Secrets declassified (Golden Dawn edition)

Awhile back, one of my friends joked that our experience with dealing with dubious occult leaders was preparation and practice for living in a world ran by Donald Trump. I forget which of my friends said this, so you are just going to have complain to me about the comment (at this point, I assume that my friend is grateful that I forgotten their identity because they didn't want your nasty comments on their Facebook wall).


And I really had to agree the other day when America learned that President Trump had revealed secret information to the Russians as proof that he had the best intel ever. His defense? Oh, as President I have the right to declassify any information that he wants to.


And that sounded remarkably like a dubious occult leader saying, "I am the Grand Poohbah of all things occult--therefore, I can reveal any secrets that I like, because my imaginary friends say that I can."


So has the behavior and actions of dubious occult leaders been a training ground in how to deal with The Donald? Here are some examples of how secrecy has been treated in the esoteric community.


Reveal one: A favorite tactic of dubious occult leaders is to publish the work of other less-capable leaders and occult authorities--all in the name of "protecting potential students from the evils committed by that other group that is not as good as mine."


Reveal two: Airing the dirty laundry of former members. "So-and-so left (was expelled from) the group--and this is a good thing because 1) they are a convict (who conned me into giving them membership); 2) mentally unstable and seeing a doctor (and now they are taking a dozen meds per hour, so sad!); 3) conspiring to destroy me (proof: they keep saying bad things about me--all fake!).


Reveal three: Declaring that everything published about a system is Outer Order. "And by the way, my imaginary friends have given me boatloads of real secrets to make up for this because I am the bestest occult leader ever! Give me your money! And pay no attention to claims about how the occult is a graded system which is meant to gradually initiate and instruct you--because I can do years of advancement in just one session! Give me your money!"


Reveal four: Regardie, Crowley, and all those other nasty writers profaned the material..."But no problem--my imaginary friends have rewritten the rituals and lessons to restore secrecy. Plus they gave the new material only to me! Give me your money!"


Reveal five: Westcott leaving documents in a cab--bosses shocked that he is raising corpses! "And if you cross me, I will also tattle to your bosses that you are a necromancer--because it is tradition to reveal that secret to the bosses of the unworthy."


Reveal six: Nondisclosure agreements. "Remember that only I have the right to teach the stuff that I am teaching you. So no photocopying my lessons--not even if you cite me as their source."


Reveal seven: Offering to certify your group if you send them your proof of lineage and your secret documents. "Don't worry--I will send you back your originals, and I will honestly admit that I got the material from you, and would never dream of not certifying you. After all, I have the best lineage of all, and all the super-duper secrets, and that is proof that I am the best and most honest leader ever!"

"If these documents are discovered in a cab, please send them to this address--thank you, William Wynn Westcott."

Cover-up one: Getting the best reviews. "All of the reviews of my course are positive. No one ever says anything bad about my course. All those positive reviews are proof that I am the best ever. And all those negative reviews are Fake! So sad!"


Cover-up two: Funny masks. "And we are now wearing funny masks because some of our members are CEOs and famous politicians who do not want the public to know that they are a member of our Order. You can trust me--by the way, they told me that Pizza Gate was real!"


Cover-up three: Secret chiefs. "I am the only person in contact with the people who created our esoteric tradition. They live on a mountain in Tibet, yet were wise enough to see that I am the only person brilliant enough to bring magic into the twenty-first century. Give me your money!"


Cover-up four: Members keeping silent. "My members keep silent about my misdeeds because I have never committed any. And their silence proves that your wallet, credit rating, and young children (especially the virgins) are safe with me. Never mind that those who claim that they are silent because they are scared that I might set their car on fire. Such nonsense is Fake News!"


Cover-up five: The amazing catapult of lawyers. "Please erase all your vicious lies and publically apologize for saying that my pickle is very small, and that I can't hex my way out of a wet paper bag. Remember only the greatest esoteric leaders end up with free lawyers. And I have the best lawyer. The very best."


Cover-up six: Fixing your book reviews. "Your book is nothing more than a pack of lies. Therefore, I have told all my friends, members, and relatives to give it the one star book review that you so richly deserve. Remember that only my book is worth buying. It is the greatest occult book ever. And I did not use a ghost writer, or copy the work of other people--any such evidence to the contrary is proof that time travelers are trying to destroy me and my group."


Cover-up seven: My name, my papers. "Dear public library, I have recently trademarked the name 'The Greatest Occult group ever' and now retroactively own every paper ever written by the great occultists of the past. You are hereby ordered to remove from circulation all esoteric material by every occultist ever to live, and send the documents to me. Remember a Big Name Trademark Brand proves that I am the best, and therefore you must obey my request."


So what do you think? Do dubious occult leaders sound just like President Donald "Jesus" Trump? Are they his secret love children? Has their behavior prepared you for living in Trump World?


Are you an evil witch or magician who thinks that Trump is going to give the nuclear launch codes to the Russians? Consider taking part in the global monthly waning crescent moon ritual to bind the actions of President Donald J. Trump.
For full text of Global Binding Ritual of Trump, click here. 

Dates for future Global Bind Donald J. Trump rituals 

[Asterisked * dates are slightly moved from the last quarter crescent moon to occur on significant dates.]

2017

February 24; March 26; April 24; May 23; *June 21* (*Summer Solstice*); July 21; August 19; September 18; October 17; November 16; December 16

For a full list of future Bind Trump dates, click here. 

The Magic Machine by Nick Farrell (book review)

One of the things that amuses me is the occasional outpouring of "secrets must be kept" when someone dares to publish something that is already well past its "keep secret until" date. Today, the source of my amusement was the debate on whether or not, Nick Farrell should have published pictures of the walls of the Vault of the Adepts.

My own position...well let's see...

Venus Vault Wall Study.

...I first published a set of Vault wall studies on this blog starting in June 2009, shortly after the Book of the Tomb was open-sourced by Nick Farrell. And I have kicked around actually doing some Vault wall merchandise...something that I may still do. After all, a quick image search on Google will yield dozens of hits, and there are some crass people already doing Rose Cross lamen merchandise (all seem to be using the same picture to boot). So I really think that secrecy on this particular subject has flown the coop. It is now time to start making sure that people are getting it right. Now that my position on secrecy and much of it still apllies to the Vault walls is out of the way, let's move on to reviewing the book in question.

As I have already said, secrecy has flown the coop on this one--it is time to make sure that people are getting it right. And this is what The Magic Machine--The Golden Dawn Vault in Colour by Nick Farrell is about, helping people get the vault colors right.

The most valuable piece of this book is the eight colored plates showing the general key to the background color of the Vault walls, and the individual planetary Vault walls. And while I prefer mixed pigments over pixels, I wish I would had this book earlier in my occult career when I was preparing to build a Vault of the Adepts.

(Before you ask, the project never got past the study stage, due to the sudden vacating of anyone who might have needed to be vaulted by the current lodge that I belong to...it was a strange summer that year.)

Comparing my first study and later ones (I have done several over the years) to the plates in The Magic Machine, I am comforted to see that I am in the general ballpark, not exactly the same colors as Farrell is using, but close enough when one accounts for the difference in methods used. It was also comforting to read that someone else stumbled upon the problem with the Vault's ceiling--something that drives me a little batty.

Now I imagine that some people in the Golden Dawn tradition will claim that he is wrong about how the colors are created. Of course, if he is wrong, then so am I--and I was initially working from the texts published by Regardie and some misc. unpublished notes from a modern Order, and not directly from the Book of the Tomb. Then again, I just shake my head about how the critics have done their own Vaults--it is like they are working from a completely different set of instructions that have nothing to do with any actual Golden Dawn material.

Besides the meat of the book, Farrell does give hints on how to use the pictures, general information about the Vault of the Adepts, and a nice set of planetary deity calls to key your work with the Vault walls to.

I recommend getting this book if you ever think that you might need to build a Vault or work with one.

Five out of five stars.

The Magic Machine--The Golden Dawn Vault in Colour is a limited edition hard-cover book available from Lulu. 

[Required FTC disclosure: This review was based on a low res electronic copy of the book given to the reviewer to ensure a timely review of the book.]

Me and the Secret Chiefs

The Secret Chiefs have awesome super-powers. Honest, Mathers said so.

I would be amiss in my duties as a wise-cracking Golden Dawn commenter if I did not at least write something about the Secret Chiefs before the August 5th deadline for them to meet Nick Farrell. So here goes.

Most of my readers know that I joke about cats being the Secret Chiefs. Yet in my honest opinion, cats are as reasonable as Secret Chiefs as every other claim I have ever heard for them (Secret Chiefs, that it). I mean cats want your attention only when it is convenient for them, and they tend to be rather close lipped about what they actually know, and they insist that your house belongs to them without them doing a lick of work, and they spend a lot of time on the astral...sounds like a Secret Chief to me.

I came to the conclusion that I would rather have cats as my Secret Chiefs after many, many encounters with people claiming to be the Secret Chiefs, or claiming to be the gate-keeper for the Secret Chiefs, or claiming to channel the Secret Chiefs. Yes, I have dealt with people who claimed astral and physical Secret Chief contacts--sometimes in the exact same breath--if not, outright claiming to be Secret Chiefs themselves. I have been given information from the Secret Chiefs, and I have read lessons and new regulations that they have given their chosen mouthpieces. And honestly, my cats make more sense as they run around the house at four in the morning chasing a moth.

On top of this, I have dollop of talent as a medium. I had whole conversations with people that I do not remember; I have written papers that I do not remember writing; I have told people what was about to happen in the tone of someone terribly amused about how tiny human beings are. Hell, on that basis alone, I could be the mouthpiece and gatekeeper for the Secret Chiefs. A modified Drawing Down ritual and a loud set of drums, and I would be good to go.

(Yes, I am a Wiccan who knows how to do a Drawing Down...or is that a witch, or is that a Satanist...I am a little behind in reading the latest conspiracy theories about my so-called Masters.)

And in all this time, I have not seen anything that makes me think that the Secret Chiefs are the crowning development and guiding force behind the esoteric Orders (and its occult traditions) and history itself. In fact, the information given seem only as good as the person that is doing the talking for them. The concept of the Secret Chief seems to be more of a working tool for controlling groups and bull-shitting information than a hard reality that can be tested and measured without having to resort to blind faith and obedience.

This is why I will never believe in the validity of Secret Chief claims or demands. It would take some super-duper esoteric secrets to even get me to entertain the notion that a claim was true. The proof would have to top everything that I have ever seen and heard, plus would have to withstand a heavy background check to ensure that the information did not came out of a forgotten book or manuscript in some backwater library.

So despite the fact that some people insist that I am missing the boat by not believing in the real Secret Chiefs behind the esoteric tradition, I will stick to listening to my cats. If nothing else, I like them better than anyone I have even met that claimed access to the Secret Chiefs and their teachings.

Book development is sooo ssslllloooow

It took forever for this book to reach print.

[File this post under: Morgan's mind is that of a lunatic without a real sense of direction.]

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I couldn't wait to talk about this book, Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls by the Golden Dawn Community, until after the official announcement, then I wandered off and talked about gardening and expensive herbs instead...which made sense to some people, but not to others.

Truth of the matter is that I might (not) have adult ADHD, wanted to get as much gardening done before the heat wave started, have a lovely wife who was tired of looking at the weeds (and is unwilling to allow me to figure out how to utilize them for magical purposes because they are not pretty weeds); and most importantly, I had already spent a year NOT talking about this project (outside of the occasional vague comment that all of a sudden makes sense to those people who were not in the loop) and adding to my stock of ebooks seemed more important (because multiple pen-names means lots of work).

[Is that the longest sentence that I have ever wrote on this blog? Probably not...but it is pretty long, isn't it?]

Yeah, I had already spent a year being silent about this upcoming book. And people claim that I can't keep a secret--hehe--and that the Golden Dawn community can't either--hehe.

And I came into the process very late, so this book was in the pipeline for several years.

A few years ago, Person H (who may or may not want to admit to who they are) came up with an idea for a joint Golden Dawn community building book, centered around the Flying Rolls.

(The Flying Rolls, for those who have not spent hours reading them and/or studying the history of the original Golden Dawn Order, were documents passed hand-to-hand among the original actual Adept Minors [as opposed to the nominal "in name only" Adept Minors who existed before the Vault of the Adepts and the 5=6 initiation ritual was developed]. Think of the Flying Rolls as a stop-gap lesson system issued in the form of a circular chain letter. Some of the Flying Rolls are were just a few sentences; others are longer; none of them are well-constructed by literary standards. The Flying Rolls are the "oral tradition" of the original Golden Dawn; some of them originally were given as actual lectures in lodge. The term, Flying Roll, actually comes from the Bible, from the book of Zechariah.)

[Zechariah 5:1-4 Once again I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, a scroll was flying. [[The angel]] said to me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a flying scroll: twenty cubits in width and ten cubits in length." He said to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the surface of the whole land. For [heretofore] anyone who steals has been absolved of such a curse; and everyone who swears [falsely] has absolved of such a curse. I have taken it out [the curse]--the word of HASHEM, Master of Legions--and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely in My Name, and it shall lodge within his house and annihilate it, with its wood and stones." *Stone edition of the Tanach*]

(The size of the scroll is the same size as the Sanctuary doorway. This is an interesting section to study considering the amount of oath-breaking allegations that has been placed on the Order's doorstep. Anyways, back to the story at hand...)

Person H went to a few publishers, including the biggest, with their idea, and was soundly rejected by all. So the idea was placed on the back burner (at this stage, the ebook market does not function well at all, so that is not an option either).

(I also abandoned certain projects for the lack of publishing support...)

Now, over the last few years, given the abandonment of the publishing of GD material by the bigger publishers, a set of small publishers have arose to focus on the small Golden Dawn readership (less than a thousand? who knows?). And Person H finally had one of them agree to help them get this project done.

(...but in my case, I chose the self-published route of ebooks instead.)

At this point, the project becomes very interesting. As a book, just a clean version of the Flying Rolls that were double-checked with original copies would be of value to the GD community (because the King version were suspected to be corrupt and incomplete), but the inclusion of commentary by the entire Golden Dawn community would be a welcome insight in how the community actually operated and thought.

When one looks at the range of the people involved in making commentaries in this book, Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls by the Golden Dawn Community, you see all the major groups (and one minor group) were involved.

The contributors to this book include: Frater A.M., Frater AR, Deanna Bonds, Christopher Bradford, Chic Cicero, Sandra Tabatha Cicero, Ian Cowburn, Morgan Drake Eckstein, Nick Farrell, Paola Farrell, Lauren Gardner, Jayne Gibson, Frater Goya, VH Frater IOV, Aaron Leitch, Liza Llewellyn, Joseph Max, Frater Philomancer, VH Soror QQDAM, Samuel Scarborough, Eric V. Sisco, Rachael Walker, Sam Webster, Harry Wendrich, Peregrin Wildoak, Frater Yechidah, Frater YShY.

The author list also provides proof that a large part of the Golden Dawn community are actually in communication with one another, all the major voices (and one minor voice) are involved. This project was a "word-of-mouth" project, people became involved as the chain letter spread. Given there are only thirty-six Flying Rolls (from the original Order), at a certain point all the Rolls had commenters and the chain letter stopped. Pickings were slim by the time I got involved (my group is minor and unimportant located on the outskirts of what is Golden Dawn, and I am a minor voice in the GD community on the very edge of the grapevine), but ironically I ended up able to grab the Flying Roll I most wanted to talk about (some Goddess likes me).

[Some of my statements over the years are all of a sudden going to make sense because what I wrote about is important to how the BIORC thinks about certain matters.]

One of the difficulties involved in a project like this is the bookkeeping nightmare of dividing up royalties among the writers. The solution in this case was for all the writers to donate their royalties to a commonly agreed upon charity--the Golden Dawn Legal Defense Fund. In fact...

(Yes, none of the writers, except the controllers of the Legal Defense Fund receive a dime of profit from this book. And the Legal Defense Fund is only a threat to people who believe that they are going to end up in court arguing over who rightfully should control the entirety of the Golden Dawn tradition. If you do not believe that you are going to end up in court, why not help those who made sure that we can all use the GD name recoup their legal expenses.)

...I am considering a project that would end up with the projects going to a charity (but the charity would involve homeless cats because I am that dude).

And I am positive it was a year ago when I turned in my commentary...

(I remember that it was right around the same time that someone told me that it was perfectly ok for my reputation to be destroyed because I did not belong to a certain Order [by someone high enough in that Order that it has to be official policy to destroy the reputation of outsiders], and people wonder why I do not trust certain people [who make claims that they like everyone, and are not out to destroy us...but one of your lieutenants says otherwise]; I had been busy defending the reputation of another writer, silly me.)

...but I am too lazy to dig though my sent emails.

The book is going to reveal how widely different the approaches to the Golden Dawn system are in the modern Golden Dawn community. While I only read a partial proof (it will be awhile before I can afford a copy...the reason I am taking time off from university is to repair my business and restore its income levels), I did find another commentary on a different Flying Roll that completely disagreed with mine. And that is ok. (I have joked that my commentary was written by a lunatic in crayon on the back of a cereal box while out of the special brownies--hey, I live in Colorado; I can eat the special brownies.) And there are certain Flying Rolls that I would have treated completely differently in a commentary, but it is all good because the book is about making you actually think about the Golden Dawn system.

Anyways, yes, this book has been a long time in coming out. The traditional publishing process is so slow. And the very nature of this project just dragged it out even longer.

But I think that we will all agree that the book was worth the wait.

Cannot wait to talk about this book

Cover for Commentaries on the Golden Dawn Flying Rolls by the GD Community.

I can't wait to talk about this book. Yes, I know something about this project which has been in the pipeline for a little over a year. For those who do not think that GD members can keep a secret...well, this was a closely guarded secret. Would like to say more, but I am going to be a good lad and wait until Kerubim Press (KP on Facebook) makes their official announcement about this book. (They did the reveal of the cover today, so I think that this blog post is ok.) And yes, I am so going to write a book review on this one; conflict of interest be hanged.

QoD Xander Harris on the importance of secrecy

Xander Harris reveals the real reason to keep a secret.

"The more people who the secret, the more it cheapens it for the rest of us."--Xander Harris.

[Yes, I am watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and yes, I know that no one really believes that is the real reason why we keep secrets. Nevertheless, I thought it was a cute quote.]

Membership is the product

Reading the comment section of another blog, I realized that I did not make a certain point clear in my last blog post. (I was bored, and stuck on a plot point in the science fiction mystery that I am writing...if it matters about why I was surfing the internet and not writing this morning.) I also realized that some people consider everything about them...and a two years ago, it would have been all about someone else that they hated--would someone please pass the "center of the universe" stick to the right because not everything is about what a great gift you are to the universe.

(And seriously, when do I get my turn to hold that sacred stick of importance?!)

Anyway, the point I failed to make clear in my secrecy as a business model post was the fact that it is the membership that is the overpriced product that underlies the accusation that secret societies are nothing more than money making scams for their leaders.

The membership in the secret society is the product.

You do not need to sell anything else to be accused of running a scam. Just collect membership dues and you too can be called a slimy con-artist. Selling unicorn wands, fairy success dust, and thistle poppets just adds fuel to the fuel of the toasty bonfire roasting your reputation, but the collection of membership dues is the match that sets off the blaze in the first place.

And this is not just something that came out of our "all secrets and techniques should be freely given" New Age culture--no, this has been true for three hundred years at least. Don't believe me? Consider this. In 1717, the Freemasons binded together in their first Grand Lodge, so that they could separate the legit members from the false members; it turns out that some pub owners were selling Freemason memberships to their customers along with watered-down ale. Shortly after that, we start to see the first accusations and publication of the Freemasonic rituals and secrets. And there is not a pixie chalice anywhere in sight for sale.

The simple fact that you are collecting membership dues is enourgh to cause someone to scream bloody murder that you are taking advantage of people. This is why all esoteric Orders have been accused of this at one time or another (normally by upset ex-members or their rivals)--in fact, being accused of being a con-artist is almost a badge of honour; it shows that one has grown big enourgh to annoy someone else.

And for the curious, yes, I am going to be running a summer special on fairy success dust (or fairy sh** as I like to call it) and thistle poppets (bumper crop this spring)--everything will be sold at bonfire prices, so get your money ready because Mad Uncle Morgan is selling it all!

Secrecy as a business model

One of the periodic accusations that one hears about the secret societies is that the whole system is a money making system for a few people at the top of the system. The earliest example of this accusation that I have encountered involves Freemasonry (an example of such was given in a previous Quote of the Day post); but I do understand that there is an earlier one about the Rosicrucians (but I am not sure that it is about the RC, as much as alchemists in general). And I have heard this about all existing esoteric Orders--OTO, Golden Dawn, BOTA, AO, AMORC, etc.

If one believes even a fraction of the accusations, one must conclude that all the secret and esoteric societies are nothing more than a scam to make money for their leadership.

And even when there is no one at top to recieve the riches of excess dues and fees, an Order can still be accused of being nothing more than a business opportunity for its membership. For instance, nowadays, you do not hear of the leaders of Freemasonry living off of excess dues, but you hear a lot of people accuse the entire system of being a network of favored contacts which give work and opportunites only to those who are fellow members of the fraternity.

Now, we must admit it happens. I am quite sure that most of my readers can point to an esoteric Order...or two...or six...that can reasonably be accused of such behavior. Part of the problem is the fact that in an esoteric Order that has a single person at top, the chore of running the organization is overwhelming and the person tends to end up neglecting their day job...with the Order often having to pick up the loss of income for the leader's missed opportunities. But unfortunately, this is only part of the problem.

A larger part of the problem is the fact that secrecy can be a key method of turning an esoteric society into a money making system.

For instance, lets look at my favorite tradition---the Golden Dawn. In past posts, I have speculated that the number of people in the Golden Dawn market is about a thousand people (and even if it is not, it is a nice round number to use for this example). If you can convince a thousand people to shell out a $120 a year in dues and fees, you have a pie of $120,000. Now the trick for such a market is to get it all--if you can corner the market, then you can squeeze it for a big paycheck. For instance, with a monopoly, one could keep their operating expenses down to $20 a person. This may seem small, but if you have the entire market cornered, then it is an operating budget of twenty thousand a year. This would leave a hundred thousand annually for the person at the top--it is a nice profit margin.

Of course, in mainstream Golden Dawn, this is impossible. In order to make it work, you would have to prevent anyone else from serving the same community. The more competition there is, the lower the profit margin. In fact, given the amount of information that has been published about Golden Dawn and its offshoots over the years, it is next to impossible to accomplish. Not that it has not stopped people from trying to do so.

(Before anyone thinks that I am talking about them, just remember that everyone points fingers at their enemies with this accusation. You point at me; I point at you--it is all rather childish. And I do know for fact that some Orders which are operating in the red, with the leader picking up the slack, has been accused of this crime. So let's not point fingers unless you have proof in the form of a ledger or two. And if you believe that I am describing your behavior, well, just remember that certain forms of behavior just worries me.)

So let's say you wanted to run an esoteric system as a money making system, how would you go about it? Well, first you need to make sure that you have an absolute monopoly, that you are the sole source of information. Then you want to make sure that no one ever advances far enourgh to threaten that monopoly, and that no one can use your lessons and names and labels without a major court case. At the same time, you want a series of endless lessons to cater for anyone that keeps mailing you their annual dues...without any real tests to prevent them from recieving more lessons.

And then...and here where it becomes about secrecy...you want to go as far towards the absolute secrecy side of the spectrum as you can, giving out only commonly known stuff to whet people's appetites, leaving just hints that the next level is where all the really important stuff is hidden. And the first thing that you make secret? The very fact that you have set up an esoteric Order to be your own personal piggy bank.

The thing that prevents Golden Dawn from being a good esoteric cash cow is simply the fact that way too much of the information is publically available. For a couple of hundred dollars, you can own the backbone of lore and rituals that is the Golden Dawn tradition. To make money off an esoteric system, you need to make sure that you are the only source for the information; and Golden Dawn is definitely not ideal for that goal...not that this fact has not stopped people from trying to do so.

Qod Freemasonry as a fraud and money machine

The following is a biased conclusion drawn from a treasury report of the Keystone Lodge (no. 639) presented in 1870 and used in Ronayne's Hand-Book of Freemasonry (1917) to justify his printing of the Freemasonry rituals. [Please bear in mind that this quote is a set-up for the next post in my secrecy series, and should not be viewed as my opinion of Freemasonry.]

[What becomes of all the Masonic money?]

With regard to this official document [a treasury report], it will be sufficient to remark that it indelibly stamps every single transaction in the organization of Keystone Lodge, No. 639, as a wilful and deliberate steal, from beginning to end. First, every candidate was defrauded in the sum of $64.25, by being charged $65, in all for his three degrees, when the officers and members of that Lodge knew, just as well as they did their own names, that those very same degrees,--word for word, and in better form,--could be purchased of any regular book-seller in the country for 75 cents at most.

Secondly, the money thus fraudulently obtained from "the poor, blind candidate," was in its turn stolen by Moses Shields, their Worshipful Master, and by others, thus very forcibly proving the truth of that old adage--"Ill got, ill gone."

Thirdly, the Grand Lodge of Illinois, for the sum of $75, gave them permission to open their Masonic confidence shop and to sell Masonic so-called secrets to any white man of mature age, who might be foolish enourgh to buy them, thus encouraging and perpetuating the fraud by issuing its charter or warrant, empowering them to work.

In this manner, Freemason Lodges are organized and the money fliched from the poor, selfish, deluded dupes who join them, is disposed of. Every Masonic Lodge in the world is a fraud; the sale of its sham degrees is but obtaining money under false pretenses; and what is worse, the Masons themselves know it. This being the case, then, and desiring to do what I can towards exposing the swindle and the outrageous humbug of these dark gangs of conspiracy, I would earnestly call the reader's attention to [Ronayne's Hand-Book of Freemasonry], as containing the literally correct ritual and work of Freemasonry.

No such thing as secrecy

Besides the two extremes of the secrecy spectrum and the numerous points between the two extremes, there is also a point that is completely off of the spectrum. And that is the position that there is no such thing as "esoteric secrets."

This is not the same as believing that all the secrets can be told because the true esoteric secret lays in the experience and work.

No, this is a belief that all the esoteric secrets are "artificial" and merely exist to control the membership of a secret society. In other words, the esoteric secrets that an initiate is sworn to maintain are merely to conceal the fact that a leader(s) is using the secret society for another purpose...think conspiracy, sex, and money.

Now, one can believe in the esoteric secrets and still think that someone at the top of the pyramid is misusing their membership. Both the believer and the non-believer in esoteric secrets will admit that secrets are wonderful way to keep members in a group. The difference is that the non-believer in esoteric secrets believes that all secrecy is bad while the esoteric believer will argue that perhaps even a mis-ran group can lead to some good if it actually has a few real esoteric secrets in it.

An important question that every member of a secret society has to answer for themselves is: Does the benefit of the esoteric secrets one is given outweigh all the grief that one has to put up with in order to recieve them?

Complete absence of secrecy

On the exact opposite side of the secrecy spectrum from the use of absolute and total secrecy is the complete absence of secrecy. This is commonly referred to as the "shout the secrets from the rooftop" school of secrecy.

There have been many occultists who have believed that the only people who can understand the reality behind the secrets that the esoteric traditions guard are those who have done the work of the traditions. In other words, only experience in the esoteric traditions will allow you to be able to understand the truth of the secrets of the traditions.

Because of this belief, the members of this school of thought see no problem with publishing the various parts of the esoteric systems. After all, the only people who will be able to understand the texts are those people who are already inside the traditions themselves.

The exoteric example of this idea is the person who has never driven a car. One can read all the car manuals, Department of Motor Vehicles booklets, racing guides and what not as you like; but to truly understand the experience of driving a car, one must get behind the wheel of a car and actually drive one down the road. Not even a video game can actually convey the actual experience.

Other exoteric example that is often used is how only actual sexual intercourse can enlighten a virgin to the ins and outs of sex.

Based on my personal experiences, I will admit that I see a lot of merit in this school of thought. Nevertheless, I still remain somewhere between the two extremes (absolute secrecy and complete lack of secrecy) for I have discovered that there are some things that you can only accomplish through the use of secrecy--or at least, secrecy seems to be the best tool for certain goals.

Spectrum of secrecy

One of the ways to view the entire concept of secrecy is to look at as a spectrum.

On one end, we have the most extreme view of secrecy, where secrecy is absolute and nothing can ever be revealed. And on the other end, the other extreme of secrecy and how it is dealt with is an utter disregard for secrecy.

In between these two points, there are lots of positions and takes on the matter of secrecy. Exactly what position is the correct one is open to debate...at least, the matter is open to debate in my opinion.

My own view of secrecy has changed over the years and probably will continue changing with additional experience. My personal position is someplace between the two extremes, and is unlikely to hit either end of the secrecy spectrum.

And no, I do not consider it anyone's business (outside of the membership of my local lodge) which middle position that I view as the current postion.

Ultimate extreme of secrecy

Here is a comment that I made on another blog that I want to expand on:

By the extreme rule of secrecy, everything is oath-bound and nothing can ever be said (or written) unless the person you are talking to was involved in an intiation or ritual that you were physically present at.

In other words, anything that was ever secret is still considered oathbound. And nothing can ever be removed from the oathbound category once it was declared oathbound.

By the way, this means that not only were Israel Regardie and Aleister Crowley oathbreakers, but so was William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell (MacGregor) Mathers...because they all wrote about things that at one time was covered under the secrecy oaths of a previous esoteric tradition or society.

This is the ultimate extreme of secrecy. It is the extreme rule that says that if you are involved in the esoteric, you never, ever talk about it in public. The only time you talk about the esoteric and oathbound material is behind closed doors with a guard outside.

This is a level of secrecy that no esoteric writer (or blogger) can actually uphold. You cannot even advertise your own esoteric society if you are obeying this extreme understanding of secrecy.

Therefore, I honestly do not know anyone who goes this extreme route...except for those who would like no one else to talk about the esoteric. These are typically students who think that they understand the real purpose of secrecy, and have missed the boat. I think that we have all dealt with these people at one time or another.

By the way, one of the weird things about this level of secrecy is that stuff that the esoteric traditions adapt and take into their system also becomes oathbound. For the instance, the Hebrew alphabet, invented for things like accounting, once taken into an esoteric system (Kabbalah) is now considered oathbound and secret. Therefore even the proper order of the Hebrew Alphabet cannot be discussed if you are an initiate of an extreme secrecy tradition without a guard at the door.

Basic math, the ability to start a fire, most mythology, color theory---all these subjects you have to quit talking about if you are a member of the extreme secrecy camp.

If you find this extreme level of secrecy silly, you are not alone. But just remember there are those students out there, who despite discovering the first hints of the esoteric traditions from books, who believe that this is the level of secrecy that the esoteric traditions have to adhere to.

You do not have to out yourself

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

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

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

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

Kicking around Neophyte Oath changes

Lately, I have been kicking around rewriting the oath of obligation that my lodge uses in our Neophyte (0=0) initiation.

Here are the changes as I currently see them.

[I] solemnly promise to keep secret the true mysteries of this lodge and Order, its Inner Names, the names of its members, the locations and the proceedings of its assemblies unless authorized to do so.

{Yes, I am borrowing the "authoritization clause" from the A&O Mathers version; it addresses the fact that we have to give out a location to someone who is not a member, so that they can get there in order to be actually initiated.}

I solemnly promise to keep secret any oathbound information I may have gathered concerning this Order before taking this Oath.

{Basically, just because you knew the identities of several members before your initiation, it does not give you the right to "out" them. On the other hand, as you will see, I could care less about protecting secret documents that have been published a dozen times already.}

I will neither copy nor allow to be copied any unpublished manuscript, document, or symbol of this Order, physically or electronically, until I have obtained permission of the voting members of this Order or the original creator of the material....

{Again, I am concerned only with unpublished material, and only if it is still under copyright. One should not have to stress that if the original creator of the material is still alive, then it needs to be cleared with them, but some people do not understand this. On the other hand, thanks to the copyright laws of an earlier time, most (if not all) of the material from the original Order is already in public domain. And yes, I think that the public domain material needs to be published, so that all the various offshoots have a level playing field in that regard. Not that there is ever really a level playing field if living Adepts are allowed to contribute to the system--the better Adepts produce better material; it is that simple. Furthermore, I was taught that the original creator of a document had control of the copyright, and not even the Order could stop them from publishing it if they felt like doing so. And yes, by voting members I am refering to the members of my group--the same people who have the right to ask me not to publish something; it does not refer to people who believe that the entire GD system should answer to them.}

And then there is my oath

In passing, someone asked me what the other reasons were for me not being concerned about HOGD/A&O claims. Part of my reply was that it really did not matter because I am forbidden to learn from the HOGD/A&O Adept outreach thanks to my oath as an archive officer. The HOGD/A&O demands that you swore an oath of secrecy to learn their additional lessons and rituals---in other words, you never tell anyone what you have seen unless they too are under the oath.

The oath that I took as an archive officer is an "override" oath. In other words, it overrides all the previous oaths I have ever taken...and all the future oaths that people try to put me under. I am obligated to preserve the information of the system...by whatever means I see fit to do so. In other words, I am make the decision of how to preserve the information, not someone else, and publication is always an option on the table. Therefore, the HOGD/A&O has to bar me from learning their stuff just because the material can only be learned under the oath of secrecy issued by them. It does not matter whether they trust me or not, they have to bar me because there is always the chance that I will decide that absolute secrecy is not the proper method to preserve the information.

Because of this, it does not matter what the HOGD/A&O claims. In good conscience, I am not able to apply to learn the new revolutionary material of their system...because I can never again swore an oath of absolute secrecy. Nor can they, in good conscience, allow me into their Order or associate program.

Archive officers may not be the only people who are barred from learning their system. In fact, I suspect that anyone who has ever served as a Co-Chief of an esoteric Order is also barred by their oath. One of the things that the Co-Chiefs of an esoteric Order control is what belongs to what Grade, and what is actually a secret and what is not. In other words, they decide what can be revealed and when it is revealed.

Therefore, anyone who is not wholly of the HOGD/A&O pretty much has to be barred from ever serving as a Co-Chief or Sub-Chief of any Order other than the HOGD/A&O. Again, I have served in this type of position, and because I still have students answering to me, I cannot in clear conscience ever apply to learn the full Inner Order curriclum of the HOGD/A&O. I am responsible for sharing information, and the buck stops on my desk for deciding who gets what information and when.

So my oaths, current and past officerships, bar me from even entertaining the notion of learning stuff from the HOGD/A&O. Hence it does not matter whether their claims are true or not, or my personal beliefs regarding such claims. Nor does it matter whether the HOGD/A&O and its leadership trusts me or not, for they can never be absolutely sure of my future actions and decisions, thanks to my oaths and responsibilities.

I can never be allowed to know the truth behind their claims, therefore it does not matter one iota to me (beyond the economics of resources and members) what they claim. And yes, that does mean that I have to act as if their claims have absolutely no substance. But then again, I only have to be nasty if the HOGD/A&O threaten the survival of the lodge (Bast Temple) and Order (BIOGD/BIORC) that I belong to. If they allow my group to survive in peace, then I can afford to stay out of the war.

{And before you ask, not even my current lodge can change the "override" oath I am under.}

I teach GD over coffee

One of the things that I occasionally have to remind myself is that I am not typical of the majority of the Golden Dawn community. The way that I was initially taught affects the way that I teach; it also affects the way I think about the system. For instance, outside of a few isolated bits, such as what ended up in Kraig's book, most of my initial Golden Dawn training happened in working lodge...or over coffee.

It is the "over coffee" part that you want to play attention to. Because I was taught in informal conversations, I tend to do my best teaching during informal conversations. A lot of people think that I am joking when I announce that I am willing to try to explain what Golden Dawn does over coffee, but it is actually true. Outside of the lodge work, more of my training happened during informal, friendly conversation than it did from books and secret documents and the official lecture hour.

And when I teach...I mean truly teach...it is in the same envirnoment. You are either working or having coffee...lecture days tend to not be very educational.

I have been being reminded of this lately. One of the Sorors from my lodge recently have been dealing with me in "coffee" mode. Over the past month, she has gotten more information out of me in informal conversations than she has in formal lodge lectures (outside of actual work sessions...which is ritual work and not lectures). By the way, this is always true for me. If you want information from me, lodge is necessary; but you really want to make time to "socialize" with me, if you want me to really explain what is going on.

I just don't function properly in a strict envirnoment where you only deal with your superior during lecture hour.

(The odd thing is that if you can get me to write about the system, you also get more out of me than during a spoken lecture...I am not sure why.)

{By the way, this is one of the reasons why I could care less about the HOGD/A&O claims. Strict secrecy implies that you NEVER about talk Golden Dawn over coffee or deal with your superiors and lessers outside of a strict controlled envirnoment. Because of that, it would be pointless for me to join that system...no matter how true their claims are or what secret information that they actually have.}

Some thoughts about occult publishing

Comfort is the only thing that counts when kitty goes to buy books.

Being involved in the occult book writing business, I run across all types of interesting comments about the nature of the occult book publishing world. Every once in awhile, I have to say something because if I don't, my head will explode. And my cats really do not want my head to explode...it might interefere with the petting, the litter box cleaning, and the opening of cat food cans.

[Note---the comments that are triggering this set of rants comes from several different people; don't presume that I am talking about you. In fact, all these rants are mixing comments from several sources and communities. So unless you are a demon worshipping rune using tree hugging gay bear in the GD, do not think that I am only talking about you. And if you are a demon worshipping rune using tree hugging gay bear in the GD, how did you manage to get past the entrance committee?]

Why do occult writers publish secret information?

Because the publishers tell us to. A few years ago, a publisher saw a sample of something that I was working on. They expressed interest in the project, clear up to the second that they discovered that I was the actual creator of the material. If the material would have been written by some old dead Adept, then they would have gladly published it. But because it was a modern creation, they didn't think anyone would buy it. Hence, if you want to be published by an actual publisher, you have to publish secret material.

Let's pretend that you refuse to do so and decide to self-publish your own stuff. Then you get called a fraud, a New Ager, and a whole bunch of other names. Often by the very people that do not want you to publish their secret information. And it is very likely that these same people have actually helped leak secret information from a rival group in order to undermine it. So they do not want you to publish their secrets, think it is ok to publish other people's secrets, and do not want readers to think that anyone other than themselves know anything. And because you are thinking for yourself, and sharing your own research and experience, they want to make sure that no one listens to you...because I guess that they want to have the entire occult market to themselves.

(My other theory is that their big massive ego insists that they are the only person to know anything about the occult. But no one in occultism has an big massive ego, do they?)

The interesting part is that labeling independent writers not publishing secrets, frauds and New Agers, you encourage them to go looking for secrets to publish. Or to lie about the sources of their material. Furthermore, you encourage readers to ignore them, and publishers to continue to insist that only secrets sell occult books.

It is a nice little ugly cycle, isn't it?

All self-published occult books are crap that could not be published by a real publisher.

Wrong. Some self-published occult books are the result of writers not wanting to deal with the evils of a traditional publisher. Another reason is that self-published writers can focus on a smaller niche. For instance, while pitching another project, a publisher (not the one from the previous example) told me that my target audience was only a hundred people...because it involved being a high Grade initiate. In other words, I had a choice---write something New Agey or quit writing about the occult. Thanks to the print-on-demand and ebook markets, I no longer have to do that. Also see below about the importance of a publisher.

Occult writers only write for fame and fans.

No. In fact, occult writers would be better off writing romances if they wanted fame and fans.

Occult writers only write for money.

No. You are thinking of people who write erotica and ads for Russian bride websites.

A publisher is necessary for a good book.

A few years ago, a book came out. It was under a publisher's imprint. It was a new publisher. At the time, I was still attempting to get my occult stuff published by a "real" publisher. So I did some checking...only to discover that the publisher did not actually exist beyond the title and copyright pages of this particular book. This book has gone on to be the official word on its subject and sells for an outrageous price on the resale market, yet it is actually self-published. The truth of the matter is that anyone can buy a "vanity ISBN" and claim to be a publisher.

Furthermore, the publishing houses have a horrible track record for predicting the future success of books. They also fall flat on their faces when it comes to editing, growing talent, and marketing.

A self-published writer can farm out everything that a traditional publisher is claiming to do (and for your first book, they do next to none of it---basically, your book has to be publishable without no work on their part in order to get though the publishing house system). A self-published writer can hire editors, ad-people, and cover artists. And once they slap a vanity ISBN on, you will not be able to tell the difference. Unless, you are in the business.

Ebooks are going to kill off paper books.

And we must keep killing those trees---damn them and their oxygen producing. Seriously, have you ever tried to get candle wax off an ereader? As long as people continue to do rituals from strange books, you will have paper occult books. If only for safety reasons---in an emergency, it is sometimes necessary to destory an occult book. Have you ever tried to destory an ebook?

You have lived a really strange life, haven't you?

Yes, thanks for noticing. Now, I am off to write some erotica about a Russian bride. Either that or I am going to go feed the cats for the fourth time today.

Being a Better Candle (Tarot)

This post is part of the Tarot Blog Hop/Blog Round Robin for Candlemas 2012.

Therefore, some of you just got done reading Michael Banuelos' Modern Day Oracle blog.

The rest of you are wondering what a Tarot Blog Hop/Blog Round Robin is. Basically, it is a group of bloggers who agreed to blog loosely about the same topic today and link their posts in a circle. Today's topic is Being a Better Candle (Tarot).

Tommorrow is Imbolc. Or Inbolg. Or Oilmec. Or Brighid's Day. Or Candlemas. Or St. Bridget's Day (Jesus' nurse and foster mom). Or Groundhog's Day.

Or as I like to call it---Why do I have candle wax on my Tarot cards Day. And don't laugh---I actually do have candle wax on several of my Tarot decks. The reason for this is that I sometimes do Tarot readings in the full Golden Dawn ritual envirnoment. For those who are in the Blog Tour, the Golden Dawn was a teaching organization in its Outer Order (first five stages/Grades) and a working magical system in its Inner Order (RR et AC). The techniques of the Golden Dawn were borrowed from the French and English occultists of its day (1880s and 1890s), were further developed by its membership, and then passed down the line (Aleister Crowley, A. E. Waite, Pamela "Pixie" Colman Smith, Paul Foster Case). If you read the Tarot, odds are that you have been influenced by the Golden Dawn...often without knowing it.

Now, I personally believe that the Golden Dawn lore and RR et AC methods have made me a better Tarot reader. I don't use the methods all the time---in fact, it is impossible to use the methods all the time, especially if you ever do public readings---but the lore is always in the back of my mind.

The method that has helped me the most is hand-coloring my own Tarot deck. The lodge that I first joined required its members to create a few cards; for me, this exercise helped me create a better connection to the cards (I was a pretty lousy Tarot reader before that point). BOTA, Case's esoteric school, issues a outline version of the Tarot cards for its members to handcolor. Briefly, there was a Golden Dawn deck that one could do the same with (alas, I believe that it is out of print now). The current lodge I belong to requires the initiate to hand-color a deck in the Grade of Adept Minor (using either a bootleg of the GD deck, a BOTA deck, or another outline deck).

There are other methods in the Golden Dawn system that positively affect one's ability to read the Tarot cards; which method helps the most will vary from person to person. The Z operation (basically, you do a full ritual with the divination in the center of the process), godform assumption, pathworkings...I am probably forgetting something...the Grade initiations themselves, all of these things can help make a better Tarot reader. Of course, there is also the fact that one often (not always) ends up working with other people in the Order exchanging readings and information about the Tarot.

Originally, all these methods were kept under the lock and key of Hermetic secrecy. Today, most of the methods are general knowledge among advanced Tarot readers. (Ok, there are a few things still secret...but let's be honest, the information that has slipped into the public has spread far and wide.) Whether this is a good thing or not depends upon how much you desire to keep people ignorant. Personally, as someone who is worried about the state of the world, I think that we need all the information that we can get to safely navigate through the torrents of modern times. And if that information comes from people using the Tarot---so be it.

In my case, I try to be a better candle by doing the occasional Tarot reading and teaching the Golden Dawn and Inner Order methods to a small circle of people. Whether this actually makes me a better person, a harbringer of the Light, is anyone's guess. But one does what one can, and crosses their fingers, hoping for the best.

So what working method have you found most useful working with the Tarot? And do you believe that information about various methods should be shared? Or should they be kept secret?

(All comments are read, but I reserve the right to not publish the worst comments.)

Blessed be on this Why do I have candle wax on my Tarot cards Day.

For those who are reading the Tarot Blog Hop/Blog Round Robin, the next stop on the Tarot blog tour is October's blog, Readings by October, and she is hella funny.

Occult blinds v occult mistakes

Last night, I was working with *something* and I found myself in the position where I started to debate whether it was an occult blind or simply an occult mistake. Nowadays, the joke is that if you make a mistake duiring the course of writing about the occult, you call it a "blind." This is a modern thing; in the old days, it was different.

In the old days, there was a fine game of concealing important information from the readers of occult books. In theory, you were supposed to learn the basics of the esoteric sciences from a teacher---in other words, you were supposed to serve an apprenticeship. And one of the things, you were supposed to learn was how to spot an blind and how to create one.

Words of warning---under no circumstance are you to believe that I am a member of certain lineages that still practice this style. My lineage (for what it is worth) has NO connection with theirs. The only things we share in common is that masters teach lesser skilled students---nothing more.

For those of you who have never experienced an apprenticeship, it involves washing a lot of glasses, grinding a lot of stuff, harvesting thistles, and generally any other grunt work that your master really does not want to bothered with. It is like being the low man on a construction site and being the go-fer. It also involves a lot of practical and intellectual jokes; it is a great way to become paranoid.

It is in the practical and intellectual jokes that the learning about the occult blinds happen. Think of being an apprentice as being a lab animal of a mad scientist. Or at least, that is the way that my apprenticeship felt. Maybe there are nicer masters out there---if so, I have not encountered them.

Of course, we do not deal with this system today. (I am not sure how I ended up in the system myself; except that was the way they were taught, therefore I was taught the same way. The modern methods of teaching obviously skipped over my masters.)

One of my teachers would allow me to work the rituals exactly how they were written, hence I got to experience first-hand the problems that blinds created. Only later, after many questions about what I thought was wrong, would they explain to me the little secrets that you needed to work the system properly. As I said, it was like being a lab animal to a mad scientist.

I may or may not have picked up this style of teaching---we will see when it comes time for me to teach my god-daughter.

When the secret societies picked up the ball, and the masters were faded out, in theory the secret societies replaced the master-apprentice relationship with a kinder proctor-student relationship. Not necessarily so, as my encounters with Advanced Adept Advisors has indicated.

Unfortunately, one of the problems with the secret societies is the fact that many of the officers can not hex their way out of a wet paper bag, and cannot spot an occult blind if you lit it up with flashing neon lights. And many of them can make it sound like they are experts in their fields, despite the fact that I would not trust them to guess my weight.

Warning---questioning the abilities of the officers of esoteric societies is part of the tactics of the Witch and Golden Dawn Flame Wars. Obviously, I am a bad person who should not be at the head of an esoteric Order.

The reason that many esoteric officers cannot spot an occult blind is that they were sworn to absolute secrecy and are given completely clean and truthful documents. It handicaps them when they encounter materials written in the heyday of blind creation.

Yes, the *something* I was working on last night was the work of someone I know is an officer in one of the esoteric societies. The *something* is a correction of an older text. So is the problem I spotted a blind? or is it a mistake? and does it really matter?

I am not sure about the first two, but I do know the answer to the last one. It does not matter to me. I am going to have to fix it, whether it is blind or mistake, if I intend to use the material. Whether the expert spotted the world of hurt that their version, and the previous versions, would create is unknown to me. I would like to think that if someone spots a really bad blind, and this one will create the exact opposite of what the material is labeled for, that a footnote about possible blinds would be in order.

Of course, that is just my opinion. And you can't trust my opinion. After all, I belong to some bad lineages, been trained by people without authority, and generally hold some opinions that worry those who are superior to me. And I am not above giving a stick of dynamite to someone trying to open a box of corn flakes. I guess it goes without saying that all my writings should be considered blinded.