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TOTOCON II Schedule and Description of Presentations: FRIDAY 7:00 pm - ?? Meet and Greet Location TBA
SATURDAY 9:00 – 10:00 am Registration 10:00 – 11:15 am The Warrior’s Way – Fr. Rainboweagle This presentation will focus on walking the path of the Spiritual Warrior according to the teaching of the Native peoples of the North American plains, and how these teachings can help solve many of the woes of today’s society. Among the topics discussed will be rites of passage, ceremony, the meaning and practice of honor and courage, nature awareness, issues of materialism, and much more. Frater EWL (Rainboweagle) has been a student of many diverse spiritual paths including Buddhism,
Hinduism, Taoism and Native American spirituality. He has been a guest speaker at Texas State University
and at Scarlet Woman Lodge OTO, offering classes on various spiritual topics. He and his wife Soror Vev
11:30 am – 12:45 pm All the Kabbalah You Really Need to Know - in 72 Minutes or Less - Kabbalah doesn't need to be obscure, pedantic, or boring. It can be fun, experiential - and maybe even a little dishy. Anyone can master the basics in only a few hours - and the rest, as they say, is commentary. In this class, beginners will quickly become acquainted with the fundamentals of Kabbalah, while more experienced practitioners will gain deeper perspectives into the origins of Kabbalah and its continuing relevance to Thelemic magickians. Topics include: The Big Bang and the Ain Soph Aur
Four Letters, Four Worlds, and Three Souls
Hebrew Letters - Categories, Cubes, and a Bit of Gossip
Miriam BatAsherah is a Thelemite, Witch and permaculture consultant living in Austin, Tejas. With an academic background in Jewish studies, she has been actively studying Hermetic Qabala for over fifteen years and Jewish Kabbalah for nearly as long. She can read and speak Hebrew . . . if you count the "Hungry Little Caterpillar" reading level. In addition to her membership in Scarlet Woman Lodge, Miriam serves as an organizer and teacher with the local Reclaiming community Tejas Web.
1:00 – 3:00 pm LUNCH
3:00 – 4:15 pm Beyond the Greater Feast: Death and Dying for Thelemites – Sor. Tzaddi We will discuss death and dying from the Thelemic perspective, share personal experiences, and do some visualization and meditation exercises. This workshop will answer some questions about death. Soror Tzaddi has seven years of hospice nursing experience, and eleven years as a member of OTO. She is an ordained priestess currently active in the EGC. She also has experience with re-evaluation counseling and NLP. 4:30 – 5:45 pm Roots of the World-Ash, Wonder Tree: Examining Thelema’s Antecedents – Mike Rogers Join us as we take a trip through history and examine the various people, philosophies and spiritual practices that preceded The Great Beast’s reception of The Law in 1904. These various antecedents contributed their own influences into the path we know as Thelema, thus demonstrating that Thelema is as much a syncretic path as much as it is an innovative one. Mike Rogers (Frater Anubis), a Native Son of Texas, was born January 28th, 1975 in Dallas. In his late twenties, he left his home state and made his way West. While in Los Angeles, he accepted the Law of the Thelema, and found the O.T.O thus initiating into the Order in December of 2004. After over seven years in the Golden State, he could not resist the call of home and returned to Texas much improved by his tenure in California. During his time in Southern California, Frater Anubis has served as an officer for LVX Lodge and as an active member in Los Angeles’ newest body, Star Sapphire Lodge, where he teaches classes, and greatly enjoys celebrating mass as both an ordained deacon and novice priest of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica. 6:00 – 7:30 pm Free Time 7:30 - ?? pm Dinner Location TBA
SUNDAY 9:00 – 10:00 am Registration 10:00 – 11:15 am The Mark of the Whore: The Magick of Tattoo – Mulysa Mayhem The tattoo has always held some mystique, whether it was the design of a tattoo itself or the process of etching something permanent into human flesh. Those that have borne these marks have throughout history been branded as “loose,” “undesirable,” “abrasive,”“rebellious,” or “uneducated brutes.” Tattooing has been denigrated as an act of rebellion performed only by sailors, bikers and whores, when in truth there is a whole history of the tattoo that most of society have refused to acknowledge or accept. The tattoo is in fact, and has been, a sacred, magickal mark filled with diverse meanings for all of its bearers. The act of giving and receiving a tattoo is a rite of initiation and an alchemical operation unto itself for all involved. This presentation offers a concise history of the origins of tattooing from the temples of Ancient Egypt to Japanese Courtesans, from the warriors of the South Pacific and the Knights Templar, to British aristocrats, gang members, prison convicts and modern day Freemasons, magicians and Witches. The workshop will show the diversity of those who choose to mark themselves and the similarities between the reasons individuals choose to be tattooed. We will see how the tattoo has played an essential part in societal rituals in almost every culture and civilization, and how the sacred art of tattoo is still alive and flourishing in popular culture today. In short, we shall see how humans have followed the dictum, “DECORATE THY TEMPLE.” Mulysa is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning tattoo artist and longtime member of the magical community. She has won a number of awards, most recently at Rock The Ink 2009, and has presented talks on tattooing and magick at NOTOCON, several OTO local bodies, and Appalachia State College, NC. She and her husband live in Salem MA and are members of Tahuti Lodge and Abrahadabra Oasis, respectively.
11:30 am – 12:45 pm The Lodge as a Magickal Tool - Heretical Confessions of an O.T.O. Bodies Master - James McL. (Fr. do) Selfless service – We’ve all heard and perhaps even spoken these words. ‘I serve as LodgeMaster because of my extraordinary sense of duty, manifesting via selfless service.’ What a crock! Selfless service is not a thing obtained, it is not the goal; selfless service is a result - the result of Selfish service. If I am not getting my spiritual/personal, & fraternal needs satisfied, then I am not Walking in a True manner and all my actions are tainted. When I am Walking in a True manner, all else will follow of its own accord. Come pass through this looking-glass of Service as the 3 stages of Service are revealed. Wanna know a secret? It really is - all about me. Initiated into the O.T.O. in 1976, James has served as Lodge Secretary, Chapter Secretary, Treasurer, and Master for terms of 5 or more years. He is current Master of Scarlet Woman Lodge. A retired Sergeant Major, James now quests for Wisdom and Peace, accompanied by his Woman, Tzaddi, and their 2 jackals.
1:00 – 3:00 pm LUNCH
3:00 – 4:30 pm GNOSTIC MASS
4:30 – 5:00 pm CLOSING CEREMONIES
Pre-registration is open to the public for $45.00.
Limited space is available,
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