The Black Tower Chronicles
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At the end of each year the Order will produce a single volume of information chronicling its endeavors. Any
interested Temple initiates - regardless of Order affiliation & holding at least the Degree of Adept, are welcome to
purchase any of these volumes for the cost of printing and postage. Please contact the GM for further details.
Reading List
As a part of the Second Volume of the Black Tower Chronicles, there will be an ever-evolving Reading list
developed in the same spirit of the one in the Crystal Tablet of Set.
Xeper & Remanifest through Runa and Essent
Notes
1. Dictionary of Symbols by J.E. Cirlot
2. Hatha Yoga: A Simplified Course by Wallace Slater
3. Raja Yoga: A Simplified Course by Wallace Slater
4. A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined In English by John Grimes SUNNY
1996.
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A71: Order of the Great Bear
- by Vesa T. Iitti IV°, Grand Master
Introduction
The Order of the Great Bear came into being on the traditional northern day of the bear, on the 13th of July,
XXXVIII Æon of Set. This day of the year was celebrated as a day of midsummer, a summer solstice by pre-
Christian northern people. It was a special day dedicated to honor the celestial bear who was considered the
ancestor of humans, a sacred being residing beyond the seven stars of the Big Dipper.
Now the cycle of that old occasion has been touched from within the Æon of Set, and the great bear, an ancient
magical entity sacred to the Isolate Intelligence in the North, is honored by the creation of the Order of the Great
Bear of the Temple of Set.
Lineage of the Order
Furtherance of the Temple of Set in the North since XXVI ÆS has enchanted the bear to surface as the ancient
magical entity sacred to the Isolate Intelligence in that part of the world.
Historically bear cults are known to have existed in the same basic forms throughout northern regions of the
world for thousands of years. In these cults the bear was considered as a sacred being who often resided beyond the
constellation of the Big Dipper and who was the ancestor of humans: the first shaman.
Bears’ link with humans was celebrated in an annual bear ceremony that marked renewal of the link between
the bear and humans. The ceremony stood for the vitalizing power which the bear brought with him from his sacred
abode beyond the borders of profane existence.
The bear was considered to be an entity of borderlands, an entity embodying the sacred power that resides
beyond the borders of the known areas. It can be deduced that the bear symbolized power of change as opposed to
the status quo that manifested within the known areas of existence.
The bear was, and still is, the most powerful and Set-like animal, in myth and nature, in the North. In this spirit
the Order of the Great Bear emphasizes Isolate Intelligence’s manifestation as explorer of borderlands, separator of
profane from sacred, and embodiment of the Highest of Life.
Within the Temple of Set there are several elements that as special schools of initiation have been essential for
the Grand Master in his path of Becoming and accordingly in his formation of the Order of the Great Bear. These
elements include (now closed) the Heart Element and the Order of Amon in relation to teachings of Heart, Order of
the Trapezoid and the Arkte Element in relation to dynamic manifestation of one’s Work in the world, and Orders of
Vampyre and the Black Tower in their general emphasis of cultivating body- psyche-relationship in one’s Work. Also
the closed Order of the Claw of the Bear needs to be mentioned due to its cultural context and the Grand Master’s
close working relationship to it.
The vision of the Order of the Great Bear started to open through Karhunpeijaiset, the Bear Ceremony, that was
written by the Grand Master as the Arkte Working for the Helsinki Conclave in XXXVII ÆS.
Contexts of Work
The Work in the Order takes place within two general contexts, those of Hyperborea and Heart. These
contexts can be seen as separate, but within the Order they are essentially subtly interwoven, forming the general
approach the Order has to initiation. The central goal in using these contexts is the same as the central goal of every
Order of the Temple; that of furthering Xeper.
The context of Hyperborea gives emphasis to all circumpolar and northern cultures in general (European,
American, Asian) as sources of magical inspiration for an Initiate’s work. The Order is a tool for furthering study,
use, and recreation of magical methods and traditions of the North from the Left-Hand Path point of view. Of
special importance for the Order in this area is shamanism.
The context of Heart is interwoven with the context of Hyperborea because the first emerged through the
Grand Master’s work with the second.
The context of Heart refers first and foremost to a holistic approach to initiation and to cultivating
understanding of the religious dimension of one’s Xeper. An Initiate of the Order seeks systematically to challenge
herself in theory and in practice in realms of body, persona, and mind as appropriate in her pursuing of initiation.
She also seeks to cultivate understanding and sovereignty of a larger picture of her life, everything initiatorily
relevant that takes place between natural birth and death; in past, present, and potential future. Essentially related
to this, she simultaneously seeks to strengthen her separate, non-natural self and its psyche centric existence
unbound by laws of the objective universe.
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Structure and Operation
The Order consists of its inner and outer hall. Every Initiate of the Order is automatically a member of the
outer hall. Entry into the inner hall is acquired through mastering an area of work relevant to the focus of the Order
and recognized as such by the Grand Master.
The Order hosts two Heart Sumbles each year, during the summer and winter solstice. These workings are
tools to bind an Initiate’s vertical ( physis, persona, psyche) and horizontal (past, present, and potential future)
realms of existence meaningfully together in her efforts to Xeper. A Sumble is a formula to dynamically bind an
Initiate’s subjective universe with objective universe. It emphasizes one’s will and its concrete manifestations in the
world.
Related to the theme of the Heart Sumble, the Order runs a project called the Book of Life. The project consists
of writing an initiatory autobiography, accompanied with related workings.
Communication in the Order occurs mostly via its e-list. The Order’s newsletter Boreas is published twice a
year. Book of the Great Bear, the Order book, is a collection of writings recording work and central teachings of the
Order.
Affiliation
Affiliation with the Order takes place via dialogue with the Grand Master. A candidate, a II°+ Initiate, is
expected to express appropriately why she seeks affiliation with the Order, what she seeks to achieve through work
in the Order, and how she expects to attain those goals.
Work in the Order is naturally individualistic, but there are certain expectations that the Grand Master has of
the Order’s Initiates. An Initiate of the Order is expected:
• To take part in at least one Heart Sumble per year, an
d accordingly to share one’s work with the Grand
Master and in Order’s forums as appropriate.
• To create a personal Book of Life and to share related insights with the Grand Master and in the Order’s
forums as appropriate.
• To attend international Conclave at least once in five years. The Order emphasizes communication that
occurs in person and prefers it whenever possible.
Experience of the Heart is to experience linking various facets of one’s existence meaningfully together in one’s
efforts to Xeper. It is about creating and experiencing profound meaning from one’s most potent self via act of will.
It is about dynamically experiencing and embodying the Highest of Life.
There is an Aurora Borealis of an individual’s will under the constellation of Arktos! Xeper.
Suggested Reading
Godwin, Joscelyn: Arktos, the Polar Myth [Thames and Hudson, London, 1993].
Flatischler, Reinhard: The Forgotten Power of Rhythm [Liferhythm, Mendocino, 1992].
Doore, Gary (edit.): Shaman’s Path [Shambala, London, 1988].
Eliade, Mircea: The Sacred and the Profane [A Harwest Book, London, 1987].
Idinopulos and Yonan (edit.): The Sacred and its Scholars [E.J. Brill, New York, 1996].
Gennep, Arnold van: The Rites of Passage [The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1984].
Speeth, Kathleen: The Gurdjieff Work [Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., Los Angeles, 1989].
Lakoff, George: Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things - What Categories Reveal about Mind [The University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, 1987].
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A72: The Order of Horus
- by James T. Graeb IV°, Grand Master
The Order of Horus was established at the Heb Sed Festival of the Temple of Set, year XXX of the Æon of Set. In
Egypt the Heb Sed Festival involved a ritual and symbolic joining of the two powers: Horus and Set - Upper and
Lower Egypt. The Order of Horus was established to make manifest the neter HarWer, or Horus the Elder/the Great
Celestial Horus, the brother of Set.
The Order of Horus focuses upon power and is for those who, like the ancient pharaohs, would take the Falcon
God as an emblem of their personal and unique power. As the Order of Horus involves a number of individuals and
not just a single pharaoh, the members of the Order of Horus are nobles, the princes of Set. As in any order of
nobility, the members of the Order wield power and assume commensurate responsibilities.
As power is not to be confused with force, it is important to clearly distinguish these two ideas. The idea of
power is that which can flow from a non-corporeal entity, such as an individual, an ideal, or an æonic Word. For
example, words such as Xeper, Remanifest, and Runa all carry a great deal of power but do not entail force. The use
of brute force is antithetical to real power, as real power takes effect by virtue of itself. Hence no one would force
another to accept an individual, an ideal, or an æonic Word.
The Order of Horus is also concerned with action. Action can be thought of as part of a threefold scheme of
principles:
1. Consciousness: reflective awareness, reasoning, and the ultimate nature of an individual. This may
also be thought of as an aspect of the Gift of Set.
2. Action: the power to make manifest or to cause change, creation, and self-unfolding, as well as the
ability to extend consciousness both inward and outward. This may also be thought of as an aspect of
the Power of Horus.
3. Skills: the principle of taking on, changing, or terminating skills. In the subjective universe these are
the skills of thought, feeling, and behavior. In the objective universe these skills become the “laws” of
nature or the way things occur, subject to the workings of magic.
The Order of Horus is a Left-Hand Path initiatory Order, and works with all three of these principles. The
nobles of the Order of Horus are psychecentric individuals striving for initiation and immortality. By refining the
Gift of Set, each Initiate further develops the first principle. All initiation, action, and magical practices within the
Order of Horus are designed to further this Left-Hand Path initiation into selfhood.
This initiatory work is furthered by the second principle: the taking of action. By taking action one’s sense of self
is reinforced and further defined. When an individual acts, he affirms himself as the creator and cause of the action
and its result. By extending and manifesting one’s own unique selfhood into the subjective and objective universes,
nobles of the Order of Horus further both their selves and their power.
The Order of Horus is further based upon the third principle, which involves self-control and -mastery. With
this principle the workings of magic and yoga take place as the Initiate develops new skills that further individual
initiation, and casts off old and unwanted habits that limit initiation. In its work with the third principle, the Order
of Horus includes all forms of operative magic, yoga, and related fields, including traditional initiatory
methodologies as well as modern and postmodern methods.
Crowley’s A.'.A.'. The primary difference between the Order of Horus system and the traditional A.'.A.'. is that the
Order of Horus assumes that its initiates will choose to become “Black Brothers” and enter the City of the Pyramids
as self-made and -defined Initiates. Hence the Order of Horus is not tied to an antiquated notion of initiation that
requires teachers and students.
As many people are familiar with the O.T.O. and similar organizations, it is important to distinguish the Order
of Horus from them. First, while the Order of Horus includes Thelema as an æonic Word, its scope within the Order
is primarily restricted to workings dealing with the third principle of skill. Secondly and more importantly, the
Order of Horus is a Left-Hand Path organization which employs Right-Hand Path methodologies only as useful to
individual Initiates.
The Order of Horus maintains an internal hierarchy based on a nine-grade system. However this hierarchy is
subordinate to each member of the Order, regardless of grade, being treated as a noble and of equal dignity with
every other member of the Order. Hence members of the Order are all equal in the sense of a college of peers or
fraternal order.
The Order of Horus views itself as an Order based on power, action, and creation. The Order is primarily
concerned with the initiation of its members and the sharing of initiatory methodologies. Adepts II°+ of the Temple
of Set may apply by writing to the Grand Master. The Order of Horus is selective in its membership, and applicants
should have one or more areas of initiatory expertise with which they have worked or wish to work.
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A73: The Occult Institute of Technology
- by Roger L. Whitaker IV°, Grand Master
The roots of the Occult Institute of Technology (OIT) began with the development of the National Satanic BBS
or NSBBS. This was a plain old telephone system (POTS) BBS (no Internet, no World Wide Web) that I created as a
personal reaction to the spread of “SRA” misinformation. In terms of content the NSBBS had a few essays written by
Setians, the intro letter, some download files, and copies of interesting list mail. All of this was operated on a
Commodore 128 (remember those days?) with a mere two
floppy drives.
As I developed the NSBBS system, I realized that the patterns of my personal thinking, and active work as a
Temple of Set Initiate, revolved around art and certain types of technology. Eventually I understood that the
practical function of these interests was to develop and promote Lesser Black Magical and Greater Black Magical
ritual/working areas. I called this particular approach techno-magic and continued to disseminate essays about it
through computer bulletin boards - mostly hacker and phreak sites - throughout the 1980s.
As I became more sensitive to my techno-magical interests, I wanted the NSBBS to more accurately reflect my
personal initiatory bias. The result was my coming up with the moniker “Occult Institute of Technology” or “OIT”.
With this I had created a sigil that represented my understanding that there is a responsibility to maintain an
equilibrium between the advances of knowledge (in general) and the techniques of self transformation (specifically).
Additionally OIT was and still is an extension of my own psyche in a very detailed manner.
Near the end of the 1980s the NSBBS permanently closed. However I retained the organizational title and
magical ideas that were formed through the Occult Institute of Technology (OIT).
It was during the 1990s that OIT became a Lodge within the Order of the Trapezoid, operating within the
parameters of the Mad Lab Angle of the Spectrum of the Trapezoid.
Later during this period of time I went on a personal hiatus from the Temple of Set. This brought to me quiet
moments in which I began to sense the mechanical nature of the universe through the paradigm of resonance. It
was through this synthetically engineered perspective that the Setian concepts of isolate intelligence became very
clear to me. By understanding the nature of the mechanical structure of the universe (through resonance), I
glimpsed its shadow - which I have perceived as the very essence of non-natural consciousness.
With my eventual return to the Temple of Set mainstream, and with the advent of the House system within the
Order of the Trapezoid, I remanifested the OIT as a cyber House within that Order. This took form as a large website
which to date has had thousands of visitors, and which has been directly responsible for numerous individuals