Temple of Lam

Temple of Lam is the nexus of a cult devoted to Lam, a being the famous magician Aleister Crowley claims he was contacted by in 1918. Crowley believed that Lam was an extra-dimensional intelligence, who entered this plane through a portal he opened during his sex magickal Amalantrah Working. Subsequent Crowley disciples from the O.T.O. Order have attempted to contact Lam and reported considerable success. Crowley protege Kenneth Grant has called this current the Cult of Lam, and described their techniques as the Lam Workings. Grant describes his interest in Lam this way:

“The Cult [of Lam] has been founded because very strong intimations have been received by Aossic Aiwass, 718’.’ to the effect that the portrait of Lam (the original drawing of which was given by [Crowley] to [Grant] under curious circumstances) is the present focus of an extra-terrestrial – and perhaps trans-plutonic – Energy which the O.T.O. is required to communicate at this critical period, for we have now entered the Eighties mentioned in The Book of the Law.

It is Our aim to obtain some insight not only into the nature of Lam, but also into the possibilities of using the Egg as an astral space-capsule for travelling to Lam’s domain, or for exploring extra-terrestrial spaces in the sense in which O.T.O. Tantric Time-Travelers are exploring the Tunnels of Set in intra-cosmic and chthonian capsules.”

The Temple of Lam has taken this a step further, establishing a physical temple in the Mojave desert in Nevada, where Templars conduct Lam Workings as part of their Temple rituals.

Lam Templars have developed a whole mythos around Lam, claiming that he is one of the “Grey” aliens who became famous from UFO abduction cases beginning in the 1950s. Indeed, as we see from the above sketch, made by Crowley in 1919, Lam does bear a strong resemblance to the Greys. Lam Templars believe that Crowley actually summoned the Greys―who had been depicted in ancient temples, but not seen in recent times―back to Earth. Templars believe Crowley trained his protege Jack Parsons, along with L. Ron Hubbard, to continue his Lam Workings. In 1946, Parsons and Hubbard conducted the Babalon Working, which is thought to have reopened and widened the Lam portal, bringing a wave of Lam-beings into our plane, in the form of UFO and Grey sightings starting in 1947.

Lam Templars want to open more such portals, to bring many more Lam-beings to Earth. They believe that Lam is a new god-form who is making a bid to conquer this plane, overthrow the old gods, and establish his reign over humanity. They also suspect that the being “Darth Omega” who contacted Darth Imperius was a Lam manifestation. To Lam Templars, the UFO phenomenon is part of a larger metaphysical phenomenon, of an Aeonic “changing of the gods”, which they sometimes symbolize with a Black Sun.

The Temple
The Temple of Lam is located in the Mojave desert, on property owned by a wealthy businessman with a keen interest in UFOs and the occult. The Temple is built to resemble a flying saucer, with a low, tapering disc shape and stares leading up one side. On a dais on top sits a stone bust of Lam, which Templars make offerings to and meditate upon during their workings. At the base of the Temple are two obelisks with the word “Lam” in the Harzâd alphabet painted down the sides. On top of the obelisks sit two large egg-shaped obsidian stones, which reflect the importance of the Egg as an astral and tantric time travel symbol in the cult’s magickal system.

Lam Contact Working

At the Temple, Templars seek to invoke Lam into their presence, and receive guidance about how they may assist his campaign to become a god of the new Aeon.

To begin the contact working, the presiding priest conducts a banishing ritual (see Temple Rituals) to create a cleared space for the working. He then traces a nonagram around the Lam statue with his dagger, intoning “Lam” at each of the nine points. This rite ‘opens the portal’ to Lam’s dimension.

At this point, the Templars are sitting in lotus position facing the Lam portrait above the Temple altar, gazing into its eyes. They mentally repeat the mantra “Lam” for a few minutes, attempting to invoke Lam by his name. If they receive a positive response, they visualize themselves entering Lam’s egg-shaped head and seeing the world through his alien eyes. Next, they ‘seal the Egg’: visualize Lam’s eyes closing, and await developments. Templars often experience contact by a Lam-being at this stage. When contact is lost, or the Templar is disturbed, he leaves the Egg of Lam’s head and returns to the mundane world. When everyone present has returned to mundane consciousness, the priest strikes a gong nine times, performs another banishing ritual to close the portal, and the working is concluded.