Four Days of Patriotic Kitties are coming

Patriotic Kitty sings better than you do.

Yes, it is time for another round of cute cat pictures...because that is why you subscribe to this blog for, right? And we all know that it is the real reason I continue to blog...to inflict cat pictures upon my regular readers. The information about Golden Dawn, Tarot, Wicca, and magic is to to lure you in; it is the cute cats that make you keep coming back.

Pray for rain in Colorado

There is absolutely no evidence that my cat has a drug problem.

Well, it is official--Colorado is dry and burning up. Seems like a typical summer to me. I am not sure how many wildfires are currently burning in Colorado, but it is definitely one too many.

I meant to do some gardening this year, as in plant some vegetables that my wife would promptly refuse to eat. Unfortunately, my (hopefully last as an undergrad) semester dragged on and was a grueling nightmare clear up to the end, so I did not start to garden nearly as soon as I should have.

Now, I can leave the water on all night and still be working with bone-dry dirt when I attempt to do anything out in the garden. It might be the result of the hundred degree days we are having.

So I am just mainly transplanting a few of the herbs that have proven to do ok with droughts, and seem to have secret plots to take over the world, to different spots. One of which is the Persian Catnip, a plant that my favorite cat has absolutely no problem with.

On one of the news groups that I belong to, a bunch of Colorado pagans and witches are doing a joint project in weather magic to try to bring rain to Colorado. And yes, I am going to be rolling up my sleeves also. If rain comes soon enourgh, I can still get some squash in before winter hits.

Feel free to critize my use of weather magic in the comment section--just remember that part of my training is Pennslyvania Dutch. Weather magic is perfectly acceptable to those who grow up in farming country.

Thirty years of hard work (or Devil Kitty in a Box)

For all your hard work, we are proud to present you with Devil Kitty in a box.

As most people in Golden Dawn know, or you will as soon as you read the internet today, thirty years ago Israel Regardie consecrated the Vault of the Adepti that the Ciceros built. There is an official thanks to the Ciceros for all their hard work floating around the internet today; for instance, there is a copy of it on the official Bast Temple blog. Yes, I signed it, and I am proud of the fact that I signed it.

But I think that the Ciceros deserve something more for their long service to the Golden Dawn community. Therefore, I am pleased to present them with a picture of Devil Kitty in a box. I would present them with the actual cat, but Devil Kitty bites. My lady lodge members think it might be rude to actually gift them with a semi-feral cat (the first cat that my wife and I rescued after buying our house). There is also the little fact that Devil Kitty only gets along with me and my god-daughter.

So the Ciceros are going to have to settle for a picture of Devil Kitty as a reward for all their hard work. I hope that they understand. And if not, they are free to come to Denver and pick up Devil Kitty, who will positively love them to death. Did I mention that she bites?!

Mooning the Sun (Tarot Blog Hop)

BIORC Sun Card--copyright 2012 MDE (All Rights Reserved).

Hi everyone! Some of you are my regular readers--and some of you doing the Tarot Blog Hop (here is a link to the masterlist just in case, there are any breaks in the Hop). If you are coming in from the regular readership, then you are pobably coming here through the padded room at the Lunar Restroom for Retired Secret Chiefs (no, you say--what do you mean when you say that I am making stuff up?!). Those from the Tarot Blog Hop, have came here from Jordan Hoggard's Tarot in the Land of Mystereum blog (or from the masterlist if there is a break in the Hop).

Today's Tarot Blog Hop theme is Celebrate the Sunrise.

For me, a lot of my observances and celebrations of the sun and its cycles are colored by the fact that I am a Wiccan. This is something that extends to the other members of the Order and lodge that I belong to (though the correct label for them is pagan).

I tend to think of this blending as "mooning the sun." For a religion that focuses on the moon, Wicca pays a lot of attention to the sun. There are Wiccans who do the annual drumming up of the sun. Four of the eight big Wiccan holidays are directly related to the main turning points of the sun's cycle, the two Equinoxes and two Solistices.

By the way, three of these four are built right into the Golden Dawn system...all Golden Dawn Orders can claim to be involved in the ancient pagan mysteries if they still observe these three events in their annual ritual cycle.

On the other hand, one could argue that the Golden Dawn pays little attention to the moon...unless you count the number of members who are Wiccan and pagan and/or check the phase of the moon before doing any major magical work.

Life as we know it on this planet would not be as it is if it wasn't for the interplay of the sun and the moon. Our planet has been blessed to have a large moon and a solar orbit that places it in a comfortable (or as comfortable as you can get in this universe) zone that supports life.

The best illustration of the play between the sun and the moon comes from Ancient Egyptian mythology. The original calendar in Ancient Egypt was 360 days, which was divided up into ten day periods (the 36 decans). This calendar would rapidly grow out of sync with the actual seasons of the year. The mythology of Anciet Egypt actually records an attempt to correct the calendar and explain "mytholically" what was happening.

According to the myth, the Earth God Geb made love to his sister, the Sky Goddess Nut. This act upset Nut's father so much that he forbid her to give birth during the days of the normal calendar. Nut. being pregnant with quintuplets, called upon Thoth to aid her. Thoth goes to the moon and plays dice with the moon; in this manner, Thoth wins five extra days to allow for the birth of Nut's children (Osiris, Horus the Elder, Set, Isis and Nephthys). By this act, Thoth starts to become a moon God.

The interesting thing about this myth, besides the interplay of the solar and lunar calendars, is the fact that the moon, over the course of billions of years, have changed the length of the day on earth, therefore changing the number of days in a earth year. Therefore the myth mirrors a scientific truth.

I was reminded of this story when I was creating the version of the Sun card that illustrates this post. Originally, I meant for there to be two cats sitting on the wall (because I have a problem with Sun cards with creepy children in them)--but by the time I was done, they had morphed into monkeys or baboons, a symbol of Thoth. The baboons of Thoth are said to celebrate the sunrise every morning by giving out loud cries. One can say that the Ancient Egyptians celebrated the sunrise by having monkeys moon the sun.

If you are proceeding with the Blog Hop, your next stop will be The Hermit's Lamp (Andrew McGregor).

Happy Solistice!

Pagan kitty celebrates solistice in style.

My cats celebrate the solistices, but they will not let me dress them up. That makes me sad. And this is even after I give them tasty bribes of catnip and tuna. Don't they know people only come to this blog to see the latest kitty fashions?
If you are here from the Tarot Blog Hop, and it is after sunrise at Stonehedge on the Summer Solistice, and this is the most recent post, then something has gone wrong. The masterlist for this Tarot Blog Hop can be found on Inner Whispers. If it is not officially the Summer Solistice yet, then you must wait for the Tarot Blog Hop to begin. For the curious, sunrise at Stonehedge on the Summer Solistice 2012 is 10:15 pm mountain time...provided that the website I was using for conversion is correct.

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.]

Humor needs no apologies (Would dad approve)



The truth behind mostly widely read blogs and websites.

There is something in the water today...or is it the air (no, what is in the air is burning forests...at least here in Colorado, that is). Several times today, I have been involved in conversations about comedians having to apologize for making a joke. It has even infected the internet (Nerdist: Comedy Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry...Right?).
A lot of people do not like my personal stance--I never apologize for making a joke, no matter how badly it fails or how offended you feel about it. The only possible exception is if you are a friend that I have known for years...and I must really care deeply about your feelings to even consider apologizing to you. I have been known not to apologize to people that I was having sex with, so the average internet reader doesn't have much of a chance to weasel an apology out of me.

Basically, there are three people in my universe who might be able to get an apology if I offend them with a joke...or at least, there are only three people that I ever remember apologizing to for comedic mistakes.

In fact, I am just the type of person who if I realize that the subject matter bugs you that I will keep pounding that particular drum all night long. Yes, I know it is rude--I don't care. This is something that recently some people did not consider when accusing me of making a particular joke that they did not like...if I was responsible, I would have continued to use the offensive character in question. (Hell, the character had great potential in my opinion.) It might be a family trait.

Occasionally, someone wants me to apologize for something that I found funny. Really? I need to apologize for having a sense of humor that doesn't perfectly match your finely attuned  and much superior sense of humor? Sorry, but that is not going to happen either.

My first role model for comedy was my father. And yes, that is probably the worst thing that could happen to me. Dad worked construction, was a delivery driver, etc., all those manly jobs that I consider to be too phsyically intensive for my tastes.

(On the other hand, I choose to do the mental labor intensive tasks of staring at a blank screen until my forehead bleeds--I am not sure that was a wiser decision.)

Anyways, most of the jokes that my father told involved the Polish. His friends focused on the other races.

This was before the era of political correctness. Today, you would not dream of telling these types of jokes. On one hand, this is a good thing--we now know that we just one big human family, an unhappy infighting one, but still family. On the other hand, it tends to led to the argument that you are not allowed to point out the weird things that anyone does because it might offend them--after all, you do not want a stupid person to realize that they are being stupid.

Would my father approve of my own humor? I am not sure. He would probably groan at the weird definitions that I created for The Zealot's Dictionary. He would probably also agree that some of my jokes work best in person (or video) because discussions of the specialness of OTO is best when accompanied by a hip bop and the Golden Dawn with an Elvis thrust. And he would definitely support my opinion that if one person is allowed to use bad humor about people they do not like, then so am I when I talk about them in return.

Yes, my dad might not have understood my sense of humor or many of the jokes I tell. But he would support my stance that no apologies would be forthcoming just because it just happened to offend you. After all, he never apologized for any of the jokes that he told, no matter how dubious they were.

Do we really use just ten percent of our brain?

We can now see inside the working brain.

Rufus Opus (Head for the Red) and Jason Inominandum (Strategic Sorcery) are kicking around a list of five things that western occultism needs to rethink (it is time to retool). For the most part, I agree with their comments (after all, they did hit one of my pet peeves).

And to their list, I would add a sixth item--"We only use ten percent of our brain."

This explanation for why we can perform magic, have ESP, and generally do the unexplainable annoys me. The reason it annoys me is much the same reason that people talking about the Observer Effect and the Uncertainty Principle annoy me; the people who use it take the sound bite and forget the context that the original statement was made in. Anyone who uses it to explain the existence of ESP and magic is using a false reason. It would be just so much better if they just shrugged their shoulders and admitted that they did not know why ESP and magic actually works.

(Personally, I lean towards a kabbalah reason--it is called a soul.)

The statement that we only use ten percent of our brain comes out of the early days of modern brain studies. And much like the parts of Quantum Physics that people use to prove New Age concepts, the ten percent rule is about an lack of proper equipment and sensors to see what was going on.

The original statement was about the fact that the equipment that early modern brain scientists were using could only detect what was going on (activity) in ten percent of the brain. None of the scientists involved believed (to the best of my knowledge) that only ten percent of the brain was being used--no, they merely could not detect what was going on inside of our skulls.

What we have learned in the last ten, twenty years with better imaging equipment and sensors is that no part of a normal person's brain is completely unused. Parts switch on and off as needed, but there is not ninety percent of it just sitting there completely unused. In fact, unused parts of the brain either get rewritten or disappear--there is no unused real estate in your skull. The only people with unused parts of their brain have suffer some form of brain damage. We use all parts of our brains.

Yet people still trot out the ten percent all the time as an explaination...when really we should be more concerned about the brain rewiring that is happening during our practices...but that is a post for another time.

Stick pins in Wil Wheaton



It is Wil Wheaton and his little poppet.

There are days that I am shocked at the things that bubble out of my brain...though in all fairness, it is other people who have drove me insane. Today's shocking thought is that one could stick pins in Wil Wheaton.

Ok, maybe I should explain.

Yesterday, Wil Wheaton unveiled the fact that you could buy a little plush doll of him. Yes, that is right--a plushie of Wil Wheaton. Of course, my first thought was "Cat toy or poppet?" Because anything like that around my house would become one or the other. Maybe both.

At a certain point, the image of Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory) drifted across my mind. "Let's test your idea. We will all stick our pins in Wil Wheaton on Friday the 13th and see if he gets a great pain in his beard." Let's call that occult science, shall we?

Of course, at this point in time, Wil Wheaton is wondering if there is any way to prevent me from ever reading his blog ever again. But it could be worse, I could make him collate papers.

Are hardcover occult books worth the cost?

Hmm, I am a little slow some days--I still not be able to figure out who said what.

One of the latest bits of news is that the ROGD is almost out of signed hardbound copies of Pat Zalewski's Golden Dawn Rituals and Commentaries. The few remaining copies are currently for sale through the HOGD site.

This got me thinking about something--are hardcover occult books really worth the cost?

In this case of this particular book, I brought a signed hardcover shortly after they came out. I picked my favorite number (the sum of the traditional planets). For me, it was worth the cost. I brought a copy of the previous edition from Pat years ago. It is a book that I consult quite often; it is also a book that I have inflicted bits and pieces of onto my fellow and lady lodge members. Given the amount of use that I have gotten out of the previous edition, I figured that spending some extra money on a hardcover copy was well worth it.

My friends who are familiar with my magical practices can tell what books that I use; they are the books held together with packing tape, or which have fallen out of their covers with the pages now residing in three-ring binders. The exceptions are the books that I own in hardcover...and even they show some wear and tear if they are among the books that I actually use. There is a red hardcover that I own that is blackish with fingerprints.

777 and Other KBL Works (Crowley), Golden Dawn (Llewellyn edition--has been replaced twice), Godwin's Cabalistic Encyclopedia, Modern Magic (the old edition--Kraig), a couple of reference books by Scott Cunningham, a couple of books by Pat Zalewski, and a book by the Ciceros: all of these are taped and falling apart. There are a few others.

On the other hand, I have got some books that show absolutely no wear and tear at all.

"This book is in mint condition. How long have you had it?"
"Since it came out. Karen special-ordered it for me."
"Huh. So in ten years, you have opened it how many times?"
"About two dozen. It is a pretty useless book."
"Yes, I can tell--it is still in mint condition. Still you could probably sell it."
"I will, once I find someone who is willing to submit to highway robbery."

Of course, that is the potential problem with hardcover occult books. Especially those from unknown writers or source books you have never actually seen. You could end up with an expensive hardcover that is good only for weighing down papers that you are gluing together (an actual use of heavy hardcover books in my house).

But overall, I will admit that hardcover editions--the limited editions, that is--tend to hold their value, at least from a collector's viewpoint. And occasionally, even one of the useless ones will leap up in value--provided that you can locate the right buyer--making the investment worthwhile. If you can actually use them, it is a bonus (though in all fairness, you should never use a copy that you brought solely for investment purposes--use of a book wrecks its resale value).

Skip Dudchous has passed

The Secret Chief helping make the large Death card for the June OFM ritual.

 I just learned that Skip Dudchous has passed away. Skip was the artist for the Tarot deck that the BIORC and several other Golden Dawn Orders use; it is the deck that illustrates the current edition of the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn by Chris and Pat Zalewski. Skip died on the 8th at 10:22 am.

This particular passing of an artist affects me because 1) I had to handcolor a copy of his Tarot deck to complete my Adept Minor training (a task that everyone in the BIORC eventually has to do at that level), and 2) because I am going to be using a large version of his Death card for the late June Open Full Moon ritual. Skip will be missed and remembered.

[June 29, 2012--7 pm doors open, 7:30 pm community announcements, 7:40 pm ritual starts--Hearthstone Community Church Open Full Moon ritual, meets at First Unitarian Church, 1400 Lafayette, Denver Colorado.]

Maybe it is just me, but we sure seem to be having a lot of death going around the local community these last couple of years. Or maybe it is just that I knew so many of them. Either way, there are a lot of people that are on the list for the June 29 OFM, which is going to be about remembering the dead.

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.]

Garfield breaks the scales

Garfield weighs forty pounds and is the world's fattest cat.

File this under the "I thought my cat was fat," and "dubious rewards you do not want to win."

The new reward holder for the title of world's fattest cat is Garfield, a cat clocking in at forty pounds. Honestly, if someone didn't date the picture here (June 4, 2012) and swore that the person (Janet Ciminelli of North Shore Animal League of America) was a real person, I wouldn't believe it.

My heaviest cat weighs in at fourteen pounds, and I am cruel when I call him "blimp-cat." I am not sure what to call Garfield. I understand that the shelter (who recieved Garfield when his owner died) has put Garfield on a non-grazing (no dry food) diet, hoping that he can lose fifteen to twenty pounds; they are also hoping to find a new owner, who will keep Garfield active.

I understand letting your cat eat all he wants is considered an act of love, just like some families consider skinny people like me unhappy because I am thin and seldom eat thirds. But seriously, if your housecat weighs more than twenty pounds, they are too fat--put them on a diet; make them do some exercise. No cat should look like it is about to have a heart attack. The Secret Chiefs will thank you for keeping your cat healthy and fighting-trim.

Secret Chief (Zealot's Dictionary)

Secret Chief: 1: A person who secretly cooks and is ashamed that of the fact that they cannot spell the word “chef” properly. 2. An entity, typically in the form of strong spirits and an Ouija board, occasionally in the form of a lunatic sitting outside the local Quik-Mart, who is willing to tell you all the secrets of the universe in exchange for complete silence and obedience. A Secret Chief will authorize any misbehavior of their favorite student as long as they are not required to appear in court to prove their existence. 3. A cat.

[All the Zealot's Dictionary definitions are available in a single ebook on Smashwords--just 99 cents. Remember if you buy it on Smashwords, you get access to all future expansions...because we know that new definitions are sure to happen simply because of human nature.]

Remembering Mark Imhotep

Today, I was reminded of Mark G., better known as Frater Imhotep to many of us. It was one of those automated birthday reminders. I would send him a card...except that he died last year. (Not that it stops one from sending a card--it just makes delivery of the card very iffy.)

Many of us knew Mark Imhotep (as I refer to him among the members of my own group) as the heart of the Sanctuary of Maat, an online group that helped people using the Cicero's Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition. Mark was a big promoter of peace in the Golden Dawn community. I do not know about anyone else, but I miss his presence in the Golden Dawn community.

May the wings of Isis protect him. May Anubis guide him. May Osiris welcome him as a son. ALCAAM. Amen.

Zealots Dictionary (Blast from the Past)

[This post was originally published in May 2008. It is as true today as when I originally wrote it.]

Golden Dawn: An esoteric Order that was both formed in 1888 and predates the Victorian Era. Its rituals and instructions are both at the pinnacle of spiritual purity and the rock bottom of black magic. The writings detailing the Order both completely reveal and obscure every important fact concerning the Great Work of the Order; especially suspect are documents meant for the eyes of its own members, none of which can be trusted. The system is ruled by four hundred Secret Chiefs, also known as the Third Order of Curly Fries; all of them are liars and deceivers and always tell the truth; none of the Secret Chiefs allow themselves to be known by more than one lunatic at a time, who they authorize to ruin and destroy a select group of rivals while fleecing their own for beer and taco money in their name; furthermore each Secret Chief insists that they are the One and Only True Secret Chief. The Order has been completely destroyed (1900, 1901, 1904, 1909, 1913, 1937, 1978, 1984, 1994, 1999, and yesterday) and continues to survive until this day. The best advice that a Zealot can follow about the Order, besides welding their wallet shut, is to read none of the writers who use or reveal any of its system of buggery, nor compose or recite any love poetry to any of its members, and always cross the street as soon as you notice one of its members walking down the avenue towards you.


Black Magic: Any magic that employs techniques that you have not mastered to manifest goals that you find morally repulsive. In general, any magic practiced by a rival magician.

White Magic: The act of attempting to change the universe by just thinking loving thoughts at it, generally ineffective against any problem or creature larger than a ladybug.

Rejects and Believers

One of the things that one currently sees in the Golden Dawn blogosphere is a relatively complete rejection of Secret Chiefs by one GD camp, and an absolute total acceptance of Secret Chiefs by another GD camp.

The Rejects generally view the stories told by Mathers and others about being in contact with the Secret Chiefs to be so much myth-making on the part of Mathers and later leaders trying to justify why they should be given total control of the Golden Dawn.

The Believers believe that Golden Dawn is only real and true when it answers to someone who claims to be the mouthpiece of the Secret Chiefs; and this justifies all actions that leader and their group takes, however dubious those actions are.

And both sides point to the stories that Mathers told about the Secret Chiefs as their primary evidence. Secondary evidence takes the form of the teachings that Mathers and later Golden Dawn leaders have installed into the system.

As a historian, I note that Mathers changed his story as time went by--therefore I consider all parts of his story and claims suspect. As an Adept, I note that the Rebels in the original Order did not care that Mathers was in contact with Secret Chiefs and chose to break off anyways--therefore I conclude that the information that Mathers was giving them was not enourgh to put up with his behavior. As a human being, the fact that Mathers was fooled by Madame Horos and Aleister Crowley makes me think that Mathers wasn't the brightest apple in the barrel.

This opinion will get me called an evil historian, a false Adept, and an anonymous troll by the Believers. The Rejects will notice that there is a cat in my lap as I write this post. The evidence doesn't actually matter--only my unfavorable opinions and the presence of the cat will determine what you think of me. Such is the politics of the modern day Golden Dawn and its representatives.