2009 Past Master's Address
From Sekhet-Maat Lodge
Published in Lion & Serpent 14, No. 3.
Saturday, August 15, 2009 ev
by Fr. ΝΘΛΜΚΜΝΡΓ
Brethren and Friends,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Sekhet-Maat Lodge will soon be fifteen years old, and in that time we have become known by many as a kind of 'flagship' of U.S. Grand Lodge. We are not the oldest body by a long shot and probably not quite the largest in number of members, but in spite of this we are in many ways probably the most developed. This fact is in thanks to many, many people who have come through our doors, members and non-members alike. In particular, this Lodge would not be what it is today without the hard work and determination of tremendous leaders of the Lodge's past. These include most especially Past Master Hank and Elector Eliza.
Hank and Eliza changed the face of O.T.O. in Portland, and brought standards up from virtually nothing to perhaps the highest in the Order. Their leadership brought us to this temple and kept us here through the worst of times. Hank and Eliza, on behalf of the Lodge, thank you.
Our Lodge would be nothing without the beautiful and powerful vision of our dear Sister and Lodge founder Bonnie.
We evolved as a Lodge more than many realize thanks to the love and caring of our Past Master Mick.
So many of the innovations of this Lodge are because of the ingenuity and perseverance of High Priestess Kim.
Also personally I would like to thank Brother JP and Sister Dawn for their hard work over the years. They were both here before me and their work has continued to be an inspiration to me through all these years.
I look forward greatly to the evolution that Geoff's term will surely bring to the Lodge. His intelligence and even-handed nature will be a great benefit to our continued development. Please join me in thanking Geoff for volunteering to serve in this role.
And now for the boring part.
In "An Intimation with Reference to the Constitution of the Order",1 Crowley writes that, "The Man of Earth takes no share in the Government of the Order; for he is not yet called upon to give his life to it in service; and with us Government is Service, and nothing else. The Man of Earth is therefore in much the position of the Plebeian in Rome in the time of Menenius Agrippa." Here, as elsewhere, Crowley invokes the analogy of the body politic, for, "in True Things, all are but images one of another; man is but a map of the universe, and Society is but the same on a larger scale."2
Menenius Agrippa was a representative of the Roman patrician class who was sent by them to convince the plebeians, who made up the military and had seceded, to return to the city. Menenius told the soldiers a fable about the parts of the human body and how each has its own purpose in the greater function of the body. The body thought the stomach was dead weight, so the body decided to stop providing nourishment to the stomach. Soon, the other parts grew hungry and fatigued, and became unable to function. They realized because of this that the stomach served a purpose, and they were dead without it. In the story, the stomach represents the patrician class and the rest of the body represents the plebeians.
The analogy of the body politic has been used in many ways and traces back through written history to the Mahabharata and the Rig Veda. In the Mahabharata, the analogy of the body politic comes in the form of an ancient discourse between the senses and the mind:
- "The mind said, 'The nose does not smell without me. [Without me] the tongue does not apprehend taste. The eye does not seize colour, the skin does not feel touch, the ear does not apprehend sound, when deprived of me. I am the eternal and foremost one among all the elements. It always happens that destitute of myself, the senses never shine. ... Without me, all creatures fail to apprehend qualities and objects...'
- "Hearing these words, the Senses said, 'Even this would be true as thou thinkest in this matter, if, indeed, thou couldst enjoy pleasures without either ourselves or our objects. What thou thinkest, would be true, if, when we are extinct, there be gratification and support of life, and a continuation of thy enjoyments, or, if, ... thou canst have thy enjoyments by thy desire alone, as truly as thou hast them with our aid. ... But without us thou canst have no perception. Without us no happiness can come to thee.'"3
Indeed, the importance of the sense organs to the enjoyment of the mind, or in the case of Menenius' analogy, the importance of the arms to the stomach, is implicit in this analogy, however it may be used. The usefulness of the analogy is that it illustrates the fact that the body requires the active participation of all its members to thrive. Was not Menenius inviting the soldiers to return to the city? He was not urging them to be silent or to withdraw from participation. Was he not appealing to them to come back? The stomach cannot after all feed itself; nor can the mind alone perceive sights and smells. Should the mind object to the foul smells of the nose, demanding that the nose overcome its sensations? Should the stomach refuse to send nourishment to the tongue because it has been burned by a hot beverage and now is in pain? Obviously not. The analogy of the body politic illustrates that all of the parts of the society are integral to the whole.
Thus, the statement that, "The Man of Earth takes no share in the Government of the Order,"4 does not mean that the Man of Earth should not participate in any sense. As the majority of members are in this Third Triad, so then is most of the work of the Order accomplished within it. Without the Man of Earth, there would be a great reduction in the ability of the Order to pursue its mission, and eventually the mortality of existing members would render the Order extinct.
As Crowley knew, eventually, in the time of Menenius Agrippa, the patricians conceded to some of the plebeians' demands, such as creating a tribune of the people and establishing legal protection for all citizens against arbitrary intervention, and so, the soldiers returned to the city. Crowley, in his wisdom, also included representation of the Man of Earth in "Liber CXCIV" where he writes, "In order that the feelings of the general body may be represented, the Men of Earth choose four persons, two men and two women, from among themselves, to stand continually before the face of the Supreme and Holy King, serving him day and night."5
It is so important that the feeling of the Man of Earth be represented that Crowley established a representative office which serves the King directly. Crowley surely understood the political principles and the history behind the analogy of the body politic, and he realized what modern researchers such as Rodney Stark and Laurence Iannaccone have found. As Stark writes, "Religious movements will succeed to the extent they have legitimate leaders with adequate authority to be effective. ... Authority is regarded as more legitimate and gains in effectiveness to the degree that members perceive themselves as participants in the system of authority."6
It becomes more clear that while the Man of Earth has no share in the government of the Order, this is no reason for the Man of Earth to avoid participation in the system, for while the stomach provides nourishment, and the mind direction, the arms and legs are needed for the hunt, the harvest, and the battle for freedom. Nor is a lack of a share in government a reason to be silent if you have perceived some problem, if you have been burned or you smell something foul. While you may be unable to make, or change, a decision in the Order, or in the Lodge, it is your solemn duty—the first duty of all brethren—to protect the Order and in particular this Lodge from harm by communicating what you see, hear, and smell, as you perceive it, even if the mind or the stomach would perhaps rather not hear it. We depend on each other in the fight for freedom to speak the truth even if it panders not to the prejudices of those to whom we speak.
For the experience of Fraternity is that of working together to accomplish our common goals, such as establishment of the Law of Liberty in the world and securing the liberty of each individual. Fraternity is not the same as fellowship or friendship. Indeed, as Sister Eliza has written in our journal, fraternity is "the deeper bond formed as a result of the realization that we are all in this order for the long haul, that the people we're working with now will continue to be in our lives, one way or another, for as long as we're all in the O.T.O."7
It is because of this principle of fraternity, as well as the analogy of the body politic, that in my time as a governing officer of O.T.O., within the office of Lodge Master, I have sought to maintain an open-door policy, to solicit feedback for every decision, and to empower members to take action in service to our mission, as they are inspired to do so, while also providing members with transparency to the greatest extent possible, in order that they might govern themselves and their choices in light of the knowledge of the Lodge's history, its current level of development, and its trajectory.
I therefore urge the incoming leadership of the Lodge, as well as all those present who govern the Order in regional or national office, to meditate over this analogy of the body politic, and consider what duties we all have to each other, as participants in our system, and as brothers and sisters. As Crowley concludes in his "Intimation":
- "Thus we balance the Triads, uniting the Three in One; thus we gather up all the threads of human passion and interest, and weave them into an harmonious tapestry, subtly and diligently with great art, that our Order may seem an ornament even to the Stars that are in the Heavens at Night. In our rainbow-coloured texture we set forth the glory of the whole Universe— See thou to it, brother Magician, that thine own thread be strong, and pure, and of a colour brilliant in itself, yet ready to mingle in all beauty with those of thy brethren!"8
Thank you.
Love is the law, love under will.
Notes
- Aleister Crowley, "Liber CXCIV: An Intimation with Reference to the Constitution of the Order," in The Equinox 3, No. 1. (Weiser Books, 2007 ev).
- Ibid.
- Kisari Mohan Ganguli, trans. The Mahabharata 14, section XXII. http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m14/m14022.htm.
- Crowley, "Liber CXCIV."
- Ibid.
- Rodney Stark, "The basis of Mormon success: a theoretical application," in Mormons and Mormonism: an Introduction to an American world religion, ed. Eric Alden Aliason (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2001 ev), 226.
- Soror Eliza, "Fellowship & fraternity," in Lion & Serpent 4: Special 2nd National O.T.O. Conference edition, ed. Mick Taylor (Portland, Ore.: Sekhet-Maat Lodge, 1999 ev). http://sekhetmaat.com/www/html/journal/issues/9908/fellowshipfraternity.htm.
- Crowley, "Liber CXCIV."
