Everything you need to know about the history of the Golden Dawn flame war

[This blog post was written February 13, 2015, and was never published because everyone said that the days of the Flame Wars! were over---I am publishing it today because someone just started screaming that someone was trying to start a new flame war against them.]

The history of the twenty year plus long Golden Dawn flame war is (more or less) as follows:

In the late 1990s, two different Orders trademarked the name "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn." One was based in Europe, and the other one was based in the United States. The trademark was fought over in a lengthy court battle, a battle that also spilled over onto the internet.

In addition to this, two GD gurus decided that they wanted to turn Golden Dawn into a business, one where they had the monopoly over the entire Golden Dawn system. To help accomplish this, both parties also fought it out on the internet by defaming the other party, and anyone who supported them.

Both of these battles resulted in at least one party using sock puppets and their human followers to post the most vicious and nasty lies that they could think of to describe the other parties and people that they wanted out of the Golden Dawn business.

During the course of all this, sooner or later, everyone got called a Neo-Nazi, Satanist, and a criminal. Needless to say, there is a lot of hurt feelings.

Who is guilty? Well, each party involved blames someone(s) else for the whole nine yards.

So basically, some parties decided that it made good business sense to call other people names, in order to convince students of the Golden Dawn system that they were the only logical choice to teach and lead Golden Dawn, given the fact that all of the other Golden Dawn leaders and teachers were complete and utter dogs intent on ripping people off and using them for their own evil pleasure.

As always, remember "Buyer Beware!" for some people are very good at appearing to be other than what they really are.

Who is Morgan Drake Eckstein?

Who is Morgan Drake Eckstein?

Given the fact that I might be recieving some readers from The Pagan Mom Blog (where I am doing a guest post tomorrow---July 26th 2011), I thought it would be a good time to ponder that age-old question: Who is Morgan Drake Eckstein?

Ok, maybe it is just an age-old question from my viewpoint.

One, I am a rabble rouser. Or at least, I try to be. Or maybe it is just being a frustrated comedian.

Definitely, the last one.

Two, I am a pagan and a Wiccan. I have also been a member of Golden Dawn since March 1992. Not a member of the "true" Wicca or Golden Dawn---it is more along the lines of those branches of the traditions that you find trying to lure people into dark alleys---you know those Adepts and Witches that your parents and gurus warned you about.

Some people think that I am leader in one or both traditions. I am not. I am just someone that writes a few columns focusing on Golden Dawn, Wicca, and astrology. Think of me more as an entertainer (frustrated comedian) than a leader.

Some people would point out that I am an elected officer in a Golden Dawn lodge. My job? To scare off people. *Gets handed a piece of paper* Oh. Yeah. I guess. I have just been informed that I am wrong. My job is to lure you into a dark alley and convince you to be a member of both Wicca and Golden Dawn.

I occasionally cover news stories that concern Wicca and Golden Dawn. I tend to focus on those stories that make me spitting mad or that I can make a good joke about. My formal journalist training is that I have talked to a professor of journalism on a couple of occasions. My on-the-resume journalist experience is that I have worked for a college newspaper. I would rather put the articles I have written for occult magazines (all local and small) on my resume instead, but you are not supposed to do that if one is seriously trying to get hired.

I fancy myself a writer. And an artist. And a photographer. And a comedian. Obviously, I am delusional. All four delusions show up regularly on this blog.

And I think that is about it.

So the answer to the question of "Who is Morgan Drake Eckstein?" is that MDE is a frustrated comedian, who has delusions of creative greatness and just happens to be a Wiccan and a member of some evil branch of the Golden Dawn.

I do my own artwork

I do my own artwork and photography. That needs to be understood if the the following statement is going to make any type of sense. I don't care if you think it is a waste of time or not. One of the recent comments that was tossed about in the flurry of the latest Epic of Hurt Feelings is that someone was wasting a whole bunch of their time playing around with photoshop. I was disappointed to learn that the photoshopped images were actually being farmed out (outsourced)---being done by an internet artist---and not being done by one of the people involved in the ruckus. *sigh* Does it change the humor level of the images? No. But it did seem like an enjoyable way to vent. And I am equally disappointed by the person who thought that someone should be doing "Work" rather than playing around with photoshop. Playing around with photoshop is work (I also edit all my own artwork and photos---hence why they look like they were done by a six-year old). I do not like the implication that art and photography and photoshop are not proper activities for an Adept to engage in. It is part of my skill set (it might end up being my "earn-the-rent" job). What next? It is a waste of time to pet my cat or make love to my wife? It is a slippery slope when you start deciding what is proper for an Adept to do in their spare time---one cannot be in circle all the time (literally, not figuratively). Even if one does not like the use of photoshopped images, one should not say that the activity of making them is complete waste of time---there would be less murders in the world if more people were busy using photoshop instead (or curses, or drunken and disorderly, or fill-in-the-blank). That is my dime of wisdom for the day.

Details for the June 10th 2011 Open Full Moon Ritual

My advertising copy for the June 10th 2011 Hearthstone Community Church Open Full Moon Ritual.
 
Bast Temple's most notorious member, Morgan Drake Eckstein, is leading the June 10th OFM. It is story time as Morgan tells myths to the children (both kid kids and adult kids). The ritual focuses on something you want (desire), something you would like to get rid of, and some talent you wished you had.

Hearthstone Community Church Open Full Moon Rituals are held upstairs at the First Unitarian Church at 14th and Lafaytte, Denver Colorado. The second floor is accessible though the elevator in the back. Doors open at 7 pm, with the ritual starting at 7:30 pm (community announcements occur just before the ritual starts).

Hearthstone OFMs are children and beginner friendly unless otherwise noted. The June 10th OFM is definitely children and beginner friendly. The biggest danger is that you might get picked on during the middle of a fairy tale, but remember you can always hackle Morgan back. After all, he is used to being hackled.

Suggested donation (not required, so don't sweat it if you can't afford it) is five dollars. Donations go towards offsetting the cost of the renting the room.

QoD VH Frater AM Reveals the Training of Ninja Kittens

Oh no, someone spotted my evil plan to train Ninja Kittens. VH Frater AM reveals the pounding of the war-drums as people take sides in the Garden Gnome and Troll-Doll War of 2011.

"But an even more disturbing turn of events was noted when Morgan Eckstein recruited some Neo-Pagans, Druids, and Witches to train Evil Troll-Doll defending Ninja Kittens to specifically counter Mr Farrell's attack puppies. Folks there is some very disturbing video footage here. These Colorado Golden Dawn Intoxicated Neo-Pagans are vicious. Beware of the hideous growling and vicious behavior of these Ninja Kittens and the severe trauma imposed upon the attack puppy."

But it does not matter that my activities have been revealed. Bwahahaha! I will still get Nick and his little pups too.

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.]