Bast Temple Official Stance on Secret Chiefs who are not cats

Bast Temple back in September 2001 decided to include the following in its bylaws:


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.

Needless to say, this rule does not apply to the cats.

Official Bast Temple Recognition Policy

As I noted in an earlier post, my own policy is to give help and recognition on an individual basis. I do not give blanket recognitions of esoteric and occult groups.

With some of the Orders embracing (or rejecting) the various sides of the Zink EOGD expulsion schism drama, it was decided that the official Bast Temple policy for such situations needed to be discussed. And it was yesterday.

The policy decided was the same as my personal policy: Help and recognition is only given on an individual basis; no blanket recognition will be given to any Order or group. We will judge who we help based on their individual conduct and not on what Order they belong to.

This means that Bast Temple does not support either side in the latest Golden Dawn drama. Bast Temple is neutral as far as this latest situation is concerned.

Please note that this does not mean that I am going to quit blogging about the situation if I notice something that interests me, or that I think needs commenting on. Just because the lodge and Order is neutral does not mean that I have to be silent as I watch this drama unfold.

(And later, this week I do plan on blogging about the big question that the Zink EOGD expulsion schism brings up. Ye has been warned.)

Why Golden Dawn officers frown on the use of drugs for magical purposes

There is something that needs to be stated about why Golden Dawn lodge officers (this includes the RR et AC and mythical Third Order) frown on drug use for magical purposes. Not only are drugs illegal (as an organization, we do not like having any meeting end with a police raid), drugs lead to random illuminations at best, delusions that you are spiritually advancing at worse.

It does not matter if drugs kill brain cells.

What matters is that drugs sensitizes the energy bodies, leaving one open to suggestion from any wandering entity that comes by. If you are lucky, they are higher in the chain than you are; if you are unlucky, they are less evolved than you are. Drugs also inflate the ego and lower passions.

Golden Dawn is about bringing a person to a certain energetic and spiritual place. The use of drugs in magic and spiritual development randomizes this process, and works against what Golden Dawn is trying to accomplish.

Our Magic is about control. It is not about visiting random spots in the universe, nor is it about making you feel better. Our Philosophy concerns controlled evolution. Randomness and the lack of controls works against what we are doing.

This is my official opinion as a lodge officer.

Yahoo 360 closing down

I recieved a notice in my email about Yahoo 360 being closed on July 13th. And honestly, it made me laugh.

For a brief period, I was actually doing an official (as in me speaking as a GD officer) blog on 360. It was not a success. The problem with it is that it would take me longer to write an entry there than it would take me to write a couple thousand word article.

I believe that the reason that it would take so long is simply the word "official". The question that I was always asking was "Do I want people to hear this coming out of my mouth?" Well, moreso than normal.

So I quit doing it. I was having more fun doing this blog and my writing blog. And when Yahoo announced that they were closing 360 in December 2008, I just posted an announcement that I was blogging here in an unofficial manner.

Now they are finally closed and erasing the stuff from 360. I say good for them, but I have so moved on.

[The entries from the official blog have been archived; I might chose to republish some of them here later; it is not like you are really missing anything.]