As we enter a new decade in the Vulgar Era, I am very pleased to announce that major changes are planned for LAShTAL.COM.

Drawing in part on the substantial and constructive response to the first LAShTAL.COM user survey, these changes will be described in greater detail in due course. However, I can announce now that they will include a complete review of the user interface as the site moves from Postnuke to Joomla. All the existing facilities will remain - there will be no loss of Forum posts, Galleries or News items - but a wide range of new functions will appear as the result of popular demand including Classified Ads, a Contacts section, a far better archive of media articles, and so on.

All of this with a renewed commitment to robust moderation, absolute impartiality and free access to all functionality.

I would like to express my sincere thanks publicly to LAShTAL.COM members, eol and mutat for technical development and graphical design, respectively.

The winter solstice issue of Sekhet-Maat Lodge's official journal, “Lion & Serpent,” is now available. Rare Crowley poetry, astrological news, Mr Clown, voice magick, and lots more in this issue.

Another chance to see a News item from December 2007…

Your attention is drawn to some audio broadcasts on BBC Radio 7 of The Scarifyers, a very engaging historical adventure romp involving the appearance of one Aleister Crowley.

The programme makers' web site draws attention to a free related download: "Mr Crowley's Christmas". With the unerring sense of timing that LAShTAL.COM is known for, I'm pleased to be in a position to offer the play for download from this site with kind permission from the programme's producer and writer.

Read on for more information and for associated links...

A new podcast is being produced by the San Diego Thelema Group, entitled "Speech in the Silence." The first episode is now available for download and includes:

* Intro music: "Song of Adoration" by Frater Oz
* Introduction to Speech in the Silence by Ashley
* Short explanation of the Winter Solstice by Joseph Thiebes
* "De Lege Libellum" reading (part 1) by Frater Oz
* Musical interlude: "sugam" by ockham
* "Duo in Unum" lecture on Solar Phallic Symbolism in the Gnostic Mass by Joseph Thiebes
* Outro music: "Song of Adoration" by Frater Oz

All visitors to LAShTAL.COM, members and non-members alike, are invited to participate in the first in a series of LAShTAL.COM Surveys.

This is your opportunity to shape the future development of the site. The survey will take no more than five minutes or so to complete and all personal information obtained will be treated in the strictest confidence. As always, I give my personal promise that I will not supply usernames, email addresses or any other personal information to any third party.

So, over to you All: http://tinyurl.com/lashtal-survey-1

Grimoire translator Joseph H. Peterson, whose work includes Grimorium Verum, The Lesser Key of Solomon, and his latest Arbatel: Concerning the Magic of Ancients, discusses the key to understanding ancient texts.

http://oto-usa.org/podcast.html

www.thelemanow.com

Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley by Dr Richard Kaczynski will be reprinted in a revised and expanded edition to be published by North Atlantic Books in August of 2010.



Hard cover, 608 pages, $24.95 USD (pre-order price).

This from Treadwells…

Wednesday 13 January 2010 at Treadwells Bookshop, London

Aleister Crowley’s Egypt

Paul Feazey - LAShTAL.COM

Magician Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), like many Edwardians, was enchanted by ancient Egypt, and felt a profound connection with it. The pyramids, the gods, and the magic all play an important role in Crowley’s system, Thelema. He travelled there numerous times, and it provided ongoing lifelong inspiration to him. Paul Feazey has travelled to many sites that featured in Crowley’s life, and brings back illustrations, anecdotes and analyses in a lively, personal illustrated slide lecture.

The speaker is owner and editor of what is probably the world’s leading website on Thelema, LAShTAL.COM.

Some excellent work by Sekhet-Maat Lodge…

As part of our effort to re-engineer society around the adoration of that star of singular importance to we inhabitants of Earth, the mighty Sun, Sekhet-Maat Lodge provides electronically formatted versions of our holy calendar, suitable for importing into your own time keeping program. An update for the coming year (Era Legis year IV:xviii, beginning ☉ in ♈) is now available.

Artist Susan Jameson Bonner, whose distinctive mezzotint landscapes represent magick in nature, discusses making her own Tarot cards and the relationship between magick and art.

http://oto-usa.org/podcast.html

www.thelemanow.com