Please fence me in (I want to drum with witches)

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When our Tarot Blog Hop wrangler, Joy Vernon, posted the topic for this hop, I had to laugh. “Don’t fence me in” was the exact opposite of what going on in my life.

This spring, my wife decided to use her inheritance from her mother’s death last summer to pay for house and garden repairs and upgrades. One of the things that my wife has wanted for years is a privacy fence. And after many, many years, she had talked me around to her position. If nothing else, I no longer wanted to look at the dead brown knee high grass that my southern neighbor insists on having.

Plus for many years, I have wanted to have “Dark Arts and Crafts” parties. You know—weird artists, indie writers, crazed magicians, and amusing witches, possibly armed with drums and wands—all making noise around a fire pit. One of my entry points into the local occult community was the monthly drummings that a friend of mine (Cassandra Ravenwolf) used to have over at her house. I met my wife at such a drumming. I was heart-broken when Cassandra left town with her husband (Brian) to be closer to her in-laws. And I have waited patiently for some other member of the community to create such an event…but after fifteen years (maybe a touch more), I am out of patience.

So my wife and I are getting a new sidewalk (goodbye Sidewalk of Death), traded our chain link fence for a nice wooden one, new front windows and doors, got the garden sheds painted. Plus I am doing a major purge of stuff I do not need (“Oh look, it is a stack of Rocky Mountain newspapers—didn’t they go out of business ten years ago?”); so far, three whole SUV loads of newspapers have been taken to the recycling center. Plus we are going to be painting some of the inside rooms of the house, building some custom book shelves, and generally organizing the mess.

(Please note that one of the reasons that this is all happening is that I am fairly stable—well, more stable than I was for the first fifty years of my life—on my current round of meds and a pot chaser. Don’t knock my pot chaser—it helps keeps the migraines and panic attacks at bay.)

The work on the outside should be done by the beginning of August. Then I get to switch my attention to Icarus--science fiction—“A thousand people live and work in outer space. They depend on Earth for a supply line. What do they do to survive when Earth goes dark?”—a rather long project that has much in common with eating an elephant “one bite at a time.”

So what the heck does this have to do with the Tarot? (An important question given that this is the Tarot Blog Hop.) Well, after all this is done, a certain amount of ritual and classes will be attempted at my house, and I might be doing some in-person Tarot readings (I hate reading Tarot over the phone and internet). So for the sake of my business (and my wife’s pottery business), we needed a new fence.

"Do you want to see naked witches dancing?"

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What makes BIORC different?

Truth in advertising strikes the Hogwarts House system.

One of the difficulties about trying to decide what Golden Dawn Order to join is that it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between the Orders. Their advertising looks the same; as soon as one group makes a claim, everyone else also claims to provide the same service...with one exceptation (c'mon--I do not need to point out the one claim that no one else wants to make). In the end, often it boils down to who is leading the group, and if you know any other members of the group, and if they have a local lodge or correspondence course, which determines what Golden Dawn Order that you join. Their advertising footprint might also be a factor.

We could label the main Golden Dawn groups as "The Amway Golden Dawn," "The False Humility Golden Dawn," "The 'We can't be bothered to have a correspondence course' Golden Dawn," "The Freemason Golden Dawn," and "Those freaks of nature Golden Dawn."

Oh, and then there is the group I belong to--"The 'Who are you again?!' Golden Dawn."

Here in Denver Colorado, we have three Golden Dawn lodges...and rumors that a fourth one is going to be organized. And honestly, I bet that you can not tell the difference between them. The fact that there was overlapping membership for awhile...and this may still be true for two of the lodges...does not help any (all the shinies got shared).

So the question of "What makes your group that you belong to different from all the other Golden Dawn groups?" is a difficult one to answer. Even my answer that "We are the pagan/Wiccan friendly lodge with the smallest membership" does not really create a distinction. Nor does the statement, "We are the least likely to be married to the exact ritual script that the other Golden Dawn lodges use."

Yet, both of those statements are actually the statements that you want to pay attention to. For they are the statements that hint that something is going on behind the scenes...something that makes Bast Temple more BIORC than strict Golden Dawn.

Earlier this year, a cascade change was introduced into the Neophyte ritual of the BIORC.

For those of you who are relatively new to the Golden Dawn system, a "cascade change" is a small change that leads to more and more changes in the rituals and lessons of an esoteric system. Golden Dawn is actually a series of interconnected and interlocked rituals and magical techniques. The smallest changes and corrections occasionally end up changing the system so drastically that a group that starts changing things often finds themselves ceasing to be Golden Dawn. For the most part, groups do not like this possibility, so they cling to the strict version of the published rituals and teachings.

Awhile back, the cornerstone members of the BIORC ceased to care if the group remained Golden Dawn. Therefore, some small changes have started to be introduced...including what promises to be a cascade change.

The change that threatens to remove BIORC from the Golden Dawn system?

Simple, the Neophyte prayer to the Lord of the Universe got changed to a prayer to "The Lord and Lady of the Universe."

Yes, something as simple as that could end up being a cascade change. For one, it upsets anyone who believes that only a male one-god religion is correct. For another, it opens up the door to having to change all the Elemental Prayers. It also opens up the door to the esoteric mysteries being explained not in Christian and Jewish symbols, but rather in symbols from British Traditional Wicca and other modern pagan religions.

The change in the ritual was made because the membership of Bast Temple (which is the Mother Temple of the BIORC) is once again composed of just pagans and Wiccans. The ritual acknowledgement that the divine has been god and goddess aspects is long overdue as far as the membership of Bast Temple is concerned. But it is the type of change that may result in BIORC ceasing to be a "true" Golden Dawn Order.

Personally, it is exactly the type of thing that makes me remain a member of the BIORC, rather than joining another Golden Dawn Order. For it is the one group that I do not have to mentally apologize to the Goodess to every time when the Lord of the Universe prayer is said.

Informed the lodge about the impeding peace and harmony

Sometimes, I am amazed at the things that I do as an officer of the Order (BIORC) that I find personally distasteful. Yesterday, I duly informed the members of the lodge of the upcoming Peace and Harmony Pow Wow being hosted by the HOGD/AO. And noted that they were free to go to it if they wanted to; the choice is theirs--just like the choice is theirs to decide whether or not to trust the leadership of the HOGD/AO.

Honestly, it was as painful as going to the dentist. My distrust of the HOGD/AO, and its leadership, goes back to at least 2009 (when they decided that my honest book reviews were not honest and part of a conspiracy), and have merely been compounded over the course of this year (having my reputation destroyed once makes me extremely hostile to anyone who takes it upon themselves to repeat that deed). Plus, their recent disapproval of my actions reminded me of the "we are not trying to control your entire life, but we really know best" behavior of my bad parent.

I also informed the members of Bast Temple that I would not be acting as the Order's official representative if I decide to go the peace gathering. I will merely be acting as an individual--if they want a peace treaty with the HOGD/AO, they have to send someone else.

So I have done my part as an elected officer of the system for peace and harmony. It is now up to them to decide what to do.

As for my attendance of the peace gathering, I am still undecided...for now, it is better that I just focus on my business, and wait to see how things work out.

And the website troubles continue

So I tempted today to fix some of the problems with the new website for Bast Temple. (My regular readers will remember that we were forced to switch website hosts.) And it was one of those days that I feel that the service that the old host is trying to make us switch to is just too much trouble. (Actually, they are owned by the same company...so one could argue that it is just the same host with the just a higher price.) The current problem is that one has to log in through several forms to get to the actual dashboard for the website...and if you forget a password (and they all have to be different), then you have to wait hours for the reset to occur.

Makes me glad that I set up an official blog for Bast Temple because it looks like it is what we are going to be using for awhile...because I am thinking that we need to use a better web hosting service...or at least one that does not make me want to beat it with a stick.

[If you are in Denver Colorado, or thereabouts, and want to apply for membership in Bast Temple, remember that you can apply through the official blog or by sending an email to basttemple at msn dot com. Just because the web hosting service is causing me grief does not mean that the lodge has disappeared--we are still doing initiations and rituals, as well as holding meetings and lectures.]

Preparing for June 2012 Open Full Moon ritual

Over the last couple of days, I have been making some preparations for the Open Full Moon ritual that I am doing on June 29th for Hearthstone Community Church. Much of the preparation is beating out the rough spots in the ritual outline, and trying to figure out what is going to work the best. I have yet to finish the large Death card that I plan on using for the ritual.

Besides the planning and partially work-thurs of the ritual, I have been working on the rough draft of a science fiction crime novel. The dead bodies are just piling up--today another dozen people died in the name of fiction. I am not quite sure where the rage at big business comes from, but it is sure showing up in this particular sci-fi story.

As a break between the two projects, I have been doing some gardening. Mainly transplanting the spearmint, lemon balm, and motherwort that has taken over the one corner of the herb garden.

[The late June OFM is June 29, 2012 at 7 pm (ritual starts at 7:30 pm) and will be held at the First Unitarian Church here in Denver, Colorado (1400 Lafayette)--the ritual is going to be about remembering the dead, both people and animals.]

Someone is going to be upset



Fuck you---I am Cat.

[This post was originally written in April 2012, and was not posted because I decided to be nice. It is being posted today because David Griffin and his Order will be demanding an apology from me in the future because of a project that I had in the pipeline for a couple of years that they will claim is ripping off their ideas because they openly stated that they are mixing science with the esoteric mysteries before the first part of my project was ready to be published. So I am just going to state the fact that I will not be apologizing for that project...or any other thing that I might do that upsets them in the future. The stuff in red was written today.]

There are days when you know that someone is going to be upset with you...and your friends...and your lodge...and your Order. This is one of those days. I imagine that they are also going to be upset with my cats.

Why?

Because my lodge looked at my notice of resignation, heard why I had to resign (because Griffin and company thought my opinion of them and their actions in the great book banning of 2012 were the "vilest"), and then proceeded to point out that my oath was not to Griffin's HOGD/AO, but rather to the BIOGD/BIORC and the IIOGD (which had given a previous HOGD/AO version the bird).

[Yes, there were groups calling themselves HOGD/AO before Griffin took out his trademark---shocking, but true. Even more shocking is the fact that my lineage may actually trace to Mathers. There are days I pray that it doesn't.]

Therefore, given that my oath was not to Griffin and his Order, and my duties likewise, the membership of the lodge did not see how the opinion of people outside our Hall had anything to do with whether or not I should remain a member of the lodge and Order. At that point, they set fire to my notice of resignation.

And you know that there is going to be a horde of people upset about this.

[For some reason, the members of Bast Temple do not consider the members of the HOGD/AO to be their brothers and sisters in the Work, I wonder why that feel that way.]

I am not really surprised by this. The people who join Bast Temple who do not like me and my actions tend to rapidly leave and join another Denver Golden Dawn lodge. My fellow and lady lodge members are used to my "in-your-face" opinions. In fact, they pointed out that the "vilest" language I used was actually polite compared to some of the things that I have said over the years.

They also did not think that I owed Griffin and company an apology over my honest opinion. In fact, it turns out that the lodge's opinion of the situation and the players would really upset some people.

The angry horde is going to be appalled that I am the polite, rational member of the lodge.

Furthermore, the members of the lodge want Griffin to know that they do not care about what I say about him and his. They understand that Griffin has appointed himself (or is it the Secret Chiefs and the Third Order?) judge and jury over all things Golden Dawn, but they would like to point out that they voted a long time ago not to join Griffin's Order. (Long story, mostly boring---and sad because they decided that they preferred a different devil in charge---it recently came back up with the revelation of new superior teachings which they voted not to learn.) And they want Griffin to know that his opinion is not welcome in matters concerning the actions of the membership of Bast Temple.

The angry horde, armed with pitchforks and flaming torches, want my head on a platter. And they are going to have to settle for calling me bad names. And that is really going to make them upset.

[Furthermore, I would like to add that my lodge knew about my bringing science into the esoteric mysteries project for the last two years, therefore I am quite sure that they not consider my project to be ripping your Order off.]

[One of the results of this demand for an apology is a new "tradition" where I am not allowed to bring myself on charges based on demands from Griffin's group. The membership of Bast Temple have stated that they will only consider bringing me up on charges on things that they discover on their own; by the way, they do not read Griffin's blog or forum...so demands for my head will be met with indifference by me.]

Ongoing Bast Temple website problems

As some of you know, Bast Temple has been experiencing some major website issues.

The issues started during the worst part of semester...and considering that this turned out to be the worst semester ever for me, well, I could have just plotzed. Now that the semester is over, and I have two seconds to try to fix the problems, I realize that the problems are going to take some time to fix.

Therefore, for awhile, Bast Temple is not going to have a regular website. Well, we have one, it is just that the problems prevent anyone from actually getting to it...even if they know the exact address of it.

So my temporary solution is to put up a blog for Bast Temple. I figure that way people (eventually after the search engines find it) will still be able to find information about the lodge and be able to contact us if they are interested in Denver membership.

It is time like these that I wish that I belonged to one of the Big Name Orders who could throw money at problems like these.

So if anyone is interested, the new Bast Temple blog is located here (click).

The Official BIORC stance on Secret Chiefs

Another thing I realized reading the internet today is given the wide views about the Secret Chiefs, that it would be useful for some to know the official Bast Temple (BIORC) stance on Secret Chiefs. Straight from the bylaws of the group, we have:

The lodge does not recognize the authority of the Secret Chiefs. The Secret Chiefs have been used to justify the abuse of power and authority in other groups. If the Secret Chiefs do contact a member of the lodge (Order), we will try to keep an open mind, but their suggestions and commands will not become law in the lodge unless approved by the voting members of the lodge. (Passed on 16 Sept 2001.)

By the way, this was in the bylaws long before any Bast Temple member heard of David Griffin.

And that is all the Bast Temple officially says about the Secret Chiefs. Sad, isn't it? You would think that we would be knee-deep in lore about the Secret Chiefs---after all, the Secret Chiefs have been behind all the important stuff in the system. But no, we merely note that we do not recognize their authority.

After I leave, I imagine that the bylaw will be rewritten to include "their representatives from other Orders." I will be the last member of the BIORC that Griffin can use the "your fellow members must be upset at your actions towards me and my Order" ploy against.

Website moving to a new hosting service

Awhile back, I was informed by Microsoft that they were ending their Small Business Live web hosting and replacing it with another web hosting service. Basically, they want to charge more money and quit tracking traffic and keyword information and the easiest way to accomplish this is to kill one web hosting service and create another instead.

So today, I am starting the process of tranferring the Bast Temple website to the new hosting service. It is going to take several days. Of course, this forced move has to take place during my busiest semester ever.

By busy, I mean that I have been spending at least one day (typically two or three) at the library doing historical research. And falling ever further behind on the homework for my other classes.

Initially, I was hoping that no one would be able to spot the difference between the sites once I transfered the domain to the new hosting service. That is not going to happen---I am having all types of formatting issues as I copy pages. Even stripping out the previous formatting does not seem to help. There will also be slight navigation and color changes in the new site.

And the editing of the pages is going to have to wait until after my semester is over...because once I get the basic pages moved, I have to get back to work on my Honors Thesis for Literature and my Senior Seminar in History pages---both are supposed to be thirty pages when they are done.

Wish me luck to finish all my projects by the time they are due.

The real puppet master revealed




Satan Kitty demands your worship, and some catnip, and some shrimp, seriously go get it now.

And the real puppet masters behind all the Golden Dawn drama is...cats! All the flame wars you see are actually directed at dog lovers, and we all know that dogs drool and cats rule. And the chief of the Golden Dawn puppet masters is Satan Kitty! Worship Satan Kitty---give him all your love, catnip, warm beds, and all your shrimp. You know that you want to worship Satan Kitty.

I teach GD over coffee

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.}

This kitty slap is for my wife

This kitty slap is for you.

My wife occasionally gives me a hard time about the fact that I LOVE cats. And she completely blames me whenever we end up with a new addition to the small pride that we have running around the house. Nevertheless, it is not completely true.

(According to Sheldon Cooper, the proper term for "a group of cats" is a "clowder", and not a "pride." Nice to know, but it gets him a kitty slap.)

She has cat fever too. She just denies it. For instance, when she returned from the craftshow today, she was telling me about the cutest kitten ever. The only reason she did not bring it home is that we have two many cats already (or is that "too many cats"?).

On the behalf of the cats we already have, she is rewarded a kitty slap. The Secret Chiefs of Bast Temple (I listen to them more than I listen to most Golden Dawn leaders) say that you are only allowed to bring another kitty home if they are given fresh shrimp and meat (either chicken or beef is fine) at every meal.

Nice to know that they are willing to let more cats in on the con, isn't it?

Correspondence Course Delayed

Looking around I realized this morning that the long-promised Bast Temple (BIOGD/BIORC) correspondence course is going to suffer another delay. Not that this changes anything for the first set of people who are going to see the course (aka the beta-testers)---they are still going to see the most important parts of the course around the first of the year.

Reasons are all on my end: This semester is kicking my ass (the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to look like a train); I have been devoting time to my wife's business (and ignoring both the Order and my own business); I have not caught up with my foundational course work (ironically, this semester course work relates to it in a strange way).

There is also the fact that I do not like the current round of Golden Dawn politics going on. It doesn't take a cracked crystal ball to realize that the quickest way to be called an ignorant con-artist is to publish a Golden Dawn book or run a correspondence course. And if the upcoming books of mine don't get me called this, the course would sure would succeed in getting me this "esteemed" title. It is a sad field of study that only allows one honest expert to exist, with all the rest automatically being labeled frauds. Oh well, I knew what I was getting into when I decided that this work needed to be done.

And someplace, a horde of monkeys laugh.

Starting the countdown to the June OFM

The countdown to the Hearthstone Community Church's June Open Full Moon Ritual started on Friday. Or at least, for me it started on Friday. Of course, I might be the only one counting down to it---for I am the person that gets to take the blame for it if all goes horribly wrong.

Yes, that is right---I am leading another OFM.

This will be the fifth year in a row that I have done an OFM on the behalf of Bast Temple. And the sixth OFM ritual that I have written (not that anyone ever associates me with the first one---everyone always presumes that I was merely a player in that ritual).

Exactly how much I need to accomplish before the ritual day, June 10th, is still fuzzy. I know that I need to produce a new flyer for the lodge, a blurb and a column for the newsletter.

Unfortunately, a couple of the things I want to get done before the big day are beginning to look like they are not going to happen. Which may or may not be ok---advertising and me are always a hit and miss operation.

Anyways, I will probably be blogging about this some more over the course of the next month---ye have been warned.

Is there another Bast Temple in Denver Colorado?

Ok, reading something in the general sewer back alley wonderfulness that is Golden Dawn news on the blogosphere, I found a reference to an "old Bast Temple", a "Lawrence Robinson" and an "Alex Walker"---all of which I was unaware of.

This is the first time that I have ever heard of the existence of another Bast Temple here in Denver, Colorado. Obviously, they are bigger and more important than the Bast Temple (BIORC) that I belong to---considering that I have never heard of them before.

As of this point in time, I am aware of two other Golden Dawn lodges operating here in Denver: Thoth-Amen-Ra (independent) and Thoth Hermes (Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn).

And to the best of my knowledge, none of the four lodges that were operating in the late 80s/early 90s were named Bast. Heavens knows that the lodge I belong to would have chosen another name and patron deity if we were aware of a previous or current lodge operating under this name.

I am not sure if the person has better information (aka more contacts than I do) or made a simple mistake. Nevertheless, I want it on the record that the Bast Temple I belong to is not the same lodge as the one that Alex Walker and Lawrence Robinson are involved in.

Repairing the Hierophant Sceptre

Decided to take a couple of pictures of the Hierophant's Sceptre as I repaired it today. This particular tool has been in use for eight of the ten and a half years of Bast Temple's existence (for a couple of years, we used a different Sceptre). This one was made from a wooden dowel, red and gold paint, some balsam wood for the crown points, and a giant cork. I am not sure what the support rod is made of (and I did not think about examining it before gluing the crown back onto the shaft). It is not as neat as the one that I saw that used a Pringle can for the crown. This is the first time that I ever had to repair it in the decade it has been in use. It is ugly, but functional.

BIORC Outer Order Voting Rights Oath

When Robert Zink got "expelled" by a vote of the Adepts in his Order, I knew it was only a matter of time before he would issue a statement that the Adepts did not have the right to make that vote. This precognition annoyed me. But it wasn't all that marvelous of a prediction when you know the history of Golden Dawn.

I understood my annoyance. It was caused by another annoyance---I was about to have to refight an old battle.

One of the things that has always annoyed the leaders of the current Golden Dawn Orders is the fact that I openly support the membership having voting rights. Not only do I support voting rights, I believe that the members of the Outer Order should have voting rights and not just the highest level of the Inner Order.

My reasons for believing such nonsense will have to wait another night (I got a paper to write tonight for my Urban History class); but just to start getting people aware of the work that I have done to support this idea, I present the Outer Order Voting Rights Oath from the BIOGD (BIORC) Zelator 1=10 ritual.

As always, free feel to leave your offerings of hemlock in the comment section.

Outer Order Voter Oath



Hierophant: My dear brother/sister, _____ Temple, Golden Dawn in the Outer is pleased to offer you the privilege and duty of holding Outer Order Voting Rights. Because of the increased influence over the members of the lodge that such a privilege necessarily confers, the lodge requires you to take a further pledge of your fidelity to the well-being of the lodge.


As with the previous oath(s) that you have taken in the presence of the higher powers and in the presence of your brothers and sisters of this lodge, this oath contains nothing contrary to your civil, moral or religious duties. Are you willing to take this pledge?


Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Then place your left hand upon the symbol of the Order from which we draw our lessons, and your right hand upon the statue (icon) of ____, which represents the lodge of which you are a member of.


Zelator: (does so)


Hierophant: Do you promise to regard the privilege of having Outer Order Voting Rights as a trust given to you, not for your own selfish gain, but rather as a service to this lodge, so that our lodge and our tradition may be kept pure and undefiled, and the Light kept safely for those who seek it on this Path?


Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Do you promise to uphold the right of the members of the Second Order, especially the (Co-)Chief(s) of this lodge to decide on issues of the curriculum and upon issues of advancement in this lodge, so that our high standards of knowledge may be maintained?

Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Do you promise to allow members of the Second Order to override any Outer Order vote, provided that they CAN truly justify their actions as being in the best interests and well-being of this lodge?


Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: Do you promise that you will neither recommend a Candidate for admission into First Order, nor for advancement without due judgment and assurance that they are worthy of such a great confidence and honor, nor unduly press any person to be a Candidate?


Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Do you furthermore promise to support the admission of both sexes to our lodge, on a perfect equality, and that you will always display brotherly/sisterly love and forbearance towards the members of this lodge and Order, neither slandering nor evil-speaking, nor repeating, nor tale-bearing, whereby strife and ill-feeling may be engendered?


Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: Do you promise to exercise your vote with conscientiousness and loving care, not alone towards this Temple and Order, but unto every individual member?


Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: Finally do you promise that if during your travels that you should meet a stranger who claims to be a member of the same Order from which we draw our inspiration, that you will examine them with due care before acknowledging them as such?

Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: (addressing the lodge) Brothers and Sisters of _____ Temple, you have heard the pledge of Brother/Sister , do you accept it and grant onto him/her Outer Order Voting Rights?

Lodge: (affirms)

Hierophant: Brother/Sister , you are now a voting member of _____ Temple. Remember always that it is only through the wise exercise of secrecy and our voting rights that we maintain the resources that this lodge has gathered for the use of its members in accomplishing our common goal, which is to accomplish the Great Work, the Union of the Sun and Moon, the Uniting of the Macrocosm and Microcosm, the attainment of the Philosopher’s Stone, the SUMMUM BONUM.

Copyright 2000-2011 Morgan Drake Eckstein.

Bast Temple Official Stance on Secret Chiefs who are not cats

Bast Temple back in September 2001 decided to include the following in its bylaws:


The lodge does NOT recognize the authority of the Secret Chiefs. The Secret Chiefs have been used to justify the abuse of power and authority in other groups. If the Secret Chiefs do contact a member of the lodge (Order), we will try to keep an open mind, but their suggestions and commands will not become law in the lodge unless approved by the voting members of the lodge.

Needless to say, this rule does not apply to the cats.

Official Bast Temple Recognition Policy

As I noted in an earlier post, my own policy is to give help and recognition on an individual basis. I do not give blanket recognitions of esoteric and occult groups.

With some of the Orders embracing (or rejecting) the various sides of the Zink EOGD expulsion schism drama, it was decided that the official Bast Temple policy for such situations needed to be discussed. And it was yesterday.

The policy decided was the same as my personal policy: Help and recognition is only given on an individual basis; no blanket recognition will be given to any Order or group. We will judge who we help based on their individual conduct and not on what Order they belong to.

This means that Bast Temple does not support either side in the latest Golden Dawn drama. Bast Temple is neutral as far as this latest situation is concerned.

Please note that this does not mean that I am going to quit blogging about the situation if I notice something that interests me, or that I think needs commenting on. Just because the lodge and Order is neutral does not mean that I have to be silent as I watch this drama unfold.

(And later, this week I do plan on blogging about the big question that the Zink EOGD expulsion schism brings up. Ye has been warned.)

And now a word from our sponsor

And now for a word from our sponsor: ME!

Just uploaded the last three 2010 articles that were written for the Hearthstone Community Church Newsletter. Onwards to 2011. The plan is to swap out the 2010 articles for the 2011 articles as the months go by. The 2010 articles will be made into a pdf, so they will still be available. Call it lazy man webmastering.

Also finally wrote a review of The Secret (both the movie and the book).

And now back to your regular programming: ME!