Zarathustra was written between 1883 and 1885, and his last completed book was the autobiography Ecce Homo.
He became insane in 1889 and remained in a condition of mental and physical paralysis until his death in 1900.
Much of human history can be explained, if not excused by the conflict between those of low intelligence
(who consider good/evil objective) and those of high intelligence (who consider good/evil subjective).
Certainly it begs the question to use these very terms to distinguish one extreme from the other ... The
Temple of Set seeks freedom by attempting to escape those norms - and preexisting ones - and to encourage
its Initiates to construct enlightened, individualistic definitions. This is as much an art as a science, and the
quest must be undertaken and pursued with logic, caution, common sense ... and the apprehension of the
Agathon. - M. Aquino VI°
Nietzsche is perhaps best known for his strident materialism - “God is dead!” - and his concept of the
Übermensch (superman). Only those who have taken the time to study Nietzsche’s works carefully know the exact
meaning and context of such terms. All too often Nietzsche’s ideas are confused with the xenophobic propaganda of
National Socialism, with which it actually has very little in common. Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch, for
example, was intellectually rather than racially based.
Nietzsche approached such ideas as the Übermensch and the “Will to Power” in Also Sprach Zarathustra. For
instance:
When I went to men for the first time, I committed the folly of hermits, the great folly: I set myself in
the marketplace. And when I spoke to everyone, I spoke to no one. In the evening, however, tight-rope
walkers and corpses were my companions; and I myself was almost a corpse. With the new morning came
understanding; I learned to say, “What are the marketplace, the mob, and the mob’s confusion to me?”
You higher man, learn this from me: In the marketplace no one believes in higher men. And if you want
to speak there, very well, do so! But the masses will blink and say, “We are all equal There are no higher
men; man is but man, and before God we are all equal.”
Higher men, this God was your greatest danger, but now this God is dead. Do not accept equality with
the masses; depart from the marketplace!
Do you understood, O my brothers? Are you terrified? Do your hearts fail? Does the abyss yawn before
you? Does the very hound of Hell bay at you? So be it! God is dead; now we desire that the superman shall
live.
Within this exhortation to the superman is a warning: Even when the masses appear to praise creative intellects,
such admiration may be fickle and treacherous because the masses sense that such intellects are capable of exposing
and exploding mundane, traditional values based on popular falsehoods. The masses’ only enduring loyalty belongs
to demagogues who play to mob sentiment rather than to the great truths. “Eine neue Gattung von Philosophen
kommt hervor ... diese Philosophen der Zukunft möchten ein Recht, vielleicht auch ein Unrecht darauf haben, als
Versucher bezeichnet zu werden. (A new type of philosopher is emerging ... These philosophers of the future take to
themselves, even if imprecisely, the role of tempters.)”
Thus the Nietzschean superman functions as a Black Magician. “Alle Menschen, auf die bisher etwas ankam,
waren böse. (All men who have been of real value have been evil.)” But this is not the evil of wanton cruelty or
sadism - rather a casting-aside of idols that, while reassuring to the masses, have served to stifle the evolution of the
soul.
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As is demonstrated by Zarathustra, Nietzsche was not so much a designer of utopian social/political systems as
a proposer of capabilities and attitudes for intelligent individuals. His writings are frequently allegorical, demanding
conscious effort on the part of the reader to comprehend the underlying principles.
Nietzsche intended that the principles in his writings be applied, not merely intellectually appreciated. Thus
philosophy is akin to the physical sciences and indeed to the basic tasks of life; they all involve “attitudes of
becoming (Lebenshaltung)”. “Alle die Wahrheiten sind für mich blutige Wahrheiten. (All truths are for me bloody
ones.)”
The Order of Nietzsche will study this great Satanic Master’s philosophy from the Setian perspective - the
applicability to our personal Xeper. And Nietzsche was not only a great thinker but a man of refreshing and subtle
humor. In one of his posthumously-published notebooks - called “black diamonds” - he wrote: “Mit den Fürsten der
Finsternis habe ich Würfel gespielt. (With the Princes of Darkness I have gambled at dice.)”
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A79: The Order of Sebekhet
Do not bend your knee nor drop your eye, for such things were not done in my house at PaMat-et. But
speak to me at night, for the sky then becomes an entrance and not a barrier.
- The Book of Coming Forth by Night
Inspired by the stellar gaze of the Setian pharaohs, the Order of Sebekhet looks to the night sky and its
historical, philosophic, and initiatory impact on the origin, development, and future of the psyche.
The intent of this work is the personal and self-directed transformation of the Initiate on the path to
psychecentric divinity. The method is Polarian, involving an oscillation between the poles of reason and creative
intuition.
The Order’s work can be described in terms of several goals:
•
Exploration of a specific perspective on the symbolism of the Left-Hand Path.
•
Pursuit of the immortality of the psyche.
•
Use of the night sky as a source of continuing energy and inspiration.
•
Creating times and places into which the psyche may Remanifest.
The Order explores various methods of-approaching these goals:
•
Examining the origins of human orderings of space and time.
•
Learning to consciously order the spatial and temporal structure of one’s experience.
•
Uncovering the true impact of cosmic phenomena on terrestrial systems and events.
•
Equipping and experiencing the self as a creator of universes.
Origins and Destiny
The arts and sciences of interest to the Order of Sebekhet have enabled certain individuals to traverse deserts,
seas, and other liminal regions, crossing both cultural/subjective and material/objective boundaries to bring fresh
knowledge and possibilities to the world. This knowledge ultimately unlocks a gate to passage of a transhuman
intelligence across fathomless depths of space and time.
The survival of star maps in the tombs of the Setian pharaohs attests to the antiquity and authenticity of this
knowledge. Moreover the association of the ancient cult of Set with the desert oases and caravan towns is well
documented, as is the identification of Set with the circumpolar stars.
It is the traveler who has the practical interest in circumpolar stars. In this simple fact one may glimpse the
purpose of Set in reconsecrating a Temple of Set on Earth at this time.
Theory and Practice
The Order of Sebekhet examines all facets of the relationship between the psyche and the night sky. One begins
by experiencing t
he night sky directly and becoming familiar with it.
Experiencing the night sky is best done by leaving populated areas, which have substantial light pollution, and
going to wild or empty open areas on a clear night. It is not necessary to own a telescope. It is necessary to pick up a
vocabulary for what is seen.
Learn the meaning of these terms: ecliptic, precession, zodiac, equinox, solstice, circumpolar, helical. Some of
these are connected with the very origin of the modern Temple of Set, being found in the Book of Coming Forth by
Night and in the commentary on that Working text. Understanding these terms - and relating them to what is seen
of the night sky - will also unlock “secrets” of several other esoteric traditions.
Setians who have previously paid no attention to the night sky may find that this experience evokes thoughts,
insights and impulses of initiatory significance without the artificial “jump start” of ritual. There are reasons for this
that become evident with repeated exposure, intellectual study, and philosophical introspection. It is suggested that
the Initiate keep a journal or some other record of these impressions.
Once the student has mastered the basics, personal work becomes a springboard into the unknown within and
beyond. Here are a few of the topics that fall within the Order’s scope:
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The Objectification of Experience
Measurement is, in its broadest sense, the objectification of subjective experience. The Initiate of Sebekhet
examines historical, political, anthropological, archæological, and sociological aspects of measurement as well as
philosophical theories on the structure and experience of space and time.
Sciences & Technologies of Orientation
Having established measures of space and time, the isolate intelligence uses these tools to structure its
relationship to the natural order. Cartography, calendars and timekeeping, celestial navigation, and the biology and
physiology of orientation fall under this heading.
The Celestial Context of the Self
The isolate intelligence, having created subjective tools to explore and work with the natural order, then turns
them to investigation of this self-created order, its limits, and its significance. What is the relationship of its creative
power to the natural order? Study of historical schools and doctrines addressed to this question is part of the work
of the Order.
Examples of such schools and doctrines include the star cults of pagan antiquity, astronomical elements of
Christianity and Islam, Gnostic cosmology, and Renaissance astrological ideas, astral motifs, and themes in
Thelemic texts, and modem stellar mythology such as UFO contactee cults. This study, aside from its instructive and
inspirational side, provides the Initiate with building blocks for definition of the self order in relation to the world
order.
Structure
Admission
To be considered for affiliation with the Order of Sebekhet, open a dialogue with the Master of the Order.
Successful candidates will have
•
An explanation of what interests them about the Order of Sebekhet, and what they hope to accomplish
through affiliation.
•
A specific question they want to explore.
•
Plans for how their findings will be communicated or demonstrated.
Publications
The Order of Sebekhet occasionally publishes an internal journal, M101.
Organizational Structure
The Order of Sebekhet has an outer and an inner peristyle.
All Setians who affiliate with the Order belong to the outer peristyle. Access to the inner peristyle is open to
affiliated Setians who illustrate both theoretical and practical mastery of the Order’s methods through public
teaching and external publication.
Suggested Reading
Davidson, Norman. Astronomy and the Imagination. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1985. ISBN
0-7102-1179-1.
Garin, Eugenio. Astrology in the Renaissance: The Zodiac of Life. New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1990. ISBN
0-14-19259-X.
Godwin, Jocelyn. Arktos: The Polar Myth in Science, Symbolism, and Nazi Survival. Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes
Press, 1993. ISBN 0-933999-46-1.
Krupp, E.C. Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations. New York: Harper& Row, 1983. ISBN
0-452-00679-1.
Krupp, E.C. Shamans, Skywatchers, and Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power. New York: John Wiley
& Sons, 1997. ISBN 0-471-32975-4.
Rey, H.A., The Stars: A New Way To See Them. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1980. ISBN 0-395-24830-2.
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Rifkin, Jeremy, Time Wars: The Primary Conflict in Human History. NY: Henry Holt and Company, 1987. ISBN
0-8050-0377-0.
Wood, Denis, The Power of Maps. NY: The Guilford Press, 1992. ISBN 089862-493-2.
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A80: The Order of the Sepulcher of the Obsidian Masque
- by Robert W. Robinson IV°, Grand Master
Essent into Essence
Love is the Essence, Love within Death
The Order of the Sepulcher of the Obsidian Masque (OSOM) perceives Set as an indwelling and essential
component of the human psyche which is representative of man’s potential for physical, intellectual, and spiritual
development. Consequently Set serves as a meta-model for transformation and change that is the result of a soul-
wrenching refusal to accept a status quo morality based on an antiquated set of artificially-imposed standards that
have ceased to serve, but instead now imprison the evolving human mind.
Thinking of Set in these terms - as an indwelling energy source which can be activated through magical
initiation. and as a model for change - is the first step in understanding the purpose and function of this Temple of
Set Order. Furthermore Setians wishing to explore the Temple of Set via the OSOM generally come to this
realization for themselves prior to requesting membership.
The next step, and a crucial one, is the realization that the Order of the Sepulcher of the Obsidian Masque (the
opposite of the sepulcher as a place of death) is designed to help develop a “state of being” in which the reality of
death is confronted through intense ritual processes and meditations1 designed to introduce a Setian to a richer and
more profound sensitivity for life.
This practice is fundamental to many of the ancient mystery schools (Egypt, Tibet, the Mayans, etc.) in which
“secret” knowledge was promised to those who dared confront the darkest and most frightening event in life - death.
The Wewelsburg Working, performed by Dr. Michael Aquino, then-High Priest of Set, is a perfect example of
donning death’s most horrible but fascinating mask in order to gain deeper life-affirming insight. OSOM proposes
that only through this kind of confrontational exploration of death can a true and lasting awareness of the mysteries
of life, death, and continuation come into being.
The Sepulcher of the Obsidian Masque is a metaphor for the usually dormant, under-utilized, and largely
unexplored arena of possibility and potency that lies sleeping within. The ignorant should beware, however, for the
“Essence” can awaken!
After a rather long period of reflection on such terms as “crypt”, “tomb”, “grave”, “holy place”, “sarcophagus”,
“vault”, etc., I chose the word “sepulcher” as the one best able to
describe the Sokarian exploration of life through an
experiential comprehension of death. One appealing aspect of this word is that, as an expression for a place of
interment, “sepulcher” is rarely used today except in gothic horror-stories when an eerie effect is desired. Its use
avoids the movie and novel cliches which are immediately evoked when words like “crypt” and “tomb” come into
play.Even as a place of interment a sepulcher is different from other such places dedicated to the memory of the
dead. Instead of being built up with stones, bricks, or concrete, or dug into the ground, a sepulcher is carved out of
living rock. It is a sacred place of lasting grandeur that is used but once and sealed for eternity. As an adjective the
word is used in describing the rituals and ceremonies of death and renewal (sepulchral rites), and in reference to the
deep, mysterious, and resonant voice that appears to originate within its depths (a sepulchral voice). Both concepts
have importance in the Order of the Sepulcher of the Obsidian Masque.
Obsidian
Obsidian (pure black obsidian, fire obsidian, and rainbow obsidian seem to be the most appropriate as far as
OSOM is concerned) is the material out of which the masque (symbolic of the neutral, unformed self at the center
of being - essence) is cut. Obsidian is a dark, usually black (or mostly black), hard and strong vitreous (glass-like)
lava. Today it is a popular gemstone, but in the past many cultures used it in the construction of knives, spear- and
arrow-heads, as well as sacred ritual tools, jewelry, and mirrors.2 Black obsidian is the fire-born, fire-hardened
substance of the Abyss which must be crossed before true self-realization is possible. It is the Black Flame of Set
which burns darkly bright within the heart of every Setian magician.
As far as black obsidian is concerned, it is easy to agree with some “New Age” statements describing this stone’s
power as a “master teacher” and a “warrior of truth”. As such it is important to realize that black obsidian does not
cater to the egotistical whims of any self-deceiving individual.
Setians know better than most the power of the darkness that is so elegantly symbolized by this powerful
volcanic stone. In her book Crystal Enlightenment Katrina Raphael goes even further [the brackets are added by me