The Scroll of Set - Issue Number 16
Issue Number 16
Volume II-4
December 1976
Editor: Margaret Wendall IV°
Copyright © 1976 Temple of Set
[1] Religious Racism
= - by L. Dale Seago IV°
When I first began this project, my sole intention was to illustrate the manner in which the dominant Judæo-Christian religion is being used by at least one religious foundation to inculcate and perpetuate racist attitudes and activities, specifically by an organization called “Your Heritage”.
After examining their literature and its religious, political, and economic implications, however, I was increasingly struck by its similarity to the core principles of German National Socialism or Nazism, and I feel that this ideological identity should be noted in view of its possible implications for the future.
“Your Heritage” advocates a specific type of racist attitude: White “Aryan” supremacy. This “Master Race” ideology is founded upon two things: the Judæo-Christian Bible and a number of works purporting to present scientific evidence of White superiority. It is not merely anti-Black and anti-Yellow, but anti-Semitic as well - which sounds strange indeed until one sees how they justify it. Then it seems even stranger.
In the first place, they claim that all civilizations derive from the White race, and that of the Whites, the Aryan (commonly known today as the Germanic, Scandinavian, and Celtic peoples) are superior. This is based primarily on the writings of de Gobineau, Lapouge, and Houston Stewart Chamberlain, which state in effect that the White race is superior because White civilizations have reached a higher level than those of other races: a sort of social Darwinism. This is stated clearly in a pamphlet entitled God’s Great Race:
The Caucasian or White race is the superior race. It is responsible for the civilization we have today. Throughout recorded history it has produced all the civilizations which have reached a high level. The Yellow race has not attained as high a civilization or progressed as far as have the nations composed of the Caucasian race. Malaysians and Polynesians are even less developed, and the Negroes have made the least progress of all. Where groups of Caucasians have merged or interbred with inferior stocks, the Whites have deteriorated ... The Caucasian race is indeed the greatest of all peoples, and if it dies, the glory of the world will perish with it.
So not only are the Whites superior, they must not mix their blood with inferior races. Biblically this is supposed to be justified by some of the following passages:
"Thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to by thine inheritance." (I Kings 8:53)
"For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for a peculiar treasure." (Psalms 135:4)
"For thou art a holy people, the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth." (Deuteronomy 7:6)
Now this seems rather flimsy, since it obviously refers to Israel; and it hardly seems to justify anti- Semitism. But once you understand that it is actually the modern Aryan nations - and not the Jews - who are actually Israel, it all becomes perfectly clear ... doesn’t it?
Why are the Scandinavians, Germans, Franks, British/Scotch/Irish, Canadians, Americans, South Africans (the White inhabitants) racially Israelites? Well, you see, the original Israelites were White Aryans; and around 700 BCE ten of the twelve tribes of Israel were transported into Assyria after a major defeat. Nothing more is known of them as Israelite tribes after that. But also in the 7th Century BCE appeared in that area a people whom the Persians called the Sacæ, Scyths, or Scythians, who were a White, light-haired people described as similar in appearance to the Celts and Germans. They were nomadic warriors who spread through various parts of Europe and, by tracing vague similarities in the sounds of names of different tribes, they are “shown” to be the ancestors of the Saxons, Goths, and others.
Also cited is the Scythians’ use of the battle-axe as a weapon; it was also a favored weapon of the Saxons, and is thus seen as a carryover from their history as Israel because, in Jeremiah 51:20, God says of Israel, “Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war, for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms.”
There are also other similarities between the Aryans and the ancient Israelites. For example, the love of liberty is an Anglo-Saxon trait which was also common to the Israelites, which is perhaps natural since the Israelites seem always to have been in process of being carried captive into one ancient nation after another: Babylon, Egypt, Assyria ...
What about the Jews, then, who seem to be laboring under the delusion that they are Israelites? Simple. Those known today as Jews are the descendants of a mongrel breed of Canaanites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and others, who in turn - are you ready for this? - are descended from Cain, who was the offspring of Satan through his seduction of Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Jewish race is therefore Satanic and inherently evil.
Thus is presented a genetic basis for discrimination against, or even genocide of the Jews. Further it can be Biblically demonstrated by the results of prophecy that the Jews are not the “chosen people” of Israel. Some of the Biblical identification marks by which Israel can be known, quoted from an essay (author unknown) called “Let’s Review the Diagnosis”, are the following:
Israel -
"Would be above all other nations" - Gen. 27:29, Deut. 7:6 & 15:6"Would be a maritime power" - Gen. 49:25, Num. 24:7, Deut. 33:13 & 19; Psalms 89:25.
"A great nation and a company of nations" - Gen. 35:11, 48:19.
"A people glorifying in Christ" -
(From this point on I will simply “hit the high spots” without citing the scriptural verses, as it is obvious that there are plenty of them.)
A missionary people; custodian of God's word; possessing the gates of her enemies; having multitudinous seed; would colonize and spread abroad; possess mineral and agricultural wealth; would include a throne perpetually occupied by a king or queen of the Davidic line (an elaborate family tree supposedly tracing descent from David through mythical and historic kings of Ireland, Scotland, and Britain is provided); having a new home in "the appointed place"; to be God's heritage; to be a people established in righteousness; to possess God's holy spirit as well as His Word; to remain in partial ignorance of special relationship with God until the Great Revealing comes; to have a new language ...
And on, ad nauseam. The claim is made that only the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Teutonic, and related peoples bear all these marks, and the Jews have none of them.
Now the picture becomes really grim where the Jews are concerned; for they, the literal children of the Devil, are engaged in a worldwide conspiracy to thwart God’s plan, wipe out Christianity, and exterminate the White Aryan race. It is because of this Satanic race that we entered World War II: they controlled the Presidency at that time:
The Jews were getting us into the war, and Roosevelt had given his pledge to them that we would enter it. The only reason Jews hated Hitler was because he saw what the Jew economic system and banking system had done to Germany, and he was breaking their power... So, as a means of strangling Germany and destroying her economically, the Jews started a world-wide boycott of German exports. And you know how the Jews control commerce in all the nations of the world. It was a declaration of war, as Samuel Untermeyer himself said ... Hit was starting to put into operation some of the laws of God ... Against all the efforts of the Devil's children to strangle and destroy her, Germany was becoming prosperous by going back to the economic laws of God - and that had to be destroyed ... ("Babylon's Money")
Some of the praise of Hitler is even more emphatic.
The Jews also control or engineer economic depressions, etc., and we have become confused and corrupted by aliens. We must turn from the evil ways into which we have fallen before it is too late.
What can we do? Recognize our identity as God’s chosen race and follow his laws. And certain benefits can be expected if we do so, according to Exodus 19:5-6:
"Now, therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation."
And, in Deuteronomy 7:6:
"For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people which are upon the face of the earth."
Nor, according to this essay [called “A Kingdom of Priests”], are we merely to keep our sacred blood separate from that of other races:
... What the ... priests were to the Nation of Israel, that nation was to become to all the world. That is to say, we were to teach God's laws and commandments to all the world, to judge them when they became disobedient, to administer and enforce God's will in all the world. We have not fulfilled our duty in merely sending missionaries to plead with the pagans to adopt God's laws and religion ... When we promised to obey God's commandments and to assume the powers and duties of his kingdom of priests, we really promised to administer his world for him, as his priests, not as the servants of the African-Asian bloc of nations in their destruction of civilization ... We should have put his laws into effect throughout the world, even if his enemies opposed us ... God himself commanded us to create empires ... We will meet opposition of course; but God commanded us not to retreat before it, but to destroy it.
Almost enough to make you shout “Sieg Heil!” when you realize that such a noble destiny awaits you, isn’t it? These people also await a Messianic prophet (like Hitler?) who will lead them in cleansing our lands of corruption, apostasy, and minority groups, for the Old Testament closes with the promise, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible Day of the Lord.” So here we have imperialism just waiting to blossom again.
There is much, much more that I could have mentioned, but this is enough to provide a general overview of the organization’s propaganda. Having seen what they are preaching, let us see just how solid a foundation they really have, and whether or not they might actually be able to achieve their goals.
First, the Nazis held the same sort of “Master Race” theory; and the ideology of “Your Heritage” is based on the same source material: de Gobineau, etc., authored their “scientific” material.
The term “Aryan” actually arose discovery that most European languages belonged to the same family as those of Iran, Afghanistan, and the greater part of India. The original language seems to have developed in the Ukraine or Poland prior to 2000 BCE; its speakers had tamed the horse and invented chariots, which enabled them to conquer adjacent peoples, make themselves a ruling class, impose their language on their subjects, and intermarry with them. Their descendants conquered other tribes and so on until their language - now broken into many tongues retaining similarities of words and grammar - was spread from Portugal to Ceylon. The conquerors of Iran and India around 1500 B.C.E. called themselves Arya , meaning “nobles”; and when scholars realized the kinship of derivative languages as far apart as Icelandic, Armenian, and Bengali, they called this linguistic family “Aryan.”
The Aryan peoples, also called Indo-Europeans, overthrew a number of civilizations but created none; and as far as science can presently tell, there is not and probably never has been an “Aryan race” since, whatever the original Aryans’ racial type (which is still unknown), it soon disappeared as a result of intermarriage with the more numerous subjugated peoples. The term “Aryan,” if used properly, refers only to a family of related languages. There has probably never been a truly “pureblooded” race on Earth.
Curiously the source material cited in “Your Heritage”’s literature, with only three or four exceptions, was written during the period roughly from 1910 CE into the 1940’s - the same period during which the Nazi racial theories were being formed and applied. Many are the same books from which they derived their ideas. This implies, if not an actual connection with the Nazis, at least that we have here a case of racism seeking justification as opposed to racism created by religious dogma, particularly since most of the passages cited refer to Israel.
The argument hinges largely on identification of the Scythians with the Israelites, which is not satisfactorily accomplished. The fact that Scythians (exceedingly warlike nomads wearing trousers and pointed caps) appeared in the same area to which most of the Israelite nation was transported as captives in the same century does not argue that they are the same, but rather that the Scythians exterminated the Israelites.
And there are few shakier things on which to base an argument than Biblical prophecy, since the same prophecies are applied to many different events. Take as one example that of the Antichrist, the false Messiah who will lead the world astray in the last days before the coming again of Christ. A number of monarchs and at least one Pope - not to mention Hitler - have been proclaimed by theologians to be the Antichrist; even Henry Kissinger was recently targeted as such by one religious group.
Propaganda, however, need not be truthful to be effective; all that is necessary is that it have a “ring of authenticity” - an appearance of truth. It is not designed to appeal to the lone intellectual, but to the masses through their emotions. And the Judæo-Christian religion, founded upon emotion rather than reason (being in fact a corrupted copy of the ancient Egyptian cult of Osiris with later historical accretions from other religions) and holding sway over millions, is an ideal vehicle through which to influence the non-thinking herd. The Nazis also used religious concepts in their own propaganda, proclaiming that they were the “sons of light” preparing to do battle with the powers of darkness and the Satanic race of Jewry.
But could this sort of nonsense really gain control of enough men’s minds to give rise to another Nazi Germany type of situation? Well, it happened once before; perhaps, presented in the guise of religion ...
And there are factors arising which did not exist in Hitler’s time and which may exert great influence on the course of human events. According to the research of the Club of Rome, the Cousteau Society, and other sophisticated and ecological forecasting groups, the human race as a whole will face a major crisis during the next 50-100 years due to overpopulation, pollution, and lack of resources. It will probably, according to the projections of the Temple of Set, attain full force in a gradual way involving increasing anarchy and then a major authoritarian backlash. Such a group might find a ready audience, innumerable scapegoats, and a great deal of popular support under increasingly intolerable social conditions, and a dictatorial theocracy could conceivably develop. The trend toward authoritarian government is steadily increasing as egalitarian/ permissive governmental systems like our own find themselves less capable of dealing with the growing pre-crisis stresses. And look at the fascist regimes which have come into being in our own century in Germany, Italy, Japan, South America, and Africa.
And “Your Heritage” appears to have outside help. While it claims not to be a part of any other organization. I find that about half the pamphlets they sent me - the more sophisticated ones, in fact - were printed and published by a group called the Federation of the Covenant People in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Now South Africa is well known for its Apartheid policy of discrimination against the native Africans and its advocacy of White racial supremacy. And here is another interesting tidbit: South Africa has recently minted a new gold coin, the Krugerrand, which weighs one ounce and sells on the international market for whatever the current price of gold happens to be (In fact, I saw a recent television advertisement which proclaimed, “You’re not just buying a coin - you’re buying gold!”).
Now gold mined in different areas is distinctive, because it will bear certain trace elements in varying proportions depending on the location whence it comes. Millions of dollars of SS gold disappeared from Germany at the close of World War II, and, according to Setian Priest Mark Harris, the Krugerrand has created quite a stir because it has been found to contain the same identifying characteristics as the missing SS gold. A country like the Republic of South Africa would seem to be a logical place for a White Aryan-supremacist Nazi to move after losing a war ...
An eventual “Fourth Reich” might not be quite as farfetched an idea as it seems.
Sources
Publications from “Your Heritage”, San Diego, California:
A Kingdom of Priests
Daniel’s Fifth Kingdom
Historic Proof of Israel’s Migrations
Let’s Preview the Diagnosis
Suppose We are Israel, What Difference Does
it Make?
Adam was Not the first Man
Your Heritage
God’s Great Race
Your Genetic Inheritance
Babylon’s Money
De Camp, L. Sprague, Lovecraft: A Biography. New York: Ballantine, 1975.
Farago, Ladislas, Aftermath. New York: Avon, 1974.
Pauwels, Louis and Bergier, Jacques, The Morning of the Magicians. New York: Avon, 1968.
Angebert, Jean-Michel, The Occult and the Third Reich. New York: Macmillan, 1974.
Aquino, Michael A, The Book of Coming Forth by Night: Analysis & Commentary. Santa Barbara: Temple of Set, 1976.
Sargant, William, Battle for the Mind: a Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
Psychological Operations Techniques and Procedures. Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., January 1974.
Ellul, Jacques, Propaganda - the Formation of Men’s Attitudes. New York: Vintage Books/ Random House, 1973.
[2] The Holidays
Should Setians celebrate Christmas? We obviously should not celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ, but there’s no reason why we can’t have a tree, Yule log, sumptuous dinners, and even a Santa Claus! In fact, it could be a bit of good “PR” to mix in the seasonal fun and festivities, most of which aren’t even Christian to begin with. [The Christians are well-noted for being “borrowers” of other peoples’ customs ... Even Jesus can be likened to Horus!]
But, while having some good fun this month, why not think of holidays of our own? Some of the dates that have been proposed as “Setian holidays” are: the Summer Solstice, the announcement of the Aeon of Set; the U.S. Thanksgiving Day, which could be a day of Setian get-together and winter gift-giving; and September 6th, which was the ancient Egyptian Feast of Set.
[3] Winter Solstice Celebration
Bubastis Pylon’s Winter Solstice Celebration will be held on December 17, Xl. Scheduled are a visit to San Jose’s Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum and a casual dinner. All Setians who will be in the area are welcome to attend. Please contact Magistra Margaret Wendall for details.
[4] Forum: A Comment on the Issue of Possession
The Heretic: Exorcist Part II is due around Christmas time, probably with many of the same overdone publicity stunts that accompanied Part I. There has also been much other occult garbage around to consume the public’s movie money and television viewing time, such as House of Exorcism and The DXeperevil Within Her*. Once again the issue of possession has arisen. Hopefully this will be the last time, or at least one of the last times.
This issue has more heads than the hydra of mythology. It has become an obsession with many scriptwriters and novelists. Possession has become the ultimate punishment for everything from use of an Ouija board to premarital sex, incest, murder, and generally leading the deceitful life. Other forms of punishment are not considered to be so stylish in recent years - which is too bad as the motif of possession has become, at best, shopworn and shoddy. Surely it is time to return to other forms of punishment in media, both print and nonprint. After all, by now almost anyone can guess the endings of at least a good 80% (conservatively speaking) of any story with even the slightest supernatural influence within it, after roughly two chapters of print material or 30 minutes of any movie.
In my 4 years with the Church of Satan and my 1-1/2 years with the Temple of Set, I have yet to hear of one authentic case of possession via a reasonable authority. All the exposure that I have had regarding “documented” cases of possession have fallen into one of the following sources of authority:
- Authors who are out to capitalize on The Exorcist, with an occasional reference to Rosemary’s Baby, and who have seen the gold at the end of the literary rainbow.
- Priests, ministers, rabbis and other similar authorities who want very much to continue as they have been doing in the past. Obviously to do so, they must maintain their “flocks” however they are able.
- Fanatics who, partly for their own reasons but mostly for the money involved from their lectures, books (thus making some of them authors), fees for “exorcisms” and/or deprogrammings, choose to plaster their names into the media as well as into the minds of those who care to listen and believe them.
In the Church of Satan, and later in the Temple of Set, we have been taught that the power that we use comes basically from ourselves. The names that we used in the C/S were symbolic of what we wanted - in keeping with a great many of our former religious backgrounds. At no time were we ever given to expect a traditional appearance by the Prince of Darkness, a la Rosemary’s Baby or Dr. Faustus, or his minions, because we are the core of our religion.
Xeper.
Susan Wylie II°
Magister L. Dale Seago’s article, “Psychic Hazards and Proper Use of Ritual Magic,” in the November X Scroll contains still another Setian view of possession/exorcism.
“Possession” was the reason given for the beating death of a three-year-old boy in Yakima, Washington, according to an AP report in the November 10 San Francisco Chronicle. When asked why the child was beaten, one of the five accused of the act quoted from the Judæo-Christian Bible : “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you beat him with a rod he will not die,” Prov. 13:23; “And Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him,” Matt. 17:18; and “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” Ex. 22:18.
[5] Good News/Bad News
First the bad news: Magistra Lilith Sinclair has lost the first round of her lawsuit against Mission Federal Savings & Loan of Santa Barbara, California.
The good news: Magistra Sinclair’s attorney says the next step is to file an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco. The fight will be continued. This process may take as long as a year, but we will try to keep you informed of important steps in the process.
[6] Pamphlets for Non-Members
A pamphlet explaining the Temple of Set is in preparation, and five copies will arrive with the next issue of the Scroll. Although this pamphlet shouldn’t be distributed like a “tract”, if you anticipate that you will need more than five copies, you may obtain five extras by writing to our Executive Director.
[7] Dark (?) Ages
During the Dark Ages in Europe, the Maya of Middle America practiced an astronomy so precise that their calendar was as accurate as the one we use today.
Plotting the courses of celestial bodies, Maya priests predicted both solar and lunar eclipses - to the awe of the faithful. But the Maya’s classic period ended in sudden collapse, and their science was a puzzle until very modern times.
[6] Speculation of Space
= - by Anne Allee II°
l suppose there have always been those who have questioned the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations. Although this query is not new, I will attempt an open-minded view.
In my opinion, it seems logical to assume that there are civilizations on other planets. Also they are probably more advanced than we are here on Earth [not much of a feat].
I feel it is safe to assume that the known arrival of such a civilization on this planet could throw the masses [governments included] into chaos. I base this rationale on the past mass reaction to anything unknown or deviating from the accepted social mode.
Many have theorized that alien civilizations may have traveled to this planet in ancient times. The belief has also been stated that this advanced race of beings will return, perhaps to aid this planet through crises ahead. There are even those who go so far as to interpret certain Biblical passages to be descriptions of extraterrestrial visitations. Certainly some of the evidence of advanced knowledge uncovered in ancient cultures (ancient Egypt, Maya, etc.) has been remarkable.
However, whether or not such civilizations exist is only one more thing for inquiring minds to wonder about, and the conclusion for each person to judge.
Man has always hoped for heavenly (outer space?) intervention in times of a crisis, be it personal or world-wide. At times I too, indulge in this wish, but realistically do not base my actions upon it.
By the laws of evolution, the existence of a planet and the nature of that existence depend solely upon the inhabitants of that planet. An advanced civilization would know that man’s evolution, however painful, must come from self-reliance.
Perhaps one day, left to our own resources, this world might achieve maturity of mind and purpose.