Thelemic Sex Magick, part 1 of 2: Practices
You asked for details of the O.T.O./A.'.A.'./EGC sex magick.
There are two basic forms, IX and XI, though in practice these are
sometimes combined and/or carried out in multi-partner forms. Neither
of them are safe sex (well, nothing is safe sex, but these aren't even
safer sex), centering as they do around the mingled bodily fluids as
their material expression. The IX requires a man and a woman, while
the XI requires the same or else two men. This is all widely known;
the inner formulae are better kept.
What is the nature of the elixir? First, it is a child, the living
fruit of two sexual partners. The Book of Lies teaches that seed
and child and parent are mystically one, and that the seed represents
the innermost and highest expression of the parent. In the Star
Sapphire the invocation brings all members of a family into one
point of mystic union, referred to as ARARITA. The sacrifice of
the elixir is the sacrifice of a living child on the magical plane;
but the child is one and the same as the magician's own highest self
or pure will, and even part of his body. Thus it is the sacrifice
of "all that he is and all that he has" into the "Cup of Babalon".
This "child" has been consecrated by other ritual methods to a
magical object. Simple concentration on the intent is one way.
One can also arrange various partners in an appropriate mythic
symbolism, light the room with the proper color of candle, all
the rest of the ritual tools that serve to keep one's mind focused.
And one is supposed to practice magical chastity, which is the
keepinmg apart of the genitals like any other magic tool, using
them only toward spiritual ends.
The most common disposition of the "elixir" is consumption as a
Eucharist. This sacrifices the living fluid, and uses its energy
to empower the consumer spiritually. Another form of sacrifice is
mixture with toxic ink, for making talismans. If consumed, it may
be eaten fresh from the Lance and Graal by the partners (see cap. 69
of the Book of Lies), or captured into some vessel and cooked to
prepare the Cakes of Light. The former is less work and seems to
be more frequent. And then there is the Moonchild, who is not
sacrificed, but drawn into incarnation.
Tim Maroney
Thelemic Sex Magick, part 2 of 2: Other Issues
The sexism of some of the practice may be apparent from the above.
The woman (or the passive male) is a receptacle, and the active
male winds up impressed on the child's identity. One could easily
argue that the proper interpretation unites the mother with the
child as well as the father. The Star Sapphire claims this, but
much, probably most, of Crowley's discourse was active-male-centered.
Like the Mass of the Phoenix, the IX is a sacrifice of one's own
blood, to create the power of blood sacrifice without inconveniencing
any other being. Gerald Gardner endorses such practices in
"Witchcraft Today", even (for once!) crediting AC.
An interesting semi-secret is that these techniques appear in the
central body of the A.'. A.'., known as the Order of the Rosy Cross,
even though they are commonly thought of as O.T.O. secrets. The
Dominus Liminis is the link degree between this and the lower body,
the Order of the Golden Dawn. The D.L. is admitted into the
secret meaning of Liber Cheth, which (like the degrees leading up
to IX in O.T.O.) is a practice of invocatory masturbation. Check
out "One Star in Sight" (MTP, Appendix 1, pg. 232) concerning what
is taught to the various Adepti.
Scattered through various works, but mostly in MTP, various parts of
the formulae are expressed in obscure language. The Star Sapphire is
an instruction for the IX, as is the Grimorium Sanctissimum. The
Gnostic Mass is a symbolic form. The Wiccan cakes and wine ceremony
is another form of the Gnostic Mass, but there the IX is the "Great
Rite" of the priest[ess]hood. The symbolism of the weapon and the cup
is fairly straightforward, as is the consumption of the cakes and wine
blessed by the central symbolic sex act. Another common terminology
is the Rose and Cross.
I figured the practice out myself from Crowley, except for the widely
published key to the material basis, which I first saw at a converted
apartment used as an O.T.O. Lodge long ago. The process of extracting
the keys from MTP is a simple methodical one: start with one key and
use it to find more keys, then review the whole, and loop until done.
Any English-speaker with a knack for puzzles could do it. This is
a code that was made to be broken.
I don't think Crowley intended this material to remain secret long
after his death. He was oath-bound to obscurity, but personally
motivated towards revelation.
Tim Maroney
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