LAVA’s 31st Sunday Salon
Join LAVA for our revived free monthly Sunday Salon series. We return to South Broadway, to the mezzanine of Les Noces du Figaro, which was recently opened by the family behind Figaro Bistro in Los Feliz. This handsome space was formerly Schaber’s Cafeteria (Charles F. Plummer, 1928), and the mezzanine features wonderful views of the Los Angeles Theatre.
On the last Sunday of each month, LAVA welcomes interested individuals to gather in downtown Los Angeles (noon-2pm), for a structured Salon featuring formal presentations and opportunities to meet and connect with one another. If you’re interested in joining LAVA as a creative contributor or an attendee, we recommend Salon attendance as an introduction to this growing community. We also recommend the eclairs.
Read about the original Sunday Salon at Clifton’s Cafeteria here.
You are encouraged to arrive early if you wish to order food and beverages from the counter downstairs, and bring your meal upstairs. There will only be one presentation at this Salon. There will be a short break of 10-15 minutes about 40 minutes into the program.
Salon Presentation – Ordo Templi Orientis
Presenters’ Statement: Ordo Templi Orientis is an international initiatory order dedicated to promulgating the Law of Thelema. We can summarize The Law of Thelema in the deceptively simple sentence “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” While the roots of O.T.O. lie in Freemasonry, it separated from that tradition a century ago under the leadership of noted magician Aleister Crowley. O.T.O. has a rich history in Los Angeles stretching back to the 1930s, when Wilfred Smith and Jack Parsons led Agape Lodge in Pasadena, the only fully operational O.T.O. body in the world at the time of Crowley’s death in 1947.
The central ritual of Ordo Templi Orientis is the Gnostic Mass, also called Liber XV; a eucharistic ceremony written by Aleister Crowley in 1913. The most important purpose of the Mass is to lead all participants to an awareness of their divinity, an idea expressed in the declaration made by each member of the congregation after consuming the eucharist: “There is no part of me that is not of the gods.” To this end, the Gnostic Mass incorporates dramatic ritual elements taken from Thelemic symbolism, as well as that of sources as disparate as alchemy, the Chaldean Oracles, and Qabalah. It is a beautiful and inspiring celebration of the energies of Life and Joy, of ecstatic union on all planes, and of the great Mystery of generation.
Star Sapphire Lodge, the O.T.O. body serving Los Angeles, invites you to join us in a celebration of the Gnostic Mass. We will also offer a brief talk on the nature of O.T.O. and the Gnostic Mass. Experience the deity within you; “Every man and every woman is a star!”
