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

My dear brothers and sisters,

It is my pleasure to introduce myself as, effective August 10, 2009, your new USGL Conference Committee Chair. Many thanks to Sister Kim for honoring me with the job that she has perfected to an art. May I do half as well as she!

In the interim, I have effectively taken on the duties of the role as a trial by fire.

Since NOTOCON VII is nearly upon us, I see that most of you are registered to join us here in Seattle! I look forward to seeing all of you there, and meeting many for the first time.

The conference coming up so soon however means that it is time for me to start thinking about 2011! The work that your team does to make manifest our amazing biannual weekend begins this September and our work as the Conference Committee begins now in sending out requests for proposals.

I am opening up the proposal process now to give you time to get a great proposal together and to give us time to give quality time in considering each proposal that we look at.

If you think it might be a something your local body would like to do, but need more info, here’s some basics:

-Any well organized Lodge or Oasis can put on NOTOCON. You will need 12-15 dedicated folks to manage the various aspects of organization with a fearless leader to head them up. Financial support, seed money etc., is available for your use.

-The outdoor temperature is not a determining factor! We spend 98% of our time within the air conditioned hotel for the weekend and so please do not think you cannot do it because of your location in
August. A chance of hurricanes, however, is a deal breaker.

-Yes, August is fairly set for a time.

-We’ve done east coast, we’ve done west coast. It would be ideal to have one of our bodies “in the middle” represent for 2011.

If you are that fearless leader and are interested, please do the following:

1. Email me offlist to start a dialogue about your proposal.

2. Show up at NOTOCON this year and come to the Conference Committee presentation/panel to get more information. I will happily accept your proposal then as well and if you put your proposal in at that time, we can sit and have lunch and discuss in person.

Deadline for proposals will be October 1, 2009.

Feel free to email me offlist with any questions you might have.

Love is the law, love under will.

Melissa
USGL Conference Committee Chair to be

Be warned!

There are only 30 days until NOTOCON VII registration is CLOSED!

That’s right, the deadline is July 15th. Don’t miss it!!

My next volunteer spotlight features a group of volunteers that have stepped up to fill an important role and fill a gap that had been worrying me for a while. When my previously selected A/V Coordinator, Brother Andrei, had to move suddenly to St. Louis, taking on a new job in the bargain, it became necessary to look elsewhere for someone with his talents.

Brother Jon, as stage manager, seemed a logical choice as A/V Point, but was already loaded down with other tasks, including his own NOTOCON presentation. I had a handful of people with applicable skills to assist, but nobody with the bandwitdth to organize it by themselves.

So I gathered these brothers and sisters together, earlier today in fact, for a backyard barbeque and we talked it all over. Soom they were dividing up the tasks between themselves and my list of A/V troubles suddenly got a lot shorter!

For your viewing pleasure, may I present our A/V Team…they’ll keep those LCD projectors and sound running!

From left to right: Br. Noah, Br. Bob, Br. Michael, Sr. Emily, Br. Jon (back), Br. Rob (front).

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

I am still looking for group photos of willing local bodies for use at the conference. The proposed use of the photos has changed from the original annoucement. Rather than a weekend long display, there will be a breif slideshow at the opening ceremonies.

Photos should be at least 300 dpi and can be emailed to me at onsite@notocon.org. LB logos, other appropriate graphics, temple photos, etc, are acceptable substitutes. Deadline is July 15

Let me know if you have any questions.

Love is the law, love under will.

Melissa Holm
NOTOCON VII
Onsite Chair, USGL Conference Committee

Have a little extra time this August? Want to see a bit of the countryside on your own schedule, and perhaps meet up with other Brothers and Sisters on the way? Try a road trip!

A group from Louisiana rented a van for their trip to Salem in 2007. A brother and sister from Seattle drove accross the whole country.

According to Google Maps, travelling by car between Portland, ME to Seattle, WA only takes two days. You can stop off and pick up passengers, or other vehicles for your caravan, in Salem, Buffalo, Chicago, and Minneapolis along the way….perhaps other places, too, if you took more time and planed your route more creatively.

Of course there are other routes from other parts of the country as well….waiting to be planned!

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

We have a fine lineup of vendors for your purchasing pleasure this summer at NOTOCON. Here is a sampling of what you will find:

Aum Ha Oasis - Thelemic kitch, fine art, DVDs, incense, teeshirts(the plum of the pie) and all sorts of twisted debauch…

Doomsayer’s Digest - Subscriptions to Doomsayer’s Digest, individual issues, trinkets and initiate useful items for sale; including: Cat of Nine Tails, Baphomet bolos, and Gnostic saint prayer cards, etc.

Jennifer Black - Photography and sculpture.

Eleusyve Productions - Rites of Eleusis as rock operas on DVD!

Liv Rainey-Smith - Print work, jewelry, leather bound journals

The Pentacle - Hand made Tau robes, Unicursal hexagram black mirrors, a selection of books from Thelema Media, Egyptian statues, jewelry.

Night of Pan Books - Books! New, used, and rare.

BeeGirlMetal - Handmade Thelemic and Order jewelry.

Horizon Oasis - various and sundry

Doug Eakin - Handmade candles

The Magician’s Toolbox - Ceremonial goodies- Factory made Tau Robes, Engraved Tiles (Mostly Thelemic designs),Tarot Boxes, Abramelin Oil (consecrated of course!), Baphomet Statues, Triangles of Art and various premium ritual items and supplies

So, bring some extra cash…you’ll want it when you’re there!

Love is the law, love under will.

Greetings Brothers and Sisters,

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

Below is a link to a document to help those not yet using encryption for
sensitive e-mail and files get up and running. We have gone to great measures to
create a simple and easy to follow document for you to get set up and increase
security when exchanging confidential documents. Please follow these
instructions to set up and begin using encryption for e-mail and files exchanged
via e-mail.

http://sekhetmaat.com/wiki/Set_up_e-mail_encryption

Also, when you are done, please send your public key to “Iacchus Teth
“. There is a section of the instructions about
exporting your public key in this document and a note is also in this document
to remind you to send me your key. I will collect the public keys sent to me in
preparation for the Key Signing Party at NOTOCON from 12 noon to 1 pm on Sunday

(see “http://vii.notocon.org/events/#Key Signing Party”).

Thank you.

Love is the law, love under will.

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

Care Fraters et Sorors,

The Seventh Bi-Annual National O.T.O. Conference is fast approaching, and I am writing in order to formalize the plans for the choir that will be performing the Anthem for the Sunday celebration of Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass.

For several months a pdf file of the sheet music and an mp3 recording of the music have been available through the NOTOCON website. You can find them still on the promotions page at: http://vii.notocon.org/promotion/

Using these tools, Brothers and Sisters in the order who are so inclined can practice singing the Anthem in preparation for joining the choir at NOTOCON, either formally or informally.

If you wish to sing informally, you need only lend your voice, or print and bring sheet music if you desire it.

If you are interested in working more formally with the choir, I request that you email me directly to discuss your vocal range for placement in the group (jonah777@comcast.net). Additionally, please plan to bring a white robe to the conference, and block out time from 2:30 to 3:30 on Sunday August 9th, for a rehearsal with the musicians, as well as planning to attend Mass at 5:00, with some preparation time.

Please contact me before July 1st if you are planning to formally sing with the choir and attend the rehearsal. The rehearsal does not conflict directly with any other scheduled NOTOCON events.

Please help us make this a memorable and glorious celebration of the central ritual of our Order.

Thank you!

Love is the law, love under will.

Fraternally,
Jon
jonah777@comcast.net

Thinking that the costs of travelling this summer might be a bit high? Consider camping! Seattle KOA offers RV and tent camping and is only 4.3 miles (8 minutes by car, per googlemaps reckoning) from our venue the Southcenter Doubletree.

Check it out!

http://www.seattlekoa.com/

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

The planning is definitely coming to a head now. All the details, all of the little things that I used to say “later” about cannot wait, and all the things that can wait…well maybe we didn’t need them after all. As has been said, all we really need is Thelemites and wine.

That said, we are at a point where most of my amazing volunteer crew have stepped it up a notch in their efforts to bring you a stellar NOTOCON VII. In the weeks between now and the conference I thought I would take the opportunity to spotlight some of my hard working people. Many in the Seattle area have never attended NOTOCON before, and took on the mantle of national service with no real sense of what to expect.

First up! My trusty Assistant Chair, Cristin. It’s Cristin’s job to know everything that I know about the conference and to be my backup in all things related. She’s also taken on the huge job of assigning volunteer jobs and hooking up roommates for the hotel. She has simultaneously taken on an officer position at Horizon Oasis, placing herself on the fast track to O.T.O. overwork…just like the rest of us!

As one of the higher profile volunteers who has also never seen one in action, I asked the following questions:

How are you feeling about being Assistant Chair for the conference?

I am thrilled and honored to have been asked to fulfill this role!
Being assistant chair has given me a much closer look at everything
that really goes on in making NOTOCON happen.

How is the experience comparing to what you thought it would be?

I came into this project expecting that my organization skills would
be put to work-and I was right. Lists, spreadsheets, more lists to go
with the spreadsheets…an event this size takes careful planning and
orderliness to come together, as well as a willingness to accept that
not everything may go according to plan. I expected this would be a
challenge as well-this was easily one of the largest events I’ve ever
played a role in making come about. And while it absolutely has been
a challenge, it has always been a very rewarding experience.

What are you looking forward to at the conference itself?

I liken this whole experience from the start to a jigsaw puzzle. In
the beginning, it’s a box of pieces all jumbled together. Now that
we’re approaching the date, a clear picture is really starting to
form. I’m looking forward to seeing this picture completed, to see
the results of everybody’s labors come to life.

Do you have any advice for those who might wish to host NC?

Be organized. Have your plans solidified down to the nit-pickiest detail early.

Remember Murphy’s Law: “whatever can go wrong, will”. Have a plan B
and possibly even a plan C in place and be ready to have to switch to
them.

Remember to make the time to relax!
****

Have you volunteered for a NOTOCON shift yet!? It’s not too late to contact Cristin at onsite_assist@notocon.org and help share the load.

Love is the law, love under will.

Melissa Holm
NOTOCON VII
Onsite Chair, USGL Conference Committee