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. 

If everyone is entitled to be an Adept

Today on Facebook, I was reminded of one of my favorite bugaboos. It came in the form of a conversation.

The conversation started out with some eager student asking a question. A couple of us old-timers answered. (By old-timer, I mean people with twenty years or more of Golden Dawn experience.) Then someone with less than a month of experience (and who is proud of the fact that they have not read a single book on Golden Dawn) came by and told the eager student that the old-timers were wrong.

Yes, the screaming you heard in the distance was me ripping out hunks of my beard.

One of the modern misconceptions that plague the modern day esoteric traditions is the idea that everyone is their own best teacher, that the answers you come up with by yourself are better than any answer that someone else can give you, and that the Adepts of the esoteric traditions have to accept every damn answer given...even if one of them is obviously wrong.

In other words, everyone is entitled to a ribbon saying that their answer is right and that they are the smartest person in the room.

By the way, this means that no esoteric Order can reject a single applicant or refuse to advance a student.

Welcome to the world where everyone is already an Adept.

Of course, if everyone is already an Adept, or at least entitled to become one no matter how little understanding of the system that they have, then I do not have to grade test papers, help answer questions, or even serve as an officer during initiations. After all, if one can have complete understanding of the system without ever cracking open a book, undergoing an initiation, or doing any of the work, then there is no need for the higher Grade members to actually deal with new students ever again.

Acknowledgement does not mean universal acceptance. 

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.

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?

When to toss traditional lore out

This Viper needs to be taken to the curb.

Something that every working magician will eventually have to wrestle with is the question: When do you toss a piece of lore out of one's system?

(By "working magician," I mean those people who get up off the sofa and spend time actually casting spells and performing magic, rather than just reading about it.)

Now in the traditional hierarchies, the answer is: When your superiors tell you to. Therefore, First Order is ordered by Second Order when to abandon lore and procedures; and in return, Second Order is guided by the Third Order (Secret Chiefs). This answer is all and fine, provided that you are actually in a Strict Obedience/Observance Order, and are willing to take orders.

But most working magicians, or at least the ones that I have dealt with, tend to be lousy at taking orders. And most Strict Observance Orders will rapidly kick out or lose their working magicians. The reason for this is that experience quite often conflicts with "authorized lore" and most Strict Observance are knee-deep in the idea that "authorized lore" is the best, and sometimes only, way to accomplish magical goals.

A few years ago, I was present when a new Strict Observence Order was being started. One day, the subject of Atlantis came up. I stated my opinion that Atlantis was one of those pieces of lore that needed to be kicked to the curb. The leader of the group flatly told me that I was wrong because the GH Frater S used Atlantis in his lessons, therefore it was tradition and had to be included in the system. At this point, I started to look for the escape pod.

(No, I did not leave just over the fact that Atlantis was being included in the system; there was also plenty of administration issues that made me want to bail out of the system.)

Now, in my case, I had good reasons to bolt over the issue of Atlantis. In an earlier group, I had seen the concept of Atlantis being used, and watched the group jump off the rails. Fortunately, there was a working magician at the helm, who rapidly pulled the plug before the group became an outright doomsday cult. Nevertheless, it permanently associated Atlantis with the rancid smell of some lesser evil in my mind.

And unlike the leader, who insisted that I was wrong, I actually had spent some time researching the importance that was attached to Atlantis down though the years. Atlantis was a footnote in Greek mythology and philosophy, something ignored by the esoteric tradition for over two thousand years. It wasn't until the question of why there was similar animals in the New World, as well as human beings and those pesky pyramids arose that Atlantis was dug out of the rubbish bin.

(We all know that human beings have to be told about the concept of stacking rocks on top of one another---it is not like the idea naturally occurs to us when we have plenty of rocks and spare labor at hand.)

Today, we do not need Atlantis to explain the fact that there was plants and animals common to both the Old World and the New World. But there are people who insist that Atlantis cannot be taken out to the rubbish bin...because it is now a part of the official authorized esoteric lore.

(Here is a mystery for you---given the fact that Atlantis was so advanced [the last time I checked they supposely had atomic bombs and lasers, and next year they will be credited with time machines, stargates and warp drives], why haven't we found any plastic from their civilization?)

The bugbear of official authorized lore drives working magicians up the wall. Start talking to people about how to accomplish a magical task, and one finds themselves judged by what the authorized lore says. It does not matter whether or not your method actually works; what matters is whether some old grimoire or famous occult writer agrees with you and your method.

(By the way, working magicians presume if you cite authorized lore as your twenty-four inch rule and do not ask the "special" question that you are not a working magician. And all working magicians know what the special question is.)

There are a whole bunch of occult writers who have been enshrined---some of them are still alive (I hope that they are horrified that they have been enshrined because if they are not horrified, then they are not actually working magicians). A few years ago, I remember a great fuss was being made over this one book (it does not matter which one). At the time, I had no opinion of the book; it wasn't one that I ever worked with. Later on, I did work with the book---if the material was copied, it worked just fine---if it was unique, well, it sucked rocks on toast. The book was enshrined as the only way to accomplish certain things; and quite honestly based on my own results, I doubt that anyone who was busy talking about how great the book was, actually used any of the unique material in the book. In the end, I used other methods to accomplish the same goals.

And yes, I know, I know---just because the material did not work for me does not mean that it was not the proper way to do things. After all, we all know that I am complete and utter plotz without no respect for traditional and properly authorized esoteric lore. But I am a working magician, and the method I use to determine if some lore or magical prodecure remains in my tool box is RESULTS. If it does not work for me, I take it out to the curb and leave it by the rubbish bin. Of course, that habit makes me very unwelcome in the Strict Observance to the Shrine of Official Authorized Occult Lore circles. But that is ok, I prefer to do my drinking in the company of working magicians.

Call for Secret Chief Adoption Day

Sometimes, Pat Zalewski cracks me up. Earlier today, or yesterday (depending upon how quickly I type), Pat Zalewski said:

"Heck we can have a [Secret Chief] adoption day- pick one old order at random and our troubles will be gone!"

And I think that this is a really good idea---for the blogosphere---I suggest that all the bloggers who read this post to please consider researching and posting about some obscure and possibly extinct esoteric Order.

Please note, Pat did not say when this magical event should occur---feel free to vote in the comment section---but I am thinking that it should be December 24.

(In case, you are wondering some people say that the Mayan calendar ends on December 24, 2011 and not December 21, 2012...personally, I think we should plan on doing something to celebrate the end of the world that is not going to happen this year and maybe not ever. Bwahaha!)

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.

Why my obsession with the oath of obligation today

If you noticed the number of posts I made today, all concerning the oath of obligation, you may wonder why I am obsessed today with this particular subject. This is especially true of you who know me personally, for you know that I work through things in an intense research-monkey style.

Well, yesterday on one of the Golden Dawn based forums on Yahoo, I read a post where someone told another member that it was against tradition for them to even acknowledge what city the lodge they joined was located in. Obviously, they are using the strictest version of the oath of obligation.

Most of us are not bound by the strictest version, even when it reads like the strictest version. For instance, the primary oath that I have to obey is an override oath---it requires me to preserve the system by any means I feel are necessary (it was a dying lodge---what more do you need to know) and help some people (not everyone---I get to chose who I help).

Then a thought occurred to me late last night. Given that the population of the online PUBLIC forums tends to be self-initiates or not initiates at all, and not Order members, I found myself curious about the oaths that self-initiates were taking. Looking over the oaths, there are some surprises, especially if you are used to thinking of the system by the strictest version of the obligation.

For instance, there is nothing in the self-initiation oaths that prevent a person from admitting that they are studying the Golden Dawn system. There is nothing prevented them from talking with one another on forums, or blogging about their experiences (there are some that will argue with me on that point---of course, I am presuming that if you are seeking out Golden Dawn forums and blogs that you are a seeker of the Light). There is nothing preventing them from exchanging rumors about the location of Golden Dawn lodges and possible contact personnel. And there is nothing about them having to hide the higher mysteries if they learn them under a bushel hidden from the sight of humanity (ok, maybe Kraig does---but it is more along the lines of not exposing people to information before they are ready for it).

The lesson here is to be cautious about judging whether or not someone is breaking their oath; they may not have taken the version of the oath that you think that they are breaking. And that applies to more than just self-initiates (many modern Orders do not use the strictest version of the obligation).

My advice is to judge students of the Golden Dawn tradition (same goes for Wiccans, pagans, and other esoteric traditions) by whether or not you would want to become more like that person. Heck with the oath. You become more like the people that you hang around with---if you don't want to become like that person: RUN AWAY!

Quote of the day: Two important facts about secret societies

Here are two quotes by Arthur Goldwag about secret societies (one that I used in my review of his latest book Cults, Conspiracies and Secret Societies, and one that I didn't):

Here in the real world, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the closest kept secret of many secret societies is the fact that they haven't got all that many secrets worth keeping.

[W]hen reading (and writing) about secret societies, one truisn should always be kept in mind: the more we know about a group, the less we probably have to fear from it.

Gauging the state of Golden Dawn

One of the things that I have noticed over the years is that people gauge the overall condition (state) of Golden Dawn from a very limited perspective.

It is not surprising that we do this. After all, Golden Dawn is a secret society. It is not like we record our meetings and post the entire proceedings on the internet.

But one needs to remember that we are only getting snapshots of what is going on in Golden Dawn today. We have limited information to base our judgments about the health and general condition of the system.

And this is true of the past, as well as the future.

What caused me to openly realize this is recently I ran across someone talking about the state of Golden Dawn in the nineties...the Golden Dawn they remembered from the nineties was not the Golden Dawn I remembered.

And why not?

For one thing, we belonged to different Orders in different parts of the country. Hence, we had different leaders, different memberships, and different concerns.

You can not judge the entire system, and whether it is dying or not, based solely on your local scene. Nor can you base it on the postings of a single internet group, blog, or member.

Even if you read all the internet postings on all the public forums, you still would not know what was going on behind closed doors.

In order to know the full state of Golden Dawn, you have to know everything that is going on...and no one can accomplish this (not even the Secret Chiefs).

You can not say that the modern Golden Dawn is no longer painting fish blue unless you know everyone in Golden Dawn and what they are doing. There may very well be a group (or member) that is still painting fish blue.

On the other hand, you can make guesses. Certain members ask questions that provide good indications of what they are currently studying. Certain leaders telegraph what is going on behind closed doors with their broadsides. But please keep in mind, that these hints are still just snapshots and not the whole picture.

So the next time that you think Golden Dawn is dying, think again. The same holds true if you think it is growing. Your opinion of the state of Golden Dawn (as well as mine) is just an guessimate.

Kicking around secrecy

I have been thinking a lot about secrecy lately. More than I normally do.

I tend to think about secrecy a couple of times a week. It is hard to be a member of a "society with secrets" and not occasionally think of secrecy. Especially if you hold one of the offices that deals with secrecy (the big three and their variations, and Archive Officer).

There is also the little fact that I am a writer, who occasionally hacks out an article that involves the stuff that Golden Dawn studies.

Now, I am not surprised that I have been thinking about secrecy lately. After all. I am getting ready to start researching and creating the material for the June 5th Open Full Moon Ritual that I am leading (the work begins the day after the last of this semester's finals). The theme and work of that ritual is partially inspired by some of the work I have done in THAM (hence me kicking around what should be secret and why).

But what is surprising is that the denizens of the Golden Dawn internet community have brought up the issue of secrecy again just while I am kicking the subject around for the hundredth time. It is the timing that surprises me; that and the fact that no one seriously took the bait set out (then again, it is an argument where there are no winners---ever).

The debate over secrecy erupts periodically on the internet. This latest flow is tied to the recent videos, Vault pictures, and podcasts that have made their way to the internet.

How much secrecy is necessary in Golden Dawn? Is the level of secrecy required for Golden Dawn different than the level needed for Second Order? What should be kept secret? Does secrecy actually protect the egregore of the tradition? How about the sub-egregores? And how much information should we share between the various Orders?

Honestly, I don't know. And just maybe, I don't care either. Besides from where I sit, it just doesn't matter.

The ultimate society with secrets, Freemasonry, has survived despite the fact that their secrets having been let out of the bag since before the formation of their first Grand Lodge. One of their auxillary Orders, the Eastern Star, only forbids the passwords and degree gestures from being published.

And Golden Dawn has survived with its secrets published. Crowley and Regardie didn't destory the system by publishing (I would like to point out that only one of them was actually out to destory the system; the other one was trying to preserve it). We will survive the internet and the latest in Golden Dawn offerings, including the upcoming book about Mathers.

Besides, as an Archive Officer, my oath is to "preserve the tradition" by whatever means necessary. The choice was made for me back in '94. Occasionally, that means publishing stuff or exchanging information with others. And with the lastest offerings, it was the creators of the material that published and revealed it (their natural right).

And this makes me glad---for as long as the system is healthy (or at least not in danger of going extinct), and the lore is in no danger of dying out---as long as the other members of the tradition are doing their best to preserve the system themselves, I don't have to fulfill the ultimate clause in my oath as an Officer. It is better that others decide for themselves the limits of secrecy because my oath doesn't actually give me a choice if we reach the triggering event.

Security!

Today when downloading and installing the emergency security patch for Internet Explorer 7, I started to think about security and secrecy in Golden Dawn.

[For those of you who have not heard, someone published the fact that Internet Explorer 7, as well as the other versions of Internet Explorer, had a huge hole in its security. In defense of the publisher, they thought that Microsoft had already addressed the issue; Microsoft hadn't. So an emergency security patch for IE 7 was released today. If you use any version of Internet Explorer, I strongly suggest going over to the Microsoft website and installing the patch. Better safe than sorry.]

Now I, myself, don't pay much attention to the whole idea of secrecy in Golden Dawn. It is something that is there, but it is not something that is important to me personally. Everybody knows that I am a member of Golden Dawn, and that the lodge I belong to is in Denver, Colorado. I learned about the system's existence though a book; it should be noted that I didn't have much knowledge about the system before actually stumbling into a lodge, but a book did send me in the right direction of an existing lodge.

Most of the people that know of me, know that I am a writer and that I write about Golden Dawn. The members that let me into the system knew that I was a writer, and they guessed that someday I would write about the system; they did not care. Therefore, I am amused by those who run around swearing that absolute secrecy is necessary.

If absolute secrecy is neccessary to a secret society, how do you explain the continued existence of secret societies like the Freemasons? Or better yet, the continued existence of Golden Dawn?

And having seen some of the information that the rabid secrecy crowd are hiding in their Inner Orders, I have to ask where is the harm of releasing this information? It is not like you can levitate cats, heal gunshots instantly, or win the Powerball jackpot. In fact, I suspect that this information is being kept secret purely for ego and due collecting purposes.

Note that I am not against secrecy; I just find the extreme that some people take it to be either frightening or just plain silly depending upon who is doing it.

Locally, we practice secrecy. It is just not the absolute form.

The curriclum is dealt with in a step by step mode. The foundation must be laid first before one attempts to climb to the heights of the Temple.

Some of our members work in jobs where the hint of being something other than a rabid Christian Fundementalist can get them fired; their identities are top secret.

Our experiemental areas, the cutting edge stuff, is secret. Though that is more along the lines of "don't try this at home."

Honestly, I don't know of anybody in the Golden Dawn system that would not agree to this type of secrecy. It is good common sense.

But it is the extreme that some people are willing to go that worries me. When it starts looking like a cult, I start to worry; those who know my history will understand why.

Using the Microsoft model (ignoring the fact that Microsoft issues their system to everyone), lets look at Golden Dawn security. Lets presume that the current is like the internet. Our seasonal passwords are like our normal security passwords on our computers and websites. The fear is that with the published information that anyone can hack into the egregores of our respective lodges and Orders.

Yeah, it is called doing the work.

The only reason that you would not want people to do the work is if you had something to gain if they went though your branch of the system and no other. And that is the only need I see for absolute secrecy.

All the current members of my lodge know all the other members in good standing; it is not like you can fake it. Just being able to parrot information out of a book is not good enourgh. And even material that was developed and published out of Bast Temple is not good enourgh to fake it.

Now, I will admit that there are esoteric reasons for secrecy, but they do not require absolute secrecy or security patches; furthermore that is a post for another day.

Roots of Golden Dawn: Part 4

And while we are considering terms that people assign different meanings to, and then forget that others are using other meanings for the same term, which causes a great deal of arguments, let's look at the term: Secret Chief.

In Golden Dawn, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors surrounding this term. Whether or not, an Order has made contact with the Secret Chiefs, or even believes in their existence, is the source of much of the opinion in the Golden Dawn community about whether or not a particular branch, or leader, is legitimate or not.

There are those who use the term Secret Chief to talk about entities that exist on the astral plane, who have evolved past the point of needing bodies, or perhaps never having a physical form in the first place; these entities are said to guide and inspire the Orders from a higher plane. Exactly when an entity becomes a Secret Chief and not just a random entity (angel, saint, demon, god, muse, old dead guy) is unclear. Aleister Crowley is the most notorious individual who claimed such contact, but he is definitely not even close to being the only one to make such a claim.

Others use the term to describe members of the ultimate esoteric secret society, so secret that even those they contact are not allowed to know their real identities. They are Uber-Adepts, of at least the 8=3 Magister Templi Grade, and more often than not are members of another esoteric tradition. They tend to be from regions that birth new esoteric traditions and movements.

A big point of concern among those who care about such things is whether or not these Secret Chiefs have actually crossed the Abyss or not. Some say that only those who have crossed the Abyss can be Secret Chiefs. Others say that it is not crossing the Abyss that counts, but the production and use of the elixir of life.

These are the two most common definitions of Secret Chief.

(There is another definition that rests solely on function, but you are unlikely to run into anyone that seriously gives it the time of day.)

The problem with both of these definitions, and their variations, is that the access to the Secret Chiefs is so terribly restricted that only a single person in any particular generation, or time period, can be in contact with them. And when more than one person, or Order, claims to have access to them, one has to presume that someone is lying, or perhaps delusional.

(There is also the slight matter of higher fraud: how can you be sure that your "Secret Chief" is not lying about being a Secret Chief?)

In the end, the only advice I can give is to beware of the disagreement in how people are using the term, and judge leaders and Orders solely on their usefulness to you personally.

~~~To Be Continued~~~

Book Review: Secret Societies (Sylvia Browne)

Many people believe in the abilities of Sylvia Browne, world famous psychic medium, and treat her every word as gospel. But does she know the truth about secret societies? In her book, "Secret Societies...And How They Affect Our Lives Today," Sylvia Browne claims to reveal the truth about secret societies and what they are really up to.

Secret societies have been around as long as human civilization. They were present in Ancient Egypt and Greece, the Roman Empire, with significant flare-ups throughout history to the present day. Many secret societies, mystery cults and schools, have died out and completely disappeared because their members took the concept seriously, leaving us guessing what their rituals, mysteries, and motives were.

Most people assume that any society that keeps secrets is up to no good. Sylvia Browne explains why this assumption happens:

To read the rest of this review of Sylvia Browne's "Secret Societies...And How They Affect Our Lives Today," click here.