Are Successful Magicians "Hucksters?" (OTO Llewellyn Author Attacks Golden Dawn Magickal Community)

by Golden Dawn Imperator

David Griffin

Over the past week, the blogosphere has been abuzz again about money and Magick teaching. The whole flap started when Nick Farrell decided to close the Magikal Order of Aurora Aureae correspodence course, then wrote an article suggesting that overall interest in Magick is on the wane in the 21st Century. You can read Mr. Farrell's article, entitled "Ten Reasons Why Public Occultism is Dying" here. Peregrin Wildoak threw his two cents into the discussion on his "MAgic of the Ordinary blog here.

Frater Barrabbas
(Brian Watling)

Everything remained quite civil until Llewellyn author and OTO member, Frater Barrabbas, gratuitously launched the following personal attack on Mr. Farrell on his "Talking About Ritual Magick" blog here,

„Some folks are saying that where the past decades were the golden age, the whole [Magick] movement now is in obvious decline in the second decade of the 21st century. I am, of course, referring to yet another “counter intuitive” whining rant from Nick Farrell on his blog of personal propaganda and self aggrandizement.“

Barrabbas, Farrell, and Wildoak each raise interesting points in their articles. The subject of money and marketing in Magick atually does deserve civil debate. Name calling, like that exhibited by Frater Barrabbas, however,  belongs on the school yard playground, not coming from a putative spiritual leader.

Anyone who has been around the Magickal scene for any length of time already knows that Nick Farrell and I agree about precious little. For example, we have completely different approaches to Magick and the Golden Dawn.

Despite our differences, Nick Farrell remains a valued teacher in our Golden Dawn community. I will therefore not stand by idly while an outside agitator - in this case a Llewellyn author and OTO member- attacks the Golden Dawn community by personally attacking its leaders.

Barrabbas' attack on the G.D. community continues:

"Conversely, those teachers who engage in it expecting to be financially rewarded or by receiving the accolades of their students and peers should consider doing something else. Because they won’t ever become rich or famous teaching occultism and magic unless they become supreme hucksters like Koetting, Zink or Griffin. Even then, it isn’t guaranteed that they will be successful, but to promote one’s tradition and persona like Donald Trump is probably the only way to make occultism and magic really pay."

In addition to Magical Order of Aurora Aureae leader, Nick Farrell, Frater Barrabbas above personally attacks leaders of two other Golden Dawn orders, calling us "hucksters," together with a Satanist!

This  bahavior is so over the top that it merits a public and harsh reply to "Frater Barrabbas" - who in the real world is Brian Watling, a computer programmer and database administrator for Optuminsight in the greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Here is my reply:

"Dear Brian Watling/Frater Barrabbas,  

Please quit acting like such a dick. No one asked you for your opinion. Why not go back to Llewellyn and OTO and mind your own business? Peace in our Golden Dawn community has lasted nearly a year now. The GD does not need outside agitators like you stirring shit in our community."

Brian Watling calls me a "huckster." Is this true? Of course not. I am not a huckster. What I AM though is a better Magician than Frater Barrabbas will ever be in the real world.

Want proof? Fine. Here:

Even today, Brian Watling continues to slave his health away 9-5 (+overtime) at his database administrator Muggle job with Optuminsight ...

... just like he has for the past 26 years.

And me? I have been semi-retired since I was 25. That's right. For the past 35 years, I have been privileged to have had 6-7 months free each year to devote entirely to the Magick of Light.

Do you think such liberty just fell out ot the sky? 

Hardly. Wake up people. I created it Magickally - And so can you.

I put a spell on myself using a rare French grimoire when I was young, conjuring the ability to master languages. Eventually mastered French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish and English. Of course, I had to work to become fluent in all these languages, but this was nonetheless the fruit of my Magickal Will. 

Does this make me a „huckster“? No. It does make me a linguist though. It also proves I'm a damned good Magician.

Manifesting a Muggle career that left me half the year to pursue my passion for Magick was also a product of my Magickal Will.

Such liberty does not just fall out of the sky. I created it magickally. And you can liberate yourself as well.

I am sick and tired of Magick "wannabe gurus" calling other people names - I mean these are people who can't muster enough Magickal Will  even to liberate themselves for proper time to devote to Magick.

Maybe these armchair heroes should quit harassing real Magicians - and devote themselves instead entirely to their time-slave Muggle jobs.

No wonder people like this so frequently choke on sour grapes.

And if you think they've been envious of my life until now, wait until they see what I'm about to accomplish.

I can only share a tiny part of what is coming on the horizon, but here is a piece of juicy gossip for the occult paparazzi:

"When I turned 60 this year, I took a magickal decision to retire from my Muggle job as a tour guide to devote myself not just half the year - but henceforth the WHOLE year - to empowering people with the Magick of Light  and facilitating their spiritual awakening." - David Griffin

Does this make me a huckster? No. 

But it will further prove my Magickal abilities once it manifests.

NOTE: Before the occult tabloids rake me over the coals again, lets be clear about this. I still plan to lead a couple of Muggle tours each year despite my retirement. I ENJOY guiding tourists from around the world through America.

No doubt there will be others like Frater Barrabbas who will come along and call me names for devoting my life all year to Magick. Believe me. Such people would be better off to quit gnashing their teeth on sour grapes, and prove their worth as Magiciansinstead  by transforming their OWN lives.

Next Frater Barrabbas compares me with Donald Trump. This part is really silly.

Although I am flattered by the comparison, I am nothing like Donald Trump. I am younger than Donald Trump. I am better looking than Donald Trump. And most importantly - I have a LOT more hair than Donald Trump!

But there is ONE thing Donald Trump and I do have in common. Donald Trump is courageous enough to speak his mind and to tell people even uncomfortable truths.

As any reader of our Golden Dawn Facebook group (here) will attest, there are certain issues I am passionate about - like healing our environment, the right of American citizens not to be spied on without a warrant, and rampant abuse of government secrecy.

For example, Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations concluded yesterday, yet the American people are still in the dark about the full contents of this treaty. According to Wikileaks documents, this treaty could have profound effects on American sovereignty, potentially even dragging us into globalism in an EU-like "Pacific Union" - effectively abolishing our constitution.

People - wake up! Open your eyes to what is going on around you.

At a minimum, these issues need to be discussed openly, publicly, and thoroughly. We Americans have a right to know and to legitimately participate in determining which direction our nation will take.

Lastly, the underlying reason Frater Barrabbas calls me a "huckster" is because he doesn't like that our order uses 21st Century marketing. Well, guess what - so does Optuminsight - the tech company Brian Watling works for.

Big deal. Get over it. 

I have no problem with Bryan Watling voicing his opinion about marketing in occultism, even though he is wrong. He just shouldn't call people names. There is no call for that.

Besides - Let's remember that our order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn under the Alpha Omega is the largest and fastest growing Golden Dawn order in the world. In fact, today we are growing three times faster than ever before.

Success is my proof. I must be doing something right.

And yes - This is my REAL hair!

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