Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't been updating as often lately. At present I do not have the time to keep daily updates, but I intend to post a few times a week, so keep checking back. Also, if you'd like me to tackle a certain subject in a blog post, add a comment here and I'll get on it as soon as possible. In the mean time, here's another round-up: Sincerus Renatus made an interesting post on the Divine Names in the LRP . For my own musings on these Divine Names, check here . Morgan Drake Eckstein posted the third part of his Roots of the Golden Dawn series , which looks at the different types of lineage. He makes an important distinction between administrative and initiatory lineage which is worth highlighting. Yours Truly posted an important quotation from Dion Fortune on Henosis Decanus . It is vital that we recognise the Divine Feminine in some form, and I agree wholeheartedly with Fortune's sentiments on the subject.

A somewhat belated Autumnal Equinoctial greeting to you all, and a few words of prayer from the Occult Ireland Autumnal Equinox Ceremony, which was performed on Sunday gone: At this Autumnal Equinox, when there again arises a moment of balance, when night and day are equal, when there is no dominance of darkness or light, let us turn inward and focus upon the Osirian energies that are now in motion. Let us turn inward and meditate on the properties of Libra, the sign of the Scales, most symbolic of balance, and most pertinent to us now. Let us turn inward and think upon the contraction of energies, to the inward-turning spiral of spiritual growth. Let us turn inward and muse upon the catabolic process, the breaking down of things in order to expose the primal matter hidden within. Instil within us the qualities of balance, of temperance, of the reconciliation of opposites, and be to us a fervent reminder of the straight and narrow path between the Pillars of Mercy and Severity, the two...

The Autumnal Equinox edition of Hermetic Virtues magazine is now out, and includes work by Lyam Thomas Christopher and Lon Milo Duquette, along with many other excellent articles (and a new Horus Hathor tarot card, as well as a Malkuth ritual), including one of my own, entitled Reconciling An Elemental Inconsistency , which deals with the frequently-asked question of why Air is attributed to Theoricus and Yesod (a watery Lunar sphere) and Water is attributed to Practicus and Hod (the sphere of Mercury and the intellect, etc.). Reasons for why this seems inconsistent are first explored, before addressing some of the reasons for why it actually makes a lot of sense. If you don't already have a subscription to HV, get one now, and feel free to comment on the article itself (or other matters in the new issue) here. Hermetic Virtues, Volume 2 Issue 2

The new Autumnal Equinox edition of the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition is nearly here, and it deals with magical languages, which is very applicable to us Golden Dawn magicians, what with our interest in Hebrew and Enochian. On the topic of the former, which is called the Leshon ha-Qodesh , or the Holy Tongue, I wrote the following poem: Leshon ha-Qodesh by Dean F. Wilson

Aaron Leitch made a great virtual tour of the Vault of the Adepti last year, which I believe is worth sharing here:

"From one point of view the officers employed in these Rituals represent just such psychic projections. They represent, even as figures in dreams do, different aspects of man himself - personifications of abstract psychological principles inhering within the human spirit. Through the admittedly artificial or conventional means of a dramatic projection of these personified principles in a well-ordered ceremony a reaction is induced in consciousness. This reaction is calculated to arouse from their dormant condition those hitherto latent faculties represented objectively in the Temple of Initiation by the officers. Without the least conscious effort on the part of the aspirant, an involuntary current of sympathy is produced by this external delineation of spiritual paths which may be sufficient to accomplish the purpose of the initiation ceremony. The aesthetic appeal to the imagination - quite apart from what could be called the intrinsic magical virtue with which the G.D. document...

One of the key passages of the Neophyte ceremony is that said by the Hiereus: "Fear is failure [and the forerunner of failure]" (the bracketed part is only employed by certain groups). "Therefore, be without fear", we are told. I would like to explore some of these elements of fear that a Neophyte might face. Firstly there is the fear of magic, spirits, and the "occult" in general. To fear such is to cause the journey to cease before it is begun. Fear is a natural human emotion, true enough, but we are to become "more than human", and to do so we must not fear the tools of our growth, which are the occult. To do so would mean that we leave the path, having failed our mission, giving in to the wiles of the ego, and never progressing within the Order. Secondly there is the fear of change. Magic is, as Crowley put it, change in conformity with Will. Initiation, if successful, causes the beginnings of change. This can be hectic and seemingly catastro...

One of my personal magical "pet peeves" is the reversal of the old G.'.D.'. attributions of Air to the Dagger (cutting through the illusions of the mind, etc.) and Fire to the Wand (indicative of the fiery Will, etc.) to Fire for the Dagger and Air for the Wand. This latter approach has been taken up by many Wiccan groups and has been the cause of quite some muddying of attributions, and a lot of confusion therefrom. In a discussion on this topic a while back, Morgan Drake Eckstein mentioned that Francis King and Stephen Skinner, in their Techniques of High Magic , proposed the notion that the traditional attributions, as per Regardie and other earlier sources, were "blinds", and that they should be reversed. He gave the following quote from Skinner's Complete Magician's Tables : "The only notable exception to Golden Dawn practice is the reversal of the ascription of two magical weapons back to the traditional grimoire ascription of the Sword t...

Morgan Drake Eckstein at Gleamings from the Dawn posted the second part of his Roots of the Golden Dawn series, which explores the precise use of language used by certain adepts. Sincerus Renatus at Gyllene Gryningen posted on the recent topic of the Secret Chiefs (which I have shared my views on here , as well as Mathers views here ). It's a rather lengthy entry, but worth exploring for the facts and the support he lends to the "in the flesh" side of the Secret Chiefs debate, whether you agree with it or not. [Edit: This was an automatic post, and, since I was away for the weekend, I was unable to edit and expand it with the "more" that was indicated by the title. Apologies for such. Hopefully my next round-up will be somewhat lengthier]

"It is possible for you to be word perfect in all the knowledge of the Zelator Adeptus Minor Grade, and to know all its ceremonies by rote, and yet unless you can really and profoundly grasp their inner meaning, an uninitiated person who has a strong will, faith, reverence, self-sacrifice and perseverence, may be more truly a Magician than you." - S. L. MacGregor Mathers, Manifesto (1896)

The history of Rosicrucianism is a bit of a muddled affair, not least of all due to the fact that we don't really know who wrote the two manifestos (barring the likely candidate of Andreae, who wrote the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz ), nor why they were written, nor, indeed, if it was intended as a joke or a subtle social experiment designed to bring about change, propelled by the powerful forces of mystery, secrecy, and intrigue. It is difficult, even in modern times, to separate the myths from the facts, to discern which was the first actual Rosicrucian group from the many that claim its ancient heritage. The Rosicrucians: The History, Mythology, and Rituals of an Esoteric Order , by Christopher McIntosh (author of The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason ) is an excellent attempt at this discernment. The book spans just under 150 pages, which is relatively slim for a scholarly work, but then this is mainly intended as an overview, and is certainly not lacking in depth i...

The Gold- und Rosenkreuz Order, one of the first Rosicrucian orders in existence, seems to have had a major effect on the formation of the SRIA and Golden Dawn, as evidenced in Rosenkreuzery by I.A. Fessler, which gives the breakdown of grades as: 1 9 Junior 2 8 Theoreticus 3 7 Practicus 4 6 Philosophus 5 5 Minor 6 4 Major 7 3 Adeptus Exemptus 8 2 Magister 9 1 Magus In the SRIA, the Junior became a Zelator, and the names of Theoreticus or Theoricus, and Philosophicus or Philosophus, can be used. The Adeptus tag was also added for the Minor and Major degrees, which seem unusual in the above layout, as if they are, indeed, missing part of their name. Templi was then added to the Magister grade, completing the layout. It's interesting to note the numbers given to the grades. Since there is no tenth grade, the Adeptus Major one is "5=5", for example, and that does not fit nicely with the Tree of Lif...

It's been a slow few weeks in the blogging world, particularly with those on my blogroll, and this may be related to the proximity of the Autumnal Equinox, where our attention is turned inward to focus on our personal spiritual growth. Thus, this round-up is somewhat short: Morgan Drake Eckstein at Gleamings from the Dawn has started to explore the Roots of the Golden Dawn , with more posts to come, no doubt, given the very tangled and ambiguous state those roots are in. This first part explores the unfinished state of some GD teachings, and There are two very interesting diagrams from Ithell Colquhoun's The Sword of Wisdom (which I have, but have yet to read and review here) available online, charting the regular and dissident Orders stemming from the Isis-Urania Temple No. 3. How truthful they are is another story, and so I would welcome any of the historically-inclined readers of this blog to verify some of the details (such as the "Egyptian Lodge" led by E.A. ...

"Concerning the Secret Chiefs of the Order, to whom I make reference and from whom I have received the Wisdom of the Second Order which I have communicated to you, I can tell you nothing . I do not even know their earthly names. I know them only by certain mottoes. I have but very rarely seen them in the physical body; and on such rare occasions the rendezvous was made astrally by them at the time and place which had been astrally appointed beforehand. For my part I believe them to be human and living upon the earth but possessing terrible superhuman powers. When such rendezvous has been in a much frequented place, there has been nothing in their personal appearance or dress to mark them out as differing in any way from ordinary people except the appearance and sensation of transcendental health and physical vigour (whether they seemed persons in youth or in age) which was their invariable accompaniment. In other words, the physical appearance which the possession of the Elixir...

"Surgeons who practice medicine without a license often end up in jail. Superficial occultists who occasionally manage to open psychic doors without knowing what to do next sometimes end up in mental hospitals." - Chic & Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition

Every so often the topic of asceticism is brought up, and some wonder how it applies to the Golden Dawn, and if there is any official policy on it. Some wonder whether or not they may have to give up the recreational use of illegal drugs, or perhaps even alcohol or caffeine, or abstinence from sex and other worldy pleasures. For the latter topic of sex, the relationship of MacGregor and Moina Mathers is an interesting topic of debate, but it seems clear that Mathers, while perhaps choosing a life of sexual abstinence with Moina, did not encourage others to do likewise, and seemed to defend Crowley when others were judging his worthiness on the basis of his sexual promiscuity (among other things). While there was no official policy on one's private sex life (after all, it was supposed to be private, and Mathers was a staunch defender of such), we may potentially gleam some insight to what might have been considered an "unofficial policy", stemming from the Cromlech Temple,...

The Secret Chiefs are one of the most controversial topics within Golden Dawn circles today, and were the focus of much debate and furore in the original Order and its offshoots some 100 years ago. Mathers brought the term into the Golden Dawn when he established the Inner Order, claiming to have contacted the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order (thus giving him primary authority). However, it wasn't readily apparent whether these were actual people (whether incarnate "Masters" or not) or discarnate entities, although some of the language used to describe them (including their questionable ages) seems to intimate that they were allegorical constructs, like much of Rosicrucian teaching (and very similar to the fanciful tales of Christian Rosenkreutz himself). However, this did not stop many Golden Dawn members from looking for the Secret Chiefs in the flesh, most notable of which was Felkin, who, like the others, came back unsuccessful. It must be noted that Felkin also beli...

On rereading Flying Roll No. V recently I found myself rewording it and elaborating on certain points within my mind. Since the original paper is quite old and somewhat archaic, I thought I should share my rewording of it here: Imagination, as any magician will know, is not a matter of fantasy and the idle creations of the mind. Despite its denigration as "childish", as the wilful enactment of fallacy in the playground of the mind, Imagination is one of the key weapons in the magician's arsenal, and without it there would be no vessel in which to pour the power of the magician's Will. Imagination puts us in touch with a more primal element of our being, one that is exemplified in the child, unconditioned by the social limitations imposed upon it by adults who have been drained of this essential ability. It is Imagination that is tapped into by artists and writers, and so too does the magician partake of this art, to result in the creative process that is magic. But t...