Richard Gernon

Richard William Gernon was born on October 18, 1949 and died in New York City on March 15, 1989 of heroin overdose. He was a Thespian, Actor, Ritualist, Director, Theatre Stage Manager and Special Effects Make-Up Artist of the Underground New York City Cult Scene in the 1970s and 1980s. He is known to his peers as "Gurney". Richard was primarily an Occultist who conducted extensive research in Greek and Coptic Qabalah and was in research and editorial assignments for Esoteric projects. Richard Gernon's work as an occultist can be accessed in his tribute Facebook page (Facebook.com/Richard-Gernon-Gurney) and in the publication "In the Center of the Fire: A Memoir of the Occult: 1966-1989" by James Wasserman. His video and audio recordings are located under the video files and audio files menu tabs in the official website "www.inthecenterofthefire.com" as well as in the YouTube channel "InTheCenterOfTheFire". There are other websites associated with his work as a Bishop in the O.T.O., Ordo Templi Orientis, such as the article 'From Beyond the Open Veil, The Aeon of the Death Cookie' in the Hermetic database "Hermetic.com" (https://hermetic.com/egc/deathcookie). Other online media sources are 'http://www.parareligion.ch/moose/canada1.htm' as well as a handful additional ones. Gurney is recognized by his past and contemporary peers as a genius in the arena of religious and mystical theatre in the 'Eleusinian Mysteries' and in the 'Mystery School of Dyonisos'. He was also a master Magician in elaborate 'High Magick' ceremonies and rituals of the occultist Aleister Crowley in 'The Ordo Templi Orientis' and 'The Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae'. One of his greatest works is his Aleister Crowley's "Hymn to Pan" invocation. Richard memorized this hymn in great detail, but his invocation varies slightly to the actual hymn as referenced in "Magick in Theory and Practice". This may be because he choose to emphasize certain aspects of the hymn at the expense of exactitude. This hymn is recited by him very precisely but deliberately slow, implying his use of heroin during the day of the ritual and the recording of the hymn. James Wasserman's publication "In the Center of the Fire: A Memoir of the Occult: 1966-1989" also documents in chapter eighteen that Richard, "Gurney", was snorting heroin during this time and had notions of it participating creatively and constructively in his 'New Aeon' Magickal work, based on his understanding of Crowley's "Diary of a Drug Fiend". Gurney's ability to operate masterfully in the higher realms of Magick on heroin is clear and evident through out his invocation of "Hymn to Pan". He expertly modules and 'manipulates' vocalization of the soft and controlled with the raw and grotesque. In his guise of Apollo, he delicately and intricately strums with his lyre the path of the ancient pagan god Pan through upper heights of the treacherous Realm of High Magick employing gold and radiant vocal threads. The last portion of the hymn is particularly hysterical and nerve-racking because in a matter of a few instances, Gurney transports the audience from violent frenzy to absolute calm, the ultimate ecstatic transformation, all possible in his daemon speech. Interpretation by Maenad Artemis.