No one was more surprised than I to see Hollywood pick up

  the Philadelphia Experiment as the subject for a science-not-so-fiction movie. Though advertised and represented

  as sci-fi, PE reeks with references to the actual (?) event, with the U.S.S. Eldridge correctly named and even a

  spoken reference to ‘Project Rainbow’ - the reputed code name for the actual PE. Portrayals of the PE occur only at

  the very beginning and very end of the film; in the middle is a purely dramatic-license romance to give the movie

  something to take up 2 hours with. [Don’t waste time with Philadelphia Experiment II.]”

  F20B. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. 1919. Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt. MA: “The first and most famous of the

  interwar German Expressionist films, containing highly-distorted representations of rooms, streets, and buildings.

  The effect of these distorted sets upon the viewer is startling, illustrating the degree to which we depend upon our

  instin
cts for normal/Euclidean geometry for our sense of order and mechanism in the cosmos.”

  F20C. The Golem. 1920. Paul Wegener. MA: “Hans Poelzig, an Expressionist artist & architect who had

  designed Berlin’s Grosses Schauspielhaus for Max Reinhardt in 1919, combined the non-Euclidean angles and

  planes from Caligari with his own expertise in lighting to create sets that seemed to writhe and crawl with a life of

  their own, so much so that the humans - and even the Golem - seem mere acessories to the more insidious drama of

  the houses and streets of the Prague ghetto.”

  - 239 -

  Category 21: The Future

  Die Zukunft

  as of February 26, 2003

  An effective magician must be able to move within and influence the fourth dimension as well as

  the first three. Such skill involves understanding and applying the principles which define and govern

  past periods of focus within the time-continuum, together with both passive analysis and active

  manipulation of the future. Time-Magic as employed by the Temple of Set may involve either Greater

  Black Magic techniques [referred to as Erotic Crystallization Inertia (ECI) techniques by Anton LaVey;

  see Runes #II-6] or Lesser Black Magic technology. The following selections include some of the more

  sophisticated futurological thinking in conventional society - as well as a few experiments-gone-wrong

  from The Outer Limits [“There is nothing wrong with your television set ...”]

  21A. The Future by Gerald Leinwand (Ed.). NY: Pocket Books #671-80316-6-195, 1976. (TOS-2) MA: “An

  anthology of selected readings concerning the future, selected by the Dean of the School of Education, City

  University of New York. Included are articles and extracts by such futurologists as Asimov, Orwell, Huxley, Clarke,

  Kahn, Reischauer, Toffler, and Skinner. Most of the contributions discuss developments of the near future which

  can be interpolated more or less reliably, but there are some long-range speculative essays as well. A good

  introductory work.”

  21B. The Last Days by Anthony Hunter. London: Anthony Blond Ltd, 1958. (COS-3) AL: “A fairly scarce work

  from England which explains the workings of the prophets of doom who prey upon their followers’ fears that the

  world will end, tidal waves, earthquakes, etc.”

  21C. Mankind at the Turning-Point by Mihajlo Mesarovic and Eduard Pestel. NY: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1974.

  [Deutschland: Menschheit am Wendepunkt, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, 1974 (WU: 24/14815)] (TOS-3)

  MA: “This is the second major book sponsored by the Club of Rome [the first being Meadows’ The Limits to

  Growth]. It expands upon and updates the data in Limits and responds to critics. Far more sophisticated than the

  sensationalist ‘doomsday’ books that sprang up following the appearance of Limits (which Raghavan Iyer, author of

  #16F and a member of the Club of Rome himself, told me was deliberately sensationalized in order to ‘shock’ the

  public - which of course it did).”

  21D. War in 2080: The Future of Military Technology by David Langford. NY: William Morrow & Co., 1974.

  [Deutschland: WU: B-39-249] (TOS-3) MA: “Langford is a physicist and science-fiction devotee [#7D], and he

  applies his skills in both areas in this excellent work. Topics treated include fission & fusion bombs, concepts of

  nuclear warfare, death rays (lasers, grasers [gamma-ray lasers], antimatter projectors, particle beams), orbital

  battlegrounds, geological warfare, ecological warfare, and human & non-human warfare in space. A good theoretical

  background study for #22N. For a specialized discussion of space warfare probabilities and possibilities, see also

  Space Weapons/Space War by John W. Macvey (NY: Stein & Day, 1979.”

  21E. The Next Ten Thousand Years by Adrian Berry. NY: Mentor Books, 1974. [Deutschland: Die grosse

  Vision, Econ-Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1975] (TOS-3) MA: “This is definitely long-range! An optimistic challenge to the

  ‘doomsday’ books that followed Limits to Growth, and a scientific scenario for survival within the Solar System with

  technological aid. Well-argued, with consideration given to the many influential factors. Nevertheless Berry seems

  excessively confident in the ability of the masses of humanity to cooperate in egalitarian ‘master plans’.”

  21F. Foundation/Foundation and Empire/Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov. NY: Avon Books, 1951.

  [Deutschland: Das galaktische Imperium, Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart, 1981 (WU: 31/11530)] (TOS-4) MA:

  “Brilliant trilogy of the future, based upon Asimov’s concept of ‘psychohistory’. This concept and others introduced

  in the text inspired certain aspects in the original design of the Temple of Set. In late 1982 Asimov published a

  sequel to the original trilogy - Foundation’s Edge - which I reviewed in Scroll of Set #IX-3, which in turn was

  commented upon by Asimov. The series was merged with Asimov’s robot series [cf. #15D] in Foundation and Earth

  (NY: Doubleday, 1986), in which the ultimate justification for mankind’s galactic unification is considered to be the

  eventual invasion of the Milky Way Galaxy by denizens from other galaxies. [Too late, Isaac - see #22N.]”

  21G. Metropolis by Thea von Harbou. NY: Ace Books #441-52831-125, 1927. (TOS-5) MA: “An Expressionistic

  portrait of a negative utopia in which humans are controlled by machines - save for one Black Magician (Rotwang).

  The novel from which Fritz Lang’s classic UFA film was made, and the basis for many electronic/audio-visual ritual

  techniques employed by the Church of Satan and further developed by the Temple of Set. A King in Yellow of

  science-fiction, preserved today through the personal efforts of Forrest J Ackerman. To understand Metropolis in

  the context of German Expressionist cinema, see The Haunted Screen by Lotte E. Eisner (Berkeley: University of

  California Press, 1973). [See #F21A.]”

  - 240 -

  21H. Political Science and the Study of the Future by Albert Somit. Hinsdale, Illinois: Dryden Press, 1974.

  (TOS-3) MA: “This is a theoretical text with accompanying case studies, and it is primarily valuable for its

  explanation and illustration of various social forecasting techniques, including: social physics (ideological theories,

  logistics curves, Kondratieff cycles), economic forecasting, demographic extrapolation, technological change,

  structural certainties, operational codes, operational systems, structural requisites, overriding problems, prime

  movers, sequential development, accounting schemes, scenarios, and decision theory. Another good introductory

  work without social science emphasis is Edward Cornish’s The Study of the Future (Washington, D.C.: World

  Future Society, 1977).”

  21I. Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology by K. Eric Drexler. NY: Anchor Books, 1986

  (paperback 1987). (TOS-3) Patty Hardy IV°: “Nanotechnology is a fledgling field of engineering that involves

  manipulation of matter on a molecule-by-molecule basis. This book is addressed to laymen, and ponders the limits

  of human ability to transform the natural order. This is the science perfected by the Krel in Forbidden Planet.

  Drexler’s analysis of possible responses to technologies of radical risk, ‘Strategies and Survival’, is worth skimming

  even if one is not interested in nanotech itself. Setians with training in physics or chemistry may want to seek out

  the published version of Drexler’s doctoral dissertation. Drexler is a graduate of MIT and a Visiting Scholar at

  Stanford.”

  21J. A Quick & Di
rty Guide to War by James F. Dunnigan & Austin Bay. NY: William Morrow, 1985+.

  [Deutschland: WU: B-56-805] (TOS-3) MA: “This heavy-duty paperback is subtitled ‘Briefings on Present and

  Potential Wars’, and that pretty well sums it up. As depressing as it is to admit, the world continues to move away

  from international peace and cooperation and closer to a kind of ‘tolerable/continuous state of war’, and - by

  geographic area - this book provides ‘intelligence briefings’ to tell you what is most likely to hit the fan where [if it

  isn’t already doing so]. Regularly updated, so look for the latest edition. This project is an attempt by the authors to

  overcome the short-sightedness of most press coverage, and to tell you about things before they happen. Jammed

  with facts and data: political forecasting of the most substantive kind.”

  21K. Futurehype by Max Dublin. NY: Penguin, 1989. (TOS-2) DW: “This book shows not only the short-

  sightedness of prophecy but its use as a way of ruling institutions. Dublin charts the rise of futurologists and the

  profound effect prophecy has on politics, business, education, the military, and the health-care system. The Setian

  has learned not to follow the RHP religious prophet, but also needs to see how futurologists may similarly limit

  social choices.”

  * * *

  F21A. Metropolis. UFA, 1926. (10-2030) Fritz Lang, director. (LVT-5) MA: “See discussion under #21G

  above.” James Lewis VI°: “Lang’s silent film remains one of the early and best of those with a Black Magician.

  Rotwang’s machinations are a King in Yellow of the cinema. Audiences then were not prepared for the world with

  which Rotwang would have replaced their own. Already wages were insufficient for the needs and wants of most; the

  thought of a robotic army able to take over the city of Metropolis was an unpleasant reminder of that which could

  happen to themselves. The story ended with the defeat of Rotwang, and all through a chance happening, that of

  Maria’s escape from his dark old house into the freedom of the city’s streets. Had she not made the escape, the

  robotrix would have triumphed and it may be that its admirers would have rallied to save her from the angry mob of