And then there is my oath

In passing, someone asked me what the other reasons were for me not being concerned about HOGD/A&O claims. Part of my reply was that it really did not matter because I am forbidden to learn from the HOGD/A&O Adept outreach thanks to my oath as an archive officer. The HOGD/A&O demands that you swore an oath of secrecy to learn their additional lessons and rituals---in other words, you never tell anyone what you have seen unless they too are under the oath.

The oath that I took as an archive officer is an "override" oath. In other words, it overrides all the previous oaths I have ever taken...and all the future oaths that people try to put me under. I am obligated to preserve the information of the system...by whatever means I see fit to do so. In other words, I am make the decision of how to preserve the information, not someone else, and publication is always an option on the table. Therefore, the HOGD/A&O has to bar me from learning their stuff just because the material can only be learned under the oath of secrecy issued by them. It does not matter whether they trust me or not, they have to bar me because there is always the chance that I will decide that absolute secrecy is not the proper method to preserve the information.

Because of this, it does not matter what the HOGD/A&O claims. In good conscience, I am not able to apply to learn the new revolutionary material of their system...because I can never again swore an oath of absolute secrecy. Nor can they, in good conscience, allow me into their Order or associate program.

Archive officers may not be the only people who are barred from learning their system. In fact, I suspect that anyone who has ever served as a Co-Chief of an esoteric Order is also barred by their oath. One of the things that the Co-Chiefs of an esoteric Order control is what belongs to what Grade, and what is actually a secret and what is not. In other words, they decide what can be revealed and when it is revealed.

Therefore, anyone who is not wholly of the HOGD/A&O pretty much has to be barred from ever serving as a Co-Chief or Sub-Chief of any Order other than the HOGD/A&O. Again, I have served in this type of position, and because I still have students answering to me, I cannot in clear conscience ever apply to learn the full Inner Order curriclum of the HOGD/A&O. I am responsible for sharing information, and the buck stops on my desk for deciding who gets what information and when.

So my oaths, current and past officerships, bar me from even entertaining the notion of learning stuff from the HOGD/A&O. Hence it does not matter whether their claims are true or not, or my personal beliefs regarding such claims. Nor does it matter whether the HOGD/A&O and its leadership trusts me or not, for they can never be absolutely sure of my future actions and decisions, thanks to my oaths and responsibilities.

I can never be allowed to know the truth behind their claims, therefore it does not matter one iota to me (beyond the economics of resources and members) what they claim. And yes, that does mean that I have to act as if their claims have absolutely no substance. But then again, I only have to be nasty if the HOGD/A&O threaten the survival of the lodge (Bast Temple) and Order (BIOGD/BIORC) that I belong to. If they allow my group to survive in peace, then I can afford to stay out of the war.

{And before you ask, not even my current lodge can change the "override" oath I am under.}