The Temple of Set II

by Michael A Aquino

  one who follows me may extend the Word further.

  Each pharaoh attempted to extend the borders of the country further than his predecessor. I am extending the

  possibilities for Xeper further than Michael Aquino. My accomplishments will be less; the time of seeing an æon

  being born is very rare. My job will be to find and articulate more of the properties of Xeper so that each student of

  the Black Arts will have new types of tools for collaboration with Set.

  If I manage to extend the boundaries and make there my Oath of Truth, then I will be seen as a successful

  Magus. If I fail, others will Utter Xeper, just as mankind has been doing for the last four thousand years. It is the job

  of the Temple to keep the connections of the Word alive, so that long periods of ignorance come not again. If we fail

  utterly, then the Word will not be heard on this Earth again.

  The beginning work of the Setian is to learn the formula Xepera Xeper Xeperu, which is rendered in English as

  “I have Come Into Being, and by the process of my Coming Into Being the process of Coming Into Being is

  established.”. Learn the formula not as a mantra but in order to see its effects in your life. Learn to see your Xeper as

  the one truth that separates you from the mass of delusions that we create in our minds so that we might sleep-walk

  through existence. Having learned to awaken to the reality of Xeper, learn to ask yourself where you wish to steer -

  “What do I want to do?” “What do I want to Become?” - and then act accordingly while keeping that divine

  realization fresh in your mind and soul.

  To those who dare the Black Magic, who will take up the uniquely personal challenge of Xeper, as both a

  spiritual quest for self-deification and a psychological exploration of antinomianism, I send greetings and the sure

  knowledge that when you think of Set, he thinks of you.

  Xeper

  - 446 -

  A91: Essent into Essence

  - by Robert W. Robinson V°

  December 29, 1996

  Since 1986 the magical concept of Essent into Essence has slowly evolved and taken shape as a tool for

  enhancing initiation. In 1991 it took root within the Temple of Set’s Order of the Sepulcher of the Obsidian Masque.

  On April 19, 1996 (XXXI ÆS), when I was confirmed as the sixth Magus of the Æon of Set by the Council of Nine,

  Essent became the fifth Word of the Æon to be Recognized for its Æon-enhancing qualities.

  Assorted aspects of this formula have come into being on an irregular basis and as a result of personal initiation,

  the influence of members of the OSOM who have decided to make Essent a part of their own initiation, as a direct

  result of the effects of Dromenon performed at conclaves, and through my efforts to answer questions on Essent

  posed by interested Initiates of all degrees.

  From the beginning Essent into Essence dealt with the process of experiencing essence - merging with and

  activating the eternal potential that lies at the core of all sentient beings. Essence is our “first form” - the unnatural

  aspect of our being that extends beyond body and brain and is unlimited by time and space. We experience essence

  when our activities are directed by a system of philosophical inquiry and enlightenment of the self based on direct

  knowledge and experience of being.

  Essent into Essence is a magical formula, a “Key”, consisting of several “facets” which facilitate the

  realization of the highest levels of being or essence. All Essent into Essence-oriented processes require a pre-

  existent qualitative level of life/being before the process can he triggered and fully activated. The goal of all such

  processes is the enhancement of life/being in increasingly more focused ways. Simply stated, Essent = being. That

  Essent into Essence can be reduced to such a simple formula is a measure of its effectiveness and validity in

  initiatory pursuits focused on the realization of being as it manifests moment to moment.

  Essent into Essence is the journey toward, as well as the manifestation of the self in the immediate present.

  In Platonic terms, it is the process of an intensification of the nœtic experience of self-realization, of being - the

  absolute surety that “I am an existential singularity”. It is both process and product, direction and destination.

  Essent into Essence is also the “embodiment of essence” which is the consequence of “coming into being”. It is

  the relentless continuation of existence, of being, at its most intense and most responsible.

  Although free from the restriction placed on corporeal form, I have come to realize that essence is finite

  [meaning that at some time in the distant future individual essence ceases], and that by being finite it becomes

  achievable. The personal magical goal of all individuals interested in knowing themselves “essentially” and totally,

  should be to become, in the now, their own essence.

  An obvious goal in this transformation process is to complete it - achieve essence - while still in physical form.

  Regardless of what happens to consciousness, or how drastically our perceptions of the Universe are altered, if we

  still have a body, then we are still very much connected to the natural universe and the laws that govern it. Of course

  our relationship with nature will be changed dramatically and irrevocably, but it will be in no way ended.

  Becoming separate, becoming essence, transcends physical laws as they pertain to mind, spirit, soul, or

  essence. Cause and effect relationships are altered. Seeming opposites - being and non-being, natural and

  unnatural, joined and isolate - are seen as aspects of the same continuum and therefore more alike than different.

  “Embodying essence” initiates a kind of an alliance between the self and the cosmos - a union in which nothing

  of the self is lost. Consequently the essence is rarefied, intensified, energized, and the potential that has always

  been there is activated - awakened. We become the cosmos of the self: equal to but not necessarily better or more

  than any other cosmos. We take on the self’s “ideal form”: that which manifests only once in all existence.

  To comprehend and achieve essence I have developed many tools, and a “Key” has been formulated

  symbolizing both process and attainment. The “Key of Essent into Essence” is broken down into nine “facets”,

  which are designed to open the door to an “embodiment of essence”. For a complete breakdown of the Key, please

  see my essay “Essent into Essence: The Key and its Facets”, available in the Ruby Tablet or in a back-issue of the

  Scroll of Set.

  The Key is broken down into the following facets:

  1. Life and being make up the first facet, because without life “process” is simply not possible. Existence

  as “unembodied essence” - pure spirit - is arguable at best and is not the focus of Essent [but perhaps

  an eventual by-product of it]. What is of interest is the potential for “embodied essence”, and this is the

  goal of all efforts of Essent into Essence.

  The dual symbol of Ankh-W3S ideally articulates the kind of life that is the focus of Essent. It is life

  in which choices have been made to dominate, control, educate, empower, embolden, and initiate the

  self.

  2. Death or non-being, the second facet of the Key, can be either a transitory stage occurring at various

  times during life, or it can be a permanent state out of which nothing ever arises.

  - 447 -

  On the Key-diagram, this state is symbolized by the Djed sc
epter of the ancient Egyptians, which

  symbolizes in its various guises stability, the “world column”, transformation, resurrection, rebirth, or

  Remanifestation that occurs when some kind of confrontation with death (real, metaphorical, or

  metaphysical) has been successfully survived.

  Non-being also incorporates the idea of sacrificing aspects of the self that are detrimental, non-

  productive, inhibiting, and non-essential to the process of realizing essence. In this light, magical

  initiation can be thought of as the death of all that is not of the self - that which simply doesn’t work.

  3. Love is the third facet, and is symbolized by the two-pronged fork at the end of the Key - that which

  first enters the lock that allows us to open and shut the door to essence. The Left-Hand Path/Setian

  experience of love in its purest form is Platonic in nature, and can be defined as the desire to

  comprehend a thing in all its “thingness”, or to know a thing as it is and not as the perceiver wishes it to

  be.

  4. Fear, and its use as an initiatory tool, is the focus of this facet of the Key. Facing and dealing with fear

  provides an opportunity for dealing with fear while not demanding that it be conquered or destroyed. If

  all fear were somehow magically destroyed, which is unlikely, the destruction of the self would most

  likely follow. Fear is not - and never should be - thought of as the enemy.

  As an accomplice, however, fear can be a very efficient and powerful tool which can help us avoid

  some very stupid mistakes. Using the Key as a frame of reference, we can will ourselves to deal with fear

  by learning how to dominate, focus, and control it. When one can see the positive, constructive, and

  creative role fear often plays in life, it becomes nothing more and nothing less than it is: a means for

  identifying potentially dangerous situations and a tool for dealing with them.

  5. Immersion, the fifth facet of the Key, means “to absorb oneself in one thing, being, or idea, to the

  exclusion of all others”. An implied aspect of “immersion” as it relates to Essent is the examination of a

  product of Xeper [or Xeper itself], an insight, or truth, by taking it into the self to the point that it

  becomes part of one’s life. It also describes the potential for an exploration into something to a degree

  where it can be understood from within its own perspective.

  6. Embodied essence, as a facet of the Key, describes essence as an obtainable and achievable goal.

  Each time we successfully utilize the process in our efforts to gain insight into the self, we touch

  essence. A primary goal of these encounters is to sustain them.

  7. Spontaneity became a facet of the Key as a direct result of Dromenon presented at conclaves in which

  we demonstrated the link between spontaneity and creativity, and how this awareness can positively

  enhance our explorations and facilitate an eventual embodiment of essence.

  8. Self-examination/re-examination recalls Plato’s suggestion that the unexamined life has not been

  lived to its fullest. The initiatory life-style, by its very nature, is dedicated to an examination and analysis

  of existence. It is a mistake to assume that this inquiry should only be focused outside the self. The

  world can teach us a great deal about being, but the full answer to the question “Who am I?” can only be

  found within.

  9. Energy is fundamental in the exploration of Essent into Essence. Essent is purposeful and

  demands direction. It is driven by an immensely powerful energy source which is activated only through

  need, desire, or willed intent. Consequently in a paradigm governed by Essent into Essence, the aim

  is to develop new, or re-think already extant methodologies and practices in which one can directly tap

  into the energy that makes up and sustains essence.

  Essent deals with an internal flow of energy which can be used for any process leading to enhanced being and

  eventual godhood. The energy itself is neutral; intent is everything.

  To finalize: Essent = being, and being is the source as well as the planned activation of the energy at the heart

  of all existence - the inherent urge to be.

  By now it should be clear that being has nothing to do with stasis. It is instead a dynamically energetic and

  ongoing process which occurs only in the immediate present - within the time-frame best described as “moment-to-

  moment”.

  If you think about it, the past is static - dead except for the way our memories continually resurrect it - and the

  future is but unfulfilled desire and potential. The present, however, is the only dimension of time that we can truly

  own, master, and control. The challenge is to be in a series of moments to the extent that those moments begin to

  encompass that which is not yet, but is destined [because we will it] to be. The quality of the future is a direct

  outgrowth of the quality of the present and our work within it.

  - 448 -

  A92: The Dawn of Arkte: A New Dimension of the Gift of Set

  - by Lilith Aquino V°

  May 18, 2000

  The astonishing and unbelievable worship of animals by the Egyptians presents great difficulties to

  anyone who seeks reasons for it; the priests have a secret doctrine concerning these reasons.- Diodorus II, 86

  During the Order of the Vampyre Working at the Set XIV International Conclave (Sacramento, 1993), I formally

  inaugurated a new Element dedicated to all the creatures with whom humanity shares this planet. As yet without a

  name, the Element was conceived not just to admire or appreciate or help animals, but more importantly to focus on

  their intelligence and dignity as sentient beings in their own right.

  Until that time Setians had generally assumed that the Gift of Set could be defined as “just” the kind of high

  intelligence, evident through Self-awareness, unique to human beings and activated by the Initiates among them.

  This new Element undertook to see whether there might be anything about our fellow animals with a similar

  Gift of Set “signature”. If so, then we would have discovered yet another dimension to the Gift, perhaps not so

  obvious to us as our own, but deserving of recognition nonetheless.

  It was characteristic of this “unknown” Element that I did not dictate a name for it, but rather invited all

  interested Setians to suggest one. I finally chose the one proposed by newly-Recognized Magister Don Webb:

  “Arkte”, a later Hellenistic variation of the original Hellenic arktoi, referring to the constellations of the Great and

  Little Bears.

  The original legend concerns a nymph, Kallisto, who gave birth to a son by Zeus whom she named Arkas. Hera,

  as angered by Zeus’ extramarital dalliances as Freya would be by Odin’s later on, changed Kallisto into a bear while

  she slept. When Arkas was about to kill the bear, whom he did not recognize as his mother, Zeus seized hold of his

  spear to save her life. While Zeus could not undo Hera’s spell, he then changed Arkas into a little bear, whereupon

  he instantly knew Kallisto. In order to safeguard them both against further danger from Hera, Zeus then

  transformed them into constellations and gave them the night sky for their eternal playground.

  According to their own legends, the Arcadians of ancient Greece claimed to be the original human beings,

  directly descended from Arkas. Setians know Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, additionally, as sacred to Set and Anubis

  in ancient Egypt. “Here there be Mysteries,” it can
assuredly be said, explorable in such works as Arktos: The Polar

  Myth (cf. Dr. Aquino’s Black Pyramid in the May 1995 Scroll of Set).

  I announced the then-unnamed new Element in the March XXIX issue of the Order of the Vampyre’s

  Nightwing: “The purpose of this Element is the defense and protection of animals, and the bringing to justice of

  those who harm them in any way, including for reasons of ‘research and experimentation’.” What the founding

  “Arkte Warriors” did not realize at the time was that the magical powers we would invoke in this cause would

  quickly expand the Element far beyond its original scope.

  In the subsequent years the growth and work of Arkte within and beyond the Temple of Set have become

  legendary. Not only have Arkte Warriors directly acted to help and save animals in any number of plights and crises,

  we have awakened and transformed something new within our Selves, discovering a new kind of friendship, bond,

  empathy, and destiny which we can share with our furred, feathered, or scaled counterparts. We have learned new

  ways of looking at the Gift of Set, to see that it can embrace other kinds of intelligence as well as the uniquely-

  reflective consciousness with which we humans are familiar.

  Arkte has therefore come to mean much more than just sympathy for animals. It mandates respect for them, a

  need to understand them on their own terms, not ours. It envisions a Setian future in which there is as much a place

  for them as for human Initiates, in which the great neteru such as Bast, Sekhmet, Anubis, and their fellows are

  restored to their full dignity.

  While it has been my privilege to be the Initiate around whom this magical concept has coalesced and found its

  identity - I cannot overemphasize that its Truth has become possible only through its reception and adoption by

  many others, who through it have become great Warriors in furtherance of it. To this I refer with the greatest pride

  and appreciation for their efforts, as evidence of the continuing magical authority of Arkte.

  While there is of course the collective impact of the individual actions by the many Arkte Warriors, myself

  included, in everything from donations and demonstrations to caregiving and adoption efforts, a recent event has