Golden Dawn Leaders Speak Out (Part 2): Astral Initiation & Self Initiation

In Part 1 of this article (here), we have seen how proponents of Astral-only Initiation claim that a group or people (or a Temple) can initiate a person by perfoming a ritual somewhere else for a person separated by geographical distance, allegedly initiating the candidate by reading off their name in Temple during the ritual and that other claims made by proponents of Astral-only initiation include:

1. Astral Initiation accomplishes everything that traditional Golden Dawn initiation does
2. The original (pre 1903) Golden Dawn practiced Astral Initiation.
3. Critics of Astral-only Initiation do not understand that all magick takes place on the Astral Plane.
4. Astral Initiation helps those who would otherwise not have access to Golden Dawn initiation.

My primary objection to Astral-only initiation has been the less than honest manner that it has been protrayed. For example I wrote here, that my objection arises...:

"...when modern innovations like Astral Initiation get misrepresented to the public as traditional or classical Golden Dawn practices. It is the dishonesty that is most destructive."

In regard to confusion caused by proponents of Astral-only initiation, Donald Michael Kraig wrote here:

"The thing I don’t like is when people pay dues, read some papers, do no work, pay for various “astral initiations,” and then claim to be experts with high levels of initiation. They make real occultists and initiates look foolish and bad." 

There is one aspect of the traditional Golden Dawn Neophyte initiation for which I have been repeatedly criticized by proponents of Astral-only initiation. Nonetheless, I remain convinced that not to continue to point this out in this article would be grossly irresponsible.

Traditional Golden Dawn initiations are even more powerful than many people yet seem to realize and there are very real spiritual dangers involved.

To my knowledge, other scholars in our community still have not yet written on this aspect of Golden Dawn initiation. The G.D. Neophyte initiation is based on the Egyptian Book of the Dead. When properly performed this Initiation actually separates and reintegrates the constituent spiritual parts of the candidate.

This is no light undertaking. The spiritual importance of this, and the spiritual danger involved has not yet received due attention by scholars in our community. The spiritual danger is made clear by the rising of the "evil persona" of the candidate at the foot of the altar, threatening to devour the candidate at his or her most vulnerable point in the initiation.

In the figure above, from the chapter of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, this is symbolized by Ammit the devourer, the combined animal figure at the far right of the illustration. Ammit is there to devour the heart if it is weighed heavier than the weight of a feather. The threatening "evil persona" of the candidate is magically subdued for him or her by the skilled Hierophant, when the Hierophant advances and proclaims:

"I come in the Power of the Light.

I come in the Light of Wisdom.

I come in the Mercy of the Light.

The Light hath Healing in its Wings."

I have written about this many times, for example, here:

"There are no short cuts and True Golden Dawn Initiation should not be undertaken lightly, as True Initiation involves the ritual separation and reintegration of a candidate's physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects to give birth to a higher and more balanced spiritual form and awareness.

This process is fraught with danger even under the best of circumstances. With candidates physically present and protected within the safety of a legitimate Golden Dawn temple, however, these dangers can be overcome by a highly trained and skilled Hierophant. 

To deceive oneself that the same result can be achieved alone or with a candidate sitting in another city or on the other end of the world, however, is [in light of my many years of initiatic experience] inviting spiritual disaster."

Proponents of Astral-only Initiation additionally claim that Astral-only Initiation meets the needs those who would otherwise not be able to contact the spirit of the order. To this Nick Farrell replies:

"So ... we come to (the) point ... that (Astral initiation allegedly) provides a person with a connection to a working group that they would not otherwise had. This is clearly true, but in my opinion any link would appear to be administrative rather than spiritual. A real initiation takes place when the person is ready."

This supports my own conclusion, based on my independent research, that Astral-only initiation does not satisfactorily meet the needs of those who would otherwise not be able to contact the spirit of the order.

When it comes to Astral Initiation there is another essential point that has been made by advanced Magicians, like Donald Michael Kraig and Nick Farrell, based on their many years of experience. I have until now specifically avoided making any public statement on this subject at all.

Donald Michael Kraig writes:

"But are they valid within the Western Mystery Tradition?
If you take someone with little or no training and tell them to visualize walking around a triangle (as I was for an Order a long time ago), the answer is decidedly NO!
If you take someone with a great deal of training, knowledge, and experience, the answer might be yes."

Nick Farrell writes:

“The Theosophists believed in astral (or mental) initiations, but the candidate was supposed to be able to consciously “travel? in his astral or mental body to a temple were Masters would initiate him.”
Which goes to show that even by the rules of “astral initiation” the way it is being done in most groups is completely wrong as it requires a high level of experience before the candidate can do it."

I have avoided commenting on this until present because my words have so frequently been misinterpreted or misrepresented by proponents of Astral-only Initiation. I therefore refrained from  elaborating on this subject at all.

In reality, however, the conclusions that both Donald Michael Kraig and Nick Farrell state above fully concur with my own conclusions, based on two decades of independent research and on Alpha Omega teachings.

There do indeed exist such advanced methods, not only in the East, but also in the Hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions here in the West, of which the Alpha Omega is one important emanation. As this spiritual practice remains oath-bound, I can not comment on the actual methodology.

This much I can say, however. In the Alpha Omega, an Adept can and does eventually receive higher initiatic teachings on the Upper Astral, in other words, in the realm of dreams. To be able to do this correctly, however, the advanced Adept must have first:

1. have fully cultivated their Lunar Body,
2. have achieved the Albedo state of awakening in the world of dreams,
3. have achieved the first alchemical separation, which permits the projection of the Lunar body in the Upper Astral (the Inner Plane where dreams occur).

To avoid a host of odd new claims that could otherwise arise from this statement, I must also clarify that, just as in the published Golden Dawn material there are means of testing visions obtained by Skrying in the Spirit Vision into the Lower Astral, in the Alpha Omega there exist yet more certain tests to measure the veracity of teachings received while Lunar projecting into the Upper Astral.

The specific techniques to cultivate the Lunar body, to separate it, to project it into the Upper Astral, and how to test these visions are all taught in the higher grades of the Alpha Omega beyond the well known material published by Israel Regardie.

In parts one and two of this article, we have heard positions on Astral-only initiation from a plethora of voices from all across the Golden Dawn community. In every instance, they have concurred with the results of my own independent research over the past two decades.

So what is my present position on Astral-only initiation, after 20 years in the Golden Dawn?

The old adage states that “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Perhaps this is true for Astral-only Initiation. If there is a way to perform initiations in this way, however, it is one by which few aspirants would be either willing or capable of performing.

The method itself cannot be disclosed; even the mention of its existence may be stretching what is permissible. What can be said is there are things in the Golden Dawn System of Magic that simply are not available in print, should not be, and hopefully never will be. 

This is why the Outer Order is a place to discover trustworthy Adepts to whom advanced Magic can eventually be entrusted. This fight over the possibility of Astral-only Initiation has always made me uncomfortable because it places me in a conflict between either lying or revealing too much.

It is enough to state that all things are possible but not using any of the information freely available thus far in time. Having revealed enough, I return to my steadfast position that Astral-only Initiation is not a part of the Golden Dawn in the Outer.

But what about all the Golden Dawn "Astral Initiates" already out there needing guidance today? Astral Initiates will be happy to know that the new programs we have created for Self-Initiates and Solitary  aspiring Magicians will better meet YOUR needs as well.

Speaking of which, what about Self-Initiation?

To begin with, Golden Dawn scholar, Sam Scarborough, has some interesting things to say about this. Sam Scarborough writes:

I’ve had the pleasure of being initiated physically, long-distance (astral), and through Self-Initiation. I can say of the three that the least that affect me on any level was the long-distance initiation. 

With both my physical and self-initiation I had a much more profound emotional affect.

... and ...

The bottom line, is that self-initiation works on all levels of initiation. It provides a phyical place and energy, it works on the astral, as the initiate through working the material builds up the astral component, and finally it works on an etheric level by implanting the symbols of the current within the sphere of sensation of the person undergoing the SI. This is especially true of those that have made all of the needed tools and temple furniture for their SI, as making those is a meditation into the symbolism and function of the tool in question, which helps the SI person to better link to the energies of the GD current.

To clarify my position, I must state agsin that I concur with Sam Scarborough and other Golden Dawn community leaders that just about ANYTHING is better than Astral-only Initiation the way it has been  sold and misrepresented on the Internet.

Even Self-Initiation, with all of its drawbacks, is certainly a better option!

If you would have asked me about Self-Initiation eighteen years ago, when Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Praemonstratrix, Cris Monnastre, first appointed me HOGD Imperator, I would have told you: "Self-Initiation is as impossible as self-psychotherapy."

My position has evolved since then though. You can read more about this here, here, and here.

It is not like I just woke up one morning and suddenly decided that Self-initiation is a great thing though. I still do not believe that. It is more like accepting that people have been receiving so much bad information for so long that I can’t put that genie back in the bottle. 

Self-initiation is such an inefficient approach to becoming a Magician that I wanted to do all in my power to convince people to avoid it. Working from my previous metaphor, if I had a son that was considering hitchhiking across country, I would do everything in my power to dissuade him. Why? Because it is inefficient, unnecessarily time-consuming, and dangerous! 

Self-initiation is similar. But, if my son said he was doing it and nothing I say will stop him, I will then try to give him as much information as possible to do it safely. It will still take him way too long. It is still a poor method of long-distance transportation. It is still dangerous.

I read once that ‘experience is a harsh task-master, but some people will learn in no other way.’ Thanks to irresponsible Magicians, many beginners today think Self-Initiation is best approach for them. I can’t undo the damage so I am instead committed to reducing the risk.

This is why the Alpha Omega has launched a host of new programs for Solitary Practitioners, Self-Initiates, and Astral Initiates:

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - the outer order of the Alpha Omega gives you complete training in Ritual Magic with good coaching, as well as a structured program to master all of the published Golden Dawn material using the latest methods of modern on-line Universities. HOGD also gives you access to physical initiation in our fully chartered and licensed Golden Dawn temples.  

Personal Temples: The Alpha Omega encourages Self-Initiates and Solitary Practiioners to create Personal Altars and Temples. We are putting them on the map for you here on the Golden Dawn blog and publishing photos of independent Altars and Temples around the world. 

Self-Initiation: The A.O. teaches how the goal of Golden Dawn Initiation and Magic is to strengthen the energetic body and to awaken the Elemental, Planetary, Zodiacal, and Sephirothic Magical Forces in the "Sphere of Sensation" of the aspiring Magician, and are providing the techniques necessary to attempt this on one's own.

Magical Tools: The A.O. teaches how traditional Golden Dawn Magical Tools are created by publishing photographs of Israel Regardie's tools from the A.O.'s Golden Dawn Museum. 

Ritual Magic 101 Coaching Webinars: The A.O. brings solid Ritual Magic teaching and coaching to self-taught Magicians all around the world. 

2012 Golden Dawn World Tour: The Alpha Omega makes Ritual Magic instruction and coaching - as well as tradtional Golden Dawn initiation - available in at least 5 countries over the next year - up close and personal. 

Ritual Magic 101 Workshops: brings magical coaching up close and personal. 

Ritual Magic 101 Private Coaching: The Alpha Omega offers private Ritual Magic coaching with David Griffin both in-person and via Skype.

Ritual  Magic 101 Coaching Dojo: The Alpha Omega offers bi-weekly group Ritual Magic practice - dojo style  - with David Griffin - beginning January 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada at Well of the Moon Pagan Bookstore.

Ritual  Magic 101 Training Videos: The Alpha Omega offers free Ritual Magic training videos both on the Golden Dawn YouTube Channel and soon to be on the new GoldenDawn.TV website as well, along with soon to be released other new training aids.

Traditional Golden Dawn Initiation: The A.O. offers traditional G.D. initiation in our international network of traditional Golden Dawn temples - as well as part of the Golden Dawn World Tour.

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

Think Different.

Alpha Omega

Because we make Magicians!

Don't miss:

The Golden Dawn Website

The Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center

The Golden Dawn FAQ

The Golden Dawn YouTube Channel

The Golden Dawn Channel on Blog Talk Radio

Astral-Only Initiation: Golden Dawn Leaders Speak Out (Part 1)

The discussion regarding the benefits and limitations of "Astral-only" Initiation has gone on for years in the Golden Dawn community. The fundamental question is whether or not anyone can be exclusively astrally initiated at a distance.

Proponents of Astral-only initiation claim that a group or people (or a Temple) can initiate a person by perfoming a ritual somewhere else for a person separated by geographical distance, allegedly initiating the candidate by reading off their name in Temple during the ritual. Other claims made by proponents of Astral-only initiation include:

1. Astral Initiation accomplishes everything that traditional Golden Dawn initiation does
2. The original (pre 1903) Golden Dawn practiced Astral Initiation.
3. Critics of Astral-only Initiation do not understand that all magick takes place on the Astral Plane.
4. Astral Initiation helps those who would otherwise not have access to Golden Dawn initiation.

Let's examine what various leaders and members of the Golden Dawn community have said about these claims over the years. To begin with, Donald Michael Kraig, in a new article entitled Ritual and Ritual Theater recently wrote here:

"Some events are both ritual and ritual theater. For example, in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, initiation rituals involved a group of officers and the initiate. However, there could also be an audience that participated very little in the ritual. So the actual initiation is both ritual and ritual theater. The involvement of others and their energy, as well as the initiate seeing the activity of others and of the temple, makes the very concept of “astral initiations” into the Golden Dawn dubious at best."

There have been numerous other voices in the Golden Dawn community who have spoken out about the ritual theater aspect of Golden Dawn initiation over the years. In March, 2009 Open Source Golden Dawn Chief, Joseph Max, wrote in a post that you can still read here):

"The Hall of the Neophytes is full of much interlocking symbolism designed to have a specific effect on the Aspirant at the point at which they "light up.". Any ritual of High Magic is a work of psycho-dramatic performance art. All Ritual is Drama, as all Drama is Ritual (ask the ancient Greeks.) It is powerful Magic in and of itself.  

So... if the Awakening of the Body of Light *is* Initiation (the first one anyway,) it doesn't matter how it comes about, even spontaneously. But *Golden Dawn* Initiation is a sub-set of this phenomena; it's aimed in a definite and unique direction down a particular Path of Attainment. It comes from the Neo-Platonic tradition of Ritual Drama, so the powerful effects of psycho-drama are part of the system. It's a "play" performed for an "audience" of one. 

Therefore the question comes down to: can a Golden Dawn Initiation, that will effectively awaken the Body of Light AND point the Aspirant down the unique Path the Golden Dawn School follows, be accomplished *without* the live dramatic component, and the personal involvement of the Aspirant in that performance? 

Personally speaking, I think it would be difficult. It's certainly possible to accomplish psycho-dramatic impact with solo visualization (in fact it's one of the things a Golden Dawn school teaches,) but for a rank beginner without any background to do it? That would be a rare talent." 

On the question of the ritual theater aspect of Golden Dawn initiation, Alpha Omega Adept, Sincerus Renatus writes here:

"The ritual is a drama, a play, which also has as a function to impart a though form or cognitive structure into the candidate, a theme so to speak, which gives a tone or atmosphere for the Grade. This has to be experienced live and in person, not read through or imagined in the inner eye. Compare this to reading a novel and watching a stage play; two legitimate artistic expressions but quite different in nature and quality. Full and physical initiation is a stage play of old Greek dramatic proportions."

On this same subject, Golden Dawn member, "Polimetis," writes here:

"[Proponents of Astral-only initiation] always argue that Initiation is not Theatre and is all about the astral (forgetting, as you say, the importance of basic psycological and emotional impact!)? Well, actually, ancient Drama comes directly from the Dyonisian and Eleusinian Mysteries, and Tragic Festivals continued to be a sacred ceremony and a sacred experience for the Athenians, which is, actually comparable to intiation ceremonies (especially masonic high degrees where only a few of the candidates participate, and most are just onlookers!). 

I'll bet no one in ancient Greece could say that if the director mentions the name of an Athenian citizen that was out of town, before the perfomance of a Tragedy, would ‘astrally” experience the awe and pity that the tragedy inspired, and the psycologically healthy Catharthic effect of actually seeing the sacred perfomance!" 

I am pleased to see that not only Donald Michael Kraig's independent research, based on so many years of magical experience, but also the independent research of Joseph Max, Sincerus Renatus, and Polimetis support my own conclusion that Astral-only Initiation does not accomplish everything that traditional Golden Dawn initiation does.

Let us move on to examine the claim made by proponents of Astral-only initiation that the original (pre 1903) Golden Dawn practiced Astral Initiation.

Noted magical author, Nick Farrell (Chief Adept of the Magical Order of Aurora Aurorae), writes here:

"If astral initiation was used within the GD there would be some evidence of it... If an astral initiation was taking place then where and when and why did it not leave a trace of paperwork? There are no records of astral initiations being performed, nor any members who are identified as being part of the GD who had their initiations astrally recorded. Nor is there any mention of the procedure being used in the various editions of by-laws, nor any diary notes from anyone saying that they had taken part in an astral initiation. While we have access to many different GD rituals, there are no recorded instructions for how to perform one..."

"Occam’s razor tells us that if all the evidence suggests that we have to assume that it is logical that the Golden Dawn did not perform astral initiations." 

Golden Dawn scholar, Samuel Scarborough, chief of the Ordo Stella Matutina Golden Dawn writes here:

"I think of myself as something of a scholar on the GD as well as a serious student of the GD system. The same can be said for Nick Farrell or Imhotep, or several others that say that these astral initiations are not verifiable, nor were they done in the original GD or AO or SM after the 1903 Schism in the regular sense. There is no evidence for “astral” or long-distance initiation from those orginal bodies.

I disagree with certain groups that claim that these astral (long-distance) initiations were commonplace within the original Golden Dawn. I have never seen the evidence to support the claim. Nor can I think that Westcott, Woodman, and Mathers received some astral initiation as founders of the GD in the first place."

I am pleased to see that again the independent research of Nick Farrell and Sam Scarborough support my conclusion that the original (pre 1903) Golden Dawn did not practice Astral-only Initiation. There appears to be a wide consensus in the Golden Dawn community regarding claims made by proponents of Astral-only initiation.

Let us move on to examine their claim that critics of Astral-only Initiation do not understand that all magick takes place on the Astral Plane.

In this regard, Nick Farrell says here:

"Physical initiations have an astral component. But if you mean do I think it is possible for someone to initiate you into the 0=0 grade of the Golden Dawn without you being there I would say that it is unlikely. I would say that it would take a supremely good magician (angelic being, or secret chief) to be able to do that. I do not think that simply performing the ritual with a stand-in is enough."

On Nick Farrell's blog, Golden Dawn member, "Magician," also addresses this claim here:

"The discussion isn’t about whether or not magic can work at long distance. The discussion is about if initiation ceremonies can work long distance where there is no way to infuse the physical symbols into the aspirant’s sphere of sensation."

I have addressed this issue numerous times over the years as well. For example, I write here:

"No one is disputing that there is an astral component to both initiation and magick. However, what proponents of Astral Initiation do not understand is that this astral element is rooted in the physical body. They reach a completely erroneous conclusion that, merely because an astral component is there in initiation, they can make you a full Golden Dawn initiate from the comfort of your armchair on the other end of the world..."

Proponents of Astral Initiation allege that it accomplishes everything traditional, physical Golden Dawn initiation does. Golden Dawn leader, Peregrin Wildoak comments in this regard here:

"I do think since the GD initiations were designed for phsyicality, and some of the important parts are done physicially, the control a phsyical initiation has to produce an inner experience for the initiate is beyond anything an astral initiation can do."

Donald Michael Kraig writes here:

"The true astral initiation occurs when both you and the higher initiation forces/energies/spirits of the group are ready for it to happen. No sooner. No later. The physical initiation may help it occur sooner, perhaps simultaneous to the physical initiation. But because so many people these days want to be initiated, some groups have specialized in offering astral initiations. But are they valid within the Western Mystery Tradition? 

If you take someone with little or no training and tell them to visualize walking around a triangle (as I was for an Order a long time ago), the answer is decidedly NO!" 

... and ...

"This means that although so-called “astral initiations” sold to you may make you a member of a group (and allowed to pay them nice big yearly or monthly dues), on a spiritual basis it usually is meaningless."

Nick Farrell adds here:

"A physical initiation is an intensely emotional experience with physical and emotional reactions that have a deep impact on the person. For an initiation to have any impact, such a person should be able to feel something, if not at the immediate time, but in their dreams immediately afterwards. However the reports of people who have undergone astral initiations ... have been extremely nebulous or non-existent (or) have included comments which were so nebulous that they are more likely to be psychosomatic or wish-self-fulfillment."

Samuel Scarborough has this to say here:

"Does long-distance (astral) initiation work? Well, I would say that at best it would be dubious... My concern, and most whom disagree with long-distance initiation, is that there is no way to verify that the person being initiated is actually receiving the energy due to the gap between the initiating body and the candidate."

Alpha Omega's, V.H. Frater P. commented here:

"What i miss in this debate is the simple fact that, apart from the energetic transmission from the Hierophant unto the candidate, it is impossible to impregnate the MIND of the candidate with the physical symbols that are displayed in these ceremonies. For doing this, the candidate has to be physically present, and able to use his eyes! Moreover, by blindfolding him/her and exposing him to a dramatic procedure, his mind is made extra sensitive and absorptive. This is an ancient technique."

I am pleased to see that yet again, the independent research of a wide cross-section of the Golden Dawn community, including Donald Michael Kraig, Peregrin Wildoak, Nick Farrell, Sam Scarborough, and other Golden Dawn members, based on many years of initiatic experience, support my own conclusion that the astral aspect of initiation does not at all negate the necessity and importance of the physical aspect of initiation. I have spoken out on this many times in the past, for example here:

"It has been argued that there is always an "astral" element in any genuine Golden Dawn initiation. This is true in the limited sense that the energetic or "astral" body of the candidate is always ultimately impacted by the initiation. In other words, the initiation ritual works on many levels and affects not merely the physical body of the candidate. This does not mean, however, that the actual physical presence of the candidate is not required."

... and here:

"There is an actual transmission of energies from the physical body of the initiating Hierophant to the physical body of the initiate. To fully transmit these energies and fully awaken the LVX current in the energetic body of the candidate is extremely difficult to fully accomplish even under the best of circumstances - with the candidate physically present in the temple."

To be continued ...

Don't miss Part 2 coming soon on the Golden Dawn Blog!

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

Think Different.

Alpha Omega

Because we make Magicians!

Don't miss:

The Golden Dawn Website

The Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center

The Golden Dawn FAQ

The Golden Dawn YouTube Channel

The Golden Dawn Channel on Blog Talk Radio

"Was the Christian or Hermetic Qabalah a Tool to Convert Jews to the Christian Faith? - Journal of the Golden Dawn Research Center

by GH Frater Sincerus Renatus

In studying the history of the Christian Qabalah, or Hermetic Qabalah as it is also known to us, I have often seen the argument that Christians mainly took upon them to study the Jewish Qabalah because they saw many parrallells with Christian doctrine and thus devised a plan to convert Jews to Christianity. In this respect even Giovanni Pico della Mirandola and the Platonic Academy of Florens has been accused of taking part of this Christian scheme of conversions of Jews, lately by the Trinitarian Christian and Golden Dawn student Mr. Wildoak. 

Pico della Mirandola

He repeated that old “truth” regarding Pico, who he refers to as “Mirandola”, to underline his thesis that we cannot look upon the ancient mysteries without resorting to our Christian goggles:

Look at the origins of the Hermetic Qabalah, with Mirandola and others wanting to use it to prove the existence of the Trinity and supremacy of Christianity. Naughty boys.

I personally cannot accept that the reason why Pico della Mirandola embraced the Qabalah was to convert and prozelyze jews. I just don’t buy it. Where is the evidence to substantiate such a claim? In absence of this evidence I will instead present facts that rather speaks against such a prejudicial position.

Raymond Llul

While there certainly were Christians, like Raymond Lull, who tried to use the HebrewQabalah to use it as a vehicle for conversion of Jews, it is an extreme form of generalization to suppose all Christian Qabalists only seeing the Qabalah as a manipulative prozelysing tool. It has been argued that Lull lacked any profound knowledge of the Qabalah and that he even wasn’t a Qabalist, which is to expect from someone being a fundamentalist Trinitarian Christian trying to save the souls of Jews and Muslims using their own doctrines against them. We know that he devised the Ars Magna to convert people from Islam to Christianity. We know however that Pico, on the other hand, was of a entirely different calibre. Contrarly to Lully and his ilk, Pico was a serious student of the Hebrew wisdom and in it saw traces of what we today would define as the Primordial Tradition.

I hold that Pico della Mirandola was a Esoteric Christian. And with Esoteric Christianity I mean a doctrine which has a perennial outlook on the mysteries. A Esoteric Christian is someone who does comparative studies of many different mystery systems and religions to find the one common denominator, the primal or core doctrine which underlays all temporal traditions. The very raison d’être of the Platonic Academy of Florence was to make this kind of comparative studies between Neo-Platonism, Hermeticism and the Qabalah, and to try to integrate it also with the religion of their times, Christianity. In this respect people as Marsilio Ficino and Pico Della Mirandola were true pioneers and Traditionalist heroes. These Italian reinassance philosophers and estoricists referred to a prisca theologia, the ancient theology, which they believed to be the actual source of all religion and philosophy. Today we refer to it as the Primordial Tradition; two different names for the same thing but developed or redefined in their respective cultural contexts as seen by the perennialists.

Marcilio Ficino

This means that they were anything but religious fundamentalists trying to transform or reconstruct the ancient traditions. They rather compared these traditions with each other and saw the many similarities or common threds between them. As an example, in the hypostases of the Christian Trinitarian doctrine, which was originated by Valentinus the Gnostic and originally debunked by early Church Fathers for being heretical and pagan, they saw some parallels with the Qabalistic concept of the Partzufim. However, this doesn’t mean that Pico and his friends of the Academy in the Qabalah saw a confirmation of the truth of the Christian Trinitarian doctrine as represented by the Church. I rather hold that they saw a common theme and that this all confirmed each tradition as  authentic and representing a universal doctrine. In this spirit Pico claimed that Christianity was founded largely on Qabalistic doctrines, stating that “no science can better convince us of the divinity of Jesus Christ than magic and the Kabbalah”.

We also know that both Marsilio Ficino and Pico Della Mirandola was charged of heresy by the Inquisition, despite the latter’s assurance that Neo-Platonism and Hermeticism were fully consistent with Christian doctrine as exemplified in the previous quote. In 1486 Mirandola wrote Conclusiones philosophicae, cabalasticae et theologicae in which he presented 900 theses, representing a blend of Platonism, Neo-Platonism, Aristotelism, Hermeticism and the Qabalah. The Inquisition found 13 of these to be heretical to the Christian Trinitarian faith. Pico wrote an apology entitled Mirandolani, Concordiae comitis which he later was forces to renounce. He soon fled Italy for the fear of his life. Would Pico has been a insidious manipulator, saving souls to the Christian Church, as Mr. Wildoak suggests, he surely wouldn’t have been a victim of the Inquisition. He would have been a part of it.

There is also another perspective to consider here. What if Pico simply tried to make the “jewish” Qabalalah recognized by the Church and thus veiled its old mysteries in a Christian setting, in much the similar way as the Hermetic School veiled its alchemical tradition using Christian symbols and analogies? This is in line with how the Tradition adapts and reforms its message to the current times and the cultural mindset of the people it is supposed to influence. This is often how a Tradition is saved from extinction; this is how it is kept alive and workable through the generations.

All mystery systems, all kind of esotericisms, uses mythology as a frame work. Images and analogies, and metaphors, are used to convey a secret doctrine, using the “language of the birds”. The ancient Hermeticists used Greek and Egyptian pantheons to convey their message. The medieval Qabalists used the myths of the Old Testament in the same manner. Renaissance Neo-Platonists and Hermeticists used the New Testament as well to veil their mysteries. The Sufis of the middle-east use the stories of the Quran in the same manner. This is only natural. 

It is not the same as the mysteries are interpreted through the lens of the Christian religion, as Mr. Wildoak asserts. It is the other way around; it is the Primordial Tradition – the Prisca Theologia – that uses the current religious imagery and mythology to expound its mysteries. The most obvious evidence of this is that an Esoteric or Gnostic Christian doesn’t interpret the Bible in the same way as does an Evangelist and Exoteric Christian. I personally feel myself more akin to a Turkish or Egyptian Sufi than I do with a Swedish Evangelist and Trinitarian Christian.

I hold that the “religion” and “faith” of an Esotericist is totally different from someone following an Exoteric Religion, of whatever kind. I am talking about the true “religion” of the Primordial Tradition or Prisca Theologia. I place the words “religion” between citation marks as this is not actually a religion as we normally define that word, i.e. as an institutionalised form of spirituality. It is better to simply speak of a living Tradition with has its true foundation and lineage in the ancient Primordial Tradition, presenting it faithfully enough. 

The greatest adversaries of such an Esoteric “faith” lies within the follower’s own religious sphere in which he is working (i.e. the symbol system that he has chosen or been born into). We all know about the Inquisition and what it did not only to actual pagans but also to so-called “heretics” such as Pico della Mirandola. Today we see the same tragedy happening before our own eyes in Saudi-Arabia and the Wahabi fundamentalism against the Sufi. Fundamentalists just cannot stand a syncretic or perennial view on their own religion. Christians abhors theories that prove the pagan origin of both the Jewish and especially Christian doctrines.

Therefore it is sad to see that the Exotericism of Trinitarian Christianity has started to infest the Esoteric freedom of the Golden Dawn Tradition, as has been proved recently in the de-cloaking of the machinations of the Trinitarian Exoteric Soceitas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.), Soceitas Rosicruciana Civitatibus Foederatis(S.R.C.F.), Soceitas Rosicruciana in America (S.R.I.A.), and lately theOrder of the Rose Cross (O.R+C), which I refer to as “WASP supremacists” (“WASP” as in “White Anglo-Saxon Protestants”), who have joined forces to infiltrate the Golden Dawn community, placing itself as its Third Order, i.e. effectively replacing the Supernals of the essentially Pagan Primordial Tradition with the temporal and exoteric Trinitarian Protestant tradition. How sad. How very sad.

We Divide to Conquer

SCANDAL: The Debate Surrounding Release of the Advanced Golden Dawn Curriculum by the Third Order

- David Griffin Answers Golden Dawn Critics -

 David Griffin
Imperator, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Archon Basileus, Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega

The buzz has been massive on the internet surrounding, my recent revelation that the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order have finally decided to transmit the rest of the Golden Dawn's traditional Second Order curriculum (6=5 and 7=4). I have been forced to rewrite this article, as more and more personalities from the Golden Dawn community have been weighing in on the subject.

Nick Farrell 

For example, Nick Farrell, leader of the Magical Order of Aurora Aureae, just wrote:

I don't doubt that Mathers thought that he was in contact with the third order. Certainly he was trying to contact something with the ring and disk. However, people always assume that he was talking to them about the Golden Dawn teachings and not some bizarre Jacobian plan to get Edinburgh back for the Stuarts. There is a lack of papers from Mathers from all his inner plane communications (after all he had years). One thing that came from Mathers when he was productive was the Z documents which I see as a brilliant connection between modern magic and masonic techniques. But because you have contact with secret chiefs in one phase of your life does not mean you have them later, or even that you keep the same ones. As I showed in Mathers' Last Word these were dropped in the AO during Mathers life time (perhaps picked up later after his death). If Mathers was talking to secret chiefs then they must have been ordering him to water down the GD instruction, and not pursue any 6=5 and 7=4 teachings and structure. They were also advising him to use postal initiation systems and the higher grades to make cash. More positively they could have equally been telling him to throw his weight behind public facing events like the Isis workings (again cash seems to be the motivating force).

The point about secret chiefs is that they require faith. Not in the secret chiefs, but in those who say they have contact with the secret chiefs. Contact with secret chiefs or inner plane contacts cannot be proven other than by the quality of teaching. If that teaching remains secret or placed in a grade that many would never obtain then it becomes less likely. When people claim they have such contacts, or a cosmic mediators, or what ever, then they are breaking the first rule of secret chiefs... you never say if you have that contact. So if they are breaking that rule, and seem to be using their Secret Chiefs contact as a sales gimmick to lure people to their group, you have to then evaluate what exactly is being taught here. If there is nothing new, then there nothing to see here and it is all just Zinkish con-trick. However if their public face demonstrates real wisdom, a desire to help one's fellow man, then they might be on to something. However I know of one chief of a small non-golden dawn order who tells his students that he is off to see his secret chiefs for special training and boards a plane to South America and goes on a two week drugs bender (apparently they are cheaper there). He does not tell his students about taking drugs, but one of his students said that his lectures are always so much better after he has been in touch with his secret chiefs energy.

Care Frater Nick,

You make some interesting points here, but your career as a tabloid journalist is getting in the way of your would-be career as a Golden Dawn historian yet once again. Much like the fatal flaw with your books, here again, you mix a tiny amount of historical fact with vast amounts of personal conjecture, and serve up your speculations as fake historical realities as thinly veiled attacks on the entire Golden Dawn tradition.

To begin with, there is no historical evidence at all to support your false statement that S.L. MacGregor Mathers was selling mail order grades. Secondly, you are seriously misrepresenting what Mathers himself said about his contacts with the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order. For example, in a paper written by Mathers for Theorici Adepti Minori, Mathers went into great detail about his contact with the Secret Chiefs. It is noteworthy that Mathers' own words bear no resemblance whatsoever to thr tabloid-like assertions you make about Mathers yet once again here.

So whose word should we take on the subject of Mathers contact with the Secret Chiefs?

That of Golden Dawn founder, S. L. MacGregor Mathers himself ...

Or that of Nick Farrell, a career tabloid journalist with an axe to grind against Mathers' Alpha et Omega as a competing order?

It is noteworthy, Frater Nick, that you present things as though Mathers' contacts with the Secret Chiefs were merely some sort of New Age channelling. Mathers himself, however, stated clearly that the Third Order were real, physical people with whom he met physically in Paris in 1891.

As much as I disagree with you about most things, Nick, you are correct about at least one important things. Mathers later work, in fact, did not show the same brilliance as it did immediately following his meeting with the Secret Chiefs in 1891 or when Mathers founded the R.R. et A.C. in 1892. You are also correct that Mathers was never was able to finish the 6=5 Adeptus Major curriculum nor the 7=4 Adeptus Exemptus curriculum, and that Mathers later work does not at all reflect his earlier magical genius.

This does not mean, however, as you erroneously conclude with disparaging intent in your book, that Mathers took the AO in a Masonic rather than in a magical direction.

What this actually does show, however, is important evidence supporting the existence of the Secret Chiefs and the Third Order as an actual, physical order.

In reality, the actual reason why Mathers' later work lacks its earlier brilliance - is simply that Mathers had meanwhile been cut off by the Third Order. There were several reasons for this. One reason I mentioned earlier for this was Crowley's having profaned the material that Mathers was given by the Third Order through publication. The most important reason, however, why Mathers was cut off by them, is that the Secret Chiefs were quite unhappy with what Mathers himself had done with the material they had given him for the Second Order.

I am quite surprised that neither you, Nick, nor hardly any of the other of the other contemporary Golden Dawn leaders have ever even noticed what a mess that Mathers made of the Second Order material! The greatest problem with the R.R. et A.C. is the hopeless jumble Mathers made of magical egregores, mixing Egyptian magick with Qabalistic magick, Enochian magick, etc.

This mess is the primary reason why the published R.R. et A.C. magical material works as badly as it does. How on Earth are you supposed to invoke Amoun using Jehova and Elohim? They were bitter enemies in ancient Egypt, for goodness sake!

This is certainly not the form in which Mathers was given the Second Order material. What Mathers was given by the Third Order for the R.R. et A.C. was a coherent system with internally consistent magical hierarchies. It was Mathers himself who made the mess out of this that has come down to us today.

So, as you see, Nick, I am myself not uncritical of Mathers either. However, I criticize Mathers where criticism is due, and not merely to make money by attacking the Alpha et Omega and the Golden Dawn community with tabloid-like books of little historical value.

Next, Morgan Drake Eckstein, of the Bast Temple of the Golden Dawn (BIORC) in Denver on the Gleamings From the Golden Dawn blog wrote:

Morgan Drake Eckstein

I will admit that I am a happy little cynic, with a touch of skepticism tossed in on the side. I realized this today (yet again) when I was reading someone's blog post about Mathers and his contact with the Third Order.

And I found myself talking back to the computer, saying "I don't believe that Mathers ever had contact with the Third Order."

Cue the boos. I know. It is not something that one should actually admit out loud.

Because of the secret nature of the system, this is one of those things that you tend to have to take on faith. Or not. This is assuming that you don't have access to the stuff that the ultra-secret-minded groups have access to.

Then again, you could have access to non-published stuff and still have this opinion. Nothing that I have been given access to indicates that Mathers or Westcott had access to anything beyond the stuff that could be found in any large research library of their day and age.

Of course, I know that I am not a properly trained scholar (whatever that is in this particular case), and not a properly-vetted Magus, and all that jazz. Therefore, my belief and opinion should be ignored.

Nevertheless, I wonder how many other people in the Golden Dawn tradition feel the same way as I do.

Part of the reason for kicking this skepticism around is that I feel that a large part of a current claim is being laid upon this fact (or myth if you are a skeptic like me). And I wonder how much this disbelief affects my feelings about the revolutionary claims being made currently.

This is one of those times, you can tell that I have spent too much time in management and freelance wirting. It is also one of those times, one can tell that I have dealt with more than my fair share of liars and frauds who just happened to head up their own occult groups, complete with false lineages.

For all I know, the current claims being made could be real. But honestly, I personally have been burned too many times to trust anyone's word that the reason for secrecy is not just for their own personal gain. Yes, it is a sad world that I live in.

Feel free to call me an idiot in the comment section. Everyone else is going to.

Care Frater Morgan,

I can not imagine who would be calling you an idiot for making these comments. That would certainly not be me. 

It is natural that you are skeptical about Mathers' contact with the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order. Unless the Third Order one day decides to release additional historical evidence for Mathers' contact with them, the only public evidence presently available is Mathers own word for this, together with the brilliance of the (5=6) Adeptus Minor level of the Second Order system of the Golden Dawn.

You are mistaken, however, in your implication that the validity of the esoteric transmissions contained in the Rosicrucian Order of AO's (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus grades, stand or fall with Mathers' veracity or with historical proof of the existence of the Golden Dawn's Third Order. On the contrary, the teachings speak for themselves and stand on their own merits. As for proof, we are not limiting these teachings to Adepts of the AO, but are making them available to qualified candidates from the entire Golden Dawn community. Anyone who wants proof merely has to satisfy the same requirements that have been in place for Golden Dawn Adepts since the beginning.

I admit to being a bit concerned with the logical consequences for you as a Golden Dawn leader, however, of your stated belief that Mathers lied about his contact with the Third Order and that he made up the entire Golden Dawn Second Order system based merely on his own research. There are several important problems with this argument, especially coming from a leader of a Golden Dawn temple.

To begin with, if Golden Dawn founder, S.L. MacGregor Mathers is a lier as you stated above and the entire Golden Dawn tradition is based on the lie of the existence of the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order, then why on Earth would anyone who holds this belief want to initiate others into a such system? 

Why lead others in a system one personally believes to be rooted in deception at the core? 

Why teach others a system that one personally believes is so fatally flawed? 

Do you not see the logical inconsistency for any Golden Dawn leader in the philosophical position you are espousing?

Soror AID

Next, Soror A.I.D. from Pat Zalewski's Order of the Golden Dawn said:

Faith should not be part of Ritual Magic. If there is a secret third order they will have to find some way to let me know of their existence and the X is their contact before I could believe. And their existence needs to be accompanied with some demonstration of their knowledge level. Faith is what gets cults in trouble.

Care Soror AID,

You are missing the point here. This is not a question of faith. The real question here is, are you really satisfied with your development as a Golden Dawn initiate being cut off with the basic traditional teachings from the (5=6) Adeptus Minor level you can buy in any esoteric bookstore?

As for evidence, I recently gave one example on the Golden Dawn blog of how the Golden Dawn's magical systems for the (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus grades in today's AO curriculum, augment and complete those of the Golden Dawn's (5=6) Adeptus Minor grade, by using the example of the magical squares of Agrippa included in the Golden Dawn's original (5=6) Adeptus Minor curriculum. Please allow me to refresh your memory. On the Golden Dawn blog, I recently wrote:

For example, until my publishing this article, no one in the entire esoteric community has known that the squares published by Agrippa and included in the Golden Dawn's (5=6) Adeptus Minor grade curriculum are not the real squares, but are only encrypted versions, and only the tip of the iceburg of a vast, incredible system of theurgy that unlocks untold numbers of parallel dimensions on the inner planes, ultimately culminating in union with the Divine at the center of the square, properly understood as a three dimensional cube.

Until this article, no one has understood either what the "planetary seals" published by Agrippa really are, when in fact, they are keys to "unseal" the "sealed" squares in order to reveal the true, unencrypted magic squares, and to unleash the true magick and full power of the system.

Once unlocked with the proper initiatic keys, these magical squares reveal to the advanced Adept the entire, secret magical hierarchy of entities of the Golden Dawn system of magical squares, that remain safely encrypted from those who would seek cheap notoriety by publishing the secret names and sigils of the true, servient spirits of Agrippa's squares.

Please note that the Golden Dawn's advanced Second Order teachings on the vast theurgical system occulted behind the encrypted version of the magic squares published by Agrippa and included in the published Golden Dawn material, is but one small example to show how the Golden Dawn (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus material completes the published Golden Dawn (5=6) Adeptus Minor material. There are many such ways that the higher grades complete the published material, although at this juncture I am only permitted to draw attention to this one example, since all of the advanced Second Order teachings beyond Adeptus Minor (5=6) remain unpublished and unprofaned, oath bound material.

Again, this is not a matter of faith. On the contrary, for Adepti Majori and Adepti Exempti of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, it is a question of personal knowledge and magical practice. Would you like proof? Such proof is completely open to you. All you have to do is fulfill the necessary prerequisites like everyone else and that have not changed since the beginning of the Golden Dawn. I will go deeper into this in my response to the other commenters below.

Peregrin Wildeoak's "Calvin" Avatar

Next, Frater Peregrin (who has presented himself on the internet as a Christian who is not really a Christian, a Pagan yet not a Pagan, and a Buddhist but not really a Buddhist either, and who comes from a Golden Dawn temple in Australia that is far too secret for Peregrin to name - but that had no problem with Peregrin publishing the secret Aura Papers of the Golden Dawn's Cromlech temple), wrote:

Great post, Morgan :) Thanks.

The most amusing thing about this whole issue is that some Orders insist on Mathers’ contact as fact for their own legitimacy - go figure that one!

Anyway, as I have said elsewhere, people arguing for anyone’s, Mathers or even current Imperators, contact with a secret third order is pointless. The paradigm is this:

1. The Third Order IS real but are really, really secret (they could be next door!)

2. People who have contact with the Third Order have proof of their existence, which is very nice for them, I am sure.

3. But they cannot share this proof with others - even if they wanted to, as the Secret Chiefs would be sore pissed and frown mightily in their direction.

4. So we regular unwashed folk must simply accept the existence of the Third Order based on the assertion, honesty(!) and integrity(!) of those claiming contact.

Such a paradigm is hardly conducive to fraternal and logical debate or discussion.

So, really there is NO point in discussing the Third Order in relation to Mathers or others in the same way we can discuss evidence for Mathers’ love of military uniforms and attitude to sex.

Of course, once upon a time the mythos of a Third Order, secret and powerful, was an inspiring presence and moved people towards greater transformation and magic. I doubt it does for many today as we have seen that it can also lead people to dysfunction and trolling round Europe looking for CRC’s tomb.

I would suggest those who claim to know Mathers was in contact with the Third Order (or their current leader is etc), simply stop talking about it. Unless they want to enter a rational and provable discourse by providing proof, there is no point.

‘Those who know, are silent’ seems a good motto here. Thanks :)

Care Frater Peregrin,

You are playing Calvin ball again. Do you think that merely restating this flawed and previously refuted argument over and over in a thousand different venues on the internet -  somehow makes it more valid? Or do you think it somehow gains propaganda value through mere repetition. In any case, the holes in this argument are gaping.

Calvin Ball

To begin with, both you and Morgan are erroneously implying that the claim of the Rosicrucian Order of A.O. regarding the traditional Golden Dawn's Second Order curriculum, somehow stands or falls with historical proof (or lack thereof) of Mathers' claims regarding contact with the Golden Dawn's Third Order as well as of its existence. You are mistaken. As I showed above, it certainly does not.

Next you are using your old "no proof" mantra yet again - in a transparent and ineffective attempt to undermine credibility - by yet again ignoring actual presented evidence - and instead falsely stating  over and over like a broken record that we are offering "no proof" to back up our claims regarding advanced esoteric teachings. Such cheap rhetorical tactics - while perfectly suited for Calvin ball - have no place in real, rational discourse. 

In reality, we have stated over and over for years that individuals willing to meet the traditional requirements by doing the work and maintaining initiatic secrecy, will have all of the proof that they want. 

Moreover, despite your deceptive yet transparent rhetorical tactics - the AO has over the years presented even to the public a great deal of initiatic evidence about what we teach - by making hitherto unknown information available even to the public (as above with the Agrippa squares, for example), as far as is possible in consideration of oath bound material, of course. 

You are also playing Calvin ball by misleadingly claiming that the limitations imposed by initiatic secrecy makes any fraternal discussion impossible. This has no basis in reality either.

I do have a question for you, however, Peregrin:

"What are you - a magician or a historian?"

Since obviously you are a Golden Dawn magician - your incessant application a historical yardstick - instead of a magical one - to essential matters concerning the Golden Dawn - is just more Calvin ball.

More Calvin Ball

The central point of Alpha et Omega claims regarding the Golden Dawn's Second Order  is, in reality, that AO magical teachings for the (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus grades, unlock the secrets of the (5=6) Adeptus Minor magical systems and gives the advanced Adept access to the full power of the systems.

As evidence, I have already publicly provided one example - as was permitted to me by my teachers. I notice that you conveniently ignored this evidence (as usual), but instead are attempting to divert everything to a historical discussion instead of a magical one. In other words - more Calvin ball.

As further refutation of your mistaken and misleading "no proof" mantra regarding the existence of advanced R.R. et A.C. teachings beyond the published 5=6 material, let me quote again from my previous article:

"Let it be known that the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega does not want to dominate any other order. On the contrary, we want to see the entire Golden Dawn community continue to grow in the direction that was originally intended for the Golden Dawn by the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order. We therefore have no problem with sharing the teachings of the higher grades beyond (5=6) Adeptus Minor with Inner Order Adepts from Golden Dawn orders and temples other than the AO."

Finally, let us consider your erroneous assertion that:

"we regular unwashed folk must simply accept the existence of the Third Order based on the assertion, honesty(!) and integrity(!) of those claiming contact."

This argument makes no sense at all. Our order has stated clearly that we offer initiation and training in the Golden Dawn's (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adpetus Exemptus esoteric transmissions regardless of Golden Dawn temple or order affiliation. We are not restricting this material to AO Adepts only.

In other words, anyone who wants proof can have it. All one has to do is to fulfill the same requirements that have from the very beginning been required of all legitimate Golden Dawn Adepts. 

Simple, really.

If some people are too lazy to make the necessary effort - or do not have the integrity that has always been required of real Golden Dawn Adepts - it is certainly not the fault of the Alpha et Omega!

What is silly - is for such individuals to run around claiming that there is "no proof" that the traditional (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus initiatic transmissions exist - merely due to their own personal shortcomings.

Frater JC

Finally, Frater J.C., of the O.G.D./S.S. wrote:

Well said party has contact with the "third order," because it is something they invented in modern time. They'll state they founded it with one breath, and then in the next breath state that the third order just gave them some new teachings.

At least some from said group have the respectable approach of honesty and state very clearly that they while are researching such things as hermetic alchemy to add into their tradition, which I think is great, others will say they are learning the same things, in this context "secrets," from mysterious nobodies.

Care Frater JC,

Morgan stated his belief that Mathers just made up the entire (5=6) Adeptus Minor curriculum out of his own research. This reflects a bizarre belief (quite prevalent in our Golden Dawn community) that no higher Rosicrucian or Hermetic initiatic transmissions could possibly exist beyond that published by Crowley and Regardie. 

Do you not see how self-centered and preposterous this notion really is?

Well, if Mathers made it all up, then he must have been one heck of a magical genius.

Are you really now trying to imply that I personally - based exclusively on my own research - have invented the entire, traditional Golden Dawn curriculum for all of the grades above (5=6) Adeptus Minor published by Crowley and Regardie?!?!

Well, I certainly thank you for this huge complement - since in order to accomplish such an astounding feat - I would have to be the greatest magical genius of the new millennium.

I truly wish that I were such a genius, but sadly I am not. 

In reality, I am just another Golden Dawn Adept who happened to have the great fortune to have made amazing contacts in Continental Europe, and who has been so faithful and tenacious that my teachers finally agreed to release the (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus teachings, for the the good of our entire Golden Dawn community.

Again, complete and indisputable initiatic proof is available to any Golden Dawn initiate, no matter what temple or order you belong to. 

All you have to do is do the work and fulfill the same requirements that have been required of all Golden Dawn Adepts since the very beginning of the order!

<> <> <> <> <> <>

In most Golden Dawn orders today, you will today find little more than the well known (5=6) Adeptus Minor material that was published by Crowley and Regardie that is available for purchase in any bookstore and that you can find on line even for free.

This is not at all the case with the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega!

In 1999, the Alpha Omega moved all of the (5=6) Adeptus Minor material that had been profaned by publication to our Outer Order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. To replace this profaned material, the Third Order recently also released astounding Hermetic and Rosicrucian magical teachings that unlock the published material and unleash its power, together and other essential initiatic transmissions for all three grades of the R.R. et A.C.

In the Alpha et Omega, once you become an Adept of the R.R. et A.C., you are not going to be merely handed Israel Regardie's book like in most other Golden Dawn orders.

Already as a (5=6) Minor Adept, you will discover initiatic keys that unlock the published materials that other Golden Dawn orders only dream of, since most lack the initiatic keys to unlock the Golden Dawn's advanced magical systems. You will also find many other initiatic transmissions and traditional Golden Dawn magical and alchemical practices, available in no other Golden Dawn order.

Moreover, in the Alpha et Omega, you will not find a truncated and incomplete Golden Dawn system that ends with the (5=6) Adeptus Minor materials you have read a zillion times already. In the A.O., our traditional Golden Dawn teachings continue not only through the (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus grades of the Second Order. We also offer complete initiation and training in all three grades of the Golden Dawn's Third Order as well.

The A.O. is not interested in trying to dominate any other Golden Dawn order. We therefore have decided to share the teachings of the higher grades beyond (5=6) Adeptus Minor with the best and the brightest Adepts from across the entire Golden Dawn community, regardless of what temple or order you belong to.

You do, however, still have to meet all of the traditional qualifications for initiation into the R.R. et A.C., that have been in place since the beginning of the Golden Dawn. This includes an understanding of the importance of initiatic secrecy as well as a willingness to conform with this traditional Golden Dawn rule.

Interested candidates are welcome to contact me directly using the "contact us" link on the Golden Dawn website.