areas of interest which may serve as external expressions of internal archetypal energies ( neter s), and words of
power. Notwithstanding, at its very core the OSOM is dedicated to the examination and intuitive understanding of
the greatest of mysteries - the Temple of Set as it is made manifest within the living heart of the Setian magician.
Setians interested in joining [or wishing more information regarding] The Order of the Sepulcher of the
Obsidian Masque can contact the GM by writing to the Temple of Set address in San Francisco or speaking with him
during a Conclave.
For reasons explained in the Crystal Tablet of Set, only Adepts+ of the Temple will be considered for Order
membership.
Multiple Order membership seems to be the norm among Dromen of the Sepulcher, and is encouraged so long
as the Initiate has the time and energy to fulfill all Order commitments. Multiple Order membership also requires
the written support of all the Grand Masters involved.
Dromenic participation will be periodically examined, and non-productive or non-involved members will be
asked to re-examine their self-initiatory needs and expectations. Inactive Dromen may also be directed to resign
from the Order or seek membership in some other Temple of Set Order which is better able to suit their needs and
inspire their participation.
Since magical initiation sometimes requires massive change, all Dromen of the Sepulcher are asked to review
their affiliation with the OSOM and determine if it is still providing the kind of creative impetus they have the right
to expect. If change is deemed necessary, then steps will be taken so that the Initiate can find the best method of
continuation without the need to jeopardize the integrity of personal Xeper.
The OSOM will communicate with the rest of the Temple through a newsletter, The Sepulchral Voice ( S.V. ),
which will be produced at irregular intervals whenever sufficient material is available to warrant production and
distribution. Order members and all Masters of the Temple will receive the S.V. without charge. All others are asked
for a donation of US$2 (per copy/per issue) to cover postage & handling. Dromen(a) of the Sepulcher are expected
to contribute regularly to the S.V. as well as participate in all Order-oriented activities.
Essent into Essence
Love is the Essence, Love within Death
Xeper and Remanifest
Notes
1. One such meditation is derived from the Yoga Niedra tradition, which means “corpse posture”. Its main goal is
to transcend everyday consciousness and find the reality of consciousness which is the highest expression of the
self - the self that is fully awake. It differs from other Yogic practices. however, in that the practitioner visualizes
his own dismemberment, decapitation, and dissolution into nothingness. When a state of “nothingness” is
achieved, the visualization continues with the reconstruction of the self. The fully Remanifested self is imbued
with all that the individual deems right and worthy, while all undesirable characteristics that inhibit the
realization of one’s potential are simply not included in the process of Remanifestation.
2. Magus Don Webb tells me of an Aztec/Toltec legend of an obsidian mirror used for revelation. He also
reminded me of the obsidian “shewstone” used by John Dee and Edward Kelly to receive the Word of Set. A
similar obsidian mirror is ascribed to Merlin of the Arthurian legends. This could be a very interesting area of
research.
3. C. Ray Smith (Ed.), The Theatre Crafts Book of Make-up, Masks, & Wigs.
- 425 -
A81: The Order of Setne Khamuast
- by Don Webb IV°, Grand Master
Ten measures of magic have come into the world. Egypt received nine of these, the rest of the world one
measure. Talmud, b. Qid. 49b
Setne Khamuast wun ’wy nw(t) pet per m kerh r irt merr(t) -f nbt tp-ta m-m ’nkaw. [Set-is-Beautiful, General
of Thebes, who opens the doors of the sky, shall come forth by night to do all he wishes upon the world among the
living.]
I declare that in Year XXX an Order shall Come Into Being bearing the name of the world’s first Egyptologist
be rendered in English as “Set-is-Beautiful” or “Set-is-Kind”.
As a soldier he distinguished himself in the campaigns in Israel and the Sudan. He is perhaps the author of the
famed lost papyrus “Scroll of Producing Terror and Respect” mentioned in the story of Rameses III. As an
Egyptologist he began a careful series of diggings to claim back from the sand the monuments that were lost, and
more importantly he created a magical library, the Rameseum, to serve as the mortuary chapel of his father. This
gathering of scrolls in a centralized place for study was a first, and changed Egyptian and eventually world magical
practice. Because of his interest in magical literature, the Greeks called him “King of the Magicians” and a thousand
years after his death a story was circulated about how he had found the Book of Thoth.
As a magician he restored the two Ceremonies of Rebirth connected with the god Set. The first of these is the
heb-sed, the “Festival of Set”, practiced for national rebirth. The heb-sed renews the life of the Pharaoh and the
land’s connection with the divine. It is first performed after a Pharaoh has reigned for thirty years, since in Egyptian
numerology thirty is the number of completion. It may then be performed at the Pharaoh’s discretion throughout
his reign. Concerning the effectiveness of the work, Rameses II was the longest-lived of all Pharaohs, outliving his
talented son.
The second ceremony was the “Opening of the Mouth”. The Setian aspect of this ceremony has almost destroyed
by Osirian overlays. But the most important aspect - the tool called the Pesh-Kent knife made in the shape of Set’s
forked tail and fashioned out of iron ( bia-en-pet = the metal from the sky) - became Setne’s personal emblem. He
served as High Priest of Thebes and Chief Sem Priest. Those of you who have seen his statue in the British Museum
have seen him dressed as Sem Priest wearing the original garb of the Setian Priest: the spotted leopard-skin of the
south, a reverse-color image of the night sky ruled by Set.
Order members will perform a twofold function. They will discover the treasures of antiquity, and they will be
able to present them to the Temple not as interesting curiosities of mankind’s past, but as working formulæ adapted
not only to the present, but crafted to producing a stronger, more powerful Temple in the future. There is a threefold
process by which this may be accomplished:
First, begin with the best, hardest, most recent scholarship you can find. The OSK doesn’t grow from semi-
digested old sources. And above all beware of the many “occultnik” glosses on ancient practices. For too long the
tradition of the South has been the home of idiots.
Second, when you find among those good sources that mysterious thing that calls to you, study it well. Begin
with the objective facts first, and then re-enact as appropriate for your life. Try until you get results! Then turn your
eyes inward and see how it has affected your initiation. If you see a positive effect on your Xeper, then you are ready
for the third phase.
Third, communicate what you have learned. I’m not talking about a long, dry article ful
l of Egyptian and Greek
terms [although scholarly publication, particularly outside of the Temple, is encouraged], but rather the task of
communicating personal initiation to other Initiates. Extract the processes of the ancient formulæ and present them
to the Temple, for learning to teach something is the first step to its mastery.
Although the Order’s studies will primarily focus on Egyptian practice, others interested in the South are
welcome in the hopes that other Orders will grow from this Order just as the OSK grows from my own pilgrimage to
the Land of Eternal Day in the Order of the Trapezoid. In addition to the study of classical Egypt some areas of
interest will be:
1. The magic and philosophy of Græco-Roman Egypt.
2. Greek, Semitic, Mesopotamian, “Old European”, Phoenician, African, and Latin magical traditions and
practices.
3. The use of Egyptian motifs in European magical traditions.
4. The practice of Lesser Black Magic using antique themes, or how to astonish your friends and neighbors
by remembering you were Tutankhamen.
- 426 -
The Order will have an Outer Court and an Inner Court. Outer Court affiliation will be very informal, consisting
of a simple desire to examine the order, attend its workings, or joining a Phyle while pursuing a particular Initiation
in an another Order. The Inner Court consists of formal obligation to the Order. Entering the Inner Court will both
require and cause a change in the Initiate’s relationship to the Objective Universe, which will affect not only the
seeker but will remanifest throughout all of the Temple and finally the world.
Groups may form from time to time to pursue specific activities. They will called Phyles (Greek term for hard-
to-pronounce za), the Egyptian name for a crew of craftsmen based on ancient Upper Egyptian social organization.
Phyles are to be headed by Inner Court members, and may pursue any topic of interest. They may last for a week or
be as the sands of time, they may have non-OSK members.
There is no planned newsletter yet, but if it should be desired, it will be called the D’ Elmet Setne ( The Magical
Word Gathering of Setne).
There is another purpose to the Order, which I may only hint at here. On August 24, 394 ev. the last
hieroglyphic inscription was written by a Priest of Isis at her shrine on the island of Philæ. He no doubt met his
death during the terrible Christian persecutions that characterized early Fifth Century Egypt. The Copts brag of the
destruction of Philæ claiming that one of their saints caused the Nile to flood over it. It has been sixteen hundred
years and I think it’s time to make the waters recede.
- 427 -
A82: The Order of Shuti
- by Robert Menschel IV°, Grand Master
I. Introduction
Shu and Tefnut, the twin lion gods, are opposites. Shu and Tefnut are male and female, hot and cold, dry and
wet, public and private, intellectual and emotional, et cetera and so forth.
Alone, either one would be dangerously unbalanced, and would have earned an evil reputation for his or her
excesses. But Shu and Tefnut are always together. Each defines the other; each requires the other. Each balances
and tempers the other. Shu’s most prominent headpiece, the feather of Ma’at, emphasizes this balance, as does the
representation of Shu through the use of this feather alone, as a single hieroglyph. Shuti is Shu and Tefnut together,
under one name, as one composite being.
The Order of Shuti is dedicated to the study of Opposition and Balance, Opposition in Balance, Balance in
Opposition, and Balance through Opposition. More, we will pursue Xeper through Balance, and Xeper through
Opposition. By “Opposition” we don’t mean just conflict (though of course that is included). We will study and use
opposites, the actions and forces of these opposites, the ranges of existence between these opposites, the balance of
these opposites, and the dynamic magical implications thereof.
One obsolete philosophy of magic was that to achieve balance, the magician had to experience and participate in
the extremes (often the extremes of good and evil).
There are simply too many different pairs of opposites and extremes for a magician to experience them all.
Further, many extremes are downright dangerous, such as extreme hot and cold, unnecessarily evil and unlawful
acts, and excessively self-sacrificing acts. But the Initiate of Shuti will recognize and work with any and all
opposites/extremes, and with the ranges and balances between them, whenever and however appropriate.
“For with no purpose the force of the mind must fail ...” This study of opposition and balance can support many
diverse goals.
One such purpose will be to study and understand the physical and objective universe, and to study and
understand the magical and subjective universe, so that we may change those universes in accordance with our
Wills (per the challenge of Michael, found in the Diabolicon’s Statement of Satan ArchDaimon).
Other goals and purposes are and will be supported; this is but one which has been defined and will be offered
to interested Initiates. Any and all sets of opposites will be valid and appropriate areas of study for the Initiate. The
universes are our library and our laboratory. But some topics will be of global interest:
Life and Death are the major pair of Opposites. We will work to recognize all forms and degrees of these
opposites. We will work to always strive for Life, to always reject Death.
One set of Opposites of major interest is Self and Not-Self. How do we define our Selves? When we Remanifest
continued existence without these bodily shells, how will we then define our Selves? How will we differentiate
between personal Xeper and the willful modification of the external universe?
We will also study Set and the Opposite Self, HarWer. We will study them as individual entities, as Opposite
Selves, and as Satan (Set and HarWer fused).
Related to these above topics, we will examine the opposites of your own Higher Self, that towards which you
Xeper, and your Lower Self, that which you Will outgrow.
II. Activities
The most visible activity of the Order of Shuti is its newsletter, Dialogues. Published on an irregular schedule
[due to the Grand Master’s time restraints, certainly not due to a lack of material], the newsletter contains active
discussions of a large variety of topics, reports of progress made in various areas of endeavor, and more.
The Order of Shuti also indulges in a high level of correspondence between its members, on topics listed above
and others of interest to the members. Most correspondence is between individuals, but from time to time select
correspondence will be shared with the entire Order membership.
The Order of Shuti also hosts open activities at Conclaves, to which all Conclave attendees are welcome. Finally
the Order hosted a weekend workshop several years ago, to which many Setians were invited, and we plan to hold
more workshops in the future.
Other pairs of opposites are knowledge and ignorance, ability and inability, comprehension and
noncomprehension, perception and nonperception, etc. Shu is a god of knowledge, the light of the sun. With
Tefnut’s influence, Shuti is a god of active Satanic enlightenment. We therefore expect the Order’s Initiates to
actively contribute material to the Scroll of Set and the Ruby Tablet of Set. We also expect the Order’
s Initiates to
participate in, assist, and/or lead Pylons as appropriate, whether local Pylons, correspondence Pylons [like the
Gates of Hell], or otherwise.
- 428 -
III. Affiliation and Participation
The Order of Shuti is a fairly “open” and available Order. Our newsletter, Dialogues, is available by subscription
to all Setians. We publish our major works in the Ruby Tablet of Set. We welcome dialogue with all Setians
concerning any Order topic of interest.
Because of this, some Setians may wonder, “Why should I join the Order of Shuti, when I can have all of its
benefits without joining it?” The answer is that Setians outside of the order don’t get all of its benefits. There is
correspondence within the Order which is not published. Order members have opportunities for Xeper which are
not readily made available outside the Order. Order members have more direct and frequent contact with the Grand
Master. Etc.
How can an Adept formally affiliate with the Order of Shuti? Order membership is closely tied to active
participation with the Order. [Order members will be - and have been - expelled for a lack of participation.
Allowances are made, of course, for time restrictions due to schooling and other high priority elements of Xeper.]
Interested Adepts should therefore: (1) correspond with the Grand Master discussing your interest, and (2)
participate in the Order’s activities.
This participation includes reading and contributing to Dialogues, and correspondence with Order members
and/or the Grand Master on topics of interest to you. You should also develop your ideas through research and/or
discussion, and submit the results of your work to Dialogues, the Scroll of Set, and/or the Ruby Tablet of Set.
After having demonstrated your interest in and participation with the Order of Shuti, you may then apply to
the Grand Master for formal admission to the Order. Such application normally will be approved after a fairly short
review.
- 429 -
A83: The Order of Taliesin
- by Eric Kauschen IV°, Grand Master
If music be the staff of life, play on!
- William Shakespeare
Music is a living, breathing thing. Every piece of music can exist as a ritual that can be performed over and over