I once belonged to a group that claimed that there should be a ninety percent dropout and failure rate between certain Grades. It doesn't sound so bad until you actually do the math. (Or maybe it is just to my ears that a ninety percent failure rate doesn't initially set off alarm bells...it has been known to happen that I do not catch the perfectly obvious.)
So based on a ninety percent dropout and failure rate how many members would have to apply and be admitted to Neophyte to generate a single Third Order member? Quite a lot actually with a ninety percent discard rate.
At the most strict version of the system with ninety percent failure rates for Neophyte, the rest of Outer Order, Portal, Adept Minor, Adept Major, and Adept Exempt, all adding up, the math looks like this...
Third Order 1
Adept Exempt 10
Adept Major 100
Adept Minor 1000
Portal 10000
Outer Order 1000000 (a million)
Neophyte 10000000 (ten million)
...you would need ten million Neophytes to come in just to generate a single member of the Third Order (and that presumes that the Third Order has no built-in failure rate of its own).
Now assuming that this level of failure is too extreme (and it does assume a full Inner Order course, such as Pat Zalewski's), what would the numbers look like with the entire Inner Order, and not the individual Adept Grades, having a total ninety percent rate of failure. The numbers are friendlier, but I wonder if there are enough Neophytes worldwide to generate a single Third Order member in our lifetime.
Third Order 1
Second (Inner) Order 10
Portal 100
Outer Order 1000
Neophytes 10000 (ten thousand)
Of course, maybe this rate of failure is still too harsh. Maybe the Portal failure rate is just part of the overall Inner Order failure rate. It would look something like this...
Third Order 1
Second Order 10
Outer Order 100
Neophytes 1000
...still the numbers look off, simply because of how few Adepts there are, compared to Third Order members. (Seriously, given the number of Adepts out there, we should be awash in Third Order members if a ninety percent failure rate was happening at this projected rate.)
So I am thinking that the first breakdown should be re-examined from the bottom up. Using a ten thousand figure for the number of Neophytes entering the system in our generation, and a full ninety percent dropout rate for each of the Adept Grades (but not Portal), we should have...
Ten thousand Neophytes initially, a thousand people who get somewhere between Zelator and Philosophus (1=10 to 4=7), a hundred people who only get to Portal or Adept Minor, ten Adept Majors, and a single person who gets to Adept Exempt. And absolutely no Third Order members.
Feel free to argue the numbers in the comment section--heaven knows that I am bored today to even think about such ideas.
Showing posts with label purpose of a lodge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purpose of a lodge. Show all posts
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Sunday, August 22, 2010
When ego attacks differences of procedure
One of the more amusing parts of the modern Golden Dawn tradition is that it allows people to have ego explosions over differences in operating procedure (Ok, maybe I am the only one amused by such things...but if you do not laugh about it???). Or at least, that is how I am going to describe my latest email exchange. Unless I decide to use this particular exchange in my semi-annual campaign to try to NOT be elected to my current lodge office.
Today, I was accused of having an ego atttack. I have been exchanging a series of emails with a Zelator (an ex-member of another Order) who was interested in joining the lodge. When I received an inquiry about when the next Theoricus initiation was going to happen, I asked for some information because there was always a chance that I was misreading what I thought was going on. (For the record, I thought that they were of the opinion that if you can pass the exam, then you are automatically entitled to the next initiation.) After learning what they had to do in their previous Order, I replied:
You and I are going to have a long talk about lodge/Order culture because it is obvious that Bast Temple's culture and customs are different than the ones that you are accustomed to. For instance, we do not preschedule initiations---the next initiation into Theoricus will occur when the officers of the lodge decide that someone is ready for it (and that means the initiate in question has attended a certain amount of meetings---which is the primary method of learning in our lodge).
Now, my question is: Exactly where is my ego showing in this reply? I thought that it was a simple statement, illustrating the fact that there were differences in procedure between the two Orders. And by "long talk," I meant a cup of coffee as we discussed the differences and decided if this person could tolerate the procedures that Bast Temple uses.
I was wrong...this is the response that I got:
Hold on....you don't come into my email address and start saying stuff like this "you and I need to have a talk" forget you........you don't try to make this into a servent master kind of thing. No!!!!!!!! I will not bow before you to get the secrets of magic. There is enough information out there to get the secrets. It may take me longer and it may take more research to get the secrets...but I will never bow before your ego. You have lost the whole reason for magic....self-identity. Which, by the way, cannot be found by you. You are the enemy of self identity and freedom....because you want to dominate people......Yeah...I picked that up off of your email.....I'll find what I'm looking for without your order....and if I don't I will still be much more happier........I bow to no one.
Huh? What exactly in my statement signalled that I was looking for worshipful followers? And exactly how are the current lodge members servants? Gee, I am an elected officer...if I am playing Master, why haven't they gotten rid of me?
Maybe I am wrong, but I am not sure that it was my ego that was attacking. My closing email to this Zelator mentioned that there were at least two other Golden Dawn lodges in Denver, and that they had a choice in what Order they wanted to be a member of. After all, despite the fact that I do not think that my ego is out of control, the Zelator may be right.
Update: I did get an apology from the Zelator in question. There is a mutual agreement that he is not ready to be involved in an Order until he overcomes the boundary and control issues that he developed while in Christianity. Bast Temple wishes him luck as he continues his spiritual development on his own.
Today, I was accused of having an ego atttack. I have been exchanging a series of emails with a Zelator (an ex-member of another Order) who was interested in joining the lodge. When I received an inquiry about when the next Theoricus initiation was going to happen, I asked for some information because there was always a chance that I was misreading what I thought was going on. (For the record, I thought that they were of the opinion that if you can pass the exam, then you are automatically entitled to the next initiation.) After learning what they had to do in their previous Order, I replied:
You and I are going to have a long talk about lodge/Order culture because it is obvious that Bast Temple's culture and customs are different than the ones that you are accustomed to. For instance, we do not preschedule initiations---the next initiation into Theoricus will occur when the officers of the lodge decide that someone is ready for it (and that means the initiate in question has attended a certain amount of meetings---which is the primary method of learning in our lodge).
Now, my question is: Exactly where is my ego showing in this reply? I thought that it was a simple statement, illustrating the fact that there were differences in procedure between the two Orders. And by "long talk," I meant a cup of coffee as we discussed the differences and decided if this person could tolerate the procedures that Bast Temple uses.
I was wrong...this is the response that I got:
Hold on....you don't come into my email address and start saying stuff like this "you and I need to have a talk" forget you........you don't try to make this into a servent master kind of thing. No!!!!!!!! I will not bow before you to get the secrets of magic. There is enough information out there to get the secrets. It may take me longer and it may take more research to get the secrets...but I will never bow before your ego. You have lost the whole reason for magic....self-identity. Which, by the way, cannot be found by you. You are the enemy of self identity and freedom....because you want to dominate people......Yeah...I picked that up off of your email.....I'll find what I'm looking for without your order....and if I don't I will still be much more happier........I bow to no one.
Huh? What exactly in my statement signalled that I was looking for worshipful followers? And exactly how are the current lodge members servants? Gee, I am an elected officer...if I am playing Master, why haven't they gotten rid of me?
Maybe I am wrong, but I am not sure that it was my ego that was attacking. My closing email to this Zelator mentioned that there were at least two other Golden Dawn lodges in Denver, and that they had a choice in what Order they wanted to be a member of. After all, despite the fact that I do not think that my ego is out of control, the Zelator may be right.
Update: I did get an apology from the Zelator in question. There is a mutual agreement that he is not ready to be involved in an Order until he overcomes the boundary and control issues that he developed while in Christianity. Bast Temple wishes him luck as he continues his spiritual development on his own.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Preparing to initiate a Theoricus
Yesterday and today, I am doing the final preparation for initiating a member into the Grade of Theoricus. It is not the first time that I have done this task and probably will not be the last. Nevertheless, I find it an interesting that every time I have done this, diagrams have wandered off. Yes, once again, I am drawing up the Theoricus diagrams.
This cycle, it is also interesting because it is the second of a set of three initiations. Last month, a member advanced into Zelator; and next month, we are going to have an advancement into Practicus. Busy, we are. Because of this, we are just opening the lodge room up in the necessary Grade, and then leaving it there until we bump it up another Grade for the next person. This is the first time that we had the opportunity to do it this way.
Of course, the most interesting part for me is that despite the fact that this cycle of initiations was scheduled months ago, there have arose schedule conflicts. And they are all on my own end. My sister chose to come visiting during this time, and got upset because of the tightness of my schedule. Given her feelings about my involvement in Golden Dawn, I am quite sure that she is thrilled that I placed the lodge above her. But given the difficulties that the person we are advancing has in getting time off from work (it takes an act of congress for them to get time off), once this initiation was scheduled, I was unable to change the timing of it. As someone else noted, my sister really needs to give more warning about her little vacations if she actually wants any chance of seeing me---after all, my schedule is blocked in months in advance and once the schedule is made, I have little or no leeway to change it.
(It should be noted that my relationship with my siblings has always been on thin ice. Last year's melt-down, combined with this year's has just been par for the course. As my regular readers know I do not respond well to anger and blackmail. And that is what I got for admitting that my schedule was tight. Basically because I was not willing to change my schedule which was rooted in the schedules of other people, I was told that it was proof that I did not love my family. My response is that because I was INSTANTLY met with anger and blackmail that they obviously had no respect for me in the first place. And so it goes. I am quite sure that all can see how this one is actually going to end.)
Here is to tomorrow's Theoricus initiation. Hopefully, the initiate has a better experience than I did getting ready for it. And if not, here is to the cup of tea and sympathy that I will provide afterwards.
This cycle, it is also interesting because it is the second of a set of three initiations. Last month, a member advanced into Zelator; and next month, we are going to have an advancement into Practicus. Busy, we are. Because of this, we are just opening the lodge room up in the necessary Grade, and then leaving it there until we bump it up another Grade for the next person. This is the first time that we had the opportunity to do it this way.
Of course, the most interesting part for me is that despite the fact that this cycle of initiations was scheduled months ago, there have arose schedule conflicts. And they are all on my own end. My sister chose to come visiting during this time, and got upset because of the tightness of my schedule. Given her feelings about my involvement in Golden Dawn, I am quite sure that she is thrilled that I placed the lodge above her. But given the difficulties that the person we are advancing has in getting time off from work (it takes an act of congress for them to get time off), once this initiation was scheduled, I was unable to change the timing of it. As someone else noted, my sister really needs to give more warning about her little vacations if she actually wants any chance of seeing me---after all, my schedule is blocked in months in advance and once the schedule is made, I have little or no leeway to change it.
(It should be noted that my relationship with my siblings has always been on thin ice. Last year's melt-down, combined with this year's has just been par for the course. As my regular readers know I do not respond well to anger and blackmail. And that is what I got for admitting that my schedule was tight. Basically because I was not willing to change my schedule which was rooted in the schedules of other people, I was told that it was proof that I did not love my family. My response is that because I was INSTANTLY met with anger and blackmail that they obviously had no respect for me in the first place. And so it goes. I am quite sure that all can see how this one is actually going to end.)
Here is to tomorrow's Theoricus initiation. Hopefully, the initiate has a better experience than I did getting ready for it. And if not, here is to the cup of tea and sympathy that I will provide afterwards.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Living in a fishbowl
One of the interesting things (as in the Chinese curse) about being a principal in any esoteric circle is that it is much like living in a fishbowl. I have seen this in Golden Dawn circles, Wiccan circles, Norse circles, and several other circles. If you are in a leadership position, or someone like myself who has a public soapbox, and you are traveling in esoteric circles, your opinions and actions get examined with a fine-toothed comb.
This is true to some extent for everyone. But being a principal (aka mover and shaker) increases the double-guessing of every decision you have ever made, and the criticising of every action you make.
I was reminded of this recently as I stood on the sidelines watching a brewing storm gather. A player in the local esoteric community (or at least, they think that they are a player and a major one at that) had some boundary issues: a member left his group, and a falsehood has been tossed in place to explain the member leaving (one that does not even hint at the truth). All the while, I see the departed member sharping a knife because they suspect it is only a matter of time before it gets really ugly.
Now there are some who will point out that this person should have never gotten into a leadership position in the first place. That someone should have stopped them before they before they became the head of a group. Well, that is a nice theory, but this person (to the best of my knowledge) is a self-appointed leader and expert. It is hard to stop someone from seizing the position; anyone can set themselves to be a leader if they have a dollop of charisma and knowledge in the esoteric community (or so it seems).
And even if they would have worked their way up the ranks in a vetted system, such as Golden Dawn, it still might have not made a difference. For instance, make note that I worked my way up the ranks and I am an officer in one of the branches of the system. Obviously, as my critics point out, someone was asleep at the wheel.
In my case, my flaws tend to blown up until they sound like I am an ax-murderer. Honestly, I have never killed anyone with an ax...my name is not Lizzie. (Apologies to any of my readers that bear that name, but surely I am not the first to make that joke, am I?) Mention that you are quite willing to shoot back if someone starts to fire at you; admit that you thought that the military was a suitable career earlier in your life; make one wrong vote (admitting that you made that vote), and you can become the scum of the earth and a menace to society.
Let's take that miscalled vote as an example. Yes, I was present at a ritual. Yes, there was a vote that asked if death was the only way to take care of the problem if we were willing to go that far. Yes, I voted in favor of death if necessary. Yes, all this is true.
What is never mentioned by my critics is that the target in question was a VIOLENT SERIAL CRIMINAL. It is not like we were targeting an innocent person. Trust me: there is no way you could be doing what this person was doing and be anywhere near being innocent. This was the type of criminal that does not stop until they are caught or they drop dead.
The ritual was a binding, and the workers involved were hoping that the police could get enourgh clues to catch them. We were trying to help using the Art. The question arose about what if a simple binding and mistake-causing hex was not enourgh. What if this person would not stop, and hadn't made (or would not make) enourgh mistakes to be caught and convicted---how far were we willing to go?
I have been told by "light-workers" that we should have projected white light and healing at this poor soul. That all of us that voted that yes, if necessary we were willing to pull the trigger, should have never been allowed into any working circle. That none of us are truly members of the RC. That the very fact that we admit that we can kill someone if push came to shove makes us unworthy of the RC.
To that statement, I tend to ask "Do you allow cops into your system?" If you do not see the concept behind that question, I am willing to bet that you are one of my critics.
This is true to some extent for everyone. But being a principal (aka mover and shaker) increases the double-guessing of every decision you have ever made, and the criticising of every action you make.
I was reminded of this recently as I stood on the sidelines watching a brewing storm gather. A player in the local esoteric community (or at least, they think that they are a player and a major one at that) had some boundary issues: a member left his group, and a falsehood has been tossed in place to explain the member leaving (one that does not even hint at the truth). All the while, I see the departed member sharping a knife because they suspect it is only a matter of time before it gets really ugly.
Now there are some who will point out that this person should have never gotten into a leadership position in the first place. That someone should have stopped them before they before they became the head of a group. Well, that is a nice theory, but this person (to the best of my knowledge) is a self-appointed leader and expert. It is hard to stop someone from seizing the position; anyone can set themselves to be a leader if they have a dollop of charisma and knowledge in the esoteric community (or so it seems).
And even if they would have worked their way up the ranks in a vetted system, such as Golden Dawn, it still might have not made a difference. For instance, make note that I worked my way up the ranks and I am an officer in one of the branches of the system. Obviously, as my critics point out, someone was asleep at the wheel.
In my case, my flaws tend to blown up until they sound like I am an ax-murderer. Honestly, I have never killed anyone with an ax...my name is not Lizzie. (Apologies to any of my readers that bear that name, but surely I am not the first to make that joke, am I?) Mention that you are quite willing to shoot back if someone starts to fire at you; admit that you thought that the military was a suitable career earlier in your life; make one wrong vote (admitting that you made that vote), and you can become the scum of the earth and a menace to society.
Let's take that miscalled vote as an example. Yes, I was present at a ritual. Yes, there was a vote that asked if death was the only way to take care of the problem if we were willing to go that far. Yes, I voted in favor of death if necessary. Yes, all this is true.
What is never mentioned by my critics is that the target in question was a VIOLENT SERIAL CRIMINAL. It is not like we were targeting an innocent person. Trust me: there is no way you could be doing what this person was doing and be anywhere near being innocent. This was the type of criminal that does not stop until they are caught or they drop dead.
The ritual was a binding, and the workers involved were hoping that the police could get enourgh clues to catch them. We were trying to help using the Art. The question arose about what if a simple binding and mistake-causing hex was not enourgh. What if this person would not stop, and hadn't made (or would not make) enourgh mistakes to be caught and convicted---how far were we willing to go?
I have been told by "light-workers" that we should have projected white light and healing at this poor soul. That all of us that voted that yes, if necessary we were willing to pull the trigger, should have never been allowed into any working circle. That none of us are truly members of the RC. That the very fact that we admit that we can kill someone if push came to shove makes us unworthy of the RC.
To that statement, I tend to ask "Do you allow cops into your system?" If you do not see the concept behind that question, I am willing to bet that you are one of my critics.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Should Orders be ran like businesses?
Thanks to the outpouring of replies on the Golden Dawn Group yahoo forum to Nick Farrell's post, I have been thinking today about whether or not Golden Dawn Orders should be ran like businesses.
What got me thinking about it was a comment that said if a group has a website, then it is a business and it is advertising and applicants are its customers...and the customer is always right.
I will admit that I have always viewed the Order system, both esoteric (ex. Golden Dawn) and exoteric (ex. Freemasonry and the Woodmen of America), as a business model. It comes from being a restaurant manager for ten years, an apprentice to my father (who was self-employed a good part of his life), and being a freelance writer.
In fact, I find that some of the behavior that other people find unbecoming of an esoteric system, such as the mud-slinging, advertising, and lawsuits, to be perfectfully understandable if you think of the lodge system as a type of business.
Note that I say "understandable." I don't think that such behavior is anything to brag about, or even desirable in an esoteric system, but I do understand it.
And considering that all of the Big Three (the three Big Name Orders that I consider to be at the top of the heap GD-wise) have at least one business person (current or ex- business owner) in their upper echelon, it is not really surprising.
So the question becomes what type of business is Golden Dawn?
My answer to that one is that Golden Dawn is a co-op. For those of you who have not experienced co-ops up close and personal, a co-op is a business owned by the customers who use it. Credit unions, farmers co-ops, grocery co-ops are all good examples.
A co-op is ran and governed by its members for the benefit of its members. And you have to qualify to be a member of a co-op; they don't just allow anyone in.
Repeat after me: A magical lodge (Order) is a group of people pooling resources to accomplish a common magical goal. In the case of a Golden Dawn based group, it is to study and practice the Golden Dawn and RR et AC material.
There is nothing in that definition that says that a lodge can not be ran like a business, though it would be a highly picky business that was choosy about who it did business with. If it is not co-op, I don't know what it is.
(Of course, this is based on my ideal of the physical meeting based lodge; Orders that specialize in doing correspondence courses, allow everyone in and are typically owned and controlled by a single person.)
What got me thinking about it was a comment that said if a group has a website, then it is a business and it is advertising and applicants are its customers...and the customer is always right.
I will admit that I have always viewed the Order system, both esoteric (ex. Golden Dawn) and exoteric (ex. Freemasonry and the Woodmen of America), as a business model. It comes from being a restaurant manager for ten years, an apprentice to my father (who was self-employed a good part of his life), and being a freelance writer.
In fact, I find that some of the behavior that other people find unbecoming of an esoteric system, such as the mud-slinging, advertising, and lawsuits, to be perfectfully understandable if you think of the lodge system as a type of business.
Note that I say "understandable." I don't think that such behavior is anything to brag about, or even desirable in an esoteric system, but I do understand it.
And considering that all of the Big Three (the three Big Name Orders that I consider to be at the top of the heap GD-wise) have at least one business person (current or ex- business owner) in their upper echelon, it is not really surprising.
So the question becomes what type of business is Golden Dawn?
My answer to that one is that Golden Dawn is a co-op. For those of you who have not experienced co-ops up close and personal, a co-op is a business owned by the customers who use it. Credit unions, farmers co-ops, grocery co-ops are all good examples.
A co-op is ran and governed by its members for the benefit of its members. And you have to qualify to be a member of a co-op; they don't just allow anyone in.
Repeat after me: A magical lodge (Order) is a group of people pooling resources to accomplish a common magical goal. In the case of a Golden Dawn based group, it is to study and practice the Golden Dawn and RR et AC material.
There is nothing in that definition that says that a lodge can not be ran like a business, though it would be a highly picky business that was choosy about who it did business with. If it is not co-op, I don't know what it is.
(Of course, this is based on my ideal of the physical meeting based lodge; Orders that specialize in doing correspondence courses, allow everyone in and are typically owned and controlled by a single person.)
Friday, August 22, 2008
Recognition
Earlier this week, I read a posting on one of the Golden Dawn forums about how does a group get to be recognized by others, and who do they ask to be recognized. After I wiped the cola off my computer screen, I told the poster my opinion of the issue; basically, I would rather do the work than fight for recognition.
Recognition is a concept that came out of Freemasonry. To have your lodge recognized by a Grand Lodge is to have it regarded as being legitimate, and allows the members initiated into your lodge to attend other lodges that recognize your lodge. The reason this is so important in Freemasonry is that Freemasonry is NOT an unified worldwide Order. Rather it consists of a number of Grand Lodges (or Orders as we in Golden Dawn would think of them).
Some of my favorite quotes about the matter comes from Christopher Hodapp's Freemasons For Dummies:
"Freemasonry is not like a corporation or a single, solid, worldwide entity. As a result, no one owns the worldwide trademark to the square and compass logo, and no one can claim he holds the universal copyright on Masonic rituals. It would be like the Methodist Chruch claiming it holds the universal rights to all trademarks, symbols, and sacred texts of Christianity. The Methodists or Catholics or Baptists can't keep a new Christian group from building a chruch and placing a cross over its altar, or stop its choir from singing 'Onward Christian Soliders.'"
"Likewise, Grand Lodges can't stop a group of people from obtaining Masonic rituals out of a book, buying a stack of aprons and officers' jewels, and claiming that they have their own Grand Lodge. Like the branches of the Christian churches, there have been arguments and schisms between differing Masonic groups over the centuries, and factions of Masons have started their own Grand Lodges."
"So who gets to decide who is 'mainstream' or 'legitimate'? Well, in Freemasonry, as nasty as it may sound, might makes right in most cases, and it's a pretty tight club. The big group of mainstream Grand Lodges represents the greatest number of Freemasons in the world. As the 800-pound gorillas in the Masonic Universe, they get to collectively make rules they all agree to abide by."
"None of this is a huge issue to the individual Mason until he starts to travel and visit other lodges or encounters other Masons. An irregular [non-recognized] Mason will not be welcomed into a mainstream lodge, and his degrees and documents will not be considered legitimate. He will not be entitled to the honors, benefits, and fraternalism enjoyed by millions in the Masonic world."
Some parts of this reminds one of the situation in Golden Dawn; other parts do not (can you imagine Golden Dawn having millions of members; I can't).
For instance, Golden Dawn today consists of many different Orders (or Grand Lodges if you will). None of them can claim to hold the exclusive copyright to the Golden Dawn rituals, though certain members like myself can claim the copyrights to our own work and modifications that we have made to the system.
But unlike Freemasonry, in which Grand Lodges have agreed to recognize each other, Golden Dawn have little mutual recogntion. For the most part, a lot of the Big Name Orders do not recognize each other and/or are at war with one another. (I wish that I didn't consider it war, but with how nasty some of the battles have been...) Odds are that if you are in Golden Dawn, you are considered to be irregular by someone else.
And the cherry on top is the little trademark legal war that periodically flares up. Unlike Freemasonry, Golden Dawn has fought its most important recognition battles in court.
That is why I don't think anyone serious about doing the work should get involved in trying to gain recognition. As a tradition, we are too fragmented to justify the effort. At this point in time, it is better for us (outside of the Big Name Orders) to just do the work, and leave the worrying about who is legit and who is not to those who worry about such matters. And pray that we ourselves never grow to the size where we find lawyers on our doorstep.
For myself, I don't recognize any particular Golden Dawn group as legitimate. Why? Because I judge people by their skill and knowledge of the tradition. Have they done the work? If so, then I recognize them; if not, I chose not to associate with them. For me, recognition is an individual award, and not something given over to an entire Order.
Recognition is a concept that came out of Freemasonry. To have your lodge recognized by a Grand Lodge is to have it regarded as being legitimate, and allows the members initiated into your lodge to attend other lodges that recognize your lodge. The reason this is so important in Freemasonry is that Freemasonry is NOT an unified worldwide Order. Rather it consists of a number of Grand Lodges (or Orders as we in Golden Dawn would think of them).
Some of my favorite quotes about the matter comes from Christopher Hodapp's Freemasons For Dummies:
"Freemasonry is not like a corporation or a single, solid, worldwide entity. As a result, no one owns the worldwide trademark to the square and compass logo, and no one can claim he holds the universal copyright on Masonic rituals. It would be like the Methodist Chruch claiming it holds the universal rights to all trademarks, symbols, and sacred texts of Christianity. The Methodists or Catholics or Baptists can't keep a new Christian group from building a chruch and placing a cross over its altar, or stop its choir from singing 'Onward Christian Soliders.'"
"Likewise, Grand Lodges can't stop a group of people from obtaining Masonic rituals out of a book, buying a stack of aprons and officers' jewels, and claiming that they have their own Grand Lodge. Like the branches of the Christian churches, there have been arguments and schisms between differing Masonic groups over the centuries, and factions of Masons have started their own Grand Lodges."
"So who gets to decide who is 'mainstream' or 'legitimate'? Well, in Freemasonry, as nasty as it may sound, might makes right in most cases, and it's a pretty tight club. The big group of mainstream Grand Lodges represents the greatest number of Freemasons in the world. As the 800-pound gorillas in the Masonic Universe, they get to collectively make rules they all agree to abide by."
"None of this is a huge issue to the individual Mason until he starts to travel and visit other lodges or encounters other Masons. An irregular [non-recognized] Mason will not be welcomed into a mainstream lodge, and his degrees and documents will not be considered legitimate. He will not be entitled to the honors, benefits, and fraternalism enjoyed by millions in the Masonic world."
Some parts of this reminds one of the situation in Golden Dawn; other parts do not (can you imagine Golden Dawn having millions of members; I can't).
For instance, Golden Dawn today consists of many different Orders (or Grand Lodges if you will). None of them can claim to hold the exclusive copyright to the Golden Dawn rituals, though certain members like myself can claim the copyrights to our own work and modifications that we have made to the system.
But unlike Freemasonry, in which Grand Lodges have agreed to recognize each other, Golden Dawn have little mutual recogntion. For the most part, a lot of the Big Name Orders do not recognize each other and/or are at war with one another. (I wish that I didn't consider it war, but with how nasty some of the battles have been...) Odds are that if you are in Golden Dawn, you are considered to be irregular by someone else.
And the cherry on top is the little trademark legal war that periodically flares up. Unlike Freemasonry, Golden Dawn has fought its most important recognition battles in court.
That is why I don't think anyone serious about doing the work should get involved in trying to gain recognition. As a tradition, we are too fragmented to justify the effort. At this point in time, it is better for us (outside of the Big Name Orders) to just do the work, and leave the worrying about who is legit and who is not to those who worry about such matters. And pray that we ourselves never grow to the size where we find lawyers on our doorstep.
For myself, I don't recognize any particular Golden Dawn group as legitimate. Why? Because I judge people by their skill and knowledge of the tradition. Have they done the work? If so, then I recognize them; if not, I chose not to associate with them. For me, recognition is an individual award, and not something given over to an entire Order.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Dues, warm bodies, and officers
The dissolution of the RMWT has got me thinking today about the resources neccessary for the functioning of lodges and covens. A lot of people think that all it takes to run a lodge or coven is someone wanting to do so. Yes, that all that it takes to start a group, but it requires a lot more if the group is going to stick around and be functional.
I invite you to stroll around the internet for awhile. There are some groups on the internet that look functional; but in reality, never hold meetings and in fact, can be said to consist solely of the webmaster and a couple of minions. I have heard rumors that one of the Big Name Orders does not have a single lodge in existence, and I know of another that is trying to look like a Big Name Order and doesn't have any lodges. Looking good on the internet does not neccessary mean that a group is actually functional.
And by functional, I mean that members occasionally met face-to-face, initiations and rituals are performed, lectures are given, and the occasional handout is issued. By this standard, many esoteric groups are not actually functional.
So what resources does an esoteric group need in order to be functional?
Dues (money): Money is neccessary for a group to function; it allows them to buy supplies (incense, candles, ink cartridges, the occasional ritual prop) and to rent a meeting place. Some groups also kick in to compensate the chief officers for their time, and it takes a lot of time to run an occult group if it is growing and developing.
Many people object to dues. They say that the wisdom of the ages should be given to everyone for free. These are the same people who think that writers, Hollywood film companies, and musicians should give their product away for free.
"The wisdom of the ages does not belong to you; it should be given away for free to everyone who is interested in it."
By the way, these are the same people who complain almost the loudest about the fact that there are no cutting edge occult books, and that most occult books are just copy and paste jobs. Why are there no cutting edge occult books? Simple, no one is willing to pay for them; therefore, publishers do not commission them, and writers do not write them.
(In fact, many occult books are now being done by small publishers or print on demand services because the bigger publishers only want mega-new-age books that sell better. The quality suffers because of this.)
Furthermore, these are the same people who believe that all the expenses of an esoteric group should come out of the wallets of those who run it. They don't want to chip in for incense and supplies even. Of course, if they become leaders, they will expect their members to chip in. And so it goes.
There are also some people who scream loudly that certain occult leaders are robbing their members by charging them dues. Ironically, some of the loudest in that category charge their own members dues.
(Yes, some of the politics of the occult community is actually about money, and who is making it.)
And there are some leaders who generally have an aversion to collecting dues, and believe that the wisdom should be taught for free. Generally, the groups they form dissolve because they don't have enough resources to continue operating.
When Bast Temple formed, the costs for the meeting were read out loud for all to hear, a custom lifted from Hathoor Temple. A couple of the members were surprised to learn how many expenses were actually involved in running a group; it was something that they were never exposed to before. Within a couple of meetings, one of the members (not the founder of the lodge) proposed a dues structure, and it passed; to this day, the Bast Temple dues are set by the active membership of the lodge.
Dues come from the members; and if you have enough members, most of a group's needs are taken care of.
Members (also known as warm bodies): One of the most important resources a lodge can have is members. Without members, a group is just a paper and/or an internet group, existing only in the mind of its founder and whoever falls prey to the illusion.
From the members come the dues, the experiences, and the people neccessary to actually do the rituals. Without members, rituals are impossible to do in a group setting. It is possible to get away with less than a full number of members, as Bast Temple has proven with their revised Neophyte ritual; but some members are always neccessary.
And without members, especially the occasional new member, an esoteric group is doomed to extinction. The reason for this is that the membership is the pool that new officers are pulled from.
Officers and leaders (the people who attempt to herd cats): Without officers and leaders, it would be impossible for occult groups to exist. The number one case of occult group dissolving and disappearing is the lack of leaders and officers. The history of the occult is littered with groups that died out and disappeared when its leadership got burnt out or died.
For any occult group to survive more than a single generation, officers have to be replaced. And for a group to survive for more than a couple of years, officers must be able to avoid becoming burnt out and/or bankrupt.
Of course, the real trick here is for the officers to learn to set their egos aside, teach younger members to replace them, and actually step aside and allow them to take over. This is harder to do than it looks. It depends on being able to say, "I don't know. I need help doing this work. It is no longer my problem." Tough words to say under most situations.
And looking at the RMWT and its dissolution, I know that the cause of its death was rooted in the fact that only a couple of people were carrying all the expenses, the membership numbers were dropping, and a couple of people were stuck doing all the work. It was a deadly combination for any esoteric group.
I invite you to stroll around the internet for awhile. There are some groups on the internet that look functional; but in reality, never hold meetings and in fact, can be said to consist solely of the webmaster and a couple of minions. I have heard rumors that one of the Big Name Orders does not have a single lodge in existence, and I know of another that is trying to look like a Big Name Order and doesn't have any lodges. Looking good on the internet does not neccessary mean that a group is actually functional.
And by functional, I mean that members occasionally met face-to-face, initiations and rituals are performed, lectures are given, and the occasional handout is issued. By this standard, many esoteric groups are not actually functional.
So what resources does an esoteric group need in order to be functional?
Dues (money): Money is neccessary for a group to function; it allows them to buy supplies (incense, candles, ink cartridges, the occasional ritual prop) and to rent a meeting place. Some groups also kick in to compensate the chief officers for their time, and it takes a lot of time to run an occult group if it is growing and developing.
Many people object to dues. They say that the wisdom of the ages should be given to everyone for free. These are the same people who think that writers, Hollywood film companies, and musicians should give their product away for free.
"The wisdom of the ages does not belong to you; it should be given away for free to everyone who is interested in it."
By the way, these are the same people who complain almost the loudest about the fact that there are no cutting edge occult books, and that most occult books are just copy and paste jobs. Why are there no cutting edge occult books? Simple, no one is willing to pay for them; therefore, publishers do not commission them, and writers do not write them.
(In fact, many occult books are now being done by small publishers or print on demand services because the bigger publishers only want mega-new-age books that sell better. The quality suffers because of this.)
Furthermore, these are the same people who believe that all the expenses of an esoteric group should come out of the wallets of those who run it. They don't want to chip in for incense and supplies even. Of course, if they become leaders, they will expect their members to chip in. And so it goes.
There are also some people who scream loudly that certain occult leaders are robbing their members by charging them dues. Ironically, some of the loudest in that category charge their own members dues.
(Yes, some of the politics of the occult community is actually about money, and who is making it.)
And there are some leaders who generally have an aversion to collecting dues, and believe that the wisdom should be taught for free. Generally, the groups they form dissolve because they don't have enough resources to continue operating.
When Bast Temple formed, the costs for the meeting were read out loud for all to hear, a custom lifted from Hathoor Temple. A couple of the members were surprised to learn how many expenses were actually involved in running a group; it was something that they were never exposed to before. Within a couple of meetings, one of the members (not the founder of the lodge) proposed a dues structure, and it passed; to this day, the Bast Temple dues are set by the active membership of the lodge.
Dues come from the members; and if you have enough members, most of a group's needs are taken care of.
Members (also known as warm bodies): One of the most important resources a lodge can have is members. Without members, a group is just a paper and/or an internet group, existing only in the mind of its founder and whoever falls prey to the illusion.
From the members come the dues, the experiences, and the people neccessary to actually do the rituals. Without members, rituals are impossible to do in a group setting. It is possible to get away with less than a full number of members, as Bast Temple has proven with their revised Neophyte ritual; but some members are always neccessary.
And without members, especially the occasional new member, an esoteric group is doomed to extinction. The reason for this is that the membership is the pool that new officers are pulled from.
Officers and leaders (the people who attempt to herd cats): Without officers and leaders, it would be impossible for occult groups to exist. The number one case of occult group dissolving and disappearing is the lack of leaders and officers. The history of the occult is littered with groups that died out and disappeared when its leadership got burnt out or died.
For any occult group to survive more than a single generation, officers have to be replaced. And for a group to survive for more than a couple of years, officers must be able to avoid becoming burnt out and/or bankrupt.
Of course, the real trick here is for the officers to learn to set their egos aside, teach younger members to replace them, and actually step aside and allow them to take over. This is harder to do than it looks. It depends on being able to say, "I don't know. I need help doing this work. It is no longer my problem." Tough words to say under most situations.
And looking at the RMWT and its dissolution, I know that the cause of its death was rooted in the fact that only a couple of people were carrying all the expenses, the membership numbers were dropping, and a couple of people were stuck doing all the work. It was a deadly combination for any esoteric group.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Doomsday Cults
One of the things I roll my eyes at are those people who are worried about the end of the world--the soothsayers of doomsday. The current doom is the end of the Mayan cycle, which ends on 2012. The soothsayers, and their believers, say that the world is going to come to a sudden end in a couple of years.
This particular theory is tied to the shifting of the magnetic poles. The shifting of the poles is a real thing, but it is hardly doomsday. The geological history of the Earth indicates that it has happened before and will happen again. The shifting of the poles, reversing the magnetic field around the Earth, is a minor inconvience, but we do want it to happen.
The mathematic models show that the shifting of the poles will bring the magnetic field of the Earth back up to full strength. This is a desirable thing. Without an eventual shift in the poles, based on the mathematical models, the magnetic field will weaken and disappear completely. That would be bad--rent the movie "The Core" if you want to see how bad it would be.
Personally, I would be more worried about a global economic crisis than I would be about the magnetic shift, but each to their own.
Doomsday are always with us; Revelations is happening everyday. Each of us has our own personal doomsday happening in our lives if we just look hard enough. For me, my doom is typically the next test or term paper that I have to cope with. For me, doomsday is up close and personal.
For many, it is not. And there are groups and fads that cater to them.
Yes, doomsday is catered. I would avoid the deviled eggs. I don't think that the ham is kosher. And who invented the Freemasons to our doomsday. But I disgress.
Yes, there are groups whose purpose is to prepare its members for doomsday. And there is always a new doomsday if it turns out that the previous doomsday was a false alarm.
I have belonged to several border-line doomsday cults. The first coven I belonged to was big on being prepared for a nuclear doomsday. A box of MREs (meals ready to eat--sure to survive a nuclear disaster because no one wants to eat them) and a lot of water was highly suggested, along with knowing where all the fall-out shelters were. Ironically, being prepared for a nuclear disaster ensures that you are prepared for other acts of god.
And when I was in the EOEW, there was the one meeting that drifted into getting ready for Y2K. Do you remember Y2K--the year that the world was supposed to end as all the world's computers crashed. If you want to know what I think of your average doomsday prediction ask me how I coped with Y2K.
Yes, I had some canned food, a small camp stove, and some bottled water. Toni would not allow me to buy a crossbow; in fact, she (like so many others) was appalled to learn that I believe that defending myself with deadly force is a real option in an emergency. Question my ethics all you want; at least I know my stance on how important my life is in comparsion to other random looters. Do you know how much value you place on your skin?
Toni got interested in Y2k late. In my opinion, too late. For her, it was a last minute thing.
I have been interested in doomsday since I was a teenager. Blame it on too much science fiction. In my opinion, you should be prepared to be thrust into the Hall of Judgment at any time. Doomsday will not be announced ahead of time; either will your last trumpet. If you are really concerned about doomsday, live every minute like its your last.
So it was with some amusement that I watched her learn about Y2K. I wasn't worried about Y2k. I had my nuclear stockpile; all I needed to get was a crossbow. It was only due to a lack of money that she didn't help drive up the price of bottled water.
But Toni is also an airhead. One I know who she was listening to (a good fortune teller on a personal level, can't hit the broadside of a barn on the global level); and two, she made some last minute changes in my perfectly good plan. She decided that we were going to stay at her place, not mine. That made my preparations useless. And she still won't let me invest in a crossbow.
For the record, I was not concerned with Y2K. The closer we got to the actual day, the less concerned I became. Why? I know something about programming computers. If Y2K was going to be a problem, we would have seen indications of it long before New Year's Day. I was not worried about the power plants shutting down, or planes falling out of the sky. I, much like my bosses, knew that the real problems of Y2K if any would be monetary.
How did my bosses plan on dealing with Y2K? Simple, they handed me a pencil and a pad of paper. It was a very business approach to doomsday. If doomsday happens, we will cater it.
This particular theory is tied to the shifting of the magnetic poles. The shifting of the poles is a real thing, but it is hardly doomsday. The geological history of the Earth indicates that it has happened before and will happen again. The shifting of the poles, reversing the magnetic field around the Earth, is a minor inconvience, but we do want it to happen.
The mathematic models show that the shifting of the poles will bring the magnetic field of the Earth back up to full strength. This is a desirable thing. Without an eventual shift in the poles, based on the mathematical models, the magnetic field will weaken and disappear completely. That would be bad--rent the movie "The Core" if you want to see how bad it would be.
Personally, I would be more worried about a global economic crisis than I would be about the magnetic shift, but each to their own.
Doomsday are always with us; Revelations is happening everyday. Each of us has our own personal doomsday happening in our lives if we just look hard enough. For me, my doom is typically the next test or term paper that I have to cope with. For me, doomsday is up close and personal.
For many, it is not. And there are groups and fads that cater to them.
Yes, doomsday is catered. I would avoid the deviled eggs. I don't think that the ham is kosher. And who invented the Freemasons to our doomsday. But I disgress.
Yes, there are groups whose purpose is to prepare its members for doomsday. And there is always a new doomsday if it turns out that the previous doomsday was a false alarm.
I have belonged to several border-line doomsday cults. The first coven I belonged to was big on being prepared for a nuclear doomsday. A box of MREs (meals ready to eat--sure to survive a nuclear disaster because no one wants to eat them) and a lot of water was highly suggested, along with knowing where all the fall-out shelters were. Ironically, being prepared for a nuclear disaster ensures that you are prepared for other acts of god.
And when I was in the EOEW, there was the one meeting that drifted into getting ready for Y2K. Do you remember Y2K--the year that the world was supposed to end as all the world's computers crashed. If you want to know what I think of your average doomsday prediction ask me how I coped with Y2K.
Yes, I had some canned food, a small camp stove, and some bottled water. Toni would not allow me to buy a crossbow; in fact, she (like so many others) was appalled to learn that I believe that defending myself with deadly force is a real option in an emergency. Question my ethics all you want; at least I know my stance on how important my life is in comparsion to other random looters. Do you know how much value you place on your skin?
Toni got interested in Y2k late. In my opinion, too late. For her, it was a last minute thing.
I have been interested in doomsday since I was a teenager. Blame it on too much science fiction. In my opinion, you should be prepared to be thrust into the Hall of Judgment at any time. Doomsday will not be announced ahead of time; either will your last trumpet. If you are really concerned about doomsday, live every minute like its your last.
So it was with some amusement that I watched her learn about Y2K. I wasn't worried about Y2k. I had my nuclear stockpile; all I needed to get was a crossbow. It was only due to a lack of money that she didn't help drive up the price of bottled water.
But Toni is also an airhead. One I know who she was listening to (a good fortune teller on a personal level, can't hit the broadside of a barn on the global level); and two, she made some last minute changes in my perfectly good plan. She decided that we were going to stay at her place, not mine. That made my preparations useless. And she still won't let me invest in a crossbow.
For the record, I was not concerned with Y2K. The closer we got to the actual day, the less concerned I became. Why? I know something about programming computers. If Y2K was going to be a problem, we would have seen indications of it long before New Year's Day. I was not worried about the power plants shutting down, or planes falling out of the sky. I, much like my bosses, knew that the real problems of Y2K if any would be monetary.
How did my bosses plan on dealing with Y2K? Simple, they handed me a pencil and a pad of paper. It was a very business approach to doomsday. If doomsday happens, we will cater it.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Secret Chiefs and the Golden Dawn
One of the things that has been part of the Golden Dawn since its original formation is the Secret Chiefs. Basically, the Secret Chiefs are beings that are considered to be the true rulers of the Golden Dawn system.
If they exist, I am quite sure that they do not like me. I have been in too many occult groups where the leaders have dodged behind the ruse of communication with the Secret Chiefs to claim to be able to do whatever they wanted to without any regard to the health of the group. To say that I am a loud protester is perhaps a understatement. Quite simply, I believe that whenever a Officer invokes the authority of the Secret Chiefs, things have gone very wrong and perhaps it is time to flee.
How did the concept of the Secret Chiefs get wrapped up in the system of Golden Dawn? Quite simply, they were a method (most likely a fraud) to justify the formation of Golden Dawn. Even today, there is a belief that only someone with a lineage and enlightenment can run an occult Order. Golden Dawn is based on a Cipher Manuscript; it does not actually give anyone the authority to start an Order based on it.
So Golden Dawn started off without any charter or warrant. The founders had no authority to start a new esoteric Order. Without a charter from a Mother Lodge, they needed something to be able to satisify the demands of the members for some form of legitimacy. What they decided to use was a old trick.
Today, we are more likely to associate the concept of the Secret Chiefs with Theosophy. But that is only partially true. The concept of enlightened beings, who are hidden from profane view, is a part of the beliefs of many spiritual systems. The Kabbalists have the thirty-six righteous, who guard the existence of the world (there are similar concepts in other systems).
And more importantly, for us, is the fact that certain branches of Freemasonry (such as the Strict Observance) included the concept in their systems. While many say that the concept of the Secret Chiefs come into Golden Dawn from Theosophy, I suspect that it is equally likely that the founders lifted the concept from Freemasonry.
So do the Secret Chiefs actually exist in Golden Dawn? Yes and No. Odds are that if you hear a leader saying that they are in contact with them, that things are already going bad (leaders who tend to invoke them are notorious for abusing their power). On the other hand, the concept of the Secret Chiefs does explain certain phenomena that one can encounter when using the system; though claiming authority from them is like building a system on the advice of the Qlippoth.
My personal advice to all is to treat the Secret Chiefs as a myth, and nothing more. If the Secret Chiefs really exist, they would chose vessals that are hidden, or at least more humble than those who shout their contact with them at the top of their lungs.
If they exist, I am quite sure that they do not like me. I have been in too many occult groups where the leaders have dodged behind the ruse of communication with the Secret Chiefs to claim to be able to do whatever they wanted to without any regard to the health of the group. To say that I am a loud protester is perhaps a understatement. Quite simply, I believe that whenever a Officer invokes the authority of the Secret Chiefs, things have gone very wrong and perhaps it is time to flee.
How did the concept of the Secret Chiefs get wrapped up in the system of Golden Dawn? Quite simply, they were a method (most likely a fraud) to justify the formation of Golden Dawn. Even today, there is a belief that only someone with a lineage and enlightenment can run an occult Order. Golden Dawn is based on a Cipher Manuscript; it does not actually give anyone the authority to start an Order based on it.
So Golden Dawn started off without any charter or warrant. The founders had no authority to start a new esoteric Order. Without a charter from a Mother Lodge, they needed something to be able to satisify the demands of the members for some form of legitimacy. What they decided to use was a old trick.
Today, we are more likely to associate the concept of the Secret Chiefs with Theosophy. But that is only partially true. The concept of enlightened beings, who are hidden from profane view, is a part of the beliefs of many spiritual systems. The Kabbalists have the thirty-six righteous, who guard the existence of the world (there are similar concepts in other systems).
And more importantly, for us, is the fact that certain branches of Freemasonry (such as the Strict Observance) included the concept in their systems. While many say that the concept of the Secret Chiefs come into Golden Dawn from Theosophy, I suspect that it is equally likely that the founders lifted the concept from Freemasonry.
So do the Secret Chiefs actually exist in Golden Dawn? Yes and No. Odds are that if you hear a leader saying that they are in contact with them, that things are already going bad (leaders who tend to invoke them are notorious for abusing their power). On the other hand, the concept of the Secret Chiefs does explain certain phenomena that one can encounter when using the system; though claiming authority from them is like building a system on the advice of the Qlippoth.
My personal advice to all is to treat the Secret Chiefs as a myth, and nothing more. If the Secret Chiefs really exist, they would chose vessals that are hidden, or at least more humble than those who shout their contact with them at the top of their lungs.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Pooling resources
One of the most important reasons for lodges to exist is to allow their members pool resources.
Historically, this motive was behind the large numbers of lodges that existed a century ago. The purpose behind many of them were the type of social safety net that we now expect our government to provide. My grandmother belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America, which was basically an insurance company with lodge rituals. And when the government started to provide the safety net, the lodges numbers started to drop.
But providing a social safety net is not the only goal that lodges can pool their resources towards. Like for instance, in Golden Dawn, a full set of lodge equipment can be time consuming and expensive to assemble. Plus many of the more valuable texts are out of print. A lodge can assemble to collect library resources for its membership, or to exchange reading material and lessons with one another.
And it is not just old books that are expensive. Some of the newer books can be expensive also. I was reminded of this fact the other day when I brought a copy of Steve Nichols "Enochian Chess Four Board Set." Privately published though Lulu (a Print On Demand Service), it is expensive (in part due to the fact that copies are made one at a time, rather than in the big lots major publishers use). In my review of the kit (the above link), I had mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, I could see the reason for it to exist (it provides a quick way to make an Enochian Chess set). And the other hand, it is so expensive that I am not sure if it is good enourgh to justify the cost of it. Now if a lodge brought it, the entire group could use it and the per person cost would be lower.
So it is something to consider if you belong to a lodge; perhaps you want to pool resources together in order to defray the cost of assembling a decent library and set of tools.
(The issue of how to adminster such a library and tool set I will discuss another time.)
Historically, this motive was behind the large numbers of lodges that existed a century ago. The purpose behind many of them were the type of social safety net that we now expect our government to provide. My grandmother belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America, which was basically an insurance company with lodge rituals. And when the government started to provide the safety net, the lodges numbers started to drop.
But providing a social safety net is not the only goal that lodges can pool their resources towards. Like for instance, in Golden Dawn, a full set of lodge equipment can be time consuming and expensive to assemble. Plus many of the more valuable texts are out of print. A lodge can assemble to collect library resources for its membership, or to exchange reading material and lessons with one another.
And it is not just old books that are expensive. Some of the newer books can be expensive also. I was reminded of this fact the other day when I brought a copy of Steve Nichols "Enochian Chess Four Board Set." Privately published though Lulu (a Print On Demand Service), it is expensive (in part due to the fact that copies are made one at a time, rather than in the big lots major publishers use). In my review of the kit (the above link), I had mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, I could see the reason for it to exist (it provides a quick way to make an Enochian Chess set). And the other hand, it is so expensive that I am not sure if it is good enourgh to justify the cost of it. Now if a lodge brought it, the entire group could use it and the per person cost would be lower.
So it is something to consider if you belong to a lodge; perhaps you want to pool resources together in order to defray the cost of assembling a decent library and set of tools.
(The issue of how to adminster such a library and tool set I will discuss another time.)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
So who should decide the purpose?
So given the many things that Golden Dawn could be, we need a definition what is Golden Dawn. As a working definition, let’s borrow from John Michael Greer, and say that a Golden Dawn lodge is a group of people who come together to pool resources for a common purpose while using the rituals and material of Golden Dawn to further their way towards that common purpose.
The definition is a little wordy, but it is much simpler than many essay length definitions I have seen. And it does have the advantage of allowing change to happen in the system, the only constant is being the base line rituals and material.
The definition does have the disadvantage of leaving the door open to any group that decides to use the published Golden Dawn material to call itself Golden Dawn. Personally, I would consider not doing that; may I suggest the term “Golden Dawn based group” instead. Between certain legal issues (a small trademark dispute) and the large amount of expectations and misconceptions about what Golden Dawn is, claiming that one’s is the Golden Dawn is a hazard that one should really look carefully at before stepping into that particular bog.
So given our definition, what should the common goal of a Golden Dawn based group be? And who should decide what it is?
My suggestion is that the purpose should be decided by the members of the group. And I would also not set it into stone too solidly. Yes, by doing so, it does allow the purpose of a group to change as the membership changes (as new members join, and old members leave). I realize that having a fluid, ever-changing purpose will distress some people (for them, there are several Golden Dawn Orders whose purpose is set in stone).
Probably the most common purpose, and the one that Bast Temple (and the BIORC) was set up for, is to perform the initiation rituals and study the Golden Dawn material (both the published and unpublished material). And yes, it may seem strange to advise a changeable purpose when the one I belong to has a set purpose; having such a mission statement on the top of the bylaws is always an option, and besides we don’t say what material we are focused on--the focus of the group’s studies changes as the membership does.
So given the fact that the membership of the group decides the purpose, who decides the membership?
In many Golden Dawn groups, this honor goes to the original founder(s) of the group. This tactic is rooted in the General Orders issued by Mathers--one is granted membership by, and is allowed to continue as a member, only by the sufferance of the Chief Adept.
This is where I part paths with a lot of people. I think, that after the initial membership is gathered, the membership should be allowed to determine who is allowed to join. It works for the Freemasons; why not Golden Dawn based groups?
Many people will answer that it completely ignores the whole spiritual development concept of Golden Dawn, something that may not be in play in all Golden Dawn based groups. Besides what new Golden Dawn group, or old one for that matter, can claim to be enlightened, or have made significant progress on that route? After all, what good would an Order have for an enlightened being?
The definition is a little wordy, but it is much simpler than many essay length definitions I have seen. And it does have the advantage of allowing change to happen in the system, the only constant is being the base line rituals and material.
The definition does have the disadvantage of leaving the door open to any group that decides to use the published Golden Dawn material to call itself Golden Dawn. Personally, I would consider not doing that; may I suggest the term “Golden Dawn based group” instead. Between certain legal issues (a small trademark dispute) and the large amount of expectations and misconceptions about what Golden Dawn is, claiming that one’s is the Golden Dawn is a hazard that one should really look carefully at before stepping into that particular bog.
So given our definition, what should the common goal of a Golden Dawn based group be? And who should decide what it is?
My suggestion is that the purpose should be decided by the members of the group. And I would also not set it into stone too solidly. Yes, by doing so, it does allow the purpose of a group to change as the membership changes (as new members join, and old members leave). I realize that having a fluid, ever-changing purpose will distress some people (for them, there are several Golden Dawn Orders whose purpose is set in stone).
Probably the most common purpose, and the one that Bast Temple (and the BIORC) was set up for, is to perform the initiation rituals and study the Golden Dawn material (both the published and unpublished material). And yes, it may seem strange to advise a changeable purpose when the one I belong to has a set purpose; having such a mission statement on the top of the bylaws is always an option, and besides we don’t say what material we are focused on--the focus of the group’s studies changes as the membership does.
So given the fact that the membership of the group decides the purpose, who decides the membership?
In many Golden Dawn groups, this honor goes to the original founder(s) of the group. This tactic is rooted in the General Orders issued by Mathers--one is granted membership by, and is allowed to continue as a member, only by the sufferance of the Chief Adept.
This is where I part paths with a lot of people. I think, that after the initial membership is gathered, the membership should be allowed to determine who is allowed to join. It works for the Freemasons; why not Golden Dawn based groups?
Many people will answer that it completely ignores the whole spiritual development concept of Golden Dawn, something that may not be in play in all Golden Dawn based groups. Besides what new Golden Dawn group, or old one for that matter, can claim to be enlightened, or have made significant progress on that route? After all, what good would an Order have for an enlightened being?
Sunday, November 4, 2007
To continue as a lodge or not...
One of the things that has been on my mind lately is whether or not, the lodge I belong to is going to continue to exist. We are in one of those periodic membership crisises that it seems prone to. And we just lost our most experienced officer.
It is times like this that I look at the mission statement and ask if the lodge needs to continue. The purpose that Bast Temple was formed for was to provide classes and initiation into the Golden Dawn system.
With the arrival of the Esoteric Order of Golden Dawn in Denver, a Sanctuary (whatever that is--I think a Sanctuary is a study circle), does Bast Temple even need to continue?
I guess it going to depend upon who you ask. For me, involvement with the EOGD is just not going to cut it; I am not the right religion to be a member of their Inner Order if the rumors are true. And they do not exactly approve of what some of the things that I was taught, the expansions of the Inner Order material in particular.
Besides, I am a poor college student, and I understand their dues are much higher than Bast Temple's. So for me, Bast Temple still has a function.
I wonder what the rest of the lodge is going to vote. We will see today.
It is times like this that I look at the mission statement and ask if the lodge needs to continue. The purpose that Bast Temple was formed for was to provide classes and initiation into the Golden Dawn system.
With the arrival of the Esoteric Order of Golden Dawn in Denver, a Sanctuary (whatever that is--I think a Sanctuary is a study circle), does Bast Temple even need to continue?
I guess it going to depend upon who you ask. For me, involvement with the EOGD is just not going to cut it; I am not the right religion to be a member of their Inner Order if the rumors are true. And they do not exactly approve of what some of the things that I was taught, the expansions of the Inner Order material in particular.
Besides, I am a poor college student, and I understand their dues are much higher than Bast Temple's. So for me, Bast Temple still has a function.
I wonder what the rest of the lodge is going to vote. We will see today.
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