Of Stars

by Bill Heidrick

"Every man and every woman is a star."
Liber AL, I: 4.

[Originally printed in The OTO Newsletter Vol 2, No 1. Copyright O.T.O.]

These words and others from LIBER AL have often sent people in quest of the meaning of the STAR. Most of the theories are based on AL, I:57, and deal with the Tzaddi - Hay interchange. Other passages of Liber AL also mention stars and the star. I propose to take up this matter in the light of the several stars of our Order and of the ancients of Egypt. I personally do not look toward a single star blazing in the sky as the One Star of Liber AL. There are many stars in the heavens, and some may be intimately entwined with the inner star at one time or another. This not withstanding, the inner star is another thing than any of the outer ones. If Sirius & Sothis is indeed the Star of the Tarot Atu, Sirius cannot be Tzaddi. In Qabalah, the single letter Tzaddi stands for Tzaddikim, the Righteous Ones, also known as the Lamed-Vavnicks of the Chesedics. These Tzaddikim are said to be 36 perfect beings who travel the world in the guise of ordinary persons. They are the Watchers who have attained the Great Work and found that for them it lays in the husbandry of the world. A:A: leads to this in the highest. These are the "Secret Chiefs." To these verse 50 of Chapter I of Liber AL alludes. I will write now concerning one of the stars of our Order, Frater Saturnus.

Saturn is Set. Frater Saturnus destroyed O.T.O. in the Outer through his conservative manipulations. This is Saturn devouring his children, and Set eating the eye of Horus. While he lived, Frater Saturnus was Horus-Set - he had devoured the essence of Horus and placed it together with his own power. This resulted in the rule of the Order by an ancient usurper, and an incarnated deity. Even though Fr. Saturnus ruled truly by his power, he ruled as Set in the Outer - all was restriction. He set his Shibu beings against the Brothers and Sisters. The Order suffered decay and died in consequence. Thus the pattern of the mis-rule of Set-Saturn was made manifest. Frater Saturnus died through the loss of his genitals - as did Set of old. In this death, seen at the time as a battle with Horus (the Order at large), the Eye of Horus was taken from the body of Set and placed again in the face of Horus. This is the new lease on life that is now the lot of O.T.O.

It behooves us to do as did King Unas (as recounted in the Pyramid texts). We who are brethren of O.T.O. must return the glance of Horus and bind up the wound of Set. Thus we restore both deities to their ancient places. In the Outer, this means that the aid of the brethren must be given to the restoration of knowledge and works with the end in sight of a formal election of the O.H.O. by Xth Degree members of the Order. Breaches have been made by the enmity raised by Set-Saturn in the past. These must be repaired. It must not be forgotten that a god is a god, and a Thelemite is a Thelemite. Frater Saturnus may have acted unwisely in our eyes, but he acted by the light of his star. He was a Man and a Brother of the Order. His deeds and his power are those of the noble great among us. There is a further mystery here in the line often proclaimed by Brother Grant. Set may even be likened to the expiration of air that has lost its prana - this is a necessary destruction to permit the entrance of fresh air and prana. To dwell exclusively on these things is no worse than to invoke Anubis - the profession of mortician is honorable. {30}

History lessons of the Order, whether they are personal accounts or records of Magical workings, are often of most value if they are seen in the light of mythical reenactment. This was the way of the ancient Egyptians with their tales and mysteries. Learn to read in these accounts the doings of gods and goddesses. You will not miss the mark by that method. Through learning how to recognize the stars of these persons, you gain the art that will serve to learn the course of your own star.

When we are born, we are Horus-Sothis (Horus who has come from the womb of Isis). Throughout our lives, our star may pass within many gates of gods and goddesses, upon many fields of reeds in the world of the West, and within many stars and constellations known by mythological and astrological names. In time we come to Orion (Sah), to dwell near the star now known as the Trapezium (Theta Orionis, middle star of the Sword of Orion is this star; but MGC1976 is the place of importance.). Beyond our life on the Earth, we may assay the passage of the Abyss. While we yet live, the method is known by many names: Passage of the Abyss, Attainment of the Merkabah, Achievement of the Power to Ride in the Boat of the Sun... After we have died to the Earth, the way is through the Dark Rite of Osiris. Then we must have Nephthys intercede for us with her tears until the Boat of Millions of Years is brought to a halt by the Ancient God. Then from Orion we may journey back into the womb of Sothis - Osiris born again by Osiris, as Horus. (Note by the Caliph: How Horus could be born of Osiris, the Father, is a mystery of the initiate path.). There are those who come directly from Orion to Earth without the intervention of normal birth out of Sirius, but these are like Brother W. Smith, 132, whom Crowley dubbed "the Hidden God." In all of this, be careful in taking the words that name physical stars for the wrong thing. One is a map, another is the place the map describes. It is perhaps enough to say that, when gods and goddesses walk the Earth, their souls do not enter the world as do the souls of the less-than-gods. The physical birth may be unusual in some way, but it is the attachment of the soul that is important here. On that note, it is said that a divine soul becomes fully attached later and leaves earlier than a normal soul. Unusual sickness in infancy and a sudden end to later life are also often regarded as signs of the uniqueness of the star. None of these physical signs need be present.

Some of the above observations will be made more open to understanding through study of the Pyramid Texts from the VIth Dynasty of Egypt. To put these observations to practical use, adopt the method of invocation and devotion to particular deities described in Magick in Theory and Practice. Through full and personal knowledge of the myths of the deities, it becomes possible to unite with particular deities in the mind, heart and emotions. From such work insight grows as to the meaning of life moment by moment. It is nothing of value to come to feel that you are united with a particular deity - unless you gain the power to act in life and after life with a human personality inherent in that deity. To invoke Set is to act, think and feel like Set. It may even be to die like Set. Yet Set is a god. The life of Horus is happier, though filled with more danger. The life of Thoth is safer, but more quiet. That of Isis is filled with Sadness and labor, but it is a life of honor and love. Bast, Tum, Konshu, fiery Sekmet and watery Nephthys - all are divine. Learn to see and be the immortal through the eye of Horus.

Ah, yes. There is the question of hidden Masters from the Star Sirius, masters who have guided the human race for thousands of years. That, good report and $30.00 will get them initiated as Minervals of O.T.O. provided that they have the ability to show up for initiation.