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A pentacle (or pantacle in Thelema) is an amulet used in magical evocation, generally made of parchment, paper or metal (although it can be of other materials), on which the symbol of a spirit or energy being evoked is drawn. It is often worn around the neck, or placed within the triangle of evocation. Protective symbols may also be included (sometimes on the reverse), a common one being the five-point form of the Seal of Solomon, called a pentacle of Solomon or pentangle of Solomon. Many varieties of pentacle can be found in the grimoires of Solomonic magic; they are also used in some neopagan magical traditions, such as Wicca, alongside other magical tools.
Many believe that the pentacle acts as a defense against witch craft. In the past people would scratch the five-pointed star pattern onto their doors in order to deter witches. Witches and sorcerers also formed the pentacle in magic circles in acts of ritual magic. They believed with its powers it could act as a vehicles of transmission in the world of spirits.
The words pentacle and pentagram (a five-point unicursal star) are essentially synonymous, according to the Online Oxford English Dictionary (2007 revision), tracing the etymology through both French and Italian back to Latin, but notes that in Middle French the word "pentacle" was used to refer to any talisman. In an extended use, many magical authors treat them as distinct. In many tarot decks and in some forms of modern witchcraft, pentacles often prominently incorporate a pentagram in their design.
Pentacles as magical objects
Pentacles, despite the sound of the word, often had no connotation of "five" in the old magical texts, but were, rather, magical talismans inscribed with any symbol or character. When they incorporated star-shaped figures, these were more often hexagrams than pentagrams. Pentacles showing a great variety of shapes and images appear in the old magical grimoires, such as the Key of Solomon; as Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa summarises it, their use was to "fore-know all future things, & command whole nature, have power over devils, and Angels, and do miracles." Agrippa attributes Moses' feats of magic in part to his knowledge of various pentacles.
A Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy (c. 1565) spuriously attributed to Agrippa gives detailed instructions as to how pentacles should be formulated:
But we now come to speak of the holy and sacred Pentacles and Sigils. Now these pentacles, are as it were certain holy signes preserving us from evil chances and events, and helping and assisting us to binde, exterminate, and drive away evil spirits, and alluring the good spirits, and reconciling them unto us. And these pentacles do consist either of Characters of the good spirits of the superiour order, or of sacred pictures of holy letters or revelations, with apt and fit versicles, which are composed either of Geometrical figures and holy names of God, according to the course and maner of many of them; or they are compounded of all of them, or very many of them mixt.
Francis Barrett, in his influential work The Magus of 1801 (Book 2, part 2), repeats these instructions almost verbatim.
Another common design employed in pentacles is a magic square, such as the Sator-Arepo-Tenet square.
In the Golden Dawn magical system, the Earth Pentacle is one of four elemental "weapons" or tools of an Adept. These weapons are "symbolical representations of the forces employed for the manifestation of the inner self, the elements required for the incarnation of the divine." Other pentacles for the evocation of spirits are also employed in the Golden Dawn system; these are engraved with the name and sigil of the spirit to be invoked, inside three concentric circles, having painted on their reverse a circle and cross like a celtic cross.
According to Aleister Crowley's instructions for the Ordo Templi Orientis, the pentacle is a disc of wax, gold, silver-gilt or Electrum Magicum, eight inches diameter and half an inch thick; the Neophyte should "by his understanding and ingenium devise a symbol to represent the Universe", and engrave this on the disc.
There is, therefore, nothing movable or immovable under the whole firmament of heaven which is not included in this pantacle, though it be but 'eight inches in diameter, and in thickness half an inch.' Fire is not matter at all; water is a combination of elements; air almost entirely a mixture of elements; earth contains all both in admixture and in combination. So must it be with this Pantacle, the symbol of earth.
A pentacle is also employed as a magical tool within Wicca and other modern forms of witchcraft, generally to summon certain energies or summon spirits.
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Bernard Sell, our man in London and my co-author of "Monsters!" (Plug! Plug! Plug! Buy it, already!), sends us this post on THE BEAST OF BODMIN MOOR. What follows is a tale of crytpids, Alistair Crowley, and urinary urgency. If we here at STRANGE HORIZONS can offer you any advice at all, it is this droplet of Holmesian wisdom: do not go out on the moors at night...or in the afternoon in a Hyundai.
All through Cornwall, the great phantom cat, known as the Beast of Bodmin preys on local cattle and local locals. I arrived at around 1 p.m., so I did not expect to see it.
First of all, it's remote. To get there, you have to drive, and driving in Cornwall is more than just adjusting to driving on the left side of the road or navigating roundabouts. No, no. Oftentimes, one of the big hazards in Cornwall is driving down narrow roads, and by narrow, I'm talking about roads barely wide enough for one vehicle, let alone two. You learn to memorize where the pull-offs are when you see them, in case there's a car bounding toward you beyond the next hill.
Proud of myself for getting from Bodmin to Port Isaac to Camelford without killing anyone or nicking any parked vehicles or pedestrians, I drove down what seemed to be the world's longest private alley, unable to see the sun for long stretches due to the overgrowth above my head.
Leaving my hired car, I reached Bodmin Moor. I have never seen a moor in person. They are reputed to be windswept. They are not incorrect. The view opened out on three tors, (which are something something), Showery Tor, Little Rough Tor, and Rough Tor, 'rough' here pronounced as 'row.'
I have had some hiking experience, but it never ceases to amaze me how something that looks quite near is actually quite far, and something that doesn't look that steep is going to kill your quads. Check and check. Also, news flash-I am not as fit or athletic as I was 20 years ago. Did not help.
Once I reached the iconic Showery Tow (check this), I was fit for the cardiac unit. In revenge for my misery, I decided to flout the dangers of the moors and relieve myself on it.
This may not have been the smartest idea. This was the land of the Beast, remember?
Once I did so-I kid you not-the wind off the Celtic Sea picked up, and man! it was cold. It may have been a coincidence, but it didn't subside until I had come off the hills and crossed the heath.
The story doesn't end here. I got into the rental Hyundai and guess what?
It wouldn't start. It had been functioning perfectly until then.
But no big. Irritating, certainly, but a coincidence, right?
I was fortunate enough to mooch a ride into Bodmin from two elderly Samaritans, who were unable to get a signal on their mobile at Rough Tor, as it so happened. On the way, we got to talking, and asked me about what I was doing in England. Researching for supernatural comedies, I said.
The old man asked me if I knew who Alistair Crowley was.
If you know who he is, as I do, then you will understand my reaction of, "Well, of course. It all makes sense then." If you don't, check out some information about him HERE.
Alistair Crowley was known to have gone up into the Tors and performed dark rituals there. Some speculate that the Beast of Bodmin is somehow a product of these malefic rites.
Did old A.C. not appreciate where I drained my lizard? Is he the reason the winds picked up, that my car wouldn't start, that I couldn't get a mobile signal?
By the way, did I mention that I've developed a cold all of a sudden?
Jon's two-cents: I have no doubt that there is a Beast of Bodmin Moor, perhaps several of them, really. They are panthers brought from elsewhere in the world. For a time in the late 19th Century, it was fashionable for the elite and wealthy of the British establishment to own pets from exotic locales. These pets, often big cats such as panthers, inevitably grew larger and became too much for both house and home. The owners then turned them loose into the moors. These big cats are adaptive and have managed to survive in small pockets.
Follow me on Twitter: @Jntweets
SACRED MYSTERIES: ALEISTER CROWLEY, WITCHCRAFT AND MODERN PAGAN CULTS
By Christopher Howse
The new Very Short Introduction to Paganism (Oxford, lb7.99) would be scarcely a pamphlet if it was confined to paganism lived as a religion in the modern world. Wicca, the most popular form, goes back as far as 1948.In that year Gerald Gardner (1884-1964) turned his attentions from the magic of the Ordo Templi Orientis (represented by Aleister "The Beast" Crowley, pictured) and devoted himself to the witchcraft he claimed was the old religion of Europe.He had, he said, been initiated into a witches' coven in the New Forest one night in 1939. Details of their secret rituals were recorded in his manuscript copy of the Book of Shadows and published in his High Magic's Aid (1949).These witches, so Gardner said, kept alive the fertility religion described by Margaret Murray (1863-1963) in her Witch Cult in Western Europe. Margaret Murray was by training an Egyptologist, whose knowledge of the ancient language proved of value to the archaeologist she admired, Flinders Petrie. But it was her grand theory of the survival of witchcraft that proved popular.Those tried for witchcraft in past centuries were indeed practitioners of a secret religion, she asserted. Even Joan of Arc and Thomas Becket had been sacrificed as part of a kingship ritual intended to ensure fertility. As Owen Davies, the author of the Very Short Introduction notes, "The fundamental flaws in Murray's thesis and research methods were clearly evident to some at the time and are to any historian today, but The Witch-Cult in Western Europe was widely embraced for decades."
No one embraced it closer than Gerald Gardner. He furnished the supposed religion with spells supplied by Aleister Crowley and by Samuel Liddell Mathers (1854-1918). Mathers was a founder in 1888 of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the first modern occult organisation dedicated to the practice of ritual magic in Britain. It established temples (dedicated to Horus in Bradford and Osiris in Weston-super-Mare). Aleister Crowley had joined the Isis-Urania temple in London and drove Mathers to distraction by pirating his magic text, the Lesser Key of Solomon in 1904."No matter the depth of Gardner's deception and invention in creating Wicca," writes Professor Davies, "he spawned the development of a vibrant new pagan religion that would, over the next few decades, generate numerous variants and pathways under the umbrella of 'witchcraft'."One might mention the internet's role in propagating Wiccan notions of religious history. Professor Davies notes that television programmes such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina the Teenage Witch "normalised the idea of Wiccan magic for tens of millions of viewers, though without really portraying Wicca as a pagan religion as distinct from a mere source of spells".A more alarming role for resuscitated paganism in nationalist movements is exemplified by the building of a pagan altar in Vilnius for the historically fanciful Romuva movement. Worse, in Serbia was the belief that St Vitus was merely a Christianised version of the war god Vid. St Vitus Day, also that of the emblematic battle of Kosovo in 1389, became a national holiday in 1914 under the name Vidovdan. By 1996, a report submitted to the Serbian Orthodox synod spoke of "the brutal and uncompromising re-paganisation of Serbia". It was not a myth helpful to peaceful coexistence.The backwaters of cult mysticism remain to me a fascinating chaos of currents, from the occult philosophy of Hermes Tismegistus to Madam Blavatsky, from the druidic wicker man to the induction of Dr Rowan Williams into the Gorsedd of Bards. Their importance depends on the myths they convey and whether those myths embody truth.CHRISTOPHER HOWSE'S "A PILGRIM IN SPAIN" IS PUBLISHED BY CONTINUUM (lb16.99)
Suggested ebooks:
Robert Ellwood - The Encyclopedia Of World Religions
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The Picture In The House
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EXPLANATION OF THE HATHOR SPELL RITUAL: This ritual is best for people who have few to zero complications. If you're seeking to rekindle a love relationship, rid yourself of monies due, desire a specific person to fall head over heels for you or conjoin a lover's feelings this is a perfect choice for you. The Hathor Spell can be used for romance, wealth, banishing removal, health etc. any situation or issue. Each Hathor Spell is modified to best fit your requests.
EXPLANATION OF THE EROS SPELL RITUAL: The Eros Spell is a good pick for almost any situation that covets speed, potent results. This ritual is the correct choice to attain an effective outcome. The Eros Spell is more powerful than the Hathor Ritual and requires more time and energy for the spell casting. It is especially helpful to ward off evil or negative energies by bringing in much brighter, positive energies into your chosen area to be concentrated on. If you're seeking a love/relationship ritual, finance ritual, warding off bad luck or negative energy, this ritual can solve most situations in your life. Each Eros Spell is modified to best fit your requests.
EXPLANATION OF THE MA'AT SPELL RITUAL: This Spell is extraordinarily powerful and takes a vast amount of preparation and energy. It can however produce speedy results and bring forth your desired results much quicker than the first two spell levels. The Ma'at Spell Ritual is not to be toyed with and is taken very seriously. I have to prepare extensively for this ceremonial ritual by attaining certain materials that are not readily available. This ritual will help in any area including love ">EXPLANATION OF THE FREYA SPELL RITUAL: Sometimes we have incredibly difficult situations in our lives whether its love related, work or money issues, family problems, luck and negativity issues; we've all been there before. The Freya Spell Ritual is the most powerful spell that I offer. If you need divine intervention, the Freya Spell is what you need. This is especially helpful if you have already tried other spell casters with no results. If you are tired and feel that you have lost all hope, do not give up just yet. This spell is for you. This spell is 100% tailored to address any difficulty in your own life. When this spell is cast, you will see abrupt, amazing results. There is NO situation that is too multifaceted for this spell. This Spell is known to take effect in mysterious ways. Please be prepared for this. This is all positive of course. There is nothing negative here.
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English Qabalah is perhaps the most controversial topic of modern occultism. It would seem that qaballists cannot agree on its form, only on the desirability of being able to construct one. But few of the solutions to this puzzle address the important issues of what an English Qabalah actually is and what it might be used for.
Qabalah is the heart of magick. Hermetic magick is the ceremonial expression of basic qaballistic themes and symbols. Traditionally this Qabalah has been in Hebrew and, less often, in Greek but there have never been a reliable set of attributions for a Qabalah of the Latin alphabet.
The object of the qaballist is to attribute everything to a numerical correspondence, the ten decimal integers being the base set of symbols of the Holy Qabalah. For this reason the alphabets are attributed to the Qabalah, they do not form a part of its system. For instance, the 11th path of Sepher Yetzirah is often called the Path of Aleph but in reality Aleph is merely one of the symbols attributed to the 11th path- it is not the path itself.
Further, the letters of the Hebrew and Greek alphabets all have traditional numerical values (less strongly the Greek) making it possible to calculate numerical values for words and phrases. This quality of Qabalah, called Gematria, is one of the strongest foundations of its symbolic expressiveness.
For a long time the technical language of magick was Hebrew, generally interspersed with some Greek, Latin and a smattering of barbarous words and names from the medieval Orient. In the past two centuries the expansion of our knowledge of the gods and their mythology has broadened the symbolic base of the Qabalah with many names and words in Latin script now being of interest to modern occultists. For these reasons occultists have searched for a sensible method of attributing the Latin alphabet to the Tree of Life and for determining the numerical value of its letters. Finally, in 1904, the Book of the Law supplied exactly that. Hidden in its pages is a clue or a key to the correct "order & value of the English alphabet". Frustratingly for its author the key to solving this puzzle remained hidden for nearly eight decades, by which time Crowley was long dead.
Qabalah is a tool for study, a fundamental base-line for comparison of symbols, and an English Qabalah opens up new fields of investigation to occultists and students of magick. English Qabalah is an essential tool for the modern magician as he builds his own practical Qabalah.
Suggested ebooks:
Robert Wang - The Qabalistic Tarot
Aleister Crowley - The Works Of Aleister Crowley Vol Iii Part 3
Aleister Crowley - The Works Of Aleister Crowley Vol I Part 2
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TEMPLE OF THELEMA
HISTORY LECTION
TO THE ERUDITE OF THELEMA:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Our Order first announced itself to the public with a
Manifesto published in 1604, and widely distributed throughout
Europe beginning in 1612. Its impact on the cultural evolution of
the Renaissance was inestimable, despite the fact that it operated
almost entirely in secret. Countless volumes, often speculative
and fanciful, have been written on its subsequent history. In
1887, it authorized the establishment of a visible Outer Vehicle
called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
When the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ruptured in schism
in 1900, conventional wisdom said that it was a failure; yet no one familiar with Western Hermetic Magick in this century can question
the major positive influence it continues to have even today.
On the 300th anniversary of the publishing of our first
Manifesto, a representative of the governing Third Order, named A.,
contacted a brother, P., and ordered him to assume governance of
the Order and to reformulate it along certain lines. A new
Manifesto was dictated, called the Book of the Law. This is the
true Book T which, as our predecessors wrote, is found at the Heart of the Master. It was dictated in 1904, and widely distributed
throughout Europe and the world beginning in 1912.
Together with another brother, D.D.S., P. reformulated the
Order as instructed. In doing this, they dispensed with an Outer
Order altogether, and opened immediately, to all who were prepared
by life, the Work of the Inner. (For example, the old sub-grades
of Zelator Adeptus Minor through Adeptus Adeptus Minor were now
called simply Neophyte through Adeptus Minor.) They identified
themselves by the initials A.'. A.'.
For their work we are grateful, for we are among their direct
successors and were brought to Light by their Wisdom.
Yet, while superior to all that had gone before, their work
failed in one respect: There remain aspirants, capable of success,
who require a more graduated approach to the Inner Veil; and our
Greatly Honored Fraters provided no clear approachway for such
students.
Only a few years later, another Frater P. resigned from the
American remnant of the old Golden Dawn order, as an act of
conscience. He, too, was then contacted by an agent of the Third
Order, named R. This Master completed P.'s initiation, and set him
the task of preparing a new Outer Vehicle by which the greatest
number of aspirants could undertake the task of self-regeneration
and be prepared for the Inner Work. In this, P. succeeded
admirably, accomplishing for the Outer Order, by his perseverance,
what the other P. accomplished for the Inner Order by his
endurance.
For this we are grateful, for we are among the direct
successors of this P. as well, and have seen the fruits of Beauty
harvested by the gardeners trained in his school.
Yet, while the instruction of the Master R. gleams with
Wisdom, his words soar with the same philosophy that is found in
the Book of the Law, and he refers regularly to the dawning of a
New Age of Regeneration and Healing for all humanity, this Outer
School did not align itself openly with the new Thelemic
Dispensation. It taught of Light, Life, and Love; but rarely
carried the additional torch of Liberty.
In our own time, we were among those to reap the rewards, and
therefore inherit the trust, of the A.'. A.'., and to find the path lighted by the Book of the Law. With this trust came the
responsibility to make clear the Path for those who come behind us.
Yet so many of those who approached were ill-prepared to begin the
journey. Our Soror M., through her College of Thelema, provided a
preparation for many; but even this appealed only to a specific
type of character.
The Outer Orders already existing and known to us did not
fulfill the genuine needs with which we were faced. Those which
both initiated and taught were not Thelemic; while those which were Thelemic would not teach.
The Next Step, therefore, was clear. It was necessary to
establish a new Outer Order, on the pattern of the Tree of Life,
whose methods include ceremonial initiation, structured education,
and on-going group participation; whose members as a condition of
membership, are prepared to put the Great Work foremost in their
lives; and which bases all of its practices and principles on Liber AL vel Legis, The Book of the Law.
This task has been accomplished. The Order's name is the
TEMPLE OF THELEMA. Its chief Work is the preparation of the
individual for INITIATION; yet it seeks only those who truly desire to grow in love, power, and wisdom and to serve humanity in
conformity with the Book of the Law.
By this letter, we invite all to search themselves sincerely
and decide if they are of us.
Application for an interview, or specific questions, should be
addressed to the Temple Cancellarius at:
Harpocrates Temple
TEMPLE OF THELEMA
222 North Manhattan Place
Los Angeles, CA 90004
"This shall regenerate the world, my little
sister, my heart & my tongue, unto whom I send
this kiss."
Love is the law, love under will.
Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum.
Suggested ebooks:
Aleister Crowley - Liber 161 Concerning The Law Of Thelema
Anonymous - The Prayers Of The Elementals
Aleister Crowley - Pocket Guide To Thelema
Yesterday, Haiti was severely devastated by a 7.0 earthquake. Rescue workers desperately search for survivors beneath the rubble. Hospitals have been destroyed and people are being treated for their injuries in the street while dead bodies are scattered throughout the streets of Port-au-Prince covered in shrouds. A third of all Haitians - 3 million people - need emergency aid.
In response to this terrible earthquake in Haiti, Robert Zink (GH Frater PDR (Robert Zink) today issued a call to the entire Golden Dawn community to:"invoke the Magic of Light to bring comfort, stability to the earth so as not to have more after shocks and quakes, stability to the government so as to not have up risings. We can invoke forces of Light to bring about action faster from world governments and all those willing to give aid"
We echo Robert Zink's sentiment that we need to do everything we can spiritually and physically to help with this crisis.
Then it appears Robert Zink may have had an epiphany when he said:"Then there is the Dali Lama who while exiled from his own land, and having seen persecution and murder against his people continues to spread peace and light throughout the world. He has never uttered a negative statement against anyone."In a bizarre other development, following nine months respite from the Golden Dawn internet Feud, Robert Zink paradoxically today resumed publishing ad hominem attacks on the HOGD/AO and its leaders with the following post from EOGD member, Frater QALL, Ashlee Beebe (dastree07770@...) who wrote:"I can say from personal experience that (Griffin) is a nut job!"Sadly, there remain nearly 2,000 such ad hominem attacks on our order and its leaders archived on the EOGD Yahoo! forum as part and parcel of the Golden Dawn Internet feud. Clearly, these have nothing to do with fraternal debate or rational discussion. These posts serve no purpose except to stir strife between our orders.
Following the excellent example of the Dalai Lama, no matter how many new ad hominem attacks Robert Zink publishes on his website and fora - he merely strengthens me in my resolve that the HOGD/AO will not strike back at him.
In the spirit of the Dalai Lama, I choose to ignore the negative remarks about me that Robert Zink published today. Robert Zink will simply have to find someone else to demonize other than our order as his Golden Dawn "boogey man."
Instead - despite the very real differences between our two orders - the HOGD/AO is answering the EOGD's call to magical solidarity in the Golden Dawn community.
I have therefore, As International HOGD/AO Imperator, today issued an appeal to all of the brothers and sisters of the HOGD/AO around the entire world, to stand in magical solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn in invoking the magic of light to bring comfort and stability as called for by EOGD leader, Robert Zink.
To ensure the success of this united magical initiative of the Golden Dawn community, I am requesting that all of the Initiates of our outer order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, as well as all of the Adepts and Magisters of the Alpha Omega perform a Supreme Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram with this specific intention.
It is my sincere aspiration that this act of magical solidarity shall bring not only quick relief and comfort to the people of Haiti, but herald the beginning of an era of unprecedented peace, harmony, and solidarity between the EOGD and the HOGD/AO as well.
Greatly Honored Frater PDR:My wand - and the wands of all of the Brothers and Sisters of the HOGD/AO around the world, are raised in solidarity with your magical initiative on behalf of the people of Haiti!I concur with Robert Zink. Let us come together in this difficult time. But let us also walk our talk. Let us finally mutually begin to remove all of the remnants of the Golden Dawn Internet Feud from our orders respective fora, websites and blogs on a reciprocal basis, like the thousands of personal attacks remaining on the EOGD Yahoo! forum. To do otherwise would support Robert Zink's skeptics suspicion that his initiative really amounts to nothing more than taking advantage of disasters and loss of life to score public relations points.
Finally, I urge all of the brothers and sisters of the Golden Dawn not to merely let our assistance to Haiti end with this magical initiative. Let us also open up our wallets to speed the recovery along.
On a personal note, GH Frater PDR, I challenge you to join me in putting our money where our mouths are. I pledge to make personal donations from my private bank account matching personal donations that you make as well.
Send me the receipts for your donations and I will do likewise. Let us set an example for our order members with our generous donations, and prove to your skeptics that you are not merely trying to exploit a disaster to score political brownie points.
Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua
David Griffin
G.H. Frater Lux Ex Septentrionis
Imperator Ordinis,
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
outer order of the Rosicrucian
Order of Alpha et Omega
"Ex Deo Nascimur.
In Yeheshua Morimur.
Per Sanctum Spiritum Reviviscimus"
The Book of the Law was delivered over three days, each session taking about an hour. During each day there was a manifestation of a different deity and these define the three chapters or “books”. The Book calls itself the “threefold book of law” (I:35). The first deity is the Goddess Nuit who represents the divine Feminine and is associated, through the nature of the Book, with the Sephiroth of Binah the third sphere on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. Binah is the receptive, feminine, the ultimate mother and lover. This sphere is often associated with the Stella Maris and the Hebrew God-Name is Elohim, the divine Creatrix of Genesis 1:1.
The second chapter is dictated by the divine father who is represented by Hadit. Hadit is, in the Qabalistic Tree of Life, connected with Chockmah, the supernal Father, the divine Masculine. This Sephiroth is assigned the Hebrew God-Name which we call the Tetragrammaton.
It is the personal name of God written hvhy. This is the father figure and to a certain respect represents the balance of himself and his bride. The two together create the top of the triad of which almost all religions understand as part of the divine.
The third and last chapter is dictated by Ra-Hoor-Kuit or Horus the Younger. The avenger God of Egypt who is assigned to the sphere of the child, the Sephiroth Tiphareth. Of the various names assigned to this sphere perhaps the most important to our purposes is Yeheshua This is the same name which some later associated with the Messiah. It is the child of the supernal mother and father.
During the essay certain quotes will be attributed to one God or another. It is because of this dictation by these three Egyptian manifestations of the divine that such references are made.
by Greg Wotton
Suggested ebooks:
Dinah Maria Craik - The Fairy Book
Howard Phillips Lovecraft - The Tree
Rabbi Michael Laitman - The Open Book
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MASTERING THE ART OF RITUAL MAGICK - GREATER KEY - VOLUME 3
by Frater Barrabbas
Immanion Press / Megalithica Books, June 2010
It is finally in print, the long awaited third book in the trilogy, "Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick". While only a few know that this work was originally written in 1996 and called "Pyramid of Powers," a name that was changed along with a massive rewriting and editing project, it was a persistent and laborious act of will that finally saw this work fully printed. Although many hands had a role in helping to make this dream realized, it was also the ambitions of the author (myself) who continued to push for that realization.
There is some very important information found in this third volume of the MARM series, especially since it is the final part of a work that seeks to give the power of building a personal and unique ritual magickal system into the hands of the intermediate student. This work, in three parts, teaches the art of magickal system building, which is a very complex and difficult methodology to learn. It's easy and simple to just use the rituals that are found in books or grimoires, but this work shows how more rewarding and empowering it is to write your own personal magickal system. There will be other books produced using this perspective, but this, as far as I know, is the first of such. Let's take a brief look at what the third volume contains in regards to content, so you will know why I believe it to be the most important of the MARM trilogy.
Completing the work begun in "Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick: Foundation" and "Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick: Grimoire", this book contains the detailed instructions on how to build a key of correspondences and apply it to the nine rituals of this series. There is also information that will aid the seeker in forming a sustainable magickal working group as well as an in-depth analysis of the ritual structures of the nine rituals used in this system.
Written for the intermediate student and practitioner, this "Greater Key" is the third volume in the Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick trilogy. This book is the final step in commanding the occult arts of ritual magick, and is recommended to anyone seeking to master the art of building a complete magickal system.
In this book you will learn:
* Components of a key of correspondences
* How to configure your own key of correspondences
* Neopagan, Qabbalistic and Gnostic example keys included
* How to customize the nine rituals of the MARM series
* Methods of forming a Star group and building a group key
* Determining and avoiding group pitfalls and crisis's
* Instructions for joining the Order of the Gnostic Star
* Example of an actual New Moon working with journal entries
* Glossary of all terms used in the MARM series
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
FRATER BARRABBAS TIRESIUS is a practicing ritual magician who has studied magick and the occult for over thirty-five years. He has emphasized pragmatism and structuralism in a discipline that he believes has lost its direction and become diluted by mediocrity and misunderstanding. He believes that ritual magick is a discipline whose mystery is unlocked by continual practice and by occult experiences and revelations.
The book Disciple's Guide to Ritual Magick represents an entry level work written for the beginning student of ritual magick, but it's one work existing within an orbit of many completed and planned literary projects; each of which shall attempt to modernize the practice of ritual magick, making it relevant in the new millennium.
The three volume set, Mastering the Art of Ritual Magick was written for the intermediate student of ritual magick, assisting that seeker in crafting his/her own system of magick. The first volume contains all of the documentation that an intermediate practitioner should know, the second contains the grimoire of ritual templates, which the student must modify to build a personal magickal system, and the final book contains the key and methodologies used to modify and personalize the rituals contained in the grimoire.
Suggested ebooks:
Aleister Crowley - Pocket Guide To Thelema
Charles Webster Leadbeater - Occult Chemistry
In a recent conversation with a group of 'old school' magicians, witches and occultists the question of how poorly read on occult topics most current students of occultism seem to be in the present day came up. The thread in question had evolved out of a post about Jack Parsons, the famed rocket scientist, libertine author and, most interestingly to this group, the heir to Crowley's Hermetic Order the OTO after the death of his immediate successor Karl Germer.
Caroline Tully had posed the question of whether Jack Parson's famous Babalon Working had had any influence on the beginnings of the modern witchcraft cult that was emerging in Britain at the same time. The obvious link in this chain was Aleister Crowley himself, who was Parson's master in magick and who was also consulted by Gardner on several occasions in 1946-7 while Gardner was establishing his first 'coven'. Parson's thinking on feminism definitely had an impact on the women's liberation movement in the 1960s and so also on Wicca after it had migrated to North America at around the same time so Parson's influence on Wicca or witchcraft is easily demonastrated on that level, but the question really was did he have a more directly magickal influence on the emergence of witchcraft in the 1950s? It is an interesting question.
But this post isn't about whether Jack Parson's invoked the spiritual zeitgeist into the world that would go onto become the modern witchcraft movement and the question that was next raised asked how many young witches would have even heard of Jack Parsons? An essential passage in his Book of Babalon that was written in 1946 (exactly when Gardner and Crowley were discussing the emerging need for a nature cult that would later blossom into Wicca) is very suggestive:
"65. Gather together in the covens as of old, whose number is eleven, that is also my number. Gather together in public, in song and dance and festival. Gather together in secret, be naked and shameless and rejoice in my name."
"66. Work your spells by the mode of my book, practicing secretly, inducing the supreme spell."
"67. The work of the image, the potion and the charm, the work of the spider and the snake, and the little ones that go in the dark, this is your work."
"68. Who loves not hates; who hates fears; let him taste fear."
"69. This is the way of it, star, star. Burning bright, moon, witch moon."
"70. You the secret, the accursed and despised, even you that gathered privily of old in my rites under the moon."
"71. You the free, the wild, the untamed, that walk now alone and forlorn."
"72. Behold, my Brother cracks the world like a nut for your eating."
So it would seem that any serious student of witchcraft would have at least considered his work but the opposite is the case and most modern witches, eclectic and traditional are unaware of this seminal work of 20th Century occultism that may be one of the most fundamental documants that is related to their practice.
The group, which included several academics in the field of occult studies, soon agreed that the fault lay with the source material that modern occultists are using for their textbook material. Most of the books that young witches and magicians are reading are third hand interpretations of the original books that we had studied thirty or more years ago. The references to the original works had been lost in transition while the information had also been watered down just as the message deteriorates in a game of Chinese Whispers. My own experience is that when I mention one of these original sources that the great percentage of young students are keen to explore these new reference sources to try and glean the pearls of wisdom that many of them contain. I am still surprised that so few people that have studied the occult have not read the Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie even though it contains the original blueprint for most of the rituals that they perform and the correspondences that they learn.
So much of what is used by modern witches, like dream books and the magickal powers of crystals has its origins in very old material and yet I doubt whether many would have heard of Artemidorus of Daldis or his Oneirocritica that is the source of most new age books on dream interpretations (even Freud cites this book in his modern work "Interpretation of Dreams"). Most of the powers that are attributed to stones and crystals are simply plagiarized from Albertus Magnus' prolific work on the subject and the majority of color, astrological, perfume, elemental and other correspondences used by modern witches were developed in the Golden Dawn as was the use of Tarot for the purposes of divination (as an adaptation of the folk practice of telling fortunes using playing cards). Even though this is overwhelmingly the case with almost all of the practices of modern occultists in general how many have actually read the original works? Or even know that they exist?
In my humble opinion the really important question in all of this is what is the result of all of these new students learning everything at third hand? I am not saying that there are no good new books on magick, quite the contrary, but many of them are academic or not especially geared towards a popular audience (my own books fall into this latter category- an error that I will soon be making up for). Most of the popular books, like Llewellyn's populist series of magick books, are really the equivalent of a magick for dummies sort of approach to occultism. This may work for some things ('For Dummies' books are great for learning how to use new software) but in magick there are no short cuts and having incomplete information will certainly be the difference between genuine spiritual advancement and mere self indulgence which is a great enough danger to practitioners as it is.
Some will stumble onto the right resources, and perhaps that is one of the first ordeals of choosing to take the path of the wise, but on that path there is only one direction and it never pays to regress even if it is only taking two steps forward and only one step back.
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by guest blogger GH Frater Sincerus Renatus
(Introduced, abridged and expanded by David Griffin)
GH Frater "Spock" Renatus
The following book review is a critical, scholarly analysis of Nick Farrell's commentaries found in his new book, Mathers Last Secret", which Mr. Farrell has appended to the Rituals and some other papers belonging to the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega (AO), founded and headed by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers.
Nick Farrell today leads a Golden Dawn style order of his own creation, called the "Magical Order of Aurora Aureae." As a Golden Dawn leader, Mr. Farrell has been criticized from certain quarters about the logical inconsistency (if not outright hypocrisy) of leading a Golden Dawn order, yet publishing secret Golden Dawn documents in violation of traditional Golden Dawn oaths.
Nick Farrell
Such criticism of Mr. Farrell has not been limited to voices from the Golden Dawn community either. Renowned ritual magician, Pagan author, and traditional witch, Frater Barabbas Tireseus, has made clear in an EXCELLENT ARTICLE on his Talking About Ritual Magick" blog, that Mr. Farrell's relationship to the Golden Dawn is that of a historical reconstructionist, attempting to reconstruct what Mr. Farrell essentially believes to be a dead order. Frater Barrabbas concludes that, since Mr. Farrell does not believe in certain basic tenets of the Golden Dawn (Secret Chiefs, traditional vows of secrecy with attendant respect for unpublished documents, etc.) Mr. Farrell's reconstruction attempt can amount to little more than a headless Frankenstein's monster; a reanimated, yet incomplete corpse, which is something very different than the numerous, highly successful reconstructions of ancient Pagan traditions reanimated in today's Neo-Pagan community.
Let us examine Mr. Farrell's attempted distinction between the Golden Dawn as a "Magical Order" vs. as a "Masonic Order". Farrell argues that the original (pre-schism) Golden Dawn worked under a "Masonic phase", lacking any true magical current. According to Farrell, this "current" manifested only following the schism, first when the Stella Matutina was created by R.W. Felkin in 1903 and then later with the creation of the Fraternity of the Inner Light in the 1920's by Dion Fortune.
It should be noted that Mr. Farrell's newly invented distinction between "masonic" vs. "magical" Golden Dawn orders, amounts to trying to dismiss as "merely masonic" all orders in today's Golden Dawn community, except those that descend from Felkin's Stella Matutina or its offshoots, like the OTR. One could, however, just as well argue that, since the Stella Matutina was born of schism, and since Felkin never established contact with Mathers' Secret Chiefs, that it was the Stella Matutina that had no magical current. I state this only to point out the self-serving nature, logical fallacy, and political sniping underlying Mr. Farrell's newly invented distinction.
The AO, Farrell argues, continued with Farrell's imaginary "masonic phase" and only later, following the death of Mathers, became truly "magical". This Mr. Farrell attempts to justify by arguing that neither W.W. Westcott (the co-founder of the GD) nor Mathers were properly initiated into the Golden Dawn; to fully understand the system one must be initiated through its Grades properly and in full ritual. But contrary to Mathers, Farrell argues, Mathers wife Moina was initiated, as well as John William Brodie-Innes, who jointly took over the helm of the AO and thus made the "magical" for the first time in its history according to Farrell's definition. As Felkin had been initiated into the Golden Dawn in full form, his organization, the S.M., immediately became "magical" according to Mr. Farrell's untraditional yet admittedly colorful and fanciful definition.
According to Farrell, "Magical" orders are created only through the continuous use of God-Forms, not merely through the performance of ritual. Take away the God-Forms from a rite and it becomes "Freemasonic"; an empty shell or vessel. This is clearly an oversimplification, which underscores that Mr. Farrell's understanding of magical egregores derives from an incomplete understanding of the Golden Dawn. There exist numerous other ways that magical egregores are created and sustained, that remain preserved as oath bound information in the Alpha et Omega, beyond the mere visualization of God Forms in ritual. As an outsider and an uninitiate, however, Mr. Farrell of course remains ignorant of these advanced methods. Mr. Farrell has therefore been forced to rely exclusively on the beginner's technique of using of God Forms in Farrell's attempt to create an egregore for his "Magical Order of Aurora Aureae."
Mr. Farrell's argument that Mathers and Westcott were not initiates of the Golden Dawn, does not hold water when it comes to creating a magical egregore or current. It was Mathers himself who brought Mr. Farrell's precious God-Forms into the Golden Dawn, already in 1892, which Farrell also acknowledges. Thus it is all the more peculiar that Farrell does not consider neither the original GDnor the AO as "magical" orders, which they truly were, even according to Mr. Farrtell's fanciful "God Form" standard.
Moreover, Mr. Farrell in reality has no historical knowledge of what Hermetic and Rosicrucian initiations Mathers or Westcott actually received, within or without the Golden Dawn. Farrell's hypothesis amounts therefore to mere speculation.
The Golden Dawn is manifestation of the Hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions and thus, at least according to traditional rather than fanciful definitions, the Golden Dawn's current is clearly a magical one. Magical use of ritual certainly did not originate with the Golden Dawn. Both Mathers and Westcott were Adepts of the Hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions long before the creation of the Golden Dawn in 1888, and participated in other rites after that as well. They would not have received the mission and mandate to create the Golden Dawn without this historical reality. Both Mathers and Westcott were members of Kenneth Mackenzie's group "The Society of Eight" or Fratres Lucis. The Cypher Mss. most likely derived from this society. We do not know if these rituals (as contained in the Cypher Mss.) or early versions of them were not practiced before 1888 and if Westcott and Mathers had not experienced them before the creation of the Golden Dawn. In this context, it is highly significant that the Isis-Urania temple founded by Wescott, Mathers, and Woodman in 1888 was numbered "3", temple number 1 being that of MacKenzie in "The Society of Eight" and number 2 being Hermanoubis Temple of the same, in Bristol under F.G. Irwin.
Thus we see just how conjectural Mr. Farrell's hypothesis actually is regarding the initiations of Mathers and Wescott. It is, in fact, Nick Farrell's propensity to present his own highly speculative opinions as though they were established historical facts, which is the fatal flaw in the scholarship underlying "Mathers Last Secret."
"This is a great tragedy, as the book might otherwise have been extremely valuable. As it stands, however, the book has been reduced to just one more minor variant in a seemingly endless series of rehash Golden Dawn compendia. Mr. Farrell's failure to properly identify his personal theories for what they are, but instead misleadingly giving them a false veneer of established historical fact, has rendered historically worthless what otherwise might have been a valuable contribution to the published Golden Dawn literature.
Let us examine Mr. Farell's argument from yet another point of view. Let us assume that Mathers and Wescott indeed were not regular initiates of the Golden Dawn. Does this mean that the Golden Dawn itself was not a magical order, as Farrell argues? I certainly do not believe so, and this would clearly not be the case according to traditional Golden Dawn standards either. In fact, Mr. Farrell's entire hypothesis stands or falls on his personal and fanciful definition of what a "magical" order is. I could as well invent my own equally fanciful and untraditional definition, then use it to prove that Disneyland is a "magical order"!
In any event, Mathers was the creator of the particular form of Golden Dawn rituals that we know of today, faithfully using the Cypher Mss. provided by MacKenzie through Westcott as reference. I consider there exists a magical relationship between the "creator" and the "created" also at a mundane level. Thus, I consider Mathers intuitively understood Golden Dawn ritual as no one else in his lifetime, due of this rapport. Mr. Farrell, like Pat Zalewksi and others in Farrell's "Felkin/Stella Matutina camp" within the Golden Dawn community, believes that Mathers was guided by some unconscious genius (greater than himself) when he wrote up the rituals and materials, which, according the this camp, "explains" why Mathers later "couldn't" understand them.
This makes no sense, however. Why should Mathers not be able access this genius consciously, even if this odd notion were actually the case? Why could Mathers not have been governed equally intuitively by this spirit of genius during performance of these same rituals, thus gaining deeper understanding as the practical work progressed? Add to this, 30 years regularly performing and attending these rituals - and you find solid ground for understanding the underlying magical mechanics of the rituals themselves.
Farrell's argument that the Stella Matutina was the first "magical" Golden Dawn order is, in my opinion, but politically motivated poppycock. Golden Dawn style God-Form magic was practiced regularly in the Golden Dawn from 1892 and onwards, and later in both the AO and the Stella Matutina. This clearly contributes to the magical power of the rituals, but it is certainly not the only factor. There are other elements embedded in the rituals as well, alchemical processes and sacred geometry, for example, that although presented only symbolically, nonetheless have a powerful, unconscious effect on the candidate. Of course Mr. Farrell and Mr. Zalewski, like all others in the "Felkin/Stella Matutina camp" in today's Golden Dawn community, have no understanding of the magical dynamics of how these powerful elements operate in AO ritual, as this information until today remains unprofaned, oath bound information of the AO.
THUS, THE SECOND FATAL FLAW IN THE BOOK, "MATHERS LAST SECRET," BECOMES APPARENT. MR. FARRELL IS PUBLISHING AND COMMENTING ON PROPRIETARY RITUALS AND OTHER AO MATERIAL, WHICH AS AN OUTSIDER AND AN UNINITIATE, MR. FARRELL IS NOT IN A POSITION TO PROPERLY COMMENT UPON IN ANY INFORMED SENSE - NOR EVEN TO FULLY UNDERSTAND - BECAUSE MR. FARRELL IS NOT PRIVY TO OATH BOUND INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLY TO INITIATES OF THE AO
One may indeed, however, argue that there exists different forms of God-Form magic, and that one method may be considered by some as more effective than another. Mr. Farrell glorifies the practices derived from Dion Fortune's Fraternity of the Inner Light, that Farrell learned from Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki's the Servants of the Light (S.O.L.).
I have personally been fortunate enough to know a high initiate and personal friend of Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki who taught me her techniques of creating an "Inner Temple". Thus I am well aware what Mr. Farrell means. I have, moreover, also studied Ashcroft-Nowicki's book The Shining Paths, which teaches her peculiar astral working she calls as "Path-Working". I personally like Fortune's approach to astral work, but still this is not an actual part of the Golden Dawn Tradition; it's a part of the Dion Fortune tradition, not the Golden Dawn. Although it may be used splendidly by the latter, it still cannot be used as a measuring stick for judging the efficiency of Golden Dawn "magical" ritual.
Note: I respectfully disagree with GH Frater SR regarding the spiritual value of the sort of "Pathworking" contained in Dolores Ashcroft-Novicki's book, "The Sining Paths." These sorts of "guided fantasy recipes", in my opinion, are spiritually worthless. They are completely devoid of the spontaneous and rich visionary experience derived from the Golden Dawn's "Skrying in the Spirit Vision." Even such visions must be carefully tested by traditional, Golden Dawn means, since the "lower astral" remains the realm of illusion, as countless, worthless, New Age, "channelled" books bear witness to.
For me, it is the height of folly, when it comes to a Hermetic and Rosicrucian tradition like the Golden Dawn, if one takes the sort of ready made "recipes" for visionary experience contained in "The Shining Paths," and tries to apply them to the Golden Dawn. It is particularly absurd to call such ready made recipes for visionary experience "Self-Initiation." I guess one can create whatever fanciful definitions of "initiation" that one likes, but clearly New Age style "pathworking recipes" have nothing at all to do with TRADITIONAL Golden Dawn initiation.
Examining Pat Zalewski's ritual commentaries, Zalewski also places a great emphasis on God-Form magic, but not at all of the Dion Fortune variety. One does not visualize a lofty space wherein the Hall of Maat and its attending God-Forms are supposed to be created. What Mr. Zalewski teaches is a more energetic approach creating astral shells in the
physical space which brings the Hall of Maat down to the physical.
Mr. Farrell, on the other hand, holds that the S.M. developed and perfected a "magical" approach to Golden Dawn ritual. But we must keep in mind that Farrell doesn't come to this conclusion based purely on study of S.M. ritual papers, as he does with the AO. He bases his opinion of the S.M. from experience as a lower degree initiate of the Order of the Table Round (O.T.R.), a side order of the New Zeeland version of the Stella Matutina (Whare Ra), in the late 1980's.
MR. FARRELL, AS AN UNINITIATE, IS IN NO POSITION TO LIKEWISE PROPERLY EVALUATE THE AO, SOLELY BASED ON WHAT HE MAY HAVE READ FROM INCOMPLETE PUBLISHED AND ARCHIVAL SOURCES. AS AN UNINITIATE, WITHOUT ACCESS TO THE OATH BOUND INFORMATION AVAILABLE ONLY TO AO INITIATES, MR. FARRELL'S UNINFORMED AND APPARENTLY POLITICALLY MOTIVATED JUDGEMENTS SHOULD BE TAKEN NOT WITH PINCHES, BUT WITH BUCKETS OF SALT!
I have no personal experience of the Whare Ra so I can only judge its magical ritual efficiency from reading its published rituals and S.M. documents available in AO archives, as does Mr. Farrell attempt vis-`a-vis the Alpha et Omega. And honestly, how could anyone have dreamt that the Whare Ra practiced that form of advanced magic as described by Mr. Zalewski, merely from reading the original S.M. rituals? Not me anyway. So I ask, how can Mr. Farrell form his severe judgment of the "magical" ritual efficacy of the AO based solely upon documents he copied from a museum?
Besides, we do not know that the Whare Ra actually practiced what Mr. Zalewski has tried to make us believe all these years. Other sources inform us that whatever Zalewski has described in his ritual commentaries is only representative of the O.T.R., mixed up with personal creations of Mr. Zalewski himself.
Sadly, given Pat Zalewski's long and well documented history of misattributing his personal inventions to others, including to Whare Ra and to MacGregor Mathers, it is in my opinion that Pat Zalewksi likely made these things up out of whole cloth himself. I am not nearly as generous towards the claims of Pat Zalewski as is GH Frater SR, because over the decades I have personally witnessed Mr. Zalewski, time after time in his published writings, misattribute the source of the things he writes about.
Pat Zalewksi's books, including his Ritual Commentaries, are nonetheless extremely valuable contributions to the published Golden Dawn literature. This does not mean, however, that Mr. Zalewski should at all be trusted when it comes to his attribution of the sources of his ideas. On the contrary, readers should best assume that Mr. Zalewksi is making everything up himself, except where his attributions to other sources can be concretely verified in primary source documents.
Mr. Zalewski reports that Whare Ra used an entirely different and dull set of God-Forms in the Elemental Grades, compared to the ones that Zalewski has suggested as being derived from Moina Mathers and the AO. So, rather than saying that Mr. Farrell bases his experience on the actual Whare Ra, he actually bases his experience from the Order of the Table Round, which, I suspect, in turn relies heavily on the developments made by Jack Taylor, who was its Chief during the early 1980's.
I suspect that the actual "magical" ritual practice did not differ substantially between the Stella Matutina and the AO, at least not during the life times of Felkin and Mathers. Mr. Farrell, in fact, has not provided even one single shred of evidence to back up his odd claim that the AO ever discontinued the regular use of God-Forms in ritual. Once again, Nick Farrell's personal conjecture is unveiled masquerading as historical fact. I can find no rational explanation for this, other than thinly-veiled Golden Dawn politicking - an attempt to disparage Golden Dawn orders that descend from S.L. MacGregor Mathers Alpha et Omega instead of from the published material deriving from the Stella Matutina or its OTR offshoot.
IT IS SAD TO WITNESS, BASED ON THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN THIS REVIEW OF NICK FARRELL'S "MATHERS LAST SECRET," HOW THE DECADES OLD GOLDEN DAWN INTERNET FLAME WAR HAS NOW SPREAD TO POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, EDITORIAL SNIPING IN YELLOW-JOURNALISTIC, GOLDEN DAWN BOOK PUBLISHING.
I wonder - Does anyone even take this book seriously!?!
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Fratres et Sorores of the Golden Dawn Community:
Remember the feeling of doing your first LBRP and the joy and excitement of being part of a magical reality?
Just imagine for a moment if in that swirl of intense excitement you turned to the net to find people like you and all you found were squabbles, hate, and Nazi accusations.
You are starting to experience an episode of anger, disappointment, and disgust at the people who threw black paint on the colorful landscape of your dreams.
People keep asking me why do I continue to angrily harp against these slanderous attack websites? Why do I keep calling for Golden Dawn harmony, when obviously those same people utterly hate my guts?
Simple really!
Everyone knows that lies will reach the end of the world before truth can get its shoes on.
Ask yourself this question, if you love something passionately will you let someone who hates you steal it away from you without a fight?
Notice...
People who continue to tarnish the name of the Golden Dawn with false slanderous accusations of Nazism are doing just that.
People who refuse to let go of squabbles between orders for the greater good of the Golden Dawn are doing just that.
People who will try to divide us against each and build up straw men to wage war against are doing just that.
Clearly, we will not let this happen.
Still, there are people who refuse to get it.
Robert Zink, using his anonymous troll, alter ego, published a post on the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn Forum claiming that the Nazi blogs defaming the entire Golden Dawn community was authored by Tomas Stacewicz and David Griffin (me).
Imagine that!
Let me summarize their argument. As you read it, think about it logically.
They are saying:
. I am interested in creating an umbrella Golden Dawn order with me at its head
. I would like to be the Alpha dog of the Golden Dawn with largest number of members
. Slanderous Nazi websites appear all over the internet defaming me and the order I belong to
. I am moved into anger by the constant slander and negativity
. I devise a nefarious plan as an ultimate solution to the attack on our order and to ensure total domination and hoards of new recruits.
. I ask for peace and end to the squabble
. I then diabolically create MORE nazi websites to attack our order and defame my name in addition to all the people I have appealed to for peace and end to the squabble.
Obviously, only someone who has parked his brain at the garage or driven by pure hate will believe such an irrational hypothesis. I have said it once and I will say it again. When people see the name Golden Dawn and Nazism in the same breath they will not pick up on the nuance of political history or interpersonal feuds. They will walk away with one message: the Golden Dawn has been tainted.
Here's the bottom line:
I want peace in the Golden Dawn. I want this nonsense to STOP.
Still, let's face it...
There are people in the Golden Dawn who prefer to see the feud going. They want you to believe the entire HOGD/AO with its thousands of members doesn't exist by making this conflict all about their hatred of me.
Here are the facts:
We recognize diversity among Golden Dawn orders.
We have taken the lead in promoting harmony in the Golden Dawn community.
The HOGD/AO has grown into the world's largest Golden Dawn order:
- with more members than any other Golden Dawn order.
- with temples all around the world
- with the Golden Dawn's ONLY membership website.
- with the Golden Dawn's ONLY complete, three order curriculum
- the ONLY Golden Dawn order that teaches Hermetic Inner AlchemyThe reality is I have gone on record long ago as condemning all negative blogs, websites, etc. attacking ANYONE in the Golden Dawn community. I have even published numerous appeals to those misguided individuals who have been attacking Robert Zink to stop. Thankfully, those blogs have been silent for a long time now.
Why does Robert Zink not once and for all likewise condemn the use of negative websites and blogs attacking Golden Dawn orders?
Robert Zink just published a link on his forum to the new site defaming the entire Golden Dawn community.
Why would he do that? Clearly, he wishes to bring attention to the defamation and stir up disharmony.
Robert Zink claims that the entire Golden Dawn community is in harmony while at the same time he is attacking that entire community by linking to filthy sites attacking that entire community.
Obviously, Robert Zink DOES NOT WANT harmony in the Golden Dawn community. He wants conflict, which he calls "bellum."
What is the true meaning of this? Robert Zink needs a scapegoat. He needs someone who he can demonize in the misguided attempt to unite his order.
Obviously, the time has come for Robert Zink to stop promoting strife in the Golden Dawn community once and for all and to finally stand up and sow some real leadership by condemning ALL defamation against ALL Golden Dawn orders instead of just going on attacking the HOGD/AO and its leaders as he has been doing for decades.
Let there be no doubt about it. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega is not going anywhere.
Pax!
- David Griffin
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Over the last couple of days, Morgan Drake Eckstein has written a couple of thoughtful articles about the present state of the Golden Dawn community, with one drawing parallels with the broader Pagan community and even with the American political scene. You can find this article here. There are several things in these articles, however, that Morgan appears to have misunderstood, or perhaps is pretending not to understand. In the following open letter, I address these issues:
Care Frater Morgan,
Congratulations on a humorous and insightful article, which I by and large enjoyed. You have eloquently delineated several of the challenges presently facing our common Golden Dawn community. For example, you wrote:"WHAT ONE DOES NOT NEED TO IMAGINE IS THE LACK OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO SCHOOLS."I THINK YOU HAVE HIT AN ESSENTIAL NAIL ON THE HEAD HERE. I APPLAUD YOU FOR ENCOURAGING GREATER DIRECT, FRATERNAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TRADITIONALIST AND RECONSTRUCTIONIST GOLDEN DAWN ORDERS. CERTAINLY THE FRATRES ET SORORES IN THE HOGD/AO ARE OPEN TO THIS. EVERYONE from the Golden Dawn community is welcome to post on the HOGD/AO Yahoo forum for example, here.
Sadly, most of the leaders of the Golden Dawn reconstructionist camp, on the other hand, stubbornly refuse any direct, fraternal dialogue. Despite the HOGD/AO trying to promote harmony in the GD community for years, they refuse any and all direct, fraternal dialogue. On the one hand, they refuse to post on our forum. On the other hand, they also refuse to allow anyone from our order to post any reply directly on their forum either. It is this intransigent stubbornness from the reconstructionist camp that unnecessarily perpetuates tension in our Golden Dawn community, with the respective camps reduced to talking past one another from their respective soapboxes across the internet.
Next you wrote:The primary issue is whether or not to accept the existence of an European Third Order acceptance of such implies that you are willing to follow their public Head and spokesperson, are willing to increase your level of secrecy to the point where all published material are no longer considered valid (including the Mathers material) and all the rituals and lessons have been rewritten to re-install absolute secrecy, and are willing to be expelled if one of your fellow lodge members breaks their secrecy oath. Acceptance also implies that all modern developments of the Golden Dawn system (aka any that developed after the Cipher Manuscript) will someday be abandoned.Here I can not at all agree with you. No one has ever said that all modern developments need to be abandoned. No one has said that anyone needs to follow anyone else either. Have you really so completely misunderstood, or are you simply making this up and falsely attributing it to Golden Dawn traditionalists?
In reality, the HOGD/AO has said over and over for years that there is plenty of room for diversity in the Golden Dawn community. This is what makes the GD community grow and thrive.
Diversity is a good thing. Our order, at least, is willing to live and let live. It is the GD reconstructionist camp that constantly has been attacking the traditionalist Golden Dawn orders, and certainly not the other way around. we at the HOGD/AO fully embrace diversity in the Golden Dawn community, even if we do not always agree with you and others on everything.
Again, I find your honesty and insight demonstrated about direct communication in our community to be highly commendable. Sadly, however, it appears that you are not always willing to fully embody such a lofty and admirable level of integrity, as in when you wrote today:
"As far as I have been able to determine from the outcries of the internet police is that if someone does not agree absolutely with your opinion, your lesson plan, your Grade system, and your version of Golden Dawn history, then it is flame war."Aw come on, Morgan. Please quit pretending to be stupid as it is obvious that you are not. You know full well the difference between flame war and honest, fraternal discussion and debate. You also know full well that the HOGD/AO encourages and fosters fraternal discussion and debate, and does not pretend to be any sort of internet police.
It is also true, however, that after nearly two decades of recurrent and repeated attacks on our order not only on the internet but even in court as well, that I personally have precious little tolerance left for such destructive behavior in our community.
"So what is flame war?", you ask. Do I really need to spell it out to you even yet once again? Well, OK, let's give you the benefit of every doubt.
Fraternal discussion becomes flame war, in my opinion, when fraternal discussion is hijacked by cheap rhetorical tactics. These include but are not limited to the use of "talking points", repeated over and over, propaganda style. You can tell that a discussion has degenerated into flame war, when the person you are engaging ignores every counter argument, and merely repeats their talking points over and over. Do you really need concrete examples of this? OK, go over to Pat Zalewksi's Yahoo forum and search for the search terms "secret chiefs, SC, third order," or "Desmond Bourke."
What do you find with such a simple search? - Hundreds upon hundreds of attack posts repeating the same "talking points" over and over like a broken record. Our order's leaders and members have wasted literally thousands of hours rebutting the "talking points" that have been written over and over on these subjects on that forum, propaganda style for well over a decade.
And guess what?
Every single rebuttal, every single refutation, has simply been ignored.
And guess what else?
The same talking points have simply been repeated over and over, propaganda style for over a decade.
Enough is enough already.
Sincerely,
David Griffin
