An open letter concerning my commitment to the O.T.O. and to Horus Oasis

An open letter concerning my commitment to the O.T.O. and to Horus Oasis.

Recently, there was a change in the leadership of Horus Oasis, in which Beverly Stuart and I essentially changed places: She is now Master, while I have taken on the duties of Deputy Master and Treasurer. Despite the change in titles, the only real change in workload is the transfer of the treasury - Beverly and I are essentially still doing the same work and assuming the same responsibilities in running Horus Oasis.

Since this change, I have heard a few inaccurate statements about the reasons for this change and the circumstances surrounding it. Specifically, there is a rumor that I had reached, or was approaching, a state of "burn-out" and that the change was made to take some of the burden from my shoulders. This is NOT correct. Allow me to set the record straight.

What sparked this change was a needed change to the office of the Treasurer. Beverly had been serving as Treasurer for a few years, and was doing a good job. But it was her will to hand off the treasury to someone else. (A member of the Oasis volunteered to become Treasurer, but this plan fell apart.) I was willing and able to take on the treasury, but I know it is a REALLY BAD IDEA to have the same person holding the offices of Master and Treasurer. So I made the following proposal: That Beverly and I trade places. With Beverly as Master, I would be free to become Treasurer without running the risk of holding too much power in the Oasis. As for swapping the offices of Master and Deputy, we figured it was a non-issue. With a few small exceptions, there would be no changes in the work each of us was doing in the Oasis.

From this, these points follow:
- I am not decreasing my work load or responsibilities in Horus Oasis. If anything, I will now by putting MORE work into Horus Oasis.
- I was not, nor am I now, "burning out" or desiring to leave Horus Oasis.
- I am still committed to Horus Oasis and to supporting the core activities of the Oasis, especially Gnostic Mass.

Having said that, I have not attended some recent Horus Oasis activities. This is due to a large project (or "chronic emergency", as I prefer to call it) that I am dealing with in Provo. I also recently re-evaluated my relationship with Horus Oasis. Even before the advent of the "chronic emergency", attending all scheduled activities was stretching my resources. I concluded that, while it is my will to support the core activities of the body, I simply don't have the time and energy to attend ALL of the activities. (Having to travel 50 miles to attend events is an issue.)

There are also some past entries in this blog where I bemoaned the burden that Horus Oasis was placing on me. Those issues were resolved months ago and have no bearing on recent events or the current situation.

As for the future, once the "chronic emergency" is behind me, I will be turning some of my energies to forming a thelemic group in Utah Valley. I hope to use this group to draw people to Horus Oasis.

I am open to conversation if any member of Horus Oasis has any questions, comments, complaints or suggestions about the work I am doing as Deputy Master or Treasurer (not to mention web master, mail list owner, sender of announcements, manager of the Mass Equipment, etc.).

Andy McGuire
Deputy Master
Horus Oasis