Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

A poem I wrote in 2006: In vessels of beauty I sought the beloved; I sailed upon seas made of poetry and prose. This tongue-tied tale of a travelling wayman Brought me to the foot of the cross and the rose - And there in the shadow the hidden light shows. In moments of rapture and deep thoughts enclosing, I rode on a mule that was made out of me; This trip was in darkness, though on the horizon, Was a single star shining for all us to see. Lost in my thoughts, I was trapped and yet free. In times of great trial when the dark is approaching, I only need look past this valley of death, This cage of bleak remnants and careful supposings, To the great and wide ocean outside the fish net, Where the waters still nourish and the Mother is met. Inside are the waters, within is the Tree; I sailed upon oceans that were all within me. It took me so long to stop sailing and Be, And in that pure Being my being was set free - Let no Dark avail, for the Light is the Key.

Volume 5, Issue No. 3 of Hermetic Virtues has been released, containing the following excellent articles and reviews: + The Path of the Chameleon: Golden Dawn Color Studies by Sandra Tabatha Cicero + The Lovers by Harry Wendrich + Spiritual Development by Frater YShY + The Elemental Weapons of the Adept by Jayne Gibson + A life magical and rich - review by Samuel Scarborough + An invocation of Binah by Samuel Scarborough + The Book of the Concourse of the Watchtowers:  An Exploration of Westcott's Enochian Tablets - review by Lauren E. Gardner + Restoring the Goddess of Nature to the 1=10 by Nick Farrell + Into the Aethyrs of Enochian - review by Samuel Scarborough + An invocation of Qadesh Aphariel (Perfect Spirit) by V.H. Soror A.A. To obtain a copy, click here .

Peregrin Wildoak's first book, By Names and Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life , is an aptly-titled exploration of the Golden Dawn system of magic from a unique perspective. It delves into the inner workings of the rituals and techniques utilised by the Order and provides an accessible guidebook and manual for working with and within the Golden Dawn tradition. At 371 pages this is a comprehensive text, exploring many of the important teachings of the Order in some detail, with chapters on purification, meditation, divination, aura control, invocation, evocation, inner plane work, and initiation. The material on auras and dramatic invocation is particularly good, showing a wealth of experience and insight in this area. I do not always agree with some of the things Wildoak suggests, such as drawing up the light from the Earth in the Qabalistic Cross, but it is interesting to see another approach to this thriving magical tradition. There are also a couple of Hebrew ...

Olen Rush posted his excellent Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales on his blog, which is a perfect accompaniment to Sandra Tabatha Cicero's The Book of the Concourse of the Watchtowers , shedding light on one of the more mysterious aspects of Golden Dawn teaching. Image © Olen Rush This advanced Golden Dawn Enochian material shows how much more there is to explore, experience and learn in the Golden Dawn system, and Olen's treatise makes for an excellent new Flying Roll for modern adepts. Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales - Part One Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales - Part Two Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales - Part Three

There are many misconceptions out there about what the Golden Dawn is. Instead of disputing or debunking them, let us look at what the Golden Dawn really is. These points are in no particular order, nor are they a complete representation, but they will hopefully shed more light on this more than a century old tradition. The Golden Dawn is a syncretic tradition that combines and unifies a multitude of magical systems employed in the Western Mystery Tradition, including, but not limited to: Qabalah, Astrology, Tarot, Hermeticism, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Enochian, Geomancy, and various other esoteric subjects. The Golden Dawn is a school that teaches a structured approach to magic, being primarily theoretical in the Outer Order (the Golden Dawn proper) and practical in the Inner Order (the RR et AC or Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis). Some have likened the requirements of Golden Dawn study to that of a college degree, with several grade exams and, in the Stella Matutina traditio...

"I am the Knowledge of my Name."  — Thunder, Perfect Mind In the Golden Dawn the magical motto is not just a fancy name or title, but a representation of the spiritual and magical goals of the magician. It is, in many ways, the first magical act performed by the Candidate, consecrating themselves towards a given purpose, redirecting their life as they see fit. The motto therefore carries a lot of power, particularly when employed regularly in ritual work, where it becomes the very embodiment of the magical persona of the initiate. On entering the temple, Bob is no longer Bob, but Frater Whatever, and if he really chose that as his motto we would expect to see disinterest and apathy become a central focus and defining factor in his life. So, with so much wrapped up in our magical name, should we keep it secret or let the whole world know? There are varying schools of thought on this, none of which are right or wrong, and ultimately the choice to share you...