Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

The Golden Dawn was one of the first Orders to accept women as members. Indeed, it was so open to women that they often held the "top jobs". The Golden Dawn also accepted members from all religions. However, this element of equality did not extend to all areas. There is the infamous case of Crowley being rejected for his 5=6 on the basis of his sexual orientation (dealt with to some degree here ), though that was clearly not the only reason for his rejection. I wonder how many others were or might have been rejected on similiar grounds in the overly prudish Victorian society in which the Golden Dawn originally grew. And what of other inequalities were there, such as rejection on the basis of age, race, nationality, political persuasion, or disability? The reasons why a person should be rejected by a Golden Dawn Order should be more to do with their attitude, their willingness or unwillingness to do the Work, etc. than anything that has little or nothing to do with the occult...

The Golden Dawn is a living, breathing, growing tradition. Some people like to suggest it is dead or dying, but they are delusional, for they have either not experienced it or have experienced a corrupted or soulless form of it. When the original Order schismed the tradition went in seperate directions, the Current diverging into many different streams. This brought the tradition to more people, just as tributaries bring water to more land. It allowed the system to grow in multiple ways because it unshackled it from its original constraints. The mystical brought it in one direction, the masonic in another, the magical in yet another. The SM and AO developed two different, yet equally valid, streams from which the GD current could grow exponentially more than would have been possible had they all remained together. And it is still here, growing, taking new directions. Things are being added and changed, new insights found, new ways of looking at the material of our forefathers, and new ...

A recent post by Morgan Drake-Eckstein on the test and grade examinations used by various Golden Dawn orders (itself a response to Fr. AIT's blog on the same topic, now removed) got me thinking about this aspect of Golden Dawn work. There are two extremes possible with examinations. They can be upheld very strictly, in an almost academic way, or they can be ignored altogether, as Annie Horniman discovered when she rejoined the Order after Westcott (the man who did much of the administrative work) had left. I don't think either approach is a good one, though I am more likely to lean towards the former than the latter. You see, the problem with examinations is that they tend to be entirely intellectual, and, while this is an important aspect of our work, it is not the most important, nor the only part. Some element of practical work and testing on such is vital, as is a general inquiry as to how the grade energies have affected the initiate, if at all; afterall, if we end up the...