2007 Annual Meeting Master's Address

From Sekhet-Maat Lodge

Saturday, April 21, 2007 ev

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by Fr. ΝΘΛΜΚΜΝΡΓ

Brothers and Sisters, Lay members of the Church, friends,

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

For the first time in eight years, Sekhet-Maat Lodge is not in financial panic mode!

• When we first moved into a dedicated space, we tried funding it with pledges. Every month, we begged the members for more money to pay the rent.
• Later, we started a dues program which was really a discount program to save money on event fees. Paying dues would save you money if you attended more than four Masses and classes in a month. Loss of discount was really the only negative consequence. Non-members could be officers. We still begged for money every month – every month! – to pay the rent.
• We started doing more and more fundraising, and spending a lot of time figuring out better and better ways to make money. But most of the income from fundraisers came from our members, so it was just another form of begging.
• Most of the time we were $3-500 short. For a while, it was $800, and on the worst months we were $1100 short and had to make up for this through begging and fundraising. Only to turn around and have to do the exact same thing the following month.
• Over time we gradually began limiting the ability to participate in mass, initiations, official duties, and so on to members of the Lodge. When I became Lodge Master, I stopped all “rent-raising” activity. At the same time, we have made our hardship policies and pledging more friendly and customized to each person, so that everyone contributes what they can afford, whether that is less or more than the standard dues rate, and everyone chips in with the labor of keeping this Lodge running smoothly.
• Four months ago, we raised dues to a level which would bring us to self-sufficiency given how many people we were at the time.

You made this happen. We are no longer in panic mode. We no longer have to worry each month about where the next month’s rent is coming from, because you made it happen.

Here are some other things you did:

• We’ve all read the Annual Report form; I won’t bother repeating statistics and so on. Aside from all that,
• Br. G. has done an excellent job as class coordinator this year. He reached out to all the members and developed a very robust program involving as many people as wanted to teach or facilitate forums. He’s also made pdf flyers available on our website and he’ll be talking tonight about outreach. Please give Br. G. a hand for his hard work this year.
• Sr. Aletheia Mnemonicas has exceeded all our expectations and is the best Treasurer this Lodge has ever had. Sorry Br. C., you have a tough act to follow but I know you have helped a lot in this as well. Sr. A.M. and Br. C. have completely overhauled our system of record keeping bringing it in line with standard accounting principles. Sr. A.M. has added a personal friendliness to the office which has been really amazing in helping everyone to understand the changes we have undergone in the last two years. Please give Sr. A.M. and Br. C. a hand.
• Br. P. and Br. J.P. have worked together to raise the bar on our holidays and other special events, ensuring that logistics and feasts are always not just taken care of, but artfully arranged and bountiful. The quality of potlucks has improved a great deal, thanks to Br. J.P. setting the tone with his incredible cooking. Please give Brs. J.P. and P. a hand.
• Everyone has contributed and made the Lodge grow this year. Sr. R. is always helping to keep a rotation of art happening; Sr. L. did a six part Astrology class series; Br. M.S. has just taken on writing the “First Page” column for Lion & Serpent; Brs. N., J.P., and G are helping to start a Lodge music program; D. manages the facility maintenance like none before him; we have so many Priests, Priestess and initiators that we have continuously expanded our ritual schedule; everyone does the dishes; need I go on?
• The point being, we are all chipping in, in our own ways, with financial and creative, laborious efforts, and this is what makes us capable of accomplishing so much.

As I said before, we are no longer in financial panic mode. We are now in uncharted territory; we now can work on growing rather than maintaining; we now can focus more intently on the vision of our Lodge:

• Sekhet-Maat Lodge is dedicated to the high purpose of securing the Liberty of the Individual and his or her advancement in Light, Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, and Power through Beauty, Courage, and Wit, on the Foundation of Universal Brotherhood.
• Our mission is to preserve and advance the religious tenets, doctrines, principles, teachings, traditions and rites of Ordo Templi Orientis. O.T.O. is a model religious and fraternal order of occult initiates, and a leading proponent of Thelemic thought and culture.
• We encourage creative excellence through aesthetic expression in all areas of individual and group endeavor, and promote an ethos inspired by Liber AL II:35—“Let the rituals be rightly performed with joy & beauty!”
• We will maintain and improve our physical presence near the center of Portland, Oregon, from which we will continue to offer services in support of our mission to our members and to the public.
• We will uphold the highest standards of excellence and effectiveness in the practice and dissemination of our religious, spiritual, magical, and ethical teachings.
• We will espouse and defend the principle of individual liberty while cultivating strong fraternal bonds within our ranks.
• We will foster harmonious and constructive relationships with the academic, business, civil, and greater social communities within which we operate.

You’re going to hear more about our current efforts toward these ends in the presentations to come tonight. I’d like to briefly list for you some things which I think may be attainable in the near future, for which I offer my full support and encouragement to anyone who wishes to help the Lodge to pursue them. You might think of other ideas on hearing this, and if so please let me know!

• Discussion groups or classes for life challenges such as parenting, relationships, time management, abuse, addiction, money management, disaster preparation, decision making
• Monthly or weekly reading from a Holy Book, utilizing Liber Israfel.
• Regular advertising – postering services are cheap I recently found out!
• Monthly brunches before mass
• Movie nights of educational value
• Additional open hours
• Field trips and outings
• Outdoor ritual

I’m sure there are a million other things that we could get started. The important thing for each of us to do individually I think, as members of this Lodge, is to consider what it is that we value about our experience here. Is it the fraternal relationships? The inititations? The mass? The frequency of our rituals? The classes and discussions? Is it the creative opportunities? The focus on individual liberty? The challenge of building a community? The opportunity to give back so that others can benefit? What do you value in life, and what draws you to work with us here?

Look for opportunities to help the Lodge accomplish the things that you most value about it; if each of us contributes only this, we will exceed all our wildest dreams, and we will do more to promote our cause than any of us can imagine. With our newfound self-sufficiency, we are about to play a part in the dawning of a, forgive me but I mean this, no less than a Thelemic renaissance in Portland.

Now that we can focus so much more on our vision instead of paying rent, we will see a cultural flowering in the Lodge and with this will come financial growth, which will dip and climb over time, and our long-term vision is to build an income which will support the purchase and maintenance of a Profess House here in Portland. This will eventually be possible, and the best part is that you will make it happen simply by helping the Lodge in the way that you value most.