To: koenig @ cyberlink.ch
Subject: Greetings and Salutations
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998
 Greetings! I have followed your material on the Web with great
 interest. ...
 I can assert the following.
 In June of 1987e.v.(the 6th I think) Sr.Andrea was the "high-ranking
 dignitary" at a meeting in the upper rooms of the Bloomsbury Tavern in
 London. The topic was precisely that of the setting up of a European
 Grand Lodge. There were a number of representatives from the mainland
 including Arild S. from Norway. G.Suster and J.Barter were also
 present, as were some Yugoslavians. Andrea behaved in so extraordinary
 a fashion during her visit that she came very close to being laid out
 flat by R***, but unfortunately D.Rietti talked her down from
 her very calm "white fury", (few have lived to tell the tale after
 seeing her eyes turn steely grey!). The event left many of us wondering
 just what it was we were actually aspiring to here! If Andrea was a
 good example of the COTO's "right stuff" then we were perhaps wasting
 our time. It was hard to accept that we were expected to show respect
 to that prima-donna, who did nothing to earn it. Suster felt that
 Andrea's position regarding the establishing of a proper Guild System
 suggested a "New Aeon Mafia" developing in International OTO to
 generate funds and launder money. Perhaps he had a point. All in all it
 was a very odd couple of days.
 You seem to advocate a position in which free-access to all information
 might facilitate scientific discourse. I tend to agree in principle.
 The hoarding of "The Secret" is however not at all the only issue, for
 Information is NOT equal to Knowledge/Know-How. The OTO's are creating
 and maintaining a community of practice. Crowley seemed to think that
 the IXth Degree was potentially VERY dangerous. If ignorant use could
 be so disastrous on a much wider scale than the immediate sphere of
 influence of the practitioners, then it made good sense to enshrine the
 community of practice in a system of preparation for the informed use
 of that Secret. This I think was Crowley's belief, and is written all
 over his method.
 Is this still a valid approach to take, even if it is true? I do not
 think so. For even were it the case that Crowley got it right, the
 Secret is out!! (Certainly I have a copy of the Emblems and their mode
 of use paper and there is little there that I had not worked out either
 myself or in Workings with my HGA.)
 So what is the point in keeping a community of practice cloistered off
 from the rest of we "unilluminated lepers" who are not within the
 Supreme Sanctuary of the Gnosis? I think they are fighting a losing
 battle. Perhaps it is a little hard to stomach that the Elite into
 which one has finally been admitted after many years of preparation
 would be better advised to go public and dismantle the very system of
 Degrees through which one has striven?!
 There is another point here though: What if those Degrees DO provide
 preparation? Have you read that Heidrick article on the inner working
 of the Degree System that he published in the Link in the early days?
 He made a claim there that a IXth Degree who had been through PI was as
 good as an 8=3 of AA in Power. D.Rietti claims that this was not
 written with McMurtry's say so and got him (McM.) slung from the Jane
 Wolfe Lineage of AA for a time. [Apparently A.C.'s statement had
 actually included the word s "and when acting in the context of, and on
 behalf of the Sovereign Sanctuary."] Maybe so. My point is this - IF
 the Initiation through the Grades (which may or may not "take" in an
 individual instance) really does activate and wire up the Chakras as a
 Consecrated Tool, then they may well have a part to play in assisting
 the Aspirant. My own researches into the structures of those Rituals
 suggest as much at least in Intent. So Uncle Aleister may have been
 attempting to PROTECT the would-be "New Aeon War rior" from the damage
 that might result if these energies were unleashed without adequate
 safeguards. The combined practical know-how of the IX's would make each
 Act become an item in a growing body of knowledge, that would further
 assist in preventing unnecessary repeats of earlier and perhaps fatal
 mistakes. I see much to indicate that this was the ORIGINAL thinking.
 In today's world however the approach taken in OTO's is wrong headed in
 the extreme. If the Spirit of Crowley's Intent were kept to then the
 community of practice and the assistance of intervening degrees and all
 the rest, would be OPEN. Since the Secret is known this is the ONLY way
 to prevent as much of the damage and mayhem that results from such
 heavy weaponry being in the hands of children. Education becomes the
 only sane key to the solving of the dilemma.
 Clearly Crowley was also making full use of the Secret in building a
 Magickal Machine to use in his Transpersonal War on Old Aeon Forces.
 OTO's making use of the Degree System ARE such Talismans. It is there
 in the elemental order of the grades. A banishing Pisces Banner. No
 doubt he hoped to keep the Secret for as long as he could to give his
 Talisman, and all the people in it, the time to achieve his objective.
 It is the combined output of the Supreme and Sovereign Sanctuary of the
 IXth Degree in all of its Workings that is used to power the Degree
 System through the Talismanology of Initiators Charters sealed with
 Crowley's Seal Ring there in the wax. Also in each of the Degree
 Certificates that are given to members new to a given Degree. I have
 clairvoyantly seen this link at work during certain of the Initiations
 of the Order. I wonder what the rank and file of the Man of Earth Triad
 would think and feel if they were told that they were being used as a
 big Anti-Pisces Talisman? That they might never be invited into the
 Invoking Leo part of the Order at Fifth Degree and beyond? This comes
 down to paying for the privilege of being beaten up by the forces of
 inertia in the world around one. What price progress!
 What do you think? Am I missing something or am I broadcasting on the
 right wavelength here?
 Personally I joined the COTO fully believing that it was a corrupt
 manifestation and with the intent to destroy it. On the balance I still
 think that this is the case. I also think that I was very young and
 arrogant and it was probably the fact that I had no real idea what I
 was doing that saved me from worse harm!
 Maybe there will be evolution even in COTO. Maybe you are creating some
 of that with your presence. I am actually impressed to hear that
 Sabazius is at least opening himself to Opposition. Would that he had
 also continued the discourse with you, it would certainly have shaken
 things up. That readiness to face opposition was one of the processes
 that were shamefully absent from Breeze's tenure. Then again Breeze is
 on the record as saying that he would create no Xth Degrees that would
 not vote for him as OHO, and that sounds pretty damned corrupt in my
 book. [Some say that he never did recover from rapid advancement
 through the Degrees. Rose A Starr has a letter from Caliph Bill to say
 that he was finding those days a little like walking around with 1500
 mics of Acid in his system.]
 If you ARE interested in the goings on within OTO groups then there is
 a rich vein in Manchester in England around the OTOF. I provided them
 with their IXth Degree Papers so that all the relevant spaces were
 covered for the handing on by the Master Scorpio [Tegtmeier], and later
 found myself slung out for failure to report on my own private
 researches into matters which could have been relevant in that
 particular Sanctuary of the Gnosis. It didn't even have a full
 Sanctuary. It was still in the "acting Officers" stage at the time and
 I found the whole thing too absurd for words. I had no idea that it was
 to be a case of HAVING to share all results! I think that the position
 is invasive and open to potential abuse. I don't want my practises to
 wind up spread all over the "News of the World" for one thing.
 I'm still trying to get thrown out of the COTO. I don't want to resign,
 I want to be expelled. If Rietti can manage it, and you managed it,
 then there must be a way! I have tried threats of litigation, threats
 of violence based on Liber Oz, and made it clear that I did only join
 it to destroy it on the basis of the subtle disturbances that had been
 sensed emanating from it from around '87ev onwards. Perhaps I should
 threaten to publish the Emblems Paper on the Web? What do you think?
 Will that do the trick?! Heidrick really does seem baffled by the
 motivation in this, but I hold that leaving a thing does not fully
 sever the link to it, rather it must also leave you, then it is mutual.
 What is the Historicity behind the Fraturnitas Saturni and the
 Pentalpha Degree stewardship of the full OTO? When Herr
 Tegtmeier/Master Scorpio passed this on to OTOF then might this have
 solved the whole issue of valid lineage? When Prospero and Phoenix
 (Rietti and Fraenkl-Rietti) took on an EGC Lineage at that time and
 "regularised" my Ordination was I then finally receiving a real
 bona-fide lineage going back to St.Peter?! Could this mean that I
 finally managed to be the first person ever expelled fro m a REAL OTO!!
 Now that would make my day. Much as I supported the birth of that
 manifestation (they were abused by COTO, and they fought so hard over
 so many years that they deserved it in my opinion) that does not mean
 that I in any way support the attitude of the organisational structure,
 and maybe just maybe that involved in OTOF WILL one day evolve into a
 fully New Aeon form, and start to do its job in a less seperatist way.
 In any case it was a mammoth "up yours!" to the COTO, and that alone
 made it worth my while.
 One last subject before I wear you out with this barrage! On this
 matter of EGC and Lineage. If there is such a thing as a Talisman (and
 my experiments support that thesis) then a Succession is a valid Tool
 if there is a foolproof way of linking one individual after another
 into such a Talismanic chain. Our Genetic Heritage is the clearest
 example of such a chain in the everyday world. The reason for wanting
 it to go back into the pre-1904 days of the Old Aeon is then evident.
 If one is to alchemically change something, then a link is needed with
 that thing. Crowley believed that the Old Aeon Word of the last Magus,
 Joshua ben Miriam, was his supreme foe, that it was his task to destroy
 that Word and broadcast his own. The EGC would have been his link to
 the original Word's heart. It is as simple as that. It is said in the
 Tradition that the Magus lives from the end of time to the beginning.
 If that is so then he had better secure his entry and exit points. (It
 has also been suggested that Parsons WAS the Antichrist, that in each
 New Aeon the Magus of the Old Aeon returns to pronounce His own
 Negation. Boom!)
 Finally (really), I don't think that Thelema is about the Gnostic
 "nasty place" at all. Pure Joy. No Sacrifice. No Restriction. Sorrows
 are Shadows. Ecstasy be thine! I think this is totally averse to the
 Gnostic Gnonsense. That's the only reason I was ever attracted to it,
 though it helped to find later that the dis-ease surrounding Thelemic
 Organisations had less to do with the doctrine than the centres of
 pestilence within them. It could have easily been enough to put me off
 for life.
 The Black School of Magick (typefied these days by the likes of Rietti
 the Black Magus and re-incarnation of Dr.Dee) with its "Existence may
 be Pure Joy but Being is Tragic" fudge is an even bigger pet hate for
 me, but I think I have already been overly verbose and taken up much
 too much of your time, so I will shut up now.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: Re: Ladders to the Stars
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998
>(my description of the Bacuzzi events and Heidrick's comment)
 PRK: what did you not understand?
 XXX: I understand it all, I was just unsure of the relevance of my own
   experiences there regarding dates. I did not know whether my Andrea tale
   referred to the same time period as the events you described.
 PRK: may i add above paragraph into my correspondence-post on the Net
   (appropriately at the correct place in the communication between Heidrick,
   nigris and me)?
 XXX: Yes, please do, however I would like to put in full names, e.g. Gerald
   Suster, James Barter, and Arild Stromsvag, also I would like to add the
   following to the end of the paragraph, ..."I remember it particularly well
   because I chaired the meeting."
   Crowley seemed to think that the IXth Degree was potentially VERY
   dangerous.
 PRK: i consider this nonsense regarding the *secret" itself. do you really
   think that consuming sexual fluids can cause harm?
 XXX: Not at all! What Crowley thought is more my point here. I doubt very
   much that it was the consuming of fluids that worried him, it was what
   could be achieved thereby when the proper state of Being was activated at
   the same time! IF it is the case that alterations in external reality can
   be created on a repeatable and thereby scientifically validatable basis by
   the use of such a technique, then it could be VERY dangerous if ignorantly
   used or abused. I think that it was this viewpoint that most exercised
   Crowley's mind. He was horrified at the thought that power of the level he
   had come to equate with the Operations of Abramelin and the like, might
   become available to ALL without proper training. His own use of such power
   was always seen by him as the carrying out of a "Holy Office" and never for
   the mere pleasuring of his ego. He believed that "magickal power of the
   first rank" which is what the IXth Degree is supposed to reach by opening
   up Beriah in the Tree of Life, was only Lawfully applied in such a context
   of Office, on behalf of the Universe and with the Holy Guardian Angel as
   guarantor. To Crowley the Black Brothers were already on a downward spiral
   once they reached Chesed and stared the Abyss in the face, if they had
   looked on such power as theirs to use as they saw fit, for they would then
   find it very hard to leave these Siddhas behind in the Crossing. The
   consuming of Fluids without the necessary one-pointedness of mind and
   spirit, would not yield sufficiently charged talismans, and it was the
   technologies through which this charging might be effective that he also
   sought to keep secret.
 PRK: i tend to think that all those techniques that have been wrapped about
   spermo-gnosticism have the possibility to become "dangerous". .... but
   certainly not the decision to define parts of the human body as divine!
 XXX: Agreed.
 PRK: it NEVER was a secret, anyway. Crowley stole it and it was in the OTO
   more
 XXX: What of his Chapter 69 in the Book of Lies, before he had access to
   Order Materials?
 PRK: or less openly since 1906 when Chevalier de Saint Marcq published his
   "L'Eucharistie" of which Reuss said that it contained the central secret of
   the OTO.
 XXX: I think that Crowley's development of the Secret may have been what he
   was trying to protect, though he was also using the claims to Ancient and
   Historic Lineage, the Charters and all the rest as vehicles through which
   to promulgate the New Word which he came to believe was present in Liber Al
   vel Legis. He seems to have believed that the Menstruum of the Word also
   changes and that this had been Blood rather than Sperm, and that the
   multiplicity of the Sperm made the New Aeon Magick that much more powerful
   than the Old. [Also on a Practical Magick level, if (in a particularly
   gross example) let us say one needed to perform a human sacrifice to ensure
   the success of a new building in the Old Aeon, then some poor peasant wound
   up under the foundations; whereas in the New the same result could be
   achieved by one act of Sex Magick and the sacrifice of the Magickal Child
   to that Intent! Less effort for a similar end result equals less entropy
   increase. Entropy equates with the Dweller of the Tenth Aire in Crowley's
   System.]
 XXX: What if those Degrees DO provide preparation?
 PRK: do they provide preparation because some rituals are said to do so only
   or if their is really some "magick" behind?
 XXX: Again it seems that the argument would be that effective Sex Magick
   capable of transforming Society at large, as opposed to the transcendence
   of the Individual, requires a Subtle Body or Body of Light capable of
   carrying a large amount of Current. If too much throughput is happening
   then there are problems such as those experienced by Gopi Krishna with
   Kundalini. I do not think that there was anything new in this position
   either. The initiations of Tantra probably serve a similar end. I have
   personally experienced what it is to have too much energy flow in my
   system, and it would certainly not be useful in the midst of an attempt to
   maintain the poise and focus of intent that any form of Magickal endeavour
   requires. This is essentially an engineering problem. The Degrees worked in
   that approach to OTO would presumably only be of assistance here if there
   were some Magick to back them up, how else is a process taking place on the
   subtle plane in the Yogic Body going to be initiated and controlled? From
   what I can work out about it the method comes down to a set of agreements
   with the Powers of the Planets and of the Directions to act upon a given
   Aspirant's subtle vehicle in a given way over a given period of time, and
   to continue to act according to the Oaths and the self-balancing Penalties
   thereof into perpetuity. For as long as a Magickal Link can be maintained
   with that subtle process, for as long as those Powers are willing to
   maintain the process, so should the Magick continue to work. The energy to
   drive that system however has to come from somewhere, and that is the role
   of the Sovereign Sanctuary in fulfilling the obligations of its Office. So
   I comprehend the subtle logic behind it.
 XXX: He made a claim there that a IXth Degree who had been through PI was as
   good as an 8=3 of AA in Power.
 PRK: the only reason behind heidrick writing this was to openly publish his
   claim to the 8=3 and IX*.
 XXX: Could well be. Why else write it without discussing it? There must I
   feel have been some unpleasantness about this particular publishing for
   Rietti to have heard about it.
 PRK: this was certainly NOT the reason why McMurtry was expelled from Jane
   Wolfe's/Phyllis Seckler's wing. she expelled him because she witnessed that
   McMurtry was selling phony AA- and OTO-charters. this is written by her and
   i published the pertinent facsimiles in my "Materialien zum OTO".
 XXX: I must have a look at those facsimiles! Though I may once again be
   hitting chronology problems here. Somewhere in R***'s files is the original
   copy of the Link and if I can dig that out then I can date it. She joined
   COTO when Breeze was still in a minor Degree and he performed her Minerval.
   He annoyed the locals in Canada so much with his attitude that one of them
   told the authorities about his lack of legal status to remain in Canada and
   he was given his marching orders! He later took his revenge from on high as
   Caliph, and had that member slung out ... the joke however was on him, for
   as R*** later communicated to him, he threw out the wrong person! So much
   for lofty ideals and Holy Offices held by beneficiaries of the Current, and
   for living noble lives of Chivalry and Balance!
   Getting back onto the topic, I think the story went that he was later
   re-instated for what had been written by Heidrick under his formal
   authority but without his agreement. Does this mean that he was finally
   thrown out for good? Rietti claims that his old Teacher was a very full 8=3
   indeed. He tells a story of him pulling a brick out of the Berlin Wall and
   saying "in ten years the Wall crumbles!" and points out that this shows the
   scope of an 8=3's power and authority.
 XXX: IF the Initiation through the Grades... really does activate and wire up
   the Chakras as a Consecrated Tool, then they may well have a part to play
   in assisting the Aspirant.
 PRK: the "caliphate"people did a lot of those rituals without knowing about
   the chakras. they simply had no idea about rituals when they started their
   new OTO group.
 XXX: I can believe it. However, it is not needful to know these things to
   have them work. Chakra Dynamics is just one map of the space of the Yogic
   Body. The Tree of Life can also be used. The Astrological map can be used.
   So can any attribution of Gods and Goddesses and Powers Transcendent and
   Mundane to the Human Body as an earthly glyph of a Divine Impulse. Crowley
   knew his Chakras, there is a notebook in the Warburg from his visit to
   Allan Bennett and I think I remember seeing such knowhow written there,
   though that was more than ten years ago now.
   There is NOTHING in the Degrees of ANY Tradition or pseudo-tradition or
   systematisation of Initiation that cannot be achieved equally well through
   Self-Initiation. The difficulties then come with the attempt to pass on
   what has been achieved to others. One has a quirky and uniquely individual
   map and no one else has access to the axioms and root terms. This is where
   the dogmatism has the chance to set in. Eventually it is all word and no
   spirit and the current has ossified. Here is the story of the his tory of
   every set of teachings. Here I think is the story of COTO. No longer a
   living and changing dynamic, but rather a shell, frantic in feeding upon
   others in an effort to remain changeless in itself.
 XXX: The combined practical know-how of the IX's
 PERK: there is no such "practical know-how". the ix° and the like are
   "worldviews". the combined "forces" of all gnostic sex acts should improve
   the evolution of the universe. that's the only "practical" secret of the
   Sovereign Sanctuary.
 XXX: How sad. A living Tradition naturally forms a body of knowledge about
   itself. Individual contributions build into a Corpus from which each new
   generation may draw, to which each generation may add. This enables NEW
   mistakes to be made, and learned from, rather than the empty futility of
   repeating the same old mistakes over and over. I had assumed that the IXth
   Degrees gathered together into the Sanctuary were inheritors of, wards and
   guardians of, just such a body of knowledge. That this is not so pro ves
   the sterility of the Current in COTO.
 XXX: Maybe there will be evolution even in COTO.
 PRK: i saw/see evolution only in grant's OTO.
 XXX: I think that Grant's OTO is very much a LIVING Tradition, which in its
   own unique way is what I would expect a Sovereign Sanctuary of the IXth
   Degree to look like if one were to see it in that phase of its Work
   concerned with research of the Current. ( As opposed to its activities in
   maintaining the Talismanic entity constituted by the lower triads and
   thereby maintaining its link with the Outer.) I'm not sure that Grant has
   any interest in the Transformation of Society in the Outer, which is the
   role of Outer Orders. I think that his Work has concerned the emergent
   forces in the sphere of Transcendent Magick. Orders such as AA are
   Transcendent. In the Sepher Yetzirah and the Bahir these matters come under
   the Dragon, Theli, the Vertical Axis. The Transformational, and the
   Preservational Work of the horizontal axes of Magick come under the Heart
   and under the Year respectively, and here we see Orders like OTO, and
   Wiccka both public and Hereditary. I read these things into those texts
   because my own ex perience on these three Axes of endeavour suggest that
   this is the case. I am always ready to listen to other viewpoints however.
   I just haven't found any to compare this with as yet.
 XXX: Then again Breeze is on the record as saying that he would create no Xth
   Degrees that would not vote for him as OHO, and that sounds pretty damned
   corrupt in my book. [Some say that he never did recover from rapid
   advancement through the Degrees. Rose A Starr has a letter from Caliph Bill
   to say that he >was finding those days a little like walking around with
   1500 mics of Acid in his system.]
 PRK: of course, i am interested in seeing documents that evidence above. are
   you willing to exchange such with material
 XXX: If I have anything of interest to you then I am more than willing to
   exchange it with you, or in fact simply to provide it... I am keen to
   support your work in these areas in any way that I can. You have done far
   more, with far greater effect than I was ever able to achieve in my
   dealings with COTO in the everyday world.
   The documenting of Breeze's statement is not as firm as I would like it to
   be. He SAID it and both David Rietti and Arild Stromsvag ACTED upon those
   words by writing a letter attacking his position. This was during the early
   days of the Order in Norway before Rietti came to the UK around '84-'85e.v.
   Maybe it was in a local newsletter, maybe it went to the Link. Arild would
   certainly remember, and he has a Web Presence, but I don't know whether he
   would be "allowed" to talk to you. I was attempting to re-connect with him
   some time ago and he went quiet as soon as I mentioned Rietti. I think
   there is a great sense of betrayal there. The letter got them both into all
   sorts of trouble with the Caliph and Rietti claims that Arild later
   disowned him and the letter by saying that "big, bad David made me do it!"
   in exchange for advancement beyond Fifth Degree to leave the David in the
   starting blocks. Combined with the fact that the two were working the
   Transcendent Magick together back then, and with first hand knowledge of
   Rietti's ability and approach, I can well believe that Arild DID feel
   "forced" into it... in fact "spiritually blackmailed" would no doubt be the
   term to use. Rietti was not claiming 8=3 then but I found nothing to
   seriously question that claim in later years, and those later tendencies to
   use his Understanding as a bludgeon rather than a scalpel are indicative.
 XXX: OTOF. I provided them with their IXth Degree Papers
 PEK: i do not understand. what authority do you have to provide someone with
   Degree papers? Or am i misunderstanding and you shared your copy of Francis
   King's book with them?
 XXX: Authority? I have none. Nor did I need to lay claim to any. I had also
   provided my copy of Francis King on occasion. [In fact Clive
   Harper/Fr.Alverda left the COTO Copy of the IVth Degree at home when he
   came to do IVths and Vths in Manchester on Nov.14th 1994e.v., and my copy
   of King saved the day.] I sold it to New Aeon Books in the end, which is
   the front for OTOF with their Supreme and Holy King for the U.K. as one of
   the two proprietors, and his Treasurer as the second... or so it was
   constituted a t the time, more than a year ago.
   What happened was this: When the Master Scorpio handed on the OTO contained
   within his holding of the Pentalpha Degree to Prospero and Phoenix, a box
   full of Order Rituals and Documents, including a Fifth Degree Jewel and
   other Insignia, stood on the High Altar as a Link. Within that collection
   was the IXth Degree Emblems and Their Use Paper, which I provided from my
   personal collection. In spite of their later actions I am still very glad
   that I did this.
 XXX: myself slung out for failure to report on my own private researches
 PRK: that's the usual game within power orientated organisations: there is
   always somebody who wants all the control. of course, no "real" OTO wants
   diaries from its members. this is the AA.
 XXX: In AA the Diary is between the Aspirant and their Teacher alone. It is
   akin to the bond between a Client and their Doctor, Therapist or such like.
   I think that the idea was that such material should be shared as part of
   building a Body of Knowledge. With that I would ultimately have had no
   problem. However, the OTOF had no track record and the Rietti household
   does not keep secrets well. The Diary kept by "Susanne" was once left in a
   cupboard in their downstairs room (she was Irene's student then) and a
   woman who was staying over took it out and read it, and reacted pretty
   strongly to some of what she read, concluding that Irene's involvements
   with women were being used to supply David with a steady stream of young
   women to make use of. It is hard not to see it that way, but then not one
   of them has ever failed to be asked "Is it your Will to be a part of this
   Working"... what did not need to be said openly was "and if you say no you
   will be responsible for the disasters befalling the Universe at large as a
   result of this lack of action." The fact that *** had been for an AIDS test
   was leaked a year or so ago, and we were blamed for it for a time. We were
   recently out of the fold and paranoias were being built up in the routine
   ways. We did some research and this was in no way "all over Stockport Pagan
   Moot" as had been claimed. To these people we were supposed to give our
   private Work?! I think not.
   I could get into the horrors that later transpired between S*** and the
   Rietti phenomenon while we three attempted to claim a life of our own, but
   then I would be rattling on for pages! Maybe she can tell you some of it in
   German if you are interested?
 XXX: I'm still trying to get thrown out of the COTO. I don't want to resign,
   I want to be expelled. what is the difference for you?
 XXX: Via the First Degree it is held that an indissoluble Link is formed. It
   is not really my belief here that counts it is that THEY believe it, or at
   least Heidrick does. He said as much when Gerald Suster was suspended for a
   time for his treatment of a sister of the order when he returned from a
   year in Cyprus. [Oddly enough Rietti rang me just before he arrived and
   told me that this might happen and that I should warn her since I had
   arranged for him to stay at her house until he found a place. My letter
   arrived on her doormat the morning after! It was a nasty business and I
   have not spoken a friendly word to Gerald since('88). We had been close
   friends. There was the whiff of Magick in this one. Then again, I do not
   see who gained from it.]
   I want them to feel that they have been forced into yielding ground. Also
   there is an aspect of insurance in this. They may be right and I do not
   wish them to hold such a link.
   He and Irene Fraenkl-Rietti were expelled by the Supreme Council, which by
   then was just the three Grand Lodge Officers, after the "Inquisition"
   carried out by their Representative "Grand Inquisitor General" and 6th
   Degree Fr.Artau, otherwise Benjamin Fernee of York, had completed his
   investigation. He was incompetent and utterly outplayed. They set the
   battlefield, they set the time and date and manner of the visit, and they
   said what they had to say without reference to any of Fernee's more
   threatening questions. Not that I claim that they were wrong in this. I
   would sooner see someone judged on proper evidence sought out in an
   objective and detached manner and this was none of those things. It was a
   good old Medieval Witch Hunt! Clearly it strengthened their position and
   won them OTOF. One does not outwit two 8=3 of the Black School so easily.
   David Rietti is one of the best political players around, and I can but
   honour him for his immense skill even if I loathe and detest his method and
   the damage he did those close to me.
   They responded to the request from the Supreme Council for any final evidence
   in their favour by threatening them with legal action if ANY of the things
   said about them EVER appeared in public. Then demanded that they be
   reinstated as IXth Degrees of the Order. The answer was expulsion.
   Now S*** was the note keeper at that meeting, and later transcribed the audio
   tapes kept by BOTH parties into typescript, so of course she has a full
   copy. We also have copies of the statements that went out around the
   forming of OTOF. You are welcome to any or all of these, though the
   typescript (which would be best read in conjunction with S***'s analysis of
   her own experience of five years as their closest partner to show just how
   masterly they are) is rather long and maybe better sent by post. (S***'s
   write up is not yet complete, it is part of her own healing process that
   she does this.)
   I did not know of a general expulsion of OTOF people from COTO. Before anyone
   formally joined OTOF they were asked to send letters to COTO resigning, and
   to make copies available to OTOF. In most cases this was done. R***, M***,
   and I however did not actually resign, we preferred to proclaim our
   involvement in OTOF and in the New Aeon Wiccka, to threaten legal action
   against COTO if there were ever any documents made public linking us to
   claims made against the Riettis and threatening violence if our rights
   under Liber Oz were further transgressed Magickally or otherwise. We got no
   response. I wrote to Heidrick last year asking what I had to do to get
   thrown out, namely did I have to physically come and punch the Caliph on
   the nose?! He said that he did not see why I couldn't just resign. Oh well!
 XXX: Perhaps I should threaten to publish the Emblems Paper on the Web? What
   do you think? Will that do the trick?!
 PRK: i do not know but i heard that such happened before (the expulsion after
   posting the rituals): either do that or advertise my "How to make your own
   McOTO". I know someone who did an advertisement and was threatened with a
   trial and expulsion. otherwise, i personally know one of the "Caliphate"'s
   lawyers. and he told me that they are after money only.
 XXX: It sounds like the threat of SELLING some writings on Sex Magick
   including that Paper might be a good avenue, and including your advert too!
   I might only have ONE COPY with an ISBN, and copies for the major UK
   lending libraries, (which is how copyright is done here,) but they would
   not have any way of assessing this threat.
 XXX: What is the Historicity behind the Fraturnitas Saturni and the Pentalpha
 PRK: In these letters, Metzger and Grosche agree to incorporate the OTO IN
   GERMANY into the 18th degree of the FS. that's all. Tegtmeier read it,
 XXX: Yet in April of '96ev when the handover happened NO mention was made of
   Tegtmeier as Grandmaster of anything. In fact it had been specifically
   stated that this event in no way suggested any endorsement from his
   superiors in that Order, and he even showed us his own Initiation
   Certificates evidence that he had the authority to do as he did. Though he
   provided no papers relevant to running an OTO. Did these events transpire
   later than '96ev then?
   Would Grandmaster status give him the right to transplant that agreement to
   the UK? It sounds unlikely in the extreme. Perhaps they hope to come to an
   arrangement with Metzger's heir at a later date. In fact I can remember
   them saying so on one occasion!
   If Rietti and Fraenkl-Rietti are 8=3 then I can only reckon Herr Tegtmeir as
   9=2. I experienced him outplaying them on a number of occasions, and with
   consummate skill. In fact I believe that he assisted we three in
   extricating ourselves from the Rietti clutches. Which was difficult.
   However he would never admit to this, it would not be useful to him to
   admit that he has anything but glowing respect for them.
   Rietti had been translating Ice-Magic as Tegtmeier wrote the German
   instalments. Or at least that was what Tegtmeier was paying him for, but in
   fact S*** was doing the translation and Rietti was adding the appropriate
   Magico-Philosophical gloss and then claiming the work as his own. She never
   did get to finish the third chapter. Rose let it slip to Tegtmeier over the
   phone that S*** had been translating the work, but we have no idea what
   mileage he later made out of this. I imagine that it would ha ve been
   argued that she was being "allowed to do the more pedestrian translation as
   a special recognition of how hard she had worked to establish the Order,
   and as a didactic tool in assistance to her Magickal development, that she
   might gain first hand from this new and exiting technology before it became
   generally available." Definitely. That she was Magickally enthralled and
   obsessed by them and ready to do ANYTHING for them was the truth of the
   matter, but then what is Truth to the Magus?
 XXX: When Prospero and Phoenix (Rietti and Fraenkl-Rietti) took on an EGC
   Lineage at that time and "regularised" my Ordination was I then finally
   receiving a real bona-fide lineage going back to St.Peter?!
 PRK: i need to know more about this EGC line: please all dates, before i can
   tell you something about its validity.
 XXX: The statement goes like this, from memory, "as is traditionally the
   case, when an OTO lineage is bestowed, with it comes the responsibility and
   the obligation of an EGC lineage also, with our reception from the Master
   Scorpio of an OTO lineage, which we shall incorporate in Panama [N.B. using
   S***'s money - she financed MOST of this] as OTOF, we thereby accept an EGC
   lineage to be run as a separate organisation."
   On that basis was our prior Ordination into EGC and the related EGU
   re-confirmed and regularised under the new and lawful lineage of EGC held
   through the OTOF Joint Headship. They claim that they will dissolve the
   whole thing if it is not viable within five years, and that they aim to
   withdraw from running it then. I expect it will go to a personal AA student
   of theirs, with little freedom to act independently... whether the one
   concerned would believe that assertion or not.
 PRK: it seems that i simply know too little about your personal journey in
   the OTO reality.
 XXX: I'm trying to do this as we progress. R*** was 5th Degree and KRE at the
   time of the split, and was to be the International EGC Treasurer under
   Prospero and Phoenix. I was also a 5th and KRE and to be one IXth Degree
   Opponent to the UK King in OTOF, and S*** was a 5th and groomed for
   International Secretary of OTOF. We were all three of us Ordained in EGC.
   R*** in Canada. She worked the Mass every week for two years there, and ran
   a New Aeon Wiccka Circle too. I was Ordained by Clive Harper along with
   David Rietti in York Minster Cathedral's Chapter House. Since he was given
   his some two minutes before me he pettily claimed "seniority" for ever
   after! They were very big on the seniority thing.
   Irene Fraenkl-Rietti had her Ordination before the first Mass in Manchester,
   with me as Priest with my arm in a sling after a motorbike accident the
   night before! That was August '88 and they relocated here that December.
   She then claimed seniority over R*** as "the first Priestess of EGC
   Ordained in England in over 40 Years!" It was all very pompous yet
   surprisingly effective in keeping control. We did maybe fifty Masses over
   the years and had a Congregation as large as 120 for a Wedding, and as
   small as 14 on one occasion when we clashed with Glastonbury Festival and
   the family holiday season. There were about 60 on the books as paying
   members at our largest and that still didn't cover our costs. I was Dean of
   the Brigantia Sacred Grove. There was a definite sense of community, but it
   was largely engendered in an "us against them" way.... Then again, just
   because you are paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get you, and
   the COTO WERE! We were being FAR too successful, and Rietti's public
   statement to having sworn the 8=3 Oath after an OTO Ceremony in London in
   '87ev had gotten up many noses, especially Heidrick's who misrepresented
   this for years on Ben Fernee's faulty testimony that this was in an "open
   OTO Temple'... it wasn't, but he did USE OTO to gather those people
   together, including a few from TOPY. He had Suster mash up his Magickal
   ring as part of the ceremony, and with it Fr.Thanatos (his then public
   Magickal Motto) passed away, and headship of the London Encampment went to
   R*** as the Albion Oasis was born. The ring was to be ceremonially cast
   into the Thames where the ashes of Grady McMurtry had been scattered. This
   was done by Gerald and James. In this sense only was the event an 8=3
   Claim. What had actually happened was that Suster had Magickally attacked
   Rietti and seen his best efforts go "ping" and achieve nothing. So after
   the First Thelemic Symposium in Oxford in October of '86ev when this
   happened, he drew the correct conclusion, namely that Rietti had claimed
   that his HGA FORCED him to do as he did and set the record straight in
   public. This he stated on that occasion. Privately he said that it was to
   be his task to be seen and to be shot at, so that weaker brethren could
   survive progressing in the Great Work over the years following his action.
   Since then both he and Irene spoke AS 8=3 by Attainment when the plan to
   found the OTOF was formally announced at a special Mass in Hulme in
   Manchester, at Yule of '95ev with the Call of the Thirty Aires of the
   Enochian System (David claims to be Dee) used to call the Magickal Universe
   to Witness. He used R***'s New Aeon Wiccka to announce that he was speaking
   from The Urn of Salt on the Empress Path, and thereby close to completion
   of the Magus Grade of AA, also in '95. Whatever next!?
 XXX: regarding the Independent European GL: I heard that there were planned
   several other meetings, one of them failed because Norbert Straet of Aachen
   couldnt make the trip to London.
   I have only vague memories of these things. I had returned to Manchester in
   '88 and lost touch with happenings in London.
 PRK: What about the new Stockholm-Center of the "Caliphate"?
 XXX: This I know nothing here other than it exists and has someone in it with
   links to TOS or the like.
 PRK: Please tell me about Ben Fernee and Clive Harper (only in the OTO
   context).
 XXX: Furnee I will not describe for I do not want to make myself ill. ...
   Clive Harper was always a solid and personable man. I cannot fault him. He
   fell foul of the difficulties between Rietti and Grand Lodge while running
   the Albion Lodge and basically did his best. He's an Accountant by trade
   and a scholar of Magick and Wicca. He was closely involved with a publisher
   called Mandrake the last I heard of it, but there are two of them and I'm
   not sure which.... Mog Morgan of Oxford Golden Dawn is with one of them.
   Any way I do know that he has the accountant's eye for detailed record
   keeping and has extensive records on the Rietti Phenomenon. At least a
   dozen ex-OTO members left after exposure to them over the years, so
   naturally he has an interest. Rietti did his 3rd Degree and resents the
   fact that Harper progressed up through the COTO ranks and he did not.
   When Harper asked a seamstress of Rietti's acquaintance to make a special
   robe for him in time for a visit by Breeze it was reckoned that he was
   about to get his IXth as one of three in Europe, probably including Norbert
   in Germany and Arild in Norway, as preparation for National 10th Degrees to
   be made later. I do not know what happened to those plans, but it did start
   to fizzle out around the time that the dispute with Rietti was going
   ballistic.
 PRK: Is is true that someone threw Breeze almost out of the window when he
   was in England?
 XXX: No! Really? I'm sorry they held back. Who coud have done such a thing? I
   wonder if it was when he came and took back the status that he had given to
   Fernee and his cronies in York. One of them was Bruce Derling. I do know
   that there was a mass resignation rumoured up there as a result. It seems
   that the Caliph felt that they had not been doing a very good job. He was
   right.
 PRK: You certainly are aware that John Symonds pretends to possess the
   copyrights on Crowley material. What did Breeze et alii think about that?
 XXX: I don't know his personal position but the common currency was that
   Symonds was working a scam with Grant, with each co-recognising and
   legitimating the other's claim. The Literary Executor could hardly claim
   Copyright if the man was in any case declared Bankrupt. In any case after
   50 years the Crowley Copyright status in the UK should have become Public
   Domain, in '97.
 PRK: You heard of the alleged paying out Crowley's bankcrupcy back to the
   English Crown. of course, this is legally nonsense, absolutely
 XXX: Is that so? I don't really have any idea of the Legal situation here. It
   was said that COTO had done this, but not through whose agency. Certainly
   R*** and Rietti had both been relieved of their Directorship of COTO UK
   Ltd. Which they had held with Clive Harper so that COTO had Legal Status in
   the UK as an Individual Legal Entity in its own right. Maybe that is how
   they did whatever it was that they were out to achieve, by buying the
   Estate back through the company.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: From Kether to Malkuth
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998
 PRK: i absolutely disagree with you and the alleged "proper state of being
   activated at the same time of the consumation".
 XXX: You may be right. I am generalising from the Charging of Talismans as
   such. The intensity and quality of the Charge makes a difference. Much of
   "Energised Enthusiasm" seems to point to similar preoccupations in
   Crowley's mindà (let me think some more on this one. I would prefer the
   Universe to work according to your thesis. As I write this I come only to a
   modified position that recognises that SOME effect always is presentà I
   will see where this takes me.)
 PRK: Crowley was made a VII° in March 1910. of course he had access to high
   degree papers before he published his book of lies. the book of lies was
   published in 1913 (as Russell proved). the story of crowley being accused
   by ...
 XXX: That I didn't know. Quite a compelling argument. Of course A.C. would
   use anything and anyone as a means to his own ends, and certainly would
   have used this once he had access to it.
 PRK: Did you know that the OTO was NOT registered with the authorities when
   Breeze was in NY?
 XXX: No.
 PRK: He then moved again (i forgot the place) but also not for long. what do
   you know about that?
 XXX: He said that he was moving to be near his Teacher. I imagine this would
   have been his NEW Teacher in AA, since Wilfred Smith had died. It was never
   clear just who this may have been.
 PRK: what do you know about Breeze's claim to the XI°?
 XXX: I know nothing about this, though Rietti jokingly referred to it on
   occasion, saying "Breeze could easily deal with the problem that we pose
   for him, he could make us Xith Degrees (he and Irene) and send us off to
   dwell in our own palaces!"
 PRK: can you tell me more about Stromsvag? I heard he once wanted to become
   member of Grant's OTO but YYY when he was refused he entered the ZZZ
   "Caliphate"....
 XXX: I never really got to know him. He had his Vth Degree with R*** and
   David Rietti in Aachen. I think he is a lecturer at the University. Rietti
   says that he "made him everything that he is, only to be betrayed by him."
   The Black School Doctrine sees people as machines to be built and
   controlled so I expect that Rietti spoke literally.
 PRK: What do you know about Norbert Straet?
 XXX: I met him on a later Aachen trip when Irene Fraenkl-Rietti and I got our
   Vth Degrees. He seemed like a bit of a sharp operator. Quite the
   politician. I know very little detail.
 XXX: What happened was this: When the Master Scorpio handed on the OTO
   contained within his holding of the Pentalpha Degree to Prospero and
   Phoenix, ....
 PRK: can i see a copy of a document that has Tegtmeier's signature on it and
   that says that the 18* gives rights to found a new OTO? is there a
   "founding charter" of the OTOF that i can see?
 XXX: We were shown no evidence of this. It was simply claimed to be so.
   Often. Nor was there any signing of documents performed publicly at that
   ceremony. If anything was signed later then we were not made aware of it.
   We will forward all of the documents in our possession.
 XXX: Now S*** was the note keeper at that meeting, and later transcribed the
   audio tapes kept by BOTH parties into typescript, so of course she has a...
   I wonder who would claim copyright over that one? S*** wrote the notes and
   later transcribed the whole thing from tapes to wordprocessorà yet it was
   part of a Caliphate Investigationà and then there are the claims of those
   actually speaking at the timeà interesting.
 XXX: If Rietti and Fraenkl-Rietti are 8=3 then I can only reckon Herr
   Tegtmeir as 9=2.
 PRK: why such? i am told that he wanted to become member of the "Caliphate"
   back in the 1980s but was refused because everyone thought he was only
   after the permission to publish crowley material.
 XXX: Tegtmeier has evolved a self-styled "new approach" to Magic which he
   calls "Ice Magic" and says is a new Paradigm. S*** and Rietti were
   translating the instalments of this work together. Though Tegtmeier has no
   interest in Thelema as such, and still less in the earlier Paradigms, such
   as Spirit (named spirits, Angels, Demons and so on) or Energy (such as
   healing, Orgone etc.) or Psychological (where he places Spare) or
   Information (Chaos appproaches using Imformation Matrices) he is still a
   very powerful operator. His books on Sigil Magick and on Sex Magick are
   basic but sound. His "Ice Magic" is very interesting indeed. I saw him
   overpower two people (the Riettis) who before that date I had never seen
   bested in any arena. He outplayed them, out-tricked them, and
   out-manoevered them at every step. He knew what was happening to S*** under
   their control without ever being told. He took her aside and asked her to
   tell him what was going on, and offered to help her. Almost nine months to
   the day after that assistance was given by a laying on of hands (to the
   forehead and back of the head in one motion) she was free of the control of
   Moston. He also did the whole thing in a way that kept a perfect cover of
   "plausible deniability" in place. She could in no way use what he did to
   cause any trouble between him and the Riettis because anything that he said
   or did could be taken both ways. I saw Mastery at work on that night. We
   have had dreams of him on occasion since. Just as I did before he arrived à
   and he assisted me then in my battle with the Riettis. As far as I know he
   is very much alive.
 PRK: i need to know more about this EGC line: please tell me all dates,
   before i can tell you something about its validity.
 XXX: I seriously doubt that validity! Nothing was given as documentary
   evidence. It was a verbal claim that within the OTO within the Pentalpha
   Degree is an EGC Lineage ( as per "tradition" )à but the truth may well be
   that Rietti simply fancies himself as a Patriarch, and Tegtmeier has given
   him as much validity as his enemies in COTO possess, which may be in fact
   none at all!
 PRK: this is not sufficient data. i need exact dates of all pertinent
   consecrations in order to say something about it. you know, neither the
   "Caliph's" OHO-ship is valid nor his bishopship.
 XXX: So of course, no such data has ever been made available to our
   knowledge. Maybe someone should write to OTOF demanding copies of documents
   to prove its claim, and do likewise with the attached EGC! We were all
   expected to swallow a lot of hype.
 PRK: but i NEED to know more about Fernee. I met him once in Rome/Italy
 XXX: Well. He ran a Bookshop in York for many years with his then girlfriend
   J***. Later she took on the shop and he kept the mail order business. He
   toadied his way up the Grades of the order. He wanted York to be the
   central nexus for COTO in England arguing that York was once Capitol. To
   that end he developed a set of rooms for initiations, but had no legal
   right to work there as he was paying squatters for the privilege! We
   unearthed this after a falling out that happened when he tried to talk
   people from Manchester/Rochdale into having initiations performed in York
   so that he could afford to keep the premises going. He was aiming for Lodge
   Status and the Manchester members did not see why they should in effect
   help him to build an empire out of their hard work. The man is a weasel.
   Probably by Totem.
   When David Rietti went into a self-imposed suspension in '88ev for allegedly
   "tweaking M***'s nipple" during a IIIrd Degree Ceremony, Fernee said that
   he had seen the way that David looked at one of the sisters (L**) when she
   was getting changed, and he could imagine that he might have done it. He
   however chose to neither implicate him nor back him up. The way we used to
   perform the Third Degree Grip made it difficult to tweak anything, but I
   suppose in retrospect not impossible. This left them as confirmed enemies.
   Rietti said later that if he ever had the money to do it, he would have
   Fernee taken out one day. He is given to saying things like that. [Rietti
   called forth "The Angel of Vengeance" on those who bore false witness upon
   him, or on himself if he lied... none of his detractors stayed in the COTO
   to see him come out of that 6 month retirement-suspension. We took it that
   it was in this case an attempt to frame him.]
   It was believed in Manchester that Fernee got his advancement in COTO
   specifically to work against Rietti. Finally he became a Vith and the
   COTO's "Grand Inquisitor General". He made a monumental mess of that job.
   Indeed, it was his ringing up Tegtmeier and seeking anti-Rietti statements
   that Tegtmeier cites a the turning point in his decision to bestow an OTO
   on Rietti.
   Rietti says that Fernee was angling to be taken on as a Student of AA under
   him, and that he had to tell him that he only took on those who the Powers
   told him to take one, and that he was out of luck (to my knowledge that IS
   how Rietti approaches his AA Work) and that Fernee resented him for ever
   after. Furnee denies this.
   Fernee was also a Priest of EGC and J** a Priestess, and I attended a few of
   their Gnostic Messes. They were uninspiring. We even had the police called
   on us because of the noise, but then that's York for you! (It wasn't late
   and it wasn't noisy.)
   I don't have a copy of it, but I'm sure that it was the usual lack of basic
   security around Fernee and his c*** that resulted in a tabloid newspaper
   (probably the "News of the World") taking photos of a Gnostic Mass through
   a window! The Rochdale Group had walked out on its leader B***, and he and
   his wife A** broke with the Riettis and affiliated increasingly with York,
   so she was Priestess that day. I am unsure who the Priest was.
   Fernee reeks of ambition. When I was in Aachen waiting many hours for them
   to get around to doing my Fifth Degree, I had to pass the time with him. He
   said something then about some contact that he and J** had with M*. He was
   very cagey about it. It was all very private and so on. So maybe he also
   had links in Amookos. Or J** did.
 PRK: i also would like to know where Breeze usually stayed when in England,
 XXX: Mostly Clive Harper's. Though he spent time with the Porridge's of TOPY
   on at least one occasion. He sometimes had business out near Blackpool,
   only 50 miles from Manchester but NEVER visited us.
   Rietti was given the Word of the Equinox by him once, as recognition of his
   AA claims. This was motivated by Wilfred Smith. Must have been '87ev or
   thereabouts.
 PRK: do you know wehre does Breeze's money come from?
 XXX: I though he was still in the video business.
 PRK: is there any rivalry between Breeze and Heidrick?
 XXX: There were rumours of such. Then rumours that it was all happy again.
   Many rumours circulated from Rodney Orpheus as source, especially after he
   had been over to visit the Grand Lodge. Rumours also that he had bedded the
   Caliph's wife - hard to separate truth from fantasy with the likes of
   Orpheus. He is another ambitious ***. He was furious when Lon DuQuette's
   Thelemic Book came out before his and upstaged him.
 PRK: what do you know about the background of Heidrick (family, money,
   education...)?
 XXX: Only that he has some land in Ireland left him by one side of his
   family, and that for many years this actally supported the COTO through
   him.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: Crystal SpidersIII
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998
 Rodney Orpheus
 XXX: He is a "Rock Star" with an ego to match. I think he used to be with
   "Sisters of Mercy" but now heads up "Cassandra Complex". Breeze is
   apparently a name-dropper so the guy was bound for quick advancement. He
   used to work for "Sorceror's Apprentice" and Chris Bray in Leeds. Back when
   they had just started out. He expects those around him to behave like
   "groupies" and then moans to his friends that his life is full of
   hangers-on and girls who only want him for his money and his fame. Poor
   dear! Big ideas, big ego. I'm sure that he will play a major role in any
   COTO deal in Europe. His own efforts to get it all organised and win a
   slice of it for himself seemed to come to little. He put in a lot of
   efffort to convince the leading lights of the Manchester membership that
   the Riettis were "dinosaurs" and that it would be a good idea if they
   distanced themselves from them if they wanted to get their due in the COTO
   and reach the Degrees that they deserved. His efforts were doomed from the
   outset as he was saying this to those, like S***, who were AA Students of
   the Riettis and had thereby "swore all" and were not about to transfer
   their allegience to Rodney!
 PRK: what can you tell me about the relationship between fernee and breeze?
   is it quite possible that they once had or will have a fall out?
 XXX: The rumour was that this had already happened six months after the
   Inquisition because Breeze said they had done a poor job in York and took
   away authority for a Lodge from them. Certainly things were not friendly
   between them at that time.
 PRK: what should happen to have fernee giving up membership?
 XXX: He just has to realise that his ambitions will never be fulfilled. Once
   he decides that COTO is "just like all the rest of them" and will not
   recognise his "true potential and genius" then I think he will give up on
   it. Though he would want to have someplace else to go, and who would have
   him!
 PRK: what happens with all that money that comes in from royalties of crowley
   books (Weiser, Falcon, etc)??? i heard that breeze is buying houses and the
   like.
 XXX: I have no idea. Legal Fees certainly. Some went to relocation of
   Yugoslavs and to covering their Initiation expenses. If there need to be
   Profess Houses to be Constitutional then that might well be a part of his
   Grand Campaign to become the One True OHO and rule the world.... Rietti had
   a vision of a Knight Templar on horseback screaming "King Philip IVth of
   Spain has taken over the Knight's Templar!" It certainly came to seem that
   way.
 PRK: tell me something about james barter. why did you not describe the
   events about throwing McMurtry's ashes into the thames?
 XXX: My apologies on this one. My memory of what Rietti SAID are still that
   this was the way it happened. He does leave his mouth running on autopilot
   and spouts utter nonsense sometimes, almost as though it is an intentional
   thing to keep people on their toes. However, I saw a paper, I hope it is in
   the parcel that has gone to you, that this was NOT what happened... the
   ashes went into the sea IN THE U.S. and Rietti arranged his ceremony over
   here to co-incide with that. Suster smashed Fr.Thanatos' (Rietti )ring with
   the pommel of the sword and then he and Barter went with it to Cleopatra's
   Needle on the Embankment and threw the ring into the Thames, shouting "Die
   Thanatos!" Rietti then became Fr.Azrael instead. It was after the formal
   closing of those rituals when there was no longer an OTO Temple as such,
   that Rietti spoke on the matter of his 8=3 Oath. (This Oath is published in
   "John St.John" and also in Equinox 3(10) near the front. The last line is
   about "interpreting every phenomenon as a direct dealing of God with my
   Soul"... ) Clearly Fernee and later Heidrick took that ring bashing
   exercise as a use of the OTO Temple for Rietti's personal advancement.
   James Barter worked as a local government Officer in London at the time that
   I knew him. When I had my big bust-up with Gerald I lost contact with him
   too. He ran the Bennu Bird Encampment and later Oasis of COTO before
   leaving it with Gerald to set up "company of heaven". Gerald had his 419
   Solution to ALII76 behind him then, and only needed to be convinced that
   OTO and AA were defunct to be ready to activate some papers that he told
   Alwina Taylor that Regardie had given to him with that stipulation. I
   really know no more than that about their work afterwards.
   We have many of the Bennu Bird mailings here. James was quite lavish with the
   office photocopier! I was present for the earlier workings. They were very
   creative. Not at all in keeping with the Caliphate's take on things. I will
   be copying these to you also in due course.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: electronic hiccups and assorted technology storms
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998
Breeze:
 XXX: He said that he was moving to be near his Teacher. I imagine this would
 PRK: hae?!!!! which Wilfred Smith???? I thought the "original" W.T. Smith
   died in 1957? Who's that Breeze-Master?
 XXX: I'm going on memory of what I heard from Rietti. I think the Smith I am
   talking about had an obituary in the Link a few years back. Apart from the
   passing on of the Word of the Equinox from Breeze to Rietti upon Smith's
   say so ('88?) I have no further information on this Smith. Rietti mused
   that Breeze might have taken a ****-dive because he lacked quality guidance
   afterwards.
 PRK: >early in 1997, a friend of mine posted a homepage claiming to be a
   "true" XI° (which he was, of course!). Breeze got upset and threatened the
   pertinent ISP (provider) to file suit because only Breeze could be the
   "true" XI°.
 XXX: IF Breeze had any right to create XIths, which is doubtful, then I
   suppose he could claim to be the only XIth with the right to be public
   about it. The attitude seems to be that the XIths should be completely in
   the background.
To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: hiccoughing glass spider dances on starry web (Part Two)
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998
 XXX: Norbert Straet? Quite the politician. I know very little detail.
 PRK: nevertheless, what do you know?
 XXX: Well. When I got my Vth Degree in Aachen (and my robe pulled over the
   center Altar so that the glass fronted talisman on the top broke on the
   floor! Very much in keeping with the rubric of that Rite!) Norbert had us
   pay for Vth AND K.R.E. then later he changed his mind because one of the
   German members who was to have Vth and KRE was wanting to STAY at KRE and
   wait for an Electoral College in Europe, and ask to become one of the
   Eleven. So Norbert cancelled the KRE on that occasion and made him a Lodge
   Master instead. We were given lots of bluff and bluster about time
   constraints and the like but there was a hidden agenda and we were not
   fooled. They then told us that they had forgotten to tell us how much the
   Vth Degree Jewel was to cost, and that it came to the same amount as the
   intended KRE, so they were not going to give us back our money! It was a
   joke. Short term political double-speak damaging relations that might have
   been cordial.
   (The whole event was a joke in poor taste. I was even let into Vth Degree
   without demonstrating the IIIrd Degree Grip. They had changed it without
   telling us in the UK! One hand instead of two ... quite a different
   interpretation is then possible on the on the nipple-tweaking incident!)
   When Breeze was over to the UK to discuss the establishing of the Order on
   a surer footing in Europe, and was staying at Harper's, there was to be a
   meeting with Stromsvag and also Norbert. It was possible that they would be
   made Xth Degrees at that meeting if the details could be agreed upon. We
   had this over the phone from Clive. The meeting did not happen because
   Norbert's boat got cancelled and the next one would not get him over to
   England in time. (Rietti claimed that one of his Abramelin demons had
   vandalised the wiring on the boat to scupper this meeting! Of course if
   Norbert had really been keen then he would have transferred to the airport
   and flown instead.)
 XXX: It was a verbal claim that within the OTO within the Pentalpha Degree is
   an
 PRK: EGC but if rietti is a patriarch what would become of tegtmeier?
 XXX: Tegtmeier renounced all claim to that OTO and EGC once he had settled it
   upon the Riettis. He was to be recognised as an "honoured guest" and
   nothing more. There was to remain NO link between the two organisations. It
   was stated that there were many differences of approach and of doctrine
   between Tegtmeier and the Riettis, and that the handing over of the new
   OTOF would in no way imply any acceptance of the praxis of the Saturn
   Gnosis by the Riettis.
   However, if a Grandmaster of the FS can elevate to the Pentalpha Degree,
   then he can cause any number of OTO's to be produced. Quite a thought!
   Especially if that is what Tegtmeier now claims to be. The most we ever
   heard was rumours that he might be second in command and had never wanted
   more than that. His "Ice Magic" seemed to be his main project.
 XXX: specifically to work against Rietti. Finally he [Fernee] became a VIth
   and the COTO"Grand Inquisitor General".
 PRK: what are the privilegues and the duties of such?
 XXX: See Liber 194. The Intimation towards a Constitution published in
   Equinox 3(10)... it is a bridge between 6th and 7th. An investigative post.
 XXX: He made a monumental mess of that job.
 PRK: details?
 XXX: I will send you a transcript of the Inquisition's visit to the Rietti
   household in one of these packages. We have located it, but need to print
   it off the floppy. Also I would like to add S***'s transcript and that will
   take a lot of typing! Read together they show the Rietti "Teflon Coating"
   process at work. They are so good at it that one doubts even one's own
   memories!
 XXX: Indeed, it was his ringing up Tegtmeier and seeking anti-Rietti
   statements that Tegtmeier cites a the >turning point in his decision to
   bestow an OTO on Rietti.
 PRK: does this mean that tegtmeier was involved in the "caliphate" before
   that?
 XXX: No. Fernee telephoned him in Dusseldorf and launched into his
   anti-Rietti speach. Tegtmeier did not even know the man! Here was a
   self-proclaimed "Grand Inquisitor General" of COTO unable to show any
   credentials, ringing him up on spec and wondering if the rumours were true
   about a falling out between the Riettis and Tegtmeier.
   I think this may be in the Transcript, but I'm unsure, so I will continue.
   Tegtmeier assured Fernee that he was very good friends with David R. that
   he had never had ANY organisational authority over them in the first place,
   and that there had been no "falling out" between them. He then ordered a
   few books from Fernee's business so that he could use them as a Link back
   to him should he feel the need!
   He was rightly appalled that an investigation was being conducted in so
   unbalanced a fashion. Fernee had NO INTEREST in hearing anything positive
   about the Riettis. He had already assured himself of their guilt without
   having sufficient evidence. It was a clear "Witch Hunt" in which the COTO
   sought evidence to excuse throwing them out.
 PRK: ...was OTOF? why tegtmeier? why at exact this point of time?
 XXX: The reason was that they were already afraid of the association between
   Tegtmeier and Rietti which was established during McMurtry's great travel
   across Europe (with Rietti in tow as resident ***). McM said that they
   should both stick together.
   The COTO feared Tegtmeier's claims of Pentalpha authority, and he took to
   winding Heidrick up about it by posting to some Newsgroup or Discussion
   Forum or somesuch.... (this I was told. I saw none of it.) So Heidrick
   certainly knew of the threat.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: Crystal SpidersIII ===> haeh?
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998
 PRK: are there any paper evidences of Breeze being expelled from Canada?
 XXX: Not that we know of.
 PRK: Tell me more about LaTulipe. That name sounds familiar but i can't
   locate it.
 XXX: He believes that he is descended from the Merovingians and in the view
   of those Priestesses he ordained into EGC under COTO (including R***) he
   was mostly out just to get into their knickers. R*** spoke to Breeze about
   his behaviour and suggested that she doubted the efficacy of her ordination
   as a result, and Breeze told her that he believed that the ordination would
   become powerful through USE, that by performing the Mass her ordination
   would become good no matter the possible ill-intent of the one who ordained
   her (this was all going on in Montreal.)
 PRK: the letter Breeze sent to R*** after that phone call is strange: why
   doesnt he mention any of those topics (expulsion)?
 XXX: I imagine she did not rate such inclusion. When she had told him he just
   went very quiet for some seconds and then said "I see", and carried on the
   conversation without further reference to that topic. The tone used
   suggested that he would be taking harsh action.
 PRK: the documents of the bishoprics are funny as well. they do not contain
   the term "OTO" in the beginning.
 XXX: Indeed! Though there was also the difference noted between the words
   used by Tau Erigena in ordaining S***, and those used by Archbishop
   DuQuette when ordaining Bridie Przibram, namely "Under the Authority of the
   Sovereign Sanctuary of OTO..." which Clive LATER took to using as though
   some regularisation had later been demanded by the "Holy Father".
alleged alterations by Francis King [Secret Rituals of the OTO]
 XXX: Gerald Suster and I spent some time with King talking about the various
   papers that he had. We were keen to ascertain whether or not he had any AA
   authorisation from Yorke. Maybe Suster did eventually get something of use
   from King, I don't know. Our impression was that King had simply used what
   he had from Yorke, without alteration.
   (Incidentally, Suster does have some papers from Regardie that were only to
   be activated if Suster believed that OTO and AA organisations were corrupt
   beyond redemption. He did decide this and opened the packet and may have
   used this in establishing whatever lies behind "company of heaven". We had
   this from A***, who was his "Scarlet Woman" at the time.)
 PRK: will copy this "open letter" and send it to Stromsvag
 XXX: That I think will be VERY interesting. It always upsets him to be
   confronted with things from his Rietti period. They were very close.
 PRK: would like to know more about the "Memphis-Misraim" in the "caliphate".
   what did they think? pretend? did they consider themselves to be THE real
   MM, or what?
 XXX: That's how Rietti made it sound. That MM was the English end of OTO and
   that we were its true heirs. He seemed very put out that the International
   Order was not paying court to him on that issue. It all went back to his
   promise to Grady in the AA context, that he would bring this Work back to
   the "Prophet's Homeland".
 PRK: what about the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light?
 XXX: I never heard anything siad about it.
 PRK: do you have a copy of the "manual" for oasis' and lodge-masters? I would
   like to have one since i am told that it makes the members like prisoners
   in a concentration camp.
 XXX: I know that R*** once had one for Rosae Rubeae Oasis, but we do not
   remember whether or not it was returned when she was closed down. If we
   have it then you will certainly have a copy sent to you. We will know this
   when we locate a certain briefcase with more of R***'s papers which is
   hiding somewhere in the attic at present! We WILL get to it.
 PRK: what do you know about the relation between the College of Thelema and
   the "Caliphate"? I have been told that advancement in the "Caliphate" only
   is possible for those who are co-members of the COT...
 XXX: Good heavens... you know that would not surprise me! We never heard
   anything at all about COT. Rietti claimed that it was Philis Seckler's
   vehicle through which she controlled a number of lackeys who were in one
   Office or another in COTO. Apart from his words on this there was never any
   mention of it from any other source.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: quicker and quicker the carousel turns...
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998
 XXX: I have had very little time free myself these last few weeks, but have
   now reviewed the usenet controversies on The Letter. Heidrick really is
   trying his best to sound reasonable as he cries "Fake!" We are really and
   truely rivetted by this whole experience. It has everything. Drama, Irony,
   Poignancy... we eagerly await further developments. (Of course I know now
   that Grant had not been aware of The Letter, which makes me even more
   intrigued as it was not posted...)
   There is no transcript to be found in either R*** or my records of that
   London Meeting. The letters from Bacuzzi after it do however show that she
   was doing FAR more than Heidrick claims for her. She was indeed building
   Europe up as her own little empire. She even *** to us about what Heidrick
   looked like, saying that he was of medium build when in fact he has a ....
   [deleted] ... I never could see why she should have lied about that. It
   must just be a matter of whether her lips are moving or not!

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: sleeping the sunken dream so clearly
Date: Mon, 4 May 1998
 XXX: As for the activities of the Moston Mafia and OTOF... they have been
   very quiet of late. I heard that growth was good in Brazil. They have had
   some gatherings in the Boggart Hole Clough Park not far from the Rietti
   household... we have seen the dead fires afterwrds and offerings left at a
   certain tree. The Gnostic Mass is being performed about ten times per year
   in the rooms above New Aeon Books. Courses on Ritual Technique, Qabbalah,
   Austin Spare, and Wicca, and Nordic Religion have been publicised there.
   OTOF Initiations have been performed regularly. Tatooed Lady Body Art
   continues the business of Irene Fraenkl-Rietti/Phoenix, but she has been
   very quiet on the Tattooing and Body Piercing scene, in that she has not
   been taking her clothes off at any festivals or associated nightclubs...
   but then the last I heard the hormone treatments she needed were causing
   her to put on much weight.
   The members are asking just about everyone they come into contact with to
   come along to Masses as guests. All as one would expect. No real difference
   between now and the Manchester of the late eighties under COTO, except for
   the zeal and fanaticism of those who aim to inherit the mantle when the
   five years are up.
   I doubt that Rietti will allow any comment to be made on The Letter before
   he does, and he will certainly play the waiting game. He is a Master
   Strategist and waited more than three years before communications with COTO
   could give him excuse enough to strike out alone with Tegtmeier's little
   gift... the COTO Inquisitorial Investigation at Moston is included in the
   package.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: Dancing in the mind warp pavilion
Date: Sun, 10 May 1998
 XXX: I heard that growth was good in Brazil.
 PRK: of the OTOF? tell me!
 XXX: Yeah, there was a whole bunch of them that wrote in at the beginning of
   OTOF, and Rietti was over the moon. The last we heard this was developing
   well.
 PRK: who's Adrian Bott?
 XXX: He is the proprietor of New Aeon Books, the first Supreme and Holy King
 for the OTOF**, and an ambitious *** of our long acquaintance. He
 believes that he is a Vampire Bat by Totem, and thereby hangs out on
 Goth related bulletin boards. I think his OTOF Name is Fr.Emrys, or at
 least it was.

To: "'Peter Koenig'"
Subject: RE: obscurity
Date: Sat, 23 May 1998
 XXX: The MMM tapes have arrived ... this should be an enjoyable interlude.
   I'll comment when I have done some transcription.
   Another parcel is already in the post as of a few days ago, so you should
   soon have it. Mostly Initiation Rituals, including a Fifth Degree copy with
   Grips and Signs and Words in integral handwritten notes... maybe Lon
   DuQuette's notes to R***. Also the Transcript of the Inqusition's visit to
   the Riettis in Moston, taken from S***'s tapes. Those are the main items.
   It is only Fourth, P.I. and K.E.W., and also the K.R.E. bridge after Fifth
   Degree and before Sixth Degree that we have no C.O.T.O. copies of ...
   though I may be able to find some old notes of Grips and Signs from our
   November '94ev Manchester Fourth and Fifth Degree event. As for K.R.E. we
   never had access to any paperwork for that one, but the Sign for Opening
   and Closing a Lodge was a part of it. Clive Harper took us through that one
   in High Wycombe.

To: "'Peter-R. Koenig'"
Subject: RE:  white noise like winter snow
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998
Inquisition's visit to the Riettis in Moston
 PRK: when did that take place, exactly?
 XXX: Aha, I can at least fix this to sometime between February and September
   of 1995ev... but will have to do some checking of paperwork for precision!
 PRK: I was puzzled to find so many Christian references: what did the
   thelemites think of "The Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus", "The Litany of
   St. Joseph" and "The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary" being attached to
   the Sovereign Chapter of Rose-Croix???
 XXX: It was to be taken as reference to the Aeonic Magus of the LAST Aeon, as
   a reminder that these Great Cycles build each upon the others... also that
   the True Master was not at all the political hatchet job made of Him by
   Paulism.
To: "Peter Koenig"

Subject: Re: Magickal Beerdrinking
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1998
 PRK: do they magical work or just drink YYY beer? ZZZ
 XXX: Would that they did just drink beer - between the monthly Gnostic Masses
   and Quarterly Initiations they still find time to get up to mischief.
   Abramelin is the favoured approach, also Goetia. The working of the
   Enochian Aires also stirrs things up. This makes Manchester a very heavy
   place to be if you are on the Rietti ****-list! He has ample opportunity to
   redirect the energies of any one of those events towards his favourite
   causes, and we still seem to qualify... would that they would just get on
   with it and leave us be. It is the Rietti approach to blacken and demonise
   anyone who has split away from him. He learned the methods as a Stalinist
   in his student days. "The Way of the Spiritual Bully and Blackmailer" (!)

To: "Peter Koenig"
Subject: Re: the garden of earthly delights
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 1998
 PRK: i recently came across a letter from lola d. wolfe re McMurtry's
   European trip. there is an address of a certain david b.r. riette in
   norway. who's that?
 XXX: That's the man. He was McMurtry's *** on that trip. It was on that trip
   that McM got Tegtmeier and Rietti together and told them to keep in touch.
   In the meantime Rietti worked up the COTO presence in Norway with Arild S.
   and co. Lola just got the name wrong.


'Caliphate' Inquisition  and the Ordo Templi Orientis Foundation

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