viable one. In the Crystal Tablet I outlined how the Order system would function henceforth:
Within the Temple of Set there exist a number of specialized Orders, each supervised by a IV°
+ Initiate as Grand Master of that Order. To contact a specific Order, communicate with the
Grand Master of that Order as listed in the Order Directory in this Crystal Tablet.
Perhaps the best way to visualize the Temple of Set’s concept of Orders is to think of the
Temple as a university, with the Orders as the various academic departments. Students at the
university, in the course of their general education, may sample subjects at appropriate
introductory levels in various departments. Upon completing their general education, students
with an interest in or aptitude for a particular department may “major” in that department and
possibly go on to graduate work in that field. Nonetheless all the departments cooperate in the
operation of the university as a whole, and its general academic environment lends a sense of
perspective to the various departments - so that their faculty and students can relate to a world
beyond their field of specialization.
General guidelines concerning the Temple of Set’s Orders are as follows:
1. Only a IV° Initiate may establish an Order within the Temple. This has been the traditional
prerogative of this degree since the time of the G.'.D.'. and the A.'.A.'.
2. An Order is characterized by special interests and emphases, which may be formalized by
special introductory and ritual procedures within that Order. Such interests and emphases
may not clash with those of the Temple of Set as a whole, and an Order’s initiatory system
must be subordinate to and supportive of the system of the Temple as a whole.
3. The Grand Master (presiding IV°+) of each Order exercises complete authority over that
Order, subject to the review of the High Priest of Set.
4. Subject to exemptions approved by the High Priest, Orders will accept only II°+ Setians as
Initiates. This is based on the premise that I° Setians should concentrate on their “general
magical education” prior to specializing within a particular Order.
5. While an Adept II° may specialize indefinitely, a Priest or Priestess of Set III° must possess a
high level of general knowledge. IV°+s who are Grand Masters of Orders will not Recognize
new III°s solely on the basis of their competence within a particular Order, but rather
according to their broader skills and State of Being within the Temple and Æon of Set.
6. The fruits of an Order’s work must actively extend beyond the Initiates of that Order to the
Temple of Set as a whole. The only exception to this is that initiatory ceremonies within an
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Order may be private to that Order, per the magical principle that uninvolved observers at
such ceremonies can impair their effectiveness.
7. Normally a Setian may belong to only one Order within the Temple of Set, on the premise that
personal efforts would otherwise be diluted. On the same premise, personal movement
between various Orders is not recommended. Aspirants are advised to interview and
correspond with various Orders before making a personal commitment to any one in
particular. A Setian may belong to more than one Order only by first obtaining the approval of
both Order Grand Masters.
8. Within a year of being Recognized to the II°, Adepts of the Temple are normally expected to
affiliate with an Order. There is no penalty for not doing so, but Adepts will find that an
increasing amount of Temple activity beyond the I° takes place within the Order system.
9. Setians of all degrees may freely visit activities of all Orders, except as noted in #6 above.
10. There is no required or standard internal design for an Order, save that each be headed by a
IV°+ with the formal title of Grand Master.
11. Order insignia may be worn either together with Temple of Set insignia or alone. When it is
worn with Temple insignia, it must not conflict with, cover, or displace it.
12. Priests and Priestesses of Set III° will be encouraged to involve themselves with specialized
concerns of an Order only after their Priestly affairs are amply in hand. In all cases this means
active involvement with potential Setians and I°/II° Setians who are working to become fully
Adept at the Black Arts at a personal level. In many cases it further means the establishment
and leadership of a Pylon of the Temple. [The effect of this provision is that an enthusiastic II°
member of a particular Order will have to resolve to put Order-specific interests on the back
burner should he or she be Recognized to the Priesthood of Set. Active work within Orders will
be done mostly by II° and IV° Initiates, with III°s contributing only after their more general
responsibilities within the Temple are fulfilled. Hence II°s who are intensely interested in a
particular Order should consider this provision before aspiring to the III°.]
13. Orders’ areas of focus may be historic, philosophical, geographic, psychological, or almost
anything else that does not conflict with the Temple of Set’s basic ethical guidelines.
Accompanying this Introduction in the Crystal Tablet are general statements from the various
Orders. Some are currently active, some are temporarily inactive, and some are historically
dormant. Check the “Orders” Directory file to see which ones are currently active. If you are
curious concerning one or more of the other Orders, many of which have a rich legacy of
contribution to the archives of the Temple of Set, examine the InterCommunication Roster to see
if Initiates involved with them are included. Also examine the Back-Issue Collection of the Scroll
of Set for Order-related articles.
In 1982, however, the Temple of Set did not yet have a functioning model for this new
generation of Order. That was about to change, far away in Germany.
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8: The Wewelsburg Working
On November 8, 1982 I wrote to the Priesthood of Set [and thereafter to all Setians in the
February 1983 Scroll of Set]:
The Wewelsburg Working - Background
The reason for my silence during the past month is about to be explained; I have been
out of the country. During the first part of October I participated in a series of tours of
NATO installations in England, Belgium, and Germany arranged through the World
Affairs Council.
I haven’t been to London and Brussels since 1958 or to Germany since XIII, so it was
interesting to see the changes and non-changes that have occurred. It was surprising to
discover that london, which I had supposed to be a nerve-center of occultism, has only
one tiny bookshop - “Atlantis” - dealing in the Black Arts. It is perhaps 1/4 the size of
Gilbert’s in L.A. or Weiser’s in NYC, and I made no discoveries within its shelves. The
owner was pleased to display a stock of our informational pamphlets, however.
On the next block I bumped into the London office of E.J. Brill, the Dutch publishers
who once published Seth, God of Confusion hardcover and expensive. For many years it
has been out of print; now it is back in print softcover and less expensive (48.00 Dutch
Gld.). we will explore ways to order this unique volume at minimum inconvenience to
Setians.
Afte
r the conclusion of the NATO tours, I was able to undertake a long-awaited
personal quest. In “That Other Black Order”, an article on Nazi occultism which I wrote
for Cloven Hoof #IV-4 (April VII) [ The Church of Satan Appendix #40], I recounted that
Heinrich Himmler had appropriated a Westphalian castle, the Wewelsburg, and had
modified it for ritual and Black Magical activities of the SS. The more I tried to obtain
details concerning the Wewelsburg, the more frustrated I became. It was soon apparent
that author after author has simply recited the half-paragraph’s worth of rumors first
published in the mid-1950s. No one had troubled to visit the castle [if it still existed] nor
photograph it.
Until this last month, therefore, I had no idea whether the Wewelsburg still existed
and, if so, whether the chambers in question had been destroyed, remodeled, or simply
sealed.
Tourist guidebooks of Germany made no mention of the castle; it was only with the
aid of a large-scale map of Westphalia that I found the initials “Schl”[oss] next to the tiny
village of Wewelsburg. It is the better part of a day’s drive on the high-speed autobahn
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from Frankfurt on 10/19, then a zig-zag course through a thick forest on a small back road
into the town, which looked as small and sleepy as any other German town. Still no castle
to be seen.
Then a directional marker (“Zum Schloss”) pointing down a back alley, with more
twists and turns, and then: Castle Wewelsburg, apparently intact and perfectly preserved,
and virtually invisible even from the town because of the surrounding forests and terrain.
As seen from above it is in the shape of an isosceles triangle, with the keep at the north
apex and the other two towers at the southwest and southeast corners.
Passing the small guardhouse (with a defaced but still legible “SS” stone emblem
atop), I crossed the bridge to the main entrance in the east wall, entered the courtyard,
and knocked at the door of what was evidently a small museum of the castle’s medieval
history. In answer to my questions, the elderly curator politely informed me that the two
ritual chambers were very much intact. Would I like to see them? Indeed I would, thank
you!
The Wewelsburg is used [except for the museum and the two ceremonial chambers] as
a youth hostel. Entering the North Tower from the courtyard brings one to the “Marble
Hall”. This circular chamber is completely unfurnished, save for two black floor-
candleholders with red candles by one of the doors. Into the center of the red marble floor
is set a rune-wheel made of green stone, with the central disc of black marble. Each rune
points to one of 12 green sandstone columns, forming cross arris vaults above 12 windows
also framed in green sandstone. The chamber’s only other decoration is a roughly-hewn
block of stone above the door with the black candleholders.
To give you some idea of the wild distortions that have been published concerning the
Wewelsburg, the following is quoted from Francis King’s Satan and Swastika:
The center of the castle was the great banqueting hall, furnished with a gigantic table
around which were placed large wooden chairs almost thrones upholstered with pigskin
and with the name of the rightful occupant inscribed on silver plates. In these chairs
Himmler and his favorite subordinates would sit both for conferences concerned with
mundane matters and for group meditation - long hours of silence in which the
participants were supposed to strengthen their ties with the “Race Soul”. Besides Himmler
himself, never more than 12 SS men were allowed to sit down at the table; the reasons for
this are not clear, but it is possible that he was either blasphemously parodying the Last
Supper or seeing himself symbolizing the Sun surrounded by the 12 signs of the Zodiac.
Above the banqueting hall were Himmler’s own rooms ... Below the hall was the crypt,
the ‘realm of the dead’, in which 12 unoccupied pedestals were placed around a stone
hollow. On the death of each of Himmler’s chosen 12, his coat of arms was to be burned,
and the ashes placed in an urn on one of the pedestals ...
In actuality the floor emblem and other architectural features of the Marble Hall make
it clear that the chamber was never designed to contain a central table, nor do the original
SS plans (which I examined) show it ever containing one. The conference hall in the west
wall held a large, but not “gigantic” table and approximately 30 - not 12 - of the large
leather - not pigskin, nor with silver nameplate - chairs referred to [I tried one out].
The dining hall was a third, smaller hall located in the south wall. Himmler’s own
rooms were not above any of the three halls; they were in the southwest tower. Neither
the library nor the weapons museum were in Himmler’s rooms; they were in separate
rooms on different floors.
The recurring 12s of the Marble Hall probably have a solar/cosmic significance rather
than a personal/human one. There were 12 central SS offices, each headed by an
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Obergruppenführer (Lt. General). [A 12-seat table would have excluded the 13th:
Himmler himself!]
The Hall of the Dead is located directly beneath the Marble Hall in the North Tower.
To enter it one must go outside the castle and down to the base of the North Tower. A
stone stair leads down to the Hall.
The Hall of the Dead is domed; at the apex of the dome is a rune-accented swastika.
Four holes in this emblem have encouraged the popular idea that there was a concealed
smoke vent in the ceiling; this is not the case.
The four large windows opening into the Hall from the exterior of the tower argue
against the Hall’s being designed as a tomb, nor are the 12 pedestals high enough or
protected enough for funerary urns. They are platforms for either statues or live
The acoustics of the chamber are such that, standing upon a pedestal, one can be
heard in a whisper in any other part of the room.
The central pit is not designed for bonfires. Its purpose became clear to me as soon as
I descended into it; it places an individual at the acoustic focus of the chamber, as well as
at the converging focus of the light channeled from the four 5-foot window passages. The
effect is devastating. One shimmers with light from the Sun, Moon, or stars in an
otherwise shadowed and darkened chamber; and one’s voice whether lowered to a
whisper or raised to a shout is magnified and multiplied and mirrored back to the focus.
Upon returning to the medieval museum rooms with the curator, I enquired whether I
might be able to spend some time in the Hall of the Dead alone. To my surprise he
assented, providing that I sign in the logbook for the key. I did so, returned alone to the
Hall, locked myself in, and undertook what I shall henceforth refer to as the Wewelsburg
Working. It is discussed in a separate paper.
Late in the afternoon I closed the chamber, returned the key to the curator, and
departed for Frankfurt and the rest of the World of Horrors.
Subsequently I had the opportunity to visit the Obersalzberg complex. Having written
about it in Secret of the Lost Ark, I was frankly curious to see if my description squared
with reality. I am pleased to report that it does.
Adolf Hitler’s own house - the Berghof - is now so completely overgrown with forest
that it’s impossible to find it unless you know where to look. [It took me a half-hour’s
plunging around in the underbrush]. On Walpurgis 1952 the ruins of the Berghof were
dynamited by the German government; only one partially-underground room remains.
Back in San Francisco I am now recovering from jet-lag, reading mail, and pondering
many things.
The Wewelsburg Working
Date/Time: October 19, XVII/3:00-4:30 PM.
Location: Hall of the Dead/Walhalla, North Tower, Wewelsburg Castle, Westphalia,
Germany.
Key:
19th Part of the Word of Set, Æthyr LIL.
Purposes:
• To obtain a full Understanding of the significance of the crisis that befell the
Temple of Set in June-July XVII.
• To energize the advent of the Working Year XVIII.
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• As the Wewelsburg was conceived by Heinrich Himmler to be the “Mittelpunkt der
Welt”, and as the focus of the all of the Dead was to be the Gate of that Center, to
summon the Powers of Darkness at their most powerful locus.
Results:
What emerged from this Working was not a written text, such as the Book of Coming
Forth by Night or the Word of Set, but rather a twofold sensation: First, the suction-like
impression of the inflow of certain realizations and kinds of knowledge (accompanied by
an almost “electrical” sort of exhilaration), which seemed to have “remained dormant”
pending an “activating” Working of this sort. Second, an extended “reverberation” or
“echoing” of the focus of this Working within the Walhalla, culminating in its sending-
forth into the material world.
The central features of the various principal occultisms of the 19th and 20th centuries
CE ran through my consciousness almost as a pageant. I understood the object of this to
be an exposure of contrasts, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies a vast, spiraling dialectic
designed to clear away the debris of sectarianism and superficiality in the search for the
key principles of the true Powers of Darkness.
Concepts of “will”, “intelligence”, “self-consciousness”, “initiation”, and “magic”