There is fuck all wrong with sex despite the macho-men and unbelievable creations ov the media and the flags ov restriction put up by both the political left and the right (all nasty oppressive illusions, not only are all clichés true, but all paradox).
Christians have their Cross – fetish ov guilt and shame. Christ on thee Cross – symbol ov martyrdom/sacrifice for thee sinfulness ov thee human race. unworthy, godless slaves.
We repudiate – have our own fetish/symbol for thee immense possibilities and dimensions ov thee human mind and vessel in life. Thee Psychick Cross – an alchemical symbol for (magickally) dangerous material/knowledge. Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth is “danger” to dogmatic/streamlined thought, that is to thee stability/status quo in present society/culture: thee seed to a new science/way ov living.
Listen, you! We expect nothing from you…we have burnt our hope as far as you are concerned…we want to speak to the ones who are prepared to stop eating their food. Misery is your food… scum-filth party politics is your food…when will you look down and see what is on the end of your fork – the naked lunch? We give up, you little people, your tenacity, your insistence on little wretched miseries amazes us. Stop reading this now. Because it is highly unlikely that you are one of those able to understand us.
Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews Love, Sex, Fear, Death: The Inside Story of The Process Church of the Final Judgment by Timothy Wyllie, edited by Adam Parfrey, from Feral House.
I had previously read W.S. Bainbridge’s study of the Process Church, titled Satan’s Power, in my quest for information on this fascinating cult with roots in Scientology, Christian apocalypticism, and Western occultism. While Bainbridge’s book was helpful, and probably the best account in print at that time, the Feral House multiple memoir and archival anthology Love Sex Fear Death totally puts it in the shade by furnishing insider dope from a variety of personal perspectives, along with organizational literature, glossy color propaganda reproductions, and photos of key players.
The words of the title, while seeming to offer two independent clauses in the imperative mood, were titles of four themed issues of The Process magazine, which have their cover art and various contents reproduced in the second part of this book. Roughly the first half of the volume is the Processean memoir of Timothy Wyllie, onetime designer and editor of The Process, an early and enduring member who was part of the group’s inner circle, but who—according to his own account—always occupied a marginal position relative to the group’s social core and theological identities. Following Wyllie’s piece are an assortment of shorter reflections and reports from former Processeans. Between these and the archival reprints, there is an essay by Genesis P-Orridge regarding the Process Church influence on TOPY, and the ways in which TOPY history reflected its predecessor.
Reading these stories certainly de-glamorized the Process for me to a considerable degree, I had less sympathy for their internal practices and mores than brief previous exposures had led me to think I would. The Process Church of the Final Judgment is a sort of “kissing cousin” to Thelema, as demonstrated by their harmonization in TOPY, and by the fact that the first chartered master of an O.T.O. camp of my acquaintance was a former Processean with very fond memories of his time in the Process. They paid their wry respects to the Beast in various events and publications, and their psychological theories were keyed to the work of Adler, whom Crowley noted as the best of the psychoanalytic pioneers of his own period. The Process was also a notable feature of the Chicago counterculture, having had a conspicuous presence in this area from their first efforts to spread in the US (circa 1970) until the eventual quiet implosion of their successor group the Foundation in 1976.
Still, the old Process literature continues to impress with its bravura. The archival materials here also include sheet music for some charming Processean liturgical tunes, like “Christ and Satan Joined in Unity.” The varied memoirs, while sometimes pointing up the shortcomings of the organization and its leaders, still show the nobility of the aspirations among the membership, and their ability to benefit from radical social experimentation. This is an excellent collection for anyone interested in new religious movements generally, and the countercultural moment of the 1960s and 70s particularly. [via]
“Psychic TV –
Force the Hand of Chance – Message [1982]
Derek Jarman, Alan Oversby aka Mr Sebastian
Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth’s Grey Book”
“P-Orridge’s assertion that ‘Message from Thee Temple’ (referred to as ‘Message from Thee Temple of Psychic Youth’ on the lyric sheet) was “Written after consideration of sexual magic and L-OV-E under Will” reveals his familiarity with the techniques of the OTO as regenerated by Crowley; indeed ‘Message from Thee Temple’ outlines a method of discovering one’s true Will along lines suggested by the famous magician. Written in 1980, the Message is the earliest of the lyrics featured on the record and it stands as a foundation text or mission statement, which was issued to the many thousands of people who contacted TOPY Information Points or Stations throughout the 1980s. The text is delivered in a friendly, trustworthy but authoritative voice, warm and rich, reasonable, seemingly not insistent. A strange doubling effect can be discerned by the close listening ear, which can result in a state of heightened awareness or unease. Basically, the Message stresses the virtues of personal experience as the basis for developing a generalised magickal system to bring greater depth to the Individual’s exploration of Present Time. Despite the avowed primacy of personal experience, TOPY and PTV sometimes flirt with the proclamation of dogma, both here and elsewhere. The Message closes with a mournful violin fade out.” — Review by FNS at Head Heritage [via]