The Temple Of Set

[kaosxmage]

Hello everyone!

I've just finished Don Webb's book Uncle Setnakt's Essential Guide to the Left Hand Path and found it brilliant! There are several sections that thinly veil suggestions to join the TOS, so I found myself wondering if there were any members current or former lurking around the board that's willing to share their thoughts and experiences.

Thanks :thumbsup:

--Kaos

[kaosxmage]

Well, thinly veiled is misleading. There's an entire section. :uhhuhuh:

Are there no members - former or current - of the Temple of Set here? No replies thus far.

Bump :hahugh:

[Agaliha]

Darth Brooks (http://mysticwicks.com/member.php?u=33619) might be a member, I forget. I know he worships Set, though.

[Sekhmet Soul30]

I worship and honor Set but I'm not a member of the Temple of Set.

[IntellectualSlime]

The Temple of Set was organized by Michael Aquino, who left LaVey's Church of Satan in 1975 amid growing personal concerns about the nature of the faith. He viewed Set as the entity from which the name of Satan was derived, and therefore older and more powerful. His view was largely theistic, where LaVey's was not. The ToS tries to marry the individualism of LaVey's church with the quest for mental and spiritual oneness with the deity that Crowley expressed. In June of 1975, Aquino wrote The Book of Coming Forth by Night, an act of automatic writing that he said had been dictated to him by Set: "Reconsecrate my Temple and my Order in the true name of Set. No longer will I accept the bastard title of a Hebrew fiend."

Many CoS members left with Aquino, and they became the base of the ToS membership. They were a more classically organized magical sect, led by individuals who had been part of the schism from CoS. Aquino had a tendency to downplay the CoS as declining and outdated philosophically, which was not substantiated as far as the growth of the faith and teaching of the tenets was concerned.

Gavin Baddeley mentions it briefly in Lucifer Rising, in talking about the schism and discussing various Satanic sects that have sprung up in the wake of LaVey. He also interviews the current head as of 1999 regarding the beliefs of the faith. Pretty interesting.

EDIT: Also, the reason why there is a whole section devoted to recruiting for the Temple of Set is that Don Webb is a former High Priest of the ToS. Of course he's going to recruit for what he believes! There is a good article on Disinformation about the ToS as well, written by an affiliate.

[Devo]

I work with Set, but I am not a member of ToS (For what that is worth). I don't really like their belief set up (from what I've read on the website) and many times I feel they are missing the point in regards to Set and what he's about. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

-Devo