Memorable Fancies, or Luminaries I Have Met
My brother met Ophiel sometime mid-60's, and described him as a "creepy old man." There is a small website devoted to Ophiel, and that site gives a different impression, as do his books. I write my brother's off-hand comment off to youthful misjudgement. I think for my brother, "old" equalled "creepy" at that time.
I never met Ophiel, but later in the early '70s I met Israel Regardie. Oddly enough, my father (who thought I was a little daft based on my intereste in the occult) introduced him to me - my father sold equipment for outfitting chiropractic offices, and that was Regardie's line of work at that time, so my father had run into Regardie in the course of making a sales call. Plus, it turned out Regardie lived less than three miles away from us! Rumor had it that Regardie no longer had any affiliations with practicing magickal orders (Golden Dawn, Rosicrucian, etc.) and that he felt no one should be taught magick without first undergoing analysis (Freudian, Jung). In his chiropractic practice, he reportedly led his patients through Reichian breathing exercises as a form of psychological "adjustment." My conclusion at that time was that his experiences, first with Crowley as his secretary, and then with the Stella Matutina offshoot of the Golden Dawn, had left him rather burnt out.
Nevertheless, he had written the awesome "Tree of Life" when he was barely past 20, and his publication of the Golden Dawn ritual and knowledge papers had both shocked and energized the occult community. He had also published other magick related books since then. He did not publicly accept Crowley's Thelemic creed, and current reports indicate he always considered himself "a Golden Dawn man" although he had pursued Crowley aggressively and been his secretary prior to any affilation with the Golden Dawn.
Although Crowley had already published many Golden Dawn rituals in his "Equinox," it was Regardie who put it in all (almost all) in one place (one today, the first editions were in two volumes with larger typeface), without anything distracting.
I talked my father into taking me over to meet Regardie (I was much shyer then, and less adept at getting to meet people), and we spent about 20 or 30 minutes together. I was quite taken aback by Regardie's appearance - without any disrepect intended, he looked rather like a troll and had a nasal twang to his voice that was very unappealing. If you buy cassettes or CD's of him doing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram you can confirm his voice, at least, for yourself. Although a giant among magickians, he was short in physical stature. All in all, not what you'd expect after Hollywood's depiction of larger than life heros.
I was very interesting in Tibetan Buddhism at that time, so didn't pursue Regardie aggressively, which is a shame since here I am, thirty years later, still diddling around with magick. However, I did meet Regardie two more times, which I took at a "sign" (which never amounted to anything): once at McDonald's - I worked near his house and the McDonalds; and once at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore somewhat later, where I got a job as a sales clerk. He made a strong impression on me, more for his reputation and the "scare" factor in magick.
I have to admit that my ego is bruised; I had an opportunity to meet this remarkable figure, and could have probably wangled my way into studying with him (based on all the people who have surfaced since then who, it turned out, were studying with him - see the revised introduction to the Lewellyn "Golden Dawn" and other works). On the other hand, the time was not ripe. And I was scared.
The other very cool dude I got to at least see, if not personally meet, was the elusive Carlos Castaneda. In 1993 or so, I attended a Tensegrity seminar in Anaheim and he appeared, took the stage. Although he did not match Regardie in voice (his was ok) he did match him in height. Suddenly it all clicked: for all those years, Castaneda had been publicity shy, not because he would be found out, but because he was too short! They would have laughed at the Nagual! But he did exude charisma. In spades.
I never met Ophiel, but later in the early '70s I met Israel Regardie. Oddly enough, my father (who thought I was a little daft based on my intereste in the occult) introduced him to me - my father sold equipment for outfitting chiropractic offices, and that was Regardie's line of work at that time, so my father had run into Regardie in the course of making a sales call. Plus, it turned out Regardie lived less than three miles away from us! Rumor had it that Regardie no longer had any affiliations with practicing magickal orders (Golden Dawn, Rosicrucian, etc.) and that he felt no one should be taught magick without first undergoing analysis (Freudian, Jung). In his chiropractic practice, he reportedly led his patients through Reichian breathing exercises as a form of psychological "adjustment." My conclusion at that time was that his experiences, first with Crowley as his secretary, and then with the Stella Matutina offshoot of the Golden Dawn, had left him rather burnt out.
Nevertheless, he had written the awesome "Tree of Life" when he was barely past 20, and his publication of the Golden Dawn ritual and knowledge papers had both shocked and energized the occult community. He had also published other magick related books since then. He did not publicly accept Crowley's Thelemic creed, and current reports indicate he always considered himself "a Golden Dawn man" although he had pursued Crowley aggressively and been his secretary prior to any affilation with the Golden Dawn.
Although Crowley had already published many Golden Dawn rituals in his "Equinox," it was Regardie who put it in all (almost all) in one place (one today, the first editions were in two volumes with larger typeface), without anything distracting.
I talked my father into taking me over to meet Regardie (I was much shyer then, and less adept at getting to meet people), and we spent about 20 or 30 minutes together. I was quite taken aback by Regardie's appearance - without any disrepect intended, he looked rather like a troll and had a nasal twang to his voice that was very unappealing. If you buy cassettes or CD's of him doing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram you can confirm his voice, at least, for yourself. Although a giant among magickians, he was short in physical stature. All in all, not what you'd expect after Hollywood's depiction of larger than life heros.
I was very interesting in Tibetan Buddhism at that time, so didn't pursue Regardie aggressively, which is a shame since here I am, thirty years later, still diddling around with magick. However, I did meet Regardie two more times, which I took at a "sign" (which never amounted to anything): once at McDonald's - I worked near his house and the McDonalds; and once at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore somewhat later, where I got a job as a sales clerk. He made a strong impression on me, more for his reputation and the "scare" factor in magick.
I have to admit that my ego is bruised; I had an opportunity to meet this remarkable figure, and could have probably wangled my way into studying with him (based on all the people who have surfaced since then who, it turned out, were studying with him - see the revised introduction to the Lewellyn "Golden Dawn" and other works). On the other hand, the time was not ripe. And I was scared.
The other very cool dude I got to at least see, if not personally meet, was the elusive Carlos Castaneda. In 1993 or so, I attended a Tensegrity seminar in Anaheim and he appeared, took the stage. Although he did not match Regardie in voice (his was ok) he did match him in height. Suddenly it all clicked: for all those years, Castaneda had been publicity shy, not because he would be found out, but because he was too short! They would have laughed at the Nagual! But he did exude charisma. In spades.
posted by Wm Blaker, printer at 11:21 AM
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