Elijah and Children of the Voice

Edgar's friend Elijah makes a couple of brief appearances in Collywobbles. His role is an important one, both on account of the information he imparts to Edgar about the occult nature of the killings and the information he gives about Aletheia. He picks up on something very important about her generally and through his astute (not to mention intuitive) reading of her, he is the first person to draw Edgar's attention to the fact that underneath her anger are buried strong feelings. 

Elijah is Edgar's only friend. In fact, his name is something of a nod to the Frank Black song. However, based on everything Elijah says to him, you get the idea that Edgar perhaps isn't all that great at staying in touch with him. That Edgar has so few friends despite being an extravert is owed to what Elijah accurately points out is Edgar's true addiction--love. Edgar's attention remains singularly focused on whoever he happens to be infatuated with at the moment and as a result, he isn't great at maintaining social relationships or keeping social obligations. 

The Children of the Voice is a small order that extends throughout the south and southwest, generally much smaller in number than the O.T.O. It was started by a group of people that had co-membership in both the O.T.O. and The Golden Dawn. Its ceremonies use a priestess, like in the Gnostic Mass, but her function is very different and it's the only real resemblance to Thelemic masses that you see in the invocation ceremonies. The ceremony incorporates standard Golden Dawn practices, such as the Qabalistic Cross, but the main thrust of the ceremony is the acting out of the ascent up the Tree of Life and the Golden Dawn's emphasis on communication with the guardian angel. Theirs is a thirteen degree system: an introductory "ascendant" degree and twelve degrees corresponding to the twelve houses in the horoscope. As it's matched up with the individual's chart, each initiation is, at least to some extent, unique to that person. It incorporates Thelemic notions of True Will and keeps a lot of O.T.O. practices, such as sex magick. 

Elijah is, at the time of Collywobbles, tenth degree and heads up the New Orleans temple.  The temple is actually a partially-converted old playhouse in the Marigny, just off of Elysian Fields. Edgar was really only active in the temple his first couple of years in New Orleans, and at the time Collywobbles takes place, his life has been taken over by selling tarot, dealing drugs and his romantic foibles. He's developed quite a reputation for himself as a lonely guy that will share drugs and so, at the time the book starts, his evenings tend to get filled up by activities which are really bad ideas (his broken turtle incense holder case in point). Still, Elijah encourages him to return, showing both patience and insight. He believes that Edgar has tremendous potential magickally, and he probably isn't wrong about this. We see through Edgar's unicursal hexagram keychain that, when he puts his mind to it, he can achieve impressive magickal feats. The man in the trench coat is unnerving to all who meet him but only Edgar immediately detects the taint. If only Edgar could obtain clarity of mind through self-control (of both his drug use and his emotions) he could realize the potential that Elijah sees in him.