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# Rodney Orpheus

Musician, Author, Tech Geek

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://rodneyorpheus.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [The Gnostic Neo-Templars](https://rodneyorpheus.com/the-gnostic-neo-templars/) - Theodor Reuss (c. 1912 e.v.) St Augustine writes 340 AD: What one now calls the Christian religion existed long before Jesus Christ appeared with the ancients. The New Testament of the Christian Bible contains countless passages confirming the old "Christos" (Apollo-, Mithras-, Sun-) cult, and which prove that the conception of the Mithras-Christos cult still
- [Tomb of Sir Richard Francis Burton](https://rodneyorpheus.com/tomb-of-sir-richard-francis-burton/)
- [NAMM 2008](https://rodneyorpheus.com/namm-2008-new/) - I work at this show most years - it's a good way to get to California in January! This was 2008... View from the front of the show. You can't really miss what's going on. Me presenting the Steinberg VST3 press conference... ...assisted by Cubase genius user, Greg Ondo. Another one of me presenting. As

## Pages

- [Rodney Orpheus](https://rodneyorpheus.com/) - Rodney Orpheus was born in Northern Ireland, and in the past has lived in England and Germany and California. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California. Rodney is well known as a musician and record producer. As well as fronting his own band The Cassandra Complex, he has been involved with many other successful
- [Discography](https://rodneyorpheus.com/music/) - Anything too stupid to be said is sung Voltaire (1694 - 1778) 1984 The Cassandra Complex - March (Vocals, Instruments, Producer, Songwriter) 1985 The Cassandra Complex - Moscow, Idaho (Vocals, Instruments, Producer, Songwriter) Third Circle - Last Night (Producer) 1986 The Cassandra Complex - Datakill (Vocals, Instruments, Producer, Songwriter) The Cassandra Complex - Grenade (Vocals,
- [Sun God](https://rodneyorpheus.com/sun-god/) - The beginning of May 1995 saw the release of my first solo project - the albumSun God. I was assisted on the recording by Patricia Nigiani, inspiration behind the band Aurora Sutra and formerly vocalist with successful German hard electronic group Project Pitchfork; and Marcus Giltjes, the percussion force behind many of Europe’s best independent bands, such as Girls Under Glass
- [Places Beginning with N](https://rodneyorpheus.com/places-beginning-with-n/) - 2020 saw the release of the my solo album Places Beginning with N. Normally with my music, I like to sing, and I like to collaborate with others (particularly with The Cassandra Complex), but in this case I wanted to make an instrumental, ambient album completely written and recorded by just me. The cover art
- [A Timeline of O.T.O. Succession After Crowley’s Death](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/a-timeline-of-o-t-o-succession-after-crowleys-death/) - For many years now there has been a great deal of confusion about the history of Ordo Templi Orientis after the death of Aleister Crowley. That confusion has frequently been deliberately compounded by various claimants to the Headship of the Order through the use of selective quotation, misquotation, misunderstanding, or simply out-and-out fraud. Remarkably rarely
- [Early Works by O.T.O. Initiates](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/early-works-by-o-t-o-initiates/) - Ordo Templi Orientis has been gifted with many great writers throughout its century-long history, and much of their work is freely available for download. The following is a selection of these early works by those founders. Do bear in mind that these are very much a product of their times (some written before O.T.O. even
- [A New and Greater Pagan Cult: Gerald Gardner & Ordo Templi Orientis](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/a-new-and-greater-pagan-cult-gerald-gardner-ordo-templi-orientis/) - (An earlier draft of this article first appeared in Pentacle Magazine, Summer 2009) Ordo Templi Orientis was founded at the beginning of the twentieth century in Germany under the leadership of Theodor Reuss, who recruited Aleister Crowley to the Order around 1912. Both men had been heavily involved in spiritual pursuits for many years previously, Reuss within
- [The Litany of St. Basil](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/the-litany-of-st-basil/) - (for Laurel) What my eye has not seen and my ears have not heard What was never before in my heart or my head I feel like a child in the leaves of a tree Trembling in fear of a power more than me But if I fall I know that god will send angels
- [An Intimation towards an O.T.O. Educational Syllabus](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/an-intimation-towards-an-o-t-o-educational-syllabus-2/) - N.B. This is not an official O.T.O. document, but a set of suggestions and guidelines for local O.T.O. bodies to use in drawing up a curriculum of studies. Since O.T.O. writers are publishing new works all the time it is, by its very nature, a work in progress, and should be treated as such. The
- [A Feast for Fire: Confirmation into Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/a-feast-for-fire-confirmation-into-ecclesia-gnostica-catholica/) - Rodney Orpheus & Cathryn Orchard Confirmation is the second of the two introductory rites into the Gnostic Catholic Church. Like the rite of Baptism, it is mentioned at the end of the text of the Gnostic Mass: “The PEOPLE communicate as did the PRIEST… The exceptions to this part of the ceremony are when it
- [Baptism in the Thelemic Tradition](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/baptism-in-the-thelemic-tradition/) - Rodney Orpheus & Cathryn Orchard Water is one of the basic elements of life, and consequently also one of the most basic and widely-used elements in religious rites. Within the Thelemic tradition, Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (the Gnostic Catholic Church) incorporates the element of water as a fundamental part of its ritual workings. A font of
- [On Thelemic Orthodoxy](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/on-thelemic-orthodoxy/) - Author’s note: this essay assumes a rudimentary familiarity with Thelemic literature and terminology. As such it is not intended for a general audience but for those who have some small experience in Thelemic magick, or who have been initiated into a Thelemic magical Order, even at a basic level. I hope such readers will
- [Assorted Haiku](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/haiku/assorted-haiku/) - Sunlight Butterflown through my bedroom window Falls dying at my feet A grey sky on a windy day The trees whisper "Time to get up..." My short life as seen In a thousand thousand words Packing books again I walk and think About reality A raindrop falls on my face I glow As frozen tarmac
- [Pictures in my mind](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/pictures-in-my-mind/) - A girl alone at nightMeeting a boyThey smile, they laughThey touchThey kissA lovely storyExcept the girl is youAnd the boy is him
- [World of Teardrops](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/this-a-world-of-teardrops/) - This is a world of teardropsWhere a short-lived sigh can last an hourAnd a smile die almost as it flowers This earth runs through a million veinsWe change, yet all we remainOrdained in the love that gave us birthSustained in endless days of childhood mirthUntil, friendless, we no longer grow'Tis time to go. In teardrops
- [Sex in the womb](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/sex-in-the-womb/) - A growing carelessness arisingIn a sea of saltWhite eddies and flowing hairLegs crossed; with every thrustWarmth breaking on my chest as I breach the wavesAnd all around: bumps not quite feltBut aware ofAn encroaching silenceOf vision, my new-born mindCarries your picture in the golden locketMy mother woreThe first faint notes of nostalgia playing along the
- [Talk of today](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/talk-of-today/) - Talk of todayOf apple-core Sundays dappled withSinging birds crawling in the brown treesFreedom etched indelible lines acrossConversations Lying in green cornfieldsRain pattering of earsDust paper blown on concrete slabsGrasslight beaming in sunpoled skiesFlies away in fallAnd never returns.
- [Babalon](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/babalon/) - Ah, Babalon!A beast born hereEcstasy; Exhausted beautyThe idle scorn of races held captive in your hand. He breathes! He livesMoves to exult the stars within your frameAnd before him fear of joy dies slowlyThe night-sky rises over ancient lands. Ah, Babalon!In you is allPleasure writhing over your fleshAll changes, and becomes the same. A death!
- [PI](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/pi/) - The chasm leaps into me emptyWith reddened eyes and poolsOf water and of skies.Chill - it cuts my robeThe figure turns and watches me with rocksAnd ripples,And myself in darkness.A small bird flies toward the NorthAlone;In the landscape of the King
- [Gnostic Mass Conferences](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/gnostic-mass-conferences/) - The Gnostic Mass Conferences were a series of in-depth discussions on Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass that took place many years ago on CompuServe's Occult forum. Although some of the information in them is out of date in many ways, a lot of people have found them useful in the past, so here they are.
- [Abrahadabra](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/abrahadabra/) - Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thelemic Magick “This eminently user-friendly guide to the practice and theory of Thelemic Magick is an original and challenging tour de force. It is also irreverent, controversial and fun. Brother Orpheus—kinetic, peripatetic, and most creative adept that he is—is one who practices what he preaches and knows of what he speaks. Go
- [The Sin Eater](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/the-sin-eater/) - A ghost story set in the storm-tossed Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland.
- [Old School Fantasy for Savage Worlds](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/savage-worlds/old-school-fantasy-for-savage-worlds/) - Savage Worlds is an excellent all-round system, and its Edges are great; but the base system is somewhat lacking in arcane Edges, which is particularly noticeable when running Old School Fantasy style campaigns. The following new Professional Edges have been designed to remedy that and can be dropped into any SW fantasy setting. Although they
- [Attending the Gnostic Mass](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/attending-the-gnostic-mass/) - The Gnostic Mass was written by Aleister Crowley in 1913 and is the central public and private ceremony of O.T.O. Gnostic Masses are held regularly at many O.T.O. bodies. They are performed under the auspices of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the Gnostic Catholic Church, which is the ecclesiastical arm of O.T.O. A copy of the text
- [Car Wars - Convoy Tactics](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/car-wars-convoy-tactics/) - [Originally published in Autoduel Quarterly 6/4, Winter 1988, as a campaign supplement for the tabletop game Car Wars by Steve Jackson Games] Author’s note: I believe this may be the first piece of creative writing I ever sold for actual real money. Certainly my first commercially published game writing. I don’t think I ever cashed
- [The Colours of the Robes in the Gnostic Mass](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/the-colours-of-the-robes-in-the-gnostic-mass/) - Liber XV, the O.T.O. Gnostic Mass specifies two officers called Children; these need not be (and usually are not) minors, the roles can be filled by any baptised member of E.G.C. (since we are all children of somebody, regardless of our age). They are referred to as the Positive Child and the Negative Child. They
- [The OTO is a Teaching Order](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/the-oto-is-a-teaching-order/) - In recent years I have seen many otherwise intelligent people claim that Ordo Templi Orientis is not a “Teaching Order”, or that it doesn’t “teach occultism”, with the implication that it instead serves solely as some sort of social club, and/or some kind of propaganda device for spreading the Law of Thelema, and/or some kind
- [Is Thelema a religion? (and other red herrings)](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/is-thelema-a-religion-and-other-red-herrings/) - There are several questions that seem to go round and round Thelemic discussions for decades without resolution, and almost all are incapable of being resolved because many people discussing them frequently don’t even understand the actual nature of the question to begin with. A classic example is the question “Is Thelema a religion?” I have
- [The Rite of the Infinite Stars](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/the-rite-of-the-infinite-stars/) - Face East and, assuming the God-form of Hoor-paar-kraat, draw your breath in deeply. Now expel the breath sharply, dashing your hand downwards, with the words: Tua Ra! (Hail Ra!) The Cross of Light Touching the forehead, say: Tua-tu heru! (The beings of heights worship thee!) Touching the genitals: Tua-tu kheru! (The beings of depths worship thee!) Touching the
- [The Nu-Sphere Ritual](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/the-nu-sphere-ritual-2/) - Stand facing East and form the Cross of Light in the following manner: Visualize a sphere of brilliant white light above your head. Reach up into the sphere and pull down a stream of light to your forehead; then say: My God is above me Draw the light down through your body, forming a vertical
- [The Method of Science, the Aim of Religion](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/the-method-of-science-the-aim-of-religion/) - We place no reliance on Virgin or Pigeon Our method is Science, our aim is Religion God and immortality, the central dogmas of the Christian religion, find no support in science. It cannot be said that either doctrine is essential to religion, since neither is found in Buddhism. (With regard to immortality, this statement in
- [Magick](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/) - I've been interested in spirituality and the occult since my early teens. Since then I've dabbled in many different religions and spiritual practices, including Thelema, Gnosticism, Voodoo & Santeria, Daoism, and Buddhism. I've written and lectured widely on the occult, culminating in the book Abrahadabra - a beginners guide to Thelema, and The Grimoire of
- [Gaming](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/) - My mother introduced me to board games when I was about three or four years old, and to card games when I was about seven. I discovered Role Playing Games a few years later and have been playing them ever since. I started writing games since I was twelve years old, and had my first stuff published
- [Liber V vel Reguli Commented](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/liber-v-vel-reguli-commented/) - by Aleister Crowley [Commentary by Rodney Orpheus] A: A: publication in Class D. Being the Ritual of the Mark of the Beast: an incantation proper to invoke the Energies of the Aeon of Horus, adapted for the daily use of the Magician of whatever grade. [The title is Latin and means Book 5 or Book
- [Great Female Magical Writers](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/471-2/) - A Short Introduction to Great Female Magical Writers with copious reference to their works as requested by numerous Sisters of the Order on International Woman’s Day 2013 e.v. by Very Illustrious Bro. Rodney Orpheus H.P. Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky is a giantess among female occultists. It is hard to convey today just how important an
- [The Savage Dead](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/savage-worlds/the-savage-dead/) - The Savage Dead by Rodney Orpheus The following is a work-in-progress at developing a Walking Dead setting for the Savage Worlds RPG. I’m trying to stick as close to the standard SW rules as possible, but adding in a few touches as required to model the behaviour of the original Walking Dead comics and TV
- [Blog](https://rodneyorpheus.com/rodneys-blog/) - Most of my occasional posts appear on Facebook, Google+ or Twitter (see links on the right). But I might start collating some of the more interesting stuff here in future...
- [Savage Elder Scrolls Online](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/savage-worlds/savage-elder-scrolls-online/) - Savage Elder Scrolls Online by Rodney Orpheus Elder Scrolls Online is a fantastic MMO which has 4 basic classes, each with some fascinating and unique spells. For those wishing to run a pen & paper game set in the Elder Scrolls world of Tamriel, I’ve translated some of these spells into Savage Worlds format, based
- [Converting d100 to SW](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/savage-worlds/converting-d100-to-savage-worlds/) - d100 Systems include Call of Cthulhu, Runequest, Stormbringer, Basic Role Playing, OpenQuest, Magic World etc. Modules written for these systems are relatively easy to convert on the fly. To convert NPCs and monsters use the following rough guide: Attributes: STR = Strength DEX = Agility POW = Spirit INT = Smarts To get the correct
- [Savage Worlds](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/savage-worlds/) - Savage Worlds has become my go-to RPG system of late - it's easy to learn, works with a multitude of settings, and has a friendly and highly creative community around it. It's also very customisable, so I've added a bunch of extra features of my own which you can find here. Other useful links: Savage Worlds
- [Gothic Blood Dream](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/gothic-blood-dream/) - Author's Note: This is a short story that I dreamed from beginning to end. It was one of the most terrifying nightmares I have ever had, and to exorcise it from my mind I wrote it down immediately upon waking, exactly as written here. If you are easily upset or traumatised you may want to
- [Writings](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/) - This page links to a selection of various writings that I've done over the years. I write continually thanks to a large collection of portable computing technology. During any one month I will be writing poetry, songs, short stories, screenplays, non-fiction... but always something. The song lyrics usually end up on Cassandra Complex records, the
- [Quest for the Graal](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/quest-for-the-graal/) - I have not been to this place for a very long time Retracing my steps is not a habit of mine But I remember the lights and I remember the voices Remember the cost and remember the choices Remember speed and power and cost and commotion Emotions brewed into a magick potion A memory of
- [Liber 66.6](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/liber-66-6/) - May all gods destroy and let endless night adore Certainty in eternity prefigures love's ascent If helpless anger verily enters Again life's well and years suggest Life's open vein entirely dry Here everything returns Then reborn under love's yearning (French Quarter, New Orleans, on my birthday July 2010)
- [Car Wars - Death Rally](https://rodneyorpheus.com/gaming/car-wars-death-rally/) - by Rodney Orpheus Art by Dan Smith [Originally published in Pyramid Magazine April 16, 1999, as a campaign supplement for the tabletop game Car Wars by Steve Jackson Games] Death Rally is a Car Wars variant for those who want to see their tournament characters live a little bit longer than one combat. It is
- [Meditations on Form](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/haiku/meditations-on-form/) - I like haiku discipline Bound to seventeen syllables Then gagged Haiku is like sushi Each bite a delicate, discrete flavour Hmmmm... Distill essence of life One hundred and forty characters Twitter! Twitter Haiku From my senses to the world This could become a habit...
- [Haiku](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/haiku/) - I started writing haiku poetry as a teenager on the advice of my English teacher (yeah, I know, that is a shameful admission...). He had noticed a tendency in my juvenile works towards a certain verbosity - I was writing Shelleyan epics at the time - and he thought that the discipline of haiku might
- [Poison Butterflies](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/poison-butterflies/) - (For Amanda) My life is a walled garden where I lie alone among the flowering shrubs Marking the graves of my desire Soaking up the empire of sun And wind That I rule from afar Carrying a thousand years of you in my pocket Each of your days another blade That clearcuts my country And
- [Non-Local](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/non-local/) - My mind is a galaxy of dying stars A whirling mass of flaring emotions Raging with a dull heat Heavy, exhausted Once these thoughts were butterflies Flitting carelessly through summer gardens Now those spirits have attained their metamorphosis Their poison tongues become tongues of flame My skin feels tight against my skull It no longer
- [PGP](https://rodneyorpheus.com/pgp-public-key/) - A few years back, a very clever and nice man called Phil Zimmermann came up with a thing called Pretty Good Privacy. It uses key pair encryption to allow people to send each other private mail. What's so special about that, you might say, isn't all email private? In a word, no. When you send
- [Reviews](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/abrahadabra/abrahadabra-reviews/) - 93! The subtitle gives the book's intent "A Beginner's Guide to Thelemic Magick", and in this the book succeeds tremendously. But the book also contains hidden qualities that makes it invaluable to have for even the more advanced thelemic magicians. The book itself starts with very moderate meditation, evolves into the natural step of the
- [Poems](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/) - I've been writing poetry ever since I was a withdrawn, romantic intellectual teenager (weren't we all?). Unlike most teenagers though I actually worked at it and I've ended up getting published in real anthologies. Here's a selection of some of my work...
- [Communications Decency Act](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/poems/poem-on-the-passing-of-the-communications-decency-act/) - Poem on the passing of the Communications Decency Act Thursday: Silence Today is a black day Friday: Rage Today is a black day Not black as in bad, though it is bad Not black as in sad, though it is sad But black as in blackout. as in nothing, the absence of light, of hope
- [Sample Chapter](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/abrahadabra/sample-chapter/) - Abrahadabra Understanding Aleister Crowley's Thelemic Magick by Rodney Orpheus (First Edition - Chapter 6) Well, you've been performing Thelemic magick for some time now, but as yet I haven't really described just what Thelema essentially is. This has been intentional, because Thelema is essentially an active system, rather than a passive set of beliefs. Thelema
- [An(other) Interlude](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/occult/another-interlude/) - Frater H.E., as is well-known, tends to be somewhat scornful of those who derive great pleasure and mystical wisdom from the Holy Qabalah, and consequently rarely speaks of the aforementioned subject himself. Imagine my surprise then, when deep into a moonlit night in one of the innumerable dense forests of Northern Europe, our Thrice Illuminated
- [The Dark Rose Cycle](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/haiku/the-dark-rose-cycle/) - Written in a fever of inspiration in bed one morning, said inspiration coming elliptically from the "Rose" poems of Aleister Crowley. Each triplet is an individual haiku, all linked into one short cycle of poems... Rose of the night! Bloom of deepening shadows I lie, latent, in you You wrap me in your thorns Tightly
- [Haiku For Donna](https://rodneyorpheus.com/writings/haiku/haiku-for-donna/) - You peek around the corner From the shadows of my memory Wheeeeee! You're happy and sad At the same time But I still like talking to you You lost something It went away and won't come back But it didn't really Donna makes a haiku Fairy, dreamlike, funny A picture in words

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