The Temple of Set
- by -
Michael A. Aquino
Volume I: Text & Plates
2nd Edition
- 2 -
- 3 -
© Michael A. Aquino 1975-2016 CE
Post Office Box 470307
San Francisco, CA 94147
http://www.rachane.org
ISBN-13:
978-1497567450
ISBN-10:
1497567459
- 4 -
- 5 -
Dedicated To
Lilith
Xa-Nepthys, Daughter of Set
Maga V° of Arkte
Grand Master of the Order of the Vampyre
Ulbandi, Valie of the Stars
Krel Atlan of Sith
Guardian of the Rainbow Bridge
- and in the United Kingdom of Earth -
Baroness of Rachane, Argyllshire, Scotland
- and of my heart -
Eternally Beloved
- 6 -
- 7 -
Table of Contents
Chapter
Page
Preface
11
Part I: Construction
15
1
-
The Primal Conflict
17
2
-
The North Solstice X Working
23
3
-
Khemistry
29
Confronting Ancient Egypt
29
Egyptian History
30
The Neteru
33
Set
35
4
-
22nd and Kansas
41
5
-
Freedom at Point Zero
49
6
-
Jackal Rising
59
7
-
Remanifestation
79
8
-
The Wewelsburg Working
85
9
-
The Orders, Pylons, and Elements
101
10 -
The Magi
107
11 -
Roaming This World
111
12 -
Cybertemple
115
13 -
The Abased Eighties I: The Cloning of Nikki Sixx
119
14 -
The Abased Eighties II: A Tree in the North
129
15 -
A Passing-By
137
Part II: Concepts
141
16 -
The Black Magical Theory of the Universe
143
A. Theory
144
B. Types of Theories
144
C. The Multiverse
144
D. The Objective Universe
144
1.
Origin
144
2.
Enforcement: Proof of the Neteru
146
3.
Contentment in Plato’s Cave
146
- 8 -
E. The Subjective Universe
147
F. Subjective/Objective Interaction
147
G. Collective Subjective Universes
147
H. The Judæo-Christian Soul
148
I.
The Setian Soul: MindStar
149
J. Fields
150
1.
Definition
150
2.
Life-Fields
150
3.
Telos
151
4.
Thought-Fields
152
K. Egyptian MindStar Emanations
153
1.
Khat
153
2.
Ren
154
3.
Khabit
154
4.
Ab
155
5.
Ba
155
6.
Ka
155
7.
Sekhem
156
8. Akh
157
L. Consciousness
157
1.
Metaphysics: Consciousness as an Entity
157
2.
Physics: Consciousness as an Illusion
158
3.
Inconsequence
158
4.
The Platonic “Pyramid of Thought”
158
5.
Ouspensky’s “Psychology of Possible Consciousness
Evolution”
161
M. MindStar and Body Interaction
163
N. Immortality of the MindStar
164
1.
Jewish and Christian Afterlifes
165
2.
Beyond Judæo-Christianity
167
O. The Prince of Darkness
173
P. Historical OU/SU Interpretations
178
Q. Personal OU/SU Perspectives
179
1.
The Nartural Approach to the Objective Universe
179
2.
The Non-Natural Approach to the Objective Universe
180
3.
The Natural Approach to the Subjective Universe
181
4.
The Non-Natural Approach to the Subjective Universe
181
17 -
Initiation
185
A. Concept
185
B. Truth
186
C. Ekstasis
187
D. The Two Paths
188
E. Initiatory Degrees of the Temple of Set
190
F. Ancestry and Evolving Definition of the Grade>Degree Titles
191
G. Æons
199
H. The Pentagram of Set
202
- 9 -
The Magical Chapters
207
18 -
Magic
209
A. White Magic
210
B. Black Magic
210
C. The Call of the Fire; The Warning of Noot
211
19 -
Lesser Black Magic
213
A. Stage Magic
213
B. Individual and Group Analysis
215
C. Ethics
216
20 -
Greater Black Magic
225
21 -
Medial Black Magic
235
Plates
237
About the Author
255
- 10 -
- 11 -
Preface
In The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904) L. Frank Baum had his imperiled hero Tip (the future
Princess Ozma) tie together two sofas, palm branches, and the stuffed head of a gump (in Oz an
elk-like creature) with rope and clothesline, sprinkle it with magic powder to bring it to life, and
then use it to fly away to safety. 1 Nevertheless, as evident from the i
mprovised haste of its
assembly, the gump was sorely wanting in ærodynamics, and only barely brought its passengers
to a landing before falling apart. Tip granted its wish to be disassembled, though the stuffed head
remained alive and continued to startle bypassers with comments throughout, presumably, the
rest of the thirteen original Oz books.
The Church of Satan, founded in 1966, was a bit like Baum’s gump. It was also thrown
together in improvised haste from a variety of vaguely- or unrelated concepts and then used to
transport its riders on an unpredictably soaring, plunging, and haphazard journey throughout
the next nine years until its own catastrophic crash in 1975. Like the gump, it did complete the
journey; also like the gump, it is something of an amazement that it got off the ground at all,
much less flew as long and as far as it did. 2 The story of this “long, strange trip” is told in The
Church of Satan, my companion history to The Temple of Set.
I make this point because the Temple of Set, when it was founded in 1975, was an entirely
different phenomenon. Organizationally it had the benefit of the complete experience of the
Church of Satan upon which to draw: to improve in part, to discard in part, and of course to
disregard when building anew. Even more crucially the Temple had from its inception a crystal-
clear definition and understanding of its metaphysical authenticity and license. Its evolution
over the next quarter-century would see refinements in the organization and increasing
exploration and enhancement of the philosophy, but the original bases of both would never
change.
The differences between the two organizations will also be mirrored in the contrast between
The Church of Satan and The Temple of Set. The former is a roller-coaster ride of alternately
1 The gump was included in Walt Disney’s 1985 film Return to Oz, being a composite of Baum’s Marvelous Land of
Oz and Ozma of Oz. In this film Dorothy Gale was substituted for Tip as the gump’s creator & rider.
2 Arguably its stuffed head - an Anton LaVey fan club using the Church’s name - has also remained “alive and
commenting” since the authentic Church’s 1975 conclusion.
- 12 -
serious, philosophical, humorous, tragic, ironic, heroic, embarrassing, frightening, and startling
personalities, concepts, and events. “If I hadn’t lived through it myself,” more than one old
Satanist has remarked to me upon reading COS, “I would have found it almost too bizarre to
believe.”
The Temple of Set will not be such a rollicking reading experience, though I daresay it will be
a substantially more searching and informative one. Its purpose is first to explain how the
Temple came into being and evolved organizationally, then to summarize its founding/core
principles. Neither of these should be considered an “endgame”: The Temple constantly changes
and improves its internal design, and its philosophy also continues to be refined, improved, and
corrected as present and future Setians see the need and opportunity to do so.
Certainly the initial years of the Temple were not all a smooth, steady, unified climb to the
stars. Both senior and junior Setians have had their flaws and failings as well as their talents and
strengths, and as a consequence the Temple has had its share of disappointments along with its
successes. But without exception each difficulty has been honestly confronted as a learning
experience; the result has consequently been an institution that much more substantial and
resilient.
An additional distinction between the two books is that while the former can indeed claim to
embrace the entire history of the Church of Satan, this book could never hope to fulfill a similar
goal with regard to the Temple of Set. The Church of Satan was a fairly simple, linear story, to
which a relatively small number of individuals made significant contributions over a brief period
of time. The Temple of Set may be more likened to an explosion within the heads of a great many
individuals of rich and diverse backgrounds, yielding a mix of ideas that would constantly be
shared, reconsidered, and compounded.
The extent of this corpus of knowledge is already staggering, and of course still continues its
exponential growth throughout a variety of communications and records systems. Among these
are the Jeweled Tablets of Set standing reference volumes; the archives and continuing issues of
the Scroll of Set newsletter; the Temple’s Internet public website and private “Intranet”; the
documents and periodicals of the Temple’s many Orders, Elements, and Pylons; Temple and
specialized reading lists, international/regional/local conclave events, and the overwhelming
amount of personal and interpersonal workings and dialogues involving individual Setians.
When I undertook to write this Temple of Set, therefore, I knew immediately that its focus
would need to be more a personal perspective, more an overview of what during the adventure of
the Temple to date has seemed to me to be particularly notable: not just because of drama or
colorfulness, but because it played some necessary or crucial part in the unfolding of the
adventure. It will, I think, also be my initiatory testament.
As a comprehensive history, The Church of Satan can be read by anyone - Setian, Satanist, or
profane - and be expected to reasonably communicate its story in proportion to the intelligence
of each such reader.
The Temple of Set presents a somewhat different problem. While I intend that this book be as
direct and unambiguous as possible, Setian philosophy requires “initiatory consciousness” - not
only an interest in the subject matter but both the intellectual and the metaphysical capacity to
comprehend it in its ultimate sense. Within the Temple, persons possessing such capacity are
referred to as “Elect” and are deemed to have potential for initiation. Those lacking it, best
intentions notwithstanding, would find the initiatory experience bewildering, frustrating, and
meaningless. Accordingly the Temple endeavors to not admit them, or to disaffiliate them as
soon as possible if accidentally affiliated.
It is much the same with this book. There are aspects of it that may either enter your mind
like flame or just leave you confused and annoyed. My pleasure in the former case; my apologies
in the latter.
- 13 -
The Temple of Set is divided into two main sections:
I. Construction: The first is an overview of the origins and structural development of the
institution. While it begins in 1975, it has no timeline-cutoff, since it is more of a conceptual
maturation than a chronicle.
II. Concepts: The second is an introduction to and summary of basic Setian philosophy and
its application. It is adapted from my Black Magic, the preliminary text of the Crystal Tablet of
Set, that part of the Jeweled Tablets of Set initiatory encyclopædia provided to new Setians Iůpon their admission to the Temple.
If you are considering Setian initiation, this book may help you make your decision one way
or the other. If you are not, it may serve to explain and clarify the Temple of Set to you. If it
achieves these goals, it will have justified itself.
Xeper.
San Francisco, North Solstice L ÆS
- 14 -
- 15 -
Part I: Construction
- 16 -
- 17 -
1: The Primal Conflict
The story of the Temple of Set begins in 1966 of what archæologists, in an effort to be
nonsectarian, refer to as the Common Era (CE). In that year Anton Szandor LaVey founded the
Church of Satan in San Francisco.
LaVey, an imposing, congenial man with a carnival and circus background, had for many
years been an enthusiastic but cynical devotee of the occult. He accumulated a unique library
containing many works on the more peculiar and obscure facets of human nature, together with
the major classics of traditional occultism. Disappointed with the lack of sophistication and