Valor,
Firstly let me state I do not make it my business to tailor my answers to please anybody, affiliated members or not. I answer honestly from and about me, regardless of who may approve or disapprove. I wonder where you pick up the idea that I would have to answer in such a cautionary manner as you suggest?
I ask because it is not uncommon to tailor a reply in accordance to other peoples liking
Also, this thread is directed precisely at affiliated members of the Temple like myself. So I'm already answering non-affiliated members questions here, and from what I can tell so far I'm the only affiliated member doing so in this thread.
.No, your wrong. There have been responces by affiliated members an ex members. Excuse me if i inconvienanced you with my questions, seeing how im not a member, however, judging by your reply it seems that you've been waiting for someone to finally ask you. Lol
Now, lets get to those questions of yours.
I've been affiliated with the ToS for about 3 and a half years. I joined because I have always been pretty big on the idea of continuous professional development, and wanted to extend this outwith my profession to other aspects of my life. It was around 1999 or 2000 that I first became aware of the ToS, but at that time it was only through a rather scathing, and ill-informed criticism on alt.satanism or whatever that list was called, and also some less than complimentary information on the CoS website.
Admittedly, I was skeptical and didn't want to associate myself with what appeared to be a spinoff of the CoS, and especially not if there was so much bickering between the two organisations.
Note: while i was affiliated with the church of satan we never bothered to speak of the temple because it was considered counter productive and foolish to dwell on such petty topics.
Between then and 2006 I carried on my life, earned a degree in human resource management and in the meanwhile between working in human resources between a couple of organisations, I was also an avid online gamer. And I played regularly with a guy who had been a member of the ToS back in the early 2000s. We talked for a couple of years, and he was able to ascertain from my interests and how I talked about them that the LHP might be something to look into. After some digging about, I found the Belanone FAQ which I linked to above and talked to my friend about that, and it was then that he said he was a member in the past and said it would be good to join.
So that prompted an email to the executive director, a lot of dialogue between us and I met with a couple of members of the Temple in due course and my membership was approved. Within a few months I found a lot of stuff that is said of the ToS outside of it is inaccurate at best.
It has benefitted me in ways that I can speak of retroactively and continuously. When I first joined, I was a very pent up and dissatisfied individual. This is apparrent in many of my communications in the Temple in the first year or so, and over time I saw this and thought about what it was in my life that needed to change, and what about me needed to change. For a start, I had picked a university course that was particularly limiting to what kind of jobs I would be qualified to do. Very specialist subject, and also a subject I found through experience of working in that field that I actually really didn't like it. The problem then was that because of my degree, I appeared over-qualified for other roles that I wanted to try out, which added to the frustration. Some other things that I have resolved included my relationships with some friends, and some other people that really could only be described as psychic vampires, and a general disdain for my current environment and family issues.
In a working of Greate Black Magic last year, I moved far from where I live now and took the time to see how easy it was to say goodbye the baggage and people that I had previously used as an excuse to stay behind. I got work fairly quickly, and enjoyed a different culture and lifestyle than what I had been used to. Which naturally made me stick out like a sore thumb. Eventually after some consideration of options that I hadn't thought to look at before, an opportunity presented itself for me to return to where I am now, and some months later a complete change of career which I am enjoying very much.
With ToS affiliation, you don't merely get a shiny medallion and a subscription to a newsletter. You get access to a variety of very unique, and gifted individuals who have experience and expertise in a variety of fields. People who have overcome strife in their lives, and taken great risks and seen the benefits of doing so. We have artists, authors, musicians, historians, scientists, philosophers, crafts men, and so on and so on, and lets not forget these people are Black Magicians.
The ToS has no dogma. And this is exemplified by the incredibly diverse orders and elements that are set up within the Temple to approach Xeper in a host of different ways, catering to the interests and expertise of their members. There is no prescribed approach to Xeper, and lets face it there couldn't be.
The temple does dogma: 1, being and becoming are good. 2, being and becoming can best be squired by conscious, rationally-intuited means. 3, the temple of Set, if properly used and maintained, is among the best tools for acquiring being and becoming. However recently i've found many flaws in this. I also believe there is more dogma, but will not comment or bash the temple concerning this.
The ToS is unique in that we have an extensive library of the works of members from the past 35 or so years, and this grows every day. New ways to collaborate with members spring up all the time, and unlike a lot of online LHP groups, we do meet face to face. We're an international organisation, and regularly have meetings all over, and it's in these face to face meetings that you can see the benefit of membership in each of the members, and through the highly-charged and often intense exchange of energy and ideas.
yes, this common in many organizations. This is not indiginous to the temple
What are my goals and aims?
To develop a magical system that makes use of my talents and interests. Mainly at the moment those include developing as a musician, which through the ToS I have certainly been doing well with as there are musicians within that I regularly collaborate with, and gain insight on technique, theory and industry related info. I'm also studying the Ogham writing system of Gaelic Ireland and Scotland, and to that end I am also learning Scots Gaelic. I'm also learning to play Scots Trad music on the fiddle, which ties into the Gaelic current I'm working with.
Would I have considered doing any of that without ToS membership? Maybe some of it. But I don't think I would nearly be as motivated to do so as I am now, because I would probably not have worked through some of the things I mentioned earlier, and certainly wouldn't have access to the same level of materials that I use now, or encouragement and feedback.
I think it's awesome that there are people out there who have found Xeper to be something of interest and a valuable pursuit and something to apply in their lives. What seems strange to me is why they wouldn't want to take advan
tage of what the Temple offers. But I don't make it my business to encourage people to join the ToS either, they should find it as others and myself have; Freely and of their own Will.
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