TRUTH: Who Are You? - Magick 101 with David Griffin

Let's start at the beginning ...

... with who you believe yourself to be.

Christianity, Paganism, and the Golden Dawn

by Alpha Omega Imperator

David Griffin

In recent years, the differences between one Golden Dawn order and the other have become more and more clear. The greatest strength of today's Golden Dawn community is our diversity. This same diversity from one order to the other, however, makes the choice for aspirants where to seek training extremely important. All Golden Dawn orders today are not the same today at all.

On the one hand, there are G.D. orders like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha Omega with the stated mission "to make magicians." In the A.O., we teach Magick from day one and are non-sectarian in our approach. Whereas numerous G.D. orders exclude Thelemites or even all but Christians, in the A.O. we admit and advance Christians, Pagans, Jews, Muslims, Thelemites, etc. - all on an equal basis.

Orders like the S.R.I.A., which admit only Christians, view the entire Rosicrucian tradition as a "Christians only" affair. Christian Sectarian G.D. orders typically suppress Magick to various degrees in favor of Christian Mysticism. Such orders typically also seek to minimize Pagan Golden Dawn elements, dubiously claiming that the G.D. is primarily a "Christian" tradition. In reality the G.D. is not a religion at all, but rather a non-sectarian system of spiritual development.

Pat Zalewski, Chief of the "Order of the Golden Dawn" (co-led by Martin Thibeault) wrote earlier this week:

"When I see people banging on about paganism in the GD it indicates how little they understand of the second order and its sheaths."

"The association to Kether of CRC and Jesus Christ shows a standard association of Rosicrucianism and Christianity which some modern day GDists want to rewrite entirely, along with a few other things. Kether places CRC directly under Christ, so there is no mistake here and that is the highest name. Embedded in the RC manifestos there is certainly enough veiled biblical material to indicate this as well."

"The second order of the RR et AC brings on the concept of redemption through death, and as far as I am aware is not a general pagan concept..." - Pat Zalewksi

Clearly, the above argument attempts to minimize the importance of Pagan elements and influences in the GD. As a practicing Pagan, I am not entirely unbiased in this matter. Still, since my approach to the Golden Dawn is non-sectarian, I remain somewhat objective despite my personal religious faith.

Any interpretation of the entire R.R. et A.C. as "primarily Christian" is, however, in my opinion, a gross oversimplification and even a distortion of the history of Western spirituality.

To begin with, the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Golden Dawn recently shed new, essential light on the true nature of the grades of the R.R. et A.C., which you can read about HERE. This material shows clearly that the themes of Second Order initiations (death, sojourn in the world beyond death, and rebirth) find their roots in the cycles of nature. Although one level of symbolism in R.R. et A.C. initiations is clearly Christian influenced, there are equally profound Pagan levels of symbolism as well. Take, for example, the death of Osiris and the miraculous birth of Horus through the magical power of the Mother Goddess, Isis. This, it may be argued, is the actual myth underlying the initiatic cycle of the Second Order, merely dressed up in symbols palatable to Christians.

Contrary to claims of G.D. Christian sectarians, the initiatic symbols in the R.R. et  A.C. are not at all exclusively Christian.

Dionysos and Cross

Take, for example, the Assyrian Du-zi (Babylonian Tammuz, or Sumerian Dummuzi) the Egyptian Orisis, the Anatolian Mithras, the Syrian Adonis, the Hebrew Tamheur, and the Phrygian Attis, or Greek Dionysus.

Madonna with Christ Child

ALL of these were dying-and-reborn solar-gods. They were all consorts of the Great Mother - All suffered death, sojourned through the underworld, and were reborn. 

Babylonian Goddess mother Semiramis with divine child Tammuz

Although Christian theology certainly add its own twist on things, his universal solar myth nonetheless remains the likely primeval form of the resurrection story as told in the New Testament.

Egyptian Goddess mother Isis with her child Horus

The earliest known celebration of the rebirth of the sun (on Winter Solstice) in ritual was that of the ancient Babylonians of Mesopotamia, who celebrated their “Victory of the Sun-God” festival on December 25th. This Babylonian cult, especially the cult of mother and child (Semiramis and Nimrod and later as Ishtar and Tammuz) spread out from Babylon over the entire world, only the names changed; Nimrod was renamed in Egypt as “Osiris” and Semiramis became “Isis,” long before the birth of Jesus was adored as “Madonna with her child”. . . .

Christmas, the birth of the Son, was transplanted to the pagan celebrations of the Winter Solstice, the rebirth of the sun, some 1,600 years ago, centuries before the English language emerged from its Germanic roots. This is probably why the words for the two mythic concepts of sun and son are so similar, because the pagan Winter Solstice and Yuletide was overlaid with Christmas.

Tammuz’s Winter Solstice festival, commemorating the yearly death and rebirth of vegetation, corresponded to the festivals of the Phoenician and Greek Adonis and of the Phrygian Attis, both dying-and-reborn sun gods associated, like Tammuz, with a sacred tree. As already mentioned, the Babylonian myth of Tammuz, the dying god, bears not only a close resemblance to the Greek myth of Adonis, but also links with the myth of Osiris. 

These dying-and-reborn sun gods are all connected to a very ancient cult of tree-worship. It would appear probable that Tammuz, Attis, Osiris, and the deities represented by Adonis and the Celtic Diarmid were all developed from an archaic god of fertility and vegetation, the central figure of a myth which was not only as ancient as the knowledge and practice of agriculture, but had existence even in the archaic hunting period. 

Tammuz Tree

Traces of the Tammuz-Osiris story in various forms are found all over the area occupied by the peoples from Sumeria to the Druids of the British Isles. Some authorities suggest that apparently the original myth was connected with tree and water worship and the worship of animals. Adonis sprang from a tree; the body of Osiris, pursued by Seth, was concealed in a tree, which grew round the sea-drifted chest in which he was concealed. And Diarmid concealed himself in a tree when pursued by Finn. . . .

Finn

In mythology, Tammuz, like Jesus, was born on December 25th and associated with a tree. At the time of the Winter Solstice, the past sun god would die, his branches stripped from him and one piece, the seed, would enter the fire on “Mother-night” as a log. The next morning, the new triumphant sun god was born from the fire as a tree, the “Branch of God,” who was celebrated for bringing divine gifts to men. So it looks like Tammuz was the original Yule log. Tammuz is identified with Adonis, the Semitic name meaning “lord.” Here, again we find the same cosmic pair of mother and child, and again the association with a tree. . . .

Pagan Survival in Scandinavia : Rolling a Jul Log

Another Pagan Remnant in Scandinavia: The Julbock (Yule Ram)
Such Rams pulled Thor's Chariot According to Nordic Paganism

The week long celebration of “Saturnalia,” a period of unrestrained or orgiastic revelry and licentiousness from the 17th to the 23rd of December, was the Roman version of this very ancient Babylonian “Victory of the Sun-God” cult. 

Saturnalia

The winter solstice fell within the Saturnalia and was referred to as the “Natalis Solis Invicti” (the “Nativity of the unconquered Sun”). Saturnalia was celebrated from December 17th to January 1st in the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor Aurelian blended Saturnalia with a number of birth celebrations of savior Gods from other religions, into a single holy day: December 25th. In Roman mythology, the sun represents male divinity, and the “Natalis Solis Invicti” was the “return of the sun god” born of the Mother Goddess. 

Deo Sol Invictus

This day represented the hope and faith that from within the darkest and coldest night (the winter solstice) there would be born a “Lord of Light” (“the unconquered sun”). This sun god would die at the summer solstice at the height of his power (the longest and warmest day), from which point the days would get colder and colder until he was reborn again the following winter. This yearly cycle of a “dying and resurrected” sun deity could be found in many of the world’s ancient religions. . . . 

Some historians of religion see the eventual choice of December 25, made perhaps as early as 273 CE. After decades of arguing by Church Fathers about the correct date of Jesus’ birth (was it March 25, April 18, May 20, November 17, or was it January 6?), finally the eventual choice of December 25 was decided upon.

However, this decision reflects a convergence of the theological anxieties of the Origen and other Church Fathers about mythic pagan gods and the Church’s identification of God’s son with the celestial sun. Again, December 25 already hosted two other related festivals: “Natalis Solis Invicti” (the Roman “birth of the unconquered sun,” or “Deus Sol Invictus”), and the birthday of Mithras, the Iranian “Sun of Righteousness,” whose worship was popular with Roman soldiers. (Deus Sol Invictus, “the unconquered sun god,” was a religious title applied to at least three distinct divinities during the later Roman Empire; El Gabal, Mithras, and Sol.)

Thus, after much argument, the developing Christian Church adopted this date as the birthday of their savior, Jesus. The people of the Roman Empire were accustomed to celebrating the birth of a sun god on that day, so it was easy for the church to co-opt the people’s attention to Jesus’ birth. 

Birth of Mithras: Dec. 25

The festival of Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithras could now be celebrated as the birthday of Christ! As one theologian puts it: “What better way to challenge the Pagans than to usurp their holidays?”

Mithras with Shepherds

The Babylonians also celebrated their “Victory of the Sun-God” festival on December 25th. Preceding Christianity by many centuries, the pagan worship of Mithras, the Persian savior, became common throughout the Roman Empire, particularly among the Roman civil service and military. Mithraism is now recognized as a syncretic Hellenistic mystery religion that developed in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE and was practiced in the Roman Empire beginning in the 1st century BCE.  Mithraism was the prime competitor religious cult to Christianity until the 4th century.

Mithras had many parallels with the Christian god: followers believed that he was born of a virgin on December 25th, circa 500 BCE, his birth in a cave was witnessed by shepherds and by gift-carrying Magi. This was celebrated as the “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.” Mithras was known to his followers as “The light of the world,” or “The Good Shepherd,” and exhorted his followers to share ritual communion meals of bread and wine. During his life, he performed many miracles, cured many illnesses, and cast out devils. He celebrated a Last Supper with his 12 disciples. He ascended to heaven at the time of the spring equinox, about March 21st. . . .

Mithras and 12 Signs of Zodiac

Attis, born of a virgin and changed into a fir-tree, was another sun- or vegetation-god whose story bears a striking resemblance to the Christ story. Wherever the Christian worship of Jesus and the pagan worship of Attis were active in the same geographical area in ancient times, Christians “used to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus on the same date; and pagans and Christians used to quarrel bitterly about which of their gods was the true prototype and which the imitation.” 

Attis

Since the worship of Cybele was brought to Rome in 204 BCE, about 250 years before Christianity, it is obvious that if any copying occurred, it was the Christians that copied and later co-opted the traditions of the pagans. They were simply grafted onto stories of Jesus’ life in order to make Christian theology more acceptable to pagans in the Roman Empire. 

Thus, in conclusion,  attempts to minimize or suppress Pagan elements in the Golden Dawn, as well as to claim that the grades of the Golden Dawn's Rosicrucian Second Order, the R.R. et A.C., are purely "Christian" may be clearly seen for what they truly are - as merely involving the co-option scenario of the role of the pre-Christian, Greco-Roman dying-and-reborn savior gods by the crypto-pagan dying-and-reborn savior god, Christ.

"When I see people banging on about paganism in the GD it indicates how little they understand"

- Pat Zalewski

Viewing Christ as a crypto-pagan dying-and-reborn savior God is admittedly a bit of an extreme position. Is it, however, any more extreme than sloppy reconstructionists trying to rebuild the Golden Dawn as exclusively Christian according to a purely sectarian agenda?

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EXPOSED: Vatican Conspiracy and Pagan Roots (Answer to Ronald Hutton)

by Golden Dawn Imperator

David Griffin

"Our lives begin to end ...
... the day we become silent about things that matter!" 

- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

Triumph of the Moon (1) is a monumental study for which Professor Ronald Hutton deserves accolades regarding the origins of Wicca in Southern England. In this well-researched work, tenured historian Dr. Hutton presents a rather convincing argument that Wicca is a synthetic religion pieced together from bits of Gerald Gardner's personal experiences in India with Goddess worship, anthropological data from Dr. Margaret Murray, Sir James Frazier and Charles G. Leland, and the Golden Dawn, with membership drawn in part from the Naturist (Nudist) movement in England.

Dr. Ronald Hutton

Prof. Hutton clearly states in Triumph that the scope of his study is limited to Wicca in Southern England. My primary objection to Dr. Hutton's methods is the manner in which he, in later chapters of Triumph, makes sweeping and unsubstantiated generalizations about the lack of survival of elements of ancient Paganism in Continental Europe - without providing a single shred of historical data to to back up such pronouncements that completely violate the stated scope of Hutton's otherwise fine study.

That Hutton apparently disproved the origin claims of the antiquity of WICCA in BRITAIN is one thing. That he makes unsubstantiated, sweeping judgements about the rest of the European continent outside his study area is quite another matter.

Another significant problem with Hutton's conclusions, in my opinion, is Hutton's overly anglo-centered world view. Put most simply, Prof. Hutton's writing all too often conflates Wicca in Britain with Witchcraft and Paganism in the rest of the world.

Thirdly, if Hutton truly discounts "oral tradition" as he has repeatedly stated, why does he rely so heavily on it in Chapter 20 of Triumph?

Finally, my most important objection to Triumph is the way that Hutton cites personal anecdote as though it were anthropological data. Hutton may be a respected historian, but he is not an anthropologist and lacks training in the rigors of the ethnographic method. Hutton's attempt at the anthropological method is clearly outside his field of expertise.

Had Hutton not violated the stated scope of "Triumph of the Moon" and had he not tried to play anthropologist by presenting personal anecdote and conjecture as though it were data, Triumph might have completely deserved the fauning praise it has gotten over the years. Sadly, however, as a fatal flaw, Hutton violated several fundamental rules of academia in an otherwise fine study.

I have repeatedly raised these and other objections to Professor Hutton's methods and conclusions on numerous previous occasions (for example, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). It is noteworthy that Professor Hutton even today fails to properly address objections to his methods and conclusions according to established academic protocols, instead derisively disparaging his critics with remarks like:

"[It is remarkable that] counter-revisionism is represented most prominently by men, who often employ a very testosterone- rich language of swagger and taunt." (2)

Max Dashu

Such remarks are by no means unusual from Dr. Hutton in relating to his critics. Hutton's disparaging behavior toward independent Pagan researchers like, for example, Max Dashu and Don Frew is well known throughout the Pagan community.

Don Frew

Instead of actually addressing objections to his methods and conclusions, Hutton instead has merely made the same sweeping and unsubstantiated pronouncements over and over like a broken record. While such methods are stock and staple of the rough and tumble world of political propaganda, they have no place in legitimate academic discourse.

"If the service is free, you are not the customer.

You are the product!" - Internet meme

For example, Dr. Hutton just published a "free" article in the latest issue of the Pomegranate Pagan journal, entitled "Revisionism and Counter-Revisionism in Pagan History." In this article, Hutton writes:

"No evidence was found in Europe of a self-conscious Pagan religion surviving the formal conversion of a state to Christianity. A large number of meticulously researched  local studies of the early modern witch trials found no solid evidence that its members had been practitioners of such a religion." (3) 

Regarding actual evidence in the early witch trials of survival of elements of Paganism since antiquity, Professor Paolo Portone, president of the CIRE institute of ethno-historical research, has made some relevant points in his article, "Aradia, Myth and Reality of Witchcraft" (4), which I translated into English and you can read here.

This article presents evidence, contrary to Hutton's above statement, regarding how the myth of the "evil witch" was made up by the Inquisition out of whole cloth from the remnants in Italy of the Pagan cult of Diana, the Lady of the Game, or Domina Ludi. Portone's argument is compelling, taken directly from the trials of Sibilla and Pierina before the Inquisitor of Milan, first in 1384 and then again in 1390.

Additional evidence is presented in Prof. Portone's article entitled Magical Ointment and the Night Flight of Witches (Hypothesis on the Presence of Shamanic Rituals in Medieval and Modern Europe), (5) which I translated into English and you can read here. Professor Portone has presented important additional evidence regarding Pagan survival from antiquity from the witch trials in his new book which I am presently translating for him entitled La Strega e il Crocifisso. (6)

Merely because Dr. Hutton and the revisionist historical camp have failed to find "evidence" of Pagan survival in continental Europe, this certainly does not mean that such evidence never existed nor that it does not continue to exist even today. There are several major problems with such narrowly defined "evidence."

1. The evidence Hutton claims does not exist was supressed and actively destroyed by the Catholic church for many centuries and continues to be so destroyed even today.
2. The descendants of any surviving Pagan traditions in Europe outside of Britain certainly must have gone deeply underground in order not to be killed. 
3. Any written evidence of the type admissible to historians could have meant certain death to any surviving Pagans.
4. This means that the tradition could only have survived orally and hidden in numerous places. 
5. Such oral evidence comprises anthropological rather than historical data. 
6. Thus the historical method is not the correct modality with which to interpret the data to begin with.
7. Historians like Dr. Hutton have been looking for the wrong kind of data in the wrong places. Were I to look for fish in the sand rather than in the sea, I could, using Dr. Hutton's methods, likewise claim that no evidence of fish had been found, and suggest even that fish appear to have become extinct, when in reality I have been looking in the wrong place and using incorrect methods all along.

Thus, Hutton and other historical revisionists may be technically correct, but only if we accept their extraordinarily limited definition of what constitutes "evidence." In fact, I have no doubt that Professor Hutton's claim that "No evidence was found in Europe of a self-conscious Pagan religion surviving the formal conversion of a state to Christianity", certainly DOES represent the wishful thinking of the Vatican, which has done everything possible for centuries to ensure that such "evidence" does not continue to exist. Nonetheless, Hutton's statement above proves nothing more than that the relevant data falls outside the purview of the historical method.

Hutton continues:

"The present fuss over revisionism in Pagan history is not a debate in the normal sense, because the counter-revisionists have not invited supporters of revisionism to a discussion: rather, they have sought instead to persuade other Pagans to stop believing those supporters. It is not clear what they are supposed to believe instead, because no counter-revisionist history has been developed: the implication of the attacks is that the traditional story is somehow correct after all, but it is never explained exactly how." (7)

The above statement is not entirely accurate, unless Hutton is deliberately excluding anthropological data from his "discussion." A new body of anthropological evidence in support of Pagan survival has recently emerged through Italian anthropological informants, Diana and Dianus del Bosco Sacro, presently being vetted by independent anthropological researcher, Leslie McQuade, to be presented for peer review before the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness.

A glimpse into this fresh data was recently published by Dianus del Bosco Sacro in the article entitled "The Great Rite, Hermeticism, and the Shamanic-Pagan Tradition of the Sacred Forest of Nemi." (6)

As I translated this article for publication in the latest journal of the Institute of Comparative Magico-Anthropology, I am reproducing the translator's introduction below due to its high relevance to the in refiuting Dr. Hutton's revisionist historical position.

The Great Rite, Hermeticism, and the

Shamanic-Pagan Tradition of the Sacred Forest of Nemi

as revealed by

Dianus del Bosco Sacro

Grand Conservator of the Sacred Forest Tradition

as authorized by

Diana del Bosco Sacro di Nemi e Benevento

38th Arch Priestess of the Sacred Forest Tradition

translated and Introduced by

David Griffin

Guardian of the Mysteries of the Sacred Forest

Translator’s Introduction

Dr. Ronald Hutton's historical tome, "Triumph of the Moon," examined the modern origins of Wicca in the British Isles, demolishing the belief of most Neo-Pagans in any substantial Pagan survival from antiquity. The unexpected reemergence from Italy last year of the previously occulted Shamanic-Pagan tradition of the Sacred Forest of Nemi, therefore understandably generated a certain amount controversy in the Neo-Pagan community.

The present article, written by Dianus del Bosco Sacro, details for the first time how Hermetic alchemists, from a hidden Partenopean initiatic center, secretly preserved essential elements of ancient Paganism from the Inquisition during the dark age of Christianity. During the course of Dianus’ exposition, we shall witness how the sexual mysteries of The Geat Rite comprise an unexpected and omnipresent Ariadne’s thread, demonstrating the  continuity of Pagan elements from the most ancient times until today.

Throughout history, we encounter the same, sublime sexual mysteries again and again, albeit clothed in ever changing symbols: from the rites of Dionysos, Diana, and Janus to sexual mysteries depicted in the frescoes the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii and their impact on Gerald Gardner and the Great Rite of Wicca – from the rich symbolism of Hermetic alchemy to the sexual mysteries encoded in Charles Godfrey Leland’s “Aradia, the Gospel of the Witches.”

According to the lore of the Shamanic-Pagan tradition of the Sacred Forest of Nemi, The Great Rite first arose with the ancient shamanism and sacerdotal lineages of the Great Mother Goddess in Continental Europe. While these primordial sexual mysteries were preserved along Matriarchal lines in Europe, they also spread to Sumeria, Babylon, and Egypt, where over time they evolved into the Royal Art of Alchemy.

Following the conquest of Egypt, the sexual mysteries of alchemy were carried to Rome by Priests of Isis. Arriving along the Partenopean coast in Naples, Cuma, and Pompei, this masculine Priesthood encountered the great Pagan Matriarchs. These Patriarchal- alchemical and Matriarchal-sacerdotal-shamanic lineages immediately recognized their sexual mysteries to be so similar, they could only have arisen from a common source.

Thus began the intimate collaboration between Pagan Matriarchs and Hermetic Masters, which would endure occulted for many Centuries. So it came to pass that, when the Pagan Matriarchs faced eradication at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church, they found sanctuary in the Parthenopean initiatic school of Hermetic Masters.

Most historians and anthropologists, it turns out, have been looking in the wrong places for evidence of Pagan survival since antiquity. For the real evidence lies not amongst folk magic and cunning folk, but masked in the symbols of Hermetic alchemy.

With the article introduced above, an important new track supporting the notion of ancient Pagan survival has emerged, presented by vetted anthropological informants. This is, however, a line of research that will require objective and dispassionate follow up in pursuit of truth, as this new information requires, to properly evaluate the data, a mastery of the secret alchemical "language of the birds," the symbolical language which reveals the deepest secrets of Hermetic alchemy only to the eyes of the initiate.

In conclusion, I must ask:

1. Are Professor Hutton and the historical raevisionist camp actually interested in historical truth regarding Pagan survival since antiquity - or do some of them have a hidden agenda?
2. Is it mere coincidence that the positions of Professor Hutton's revisionist camp so perfectly support the long term interests of the Vatican - that no evidence of Pagan survival from antiquity should have survived?
3. What IS then the actual bias of Dr. Hutton and the other revisionist historians?

I personally think that Pagans lose an extremely precious aspect of their religious faith when they are deprived of the historical roots of their religion in the ancient past, especially since vetted anthropological informants now state that this includes a still surviving INITIATIC Pagan heritage.

If historical roots are unimportant, then why does Catholic Christian doctrine cling so tenaciously to a myth of the historicity of the life of Jesus Christ, despite the absence of any substantial concrete historical evidence?

Indeed, if historical roots are unimportant, then why has the Vatican over the centuries gone to such lengths to destroy all evidence of survival of any remnants of ancient Paganism?

Finally, who stands to benefit most from a popular belief among contemporary Pagans that they have but a newly invented religion without any surviving, substantial historical roots in antiquity?

After all, does a tree deprived of its roots not quickly die?

Are we to allow our Pagan roots in antiquity to become mere dead objects of historical curiosity, hidden away to collect dust in some Vatican museum?

It is important to understand that research is NEVER written without bias. It is not an intentional bias; it is just a fact that our perception of the world damages our ability to examine it from any other perspective. References to this fact are given below.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods applications. London: Sage.

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2008). The craft of research (3rd ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Van de Ven, A. H. (2007). Engaged Scholarship: A Guide for Organizational and Social Research: Oxford University Press.

Bedeian, A. G. (2004). Peer review and the social construction of knowledge in the management discipline. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3(2), 198-216.

Endnotes

1. Hutton, Ronald, The Triumph of the Moon (Oxford, Oxford University Press 1999).
2. Hutton, Ronald. “Revisionism and Counter-Revisionism in Pagan History” Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies [Online], 13. 13 Dec 2012, p.251.
3. ibid., p.227.
4. Portone, Paolo, (2002). Aradia, mito e realtà della stregoneria in una ballata toscana dell’Ottocento , STORIA, ANTROPOLOGIA E SCIENZE DEL LINGUAGGIO, vol. 3; p. 115-120, ISSN: 0394-7963.
5. Portone, Paolo, (1993). L’unguento magico e il volo notturno delle streghe. ARS REGIA, vol. 14; p. 15-26.
6. Portone, Paolo, (2008). La strega e il crocifisso. Radici cristiane o cristianizzate. AICURZIO (MB): Gruppo Editoriale Castel Negrino.
7. Hutton, ibid, p. 250.
8. Del Bosco Sacro, Dianus “The Great Rite, Hermeticism, and the Shamanic-Pagan Tradition of the Sacred Forest of Nemi” The Fenris Wolf: The Institute of Comparitive Magico-Anthropology, 5 (Edda Publishing: 2012, pp. 53-76.

Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center 1.1

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha Omega is pleaed to bring you this premier issue of the Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center.

This debut issue of the Journal sets a high bar for academic excellence for the Golden Dawn community with the introduction and premiere article of Italian ethnohistorian, Professor Paolo Portone, since 2007 president of C.I.R.E. (Centro Insubrico di Ricerche Etnostoriche) the Center for Ethnohistorical Research in Cuomo, Italy.

C.I.R.E. President

Prof. Paolo Portone

The HOGD and the AO, in collaboration with the Center for Ethnohistorical Research, present the debut issue of the Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center FREE of charge - as a service to the entire esoteric community, bringing you a new standard of academic excellence. You can read the entire premiere number of the Journal at the  Golden Dawn Research Center by following the links from the Table of Contents below.

Vol. 1 No. 1

Table of Contents

• SECRET CHIEFS: Communiqué On Spagery, Archemy, and Alchemy - transmitted by Lux E Tenebris 

• Meet Paganism and Witchcraft Researcher, Prof. Paolo Portone
- translated by David Griffin 

• Aradia, Myth and Reality of Witchcraft - by Prof. Paolo Portone 

• The Three Order Golden Dawn System - by Imperator Lux ex Septentrionis (David Griffin) 

• A Tale of Three Perspectives - by Pagan author and Alexandrian Witchcraft Elder, Frater Barrabbas  

• More Thoughts on A Tale of Three Perspectives - by Pagan author and Alexandrian Witchcraft Elder, Frater Barrabbas 

• In Defence of S.L. MacGregor Mathers - by G.H. Frater Sincerus Renatus

And this is only the beginning!

Celebrate with us the birth of the ... 

Journal of the

Golden Dawn Research Center

Core Magick: Lesson 1: "Meditation"

featuring Leslie McQuade Griffin

"I'm not a MacGregor - I'm a McQuade!"

INTRODUCTION

Hi! It is nice to meet you. I am Leslie. I think most of you are familiar with my husband, David, who has been encouraging me to share with you some of the magickal gems I picked up my adventures as an archeologiogist and anthropologist. 

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, 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 was repeatedly sacrificed for political expedience. As a scientist, I wanted no part in such hypocricy.

"Take your falsified data and..."

Subsequently, as an anthropologist, I have been more fortunate. I am also an initiated witch of the Sacred Forest of Nemi (del Bosco Sacro) ancient Pagan tradition in Italy, which gives me access to the sort of informants anthropologists dream of. Being married to David Griffin doesn't hurt either, as this gives me access to the Secret Chiefs of the of the Golden Dawn's Third Order through my husband.

But let me tell you why I am here today ...

As you likely know the Alpha Omega and the Sacred Forest Shamanic Pagan tradition are initiatic, oath-bound traditions, which limits what I can share with you about them. I have, however, managed to amass a great deal of magickal knowledge from other traditions around the world I am completely free to share with you.

You may have heard of the work in the field of Shamanism of anthropologist, Michael J. Harner, who studied many different Shamanic traditions around the world, then attempted to distill the common core underlying all of them. Harner's groundbreaking work has resulted in a growing Neo-Shamanic tradition around the world. He calls this tradition Core Shamanism.

Inspired by Harner's work, I have been gathering magical techniques from many different traditions around the world, some of which I will be sharing with you here in this series on The Golden Dawn Blog. In recognition of my deep and abiding respect for Dr. Harner's work, I call this tradition I am about to share with you, Core Magick.

Core Magick and Core Magickal techniques, as we know them today, represent a huge tool kit; a vast collection of practices, beliefs, spells, deities, experiments, tools, rituals, ideas and ideals.  The material I am presenting to you spans both time and space, so don’t be surprised to see eastern practices beside western practices, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming inside Shamanic rituals presented in a Neo-Pagan format.  

I have collected, tested and used each and every one of the practices and techniques I share. I give you only the best of the best.  The years of scientific experimentation and ethnographic research have resulted in the simplest and most effective way to alter physical reality in ways that match your desires. There are no initiations, no fees, and no “busy work”.  This is the cream of what our planet has to offer.

These practices are stripped of all the cultural baggage that prevents many people from considering magic at all. Core Magick represents the synthesis of practices I learned during my travels and research as an anthropologist.  Because I worked as an experimental and ethnographic archaeologist, I had numerous opportunities to study the esoteric traditions of the various geographic regions in which I found myself.  This is the Core Magickal practice I myself use on a daily basis.  Because this information is available for the non-initiate, I have been careful to build in some safety nets to insure that as you work your way through the lessons and experiments, you don’t accidentally “blow up your lab”. 

I have taken great pains to remember the source of the things I use. This is perhaps the most interesting part of Core Magick, and one of its greatest strengths.  As we move closer and closer to a truly global culture, Core Magick represents a way to tap into the power of the magickal traditions of the planet as a whole.  Unlike other traditions that take their authority from the geographic region in which their methodology is culturally cloaked. Core Magick removes the cultural assumptions, contstraints and expectations from these powerful magickal practices and puts their methods in plain language, so that it may be grasped easily, understood accurately and practiced effortlessly.  Begin living the life you have always wanted.  It is time for you to claim your birthright and become a co-creator with DEITY.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

In my experience, Core Magick is in many ways most similar to chemistry.  In chemistry, you must be exact in your measurements, your timing, in every detail of how the experiment is performed.  Core Magick is much the same.  In order to have repeatable results, you must have repeatable actions.  Be attentive to what you are THINKING most of all as you begin working Core Magick. 

I will be teaching you the same way I learned, although you won’t have the same opportunities I had, simply as a function of time and location.  If you don’t already, I advise you to, take a moment now and find a new notebook or journal.  It is important that you keep a journal of not only your daily Core Magickal practices and results, but also what you read, odd things you notice, inexplicable feelings that may bubble to the surface.  This is a watershed moment.  You are moving from a life in which things happen to you, to one in which you make things happen.  Through careful study of your Core Magickal journal, your research notes as it were, you can easily see what works for you and what does not.  You will also be able to track the success or failure of your spells/experiments.

Everything you will learn, you learn in layers, like an onion.  Just like you first learned in kindegarten that Columbus discovered America, only to be told it was Vespucci in high school, so will you learn Core Magick.  Skipping steps will lead to an incomplete understanding of the material.  You must you take the time to fully digest and understand the “vocabulary” and methodology of Core Magick in order to do it well, so remember the age-old saying:

”The ox is slow, but the Earth is patient.”

THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT

The first thing I want you write in your Core Magickal Journal is an essay. In the essay, include answers to the following questions, in whatever order feels most natural to you.

1.   Why do you want to learn Core Magick?  What will you see in your life that will show you your Magick is working?

2.     What things are you already doing that you consider to be magickal?

3.     Do you believe in God/dess?  How does this belief effect your decisions?

4.   What are your favorite subjects or activities? What types of things are you not good at or interested in?

5.     Are you right or left handed?

6.     What is your birth information?  [Date, time, location]  Ask your mother to tell you the story of the day you were born.  Be sure to write down what she says, and ask her to clarify any details.

Write as much as you think is necessary to answer the questions.  Include extra information if it seemsrelevant.  You may even want to break up these six questions into separate, shorter essays.

I am, with these questions, asking you teach yourself who you ARE.  No one will see these essays.  Your Core Magickal Journal is solely for your use.  In order for you to make this world what you want it to be, you must understand who you are. My perspective as an archaeologist has taught me that it is only through a thourough understanding who you are that you can become the best of who you want to be.

THE FIRST PRACTICE

We will begin with meditation.  Whether you meditate now or not, I want you to use the following method.  This is not simply capriciousness on my part.  If a meditation is successful, there should be PHYSICAL sensations, and real, tangible, repeatable results.  The following is what I have found to be the simplest, fastest and most effective way to reach very deep states of meditation in a short amount of time.

1.   Do some sort of physical exercise immediately before you begin.  It can be anything from Yoga to Boxing.  You want your heart to be beating fast, to be breathing hard, and just a little sweaty when you sit down to meditate.  The pace of your breathing is VERY important.

2.     Sit COMFORTABLY facing a clean, empty, undecorated, white (or other pale color) wall.

3.     Sit with the base of your spine supported on a cushion to help keep your spine straight.

4.     Stick out your chest, and tuck in your chin just a bit.  This will take the last remaining curves out of your spine. It is important to keep your spine STRAIGHT.

5.     You can look either at the floor in front of you, or at the wall.  The important thing here is to keep your eyes open, and that they are slightly crossed (like when you try to look at the end of your nose).

6.   Other than blinking your eyes, and the paced rise and fall of your chest and stomach, you should endeavor to remain motionless.  If your leg falls asleep, ignore it.  If you itch, put your attention back on your glabella or your breathing.  Your body intends to work against you, so ignore it as if it were just another street vendor, barking for your attention.

7.    Put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, and no matter how badly you may itch, DO NOT SCRATCH.  Do not scratch, do not move.  Be VERY strict with youself on this one.  The itching sensation is a chakra point opening.  Most people are familiar with the seven basic chakra points. These points are the same in every culture.  When the point is open, it feels like a tingling, or an itching, coolness or tickling.  To induce this feeling, take a single hair and gently draw a circle in the center of your forehead, on the glabella, or a little above it.

8.  As you breathe, breathe also through your glabella.  Understand that your glabella is very similar to the blowhole of a whale or dolphin.  To accomplish this, as you inhale, become aware of cool air rushing into and out of your glabella, just as you feel the air moving through your nose and lungs.  

9.     Make sure that when you feel your breathing start to slow, or get shallow, you pick up the pace. By now your heart rate should be slowing down, and also your breath rate.  It is important however, to keep breathing deep and full.  You are going to hyper oxygenate your blood.  This will release certain chemicals into your blood that will make it possible for you to reach deeper states of meditation. 

10. As you are concentrating on all these things, feel yourself getting lighter and lighter, floating up out of your body.  Remember, your body has an autopilot function.  It’s called sleep.  You can trust your body to take care of itself while you “go out and have a look”.

11. Pass through the roof, into the sky, through the clouds, through the atmosphere into space.  Fly past the moon, out towards the stars. 

Travel as far as you like and stay as long as you like.  Rather than set a specific amount of time for meditation, we are setting a goal.  I want you to be able to see all the stars in the blackness of the universe with your eyes open and pointed at the wall or floor. 

This method is a combination of things I learned in Kundalini Yoga, Zen Walking Meditation, Rolfing and Shamanic Journeying.

Plan on spending at least 15 minutes for exercise, and 15 minutes for meditation for your first experiment.  Gradually increase the time for both in increments of 1:1; i.e. for each minute of exercise, do a minute of meditation.  If you want to do more the first time, that is fine, but what I’m looking for in this practice exercise are the following things:

1.   Consistency – Do it EVERY DAY for one lunar cycle.  This experiment should be repeatedly tested, because science is above all else a method of predicting what comes next.  If you do the same methods twice and get the same results twice, you have shown something interesting.  Do it 20 or 30 times, and you have really learned a powerful technique for self-transformation.  You need only dedicate 28 days to this experiment after which you may choose to either continue (which I HIGHLY recommend) or not.  Remember, the benefits of meditation are cumulative, like physical exercise.

2.   Set and Setting – Where do you meditate?  Do you use incense or candles?  How do you feel? Before you begin were you distracted, tired, happy, in a hurry, etc.?

3.    Results – Can you get out of the Earth’s atmosphere into space? Can you feel your glabella?  Can you breathe with your glabella?  Do you feel like you are floating?  Are you able to ignore your Meatsuit (physical body)?  Compare this meditation to others you have had in the past.  What seems different about this method?  What happened during the meditation that could be improved upon?

4.  Documentation – Each meditation is a scientific experiment.  Use the following form for Documenting the Results of your Procedure and Consistency with this Practice.

Meditation Documentation (example)

Date:  2012 Apr 20 Tue 9pm

Practice:  DAILY MEDITATION

Goal:  To be able to meditate anywhere, anytime.

Set and Setting:  Today I decided to meditate outside. I sat in a couple of spots to find the best view of the sky, with no mountains or power lines in the way.  I also looked around to be sure no one would interrupt me.  I didn’t bring any incense, because the air here smells so good.  I did bring a blanket, pillow and bug spray.  I also brought food and water for afterwards.  I had a hassle getting out of the house, because my roommate thinks it’s dangerous to meditate outside in the dark.

Procedure:  I did my usual routine, but a little faster today, since it now takes more to get my breathing faster.  I also did 25 bodyweight squats and 10 pushups.  Then, I lay down, covered up (because it’s cold), put my tongue up and started.

Results:  It was a difficult meditation.  I found my mind wandering with lots of thoughts.  So I told each thought, as it came up, “Thank you for reminding me of that.  I will get to it just as soon as I am finished.”  My Kundalini Yoga Guru Paranjothiar taught me that trick. Once each thought had been given some love and dismissed, I was able to go deeply into the stars, turn around and see the Earth.  It seemed so small and fragile.  I opened my heart and poured love over the whole planet.  Then I heard a car come up the road, and it jarred me out of meditation.  I had been there for 40 minutes already, so I packed up and walked back to the house.

Next Time:  I will go a little further away from the road.  I will leave the food, because I think it attracted bugs.  I will also bring my back-jack, because lying down made it hard to stay awake.  Also, I couldn’t find my usual internal “landing spot” at the beginning of my meditation, probably because of the new location. 

Other:  I really need to get better at letting outside distractions go.  I think a lot of that has to do with feeling slightly self-conscious about meditating outside my usual spot in the house.  It is important for me to let go both of my self-consciousness, and of my attachment to my usual place of meditation.

Meditation Documentation

Date:

Practice:

Goal:

Set and Setting:

Procedure:

Results:

Next Time:

Other:

THE FIRST READING LIST

In each reading list I provide you, there will be more than you can read.  Choose what looks interesting to you.  As you read, write notes in your journal. Your notes might include things like:

·      Information you think is important to remember for later

·      Quotes you want to remember

·      Your opinions about what you are reading

·      Questions you would like to ask me

I expect you to pick at least one and finish as much as you can before the next full moon.  In fact, the previous work is best completed in one lunar month.  So, have a look at what the moon phase is right now.  Repeat the meditation experiment every day for one lunar cycle.  Be consistent.  This is part of what makes meditation hard for most people. Meditation is a way of engendering the self with self-trust.  You trust in your decisions and stick by them, like your decision to meditate every day.  You trust your body to take care of itself while you while you are meditating.

All the books I recommend are available for free at the links I have provided for you.

SUGGESTED READING LIST

The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment by Thaddeous Golas

Real Magic by Issaic Bonewits 

The Power of the Witch by Laurie Cabot 

The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner

A Dictionary of Symbols by J. E. Cirlot

The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot