Astral-Only Initiation: Broad Consensus across the Golden Dawn Community

by Golden Dawn Imperator

David Griffin

The discussion regarding the benefits and limitations of Astral-only initiation has resurfaced again this week. This discussion has gone on in the Golden Dawn community for years. 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 of people (or a Temple) can initiate a person by performing 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.

I have pointed out numerous times in the past, for example here and here, that there is a vast amount of concurrence between the conclusions of various Golden Dawn members all across the entire panorama of the Golden Dawn community on the subject of Astral-only initiation.

Sadly there are still not enough Golden Dawn temples around and Astral-only initiation just does not cut it. This is why it is important that there are other good options around. For example, Peregrin Wildoak this week wrote:

We may not be able to receive [initiation] physically, but we can unfold as if we had by carefully practicing the broader tradition.

Peregrin is correct. There needs to be a effective means of Self-Initiation that somewhat accomplishes the same magical goals as physical initiation present in a real Golden Dawn temple. This closely mirrors the results of my own independent research. There are just not enough locations with Golden Dawn temples and better alternatives must be presented for aspirants in outlying areas.

I still believe that nothing can beat traditional Golden Dawn initiation. If you do not have access to a traditional temple though, my research indicates that the best thing to do is to awaken the magical forces inside of you using Ritual Magic.

This is also why I wrote the Ritual Magic Manual ...

The Ritual Magic Manual fills an essential need for would be Golden Dawn magicians by providing everything you need for the magical component of Self-Initiation on your own, in a complete - step by step - user-friendly format. In the Ritual Magic Manual, you will find all of the pentagrams, hexagrams, Egyptian God Forms, Enochian and Qabalistic names sigils and names of power, flashing colors, etc. - all in one place!

My primary objection to Astral-only initiation has been the less than honest manner that it has been portrayed. 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." 

My research into the subject has always left me wary that the methods used by proponents of Astral-only initiation have the potential of becoming dangerous. In the past, proponants of Astral-only Initiation have criticised me rather harshy for this online.

I was pleased to read this week that results of independent research conducted by Aaron Leitch has led to similar conclusions. Aaron Leitch writes:

Personally, I find this to be rather dangerous.  I’ve seen how taxing a Neophyte Ceremony (and its aftermath) can be on any candidate, even with access to a full Temple and all the guidance and support that comes with it.  Blasting someone with a massive bolt of LVX and then expecting them to sink or swim on their own is… well, not something I’d do to someone myself.

On other aspects, proponents of Astral-only initiation claim that the founders of the Golden Dawn were themselves  initiated using Astral-only initiation. In this regard, Peregrin Wildoak this week writes:

There are no records of Mathers, Westcott or Woodman travelling to receive physical initiation from the supposed German source of the Golden Dawn. This lack of evidence however, does not support the view they were astrally initiated by continental adepts while safely back home in England.

Proponents of Astral-only initiation claim that it accomplishes everything that traditional Golden Dawn initiation does. I have addressed this issue numerous times over the years. For example, I here I wrote:

"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."

Reaching similar concusions, Aaron Leitch this week writes:

I agree that *all* initiations involve an astral process. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be anything more than a passion-play walk-through done merely to say “welcome to our group...The astral is where the magick of the initiation happens. But this is not the same thing that is meant by groups who claim to offer “astral initiation.”

Alpha Omega Adept, Sincerus Renatus correctly points out that the ritual theater elements is also important, 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 the same subject, Samuel Scarborough this week writes:

There are certain criteria for an initiation to be considered effective and proper. You clearly outline those criteria of Physical, Astral, Etheric, Mental, Spiritual. I normally only use three levels (Physical, Astral, and Etheric). An initiation should have elements where there is some action on these levels at the same time for 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."

Donald Michael Kraig this week added:

"When someone says that an Astral Initiation is the one that really counts, they are talking about type AI-1. But some people who are officers in groups or initiates of groups that primarily perform AI-2 initiations falsely want you to believe that saying an Astral Initiation is the one that counts refers to what they are doing. It does not."

I am pleased to see that, whereas for many years I stood nearly alone in pointing out the problems with Astral-only initiationcommunity have come to so closely resemble what I have been saying all along.

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The Golden and Rosy Cross Worn by International Golden Dawn Imperator, David Griffin

David Griffin - G.H. Frater Lux Ex Septentrionis

Golden Dawn International Imperator

Since the recent YouTube release of 13 videos from the Golden Dawn's 100 year Alpha et Omega Jubileum in Paris, there has been a great deal of interest about the cross I wear in the photo above.

Certain misinformed (or perhaps even ill intentioned) individuals have repeatedly and erroneously suggested I am wearing a German Iron or perhaps even Nazi cross.

As is so often the case, the truth in this instance even is more fabulous than the rumors people spread based on malice or mere ignorance.
In reality, I wear a cross of pure 24k gold, enameled red, that derives directly from the 18th Century German Rosicrucian Order known as the Gold und Rosenkreutz. There have been many variants of this same cross down through history. Here are a just few of them:

The Gold und Rosenkreutz Order, the Rosicrucian predecessor of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is, in fact, the source of origin of entire grade system of the Golden Dawn, as well as the mystic numbers of the grades, mystic titles, symbols, etc.

This same Golden and Rosy Cross has been worn by our elder Adepts of the Gold und Rosenkreutz Order, at least since the general reformation of 1777. Looking through the Tableau of the Gold und Rosenkreutz Order (from the reformation of 1763), as published by Magister Pianco in his Der Rosenkreuzer in seiner Bloesse, there is a column appended that describes the "signs" of the Grades. Looking at the Grades of Adeptus Major, Adeptus Exemptus and Magister Templi you will find the following signet of the Grade: "A Cross of Gold enameled Red." Here we have a clear reference of this symbol being in use by Rosicrucian initiates even as early as in 1763.

Considering that many of the names of Golden Dawn grades, mystic titles, etc., derive directly from the Gold und Rosenkreutz order, one can even argue that this cross is actually the prototype or "source of origin" of the Rose Cross lamen later adapted by the Golden Dawn's Second Order, the R.R. et A.C., and worn by its Adepts until today. This cross thus is an important symbol of the Rosicrucian lineage of the Golden Dawn that descends from the Gold und Rosenkreutz order, through the Asiatic Brethren, and the Frankfurt lodge "Zur Goldenen Morgonroethe" in Germany.

Although the historical origins of this Golden and Rosy Cross are to be found in the Rosicrucian Gold und Rosenkreutz order of 18th Century Germany, its mythical history extends much farther back in time. Here is the legend of this cross, as told in one of the unpublished initiation rituals of the Gold und Rosenkreutz Order:

At the beginning of our Christian era, there lived in Egypt a great initiate named Ormus; called Ormesius by the Greeks. Ormus was a priest of Serapis in the city of Alexandria and an initiate of the Hermetic mysteries. Ormesius forsaw the rise of Christianity, and thus was converted to the new religion by St. Mark in AD 44. To ensure the survival and transmission of the Royal Art, Ormus stripped the mysteries their Egyptian trappings, and re-veiled them in the symbols and rites of the new religion. To preserve the initiatic transmission as well, Ormesius founded a Hermetic mystery school called the ”Fraternity of the Sages of Light,” known to initiates through the centuries as the the Ordo Ormesius, or the Order of Ormus.

The Order has manifested to the outer world under many names and has undergone many transformations. In 1111, it was known as the Alliance of Magical Brothers. In 1222, following the defeat of the Crusaders in Jerusalem and the expulsion of Christians from the holy land, the surviving members of the order disbursed across the world. Thus the light of our fraternity was carried to France where the Knights Templar were formed by Hugues de Payns with the aid of the Alliance. Thus the red cross of our order became the primary emblem of the Knights Templar, who provided the spiritual implulse for a new Crusade to retake the holy land.

In 1314, when when the Knights Templar were supressed in France, the last Grand Master, Jaques de Molay, sent his nephew, the Count of Beaujeu, into the Templar crypt in Paris, to recover a chest filled with the esoteric secrets of the order. These documents were dispatched with an envoy of knights to Scotland, where they arrived in 1333, and were later used to lay the spiritual foundations for Freemasonry. Time and again across the centuries, our order has manifested and been known by many names. In 1444. It was known as the Order of the Cross, in 1555 as the Order the Rosy Cross, and in 1666 as the Brothers of the Golden Cross, and 1777 as the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross.

From the earliest times, initiates of our order have recognized one another by the primary ensignia of our order: an enameled red cross made of purest gold and worn over the heart of the Adept. This red cross of our order became the primary emblem of the both Knights Templar and the Golden Rosicrucians. Legend has it this cross was originally drawn with the blood of Christ upon a white shield by Joseph of Arimathea, and that this shield was carried by Galahad on the Grail quest.

This same cross has also been worn by numerous Templar Rites in Freemasonry, including the Strict Observance and the Scottish Templars. It is still worn today by high grade members of the Swedish Rite of Freemasonry, to which I additionally belong, and in which I hold the IX degree.
P.S. - I just noticed that Sincerus Renatus also just also wrote an excellent article about this same cross. As it contains valuable additional information, I suggest that you also read this article here.

Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua
David Griffin
G.H. Frater Lux Ex Septentrionis
Imperator Ordinis, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega

"Ex Deo Nascimur.
In Yeheshua Morimur.
Per Sanctum Spiritum Reviviscimus"