To Him the Winged Secret Flame, to Her the Stooping Starlight: The Social Construction of Gender in...

[The Pomegranate 15.1-2 (2013) 102-121] ISSN 1528-0268 (print)doi: 10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.102 ISSN 1743-1735 (online)

© Equinox Publishing Ltd 2014. Office 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX.

To Him the Winged Secret Flame, To Her the Stooping Starlight: The Social Construction of Gender in Contemporary Ordo

Templi Orientis

Manon Hedenborg-White1

Uppsala UniversityThunbergsvägen 3 B

Box 511, 751 20 Uppsala, [email protected]

AbstractBased on fieldwork in the United States, the article analyses the social construction of gender in contemporary OTO. The article addresses an important and often neglected area of study in research on West-ern esotericism, and discusses how the notion of binary gender is both created and challenged in interactions between OTO members. The-lemic divinity as presented in Liber AL is envisioned as consisting of a divine father, Hadit, mother Nuit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit, their divine offspring. Despite the gender polarity constructed thus, contempo-rary OTO members stretch the boundaries of binary gender through a plethora of deities, personal gender performances and acceptance of different sexual orientations and lifestyles. The creativity and innova-tion of contemporary OTO members’ gender constructions demon-strates the necessity of greater methodological diversity in research on Western esotericism, in order to allow an understanding of esoteric tra-ditions as lived religions.

Keywords: Aleister Crowley; gender; Judith Butler; sexuality; Thelema; Western esotericism.

Introduction

The temple is painted midnight blue. The symbols adorning the walls are faintly visible through the semi-darkness. I can sense the coolness of the polished hardwood floor against my bare feet. An

1. The author is a PhD candidate in history of religion, Department of Theol-ogy, Uppsala University.

mailto:[email protected]

Hedenborg-White The Social Construction of Gender 103

© Equinox Publishing Ltd 2014

Egyptian tablet is displayed on the altar, covered with deities and hieroglyphs. Illuminated by the flickering candles below, it seems to glow. The air smells faintly of incense.

Suddenly, a woman enters, followed by two robed figures. “Greet-ing of Earth and Heaven!,” she calls, and we raise our left arms in salute. She ascends the three steps towards the High Altar, and places a small plate on it. She pauses for a moment, then descends. An oriental tune fills the room. The air seems to vibrate as the woman slowly begins to dance, circling the room three-and-a-half times with serpentine movements. The benches lining the walls are crammed with silent spectators, and their eyes follow her as she moves, seem-ingly oblivious to her surroundings. As the music ends, she comes to a halt in front of the upright tomb. She draws her sword, and uses it to open the veil that covers it. As she pushes it aside, she reveals a robed man, standing still with his eyes closed.

Who is this woman? Who is the man in the tomb? Is it impor-tant that the dancer is female, and that the man waiting in the tomb is male? What is the significance of the Egyptian tablet? Who are these people, and what are the implications of the ceremony that they have assembled to witness? Many readers will recognize what I have just described as a portion of the Ceremony of the Introit, the first stage of the Gnostic Mass. The Gnostic Mass is the central ritual of Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), an initiatory magical order focused on the religion of Thelema. Beloved and criticized, the Gnostic Mass is one of the few Thelemic practices uniting the otherwise hetero-geneous membership of OTO, but it is also a source of division and dispute in matters of gender. Similarly, gender is a contested issue in the order.

In addition to constituting one of the first ethnographic studies of a modern occult order, this study, based on fieldwork research conducted in autumn 2012, is the first to analyze the social con-struction of gender in contemporary OTO. Rather than assuming a simple correlation between theological gender constructions and gender roles in informal social interaction, the article suggests that parallel and partly separate gender systems operate in OTO, and are activated in different contexts. Without taking this complexity and multi-dimensionality into account, gender constructions within OTO today cannot be understood. While the importance of theology for legitimizing power relations within a religious system is not con-tested, the article thus supports the notion that an excessive focus on beliefs and doctrines in the study of religion risks neglecting other

104 The Pomegranate 15.1-2 (2013)


vital factors that may have greater importance for “lived” religiosi-ty.2 The complexity and ambiguity of gender constructions in OTO, which would not have been as apparent from a study of only theo-logical doctrine or ritual, indicates the need for greater methodolog-ical diversity in Western esotericism research.3

Background and Method

During his honeymoon in Cairo in 1904, Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) received the allegedly divinely inspired prophetic document Liber AL vel Legis Sub Figura CCXX, also known as The Book of the Law, which subsequently became the central text in the religion of Thelema. Liber AL proclaims the advent of a new phase in the spiri-tual evolution of humanity, the Aeon of Horus, and declares the Law of Thelema: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”4 The statement alludes to the “True Will,” the unique purpose of each individual’s life.

The scene described in the introduction features an Egyptian tablet, which Thelemites (adherents of Thelema) refer to as the Stele of Revealing. According to Crowley, the tablet depicts the main Thelemic deities, a divine trio of mother, father and child, who each narrate one chapter of the tripartite Liber AL: the goddess Nuit, the god Hadit, and the god Horus, or Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Liber AL also mentions two other important figures: the Beast (Therion) and his consort the Scarlet Woman, who are charged with the task of manifesting the energies of the new aeon. The Beast and Scar-let Woman are derived from the Book of Revelation. The Scarlet Woman is often seen as the earthly manifestation of the goddess Babalon, who appears in later writings by Crowley. Crowley iden-tified himself with the Beast and regarded many of his past female lovers as having held the office of Scarlet Woman. Therion repre-sents strength, sexuality and potency, while Babalon represents the

2. For an in-depth discussion of the notion of lived religion, see Meredith McGuire, Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life (New York: Oxford Uni-versity Press, 2008).

3. As the focus of this article is on contemporary OTO, no in-depth analysis of gender constructions in Crowley’s writings will be provided. Such a discussion can partly be found in Manon Hedenborg-White, “Revolutionsikon Eller Play-boygudinna? Ett Genusperspektiv På Tolkningar Av Babalon,” Aura 3 (2011).

4. Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law: (technically Called Liber Al Vel Legis Sub Figura CCXX as Delivered by XCIII = 418 to DCLXVI): An Ixii Sol in Aries March 21, 1938 E.v (York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1976).



sacredness of sexuality and the emancipated woman. From a more mystical point of view, she symbolizes the ideal of passionate union with all of existence. For this reason, she is described as a harlot. This theological structure is also enacted in the Gnostic Mass, where Nuit and Hadit are constructed as gendered opposites in ritual and lit-erature, and their divine functions and attributes are linked to their sex. The gendering of the child, however, is more complex, as are the ways in which OTO members relate to divinity in regards to gender.

This article is mainly based on a fieldwork study of OTO in the United States conducted in 2012 when I studied and interacted with seven local bodies in Oregon, California, Texas and New Orleans. I have conducted in-depth interviews with eight people, four men and four women. All of my interviewees are active order members, and all are either current or former masters of OTO local bodies as well as ordained priests or priestesses of Ecclesia Gnostica Cath-olica (EGC), the ecclesiastical arm of OTO, except for one who has served as a novitiate officer for several years. Two of my interview-ees are EGC bishops. Equally significant are the unstructured, often lengthy conversations I have had with approximately twenty-five additional initiates about gender, magic, and divinity. My inter-viewees will presented under altered names, and include Phoebe, a woman in her late thirties; Kevin, a man in his forties; Adrian, a man in his late twenties; Michael, a man in his late twenties; Christina, a woman in her forties; Sarah, a woman in her twenties; and Chris-teos Pir, a man in his fifties. For the sake of simplicity, those I have not formally interviewed will not be named. I have also attended and participated in rituals and social events, including several Gnos-tic Masses as well as original rituals, classes, parties and gatherings, and socialised with OTO members outside of an official order con-text. Finally, I have studied emic gender discourse in the form of articles, books and podcasts.

Fieldwork

Gender as a privileged oppositionAccording to feminist theorist Judith Butler, societies that privilege one sex above the other are structured according to the assumption that there are two natural, stable, and separate sexes. Butler chal-lenges the common distinction in gender theory between biologi-cal sex and socially constructed gender. While she does not contest the fact that people are born into physical bodies that may exhibit



differences, she argues that the division of humanity into binary sexes is a social construction. As the discourses that seek to estab-lish sexual difference actually produce sexual difference, she claims, we cannot assume a pre-discursive, sexed body onto which social gender is then projected. Instead, biological sex must be treated as a discursive product that is historically and culturally situated.5

In Butler’s view, gender is performative. This means that gender is something one does, rather than something one is. Rather than there being a fixed or true, natural gender identity that is commu-nicated through action, the term performativity implies that actions create social reality. Thus, Butler claims, people become gendered subjects through continuous repetition of behaviors that create the impression of an underlying gendered essence. However, the cul-turally intelligible forms of gender performance are highly regu-lated, and gendering thus relies on imitation of a limited number of culturally approved ways of “doing gender.”6 The most culturally naturalized form of doing gender is exhibiting coherence between body (physical sex), behavior (gender performance) and sexual ori-entation. In practice, this means that a person born in a physically male body is expected to display masculine characteristics and form romantic and sexual relationships with women. This is known as heteronormativity.

Butler claims that the cultural regulations governing gendered behavior cannot be completely discarded, as there is no pre-discursive subject that exists outside of performative action. Instead, the subject is created (and gendered) through continuous imitation. By means of its fixedness, however, the gender system contains the prerequi-sites for its own undoing, as established categories can be exposed as arbitrary when scrambled and relocated and the continuity between physical sex, gender performance, and sexuality is disrupted.7 Such subversion loosens the norms of the binary gender system.

Binary Universe, Magical Child: Masculinity and Femininity as Metaphysical ConceptsMy informants describe the divine in gendered terms. Hadit, The-rion and Ra-Hoor-Khuit are consistently described as male (although

5. Judith Butler, Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”(New York: Routledge, 1993), 1–20; Judith Butler, Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (New York: Routledge, 1999), 111.

6. Butler, Gender Trouble, 33, 40–42, 142.7. Ibid., 43.



the latter’s maleness is questioned in other sources), while Nuit and Babalon are generally described as female. When asked how male and female divine energies differ from one another, most of my informants respond that male energy is active, while female energy is more passive or receptive.8 Masculine divine energy is also linked to the right side of the kabbalistic Tree of Life; magical tools such as the lance; the elements fire and air; and the priest in the Gnostic Mass. The divine feminine is associated with the left side of the Tree of Life; cup; earth and water; and the priestess in the Gnostic Mass.

From the point of view that divinity is a human construct, or at least can only be accessed through subjective experience, deities have no pre-discursive, natural sex and it is humans who gender them. Claiming that Nuit is female and receptive and Hadit is male and active is thus not a mere description, but a performative utter-ance that creates these deities as gendered in the minds of those who experience them, and reproduces assumptions about what fem-ininity and masculinity is. By disregarding other physical aspects that might otherwise define the deities and linking their sex to the human sexes of male and female in ritual, gender is established as a crucially important category in relating to the divine.

Nonetheless, OTO members subvert the gender binary of Nuit and Hadit in their beliefs and practice, among other things through polytheism. Many of my informants maintain relationships with other deities as well, which in various ways complicates the rela-tionship between gender and divinity. Divine maleness and female-ness are also embodied through deities such as Kali and Pan as well as many others, which represent different forms of masculinity and femininity.

8. The notion of metaphysical gender polarity reflected to some extent on the human level has been fundamental to a number of occult and esoteric traditions at least from the nineteenth century and onwards. See e.g. Julius Evola, Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex (Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 1991); Paschal Beverly Randolph, Eulis! The History of Love: Its Wondrous Magic, Chemis-try, Rules, Laws, Modes, Moods and Rationale; Being the Third Revelation of Soul and Sex (Toledo, Ohio: Randolph, 1874); and Maria de Naglowska, The Sacred Rite of Magi-cal Love: A Ceremony of Word and Flesh (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 2012). For scholarly perspectives, see Hugh B. Urban, Magia Sexualis. Sex, Magic and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006); Hans Thomas Hakl, “The Theory and Practice of Sexual Magic, Exemplified by Four Mag-ical Groups in the Early Twentieth Century,” in Hidden Intercourse: Eros and Sexual-ity in the History of Western Esotericism, ed. Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Jeffrey Kripal (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 445–77.



There are also other symbols of divinity in Thelema that subvert the gender binary. Historian Alex Owen has claimed that the anni-hilation of opposites is often viewed as a spiritual ideal in Western occultism, and that this notion is also represented in Liber AL, where Ra-Hoor-Khuit is presented as the synthesis and perfection of male and female combined.9 Likewise, many of my informants claim spir-itual androgyny to be something of an ideal in Thelema, and that the magical child Ra-Hoor-Khuit embodies this notion. Several describe Baphomet, a potent symbol of ambivalent gender, as an embodi-ment of the complete human being, containing both masculine and feminine characteristics. Baphomet is honored in the Gnostic Creed, and one informant views the priestess when she holds the Priest’s lance between her legs towards the end of the mass, as an embodi-ment of Baphomet. This view is shared by EGC bishops and The-lemic authors James and Nancy Wasserman.10

While Nuit and Hadit reproduce the notion of binary gender, Ra-Hoor-Khuit and Baphomet could thus be said to sacralize its tran-scendence. By sporting both phallus and female breasts, Baphomet could be seen as challenging the naturalization and binarization of physical sex. In a similar way, the notion of spiritual androgyny rep-resented by Ra-Hoor-Khuit posits both masculinity and femininity as parts of a complete, composite human being. At the same time, the idea of spiritual androgyny to some extent essentializes mascu-linity and femininity. This complexity will be further explored later in this article.

Liber AL and the Gnostic Mass present a paradoxical gender system, simultaneously constructing a binary view of gender as cen-tral to magic and the universe, and providing symbols that tran-scend this binary. My informants’ gender constructions are similarly ambiguous in relation to the gender binary. Adrian questions the customary gendering of Nuit as female; as this force represents end-less potential, he says, it cannot really be limited to one gender or the other. As such, he feels that viewing Nuit as feminine is merely a convenient metaphor. Michael offers that the male-female, active-passive dichotomy is overly simplistic, and has devised his own model to account for a greater degree of complexity and differ-ence between gods and goddesses. Such re-interpretations of deities

9. Alex Owen, The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 212.

10. James Wasserman, To Perfect This Feast: A Performance Commentary on the Gnostic Mass (New York: Sekmet Books, 2013), 85.



illustrate the creativity and innovation of contemporary practitio-ners, and studying contemporary Thelema requires sensitivity to the fact that Thelemites are not passively bound to orthodoxy in their religious practice.

Working With Divine Energy: The Gnostic Mass11

Crowley wrote the mass in 1913 in Moscow. It resembles the Russian Orthodox mass, but celebrates the Thelemic pantheon and world-view. It calls for five officers: priestess, priest, deacon, and two chil-dren.12 It begins with the priestess and priest consecrating each other, after which the priestess is enthroned on the high altar and the priest and priestess each deliver a speech in invocation of Hadit, Nuit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit. Together they prepare the Eucharist—wine and so-called Cakes of Light—and enact the Mystic Marriage: a symbolic union of the masculine and feminine divine where the lance is low-ered into the grail. This mimics the union of Nuit and Hadit, which produces the magical child. The ritual culminates with each congre-gant approaching the high altar and receiving the Eucharist, thus partaking of its magical formula, and stating “There is no part of me that is not of the gods.”13

Gender as an erotic polarity is central to the mass. The ritual has a heterosexual structure; it shows the union of the divine feminine as Nuit, embodied by a female priestess, and the divine masculine as Hadit, represented by a male priest, uniting to create their magi-cal offspring. However, heteronormativity also entails that the corre-lation of physical body with gender performance (specific personal traits, abilities, appearance and characteristics) and sexual orienta-tion is seen as preferable to other combinations. Whether or not this is the case in OTO is a complex matter.

A contested issue in the order is whether the mass requires a physically male priest and a physically female priestess. Accord-ing to current policy, initiates are free to celebrate the mass with a

11. Several gender-related aspects of the mass have been debated in OTO, among other things the fact that the priestess has a less vocal role and the issue of the list of so-called Gnostic saints containing only male names. These issues were also discussed by my informants. Unfortunately, space limitations require me to focus here on those issues that pertain more directly to the binary construction of gender, and I hope to discuss the other issues in future publications.

12. The position of child may be filled by an initiate of any age.13. Aleister Crowley, “Liber XV: Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae Canon Missae,”

Equinox 3, no. 1 (1919): 247–70.



female priest, male priestess, or both, but such rituals must be closed to non-initiates. In 2013, OTO member Michael Effertz published a book arguing for so-called “queer” Gnostic Masses (with altered gender roles), which has drawn greater attention to the issue.14 The debate around queer masses highlights an interesting area of tension regarding the definition of gender in the order. Most of my infor-mants believe that physical gender does not limit the divine ener-gies the magician is able to work with and that a male magician can embody the energy of a goddess, and vice versa. Some also claim that invoking opposite-gendered deities is beneficial to one’s per-sonal development. The same has been argued by Rodney Orpheus, a Thelemic author and senior member who has held several lead-ing positions in the order, who recommends cross-dressing in order to explore the self and gender roles in society.15 Such actions and beliefs challenge the gender binary by making divine masculinity and femininity available to all, and separating gender performance from physical sex. However, several of my informants observe that male magicians seem less inclined to adopt roles that are connected to women or femininity, as society has conditioned people to believe that doing what has previously been done by women entails loss of status. Unfortunately, my study does not lend itself to conclu-sions regarding whether many OTO members routinely engage in gender-bending practices.

A number of my informants also believe that each human being contains both masculine and feminine. As noted above, some men-tion spiritual androgyny as a Thelemic ideal, and Thelemic the-ology contains symbols that appear to sacralize transcendence of binary gender. Although the idea of people as microcosms con-taining the divine feminine and masculine could be said to essen-tialize and ontologize the concept of binary gender, it also implies that people need not be limited to specific roles in magic because of their physique.

Despite many of them believing that men and women are equally capable of being priestesses and priests, all of my informants seem hesitant towards changing OTO policy to open queer masses to non-initiates. Adrian and Sarah are open to altering the gender roles

14. The book had previously been privately issued and circulated within the order in 2012. Michael Effertz, Priest/ess: In Advocacy of Queer Gnostic Mass (West Hol-lywood, Calif.: Luxor Media Group LLC, 2013).

15. Rodney Orpheus, Abrahadabra: Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic Magick (Boston: Weiser Books, 2005).



of the mass, but refrain from making definitive statements in the matter. Sarah says that, as the mass can be seen as a symbolic enact-ment of the creation of new life, having physical men and women act as priests and priestesses is logical. However, she observes, this should mean that the priest and priestess must be fertile to perform the mass, and that this is not a requirement. Michael and Chris-tina have repeatedly performed the role of the other gender in pri-vate mass celebrations, and speak appreciatively of these rituals as instructive and enriching experiences. However, both support the current policy, feeling that casting men and women in traditional roles makes the symbolism of the ritual, which enacts the union of binary opposites, clearer. As the mass has an important function in introducing the order to non-initiates, they argue, it should convey its central magical principles in a concise manner.

So, does the gender polar structure of the mass entail a construc-tion of heterosexuality as superior? Several of my informants, both heterosexual and homosexual, have dismissed such discussions, claiming that the mass is based on an exact magical formula and, analogous to a chemical experiment, may not or will not have the desired effect if tampered with. This opinion is shared by Lon Milo and Constance Duquette, both long-time members holding senior positions in OTO and/or EGC, who claim that the heterosexual nature of the mass should not be interpreted as a statement of the superiority of heterosexuality, or that rituals based on other sexual dynamics or formulae are less valid.16 They clearly state that physi-cal sex, rather than gender performance, is determinative of a per-son’s ability to fill a specific role in the ritual; an “effeminate” man can be priest while a “butch” woman cannot, and vice versa.17 Thus, initiates are free to write their own rituals that celebrate other forms of sexual expression, but should leave the mass as it is. As noted by some informants, Crowley himself did so, and experimented with both homosexual and autoerotic workings.18 None of the people I have spoken to have suggested that sex magical workings based on

16. Lon Milo and Constance Duquette, The Miracle of the Mass (pt. 10) – Speech in the Silence 27, podcast audio, accessed June 30, 2014, http://speechinthesilence.com/episode-27-sol-in-pisces-year-107.

17. Ibid.18. See e.g. Aleister Crowley, The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: An Autohagiog-

raphy (London: Arkana, 1989); Aleister Crowley, Victor Neuburg, and Mary Dest, “The Paris Working,” in The Vision and the Voice with Commentary and Other Papers (York Beach, Me.: Samuel Weiser, 1998), 343–409.

http://speechinthesilence.com/episode-27-sol-in-pisces-year-107

http://speechinthesilence.com/episode-27-sol-in-pisces-year-107



non-heterosexual formulae are less spiritually valid or magically efficient, and there is reason to believe that OTO members are signif-icantly more liberal and open to different forms of sexual expression than the American population in general.19

Of course, a scholar of religion cannot enter into discussions about magical formulae, and as such can only observe the surface level of the mass, which is heteronormative. This does not necessar-ily mean that Thelema or OTO are heteronormative: Thelema is not limited to OTO, and the sexual dynamics of the mass are not nec-essarily considered superior or more important in the lives of OTO members. Factors such as idealization of spiritual androgyny, open-ness towards a variety of sexual expressions, and Crowley’s fluid gender identity all challenge heteronormativity, and the stability of gender polarity. All the same, the organizational importance of the mass and the fact that it was written as the order’s central ritual by the founder and prophet of Thelema sets it apart from other rituals within the context of OTO, regardless of the standing and popular-ity of their authors. It seems unlikely that any original queer ritual, eucharistic or otherwise, will ever achieve the same status under the current policy. What this means for the construction of gender, and for assumptions about how gender pertains to magic and initiation, is a complex matter, particularly as many OTO members appear to have conflicting ideas on what gender means on a spiritual level.

Gender and Power in the OrderMost of my informants claim that OTO has had trouble with sexism, and specifically sexual harassment, in the past, but that both have decreased significantly in recent years. In discussions with Chris-tina, Kevin and two other informants, it was noted that in the 1970s and 1980s OTO, like the rest of society, went through a transforma-tive process as a result of the sexual revolution, when a significant gain in sexual freedom rendered the rules of proper conduct unclear and many women were accused of having hang-ups and archaic sexual morals when they were not sexually available. However, the OTO administration took a stance against this issue in the 1990s, and the problems with sexual exploitation have almost disappeared.

When Phoebe became master of her male-dominated local body it seemed to her that many men were uncomfortable having a woman

19. Vere Chappell, “Sexual Attitudes and Behavior Among Members of Ordo Templi Orientis” (Institude for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, 2006).



in charge. She also states that sexualization of women was an issue when she joined OTO, and that women were expected to be phys-ically attractive and receptive to sexual advances at all times. She also claims that the order has had trouble with sexual harassment of female members in the past, and recounts having such an experience herself. Sarah similarly notes that especially new male members sometimes expect female members to be constantly sexually avail-able. Phoebe attributes these troubles partly to OTO’s reputation as a love cult, but also states that the order is hardly immune to problems in society at large. However, Phoebe says, matters have changed in OTO as the administration has taken a stand against sexual harass-ment. Christeos Pir concurs that although the order has had trouble with sexism before, this kind of attitude does not seem to be as prev-alent now. Both Christeos Pir and Sarah agree that sexist members generally weed themselves out on their own. Sarah also adds that the fact that an increasing number of women are taking on leader-ship roles in the order is an important factor, a sentiment shared by Phoebe.

While many of my informants spontaneously raised the issue of sexism in Crowley’s writings, no one I have spoken to seems to feel that misogyny is inscribed in Thelemic rituals or beliefs, or that sexism among OTO members can be derived from the religion.20 On the contrary, most of those I have talked to feel that Thelema pro-motes gender equality, among other things by embracing the divine feminine. Adrian appreciates that Thelema has strong goddess fig-ures and feels that Crowley did a lot for female emancipation and the vindication of female sexuality. Christina similarly views the mass as integral to the feminist potential of Thelema as it heals the imbalances of the Abrahamic tradition by building on the structure of the orthodox mass but integrates the divine feminine. By speak-ing to people on a subconscious level, she says, it can heal the biases that have been inherited from the Abrahamic tradition and promote equality. Several other informants also mention the emancipatory potential of the emphasis on the divine feminine in the Gnostic Mass. Sarah agrees with this view, and attests to having become more con-fident since she started priestessing. Michael feels that OTO seems

20. A more detailed discussion of sexism in Crowley’s writings exceeds the scope of this article. A text frequently mentioned in this context by my informants is Aleister Crowley, Liber Aleph Vel CXI; The Book of Wisdom or Folly, in the Form of an Epistle of 666, the Great Wild Beast, to His Son 777, Being the Equinox Volume III No. VI (York Beach, Me.:.Weiser, 1991).



to produce strong women, and that the famous statement: “Every man and every woman is a star” can help people transcend estab-lished gender roles.

Mary Farrell Bednarowski has argued that religions that view the divine as not exclusively male (whether bi-gendered or female) are generally more receptive to female leadership, and tend to be more gender equal.21 However, Bednarowski fails to take into account that veneration of the divine feminine does not automatically result in greater equality among men and women, as is evident from even a superficial study of religion. Historian of religions Liselotte Frisk contends that religions that view the sexes as essentially different contain an ideological foundation for valuing men and women dif-ferently. This includes those that assume men and women possess different but equally valuable, complementary characteristics, if the ideal balance is defined as the dominance of one over the other, or the properties associated with one are valued more highly. Thus, Frisk argues, the characteristics and roles associated with male and female deities have a central function in legitimizing gender roles.22

Based on the experience I gained during my fieldwork, women in OTO take up as much space, in some cases more, than male OTO members. Whether this is a direct consequence of Thelemic theol-ogy is doubtful. Regardless, as I have shown above, Thelemic theol-ogy is ambivalent in regards to gender. While Thelemites venerate both male and female deities, these deities are also divided accord-ing to sex in a way that, at least partly, associates femininity with passivity/receptivity. The fact that this is not clearly reflected in the informal social interaction of OTO members indicates that the con-nection between gender constructions in theology and the human sphere may be highly complex. While further research is required to determine whether this is the case outside of the local bodies I have visited, I have found no evidence to support that the gender polar dynamic of activity and passivity ascribed to the divine sphere is explicitly used to legitimize power relations among OTO members. Whether this theological construction might still, to some extent, promote certain ideas about how men and women should behave is difficult to ascertain, and requires further investigation.

21. Mary Farrell Bednarowski, “Outside the Mainstream: Women’s Religion and Women Religious Leaders in Nineteenth-Century America,” Journal of the Amer-ican Academy of Religion 49, no. 2 (1981): 207–231.

22. Liselotte Frisk, “Nya Religiösa Rörelser: Könsroller, Sexualitet och Religiös Ideologi,” Finyar 1 (2004): 4–19.



’Fear Not That Any God Shall Deny Thee for This’: OTO and Sexuality

Research conducted by sexologist Vere Chappell indicates that OTO members are more liberal and sexually experienced than the Amer-ican population in general. Using the Standard Sex Profile ques-tionnaire developed by the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality as part of a thirty-year charting of the sexual attitudes of the American population, Chappell conducted a study of the par-ticipants at the National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference (NOTO-CON) in 2005. More than 80,000 people had taken the questionnaire when Chappell’s article was published, allowing the attitudes of OTO members to be compared to the larger population. Chappell found that female OTO initiates are reported to have had more fre-quent sexual contacts than men (although gender differences were comparatively small), while the opposite is true of the American population at large. The same was true of the total number of sex partners: the median number of lifetime sex partners based on Chap-pell’s questionnaire was eighteen for women and fourteen for men, compared to four for women and seven for men in the general pop-ulation. Of course, cultural norms may affect the level of honesty in questionnaire answers. It is possible that stigmatization of promis-cuous women in wider society may cause women to lie in the ques-tionnaire and downplay their number. Still, this would imply that women do not risk the same stigmatization in OTO for being sexu-ally active.

The sex-positive aspect of Thelema may have an emancipatory potential for members, particularly those from conservative back-grounds. Phoebe recalls being called a whore by a male member of her local body, and laughingly says that she as a Thelemite hardly considers this an insult. She also mentions a friend once joking at an event about how Phoebe had slept with more people than anyone else present, and notes that most OTO members would be indiffer-ent to this, or congratulate her. She observes that this is markedly dif-ferent from her Catholic upbringing. Christina, also from a Christian background, says that she has always wanted to embrace her reli-gion wholeheartedly rather than picking some parts and ignoring others, and that this caused friction when she developed an interest in sex. She searched the Bible for passages that justified her sleeping with her boyfriend but, finding none and preferring her boyfriend to remaining a Christian and abstaining from sex until marriage, Chris-tina left the church.



The OTO members with whom I have interacted seem very open to non-heteronormative relationship forms as well as a wide spec-trum of sexual orientations and preferences. Chappell’s survey also confirms that OTO members are generally more open towards many forms of sexual expression than the American population overall. Once again, this suggests that the heterosexual structure of Thelemic core theology and the mass is not all-pervasive, and challenges het-eronormativity in practice by constructing a discursive universe in which romance and sexuality can be explored in a multitude of ways. One informant says that the Thelemic emphasis on doing one’s True Will as per the central tenet of Crowley’s philosophy, and that noth-ing is unnatural or wrong as long as it is part of that will, encourages tolerance and the examination of prejudices. Another informant, a transgender woman, states that Thelema became an incentive for her to find and develop herself. A third informant states that there is a comparatively large number of transgender Thelemites, and that transgenderism and the desire and decision to go against norms and express what one feels is one’s true identity can be seen as a very strong expression of the True Will. Another informant confirms that there are many transgender people in OTO, and that Thelema, as opposed to all other spiritual and religious groups he has worked with, does not make an “issue” of people’s sexuality. The fact that Crowley himself was openly bisexual and polyamorous, and repeat-edly appeared in drag and assumed a female persona, may also pro-mote openness. As noted above, however, there are OTO members who do not agree that all sexual orientations are valued equally in the order.23 The fact that queer sexuality cannot be explored in the context of public masses also indicates that gender and sex are understood differently, and perceived as more or less fluid, in dif-ferent contexts.

My informants, both male and female, have a positive outlook on sexuality. While more research is needed to confirm whether this is the case with a majority of order members, Chappell’s study seems to suggest that this may be the case. Crowley’s sexual polyvalence and consistent advocacy of sexual freedom perhaps also makes it unlikely that a person with a conservative view of sexuality would be attracted to Thelema. Thelema holds both male and female sex-uality sacred, and its theology casts a harlot goddess as one of the principal symbols of sacredness and spiritual enlightenment. This is

23. Michael Effertz, Priest/ess: In Advocacy of Queer Gnostic Mass.



likely to contribute to a positive revaluation of female sexuality. As noted above, women in OTO indeed seem to enjoy greater sexual freedom than the American population at large.24 In some cases, as some of my informants attest to, this may result in the expecta-tion that women (or men) should always be sexually available and harassment of those who are not, although my informants feel that such issues have become significantly less common in the order. Fur-ther research is necessary to confirm whether this is the case. Still, this matter indicates the importance of not being blindly guided by theory when investigating a field of study. An overly rigid emphasis on Butler’s theories may have resulted in my disregarding elements of Thelema that are not necessarily subversive in the manner of chal-lenging the notion of binary gender, but still appear to be conducive to gender equality in the Thelemic community.

’There is no Law Beyond Do What Thou Wilt’: Complexity and Methodological Differentiation

While binary gender is central to Liber AL and the Gnostic Mass, and is important for how my informants envision the divine, this does not appear to result in a sense that physical women or men should be restricted to certain roles in everyday social life. With the excep-tion of the Gnostic Mass, my informants also seem to feel that phys-ical sex should not limit the magical roles one is able to take on. Still, their general support of the current OTO policy of using a male priest and female priestess in the Gnostic Mass seems to indicate that physical sex is not considered wholly irrelevant to magical practice. This underlines the importance of remaining open to logical incon-sistencies and paradoxes in the empirical material when applying theory, and indicates the necessity of not limiting oneself to textual studies when investigating gender in occultism. Crowley’s writings emphasize the inviolable right of each person to do his or her will, and many of my informants also states that the notion of the True Will gives each person the right to live as seems best to him or her. This mentality appears to encourage tolerance and examination of prejudices, as indicated, among other things, by Chappell’s study of attitudes to sexuality and Orpheus’ suggestion that magicians exam-ine their own attitudes to gender.

24. Regrettably, there are no comparable quantitative surveys of OTO in other countries. It would be interesting to see how OTO members in more sexually liber-ated countries would compare to the general population.



The OTO members with whom I have interacted cannot easily be fitted into the binary gender roles that are discursively and perfor-matively constructed in Liber AL or the mass. When socializing and in classes and workshops, women were no less inclined to speak out and take charge than men. Throughout my fieldwork, I met many women whose general demeanor bore many of the distinguishing characteristics of a traditional masculinity, as well as many men whose gender performance in many aspects was congruent with more stereotypically feminine traits. I also met a number of OTO members whose gender performance could be described as directly challenging the binary notion of gender.

Social reality is more complex than a simplistic reading of The-lemic cosmology or Butler may indicate, as it appears that the gender roles created in certain contexts are not necessarily reflected in gender constructions in others. Just as the mere inclusion of female deities in a pantheon does not guarantee equality among adherents, essentializing symbolism that connects masculinity and femininity to opposite, complementary roles and characteristics is not automat-ically reflected in the social construction of gender in the daily lives of practitioners. At the same time, my informants’ hesitance towards altering the gender roles of the mass in public celebrations indicates that gender in relation to divinity is not completely negotiable, and that physical sex has some importance in magical practice. None-theless, essentialism in symbolism and teachings can co-exist with subjective experiences of liberation from established gender roles in the same tradition. While, for instance, the idea of gender polar-ity may perpetuate assumptions about gender that could potentially limit men or women to specific roles, theology that embraces both the masculine and divine feminine appears to be liberating for sev-eral of my informants.

Above, I have suggested polytheism and openness towards the idea that divinity, and sexuality, can manifest itself in a number of equally valid ways as conducive, under certain circumstances, to the stretching of gender norms. Once again, I would also like to suggest the Thelemic emphasis on each person’s inner divinity and unique purpose in life as a reason for which the gender binary created in basic Thelemic theology is not necessarily upheld in all aspects of Thelemic OTO practice. Furthermore, lived religion cannot be viewed as a simple reflection of beliefs or theological tenets, but is also a creation of subjects who interpret, reinterpret and challenge existing aspects of their religion. In future research, I hope to further



explore the complex dynamics involved in how Thelemites relate to gender norms.

The complexity of gender in OTO indicates the importance of using multiple methodologies in the study of Western esotericism. A purely textual study would not have rendered much insight into the ways in which OTO members challenge and transcend the gender binary in informal social interaction, and welcome a wide variety of sexual orientations and gender performances. Similarly, only studying the mass would not have given any clues as to the complex and ambiguous gender relations among OTO members. I would like to suggest that the study of Western esotericism must become more holistic in its approach, learning from textual sources but also acknowledging its fields of study as living, social communi-ties as much as religious belief systems.

While Butler’s theories are useful for understanding how gender both is established as an important category and challenged in dis-course and action, I would like to argue that several gender sys-tems can exist side by side and carry different levels of importance in different situations. In the case of my informants, the heterosex-ual binary of the Gnostic Mass and the divine couple Nuit and Hadit exists parallel to a less rigid gender system constructed in informal social situations. Although the gender binary in ritual and theology may perpetuate essentializing notions of gender with consequences that are not immediately visible in a small fieldwork study, it seems that other aspects of Thelema serve to promote self-expression regardless of physical sex.

Conclusion

I am standing before the high altar, looking up at the priestess as I chew the small Cake of Light. It tastes slightly of cinnamon. As I receive the small goblet of wine and down it in one gulp, I notice the Stele of Revealing that seems to glow behind her. I know it depicts the god Hadit rushing upwards to unite with his divine lover, the star goddess Nuit. Their offspring, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, is the hawk-headed god depicted on his throne, but perhaps he is also in the cookie and wine I have just consumed. I turn away from the Altar. the light from the candles has blinded me. as i face the temple i am not aware of the priest in his tomb, nor the congregation, but only a velvety darkness as I place my arms across my chest and declare, “There is no part of me that is not of the gods.”



The consumption of the Eucharist marks the culmination of the Gnostic Mass. In the introduction, I posed a set of questions regard-ing the mass, which can now be answered in part. The dancer in the introduction, now seated on the high altar, is the priestess of Nuit, who embodies the divine mother and infinite possibility. The man in the tomb is the priest, who embodies the god Hadit, the infinitely condensed life force and core of each person. The Egyptian tablet depicts Nuit, Hadit and their divine offspring Ra-Hoor-Khuit. The mass officers and congregation are Thelemites, gathered to partic-ipate in the central ritual of OTO, written by Aleister Crowley in 1913.

The mass creates each congregant, regardless of sex, as sacred and divine. It creates a gendered theology, establishing sex as the pri-mary distinctive category in discourse around deities, but was also written by an individual whose own gender identity and sexual ori-entation were fluid. This ambiguity is reflected in the attitudes of OTO members, who often use essentializing language but move far beyond rigid gender norms in other forms of social interaction. Con-sequently, this indicates that several gender systems operate within Thelema, and that a single element of a religion can contain aspects that both challenge and affirm the binary construction of gender, depending on interpretation and perspective. The complexity also demonstrates the importance of a critical attitude to one’s own the-oretical frameworks. A simplistic reading of Butler’s theories of how the performative creation of binary gender establishes gender inequality does not adequately explain how OTO members relate to each other and evolve in practicing their religion. The existence of multiple and contradictory gender systems also indicates the neces-sity of methodological differentiation in research on Western eso-tericism, in order to conceptualise how human beings are created as both men and women, and as individual subjects exploring their inner divinity.

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