The Scarlet Letter
Ideas & Resources
It's not always easy to come up with ideas for what to write about. This
page offers some specific topics that your story might cover. This list
is certainly not exhaustive...it is here simply to provoke inspiration.
If you would like to ask the Editor about more ideas or to see if your story
is appropriate for The Scarlet Letter, just send an email.
Also, be sure to check out the theme for the next
issue. When you are ready to send something in, be sure to look over our
submission guidelines.
Here is a list of topic possibilities:
Original or reinterpreted ritual (commentary on
performance is an extra bonus)
Updates and overviews of Lodge classes,
events, fundraisers, and other ongoing projects
Poems or songs
Scholarly research on Crowley, a Gnostic Saint, or
other historical figure within O.T.O./E.G.C./G.D. etc.
Officer reports on Lodge projects, improvements, events,
etc.
Humor or satire
Observations and ideas about magick, religion, or
spiritual systems
Experiences or knowledge about spiritual technologies
(i.e. tarot, astrology, yoga, Qabalah, goetia, enochian magick, etc.)
Opinions regarding society, history, or politics (e.g.
feminism, child-rearing, civil rights, etc.) from a Thelemic point of
view
Original fiction or plays (these can be serialized
if very long)
Personal stories or editorials regarding experiences
within the Lodge, being a Lodge member, or being a Thelemite in general
Observations and ideas about the Gnostic Mass, Gnosticism,
or the Gnostic Catholic Church
Meditations, prayers, or mantras (reprinted, interpreted,
or original)
Trivia (e.g. interesting quotes, odd facts about Crowley,
etc.)
Stories about personal experiences (travels, unusual
events, etc.)
Reprints of Thelemic/O.T.O./E.G.C. documents (esp.
those at the Ransom
Center at the University of Texas at Austin)
Reports on science, technology, psychology, etc, from
a Thelemic point-of-view
Observations and ideas about godforms from various
pantheons
Myths or fables (reprinted, interpreted, or original)
Sex (or anything else) and it’s role in magick
and/or Thelema
Here is a list of ideas to spark your imagination when
you're feeling stuck. Feel free to stick to the ideas presented here or
to use them as a jumping-off point.
Meditate on a card from the Tarot and write a poem, observation, vision,
theory, etc.
Write a short piece describing how the Order/Thelema/Lodge
affected change in your life
How did you come to the Order/Thelema/Lodge?
Pick a spiritual practice you use or are interested
in and tell us about your experience with it
Tell us about a project you’ve been attending
or running in the Lodge or elsewhere
Write a short poem as an allegory for an initiatory
experience, magical rite, or other aspect of the Order
Have you done anything to help improve the Lodge
or Temple? Tell us about it, even if you think it’s unimportant
or small
Write about an adventure you’ve had at an O.T.O./Thelemic
event, such as IPJ, Fall Theatre, or NOTOCON
Find a rare or unpublished document by Crowley or
other interesting individual
You can review the
Scarlet Letter departments
here.
Here are some very useful sites for research, writing technique, materials on
Aleister Crowley, facts & figures, mythology, sacred texts, and more...
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U.S. Grand Lodge
Tons of useful information about the O.T.O.
The Hermetic
Library
Most of Crowley’s libers, plus sites for Sabazius X° and Dionysos
Thriambos, and more. A great site!
Twilit
Grotto
A great site with works by esoteric writers, including Dr. John Dee, Bruno,
Agrippa, Wescott, and many others.
O.T.O.
Photos and Documents
Yeah, it’s Koenig, but he has some great stuff on this page.
Bartleby
Too grand to describe: encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, many digital books,
Gray’s Anatomy, World Factbook, famous quotations, and more!
The
Skeptic’s Annotated Bible
A must-have reference. Now includes the Quran, too!
Sacred
Texts
Just like it sounds…an astounding collection of holy books (including
many of our own).
Wikinfo
A huge open-source encyclopedia.
Strunk’s
Elements of Style
This is on the Bartleby site, but it’s important enough to call out.
An invaluable resource for writers.
RefDesk
Facts, facts, and more facts.
Atlapedia
Maps and facts for every country in the world.
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The U.S. Library
of Congress
U.S. Copyright
Information
InfoPlease
Almanac
Business, Health, Culture, Arts, History, Government, and on and on.
A
Celebration of Women Writers
A collection of works from women from every country and culture going back
to 3000BCE.
Bulfinch’s
Mythology
A valuable text on Greek and Roman myths & legends of the Middle Ages.
Folklore
& Mythology
A gigantic catalog of classic myths, fables, and other stories from around
the world.
Project
Gutenburg
Huge catalog of classic books in the public domain…over 10,000 works,
highly searchable.
The Internet
Classics Archive
Online works by classic Greek writers, such as Homer, Apollonius, Aristotle,
Plato, and Euclid. There are a few other authors, too, such as Confucius, Lao-tzu,
Sun Tzu, and Omar Khayyam.
Knowledgerush
Book Directory
Another large catalog of classic works, but with great summations and commentary.
Luminarium
Works from the Medieval, Renaissance, and 17th C. periods.
Templars on About.com
Lots of links to resources about the Knights Templar.
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