The Temple of Set II

by Michael A Aquino

  Compression for the separate III°+ and lay membership Solstice workings began at dusk. The magic of the

  workings that took place, this reporter does not feel can be adequately described herein. Words would appear to be

  too insignificant and trite. Allowed one word, my own personal one would be “love”.

  Saturday morning allowed us to sleep in, see the town, or linger over brunch in Ukiah prior to the 11:30 AM

  departure, via caravan, for the mountain. After doughnuts and coffee, the group broke up for two separate meetings

  - the Order of Xepera and the Priesthood with the lay membership.

  After a 3:30 break, the entire group assembled for an open forum with topical presentations, questions, and

  answers. Priest Zappitelli displayed the plans and drawings for improvements and expansion of the Court of the Old

  Ones. Priest Phil Folkler spoke about the Tarot work being carried out by Magister Lee Norton, who was unable to

  attend Set-II. Priest Robert Moffatt passed around photos he had taken of the Tarot paintings already finished by

  Magister Norton. Having seen them in person, I can only say that photos cannot do justice to their breathtaking

  beauty.

  While some of the membership prepared for the evening’s hamburger and hot dog cookout, Magistra Sinclair,

  Chairman of the Council of Nine, held a meeting of the Council. Dinnertime was another feast. Priest Zappitelli

  cannot possibly outdo himself next year - even with lasagna. Potter Valley-grown and -fed beef is non-surpassable,

  and the salads: fantastic. The Khaibit Pylon is offered applause for much of this.

  Preparation for the General Conclave Ritual was outlined and carried out to the finest detail by Magus Barrett

  and all Setians present. Every Setian had a part in the elaborate and beautiful (another word) torchlit procession up

  the long, winding path to the Court of the Old Ones.

  The black night was brisk and the sky clear with millions of stars. We were in our own domed world with the

  Ancient Ones. The experience was one none of us will ever forget.

  Once again we were treated to the wonderful occurrence of witnessing the Coming Into Being of a Master of the

  Temple, Robert A. DeCecco. All who know Magister DeCecco know his greatness and love him; thus there were

  many tears of happiness. Many of us also sensed Xeper within each other, and there were more tears of joy for all.

  The Decompression was one which left most of us not wanting to leave XemSet.

  Sunday morning came all too soon, as we gathered at the Coach House in Ukiah for a delicious brunch and more

  discussions. Farewells did not come easy to any of us; nevertheless we went away from the mountain with filled

  hearts and strong beings.

  - 340 -

  A Lay View of the Set-II Conclave

  - by Corey S. Cole II°

  The Set-II Conclave, held July 19-22 at XemSet, was an exciting and magical experience. I am sorry for those

  brothers and sisters who were able to attend only in spirit. I noticed some profound differences between this year’s

  Conclave and the previous one in Windsor, and they are perhaps indicative of just how far the Temple has evolved in

  the last year. We had our fair share of mundane problems, but magic was the key.

  Friday we could only go uphill, and did - to XemSet. The day was filled with meetings and discussions, enhanced

  by the sacred atmosphere of the mountain; the wolves seemed to recognize our Setian natures and observed most of

  the activities approvingly.

  The Order of Set met up near the house, while the lay members discussed magical names and neters on the

  lower patio. It was fascinating to hear the background behind some of the lay members’ names and how they had

  gone about choosing [or being chosen by] them. We had a good mixture of those who felt their names were truly

  expressions of themselves, those who were merely using a name as a magical tool, and a few who had not yet found

  names with which they could be comfortable.

  At Adept Chuck Weiss’ (Phoenix’) suggestion, we decided to devote the evening lay working to the discovery of

  names for those Setians who as yet had none. The working had a very powerful feeling to it, and was quite successful

  on the whole. By the time we made our way back down the mountain, everyone was named.

  The highlight of the Conclave to me was the Temple-wide discussion, which featured the High Priest asking one

  or more individuals of each degree a series of questions relating to their magical development and “beliefs”. The key

  point that came out was that we do not have “beliefs” at all - we have knowledge.

  Some other points from my notes: The Temple is progressing even as are the individuals within it. Before we

  have time to adjust to what we have Become, we have already started to Become something higher.

  The Temple, being built around change rather than stasis, is continually revolving around and changing its axis.

  Even as we follow the spiralling path of Xeper, it is changing under our feet. As to Xem, “the only way one can know

  Xem is to Become Xem”.

  We also had some discussion of the nature of each of the degrees: “As the Æon progresses, so do the

  sophistication and definition of each degree.”

  The Setian I° is one of the Elite of the Earth, someone who senses the “otherness” within himself and has chosen

  to take an act of will, and of change, in joining the Temple.

  The Adept II° is precisely an “Adept” magician; he has obtained a good working knowledge of traditional

  magical symbolism and has become a magical “technician”.

  The Priest of Set III° has used his power to begin to explore the Dark Realm, and in so doing has had an

  experience by which he undergoes a major transformation and receives the Gift of the Black Flame. He has found a

  new realm of Being.

  Saturday night culminated in the Temple of Set working in the Court of the Old Ones high atop XemSet. The

  torchlight procession up the hillside marked, in my eyes, the end of being held back by the Satanic psychodrama

  approach to ritual; the rest of the working became more and more individual.

  I would be astounded to hear of any two Setians who came away from that ritual having seen and experienced

  the same things. The new way required much more work and personal will, but to my mind shows the vast strides

  we have all taken in one “short” year.

  Coming down again after all that was terribly difficult. We had a fine buffet brunch in Ukiah, and nobody quite

  wanted to say goodbye. I recorded my feelings of the weekend in a ritual, “The Rite of the Self”, then proceeded to

  San Francisco to “stretch” the Conclave a few days with some of my Setian friends and brothers. The spiral is truly

  tightening. Xeper ir Xem.

  __________________________________________

  We are the Significance of the Temple of Set

  - by Robert H. Moffatt III°

  “We are going to make this the most magical Conclave that anyone has ever attended,” said Magus Ronald K.

  Barrett, High Priest of Set, in his welcoming address at the Set-II Conclave; and the participants proceeded to make

  it just that.

  The pervading theme in all meetings, small group discussions, rituals, and combinations thereof, seemed to be

  that of recounting and celebrating personal, individual change, with all aspects bared proudly.

  All reports from participants were to express that the experience was a giant step in their evolution. My

  impressions can be summed up in the way the final Conclave R
itual seemed to conduct itself as a separate force - an

  energy-composition made up of the place XemSet, the Beings, and the awesome symbolism.

  Each occurrence gave individual messages, elicited individual responses, and provided individual change for

  growth. I felt a great sense of loss for those of the Temple of Set who were not present.

  - 341 -

  Unlike the grand ritual at Set-I, where heat was a problem, the chill in the air sharpened awareness during that

  of Set-II and promoted the sharing of body heat. The best opportunity for this came with the Recognition of a new

  Master of the Temple, Robert A. DeCecco, who became the center of a swarm of joyful friends.

  _________________________________

  If There is a Constant, it is Change

  - by Ronald K. Barrett V°, High Priest

  [The following is a transcript of a talk by the High Priest of Set at the Set-II Conclave at XemSet.]

  The Temple of Set: Is it a collective, or is it an individual response?

  As Magistra Bast pointed out, the Temple, before the organizational aspects of it come into play, begins in the

  individual - every individual seated here. We are each a temple of the Set-entity; we are also each a stone in a

  collective Temple.

  The difference between the Temple we comprise and other temples which have existed throughout history is

  that our “axis” is in a state of perpetual change because of the Words that are the motivating force behind our reason

  for being.

  Ours is not a temple of stone intended for permanence. Any individual who composes even a small part of the

  Temple of Set who is not geared for flexibility and change will crumble as the Temple itself changes its axis.

  In all our discussions on aspirations, growth, and Xeper, the hardest concept we have had to deal with is the

  element of change.

  That element of change began in every one of us before we ever entered the Temple of Set. Think back: Every

  one of us experienced something of a search within ourselves, a looking for something else, a feeling that there’s got

  to be more than getting up, going to work, going home, and then starting all over again.

  So the first thing that each one of us has to contend with in the design of the Temple of Set is the element of

  change. If there is a “constant” in the Temple, that is it!

  Then comes the overall picture, the collective direction: Xeper ir Xem: Become of the gods: Become Higher

  Man. It sounds great. It sounds beautiful. It’s great poetry. And almost every theological and philosophical society

  on the face of this Earth has said that this is what it is trying to do in one form or another.

  Even the Christians, whom we rib so often, seek to become pure in the eyes of their God so they can reap the

  reward that he offers: eternal bliss.

  What’s the difference between the Temple of Set and everyone else? One major difference is, as I have said, the

  acceptance of the element of change - the welcoming of it.

  Another factor is unqualified individuality: individual expression, individual growth. We don’t tell you what

  you have to do, as in an outline. We simply say: “In order to get from point #A to point #C, you have to reach point

  #S. How you do it is entirely up to you. Nobody is going to hand you a road map.”

  What we are trying to do is not just talk about becoming gods, not just talk about various forms of higher being,

  not just write fancy papers on one philosophical subject or another. We are doing it, and there’s the difference. We

  are saying it works.

  We’re saying that we do not prescribe any step along the way that someone before you has not taken

  successfully. Thus we can erase the element of blind faith. We can say, “Well, we do have faith, but it’s faith by

  experience.”

  You want to see those who have mastered themselves? I can show you Masters there, there, there, and there

  (pointing to Masters Sinclair, Thomas, Seago, and Bast).

  Our relationship with the entity with whom we work is different. We have a personal relationship. The entity

  needs us every bit as much as we need him. And there’s a beauty in that too, because we can all say, “My

  arrangement, my affiliation with Set is mutual. We are both in it for selfish reasons. I salute him only so long as he

  does things for me, only so long as he enlightens me.”

  And, of course, our usefulness to him is reciprocal. We work together; this gives a little more significance to the

  idea of “becoming of the gods”, because we are truly working with the gods - not serving them, not working under

  them.

  So the goal of the Temple of Set is to provide an initiatory path not to some heavenly godhood where you have to

  drop dead in your tracks to realize your reward - not to where you have to forfeit your identity to get there, but

  where you have to realize your identity to get there - where “selfishness” is not a bad word. But it’s an art; it’s a

  science; it’s an exact science. You get exactly what you put into it.

  Let’s review those steps of initiation. Setians I° come into the Temple for personal reasons. The true reason they

  should be here is that they have sensed this “otherness”, this potential within themselves, and want to find a way to

  develop it. And they have met another Setian, and, through discussion with that Setian, they think that we may have

  a way to help them develop this thing within them.

  So the first step is an act of will that is the first act of change, and that change will not cease. The change that has

  begun at that point is a continuous, ongoing thing. There is no time to make serious adjustment to any stage of

  change. We simply Become, and then we are what we have become while we are aspiring to become more.

  - 342 -

  We have another tool in the Temple called the communications pyramid. The pyramid is a magical tool, a

  magical structure. It is designed as a device to get us from the dilemma of our natural human existence into the state

  of godhood which is, as Setians, our rightful heritage. But we have to claim it. We have to do it. It won’t be handed to

  us. Somewhere along this initiatory path lies the state of Xem. The state of Xem is a realm of existence unlike that

  which we presently know. The only ones who will truly know Xem are those who have Become it. For this reason it

  can be described as one might describe an ancient Egyptian temple - by walking around the outside of the temple

  complex without having any real idea of what is on the inside or why.

  What I am trying to lead up to is that we must look at the Temple of Set as a spiral path leading to a higher state

  of being. Even while it is doing so, the path is itself changing. Nothing ever becomes familiar. We don’t stick around

  in one spot long enough for that to happen. And if we are going to accomplish this, our first important task is to

  begin really believing we are who we say we are. We all believe that the Temple of Set is the vehicle that is going

  to get us to Xem, or we would not be here. Right?

  If that is true, we have another responsibility, regarding not only ourselves as who and what we say we are, but

  those others among us as who and what we say they are.

  Consider what you are saying when you approach a Master of the Temple and address that IV° being as

  “Magister” or “Magistra”. You are recognizing a true Master of this initiatory path. And even the Masters have to

  remember this, when they address each other - that they are addressing other Masters.

&nbs
p; Think of this when you are addressing a member of the Priesthood - one of whom Set himself has said, “I Elect

  this one to work the Black Magic.” If there is anyone here who is not awed by a person who has been chosen by the

  Prince of Darkness, that person can leave now.

  And when you see someone wearing a red medallion, someone who has pulled himself out of the muck and mire

  of humanity and has said, “Yes, I will attempt to master the forces that are around me, and bend the natural

  universe to my will”, how can we but hold the most profound respect for such a person?

  And then we have one who wears the white medallion of a Setian I°. Here is an individual who has said, “I really

  don’t know anything about this ‘Temple of Set’ except what they say they are, and what they have written; but

  there’s something inside me that says there’s something solid about this - there’s something real about this. And

  yes, I’ll take the chance, and I’ll investigate this organization of what for all I know could turn out to be a bunch of

  sadistic weirdos.”

  Think about it: a Black Magic organization! No Setians knew exactly what they were getting into when they

  decided to join the Temple of Set, and yet the drive in them was so strong that they said, “Yes, I will take this step.”

  Who among us cannot respect such an individual? Who among us does not want to help this individual realize more

  of his own potential?

  This is the value of the Temple of Set. This is the only value. The Temple is a tool for us to use. Without use,

  without utility, it has no value - it is a thing of no meaning. Set himself has no need of an organization just for

  organization’s sake. He needs no worshippers. He does not need an elaborate temple structure in which to rumble

  and make it thunder. We are the significance of the Temple of Set. For that matter, we are the hope of all

  humanity. Those of us who are here are the sum total of the whole Setian experiment.

  So when we regard each other, let us do so in the true sense of initiatory fellowship. Let us regard each other as

  the present and potential beings that we are. Let us work together collectively, even as we work individually, to so

  propel this Temple of Set that we go into “warp speed”. It’s up to us. Set can’t do it for us.