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Temple of Set

Formation	1975
Headquarters	California
Website	http://www.xeper.org/

The Temple of Set is an occultist initiatory order founded in 1975. It is devoted to the practice and study of the left-hand path of Western esotericism. Members call themselves "Setians". The temple is incorporated in California as a non-profit organization.

The temple had c. 200 members in 2007.

Background

The Temple of Set was consecrated in Santa Barbara, California during the summer solstice night of 21 – 22 June 1975, by Michael A. Aquino, in a "greater black magic" ritual that resulted in what believers regard as an inspired text titled The Book of Coming Forth by Night. Aquino later stated that the name of the text is an "evident negation" of the name of the Ancient Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day, also known as the Book of the Dead. Aquino's working has been compared to Aleister Crowley's "Cairo Working" of 1904, which resulted in the Book of the Law, the central sacred text of Thelema.

The temple was founded by members of the Church of Satan, who left that organization in 1975 because of administrative and philosophical disagreements with its founder Anton Szandor LaVey. The main founder, Michael Aquino, had joined the Church of Satan in 1969 and had risen rapidly in the church's hierarchy. Aquino has stated that he believed LaVey to not be merely a charismatic leader or philosopher, but to have been actually appointed by Satan himself (referring to this charismatic authority as the "Infernal Mandate") to found the church. After the split of 1975, Aquino believed LaVey had lost the mandate, which the "Prince of Darkness" then transferred to Aquino and his new organization, the Temple of Set.

Structure

The organization has been described as resembling an individualistic variation of the magical orders of 19th and early 20th century Europe, such as the Masonic lodges, Ordo Templi Orientis and the A.'.A.'. For members, self-realization and spiritual development is seen as more important than the temple as such.

Degrees

Setians recognize several levels or degrees of initiation, and identify their members by their degree. The degrees indicate the individual member's spiritual development and skill in magic. The degree structure is based on that of the Church of Satan, which in turn was based on the degrees of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The temple terms the initiations to different degrees as "recognitions", because the organization's philosophy sees that the individual member initiates himself and the temple merely acknowledges this by granting the degree.

These degrees are:

1. Setian (First Degree)
2. Adept (Second Degree)
3. Priest / Priestess of Set (Third Degree)
4. Magister / Magistra Templi (Fourth Degree)
5. Magus / Maga (Fifth Degree)
6. Ipsissimus / Ipsissima (Sixth Degree)

The priesthood of the Temple of Set is restricted to members holding the third degree or higher. Full membership comes about on recognition to the second degree, which has a time frame of around two years. Most members never advance beyond the second degree, nor is this expected of them, as while the first and second degree members use the organization's teachings and tools for their own spiritual development, the priesthood involves greater responsibilities towards the organization, such as being its official representatives. Recognition is performed by members of the priesthood. The fourth degree, which is acknowledged by the high priest/priestess, entails that the individual is so advanced in his magical skills that he is able to found his own school of magic, represented in the different orders of the temple. The fifth degree can only be awarded by the unanimous decision of the Council of Nine and by the approval of the high priest/priestess. A fifth degree member has the power to utter and define a concept which somehow affects the philosophy of the organization, such as the concept of Xeper defined by Michael Aquino in 1975. Only a handful of members have attained this degree, and most "fifth-degree" concepts defined in such a manner are no longer studied in the organization. The final sixth degree represents a Magus "whose Task is complete". This degree is held by a very select few in the temple. Any fifth-degree member can assume the sixth degree based on his own assessment.

The Temple adheres to selective membership policies; fewer than half of all applicants are accepted for membership with the two year recognition period. The Temple's membership does have a fairly large turnover rate; most members leave eventually for a wide variety of reasons. Only a minority of members remain with the Temple more than a decade. Members pay a membership fee. The Temple admits members on all continents except Antarctica, though it is largely a U.S.-based organization.

All officers and workers within the Temple of Set are volunteers. Some receive reimbursement for expenses incurred for the Temple; none receive a salary. All officers are selected from within the Priesthood.

Leadership

The organization is led by a high priest/priestess, who is also the public face and spiritual leader of the temple. The high priest is chosen among fourth or higher degree members by the chairman of the Council of Nine. This ruling council has nine members chosen from the priesthood (third degree or higher), whose mandate lasts for nine years with a new member being elected every year. The chairman of the council is chosen from among the council members each year. The council has the ultimate ruling power in the temple and even the high priest is responsible to it. The temple also has an executive director, whose task is to deal with administrative issues.

Since its founding in 1975, the temple has had the following high priests/priestesses:

• Michael A. Aquino (1975–1979, 1982–1996, 2002–2004)
• Ronald K. Barrett (1979–1982)
• Don Webb (1996–2002)
• Zeena Schreck (2002)
• Patricia Hardy (2004–)

Pylons, elements, orders and conclaves

In addition to the international organization, the Temple sponsors initiatory Orders and Elements and local groups called Pylons. Pylons are intended to facilitate the initiatory work of the temple's members by conducting meetings where discussions and magical works take place. Members usually join the Pylon located geographically closest to them. Correspondence- or Internet-based Pylons also exist. A Pylon is led a by a second-degree (or higher) member who is called Sentinel.

Elements are loosely structured interest groups, where specific themes and issues are addressed. They can be open for non-members and are commonly in operation only for short periods. Topics of interest include, for example, animal rights.

Orders can be understood as schools of different aspects of magic providing different paths of initiation. Orders are led by grand masters, who often are the founders of the orders in question. In longer-lived orders the founder may have a successor grand master. Orders are founded by members of the fourth degree. When a member reaches the second degree of initiation, he is expected to join an order of his choosing. Joining more than one order is discouraged by the temple. The oldest and most important order of the temple is the "Order of the Trapezoid", which focuses on Grail mysticism and Runic magic.

The Temple of Set holds an annual conclave where members of the Temple can come together to meet and exchange ideas. Workshops are held in which members discuss a wide variety of topics and activities. The conclave usually lasts about a week and is held in various global locations. There are also occasional regional gatherings, organized and attended by interested Setians, at their own initiative.

Philosophy

Lewis and Petersen describe the organization's philosophy of being the "intellectual wing of esoteric Satanism", and that it is heavily based on the writings of Aleister Crowley and Western esotericism in general. The magical rituals of the organization are said to resemble those of the Church of Satan. On the other hand, Granholm states that the temple can not be described as Satanic, as the figure of Satan has no prominent position in the temple's teachings and words like Lucifer, Satan or the Devil are seldom used in its internal materials. Temple materials, however, refer often to the Church of Satan and include discussion of Setianism being "evolved Satanism", and thus Granholm concludes that the temple can be characterized as an "actor in the satanic milieu". Drury and Hume observe that the temple's philosophy reflects Aquino's academic background and preference for rational thought in contrast to LaVey's sensationalism.

The realization of the true nature of the practitioner of Setianism is termed "becoming" or "coming into being" and is represented by the Egyptian hieroglyphic term kheper, or "Xeper" (a phonetic of _Xpr_), as the Temple of Set prefers to write it. Members attempt to "to preserve and strengthen" their "isolate, psyche-centric existence against the objective universe" by the practice of greater black magic. This idea is in opposition to the traditional goal of Hermetic and mystical practises: the surrendering of the ego into a union with God or the universe.

The temple teaches that the true self is immortal, and Xeper is the ability to align the consciousness with the true self. Self-initiation is knowledge understood as a conjunction of intellect and intuition. The temple operates in the context of objective and subjective universes. The objective universe is the natural world and collective meaning systems, while the subjective universe is understood as the individually experienced world and meaning system. Black magic is used by the magician to "become" by causing alterations in the psyche and the world. Lesser black magic is used to manipulate the objective, greater black magic the subjective universes. Initiated members often view themselves highly and consider themselves superior beings in a path to self-deification.

The figure of Set, also called the Prince of Darkness, is understood as a real deity, but is not worshipped as a god. He is a "role model" for the adepts: a being totally apart from the objective universe. Set is considered ageless and the only god with independent existence. Set is described as having given humanity through the means of non-natural evolution the "Black Flame" or the "Gift of Set": a questioning intellect which sets humans apart from nature and gives us "isolate self-consciousness" and the possibility to attain divinity.

We are legion yet we speak with a single voice. The Tuppenny Blood is a mask worn by many. Join us here, deep in the bone coma. Allow the prison to become the prism. Go beyond the limitations of the flesh.

bonecoma@groups.facebook.com

Controversy

The organization and its leading members were vilified and criticized during the so-called Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s.

Notes

1. "California Secretary of State - California Business Search - Corporation Search Results". Retrieved 2008-09-25.
2. ^ Faxneld & Petersen 2012, p. 223
3. Aquino, Michael A. The Temple of Set, pp. 13–14, 178
4. Lewis & Petersen 2005, 435
5. ^ Aquino, Michael (2009). Church of Satan (PDF) (6th ed.). San Francisco: Temple of Set.
6. ^ Lewis & Petersen 2005, 435 Cite error: The named reference "lp435" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
7. ^ Asprem 2012, p. 118
8. ^ Faxneld & Petersen 2012, p. 220
9. ^ Faxneld & Petersen 2012, p. 221
10. ^ KHPR 001: So you're thinking about joining the Temple of Set?
11. "Devil Worship: Exposing Satan's Underground". October 22, 1988. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
12. ^ Faxneld, Per; Petersen, Jesper (2012). The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity. Oxford University Press. pp. 219–220. ISBN 0199779244. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 19 (help)
13. ^ Faxneld & Petersen 2012, p. 222
14. ^ Hume & Drury 2013, p. 151
15. ^ Lewis & Petersen 2005, 435
16. ^ Petersen 2009, p. 92
17. Hume & Drury 2013, p. 153
18. ^ Petersen 2009, p. 94
19. Faxneld & Petersen 2012, p. 216

References

• Webb, Don (1996) The Seven Faces of Darkness: Practical Typhonian Magic. Runa Raven Press. ISBN 1-885972-07-5
• Flowers, Stephen Edred (1997). Lords of the Left Hand Path: A History of Spiritual Dissent. Runa Raven Press. ISBN 1-885972-08-3
• Webb, Don (1999). Uncle Setnakt's Essential Guide to the Left Hand Path. Runa Raven Press. ISBN 1-885972-10-5
• U.S. Department of the Army (ed.) (2002). "Temple of Set" in Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains. University Press of the Pacific. ISBN 0-89875-607-3
• Webb, Don (2004). Mysteries of the Temple of Set: Inner Teachings of the Left Hand Path. Runa Raven Press. ISBN 1-885972-27-X
• Faxneld, Per; Petersen, Jesper (2012). The Devil's Party:Satanism in Modernity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199779244.
• Lewis, James R.; Petersen, Jesper A. (2005). Controversial New Religions. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195156838.
• Hume, Lynne; Drury, Nevill (2013). The Varieties of Magical Experience. ABC-CLIO Press. ISBN 1440804184.
• Petersen, Jesper Aagaard (2009). Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology. Ashgate Publishings. ISBN 0754652866. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 33 (help)
• Asprem, Egil (2012). Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions: Arguing with Angels: Enochian Magic and Modern Occulture. SUNY Press. ISBN 1438441924. {{cite book}}: line feed character in |title= at position 44 (help)

External links

• Official Web Site
• Religious Movements Homepage: Temple of Set

• Religious organizations established in 1975
• 1975 establishments in California
• Organizations based in California
• Magical organizations
• Left-Hand Path
• Setians