The other day, I posted on Facebook the fact that I had finished cobbling together a pamphlet for advertising purposes together for the lodge. And I was promptly asked by someone if Bast Temple was accepting applications.
The question surprised me.
Outside of a few Rosicrucian organizations that have strict membership limits, I do not know an Order that is not always open to applications. Even Orders that have "officially" closed their membership tend to still keep their eyes open for new members; the same goes for covens.
The general rule of thumb is that all lodges and Orders are always open to new appliciants.
Having said that, I must point out that just because a group is accepting applications, it does not mean that you will be found to be a suitable candidate for membership. For example, I cannot imagine for an instant that I would be allowed into any of the three other Golden Dawn groups that are here in Denver. Even if Bast Temple closed shop, it is unlikely that any of them would consider me a suitable member. For one thing, I am too opinionated for all of their tastes (and that is just the first problem that they would have with me).
In order to be allowed into a lodge and/or Order, you have to meet the qualifications for entry. These vary from group to group. You also have to be able to get the people who decide on who to let in to actually do so. With some groups, this is easier to do than with others.
In Bast Temple, it boils down to whether or not you get along with the current active members; whether we think that you can hack the workload; and whether or not you alarm us by being morally and/or sanity impaired. Bast Temple does not let everyone in, and we are definitely not suitable for everyone. But it is not a real problem; after all, there is an EOGD, a TGD, and one other Golden Dawn group here in Denver---there are plenty of options for someone who is interested working Golden Dawn in a group setting.
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The thing is, unless you are already involved with an order of some kind, you might not know that is how they gain members. If everything is shrouded in secrecy (or at least clouded), then those with no experience would not know that you can apply.
Hi Morgan,
thanks for this post. Just a quick note to say that I have been a member of a couple of Orders that would be closed periodically, up to a couple of years or more. For example, after an influx of new members at Neophyte we would close our doors until they had progressed and been integrated well into the egregore. This helped the egregore become cohesive and would also be easier on a practical level - teaching newcomers all at the same grade etc.
Also, I know of one Order in Australia that is closed apart from invitations, offered mostly though not exclusively to Masonic friends. Ta :)
The hard part is convincing folks that don't get in, that it isn't really personal. Though it can be, often times no one has a good reason. If you look closely at what people think are good reasons, they are mostly bullshit. At least, that has been my experience.
You care to give some examples?
Morgan was that to me?
Yes. Sorry. I should have been a little clearer to whom I was addressing.
Hello, my rant was too long for the comments section. So I posted on my blog. I'm not trying to redirect or anything. It was just too big a topic for a comments section.
http://doingmagick.blogspot.com/2010/06/gd-style-group-admissions.html
This is in response to Lavanah's insightful comment. Honestly, I was surprised that Morgan was surprised :) I've been looking for a coven for decades (2 of them) and the times I've ventured out into the wider magickal community, I have not made it a secret. I have never heard of any coven taking members and after so long, even though, as Frater POS pointed out, it is not personal; it becomes increasingly difficult to not see it as such, especially if the "accessibility" of magickal groups is common knowledge - common to everyone save oneself.
Two things:
Denver is a bad location. It is hard to locate any group in Denver, for reasons that I am going to have to write another entry about...eventually.
Bast Temple is NOT a coven. It is a lodge...that is a complicated subject to deal with...I am not even sure that I am a good enourgh writer to be able to set out the differences between the two.
If I may be bold to try.
A coven is magickal but has a social structure to it. It is familiel and tribal. One learns as much by observation as anything else.
A lodge is an institution designed to provide form to an individual's spiritual pursuits. A member may be seen only for an initiation and never be seen again until the next one. That is unlikely in a coven.
In a coven the primary purpose is the group. In a lodge it is individual development. Of course, they must intertwine but the starting point makes a difference.
I think there are many perfectly good reasons to not let just anyone into a group. And I don't think it's wrong to exclude someone based on certain criteria, even if that criteria seems like BS to an outsider (who may not understand the reason for the criteria). Especially in the case of smaller groups (temple/coven/or lodge) since many smaller groups may hold meetings and workings in a members private residence. Now when you're talking about huge groups who rent temple space, or teach regular public classes, etc... I still think there could be good reasons for exclusions, but perhaps not as many. The group dynamics change once a group gets really big. Small groups, however, are a different animal.
Morgain said: "Denver is a bad location. It is hard to locate any group in Denver, for reasons that I am going to have to write another entry about...eventually."
I would LOVE to read this, actually. I would appreciate being able to blame it all on Denver ;) In reality, I'm curious as to your take on it.
Denver a bad location? I just did a google search and found a TON of groups there. Or are you saying they're bad groups?
Denver a bad location? Actually, a quick google search shows a TON of GD groups in your area.
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