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Hehe, no.

They never met. Infact, Levay, who founded his Satanic Church in the 60's (as I recall), would have been quite too young to have met the aged Crowley, who died in the late 40's.

Some people try to find connections between satanism and Thelema that don't exist. For example, thinking "Do what thou wilt" means Do what you want (the former being Thelemic, the later being Satanic) showing only the most superficial (and tabloid inspired) knowledge of either.

Also, many in the Occult community (not just Thelemites) have little or no respect for LeVay as he constantley showed a lack of knowledge of the occult. Including the usual "I'll quote Crowley, not give him any credit, then make sure I insult him."

1. As far as I know, Gardner didn't say anything such as that. However, he was a member of the Golden Dawn, the OTO and I think the A.A. Comparisons between his rituals and Those of the afformentioend are obvious and blatant. Suggestions that Crowley actually "ghosted" the first BoS are pure speculation.


2. That's what he said. Make no mistake, though Crowley delievered the Book of the Law (which advocates equality of the sexes), he was a terrible sexist. He, Victorian eccentric he was, was never able to reconcile these two things in his life. Of course, whether he really was asked to join a coven or whether he was making a sly joke is up in the air.

1. The Caliphate OTO is one of many claimants to the crown of being the "True OTO." It's also the largest. I won't get into why I think it's a bad thing. I'm not here to endorse or not, really. Suffice it to say, after several years, most serious students of Thelema abandon it. It's my personal belief that there is no physical organization at present (nor technically can there be) in existence that can claim to be the "One True OTO." On an astral/Great White Bortherhood level though, well that's a different story. In the past, the Caliphate didn't stress about other claimants as long as no one tried to use their supposed copyrighted material. This has changed under the new Caliph, Billy Beta. Now anyone claiming to be the OTO gets sued and ©OTO-ers get mad if you call it the Caliphate...
Yet I digress.

2. G.M. Kelly I assume you mean? Yes well. He has some wonderful and insightful points in refrence to the ©OTO. He also has seems to suffer from an insane paranoia... Then again, they may really be trying to kill him. Anyway, don't let anyone fool you with that ad hominem that he (or any other ex-member) should be ignored because they are "disgruntled." That's evading the issue. Misdirection intent on preventing you from thinking about why they are disgruntled.

They claim copyright over everything Crowley wrote, including non-OTO materials (which includes A.A. materials, an idea that borders on heresy). This is of course crap since these materials should have passed into the public domain sometime ago. But somehow their lawyers prevent it. Infact, they've gone so far as to say Aiwass wasn't even Crowley's Holy Gaurdian Angel but a pen name and that therefor, the Book of the Law isn't a Holy Book but simply a book and therefor also copyrightable. This IS heresy (if i can say that without sounding like the king of all flakes).

Now, not all Thelemic groups have the internal conflictd the ©OTO does. Most operate very well and smoothly. But the egregore of the ©OTO (120 by number, ON by name... oops, I just broke an Oath!) is poisoned, they have poisoned it. I'm not going to get to deep into it, but if you read G.M. Kelly, some Frater Achad Osher (look up redflame or cornelius 93), some P.R. Koenig, the Kaos 14 supplement and well tons of other materials, you'll see what I mean. One good example that I always think of isthe idea that their E.G.C. has authority over any Thelemic "church" because they have apostolic succesion from the old Aeon. Yes, that means from the Pope, hahahahahaha. More proof Billy Beta is trying to turn us into Catholics. Anyway...

As for solitary Thelemites, yeah you bet! I am one, sort of. I'm an initiate in the OHT, but I'm flung far away from any other OHT-ers so I'm pretty much on my own! Though I do write the founder almost daily (and I'm its first initiate... though I didn't know it for along time! hehe). But yes, initiation is not the end all and be all of Thelema. As I stated in another article, initiation happens by the Will of the Aspirant so these groups, though useful in the sense they may have some secret and through their initiatians comraderie etc, can help slide you along your way towards Gnosis a little easier, they are far from necessary.

There's a reason Crowley didn't leave specific instructions for what was to happen to the A.A. and the OTO after his death (no matter what various people claim, there's no real proof of any of it, most letters etc are provable forgeries). I suspect he did it on purpose, so further seperate the Old Aeon from the New. Anyway, yeah, mainly money.

"restriction." that's what they're all about, it's the word of sin y'know.