William Breeze
William Breeze (born 1955), also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Silenus, is an American writer and publisher on magick and philosophy.
In this capacity he is a leading editor of the occult works of Aleister Crowley, the founder of the philosophy and religion of Thelema, who is regarded as its prophet.
[citation needed], of which Crowley was the ultimate religious head after taking over leadership of the order from its founder Theodore Reuss in 1923.
Breeze spent his childhood accompanying his father, who had a distinguished military career, on many tours of duty across the United States, staying with him at various US military bases, including Fort Meade[3] where a remote viewing program took place;[4] Nellis Air Force Base, located in close proximity to Groom Dry Lake Air Force Base in Nevada, which is a highly classified remote detachment 83 miles (134 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas[5] closely linked to UFO phenomena;[6] Fort Bragg, where "Project Jedi" was run by Special Forces; and Montauk Air Force Station, at the eastern tip of Long Island, which was later associated with supposed time travel experiments[7] as part of the Montauk Project.
[20] Starting in 2005, Breeze begun chartering new international Grand Lodges, including those of Australia and United Kingdom, the latter covering England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, plus British Crown Dependencies.
formalising itself with regulations and policies, Breeze allowed the leadership in local areas the freedom to experiment with tactics for growing the organisation.
[22] On October 10, 2014, Breeze was unanimously re-elected de jure Outer Head of the Order by a council of Grand Masters.
[citation needed] Motta, in turn, took on his own students, including James Wasserman and J. Daniel Gunther, both of whom he expelled from the order.
[25] with the subsequent publications of The Equinox journal, newly typeset in authorised format with exhaustive editorial work by Breeze himself, along with assistance of other O.T.O.
[11] Breeze also added a number of A∴A∴ papers, along with letters from Magick Without Tears, the text of The Book of the Law, and various other writings by Crowley, Wilfred Talbot Smith, and Frater Achad, also featuring James Wasserman's essay on the history of the O.T.O.
Breeze wrote an extensive introduction and showcased a group of contemporary Thelemic poets and artists, along with a section on Kenneth Anger's films.
It includes Crowley's commentary which, unlike in the earlier editions, was positioned opposite and facing the corresponding text of Liber LXV.
[32] It contains reprinted documents important in defining the A∴A∴ training system, including Crowley's works such as One Star in Sight, Liber XIII, and Liber CLXXXV, to which this book adds An Account of the A∴A∴ introduced by Crowley's essay titled Occultism published for the first time, including one unpublished version of the A∴A∴ Student Examination.
It contains the fourth major edition of Liber 418 (The Vision and the Voice), considered by Crowley to be second in importance behind The Book of the Law which established the religious system of Thelema.
Breeze's 1998 edition, which includes Crowley's commentary as footnotes, made the material of Liber 418 available to a large audience for the first time.
Through editorial notes, Breeze enabled the reader to trace much of the evolution of Crowley's thoughts through successive revisions of the Magick in Theory and Practice manuscript.
On February 10, 2015, Breeze chaired a panel discussion dedicated to Cameron and her work, which was held at Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
[48] In 1980s Breeze together with Marjorie Cameron acted as co-editor of a compilation of essays authored by Jack Parsons' who was a rocket scientist and founding member of Agape Lodge.
In 1980 Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword collection of essays was published by New Falcon Publications, presenting Parsons thoughts on magic and initiation(ISBN 9781561841165).
[55] His editorial forewords include prolegomenon to Liber Aleph Vel CXI: The Book of Wisdom or Folly,[56] preface to Initiation in the Aeon of the Child: The Inward Journey [57] written by J. Daniel Gunther (published in 2014, ISBN 978-0892542093), as well as editorial introduction to Magick: Liber ABA, Book Four (ISBN 978-0877289197) and introduction to Aleister Crowley's edition of The Goetia, which explores the relationship between Crowley and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, and the importance of the Lesser Key of Solomon in the grimoire tradition.
[58] As a musician, Breeze came to prominence in the late 1990s when in the early years of his musical career he worked with poet-percussionist and Velvet Underground cofounder Angus MacLise.
Coil was a British avant garde music band founded by John Balance and Peter Christopherson whose main studio was based in London and from 1999 in Bristol.
[61] Starting in 1997, Breeze played electric viola and guitar on Coil's Equinox and Solstice EPs (later compiled as "Moon's Milk in Four Phases" and the accompanying limited bonus mail order only EP recorded in 1999), and played live with the band onstage during their Barcelona concert in 2000.
[62][deprecated source] Breeze has also appeared live as a member of Current 93, an experimental music group founded by David Tibet.
He made a significant contribution to enhancing religious freedom internationally through various means such as creation of public and private spaces for positive inter-faith exchanges.
