Pseudo-Historians & the Golden Dawn Feud

by David Griffin

I Ain't Feudin' - I'm Writin' "History"

Nick Farrell today published yet another pseudo-historical rant on his blog, in which Farrell once again merely repeated the same, worn out talking points, while completely failing to address any of the host of subtantial rebuttals to his talking points that have been raised over and over again from scholars from across the entire spectrum of the esoteric community. Mr Farrell does not yet appear to yet understand the incongruence of his claiming to he a "historian of the Golden Dawn, yet failing to even the most basic rules of academia!

On the Golden Dawn forum, Mr. Farrell was recently taken to task for his propaganda-like approach to "history" by acacemic anthropologist, Leslie McQuade, who wrote:

Anthropologist Leslie McQuade

SUBJECT: When Magicians Play Historian 

"As an academic and a trained anthropologist, it has been extremely entertaining over the past couple of days to observe the group of quasi-academics play historian, while ignoring the most basic rules of academia.  No matter how much I disagree with my detractors, the rigors of academia require that I acknowledge and engage counter arguments to the points that I am presenting. 

To merely repeat "talking points" over and over, like a broken record, whether in forum, book, or blog form, while completely ignoring any rebuttal may work well in the rough and tumble world of Republican politics, but in in real world academia it will likely cost you your peer review. Thus my judgement of esotericist/magicians "playing historians" (like fire-weilding bonobos) seems to be very apt when it comes to the arrogance and complete disregard for even the most fundamental of academic rigors and protocols recently exhibited by Golden Dawn lay-historians." - Leslie McQuade

Mr. Farrell is once again playing with fire in his self-appointed role of "myth busting conooclast" attacking fundamental aspects of the Golden Dawn using a pseudo-historical yardstick. Mr. Farrell has been taken to task by real academics for this on numerous occasions as well. Here is what anthropologist Leslie McQuade recently wrote, for example:

"As an anthropologist, I find it fascinating that Pat Zalkewki and Nick Farrell, who purport to lead Golden Dawn orders, do not understand that it is initiatic proof rather than historical proof that is the correct yardstick with which to measure the "oath bound" material of any initiatic tradition. 

You see, as a trained anthropologist, I have had the opportunity to study cultures, and to have the permission of those cultures to learn things usually hidden to other researchers. This is because of my dual status as not only as anthropologist, but also as an initiated witch. This is a process called "participant observer". It is a scientific method whereby in order to understand some aspects of culture it is necessary to actually "become" a member of the society at a certain level. Usually this means undergoing certain rites of passage which are age and experience appropriate, but also, as in my case, pursuing my interests in magic in the field. 

I am not really surprised to find this phenomenon in the Golden Dawn community. In the Pagan community, we have frequently had to deal with historians trying to play anthropologist, even though untrained in the ethnographic method. 

In Mr. Farrell's case, his experience as a tabloid journalist does not compensate for his lack of academic training in the historical method. In the case of the contemporary Golden Dawn, we find a bizarre situation where esotericists like Mr. Farrell make sweeping judgements about esoteric material as though they were trained historians, which they are not. Even if they were, by the way, they would nonetheless be out of their depth, as the evaluation of a living occult tradition is the proper pervue of the anthropologist rather than the historian. 

What we are witnessing today in the Golden Dawn community are a group of occultists pretending to be historians while, based on motives that are purely political, passing sweeping judgements on material which is anthropological rather than historical in nature to begin with." - Leslie McQuade

TRUTH I: The real reason Nick Farrell keeps trying to debunk the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Golden Dawn and the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega is jealousy, as was also the case in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud.

TRUTH II: The root of the problem is Nick Farrell leads a Golden Dawn order  with nothing to offer his students but well known magick you can buy anywhere in a cheap Llewellyn edition. Farrell therefore writes entire books trying to prove no one else has anything more or better to offer than Llewellyn rehashes like he does.

TRUTH III: What is driving Mr. Farrell off the rails is that the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega offers Adepts from the entire Golden Dawn community a vast amount of advanced magical practices and systems that were recently transmitted by the Secret Chiefs to the Golden Dawn community through the Alpha et Omega.

TRUTH IV: The real reason Mr. Farrell attacks lineage, the A.O., and the Secret Chiefs themselves is because the Secret Chiefs chose the A.O. instead of Mr. Farrell's order to transmit this material.  Rest assured ... had the Secret Chiefs chosen Farrell's order, you would have heard him singing praises instead of attacking the Secret Chiefs!

TRUTH V: Regarding lineage, Farrell desperately ignores that it is the "body of teachings and practices" themselves that define lineage in a spiritual tradition, and not some pseudo-historical nonsense. I have covered this subject already thoroughly here.

And the absolute root of the problem?

TRUTH VI:

"The A.O. has new Golden Dawn magic to teach. Nick Farrell has only old rehash."

And contrary to Nick Farrell's propaganda ...

TRUTH VII: The Alpha et Omega is not asking anyone to take our cornucopia of new, advanced Golden Dawn teachings on "faith." As my grandmother used to say:

"The proof is in the pudding."

In other words, it is the advanced Golden Dawn magical and spiritual practices and teachings - in themselves - that are the real proof. Mr. Farrell's specious claim that we are asking people to take these things on "blind faith" is merely a word game. As Ms. McQuade mentioned above, Farrell is inappropriately demanding "historical" proof, when the real yardstick is "initiatic" proof for oath bound initiatic material.

... And the Alpha et Omega sharing this concrete and indisputable proof with the entire Golden Dawn community at the International Conclave of Golden Dawn Adepti, beginning March 9, 2012 near Las Vegas, Nevada. Here you will find complete details. Hope to see you there at this historical event!

At the end of the day, there is plenty of room in the Golden Dawn for both Mr. Farrell's order and the Alpha et Omega. There is no need at all for Mr. Farrell to be so obsessed with attacking/"debunking" our order and the Secret Chiefs.

There are plenty of people that come to the Golden Dawn looking for history. These people are better off in Mr. Farrell's order.

There are, however, also plenty of people who join the Golden Dawn wanting to learn magick. Many of these people are familiar with the published Golden Dawn material and are not looking for just a Regardie book study group.

These people want to learn new magical systems and are looking for accelerated spiritual growth through advanced magical practices and techniques. These people are better off joining the Alpha et Omega.

Thus the two orders serve the needs of completely different types of students, so there is no reason, jealousy aside, for Mr. Farrell to continue with his obssession with our order.

We wish Mr. Farrell and his order well, even though we do wish Mr. Farrell would mind his own business and teach his own students more, instead of trying to rewrite history in veiled attacks on our order all the time.

I, for one, have much better things to do with my time than to go on refuting the same talking points from Mr. Farrell over and over.

One would hope Mr. Farrell also has better things to do than to go on repeating them endlessly.

NEW!: Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center

Readers of the Golden Dawn Blog will recall how, in the wake of the expulsion of Robert Zink and the collapse of his Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, the Golden Dawn Research Center has come under the new management of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Alpha et Omega.

As a result of these developments, there are a lot of exciting things happening at the Golden Dawn Research Center.

Most Importantly, I am pleased to announce the arrival of the long overdue:

We have cast a wide net and as a result, are already lining up an amazing line of authors and academics for the inaugural issue of the Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center. These contributors come not only from the Golden Dawn community, but from the larger esoteric community, and from the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness.

You will find more information on the Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center and on submissions here.

In the mean time, in anticipation for the inaugural issue of the Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center, we have uploaded a substantial collection  of important research papers and articles in the Golden Dawn Research Center Archives here. These include papers by Scandinavian Golden Dawn Imperator, GH Frater Sincerus Renatus, Alexandrian Wiccan Elder and High Priest, Frater Barrabbas Tiresius, a couple of papers I wrote myself, and even two Communiqués directly from the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Golden Dawn.

Lineage and Spiritual Traditions East and West

by Alpha Omega Imperator

David Griffin

There has again been significant buzz in recent weeks on the Golden Dawn fora and blogs about the importance, or lack thereof, of lineage in the Golden Dawn tradition. The concept of lineage is found not only in esoteric orders, but also in the great spiritual traditions of the East, as well as in Christianity and Freemasonry in the West.

In Christianity, the doctrine of Apostolic Succession maintains that the Christian Church today is the spiritual successor to the original body of believers in Christ, composed of the Apostles. In pre-Protestant Reformation Churches, Apostolic Succession is claimed as having been passed through unbroken lines of bishops beginning with the original Apostles.

In its formal aspect, lineage may amount to little more than a formal means of mutual recognition, as in the case of Freemasonry, which uses charters and systems of mutual recognition between Grand lodges to establish ‘regularity.’

George Washington

Of course, in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and in the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, we have our charters, which we are very proud of, even though we understand that there is more to spiritual lineage than just charters. The Golden Dawn is not unique in in this regard, either.

In Western esotericism, numerous orders use lineage as a means of ensuring a direct transmission of spiritual principles and energies. Lineage, like trademarks, is also a basic form of protection for the public, that what members find is actually what they associate with the name or the spiritual tradition. Who wants to join a Martinist order, only to find Hindu teachings instead, or to join the Golden Dawn looking for tradtional initiation and to learn Hermetic and Rosicrucian magic and alchemy, only to find New Age teachings and "Astral" initiation instead?

Louis-Claude de St. Martin

Martinist orders, for examples all claim lineage deriving from Louis-Claude de St. Martin. L'Ordre Martiniste (the Martinist Order) came about in 1884 when Gerard Encausse (Papus) met August Chaboseau. They discovered that they had both apparently received Martinist initiation through two different chains of succession which linked back to Saint-Martin and his original disciples. Papus claimed to have come into the possession of the original papers of de Pasqually and to have been given authority in the Rite of Saint-Martin by his friend Henri Viscount Delaage. However, Encausse realized that there was a "missing link" in his own chain of succession: he and Chaboseau therefore "swapped initiations" in order to consolidate their lineages.

Let us not forget, however, that the Golden Dawn is first and foremost a spiritual tradition. Therefore, charters and such, are not all that matter. In all of the great spiritual traditions, both East and West, lineage carries with it a spiritual transmission or realization, as in the case of Dharma transmission in Zen Buddhism.

Zen Buddhism, for example, maintains records of their historical teachers who, according to the traditional history of that school, have passed the Dharma from generation to generation in an unbroken line since the time of the Buddha. Dharma transmission is the formal confirmation by a master of Zen or Chan Buddhism of a student's awakening. This one-to-one transmission is said to trace back over 2,500 years to Gautama Buddha when he gave dharma transmission to his disciple Mahakasyapa, who is regarded as the first patriarch of Zen in India.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Shambhala Buddhist Lineage

I have often heard people in the Golden Dawn community say that: "Lineage does not matter. What matters is to do the work." This is certainly half true. "To do the work," however, one must have the necessary spiritual practices, as is the case with the Buddhist lineages.

The various lineages of the Alpha Omega carry with them a vast corpus of knowledge and spiritual practices from the Hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions. These include advanced magical and Hermetic Internal Alchemical systems that the Alpha Omega already shares with a number of traditional Golden Dawn orders.

Alpha et Omega Ascending: On the Wings of Ma'at!

by David Griffin

HOGD, AO, 33

Regular readers will recall how,  in 2002, I was contacted for the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega by Frater Lux E Tenebris, a representative of the millennia old, Continental European Hermetic and Rosicrucian Internal College that S.L. MacGregor Mathers called the "Secret Chiefs of the Third Order." 

History will prove what a great boon this event in reality has been for the Golden Dawn community. Already in 2002, the Secret Chiefs transmitted the A.O. the initiation rituals and initially teachings intended since 1888 for the Third Order of the Golden Dawn.

The Secret Chiefs this year opened the flood gates wide, transmitting vast amounts of additional Hermetic and Rosicrucian magical teachings and systems to the Alpha Omega, to replace the material profaned through publication by misguided Golden Dawn Adepts.

The Third Order chose the Alpha et Omega as a a gesture of recognition of the magical genius and greatness of the founder of our order, S.L. Macgregor Mathers. Although the Secret Chiefs have not always been pleased with Mathers, it was he who, after all, was the primary contact with Them for the Golden Dawn since the beginning.

Alpha Omega Founder, S.L. MacGregor Mathers

Having been chosen by the Secret Chiefs to serve as Mathers' successor as the primary contact with Them for the Golden Dawn is a great honor, but it has also been a terrible burden. Such a heavy cross must be borne, however, by all so chosen for such a role.

As Archon Basileus of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, I have been attacked nearly non-stop for the entire decade since the Secret Chiefs sent Frater Lux E Tenebris to meet with me in Paris. The A.O. as well has been sued, misrepresented, and defamed constantly on the Internet. Our sacred initiation rituals and early documents have been published. I have been personally called a lier and a fraud. My predecessor, S.L. MacGregor Mathers, has been called a madman. Not even Secret Chiefs have escaped the disparagement of misguided individuals. They themselves have been branded as mere figments of Mathers' imagination.

Clearly there are Counter-Initiatic Forces at play, attempting to hinder the Alpha et Omega from playing its destined role to aid mankind in its spiritual development in the new Millennium.

Sadly, leaders of several Golden Dawn orders have rejected the new infusion of Spirit bestowed on the Golden Dawn community by the Secret Chiefs. Instead, they have chosen to oppose the Secret Chiefs and ally themselves instead with the unbalanced magical forces seeking to hinder the Alpha et Omega and its its mission.

For years, they have attacked me online, accusing me of lying about the Secret Chiefs and many other things. They have ignored all proof we have offered, and continued relentless attacks against the A.O. They have spat on our offer to share advanced Golden Dawn magic and teachings with Adepts from across the Golden Dawn community. They have even threatened their Adepts with expulsion should they attend our International Conclave of Golden Dawn Adepti March 9-19, 2012 or even should they take part in the advanced magical teachings and practices.

Having consulted at length with the Third Order about the constant distraction and drain on my energy created by these incessant attacks, I have decided to take definitive magical action to restore balance once and for all.

An Invocation of Ma'at

"I invoke you, oh Ma'at! And call out to you to restore Truth, Order, and Righteousness to the Golden Dawn."

"I invoke you, Oh Lady of the Balance in the Hall of Twin Truths."

"I offer my heart up on your scale, oh Ma'at, that should I be found lacking, you may render judgement upon me, so that balance may be restored."

"Yet should my heart be true, and as light as a feather, may you subdue and vanquish the unbalanced forces seeking to prevent the Alpha et Omega from exalting the consciousness of those who seek true enlightenment."

"I invoke you, oh Lady of Righteousness, that Truth, Balance and Order may be restored."

"I invoke you, Oh Lady of the Scales! Oh Goddess hidden at the center of our Temple in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn."

"I invoke you, oh Ma'at, and I bring the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega under the protection of your Divine wings."

"May Ma'at be restored, our order protected from those who unjustly attack it, and may Ma'at vanquish the Unbalanced Forces."

The Alpha Omega Initiation Rituals PUBLISHED?

Sadly, there today still exist leaders of "Golden Dawn" orders who view the Golden Dawn as a dead object of historical curiosity. These clowns throw traditional Golden Dawn sanctity of initiatic secrecy to the wind.

Like maggots fighting over pieces of a rotting Golden Dawn corpse, the Golden Dawn Clowns rush to publish under their own name any documents remaining unprofaned from the early Golden Dawn. I have written extensively on such self-destructive insanity here and here.

Which maggot will get the biggest piece?

Alpha Omega Adepts do not behave like this. Unlike "The Exquisite Corpse Golden Dawn Orders," the Alpha et Omega (founded by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in 1906) knows the Golden Dawn never died, since the Third Order remained active behind the scenes, even during the few years that no outer order temples remained visible.

Mathers' A.O. is a traditionalist Golden Dawn order. For example, we still value initiatic secrecy and classical Gollden Dawn initiation with candidates physically present in real Golden Dawn temples. We have no need for cheap notoriety, since the Alpha Omega is completely different than today's merely "Golden Dawn" orders.

Why?

Because the A.O. today is the only Golden Dawn order remaining under the direct protection and supervision of the The Secret Chiefs of the Golden Dawn's Third Order.

And this means a lot!

For example, the merely "Golden Dawn" orders don't even have any traditional Golden Dawn teachings, beyond Theoricus Adeptus Minor. They all dead-end with the beginners' material published by Crowley and Regardie, and republished ad nauseum by the Golden Dawn Clowns.

The A.O. is different. The Secret Chiefs have given vast additional secret magical materials for our Second Order curriculum, like the keys that unlock Agrippa's magical systems only outlined in De Occulta Philosophia.

Moreover, unlike the merely "Golden Dawn" orders, the Alpha Omega uses entirely unpublished magical hierarchies for elemental and astrological magick. This keeps our magick both therugical and potent, as it is not corrupted by use by any Tom, Dick, or Harry  for "who knows what."

Sadly, the Alpha Omega having so much of substance to offer our students makes us unpopular with envious Golden Dawn leaders. This is why these "Golden Dawn Clowns" have been rushing to publish all of our early Alpha Omega documents and initiation rituals.

But what the Golden Dawn Clowns do not realize is that they are not hurting the Alpha et Omega at all with such self-destructive behavior. They are merely making fools of themselves.

Every time that the Golden Dawn Clowns publish another one of our A.O. documents, the Secret Chiefs simply give the Alpha et Omega even more unpublished material!

Take, for example, how the Golden Dawn Clowns several years ago began publishing early versions of our A.O. initiation rituals. 

In response, the Secret Chiefs simply released additional material to us to revise all of our A.O.rituals with! 

So despite all of the best efforts of the Golden Dawn Clowns to harm our order by publishing our rituals ... 

"All of the initiation rituals of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega still today remain unpublished and unprofaned."

This week, the Golden Dawn Side Show reached an even greater degree of silliness, when a GD author published what they falsely claim is the 1906 version of the Alpha et Omega's Adeptus Major (6=5) ritual, a version written by S.L. MacGregor Mathers.

Guess what? 

It turns out what they published is, in reality, only a tiny fragment of our original Alpha Omega 6=5 ritual! ...

Section 4 of the ritual to be exact! 

The author could have avoided making a complete Harlequin of themselves, by asking why the number "4" is there at the top of the front page of the manuscriupt fragment they thought was the whole enchilada! 

I guess that is what you get when you go rummaging around in other people's dust bins. 

Contrary to false advertising, the bulk of the 1906 (Mathers) version of our Rosicrtucian Order of Alpha et Omega, Adeptus Msajor (6=5) ritual remains safely protected and out of the greedy hands of the Golden Dawn Clowns. 

More importantly, the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha Omega trashed this old version of our 6=5 initiation ritual long ago, knowing that it was only a question of time before one of the Golden Dawn Clowns tried to publish it any way!

"The Alpha et Omega, Adeptus Major (6=5) initiation ritual was thoroughly revised in recent years under the direct guidance and supervision of the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Golden Dawn."

Enough is enough already. Why not, let's all get on with the real work of the Golden Dawn, namely spiritual development, and end the Side Show of cheap profanation once and for all?

Don't worry, gentle reader, the Golden Dawn Side Show will surely end soon enough - if for no other reason than because the clowns are running out of pies.

The Secret Chiefs & the True Nature of Golden Dawn Lineage

Yesterday Nick Farrell wrote an article trying to rationalize his repeated profanation of "oath bound" Golden Documents. I considered this worthy of several hours of my time to refute, so that younger Golden Dawn initiates in our community would not be misled by Mr. Farrell's bad example, and to provide a positive role model for the traditional value of secrecy in initiatic traditions, including in the Golden Dawn. You may read this article on the Golden Dawn Blog here.

Mr. Farrell replied with yet another long "lineage rant" Alpha et Omega. The Golden Dawn community, of course, grew bored with Mr. Farrell's attack rants long ago, that have even tainted the feigned objectivity of his otherwise fine books.

There is no need, therefore, to waste time refuting such nonsense in detail yet again, as such screeds have been refuted over and over for nearly two decades already.

Let it suffice to say that, despite frequent and thorough refutation, Nick Farrell today still fails even to grasp what lineage means for a spiritual tradition like the Golden Dawn. Farrell mistakenly assumes that Golden Dawn lineage is like the formal lineage of Freemasonry, which amounts to little more than successions of paper charters.

The Golden Dawn, however, is a spiritual tradition, and thus lineage for the Golden Dawn, contrary to Nick Farrell's fundamental misunderstanding, is not at all like that of Freemasonry, but instead more closely resembles the lineages of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, which are also "spiritual" lineages.

Golden Dawn lineage, as do all of the great spiritual lineages of the world, carries with it sets of spritual practices that lead to specific spiritual realizations, as do as the Dharma transmissions of Buddhism.

A perfect example of Golden Dawn spritual lineage, are the secret magical practices of the Hermetic tradition just communicated by the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Golden Dawn to the Second Order of the Alpha Omega. As I mentioned in my recent article here, this spiritual lineage includes the initiatic secrets of the magical systems only touched upon in Cornelius Agrippa's, De Occulta Philosophia, that were only  alluded to in the profaned Golden Dawn material published by Crowley and Regardie. This is the first time that the actual magical practices have been transmitted to any Golden Dawn order.

This Hermetic spiritual lineage also includes a great deal more, which I am not at liberty to disclose publicly at this time. I may only mention that this Hermetic spiritual lineage also includes a complete system of Chaldaen elemental and astrological magic, available exclusively in the Second Order of the A.O.

When it comes to spiritual traditions, lineage without the requisite spiritual practices is worthless, and the true reason why Nick Farrell continuously attacks the Alpha Omega is to divert attention from the fact that Farrell has nothing at all to offer his Golden Dawn students, except for well known and published material.

Readers interested in examining a more thorough refutation of one of Nick Farrell's typical lineage rants, should read "Golden Dawn Lineage, Nick Farrell and Historical Revisionism" on the Golden Dawn blog here.

Readers seeking more detailed information about the true nature of Golden Dawn lineage or about the vast Hermetic, Rosicucian, and Golden Dawn lineages held by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Rosicrucian Order of A.O., will find it on our website here, here, and here. and on the website of the Golden Dawn Research Center here.

REVEALED: Secret Chiefs Restore Golden Dawn Second Order Curriculum

"The Secret Chiefs just transmitted an entirely restored corpus of Second Order Golden Dawn material to replace and vastly supplement the profaned material published by Aleister Crowley, Nick Farrell, and others."

 

People who follow the Golden Dawn are already well aware that there are two camps in today's G.D. community. On the one side, there are traditionalist Golden Dawn orders, like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, its parent order, the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, and the August Order of the Mystic Rose.

Traditionalist orders like the H.O.G.D. know the Golden Dawn is an unbroken, living tradition. We understand the importance of the spiritual transmissions and magical technologies that come with lineage, and we hold fast to traditional Golden Dawn values like the importance of initiatic secrecy and classical Golden Dawn initiation, with candidates physically present in real Golden Dawn temples.

There also exist an entire host of recently founded, New Age-style Golden Dawn orders, many of whom believe the G.D. is a tradition that died when Whare Ra closed doors.  Leaders of New Age Golden Dawn orders thus feel themselves entitled to do whatever they wish with the corpse of what they believe is essentially a dead tradition. I have discussed this bizarre notion before at length here.

New Age Golden Dawn orders vary greatly. Pat Zalewksi, for example, has created his own Second and Third order material, consisting largely of intellectual analysis and speculation rather than magical practice. To his credit, Zalewski at least is honest these days that this is not traditional Golden Dawn, but rather his own invention.

I wish I could say the same about certain other Golden Dawn orders that pretend New Age "Astral Initiation" is a "traditional" Golden Dawn practice. This terrible deception cheats initiates of the full benefits of classical Golden Dawn initiation. New Age "Astral Initiation" orders today include Robert Zink's "Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn" and its schismatic spin-off, the "Order of the Golden Dawn, Collegium Spiritu Sancti," led by Zink protegé, Jeff Randich.

Even worse, are Golden Dawn "initiates" that seek cheap notoriety by publishing any remaining Golden Dawn document that falls into their hands. Nick Farrell, leader of the New Age "Magical Order of Aurora Aurorae" is a prime example of such misguided self-aggrandizement.

Farrell, for example, recently published "The Book of the Tomb", an unprofaned 1906 Alpha et Omega document. Farrell even went so far as to attempt to illegally assert copyright over this AO document, as though it were his own intellectual property. The hybris of such an act is astonishing.

It is unsurprising, therefore, that Farrell today wrote on his blog:

"As you will be aware this is a particular bugbear of mine which in my view has made a small group of people who do no magical work more important to some groups than they should be. There is a black market in trading of Golden Dawn photocopies which when they end up in the wrong hands, get traded for grades and favours. Sometimes if a group has a collection of photocopies it gives these out as proof that it has true lineage and other groups do not... even when the material was collected from this document trading racket." - Nick Farrell

The above rationalisation betrays Nick Farrell's guilty conscience about trying to gain cheap notoriety by attaching his name to unpublished Golden Dawn documents. The reason for such guilt is that these documents, by traditional Golden Dawn standards, are "oath bound material." I have written on the importance of secrecy, not only in the traditional Golden Dawn, but as well as in every single legitimate Western initiatic tradition, here and here.

Clearly Farrell has a guilty conscience about his profanation of oath bound documents, or he would not need to invent silly stories about mythical "black market's" in oath bound documents. What is most sad about Farrell's desperate search for recognition is that he does not see the inherent contradiction in pretending to lead a "Golden Dawn" order, while at the same time profaning traditional "oath bound" Golden Dawn documents. Even outsiders understand this bizarre contradiction, however. For example, Alexandrian Wiccan elder, Frater Barrabbas, commented on this here.

One can at least make sense of this misguided behavior on the part of Farrell and others like them, since all they have to offer their students is what they consider to be the dead cadaver of what once was the Golden Dawn. They therefore throw traditional Golden Dawn values like initiatic secrecy to the wind, and instead act like maggots fighting over pieces of a rotting corpse.

Traditionalist Golden Dawn orders, on the other hand, like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, its parent order the Alpha et Omega, and the August Order of the Mystic Rose, have far more to offer their students than just the material published by Crowley and Regardie, that has been republished ad nauseum by Nick Farrell and his ilk.

This is because traditionalist Golden Dawn orders like the Alpha Omega are still in contact with the living source that originally created the Golden Dawn, the order Mathers called the Third Order. Let there be no doubt about it. The living Secret Chiefs are not some New Age channeled entities like Pat Zalewski's "Guru Das," the channeled source of Zalewksi's odd theory of Golden Dawn "alchemy."

On the contrary, the Secret Chiefs lead a real order, which just transmitted an entirely restored corpus of Second Order Golden Dawn material to completely supplement the material profaned by Crowley, Farrell and the others like them. This vast supplemental R.R. et A.C. corpus includes entire, hitherto completely occulted magical systems. 


For example, the newly released, supplemental Second Order curriculum contains entire systems of unpublished magic, including pre-Qabalistic and pre-Egyptian, hierarchies of Chaldean Spirits for each of the 4 elements, 7 Planets, 12 Zodiacal signs, 36 decans, 72 quinants, and even each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac!

And this is only the tip of an enormous, newly released Golden Dawn magical iceberg!

When we first announsed this astonishing news last August, I already revealed here how the Golden Dawn was only originally given the encrypted versions of Agrippa's magic squares as he included in De Occulta Philosophia. We also explained how the so-called "planetary seals" are actually keys to unencrypt the published version of the squares.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa

At the conclusion of his Opus Magnum, De Occulta Philosophia, Agrippa himself says:

"These are things, which for an introduction into Magick we have collected out of the tradition of the ancients... some things are delivered by fragments, some things are even hidden ... for we have delivered this Art in such a manner, that it may not be hid from the prudent and intelligent, and yet may not admit wicked and incredulous men to the mysteries of these secrets, but leave them destitute and astonished, in the shade of ignorance and desperation."

Today, at long last, I have gained permission from the Secret Chiefs to lift the veil slightly more on the subject of the restored magical curriculum of the Second Order of the Golden Dawn. At the conclusion of De Occulta Philosophia, as quoted above, Agrippa makes clear that what he has published is but the tip of an occult iceberg. In the case of the magic squares, Agrippa only gives examples in passing, and does not at all explain the true magical system hidden behind.

Indeed, De Occulta Philosophia, gives concrete proof of the existance of a vast system of Hermetic magic, which has for many Centuries been safely hidden as "oath bound" material of a completely occulted, Hermetic initiatic tradition.

Today, this entire magical tradition has been entrusted to the second order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn within the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, where it shall forever remain available to Golden Dawn Adepts everywhere, "yet may not admit wicked and incredulous men to the mysteries of these secrets, but leave them destitute and astonished, in the shade of ignorance and desperation." In other words, these sacred Hermetic magical practices, although  now open to worthy Golden Dawn Adepts everywhere, shall nonetheless forever remain safely protected from individuals like Nick Farrell, who would surely publish them merely for cheap notoriety.

Nonetheless, as an act of fraternal love for all brothers and sisters of the Golden Dawn everywhere, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Alpha et Omega have decided not to hoard this amazing Second Order magical material for ourselves. Instead, we are sharing it with Adepts from across the entire spectrum of the Golden Dawn community, beginning with our open invitation to our International Conclave of Golden Dawn Adepti outside of Las Vegas, March 9-19. You can read more about this here.

That's right! Despite the differences between us ...

Second Order Adepts from any Golden Dawn temple or order in the entire Golden Dawn community is welcome to learn and practice this vast treasure trove of newly released Golden Dawn traditional Second Order magic.

However, it goes without saying that traditional Golden Dawn oaths of secrecy still do apply to this "oath bound" material. Adepts who violate initiaitic secrecy, exclude themselves automatically from advanced magical practice as the direct result of their own misguided actions.

Individuals like Nick Farrell who, in search of cheap notoriety, traffic in the publication "oath bound" Golden Dawn documents, are actually committing initiatic suicide. Such individuals condemn themselves to never progress spiritually or magically beyond anything other than well known, published material.

But for true Golden Dawn Adepts, who understand the value of secrecy, know how to respect their oaths, and how to keep their mouths shut, the Secret Chiefs have just opened the flood gates for you - with an astounding amount of amazing magical material beyond your wildest dreams.

I look forward to meeting our brother and sister Golden Dawn Adepts in Nevada next month! I am translating the new curriculum for you just as fast as I can.

GH Frater Lux ex Septentrionis, David Griffin

Archon Basileus, Rosicrucian Order of A.O.

Imperator, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Chief Adept, Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis