Twenty One

The Canon

Efficimus brevitātem et levitātem arcanīs.

The Canon is the official zine of VOAC, the Vegas Occult Art Collective. VOAC produces the Zine quarterly on the Equinoxes and Solstices. Copies, of which there are 93, are available at official VOAC events and online.

Visit findthecanon.com to get instructions on assembling more copies.

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Volume 1, Issue 2The Will To Truth By Michael Mukundadas Makowsky

The One and the Many

God is one, names are many Humanity is one, cultures are many

Race is one, colors are many Life is one, species are many Sun is one, lights are many

Planet is one, nations and tribes are many Ocean is one, rivers are many Sky is one, clouds are many Wood is one, trees are many

Energy is one, forms are many Air is one, winds are many

Music is one, styles and voices and genres are many

The Will To Live "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.”

Between two vast darknesses is this shimmering luminescence called Life, which is a gift and a miracle which we take for granted and bamboozle with socialization, nastiness and war. The lived-world of individuals includes the peak experiences of highest human consciousness such as samadhi, nirvana, Ain Sof, and Christ consciousness. Saints, sages, world teachers and East-West Integral Avatars and such contemporaries as Sri Aurobindo (1872 - 1950) and Aleister Crowley (1875 - 1947) have risen to such Superman experiences through meditation, prayer and adventure. They have left strong social legacies in ongoing international and national institutions and organizations, ashrams and Gnostic churches in the eternal quest to accomplish the Great Work.

"Love is the law, love under will."

can· on | \ˈka-nən (noun) Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Latin, ruler, rule, model, standard, from Greek kanōn. Middle English canoun, from Anglo-French*canoun, chanoun, from Late Latin canonicusone living under a rule, from Latin, according to rule, from Greek kanonikos, from kanōn 1a: a regulation or dogma decreed by a church council 1b: a provision of canon law 2 the most solemn and unvarying part of the Mass including the consecration of the bread and wine 3a: an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture 3b: the authentic works of a writer; e.g., the Chaucer canon 3c: a sanctioned or accepted group or body of related works; e.g. the canon of great literature 4a: an accepted principle or rule 4b: a criterion or standard of judgment; e.g., the canons of good taste 4c: a body of principles, rules, standards, or norms.

Two Nineteen

Letter From the EditorDo what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Happy SOLSTICE and welcome back to our little zine, The Canon. If you are just tuning in, we are ankle deep into this year’s theme The Four Powers of the ΣΦΙΝΨ. More specifically the second power, Velle - to WILL.

We’ve been busy mining the depths of creative commons libraries and the murky worlds of the online occult-o-sphere to bring you this humble publication. The most exciting part of the zine has been the opportunities for collaboration the process has presented. Notably, in this issue, the musickal collaboration of The Midnight Disease and Formyle with their song “Shadows.” The track is featured via QR code on page seventeen.

We are pleased with the variety and quality of the visual Art submissions we received and were thrilled to have received a submission from world renowned occult artist, Robert Buratti! (page fifteen) For our featured writing, Fra∴E.B.V.E.A.M. highlights the history of Thelema in Las Vegas in the first of his reoccurring segment, An Unofficial History of Thelema in The Valley of Las Vegas Nevada. Chapter One tackles the opaque history of the Solar Lodge, the first ever Thelemic group to make their home in Las Vegas. Brenden K. Jones examines the hyper-sexual and unfettered WILL of basketball great Wilt Chamberlain. Plus some philosophical whimsy and poetry from Soror Rose and big-picture musings from Michael Mukundadas Makowsky.

All that, and as much ART as we could cram into this analog micro-space. We now embark on the journey together…

Love is the law, love under will.

The Sheriff

The Tong, as the Solar Lodge in Las Vegas, NV referred to themselves, operated a pig farm in North Las Vegas, a catering business, and owned commercial and residential properties. Later, an urban legend would arise in the Las Vegas Valley concerning a dangerous “Satanic Compound” where there were occasional disappearances at their proprietary pig farm. But, as far as all current reporting as uncovered, after this last iteration of the Solar Lodge folded, Thelema would lie dormant in the Valley until 1995 e.v., with the foundation of NV-BABALON Camp of the regular and contemporary O.T.O.

Larry Ruiz Means digital illustration

Eighteen Three

An Unofficial History of Thelema in The Valley of Las Vegas Nevada Part One: The Solar Lodge

Received and Transcribed by Fra∴E.B.V.E.A.M., VOAC

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Our Battle Born State of Nevada is unique in Thelemic History. Its role has been singular, and secret; whether the work was clandestine, rogue, as with the Solar Lodge, or the Great Work in patient hermitage as with Helen Parsons-Smith, and her retirement in Tahoe; or the ups and downs of Thelemic community building by the modern O.T.O. since the 1990s and beyond. This series will focus on the story of the 93 Current as it has manifested in Las Vegas, Nevada. A short history, to be sure, but emblematic, in microcosm, of the development of Thelema as a movement from the occultural fringe to the evolving community and institutions that promulgate the Law in the twenty-first century.

There was a famous interregnum period in the history of the modern Ordo Templi Orientis, from the closure of Agape Lodge # 2 in Pasadena, CA, unto the establishment of the contemporary International Grand Lodge from the late 1960s onward. As delineated in Frater Shiva’s 2007 e.v. book, Inside Solar Lodge

Behind the Veil: True Tales of Initiation and High Adventure, initiations and magickal work were continued, under controversial circumstances, in a group that prized discipline and business acumen, and fused the O.T.O. and A;A;.´systems idiosyncratically in a spectacular and cautionary tale that ended with the group eventually fragmenting, some remnants of the Solar Lodge relocating, eventually, to Las Vegas, NV in the early 1980s

“We must WILL to possess empire,” Alphonse Louis Constant

We’ve arrived at the second part of this year’s journey. WILL, from Latin Velle,

being the Second Power of the mysterious Sphinx. Represented by the deadly

claws of the lion. Attributed to the sign LEO and emblematic of the Sun. Lions are

stealth hunters, they ambush their prey with an invisible approach. They

overwhelm and attack from above. Unlike the previous power, WILL is always

active. Always an act. Like the claws, hands perform vital tasks needed to do one’s

WILL.

Crowley wrote. “This Sphinx is an Eidolon of the Law, for the Bull is Life, the Lion is Light, the Man is Liberty, the Serpent Love. Now then his Sphinx, being perfect in true Balance, yet taketh the Aspect of the Feminine Principle that so She may be partner of the Pyramid, that is the Phallus, pure Image of Our Father the Sun, the Unity Creative. The Signification of this Mystery is that the Adept must be Whole, Himself, containing all Things in true Proportion, before he maketh himself Bride of the One Universal Transcendental in its most Secret Virtue.”

DE NATURA ΣΦΙΝΨ Liber Aleph

VELLE : The Claws of the Sphinx

Chad Martinez Sphinx Collage

Four Seventeen

Little Bitty Kitty

Cosmic Cat, Stellar Cat Sometimes I wonder where you're at.

Your paws make thunder when you run. Your silence melts like shadows at night behind the sun.

Stubborn Cat, Feral Cat The way you eat you might get fat.

Crazy Cat, Zany Cat You're so cool, I think you’re pretty phat!

Pretty Cat, Loving Cat You travel through your time and space

And bless us with your sin and grace.

You perch upon your pedestal, Aware of everything and all.

Baby Cat, Chatty Cat You talk to me all night and day

Proclaiming, so you get your way.

You fly an orbit, like a dove.And show us all the Will to Love.

by Soror Rose

Sixteen Five

Chad Martinez Leo collageLas Vegas Age 9/26/1914

Six Fifteen

Liminalis Untitled Landscape 1

watercolor

TwoFourteen Seven

Chad Martinez Caduceus

collage

Robert Buratti Fire in the Head (Edges of Twilight)

pen & ink on paper

Eight Thirteen

After a frustrating junior year he wanted to continue playing professionally but at the time the NBA did not accept draft until after college was completed. Therefore he took up playing with the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958. Rather than spending four years honing his skills he chose to join a circus seeking recognition. When he did reach the NBA, Chamberlain was a force to be reckoned with. We now know basketball players to be giants, but at this time players were mortal men. His size alone allowed him to dominate the game. Some saw this as an unfair advantage, which he used to the fullest. Many fans of the game hated him for this. His own teammates weren’t that fond of him either. On the court we saw a whirlwind of unfettered Will tearing through the game with brute force. A ball hog with little grace or art to his style. He loved to be hated. He was the star of the show. Our star was shining bright and at any cost. Most famously perhaps, Chamberlain was a known lothario. He publicly acknowledged keeping a Daytimer to track the number of women he slept with (20,000) to illustrate sex being such a wonderful part of his life and how fortunate it was that fame could turn things around for someone who grew up quite shy with the ladies. There are a few accounts painting him as maybe sex hungry but always gentlemanly. The general consensus however is that Chamberlain was never satisfied, was rude, was misogynistic, and would ask a woman out while on a date with another. Did he eventually settle down? No. Our star burned out alone in a mansion filled with automated machines that tended to his bachelor pad needs while being remembered as a selfish player who lifted up only himself and never his teammates.

Chad Martinez Centaur 1 collage

Twelve Nine

Do What Thou Wilt Chamberlain Brenden K. Jones

You often hear the phrase Do What Thou Wilt. What you don’t often hear is the completion of that phrase: Love is the law, love under will. Now, it’s safe to assume that many who are spouting off only the first half have a limited understanding of Aleister Crowley’s philosophy. Many misconstrue this to mean do what you want. This is why Love is important. And it’s not to come at you from some hippy-dippy love cult all-are-one point of view. No, what I the “love” to be about is a certain amount of restraint, a certain degree of control. For one cannot accurately pursue one’s Will if their star is crashing out of orbit knocking into other stars. Disregard others and you disregard yourself. Enter Wilt Chamberlain. I am fascinated by the athlete as the star. Placed upon us as a beacon of strength and vigor of which to aspire. Chamberlain was an individual graced with god-like stature and a natural athleticism. As a 6 foot tall 13 year old he excelled at track and field with no interest in basketball having called it “a game for sissies.” But since basketball was the king of Philadelphia he learned the sport seeing it as a more viable option in terms of wealth. This can be seen as the first instance of Chamberlain seeking the next best thing. Our Star was not on a consistent orbit. Between the ages of 16 and 17 Chamberlain was skilled enough to sneak his way into several professional games under the pseudonym George Marcus. Though there was an attempt to keep these games secret from the American Amateur Association there were several reports in contemporary Philadelphia publications.

Chad Martinez Centaur 2 collage

ElevenTen

Liminalis Untitled Landscape 2 watercolor

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