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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
The A.’. A.’. is the Supreme and Eternal Inner School of initiates who have in all times overseen the evolution of consciousness on this planet. This order has assumed various forms and names throughout history. In all cases, however, its chief work is the preparation of the individual for Initiation. It is from the A.’. A.’. that The Book of the Law was issued to humankind, to announce the advent of the Aeon of Horus. The current outer form of the order was created by Frater P. and Frater D.D.S. under the guidance and instruction of the A.’. A.’.
This path of High Magick is not for most. The A.’. A.’. is the parent of all other viable initiatory systems. All others are but preparation (or specialized training) for those who will eventually aspire to this One Order of the Shining Star. Affiliation is for those — perhaps only for those — who dedicate themselves, with reverence, duty, sympathy, devotion, assiduity and trust, to the performance of the Great Work now, within this incarnation; and to dare, with courage undaunted, to perfect it.
Love is the law, love under will.
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
In response to my most recent blog, on Lineage and the Golden Dawn, the anonymous Mr. "James Crumpit" (mr crumpit@...) wrote on Robert Zink's Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn forum:
Dear David and "The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Alpha et Omega, etc."Frater TDO" is not a member of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, nor are there any members by the name "VH Soror FSO," so do not take their opinions as those of our order. Also, this forum is not the EOGD forum, but is a talk box for the GD community hosted by the EOGD. Furthermore, I don't know why you make any noise about lineage, when you and your order (with the overly lengthy name which you were forced to change to per court order) have absolutely no legitimate lineage to
speak of.
You can't claim lineage through Israel Regardie, nor do you (anymore). You founded your own version of the third order, which you currently claim lineage through, which doesn't count as lineage since you founded it yourself. Also you can't claim lineage to Mathers because you have the address of a Masonic Hall he worked in for a period and rent the building now and again to perform your garage-style version of Golden Dawn ceremonies.
Get off the lineage kick. Nobody buys it. Repeating yourself over and over doesn't make your points any more valid.
J.C.
p.s. wow I made a point without having to write an overly lengthy novela/dizzying blog.There are numerous problems with the statement where Mr. Crumpit writes: "FRATER TDO" IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE ESOTERIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN, NOR ARE THERE ANY MEMBERS BY THE NAME "VH SOROR FSO," SO DO NOT TAKE THEIR OPINIONS AS THOSE OF OUR ORDER.TO BEGIN WITH, SOROR FSO IS WELL KNOWN ON THE BLOGOSPHERE AS A MEMBER OF THE ESOTERIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN THROUGH HER FLIGHT OF HERMES BLOG. MOREOVER, ALTHOUGH THEY CLEARLY HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO, NEITHER FRATER TDO NOR SOROR FSO HAVE PERSONALLY DENIED MEMBERSHIP IN THE EOGD. WE HAVE ONLY "JAMES CRUMPIT'S" ANONYMOUS WORD FOR THIS, ALTHOUGH HE DOES APPARENTLY SPEAK WITH SOME AUTHORITY REGARDING EOGD MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.MOST IMPORTANTLY, EACH of the above referenced blog posts were personally approved by Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn leader, Robert Zink, using his Yahoo alias, Zanoni49. In other words, ALL of the posts in question were published with both the "knowledge" and the "approval" of the highest levels of EOGD leadership. Nonetheless, in the interest of harmony in the Golden Dawn community, I have edited the content my latest blog to answer the objection raise by EOGD's mysterious "Mr. Crumpit."What appears undeniable from James Crumpit's post is that HE, at least, is indeed a member of the EOGD. Moreover, since complete membership rolls are not available to the vast majority of EOGD members, J.C.'s claim of intimate knowledge of EOGD membership rolls indicates even a leadership role. This official sanction is further underscored, since Mr. Crumipt's post also was published with the full "knowledge" and "approval" of the highest levels of EOGD leadership. It was personally approved by EOGD leader, Robert Zink (Zanoni49), himself.In this context, the following statements made by the mysterious Mr. Crumpit become extremely interesting. J.C. writes:YOU CAN'T CLAIM LINEAGE THROUGH ISRAEL REGARDIE, NOR DO YOU (ANYMORE). YOU FOUNDED YOUR OWN VERSION OF THE THIRD ORDER, WHICH YOU CURRENTLY CLAIM LINEAGE THROUGH, WHICH DOESN'T COUNT AS LINEAGE SINCE YOU FOUNDED IT YOURSELF. ALSO YOU CAN'T CLAIM LINEAGE TO MATHERS BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE ADDRESS OF A MASONIC HALL HE WORKED IN FOR A PERIOD AND RENT THE BUILDING NOW AND AGAIN TO PERFORM YOUR GARAGE-STYLE VERSION OF GOLDEN DAWN CEREMONIES.Many of J. Crumpit's misunderstandings about our order's actual relationship to Golden Dawn lineage I have dealt with already in a recent blog. I will address the remaining ones in a future blog as well. What is most interesting - in the present context - is JC's erroneous statement that our order somehow claims lineageTHROUGH A BUILDING OR MASONIC HALL. This is very significant, BECAUSE THIS ARGUMENT HAS APPEARED NOWHERE ELSE EXCEPT ON ANONYMOUS WEBSITES AND BLOGS ATTACKING OUR ORDER AND MYSELF WITH DEFAMATION OF A MOST DESPICABLE NATURE.This is a strong indication that these anonymous websites and blogs have likewise been published with the "knowledge" and "approval" of Robert Zink. To make this point crystal clear, let us first compare JC's above statement with Blog Troll "Tommy," who writes on the anonymously published Golden Dawn Insider attack blog:HOW CAN YOU CLAIM LINEAGE THROUGH A BUILDING when your order's website clearly places emphasis on apostolic succession. Let us also compare JC's above statement with the words of another recent anonymous blog troll, "Frater Incognito," who writes on yet another anonymously published attack blog:THEY CLAIM THEIR LINEAGE THROUGH A MASONIC HALL that Mathers and company had worked in when he moved to Paris. To CLAIM LINEAGE THROUGH A BUILDING, particularly one that has had no Golden Dawn activity for nearly a century, is a rather interesting claim.Our order, of course, has ever claimed any sort of lineage through any sort of building, Masonic or otherwise. It is extremely telling, however, that the only places that this misleading argument has ever appeared has been on the on the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn Yahoo forum belonging to Robert Zink and on anonymously published websites and blogs attacking our order. This provides an Ariadne's tread - piercing the veil of anonymity - and leading directly to Robert Zink.This is not the first time that Robert Zink has been linked to such defamation either. The most compelling evidence of comes from the official EOGD, "Golden Dawn Blog" where blog owner, Robert Zink, using his alias as Frater PDR, slipped up and wrote:FOR ALLEGED EVIDENCE OF GOLDEN DAWN NAZISM, CLICK HERE: HTTP://HOGD666.50MEGS.COMIT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT MR. ZINK SANITIZED HIS EOGD BLOG OF THIS POST AFTER THE GOLDEN DAWN COMMUNITY BECAME AWARE THAT IT LINKED MR. ZINK DIRECTLY TO THE ANONYMOUS DEFAMATION WEBSITES AND BLOGS ATTACKING THE HERMETIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN, THE OUTER ORDER OF THE ROSICRUCIAN ORDER OF ALPHA ET OMEGA. HERE ARE ORIGINAL IMAGES OF RELEVANT PORTIONS OF ROBERT ZINK'S - NOW SANITIZED - BLOG POST:IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE CONTENT OF THE 50MEGS SITE THAT ROBERT ZINK LINKED TO - WAS NEARLY IDENTICAL AS THAT PRESENTLY ON THE ANONYMOUS ATTACK BLOG OF TODAY'S "FRATER INCOGNITO."SUCH NONSENSE HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH. ROBERT ZINK CLEARLY BELIEVES THAT BY PUBLISHING SUCH FEAR-MONGERING RUBBISH, HE CAN FRIGHTEN POTENTIAL MEMBERS AWAY FROM OUR ORDER AND INTO HIS. SUCH FEAR-MONGERING TACTICS, HOWEVER, HAVE NO PLACE IN ORDERS HAVING TO DO WITH SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT AND ARE HARMING THE REPUTATION OF THE ENTIRE GOLDEN DAWN TRADITION.THERE IS, OF COURSE, NO TRUTH IN ANY OF THIS EITHER. THE TRUTH IS THAT NAZIS, LIKE CULT-LIKE ACTIVITIES, HAVE NO PLACE IN THE GOLDEN DAWN. THE GOLDEN DAWN IS NOT ABOUT RACE, CREED, OR COLOR. THE GOLDEN DAWN IS ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE TO DEVELOP THEMSELVES SPIRITUALLY...... AND IN TRUTH OUR ORDER, LIKE ALL GOLDEN DAWN ORDERS, IS OPEN TO ASPIRANTS OF ALL races and religions - even of all sexual preferences. We have all sorts of members - Black, White, Pagan, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Gay, Lesbian, you name it.But then again, the defamation trolls have never let the truth stand in the way of their fear-mongering. The aforementioned anonymously published attack website definitively linked to Robert Zink, for example, (like many other anonymous attack sites and blogs) shows a cropped photograph of me dressed up like Adolph Hitler and claiming to be "proof" I am a Nazi."
This is, of course, complete nonsense. It is common knowledge in the Golden Dawn community that I care deeply about the environment - and passionately about the protection of species from extinction - and that this photograph originally appeared on the front page of the University of California at Berkeley newspaper......and was taken at an environmental protest that I was involved in. This was a street theater environmental action - and I was in character - SPOOFING Adolph Hitler, mocking racism, and calling for interracial and global unity tosave the Earth fromenvironmental holocaust.
I am as much as a Nazi for playing Hitler - as is fellow actor Sir Alec Guiness - who played both Hitler and Obi Wan Kanobi - or Sir Ian McKellen - who played both Hitler and Gandalf! Let's be real. You can't be remotely anti-Semitic and embrace the Jewish mysteries that are part of the Golden Dawn. Racism is a destructive philosophy not only against my beliefs, but also against my vows, and against the Golden Dawn.What doesn't seem to be against some people's beliefs, vows, or love for the Golden Dawn, however - is defamation and attack on the reputation of the Golden Dawn. For what? So that seekers won't realize how little these people know about basic the deeper mysteries of the Golden Dawn? Do these people not realize that they are harming the reputation of the entire Golden Dawn tradition?... or do they simply not care - because they see the GD as little more than a vehicle to promote "New Age" seminars?If this were not sad enough - recent months have seen theentire Golden Dawn community attacked by outside agitators on new attack blogs - alleging that all Golden Dawn orders are Nazi fronts and linked to the Greek fascist party calling itself Golden Dawn (Chrysi Ayvi).Is it not time for such madness to stop once and for all? I get boiling mad at when Golden Dawn initiates are attacked no matter who it is being attacked. For example, I recently defended the brothers and sisters of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn when Pat Zalewksi published the following post on his OGD forum:GENERALLY SPEAKING, THE BEST WAY TO (CHOOSE A GD ORDER) IS TO LOOK AT THE WEBSITES OF THE ORDERS INVOLVED, AND WRITE TO THE ONES IN WHICH YOU'RE INTERESTED. MY ONLY WARNING WOULD BE TO BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL! THERE ARE SOME CULTS OUT THERE MASQUERADING AS GOLDEN DAWN ORDERS, and the only way you'll ever really know is by trusting your intuition AND keeping your wits about you at all times.Pat Zalewski then went on and wrote himself:NONE OF WHAT IS ASKED OF A STUDENT SHOULD BE AGAINST THEIR MORAL AND LEGAL OBLIGATIONS. THIS IS USUALLY CIRCUMVENTED IN SOME GROUPS BY A STATEMENT THAT THE SECRET CHIEFS HAVE SANCTIONED IT- LIKE FATWA OR PAPAL BULL. WE HAVE ALL HEARD OF INCIDENTS LIKE THIS AND THEY HAVE NO PLACE IN THE GD TEMPLE AND ARE FOR A GD CULT.PatThis kind of nonsense has gone on far too long. We have all seen the anonymous attack blogs out there like the Golden Dawn Observer and the Cult Watch blog that call the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn a cult. These are, of course, just as condemnable as those calling our order a nest of Nazis! And now that are seeing not just our order -but the ENTIRE Golden Dawn community being called nests of Nazi's! What will be next? Outside forces calling all Golden Dawn orders cults? The Golden Dawn is already on the official French list of sects.Under present circumstances, I find it extremely short-sighted for Pat Zalewksi to be making posts like the one above. In reality, we all know that there are no cults in the Golden Dawn - just like there are no Nazis - because - if you ARE a cult - if you ARE a Nazi - you are NOT Golden Dawn!If an order using the name Golden Dawn practices cult-like activity - they are NOTGolden Dawn! There are no Golden Dawn cults! Just like a racist Greek group using the name Golden Dawn for their fascism - isNOT Golden Dawn!Pat Zalewski instead of spreading false and harmful rumors about GD cults - should instead clarify that there are NO cults in the Golden Dawn and outright reject any order doing that - as NOT part of the Golden Dawn - instead of scaring people into believing there are "Golden Dawn Nazis" or "Golden Dawn Cults" - when any such groups are evidently NOT the Golden Dawn.You will recall that, for several months now, the HOGD/AO has been calling for greater harmony in the Golden Dawn community. We have invited all Brother and Sister GD initiates to a Golden Dawn Harmony celebration to be hosted next Vernal Equinox by the Ahathoor Temple in Paris. This invitation still stands. We have also invited all Golden Dawn leaders to contact us to negotiate the mutual removal of objectionable materials from our respective websites, fora, and blogs. To their credit - until last week - both Robert Zink and Pat Zalewksi had joined together with our order for several months - in not approving any posts attacking other Golden Dawn orders or their leaders. It is most unfortunate that attack posts are beginning to appear on the various Yahoo fora once again. It is even more unfortunate that neither Robert Zink nor Pat Zalewski have so far shown any willingness whatsoever to begin - together with our order - to remove on a reciprocal basis - objectionable materials from our respective fora, websites, and blogs.The importance of beginning such a clean-up has been underscored by the appearance in recent months of anonymous blogs attacking all Golden Dawn orders - falsely linking them to the Greek fascist party unfortunately also using the Golden Dawn name.Let there be no doubt about it - We are ALL under attack - every single brother and sister of every Golden Dawn order. Striving for harmony in the Golden Dawn community has never been more important than it is now - in light of recent, terrible attacks on the ENTIRE Golden Dawn community.And certainly - there is no longer ANY room whatsoever for the sort of fear mongering tactics that have been linked for years to Robert Zink.The time has come for Robert Zink to abandon such failed policies - and instead to stand together with ALL Golden Dawn leaders - in fact with ALL Brothers and Sisters in ALL Golden Dawn orders everywhere - in a united front against defamation of any part of the Golden Dawn community.To do otherwise - to ignore this clear and present threat to the reputation of the ENTIRE Golden Dawn community - may well spell the doom of the of the entire Golden Dawn.Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua
David GriffinG.
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"
Letters recently leaked from the Vatican suggest that a power struggle may be going among the various members of the College of Cardinals. The Roman Catholic Church has not disputed the contents of the letters, but claims that the media has vastly overstated their importance. The College of Cardinals is a secretive organization, and it may very well be that this sort of thing goes on all the time but is not usually reported to the public. Nonetheless, the documents contain some allegations that sound more serious than general, day-to-day operations.
The first missives to be published date from last spring. In them, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigan`o, at the time the deputy governor of Vatican City, fretted that he would be ousted after making enemies in his effort to combat overspending and cronyism in the awarding of contracts. He pleaded with his boss, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and the pope to let him stay on. Instead, Archbishop Vigan`o was named the papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States.
Letters and documents by other Vatican officials followed, including some that suggested that the Vatican was not adequately complying with international legislation to prevent money laundering.
One anonymous document published in a national newspaper last week cited reports that a Sicilian cardinal had spoken vaguely about a plot to kill Pope Benedict XVI before the end of 2012.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, called the reports "delirious and incomprehensible."
One of the biggest problems with religious and spiritual groups, especially large ones, is that whenever a group of people get together you get politics. And politics are bad for spiritual realization. They detract from the group's true purpose and cultivate animosities that can lead to infighting. Aleister Crowley may gone a little too far in putting together his guidelines for A.'.A.'. when he stipulated that each initiate could only know one other person in the order, but there's certainly some merit to the general idea. As Crowley commented in "Magick Without Tears", "I am afraid you have still got the idea that the Great Work is a tea-party. Contact with other students only means that you criticize their hats, and then their morals; and I am not going to encourage this. Your work is not anybody else's; and undirected chatter is the worst poisonous element in human society."
Wise words, those.
Suggested ebooks:
Kenneth Grant - Aleister Crowley And The Hidden God
John Moore - Aleister Crowley A Modern Master Extract
