On Friday, September 23, members and friends of Nihil Lodge met in Tokyo to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox. In accordance with tradition, the purpose of the ceremony was to divine a word from The Book of the Law that will serve as a reference for meditation and general direction of the Lodge for the coming six months.

Frater VPE opened the circle with the Star Ruby, a Thelemic pentagram ritual.
Soror JD then invoked Mercury (associated with “Logos”, “the Word”, and the element of Air) with the Lesser Ritual of the Hexagram, for assistance with divination of the Equinoxal word.

The Chapter of the Book of the Law from which the Word would be chosen was determined through random selection of one of the three Thelemic godforms (Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor-Kuit) attributed to the three Chapters of the Book of the Law, using a blindfolded drummer.

This was followed by an invocation of the Enochian senior Autotar from the Elemental Tablet of Air by Frater VMI. The spirit being duly invoked, the word was chosen via bibliomancy on the Chapter selected previously.

The word having been chosen, Frater Aizen blasted us into the Autumn season with a powerful performance of Liber V vel Reguli, which resonated energetically within us long after the conclusion of the ceremony itself. In later discussion, we realized that the chosen Word, the time of the actual Equinox, and the name of the invoked Enochian senior all added up to the same number – an indication that things were indeed in sync. Libations and merriment followed, in true Thelemic fashion.

Hail, the Equinox!

Love is the law, love under will.

Over the 3 days of September 4-6, OTO Japan presented a series of lectures by Thelemic luminaries J. Daniel Gunther (author of Initiation in the Aeon of the Child) and Frater Shiva (Grandmaster of OTO Australia Grand Lodge) in Tokyo. Participants from five countries took part in this fantastic event, which demonstrated the cooperation and fraternal relations between Ordo Templi Orientis and the A∴A∴.

On Sunday, September 4, Frater Shiva presented two lectures on O.T.O., entitled “Aspiring to the Holy Order” and “Under the Shadow of the Wings.” The first discussed the aims, organization, and structure of O.T.O. with the theme of “wholeness of initiation, Initiation of wholeness”. The second discussed the practical aspects of the O.T.O. System, drawn from the lived experience of O.T.O. initiation, with the words of Frater Superior, “The true curriculum of the O.T.O. is the life of each individual.” Frater Shiva’s lectures were followed by a celebration of the central rite of O.T.O., the Gnostic Mass. This was Frater Shiva’s fourth visit to Japan, and we always welcome the warmth, sincerity, and depth than he brings to Japan.

On Monday and Tuesday, September 5-6, J. Daniel Gunther presented a series of lectures on the nature of the Work of the A∴A∴. The lectures were entitled, “No Name Among Men”, “Mend Me This Shoe”, “Right Perspective on Initiation”, “Doctrine of the Messiah in the New Aeon”, “Self Beyond self”, and “Blood in the Cup of Babalon.” Although based on his book, Initiation in the Aeon of the Child, these lectures contained much material that was new even for people who have seen Mr. Gunther speak before. After the Monday lectures, we enjoyed a banquet at a local Thai restaurant that was booked out for event participants. It was a great time of fellowship and fraternity.

It’s hard to find words to adequately express the significance and impact of the this event. So much transpired in such a short time: Initiation, Lectures, Gnostic Mass, Banquet, Meetings both formal and informal, many new relationships made, and many existing ones fortified. The Thelemic Current has received its biggest boost in the East to date – an event of historic proportions.

As master of Nihil Lodge, I would like to offer many thanks to those who were involved in so many aspects of this event:

To Mr. J. Daniel Gunther and Frater Shiva for making themselves available and imparting such wisdom and depth, teachings that will continue to percolate within us in the coming months and years – we are unspeakably indebted to you. Thank you for showing us the meaning of sacrifice and service;

To Frater Hieros Phoenix, FSR of OTO Japan, for having the confidence and vision to take on the immense responsibility of accepting the challenge to host this event, and to he and his team of skilled translators from Sky Goddess Nu Lodge and abroad for the many, many hours outside of their work and their personal lives that they dedicated to making the lectures comprehensible to our Japanese brothers and sisters;

To Frater VPE, Soror JD, and Soror LGA from Nihil Lodge, your help with local logistics was indispensable – the schedule and logistical aspects of the event would have been next to impossible to organize and maintain without your dedication and sacrifice;

To those who helped with transportation and making our honoured guests feel welcome, providing local guidance, sightseeing, etc., thank you for the extension of our hospitality to them;

Having witnessed so many individual examples of sacrifice and single-pointed dedication to the Work during this event, I am truly humbled. I am reminded of the words of Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni that Daniel mentioned in his lecture:

“This is the secret of the Holy Graal, that is the sacred vessel of our Lady the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, the bride of Chaos, that rideth upon our Lord the Beast. Thou shalt drain out thy blood that is thy life into the golden cup of her fornications. Thou shalt mingle thy life with the universal life. Thou shalt not keep back one drop.”

To all those who have contributed and sacrificed in order to make the past week a success, I would like to offer my sincere thanks and gratitude on behalf of Nihil Lodge.

Love is the law, love under will.

In the Bonds of the Order,

V.M.I.

Transport and accommodations in central Tokyo

The venues are accessible on Tokyo Metro subway lines and JR East lines. For train timetables, see Hyperdia. 

Toyoko Inn Tameikesanno is between the two locations.Toyoko Inn Shinagawa is close to Hamamatsucho. 

There are other hotels on the Yamanote loop lineSakura Hotel Ikebukuro  and Sakura Hotel Jimbocho are budget accommodations in central Tokyo. International House of Japan near Roppongi Hills has accommodations for visitors.

For more accommodations in Tokyo, please see Tokyo Tourism Info.

For venue locations, please see the September OTO Events map.

地獄太夫

On Sunday morning, we held a beautiful Gnostic Mass which was attended by non-initiates and new initiates and our brothers from Osaka.

Thank you to all who participated, to our brothers who came from Osaka, to our Tokyo brothers who organized the events, and congratulations to our newest minerval.

93,

Jigoku Daiyu

To register, contact The Japan OTO at nihil.secretary@otojapan.org

J. Daniel Gunther is the amongst the world’s authorities on the topic of Thelemic doctrines and the syncretic method of Magick & Mysticism taught by A.’.A.’. He has served as editor of Pythagoras: His Life and Teachings, and authored Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary, and Inititiation in the Aeon of the Child.  

“The Path of the Great Returnand the Path in Eternity: The A.’ A.’ and the OTO”

Tentative Schedule of Events:

Day 1: Sunday, 4 September 2011:

Lectures by Frater Shiva X°

Lecture 1: 10:00 – 12:00
Lecture 2: 13:00 – 15:30
Lecture 3: 16:00 – 18:30

Gnostic Mass

Doors at 20:00.

Day 2: Monday, 5 September 2011:

Lectures by J. Daniel Gunther

Lecture 1: 10:00 – 12:00
Lecture 2: 13:00 – 15:30
Lecture 3: 16:00 – 18:30

Banquet
Doors at 19:00.

Day 3: Tuesday, 6 September 2011:

Lectures by J. Daniel Gunther

Lecture 1: 10:00 – 12:00
Lecture 2: 13:00 – 15:30
Lecture 3: 16:00 – 18:30

-Gimel

Fr. VMI also gave us an overview of the initiatory cycle of  the OTO, and then deftly answered the audience members’ questions about some basic questions to do with Thelema, OTO, and the initiation sequence.

Thank you to all who cam out.

To your wills in April.

There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That’s perfectly all right; they’re the aperture to finding out what’s right. Science is a self-correcting process. To be accepted, new ideas must survive the most rigorous standards of evidence and scrutiny. – Carl Sagan, Cosmos television series

In a previous Nihil Study Group presentation, we were brought to the threshold of the Native American sweat lodge, explored the math and magic of music, and had order made of chaos. We’ve taken on various views of the world, switching from paradigm to paradigm, , much as Crowley implored his students to. Crowley’s Equinox publication was prefaced by the motto “The Method of Science, the Aim of Religion”, a motto which, in this presentation, This presentation keeps in more heavily on the science to ferret out the mechanisms and origins of belief and religion.
…there was also the point that I was anxious to prove that spiritual progress did not depend on religious or moral codes, but was like any other science. Magick would yield its secrets to the infidel and the libertine, just as one does not have to be a churchwarden in order to discover a new kind of orchid. There are, of course, certain virtues necessary to the Magician; but they are of the same order as those which make a successful chemist.
The oft-quoted statement of Crowley in his Confessions comes to mind as we start to examine the anthropological and neurobiological view of religion.
We’re about to leave the paradigm of the equinox behind, and look at the scientific discoveries and hypotheses that have come about since Crowley’s time that explore the adaptive and evolutionary aspects of religion and belief. Let’s see what scientific methods have been put to aiming this bolt of religious impulse, and continue to examine them to find out how wrong or right these bolts are.

In this endeavor, Frater K. and Soror Gimel presented together, bilingually in Japanese and English, on this rich topic.

We found analogues in the symbols, perceptions and ritual actions, the similarity between the sacred wheel of the Native Americans and the Qabbalistic Cross, the “going inside”, into sacred space and into ourselves to bring out a magick effect in the manifest world.

Michael mentioned the Lakota Sioux prayer, “All my relations”, a conception of the animal, plant, mineral and spirit worlds as interconnected. Thank you to our relation Michael for an insightful talk, and to all of our lodge brothers and sisters who participated.

After the talk, we had our Shinnenkai, the first party of the new year at a local pub and enjoyed a few pints.

To the accomplishment of your wills in 2011!

-Gimel/地獄太夫