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La
Couleuvre Noire:
For the history of L.C.N., the reader is referred to the
following article by Frater Joseph.
The publication of Kenneth Grant's very excellent book (The
Magical Revival, London: Frederick Muller, Ltd.,
1972) serves to show for the first time in public print connections between the
O.T.O. magical work of Aleister Crowley and the Haitian Voudoo and Gnostic
Magic. In fact, it is Mr. Grant's contention the Crowley’s magick, and
especially his sex magick, are identical with the magic and especially the magie
sexuelle of the French and Haitian Gnostic adepts. In view of this connection,
it might be useful to give some information on the Franco-Haitian O.T.O.A."Ordo
Templi Orientis Antiqua" and its origins and derivatives.
It is now fairly well known that Crowley received the
initiatic succession of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica from Theodore Reuss in
1912, at the time of his consecration to the order of the bishop for O.T.O.
Reuss had received this succession in 1909 from Gerald Encausse, Grand Master of
the Martinist Order and bishop of the Ecclesia Gnostica. Reuss and Encausse had
exchanged initiations, with Encausse receiving the initiatic succession of the
highest degrees of the O.T.O. from Reuss for France and the French-speaking
countries.
Gerald Encausse, born July 13, 1865 at La Corogne, Spain, and
known as "Papus" had reestablished the Martinist Order in
Paris. In 1890, he had been consecrated along with the mystical
writer Paul Sedir (Yvon Le Loup) and the occult-book publisher Lucien Mauchel,
to the episcopate of the Ecclesia Gnostica, by Jules Doinel (Tau Valentin II).
Those who have read Crowley's autobiographies know that Encausse inherited John
Yarker’s Rite of Memphis-Misraim (which was
originally French, but which had been transferred to England via the U.S.A.,
between 1860 and 1875, and which actually was the basis of the German O.T.O.
since Sept. 1902) with the event of Yarker’s death in 1913. Thus, Encausse was
known to be connected with Egyptian and mystic masonry, Gnosticism, Martinism,
and the Rose-Croix (through Stanislas de Guaita), the Elus Cohens, and P.B.
Randolph's "Fraternitas Lucis Hermetica", which operated in France along sexual
magical lines. It must be understood, however, that the O.T.O. which Encausse
received from Reuss did not contain the secret degrees and work which Crowley
was to develop within his own branch of that order. We are discussing the
earlier period, 1909 to 1912, which is prior to Crowley's entry into the work.
One of the adepts known to Encausse, at the time in
Paris, was a young Haitian Gnostic bishop, Lucien-Francois
Jean-Maine. He had been consecrated to the episcopate by Tau Synesius (who had
been consecrated by Papus, Sedir, and Mauchel) and by one mysterious Tau Orfeo
VI (a Spanish Gnostic bishop of the older line which drew upon the Albigensian
and Memphis-Misraim currents) in 1899, at the age of 30.
Lucien-Francois Jean-Maine took as his episcopal name in Ecclesia Gnostica, Tau
Ogoade-Orfeo I. Lucien-Francois Jean-Maine was born on January 11, 1869 in
Leogane, Haiti, and died near Boston, in 1960.
Because of his position in the occult history of the times and because of his
connections with French and Spanish occultism, he was able to receive all the
most important initiatic successions and currents and transmit them to other
members of his race and also to that one line of Gnostic bishops which is
derived from him and which has also absorbed the successions and currents of the
American neo-Crowleyan derivatives.
In the Haitian Voudoo, esoterically considered, we must make
two important distinctions. First of all there was already an order comparable
to the O.T.O. of Karl Kellner and Theodore Reuss. I refer to the order and rite
created by Toussaint-L'Ouverture, which drew upon French cabalism, illuminism,
and Dahomeyan African currents. All students of Haitian Masonry are familiar
with this rite, which is entirely too little known, but which cannot be
discussed in this essay for reasons of space. Secondly there is a very important
distinction to be made between these mysteries of Voodoo which are parallel to
the VIII and IX degree-work of the O.T.O.--I refer to the "mysteries de la
solitude" and "mariage mystique"-and those mysteries of the very esoteric
Voudoo, which are close to the XI and even higher work of Crowley's O.T.O.-here
I mean the "mystere Luage". Thus, it is important to note that both Crowley and
this line of esoteric Voudoo admitted to the development of sexual magic and to
the existence of secret degrees of attainment. In this sense both the Haitian
Gnostics and Crowley were to go beyond the O.T.O. of Reuss and Encausse.
It is noteworthy to mention that Lucien-Francois Jean-Maine
received the Voudoo grades of initiate, servitor, priest, and high-priest in
Haiti, in his own father's temple in Leogane, before seeking his occult fortunes
in Paris
and Madrid. Also, there was a family tradition
that the Jean-Maine line was traceable back to a French slave-owner, in Leogane,
who had died there in 1774,( a common enough claim). In this case, the
slave-owner was the adept Martines de Pasquales who had founded the Order of the
Elus Cohens, the theurgic current into which Louis-Claude de St. Martin (born
January 18, 1743), the founder of Martinist mysticism had been initiated in
France.
Prior to his consecration to the episcopate, Lucien-Francois
Jean-Maine was ordained to the subdiaconate, diaconate, and priesthood by Tau
Orfeo VI, orders of the sacred ministry of the Gnostic Church which fully
matched in magical current his first three degrees in esoteric Voudoo, given to
him by his father. Between 1899 and 1910, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I worked with the
scattered followers of the African-American adept P.B. Randolph (born October 8,
1825) forming the loosely structured "Fraternitas Lucis Hermetica" which worked
the sexual magical techniques of their teacher and the three mysterious degrees
of his inner order. It has been well established by historians that the O.T.O.
of Kellner and of Reuss in Germany received most of its sexual magical teachings
from P.B. Randolph's "Magie Sexuelle".
It might be added that the MSS. of Randolph's work was also
used by a group of Polish female bishops, the Mariavite Church, who assisted
their male counterparts, until suppressed by the Roman Catholics. Recently,
Randolph's "Fraternitas Lucis Hermetica" in France was headed by a Mariavite
Gnostic Bishop, Msgr. Robert Bonnet. Also, it
might be noted that Randolph's sexual magic in MSS. was translated into French
and published by none other than that Polish high-priestess Maria de Naglowska,
before 1931. Finally, it should be noted that Maria de Naglowska studied Voudoo
with the pupils of Lucien-Francois Jean-Maine between 1921 and 1930.
About 1910, Encausse gave the X degrees of the O.T.O. to Tau
Ogoade-Orfeo I "for Haiti and the French West Indies". A branch of the
Fraternitas Lucis Hermetica was also planned. Jean-Maine's consecration took
place in Paris. Encausse who had received most of
the higher grades of the Rite of Memphis-Misraim, received a few more from Tau Ogoade-Orfeo
I, who had received them from Tau Orfeo VI. Encausse, always the gracious
Frenchman and never to be outdone, exchanged what he had received from Yarker,
and Reuss. However, it must be understood that the succession of Yarker was that
of paid-for or mail order
diplomas and existed only on paper, while that of Tau Orfeo VI
was sacramental in character and based on the magic of the Ecclesia Gnostica.
Business difficulties and the war kept Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I from returning to
Haiti until 1921. In order to build up the Spanish Gnostic Church, Tau
Ogoade-Orfeo I moved to Spain in 1919, and in 1921 consecrated his successor in
Europe for the Spanish Gnostic Church-Rite of Memphis-Misraim
occult system. His successor took the name of Tau Ogoade-Orfeo II, and with his
headquarters in Madrid, directed the work of the
Ecclesia Gnostica and the magical and Gnostic-esoteric orders of
Memphis and Misraim. For under the combined influences of the O.T.O.,
Martinism, Gnosticism, and Voudoo-not to mention the Fraternitas Lucis
Hermetica-the Spanish and Haitian branches of the Rite of
Memphis-Misraim gave up entirely their quasi-masonic character and
became completely esoteric and Gnostic orders of magic, i.e., The Gnostic and
Esoteric Order of Misraim, or of Egypt and the Gnostic and Esoteric Order of
Memphis, within the larger, totally occult and much more
ecclesiastical "Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraim".
This point must be emphasized because there are other branches of the Rite of Memphis-Misraim which claim to continue a masonic
character, while our branch is only interested in continuing the Gnostic and
apostolic succession and the magical currents of initiation.
Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I returned to Haiti in late 1921 and married.
A son was born November 18, 1924, who was named Hector-Francois. While in Haiti,
Tau-Ogoade-Orfeo I created the Haitian Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua--the
O.T.O.A.-officially organized in 1921. It was structured to work in 16 degrees,
rather than the X of the Encausse-Reuss order, or even the XI of Crowley’s rite.
Elements of Voudoo, magic, and Gnosticism were worked into a system which "went
up the Tree of Life and then down the back". It would be considered a very
dangerous system by Golden Dawn standards, but then the Haitians had been
excluded from the Martinist-derived Golden Dawn by reason of their race, so
don't judge them too harshly. I am certain they never regretted anything they
did!
In 1922, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I created the magical order "La
Couleuvre Noire" ("The Black Snake"), which worked four degrees, with a
probationer's and administrative degree added to make it six grades in all. The
relationship of the O.T.O.A. to "La Couleuvre Noire" can be best described on
the analogy of the relationship of the O.T.O. of Crowley to the G.B.G. and the
Choronzon Club of the American” Neo-Crowleyan derivatives”, except without the
loss of any magical vitality on the part of "La Couleuvre Noire", as it was
founded by the chief of the O.T.O.A. and not by a pupil. In 1930, "La Couleuvre
Noire" and the O.T.O.A. were made departments of the Rite of
Memphis-Misraim, together with the Gnostic Church and the Fraternitas
Lucis Hermetica in Spain and Haiti. In 1968, this was extended to the U.S.A. and
the French West Indies.
In 1960, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I died in Boston,
U.S.A., while on a tour of the Gnostic groups in France, Spain, Belgium and the
U.S.A., which were under his jurisdiction. His authority was passed on to Tau
Ogoade-Orfeo II, the Spanish occultist and Gnostic with the provision that the
son of Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I was to be consecrated to the episcopate and inherit
the order and its rites. This was accomplished in Madrid,
on November 2, 1962, when the son of Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I, Docteur H.-F.
Jean-Maine was consecrated bishop and elevated to the patriarchate of the
Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis by Tau Ogoade-Orfeo II. The new bishop-primate and
patriarch took the name of Tau Ogoade-Orfeo III and thus continued the Gnostic
succession of Haitian bishops and Grand Masters of the O.T.O.A.
On January 18, 1966, an American Martinist, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo
IV, born January 18, 1935, was consecrated to the episcopate for the Rite of Memphis-Misraim. The consecration took place in Chicago, with Tau Ogoade-Orfeo II and Docteur Jean-Maine
acting as the co-consecrators. Later, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo IV received the complete
magical consecrations and currents of the Ecclesia Gnostica Hermetica on August
10, 1967. The Ecclesia Gnostica Hermetica carried the magical currents of the
secret work of the O.T.O. and the Choronzon Club, and thus united the Crowleyan
(Germerian) and Neo-Crowleyan (Choronzon Club and G.B.G.) successions with the
Gnostic and Hermetic traditions inherited from the Vilatte succession of
bishops. The Patriarch of the Ecclesia Gnostica Hermetica Tau IX (33=36) was the
consecrator of Tau Ogoade-Orfeo IV. Then, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo IV exchanged the
episcopate and Patriarchate in the Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis with Tau IX
(33-36) by making him XVI (33=36) of the Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua. Again, on
December 25, 1967, another Gnostic succession from Msgr. Vilatte was received
from Tau IV (13=16) the missionary bishop of the QBL Alchemist Church of
Illinois (Egyptian Apostolic Succession) by Tau Ogoade-Orfeo IV. This is the
same apostolic succession which the French Martinist and Gnostic bishop Msgr, C.
Chevillon passed on to the Swiss O.T.O. bishop who inherited the Crowleyan order
from Karl Germer. Astrologers should take note that Tau IV (13=16), born January
5, was consecrated to the QBL Alchemist episcopate of the Vilatte succession on
November 4, 1967. Tau IV (13=16) previously consecrated in Ecclesia Gnostica
Spiritualis to the episcopate on January 18, 1967, assisted in the exchange of
consecrations and successions on August 10, 1967.In 1989 Tau Ogoade-OrfeoIV
appointed Tau Ogoade-OrefoVIII (Courtney Willis) as the Sovereign Grand Master ,then as the Sovereign Grand Master
Absolute of the La Couleuvre Noire. Born on December 19,1955, He is the
spiritual son of Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I..On September 7th, 1991 Tau Ogdoade-Orfeo
VIII was consecrated as Hierophant of the La Couleuvre Noire by Tau Ogoade-Orfeo
IV. Thus, the American O.T.O. and Gnostic successions were united with the
Franco-Haitian and Spanish successions. The events of 1966-1969 are discussed in
the 5th Year course of the Monastery of the Seven rays.
It should be understood by the readers that the O.T.O. and the
Martinist lines of initiations were continually being linked by means of the
Gnostic episcopate. Also, the succession of the esoteric Voudooists and the
O.T.O. successions were united by Gnosticism, in the magical Rite of Memphis-Misraim., and in the magical world of the south
side of Chicago Afro-American Spiritist-Gnostics
during the 1960's.
On August 31,1968, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo IV consecrated the Haitian
occultist Docteur Pierre-Antoine Saint Charles, born July 21, 1934, to the
episcopate of the Ecclesia Gnostica Cabalistica, the newly consecrated and
elevated bishop taking as his patriarchal name Tau Eon III, Tau VIII (29=32).
Thus, in another Haitian adept and Gnostic voodooist were united the following
lines of succession which parallel those of Tau Ogoade-Orfeo I in 1910: (1) the
Encausse succession of the S.I.I. of Martinism; (2) the O.T.O. Ecclesia Gnostica
Hermetica and Choronzon Club successions from Tau IX; (3) the Vilatte succession
of the Gnostic episcopate, now possessed by all of the heirs of Crowley's order;
(4) the Memphis-Misraim, Ecclesia Gnostica
Spiritualis, and Ordo Templi Orientis Antiqua successions from Tau Ogoade-Orfeo
I; (5) the Voudoo succession of the four degrees (mentioned earlier in this
essay), which Docteur Saint-Charles received from his Haitian traditions, Tau
Eon III then exchanged his Voudoo consecrations in their esoteric and magical,(
rather than religious), current with Tau Ogoade-Orfeo IV, for the successions of
the Ecclesia Gnostica. These Voudoo currents were further developed when Tau
Ogoade-Orfeo III added the magical current of the esoteric Voudoo
high-priesthood to the succession of the Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis. Thus,
the lines of esoteric Voudoo and Aleister Crowley did meet in a definite
succession of Gnostic bishops, and in the dynamics of” thelemic Voudoo”. Note:
This succession is also possessed by the present (2005) SGMA of the O.T.O.A
(Courtney Willis)-forming a link between Crowley and the magic fire of Haitian
Vudu.
In order to add more Haitian historical elements to the
current, on July 27, 1970, Tau Ogoade-Orfeo IV consecrated to the episcopate in
Ecclesia Gnostica Spiritualis Tau Ogoade V (Tau XV, 57=60) the well-known
Haitian scientist, born July 27, 1930. The newly-consecrated bishop is the
great-grandson of Haitian presidents Michel-Cincinnatus Leconte and Nord Alexis.
And so the magical currents flow on and on and on. About the
Ecclesia Gnostic Spiritualis, yes, it is still in existence. In fact, in the
words of John Yarker, when describing the Rite of Misraim, "In a quiet way it is
still conferred in this country under its own Supreme Council", composed of the
Voudoo Gnostic bishops of 2005, and the Franco-Haitian ghost of "Le Maitre L.-F.J.-M.”
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