Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

The history of the Order of the Golden Dawn (in all its guises, both old and modern, orthodox and heterodox) is an intriguing affair for both the magician and the scholar. Like the history of many occult groups it is filled with scandal, secrecy, and sometimes a bit of sex to boot. It is also filled with magic, mystery, and the transmutation of gross matter into spiritual splendour, but that looks less appealing on the headlines and is often ignored in sensationalist accounts. It has come to my attention that my blog lacks resources for those new to the Order in finding some of the basic elements of that history, a history which should be studied (regardless of depth) by every student of the system, given it provides some of the foundations upon which we work. Therefore, without further adieu, here are a few links that detail some of the Order's history. For more detailed information the books of R.A. Gilbert, Francis King, Ellic Howe, Ithell Colquhoun, Israel Regardie, and Mary K....

A question that crops up every so often from people interested in garnering a stronger understanding of what the Golden Dawn is all about, and why certain beliefs or practices are utilised, is the Egyptian focus of the Outer Order. At one stage I was asked "is there an explanation or group of explanations even as to why the Egyptian pantheon is utilised versus any other?" While there are a myriad of reasons, some esoteric (and often highly convoluted), I have opted to give the more pragmatic of reasons below: 1) It was claimed by Westcott, in his History Lecture, that the Jewish people were taught by the Egyptians. It was common (and still is) to ascribe ancient wisdom to the Egyptians. Alchemy , for one, is a word that comes from "Al-Khem", or "from Egypt". Here is a little of what Westcott wrote: "Through the Hebrew Kabbalah, we have indeed become possessed of more of the ancient wisdom than from any other source, for it must be born in mind that th...

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

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...

"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)