A Personal Temple from Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Today marks a milestone in the  A.O.'s 1,000 Points of  Light initiative. As more and more aspiring Magicians around the world  share their Personal Temples and Altars with others, the A.O. has now put 100 Personal Temples on the map!

A word of thanks goes out to those who have put their Temples and Altars on the map, and especially to those who keep sharing photographs of their work with our readers as well. May 1,000 Points of Light burn ever brighter, as the Magic of Light illuminates more and more people around the globe!

Help us ...
... light Temple Fires of ...

... the Magic of Light ...
... across the globe!

Alpha Omega ...
... since 1888 ...

We Make Magicians!

Today we have a photograph to share with you from a Personal Temple from Frater SIL and Soror LLV from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, who write:

We (Frater SIL and Soror LLV from Cluj-Napoca, Romania) would like to thank you for sharing a small fraction of your knowledge with us at the webinar. It has been wonderful to chat with you and we really felt like it has broadened our horizons. It was like it took us one step closer to the Order. 

We initially had two altars in our home city, but because we had to move to Cluj-Napoca for our studies, we combined them and created this new altar. It was made in the light of your initiative of “1000 Points of Light” and now it has become the heart of our home. 

Even though we are almost 20 years old, we have had the wish of becoming HOGD + AO initiates for several years now. We started practicing from your Ritual Magic Manual for more than a year, but we feel like we are missing something and that we cannot comprehend the rituals fully without proper initiation.  Even if there are many books on the internet about Golden Dawn, the Rosicrucian tradition and magic in general, in our country they are very hard to find and we feel like they are not a reliable source. It is hard to advance on our path and there are many questions without an answer. 

Thank you for listening to us. Have a safe journey and best wishes.

In LVX,

SIL and LLV.

Care Frater SIL and Soror LLV,

Thank you for sharing! It is inspiring to see fine young men and women igniting Temple fires of the Magic of Light in Eastern Europe! 

I would suggest you begin by organizing an informal Golden Dawn study group together with the others in your city.

I will coming to Europe to formally consecrate the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn® Temple in Dublin, Ireland and visiting our H.O.G.D.® temple in Berlin, Germany in coming months. Perhaps you could come to Berlin? I have been in Romania before, spending time in Timisoara and Resita. I am certainly not against coming to Cluj-Napoca if it might be helpful to cultivate the practice of the Magic of Light in Eastern Europe.

You are welcome to write me using the "Contact Us" link on the Golden Dawn Website if you like.

It is for people like you that the A.O. created our 1,000 Points of Light Initiative. It is also for people like you that I am traveling so extensively to provide coaching and training to Independent Practitioners of Golden Dawn magic.

Sincerely,

Imperator David Griffin
HOGD, AO,  33, 95

Why are we doing this?

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. The Alpha Omega is leading the way for the Golden Dawn yet  once again, this time providing one valuable resource after the other regarding to the Independent Practice of the Magic of Light.

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. Even among Golden Dawn orders, only the Alpha Omega makes magicians already from day one, even to all Outer Order initiates.

Thus there is a huge body of people out there who have been left with zero 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.

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 is helping to ignite "1,000 Points of Light" around the globe, with the goal of fostering the creation of 1,000 new Personal Altars and 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 nothing more than 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, Ritual Magic Manual

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 invite you to share your Personal Altar or 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).