The Ruby Tablet

In this episode, we descend from the philosophical abstractions of eternal Becoming into the concrete, grinding machinery of how that Becoming actually happens—where the Word is no longer a distant proclamation but a living pattern that must be decoded, applied, and lived. We explore how James Lewis—the skeptic who became a Magus, the twelfth such figure in thousands of years of recorded history, the most systematic expositor of the Setian tradition—seized the revelation of Xeper and dragged it down into the realm of practical application, declaring that the engine of immortality is not the static achievement of Being but the dynamic,

From the definition of a Word as an unnatural force that acts and grows by its own laws to the distinction between the two types of Magus, from the sequence of Thelema, Indulgence, Xeper, and Remanifestation to the controversial fate of the Word Xem, from the expansion of the Formula of the Aeon to the practical process of self-examination and reorganization, from the rejection of the "enlightened society" in favor of "unique and extraordinary individuals" to the assertion that no single object, being, or thought is immortal in its present form—we trace the monumental, deeply contested, and astonishingly influential legacy of Remanifestation and ask: In a world that still drifts through life without direction, still confuses compulsion with indulgence, and still seeks comfort over transformation, do we have the courage to take the hard path of constant Becoming, or will we retreat into the comfortable security of the old and the static?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: To Find a Pattern (V2 - A17.3 - 2)

Author: James Lewis V° Date: April 3, XXII HTML Revision: October 8, 1998 CE Subject: Remanifestation Reading List: 2H, 2M, 4A, 6D, 6K, 6N, 9C, 9D, 9K, 12C, 16A, 17A, 17D, 19G

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

-James Lewis, To Find a Pattern (The Ruby Tablet)

-H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror

-Aleister Crowley, One Star in Sight (from Magick in Theory and Practice)

-Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis)

-Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears

-Anton LaVey, The Satanic Bible (for context on Indulgence)

-Michael A. Aquino, The Temple of Set: A Brief History

-Plato, Phaedo (on the immortality of the soul)

-Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit (on dialectical process)

-Kenneth Grant, The Magical Revival (on the role of the Kingly man)

-H.G. Wells, The Discovery of the Future (on the infinite horizon of human progress)

-The Koran, Surah 74:24-25 (on the rejection of the Magus)

-Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (on the ancient tradition of wisdom)

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#Remanifestation #Xeper #Set #TempleOfSet #LeftHandPath #Magus #JamesLewis #Word #Thelema #Indulgence #Xem #AleisterCrowley #AntonLaVey #MichaelAquino #HPLovecraft #Plato #Aristotle #Hegel #KennethGrant #HGWells #Immortality #Soul #Consciousness #Becoming #ComingIntoBeing #Potentiality #Actuality #IndulgenceVsCompulsion #GoldenMean #Kheft #EternalQuest #Philosophy #Occult #Magic #Ritual #SelfExamination #SelfCreation #IndividualSovereignty #AeonOfSet #TheRubyTablet #PhilosophyPodcast #OccultPodcast #LeftHandPathPodcast #Setian #Initiation #GradeSystem #MagusV #FifthDegree #RubyTablet #XeperAndRemanifest #BlackFlame #PrinceOfDarkness

The Ruby Tablet is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day . Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame .

The show is anchored in the ancient Egyptian concept of Xeper—a term meaning "I have come into being"—which is understood as the conscious, deliberate process of self-creation and becoming . Unlike paths that seek external validation or union with a higher power, The Ruby Tabletposits that the individual is the ultimate author of their own divinity, a principle central to the Left-Hand Path .

This is not a podcast about finding yourself; it is a podcast about inventing yourself, moment by moment . Each episode strips away societal programming, challenging listeners to reject herd mentality and external validation, dissecting the philosophy of the Isolate Intelligence—the conscious will that separates humanity from the animal

In this episode, we descend from the philosophical heights of immortality theories into the crucible of the subjective universe, where the question of survival is no longer a matter of abstract speculation but of will, work, and the construction of a self that refuses to dissolve. We explore how James Lewis IV°—the Setian Magister, the chronicler of the Great House, the most unflinching examiner of the soul's endurance in the contemporary occult tradition—seized the philosophical inheritance of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Crowley and forged it into a doctrine of active, willful continuation, declaring that the engine of immortality is not the passive survival of an immortal soul nor the reconstitution of a physical body but the dynamic, ongoing process of Coming Into Being through the construction of a House within the subjective universe.

From the paradox of not-being and the rejection of passive immortality doctrines to the construction of the Great House of the Being, from the rejection of the "We are one; we are none" trap and the embrace of mental separateness from the inertia of Nuit to the concept of Setamorphosis and the endless ways of existence, from the cultivation of the "one I" in Ouspensky's third category to the final, stark choice between Work and oblivion—we trace the monumental, deeply challenging, and astonishingly empowering legacy of Setian thought on immortality and ask: In a world that still fears death, still seeks comfort in passive beliefs, and still debates the possibility of conscious continuation, do we have the courage to build our own Houses, or will we retreat into the comfortable authority of those who promise salvation without work?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: "Remanifestation" (V2 - A17.3 - 1) Author: James Lewis IV° Date: September 5, XXI Revised: December 21, XXIII Subject: Remanifestation, Life and Death Reading List: 2H, 2L, 2M, 3I, 6I, 6K, 9A, 9C, 12C, 16A, 17A, 17D, 18A, 19G

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

-James Lewis IV°, "Remanifestation" (The Ruby Tablet)

-Plato, Phaedo (trans. Benjamin Jowett)

-Aristotle, De Anima (On the Soul) (trans. R.D. Hicks)

-Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (trans. Norman Kemp Smith)

-Anthony Flew, "Immortality" in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy

-Aleister Crowley, The Book of the Law (Liber AL vel Legis)

-Aleister Crowley, Liber CMXIII (The Book of the Memory of the Path)

-Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Bible

-Michael A. Aquino VI°, The Church of Satan

-Michael A. Aquino VI°, The Book of Coming Forth by Night

-P.D. Ouspensky, Tertium Organum

-Francis Huxley, "The Drunkenness of Man"

-A. Merritt, The Face in the Abyss

-Her-Bak, Vol. II (The Egyptian text)

-William Shakespeare, Othello (Act V, Scene II)

-Eric Hoffer, The Ordeal of Change

-Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

-Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha.

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#Remanifestation #Immortality #SetianPhilosophy #Xeper #ComingIntoBeing #GreatHouseOfTheBeing #JamesLewisIV #TempleOfSet #LeftHandPath #TheRubyTablet #PhilosophyPodcast #DeathAndDying #Consciousness #Will #Thelema #Indulgence #Nuit #Set #Soul #ImmortalSoul #Reconstitution #ShadowMan #Ouspensky #Plato #Phaedo #Aristotle #DeAnima #Kant #Crowley #BookOfTheLaw #LaVey #SatanicBible #Aquino #BookOfComingForthByNight #Flew #HerBak #Merritt #Hesse #Hoffer #Hobbes #Shakespeare #Othello #SelfDeceit #MentalSeparateness #Setamorphosis #CosmicNothing #Magick #OccultPhilosophy #WisdomTraditions #IndividualSovereignty #EternalLife #ConsciousContinuation #BlackFlame #AncientWisdom

In this episode, we descend from the theoretical heights of Xeper's transformative potential into the brutal, intimate laboratory of one initiate's soul as he wrestles with the most demanding challenge the Temple of Set has ever presented: the actualization of Xem. We explore how Priest Robertt W. Neilly III—newly elevated to the Priesthood, intellectually driven yet yearning for the intelligence of the Heart, standing at the threshold of the Ordeal of Initiation—took up the Keys of Anubis and subjected himself to a systematic dismantling and reconstruction of his own Being. This is not philosophy from a safe distance. This is the sound of a Black Magician's psyche being forged in the crucible of self-confrontation.

In a world that still seeks shortcuts, still fears the mirror of self-confrontation, and still debates the relationship between the individual Will and the demands of transformation, do we have the courage to confront our own impurities, or will we retreat into the comfortable security of the uninitiated?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: Commentary and Analysis of Anubis' Keys Author: Robertt W. Neilly III° Classification: V4 - A17.26 - 3 Date: March 6th, XVI A.S. Revision: December, XXVIII Subject: Xem Reading List: Introduction · Key #1 · Key #2 · Key #3 · Key #4 · Comments on Key 5 · Footnotes · Endnotes

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

• Michael A. Aquino, The Temple of Set (especially the sections on Xem and the Xem Working)
• Michael A. Aquino, The Onyx Tablet
• Michael A. Aquino, The Book of Coming Forth by Night
• Robertt W. Neilly III, Commentary and Analysis of Anubis' Keys (this essay)
• Don Webb, Uncle Setnakt's Essential Guide to the Left Hand Path
• Stephen E. Flowers, Lords of the Left-Hand Path
• Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears
• Kenneth Grant, Nightside of Eden
• Her-Bak, Egyptian Initiate (as referenced in the essay)
• R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, The Temple in Man (as referenced in the essay)
• E.A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Book of the Dead (as referenced in the essay)
• Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers (for the biographical context of the ancient world)
• William Shakespeare, Hamlet (for the question "To be or not to be" which haunts the commentary)

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#Xem #Xeper #Anubis #TempleOfSet #LeftHandPath #Initiation #Ordeal #Neter #Harmachis #Sphinx #Set #HarWer #Maat #TwoLands #PhilosophersStone #Alchemy #Alxemist #HeartIntelligence #Intellect #HigherMan #LowerMan #Fear #Change #SelfTransformation #TheRubyTablet #PhilosophyPodcast #EsotericPodcast #OccultPodcast #LeftHandPathPodcast #Setian #EgyptianMagic #NeterWork #BlackFlame #MagusBarrett #MichaelAquino #PriestNeilly #SteleOfXem #XemWorking #AeonicWords #Remanifest #Runa #ConcurrentReality #BlueprintProphecy #PracticalWisdom #Phronesis #Eudaimonia #AncientEgypt #SetianPhilosophy #DarkPhilosophy #IndividualSovereignty #WillToPower #SelfOvercoming #Becoming

In this episode, we descend from the structured hierarchies of the Temple of Set into the molten core of individual Becoming, where initiation is no longer the acquisition of grades and titles but the relentless confrontation with the Self as it actually is. We explore how James A. Lewis IV°—Magister, commentator, and bearer of the Black Flame—seized the foundational Word of Xeper and pushed it toward its logical extreme, declaring that the engine of Xem is not the comfortable accumulation of knowledge but the dynamic interplay of evolution and mutation, initiation and ordeal, the Alone and the concert.

From the rejection of passive understanding and the embrace of active Work to the concept of Maat as the essential partner of Xeper, from the classification of Initiatory Ordeals and the conquest of fear to the controversial doctrine of the Black Jackal as internal psychopomp, from the political animal of the Council of Nine and the ideal constitution of the Temple to the denial of any final state of Being and the assertion of eternal Becoming—we trace the monumental, deeply contested, and astonishingly influential legacy of Lewis's commentary and ask: In a world that still thinks in fixed categories, still seeks silver platters, and still debates the relationship between the individual and the community, do we have the courage to face our own reflection in Maat's scales, or will we retreat into the comfortable authority of those who claim to know the Way without having walked it?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: Analysis and Commentary of the Keys of Xem

Author: James A. Lewis IV° Date: IX-I-XVI A.S. to X-VIII-XVI A.S. HTML Revision: Jun 07, 1999 CE Subject: Xem Reading List: Pyramid-XIX through Pyramid-XXIII

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

-Ronald K. Barrett, The Keys of Xem (from The Ruby Tablet)

-Michael A. Aquino, The Book of Coming Forth by Night

-Michael A. Aquino, The Diabolicon

-Michael A. Aquino, The Dark Side

-James A. Lewis IV°, The Keys of Xem Commentary (this episode)

-Constance Moffatt, The Executive Directorship of the Temple of Set The IAM Manuscript (as referenced in the Stélé)

-The Stélé of Xem (as analyzed in Key #4)

-Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears Aristotle,

-The Nicomachean Ethics (for comparison with the Golden Mean of Initiation)

-Niven & Pournelle, Inferno (as referenced in the commentary)

-C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle (for the concept of the further in)

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#Xem #Xeper #Maat #TempleOfSet #Set #LeftHandPath #Setianism #Initiation #Evolution #Mutation #Ordeal #Fear #TheRubyTablet #JamesLewis #RonBarrett #MichaelAquino #KeysOfXem #StéléOfXem #IAMManuscript #BlackJackal #Anubis #OpenerOfTheWay #CouncilOfNine #HighPriest #Alone #Concert #Quest #HigherSenses #Symbolism #PhilosophyPodcast #Esoteric #Occult #Magick #BlackFlame #Setian #EgyptianMythology #EgyptianMagic #Xepera #Per-t #AlXemy #Leviathan #Diabolicon #BookOfComingForthByNight #Philosophy #WisdomTraditions #AncientWisdom #Satanism #OccultPodcast #InitiationPodcast #MagickPodcast #SpiritualJourney #SelfCreation #Becoming #HigherMan #Godhood

In this episode, we step back from the blazing ambition of the Quest and into the quiet chamber of re-evaluation, where a wounded Temple surveys the wreckage of its most passionate crusade and asks: What was Xem, really? What did we lose when the Magus who Uttered the Word resigned from the Order? And what remains—for those who survived, for those who matured, for those who found their own path through the ashes of a shattered parade?

We explore how Robert Menschel IV°—an Adept who marched in the parade, who felt the trauma of year XVII, who watched the Temple nearly melt away in the chaos of the Set IV Conclave—returned to the scene of the catastrophe years later, not to resurrect what was lost, but to understand it, to extract its wisdom, and to move beyond it. We trace the arc of Xem: from its Utterance by Magus Ronald Barrett V° as the first new Word after Xeper itself, through the fevered quest of a Priesthood desperate for direction, to the collapse that followed Barrett's resignation, and finally to the sober, mature analysis that transformed Xem from a goal to a byproduct, from a destination to a stepping stone.

Does the analysis of Xem contain perennial wisdom about the dangers of collective focus, the necessity of individual Quest, and the art of transforming trauma into Understanding? And in a Temple that has moved on to Remanifestation, what remains for those who seek to learn from Xem's rise and fall—not to achieve Xem, but to Xeper?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: Xem – An Updated Analysis

Author: Robert Menschel IV° Date: October 31, XXII Revisions: September 21, XXVI; Update 5, XXIX HTML Revision: September 28, 1998 CE Subject: Xem Reading List: Preface: Some History 📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

-Magus Ronald K. Barrett, The Book of Opening the Way (The Five Keys)

-Magus Ronald K. Barrett, The Xem Working Magus

-James Lewis, Commentary on Keys 1-5

-Magus James Lewis, Remanifestation (The Ruby Tablet of Set)

-Magister R. Amn DeCecco, Vollenden

-Magister R. Amn DeCecco, A Hidden Dimension

-Priest Corey S. Cole, Commentary on Key 1

-Priest Robertt W. Neilly, Commentary on Keys 1-4

-Priest Mitchel Wade, Khem, Sekhem, and Sekhmet

-Priest Roger Whitaker, Commentary on Key #1

-Magistra Margaret Wendall, The Book of Knowing the Way

-Priestess Alexandra Sarris, Xem Comments Ipsissimus

-Michael A. Aquino, The Book of Coming Forth by Night

-Ipsissimus Michael A. Aquino, The Diabolicon Ipsissimus

-Michael A. Aquino, Black Magic Magister

-Stephen Flowers, Private Letter to Robert Menschel (August 28, XXII)

-Magister Lynn Norton, Keynotes, Kwestions and Komments

-The Onyx Tablet of Set (various commentaries)

-The Ruby Tablet of Set, Gems From the Trail, Vol. 1

-The Scroll of Set (various issues)

-The Trail of the Serpent (various issues)

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#Xem #Xeper #Remanifestation #TempleOfSet #LeftHandPath #TheRubyTablet #Set #BlackFlame #AeonOfSet #Magus #Magister #Priesthood #InitiatoryQuest #TheQuestion #PurityOfBeing #HeartAndMind #TheWork #Initiation #Fear #ConqueringFear #TheNeters #HarWer #Maat #Anubis #Shu #Leviathan #Sekhmet #Khem #TheBlackRealm #TheParade #MagusBarrett #MagusLewis #RobertMenschel #TheGreatWork #TheDiabolicon #BookOfComingForthByNight #PhilosophyPodcast #OccultTradition #Initiation #HigherMan #Godhood #Individuality #Will #Purpose #Quest #SpiritualGrowth #Maturity #Understanding #Being #Podcast #Occult #Esoteric #Philosophy #SelfDevelopment #AncientWisdom

In this episode, we descend from the philosophical abstractions of the Academy into the cold, stark reality of Lovecraft Grove—where initiation is no longer the contemplation of transcendent ideals but the brutal, unflinching confrontation with the Self in the darkness of a winter night. We explore how Alexandra Sarris III°—the initiate, the seeker, the one who demands judgment—seized the teachings of the Temple of Set and submitted herself to the ultimate test of the Ordeal, declaring that the engine of spiritual transformation is not the accumulation of knowledge but the dynamic, terrifying interplay of fear and courage, death and rebirth, judgment and self-knowledge.

From the rejection of comfortable spiritual abstraction and the embrace of lived, embodied experience to the revelation that Xem is not a place but a mode of being, from the terrifying pronouncement of "Dead" and the symbolic weighing of the heart to the triumphant yet quiet declaration that "Truth has no compromise," from the ordered chaos of the Neters and the hidden light of Set beneath the bushel to the eventual realization that Maat is not an external judge but a guest welcomed into the heart—we trace the monumental, deeply contested, and astonishingly intimate legacy of the Ordeal and ask: In a world that still seeks shortcuts, still craves certainty, and still avoids the cold darkness of its own soul, do we have the courage to demand judgment of ourselves, or will we retreat into the comfortable illusion that we have already arrived?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: The Ordeal (V2 - A17.25 - 1)

Author: Alexandra Sarris III°

Date: March 24-25, XIV

Subject: Xem — Ordeal

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

The Book of Opening the Way, Key 2 (Ruby Tablet item V2-A17.2-2)

Her-Bak: Egyptian Initiate (Maat and the weighing of the heart)

The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) — The Weighing of the Heart

Peter J. Carroll, Liber Null & Psychonaut (Chaos magick and the dissolution of the self)

Phil Hine, Condensed Chaos (Practical initiation and the confrontation with fear)

Julius Evola, The Hermetic Tradition (Initiation and symbolic death)

John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks (Vision quest and the ordeal of the seeker)

Mircea Eliade, Rites and Symbols of Initiation (The universal structure of initiatory ordeals)

Aleister Crowley, Magick Without Tears (Self-mastery and the path of the initiate)

Michael A. Aquino, The Temple of Set: History, Philosophy, and Practice (Xem and the initiatory framework)

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#TheOrdeal #Xem #Initiation #Maat #Anubis #Set #TempleOfSet #LeftHandPath #RubyTablet #TheRubyTabletPodcast #PhilosophyPodcast #SpiritualJourney #WeighingOfTheHeart #TruthHasNoCompromise #OrderedChaos #LovecraftGrove #Neters #EgyptianMythology #BlackFlame #Xeper #SelfKnowledge #InitiationRites #Ordeal #Fear #Courage #DeathAndRebirth #SymbolicDeath #Consciousness #HighestMan #Hermeticism #Occult #Esoteric #AncientWisdom #ModernMystery #Setianism #HiddenLight #Lucifer #LightBringer #UnderTheBushel #Awakening #SelfTransformation #SpiritualAlchemy #Podcast #OccultPodcast #Philosophy #EgyptianInitiation

In this episode, we descend from the heights of Magical Words and their cosmic pronouncements into the treacherous territory of linguistic traps and metaphysical masquerades. We explore how Margaret Wendall IV°—the Priestess of Per-Bastet, the meticulous scholar of hieroglyphs, the initiate who dared to question the Word itself—seized a fragmentary utterance and dragged it into the light, declaring that the path to Setamorphosis is not found in the blind recitation of sacred formulae but in the careful discernment of masks, the rejection of false gods, and the arduous labor of self-definition.

From the rejection of Xem as a self-sufficient utterance and the embrace of Xem-Set as the microcosmic Majesty of Set to the concept of the Black Flame as the Pentagram in the heart, from the classification of the Neters of Emptiness and the rejection of Enochian magic to the controversial doctrine of the interdependence of Set and HarWer, from the political animal of the Order and the ideal constitution of the sub-Orders to the denial of collective identity without the Magick of the All—we trace the monumental, deeply contested, and astonishingly influential legacy of Wendall's work and ask: In a world that still mistakes masks for faces, still confuses the void for the Form, and still debates the relationship between the individual Elect and the collective Order, do we have the courage to know our own Names, or will we retreat into the comfortable authority of the Word as it was given?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: The Book of Knowing the Way Author: Margaret Wendall IV° (Anxembastet) Date: November, XIV(1) Classification: V4 - A17.22 - 5 Subject: Xem

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

-Michael A. Aquino, The Book of Coming Forth by Night; Analysis and Commentary

-Michael A. Aquino, The Stélé of Xeper

-Ronald K. Barrett, The Book of Opening the Way

-Ronald K. Barrett, Letter to the Council of Nine (Dec. 4, 1978)

-E.A. Wallis Budge, The Book of the Dead

-E.A. Wallis Budge, Egyptian Language

-E.A. Wallis Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (two volumes)

-E.A. Wallis Budge, The Mummy

-Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice

-Aleister Crowley, The Book of Thoth V.L. Davis, Pathways to the Gods: Ancient Egypt

-J.G. Frazer, The Golden Bough

-Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Bible

-J. Norman Lockyer, The Dawn of Astronomy

-E. Rossiter, The Book of the Dead

-Alan Watts, Beyond Theology Diogenes

-Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#MargaretWendall #Anxembastet #BookOfKnowingTheWay #Xem #XemSet #Xeper #Set #HarWer #Anubis #Magus #Ipsissimus #TempleOfSet #OrderOfSet #LeftHandPath #BlackFlame #Pentagram #FormAndEmptiness #Neter #Khem #Osiris #Horus #Enochian #EnochianKeys #MagicalWord #StéléOfXem #StéléOfXeper #Setamorphosis #PerfectWisdom #Ma'at #Utchat #EgyptianHieroglyphs #AncientEgypt #Khem #Leviathan #RedMagus #RubyTablet #TheRubyTabletPodcast #PhilosophyPodcast #OccultTradition #EsotericWisdom #Initiation #SelfDefinition #Sovereignty #IsolateIntelligence #Darkness #BlackMagick #Setian #SetianPhilosophy #Xepera #Xeperu #MichaelAquino #RonaldBarrett #AntonLaVey #AleisterCrowley #Budge #Egyptology #BookOfTheDead #ComingForthByNight #OpeningTheWay #Thelema #Satanism #ChurchOfSatan #Harpocrates #Isis #Ra #AmenRa #Diabolicon #Thelemic #Magick

In this episode, we step through the gates of perception into the painted Arizona desert, where the boundaries between the known and the unknown dissolve, where the gods of ancient Egypt are reborn not in the sands of the Nile but in the American Southwest, and where the most advanced magicians of the Temple of Set encounter a being that defies all their categories—a green-robed androgynous child, horned and innocent, who is both the Deceiver and the god who is unknown. We explore the Ritual of Xem—a working that brought into "positive Being" a new Word, a new god-form, and a new current in the history of the Left-Hand Path.

From the rejection of the Egyptian desert in favor of the Arizona landscape to the androgynous form of the youthful deity, from the constructive deception of the rainbow-robed trickster to Barrett's associations with Druidic Ovates and the Venusian principle, from the ninefold company of gods to the crisis of the unknown itself—we trace the monumental, deeply contested, and astonishingly influential legacy of this ritual working and ask: In a world that still seeks certainty, still demands that the gods fit our categories, and still struggles to distinguish between deception and revelation, do we have the courage to penetrate the disguise, or will we be fooled by the shimmering rainbow robes?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

Essay: Ritual

Classification: V4 - A17.22 - 3 Authors: Linda Reynolds III°, Alexandra Sarris III° Date: July 29, XIII HTML Revision: September 27, 1998 CE Subject: Xem Reading List: — 📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

-The Book of the Coming Forth by Night (Temple of Set, internal publication)

-Michael A. Aquino, The Temple of Set, Volume I

-Ronald K. Barrett, "The Word Xem" (Temple of Set internal communications)

-John Dee, Enochian material (various sources)

-Aleister Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice

-Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Rituals

-E.A. Wallis Budge, The Egyptian Book of the Dead (for context on the Neters and the paut Neter)

-R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, The Temple of Man (for Egyptian symbolism)

-Don Webb, Uncle Setnakt's Essential Guide to the Left Hand Path

-Stephen Flowers (Edred Thorsson), The Galdrabók: An Icelandic Grimoire (for broader magical context)

-Kenneth Grant, The Magical Revival (for Enochian and Thelemic context)

-P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous (for Gurdjieffian concepts referenced in other Xem materials)

-H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu" (for the concept of the unknown god as a trope in modern esotericism)

-Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (for the child-god archetype)

-Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (for understanding visionary experience)

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#Xem #Ritual #TempleOfSet #Set #Xeper #LeftHandPath #Deceiver #ConstructiveDeception #UnknownGod #Nine #PautNeter #Ennead #EgyptianMythology #Neters #RonaldBarrett #MichaelAquino #Enochian #ArizonaDesert #GreenRobes #Androgyny #Druids #Ovates #Venus #VenusianPrinciple #Horns #Crescent #TheRubyTablet #PhilosophyPodcast #OccultPodcast #MagicalWorking #GodCreation #VisionaryExperience #PriestessReynolds #PriestessSarris #CouncilOfNine #ThelemicCurrent #SatanicRituals #SetianCurrent #Magick #CeremonialMagic #SpiritualEvolution #SelfCreation #Becoming #GodlikeState #Esoteric #Occult #AncientWisdom #ModernMagic #AmericanSouthwest #DesertVision #DivineAndrogyny #RainbowRobes #MagicalDisguise #WorthyAspirant #Initiation #MysteryTradition #Daemons #CyclicalTime #RebirthOfGods

In this episode, we turn from our examination of historical Masters to the living documents of Setian practice and revelation. We descend into the mysteries of The Xem Working—a record of inspired magical experience produced by Ronald Keith Barrett during his tenure as High Priest of the Temple of Set—and we explore its profound teachings on the nature of Higher Man, the judgment of the Elect, and the true meaning of Xeper. We ask: What does it mean to confront the darkness within and without? And what secrets does this Working hold for the Initiate who dares to sit in the moonlight and open the gates?

We begin in the crucible of personal magical practice: a mountain in California called Khemset, the site where Barrett was preparing to build his future home. It is the late 1970s or early 1980s, a period of transition and internal debate following the departure of Michael Aquino from the office of High Priest. Barrett's approach, described by some Temple members as "more mystical than magical," represented a significant shift in emphasis—one that would ultimately prove controversial and lead to his resignation in 1982. We trace the influences upon Barrett's Work—from the revealed texts of Aquino's Book of Coming Forth by Night to the Egyptian mythology that underpins Setian theology, from the Platonic idealism of the Cave Allegory to the practical demands of Initiatory self-transformation—and we ask: Was Barrett's vision of Xem a genuine revelation from Set, or the product of a High Priest who had strayed too far from the magical foundations of the Order?

In a tradition that demands self-initiation and personal responsibility, do we have the courage to conquer our fears and open the gates for ourselves, or will we retreat into the comfortable authority of received teachings and priestly intermediaries?

🎧 ABOUT THE RUBY TABLET

The Ruby Tablet Podcast is a philosophical and spiritual journey through the essays of the Temple of Set, exploring the great traditions of human thought—from ancient Egypt to the present day. Each episode is a deep dive into the ideas that help shape the Self and fan the Black Flame.

🔗 SOURCES & READING LIST:

The Xem Working Author: Ronald K. Barrett III° Classification: V2 - A17.22 - 1 Date: June 22, XII (on Khemset) HTML Revision: September 25, 1998 CE Subject: Xem, Higher Man, Initiation

📚 RECOMMENDED READING:

-Ronald K. Barrett III°, The Xem Working

-Michael A. Aquino, The Book of Coming Forth by Night

-Michael A. Aquino, The Temple of Set (various essays)

-Don Webb, Mysteries of the Temple of Set

-Stephen Flowers, Lords of the Left Hand Path

-The Diabolicon (Temple of Set)

-Plato, The Republic (The Allegory of the Cave)

-Egyptian Book of the Dead (The Hall of Judgment)

💬 JOIN THE DISCUSSION:

What do you think? Is Barrett's vision of Xem a genuine revelation from Set, or the product of a High Priest who had strayed too far from the magical foundations of the Order? Can the mystical and the magical truly be reconciled within Setian practice, or does one inevitably diminish the other? And what does it mean to "open the gates" and welcome the unknown in a tradition that demands self-initiation and personal responsibility?

Drop your thoughts in the comments below. Which side are you on—the personal revelation of the Working, or the pragmatic assertion of individual Will? The comfort of received wisdom, or the terrifying freedom of sitting alone in the moonlight and opening the gates for yourself?

🏷️ HASHTAGS

#TheXemWorking #TempleOfSet #Setianism #LeftHandPath #Initiation #Xeper #HigherMan #RonaldKeithBarrett #MichaelAquino #Set #PrinceOfDarkness #TheRubyTablet #PhilosophyPodcast #WisdomTraditions #Occult #Esoteric #Mysticism #Magic #Setian #Plato #CaveAllegory #PersonalExperience #MagicalPractice #Osiris #Anubis #HallOfJudgment #ConquestOfFear #Xem #Khemset