Sapphire_Tablet_of_Set.pdf

The Sapphire Tablet of Set

QUI PETIVERENT INVENIENT

Author:

Michael A. Aquino VI°

Date:

March 10, XI

HTML conversion: Dec 7, 2000 CE

Subject:

The Master of the Temple

Michael Aquino V°

IV°-1

March 10, XI

To: The Masters of the Temple

Qui Petiverent Invenient

On the fifteenth of July X I recognized you as a Master of the Temple IV°. In terms of

organizational authority, you were then and are now familiar with the prerogatives of that

degree. They are written into the By-laws, and you have Seen that the T S will respect

them in deed as in word.

To date, however, I have not discussed the essential characteristics of the IV° -- the

criteria according to which I considered and then recognized you. True, I have discussed

various aspects of this with you individually on occasion, but until now I have not

defined the term as comprehensively as it deserves. This I will do now. I do not anticipate

that what I will say will come as any surprise to you; rather I intend this letter as a way of

taking the implicit and making it explicit.

You will notice also that this is the first of my letters addressed only to the IV°. This is

because, by definition, only a Master of the Temple may comprehend that grade. Nor

may it be "taught" to those of lesser initiatory degrees. Like the II° and the III°, it is

something that the individual must seek for himself and attain through the illumination of

his Will. Hence the title of this letter: "Those who seek shall find." And thus again the

meaningful use of the term "recognition" as opposed to promotion.

The term "Master" is one of preeminent honor in all of the artistic, religious, and

philosophical pursuits of mankind. A Master is one who comprehends, who knows, who

possesses all skills. Appropriately a Master is regarded by others as a teacher, even

though be may regard himself as a "student" of his calling. In magic and metaphysics, the

Master is one who understands those things which others call "occult" or "mysteries". He

may be called a Saint, a Sage, a Mahatma, a Medicine Man, a Shaman, a Witch Doctor,

or a Philosopher. Transculturally he is a Master.

Within the initiatory arts of magic, the concept of the Master has been most precisely

formulated to date by Aleister Crowley. Let me cite the key descriptive passages

concerning a Master of the Temple (8)=[3] of the A :. A :. from Magick in Theory and

Practice:

"The essential Attainment is the perfect annihilation of that personality

which limits and oppresses his true self. The Magister Templi is pre-

eminently the Master of Mysticism, that is, His Understanding is entirely

free from internal contradiction or external obscurity; His work is to

comprehend the existing Universe in accordance with His own Mind."

When discussing the grade below (8)=[3], that of Adeptus Exemptus (7)=[4], Crowley

states:

"He will have attained all but the supreme summits of meditation, and

should be already prepared to perceive that the only possible course for

him is to devote himself utterly to helping his fellow creatures. To attain

the Grade of Magister Templi, he must perform two tasks; the

emancipation from thought by putting each idea against its opposite, and

refusing to prefer either; and the consecration of himself as a pure vehicle

for the influence of the order to which he aspires. He must then decide

upon the critical adventure of our Order; the absolute abandonment of

himself and his attainments."

And further:

"Should he fail, by will or weakness, to make his self-annihilation

absolute, he is none the less thrust forward into the Abyss; but instead of

being received and reconstructed in the Third Order, as a Babe in the

womb of our Lady Babalon, under the night of Pan, to grow up to be

Himself wholly and truly as He was not previously, he remains in the

Abyss, secreting his elements round his Ego as if isolated from the

Universe, and becomes what is called a "Black Brother". Such a being is

gradually disintegrated from lack of nourishment and the slow but certain

action of the attraction of the rest of the Universe, despite his now

desperate efforts to insulate and protect himself, and to aggrandize himself

by predatory practices. He may indeed prosper for awhile, but in the end

he must perish, especially when with a new Aeon a new Word is

proclaimed which he cannot and will not hear, so that he is handicapped

by trying to use an obsolete method of Magick, like a man with a

boomerang in a battle where everyone else has a rifle."

If you read these passages carefully, you will see the paradox inherent in them. To

become an (8)=[3], a (7)=[4] must destroy his capacity for logical thought , i.e. his ability

to draw inductive or deductive conclusions from phenomena of the material universe.

Since it is just this capacity that is the essential characteristic of the Self ["Cogito ergo

sum", if you will], the (7)=[4] is in effect invited to obliterate what it is that makes him a

unique entity. Theoretically he is "reconstituted by the gods in a perfect form" - an ideal

"self". Herein lies the heart of the paradox, which is also the central theme of Genesis III .

It is that an independent Will, capable of perceiving itself in contrast to the material

Universe, cannot be a product of forces germane to that Universe. The freedom of the

Will necessitates the ability of the Will to move both with and against Universal patterns

[i.e. "laws"]. The Will is self-creating, self-sustaining, and self-improving . This is the

basis for the Formula of the Aeon of Set XXX.

Because of the paradox, it is impossible for a Magister Templi (8)=[3] to be the result of

such an annihilation as Crowley prescribes. Such a "Magister" would possess no Will of

its own; it would in fact be a zombie, nonconsciously moving in harmony with the

Universal Law. It would be an animated corpse, a mere machine. This would not be

rebirth of the self -- it would be suicide.

Now let us look a little more closely at Crowley's description of a "Black Brother". If you

have read Crowley's biography, you will notice something very significant: that, in these

few short phrases, a veritable blueprint for Crowley's own life has been presented . [This

is not the case in Moonchild, incidentally, where the term "Black Brother" is used to

lampoon Crowley's old Golden Dawn opponents.]

Anyone familiar with Crowley's writings as a Magister Templi (8)=[3] onward can attest

to the tremendous presence of his individual Will . The inescapable conclusion is that

there is no Right-Hand Path to the degree of Magister Templi. There is only the Left-

Hand Path, and it is fraught with danger -- not a one-time test, but a continuous peril that

exists from the moment the individual completely realizes him-self as a Magister.

Look at it this way: The Magister Templi is one who can perceive and comprehend the

entire material Universe. In order to do this, there must be no part of him which is an

accessory of that same Universe. He - his Will - must be independent / separate / distinct.

This necessitates an extremely strong presence of mind, an ego that is sufficiently

reinforced by itself not to require "crutches" from the material Universe, and a

determination to fight off the panic that could result from the sensation of being utterly

alone . The Magister Templi, if he is truly entitled to that degree, possesses the abilities

necessary to thwart those dangers. Those who presume to that degree without

understanding them or the severe mental pressures they can cause, do in fact suffer the

fate that Crowley prescribes: they either die or lose their sanity.

Crowley had many disciples who can be cited as cases in point. He himself possessed the

strength to embody the degree, as well as to exercise the tremendous powers and

prerogatives of that exalted station. The difficulties that he suffered in later life were the

result of other factors [specifically the Curse of the degree of Magus, and Crowley's

decision to assume the dangerous perspective of an Ipsissimus ... these I will discuss

later.] If Crowley understood the true requirements of a Magister Templi so well, then

why should he have misled others via these passages in Magick in Theory and Practice?

The answer, I think, lies not in Crowley himself, but rather in the general atmosphere of

inconsistency and imperfection that permeated the Aeon of HarWer. Intellectually

Crowley was brilliant, but invariably his common sense and his sense of perspective

would fail him in almost every "category" of his magical system. He would see trees with

unprecedented clarity; he would be blind to forests. Such was the unfortunate atmosphere

of the Aeon of HarWer.

In order to approach the degree of Magister Templi as it is now constituted within the

Aeon of Set, let me describe the "forest". First of all, onlookers will note that the first five

grades of the Golden Dawn system have given way to the single I° T S , and the three

Adeptus grades [Minor / Major / Exemptus] have given way to the single II° T S . Also

the Priesthood of Set III° has been added -- a credential entirely alien to the nonunified

atmosphere of the Aeon of HarWer.

A glance through the criteria of the first eight grades of the A :. A :. will make it quite

evident why they were consolidated into the I° and II°. The nonsense and the Cabalistic

blind alleys have been eliminated. The I° now encompasses straightforward training and

testing, and the II° is a magical "proving ground" wherein the Adept may exercise his

newly-acquired strengths and skills. The Adept who succeeds in all areas appropriate to

his personality may thus be identified as Elect to the Priesthood.

Individuals who are non-Setians exist both mentally and physically in the material

Universe [or objective Universe]. To achieve desired goals they comprehend and employ

techniques and devices of the OU only. The Setian I° is shown that there is a perceptual

Universe distinct from but relevant to the OU. He is shown that his nonnatural mind has

the power to alter certain characteristics of the PU, and that such alterations have a

somewhat related [but not l-for-l] impact upon the OU. This is magic. The Adept II° is

one who is expert at manipulating the PU for desired results in the OU. But neither the I°

nor the II° really understands what the PU is, or why it exerts the influence that it does on

the OU. It is this understanding that constitutes access to the Powers of Darkness, and it

is something that begins with the III°.

The Priest III° is still a usual "resident" of the OU. He now understands, however, that

the PU can embody a reality of its own when energized by the force of his Will [or that of

the Will of Set]. He can thus "materialize" the PU by his Will, but to do so requires

intense concentration and effort on his part -- and cannot be sustained for long. The Priest

must still rely upon the automatic laws of the OU to order his thoughts, speech, and

actions. His behavior within the PU is often restricted by his psychological dependence

upon the seeming security of the OU. Or, conversely, his ability to orient himself to the

PU may result in his failure to maintain the intricate connections between the OU & PU.

In such a case, the PU becomes a mere fantasy world ungoverned by logic and

uninfluential with regard to the OU. [This is the well-known "Astral Plane"

phenomenon.]

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