One of the things that I occasionally have to remind myself is that I am not typical of the majority of the Golden Dawn community. The way that I was initially taught affects the way that I teach; it also affects the way I think about the system. For instance, outside of a few isolated bits, such as what ended up in Kraig's book, most of my initial Golden Dawn training happened in working lodge...or over coffee.
It is the "over coffee" part that you want to play attention to. Because I was taught in informal conversations, I tend to do my best teaching during informal conversations. A lot of people think that I am joking when I announce that I am willing to try to explain what Golden Dawn does over coffee, but it is actually true. Outside of the lodge work, more of my training happened during informal, friendly conversation than it did from books and secret documents and the official lecture hour.
And when I teach...I mean truly teach...it is in the same envirnoment. You are either working or having coffee...lecture days tend to not be very educational.
I have been being reminded of this lately. One of the Sorors from my lodge recently have been dealing with me in "coffee" mode. Over the past month, she has gotten more information out of me in informal conversations than she has in formal lodge lectures (outside of actual work sessions...which is ritual work and not lectures). By the way, this is always true for me. If you want information from me, lodge is necessary; but you really want to make time to "socialize" with me, if you want me to really explain what is going on.
I just don't function properly in a strict envirnoment where you only deal with your superior during lecture hour.
(The odd thing is that if you can get me to write about the system, you also get more out of me than during a spoken lecture...I am not sure why.)
{By the way, this is one of the reasons why I could care less about the HOGD/A&O claims. Strict secrecy implies that you NEVER about talk Golden Dawn over coffee or deal with your superiors and lessers outside of a strict controlled envirnoment. Because of that, it would be pointless for me to join that system...no matter how true their claims are or what secret information that they actually have.}
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3 comments:
There is something more important than the Golden Dawn ...
Magic
But then again, to each his own. There are also those for whom it is coffee that is more important than magic as well
:-)
I often say the same thing about college education: I learned more arguing about philosophy over beer with my fellow students than I did in the classroom. But that's sort of deceptive, because without the groundwork learned through classes, we wouldn't have been able to have those arguments. I suspect there is a parallel to your situation. The successful coffee seminar depends on the groundwork being laid somewhere else.
For that matter, I still learn some of the most important things, in personal life and professional life, over coffee.
The same can be said for any type of education. The fewer the people in the classroom (whether a temple setting, coffee shop, or a more traditional lecture hall) the more personalized the experience will be.
Overcrowded classrooms in public schools, for example, would be the antithesis of a good educational environment, as the teacher (even the best of them) cannot reach every student every day.
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