TEMPLE OF THELEMA HISTORY LECTION TO THE ERUDITE OF THELEMA: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Our Order first announced itself to the public with a Manifesto published in 1604, and widely distributed throughout Europe beginning in 1612. Its impact on the cultural evolution of the Renaissance was inestimable, despite the fact that it operated almost entirely in secret. Countless volumes, often speculative and fanciful, have been written on its subsequent history. In 1887, it authorized the establishment of a visible Outer Vehicle called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. When the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ruptured in schism in 1900, conventional wisdom said that it was a failure; yet no one familiar with Western Hermetic Magick in this century can question the major positive influence it continues to have even today. On the 300th anniversary of the publishing of our first Manifesto, a representative of the governing Third Order, named A., contacted a brother, P., and ordered him to assume governance of the Order and to reformulate it along certain lines. A new Manifesto was dictated, called the Book of the Law. This is the true Book T which, as our predecessors wrote, is found at the Heart of the Master. It was dictated in 1904, and widely distributed throughout Europe and the world beginning in 1912. Together with another brother, D.D.S., P. reformulated the Order as instructed. In doing this, they dispensed with an Outer Order altogether, and opened immediately, to all who were prepared by life, the Work of the Inner. (For example, the old sub-grades of Zelator Adeptus Minor through Adeptus Adeptus Minor were now called simply Neophyte through Adeptus Minor.) They identified themselves by the initials A.'. A.'. For their work we are grateful, for we are among their direct successors and were brought to Light by their Wisdom. Yet, while superior to all that had gone before, their work failed in one respect: There remain aspirants, capable of success, who require a more graduated approach to the Inner Veil; and our Greatly Honored Fraters provided no clear approachway for such students. Only a few years later, another Frater P. resigned from the American remnant of the old Golden Dawn order, as an act of conscience. He, too, was then contacted by an agent of the Third Order, named R. This Master completed P.'s initiation, and set him the task of preparing a new Outer Vehicle by which the greatest number of aspirants could undertake the task of self-regeneration and be prepared for the Inner Work. In this, P. succeeded admirably, accomplishing for the Outer Order, by his perseverance, what the other P. accomplished for the Inner Order by his endurance. For this we are grateful, for we are among the direct successors of this P. as well, and have seen the fruits of Beauty harvested by the gardeners trained in his school. Yet, while the instruction of the Master R. gleams with Wisdom, his words soar with the same philosophy that is found in the Book of the Law, and he refers regularly to the dawning of a New Age of Regeneration and Healing for all humanity, this Outer School did not align itself openly with the new Thelemic Dispensation. It taught of Light, Life, and Love; but rarely carried the additional torch of Liberty. In our own time, we were among those to reap the rewards, and therefore inherit the trust, of the A.'. A.'., and to find the path lighted by the Book of the Law. With this trust came the responsibility to make clear the Path for those who come behind us. Yet so many of those who approached were ill-prepared to begin the journey. Our Soror M., through her College of Thelema, provided a preparation for many; but even this appealed only to a specific type of character. The Outer Orders already existing and known to us did not fulfill the genuine needs with which we were faced. Those which both initiated and taught were not Thelemic; while those which were Thelemic would not teach. The Next Step, therefore, was clear. It was necessary to establish a new Outer Order, on the pattern of the Tree of Life, whose methods include ceremonial initiation, structured education, and on-going group participation; whose members as a condition of membership, are prepared to put the Great Work foremost in their lives; and which bases all of its practices and principles on Liber AL vel Legis, The Book of the Law. This task has been accomplished. The Order's name is the TEMPLE OF THELEMA. Its chief Work is the preparation of the individual for INITIATION; yet it seeks only those who truly desire to grow in love, power, and wisdom and to serve humanity in conformity with the Book of the Law. By this letter, we invite all to search themselves sincerely and decide if they are of us. Application for an interview, or specific questions, should be addressed to the Temple Cancellarius at: Harpocrates Temple TEMPLE OF THELEMA 222 North Manhattan Place Los Angeles, CA 90004 "This shall regenerate the world, my little sister, my heart & my tongue, unto whom I send this kiss." Love is the law, love under will. Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum.