Saint Francis is among the most revered of Saints. He found his way to Sainthood, trod it willfully and willingly,
and became a Saint. He Xeper ed. Saint Francis performed few if any good acts. He did not preach to the world. He
did not condemn those who did not follow his path. He did not even lead his followers; he simply permitted them to
accompany him. Saint Francis discovered his own path and followed it. Any leadership was by example.
Anita Bryant has also chosen a path. Her path, however, leads not through personal Xeper. Rather she is trying
to mold the world to fit her own personal, as yet limited concepts. She will not Xeper. She is stirring up much
psychic ill will, and we know how dangerous such ill will can be.
Saints and Sets must Xeper. Only then may they accomplish their goal. Choose your own path and follow it. The
first step of Setamorphosis is internal.
- 285 -
A31: How an Eclipse Happens, as related by Bast to her Kittens
- by Margaret Wendall IV°
Scroll of Set #III-3, November 1977
Once upon a time Sekhmet was awakened from her noon nap by all the living things on Earth and by all the
gods and goddesses, because Apep was daring to eat Ra in front of them, and they were all frightened.
But all the gods and goddesses knew that Sekhmet could save Ra. Sekhmet got up, snarling at being so rudely
awakened. Like all felines she enjoys her noon naps in little patches of sunlight under big trees. But the other gods
and goddesses prevailed and calmed Sekhmet as they explained the seriousness of the situation.
Sekhmet is used to that upstart Apep trying to eat Ra each afternoon and causing it to get dark all over the
Earth. Even though she enjoys the darkness of night, when she can hunt under the gem-like stars strewn on the soft
darkness, she also knows that if she doesn’t save Ra, all life will perish. If she doesn’t save Ra, her own existence is
in peril, so every night, Sekhmet scares Apep and makes him vomit Ra up and put him back together again, just in
time for Ra to get into the barque that carries him across the daytime sky.
This day, however, Apep must have slithered into Ra’s barque, hiding until the dastardly deed was to be done.
Sekhmet cast aside her fear of swimming and set out for the barque. The fight for Ra had begun. Luckily for all living
things, and for all the gods and goddesses, Apep had only begun to eat Ra when Sekhmet climbed into the barque.
She pounced on Apep, roaring and with claws and fangs bared, and scared Apep so much that he let go of Ra
after only one bite. Apep spat that up and, with a paw on Apep, Sekhmet herself put Ra back together again. Then
she took Apep in her mouth, jumped back into the sky, and returned to Earth.
The wily Apep slithered out of her mouth and got away, but Sekhmet knew he’d be back later in the afternoon,
just when Ra’s barque would be landing. So she lay down to wait for him, purring at her great accomplishment. All
the living things and gods and goddesses gave loud cheers of thanks to Sekhmet for saving Ra, and for saving them.
And this is why you don’t ever need to worry about Ra. As long as Sekhmet is here, waiting for his barque, she
will protect him from Apep, and we’ll have our little patches of sunlight to keep warm in, while we wait for the
darkness and the good hunting it brings.
Curl up, my kittens, and go back to sleep. You’re safe.
- 286 -
A32: Setward Evolution
- by Robert Menschel II°
Scroll of Set #III-4, December 1977
All life on Earth is undergoing continual evolution.
Mankind’s most notable physical evolution to date has been his brain. Man first used his brain to simply
survive. He learned to use tools, then to construct tools, and then to shape his environment.
Man has learned universal laws. We understand thermodynamics, and use thermodynamics. We continue to
learn; we continue to use what we learn.
Man also evolves socially. Man is learning ethics. Discrimination is lessening. People are being given the chance
to fulfill their potential as never before. More and more, people are permitted to follow [or not follow] their religions
as they individually desire.
The animal kingdom evolves [mostly] physically. Man appears to evolve [primarily] mentally. All our above
processes are continuing, still evolving, just as other species continue to evolve. Further, because our mental
evolution does not require concurrent physical change, it apparently happens faster than physical evolution would.
Two hundred years ago there was a white moth, as white as the trees upon which it rested. Colored mutations of
the moth were spied, and eaten by predators. These moths live in industrial England. The birches are now speckled,
as is the species. White mutations are now the ones that get seen - and eaten.
Evolution is continual, and occurs in many directions. The moth is still with us, evolved. The dodo didn’t make it
- the first known case of evolutionary failure: extinction.
Man has learned/is learning universal laws. We are now, finally, scientifically studying psychic phenomena. We
are applying scientific methods to examine the statistics, possible causes, and possible effects of psychic powers.
This is yet another direction of mankind’s evolution.
I see four lines of evolution into our development and use of psychic powers:
•
There are the traditional magicians, who explore the unknown, blindly pushing in all directions,
superstitiously grabbing at any method that works, jealously hiding their advances from competitors.
•
There are the psychics, who simply do what they do. They may use their gift or fear it. They generally do
not attempt to study it.
•
There are the scientists, who study the unknown carefully, precisely, seeing and recording what
happens [if it happens]. They are proving that, yes, something is happening.
•
The fourth and newest group is the Temple of Set. We follow the dark, blind paths of the magicians,
using the bright lights of the scientists. Yes, this works! Reduce it to the working minimum and use it,
study it, improve on it, and continue past it to the next discovery, to the next use of our powers.
We combine science and magic as has never been done before. The Temple is evolving quickly, successfully. The
Elect are also evolving. I feel that this indicates our pathway of evolution is a successful one.
But then our path is the one that Set would have us travel. “For mankind now hastens toward an annihilation
which none but the Elect may hope to avoid.” Ours is apparently the strongest evolutionary path open.
There is evolution as a species. Is there evolution as an individual?
There is a theory of “karmic” evolution: that souls progress and evolve through a succession of lives and deaths
towards perfection ( nirvana, sainthood, etc.).
I personally do not [yet] believe in reincarnation. However if reincarnation does take place, then I believe in the
evolution of the soul. This evolution of the soul may not be the cause of the social evolutions noted above.
If the soul evolves, it is reasonable to assume that the individual involved evolves during his/her lifetime, I
happen to believe that the individual does evolve within a lifetime. I see these individual evolutions. Whether this
growth is limited to one lifetime or covers many is immaterial.
Further this individual evolution seems to m
atch mankind’s social evolution. There are scientists, academicians,
magicians, slaves, dictators, slave owners, democrats, and Setians. Each individual has reached that given point [or
points] in an individual evolution.
If the soul evolves across lifetimes, then it is reasonable to assume that those souls which have evolved the
farthest are inhabiting the individuals that are at the head of their evolutionary path. If this is the only life we get,
then the individuals who have evolved the most in this lifetime are the leaders in their respective paths.
When the slaves and/or slaveowners evolve away from their current state [as the moth above evolved], or die
out [as did the dodo], then those evolutionary conditions will be at an end.
As indicated above, Setians are the leading wave of the strongest [in potential, not numbers] evolutionary trend
today. [In their Morning of the Magicians Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier hint at others who trod this path
before us, but Set apparently makes no mention of these.] Where might our future evolution lead?
- 287 -
Man has the power to alter his environment, and this power becomes stronger every day. Man can evolve so that
the environment is totally controlled by man, so that the environment centers upon man, so that the environment
becomes man and man the environment.
But even Set “cannot destroy the Cosmic Inertia without having to assume its place”. Set “could achieve identity
only by becoming what the Cosmic order was not”.
Setians, therefore, must lead in the other direction. It is imperative for each of us to keep the “I” separate and
distinct from the “not-l”. Just as “HarWer must exist while Set exists”, we should each define the “not-l” so that we
may better define the “I”, better be the “I”.
Our evolutionary path includes this definition of the “not-l”, the definition of the “I”. As the “I” and the “not-l”
become more distinct, we will know the “I” better, will know better what is required to evolve, and will evolve, will
Xeper.
This is one path an individual might choose for evolution, and every evolutionary path has its dangers. Indeed it
seems that the higher the evolutionary path, the greater (more dramatic, more disastrous) the dangers may be.
Every path has the danger of being a weak path. Note the dodo. These paths face the simple danger of being
surpassed by other, more successful, stronger paths.
Mankind treads the highest evolutionary pathways we see on Earth. Yet mankind is headed for catastrophe.
Setians tread the foremost point of mankind’s path, and magic is dangerous. It is repeatedly stated in the
Temple that the danger from White Magic is minimal. However it is there. Magus Aquino reports that Black Magic
is more dangerous that White. Magister Seago has confirmed to me that the results of magical imbalance at the IV°
are more dangerous than at the III°. I imagine greater dangers yet upon becoming a Magus.
“To make of man a Daimon, then, may be to break his Self-reference to the bounds in which his semblance must
exist.” Magus LaVey was “raised to the Will of a Daimon”. This was a growth, a danger, for which he was neither
prepared nor ready.
Where does our evolution lead? It may lead to Daimonhood and insanity. It may be a blind path, doomed to
eventual extinction.
It may lead to Sethood.
My goal is not to attain Sethood, not Priesthood, nor even to become Adept. My personal goal is to Xeper,
through all the means I can discover, consciously, willfully, to evolve, to Xeper.
I expect Sethood as I evolve, and then whatever comes after Sethood; these are but names to temporary steps in
a continuing evolution. My goal is to consciously find, and willfully follow, the path of successful, ever higher, ever
greater evolution.
- 288 -
A33: The Subjective Universe and Life After Death
- by Richard D. Murad II°
Scroll of Set #III-4, December 1977
“Death” is a word which stirs many ideas in our minds, most of which do not sit very comfortably with us. The
thought that from non-existence we have come, and in a relatively short period of time to non-existence we may
perhaps again return, is a thought which digs deep into the very nature of our being. The Temple of Set does not
officially concern itself with life after death, as indeed it should not. This does not mean, however, that we cannot
speculate on it. What follows is such a speculation.
Before I present my ideas, it is important to consider objective and subjective reality, and the universes in which
each dwells.
What is objective reality? It is “God”. It is the universe [out there] and all the laws which apply therein. It is
matter and energy, and all the relationships which apply to either or both. It is not our perceptions of them, but the
things in and of themselves.
What it subjective reality? It is our many various and diverse perceptions of “God” in all its aspects.
It is also much, much more. It is our dreams and our fantasies. It is our own personal and private universe.
“God”’s laws need not apply in our universe if we so choose. Our universe can be filled with whatever creatures or
beings we wish. In it, one day we can be hunters, the next day we can be kings. There are no holes barred. We are
supreme in it. In our subjective universe we are “God”, and only we rule.
It is here where astral projection must be brought into the picture. The astral universe has no objective
existence. [Cf. “Rituals Without Chambers” by Magister L. Dale Seago, in Scroll #II-11.] It is completely a subjective
creation. It exists only in the mind.
This does not make the astral world less valid, however. To the magician, the astral world is just as valid, if not
more valid than the objective one. [Of course, as long as our bodies, which unfortunately are of “God”, must exist in
objective reality, we cannot lose touch with that reality.]
So what does all this have to do with life, or more precisely, existence after physical death? When a person
enters into the astral world, objective reality is left behind. Of course, while the body is still functioning, one can
return to objective reality. Now if the physical body stops functioning, perhaps all that is left is the astral universe.
What am I saying? Perhaps when a person dies, that person enters into his own completely subjective universe,
completely detached from objective existence. The characteristics and appearances of this astral world would be
determined either knowingly by the conscious mind, unknowingly by the subconscious mind, or by a combination of
both parts of the mind in varying degrees. This theory could explain the many different reports given by people with
experiences similar to that of Adept Knaust [ Scroll #III-2].
Of course this would raise a few questions. One would be: How long would this state last? Another and more
important question would be: Could we ever contact or influence objective reality from our astral universe?
In reference to the first question, the stronger and more developed wills would probably last longer and the
entirely underdeveloped wills would probably experience nothing at all and dissolve into nonexistence. [Of course
the concept of “how long” would be meaningless, because time is nothing more than a relation of events. In our
astral universe, we control all events and that makes us, in our astral world, among other things, m
asters of time.]
And in reference to the second question my answer is as follows: Perhaps reaching out of our subjective
universe and touching objective reality is what magic is all about.
- 289 -
A34: Close Encounters of the Second Degree
- by Michael A. Aquino V°
Scroll of Set #III-5, January 1978
In the November 1977 supplement to the Scroll, I reviewed the concept of the I° - essentially a “screening
process” to ensure that an individual and the Temple of Set can make an informed decision concerning their
suitability for one another. When properly Recognized, the II° should indicate that the individual is satisfied with
the magical and philosophical premises of the Temple; it should also indicate that the Temple is satisfied with the
individual’s potential for exploring, understanding, and applying those same premises.
The II° Recognition is regarded quite seriously by the Priesthood of Set. No corruption in the process is
tolerated, and mistakes in Recognition - when they come to light - are corrected promptly. Per the Temple By-Laws
any III°+ has the authority to downgrade and/or expel any I° or II° for cause. All such decisions are reviewed to
ensure fairness, but the point is that magical “imbalances” at any level of the Temple are not permitted to continue
merely for the sake of convenience. [It might be noted that the same principle applies at III°+ levels.]
There are two reasons that access to some of the major systems and research materials of the Temple is
withheld until the II°. The first is that, when a I° is being evaluated for the II°, it is important that his/her intrinsic
philosophical, academic, and magical aptitudes be measured. If someone were merely to parrot Temple doctrines
without really comprehending them or forming opinions as to their validity, distortion would occur. The qualities
that we are looking for in an Adept are already present before exposure to specialized Temple material. It must be
remembered that the Temple does not “make silk purses out of sows’ ears”. It is rather a “machine” for
concentrating an already-present ability of certain individuals (the Elect).
The second reason is that, were we to permit it, the Temple would be vampirized by the “occult subculture”.
The Temple of Set II Page 70
