With three planets in Capricorn, two in Virgo and two in Scorpio, it should not be overly surprising that, in addition to my blundering honesty, I have a propensity for self-righteousness, pedantry, and the readiness to exert my Will.
I call myself Solemnus within the occult community, a name which has a bit of a personal history to it (see below).
I study and practice Qabalistic High Magick, though my study had greatly outpaced my formal practice prior to my participation in the Year of DMK project, which started July 23rd, 1998 e.v. Key factors bringing me to this Path include my upbringing as a Roman Catholic, my tendency toward a seriousness regarding spiritual matters, the openmindedness taught me by my parents, the fact that my wife was interested in Wicca when I met her, and my heavy involvement in the computer BBS hobby. The defining moment was a fortuitous encounter in 1992 e.v. (about the time of my Saturn Return) with a student of Ceremonial High Magick, whose description of his understanding of the paradigm spoke to me with a clarity and penetration I can only describe as spiritually moving.
My starting tutorial on magick was Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick: Eleven Lessons in the High Magickal Arts, and though I'd read some Crowley prior to starting with CHM, I mostly eschewed his writings -- probably due to my impression that the occult community was overrun with persons who seemed to be able to do little more than regurgitate Crowley's words. I had read a bit of Magick In Theory and in Practice, and had somehow acquired an attraction to The Book of The Law , but otherwise, I mostly skimmed his works and any references to him or them, without paying them any particular attention.
Ironically, it was what little I read in Magick In Theory and in Practice which formed the framework for my definition and understanding of magick, causing me to reject some restrictions on its definition as asserted by Kraig in Modern Magick.
Over time, I grew to realize that fervently avoiding Crowley's works was as narrow and faulty as adhering too stringently to them, and have sought for a more balanced view in recent years. However, my attraction to Liber AL somehow remained, and, piecemeal, I began to absorb components of its wisdom. Critical mass in this regard was achieved sometime in 1996 e.v., and I began to actually research Thelema actively, with another defining moment in 1997 e.v. where certain revelations finally came to me -- and led to my acceptance of the Law of Thelema.
I am a III° Initiate in O.T.O., and I intermittantly research links I have found into FRATERNITATIS A.·.A.·. In the meantime, I am a solitary practitioner pursuing Self-Initiation, and something of a fervent Thelemite.
As to why I have this web page, I suppose it's partially a small bit of vanity, as well as a desire to share what I've learned with others who may see such things in a manner similar to mine. It is my intent to present information on Thelema, among other subjects, with a more or less neutral perspective, not intended to reflect the opinions of any order or another on the matter, although my viewpoint should certainly take on something of the flavor of the organizations with which I am affiliated. I also tend to put in a lot of time thinking about things, and I expect that eventually my Writings page will be filled with essays and such that others may actually find interesting or useful. It is sadly lacking for content at present, due in part to my busy schedule.
Many, many years ago I was going through a number changes in my Life (don't we all!), and one of these changes was the beginning of my study of magick. During this time, however, I made one of the most regrettable social blunders of my Life.
I was very active in the BBS community, and I had allowed myself to get caught up in a bit of a gossip event regarding an aquaintence of mine. I got so swept up in the emotional whirlwind of the conversation that I neglected to follow two important tenets of a very wise philosophy:
These sorts of conversations, if I had felt that they absolutely had to take place, should have been held in private. The best course of action would probably have been to not have these talks at all, but they were nonetheless a subject only appropriate in a quiet, private and comfortable surrounding. Certainly not at the times and in the places I had chosen to have them.
In short, I was a rude prick; needless to say, I hurt this person's feelings very deeply.
During the few months after this series of incidents calmed down, I reviewed the nature of how I had handled this situation and was forced to admit that my behavior was unfair, immature and very much not in line with my own personal philosophy, and most certainly not in line with the appropriate behavior for a magician.
As I started to engage in conversations out on BBS networks again, I discovered that most of the conferences which held interest for me permitted the use of an "Alias". Most of the conferences actually preferred it, and given the horrible behavior I had exhibitted in the then-recent past, I thought an alias might permit me to reenter the BBS network community without hassle. It also gave me an opportunity to choose a name which held meaning for me, and could serve as a reminder of the importance in maintaining one's standards of respect when dealing with other human beings.
After tossing around several ideas, Solemnus rang home for me. At the time I chose it, I was not certain it was an actual Latin word; instead, I chose the English base word and added a "Latinized" ending. This gave it an air, even if a false air, of formality, which I felt might enhance the ability for me to pay attention to the internal meaning of the name -- the reason I'd selected it -- without losing its connotative meaning in the native language (for me, English).
So I chose the alias of Solemnus, and have gone by it in the magical community ever since.
I reached a stage in my magical studies where I was reviewing the choices I had made in my limited magical career, and the social name by which I went in magical circles was one of the objects I was reviewing. I was quite pleased to discover that the three names I had chosen in my life -- the specific signature of my given name, the name of the band I had started, and Solemnus -- all came out to the same value when computed against the English gematria and Theosophically reduced. I was furthermore pleased to note that the value to which they reduced was 10 -- which reduces to 1 and 0, a very holy combination of the Alpha and the Omega. At that point there was no question that my name would remain Solemnus.
There is a reference in The Book Of The Law which says "...my prophet is a fool with his one, one, one...", which causes me to review the importance of these names, but that was in reference to solving a cipher within the text of Liber AL, so I am not overly disturbed by it.
Why PER ME SPLENDET LUX? This is at once highly public and extremely personal. There are several components, however, to my reasons for having choosen this Motto.
This Motto was retired to Qlippoth approximately August 31st, 1999 e.v.