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File: InfAdm98
TEMPLE OF SET Post Office Box 470307 San Francisco, CA 94147 U.S.A. Internet: SetExec@jps.net WorldWideWeb Site: http://www.xeper.org
GENERAL INFORMATION AND ADMISSIONS POLICIES (c) 1986-1997 Temple of Set - Updated July 13, 1998 -
[This document is subject to periodic updating. If this copy is over a year old, please request a current one.]
Thank you for your inquiry. The Temple of Set is an institution unlike any you have previously encountered. The Temple is designed as a tool for personal empowerment and self cultivation. To decide whether such a tool is a valuable one for you, you should consider the philosophy of the Temple, the concept of Set, the obligations and responsibilities which a Setian assumes, and what the Temple looks for in a candidate.
SETIAN PHILOSOPHY
All schools of introspective inquiry [as opposed to those of faith] address the one difference that distinguishes mankind from the rest of the cosmos: the feature of *being*, of conscious willful existence. This self-awareness makes possible all of our arts, our sciences, our notions of ÒgoodÓ and ÒevilÓ. It necessitates free will and each individualÕs ability to assign meaning to thoughts, statements, and actions.
Various religions confront this phenomenon of individual consciousness in various ways. Some - for example, the Buddhist quest for _nirvana_ - endeavor to extinguish it outright. Others choose to label it the soul and hope that somebody else will take care of it - such as IHVH or Christ. Still others deny it altogether, relegating man to the same status as an animal. Nevertheless there have also been consciousness-worshipping (or - respecting) religions throughout all historical civilizations and cultures.
Historically consciousness-worshipping religions have been more intellectually demanding than their nature-worshipping counterparts, since it is more difficult to reason a path through one's span of conscious existence than it is to be swept along by a current of semi-rational stimulus and response. Such schools were admired in certain societies, such as ancient Egypt and Greece, but generally their exclusive elitism and "supernatural" activities made them objects of resentment and persecution.
The Temple of Set seeks above all to honor and enshrine consciousness. We wish to apprehend what makes us each individually unique and *use* this gift to make ourselves stronger in all facets of our being. To do this we preserve and improve the tradition of spiritual distinction from the natural universe, which in the Judaeo/Christian West has been called Satanism, but which is more generally known as the Left-Hand Path.
The Left-Hand Path is a process for creating an individual, powerful essence that exists above and beyond animal life. It is thus the true vehicle for personal immortality. It has certain components:
-- ANTINOMIANISM
Initiation begins with denial and rejection of the herd-mentality. The cultural and social values of the masses, whether propounded by conventional religions or by mass media, are recognized as obstacles to individual spiritual development. Human society values predictability, stability, or *stasis* above all things. The Initiate, by contrast, seeks continuous, positive self-evolution.
Objective understanding and evaluation of the host society's values are necessary in order to intelligently formulate one's own. In Western conventional religions such independence is called ÒSatanismÓ. [It was in a 1960sÕ antinomian experiment, the Church of Satan, that contemporary principles foreshadowing the Temple of Set were explored and evaluated, resulting in the more sophisticated formulation of the Temple of Set in 1975. We remain the only legally recognized ÒSatanicÓ institution in the world.] But the Initiate is rebelling against more than the idea of an external "god": In secular life he seeks freedom from such external controlling forces as propaganda, custom, and habit as well.
To work magic that evolves the self, the magician's will must prevail in the subjective universe as the massed wills of others do in the objective one. Once such strength of individual will is obtained, it can be extended into objective environments as well. But as long as an individual allows himself to be governed by animal emotions such as shame, fear, or the desire for social acceptance, he cannot become an Adept of Black Magic.
Conventional society instinctively fears and often hates what it cannot easily understand. If you seek out the Temple, you may find yourself senselessly accused of popular conventional evils of the day: racism, sexism, anti-this or pro-that. When you can look around with your own eyes and see that the Temple embodies and promotes none of these things, you will realize a great deal about the suspicion and antipathy with which conventional social/religious cultures regard any manifestation of intellectual independence of consciousness.
-- INDIVIDUALITY
No one can do the work of self-change for you. The intensity and pace of your own initiation will be up to you, not the Temple of Set. Nor can the Temple dictate your personal goals. You yourself must do so, again with wisdom rather than emotion or impulse.
-- CONTROL
The world is a chaotic environment characterized by the massesÕ lack of intelligent goals and the discipline necessary for their attainment. The Initiate must have a strong sense of personal discipline before embarking on any adventure. The ability to recognize, start, and complete great quests distinguishes the Initiate from the ÒoccultnikÓ who seeks to parody greatness by mindlessly muttering a few incoherent ÒspellsÓ.
-- BLACK MAGIC
Followers of the Left-Hand Path practice what, in a very specially- defined sense, we term ÒBlack MagicÓ. Black Magic focuses on self- determined goals. Its formula is "my will be done", as opposed to the White Magic of the Right-Hand Path, whose formula is "thy will be doneÓ.
Black Magic is shunned and feared because to do Black Magic is to take full responsibility for one's actions, evolution, and effectiveness.
Since magic enables you to influence or change events in ways not understood nor anticipated by society, you must first develop a sound and sophisticated appreciation for the ethics governing your own motives, decisions, and actions before you put it to use. Merely using magic for impulsive, trivial, or egoistic desires is not Setian. It must become second-nature to you to carefully pre- evaluate the consequences of what you wish to do, then choose the course of wisdom, justice, and creative improvement.
The Temple of Set utilizes a wide cultural and conceptual spectrum of magical tools, far beyond just the "Egyptian", and is always seeking new approaches and techniques.
Magic may either be operative - to cure your mother's illness, get a better job, strengthen your memory, etc. - or illustrative/initiatory. The latter magical workings seek to enable and enact the lifetime process of Initiation. They are like the Òrites of passageÓ of many primitive cultures and conventional religions, but they are distinguished from these by an important factor: They represent individual rather than social change. Initiatory workings thus represent the actualization of self- deification, while social Òrites of passageÓ integrate an individual into society. A Òrite of passageÓ communicating passage into adulthood establishes that the individual involved is now possessed of certain dignity and responsibilities. An initiatory working awakens oneself to certain individual powers [and responsibilities], which may or may not be used in a social context.
Initiatory magic, which is necessarily individual, places the practitioner at a conceptual distance from society. Initiation does not occur *within* a ritual chamber, but it is illustrated there.
Black Magic is the means by which Initiates of the Left-Hand Path experience being gods, rather than praying to imaginary images of gods.
SET
The oldest known form of the Prince of Darkness, the archetype of isolate self-consciousness, is the Egyptian god Set, whose Priesthood can be traced to predynastic times. Images of Set have been dated to ca. 3200 BCE, with astronomically-based estimates of inscriptions dating to 5000 BCE.
Set is a more complex, less stereotypical metaphysical image than that of the Judaeo/Christian Satan. Satan, the archetype of rebellion against cosmic order and stasis, may be the symbol for many peopleÕs initial commitment to initiation, but this symbol is too tied to conventional religions and their moral codes to be an effective representation of the richness, subtlety, and complexity of the Left-Hand Path.
In ancient Egyptian culture Set went through periods of immense popularity alternating with total denunciation. Set in the Predynastic and Archaic periods was an essentially positive deity introduced from the east as a god of the *extension of existence*. He is therefore god of *expanding* borders and radical changes of being - particularly birth, circumcision/initiation, death in battle, and rebirth through the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.
Popular among easterners - his first cult site being Pelusium in the eastern Nile Delta - Set's worship quickly spread to border areas, where he was identified with local gods of initiation. Two examples of such cult sites are Kharga in the south, which has always been primarily a Nilotic culture area, and the Libyan settlement of Ombos, wherein Set was identified with the local god Ash in the II Dynasty.
Set's original worship as a circumpolar/stellar deity suffered a decline with the rise of solar worship in the IV Dynasty. The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the last early monuments connected with the idea of a Setian afterlife as well as a solar one. The Great Pyramid had a special air shaft for the king's _akh_ to fly to the star Alpha Draconis, which is the star of Set in the Constellation of the Thigh (todayÕs ÒBig DipperÓ).
During the Middle Kingdom Set was reduced to a symbol of Upper Egypt and apparently seen only during the Setian festival of _heb-sed_ (Òtying togetherÓ). It was during this time that Set was first blamed for the murder of Osiris, a Semitic corn god who had arrived in the III Dynasty. Previously Osiris had died of drowning.
No matter how "evil" Osirians might now portray Set as being, his essential function of going out and expanding the borders of existence and then returning that Chaotic energy to the center always continued. It is the darkness that binds together the Egyptian light. The murder of Osiris is the destruction of the fetters of society, of accepting self-change and cultivation over the forces that lead to self-stagnation.
The Hyksos, foreigners who invaded and ruled Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties XIII-XVII, roughly 1785-1580 BCE) actively identified themselves with Set and established their capital at an ancient Setian site, Avaris. Very little is known about their religious or magical practices, though excavations going on at the time of this writing may prove informative. The Hyksos were great horsemen, and the horse (like the ass) had became identified with Set. Indeed not until the Hyksos dynasties was the horse, which had been known in Egypt for at least the prior two centuries, permitted to be portrayed in Egyptian art.
The second native blooming of Setian thinking may have begun in the XVIII Dynasty, but certainly it reached its peak in the XIX and XX Dynasties, when a family of Setian Priests from Tanis became the pharaonic line. During this time of expanding borders, Set was extraordinarily popular, as can be seen from pharaohs' names such as Seti (ÒSet's manÓ) and Setnakt (ÒSet is MightyÓ).
Two important Setian texts were produced: First, the _Tale of Two Brothers_ tells how Set (identified with the god Bata) undergoes a series of metamorphoses (_Xeperu_) that change him from a farmhand to a star in the Constellation of the Thigh. Thus Set represents the individual who through his own hard work, magical skill, and the *use* of the resistance of the world Becomes divine.
The second text is the _Book of Knowing the Spiral Force of Ra and the Felling of Apep_. This protective formula, which Rameses III, son of Setnakt, inscribed on certain border monuments, shows two Setian particularities. First, it recounts how an unnamed god comes into being in the psychic (subjective) realm as the god _Xepera_. Second, the spell gives the magician one of the powers of Set, which is to slay Apep, the dragon of delusion. Set again serves as a role model, in that each Setian seeks to end delusions in life.
With the coming of the XXII Dynasty, Egypt entered its long decline. Set became a tremendously unpopular deity. His worship ceased everywhere except the oases and the city of Thebes, where his cult was absorbed into the cult of Montu, the warlord of Thebes. The negative aspects of isolation and destruction were emphasized. As Egypt turned more to an idealized past, Set-heh, the god of the void called the future, came more to resemble what the eventual Judaeo/Christian Satan.
The third blooming came with the coming of the Greeks to Egypt. It is from this period that the Hellenic notions of independence and self-worth began to revive both the operant and initiatory aspects of the New Kingdom Set cult. The success of Graeco-Egyptian magic, despite Roman persecution, saw an expansion of both the philosophical and magical aspects of this tradition as far north as Britain.
The Third Century of the Common Era was the height of Setian Hermeticism. But with the imposition of Christianity as the Roman imperial religion, individualism was again despised. Egyptian (Coptic) Christianity identified Set with Satan, and he almost disappeared as a figure in Egyptian magic.
The fourth blooming of Setian thought began in the nineteenth century with certain archaeological discoveries, but it reached an explicit stage with the reconsecration and founding of the Temple of Set in 1975, accompanied by the Word of the AEon of Set _Xeper_ (ÒkhefferÓ), an Egyptian verb which means "I Have Come Into Being". This word, which is the eternal Word of Set, reflects the consciousness-worshipping nature of our religion and the source of ultimate responsibility in all things - the self.
STRUCTURE AND OPERATION OF THE TEMPLE
The deliberately individualistic atmosphere of the Temple of Set is not easily conducive to group activities on a routine or programmed basis. There are no congregations of docile "followers" - only cooperative philosophers and magicians.
Executive authority in the Temple is held by the Council of Nine, which appoints both the High Priest of Set and the Executive Director. Initiates are Recognized according to six degrees: Setian I*, Adept II*, Priest/Priestess of Set III*, Magister/Magistra Templi IV*, Magus/Maga V*, and Ipsissimus/Ipsissima VI*.
Recognition as an Adept II* constitutes certification by the Temple that one has in fact mastered and successfully applied the essential principles of Black Magic. The bulk of Temple systems are geared to attainment of and subsequent support for the II*, and that is the level of affiliation which most Setians will maintain. It is understood that this is an organizational point of reference, as each Adept's magical and philosophical evolution will certainly continue as he or she continues to energize and actualize it. The III*-VI* are properly seen not as further benchmarks of individual attainment, but as specialized religious offices conferred by Set alone, and Recognized within the Temple according to his Will.
The design, care, and operation of the Temple are entrusted by Set to his Priesthood. All Initiates of the Priesthood are originally highly-qualified Adepts in the Black Arts. Most of your contact with them will be in this context. Because they are responsible for the integrity of the Temple as a whole, however, they have the authority both to evaluate and Recognize Initiates' competence and, if necessary, to suspend or expel individuals who have proven themselves incapable of maintaining Setian standards of dignity and excellence.
The Priesthood takes all of these responsibilities extremely seriously, since it regards its name literally and its trust as sacred. In this respect it stands significantly apart from conventional religious clergy, who _de facto_ consider their "priesthoods" as social professions and their deities as mere symbols and metaphors for their institutional or personal exploitation.
The knowledge of the Temple of Set is made available through four principal avenues: an extensive reading list of published works in twenty-four specialized fields, the newsletter _Scroll of Set_, the publications of the Temple's various specialized Orders, and the series of encyclopaedias entitled the _Jeweled Tablets of Set_. The contents of the _Scroll_ and the Order periodicals are time-dated, of course, but those of the _Tablets_ change periodically as ideas are advanced, improved, or disproved; or as they become more or less relevant to the Temple's areas of concern. The _Scroll_, Order newsletters, and _Tablets_ are reproduced simply and inexpensively [similar to this letter] to preclude excessive membership expenditure for frequently-revised publications.
Many Initiates are geographically distant from one another. This necessitates an organizational design geared more towards services to the individual than to localized "congregations". Recognizing the value and fellowship of a seminar environment, however, the Temple provides for "Pylons" (named after the unique gates of ancient Egyptian temples). Pylons are often geographically localized, but some are "correspondence" Pylons with global membership and interaction. While each Pylon is under the trust and responsibility of a II*+ Sentinel, they are emphatically not "leader/follower congregations", but rather cooperative and interactive forums for individual Initiates.
Each new Setian is expected to affiliate with at least one Pylon within a year of admission to the Temple, and Recognition to the II* will normally be recommended and/or formalized by that Pylon. Recognitions to the II* generally occur after the first year of membership.
Individuals admitted to the Temple are provided with a personal copy of the _Crystal Tablet of Set_, which contains a wide range of organizational, philosophical, and magical information pertinent to qualification as an Adept. There is a two-year time-limit for each new Setian to qualify for Adept Recognition. If such Recognition is not received by that time, affiliation is canceled.
The Orders of the Temple are entirely different in concept and operation from its Pylons. Each Order specializes in one or more particular fields of the magical arts and sciences. Such a specialization may be transcultural or oriented to a specific geographic area, time-period, or conceptual tradition. Within one year after II* Recognition, each Adept is expected to affiliate with an Order reflective of his or her personal interests and aptitudes. The collective knowledge of all of the Orders is available to the Temple membership generally.
Setians are encouraged to communicate with one another by means of a regularly-updated InterCommunication Roster, contained in the _Crystal Tablet_, and periodic Conclaves are scheduled on a regional, national, and international basis. A recent addition to the Temple's structure is Glinda, a computer database and bulletin- board system accessible by Setians only. Besides offering a means for electronic mail and conferencing, Glinda serves as a repository for a constantly growing library of Temple documents which Setians can download at their convenience.
Personal affiliation with the Temple is kept confidential; your admission is known only to the Priesthood. You may apply the services and systems of the Temple as you wish, and as you deem most complementary to your _Xeper_; otherwise they will not intrude upon you.
AN IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION
Regretfully there still exist some individuals whose idea of "Satanism" is largely a simple-minded synthesis of Christian propaganda and Hollywood horror movies. The Temple of Set enjoys the colorful legacy of the Black Arts, and we use many forms of historical Satanic imagery for our artistic stimulation and pleasure. But we have not found that any interest or activity which an enlightened, mature intellect would regard as undignified, sadistic, criminal, or depraved is desirable, much less essential to our work.
The Temple of Set is an evolutionary product of human experience. Such experience includes the magical and philosophical work of many occult individuals and organizations which have preceded us. Some of these were socially acceptable by contemporary or modern standards; others were not. Some made brilliant discoveries in one field of interest while blighting their reputations with shocking excesses or tragic failures in others. In examining the secret and suppressed corners of history for valuable and useful material, the Temple insists upon ethical presentation and use of such discoveries as it makes. Setians who are in any doubt as to the ethics involved in any of the fields which we explore should seek counsel from the Priesthood. All Setians are further expected to display a high measure of maturity and common sense in this area.
The Black Arts are *dangerous* in the same way that working with volatile chemicals is dangerous. This is most emphatically *not* a field for unstable, immature, or otherwise emotionally or intellectually weak-minded people. Such are a hazard to themselves and to others with whom they come into contact. The Temple endeavors to not admit them to begin with. If such an individual should gain admittance and later be exposed, he will be summarily expelled. In cases of doubt the Temple may be expected to place the burden of proof on the individual, for the sake of all Setians and the Temple's integrity.
The Temple of Set evaluates conventional religions as erroneous in principle and therefore unworthy of peer status. We feel no need to concern ourselves with their activities, nor for that matter to maintain any sort of "diplomatic relations" with them [as in councils of churches]. Our position is that they may serve a useful social function as purveyors of soothing myths and fantasies to humans unable to attain Setian levels of self-consciousness. Hence we ignore conventional religious organizations unless they intrude upon our affairs.
These warnings are not intended to be oppressive or intimidating, but they should be taken seriously. The Temple is a forum for the investigation of many subjects which conventional society finds odd, mysterious, and even extremely frightening. The Temple will be tolerated only to the extent that it is known to be pursuing its interests carefully, expertly, and responsibly. It occupies a delicate position in a world which is largely unhappy with itself, and which is ceaselessly searching for scapegoats. Hence the Temple must take care to maintain its social balance with prudence and dignity.
AFFILIATION
The key to philosophy is not reading about it, it is *practicing* it. Abstract ideas are not enough; it is only through lived experience that Initiation occurs. Such experience is the mediator between the realm of consciousness and the world.
Therefore the Temple of Set does not provide services to the casually interested. Its activities, publications, knowledge, and services are reserved for those who affiliate with it - or on an individual-case basis for non-Setians who request assistance from the Temple which we deem to be in our interests or in the interests of the community as a whole.
The First Degree (I*) of Temple affiliation is regarded as a "status of mutual evaluation" wherein the Initiate and the Temple can assess one another's merit from the standpoint of minimum investment and involvement. If a I* Initiate should decide that the Temple is not, after all, appropriate to his wants or needs, he is welcome to depart with our good wishes for satisfaction elsewhere.
Aspirants to the Temple should understand that it is not a club or fraternal society whose tokens may be ÒcollectedÓ along with those of other social affiliations, occult or otherwise. Membership in the Temple of Set beyond the I* precludes membership in any other religious organization.
Members or former members of non-religious occult organizations should understand that within the Temple of Set they will be expected to respect and observe the Temple's protocol, and that literature and other information from the Temple is not to be passed to non-Temple individuals or organizations without prior approval of the Priesthood.
If the Temple of Set can assist other deserving organizations or individuals on occasion, it will be pleased to do so. But it must exercise reasonable care over the Temple materials that are made available - both so that our own Initiates may enjoy the fruits of their honest labor [and that of their predecessors] and so that the Temple of Set may continue to enjoy its exclusive reputation for excellence in the disciplines it has pioneered.
Should you have questions which are reasonably pertinent to your serious consideration whether or not to apply for admission to the Temple, you are welcome to address them to the Executive Director of the Temple.
If you wish to apply for admission as a Setian I*, there are two avenues of approach available to you:
(1) If you are in contact with a Priest or Priestess of Set, you may request him or her to sponsor your application. In that case you may send a letter to the Executive Director mentioning this sponsorship. With your letter enclose a check, money order, or credit card authorization for US$65 (US$75 for overseas applicants), payable to _Temple of Set_. [Please note that this amount must be in U.S. dollars, either drawn on a U.S. bank or as an international money order *only*. Or it may be charged to a Visa or MasterCard *only*.] If Priesthood sponsorship is verified, approval is automatic.
*Important note*: If you are admitted, and if you are an overseas resident, your admission packet will be sent to you by surface mail. Depending upon the destination, this can take as long as two months. If you wish the packet sent via air mail, your application fee should be for the amount of US$105 to cover the extra air mail postage.
(2) If you are not known to a member of the Priesthood, write a letter to the Executive Director introducing yourself, summarizing whatever aspects of your background you feel to be relevant, and stating your reasons for deciding to seek entrance into the Temple. Enclose the admission fee/card authorization. The Temple will make a decision and respond to you accordingly. If necessary you will be asked for additional information. Should your application not be approved for any reason, the fee will be refunded. Persons applying for admission via this procedure should be as objective and candid as possible in their self-assessment. There is no point in misleading the Temple concerning one's suitability for admission, which will only result sooner or later in the truth coming to light - with the consequent waste of both the individual's and the Temple's time. If there are crucial areas of possible incompatibility, it is incumbent on the applicant to identify them before affiliation so that they may be addressed and, if possible, resolved.
Whichever method you apply through, please be certain to include:
(1) Your full legal name [no pseudonyms] and sex. (2) Your complete mailing address. (3) Internet (electronic mail) address if you have one. (4) Daytime and evening telephone numbers. (5) A photocopy of an identity card (such as a driver's license) that shows your date of birth. (6) Present organizational affiliations. (7) Visa/Mastercard authorization below if you use either card.
Annual renewal fee for all Initiates is US$60 (US$65 overseas). first year is pro-rated from the month of your entry.] These fees are designed, as is the admissions fee, to cover the cost of mailings to you and the administration of the Temple.
As a matter of policy the Temple is not designed to make a profit on its operations, and its assets are used exclusively for benefits to its Initiates as a whole. There are no other regular or recurring fees, save that Orders and Pylons may set reasonable charges for their newsletters or other time/effort services. Special publications of the Temple and events scheduled by the Temple are customarily made available on a non-profit basis to Initiates who are interested.
The only physical requirement for admission is that the aspirant be at least 18 years of age. Those below the age of 18 may not visit Temple functions, ceremonial or otherwise, whether or not they are relatives of Initiates. The Temple has no programs for children. It is our position that children and adolescents should not be indoctrinated into the assumptions and prescriptions of *any* suprarational system, whether it be our own philosophy or the faiths and superstitions of conventional religions. Rather their youthful years should be a time of *exclusively rational* training and education, giving them a sound and meaningful basis by which, as adults, they may consider and choose whatever philosophy or faith seems most meaningful to them.
If your application is approved, you will receive notification from the Executive Director's office, together with membership identification, certificate, copy of the _Crystal Tablet of Set_ [including the current reading list & intercommunication roster], most recent issues of the _Scroll of Set_ and Setian I* pendant medallion.
WHAT THE TEMPLE LOOKS FOR
Every Initiate of the Temple is unique, but there are certain qualities that distinguish a potential Setian from religious or secular followers of stasis-oriented cults/ideologies.
* A realization that the world isn't fair or loving. Only if you've been shocked by the unfairness of the world can you be awakened. The shock must tell you that you are on your own, that things are tough, and that if you want the world around you to be better, you've got to work for it.
* A sense of wonder at one's own being. You must be convinced that there is more to you - to your sense of Òultimate identityÓ - than the materialist world says there is. This will awaken the magical curiosity which will impel you on your quest.
* A willingness to learn, to go to school. If you are accustomed to having everything you want spoon-fed to you, or doled out just because you wait around long enough, the Temple of Set is not for you. You must want to learn, to listen to other Initiates, to weigh and apply both their advice and the good sense of your own higher self.
* A desire to make yourself into something better. You must be dissatisfied with your current state of self-awareness and presence, both privately and insofar as you interact with society. If you intend to use the teachings of the Temple to strengthen only your social-influence skills, however, you will find the *internally*- oriented concepts of Setian philosophy irritating and disturbing, and ultimately painful to any Òhollow shellÓ you have built up to deny or conceal your true self. Correspondingly, if you focus only on your personal individuality without attempting to express it in beyond-personal environments, you also will experience frustration. Change in yourself is manifested in part by your ability to *cause* change elsewhere.
* Intellectual ability as well as access to the best scholarly data you are capable of handling. Just as not everyone who admires a champion martial artist can emulate such physical prowess, not everyone who admires ÒphilosophyÓ can ÒdoÓ that either. If you do not possess high intelligence, the exercises of initiation will simply be beyond your capacity, and you must have the common sense and honesty to recognize that and seek personal happiness elsewhere.
* Magical ability. When learning to ride a bicycle, One needs a sense of balance to keep one upright when the training-wheels are eventually taken away. The test of your magical ability will be not your absorption and recitation of principles, but your skill and wisdom in applying them.
* A sense of humor.
* An ability to privately acknowledge your fears, prejudices, and problems, as well as to forgive your honest mistakes.
* A willingness to share with others what you have found, in the right place and time - and to be silent when it is not the right place and time.
The initiative is yours. The Temple of Set is designed to assist you in the ways we have found to be the most practical, productive, and factual. But, as versatile as the Temple may be, and as proud of it as we are, it is nevertheless properly understood as a *tool*. *You* are the one who must put that tool to use in a way that will enable you to _Xeper_. Such is the Word of the AEon of Set.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- To: The Temple of Set
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