Events – Archived

In the world of Ancient Greece, witches were supernatural beings descended from Helios and taught by Hekate. Throughout the world and history societies have had explanations for witches based on their birth or based upon spirit contracts. In American folk traditions witches were sometimes a movement of lineal progression from ancestors to the folk devil. Our ritual will be exploring and executing on these themes by calling upon our ancestors to be with us, Hekate to guide us and Helios to join us sacramentally and imbue us and our future and past lineages with witchcraft.

Participants should wear black and bring black cloth for a head covering. We recommend that participants celebrate Hekates Deipnon during the days ahead of the rituals and also make offerings to connect with their ancestors. Participants planning to take the Helios sacrament must bring some token to represent and connect with their ancestors during the ritual. Participants taking the sacrament will need to either be able to expose their arms or their backs to have their ancestor names written in them. Please bring a list of ancestor names.

8:30pm
Doors open at 7:30.
$10 admission; free for dues-current WBL members.

Join us in making plans for future Lodge activities! Please bring a lunch dish or snacks to share. 

Meeting begins 2:00pm
Doors open at 1:30pm

WBL members James Gordon and Rebecca Doll presented at the Unconference track at Notocon XII on “Spirit Possession Rituals: Safety and Consent – Lessons Learned,” drawing on several years of experience with rituals at WBL OTO, Azul Nox, and working with UTOS and other local groups.

The complete Handout and Notes are presented below. The Handout includes a history of spirit possession as a core element of religion dating back to 70,000 BCE, its relevance to Thelema, and a breakout of lessons learned concerning the safety of Attendees and Mediums.

Educational Resources

The Gnostic Mass (Liber XV) is a ritual celebrating the union of the divine male and female through the pageantry of the lance and the cup. The ceremony culminates in a sacrament of a cake and wine consumed by the participants in the congregation. The ritual is graceful, joyful and a high dramatic ritual rich in esoteric and ecclesiastical overtones. The ritual officers consist of a priestess, priest, deacon and two “children” representing the positive and negative polarities. The Gnostic Mass is the central ritual of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O., or the Order of Oriental Templars) and was written in 1913 by Aleister Crowley. Water is available for those who choose not to drink alcohol. Please notify us in advance if bringing anyone under 18 to this ceremony (but they are certainly welcome).

The ceremony begins at 4:30pm. Doors open at 4:00pm. 

0nce the ceremony begins there will be no further access to the temple.

Baptism and/or confirmation available today by advance request. Please email contact@williamblakeoto.org to request either sacrament.

$10 admission; free for dues-current WBL members.
Note: admission fee waived for first-time visitors. If this is your first time at a Gnostic Mass, it’s a good idea to read the ritual ahead of time, so you’ll have some idea of what to expect. You can also watch a video 93 Impressions of a Gnostic Mass, or a video of the full Gnostic Mass.

Doors open at 6:00pm. 
$10 admission; free for dues-current WBL members
Learn how to perform the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram.

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

The Gnostic Mass Practice, Degree Discussion Group, and Reiki Share previously scheduled for Sunday, August 11, have been canceled.

See you next week at the Gnostic Mass and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram workshop!

Love is the law, love under will.

Over the years the Lodge has accumulated a lot of stuff and things have drifted into the main path of escape if the door isn’t available.

With us starting to rent the space out and have larger events this MUST change for the safety of ourselves and our guests.

Many hands make light work. This is a reorganization so that:

– Commonly used things are stored neatly at the front
– The path to the fire escape is clear and stands a chance of remaining so
– The back storage area is still available

Please come help assist in this reorganization that improves the safety of the lodge for everyone!

Can’t move heavy things? Come anyway and keep us in drinks and snacks or do one of the other less taxing tasks that keep the Lodge running comfortably.

10:00am-1:00pm
Price: free. Bring snacks and beverages to share!

Join us for a discussion about Dame Anna Kingsford, feminist, visionary, esotericist, and hermetic mystic, awarded the Order of the Eagle November 2004 ev.

5:30pm; Please arrive no earlier than 5:00pm and no later than 5:20pm.
$10 admission; free for dues-current WBL members.

Join us in making plans for future Lodge activities! Please bring a lunch dish or snacks to share. 

Meeting begins 1:00pm
Please arrive no earlier than 12:30pm and no later than 12:55pm.