Pagan Scholarship and anti-Pagan Propaganda

by David Griffin

"Pagans today have NO roots in antiquity!"

"Because we wiped out every trace - We KNOW."

Many Pagans today believe there are no clear links between ancient and modern Paganism. They are convinced there exist only reconstructed Pagan traditions and that any direct, lineal survival of ancient Paganism has been completely debunked by modern scholars.

Such misunderstandings are unsurprising, since modern Pagan research has been misrepresented over and over on Christian websites, blogs, etc. Most Christians are neither involved nor even interested in such shenanigans. There are, however, elements within Christianity that still have not given up trying to suppress Paganism, especially now that Paganism is growing, and are not above using modern propaganda methods to achieve their objective.

Take, for example, the impartial sounding Religious Studies blog. There you find claims that any connection between modern and ancient Paganism has been thoroughly debunked by modern Pagan scholars. Yet on the same blog, you find the historical veracity of Jesus proven by mere quotation of Biblical scripture!

Why is it that aspects of Paganism are subjected to one standard of scrutiny and those of other religions to a completely different yardstick?

Sadly, even "pro-Pagan" scholars are not above such double standards. Take for example, how Pagan "hard polytheists" have recently been branded fundamentalists by Wiccan Sabina Magliocco, Chairperson of the Department of Anthropology of California State University, Northridge, when Magliocco wrote in the article you can read here, 

"These [Pagan Fundamentalisms] have centered around two hot-button topics: the historicity of Wiccan foundational narratives, and the nature of the gods." -Sabina Magliocco

Sabina Magliocco

Why is it that Pagan hard polytheists are branded fundamentalists, yet Christians, Jews, and Muslims, who likewise believe in the objective existence of THEIR Gods are not likewise denigrated, nor are Hindu hard polytheists for that matter either.

Such a double standard coming from a self-identified Wiccan is unethical enough on its own, but out and out fear mongering about an unspecified and unsubstantiated "Rise of Pagan Fundamentalism" has no place  in responsible academic research.

Let us next examine the foundational narratives relevant to the survival of ancient Paganism, likewise branded fundamentalist by Dr. Magliocco. Note that Magliocco is quite careful to confine her fear mongering about "Pagan fundamentalists" to Wicca, regarding the "historicity of Pagan foundational narratives."

Such caution is thrown to the wind in anti-Pagan propaganda elsewhere describing Pagan scholarship, however. In the article on the Religious Studies blog entitled, The origins of neopaganism and Prof. Ronald Hutton we find, for example:

"Some neopagans, however, claim that their religion is a direct, lineal survival of ancient paganism...  

... How much of this is actually true? In particular, how much of modern Wicca is a genuine survival of ancient paganism?... The evidence shows that Wicca was created by Gerald Gardner and a small number of other middle-class occultists between the 1920s and the 1950s ... 

the Religious Studies article then wildly concludes:

... Paganism as such disappeared from Europe with the spread of Christianity, and did not reappear until the pagan revival got under way in the 19th century."

Ronald Hutton

Note the way the above, anti-Pagan propaganda narrative seamlessly jumps from Prof. Hutton of Bristol University's Department of History's research on Wicca in southern England to the unsupported conclusion that Paganism as such disappeared from Europe with the spread of Christianity.

I am not suggesting that Pagan scholars like Prof. Magliocco or Prof. Hutton are secretly persuing a Crypto-Christian agenda. These scholars are indeed, however, playing directly into the hands of Christian propagdists out to impede the growth of Paganism.

What is it then that contemporary scholarship actually does say - if not that Paganism disappeared from Europe until the 19th Century Pagan revival?

Prof. Magliocco, for example, readily admits that:

"There are very clear links between ancient and modern Paganisms ...  The links can be found in folk customs, in the Western tradition of magic and esotericism, and in art, literature and philosophy." -Sabina Magliocco

This statement is strongly supported by data provided by anthropological informants of my wife, anthropologist/initiate, Leslie McQuade Griffin, as we shall see below. Dr. Magliocco, however, continues:

"As an anthropologist, I am bound by a code of ethics which demands that I put the good of the communities I work with before anything else, including my research program and professional advancement."

I am not questioning Dr. Magliocco's ethics in particular, but the above statement invokes the entrenched belief held by many Pagans that the ethics of academic research can be blindly trusted. This, in reality, is not always the case, as Leslie McQuade shockingly outlines here:

Leslie McQuade Griffin

"As an archeologist, I have had the great fortune to work in some pretty amazing places, from the English Heritage, Eartham Pit dig in West Sussex where Homo heidelbergensis was discovered during the dig, to the Botai dig in Kazakhstan for the Carnegie Mellon Museum of Natural History, where I was told to cover up the discovery of artifacts made of bone which bore a striking resemblance to screw drivers, which would be astonishing for the time period - to the Chatan-cho dig Okinawa where we were ordered to conceal our discoveries by the Japanese government since they didn't like that we found Koreans rather than Japanese.
I left archeology when the sanctity of scientific data was repeatedly sacrificed for political expedience. As a scientist, I wanted no part in such hypocricy."

Thus, when McQuade began to concentrate more on ethnography, she was already aware of the profound role scholarly bias and even political expediency frequently play in academic research. On significant archeological digs, McQuade was ordered to manipulate and suppress data to skew results of research.

On the subject of Pagan survival, HPS McQuade recently wrote:

"Initiates also hid themselves within Christianity itself, transmuting the ancient Egyptian symbols into versions easily hidden in the symbols and tenants of the new, aggressive faith for re-emergence when the time was both safe and right. 

As has been demonstrated by my Italian Pagan informant, Dianus del Bosco Sacro, in his article, “The Great Rite, Hermeticism and the Shamanic-Pagan Tradition of the Sacred Forest of Nemi,” these same initiatic mysteries can be found preserved encoded in divergent symbol systems across centuries, from the frescoes of the Villa of the Mysteries of ancient Pompeii to the symbols of Hermetic alchemy, only to reappear in Leland’s “Aradia: The Gospel of the Witches.” [Fenris Wolf V: Journal for Magical Anthropology, Stockholm 2013] 

In addition to Dianus, Frater Lux E Tenebris, my alchemical Master and point of contact with the Golden Dawn's Secret Chiefs, has additionally agreed to serve as anthropological informant for Leslie's Pagan ethnographic research. Leslie showed the present article to Frater L.e.T. for comment this morning. Frater LeT added the following to conclude the article:

"There is not one form of Paganism, but two that have survived since antiquity. Prof. Magliocco and others are correct in their observations regarding folk customs, cunning folk, etc. These, however, are but remnants of a "low" Pagan tradition, crumbs of ancient wisdom found among ignorant common folk, mixed with superstition, etc. 

There is, however, a pure Pagan current that survived by remaining completely underground. The ancient Pagan Sacerdotal tradition was preserved by initiatic societies, and there is plenty of publicly available evidence of this survival. For example, Pagan thought reached its apogee with Plotinus. From there arise all of the visible teachings that follow. 

Many Pagan mysteries were concealed inside Christianity itself albeit under another name, for example in Gnosticism in the early centuries. We find Pagan teachings again in the writings of Giordano Bruno, the high magic of Tomas Campanella, Marcilio Ficino, and the group gathered around the De Medici family. 

We find Pagan teachings again in Trithemius and Agrippa, who while posing as Christians in order to protect themselves, nonetheless communicated the ancient Pagan Celestial Magick. Just look at the letters his "Christian" friends sent to Agrippa before the publication of his occult philosophy (which contains PAGAN Magick with but a Christian veneer), warning Agrippa to be very careful lest he be arrested, tortured, and burned. 

Paganism was deeply occulted following the edicts of the Emperors so that it might not be destroyed. But even much of the structure of the Christian church itself is Pagan in origin, including the title today used by the head of the Christian church, Pontifex Maximus. 

And these are but the external signs of what was preserved occulted by the Sacerdotal Colleges, later becoming Rosicrucian and the initiatic orders, and transmitted to us today. 

Thus there is not doubt that Paganism has survived. The scholars know this, although they choose to focus on the "low" Pagan tradition  as it survived mixed with superstition in folk magic, etc. To admit the survival of the "high," Sacerdotal Pagan tradition is not in the interest of Christianity." 

The time has come for Pagans to let go of overly naive trust in academia. Academia is never perfectly objective. Scholarly bias nearly always plays a role in research - and even manipulation and supression of data to skew results are not unheard of.

Pagan scholars be should be even more wary how statements they make may be misrepresented by others and turned against our Pagan community, and as far as ethics go, there is no place in academia for fear mongering,

Historians and anthropologists investigating the survival of remnants of Pagan antiquity should examine the Western esoteric tradition more closely.

That no remnants of ancient Pagan "high" Sacerdotal traditions have yet been uncovered, does not necessarily mean they no longer exist.

Scholars may have just been looking in the wrong places...

"A chair? Impossible."

...or sitting on the data all along!

SECRET CHIEFS: Is There Any Real Difference Between Golden Dawn Orders?

as revealed by

Frater Lux e Tenebris

special emmisary of the 

Secret Chiefs of the Third Order

Introduced by

Golden Dawn Imperator

David Griffin

Many people looking to join the Golden Dawn search the Internet and find a bewildering number of Golden Dawn groups out there. This is because of the richness of our diverse Golden Dawn community.

One mistake some people make is to choose an order merely based on who has a local temple closest to them. This is a huge error because it is based on the assumption that all Golden Dawn orders are the same. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

"All Golden Dawn orders have magic to offer ...

... but only the Alpha Omega makes Magicians!"

The A.O.'s beginner's level First Order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, is not only the world's most thorough school of Ritual Magic. It is also the most demanding.

Before H.O.G.D. graduates may apply for admission to our Second Order, the Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, they must first completely master everything other G.D. orders offer even their most advanced Adepts.

In the R.R. et A.C., our Adepts practice the post-graduate level Magic revealed by the Secret Chiefs at the International Conclave of Golden Dawn Adepti last March. The Magic of the A.O.'s Third Order, our Ph.D. level curriculum, includes, for example, Alchemical Magic and Hermetic Internal Alchemy. 

From humble Neophyte to exalted Magus and beyond, the Alpha Omega makes Magicians. If you just want to discuss Golden Dawn minutiae or historical trivia on the Internet, the Alpha Omega is definitely not the place for you. Ivory tower types are better off elsewhere.

But if you aspire to be a real Magician - you will find no better Magical training anywhere else  than in the Alpha Omega ...

To help illustrate the differences between one Golden Dawn order and the other, let's compare the Alpha Omega with Pat Zalewski's G.D. order. What these two Golden Dawn orders teach could not be more different.

In the Alpha Omega, we set out to make Magicians from day one. Already in our outer order, the H.O.G.D., we teach the entire published Golden Dawn material in a complete, systematic, and thorough manner, using both traditional Temple and modern on-line education models. 

The A.O.'s Third Order does not just hand out empty, titular grades like other orders. Our Third Order teaches Solar mysteries like Hermetic Internal Alchemy and Alchemical Magic, which have always been the capstone of the Hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions.

Pat Zalewski and Tony Fuller (Anthony Fleming), on the other hand, still claim (without any magical proof) that Cromlech Temple and its "Sun Order" are the "real" Third Order of the Golden Dawn.

The problem with this odd theory is:  "If there is no Magic - what is it good are empty grades and fancy titles?"

Even if Zalewksi's "Sun Order" (which is not Golden Dawn to begin with)  were to produce a charter signed by MacGregor Mathers himself, what good is it - without advanced Magical and Alchemical practices to teach? 

In February, 2007, we challenged Mr. Zalewski and Mr. Fuller to prove their "Third Order" theory about Cromlech. We asked them to demonstrate even the simplest understanding of Third Order Magic. You can read this nearly six year old challenge here.

Guess what? Half a decade later - Still no magic! - Only empty titles, smoke, and mirrors.

In the Alpha Omega ...

... the Oxford of Golden Dawn Magic ...

We don't just hand out grades ...

 ...We make Magicians!

Even the A.O.'s Second Order, the R.R. et A.C., is completely different than other Golden Dawn orders. In the Alpha Omega, our Second Order Adepts practice the post-graduate level Magic revealed by the Secret Chiefs at the International Conclave of Golden Dawn Adepti last March. 

On the other hand, here is what Pat Zalewksi says he teaches in his Second Order:

"On the ritual study since the ZAM was a study of the 0=0 and the THAM a study of the 1=10 the rest of 5=6 sub-grades would be taken up by the elemental rituals. That leaves the Portal and 5=6 to be analysed, and that was most likely done at 6=5 and 7=4 level- if we follow the GD pattern." - Pat Zalekwsi

That's it? Intellectual analysis of published Golden Dawn initiations? Where's the MAGIC?

Is Regardie's Magic Amazon sells "used" for $9.60 really all the Magic in the Golden Dawn?

Not in the Alpha Omega!

In the A.O., we focus on our mission to make Magicians from day one and published Regardie Magic is just for beginners. Alpha Omega Adepts practice the post-graduate level Magic revealed by the Secret Chiefs at the International Conclave of Golden Dawn Adepti last March.

The Alpha Omega's approach to advanced Magic and Alchemy comes straight from the Hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions. This is not just some made up New Age stuff. Let me show you what I mean.

Last year the Golden Dawn's "Secret Chiefs of the Third Order," who preside over the Alpha Omega still today, shed essential new light on the true nature of the Initiations of the R.R. et A.C., the Golden Dawn's original Second Order. In the Alpha Omega, we use unpublished versions of these amazing initiations to fully embody Magic in our Adepts.

The Traditional Initiatic Meaning of the Three Grades of the R.R. et A.C. 

(5=6, 6=5, 7=4)

by Frater Lux E Tenebris

 

I have been asked by the Magi of the august Order to which it is my great honor to belong, to write about the traditional meaning and true initiatic function of the three degrees of the Second Order of the Golden Dawn (R.R. et A.C.).

The three Adept grades incorporated in the Rosicrucain Tradition are actually re-elaborations of extremely ancient mysteries that have always accompanied humankind since the beginning of its appearance on this earth.

Human beings are born and live with the passing of their lives and the approach of death ever present before our eyes. The birth, life, death and resurrection of the plant world did not escape the careful eye of the ancients. They wondered why it is that what happened in the plant world did not also happen in the world of animals and human beings. The ancients observed that, from the seed of grain was grain reborn, as were human beings from human seed, even if diverse.

In this perfecting the knowledge of nature, the ancients noticed also that the Sun was likewise born, died and was reborn - as was the moon, and as the heavens presented the stars and the planets. In fact, everything in life spoke of this cycle of birth, death and resurrection. It did not take long for the ancients to realize that every law they observed was the same for every thing that could ever be discovered or comprehended.

The Universe is order from chaos and therefore is subject to precise laws that are inviolable and eternal. The universe has two properties: eternity and infinity. The Universe is infinite, as it contains everything that exists. The Universe is eternal, as visible material expression of Beingness.

The Universe, within itself, is mutable and cyclical. The elements contained within the Universe therefore transform into infinite gradations of matter and energy, and this movement, evolution or devolution leads to the creation of Time.

Humankind is a creation of the Universe - and human beings within themselves contain all three of the preceding kingdoms; mineral, vegetable, and animal. Moreover, in human beings Soul, Mind, and Consciousness manifest, being that which makes us human.

As human beings, we notice that our bodies are born, live, and die. By analogical observation, which is the cornerstone upon which all of Magic rests, we discover that our bodies are subject to the same laws like all other things. By noting how the Sun returns, the Moon returns, the seasons return, and plants are reborn - we discover how we are subject to the same fate: Birth-Life-Death-Rebirth.

The point of this is that, as the ancients said, there are only two possibilities for a human being; to be reborn as human or to be reborn as a Soul. With the term Soul, I intend to describe the subtle and invisible complex within human beings, and not just one part of it, which for the purposes of this discussion would be useless.

In Egypt the dead were embalmed and then awakened or caused to be reborn, with particular and energetic practices which coagulated the subtle remains of the deceased, in such a manner that his consciousness could rest upon it and thus live a sort of life beyond the grave.

And the Limbo, the Elysian fields, or Underworld, the Duat, etc. - This inner dimension of man is known by many names - but in any case it means always the one and the same thing.

The initiatic schools, have therefore long understood that the only key, be it to understand nature and therefore the entire universe, or be it to transform a human being, is precisely the perennial law of analogy.

Departing from here, we can observe an entire proliferation of rites and practices analogous to the cycles of time of the earth, the sun, the moon, or stars. This is to ensure that humankind enters into the great cosmic harmony that turns eternally, and thus evolves according a universal law, namely: In the universe things transform from for worse to better as well as from better to worse. In modern times, this is known as the Law of Thermodynamics. For our purposes, however, it is enough to know that this is Eternal Universal Law.

Mystery Schools and initiatic rites can not escape this general universal rule, and thus we find them again and again all across the world, coupled with the eternal laws of the birth of life, of death and of rebirth. Here in the West, we can observe this also in Christianity, the dominant religion of the day, but each initiatic order also has its own corpus of special initiatic doctrines and practices, which cause their disciples to advance along these lines. To this, there are no exceptions.

Thus we arrive at the Second Order of the Golden Dawn, the R.R. et A.C., which as already stated for the other orders, can not escape this rule as an expression of the eternal laws governing everything. In fact, upon initiation in the Neophyte grade of the Outer Order of the Golden Dawn, a new life begins for the candidate.

This entire new life unfolds for the initiate in the grades leading up to Philosophus. Next, the candidate encounters the mysteries of the Divine for the first time in the Portal of the Vault of the Adepts. This transitional grade essential for the incubation of the new Soul in preparation for the second initiatic ordeal - Death following the birth that constituted the first such ordeal as a Neophyte.

In the Adeptus Minor (5=6) ritual, in documents and practices furnished to me not by the R.R. et A.C., but rather by the R+C Order from which the R.R. et A.C. arises, the following is said, which is precise and incontrovertible:

"The Mystery School into which you have been initiated is not a school of mysticism, but rather a school of active Magic. In this order we study the Principles of Sacred Science from a scientific point of view, instead of from the mystical or emotional point of view of religions.

In this Mystery School which transmits the teachings of ancient Mystery Schools of Sumeria, Chaldea, Assyria and Egypt, you will find neither superstition nor obscurantism. We will reveal to you the true inner structure of human beings and their true relationship with the Universe: For this reason, disciple, be ready to follow the course in every phase and fear not the death you shall face..."

This is the grade corresponding to the Adeptus Minor (5=6) of the R.R. et A.C. in the Order, which shall remain unnamed, yet is the foundation and root of all Rosicrucian mysteries ever transmitted in the West

Next, in the ritual which is the source of the 6=5 in the R.R. et A.C., it is written:

"I have died - and now I voyage in unknown realms with my boat (an image of the Subtle Body). Although dead, I am and live in this endless sea, joyous in the knowledge that the body is not everything!

Now I know! Now I can meet my brothers and sisters and receive from them the power of contact with the things above and the things below ..."

For now I shall not dwell upon explaining these words, but shall return to them, once we have first examined the following from the ritual which was the source document for the Adeptus Exemptus (7=4) of the R.R. et A.C.:

"I know you Death - And yet I live! I am dead and I have been reborn. I have conquered death - and I rise like the sun on the horizon. My journey in the world beyond the tomb is accomplished - and now I return with the earth in blossom."

In this journey we may observe and note precisely what happens throughout the universe - and thus also the human beings on their journey towards regeneration.

In these three grades transmitted to the R.R. et A.C. by the mysterious Order from which the Rosicrucian impulse first arose, it is explained in the instructions to the Adept that this is not a path of mysticism and certainly not a path for many - that when we speak of death, you truly die - and that when we speak of journeying beyond the tomb - you truly travel - and when we speak of rebirth - you are truly reborn and not merely symbolically or metaphorically.

Inside of the human being who undergoes these initiations and performs these techniques, changes that occur are not merely mental, but also energetic, biological, and cellular.

Using techniques of Superior Magic of the Adeptus Major (6=5) grade, it becomes possible to have the same experiences as when you die, as all attest who have gone this way before. Once you are "dead" you find yourself in a place that is neither heaven nor earth. In this place, called "beyond the tomb," "dubat," etc., for the first time, you encounter your own complexes of the mind and of the Soul. No longer trapped in the physical body of the Adept, these now take on tangible, visible appearance. It is these which torture or delight the Soul.

If the mysteries of death are those of the Adeptus Minor, who sacrifices him or her-self scientifically, in order to transform into a different substance (as can be observed in any cabinet of chemistry or physics laboratory where matter is studied), then in the grade of Adeptus Major (6=5), consciousness is gained in the LITERAL sense."

The Major Adept encounters these Spirits, Angels, or Demons, meets these energies, gains consciousness of them, gets to know them there, and returns from "beyond the tomb" changed forever, as True Magic and its functions are revealed in subtle detail.

During the 6=5 initiation of an Adeptus Major, a special magical technique is employed, which LITERALLY detaches the soul of the candidate, separating it from the physical body, so that the Adept may have the literal experience of what actually happens when you die.

I understand there have been, and still remain, leaders of orders who have never had contact with the true R+C source. Based merely on their fantasy of the function of these rites, these individuals would nonetheless like to convince you that these sacred rituals and techniques are merely symbolical or mystical. I swear to you, however, that this is not so.

The three Adept rituals of the R.R. et A.C. are but one valid albeit late manifestation of earlier Rosicrucian rites that contain the knowledge of death, the knowledge of the universe beyond, and of rebirth and regeneration. These rites, which TOGETHER contain the requisite knowledge to become a TRUE Adept, are in reality but three degrees in one.

There have been orders that have already deviated these rites and there are others too today who would lead you even further astray. Some today write even that there is no magic beyond the Adeptus Minor (5=6) grade, and that the Major initiation of Rosicrucian Adepts, the Adeptus Major (6=5) is but a mystical appendage of the 5=6 - that there is no place in the 6=5 for advanced Rosicrucian magic, and that the 7=4 is but yet more mysticism.

Our august Order breaks its silence therefore today, so that the original essence of these essential Rosicrucian rites might not be lost merely to a thirst for innovation, led by a chorus of experts who, perhaps even meaning well, would nonetheless otherwise lead you astray.

In the tomb, in which the Major Adept is enclosed, there is all of his/her consciousness, and in the "world beyond the tomb," the consciousness of the Adept encounters the consciousness of Nature, once the consciousness of the Adept has been detached from its physical vehicle by 6=5 rites of Magic.

Once the Adept's consciousness has been magically detached from his or her physical body, he or she then confronts what the Adept knew or thought to be - with what is in reality, and thus can make a complete correction in the eyes of God. It is in the 6=5 grade of Adeptus Major, therefore, that contact can truly be stabilized with one's higher Self, Divine essence, or "Angel" (and not in the 5=6, as has been popularly misunderstood for over a century). It through the the contact that comes from the sojourn in the Underworld in the 6=5 grade, that, in addition to one's earthly guides, one who knows death gains also the guidance from one's Divine source.

The Major Adept knows death, yet the victory is not yet fully won. As the Hermetic adage states, "you must not only separate the volatile from the fixed. It must not only ascend to heaven, but it must also descend to Earth again empowered with the knowledge of superior and inferior things. Then the volatile must once again be reunited with the fixed. Only then will the Earth be reborn and regenerated, and the physical and magical powers of the Adept blossom like the flowers in Spring.

Far removed from all metaphor and mysticism, the LITERAL bath of the Adept in the Upper Astral realm, where resides that which does not live on Earth, reawakens the powers slumbering within the Adept. Thus, it is upon entering the 7=4 that the keys are bestowed of how to use these awakened powers for the common good, as well as to lead the Order. This is why the power to reconstitute the Order, if necessary, has at all times in history resided with Exempt Adepts, together with the Hermetic and Rosicrucian lineages of our Order, as is also the case with the Golden Dawn.

Magical and alchemical techniques are given in this grade that carry the Adept to triumph in his or her Opus Magnum (Great Work). Far from all metaphor and mysticism, these techniques are physical, observable, and have nothing to do with mysticism, obfuscation, or the sort of smoky theological arguments about these grades that have appeared in books and on the Internet of late.

The rest, or everything else that occurs later, can not be comprehended by those who have not yet reached such an advanced state of spiritual development, since the manner in which the human machine functions - and the Soul that inhabits it - are so different to that which we are accustomed to think and see, that it would appear to be but a fairy tale.

In this state, the Adept comes to understand the language of Nature, even to perceive and to comprehend the Universal movements of the Spheres. The Adept understands even life and death, living on the extreme peak of both. The Soul of the Adept is quiet and balanced - and nothing can shake this Soul - becoming what Agrippa called a Static Soul - a Soul tranquil, equilibrated, and no longer fluctuating.

Thus we witness the miracle of the trinity of grades of the true Rosicrucian Adept, the nature and purpose of which is totally different than what people had come to think and write of them today. Although to the outside, these initiations appear to be three grades, they are in reality but one deeply profound initiatic process, which fully develops the Soul of the Adept.

The Magi of the Order from which the Rosicrucian tradition first arose, including the R.R. et A.C., asked me to write this article, so that all may better understand the R.R. et A.C. and benefit from the true Rosicrucian manner in which the Second Order of the Golden Dawn has been intended all along.

Trusting fully in my disciple, Frater Lux ex Septentrionis, I accept that today, there is a need for diversity in the Golden Dawn orders. Nonetheless, there is a limit to what can or should be changed, and certain essential things should be touched at all.

If the original R+C tradition is not to be lost completely in America and the English speaking world, it is even more important that at least some Golden Dawn orders remain not only faithful to the original Rosicrucian tradition, as does the Alpha et Omega - but faithful even to the dark and hidden roots from which the R+C rose first grew, and continues to nourish itself even until today.

Thus, in this strange, modern world of the Internet in which we live today - where one writer claims that "the higher R.R. et A.C. grades not magical, but rather mystical in nature" and another writes that "tradition must be sacrificed to intellect in order to achieve Gnosis..."

I am reminded of the words of Jesus the Christ who, according to the Johannite tradition, is reputed to have said:

"They are like the blind leading the blind!"

SECRET CHIEFS: Communiqué On Spagery, Archemy, and Alchemy

by Frater Lux E Tenebris

Representative of the

Third Order of the Golden Dawn
(Translated and Introduced by David Griffin)

An Alchemist, Or Just a Puffer?

Translator's Introduction
by David Griffin

Over the centuries, there have been many would be alchemists who have wasted their entire lives and fortunes in the misguided attempt to manufacture gold using alchemical transmutation. Initiates of Hermetic alchemy, known as Philosophers of the Art, have  consistently mocked these individuals, calling them "Puffers" as a derisive reference to the manner that they puffed with bellows at the fires in their laboratories, having completely misunderstood the subtle allegories contained in Hermetic alchemical texts and images.

For alchemical initiates in modern times, the term "Puffer" has come to take on a wider meaning, due to new, more modern misunderstandings of the symbolism of the texts and images in the literature of Hermetic alchemy. Noteworthy as modern schools of Puffery are the modern schools of so-called "Spiritual" alchemy. This certainly does not include the "spiritual alchemy of Jacob Boehme" which is something else entirely. From the traditional point of view of the initiatic tradition of Hermetic alchemy, modern schools of Puffery include the psychological misinterpretation of alchemy of Carl Gustav Jung, the speculative, purely intellectual interpretation of Pat Zalewski, and even the meditative approach of Adam MacClean, who nonetheless remains a fine encyclopedist of alchemical texts and images.

In recent weeks, there has been an enlightening discussion delineating divergent modern approaches to alchemy in the Yahoo forum of our order. During this discussion, a "laboratory alchemist" has appeared who argues that true alchemy and the original alchemical texts and images refer exclusively to laboratory experiments. From an initiatic point of view,his modern Puffer has fallen into the same trap as the Puffers of old, namely a literalistic interpretation of the symbols and allegories of the texts and images of Hermetic alchemy. This approach to alchemy is the modern equivalent of the "gold cookers" of the 18th Century that the Philosophers so derided. In modern times, such individuals, however only see two possibilieies, their own literalistic misinterpretation of alchemy, or the equally misguided intellectual interpretations of the other schools of Puffery outlined above.

The initiatic tradition of Hermetic alchemy is something completely different, whose higher practices remain even today the most carefully guarded secrets of the Western Esoteric Tradition. In order to better illustrate the difference between true Hermetic Alchemy and the modern schools of Puffery, I have just finished translating the following monograph written by GH Frater Lux E Tenebris, representative of the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Golden Dawn.

On Spagery, Archemy, and Alchemy

by Frater Lux E Tenebris

All the authors who have written works on the history of chemistry have stated, "Our chemistry derives, by direct lineage, from the old alchemy". Thus, the origin of one merges with the history of the other. For this reason, actual science would be indebted, in the positive factors on which it is based, to the patient labor of the ancient alchemists.

This hypothesis, which should be granted but a relative and conventional value, is currently accepted as a demonstrated truth - Thus consequently the science of alchemy, stripped of its own principles, loses all the functions that justify its existence, which to justify its very reason for being. Considered in this manner, from afar and through the mists of legend and the centuries, alchemy no longer appears except in a vague, nebulous form - without consistency.

Fulcanelli, the great alchemist, in his wonderful book "The Dwellings of the Philosophers" writes in this regard: 

"But when proof would be necessary, when facts prove indispensable, we content ourselves rather to apply Hermetic principles. The School does not discuss, but rather cuts off. Nonetheless, we declare, in our turn, our aims to demonstrate that these scientists, in good faith, have but embraced and spread a hypothesis. They have erred due to ignorance and lack of profound study. In fact, they have understood only partially the books they have studied, and thus have confused appearance for reality."

At this point we declare clearly, because many educated and sincere people seem to remain unaware of this fact, that the true ancestor of our modern chemistry is but ancient spagery, and not the Hermetic science of alchemy itself. Indeed, between spagery and alchemy there lies a deep and profound abyss, as will be made clear in this brief monograph.

Still according to Fulcanelli, in the Middle Ages and probably in Greek antiquity, if we go back to the works of Zosimus and Ostantes, there existed two degrees, two levels of research in chemical science: the spagyric and the alchemical.

These two branches of a common esoteric art, Fulcanelli tells us, were widespread in the working class through practice in the laboratories. Metallurgists, goldsmiths, painters, potters, glass makers, dyers, enamel-bulls, distillers, potters, etc.., in the same way as pharmacists, needed to be provided with sufficient spagyric knowledge, which they then completed with the exercise of their profession.

Archemists instead formed a special category among the old chemists, a narrower and more obscure category: whose intended purpose had certain similarities with that of the alchemists, but the materials and the means which they disposed to reach this purpose were exclusively chemical materials and means.

Transmuting metals into one another, producing gold and silver starting from crude mineral or metallic salt compounds: forcing gold content departing from silver and silver content departing from tin, to become effective and removable. These were the things that Archemy proposed. Ultimately, assures Fulcanelli, these were, in truth, Spagerists perched in the mineral kingdom that voluntarily left aside the quintessence from animal and plant alkaloids.

They cultivated their knowledge in small numbers and privately, according to the rather disdainful words used by the true alchemists to indicate these occasional practitioners, unworthy of being called of Philosophers of the Art. Despite their faults, or rather precisely because of their faults, Fulcanelli says that it is exactly these who procured first Spagery, and then modern chemistry with all of its attendent facts, methods, operations, etc.

These are real founders of a science is wonderful and perfect, these men tormented by the desire to seek and to learn everything, these endowed this science of correct observations, of precise reactions, of skillful manipulation and laboriously acquired skill.

Alchemy, however, we repeat, has nothing to do with these successive acquisitions. Only the Hermetic writings, misunderstood by profane investigators, were the indirect cause of discoveries that their authors had never expected.

In this manner, Blaise de Vigenere obtained benzoic acid, by sublimating benzoin. Brandt was able to extract phosphorus while searching for the alkahest in urine. Basil Valentine, the prestigious Adept did not look with disdain at all spagyric experiments, set in order the whole series of salts of antimony and realized red gold colloid. ​​Raymond Lull prepared acetone and Cassius purple gold. Glauber obtained sodium sulfate and Van Helmont recognized the existence of gas.

But, with the exception of Llull and Basil Valentine, Fulcanelli declares that all these researchers are wrong to classify among alchemists, as they were merely Archemists, or Spagyric sages. This is why a famous adept, author of a classic (Cosmopolitan) said quite correctly:

"If Hermes, the Father of the Philosophers, were to rise again today along with the subtle Geber and profound Raymond Llull, they would not be considered Philosophers the "vulgar chemists" or our day chemical from our vulgar (an epithet used by the author for the Archemists and Spagyrists who are not true alchemists (also called true Adepts - from Adeptus = that which is acquired). The "vulgar chemists" would not even consider these great Philosophers as among their disciples, merely because they do not know how to run all those distillations, circulations, calcinations, and all those countless other operations that our vulgar chemists have invented, merely because they have misunderstood the writings of those great allegorical philosophers!"

The books, with their confused text, enriched in cabalistic expressions, are the efficient and genuine cause of the gross contempt which we have reported. Despite the warnings and the solemn reproaches of the authors - disciples or researching students of the golden truth, insist on reading into these texts, meanings from modern, every day speech. They do not understand that these texts have been reserved from the beginning for initiates, and it is essential to possess the secret, initiatic key to unlock their true meaning.

The first work that needs to be done is precisely to discover this key.

Of course, these old treatises do contain, if not all of alchemy, at least its philosophy, its principles, and the art of applying them in accordance with the laws of nature. We must not ever forget, however, that alchemy is an Esoteric Science. Consequently, a living intelligence, an excellent memory, and even work and attention aided by a strong will are not enough to hope to become a gifted in this Art.

Nicolas Grosparmy writes:

"All those are dead wrong who believe that we wrote our books just for them, instead, we have written them to throw off anyone who does not belong to our tradition."

Another alchemist, more charitably, warns the reader with these words:

"Every prudent man should, first of all, learn the Science, and should proceed only if he succeeds to learn the operative principles and methods. Otherwise it is better not even to begin, so do not to insanely waste his time and riches ... Now, I beg those who read this book, to have faith in my words. I repeat once again that you will never learn this sublime science merely with the help of books. This can only be learned through divine revelation. It is for this reason, in fact, that it is called the Divine Art. It can also be learned with the assistance of a good and faithful Master; and since there are few whom God has bestowed with this grace, fewer still those who so teach. "

And finally, we can not overlook the poignant words of one author of the eighteenth century that explain in another way the difficulty of solving this enigma or finding the secret key:

"Here is the first and real reason why nature has hidden this open and royal palace from many Philosophers, even those equipped with highly acute intelligence. The cause is that, already since their youth, they have strayed from the simple way of nature through logical and metaphysical conclusions. Thus, deceived by the illusions contained in the best books, they imagine and swear that this is the deepest and most difficult to learn of any metaphysical Art, although ingenuous Nature advances by straight steps, simple in this path like in all of her others."

These are the opinions of Philosophers themselves about their works. We should not be surprised, therefore, that many scholars have misled themselves about this science, of which they were unable to assimilate even the most basic notions. We want to encourage Neophytes in the Ars Magna, Alchemy, to meditate on this truth proclaimed by imitation:

"These can listen to the sound of their words, but this does not indicate their meaning. In them there is only the letter, but it is up to the Lord to discover their meaning. They propose the mysteries, but it is up to Him to explain them. They show the way that should be followed, but it is He who gives strength to advance."

Here we must specify precisely that when we speak of God or He in Hermetic Science, we mean our Solar self, or particle of infinite being.

And this is the great obstacle against which our chemists have collided.

Fulcanelli affirms that if our scientists had understood the language of the ancient alchemists, they would have known the laws of Hermetic practice and the Philosopher's Stone, and a long time ago would have ceased to be regarded as a chimera.

We have said that to meet a Master of the alchemical Art, good and sincere, would constitute the equivalent of a divine gift. The Master are still here, but it is difficult to find him, and even if you find him unwilling to speak, you must be skillful to rob him of that which you wish to know.