Builders of the Adytum

New Zealand

Merry
Christmas

Dear Fratres and Sorores

The volunteer workers at Headquarters
in Naenae wish you and your families a
joyous Christmas
Christmas and a Happy New Year

Zenith News Notes No 94, December 2011

 BOTA Meetings
We l l i n g t o n
B.O.T.A. Headquarters NZ, Cnr Treadwell & Naenae Rds, Lower Hutt
Enquiries: Phone 04 567 5751 or Fax 04 567 5757
Qabalistic Healing Service:
Every Sunday morning at 10.30 am
Class Work: 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Tuesday of each month at 7.30 pm
Pronaos: 1st Tuesday at 7.30 pm (initiated members only)
Auckland
Higher Thought Temple, Union Street, Central City
Enquiries: Phone 09 273 3046 - Frater Michael Sutcliffe
Qabalistic Healing Service:
1st Sunday morning of the month at 10.30 am
Healing Colour and Sound Ritual:
2nd Wednesday of each month at 7.30 pm
Tarot Key Discussion: 3rd Wednesday at 7.30 pm
Tree of Life Meditation and Chanting:
4th Wednesday at 7:30pm
Dunedin
Enquiries: Phone 03 472 7274 - Soror Jan Faris
Qabalistic Healing Service :
1st and 3rd Sundays at 10.30am
Vibratory Attunement Healing Service :
2nd Sunday at 10.30am
Class Work : 4th Sunday at 10.30am and 1st Tuesday at 7:00pm
Meditation Meeting :
5th Sunday at 10:30am
Melbourne
th
Study Group: 4 Sunday of the month
Enquiries: Frater Ross & Soror Tania Giles 03 5967 1502
Soror Ellen Green 03 9569 6720
Adelaide
Study Group: 3rd Sunday of each month.
Enquiries: Phone 8362 4016 - John Latore or 0404 804016
Phone 8362 3986 - Felice Arlotta
Sydney
Class Work: 1st Tuesday of each month at 7.00 pm
Pronaos: 3rd Tuesday at 7.30 pm (initiated members only)
Unitarian Church, 15A Francis Street, Sydney
Enquiries: Phone: 02 9953 4613 Suzie Farrow or 0450 090 422
 December 2011

NOTICES FROM AUSTRALIA

B.O.T.A ADELAIDE RETREAT
JUNE 2012

In 2009, BOTA members from various parts of

Australia met for a weekend retreat in a monastery in the Adelaide Hills.
This was a successful event, and it was enjoyed by all those who attended.

We are pleased to invite members to another retreat to be held at the same

venue in Adelaide. It is scheduled for the weekend of 22, 23 and 24th June,
2012. At this stage, all that is required is for those who are interested in
attending, to be aware of these scheduled dates for next year. There will be
an information update with more details.

important aspect of the B.O.T.A wisdom. It also provides the means for
members to meet fellow aspirants on this unique pathway.

Queensland members who live in or near Brisbane, or members living in

Northern NSW, who are interested in being part of a BOTA Study Group,
may contact Soror Suzie Farrow by email at botaaus@y7mail.com, or by
mobile 0450 090 422.

Study groups currently meet in Adelaide and Melbourne once a month on

a Sunday afternoon. A similar time is suggested for the proposed Brisbane
Study Group, and meetings are planned to be held in a central city
location.

1
 Zenith News Notes No 94

To our beloved members who have asked:

What can I do as my share of the GREAT WORK?

The most potent and important part of B.O.T.A activities is in its Spiritual
Power. Naturally, the physical aspect of B.O.T.A, is the most perceptible
part of the Order. All Churches and Occult Temples must have a physical
organization in order to carry on the Spiritual Work.

Our mystic students of today, who join us in our mission to carry on our
Divine Heritage, are joining the thousands and thousands of former workers
who preserved and handed on the Sacred Wisdom, and who are now
labouring in other parts of Gods many-roomed Mansion. The Masters and
Adepts we respect and revere today were once students and workers like
yourselves. Some time in the future other students will look with reverence
and gratitude upon the Sacred Wisdom you helped perpetuate.

You can join this dedicated working force by placing the Great
Adventure wherever aspirants may find them and by telling others of your
association with B.O.T.A. and what it has done for you; or by placing an ad
in your local newspaper and thus bringing the Order to the attention of
others. We would be most happy to send you a copy of such an ad showing
how it should be worded.

Donations sent from time to time are always helpful. Some members share
in the perpetuation of the Ageless Wisdom by remembering B.O.T.A. in
their will. No donations or legacies should ever be made to any individual
or officer, but to BUILDERS OF THE ADYTUM which is the legal title of
the Order. All donations and legacies are, of course, tax exempt.

The above methods of active participation in the furtherance and support of

the GREAT WORK brings the joy of knowing ourselves as out-pouring
channels for the Light we serve. As we have known the extra-ordinary
rewards of service to you, our beloved fellow aspirant..we rejoice that
you seek to join with us in the extension and preservation of the Heritage
which belongs to us all.

2
 December 2011

This digression from the lessons is an answer to the many inquiries

received by us from those, who having received, now have the need to give.
To answer each one separately would be a tremendous task taking much
time from the WORK and many services extended by B.O.T.A.

May you ever share with us the Eternal Splendour of the Limitless Light.

Fraternally yours in L.V.X.

THE GRAND CHAPTER

In 2011the world seems to have suffered from more natural disasters than
we have previously experienced, with floods, volcanoes and earthquakes,
as well as some man-made ones.

The media seem to delight in bringing us news and pictures of all these
events and the happy events seem few and far between.

But we are warned about getting caught up in the mass mind and dwelling
too much on the horror that can invade our radio, TV screens and
newspapers almost daily.

We cannot ignore these things, of course, we have to live in this world, but
we can avoid the attacks on the senses that the media would expose us to.

3
 Zenith News Notes No 94

To Our Members
Paul Foster Case
(Published in 1936)

We are often asked these questions: Why do you condemn so many other
schools and teachers? Has B.O.T.A. a monopoly on occult knowledge?
Might it not be better to maintain silence concerning teachers and
movements with whose opinions and practices you do not agree? Does
destructive criticism ever make for harmony? This article is an endeavor
to make our position clear.
First of all, we condemn no person. Even what the world judges to be
willful deception and dishonesty we regard as being spiritual and mental
disease, often having its origin in a physical ailment. Glandular imbalance
frequently manifests as criminality. The analytical psychologists have
made it clear that the correct designation for much that has been called
wickedness is really neurosis. We judge no man, nor do we condemn
any.
Yet a lie is a lie, even when he who tells it believes he spoke the truth.
Plagiarism is theft, no matter how twisted the mentality of the plagiarist
may justify it to himself. Dangerous practices are not less harmful because
their advocates are not aware of the risks they run.

He who maintains silence about a lie helps to spread the deception. He

who permits plagiarism to pass unchallenged is an accomplice in the theft.
He who refuses to point out the danger of ignorant tampering with occult
forces is responsible for the death or insanity which may come to those he
fails to warn.
Malicious criticism and harsh judgments are to be avoided, of course; but
destructive criticism is often required in order to clear the ground for
constructive teaching.
B.O.T.A. claims no monopoly on wisdom nor any possession of the truth.
It has responsibility for disseminating knowledge which has been tested
and tried in the fires of experience. That experience includes not a little
first-hand knowledge of the dangers that beset beginners on the occult
path. To give clear warning of those dangers is part of our duty.,

4
 December 2011

The work of building the Adytum, or house of God, in human personality

and in human society has many aspects. It offers some- thing of value to
the most diverse temperament. Not every Builder of the Adytum is known
by that name. Not every person is called to the study of Tarot, Qabalah,
Alchemy or the Sacred Magic.
Among our fellow builders none are doing finer work than the physical
scientists. The researchers in such institutions as the Massachusetts and
California Institutes of Technology, the great framers of new concepts, like
Einstein, Eddington and Jeans, biologists like Alexia Carrel, psychologists
like Jung, and hosts of other devoted laborers in every field of science,
have done as much for the Great Work as any professional occultist.
Pioneers in the New Thought, like Helen Wilmans, William Walker
Atkinson, Elizabeth Towns, Henry Wood and Judge Troward have all
made valuable contributions. Manley Hall has awakened thousands from
the dream of crass materialism. Dwight Goddard, from his retreat in Santa
Barbara, spreads the wisdom of the Buddha through-out the English-
speaking world. Alice Bailey has made the Arcane School a powerful
influence for good. The prodigious labors of Mare Edmund Jones have an
effect that goes far beyond the limits of his circle of students. Despite
differences of opinion and policy, all the Theosophical societies have done
and are doing much to leaven Western thought with Eastern wisdom. The
work of Rudolf Steiner and Max Heindel of the Unity School of
Christianity and of many others we lack space to mention, brings light and
help to many per- sons whose mental bent does not dispose them to the
special training offered by B.O.T.A.
In our own field, while we find not a little to criticize in some of the
opinions of A.E. Waite, we gladly acknowledge the inestimable value of
his translations of Eliphas Levi, the rich suggestiveness of his book on
Tarot, and the service he has rendered to students of alchemy and
Rosicrucianism. We would not recommend Aleister Crowley as a guide in
practical occultism. Yet his Book 777 is the finest thing of its kind. We
doubt the wisdom of Israel Regardie's intention to publish in full the
lectures and rituals of the Golden Dawn, but his books The Garden of
Pomegranates and The Tree of Life contain much valuable material.
The same may be said of the Qabalistic books written by Frater Achad.
Excellent work is being done also by Dion Fortune, whose Fraternity of
the Inner Light has much the same background as Builders of the Adytum
5
 Zenith News Notes No 94

and whose book, The Mystical Qabalah, will receive expanded notice in a
future.
Let it be understood that we do not pretend to agree with every detail of
the doctrines of the schools and writers we have named. There is plenty of
room for honest difference of opinion, both as to doctrine and practice, in
every department of occult study. Uniformity is by no means desirable,
yet many confuse it with unity. The building of the Adytum calls for
many kinds of work, and many types of workmen. None of us
comprehends the whole Plan, however well we may be acquainted with the
blueprints having to do with our part of the undertaking.

Builders of the Adytum stands for utter freedom for every one of its
affiliates. To serve the best interests of our work we have certain
regulations for those persons entrusted with positions of responsibility.
These regulations are few in number, and aim at nothing more than the
orderly conduct of this particular enterprise.
Over and over again, Ageless Wisdom reiterates the truth that there can be
no freedom without order. Freedom, in fact, consists in our knowing the
order which is the very framework of all manifestation, and living in
harmony with it. Because this is true, he who is charged with transmitting
any part of Ageless Wisdom must be free to warn when doctrine or
practice runs counter to cosmic law. Yet at the same time the student must
be free to exercise his own powers of discrimination and judgment. This is
our policy, and we hope we have made it clear.

Have fun in the sun this summer!

Remember to

SLIP SLOP SLAP and WRAP

6
 December 2011

The Meditation on Vav

1 As that which uniteth all things

In the world of the manifest,
I am rightly made known by VAV, the Nail.
Because I am all, and in all,
Therefore am I the link or bond
Which joineth together
The parts of the fabric of existence.

In all the universe there is no break.

By bonds indissoluble
Each point is fastened to every other.

2 Behind the separate existences

Is the unity of my being,
Which is as a net,
Gathering together all these many forms.
Nothing existeth alone;
All things are in combination.

Manifestation requireth
The appearance of separate parts.
7
Zenith News Notes No 94

When I show forth my power,

What I bring into existence
Must seem other than myself;
And because I am wholly free,
I present myself to myself
In an endless variety of forms.
Yet is the seeming isolation of class and kind,
The separateness of creatures,
Naught but illusion which deludeth me not,
Nor are they by it deceived
In whom my Wisdom has ripened.

3 Unfathomed and unfathomable

Is the Great Deep
Of mine interior nature.
In the unplumbed abyss of the No-Thing
Mine Eternal Will ariseth,
And by the rising of that Will
The No-Thing cometh forth
Into the appearance of Something.

4 That Will is the Small Point of all beginning,

And its coming forth is a search for itself.
For that Will is a hunger,
And a desire,
And a longing.

My nature being changeless,

This eager longing altereth not.
It is a thing concluded before all manifestation,m
A purpose unalterably decided upon,
A determination which I confirm by mine experience.
Out of that longing
Cometh the fixing of the boundaries
Of the universe.
By it I draw the circle of the Something

8
 December 2011

Which emergeth from the illimitable Deep of the

No-Thing,
Therefore is this longing the root of GEBURAH, Severity,
For it restricteth the liberty of the No-Thing,
And produceth an appearance of limitation and separateness
therein.

5 The Nail is a perfect symbol of this Severity.

It hath a property of sharpness and stringency,
Like the point of a nail;
And again, as a nail fasteneth together
The parts of a house,
So doth the desire of coming forth
Join together the parts of the universe,
My dwelling place.

6 These are mysteries, O Israel,

Difficult to understand.
With much searching shalt thou still fail
To grasp them,
Unless thy search be rightly prosecuted.
Yet the Way to Understanding is ever open
To him who will follow it steadfastly.
It is the Way of the Heart,
And thou shalt be guided therein
By thine own inner Hearing.

7 Even this aspect of my nature

Which presenteth itself under the signature of the letter VAV
Is a promise and a fulfilment of the Way of Life.
Manifesting myself as the link
Which uniteth all the separate parts of my creation,
I make myself known as the bond of union
Between creature and creature,
And between the creatures and their Creator.

9
Zenith News Notes No 94

The Creator is myself,

And I am the Nail which joineth thee to me.
In thee am I ever present,
And thou hast only to turn within to find me.

Shut thine ears

To the confusion of the world which surroundeth thee.
Open thine inner hearing.
Aspire earnestly to me.
Verily thine aspiration is from me,
And what sendeth thee in search of me
Is that same eager longing which hath brought thee forth;
And it hath brought forth, too
The four worlds and all that they contain.

8 Thy search for me

Is mine own search for myself,
Nor shall that quest of mine,
Which seemeth now to thee to be
Thine own pursuit of wisdom and of understanding,
Be doomed to failure.
Whosoever thou art that readest or hearest these words,
Know that thou shalt come to me.

9 I am the revealer of all mysteries.

None other is the Teacher of any man.
These words that thou readest,
Or that, perchance, are read to thee
Whose words are they but mine?
I have brought thee before me for instruction,
And whether thou receivest it willingly or unwillingly,
Know that because thou hast this day heard or read these
words,
Thou are henceforth consciously united to me.

10
 December 2011

Today thou mayest reject me.

Today thou mayest receive these words with scorn.
Yet it shall be that my Voice
Shall go with thee henceforth forever.
When thou sleepest it shall instruct thee,
And even when thou are busiest with the affairs of daily life,
It shall ring suddenly in thine inner ear.

10 Forever art thou bound to me,

And in a day,
Or a month,
Or a year,
Or a lifetime,
Or a hundred lifetimes,
Thou shalt know this, even as I know it;
And when thou hast reached this goal,
What shall be a day,
Or a month,
Or a year,
Or a lifetime,
Or a hundred lifetimes?
Time ceaseth for those who come to me.

The quest will be forgotten

When thou hast reached the Goal.

11
 Zenith News Notes No 94

Vav

The w Vav is a vertical line representing a pillar or a

man standing upright pillars hold Creation
together
The Alef-Beit, Rabbi Ginsburgh

This is the work of w Vav: to join us all into a myriad

of constellations each remaining different, each
bound to the other.
The Book of Letters, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner

The Zohar says that all is contained in the mystery of w Vav, and
thereby all is revealed. The same Qabalistic authority connects w
Vav with the Son of David, and this is interpreted as a reference to
the Christos.
The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order, Paul Foster Case

The Zohar also calls the w Vav the letter of truth, tma. Indeed, the
straight and upright stance of this letter suggests honesty and
truth.
Letters of Fire, , Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson

Drawing the Vav

The w Vav is essentially an extended y Yod. This fact has inspired

generations of serious students.

The letter begins at the top and centre of the grid (A) and
descends past the usual ending point of a y Yod (B) to the base of
the grid (C).

12
 Qabalistic Christmas Services

Wellington

Members, friends and their families are invited to attend this joyous
Christmas Ritual to be held on Sunday 18th December 2011 starting at
7pm at the Temple, corner of Naenae and Treadwell Streets, Naenae.

Supper, entertainment and fellowship will follow the service.

Auckland

Members, friends and their families are invited to attend this joyous
Christmas Ritual to be held on Sunday 18th December 2011 starting at
7pm at the Higher Thought Temple, Union St, Central City.

Supper will follow the service.

Sydney

Family and friends are welcome to join us for the Sydney B.O.T.A.
Qabalistic Christmas Service to be held at :
15 Francis St , City , ( near Hyde Park )
on Tuesday 20th December at 7. 30 pm
This is an opportunity to be part of the true
celebration of Christmas

Please join us for supper after the Service.