BOOK REVIEW: Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls - by the Golden Dawn Community

by Alpha Omega Imperator

David Griffin

"A valuable addition to the library of any Golden Dawn Magician"

- David Griffin

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn saw its beginning in its present form in 1888, when Isis-Urania Temple Number 3 was founded by S.L. MacGregor Mathers, Robert Woodman, and W. Wynn Wescott. 

The order is a late flowering of a Hermetic and Rosicrucian initiatic center in Continental Europe, whose lineages and teachings were carried to England by Edward Bulwar-Lytton and Kenneth MacKenzie.

Count Apponyi of Hungary was a Rosicrucian, representing an extremely ancient and secretive Continental European order of Hermetic alchemists, to whom S.L. MacGregor Mathers would later refer to as the "Secret Chiefs" (Geheime Oberen in German). Apponyi transmitted to MacKenzie certain Hermetic and Rosicrucian lineages together with esoteric transmissions with which to found what in 1888 became the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in Britain.

Upon his return to England, Kenneth MacKenzie founded this esoteric society that would later become the Golden Dawn under the original name of “Fratres Lucis” or “Brethren of the Cross of Light.” MacKenzie’s temple was Number one, followed by the Bristol temple of F.G. Irwin as Number two. Isis-Urania therefore became Temple Number three when the Golden Dawn was "founded" in 1888. The teachings for this order were coded using Trithemius “Stenographia” as “Cypher Manuscripts” that were later obtained by Wescott from MacKenzie’s widow following the latter’s death in 1886.

Although the Golden Dawn never attracted great numbers of initiates under Wescott, Woodman, and Mathers, the publication of the Golden Dawn's teachings by Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie nonetheless caused the Golden Dawn to impact and influence nearly every aspect of today's Western esoteric tradition. 

As a fitting testament to the enduring power of the Golden Dawn, the tradition has managed to survive and thrive even unto the present day, despite over 120 years of persistent take over attempts by rival Rosicrucian order, the SRIA.

Not only has the Golden Dawn survived, it has flourished, blossomed and given much diverse fruit. From the earliest offshoots, the Alpha Omega, Stella Matutina, and Fellowship of the Rosy Cross, to the myriad diversity of orders and temples that make up today's Golden Dawn community.

It is precisely our diversity that is the greatest strength of today's Golden Dawn community. From fully independent, Pagan-led orders like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha Omega to Christian oriented orders directed by SRIA - From Thelemic Golden Dawn orders to the smallest independent temples - From Magical G.D. orders like the A.O. who remain under the direction and protection of the physical Secret Chiefs in Europe to mystical orders that channel "Secret Chiefs" as "Astral Masters" - today's Golden Dawn community comprises greater diversity than at any previous time in history. 

As Peregrin Wildoak writes in his Preface to Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls:

There are more Golden Dawn orders, groups, and magicians today then ever before and the tradition itself is in an exciting phase of development and growth.

- Peregrin Wildoak

Seekers today are able to approach Golden Dawn groups that emphasize vastly different approaches: from magical to mystical, Christian, Jewish, Egyptian, or Pagan, to Nonsectarian and Ecumenical. Despite this great diversity, all of these groups are united by common Hermetic and Rosicrucian roots, and a common base line spiritual technology to offer today's spiritual aspirants.

Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls is a volume edited by Nick Farrell and published by Kerubim Press, a publishing house belonging to Golden Dawn members, Nick Farrell and Dean Wilson. Commentaries a collaborative effort by a wonderful selection of authors from a vast cross-section of our G.D. community, each bringing forth their own unique experience and point of view. Commentaries represents a noble effort to present to the public a snap shot of the kaleidoscope of our rich G.D. diversity. 

The book is organized by the numbers of the Flying Rolls, which essentially translates into chapters, with each chapter including one or more articles commenting on the content by various authors in the Golden Dawn community. As the commentary is separate from the Flying Roll material itself, one may easily read only the original Flying Rolls to come to a unique and personal understanding of the material without the colorations of commentators.

Although many of these Flying Rolls have been previously published by Francis King in Astral Projection, Ritual Magic, and Alchemy (Aquarian Press: 1987), there are several Flying Rolls in this new collection that have not been seen in print before. Moreover, there is a great deal of valuable information to be gleaned from the commentaries themselves, based on individual research or personal magical experience of the authors.

The book contains a Table of Contents at the beginning and a short biography of each commentator at the end. In a perfect world, I would have like to have seen each commentary also listed in the table of contents together with the author to make it easier for the reader to find a particular author's articles.

In the Introduction, there are short biographies written by Nick Farrell of the various Golden Dawn Adepts who authored the original Flying Rolls. To enjoy this book, one need not agree with everything that every commentator writes. For example, in Farrell's biography of S.L. MacGregor Mathers in his Introduction to Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls, Farrell writes that Mathers "developed the Second Order and its teachings by Inner Plane communication with an entity Mathers believed was the archangel Raphael and used the magical name Lux e Tenebris."

There are several problems Farrell's thesis that Mathers saw his contact with the Third Order, Frater Lux E Tenebris, as the Archangel Raphael - and that this proves that Mathers did not see the Secret Chiefs as physical persons.

1. Mathers (in primary sources) claimed to be in contact with the Secret Chiefs both astrally and physically, so the two notions are not in any way mutually exclusive.
2. Even if Mathers saw Frater Lux E Tenebris as the Archangel Raphael in 1888, this is long before Mathers (in primary sources) claimed to have established physical contact with the Secret Chiefs in Paris in 1891.
3. Primary sources indicate that the notion of the Secret Chiefs as physical persons was generally accepted by various Adepts following the G.D. schism of 1903, including the founders of rival Golden Dawn offshoot orders, A.E. Waite and R.W. Felkin, who counted among Mathers' greatest critics.

For a complete analysis of these problems as well as of the weaknesses in Mr. Farrell's research methods, see my introduction to Sincerus Renatus' well researched article, On the True Nature of the Secret Chiefs, that you can read here.

As outlined above and demonstrated in detail here, there are serious problems with the historical reliability of certain of Nick Farrell's biographies in his Introduction to Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Roles. Nonetheless, Nick Farrell still deserves much praise for the initiative he took to make this book a reality. As regular readers of the Golden Dawn Blog already know, the Alpha Omega has led the way for years in launching one initiative after the other to foster ever greater harmony in the Golden Dawn community.

For example, we invited every Adept from every G.D. temple and order of the entire Golden Dawn community to the 2012 International Conclave of Golden Dawn Adepti (here). This year, the 2013 International Golden Dawn Festival (here) was additionally open even to members of the outer order of every temple and order of the entire G.D. community. To foster true harmony, we deliberately chose to exclude no one.

It is therefore wonderful to observe Nick Farrell follow in the Alpha Omega's footsteps and spearhead a community effort which resulted in Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls. It is even more precious to witness such fine contributions from so many varied members of our richly diverse Golden Dawn community. 

Authors who contributed to Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls each deserve much recognition and much praise. Commentaries is packed with fascinating information.

For example, there remains a persistent misunderstanding in the Golden Dawn community that Golden Dawn training should be free. This is not true, since anything of spiritual value is also of material value. Nick Farrell clears up this misunderstanding, by showing how things were done in the traditional Golden Dawn, when he writes:

"The cost of each flying roll was between 2/6 (half a crown) and 7/-. ... In a time where an average worker made £10 per year, and you could buy a reasonable sized house for £500, half a crown represented two thirds of an average workers monthly wage. Owning a full set of flying rolls would cost a Golden Dawn member about £5. If a group were to charge the same amount of money in today's terms, you would be expected to part with £1,400 [$2130] for a couple of sheets of paper...

Membership fees were half a crown [two thirds of an average worker's monthly wage] and then on top of that they had to pay for their papers, which seemed to be a similar price to the flying rolls."

- Nick Farrell

Thus, Nick puts the question of Money and the Golden Dawn to rest once and for all by making clear that in the original Golden Dawn, merely owning a complete set of flying rolls cost Golden Dawn members half a year's wage for an average worker. According to statistics published by the U.S. government, this would equate in 2012 to $21,347. On top of this came membership dues and initiation fees, and members were expected to pay for their grade documents as well.

In my opinion, it is the spirit of fraternal cooperation underlying the Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls project that matters most, and the resulting book is a worthy testament to the diversity that comprises today's Golden Dawn community.

The republishing of the Golden Dawn's flying roles in yet another edition, however, also underscores the major challenge the Golden Dawn community presently faces. The greatest problem before us today is that virtually all of the 1888 Golden Dawn material already been published.

The good news is that for several years the now physical Secret Chiefs of the Golden Dawn's Third Order have been transmitting vast quantities of supplemental Golden Dawn material that finally give our Golden Dawn community essential new teachings and spiritual practices for the first time in over a century. These materials reinvigorate the Golden Dawn from the lowest to the highest grades of the order.

For Fratres and Sorores longing for something more than the published 1888 Golden Dawn material, the supplemental teachings and spiritual practices recently transmitted by the Secret Chiefs to the Golden Dawn community through the Alpha Omega are already waiting for you! As always, the Alpha Omega remains willing to share these teachings and practices with all orders and temples and their members in our Golden Dawn community.

All you have to do is knock, and the door will open for you. Why not come in out of the cold?

Here are a some original highlights from various commentators contained in Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls:

Lisa Llewellyn, from the Universal Order of the Morning Star, writes regarding Flying Roll IV:

"What is most interesting about this working [contained in Flying Roll IV] is that it is a vision of the Divine Feminine, of the Goddess. This was occurring at a time when most esoteric societies, such as Freemasons and SRIA had all male membership and spoke only of God as "He and Him." Here we have a working revealed in the words of Soror SSDD and Soror F (et R) "The Great Mother Isis, the Isis of Nature.
This was at a time when ... society was really quite patriarchal."

- Lisa Llewellyn

Frater Yechida (Dean Wilson) of the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Golden Dawn, co-owner of Kerubim Press together with Nick Farrell writes regarding Flying Roll V:

"The key to this paper is that imagination, the construction of a virtual form within the mind, is real within the appropriate realm of its existence (the astral and higher planes). It may or may not have a physical presence, but that does not diminish its reality. To the dreamer the dream is real."

- Dean Wilson

Frater YShY of Thuban Temple writes regarding Flying Roll VI:

"[The] few lines [of Flying Roll VI] actually contain one of the most useful and potent formulas in all of the RR et AC, which is to invoke the highest first in every operation. The suggestion is simple, when working with the color red, it is a symbol of Will and hence Gevurah and Mars, and one should always invoke Kether first."

- Frater YShY

Regarding Flying Roll VII, Rachel Walker, of the Order of the Golden Dawn: Collegium Spiritu Sancti, writes:

"Mathers frequently said "Invoke and Invoke often." This does not merely refer to engaging in ritual invocation, but more importantly to invoking the Divine into every activity that we may become  part of the "living tradition" of magic where every enterprise is a magical act and an expression of the Divine."

- Rachel Walker

Regarding Flying Roll IX, Soror AID, Deanna Bonds writes:

"The tree of life is a geometric glyph that represents the structure of the Universe and everything within the universe as a fractal pattern of the whole. The tree of life can be viewed as creation itself, God, man, or anything in between."

- Deanna Bonds

Regarding Flying Roll X, Samuel Scarborough of the Ordo Stella Matutina writes:

"[Apotheosis is] to raise oneself closer to the Divine, or in the case of the Magnum Opus, to unite with our Divine Self, thus becoming more divine and closer to God."

- Samuel Scarborough

 Regarding Flying Roll XI, Jayne Gibson writes:

"The magical visionary arts can lead the magician to realms of intense beauty and knowledge. The methods of skrying, travelling and rising on the planes take time to master, but there are great rewards to be had after the work is done."

- Jayne Gibson

Regarding Flying Roll XII, James French of the "Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn" writes:

"Any practical occult work that is of any use should leave the operator feeling exhilarated. ... If one is drawing on cosmic energies, as should be the case if the Adept is diligent with her practice,  the result, again, ought to be ecstatic, not draining."

- James French

Regarding Flying Roll XIII, Joseph Max of the Thelema oriented, "Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn," writes:

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" ... is the most famous maxim of Thelema, and Crowley drew a clear distinction between "Will" and simple desire. The maxim does not mean simply "do what you wont," but rather to spend one's life discovering one's True Will, and following it."

- Joseph Max

Regarding Flying Roll XV, VH Soror QQDAM, member of the Magical Order of Aurora Aureae writes:

"The Golden Dawn is not a religion, nor does it purport to be. That is very clear. It is a fraternity, the common ground of which is the acceptance of the 'Hermetic ancient philosophy; as expressed in the Ritual, and Pictorial and Symbolic representations' which are given at the different stages of progress."

- VH Soror QQDAM

Regarding Flying Roll XVI, Ian Cowburn (Frater L), member of SRIS and the order of Brigita Beatica Britanniae, writes:

"As to the etymology of the word Rosicrucian, several derivations have been given. The more reasonable derivation is from rose and cross. This was undoubtedly in accordance with the notions of Andreae, who was the founder of the Order, and gave it its name, for in his writings he consistently calls it the Fraternitas Roseae Crucis, or the fraternity of the Rosy Cross."

- Ian Cowburn

Regarding Flying Roll XVII, Eric V. Sisco, member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis (SRICF) writes:

"In the summer of 1891, S. L. (MacGregor) Mathers, one of the founders of the Order of the Golden Dawn took a trip to Paris, and allegedly, by serendipity alone, happened to make contact with a group of Continental Adepts in the Bois de Boulogne....
...How the Cipher Manuscripts, for both the Outer and Inner Orders, managed to find their way into the hands of Wescott and Mathers respectively, remains a topic of much controversy."

- Eric V. Sisco

Regarding Flying Roll XX, Aaron Leitch writes:

"The Microcosm--Man is one the most important documents given to students of the original Golden Dawn ... It was intended as an Inner Order essay concerning the practical application of Qabalistic Psychology within the Order's system of spiritual rectification ... it is a veritable guide to the Great Work of the Adept."

- Aaron Leitch

Regarding Flying Roll XXI, VH Frater Philomancer of Thuban Temple writes:

"Advancing through the Outer Order is no small task. Every grade is a milestone, each initiation a rite of passage, until at length the initiate has conquered all obstacles through perseverance."

- VH Frater Philomancer

Regarding Flying Roll XXII, VH Frater Iaodaf Oias Vooan writes:

"We can choose to remain in blissful ignorance, or we can pursue the path of the magician. It can be our will to attach ourselves to the material plane and base our existence upon the attainment of material wealth and nothing more. Alternatively, we can study occult science, practice a system of high magic and eventually surrender our wills to the grand design."

- VH Frater Iaodaf Oias Vooan 

Regarding Flying Roll XXIII, Christopher Bradford, Frater AIT, former Alpha Omega member who left the Golden Dawn to practice Palo Mayombe following the tragic death of his son, writes:

"The inner worlds are limitless--and without structure, a vision is meaningless. Mental masturbation, instead of useful travel. Inspiration is like a bolt of lightning, and structure is the conductor enabling the transfer of its power to the magician."

- Christopher Bradford

Regarding Flying Roll XXIV, Lauren Gardner of the Ordo Stella Matutina writes:

"For those comfortable and familiar with the horary method of astrological divination, perhaps the only benefit to be gained from studying the original Flying Roll is the opportunity to note certain minutia of the technique used by members of the Order while interpreting horary charts."

- Lauren Gardner 

Regarding Flying Roll XXVI, Frater AM Olen Rush writes:

"We learn quite a few things regarding the Planets, Tattvas, and Elements through Flying Roll XXVI. One of the most significant and revealing of which is the relationship to certain Compound Elements."

- Olen Rush

Regarding Flying Roll XXVII, Frater Goya of the Circulo Iniciatico de Hermes writes:

"Although ritualistic and showy, the Golden Dawn was able, thanks to the brilliant mind of its creators, especially McGregor Mathers, to remove many of the magical techniques that were almost standard in Europe that period. The Golden Dawn was the first group imminently magical, who dismissed in its rituals any type of sacrifices involving blood."

- Frater Goya

Regarding Flying Roll XXVII, Sam Webster of the of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn writes:

"Theurgy is the core of what we do. Invocation, the assumption of God-forms, oracular possession, and working with spirits are all used in theurgy to spiritually advance the practitioner and make us 'consorts of the Gods'. Handed down through history, from Iamblichus who explained it, to Agrippa who fused it with Christianity and Kabbalah, to the Golden Dawn where it was developed into a school, this ancient stream of spiritual practice underpins all we do today."

- Sam Webster

Regarding Flying Roll XXVIII, Morgan Drake Eckstein of Bast Temple writes:

"It is not the magician who must be perfect and not concerned with the world; it is the mythical being that the Order is meant to produce, a person who is more than human, who is perfect and above worldly concerns and connections."

- Morgan Drake Eckstein

Regarding Flying Roll XXXVI, VH Frater Amoun Ra of Thuban Temple writes:

"To visualize is to project an idea in anthropolomorphic and symbolic terms to have better clarity when studying anything from Yoga to Ceremonial Magick. ... The more one spends their time developing these techniques, the more one opens their mind to receiving information from the Akashic Record."

- VH Frater Amoun Ra

Remember though, for Fratres and Sorores longing for something more than the published 1888 Golden Dawn material, the supplemental teachings and spiritual practices recently transmitted by the Secret Chiefs to the Golden Dawn community through the Alpha Omega are already waiting for you! As always, the Alpha Omega remains willing to share these teachings and practices with all orders and temples and their members in our Golden Dawn community.

There is no need to leave your present temple. All you have to do is knock, and the door will open for you. Why not come in out of the cold?

Click HERE to explore our Outer Order, undergraduate level Magical training program, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn!"

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The State of the Golden Dawn

by David Griffin
Archon Basileus - Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega
International Imperator - Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Readers of the Golden Dawn blog will recall how the esoteric community was recently stunned by the unexpected announcement that the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order have finally decided to transmit the rest of the Golden Dawn's Second Order curriculum beyond the published (5=6) Adeptus Minor material given to S.L. MacGregor Mathers in 1891. This is huge news for the Golden Dawn community and could potentially usher in an unparalleled epoch of fraternity and prosperity. Sadly, it could also mean a resurgence of the terrible flame war that ravaged the entire Golden Dawn tradition for nearly a decade.

Readers versed in contemporary Golden Dawn history will recall when, in 2002, the physical (not channeled) Secret Chiefs of the Third Order made their presence known for the first time in 111 years - when they transmitted to the Alpha et Omega - the entire initiation rituals and curriculum and that had been planned for the Golden Dawn's Third Order since its inception. The Secret Chiefs had hoped that this transmission would revitalize the Golden Dawn, bringing advanced Adepts together at the table of brotherhood on an equal basis from the entire Golden Dawn community. 

They were to be badly disappointed. It seemed that, even in over a Century, the Golden Dawn still had not matured enough for Adepts to finally put the interests of the Golden Dawn tradition ahead of petty personal and egoic interests. Upon the announcement by the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega of this historical transmission, our order was brutally attacked from all sides.

Without even bothering to ask what our intentions truly were, our order and its leaders were systematically defamed with falsehoods and misrepresentations on a vast array of Yahoo fora, websites, and blogs belonging to leaders of various Golden Dawn orders. We were even sued in United States Federal court, in an attempt to deprive us of our right to use the name of our outer order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, in the USA.

This senseless and unnecessary conflict caused irreparable damage to the reputation of the entire Golden Dawn tradition. Even worse, the Third Order witnessed this shameful spectacle and wanted to write off - once and for all - the Golden Dawn as simply a failed initiative. For a full ensuing decade, they refused to transmit the rest of the Second Order curriculum that Mathers never recieved - for the 6=5 and 7=4 grades of Adeptus Major and Adeptus Exemptus.

Today, our Golden Dawn community stands at a crossroads, as the Golden Dawn's full Second Order curriculum, including for the 6=5 and 7=4 grades has finally been released by the Third Order. But are we as a community finally ready to share these advanced Golden Dawn teachings responsibly at the table of fraternity as equals? Or is the Golden Dawn community still too immature - blinded by individual interests - to put our differences behind us once and for all?

In recent months, the Star Trek mythos has figured prominently on this blog. I grew up with this mythos and firmly believe that it can today show us as a community the best way forward. The United Federation of Planets provides an excellent role model for what the Golden Dawn community could today become, with each of our temples and orders sharing equally the benefits of the higher Golden Dawn practices, united by a common resolve to uphold the Prime Directive, yet each temple and order maintaining its complete independence and autonomy.

As a first step in this laudable direction, immediately upon transmission, the Alpha et Omega offered to share the advanced (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus teachings with interested and qualified Adepts from across the entire spectrum of the Golden Dawn community, regardless of what Golden Dawn temple or order. There have been numerous responses already, and we have already begun this process of sharing.

But will the Golden Dawn community ever be ready to transcend factionalism and competition in favor of fraternity and spiritual development? 

Sadly, the first month that has passed since our announcement on July 18 seems to indicate that the Golden Dawn community might never be mature enough. The same sort of accusations and deliberate misrepresentations about the Alpha Omega and our leaders that typified the decade old Golden Dawn flame war, are being published once again by leaders of various Golden Dawn orders.

Over the last week, there have been numerous attempts to attack the Alpha Omega even on our own forum and blog. We have, of course, used our moderator discretion to prevent these misguided "flame war" attacks from appearing at least on our own forum and blog. Consequently, as was the case during the terrible flame war that nearly destroyed the Golden Dawn, the Alpha Omega is once again being accused of "censorship" by various Golden Dawn leaders. 

A leader of one Golden Dawn order, for example, this week wrote:

"...a response I posed to this blog early Tuesday morning was conveniently never published."

In another rhetorical tactic reminiscent of the decade long flame war, leaders of certain Golden Dawn orders are once again also accusing our order of being the aggressors in the same breath that they are attacking the Alpha Omega. For example:

"I am posting this here since obviously complimenting and showing interest in American Occult currents meets with censorship on some groups these days, if it is not in line with certain groups' "marketing" and "attack plans".

Admittedly, moderation does remain a problem with communication in the Golden Dawn community. For example, on one Yahoo group operated by a Golden Dawn leader, dozens of new "flame war" attacks on our order and its leaders have been published over the last month. This same Yahoo group does not allow anyone at all from the Alpha Omega to post there. Not even renowned bloggers GH Frater Sincerus Renatus or H Frater AIT are allowed to post, and many hundreds of posts defaming our order and its leaders remain archived there from the decade long flame war.

One additional characteristic of the Golden Dawn flame war were countless misrepresentations about the Alpha et Omega published over and over, propaganda style, across various venues on the internet. Sadly, even this nonsense has now begun again! 

For example, the leader of yet another Golden Dawn order wrote this week:

"The fact there is a belief that lineage can be passed by signing pieces of paper is indicative of a lack of magical knowledge and a desire to make one's product more superior to others."

Paper lineage?

This GH Frater is not stupid, even though he is here pretending to be. Having managed to create a Golden Dawn order according to his personal vision, he knows full well that the Alpha et Omega has previously refuted this same misrepresentation over and over, ad nauseum.

We have repeatedly clarified that the true lineage of the Golden Dawn is spiritual in nature - like Dharma transmission in Zen Buddhism in the East, containing not merely traditional Hermetic and Rosicrucian lineage in the formal sense, but containing specific sets of spiritual exercises designed to produce specific spiritual breakthroughs and realizations. The advanced spiritual practices the A.O. just received for the (6-5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus grades of the Golden Dawn's Second Order are perfect examples of what the spiritual lineages of the Golden Dawn really are.

As proof of the existence and authenticity of these advanced Golden Dawn lineages with their attendant spiritual practices, our order has already begun to share them with interested and qualified Adepts from the entire spectrum of the Golden Dawn community. Sure you have to fulfill all of the traditional Golden Dawn requirements, including a binding secrecy committment (as has always been the case throughout history), but concrete proof of these advanced lineages is now available to the entire Golden Dawn community.

We have even published one small example of the spiritual practices and content of these advanced Golden Dawn lineages, when we revealed for the first time anywhere that the magical squares published by Agrippa and included in the Golden Dawn's (5=6) Adeptus Minor grade curriculum are not the real magical squares, but are only encrypted versions! 

We likewise revealed for the first time that the so-called "planetary seals" published by Agrippa and included in the Golden Dawn's Adeptus Minor grade are, in reality, but encryption keys to unencrypt the "sealed" squares to unleash the true magick and full power of the system. This Golden Dawn spiritual lineage once possessed by both Trithemius and Agrippa contains Theurgical spiritual exercises that produce profound spiritual awakening, ultimately culminating in union with the Divine at the center of the square.

This advanced system of magical Theurgy is but one crown jewel in the advanced the R.R. et A.C. magical lineages, and it has has prior to last month never before been known or practiced by any Golden Dawn Adept in history. This magnifiscent system of theurgy, properly understood as a three dimensional cube, unlocks untold numbers of parallel dimensions on the inner planes, each with its own R.R. et A.C. magical system. John Dee's system of Enochian magic and the entire reality of of the Enochian universe, represents but only one single square of this vast three dimensional cube. The Golden Dawn's advanced  R.R. et A.C. lineages contain numerous such magical systems and universes.

So why are all of these leaders of various Golden Dawn orders so nervous - that they are suddenly attempting to rekindle the extinguished Golden Dawn flame war? Yet another Golden Dawn leader answered this question clearly this week when he wrote:

"Recently there has been a trend to try and convince people within the GD that its roots are superior to the GD, and those roots were and are the 3rd Order. It does not take an Einstein to work out where this is heading - an instant ready-made 3rd Order.

The GD is a stand alone Order (First and Second), and that is why it was developed from numerous other groups. Mathers never got a chance to finish it, and it is up to us to finish the job. Now how you develop it is up to you guys, but it needs doing. In my group I have already made inroads into that direction, and I hope others will follow. Now I am not telling what to do or how to do it, but if the GD is to develop further, it must develop, and not stay at ThAM as far as written material goes.

All I know is how hard I have worked over the years in doing this, while working with a great bunch of people who want to think beyond 1900. This forum, and others, are another manifestation of that trend of thinking as well. Everyone contributes in their own way.

My take on this is simple. A Second Order should manifest a superior breakdown of the First, and the Third should help break down the Second in a form of reductionism. Each should interlock with the one before it, and the final teachings should be in a form of reductionism. This, however, is just my view."

The above post makes readily apparent the real reason why suddenly all of these leaders of Golden Dawn orders are attacking the AO again, after years of relative harmony in our Golden Dawn community. They are terrified of the physical existence of the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order - and that it somehow negates their own personal vision of the Golden Dawn. They are even more terrified that the advanced Second Order spiritual lineages that the Third Order just handed the AO, may somehow negate their own curriculum that they are developing for their Golden Dawn order for some time.

Nothing could be further than the truth. As I have been saying all along, there is room for great diversity in our Golden Dawn community. There is plenty of room for both the advanced R.R. et A.C. lineages presently being transmitted by the Alpha Omega as well for  whatever new Second and Third Orders leaders of Golden Dawn orders want to develop for their students.

In fact, this was stated so well this week by the Alpha Omega's H Frater AIT on his Heaven's Within Earth blog, that I am republishing AIT's entire article here:

H Frater AIT

Innovation and the Golden Dawn

Ave,

I've been reading with interest the Golden Dawn forum of GH Fra Zalewski (don't know his motto, and Google isn't giving up the goods.) If one can stomach all the bickering and bullshit, there are some thought-provoking things going on in the community.

It seems that groups who don't have Third Order contacts are developing their own material...not even necessarily basing their material on older papers, but applying their own understanding of Magic and Alchemy to the structure and culture of the Order to create new methods and vehicles.

This is awesome. Variety=Growth, man.

There have been only two ways to move the GD toward completeness, and one is to have contacts with the Third Order, which is, I understand, a group of Adepts who've kept the fire of the Hermetic tradition lit in a continuous link since back in ye olden days. This is the best if you can get it; there are some things in Alchemy you just are not going to learn if you don't have an Alchemical master to instruct you. This isn't an elitist thing, it's just the truth. Not because many of the secrets cannot be communicated through written material, but because there are fundamental components that have been held close that aren't necessarily encoded in the Emblems or even the written works. Things that have only been communicated mouth-to-ear. There are some things that require a particular kind of initiation to understand. We aren't the only ones for whom this is true; the Tibetan, Indian, and Chinese masters all understand this. "Transmission" refers to more than simply paper, it refers to an actual Transmission.

This doesn't mean you can't get a solid Alchemical practice going without this. What is out there now will get you there, if you do the Work. Do enough of the Work, and you can get what you need to complete the Great Work through invocation and communication with entities like Tzadqiel, who teaches the Royal Art. There are a number of different alchemies, and any number of different valid practices, some of which are completely public. There are simple alchemical methods that are public understanding that will get the job done if worked at diligently over one's lifetime. They may not be the best methods available, but they'll get you there. You don't need an engineering degree from MIT to be an engineer...

A physical analogy would be the martial arts; you can learn to defend yourself without having all the hidden bunkai your Art has to offer. You won't have Mastery of that particular Art, though, the Keys to that particular tradition. You'll be strong, and you'll get the job done...but. You won't have gnosis of that Art's tradition, and that is something worth having, in my opinion.

The other method for moving the Golden Dawn forward is to go ahead and add to the Tradition with understanding gained from years of practice. Application of understanding to the culture of the tradition to develop it further. If you don't have contact with the Third Order, you must do this if you're to be part of a living tradition; you have no real choice. Either sit around and re-hash old shit or innovate. I'm pleased to see both of these options being exercised by my Fraters and Sorors of the Golden Dawn.

This Order is living and breathing.

It is growing.

In my own Order, GH Fra LES has received transmission of new occult systems and the keys to traditional Hermetic Internal Alchemy...this is awesome. Some of this stuff is mind-blowing, and incredibly rich. Powerful in application, from what I understand. We have a fully developed Second Order, with un-profaned content that has great potential to enrich the practices of the Magicians who work it. Awesome.

In other Orders, reading this forum, we find that the Order heads are working to complete their Second Orders and to develop content for a Third. No one is sitting still. No one is saying that what's in the old books is all there is, that what's in the original Order's papers is the only knowledge of worth for the Golden Dawn. Even though I believe the transmissions our Order has received would enrich them further, I'm glad to see these other branches of the Golden Dawn growing the tradition in their own way regardless of whether they take David's offer to learn the new transmissions from our Third.  

The tradition is being filled with innovation and new understanding right now, and this makes me ecstatic. We've lasted longer with our bickering and bullshit then any other modern Western occult movement. Not the largest of the lot, but there's quality in there. Good times. 

AIT

The Rosicrucian Order of Alpha Omega, and our outer order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, long ago fully embraced diversity in our Golden Dawn community as a great thing. We are not only willing to live and let live. In fact, we have already begun sharing the advanced R.R. et A.C lineages with Adepts from other Golden Dawn temples and orders. 

The Alpha Omega remains willing to take fraternity even further with the Golden Dawn community - using Star Trek's United Federation of Planets as a role model. After all, does a United Federation of Initiatic Orders not have a very nice ring to it?

So, what is it that we as a community want ...

Just another decade of self-destructive flame war ...

Or a Golden Dawn Renaissance, setting a shining example for the rest of the esoteric community!