How long should you be in an esoteric order before you are capable of actually doing something useful? In a recent debate about the merits of one group I was surprised how many people were proud of the numbers of years they had studied within an organisation. However, at the same time they did not show any signs that they could act independently of it. A group is not supposed to be the beginning and end of a magician’s work. It is supposed to be training them to work independently, carry out their research and magical work. Sure, a substantial chunk of the early work is personality development, and this balancing work can be long and arduous but at the end the
golden dawn
“Traditional” Golden Dawn groups
After the closure of Whare Ra bought to an end the old Golden Dawn lineage, their have been numerous groups started by those either using Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn books, or old papers and manuscripts claiming that they are "traditional." Some of these modern Golden Dawn, various groups have been falling over themselves to prove that they use traditional Golden Dawn methods. Even though various Golden Dawn groups had problems or flaws in their teaching, the word traditional is synonymous with better with no one wanting to say that they are “new and improved.” At the same time the new traditionalists do not want to appear as if they are stuck in the mud and living in the Victorian period. They rightly suggest that the tradition must
Masonic baggage in the Golden Dawn
The Golden Dawn has more masonic hang-overs than the morning after Christmas dinner with a free bar at United Grand Lodge. Some of these are useful, because they have generic magical over tones, and some are only there because they are part of a tradition that no one wants to spoil. The concept being that since the GD was formed by masons we should not touch these things. However, it is important to point out that, contrary to myth, none of the Golden Dawn founders were particularly enthusiastic masons but both Westcott and Mathers started out their lives in masonic groups and so were trained in a masonic way of doing things. The Cipher manuscripts were written by a masonic expert and
Notes on the prayer of the Hierophant and Mystic Repast
Peregrine Wildoak has done a very interesting post on the Golden Dawn mystical repast and the prayer of the Hierophant here. There are a few things I want to add to it and it got out of control for a comment. The prayer of the Hierophant In a key part of the ritual the Hierophant suddenly stops what he is doing and stands in the form of a cross and says: "Lord of the Universe, the Vast and the Mighty One, Ruler of the Light and of the Darkness, we adore Thee and we invoke Thee. Look with favor upon this Neophyte, who now kneeleth before Thee and grant Thine aid unto the higher aspirations of his soul, so that he may prove a
Initiation rights
Having started my occult path before the arrival of the internet I am “old school” and believe that initiation is not something you get automatically. A friend of mine in another school is having problems with a student who felt he should be initiated because he said so. He had shown up, paid his dues, and he felt he was ready. He was so shocked when his teacher said no, he left in a huff and then started to attack the teacher online for not noticing his greatness. Like many modern “magicians” he has failed to see that his very actions are exactly why the teacher did not want him initiated yet. The assumption was that rejection was the ego of an
The Universe of the Chaldean Oracles
The purpose of this article is to produce a simple version of the neo-platonic structure behind the Chaldean Oracles so that they can be understood by modern magicians. I am trying to avoid making it too complex. One of the reasons that the Oracles have been set aside by many is because they been picked apart by academic philosophers rather than those who might have use for it. Hopefully this short article will explain the Oracles enough for a reader to piece together more of them for themselves. The Chaldean Oracles are important in the Golden Dawn, making an appearance in two of the grade rituals. But other than Wynn Westcott, who wrote a rather important translation, they were ignored. In
Dark of the Golden Dawn
Most people coming into the Golden Dawn talk about it being “light,” “nice” and “spiritual”, when actually the outer order is dark giant skip packed full of rubbish which the candidate has to sort out within five initiations. Modern GD groups make a great deal of the outer order grades, and they are vital for the process that the system starts in a magician before they start to handle the heavy lifting magical work of the second order. For a while I have wondered why it was that people join the Golden Dawn only to leave while in the outer order. Of course, you could argue that the “golden dawn was not for them” but actually those who leave often make right
Anti-clockwise circumambulation down under
I had a question on Facebook from a bloke running a GD group in Auckland who is under pressure from his Wiccan members to change the circumambulation to anti-clockwise instead of clockwise to match the magnetic flows in the southern hemisphere. There is a believe that the earth is a magnet and that the polarity in the Northern Hemisphere is the opposite than the southern hemisphere. This is why water goes down the sink in a reversed direction in the southern hemisphere. Apparently all this is confirmed by various earth spirits which operate down-under. Therefore, some wiccan groups have taken to circumambulating anti-clockwise to open and clockwise to close. Like many myths there is a sort of truth behind the idea, but it
A GOLDEN DAWN READING LIST
YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE GOLDEN DAWN Self Initiation Into The Golden Dawn Tradition, by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero The Essential Golden Dawn, by Chic and Tabatha Cicero Mystical Cabbalah, by Dion Fortune A Garden of Pomegranates, by Israel Regardie The Temple of High Magic, by Ina Custers- van Bergen A Magician his training and work, by E Butler Shining Paths, by Dolores Ashcroft Nowicki Tarot. by Paul Case ARMCHAIR MAGICIAN /WITCH Hermetica, by Brian Copenhaver Secrets of a Golden Dawn Temple - Creating Magical Tools, by Sandra and Chic Cicero Ritual Use of Magical Tools, by Sandra and Chic Cicero Art of True Healing, by Israel Regardie The Golden Dawn, by Israel Regardie Magical Imagination, by Nick Farrell Making Talismans, by Nick Farrell Complete Cabbalistic Symbolism, by Gareth Knight The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need,
Table of Shewbread issues
The Table of Shewbread is an important diagram within the Golden Dawn’s 1=10, and yet when anyone is required to draw it, they discover that it creates more questions than anyone can supply answers. In the Magical Order of the Aurora Aurea we used a colour version of the 1=10 as shown in Pat Zalewski’s Inner Order of the Golden Dawn (pictured). The colouring of the diagram came from a Whare Ra member and was based on an AO paper. However our order also requires people to draw the diagram in a workbook and from that a member came back to me with the following question:– Why does it differ from the Stella Matutina version printed in Israel Regardie (pictured)? The