Difficult People

Posted on by Jon Sewell

“It is necessary, in this world, to be made of harder stuff than one’s environment.” 
― Aleister Crowley

This post has been delayed because I find the subject matter particularly difficult. For my own part, I have nothing but the deepest appreciation and respect for everyone who wanted to work with us along the way, and I make it a practice to foster an attitude of gratitude for the abundant support we have been provided. I have always seen my role as being supportive to the artists we work with, and have made every effort to be understanding and patient when situations become difficult.

Complaining about other people and their behavior, especially in a public forum, isn’t something I am either keen to do, or particularly comfortable with.

Yet, it would be a disservice to anyone looking for practical advice if I were to pretend that there were never interpersonal challenges, never disagreements, and that we were never placed in a situation where we made the decision to remove a cast or crew member from our team. It happened on several occasions over the years, and each time was uncomfortable, but ultimately we did what we thought was best for the team, and the project.

This particular post, like many others, also presumes that you, the reader, are the person running the project, and the advise is geared accordingly.

In our last post we talked about Adjustment, course correction, and how moving forward often means just, “not taking things personally”. Rather than succumbing to frustration, accept the reality and soldier on. This is likewise the first order of business in conflict management when dealing with difficult people.

“We were just joking!” Capricornus explains to Choragoge

Fortunately, those skills will likely cover you over 80% of the time, and often fostering the attitude of courageous adjustment on your team is enough to smooth out the wrinkles and keep the project moving forward without taking further action. It is surprising, but true, that when you tell people that you expect them to be able to handle a challenge, and when you put that idea to them with conviction, that they will believe you and act accordingly!

The other 20% of the time, you may find yourself dealing with the sort of intransigence that can only be solved by removing the human obstacle from the equation.

The reasons that a person might be difficult are as varied as the people, themselves. There are some who are attached to their own vision, and cannot refrain from argument. There are some who are cruel and disruptive to other cast members for their own amusement or out of insecurity. There are some who will just actively do the opposite of whatever you ask in the name of “Chaos Magick” or some other excuse to defy any and all authority. There are some who simply claim that they wish to be involved, and proceed to do nothing, but argue their devotion to the project.

Some challenges can be overcome by setting firm expectations, and sticking to them. If the behavior can be discussed, acknowledged, and modified, chances are good that this will be a great learning opportunity for everyone involved. Working with a group is one of our best catalysts for growth, and one of the benefits of doing this work. Don’t be too quick to run off volunteers who may just be working through some personal foibles.

“Their false compassion is called compassion and their false understanding is called understanding, for this is their most potent spell.”


― Aleister Crowley

Nevertheless, the underlying truth is that unless you believe that you can work through the issue, the reason is not important. If the person cannot address the concerns about their conduct, then the project leaders must address the concerns, by removing the person from the project. A problematic person cannot be ignored within the group. They will drive off the rest of the team.

And if someone is making a point of being difficult while trying to create and rehearse, there is a good likelihood that they will be equally or more difficult when it is time to perform! Sadly, it also means they will be difficult when asked to leave.

They will argue. Make a scene. Accuse you of being cruel. Defame you on the internet. Try to foster bad publicity. Possibly reach out to crew members and supporters and try to convince them to withdraw support. And my all time favorite, accuse you of being a poor Thelemite for interfering with their will*.

“And another thing! You are a BAD THELEMITE!”
…is NOT what Magister Templi said to Aquarius.

This, BTW, is non-sense. If anyone has the will to be involved in your project, they must necessarily have the will to meet your criteria. And if it is truly their will to celebrate The Rites of Eleusis and they cannot do so as a member of your team, they can certainly go and do it themselves. Wish them luck, and escort them out!

It can be rather like a bad breakup in a public place. Loud, angry and embarrassing. I recommend that any difficult conversation like this involve the person in question, and two members of the team. Don’t do it in front of everyone if you can help it, and don’t go alone. Three is the magic number.

And when they do respond loudly, and they may, once again the adage, “Don’t take it personally” comes to mind. You cannot allow yourself too much time to revel in hurt feelings when dealing with a troublesome individual. You have a production to run, and they have already derailed it to some degree. There is a very good chance that causing you distress is precisely the reaction they are looking for, and I suspect you have better things to do.

Remove them from the group, e-lists, etc. and move on with the work. Explain it to the remainder of the cast without getting personal. Remember, another person may have to depart, and they will be watching for how you treat people when they leave. Every courtesy you show to a difficult person once they have been removed reflects well on you, and keeps the channels of communication open. You want people to come to you and let you know what is happening, rather than being afraid to reach out to you, thus allowing their struggles come as a surprise at the eleventh hour.

I also strongly recommend that you do not respond on social media, do not engage in debate, do not play into their narrative, do not try to “show them” by doubling-down in even more egregious behavior than their own. This is a victory for your detractors. This plays to the narrative of their persecution. And in the end, it is a waste of creative energy.

“The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside it.”

― D.L. Moody

This is a quote I often paraphrase as: “Sometimes you lay a straight stick next to a crooked stick and call it a good days work.”

And this is a much easier task when you remember this simple truth: You are not in a power struggle with anyone. If you are in charge, you can listen to every idea (at the appropriate time), consider every option, and make your decision. You can adjust as necessity requires, as we previously discussed. You are never obligated to debate. If you are running the show, that is it.

Now, if you make it awful, people will leave. But if you allow someone else to make it awful, people will also leave. At the end of the day, you do not have to explain yourself, defend your position, or apologize for being responsible for making the decisions. You just have to step into your role as an authority and act according.

And, Oh, my friends! Don’t let that go to your head, either. That is the other pitfall of taking things personally.

Adjustment

Posted on by Jon Sewell

Course Correction Without Recrimination

“No plan survives contact with the enemy.” – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

While the above quote is a paraphrased from the original German, “Kein Operationsplan reicht mit einiger Sicherheit über das erste Zusammentreffen mit der feindlichen Hauptmacht hinaus” (no plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force) the sentiment is witty enough, and germane to theater enough, that it might have come from William Shakespeare.

As such, it seems like a fine place to launch into Adjustment in the creative process. I am particularly fond of the idea of “Adjustment” as it is one of the Tarot Trumps from The Book of Thoth that differs in both title and nuance from the traditional attribution “Justice”.

From The Book of Thoth – “This card in the old pack was called Justice. This word has none but a purely human and therefore relative sense; so it is not to be considered as one of the facts of Nature. Nature is not just, according to any theological or ethical idea; but Nature is exact.”

Crowley then goes on to describe the relationship between Venus and Saturn, as they rule and have their exaltation in Libra, which this card symbolizes. He details how the resultant interplay between these two forces manifest as the cause and effect that is understood as Karma, and that we experience as temporal reality.

Sounds pretty fancy. Check out the whole thing.

This is a pretty lofty concept to apply to art, to be certain, but then all the best concepts are applied to art, and vice versa. For practical purposes, this comes down to a simple idea: “We become what we do.”

More especially, “When we do, we overcome.”

Every effort we put forth in the creative process, in the “Doing”, must by definition come up against the resistance that is inertia. We are shaping matter in accordance with our wills, and that matter would otherwise be at rest. Overcoming physics with the will to create is the very definition of art, and magick. And matter has no internal motivation to be helpful, so we must adjust our efforts in accordance with what is most efficacious in our creative process.

And we will run afoul of all manner of challenges. Fortunately, we have our love for our art to sustain us!

Hermia and Lysander from A Midsummer Night’s Dream

LYSANDER:
Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth;
…
War, death, or sickness, did lay siege to it,
Making it momentary as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,
And ere a man hath power to say ‘Behold!’
The jaws of darkness do devour it up;(150)
So quick bright things come to confusion.

HERMIA: If then true lovers have ever cross’d,
It stands as an edict in destiny.

– A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 1, scene 1

Or, to quote from Liber Librae

“Thou then who hast trials and troubles, rejoice because of them, for in them is Strength, and by their means is a pathway opened unto that Light.”

In order to overcome these challenges, in order to succeed, we will have to Adjust! And in adjusting, we become stronger, more experienced, and better suited to our next task!

I cannot tell you the troubles you will face on your path, only that they will come. Perhaps you will lose money, or suffer illness. Perhaps someone on cast will move away, or become disenchanted. Perhaps you will win the lottery and decide you have better things to do. (What? It doesn’t all have to suck! Getting something cool can be equally distracting!)

The point is, there will be challenges to overcome, and an attitude of adjustment is crucial to progress. It is here that I find the term Adjustment so much more appropriate than the idea of Justice, as exemplified in older decks. Justice demands that we stop all progress to find resolution. And while certain redress of injury is necessary to the healing process, or culling process, as the case may be, it is often a distraction from the work at hand. As an example, if a cast member moves away due to hardship or family circumstance, this requires no redress of injury, simply a fond farewell, and the search for a suitable replacement can begin. There should be no recrimination in such a circumstance, and to search for “justice” (or for someone or something to blame) is a waste of energy.

I will also say here that there is a certain school of “Wish-craft” that puts forth the proposition that if an action is in accord with your true will, that it will some how manifest without effort or obstacle. This is the most nonsensical notion ever uttered.

“How should it be otherwise, O man, whose life is but a day in Eternity, a drop in the Ocean of time; how, were thy trials not many, coulds’t thou purge thy soul from the dross of earth? 

Is it but now that the Higher Life is beset with dangers and difficulties; hath it not ever been so with the Sages and Hierophants of the past? They have been persecuted and reviled, they have been tormented of men; yet through this also has their Glory increased.”

Liber Librae

I often remind those who adhere to the “easy-road” philosophy of Thelema that many of our Gnostic Saints died in poverty and affliction. Their devotion to the exploration of their true will did not necessarily lead to riches or reward in any material sense, because the reward is in the “Doing”.

And lastly, I leave you this thought on the theater, which saw me through many a trial.

Invocation And Integration

Posted on by Jon Sewell

More on the Art of Devotion and It’s Impact

In the previous post by Daniel Christensen, we touched on a variety of ways to practice invocation, and I’d like to dig a little deeper into some methods for approaching this as a ceremonial magician.

I am going to begin by recommending a study of ASTARTE vel Liber BERYLLI sub figura CLXXV. This is an excellent series of instructions for devotion to deity. It may seem deeper than a ritualist is likely to dive prior to celebrating one of The Rites of Eleusis, particularly if you are planning to start with a dramatic reading of the script, but as with any discipline, it is a matter of learning the rudiments first. I certainly do not intend to intimate that doing all of Liber ASTARTE is a prerequisite to studying or performing The Rites of Eleusis. Rather, it is a series of instruction of how to dive deepest into the material, and as such it is a excellent way to gauge the stages of your process in the work.

Being aware of how this material can be approached by stages, and not allowing oneself to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of a task, is of greatest practical merit when getting started. Don’t try to do all the steps at once, but acquaint yourself with the steps, and apply your creativity in following them. In the beginning, a little goes a long way!

As an aside, in Liber ASTARTE Crowley presents some very clear guidelines for devotional work, and I recommend that those with limited experience with invocation adhere to those guidelines. There is a tendency to want to experiment in the early stages, and it is the easiest way to develop poor habits. I know that this sounds odd coming from the guy who says, “Drive it like you stole it!”, but practically speaking, in order to drive it like you stole it you will need to know how to start your engine!

By way of further analogy, a musician who has practiced scales, learned theory, and studied their craft can appear to break all manner of rules when improvising. But this is the way an untrained mind views mastery. In truth, the musician has learned when it is permissible and desirable to depart from the standard modes of play in order to evoke a nuanced emotional response in the listener. By contrast, a beginner seeing this virtuosity could seek to emulate it without understanding any of the nuance, and this will simply result in making a frightful noise.

All this is to say: Avoid taking shortcuts in your personal work. You are working on yourself, as a person. The last thing you want to do is short-change yourself!

Here I would like to deviate from Invocation and talk about Integration.

In mythical sotries we have heard the tale of the Titan Prometheus, who defied Zeus and stole fire from the Gods in order to give it to humanity. There is a strong parallel between the narrative of this story, and the experience of invocational magicians, including a dire warning about the repercussions of such a course of action.

Joseph Campbell describes this narrative in terms of the Hero’s Journey in his work “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. The Hero’s Journey is an archetypal story pattern, common in ancient myths as well as modern day adventures. This is also the story of every magician who embarks upon this work.

Invocational work touches something within the practitioner that is trans-personal. This force, once awakened, must be integrated back into the world. By trans-personal I mean to say that it relates to a primal motivation rather than to a particular set of circumstances. In the same way that hunger, or frustration, or desire are all things we experience relating to different phenomena, but the essence of these impulses is experienced by humans, primates, and really most living things in one manner or another. These are the titanic forces that dwell in the unconscious, in the unknown, to surface in moments of tension. During the course of our exploration we come to awaken these forces within ourselves.

When we work directly with these forces; when we anthropomorphize them, interact with them, love them, hate them, fight them, fuck them, we bring them into our world. We bring these living archetypes back to our day to day lives, like Prometheus carrying the flame to mankind. This challenges our preconceptions and changes our view of the world. It is force and fire, and it will impact our lives in profound ways. We discover treasures. We discover monsters. And often we discover how easily these Gods can throw us off balance, dazzle us with glamour and make us monstrous in the process.

This is precisely why we need to integrate our work into our lives, rather than try to compartmentalize it. Journal about it. Look for ways that it is informing your daily life. Paint, or sculpt, or blog. If you are me, write songs about it. Find the places where there is a sympathy between the work you are doing and the life you are living and make a space there.

Because any work you do with intention will result in energy. That energy will be seeking it’s “ground”. Provide a path for it to follow. Make space for the lightening to strike, and know that it will. One does not seal such Holy fire in a jar, one makes a space for it to shed it’s light, and breathe the air, and offer it material upon which it may feed and work.

This is what I mean by integration, finding a fitting altar for Prometheus to set his fire.

I was a little uncertain about how to end this post, and fortune smiled upon me.

AS I am writing this Solsbury Hill is playing in the next room.

“To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Though my life was in a rut
‘Til I thought of what I’ll say
Which connection I should cut…”

Peter Gabriel wrote this song about the alienation he felt after a spiritual experience. This is a part of the Hero’s Journey as well. The loneliness one will partake of, being an alien in the material world, after seeing the Heavens and conquering the Hells.

Quoting the singer about the song: “It’s about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get … It’s about letting go.”

Invocational Arts

Posted on by Jon Sewell

Guest Blog Post by Daniel Christensen

[Editor’s Note: Today we are happy to feature a guest blog post by Daniel Christensen, an Eleusyve alumni who has been involved in every Rite we staged in one manner or another. For several weeks we’ve been talking about a post about the mechanics of invocation, and the various techniques employed in devotional work. We asked Daniel to kick off the topic because of his well rounded background with several methods of devotional work, many of which informed the practices of our cast over the years.]

I was honored to be involved with the Eleusyve Theater Group between 2004 and 2018, performing and/or working back stage for all seven of the rock opera Rites of Eleusis. Wrapped in and around that experience, I was also involved with a neo-pagan ritual theater group that performed a weekend-long immersive and interactive modern interpretation of the Eleusinian Mysteries.* I know that in some places, there are hard feelings between some neo-pagans and some Thelemites. I am not here to sing Kumbaya to make it all better**. What I will say is that each of those world-views and practices informed my approach to the other.

I would also point out the elephant in the temple: The big differences between these two forms of theater are rooted in the assumptions that we make about who our audience is and what they expect.

A few years ago, I saw two rituals rather close together, both on the descent of Inanna: one neo-pagan and one Thelemic. Both used the same myth and yet each presented the ritual in fundamentally different ways.

The neo-pagan ritual was rooted in physical participation: it was a community accustomed to spiral dances, improvised chants, and extemporaneous revelations from participants in touch with mythological archetypes. The attendees came to an old concrete military bunker after dark. They walked from station to station, shivering and shedding their bits of ego at each of the stages. A gate guardian demanded Inanna give up something to proceed; the attendees likewise gave up something of their own to proceed down to Erishkagal.

The Thelemic ritual was based in a culture that values individual observation and contemplation of a rite. Mass participation is limited to proscribed steps and signs, to pre – scripted recitation. Attendees to the Thelemic Descent ritual walked into a temple and sat against the side-walls, facing the center, as in a Gnostic Mass. The attendees watched Inanna make her progress down, just as they would watch the Priest progress from the tomb to the altar. They participated by reading excerpts from poetry, in unison; their sacrifice was written down and carried by one of the officers.

Both rituals had the same essential story. Both had priests and priestesses, music, lavish altars and costumes. Both had a profound impact on the people who attended. And yet, without even touching on the myth or the mystery, you know that both were very different in their presentation. Why? Because I believe a community will interact with your art in the manner to which they are accustomed. Both directors knew what their audiences would and would not do. We challenged a lot of that in both the Mysteries and the rock opera Rites. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. (I’m still sad no one sat in the “splash zone” for the Rite of Jupiter. I mean, y’all wear enough black, it wouldn’t show.)

This way to the “slash zone.”

Still reading? Good.

Devotional practices work the same way. For the more secularly inclined, I’m talking about digging into a spiritual role by digging into yourself; getting your roots down into it and letting the archetype and the role grow into you. Devotion is action, attention is focus.

For the group that presented the modern Eleusinian Mysteries, this devotional practice was an essential part of the performance. Auditions were held in November and weekly rehearsals began in January (for a festival that happened in late March/early April.) But before the first rehearsal, each of the priests and priestesses began devotional work at home. Actors were encouraged to erect an altar for the god-form they portrayed, to decorate it with bits and pieces and symbols appropriate to the role, and to spend time (daily, if possible) working on and with that. Having an outward manifestation – an altar, a talisman – gives the subconscious mind some symbols to chew on.

To provide balance, the actors also dug in to some good old fashioned left-brain research. One year for the Eleusinian Mysteries, I had the role of Ares – Greek god of war. Of course, my gut reaction was to sign up for a martial arts class. But in my research, I learned that before Ares was a fighter, his mentor first taught him to dance. (You don’t think he caught Aphrodite’s attention by his spear work alone, do you?) In the end, my tango lessons taught me more about my body and my kinesthetic sense than the krav maga. (Bonus: It made for a great showdown at the end of the Rite of Venus between Libra/Jon and Saturn/me.

So if devotion is energy and attention is focus, the third ingredient is time. My best results always come from stuffing my brain full of facts and then letting them ferment until an idea falls out. That fermentation usually means walking away and letting my mind unwind on something else. Remember though: research and contemplation and action all have ways of stirring up changes in your brain, but ideas take time and rarely adhere to a schedule.

The results? Investing the energy and focus over time can lead to transformation. Back when I was involved, the festival celebrating the Eleusinian Mysteries included not only staged and scripted performances, they also included improvisational, interactive time between the attendees and the priests and priestesses. After months of work (plus a few crisis counseling classes), the actors could step into their roles and, if all went right, speak and act in ways they believe those gods would behave. They became the walking, talking altars with which the attendees contemplated and furthered their own spiritual growth and development.

All this was bouncing around in my brain before this random dude approached me at a party and said, “I’m making a rock opera version of Crowley’s Rite of Luna. Wanna play?” At the Rites, we had devotional altars to the gods backstage in our dressing rooms. On one memorable occasion, we allowed the audience to make devotional offerings to the godform, which led to someone offering a thong to Venus. As I said, a community will experience your art in the manner they are accustomed.

*For the purposes of this article: the “Rites of Eleusis” will refer to the ritual theater plays written by Aleister Crowley and concerning the lightning path of the planets on the Tree of Life from Saturn to Luna; “the Eleusinian Mysteries” will refer to both the ancient and modern ritual theater surrounding the story of Demeter and the abduction of Persephone.
** I will also add that I consider myself a dilettante (in Lon Milo DuQuette’s sense) in both traditions. I was initiated and have long since retired from the Wiccan organization; baptized and confirmed in the EGC. Any mistakes or misunderstandings I make about the Fundamental Nature of How These Groups Work are my own and should not reflect upon Eleusyve Productions, the Ordo Templi Orientis, the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, or the Aquarian Tabernacle Church.

[Second Editor’s Note: Daniel sells himself short in this post, as he was not merely involved, he was entirely integral. And a really good sport. As evident in the clip below, which is one of several promotional videos we shot featuring “Pastor Steve”.]

Creative Rules

Posted on by Jon Sewell

More on Inspiration

Following up on my post about inspiration, (which somehow was mostly about my love of Xanadu) I want to talk about limitation as it relates to the creative process. And fortunately, we have an excellent jumping off point. The recent lecture by Dr. David Shoemaker, that he presented prior to The Rite of Saturn last September in Seattle.

So, before you read this post, you should really listen to this lecture on the Living Thelema Podcast:

David Shoemaker Lecture from The Rite of Saturn

We’ll wait… No, really. Listen to it.

Okay, moving on. You’ll listen to it eventually.

The point that Dr. Showmaker makes about limitation, and the practical advantages of putting hard limits upon yourself in order to foster creative thought is something we are going to discuss with regard to our work with The Rites of Eleusis, and a technique you could consider when planning your own.

“But wait!” I hear you saying. “You told me I could drive this like I stole it!”

Of course! And you should! But self imposed limitations feed the creative process! And limiting the broad scope of all possibility to a more streamline set of alternatives will allow you to travel toward your destination in the same way a road might lead you across a wide and trackless desert.

For example, some of the interpretive limits we placed upon ourselves were:

  1. We changed no words. We could repeat phrases to create musical refrain, and characters could repeat each others lines, and in a few places long parts were divided between to characters as in a dialog, but the words are all there.
  2. There is no spoken dialog. Everything is sung.
  3. With one exception, all the music is original.
  4. There is a continual story told through The Rites of Eleusis as we presented them. While each Rite can stand alone, when viewed as a whole, there is a single narrative running through it. (Which relates to the formula of Tetragrammaton and the Qabalistic worlds, in case you were wondering.)
  5. The actions and motivations we interpreted into the story were based on the characterizations of the astrological and planetary symbols as we understand them. But the way we presented them had to be understandable to a lay person.
  6. New innovations were always reviewed against the question: “Will this detract from the main story?”
  7. The setting we presented these Rites is was a “mythical place” that is informed by events in human history, but takes place in no specific time or place. This was more a freedom we granted ourselves, but also a restriction in so far as we did not allow the setting to inform the character roles, but rather tried to present those roles within the narrative.

What rules would you place on a presentation? What about a series?

One Star in the Company of Stars

Posted on by Jon Sewell

Featured Cast and Crew: Sunnie Larsen

Rather than indulge in yet another autobiographical post about my love of 80’s musicals, today I would like to focus on the work of one of our long term team members, Sunnie Larsen.

The incomparable Sunnie Larsen

Sunnie was involved in six of the seven Rites of Eleusis that we presented, taking the stage in five of those in the role originally filled by Leila Waddell. For The Rite of Venus in 2007 she was able to collaborate on the music, but sadly unavailable on our performance dates. This is when we learned that if we wanted to book Sunnie, we would have to plan it more than a year in advance. Which we did, going forward.

If her wonderful composition and live performances were the extant of her involvement, that would be enough. Her voice and instrumental skills were integral in the shaping of our presentations. Her stage presence is grand, and her unflagging positive demeanor throughout the rehearsal and staging process make her a joy to work with. But that is just what you can see from the stage, or in the videos.

In reality, Sunnie did much more for our productions than deliver excellence in composition and performance. She spent many hours of her personal time (working closely with Marcos Duran) to transcribe the choral arrangements into sheet music for the cast. In addition, she regularly took point on teaching the choral arrangements to the various sections, and offering guidance and support to other cast members throughout the rehearsal process and theater run. Her skills brought everyone on the cast to a higher level, and her participation and dedication improved the productions for everyone involved.

The majority of the viola arrangements Sunnie performed for the Rites were her original compositions, either working with Jon Sewell to capture a specific theme, or having free rein to create something that works with the music provided. Many of the more moving tracks started out as improvisational pieces that were developed into melodies crafted to create the sense of other worldly wonder called for by the various narratives of the Rites.

As a case in point, this piece from The Rite of Saturn was her first take at the material, and we were all so moved we kept it.

Currently Sunnie is working on a solo album entitled “The Space Between Notes”, which is being crowdfunded via Kickstarter. I urge everyone who has come to appreciate her music over the years to contribute to this project.

The Space Between Notes

If you would like to learn more about the composition process for The Rites of Eleusis, and how the team worked together, there is a brief YouTube video here.

Musical Adaptation Part One

Musical Adaptation Part Two

We would also like to take time to acknowledge Katie Cashatt, who performed the role of Luna in The Rite of Luna (2005), and Heather Freeman, who learned the music Sunnie composed to perform as Luna in Taurus in The Rite of Venus (2007). Each of them brought so much strength and beauty to their performances, and enriched the projects with their skill and craft.

Katie Cashatt as Artemis (Luna) in The Rite of Luna (2005)
Heather Freeman as Luna in Taurus in The Rite of Venus (2007)

You Have To Believe We Are Magic

Posted on by Jon Sewell

Inspiration, the Angel and Olivia Newton John

I want to talk about inspiration. Where it comes from, where it goes, and what to do with it when you have it.

But first, allow me to acknowledge that I missed a blog update. I have been having a bit of writers block, and Wednesday came and went without inspiration. I have also been working though a larger creative block, and these are more than a little related.

I set myself a goal of making three updates a week. This is my rule, that I made for myself, and I have been following it diligently for a month. I even incorporated traveling to Chicago (which may be the inspiration for another post) into my schedule and kept to it, so I am not kicking my own ass too hard over this lapse. Nor do I feel the need to “catch up”. It is one post missed over the course of a month, and I believe I can grant myself that much slack.

I am mostly acknowledging this because a little slack in the creative process seems like a good thing, at least for myself, and I trust you will all be kind enough to grant me my occasional bouts of humanity. There may be lapses in the future, as well, but I will make every effort to stay on target.

As it happened, the writer’s block has become the core of this post, because this is certainly not the first lack of inspiration I have experienced in the course of a large project, and it will not be the last. The trick I learned along the way is to keep at it, and look for that spark of creativity. Protect it and grow it into a flame. And don’t be surprised if you encounter that spark in odd places.

For example, I recently found inspiration in Xanadu. Not the song by Rush, or the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Coleridge upon which that song is based, but the movie from 1980 starring Olivia Newton-John as a Muse called Kira. Which makes a certain kind of sense, because, you know, she’s a Muse.

Melissa and I attended a “Sing Along” presentation of Xanadu last week, and it was just as ridiculous and beautiful as I remember. But it also contained some food for meditation, as all the best entertainment does.

I do not expect that even half the people reading this are familiar with the movie Xanadu. It was the first film that Olivia Newton-John starred in after Grease, and the first film for which any actress was paid $1,000,000.00. She was at the top of her game, and looks and sounds wonderful throughout.

The soundtrack also featured the music of Electric Light Orchestra. I developed my love for Electric Light Orchestra at the age of six. My grandfather would walk my sister and I to the library, and allow us to check out books. During one of these trips I discovered that I could also check out records. My first record was a telling of The Count of Monte Cristo, which my young mind found very dull. Upon returning it, I decided that a record about spaceships would be much more exciting. So I checked out a copy of the double album “Out of the Blue” by ELO. I played the first few bars of the first song upon returning to my grandparents home, and my grandmother rushed into the room to provide me with headphones, so she didn’t have to be subjected to this odd music. This was my first experience with headphones, and really with rock music aside from snippets on the radio. This was also my first experience of synesthesia. It was literally my first experience of the place where religious ecstasy and music meet. Suffice to say, I love some ELO.

The film Xanadu also features Gene Kelly, in one of his final film roles. While rock music was not a staple in my home growing up, musicals were. Singin’ in the Rain, Brigadoon, and On The Town were all known to me when I first encountered Xanadu. And Gene Kelly was a consummate entertainer.

How could such a collection of talent not be successful? Well, it wasn’t exactly the hit people were expecting. In fact, it was the film that the Golden Raspberries were created to celebrate as the Worst Film of the Year. But my strange little 11 year old brain rather enjoyed it.

The film is all over the map. It has no villain to speak of, other than capitalism, and no real moral to speak of, other than capitalism being good? It is not so much plot as a series of musical number attached by loosely related dialog. It has all the Shakespearean gravitas of an episode of Jim Henson’s The Muppet Show. And I say that with love.

I will not say the film has aged well. Although it is filled with the sort of passion that one might expect from a pre-Aids awareness Hollywood, and the dancers are a beautiful mixture of human types, colors, and gender bending; over the top anti-tropes. It certainly doesn’t pass the Bechdel Test. But visually, I believe this is the future liberals want.

On a more personal note, I am not saying that my Holy Guardian Angel bears any resemblance to the character of Kira, but I am saying that she does represent the archetypal genius that affords a magician the opportunity to course correct over the hills and valleys of earthly life, and there may be some resemblances to the way such an intelligence might manifest itself to me, personally. A more than passing resemblance, if I am being honest. She also has an infuriatingly indirect approach, as one might expect, of answering every question with another question, or open ended statement, that leaves the questioner with more mystery than when the conversation started.

Melissa also imprinted on this film early on, and has some great stories about her childhood love of the music of Xanadu, as it is one of the first vinyl records she ever owned. So before you chastise me for dragging her to this odd celebration of style over substance, I’ll just let you know it was her idea.

We blissfully set out to sing along with the sentimental camp-fest, and something interesting happened. Inspiration, in the form of a conversation about what these roles represent.

The films protagonist is Sonny, played by Michael Beck, from the cult film The Warriors. Sonny is a painter working at a job he hates who quits to do great art. Only to suffer painter’s block.

He encounters a muse, a Greek demi-God of inspiration and the arts called “Kira”. She emerges from a mural he painted in the script, but for some reason this detail is omitted in the film.

She inspires him, not to paint, but to open a club with some rich elderly gentleman he meets on the beach, played by Gene Kelly, and they create Xanadu. Never mind that he was good at painting, something about this club was more important.

There is some glitz, there is some cheese, Zeus says no to their forbidden love, something, something, big musical finish.

So imagine how I was feeling last week, sitting in a theater, soaked in cheese, while wondering what my next project might be, and how I am going to shape my next work of art, to be confronted by this childhood image that obviously set so many of my expectations. It was cool. And weird. And it reminded me that inspiration is where you find it. Keep your eyes open and it grows where you least expect it.

This viewing lead to some conversations. Was Kira asking Sonny to abandon his dream, or find a new one, better suited to him? Was the development of his artistic craft a necessary step to meeting his true destiny? Or was she just some capricious God-Child using him to finish her assignment?

These are deep questions we ask ourselves, when working out how we will exercise our creative genius. And often the skills we develop in one area can lead us in another, unexpected direction. In the end, I can only suggest that excellence is a habit, so bring your best to what you do…and cut yourself a little slack.

Speaking of creative genius, if you factor in my assumptions about the gratuitous illicit substances that must have been employed in drafting this film, and getting it green-lighted by a studio, I can say that it perfectly captures the formula for ekstasis described by Aleister Crowley in Energized Enthusiasm.

Which, like this post, sort of wanders off into the weeds, and finds something cool where you least expected it.

In future posts, I will talk about some other tricks for enticing inspiration back, when it sneaks away in the night. For now, what inspires you?

Musical Tones and the Hebrew Alphabet

Posted on by Jon Sewell

Hidden symbols in Musical Art

Making Art

As an artist, have you ever gone to great length to incorporate symbolism into your work, and realize later that almost no one is ever consciously aware of it? I think it is a pretty common occurrence among artists who intentionally employ symbolism. So I had this idea that I was going to do a little write up on tonal correspondences and time signature, and how we used them in The Rites of Eleusis for composition. At the end, we can talk about your art and methods you’ve employed if you like.

I have mentioned this process a few times over the years in talking about our work, and it is referenced in an earlier blog post with a little history, here:

Reading Rites Right

Colors (Queens Scale) and Notes that corresponding to the Hebrew letters in certain Hermetic traditions

The above chart illustrates the various colors that correspond to the Hebrew letter paths on the Tree of Life, and the musical tones that correspond to those colors according to Allan Bennett’s Golden Dawn diaries.

These same correspondences are used by the Builders of the Adytum and in the writings of their founder, Paul Foster Case.

I remembered reading someone else had done a review with some details on this, so I did what anyone would do, and conducted a Google search.

What I found is the Richard Kaczynski review of the DVD release of The Rite of Mars from March 19th, 2015 on the Zero=Two Thelemic Blog:

Eleusyve Productions DVD Release Aleister Crowley’s The Rite of Mars

“When dealing with sacred names—as in a group performance of the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram—the melody is dictated by the notes corresponding to those names. Thus, Adonai (אדני, ADNI or “Lord”) is sung to a melody using the notes E, F#, G, and F, while the name of the Archangel Gabriel (בריאל, GBRIAL) is sung using the notes G#, E, D, F, E, F#.”
– Richard Kaczynski, 0=2 March 19, 2015

Let me start by saying that this review stunned me when it was initially published (although it should not have, given Richard’s reputation for scholarly research and attention to detail) because it is the first time someone had written about the attention to detail we had incorporated into the composition without my having to explain it to them. It was a moment of pure joy for me to see that someone understood what we were up to!

Color (Queens Scale) , Tone and Letter Correspondences in more detail

And what we were up to is just as Richard described. Throughout our musical adaptations of The Rites of Eleusis, there are musical keys, scales, and phrases based upon these tonal correspondences that can be as simple as selecting the key of a tune, to the entire backing composition serving as the analysis of a God name. Time signatures are selected to represent the numerological significance of the beat. Themes for various characters are incorporated into the music, so that the theme of Saturn (2018) is heard when Saturn in Libra stalks the stage in The Rite of Venus (2007). The changing tides of the Rites is recorded in the changes within the musical score, but there is a continuity to the composition that runs throughout the entire cycle.

In addition, the color correspondences are included in the original scripts by Aleister Crowley, himself, as part of his vision for the Rites. We incorporated all of those into the costuming, lighting and sets.

The most obvious place where these tones are incorporated is the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram.

Angel and God names from the LRP in colors that correspond to the musical tones

The Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram appears in The Rite of Luna (2005), The Rite of Mars (2012) and The Rite of Saturn (coming later in 2019) and in each of these presentations, the music is performed in a slightly different style and cadence, but the primary tones are the same. The background music in all cases begins and ends with a series of chords constructed from the tones corresponding to letters of the Tetragrammaton and and name Adonai. All are composed in 3/4 time to capture the cadence of the opening A-Ta-He and closing A-Me-N of the Qabalistic Cross.

These are just some of the tools we used in crafting the music, but I share them in the hope that those of you who are looking for ways to incorporate this material into your work might find the method we employed useful, at least as a jumping off point.

When working in magick, or stagecraft, it is all about intentional application of symbols.

Anyone else have places where they weave more symbolism into their art than is apparent on the surface? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Special Moments in Rites of Eleusis History

Posted on by Jon Sewell

A Guest Post by Sister Lita-Luise Chappell

[This post was provided to me by Sister Lita at my request. I will be hosting guest posts here from time to time. If you would like to provide content, please reach out and let me know! -editor]

In early 2015, an email of inquiry went out to all O.T.O. Grand Masters, Frater Superior Representatives, and as many Masters and Secretaries of each local body around the world. Had they or any of their predecessors presented the Rites of Eleusis? If so, please respond. All the information about those rites would contribute to our Order’s overall knowledge of how well Crowley’s works had stimulated his inheritors. The response received was nothing short of amazing, and that information was presented at the Centennial Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in May of 2015.

As the information came flooding back, an Excel was produced, listing each country, the name of the local body, the date performed, which rite was presented, and any commentary about the event. The total number of performances came in at just over 600! A copy of the presentation can be found in the last chapter of the centennial celebration volume of Success is Your Proof.

Success is your Proof

Most Thelemites who have read about Aleister Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis, know that those first seven performances were held at Caxton Hall in London in 1910. However, the rites would not gain the attention they deserved for almost seventy years. That is, until 1979 when Agape Lodge No. 2 in Hollywood, introduced their members to Crowley’s Eleusis series, by informally doing readings of the rites. Thereafter, interest widely spread around the world.

What the presentation and chapter on the Rites did not include, due to time and space constraints, were some of the additional comments offered when these rites were reported. Some of the comments spoke of interesting people that participated, and some of them were anecdotes of fun and scary things that happened. It is some of those comments which I found most fascinating and will herein share a few of them. For instance, Grady McMurtry served as Magister Templi for the Rite of Saturn for Thelema Lodge in October of 1982. Lola de Wolfe hosted a Rite of Saturn in June of 1983 at her home near Mt. Diablo. An original cast member from the Broadway production of Hair acted in the Rite of Saturn, sponsored by Thelema Lodge in 1985. Even Hymenaeus Beta contributed some original poetry of Harry Crosby, for a Rite of Sol.

There were mishaps, too. At a Rite of Mars presented by Camp 23 in the U.S. in 1980, they reported that they had placed a cauldron on stage for a burning fire, but during the presentation the cauldron tipped over and sent up dramatic tall flames. It wildly impressed the audience, who thought it was part of the play, but it was not. The fire did not last long, but the floor got pretty burned. Another Mars fire story happened at Apep Lodge in Australia in 2010. It was a 1970’s theme, held outdoors around a fire pit, with red velvet curtains all around, and a sexy funky soundtrack. Everyone began drinking early, and sometime shortly after the rite, someone got too drunk, too close, and caught fire. Fortunately the fire on his clothing was quickly put out and he did not get hurt. Athene Lodge of Denmark in the mid 1990s, presented a Rite of Saturn. They had rented a community building, but they had to keep their celebration secret. They had fun smuggling in the wine, which was otherwise outlawed on the premises.

Also in the early 1990s, 93 Lodge in San Clemente, California, presented the Rite of Luna in their garage with the rafters full of pine branches and cricket noise, but what really wowed the crowd was the use of a blue laser light cone that shown down upon Luna, until that veil was broken. In 1996, 93 Lodge put on the Rite of Sol. Jesus on the cross wore sunglasses, and Brother Lon Duquette led a Mexican hat dance around huge sombreros on the floor. The Lodge also offered a synchronized swimming presentation in a pool for a Rite of Venus. In Los Angeles, Blue Horizon Oasis in 2009, presented the Rite of Saturn with a Krishna motif, and that same year, LVX Oasis had a punk rock theme for the Rite of Mars, a Rite of Saturn with an Andy Warhol theme, and a Rite of Sol with a Templar setting.

Scarlet Woman Lodge in Austin, Texas, presented many rites with fun themes from 1997 through 2000. Saturn was set in an asylum with the mental illness of Saturn, one Rite of Mars had a gangster setting and another Mars had the cast dress as chimps, gorillas, and bonobos, but only one character was human. In the Rite of Mercury, that character was a carnival circus clown. A Jupiter rite had an Indian Ganesh theme, and a Venus rite had a Shakespearean Midsummer setting.

In 1990, Albion Lodge in London presented all seven rites at Conway Hall to celebrate Crowley’s works. It was only the second time the rites had been presented in their original city since 1910. They even included original musical pieces with a live violin player. As well, there is Eleusyve Productions located in Seattle, Washington, which has successfully produced all the rites in the form of rock operas, with great success.

Every one of the rites has had its character’s words remain intact, but in how the stories are presented is left wide open to its readers, and each rite will fit well in almost any historical setting or theme. Each modern presentation continues to stand as a strong testament to the power of Crowley’s writings. These iconic rites are an important part of Crowley’s legacy, and with their ongoing presentations, they will continue to inspire future generations. If your local body decides to do theatrical readings or live performances, no matter where in the world they take place, please let your Eleusis Historian know. The historian keeps track of all Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis presentations produced worldwide. This reporting is voluntary, but when done, becomes a part of our historical files. Please include the name of the local body, which rite was produced, the date and place of presentation, copies of any fliers, programs, or pictures, and any comments on a particular theme. Please email to: eleusis@oto-usa.org  Thank you for helping to keep these rites alive and inspiring.

Sister Lita-Luise Chappell has been an O.T.O. member since January of 1991, is the founding Master of Golden Lotus Lodge, a Bishop in the Order, and serves as the International Rites of Eleusis Historian. She has a Masters in Psychology and a Doctorate in Human Sexuality. Dr. Chappell is also a published author of The Thelemic Cookbook, two books of poetry, and three books of international murder mysteries; all available on Amazon.com. Her social commentary on sex in sports, Sticks & Balls, and her spy novel, Hiding in Paradise, will be out later this year.

Doing Rites Right Part III

Posted on by Jon Sewell

The Mundane Order of Miracles

One of the little aphorisms I have said to myself over the years, just to keep myself going, is that “Faith can certainly move mountains, in so far as we employ our faith to move that mountain one rock at a time.” All art is magick. All creation falls into the mundane order of miracles we shape with our will, and build with our sinews. Inspiration and perspiration are closely interwoven.

With that in mind, picking up where we left off in our previous post, we will proceed to step three of our Doing Rites Right flow chart.

3. Have your planning meetings

This step is much as we covered in the first post in this series, but you will likely need to plan several meetings, covering specific areas. Don’t neglect any of the A,B,Cs we covered before: Artisit Vision, Budget, Casting, Dates, Effects and Fallout!

Come prepared with copies of the annotated script that you can share with your cast and crew; copies that they can scribble on and generally use to keep track of evolving landscape of your vision. Your meeting topic may include:

Stagecraft and Lighting – depending on whether you are using a theater, you may need a professional for this.
Props – Don’t forget to give yourself time to make these before rehearsal, so your cast can work with them.
Costumes – Depending on the theme, thrift stores can be a fantastic resource.
Casting – As your production size increases, your cast size may too. You may need to plan for auditions, so be sure to give yourself some advance time to advertise.

The Rite of Mercury Set, 2010

Sets – These can be simple or complex. Anything you can do with theater cubes will make your life easier, but if you are like me, you will what to do something big. Give yourself a lot of time to figure out how to construct your vision. Start with a cardboard model. I built them out of pizza boxes with duct tape.
Rehearsal Schedule – Plan the number of rehearsals based on the chart about, then add 2 for tech and dress rehearsal. It is best if you plan scene by scene, and give cast members the night off it they are not in the scenes being rehearsed that night.
For our productions, music and choral rehearsals – This is a whole other aspect, and should be planned prior to the blocking rehearsals, so that the choir knows it’s parts before they start acting. For each of these you will need to plan who will be responsible for the task, what sort of time frame will be required, and what sort of budget you will need.

4. Readers-Theater/Rehearsal

With a more complex vision, you will require a more granular rehearsal. Each scene and poem will need to be broken down and run repeatedly.

You can still start with a readers-theater in an early rehearsal in order to familiarize the cast with the structure, and brainstorm ideas for interactions between the characters.

Given the spartan nature of the script notes, there will be a great many questions about what motivates these characters, and how you choose to answer these questions will shape your presentation. This process will go on throughout the rehearsal schedule.

As your performance date approaches, you may find yourself invoking a rule coined by Melissa during our runs: “Simplify, do not embellish.” Your vision may be rich and complex, and creating it is certainly part of the learning process, but it will not always translate to stage. At some point, you will have to let go of the vision a little bit in order to be ready for opening night. Don’t let this discourage you! It is part of the process.

Sol Crucified, The Rite of Sol, 2012

5. Presentation

Again, depending on scale, you may do a single performance, or many. By the time opening night rolls around, the work of the director should be done. Again, I strongly advise that once the show opens, there in no more tweaking. The cast will have an idea how the show should run, and changes at this point will simply cause confusion and undermine the performance.

Allow the magick to run it’s course.

6. Review and relax. At this stage in the game, we may be talking about theatrical reviews. Here I would urge you, don’t be too worried about it. As it turns out, criticism falls into two categories. Useful, and stupid. Seriously.

A useful critique from an eloquent and professional source will undoubtedly discuss areas where your presentation either succeeded of failed in the eyes of the critic. It will contain information on the impressions that the critic received during the staging, and some indication about whether they would recommend their readers attend. Even a negative review might be very helpful in shaping your future work.

A stupid review is usually provided by someone who is unpaid on the internet. It will contain expletives, insults, and no useful information. Disregard these. Don’t even read the whole thing. If it is a comment you have control over, delete it and move on.

And don’t forget to relax and enjoy your achievement! Laugh about the hard parts! Consider all you have learned! And above all:

Party in a construction site! The Rite of Saturn 2018, photo by David Parks

Never fail to celebrate a success!