Regulus and four other stars

Given yesterday's post, I do not want people to believe that I completely ignore the initiated version of late Victorian era astrology. I just happen to be very selective about what I play attention to.

As a regular rule of thumb, assume that the Tropical Zodiac is 24 degrees ahead of the Sidereal Zodiac. You can eyeball this without doing math. Or a full sign ahead if you are doing the initiated version; again no math needed. (If you want to do math, it is about one degree per 72 years from whenever you decide the origin year of the zodiac is.)

The most important part of the initiated version of astrology is the star Regulus, which Mathers allegedly instructed initiates to use as the starting point for the sign of Leo. (I have yet to see anyone produce a document that proves Francis King's claim.) Interestingly enough, I actually do a certain amount of work dealing with Regulus, thanks to belonging to a magical Order ruled by Regulus (to a lesser or greater extent) and the fact that Regulus is located at the midpoint between my Sun and Mercury.

(For those people who believe that my calling of BIORC as a magical Order a lie, just remember that BIORC is probably no longer a true Golden Dawn Order. BIORC is to Golden Dawn as BOTA is to AO--a descendant only in name by the best of standards; by the worst of standards, BIORC will always be a GD Order...make of that what you will.)

Given the importance of Regulus to both the Order I belong to, and to my personal birth chart, I have done a certain amount of research into the Four Watchers of the World--the four stars that the Ancient Persians believed guarded the world. (The quarter that they sit in, and the solar event that they correspond to, was established by the Persians in about 3000 BCE--by modern standards, the symbolism tends to make no sense, especially when looked at by people who do not really understand ancient astrology.)

The Four Watchers are:

Aldebaran, the Watcher of the East, corresponds to the Vernal Equinox (northern viewpoint), a red star called the Eye of the Bull, which nature is of Mars (and somewhat of Mercury, Jupiter, and the Sun). In 1980, it was located at 9 Gemini 31; in 1888, it was at 8 Gemini 14.

Regulus, the Watcher of the North, Summer Solstice, Heart of the Lion, nature of Mars and Jupiter. In 1980, it was located at 29 Leo 33; in 1888, it was at 28 Leo 16.

Antares, the Watcher of the West, Autumnal Equinox, the Heart of the Scorpion, nature of Mars and Jupiter. In 1980, it was located at 9 Sagittarius; in 1888, it was at 8 Sagittarius 12.

Fomalhaut, the Watcher of the South, Winter Solstice, nature of Venus and Mercury. In 1980, it was located at 3 Pisces 35; in 1888, it was at 2 Pisces 18.

And another star that I think that one should keep track of, if one is involved in esoteric Orders, is Sirius, the Dog Star, herald of the Ancient Egypt's flooding of the Nile (the start of the Egyptian year), nature of Jupiter and Mars (less so Neptune). In 1980, it was located at 13 Cancer 48; in 1888, it was at 12 Cancer 31.

For those people who worked with the methods of generating magical names from astrology charts, they might want to examine the use of these five stars to generate a name of power.

All materialistic magic is black magic

A spell involving a Jupiter Lightning Glyph and two monkeys.

Happy New Year!

And given that it is the first day of the New Year (2013), it is now time to make certain of my critics happy and issue yet another bloody annual disclosure statement.

This year's complaint--I do materialistic mundane magic.

Now why does this need a disclosure statement?! Well, according to some extreme opinions of some experts, you cannot do magic to affect the physical mundane world while also working on spiritual development. In fact, some of these experts believe that all mundane related magic is black magic...in other words, only spiritual development is white magic.

It won't be so bad, except that some of these so-called experts state that once you do mundane magic, you can never complete the Great Work. Ever. No matter how much time, energy, or lifetimes you spend doing the Work.

Therefore, because I do materialistic magic, and I started off doing material magic, I can never complete the Great Work...therefore, why are you reading this blog?

Now, personally, I believe that not only is this idea extreme, it is also wrong. Yes, I said--wrong. It is based on the idea that the material world is evil, and that the spiritual (heaven) is good. It is an idea that affects our entire culture, thanks to the ideas of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (all of whom inherited it from Zoroastrianism). Therefore, it is understandable hearing this from occultists who come from esoteric groups that require or emphasize one of these religions, such as most Golden Dawn groups.

The really sad part is that I hear this from pagans and Wiccans who are drawing inspiration from other religions that do not have this fatal duality.

And the really annoying part is that Golden Dawn enshrined this idea right into its Outer and Inner Order Oaths. Yes, you can be expelled from GD just for doing a simple money spell. It is better to live under a bridge homeless than do a spell to gather a little rent money in an emergency.

(Please note that in two of the Inner Order courses that I suffered though, I was required to do mundane magic--I am guessing that by the strict classic version, they would not be considered really Golden Dawn.)

Here is a hint for the Wiccans who believe in this duality--read the Charge of the Goddess which states off with: "Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month and better it be when the moon is full, then shall you assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all witches." How can you start an invocation like that, have no concept of heaven, and still end up with a severe duality that says the material world can never be spiritual?!

And for those of you who are curious, the BIORC does not view all materialistic magic as black magic (it is complicated determining what black magic is...but just because it is aimed at the material world does not automatically make it black magic), and spiritual development is tied to developing the mundane side of one's life at the same time. It is little things like that which will ensure that the BIORC is not considered Golden Dawn by everyone within ten years (if we are not already beyond the point of no return).

Of course, if you are really concerned about my behavior, you better tell Jason Miller that I am misusing one of his Jupiter lightning glyphs to try to promote evil monkeys. (I am quite sure that he has something to say about this subject.) And for the so-called experts, well, they are always right and I am always wrong as far as they are concerned, which is why you are supposed to be reading their blog and forum posts and not mine. Listen to their superior wisdom because I am busy making things up as I go along, and they have the experience of excellent teachers that I didn't have.

Happy New Year!

[Update: July 2013: Due to differences in sales expectations and business philosophy, in early July 2013, I ceased to be involved in the Turtle Monkey project.]

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.

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).

You do not have to out yourself

One of the traditions that the BIORC holds to, enforced by our secrecy oath, is that only the individual member themselves have the right to reveal their membership in the tradition. Unless the member themselves steps out of the broom closet or the Vault, their membership is considered a SECRET.

Furthermore, the details of their lives and how much they share about themselves is determined by themselves. In addition, they have the right to write under a motto and never have to reveal their real legal name or any other identifiying information to the public.

(I am sure that I do not have to remind anyone of what happened to Westcott according to the famous story told by Crowley.)

This is a really old custom if you believe the history of the Rosicrucian tradition. Think about it. How much do you really know about the founder of the RC tradition? Do you ever know his name? Do you know anything about him beyond the information contained in the three original RC manifestoes?

Disclosures and fair warning

First, the disclosures---

For those who are curious, I came out of the broom closet in 1978. I have been openly Wiccan ever since.

Several Golden Dawn groups have allowed me in, and promoted me despite the fact that I am openly Wiccan. And yes, that includes Inner Order.

It was David Griffin who first called me a Golden Dawn leader. And we all know that he is absolutely correct in all things Golden Dawn. Of course, it should be noted that everytime he calls me a Golden Dawn leader, it is because I said or did something that he disapproves of.

Now the fair warning---

While I am waiting the final outcome of the vote, enourgh votes have already been cast to indicate that my resignation is going to be rejected by Bast Temple, and the verdict of "no GD crime committed" is going to happen. Which means that I am still a member of Golden Dawn despite the fact that some would like to see me leave for my offenses against them.

Then again, no non-HOGD/AO can truly be considered Golden Dawn given the lack or rejection of lineage and the Secret Chiefs and the Third Order and their representative, so you can still consider me part of the anti-GD. In fact, I imagine that the Secret Chiefs are going to declare me banned from Golden Dawn any day now.

So yes, I can be a member of GD, and not a member of GD; a leader of GD, but not a leader of GD. And it is all because of the rules that someone else insists playing by.

Next up: More Elvis! Stay tuned.

Beware of Work for Hire in esoteric Orders

This post is inspired by a couple of comments that Neo G. made to a previous post.

One of the danger signs that I have seen over the years is when an Order makes you sign over all control of something that you wrote over to them. Or as it is called in the writing trade "work for hire"---a writer being paid (or not) for all the rights to something that they wrote. In other words, the buyer controls the entire copyright, not the writer themselves.

The person that Neo mentioned is not someone I can picture doing such a practice for two reasons.

One, they work with Protected Confidential Restricted information (substitute whatever term that your county uses for the lowest level of Classified [Secret] information). And they treat their entire system in that manner; the amount of Unrestricted (Unclassified) public information is...well, you can put it in a teaspoon. I can't imagine them allowing anyone to have access to anything that might reveal their sources...whether in print or the form of a contact person. In that group, everything is filtered through a single person.

Two, and more importantly, they are not the least bit interested in anything that a modern person can assemble. In fact, if a modern researcher can put it together, then it is automatically rubbish. The only good stuff is hundreds, if not thousands, of years old and requires "special skills" to translate into the modern languages.

That more or less eliminates that person from my list of usual suspects. I am not saying that it could not happen (because groups have gone surprisely bad before, so you can NEVER declare a group free from any defect), but that person and their group are nowhere on my chart as a probable violator in this manner.

On the other hand, there are two people that make the top of my list.

One is because of the number of reports I have heard that ordinary rank and file members were writing all the material and the leader was claiming all the credit. I have a rule that you don't hear the same story from a dozen people without there being a good reason for the details to match.

The other person, well, I experienced it firsthand, so I know that it is true. As a writer, it alarmed me when they asked for ALL RIGHTS, and I could not even show others what I was working on (and by others, I mean people who have swore the same set of Oaths that I had). Later, I confirmed that the person was claiming authorship of material that other people wrote. It is sad when many of your lessons are being written by students on the same Grade level that you are on.

(For the record, there were other problems that made that one look minor in comparsion, and so it goes.)

Of course, I cannot mention actual names because someone might mistake them for another group. And so it goes.

Now, I can understand an esoteric Order asking for limited rights. Some of the material I have written has the note that Fraternal Rights has been granted to the BIORC. It is part of my "if a bus runs over me" insurance plan. It allows the Order to continue to use selected material if something unforeseen happens to me. But it only allows them to use the material in ritual or in the lessons, they have no other publication rights. After all, I am one of those evil writers, who insists that my copyright has a monetary worth. And my wife will need money if I suddenly die.

But a leader or an Order asking to control the entire copyright of something that you have written, well, I have never seen any good come of it. Therefore, it is one of the things that I warn people to look out for when they are trying to figure out the relative evil of an esoteric group.

Why no name change for this RC reformation?

One of the questions that I often kick around is: How much change has to happen before a Order becomes a new Order?

Is changing the Grade Signs enourgh?

The Passwords?

The Rituals?

The Oath of Obligation?

Curriclum?

The ultimate secret?

The focus of the system?

At what point in time, do the changes add up to a new Order? When does an Order have to adapt a new name because it is no longer the old Order?

Looking over the history of the Rosicrucian periodic reformations, we see the rituals change, the focus change, and we ALWAYS see a name change. Except for this time. This time, we saw the group claiming the reformation trademark the name and change everything else. Why?

The entire system has been changed (to keep the Current and Tradition pure from traitors to the system), but they are still using the same old name. And when one starts to kick around the possible reasons, well, I can't think of a good reason for the old name to be used with what is essentially a brand-new system.

Could it be that the Rosicrucian reformation is actually happening in another group? Could it be that the Golden Dawn is not where the reformation is happening?

It is something to think about.

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.

And yes the Order has to approve my resignation

And yes, for some strange reason, the Order that I belong to has to actually approve of my resignation. But I am not worried; if Griffin is right, they will gladly show me to the door, and I will be free to practice all types of black magic once again.

Seriously, can you picture any Golden Dawn Order (in this case, Golden Dawn based) agreeing with my opinions and deciding that my language was acceptable, my opinions acceptable, and that I do not owe Griffin and his Order an apology? It is unthinkable because we all know that Griffin is always right.

Yeah, I am looking forward to that old-time black magic. Here comes bad ass Morgan. First up, I think I want some money---lots of money, maybe even some gold.

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.

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.

Golden Dawn or Not

One of the things about being a writer is that (in theory) one becomes aware of the fact that labels are important; people think of names and terms in little bits, not in tangled string balls. Occasionally, a writer will switch labels on some subject just because they are sick and tired of confusing people.

One of the labels I sometimes wonder about is "Golden Dawn." Or to be more exact, I wonder where the limits are of the term "Golden Dawn" lay. I also wonder about the terms "RR et AC" and "RC."

The root of this confusion lies in the fact that a reformation happened, but the reformers continued using the name despite the fact that non-reformers were still using the name. It has made the terms as useful as "Christianity," "wicca," and "magic," especially if you are concerned with being accurate with the way you are using them.

I generally tend to *sigh* before trying to figure out a way to point out the weirdness of the way I think of the terms. And yesterday, events made it just that much harder to be able to make sure people know what I mean when I say "Golden Dawn."

Unfortunately, I have yet to find a better term for the system that I am working. By goddess, I am looking forward to that day, just so that I can be free of the nonsense of having to spend an hour saying "We do this like side A, but this like side B, and this like side C, etc. etc." when I use the term "Golden Dawn."

Bottom-line, one should not need a score-card to figure out what someone is talking about unless you are talking sports or test scores.

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.

What rituals is BIORC testing

In the blogosphere, occasionally you run across a conversation that is being conducted across several blogs as different bloggers decide to write about the same subject, and play off of each other's writing. This is part of such a conversation. The first part appeared on Frater AIT blog, sadly removed a few days ago; in return, I put in my two cents. This entry is a response to an entry over on Mishkan ha-Echad (Dean Wilson) which in return is a response to my response to the now-deleted original post by Frater AIT; all this is about Testing and Examinations in Golden Dawn. If you followed all that, grats.

So given testing in lodge, what rituals are we testing?

The short list for Bast Temple at the moment reads:

Outer Order Attending Lodge Member

0=0 Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram

1=10 Middle Pillar Ritual

2=9 Incense/Tincture/Herbs and Stones

3=8 Divination (four types---astrology, Tarot, geomancy, and one other)

4=7 Simple Talisman and Charging

Inner Order Attending Lodge Member

Portal---The Building of the Tree of Life in Aura

Note that this is merely one third of the examination; the other two parts are concerned with the member's knowledge of the Grade (Initiation) Ritual and the associated Knowledge Lecture.

Personally, I think that these items are fair to test a member on, given that they are a member of the modern Golden Dawn. Dean Wilson really understands the point of lodge testing. As always, there is a different set of items for correspondence members; plus this list of rituals is subject to change as we learn what works and what doesn't work.

Who is Morgan Drake Eckstein?

Exactly who is Morgan Drake Eckstein? Occasionally, even I wonder about that.

The short answer is that I am a forty-one (forty-two come September) year old college sophomore who goes to the Community College of Denver. I am also a freelance writer, more by luck than by talent and ambition. And an elected officer of a small Golden Dawn lodge here in Denver, Colorado.

It is that last fact that is probably the most concern for the readers of this new blog. After all, this is a blog about Golden Dawn and the Western Mystery Tradition (though to be fair, I will probably talk about Wiccan and other systems too--I am slightly eclectic in my personal studies).

My history as an occultist started when I was young. My aunt was a Gardnerian witch, and my mom was a believer before she became born-again. My father knew some rune lore (from where he learned it is a mystery to me) and hexcraft (Pennsylvania Dutch). So I was raised around strange happenings, including a house haunting by a dog.

So it was natural for me to get involved with Wicca and Heathrenry. It also seems natural that I got involved in Golden Dawn. After all, I like complicated systems and having to read and research things.

I got involved in Golden Dawn officially in March of 1992 when I became a member of Hathoor Temple. While there are some who claim that it was not really Golden Dawn, I do consider it legitimate (just like I consider my current lodge legit). In late 1994, it disbanded. I left it an Adept Minor Neophyte. I also left it bearing an Administrative Grade of 9=2, as my last office in the lodge was that of an Archive Officer.

For several years, I bounced from group to group; some of them Golden Dawn based, some of them not.

In October 2000, I became one of the founding members of Bast Temple, which eventually would turn into the Mother Lodge for the BIORC. I have been elected officer of Bast Temple since its formation. I am also currently the webmaster and Praemonstrator General for the BIORC.

This blog, unlike the official BIORC blog, will be more about my opinions and personal experiences than official statements concerning Golden Dawn. I hope that my readers find it useful.

Yours in the Great Work, Morgan Drake Eckstein

Bast Temple (Golden Dawn in the Outer, BIORC in the Inner)
[Edit June 5, 2012: Changed web address of preferred contact point.]

Weekly Thoughts about Golden Dawn (the official BIORC blog)
[Edit 17 May 2010: This blog no longer exists; it was lost when Geocities shut down.]

Official Ba Iset Order of the Rosy Cross blog
[Edit June 5, 2012: Added the web address of this blog.]