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Easter Sunday, 4/12/2009
Happy Easter Brothers and Sisters of the Golden Dawn of all Orders and Temples!
May the light of the Rose+Cross shine brightly today upon all of us. I am sorry it took me so long to follow up since my return from the Ahathoor Temple No. 7 in Paris last Monday. This week has been a wirlwind since my return and I wanted to have everything ready to share with you on Easter Sunday. Well, here it is.
In reality, I did not go to Paris merely for the Equinox Ritual at the Ahathoor Grand Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Actually the Ahathoor Mother Temple was host to the 100 Year Centennial Jubileum Celebration of S.L. MacGregor Mathers' founding the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega in 1909.
This year's International Conclave was for the Second Order and above, so we convoked the International College of the Adepti of the Alpha et Omega as well. The festivities lasted several days as we initiated in all grades of the Second Order and there were marvelous lectures from four separate A.O. Imperators!
The good news for you is that this time we filmed everything - so now you can also be a part of this exiting event - even if you were unable to be there with us in Paris! I opened the conference by greeting our Brothers and Sisters of the Golden Dawn around the world. Here is the video of the opening festivities (note that the speeches always follow bits of ritual):
Here you will enjoy more ritual, and information about the Hermetic and Rosicrucian Roots of the Golden Dawn.
Many of you read the recent weblog I wrote upon my return from Paris. Unsurprisingly, I was once again attacked on an anonymous blog, this time criticized by a post alleging that the Ahathoor Temple in Paris today is not the temple that S.L. MacGregor Mathers founded in 1892.
Well, the truth is usually far more interesting than anonymous, strife stirring rumor, and the modern history of the Ahathoor temple certtainly fits this criteria! In fact, Jean-Pascal Ruggiu, G.H. Frater Lux Aurorae, gave a fascinating lecture about how his research into the history of the Ahathoor Temple led him to Marquis Tereschenko, who eventually reconsecrated Ahathoor Temple in 1992.
I don't want to ruin this fascinating story for you, as here is G.H. Frater Lux Aurorae to tell you the whole story himself:
Next, we were all treated to a wonderful lecture on the Gold und Rosenkreutz order and the Rosicrucian roots of the Golden Dawn in Germany by V.H. Frater D.L.M., the Imperator of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn(R) for German speaking countries:
Few people realize that the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's Imperator for Scandinavia, V.H. Frater Sincerus Renatus, actually was born in Poland. Ever true to these roots, V.H. Frater Sincerus Renatus, has a particular love for the Qabalah of the Shabbathaian movement in messianic Judaism, particualrly as it filtered down with the followers of Jaqob Frank. The story of the Qabalistic Roots of the Golden Dawn is a particularly fascinating one, involving many of the leading figures from this movement who found their way into the Order of the Asiatic Brethren, then later into the Jewish Lodge at Frankfurt, the famous, Zur Goldenen Morgonroethe Lodge. VH Frater Sincerus Renatus' lecture on the Qabalistic roots of the Golden Dawn is bound to become a classic, and adds many pieces to the jigsaw puzzle of the Continental European origins of the Golden Dawn.
Finally, the International Conclave of the Adepti and the 100 Year Jubileum concluded with my keynote address on the Emerald Tablet of Hermes, the Hermetic Tradition, and the Golden Dawn. Since there has been so much controversy surrounding the Emerald Teblet of Hermes since the recent translation by Nineveh Shadrach of the Magic Society of the White Flame, I thus attempted to shed new light on the Emerald Tablet, as revealed by Apollonius of Tyana's Book of Causes, in which the earliest extant version of the Emerald Tablet was originally published, together valuable commentaries essential to its proper understanding.
It is my sincere hope that some of the factionalism between Golden Dawn orders and temples will now die down, so that at our next International Golden Dawn Conclave ALL brothers and sisters of the Golden Dawn may attend, regardless of what order or temple you belong to. This was the dream of our cherished, late Praemonstrator, Marquis Nicholas Tereschenko, and perhaps we will yet see his dream realized in our lifetime.
Until then, we are this year at least able to share these precious videos with you!
Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua
David Griffin
G.H. Frater Lux Ex Septentrionis
Imperator Ordinis, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega
"Ex Deo Nascimur.
In Yeheshua Morimur.
Per Sanctum Spiritum Reviviscimus"
One of the concepts that has endured in the magical tradition for a long time is that enhanced magical aptitude can be inherited. This inheritance is often refered to as "witch blood" or something similar. Coming from a "family tradition" is a mark of distinction in some parts of the magical community, but at the same time the idea is strongly opposed in the New Age traditions inspired by the New Thought movement. Those traditions teach that anyone can get magical effects at the same level if they can learn to think about their lives and the universe in the proper way. According to their model inheritance and genetics don't enter into the picture at all.
It always has struck me that working magick should be no different than any other human ability - that is, there's a component that's genetic along with a component that's environmental. Professional athletes, for example, have to possess a great deal of natural talent to be able to perform at an elite level and generally come from families sharing some of that talent. At the same time, if they want to be able to put it to good use they need to work hard developing it as they are growing up. And even once they make it to the professional level, without constant training and exercise their performance will suffer and their talent will effectively go to waste. Just about every other skill a person can develop works much the same way.
The "witch blood" idea, however, suggests a genetic link that is much stronger than that found in athletics or really any other field of endeavor. Among some proponents the condition is treated as either/or much as in the Harry Potter universe you are either a wizard or a "muggle" with no awareness of or power to work magick, though it's hard to say whether the idea comes from fantasy writers like J.K. Rowling or from some legitimate spiritual tradition. While it's important to keep in mind that over the span of human history only a small percentage of people have ever been magicians - a tribe of 30 to 50 people, for example would probably only have one shaman or medicine man - this should not be taken to imply that everyone else in such a tribe would have had no magical gifts at all. Rather, it seems more likely to me that the magick-worker was simply the most talented member of the group while the others possessed varying lesser degrees of aptitude.
So which of these models is most correct? Is magick something everyone can do about as well if they take up the same level of practice, something that only works for wizards but not for "muggles," or something in between? I'm solidly in the middle camp myself, but that's mostly on the basis of anecdotal information gained from knowing a lot of practictioners over the years. In that time I've met people who never did practices before pick up a spell in an afternoon that can produce noticeable paranormal effects, and I've know others who worked hard at their practices but never seemed to get to the point where they were able to do much. At the same time, though, I've never known even a very talented magician who got that far without some solid, disciplined practice.
Neuroscience is slowly closing in on many of the areas once reserved for magick and mysticism. In combination with the article I linked to yesterday on gamma brainwaves and perception, another study that was published at the beginning of March has the potential to shed some light on the old question of whether or "witch blood" really exists. The study looked at brain organization and found that there is a great deal of variation between individuals in terms of how efficiently their neural "wiring" is arranged.
The study published in the international publication The Journal of Neuroscience provides the first evidence of a genetic effect on how 'cost-efficient' our brain network wiring is, shedding light on some of the brain's make up.
Lead author Dr. Alex Fornito from the Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre at the University of Melbourne said the findings have important implications for understanding why some people are better able to perform certain tasks than others and the genetic basis of mental illnesses and some neurological diseases.
He said how the brain's network is organized has been a mystery to scientists for years. "The brain is an extraordinarily complex network of billions of nerve cells interconnected by trillions of fibres," he said.
"The brain tries to maximize its bang-for-buck by striking a balance between making more connections to promote efficient communication and minimising the "cost" or amount of wiring required to make these connections. Our findings indicate that this balance, called 'cost-efficiency', has a strong genetic basis."
If part of the process of working magick is related to the unified perceptual field that seems to be mediated by gamma brainwave activity, and that activity is synchronized by clusters of neurons sending bursts back and forth very quickly, it stands to reason that the more efficiently someone's brain is organized the better they will be at producing magical effects. If this has a strong genetic link, does that mean the "witch blood" hypothesis is ultimately correct? Could the world really be made up of two distinct populations, one magical and one not? Probably not, given that the genetic link found was 60% - strong, but not rising to a deterministic level.
The research team, which included scientists at the Universities of Queensland and Cambridge, UK compared the brain scans of 38 identical and 26 non-identical twins from the Australian Twin Registry.
Using new techniques, the researchers were able to construct detailed maps of each person's brain network and measured the cost-efficiency of network connections for the entire brain, as well as for specific brain regions.
"We found that people differed greatly in terms of how cost-efficient the functioning of their brain networks were, and that over half of these differences could be explained by genes," said Dr. Fornito.
Across the entire brain, more than half (60%) of the differences between people could be explained by genes. Some of the strongest effects were observed for regions of the prefrontal cortex which play a vital role in planning, strategic thinking, decision-making and memory.
What this study supports in the end is some variation on the middle position. In fact much of magical discipline consists of various practices that should strengthen the prefrontal cortex, so it would seem that the tradition has incorporated this concept already, probably by trial and error over the centuries. It would be particularly interesting to put together some sort of wide-scale trial of longtime practicing magicians and see if their brainscans confirm what I would hypothesize based on the data from these two studies - increased "cost-efficiency" in the strategic and decision-making centers of the brain. It would require no additional scanning techniques beyond those used in the twin study, and I think the results could prove invaluable in terms of identifying the brain processes that are involved in using magick effectively.
Suggested ebooks:
Marian Green - A Witch Alone
Carl Mccolman - The Well Read Witch
Alfred Elton Van Vogt - The Witch
I have started the Abramelin Lunar Ordeal and will post articles at strategic points in the process to share with you how this ordeal is shaping up. One can spout platitudes and make theories about magick, but the real proof is in the performance of actual ordeals and experiments.
Since I have proposed an alternative path to the traditional Abramelin ordeal, joining it with the invocation of the Bornless One, it is important for me to actually test my hypothesis and to note the results for others to examine and ponder. What I have learned through my many years of practical experience is that one's intention has a powerful shaping influence on what one experiences in the practice of ritual magick. What this means is that even a highly flawed ritual performed by a mere novice can be as effective as that performed by an experienced magician if that novice has the right amount of passion, zeal and an empowered and indomitable intention.
However, the difference between a novice and an experienced magician is that the experienced magician can repeat the phenomena produced and even share the rituals and ceremonies that he or she used with others for their examination and experimentation. A novice is effective often as a matter of luck or the right combination of effects, and generally not because of their experience and knowledge. This means that a novice may produce effective results or not, but only somewhat slightly better than chance.
On November 16, at exactly 1:14 pm CST, I began the Abramelin Lunar ordeal with an extensive meditation session and later followed up that evening with a Mass of the Goddess. What I experienced was a potent affirmation that the path and action that I have chosen is the right one for me at this time. I sensed that I had engaged with a powerful spiritual presence, undoubtedly that it was my personal aspect of the Goddess blanketing me with good will, anticipation and joy at the beginning of what will prove to be a very challenging seven weeks of constant meditation, contemplation and invocative ritual magick. So my personal aspect of the Deity is in a positive accord with what I am spiritually and magickally planning to do. That's a good sign, but there have been other signs that I have experienced that would also indicate that fate is positively disposed towards me.
The previous weekend (Nov. 7), I invoked the archangel Ratziel (God's Mystery) using the new methodology that I had assembled recently. Ratziel is a spirit that I have invoked a number of times previously, since I have determined that he is the core of what I have discovered over the years as a very different Enochian system of magick, incorporating the Nephilim as contra-archangelic entities as well as other variations. I intend to write extensively on this different approach to Enochian magick in the future, but for now, let's just say that I am quite familiar with Ratziel.
Anyway, this entity, when invoked, had a profound effect on me and imparted some very fascinating information. The effect was one of acknowledgment, which empowered my intention and gave me a profound resolution that my desire to perform the upcoming ordeal is the correct thing to do. I had to recreate the sigil for Ratziel, having misplaced the one that I made for previous invocations, and the archangel told me that the new sigil was my passport and key for invoking the more potent and mysterious Seraphim and Cherubim, who I intend to invoke in the next four weekends. By the middle of December, I will have invoked all eight of these majestic spirits, and my intention for doing so has been strengthened by the favor and good will of Ratziel. I still need to carefully build up my intention before attempting these invocations, but now I feel more resolved and compelled to do so, and less cautious and worried about the outcome. Invoking these super-archangels is no small matter and approaching them with frivolous requests or unethical desires would be most disastrous for any magician.
Ratziel also imparted to me that he had a hand in influencing and inspiring me to formulate this ordeal, even though the credit for doing so is still completely my own. So what this means is that a bit of angelic providence has inspired and guided me to formulate this working. I must admit that I am greatly intrigued, and it would seem that the spiritual hierarchy is in agreement with what I am about to do. That being said, I must still be disciplined and diligent in all of my efforts in order for this ordeal to be successfully concluded. I will refrain from eating red meat, will eat sparingly and adopt a vegetarian diet for the weekend workings. I am also meditating twice daily - once at waking, and again before bed. The weekends will require some vigils and a steadfast focusing on just the magick at hand, to avoid any distractions. I must, therefore, complete all of my work before the end of the week so as to make myself ready for the major workings on the weekend.
So all is in readiness for the first set of invocations this weekend, when I will invoke the Seraphim and Cherubim of Earth, whose names are Zahariel and Yofiel, respectively. I will write up a report summarizing those encounters, and we shall see how all that plays out. Right now, I feel very confident about the outcome, since all the signs point to a powerful affirmation of the rightness of this working and its successful outcome.
Frater Barrabbas
Suggested ebooks:
Aninymous - The Angelical Alphabet
Sepharial - The Arcana Or Stock And Share Key
Edward Kelley - The Angelic Alphabet
