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Copy of statement read to Ben Fernee, 13/9/95ev. This statement is copyright Ian Sturrock 1995ev., but may be reproduced for non-profit purposes. All quotes are from Equinox III:10 unless otherwise noted. STATEMENT TO THE GRAND INQUISITOR COMMANDER Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I have chosen to read a prepared statement rather than enter into a dialogue. I hope to answer fully any questions the inquisitor may have, within the body of this statement. To avoid the danger of distortion or misrepresentation, any further questions may be directed to me in letter form c/o New Aeon Books. Whilst the inquisitor may conduct the investigation however he feels appropriate, the corollary to this is that the inquisitee may respond however s/he feels appropriate. This is how I am choosing to respond. Having experienced one blundered attempt by the inquisitor to conduct a phone inquisition, I will not hold a discussion with him unless it be in a large meeting where many witnesses may be present, as I recognize that without such precautions misrepresentation is possible. A copy of this statement will be sent to Fr. Alverda. I have been an active and committed member of Ordo Templi Orientis for the past six years.
In that time I have seen bodies of the Order and individuals both flourish & fail. Of the many groups of OTO that I have encountered, worked with & visited, the three Manchester Oases, Strict Observance, Fires of Orc, & Rosae Rubae, had seemed closest to the ideals & principles of the Order as defined in Equinox III:10. This was borne out time & again by the experiences & accounts of visiting Brethren from outside the area. When the International IV' & PI' Initiations were hosted by Strict Observance, all the candidates seemed more than happy with the hospitality and the entertainment we provided: the ten course banquet, the live music, & indeed the joy & beauty with which we treated the whole occasion. Lon DuQuette, the visiting Initiator & guest Priest, was enthusiastic in his praise of the efficiency of our Brigantia Sacred Grove of EGC, & indeed stated that we had the best Temple furnishings & regalia that he had ever seen. That Temple equipment was put together with the blood, sweat & tears of the Brethren at the time. Funds were short but ingenuity & energy were long.
After one memorable Mass, two of us *carried* the High Altar some three miles from the Mass venue to the home of the Brother & Sister who were storing it at the time. This kind of attitude, of total commitment, of carrying through all that we promise & more, of no-compromise Thelema seen not as some obscure philosophy to read about, but as a way to live one`s life, runs through all the various projects & bodies of the Order that have sprung from Strict Observance. The fact that these various Bodies have been by far the most active & healthy in the country was obvious to any who met us. The Caliph`s representative in the country, Fr. Alverda, seemed to think this- it was to Fires of Orc Oasis that he frequently turned when he wanted representatives of the Order to speak or perform in a public context. Thus it was thatAdrian represented the OTO at the Thelemic Symposium in 1992ev with the introductory talk & reading of Liber Tzaddi. In early `93, four of us went to London to represent the Order at the Talking Stick Meet The Groups evening. For the 1993 Thelemic Symposium a number of us performed a Horus Invocation with percussion, dance & ritual.
In 1994 eleven of us took the OTO Pantomime on the road to the Talking Stick Magickal Conference, the largest ever British Pagan event, & our comic play was by far the best received of the various individuals` & groups` pieces. In my considered opinion that performance did more for the image & reputation of OTO among the British magickal community than anything else had ever done. Fires of Orc Oasis is the Body of OTO that I feel most qualified to speak about, as I have had a very close association with it, as member, then as Treasurer, and once I had been Chartered to run Trodden Serpent Camp, as member once more. Within Fires of Orc I have seen the social structure of OTO function as it should, according to Equinox III:10. We supported each other as a close community, worked together magickally & on business projects.
We had weekly meetings: formal ones where we went through Order business and passed on information, & performed ritual magick, such as the Samekhs to defend the persons of the Oasis, not against some nebulous 'magickal attack,' but against the very real physical hazards of living in the city- the traffic accidents, muggings, burglaries etc.; the Qabbalah workshops, where we brainstormed & added to our knowledge of the QBL together; the Non-Western Mystery Tradition sessions, usually runic or nordic in nature; and social events such as parties etc. The associated body of EGC, Jachin Temple, in which i am honoured to serve as Priest, performed fortnightly Gnostic Masses, so as to synchronize with our sister Boaz Temple, between us performing a Mass a week in the Manchester area. I would think this is the most frequent Mass performance outside the USA. Trodden Serpent Camp did not have much time to flourish before it was de-chartered. This makes me very suspicious of the motivation for taking away the charter. Since the Supreme Council had no information regarding the activities of the Camp other than what was on the initial application form, they can have no idea whether or not it was in harmony with the aims of OTO.
This gives further credence to the idea professed by GIC Br Ben Furnee in his telephone conversation with me- that the charters were removed not because the Supreme Council considered us to have aims different from OTO, but simply as a 'big stick' to make us sit up & take notice, to coerce us into toeing the official line with the threat that we will not get our charters back unless we all become nice, safe little yes-men agreeing with everything the Caliph says. My loyalty to the Office of Caliph & to the aims & principles of the OTO can better be served as follows: -By using OTO as a "crucible for the development of the social models necessary to a Thelemic culture, as opposed to a Thelemic cult." This experimental, alchemical side to the work of OTO has been ignored by the Supreme Council in their actions in shutting down the bodies of OTO in the area.
I`m not claiming that the work of developing a Thelemic culture is finished: rather that there is room for a great many different sorts of Camp, Oasis etc, all working in quite different ways towards that same end. -By bearing in mind the historical material presented in III:10, although much of this material is being ignored outright by the conduct of this Inquisition- "even by the self-styled 'representatives' of the Order- these papers stand as the foundation on which we must build if we would do honour to our predecessors' vision, and lay claim to their inherited wisdom." -By recognizing that, as a Brother, my first & greatest privilege is "to have accepted the Law, to have become free and independent, to have destroyed all fear"- even to have destroyed the 'fear' of not getting my charter back, making it rather useless as a threat. -By understanding that "The Order exercises its whole power to relieve its members of any constraint to which they may be subjected, attacking with vigour any person or persons who may endeavour to subject them to compulsion"- so that I know, of course, that none within the Order could endeavour to subject me to compulsion, so Br.
Furnee must have been wrong in his suggestion that the charters were taken from us to compel obedience. -By accepting the principles of self-rule and decentralization enshrined within the constitution: "Every subordinate lodge or association shall have the right to conduct its own affairs according to its own wishes or bye-laws, provided that its acts and bye-laws are not contrary to the letter or spirit of this Constitution." Before dissolving any charters, the Supreme Council should have properly ascertained from us what our wishes & acts were, rather than taking charters first & requesting information afterwards. -By having "accepted _The Book of the Law_ as the sole rule of life" I acknowledge the Law of Thelema as being of more importance than the letter of the rulings of the Supreme Council. Whilst these latter remain in harmony with the former, there will be no conflict; but I am made uneasy by the actions of the Supreme Council in suspending Sr Irene & Br David without trial. This seems totally contrary to Thelema, common sense & natural justice. David & Irene stand accused by the words of one Chris Kelly. I have no wish to launch a personal attack on Br.
Chris in this statement, but I feel bound to inform the Grand Inquisitor Commander of Kelly`s unreliability. I have known Chris Kelly for seven years, since before either of us joined OTO. For a year I even allowed him to move into my home, as he had nowhere else to live, and left him in possession of that Hulme flat when I found another for myself. I consider that I know him as well as anyone else does, & a lot better than most. Over that time I have noticed that Chris, though having some likeable qualities, is utterly impractical, unreliable, & incapable of living in the real world. He spends so much of his life in the realms of his vivid imagination that he simply cannot be trusted to tell the truth. Not that he would think of it as lying- quite simply, he believes in all of his fibs & bizarre flights of fancy. He boasts of nonexistent sexual conquests, even claiming to have had sex with Sisters of OTO with whom he has not; he lies of victorious encounters with street thugs. For example, on one occasion some years ago, I was violently mugged by three knife- and hammer-wielding crack addicts. I had gone to visit a friend & the door was answered by a burglar with a knife in his hand, who forced me to remain in the flat.
I eventually escaped by dropping out of the window. I persuaded about ten friends to come back to the flat to chase off the muggers if necessary, and secure the flat so it could not be burgled again before the owners returned. Chris insisted on coming along, though he was out of his head on some hallucinogenic drug at the time, and while the rest of us boarded up the flat (the muggers, of course, being long gone), he alternately wandered around the flat saying what he`d do if he caught the muggers, and lying or sitting down, saying that he didn`t know what was going on. His recollection of the above incident was that he`d singlehandedly chased all three muggers out of the area, and they wouldn`t be back because they were so scared of him. This is just typical of the man`s day-to-day existence in a fantasy world. He was then and is now so addled by drugs that he has no idea of the realities of the world around him, and bolsters his inadequate self- image by making up stories about himself. Over the last year or two he has become utterly paranoid as well, seeing archenemies & master- manipulators all around him, blaming anyone but himself for the problems in his life.
The Supreme Council took Chris` story as gospel, then thought that Ben Furnee would be appropriate as a choice of inquisitor. Taking the most charitable view, these actions would suggest that the Supreme Council have no idea what is going on within OTO in Britain. I have encountered Ben Furnee several times in the course of my OTO activities, and whatever else one may think of him he is worse than useless in the office of inquisitor. After the shambles he made of the arrangements for the National IV' & PI' initiations in York, I wouldn`t trust him to investigate the contents of his own underwear, let alone the state of OTO activities in the Manchester area. It also seems incompetent to appoint as inquisitor one who has been openly antagonistic towards Sr. Irene & Br. David for years, when they appear to be the subject of the investigation. Over the six years I have known, worked with & done business with Sr. Irene & Br. David, they have demonstrated time & again their honour, ethical behaviour, & lifelong adherence to the principles of Thelema and aims of OTO. Without them there would likely be no OTO in this country.
To suspend them out of hand on the word of an imbecile like Kelly is dishonourable, unethical & contrary to the principles & aims of OTO. Now that it seems that any member of OTO, whatever their past work, is liable to be slung out disloyally and on the flimsiest of pretexts, I affirm my solidarity with and support of the Sister & Brother under investigation, with the hope that such arbitrary behaviour will cease. I am reminded of the words of Pastor Niemoller, victim of the Nazis in WWII: "In Germany they came first for the Jews, and I did not speak out, for I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, & I did not speak out, for I was not a Catholic. Then they came for the Communists, & I did not speak out, because I was not a Communist. Then they came for me, and there was no-one left to speak out." Unless I and the other Brethren of the area speak out now against this grave injustice that is being done to our Sister & Brother, there will soon remain no free men & women of honour left to speak out. Sr. Irene & Br. David should be immediately reinstated. This matter can quite easily be dealt with by the nine members of the Rose Coix in the area, without bringing in an incompetent excuse for an inquisitor.
Ben Furnee might have had more success with his inquisition had he approached the matter with honour, tact & intelligence. As it is, I find it hard to respect the Office of Inquisitor when the man holding that office is so obviously unworthy of respect. His role as inquisitor should be altered, as I am sure he could better serve the Order in a different function. Chris Kelly should be investigated for his vile slanders. Only when these things have been done can the Order in Manchester return to the smooth functioning & exemplary behaviour that have characterized it since its establishment here. I give my word under Bond of III' that this document is true & accurate to the best of my knowledge. Love is the law, love under Will. PUCK V' IAN STURROCK
A couple of historical notes of explanation WRT this document: Chris Kelly was the Brother of OTO who brought the initial complaint against David & Irene. He'd been a member almost as long as I had, but was always on the flaky side. When I first met him, he was a zealous Wiccan... but he was in his 2nd year of a Theology degree, which he'd originally taken with a view to ordination as a Roman Catholic Priest. He had these periodic religion-flips, I now see. Anyway, when in about 1990 he began asking about OTO, realizing that it was actually fairly well-organized & together in the Manchester area, we just kinda thought he was seeing sense. He joined, & worked hard if sporadically with us for several years. About Summer '94 he did his flip thing again & decided that Liber AL was an opium dream of Crowley's, & no more Holy than any other drug text. His wife, a Sister of OTO, was seriously distressed about this, although her take on Liber AL was that it made sense as a philosophy & ethical system- she didn't particularly care if it was Class A or not... Anyway, the two of them split up, eventually. He moved out of their flat & blamed all his friends, Brothers & Sisters for the breakup of his marriage.
He joined the Illuminates of Thanateros, & I have it on good authority from another OTO Brother who ws also an IOT member, that Chris had trouble getting advancement in IOT because the only operations in his Magickal Diary over six months were repeated curses directed at me & several other Brothers & Sisters of OTO (Cavalorn was happy to hear this because the last time Chris had cursed the only palpable result was an improovement in Cav's sex life). Then, out of the blue, six months or so later he decided that David & Irene were the ones who were really to blame, & he took a pack of lies to contacts he'd been cultivating with the OTO group in York. He claimed that his wife had been ordered by David & Irene to divorce him (anyone who knows her will attest to her superhuman powers of stubbornness- and to her sorrow when she did divorce him- it was clearly a last resort), and he passed on some vile (and patently untrue) rumours that had been spread by a commercial rival of Irene's (she is a tattooist & body piercer). Ben Fernee, the Inquisitor, made no secret of his dislike for David & Irene over the years leading up to the Inquisition. I don't know what was the cause of this.
I'd been fairly open-minded about him, & gave him hospitality when he took his 4th & PI in Manchester. Years later my opinion of him plummetted when he organized 4th & PI initiations in York, and I (and about ten others from Manchester) travelled over to be initiated. The temple venue was a squat. Now, I've done Masses & initiations in squats before (those occupied by Brethren, though), so I had no objection to that in principle, although I felt that for National 4th & PIs it might have been more appropriate to hire a hall. After a two hour drive from Manchester, we were greeted with, "I'm afraid there's no electricity, and no furniture. I think there are some broken sofas downstairs that you could drag up if you like." I felt quite insulted by this. Hell, I've lived in worse places- but I expected more from such a major Initiation, especially given the fees we were paying. And I felt particularly insulted that Ben just didn't appear to have considered our comfort. One of the Candidates from Manchester was a Sister in her sixties. She had a five hour wait for her Initiation, on a cold floor, without even a cup of tea.
I asked Ben why he couldn't have let us know a couple of days before that there was no electricity- we could have brought along camping stoves, and tea & coffee of our own. He hadn't thought of that. No food or drink was provided until after all the Initiations were over (thirteen hours). Then at last we were fed- a takeout meal had been delivered by one of the local curry houses. No options for vegetarians, vegans, or people who disliked spicy foods had been considered. Ian -- "I am a free prince, and I have as much authority to make war on the whole world as he who has a hundred sail of ships at sea, and an army of 100,000 men in the field, and thus my conscience tells me." (Capt. Bellamy. A Pirate. From Defoe)
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'Caliphate' Inquisition and the Ordo Templi Orientis Foundation
