Thursday, September 27, 2012

1,000 Points of Light 1: "Personal Temples" (Great News for Independent Practitioners of the Magic of Light)

by Golden Dawn Imperator
David Griffin

In in the Alpha Omega, our primary mission is to provide Western individuals with the tools they need for their spiritual and energetic evolution. As a part of this continuing mission, we are  beginning to unveil several valuable new resources for Independent Practitioners of the Magic of Light.

There are Self-Initiates. There are Solitary Ritual Magic practitioners. There are Golden Dawn initiates in orders that will not teach them Ritual Magic in the outer order. There are Thelemites who would like to practice the Ritual Magic of "Liber O." There are Pagans who would like to properly invoke the forces of the Elements, Planets and Zodiac.

What do all of these people have in common? Except for my Ritual Magic Manual, all of these Independent Practitioners have been pretty much left to their own resources when it comes to their practice of the the Golden Dawn's system of spiritual evolution through the Magic of Light.

Well, that has changed, as of now. Over the next few weeks, the Alpha Omega is taking the lead once again, this time in providing you with one valuable resource after the other in regards to the Independent Practice of the Magic of Light.

Remember - Here in the Alpha Omega:

"We Make Magicians!"

This is the entire mission of our order, put into its simplest terms.

Independent practitioners have had my Ritual Magic Manual to assist them in their practice for over a decade already. Most independents, for whatever the reason, prefer not to work in a traditional order structure. Then there is the problem that most Golden Dawn orders other than the Alpha Omega do not provide any magical training at all to Outer Order initiates.

Thus there is a huge body of people out there who have been left until now with little guidance from Golden Dawn Adepts in their independent practice of Ritual Magic. The Alpha Omega is now stepping forward, as a community service, to better meet the needs of Independent Practitioners of the Magic of Light.

Today, it is my pleasure to unveil a bold new A.O. initiative. As the first step in our "1,000 Points of Light" initiative, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and our parent order, the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega would like to help ignite "1,000 Points of Light" around the world, with the goal of fostering the creation of 1,000 new Personal Temples.

Creating a Personal Temple will give your magic great power, because you build energy through constant magical practice in the same consecrated space. There are plenty of good resources available on how to create your own personal temple as well as how to craft magical tools. We encourage you to use these resources, together with your own personal creativity, to create your own, unique personal temple.

A personal temple does not need to be complicated. Your tools can be Golden Dawn style, Wiccan style, or whatever style suits you. What is important is that you dedicate a sacred space where you can practice Ritual Magic on a regular basis. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you like.

As I mention in the Ritual Magic Manual, if need be, you can practice Golden Dawn magic with nothing other than your index finger! On the other hand, you could craft all of the wands, swords, banners, robes, etc. that make up a full Golden Dawn temple. The choice is yours - and yours alone.

If you would like to do something in between, for Golden Dawn magic, what is most essential is to create an altar space and to place something to represent each of the four elements on it.

Some people use a fan for air, dirt for earth, a cup of water, and a candle for fire. Others like to craft and consecrate classic Golden Dawn magical implements; an air dagger, a fire wand, a water cup, and an earth pantacle, each with the correct sigils and names of power.

Certain Wiccan practitioners prefer to work with a wand for air, an athame for fire, a cup for water, and a pentacle for earth. Other Pagan practitioners reverse the wand and athame, more closely resembling the Golden Dawn arrangement.

Personally, I recommend to begin with the basic components used in the Golden Dawn's magical Eucharist; a red rose for air, a cup of wine, a candle for fire, and bread and salt for Earth.

See ...
"you can set up a Golden Dawn style altar with nothing more than a few things available in most kitchens." 
- David Griffin
What really matters is that you practice magic, then practice, practice, and practice even more. Try to set aside an hour a day for your magical practice if you can.

You will quickly see for yourself how much it helps to have a dedicated space for your magical practice. You do not need an entire room for this, although that would be ideal. When an entire room is not possible, you can always store your altar in a corner of a room, then bring it out when you are ready to practice. With time you will begin to feel a sense of awe, a sense of the sacred, merely by entering into your personal temple space.

Our first goal with this 1,000 Points of Light initiative, is to motivate you to create your own personal temple, and to help individual practitioners to create 1,000 new personal temples around the world. Can you imagine the power for spiritual growth that will be generated by 1,000 new personal temples all around the world?

... And there is no better way to motivate ourselves to create a beautiful personal temple than to share the fruit of our work with others. The Alpha Omega therefore invites you to send us a photograph of your personal temple once it is set up, and we will publish it for you here on the Golden Dawn Blog!

What better way to learn and to gain inspiration from one another?

We begin here with one photo we recently received from a solo practitioner in Australia, the beauty of which motivated the A.O. to create the 1,000 Points of Light initiative.

Personal Temple in Melborne, Australia

Again, we invite you to  share your personal temple here as well. Just tell us what city you are in, and we will put you on the map!

You can also send us a photo of your personal temple and we will publish it to share it with readers here on The Golden Dawn Blog. (Please try to keep the file size somewhat small. Please also let us know if you would also like your name or motto to appear. Otherwise, we will include only the city).

Watch this blog for other exciting news and valuable resources for Independent Practitioners of the Magic of Light!

Coming Soon ...

Sincerely,

Imperator David Griffin
HOGD, AO,  33, 90, 96












29 comments:

  1. This is a great post. I've currently been practicing some magic with a deity that I have here in my own. I have an altar and I usually burn incense, keep a glass of water and have herbs sitting on there for her. If I work with a deity already, would that hinder any progress of getting into the Golden Dawn? She is an angel of light and she is a strong, loving spirit. I hope to hear some feedback and once again, great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Marc,

      This will absolutely not hinder you. On the contrary. At this juncture, I would suggest that you Google "Bhakti Yoga" to new shed light on what you are already doing. What is important in such a practice is the devotion itself that you cultivate.

      Would you mind sharing a picture of your temple with the rest of us? You can use the link in the article.

      Next, keep an eye out here for additional resources coming up for Individual Practitioners like you!

      David Griffin

      Delete
  2. Excellent blog! Good news for solitary practitioners!

    We are just waiting for more. Thank you!


    Lvx in extension.

    CF

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thought that this blog post was excellent. I'm excited about the resources and I like the support offered. I have been focusing on learning the Lesser Banishing Pentegram Ritual. I wish my altar was as pretty and elaborate as Marc's! So far, I have a table the size of a kitchen table filled with candles, resin incenses, a small picture of the tree of life and a dagger.

    Thank You Mr Griffin for being a great leader within the Golden Dawn that cares about other's spiritual growth. I really loved this blog post!

    ~Soror V.F.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Soror C.F. We have plenty of additional good news coming up as part of the 1,000 Points of Light initiative. Stay tuned. More to come. Much - much more!

      Delete
  4. Is there any particular format for the photos? Is there an upload link or an email address, or.... I love the idea of sharing our Altars! ;-)

    LVX!

    ReplyDelete
  5. @ Jerome

    Please attach the photo to an email using the link above in the article. Be sure to let us know what city the Personal Temple is in!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you G.H. Fra. L.e.S. for this wounderful initiative! I think that this information is crucial not only for solitaires, but also for members who unfortunately don't have immidiate acess to Temple and need to learn how to make his/ her own personal temple also living in it:-)

    Fraternally in L.V.X.,
    M.S.M.

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  7. @ Soror V.F.

    That pic from Melbourne, Australia isn't mine.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really enjoyed this article David , I am looking forward to seeing more of this 1000 points of light initiative. I will be sure to post a picture of my temple space once complete .

    LVX

    Frater MPE

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am just loving this project. Thank-you Mr. Griffin for the resources that you're going to unveil to us all. :)
    Maybe I can feel little bit more comfortable about what I'm doing knowing that there are many others out there doing the same thing. Many times I forget that and kind of give up.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Put a green pin in the UK for me! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What part of the UK? That is a pretty big area!

      Delete
    2. Ha ha! Ooops - so it is... make that Wrexham, North Wales.

      Delete
  11. David, thanks for posting my personal temple's photo.
    Fra. T.A.S.
    Melbourne, Australia

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is very exciting!--personal temples and self-realization. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn will play a very important part in creating world peace. Magic will eventually be confirmed more, and more by scientific research. The world will eventually unite once science is united with religion. This is documented thoroughly at: http://www.angelfire.com/planet/scienceandreligion/worldpeace/index.html

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  13. Although I do not have space " set apart", I do have an area that is repeatedly used. If that qualifies, put a green pin in Killeen, TX

    ReplyDelete
  14. Yes. That qualifies. We will put your temple on the map!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Please put a green pin in Penobscot Maine as I have a space I use repeatedly and some magickal tools like a dagger and candles.

    Thanks!

    ~Soror V.F

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello,
    I have a small temple in the city of Kingston upon Hull in the U.K. Please put a green pin in the map for me.
    I understand you have one already for this city perhaps that makes us unique.
    In Light
    Arthur

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Brothers and Sisters.

    This is a a great Post.

    My wife and I would like to have some more direction in our Magical application. As is we have no formal ritual. We have done little in in our practice in the last few years. We would like to take up the practice again. Is anyone willing to guide us beyond begging and into true initiates?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Jospeh,

    I would suggest that you come to the Ritual Magic Coaching Webinar on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 12:00 PM PST in the chat room here on the Golden Dawn Blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This would be nice. However I shall be at work at that time. Is there another webinar or are the webinars archive that I may view them at my own pace?

      Delete
  19. Very good. Thank you. I have to work that afternoon. As a matter of fact I will be at one hour when the webinar begins. Are the webinars archived? would I be able to view it on my own at a later time?

    I am from Binghamton, NY. 42* 7' 29" N -75* 53' 44" w . SO 12 PM PST is 3 hours after my local Noon. I'll be at work @ 2 PM EST

    ReplyDelete
  20. My personal Temple is in Belfast,

    frater R

    ReplyDelete
  21. Personal Temple from Los Angeles Ca.

    ReplyDelete

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