The Magician's Dictionary

OAHSPE

Dr. John Ballou Newbrough's Kosmon Bible (copyrighted 1882), which he produced by automatic typing during a half hour every dawn, over a span of 52 weeks. It is purported to mean "Sky, Earth and Spirit" and lists Christ, Gabriel (founder of Mohammedanism), Brahma and Budha (sic) as "The Four False Gods." Its full title is A New Bible in The Words of Jehovih (sic) and his Angel Ambassadors. A Sacred History of the Dominions of the Higher and Lower Heavens on the Earth for the past 24,000 Years, being from the Submersion of the Continent of Pan in the Pacific Ocean, commonly called the Flood or Deluge, to the Kosmon Era. Also, a brief History of the Preceding 55,000 Years, Together with A Synopsis of the Cosmogony of the Universe; The Creation of Planets; the Creation of Man; The Unseen Worlds; the Labor and Glory of Gods and Goddesses in the Etherean Heavens; with the New Commandments of Jehovih to Man of the Present Day. With Revelations from the 2nd Resurrection, Formed in words in the 33rd Year of the Kosmon Era.

OBEAH

Obi is the West Indian God of Evil and an "obeah" man or woman is a type of sorcerer, proficient in Voodoo and other forms of magic.

OBELISK

Not just a phallic reminder, but the solar power of regeneration. Cirlot points to its shape as similar to that of a sunbeam. Indeed, for the Egyptians, it is Ra, himself. Its substance is the essence of earth (stone). But it is earth as it reunites with heaven and embodies myths of "solar ascension amd of light as the penetrating spirit." Its uprightness and pyramidicity also point to the celestial impulse. (See PYRAMID.)

OCCULT

The occult today is in ruins because it has been prematurely made public. It is a body of knowledge that is too fragile for those without wisdom. Because of power being placed in the hands of the ignorant, the word "occult" has, largely through the bullying of the Christians, falsely become a synonym for "evil." It is for that very reason that the term was originally chosen. The occult has always been a secret study that should never be made public. It deals with sacred truth and the public, being composed mostly of fools, can only pervert it.

At this point, however, we have no choice but to move forward with it, to try to undo the harm by providing more light on the subject.

In general, occultism has three basic tenets: 1) man is in the process of evolving to higher spiritual states of being; 2) the cosmos is energy; 3) there are hierarchies of intelligence above and below human intelligence, which control or influence the cosmos for good and evil, as human intelligence, of course, in its own right also does.

ODE

From Greek hodos, "way." A method is "a way beyond." Examples: Ontode -- vehicle of entification; Pathode -- disease carrier; Theode -- god-producer; Biode -- life object.

ODIN

The Norse God, who, like Hermes and Thoth, is, amongst other things, God of Magic. He differs from Hermes and Thoth in also having been a God of self-sacrifice. He hanged himself voluntarily on the Cosmic Tree, and for a much more important purpose, long before Christ was supposed to have been crucified. For the sake of wisdom, he paid his right eye (everyday vision) which was never regained. He rules over Asgard and is called "the Allfather."

One of Odin's tricks was his ability to "knot" men's minds in battle so they could not fight or, by the same token, to untie them, in order to provide them with greater strength. He has two wolves called "Ravener" and "Greed" and two ravens Hugin and Munin.

OLAM

Hebrew for "world" or "universe," but it derives from a root meaning "hidden" or "occult."

OLANISM

(From O'Keefe's Stolen Lightning.) Tatar phenomenon. "A compulsive imitation of some forceful gesture could seize a whole cossack regiment. The first purpose of the Asiatic shaman, it is assumed, was to check just such chain reactions."

OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS

Head of the 11th Century Sufic order of Hassan Sabah in Persia, whose assassins used hashish to produce visions of paradise.

OL SONUF VAORESAJI

"I reign over ye." The first sentence of the first Key of the Enochian system. (See AETHYRS.)

OLYMPIC PLANETARY SPIRITS, THE

(Given in the classical order of the planets): Mars -- Phaleg; Sun -- Och; Venus -- Hagith; Mercury -- Ophiel; Moon -- Phul; Saturn -- Arathor; Jupiter -- Bethor.

OM MANI PADME HUM

Tibetan mantra "Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus." OM or Aum is a mystical vibratory word the 3 letters of which represent Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Mani padme ("the jewel in the lotus)," superficially means "Buddhism (the jewel) in the world (the lotus)," but in a deeper sense it is the divine lingam in yoni. (See LOTUS.) It has still deeper meanings, however, relating to unlocking the walls separating self from other.

OMEN

Strictly, a sign conveying an earnest of the future, either good or bad. Actually associated with evil portents. To designate good portents use "auspicious."

OMNISCIENCE

(See COSMIC SWITCHBOARD.) There are no "imponderables." Everything being the creation of the human psyche, all mysteries are soluble.

ONTOLOGICAL ANARCHISM

Hakim Bey's term for overcoming Taoism's excessive passivity and withdrawal. He feels that to be really different invites repression by the Establishment. One should not think of oneself as a Liberal, but as a criminal.

OPHIDIAN CURRENT

The use of heterosexual energies to transmit magical changes internally and externally. Celestially indicated by the Ophiuchan link between Capricorn's climax and Scorpio's detumescence. The Yezidic power line, purged of Osirian (or Xtian) death. Grant says that the Elder Gods or Maatians when manifesting as the Forgotten Ones constitute the Ophidian Current. The Draconian and Typhonian currents are variations on the O.C., Od, or the Fire Serpent is a vehicle of it.

OPHIR

The highest stage of refined gold; a land abundant in fine gold. Also the Hebrew name for the element, "earth."

OPHITES

(From ophis, "serpent.") A Gnostic sect believing that Christ was the incarnation of the serpent of paradise. Since the demiurge tried to prevent Adam and Eve from acquiring knowledge, Christ as the serpent persuaded them to disobey the evil creator and eat the fruit.

ORDINARY CONSCIOUSNESS

We are accustomed to seeking special mental powers from the unconscious, the deep psyche or some transcendental state induced by yoga or drugs. In fact, the ordinary mind is itself unplumbed, 99% terra incognita. It can provide an infinite number of undeveloped talents bordering on the supernatural.

ORFFYREUS

Latinized name created for himself by Johann Bessler (1680-1745) by writing the letters of the alphabet in a circle and selecting the 13th letter after each letter in Bessler. He invented a perpetual-motion wheel which interested the governments of England and Austria, who offered to buy it. But, when they attempted to examine the axle in order to discern its secret, Orffyreus destroyed it and vanished into the underground.

ORGANISM

Whitehead's vision (as shared by Shaw in Back to Methuselah) that life pervades nature, not as Bergson's "vitalism" did (by squeezing into matter osmotically from outside), but by definition: Nature is alive: "bodies" are alive, and the mind is more alive still. All nature (including inorganic matter) is a single organism, one living body composed of biological cells (that is, events). This is not hylism, on the contrary, but pneumism or spiritism.

ORGONE

Primordial Reichian cosmic substance, energy, ether, "vibes," etc. surrounding everything in the universe. An orgone accumulator is a box in which one sits to receive the focus of health-giving rays of orgone heat from space. Orgone energy can be revealed by Geiger-M�ller counter, the electroscope and thermic experiments. Oranur is orgone energy produced by nuclear activity.

ORICHALCUM

"Mountain copper." The shiny metallic compound used in Atlantis, mentioned by Plato, said to be comprised of bronze, gold and silver.

ORTHRUS

(Greek Orthros, "the dawn in the west.") God Pluto's dog. In Kenneth Grant's usage, he is the "Devil dog," or "hound of hell," the twin of Cerberus, the three-headed watchdog at the gates of Hades. He has an Egyptian origin in the monster Oms, the "hound of Typhon," guardian of the Judgment Hall. Cerberus's three heads, no doubt, derive from the fact that Oms was a tri-partite mixture of hippopotamus, crocodile and dog. In many cultures, the dog is a companion of the dead in their crossing of the great Abyss and such is the function of the dog in the zeroeth arcanum. (See HELL HOUND.)

ORTHOLEXIA

Correct reading. For example, the phrase, "By their fruits shall ye know them," means not that we should judge others, but merely that we should see people as the products of their accomplishments. Another example is "As ye sow, shall ye reap," which means that the reaping is the sowing and occurs in the present, not the future.

OSIRIS

King, judge and reincarnator of the dead (via the metamorphosis of earth). That he is a "Dark God" is one of the ancient mysteries. One of his aspects is the jackal god of the dead, Anubis. With Set he completes the universal pair of conflicting brothers, representing culture and freedom. It is important to realize that these things take place away from the sun. For these and other reasons, Osiris is generally thought of as the God of "Black Magic" and "The Occult," who has been cut up into many pieces and buried (i.e., "hidden"). Only Isis is able to put him back together again.

O.T.O.

The Ordo Templi Orientis, an offshoot of Crowley's Golden Dawn, inherited by Karl Germer. Refers to the rising solar/phallic power. It relies on the 3 tantras of autosexuality (viii), heterosexuality (ix) and homosexuality (xi). Later efforts to reshape the O.T.O.'s insights (notably Grant's) attempted to eliminate the 3rd of these, particularly its attribution of the number eleven. The formula for ix is (+1) + (-1) = 0.

Apparently the purpose of the O.T.O. is the development of personal evolution. There are many versions (sexual, puritanical, Fascist, Gnostic, etc.) in Europe and America, all of which tend to factionalize. The American lodge in Berkeley disputes the " authenticity" of the British order. The British O.T.O., headed by Kenneth Grant, is probably the most interesting and its rulership was conferred on him by Germer himself. In 1955, however, Grant renamed his group the New Isis Lodge and produced a manifesto stating that the earth is being bathed in rays emanating from the transplutonian planet, Isis, which is exerting a new spiritual force upon mankind. The degrees of the Lodge have been redesigned to help aspirants make use of the "subtle radiations." Grant also stated at that time that there was a sister lodge in Germany run by Eugen Grosche, a long-time enemy of Germer's because of the former's deliberate perversion of Crowleyian practice. Germer now attempted to expel Grant, but failed. Next, a "magical war" broke out between Grant and Gerald Gardner, the former leader of the chapter and in this contest, Gardner employed the services of artist, Austin Osman Spare to create an evil talisman which ultimately resulted in the death of a water-witch member of the temple.

OXYOPIA

Keen eyesight.

OZ

A full statement of Thelemic law. See Crowley's Liber 77 (77 being the number of Oz). It is a Semitic root for "strength." Liber Oz was printed originally in 1942 and deals with Thelemic politics. During the creation, monsters from Unive rse B were irresponsibly unleashed, referred to in the Bible as Nefilim, "Giants" (literally, "fallen ones"). Says K. Grant, "The generic name for them is Oza, [of numerical value] 78, [the value] of Aiwass and of the influence from Kether (Mezla). The Oz is the entity that casts its monstrous and ape-like shadow over The Magician in Crowley's design of the Tarot Pack (Atu II, ascribed to Mercury and hence the Ape of Thoth)." All manifestation is illusion, including the words of creation, and the Dog-Headed Ape mocks even the languages of the Gods. Personal revelations indicate that Oz is the "home of the Beast-Doom" (Typhon as shown on the Tenth Enigma of the Book of T), i.e., the lowest circle of Hell, Hades.