admit to ourselves that the qualities we ascribe as already having in fact exist only as potentials or
future possibilities which we can only attain by work.
These factors, I feel upon self-observation, apply to all degrees of Setians in varying levels and ways and can aid
us all toward Xeper. After coming to terms with ourselves, as it were, and deciding we in fact do want this evolution,
the magician must (1) develop the dormant powers he presently considers himself as already having to their fullest
potential, then (2) work on developing these powers further to the point of acquiring new facilities and powers
which presently they don’t possess and under “normal” circumstances could never have, and finally (3) elevate the
self to the “all-encompassing” prospective of “higher man” or, as defined by the philosophy of Nietzsche, the
“superman”.
This concept of higher self is an important step I feel toward our progress of Setamorphosis to be attained
through higher consciousness.
What exactly is consciousness?
Such easy questions I’m frequently asked! But seriously how does one define that?
All that I could start with was what consciousness was generally thought to be, namely the equivalent of mind-
activity when in fact it is a particular kind of awareness independent of the mind’s activity, brought about by
observation of self: who I am, where I am, and what I do not in fact know. Of course this conscious state or
awakened state would be improved as we know by duration and frequency. My personal difficulty, however, seems
to arise in the combating of what Ouspensky calls the “four harmful functions”.
I have to struggle daily against these to remain aware of them and overcome them. If you’re anything like me
and not yet perfect, you might want to reflect on them. They are (1) Lying known or unknown (Know Thyself); (2)
Imagination - imagining things without seeing them objectively as they really are; (3) Any negative expressions;
(4) Unnecessary, unclear talking - not thought out.
- 313 -
From this study on psychology and our inner workings must necessarily develop a philosophy (or life and world
view) of our own. In Before Philosophy before man’s way of life was formed into a pattern which could be loosely
termed philosophy, he based his view on his mythology and religion.
We now have, along with this Gift of Set, a valuable vehicle which enables us to bring all things together, as was
done in ancient times in their life style, namely our Temple. It affords us a work-ground for expanding magical
principles - a “school”, religion, philosophy, psychology, and a research area for survival techniques, to mention a
few.I as a Priest of Set invite you also to join me on this magnificent venture - the undertaking of attaining our
“impossible possibilities”.
- 314 -
A43: Maat
- by Alexandra Sarris III°
Scroll of Set #IV-2, October 1978
Think this well over. Nothing can be assimilated to Maat that is not of Maat’s nature, true and
indestructible consciousness. All that comes of the lower personality, all that is mortal, fictitious, cerebral,
alien to he individual’s essential being, is rejected. - Isha Schwaller de Lubicz, Her-Bak
What does the word “Maat” evoke? A woman with a feather on her head? An Egyptian goddess standing beside
a scale? Budge will tell you that Maat is the Egyptian symbol of Justice and Truth. Her feather of Truth is weighed
against a deceased one’s heart to see how the deceased was in life. Should the scales tip, the deceased would be
devoured by a frightful beast that stands beside the throne of Osiris. That seems to be Maat’s primary function.
The above definition of Maat is adequate - just. I would like to give you another perspective. Budge describes a
function - what she does, not what she is.
Consider Maat in this way. Yes, she stands for Truth and Justice, and yet Maat is more. She is not only
representative of the principles - the neteru - she embraces them collectively. She may be considered the glue that
holds the whole Egyptian pantheon, civilization and essence together. Maat is the Egyptian symbol for a way of
living, of being. The Egyptians had two phrases pertinent to Maat: anX m Ma’at and ma’a heru (”to live in Truth”
and “true of voice”).
A person living in Maat was not merely truthful or just; he conducted his life with a sense of Truth and Justice.
His life was Maat. He was Being Maat within himself. And when he spoke, his words were True; he was ma’a heru.
[Note the capitalized words, particularly “true” and “True.”]
Maat’s feather is very light compared to the heart it judges. If you have been trapped in the mundane, the
intellectual, the day-to-day, you have not recognized or lived in Maat, and your heart will tip the scales. But if you
have begun to Xeper, to seek your higher, unified self, you will also have begun to live your life in the glow of
absolutes - Truth/Justice, Maat - in particular.
Truth is a principle - one of the Platonic absolutes. We cannot measure or even define it; we can only use
symbols to “define” with it. Xeper is not exclusive of Maat; with Xeper comes Maat, for as we evolve, we become
more and more able to understand our selves. “Maat is in Truth the highest consciousness man can make his own.”
Let me give you a concrete example: You hear a statement and its accuracy is immediately and compellingly
apparent. “That’s true!” you say, and you know that it is so.
Other times you hear a statement and agree with it or disagree with it on an intellectual basis. The first time you
glimpsed Maat because you were attuning to your self. The second time you didn’t.
Maat is very pervasive; if you Xeper, you can’t avoid facing her; if you don’t, you won’t know you’re missing
anything. More importantly, as you do Xeper, you will find yourself weighing your self against Maat repeatedly as
you grow - not at the judgment scene at the end, for we are not [presumably] going to end as the humans in the
mundane world. The rules for us are different.
Maat was the principle governing the Old Kingdom. Everyone lived in Maat; and Pharaoh was the embodiment
on Earth of that principle. By the time of the New Kingdom (the Empire, Tut, etc.), this understanding had become
lost [except perhaps to the few] and the words merely empty formulæ. Budge’s definition of Maat comes from that
latter period. However for this new Æon, for the new being, we must see the far deeper and significant being of
Maat.
Maat is the way we conduct our lives. Do we live and act and be in Truth, or do we just think so, deluding our
selves? We may speak “truth” one time and not at other times. Yet perhaps it is only important to speak “Truth”
when necessary. We all speak “truth” or “truths” in our daily lives, and even in our private Setian lives.
But do we speak “Truth”? Little-“t” truth is pretty easy to manage; but big “T”-Truth is something else. “Truth”
does not originate in the mundane self, but rather in the deepest part of our selves, in what I have called the Core
Self. As we become more in tune with this Core, we can perceive Truth as it is, not as we conceive it. As we Become,
as we see and utter Truth, we move toward that true Egyptian concept of Maat - living our selves and our lives in
Truth. We may still utter “truth” in our mundane lives, but we can also see “Truth” as it is
in our selves and in
others’. We begin to function as Maat, for as we hear words - ours and others’ - we weigh them on the scales of Truth
and judge them.
Justice, the other word linked with Maat, is inherent in Truth, for without Truth, Justice would be mocked.
With Truth, Justice exists. As we weigh the words on the scales for Truth, we are also seeking Justice there - not
jurisprudence, but Justice the principle.
Why devote all this time to Maat? It has become obvious that many Setians think of Maat as a woman with a
feather in her hair who weighs people’s hearts for “truth.” Living in Maat must be living and breathing Truth -
particularly as Setians, and particularly in the ritual chamber. For here, more than anywhere else, before Set, we
must face our selves and judge our selves as being ma’a heru or not. Do we perceive and utter “Truth” or merely
“truth”? Set does not need to tell us; we look inside our selves and see. And every time we can examine our hearts
and say, “Yes, I spoke Truth, or I saw Truth,” we are one step closer to a True sense of Maat.
- 315 -
A44: Nature/ Neter
- by Linda Reynolds III°
Scroll of Set #IV-3, November 1978
In view of Priestess Alexandra Sarris’ article on Maat ( Scroll, October XIII), it seems appropriate and timely for
some concepts I wish to explore.
Maat, the principle of Truth, her feather symbolic of a True and Just state of being, personifies for me that oft-
mentioned phrase, “them ‘n’ us”. Maat outlines in glaring brilliance the incredible contrast between those
sometimes cruel and unjust, occasionally bearable, but always predictable creatures of the natural order: humanity.
As you will all attest to, our experiences and contacts with humanity-at-large can hardly be classified as either
helpful, positive, or as an advancement of this Æon. But I didn’t intend this to be a critique of humanity’s mistakes.
Rather I’m attempting to draw a parallel between the ancient Egyptian concept of the neter (pronounced “netcher”)
and the all-inclusive concept of nature as defined by modern scientific types.
There is an obvious “them ‘n’ us” quality here, and I am hoping to clarify it for myself as well as my readers.
Looking back to Priestess Sarris’ article “The Integral Self” ( Scroll, February XIII) and using the following quote
from Her-Bak: Egyptian Initiate, I can see a correlation between our selves, our magical essence and what it is
composed of, and the neter-concept versus the natural order, human nature and what it is not composed of.
First re-read the Maat article and particularly the quote which accompanies it. Then the following:
They did establish a direct connection between natural phenomena and the principal functions, or
neters. There is not a single “natural” phenomenon that may not be attributed to the action of the neters.
And from another page:
The Egyptian teaching relies on the symbol in nature; its way of action is the projection of heaven upon
earth, of the metaphysical world into the physical world, and of cosmic causal functions into the human
body.
“Higher man”, the “Core Self”, is obviously being described. The Egyptians seemed to feel that once you had
perceived the neter within yourself, the “causal function”, you had indeed reached a higher state of being, if only
in the sense that you reached an understanding of why things occurred as they did. It was a basic metaphysical
understanding at best, but they certainly were on the right track.
The correlation that I see occurring now has its basis in my conviction that the recognition, the perception, and
adoption of those same neters as part of a Setian’s nature leads not only to an understanding of the principle but
to the actual “becoming” of, and unification with that principle.
For example, if a Setian consistently practices truth in his life and recognizes it in himself, he becomes Truth. In
the “doing” you create the “being”. And once that particular neter has become manifest within your very being, no
longer can it be “switched off” or ignored except by an actively negative force of will: a backward step which could
cause a chain-reaction of negation leading the once-evolving Magician into essential oblivion.
The Black Magus need fear no power save his own, but he must conquer his own Will [nature?] that he
cause not his destruction through ill chance or purpose. - from the Statement of Belial, The Diabolicon
What I am presenting is actually another interpretation of the Xeper-process, but perhaps with a somewhat
different slant. We have heard Xeper defined as evolvement, growth toward ... but I am offering other words such
as “re-creating and re-recognizing” those ancient and ageless principles called neters by the Egyptians; re-
recognizing them in and as our selves, thereby creating that which is both our unbroken [though sometimes time-
shrouded] link with an ancient past, and an undeniable goal as well. The entire formula, viewed as a continuous,
though for ages dormant process, rings of the kind of timelessness which the Black Magician can appreciate.
Well! That’s my perception about “us”, much ritualized over and intellectually bombarded by that “nature-
minded” human in me!
As far as “they” are concerned, it’s a much easier concept to swallow. You have heard the phrase: “That’s the
nature of things.” Doesn’t that sound like the typical human concession to fate, hopelessness in the hands of an
omnipotent, omnipresent God, etc? If “Heaven must perish; Hell must perish ...”, then what will remain? Nature?
Neter? The answer seems clear, as is the course our lives must take. Think and live and be in and of Maat, and you
shall discover [or re-discover] and reunite with those principal elements, the neters, by which your essence can and
must be defined.
- 316 -
A45: Biography - Magistra Lilith Sinclair
- by Constance Moffatt II°
Scroll of Set #IV-6, February 1979
She walks in beauty, like the night -
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes.
- George Gordon, Lord Byron
She walks in beauty, because she is beauty - dark, radiant, queenly, vital - a goddess!
Magistra Lilith Sinclair was born, raised, and educated in a Roman Catholic atmosphere in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. After two years in Doylestown, she moved to Spotswood, New Jersey with her two children, Beth
Amber and Christopher Martin, where she remained for five years. Her last residence in the east was Jersey City.
During her time in New Jersey, she modeled for a year in New York City and secured a position as secretary to
co-owners of “The Magician”, a totally Black Arts-oriented shop in Manhattan. Gradually she became manager of
the store as she moved up from retail selling to wholesale buying and operating the mail order accounts. One of the
owners was Ronald K. Barrett, then a Warlock II° of the Church of Satan.
Questions, contradictions, and discrepancies concerning her religious teachings started plaguing her during her
high school years. Her brain ran rampant trying to find answers that never came. The nuns could not quell her
questioning mind. Thus by the end of high school she was an agnostic. As she sought out other religions, she found
hypocrisies, restrictions, repressions. Within 3-5 years she be
came an atheist.
During all of this time, Magistra Sinclair found herself fascinated with witchcraft and magic. As she read books
and viewed movies on the subject, she realized that her fascination lay with the Dark Side and self-accomplishment
as opposed to the White Side with its altruistic goals. One of her fellow workers, knowing of her interests, bought
her a copy of the Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey. Until that time she had never even heard of the Church of Satan. As
she read and re-read the book, she was overwhelmed by seeing in print the philosophies she had been feeling for so
many years. It was as though LaVey had known her thoughts while writing his book. She immediately wrote to the
C/S to learn more about it. She took several months to decide to join because she wanted it to be a serious decision.
In 1970 Magistra Sinclair was accepted to the C/S and was put in communication with individual members in
the northeast. After six months she felt the need to work actively with a group. Consequently her own Lilith Grotto
came into existence. The first meeting in Spotswood consisted of herself and two strangers. In two years the Grotto
grew to 50 members in three states, and remained at that strength for the next three years. Eventually the Grotto
branched off into three independent groups in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Much of the success of the Lilith Grotto was due to Magistra Sinclair’s impact in radio, television, and
newspaper interviews. Over the years she was also an invited lecturer at such locales as Boston University, Queens
College, Columbia University, local N.Y.C. public and parochial high schools, the Philadelphia Ethical Society, and
the Psychic Phenomenon Society. The last saw her speaking before several hundred people as she shared the dais
with Jean Dixon and Hans Holzer. This was her last public speaking engagement before heading west.
By this time Magistra Sinclair had built such a reputation as to be known as the “Occult Superstar of the East
Coast” ( Philadelphia magazine article). Unfortunately this fame and flamboyancy had their bad effects - the loss of
two jobs, harassment, vandalism of her home - particularly after a Time magazine interview.
After a year as a Satanist I° in the C/S, Magistra Sinclair took and passed her Witch II° test. Six months later she
The Temple of Set II Page 77
