Correct political thought does not equal magical skill and ability (and vice versa)

On any given day, you can find some self-declared Big Name Occultist (or Magician, or Witch, or Shaman, or Mystic, or...I could go on for hours) loudly proclaiming that some respected or better known occultist said something that is politically wrong, and therefore is a Offender. This is followed by the BNO's own beloved supporters declaring that they will never buy another book by said Offender, will defriend them on Facebook, defollow them on other social media sites, and leave any forums moderated by such an evil Offender. And this is how it should be because the Offender cannot be a real occultist if they hold such erroneous political views.

How a numpty thinks Adeptship works vs the harsh reality.

Quite simply, there are some numpties that believe that Adeptship (or their tradition equivalent) means that one has the correct political views, is of the correct religion and virtue, and has a certain level of perceived magical skill (which can range from none at all to being able to raise the dead) that is always heavily advertised by those who have it.

In other words, as far as the Numpty is concerned, Adepts think exactly like they do. And that Adepts will give them cookies for being as brilliant as the Adepts are (if not fall over themselves bowing down to the Numpty's superior wisdom--for all numpties know that they are the most advanced magician and mystic in the world).

It is just too bad that it is easy to fake all three requirements if you are a sociopath. Just like voters fall for politicians who are not anything like they claim to be, numpties fall for and support occultists who are faking their political beliefs (or at least radically relabeling them for public consumption), would not know the mysteries of religion if they got bit in the butt by one, have vastly overstated their magical ability and knowledge, and have all the virtues of a Mars bar without all the tasty sugar.

Numpties prefer to have Adepts defined by these requirements, mainly because they themselves might be able to claim Adeptship someday if they only have to master their talking points, parroting the "correct" answers that their own future followers will go ape over.

Never mind the fact that there are some a**h***s who believe that Adeptship is rooted in actual initiationary experiences (such as actually undergoing the initiation rituals), arcane lore, and at least enough magical ability to hex one's way out of a wet paper bag. The opinions of a**h***s don't count, only the howling of the courageous wolves of occultism, who should never be mistaken for sheep, not alone the lemmings that the more dubious occult leaders treat them as.

Remember that real Adepts think exactly as you think they should.

Big Name Occultists would not be so upset about the Offenders, if they would only shut the f**k up and quit breathing. And the numpties would not be so upset if they did not desire one day to lead their own horde of lemmings. Because if there is one thing that an Offender is good at, it is not recognizing the true occult geniuses in their midst.

This lack of recognition is why Big Name Occultists have to tell you all the evil stuff that Offenders do, such as misreading the Bill of Rights, voting for the wrong politician, believing that sexual offenders have no place in the esoteric Orders (or politics for that matter) and deserve a good binding.

If the Big Name Occultists don't do this, the Numpty might accidentally start believing the other falsehoods that such Offenders spread, such as: pointing out that certain parties did not actually undergo the initiation rituals of their tradition, only know the mysteries of using a photocopier and bovine end-product generators, and quite frankly could not hex their way out of a wet paper bag if they had to.

If the Offenders were true occultists, they would totally agree with everything that the Big Name Occultist did. Sue your competition into extinction--fine. Rebel and claim that your teacher had no ethics (or rather the wrong ones)--excellent. Make up a totally bogus lineage and set of teachings--good god man, I must have some of that; take my money please!!!

Annoy someone important--buy this banned by BNO book.

The evil of Offenders is so dangerous that if the numpties don't scream bloody murder on their own, the Big Name Occultists would have to create lists of banned books, magazines, blogs, podcasts, videos, and websites that their followers are not allowed to read. And you can tell that the Big Name Occultist is protecting you because hey, if the Offender can't get their political ideas and religious beliefs in order, how could they possible know anything about the occult?

Or you could just presume that you already know everything.

And numpties are quite happy with this, for they know that they already know everything. There is nothing that an Offender can teach them. In fact, the only reason that the Numpty puts up with the Big Name Occultist is that they recognize the greatness of the the Numpty.

I am not saying this is why the occult world can't have nice things...

Now, I can hear you say, "Dear Uncle Morgan, you express political ideas all the time; surely you think people should agree with you."

Yeah, but they don't--that is why I have to keep repeating myself. Besides occasionally I am wrong about politics...because my magical skill and ability and evil magical lore gives me the exact level of knowledge about politics as it does about gasoline engines; in other words, none at all. Everything I know about politics came from watching my parents volunteer and canvas for political candidates and listening to my dad's comments about what we heard on talk show radio on long trips. That and watching Nixon announce that he was resigning (sad when your first memory of a President is of the forty-fourth worst President)...which made me believe that all politicians are corrupt in one fashion or another. And reading and watching stuff about politics. I had to work hard to know as little as I do about politics unlike Big Name Occultists who get a completely perfect and correct set of political and religious ideas in the same Cracker Jack box that they received their Grade of Most Advanced Occultist Ever from. 

Just like you should not judge my magical ability based on my politics, you should not judge my politics on how much I have suffered in the name of magic and the mysteries. I would still be a nasty evil witch even if I agreed with your political and religious opinions.

Besides I wanted to make a living as a newspaper columnist--but somehow ended up making jokes about occultists instead. (Honestly, I have no idea how it happened--one day, I realized that I had spent an hour comparing a Big Name Occultist to a novelty condom and was too lazy to hit Delete.) You wouldn't deny me my dreams, would you? If Emma Bombeck could make jokes about suburban life and raising a family and still have political opinions,  why can't I make jokes about the esoteric traditions and the strange people that I encounter while pursing the mysteries and still have political opinions? It is not like I am asking to be the Head of your esoteric tradition...that would be the job of your favorite Big Name Occultist--all I am asking is to do is to be allowed to tell funny stories, to convince you to care enough about politics to get involved and at least vote, and teach you to be suspicious of anyone who claims to be the True Head of All of the Mysteries and Esoteric Traditions.

Obligatory apology about how we are misjudging you for the Numpty that you ain't.

Of course, it should be noted that I am on a few Banned lists. Because of my politics? Because I think numpties can learn? Because I mock Big Name Occultists and their traditions? Who knows?

And as such, I should be apologizing for my Offending Ways. Not that I am good at apologizes. The last one I write read something like this:

"On the behalf of the group, I would like to apologize for not recognizing that you are the most important person in the world. You see, we are bitter old hags who had to work hard for the little bit of recognition that we have received. We were not allowed to walk in with a sweet a** story, and declare ourselves the most important person in the world. No, we had to kill someone, and help someone else hide a body or two. This makes us happy little cynics. So when you walk in with your special snowflakish, all we want to flush your various body parts down a toilet. It is nothing personal--it is just how the world works. As a sign of apology, let me buy you a drink of poison."

Now imagine that I am apologizing for my wrong political and religious ideas.

Do you feel better?

No.

Well, I guess you are going to have to agree with your Fearless Leader and fire me as an occult authority.

Remember that you have to think exactly like your Fearless Leader if you want to become an Adept.

Why I blog about politics and other distasteful stuff (why should those people have all the fun)

One of the questions I occasionally get asked is: "Why do you blog so much about politics and other distasteful things? Shouldn't you be focused on magic and whatnot? Or at least, satire and humor? After all, that is what you claim this blog is about."


And I would focus on humor and the occult if only certain other occult authorities would shut up about politics and whatnot, and focus solely on magic and the occult instead.


Unfortunately, these other occult authorities insist on preaching that everyone needs a gun, that Hillary Clinton should be shot as a traitor, that the news media needs to be put under government control, that Muslims should be put into concentration camps, that global warming is a Chinese hoax, that chem-trails are real, that free trade agreements are bad, that all immigrants are evil criminals, that you are not allowed to protest the actions taken by your government, that there are some nice people who just happen to also be Neo-Nazis, that there is an evil conspiracy of black magicians controlling the parts of the government that they disagree with, and that President Donald "Jesus" Trump is the greatest President ever.


If these dozen or so Big Name Occultists, all who claim that they speak for (and lead) the entire esoteric occult community, would shut up, I would be inclined to restrict my political commentary to my satires. But they won't, so either will I.


In fact, they believe that because they are the Heads of Great Traditions Going Back To The Stone Age And The Garden Of Eden, that not only are their opinions right, but that everyone who studies under them, and who comments on their pages, blogs, and groups, should be forced to think and believe exactly like they do.


If you think that I am wrong, just tell one of them in one of their forums that they are wrong--and see how quickly you get banned and expelled from their Holiest of Groups for disagreeing with their political opinions.


Quite honestly, I don't want you to think that they speak for all of us. Or at least, I don't want you to think that they speak for me.


So until they shut up about such matters, either will I.

I blog about politics because I disagree with the opinions of others.

Why the discussion ban on certain occultists (yes I said that on Facebook)

Yes, I said the following on Facebook (about why we don't spend more time warning people about certain dubious occult leaders):

*puts on his "responsible adult hat*

Mod speaking here: The question of why we don't spend more time warning people about certain occultists has came up.

Honestly, the mods hate discussing certain occultists. So do our more advanced experts.

Discussions about them sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

And their defenders (including their current group members) are not going to believe any warning that we issue in the first place. Warning a believer is like talking to a brick wall.

Basically, you have to be stung by the wasp, in order to know not to trust it. In other words, only a metric ton of bad experiences will convince an admirer of theirs that perhaps they should not be leading the parade. 

There is also the issue that certain occultists always demand their right to defend themselves--saying that we should lift the ban on them--and quite honestly they defend themselves by calling all of the rest of us names, and accusing us of belonging to vast non-existent occult conspiracies meant to destroy them and to enslave humanity.

Furthermore, certain occultists' idea of fairness is that no one is allowed to criticize them on any level while they are free to badmouth and insult anyone that they want. Plus, they will insist that we ban everyone that disagrees with any of their ideas or statements. In addition, they insist on posting various conspiracy theories that make us all look insane. Quite frankly, they have their own Facebook groups to do that type of stuff in--we do not need to add to the pollution level of this group.

All this adds up to a big ball of flaming wax that the mods, and the more knowledgeable members of the Golden Dawn community, want nothing to do with.

And that is why the mods only allow the very rare post about certain occultists. Yes, we would like to warn you about them, but we trust that you know how to use Google and can find our public warnings that litter the internet.

Thank you for understanding.

The more you know, the more you think that For-Profit Orders are bad.

This was posted on the following Facebook groups:

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (not to be confused with DG's trademarked to Sunday group)

Golden Dawn members (group and self-initiates)

Sanctuary of Mau (self-initiation into the Golden Dawn tradition)

Watcher of the Dawn is back!

The occult watchdog, Watcher of the Dawn is back up and running. This makes me happy because someone needs to keep an eye out on the occult scene...and I wander off for days and days, so I can't do it myself.

Watcher of the Dawn

Oh look, Griffin is playing nice with people, all in the name of making money.

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.

Still neutral about Zink and others

One of the things that (I think) people find disturbing about me is the fact that I tend to be neutral about the various so-called Legion of Evil Golden Dawn leaders (which basically consists of every public Golden Dawn leader). This neutrality extends to Robert Zink.

This neutrality occasionally gets called into question by certain people...because supposely I am involved a conspiracy (funny, I don't remember being invited to any meetings of the Legion of Evil Golden Dawn leaders). Like a couple of years ago, someone made a big fuss when a large bunch of the EOGD membership walked away from Robert Zink. They thought that I should embrace those who walked away from Robert Zink, and get up on my soapbox and condemn Zink.

And I didn't. I stayed out of the brawl. I felt that it was none of my business beyond my normal routine of reporting things of newsworthy interest to my readership. Besides, I didn't think that the EOGD or Robert Zink was going to go away. In fact, it did not surprise me when the EOGD name stayed with Zink (it made business sense to me that it would happen that way).

Today, I am still neutral about Robert Zink. Personally, both me and Robert know that I am not suitable to be a member of his Order...for personal reasons, including the fact that I talk back too much.

I belong to the BIORC because it is the Order that I am suited for. It does not mean that I do not talk to people of other Orders; in fact, I had friends in all the major Golden Dawn Orders.

Over the years, I have heard three major complaints (or crimes) cited against Zink. And only two of them, I have heard beyond the anonymous commentors on the internet (yes, one of the major complaints has no independent verification, or at least no one I know has confirmed it). Of the two remaining complaints, one boils down to Orders do things their own way; and the other is just business, even if it makes the EOGD sound like a badly ran Amway. Yes, I believe that the one should keep people out, but people are free to do what they will with their own money.

And here is the rub--the two complaints that I had verified can be said about almost all the other Golden Dawn Orders with just variations of the song (the tune remains the same).

(Please note that if someone I trusted verified the third accusation, I would cease to be neutral about Zink himself, but would still remain neutral about the EOGD itself. I imagine that also annoys some people.)

If Robert Zink is evil because of the two things that he is actually guilty of, then the entire leadership of Golden Dawn is probably evil, including the self-appointed white hats. Because I do not know of a single Order that does not insist on doing things their particular way, and few that are not ran as if they are a form of business (and for the record, the GD Order that insists that it is not a business the most is the most guilty of being a business from where I sit).

So there you have it, I will probably remain neutral about Robert Zink and the majority of the other Golden Dawn leaders until the cows come home (I will admit that I loathe one of the GD leaders because they and their membership decided that it was ok to trash my reputation--I had to put up with that from my family; I do not have to put up with that trash from them). If this fact offends you, please feel free never to read another word that I write.

Zink is not selling to me

There are times I notice that I am not part of Robert Zink's target audience. Today is one of them. On his Golden Dawn Blog, he mentions a series of three day extensive Golden Dawn training sessions that is being set up for members of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn.

Three days...four students...no sight-seeing...and he calls it "Golden Dawn Boot Camp."

And there is where I know that he is not selling to me (outside of the little fact that I have NEVER been a member of his Order)--I do not want to hear the terms "Boot Camp" and "Golden Dawn" in the same label. I am not even sure that I could handle them in the same sentence.

I have nothing against boot camps...well, sort of. I did spend in a boot camp-like setting. It was hard work, and I think that there was a touch of brain washing involved. As a group of people, we did sort of gel into an unit...except for the people who were naturally crooks. (Long story--ends with me standing up to a couple of bullies and me thinking "What's the worst that could happen? They beat the crap out of me? I have suffered worse in the last couple of weeks.")

Oh, let me be clear--it was Army Boot Camp!

I am sorry---having experienced boot camp, I do not want to relive it--ever--in any form--and especially not while trying to study Golden Dawn. Call me a wimp, a wiss, a nancy-boy, whatever--wild horses would not convince me to go to something called Golden Dawn Boot Camp.

The Return of Robert Zink

Secret Chiefs know the shocking truth about levitation.

Catching up on my blog reading (I took a couple of days off to deal with a magical project), I ran across a post called The SHOCKING Truth about Robert Zink and the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn.

Now, if you have been around the blogosphere, especially the Golden Dawn blogs, for longer than a couple of weeks (month at most), you know that the titles,

Amazing Truth
Shocking Truth
Truth Unveiled
Amazing Secret
Astonishing Truth

and all their variations, are someone claiming to be better than someone else (who just happens to be a fraud and a bigger crook than Nixon) and a thinly veiled advertisement for themselves and their Order or amazing product line.

Or maybe that is just the happy little cynic in me that believes this. I really should do a data analysis of this trend to see if I am right or not. Let's presume that I am right.

The post by Robert Zink fell into the regular pattern. The response by the party that he was talking about, David Griffin and his HOGD/AO will also repeat the regular pattern. Which will lead to another post by Zink, followed by another post by Griffin, and the world will keep turning around and around.

A bigger shocking truth...at least to some...is the fact that Robert Zink is still around. The long time readers of my blog will remember that just over a year ago there was a big ruckus in the EOGD. Personally, I am not shocked that Zink is still around--I predicted that he was going to still be in the Golden Dawn universe. But some people actually believed that it was truly the end of Robert Zink...and they claimed credit for ending his reign.

But I thought that we would see the return of Robert Zink. It was a happy little cynic prediction.

(Feel free to go read the post about Zink's expulsion last year and grade me on my predictive abilities.)

It seemed to be a safe prediction. Much like predicting that sooner or later, all non HOGD/AO parties will be tarred and feathered as enemies of the physical Third Order. Or that my next blog post will have a picture of a cat complete with a Secret Chief caption. Or that a post claiming to reveal a shocking truth will end with an advertisement for the poster's own and much better secret Order.

Most read month ever



I am not even as cool as Morgan Grimes.

One of the hazards of being a blogger is that one cannot help looking at the traffic figures. Well, I suppose that you could prevent yourself from looking at your traffic figures with a couple of rolls of duct tape. And honestly, it is probably one of the worst things you can do--look at your traffic figures that is; duct tape is perfectly acceptable for most household chores (babysitting kids, fixing furniture, getting that annoying neighbor across the street to shut up and stay on their side of the street).

Why is it the worst possible thing you can do (look at your own traffic figures, that is)? Because you can find out that you are less popular than Morgan Grimes. (Sorry, I am busy rewatching the entire Chuck series--I am sorry that it is not Shakepeare or something else high-brow...my readers do not actually come here for educated dialogue, do they?)

Or worse, you can look at your traffic figures and think that you are more popular and successful than Morgan Grimes. (For the one reader who does not know, Morgan Grimes was a supporting character in the TV show Chuck--a show about a Buy More Nerd Herder who downloaded the Intersect, a government data base into his head. Morgan Grimes is, well, a nerd into comic books and science fiction and not terribly cool. I have mentioned the fact that you are not here for intelligent conversation, right?)

Anyway, yes, I forgot to duct tape myself to the other side of the room far away from my computer...and therefore, I looked at my traffic figures for last month. The bad news--I am not even as cool as Morgan Grimes. The good news--last month was my most read month ever.

And this is despite several people deciding that they will never give me any traffic ever again. I am not sure that they realize that I haven't gotten any traffic from them for months...yes, I check my traffic figures on a regular basis. Makes me suspect that my audience is completely different than theirs. (Hmmm, I wonder if they get the smart Shakespeare audience...or maybe they actually get the people that Shakespeare was really writing for...sorry, that is a literature joke--after all, Shakespeare was writing for the commoners in the pit; you know the type of person who actually likes watching bear-baiting and men dressed up pretending to be witches and young maidens.)

So what strange things did I find in my figures? (You didn't want to know--how rude...of one of us...I am guessing it is you, dear reader, who thinks Morgan Grimes is cooler than I am.)

Surprise number one was that both Japan and Brazil made my top ten countries list for readership...I am not sure what I am writing that attracting them.

Surprise number two was that one of the top ten posts last month was about the blogs that I were reading a year ago (and they are not even occult blogs)--I am guessing it has to do with the fact that I mentioned one star Amazon book reviews in that post (but they had nothing to do with those one star Amazon book reviews that erupted last month).

Surprise number three is that one of my Christmas Kitty posts is still getting traffic. (Really? A Xmas post?)

Oh, wait...surprise number four is that my post about not warring against Christmas is also getting hits. (Don't ask me to explain it...I can't.)

I gained a new number two all time most read post last month "What is Griffin trying to accomplish?" It shot up and passed last year's favorite about Robert Zink being expelled from his own Order. Well, shot up and passed it by 123 views. And there is really no chance of it becoming my all time number one post--it would need about sixteen times the number of views to surpass my all time number one post on Understanding Search Engines. And no, I have no real idea what traffic would be like on a Morgan Grimes post, but I am guessing that Morgan Grimes would be more popular. (No?!)

As for my next blog post, well, it will be my 777th post on this blog. I wonder what it could be about. Maybe I will write about Morgan Grimes and how he should have been the star of Chuck.

Why I object to Walt Disney being used as an example of a magical human being

Warning---the following blog post is being written in response to someone who held up Walt Disney as an example of a magical human being. Someone is sure to believe that it is just politics. Or flaming. Or both. Actually, it is just that I would not willingly associate myself with the man given what I know (yes, I a horrible person---a history student).

Ok, Robert Zink just held up Walt Disney as "a wonderful example of a magical human."

And I had to clean off the screen of my computer. Seriously, can't we find a better example?

Yes, Walt Disney is a wonderful rags to riches story and Disneyland is a place of wonder. But one could also describe Disneyland as an island of security and freedom though the medium of consumptious leisure, and Disney as a ruthless businessman.

There are questions about Walt Disney. There is a rumor that he was anti-semitic and racist. Most of that stems from his involvment with the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals; he was a founding member. This organization supplied Congress with suspected Communists during the red scare. By the way, Disney thought that the Screen Actors Guild was a Communist front and their strikes were merely ways for the Communists to gain influence in Hollywood.

I honestly would just rack that up to the fact that Walt was a product of his times and a businessman. Let's be honest---labor strikes hurt the bottom line, and the only people who matter are at the top of the food chain. The workers (serfs) have no right to better conditions and wages if it hurts those who are at the top of the pyramid. Or so, the wealthy elite tell us.

And as an example of how progressive and willing to let people become what they can be old Walt was, I present Disneyland. The rules for Disneyland were created by Walt Disney. Be scared, be very scared.

First off, the entire park is designed to separate you from your money. (Yes, it is a snarky comment.) Second, its location was specifically chosen because Walt knew that a highway was about to be built right next to it.

Now, we get to the really bad stuff. Note that some of the following is outdated, and refers to the 1955 opening conditions---but not nearly as much as you would think.

The entire park is designed to enforce confirmity. There is a homogeneous work force---nice attractive young white males and females. (There were actual physical appearance guidelines in the hiring manual.) There were a strict set of employee guidelines (dress and conduct code). There was also a one-dollar admission---in order to keep out undesirables.

There is no diversity at Disneyland. The park is set off in sections (you will not find anything Chinese anyplace other than the Asian area).

You never see the maintance people. The entire park is filled with tunnels to hide the most grubby workers.

Everyone who goes to Disneyland has the same experience. The animatonic technology is predictive, and ensures that the pirates I saw will say the same things that you heard.

The employees have a strict script and are only allowed to use answers from it. Any improvisation must be PREAPPROVED by the management.

Now, from a viewpoint of presenting examples of what a magical human being is supposed to be like, cookie cutter experiences are not high up on my list. I understand why Robert Zink likes the example of Walt Disney. But I would not use him. The world Walt created is too strict for my tastes.

And if you think that things have changed, consider this. A couple of years ago, a mother and daughter showed up to the park, both dressed as princesses. They were denied entry until the mother changed out of her princess costume. Official explanation it would confuse the other guests of the park. But sounds like confirmity of the experience is still high on the list to me.

I honestly do not think that confirmity to an artifical cultural norm is what a magical human being would promote. But what do I know? After all, I am not a good example of a magical human being.

Additional note---30 April 2011---I find it interesting that Seth Godin chose to blog about the Disney-Industrial Complex and dreams today. "It's so easy to be sold on the combination of compliance, consumption and approval by the powers that be. Of course, you're entitled to any dream you like, but I hope you will choose a bigger one."

Some comments that I just have to make

I apologize to my regular readers for the following rant post. But there are times that I just have to say "What the F***?!" And last night on the blogosphere I ran into one of those moments.

It was a post by Robert Zink, headwarden of the EOGD, and he is talking about how both him and Mathers have both victims of the "Blemish" game, a tactic used to justify actions by finding faults in others. In both his and Mathers case, the Blemish game (the term was coined by Eric Bernie, I think) was used to justify schism.

(By the way, the schism happened in 1900, not 1904. Sorry, one of my faults is that I am a double major [Literature and History] currently attending university---little mistakes like that disturb the S*** out of me.)

Zink went on to say that he believes that the current went with Mathers because he was the Third Order contact, a point that I have never seen enourgh proof of to believe in. Nor have I seen enourgh proof of the implied fact that Zink is not mentioning here.

(For the record, I would have voted against Mathers the day he decided that playing politics was a more valuable use of his time than making needed repairs to the Vault of the Adeptii. I don't care if your are the voice of Third Order; my concern as an Adept is my own work which requires a fully repaired Vault.)

"Often we play this game with leaders, it is a common game with dire consquences." Ok, leaders lose their jobs to this game. Of course, I am always surprised by the things that leaders should have gotten the boot for that does not come out until after they get the boot. One of the things that can be said about having political power is that it allows you to keep a tight lid on the members of your group who would talk of your faults and abuses.

After a brief comment about his favorite enemy, we finally get to the part that I have to comment on. Zink mentions that Jeff Randich and Alex Walker, along with some other members, "have decided to create their own group", the OGD/CSS.

Zink says that he feels bad about the way that they left, as he thinks that the EOGD should have a method for those who have been in the Order for a long time to be able to create their own Orders. He notes that they will be a new lineage, and that he was proud to be the Second Order initiator of all those who schismed against him.

Ok, here are my primary comment. None of the Golden Dawn Orders (no matter what their names) have ever been good at being able to hive off new Orders. One of the differences between Wicca and the esoteric Orders one will notice if one studies the first decade or so of the re-invented English Wicca is that they had a rules about how  and when to create new covens. (I don't know enourgh about European Wicca to know how they dealt with this---sorry about the English bias.)

For instance, once a coven got to a certain size (typicially over a dozen members) and had enourgh members of certain degrees, then the group had to "hive off" according to the rules. There was no finding fault with the current parent group leadership; the rules said that the group membership had to be divided. Furthermore, the group could not have contact with each other for a specified time period (typically a year), so that the new group leaders could develop their own skills without someone second-guessing them at every turn.

Of course, this plan will not work in any Golden Dawn or esoteric Order that insists that Third Order contact equals a REAL Order. Presuming that Zink is truthful about his feelings, there is no system that can be invented that allows a new Order to form if Third Order contact is monopolized by a single individual.

So what we get in Golden Dawn is schisms and expulsions. Either you rebel or you p*** off the current leader so badly that you get expelled---those are the only two commonly used routes that Golden Dawn allows you to form your own Order. Oh, there are two other routes, but the one is hardly ever used and the other is considered illegitimate by those who insist that they are the font of all knowledge.

Zink, I acknowledge your stated feelings and the fact that you believe that your faults are not great enourgh to justify members leaving your Order, but honestly there will never be any other option for those who are ready to head their own Order. Because deep down, you believe that you are the heart of your Order and can do no wrong. You like your monopoly too much and we all know it.

As noted already, I apologize to my regular readers for the rant. I also apologize to anyone who do not think I went far enourgh in my statements, or that I did not go far enourgh. I will be weighing comments on this post based on how much gasoline I think that they are soaked in---note that I do not want my blog to burst into flames.

Can the SRIA decide what Golden Dawn group is official?

I have been thinking a lot about "recognition" lately.

First, there is the ongoing drama in the EOGD. When news came out that Robert Zink was voted out of the EOGD, several of us came out and siad a few words. David Griffin (HOGD/A&O) came out in support of the vote. Nick Farrell noted that the EOGD was not set up to allow such a vote; he also stated that a new name and system was probably in order.

Bast Temple took a vote on it, and decided to continue with our current policy of recognition---we recognize individuals, not groups. (There actually some history beyond that policy; it allows us to avoid recognizing the bad eggs in good groups while allowing us to recognize good people in bad groups.) Needless to say, the Bast Temple vote pleased no one outside the pale of Bast Temple. Given the news coming out of the EOGD, I would still vote the same way---recognition to individuals and not groups.

Second, there is always the ongoing debate in Golden Dawn about who is legitimate Golden Dawn and who is not. A lot of that debate depends upon where you think the roots of Golden Dawn lay, and where you think it should be going. Needless to say, those who do not see eye to eye do not recognize one another.

Third and the subject of this post is a recent blog post about William Coon II, the Supreme Magus of the SRICF, saying that the SRICF of America and the SRIA of England have the right to decide which Golden Dawn Order is the "official Golden Dawn." Thumbs up to David Griffin for bringing that one to my attention.

[SRICF: Societas Rosicruciana in Civiatibus Foederatis; SRIA: Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia]

Do I believe that Coon said that? Yes, I do.

Especially if this is the same William Coon II, who is Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of the Knights Templar of the USA. For an example of his authority, consider his opinion about another group that he consider to be an "invasion of terrority" threat.

The Great Priory of America is an unrecognized Templar Order operating within the United States of America, in direct conflict with Section 3 of the Constitution of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America. Accordingly, membership in the Great Priory of America is incompatible with membership in the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America and any Grand, Subordinate, or Constituent Commandery under its jurisdiction or owing allegiance to the same.

For more about this situation, check out the Freemasons For Dummies blog.

Do I believe that he considers that the Golden Dawn is an "invasion of terrority" threat? Yes, I do.

But does the SRIA and SRCIF have any right to determine what Golden Dawn Order if the "official" Order? In my opinion, no.

I do understand their logic. Kenneth Mackenzie, Samuel Liddell "MacGregor" Mathers, William Wynn Westcott, and William Robert Woodman were all members of the SRIA. Robert Felkin and Arthur Edward Waite were also members. All the founding members of the original Order, the (best candidate, IMHO, for) creator of the Cipher Manuscript, and leaders of two of the splinter groups were members of the SRIA. Logically, especially if you believe that Golden Dawn was started out as a forgery, the lineage of the first generation of Golden Dawn came from the SRIA.

Now, Griffin argued against Koon using the official history of the Golden Dawn as his Order (HOGD/A&O) tells it. Honestly, I do not have enourgh information to decide whether that history is true or not.

But I do have enourgh information to argue that the creator of the Cipher Manuscript (who I believe is Mackenzie) and the three founders of the Isis-Urania (Westcott, Mathers, and Woodman) had no intention of making the Golden Dawn answerable to the SRIA.

First, the Golden Dawn was formed during the mushrooming of the lodge system in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There were Grand Lodges forming all types of lodges. It was a big business with plenty of potential members (by business, I mean that there is a certain economies involved that are best explained by treating the lodge system as a type of business model---not all lodges were created for profit). Most (if not all) Grand Lodges declared their independence.

Second, the Golden Dawn allowed non-Christians, non-Masons, and women to be members. At the time, these were charter-revoking acts if your group was SRIA---and probably still are (not being a member of the SRIA, I am guessing here).

Third, whether you believe that the Sprengel letters are legitimate or fake, the letters tell us that our roots are in Europe and that the Golden Dawn is on its own---we are not of the SRIA, and the parent body wants nothing to do with us. One of the purposes of the letters, whether they were created by Westcott or actually written by Sprengel herself, is to put the authority for Golden Dawn inside of Golden Dawn itself.

So can the SRCIF and the SRIA issue a judgment and decide who is the "official" Golden Dawn? Yes...(cue laughter)...but it will only be obeyed by the loyal members of the SRIA and SRCIF.

And for me, that is the biggest joke about Koon's opinion about the SRCIF and the SRIA being able to decide the issue. The only people who are going to obey the ruling are (maybe) SRCIF and SRIA members.

Oh, and whatever Golden Dawn group that they decide to pick. Which will be an all-male, all-Freemason, all-Christian group. In fact, I would be willing to bet that it will be the least magical of the Golden Dawn Orders. They will pick something that is little more than a study group with merit badges---not a single member will be able to hex their way out of a wet paper bag.

The leaders of the SRIA and SRCIF will pick the weakest link---a Golden Dawn group that is absolutely no threat to them. It will be all about the business of membership numbers---the membership numbers of the SRIA and SRCIF, not Golden Dawn's.

All the rest of the Golden Dawn community, however much we do not see eye to eye, no matter how much we distrust one another, no matter our beliefs about Golden Dawn history, no matter the differences in our adminstrative structures, will laugh when we hear the official proclaimation and continue to go about our Work. Bottom line is that the SRIA and the SRCIF opinion will be ignored by the overall Golden Dawn community (outside of whoever they pick). Me, David Griffin, Pat Zalewski, Nick Farrell, and Chic Cicero will all agree that the SRIA and the SRCIF have no business determining how official any of our groups are.

I have said this before, and I will say it again---as long as you and your fellow members think that your group is official, who cares about outsiders and their opinions? I don't and either should you.

Remember to keep your dagger sharp, your wand lit, your cup fulled, and your pentacle flowered---we are all in this together.

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.

Zink expelled?! (Busy Golden Dawn News Weekend Pt 2)

The other big Golden Dawn news this weekend is that it appears that Robert Zink (GH Frater PDR) has been expelled from the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn.

A couple of days ago, it seems that a new member forum was set up and invites were sent to EOGD members saying that it was the new members-only forum. Robert Zink responded saying that it was an unauthorized forum and not part of the EOGD, and that members should ignore it because it was probably a phishing campaign.

The truth seems to be that the new forum and the invites were a preemptive strike to try to wrestle control of the Outer Order membership away from Zink before the Adepti and Chiefs of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn expelled Robert Zink, who controls the official sites (most of the assets and resources of the Order are in his personal control). I am basing this conclusion on the announcement that went up on various blogs and websites yesterday announcing that the Second Order of the Esoteric Order had voted to expel Robert Zink.

One can read the entire announcement here on the new Public Announcement blog for the EOGD.

And a couple of hours ago, the HOGD/A&O extended their hand in friendship to the EOGD Second Order who, as part of their expulsion notice of Zink, extended their hand to David Griffin.

As of this point, at least one Golden Dawn yahoo forum has declared the subject off-limits for discussion. I am expecting a couple of others to declare the same thing relatively quickly. They will be the smart ones.

Unfortunately, having seen events like this in other groups, I do not need a cracked crystal ball to know that it is going to get ugly. Robert Zink is going to fight back. I predict that he is going to expel those who expelled him. I predict that he is not going to hand over the Order's assets and website back to them. In fact, I think it is safe to say that he is going to fight for control of the Order's name. Lawyers are probably going to be involved.

And in fact, if I was in the group that expelled him, I would start thinking about changing the name of the Order. (Remember when it was HOMSI?) One of the charges against Zink is that he has damaged the reputation of the Order (and of the Golden Dawn tradition in general); one should ask themselves if it would not be better to start a clean slate.

As for my own position on this situation, I am undecided. I will probably continuing helping the individuals I want to help, and ignore those who I do not (in other words, the same policy I had before this event). As for Bast Temple's official position, I will learn that on Sunday.

I may or may not post updates to this drama---I will decide as events unfold (how boring I find events will probably be the determing factor---if it bores me, it will bore you).