Secret Chiefs REVEAL: "Why Secrecy?"

by Golden Dawn Imperator

David Griffin

The principle of initiatic secrecy is a fundamental hallmark of the Hermetic, Rosicrucian, and Golden Dawn traditions. In fact, it is an absolute cornerstone of EVERY true initiatic and arcane school.

In the case of the Golden Dawn, each new initiate is admonished to remain silent, maintain secrecy, and receives a password, "Harparkrat," the name of the Egyptian God Harpocrates, also known as Horus the Younger.

One of the first things each new Golden Dawn initiate learns is how to perform the Golden Dawn's "Sign of Silence," depicted in statues of Harpocrates holding his index finger to his lip. I recently revealed the occult use of the Sign of Silence in the Magick 101 television series. You can learn how to correctly use this incredibly powerful magickal tool HERE.

The question of the true function of secrecy arises over and over, because a lot of people mistakenly believe that secrecy is just a tool to manipulate others. Few things confuse people today about the Golden Dawn as much as the reasons for secrecy in the Golden Dawn and the Hermetic tradition.

The question came up again this week HERE on the Golden Dawn Facebook group. Several years ago, I asked my alchemical Master, Frater Lux E Tenebris to comment on the true value and function of Hermetic secrecy. Here is what he had to say.

Why Secrecy?
by Hermetic Master

 Lux E Tenebris

Thank you for inviting me to comment on the role of secrecy in the Hermetic tradition. The primary function of secrecy in esotericism is not to manipulate others, which has unfortunately been done and continues to be done in bad faith by persons who are not Hermetic Masters. A true Hermetic Master never causes his students to suffer, but maintains secrecy of the more advanced practices rather to protect the body, soul, and mind of the Apprenctice not yet prepared to assimilate these techniques, which when practiced by individuals not yet evolved enough would certainly destroy them. 

Let us take a simple example. Let us say that one of my students tries to convince me to give him or her an advanced alchemical technique. I observe in the behavior of the student that they are not yet ready to have and practice this particular processing as they have not yet reached the necessary degree of spiritual maturity. Because the disciple is insistent, however, I allow myself to be convinced, give in, and give the technique to them anyway. The student diligently begins with the practice and as a consequence either goes mad or dies, which, by the way, are very real dangers with Hermetic alchemy. 

Now why did this tragedy occur? It occurred for the simple reason that the Apprentice used an instrument much larger than themselves that requires a profound level of spiritual maturity for its use, for which the student was unprepared. No true Master Alchemist would, of course, ever give such a dangerous technique to an unprepared Disciple of the Art. 

This same line of reasoning is followed today by more advanced nations in the sense of superior democracy in regard to, for example, smaller nations still ruled by dictators that, if were they to possess atomic weapons, would use them to destroy others and themselves. Can you imagine if Osama Bin Laden were in possession of the secrets of how to build atomic weapons? This is why nations like the USA protect the secret of the creation of atomic bombs...in order to protect an infantile humanity from self-destruction. 

No Hermetic Master who is a true Master would ever give everything all at once to an Apprentice. It is the proper development and spiritual maturation of the Disciple over time that determines their capacity to assimilate more advanced spiritual techniques with their attendant higher states of awareness and realization. 

If we plant an apple tree, we accept that five long years will pass before the tree will ever bear fruit. Why then should we expect it should be different with the Secret Hermetic Science? 

Moreover, alchemical processes are not truly "secret." On the contrary, all of the secrets of true alchemical processing are described in alchemical works very clearly. It is the infantility of students or their laziness to study which prevents aspirants of alchemical wisdom from discovering for themselves the secrets of the Royal Art. 

Aspirants today are unwilling to sweat on the books and in the laboratory as have done all true Children of Hermes and thus have discovered the true significance of every term and all of the sequences to put into operation the secrets of the Great Work. 

But today, in the age of the Internet, aspirants want easy, immediate, and complete access to information. Above all, they do not want to sweat and work! 

Of course not. They want to be able to go to a bookstore and buy a book like they do with Regardie's Golden Dawn, or even better yet,Google a website and voila ... to become a Hermetic Alchemist reading in clear text all of the secrets of the Royal Art! 

Such is the mentality of the 21st Century. 

But with Hermetic Alchemy, alas, this is not possible. 

To explain why, let me give you an example from modern physics. There exist in libraries books with the knowledge to build nearly anything, either good or evil, explaining all of the accumulated science of man. 

But how many people dedicate themselves to a profound study of the matter? 

Likewise many aspire to the light but only the fewest obtain it because it is "difficult" to study and to practice. 

No...aspirants of today want to have everything clearly written and readily understandable. 

And even the Hermetic Masters are accused today that "we keep secrets only to manipulate others," merely because, as we have done for countless Centuries, we speak, write, and discourse with you using the very symbols of the Sacred Science itself. 

But were I to reveal to you the deepest and most profound secrets of alchemical processing, how many of you would understand? 

How many of you would have eyes to see? 

How many, ears to hear? 

How many would succeed to perceive the naked truth in itself? 

Few. 

In fact, only the fewest of the few. 

I repeat to you once again, as has been written and said over and over by the Hermetic sages of all ages, in words that are as true today as they were in ancient times: 

"Everything is clearly revealed, but not perceived.

Eyes behold but they do not see!

Ears listen but they do not hear!" 

Therefore I repeat: 

Just as there exist symbolical languages for physics, chemistry, and philosophy, without which you can not truly understand these sciences, so in alchemy there also exists a symbolical language that since millennia has been beneath the eyes of all in books, in cathedrals, and in every construction of the ancients. Even the fables of storybooks are full of these symbols! 

Thus you can not accuse the Hermetic alchemists of hiding things from you or speaking in riddles. It is only that we are speak in a different language, known in alchemy as "The Language of the Birds." 

How can you expect to understand this language any more than Sanskrit unless you likewise learn its rules and symbols with great effort, and to study, study, and study more? 

Thus it is not we, the Sons of Hermes that you should accuse of speaking in riddles and of keeping secrets from you! 

No. You should blame yourselves instead for not having studied enough and researched enough! 

In fact, the alchemical maxim is quite clear and enough to come to an understanding of the entire Opus: 

"Lege, lege, lege, et Inveniens." 

For those of you who have not applied yourself to understand Latin, this means in terms that even limited understanding might yet grasp: 

"Read, read, reread, and you will find." 

Thus you may understand the truth that I speak to you as all of the Sons of Hermes who have come before me have also said, that everything is already written and it is only the ignorance and the intellectual laziness of those who approach the Sacred Sciences that serve as "natural selection" to screen out the undeserving by their own work from the truly deserving that are committed to and conquer the mysteries. 

In the Sacred Science, not everything can be given to everyone even if it is revealed because: 

... the Science can not be given, but rather...

...it must be conquered. 

It is not enough to have faith to become a true Initiate, but one must above all study, work, and engage oneself to the very depths. 

How many are capable of this? 

Few. 

This is why true Initiates have "always" been few... 

...and today are even fewer. 

And everything not successfully conquered on one's own remains shrouded in mystery waiting to be discovered, and becomes "secret" only to the degree that it does not become conquered and discovered by hard work and research. 

It is like as if I should enrolls to study Physics at the University. During my first year everything that the researchers of Theoretical Physics are doing will certainly remain "secret" to me. But if I apply myself I can unlock their secrets, as they are already revealed but in a language that I must first learn. Unless I learn this language, however, theoretical physics will always remain a mystery for me. 

But to return once again to your original question: 

You ask me: 

"Why do you speak in riddles, and why have the alchemists always spoken like this as well?" 

I do not speak in riddles. I have always spoken forthright and clearly with you. 

The problem is rather with your understanding. 

I speak with symbols that you do not understand only because you have not studied them. Study the symbols of Hermetic Science and you will understand me completely. Then you asked me: 

"Is this not only a manipulation?"

I have already explained to you that unfortunately there are others who do use this science to manipulate others. I do not manipulate anyone, however. In fact, I am not even interested in having Disciples. 

...and like me, there "are" others, even if we are few.

Secret Chiefs Reveal Hidden Nature of Golden Dawn Grades

by guest blogger

Frater Lux E Tenebris

special envoy of the

Secret Chiefs 
of the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®
(EU OHIM reg. 000063925) 

 

I have been asked by the Council of 12 Magi of our august Order, to write about the traditional meaning and true initiatic function of the three degrees of the Second Order of the Golden Dawn (R.R. et A.C.).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trusting fully in my disciple, Frater Lux ex Septentrionis, I accept that today, there is a need for diversity in the Golden Dawn orders. Nonetheless, there is a limit to what can or should be changed, and certain essential things should not be touched at all.

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

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

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

"They are like the blind leading the blind!"

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REVELATION: The Secret Chiefs & the Golden Dawn's Rosicrucian Inner Order

by Frater Lux E Tenebris

Special Envoy of the Secret Chiefs of the

Third Order of the Golden Dawn

Translated by David Griffin

(GH Frater Lux ex Septentrionis)

TRUTH: The Golden Dawn's 

Rosicrucian Inner Order & Initiations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If the original R+C tradition is not to be lost completely in America and the English speaking world, it is important that there are Golden Dawn orders like the Alpha Omega that remain faithful not only to the original Rosicrucian tradition - but even to the dark and hidden roots out of which the Rosicrucian rose first grew, and from which the R+C Rose continues to nourish itself even today.

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

... I am reminded of the Hermetic maxim in the following alchemical image:

"What use are torchlight or glasses,
for those without eyes to see?"

From the fertile darkness - the hidden light of the Mysteries,

Frater Lux E Tenebris, R.C.

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Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®

Making Magicians - Since 1888

Click HERE to explore our Outer Order, undergraduate level Magical training program.

Exciting News for Magicians Across the Globe

Are you tired of groping alone through an ocean of obscure Magick books? 

Maybe you’ve tried to follow along in a self-initiation book but still struggled with the exercises. 

Or perhaps you have hopped from one magical order to another looking for guidance to no avail? 

The Alpha Omega has been making magicians for decades and these common problems are not unique to you. 

While leaders of other Golden Dawn orders have been writing envious books and blogs and using angry sock puppets trying to defame our order, our members, our founder and our leaders ... 

Angry Sock Puppet

We here at the Alpha Omega have instead been silently improving our curriculum and our teaching methods!

Here is exciting news ...

The Alpha Omega leads the way today yet once again!

We are already putting the finishing touches on our ALL NEW curriculum and education system for transforming YOU into a working magician. 

Every step - every area of study - is completely formulated. 

Our new curriculum is being developed by our highest Adepts along with curriculum design assistance from a university professor who designed dozens of courses and programs for top universities over the past 20 years!

And our new curriculum includes far more than just the same tired GD material published over and over by others, but fully integrates - even at the Neophyte, beginners level - the supplemental, traditional Golden Dawn teachings and MAGICK recently released by the Secret Chiefs of the Alpha Omega's Third Order!

Stay tuned for more revelations about our new curriculum. 

You won’t want to miss it!

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Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®

Making Magicians - Since 1888

Click HERE to explore our Outer Order, undergraduate level Magical training program.

The Astonishing Conclusion of Nick Farrell's "Secret Chiefs Challenge"

by Alpha Omega Imperator

David Griffin

Today is August 5 and Nick Farrell's 

"Secret Chiefs Challenge" is officially over!

"If I can't catch the Secret Chiefs by August 5 ...

... they can't really exist! - Nick Farrell

Over the past month Nick Farrell, Chief of the Magical Order of Aurora Aureae and purveyor of occult fantasy novels, endowed our Golden Dawn community with a seemingly endless series of articles about the Golden Dawn's Secret Chiefs.

All of this was part of Farrell's "Secret Chiefs Challenge" in which our intrepid psychonaut challenged the Secret Chiefs to either appear to him by August 5, or consider themselves as non-existent.

During the month there was once or twice I could not resist poking a little fun at Nick, first off with the above image of Farrell acting like a dog chasing his tail.

I thought better of it the next day and took the blog post down. Low and behold, Farrell immediately stole my idea and published his own image of me chasing my tail!

Had it really come to this?

A commenter then pointed out how Farrell's entire "Secret Chiefs' Challenge" reminded her of a schoolyard. She wrote:

"I notice that Nick Farrell copied your dog chasing tail image, turned it around as though the joke was his own, then called YOU a tail chaser. Watch this video as it shows the "mature" mentality we are dealing with:

Another commenter then suggested that Nick Farrell is merely envious of the vast, traditional, supplemental Golden Dawn teachings and Magick recently released by the Secret Chiefs of the A.O.'s Third Order, integrated into all grades from Neophyte up. You can read testimonials regarding these teachings HERE.

She wrote:

"The whole [present Secret Chiefs debate] boils down to: 

"Farrell wants your bike!"

Now that Farrell's "Secret Chiefs Challenge" is officially over, I must admit I never in a million years imagined what a fantasy novel Nick would invent to conclude his "challenge." Farrell came up with an ending worthy of any soap box game show!

Let's see if we can wrap this up by revealing - once and for all - what Nick Farrell has been hiding all along behind The "Secret Chiefs Challenge's" "Door Number One," "Door Number Two," and "Door Number Three."

Behind Door Number One, we find Nick Farrell's original story:

"Anyone who believes in Secret Chiefs is as nutty as a loon."

Then, in a fasciating flip-flop, behind Door Number Two, we discover Nick Farrell's next story:

"The Secret Chief of the Golden Dawn ...
... is really the Archangel Raphael."

Oops! Does this mean that Nick Farrell has been a secret channeller of New Age Secret Chiefs all along?

Farrell The Magnificent

And now - Behind Door Number Three ...

Ta-Ta-Ta-Ta ...

We discover Nick Farrell's latest and greatest story ...

The Secret Chief of Nick Farrell's MOAA, is none other than the mysterious ...

Count of St. Germain!

That's right ...

Allegedly hundreds of years old, the Count of St. Germain is known in New Age and B.O.T.A. circles as Master Racoczi. Nick Farrell, following in the footsteps of Paul Foster Case, today claims that he too has met with Master R., albeit in a coffee shop in Rome near St. Peter's Cathedral.

So as not to be easily recognized, the good Count masked his thick Transylvanian accent and pretended instead to be Corsican. According to Farrell, Master Racoczi has been hiding for the past hundred or so years on the island of Corsica, living with his boyfriend, Guiseppe Balsamo, also apparently immortal, and better known as Count Cagliostro.

Giuseppe Balsomo (Count Cagliostro)

boyfriend of St. Germain on Corsica

Master R. did let on, however, that not only is he ...

• Secret Chief of both B.O.T.A. and Farrell's M.O.A.A. but he is also...
• Geheim Haupt of the Illuminati
• Magus Sublimissimus of SRIA
• Grand Chancellor the Order of Memphis and Myriam
• Secret Supreme Master of the United Grand Lodge of England
• Caput Draconis of the Osiris Order
• Grand Phallus of the Subterranean Order of Set
• All Seeing Eye of the Grand Orient of Horus and, of course...
• Secret Grand Poobah of the Royal Order of Buffalos!

Personally, I think Nick Farrell has missed his calling. Why is Nick still wasting time writing occult fantasy novels dressed up as history, when he could already be a rich man inventing stories for David Icke!

M.O.A.A. Secret Chief & his Sock Puppet

The diffetence between Nick Farrell's order and the Alpha Omega could not be more clear. Whereas Farrell's Secret Chief has not produced anything by hot air and wild stories about fancy titles, the Secret Chiefs of the Alpha Omega have already put their money where their mouth is ...

... providing vast amounts of additional Golden Dawn MAGICK and teachings that have been integrated throughout our entire curriculum, even in the Neophyte grade!

This is real magick and profound, traditional G.D.teachings - not just empty promises.

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

Alpha Omega

Because we make Magicians!

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