Celtic Soul Jewelry testfiring and jewelry pieces

My wife recently got a new small kiln for her jewelry. It is smaller than her regular pottery kiln (the bucket sitting by the kilns is a five gallon bucket). She test-fired it on Saturday. The pieces seen here (earring and pendant pieces, also a couple of pin pieces) have been fired once already. There is no way that they are going to be done before Spirit Ways Annual Spring 2011 Psychic Fair and Craft Show (this coming saturday and sunday [March 5 {10 AM to 6 PM} and March 6 {Noon to 4 PM}]. Spirit Ways in at 3301 E. Colfax, Denver Colorado. Anyways, just thought I would share some pictures of her work as this batch of pieces went though the process of being turned into jewelry.

Repairing the Hierophant Sceptre

Decided to take a couple of pictures of the Hierophant's Sceptre as I repaired it today. This particular tool has been in use for eight of the ten and a half years of Bast Temple's existence (for a couple of years, we used a different Sceptre). This one was made from a wooden dowel, red and gold paint, some balsam wood for the crown points, and a giant cork. I am not sure what the support rod is made of (and I did not think about examining it before gluing the crown back onto the shaft). It is not as neat as the one that I saw that used a Pringle can for the crown. This is the first time that I ever had to repair it in the decade it has been in use. It is ugly, but functional.

The most dangerous Golden Dawn bylaw

The following is from the (London) 1888 Ordinances of the First Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer (GH Fraters Nom Omnis Moriar (W.W. Westcott) and Deo Duce Comite Ferro (S.L. Mathers). I consider this the most dangerous bylaw that you can put into the system; ironically, it is the one that is most likely to be included because leaders like it and the myth that it supports.

18. The GH Chiefs of the Second Order reserve themselves the right to make any alterations in these Ordinances, and also to suspend the operation of either of them in any case by means of a Dispensation.

In other words, the GH Chief(s) makes all the rules, and the rules can change whenever they decide that the rules are getting in the way of whatever they want to do.

Source: The Historic Structure of the Original Golden Dawn Temples (edited by Darcy Kuntz).

BIORC Outer Order Voting Rights Oath

When Robert Zink got "expelled" by a vote of the Adepts in his Order, I knew it was only a matter of time before he would issue a statement that the Adepts did not have the right to make that vote. This precognition annoyed me. But it wasn't all that marvelous of a prediction when you know the history of Golden Dawn.

I understood my annoyance. It was caused by another annoyance---I was about to have to refight an old battle.

One of the things that has always annoyed the leaders of the current Golden Dawn Orders is the fact that I openly support the membership having voting rights. Not only do I support voting rights, I believe that the members of the Outer Order should have voting rights and not just the highest level of the Inner Order.

My reasons for believing such nonsense will have to wait another night (I got a paper to write tonight for my Urban History class); but just to start getting people aware of the work that I have done to support this idea, I present the Outer Order Voting Rights Oath from the BIOGD (BIORC) Zelator 1=10 ritual.

As always, free feel to leave your offerings of hemlock in the comment section.

Outer Order Voter Oath



Hierophant: My dear brother/sister, _____ Temple, Golden Dawn in the Outer is pleased to offer you the privilege and duty of holding Outer Order Voting Rights. Because of the increased influence over the members of the lodge that such a privilege necessarily confers, the lodge requires you to take a further pledge of your fidelity to the well-being of the lodge.


As with the previous oath(s) that you have taken in the presence of the higher powers and in the presence of your brothers and sisters of this lodge, this oath contains nothing contrary to your civil, moral or religious duties. Are you willing to take this pledge?


Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Then place your left hand upon the symbol of the Order from which we draw our lessons, and your right hand upon the statue (icon) of ____, which represents the lodge of which you are a member of.


Zelator: (does so)


Hierophant: Do you promise to regard the privilege of having Outer Order Voting Rights as a trust given to you, not for your own selfish gain, but rather as a service to this lodge, so that our lodge and our tradition may be kept pure and undefiled, and the Light kept safely for those who seek it on this Path?


Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Do you promise to uphold the right of the members of the Second Order, especially the (Co-)Chief(s) of this lodge to decide on issues of the curriculum and upon issues of advancement in this lodge, so that our high standards of knowledge may be maintained?

Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Do you promise to allow members of the Second Order to override any Outer Order vote, provided that they CAN truly justify their actions as being in the best interests and well-being of this lodge?


Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: Do you promise that you will neither recommend a Candidate for admission into First Order, nor for advancement without due judgment and assurance that they are worthy of such a great confidence and honor, nor unduly press any person to be a Candidate?


Zelator: (affirms)


Hierophant: Do you furthermore promise to support the admission of both sexes to our lodge, on a perfect equality, and that you will always display brotherly/sisterly love and forbearance towards the members of this lodge and Order, neither slandering nor evil-speaking, nor repeating, nor tale-bearing, whereby strife and ill-feeling may be engendered?


Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: Do you promise to exercise your vote with conscientiousness and loving care, not alone towards this Temple and Order, but unto every individual member?


Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: Finally do you promise that if during your travels that you should meet a stranger who claims to be a member of the same Order from which we draw our inspiration, that you will examine them with due care before acknowledging them as such?

Zelator: (affirms)

Hierophant: (addressing the lodge) Brothers and Sisters of _____ Temple, you have heard the pledge of Brother/Sister , do you accept it and grant onto him/her Outer Order Voting Rights?

Lodge: (affirms)

Hierophant: Brother/Sister , you are now a voting member of _____ Temple. Remember always that it is only through the wise exercise of secrecy and our voting rights that we maintain the resources that this lodge has gathered for the use of its members in accomplishing our common goal, which is to accomplish the Great Work, the Union of the Sun and Moon, the Uniting of the Macrocosm and Microcosm, the attainment of the Philosopher’s Stone, the SUMMUM BONUM.

Copyright 2000-2011 Morgan Drake Eckstein.

The difference between western medicine and witchdoctory

Apologies to those who already saw this joke that I made on Facebook last night.

Western medicine:
First, you make the patient fill out lots of paperwork. Then you ignore what they said and proceed to run tests. Then you make them take pills that does not address the initial problem. Finally, you send them a large bill insisting that your very expensive medicine was the only way to deal with the problem...and if the problem still exists, it is the result of the patient's bad lifestyle and not the ignorance of the doctor.

Witchdoctory:


Well, first you take the live chicken and dance around the patient with it. You listen carefully to the patient, and then invoke a loa who is in charge of such symptoms and ask them to kindly leave your patient alone. Then you kill and eat the chicken with the patient. If the problem still exists, you proceed to use more chickens.

QoD Marie de France about storytelling and study

Ok, this quote is not about magic, but rather about story telling and the study of the classics. Nevertheless, I think that there is something to be learned from it.

Anyone who has recieved from God the gift of knowledge and true eloquence has a duty not to remain silent: rather should one be happy to reveal such talents. When a truly beneficial thing is heard by many people, it then enjoys its first blossom, but if it is widely praised its flowers are in full bloom. It was customary for the ancients, in the books which they wrote (Priscian testifies to this), to express themselves very obscurely so that those in later generations, who had to learn them, could provide a gloss for the text and put the finishing touches to their meaning. Men of learning were aware of this and their experience had taught them that the more time they spent studying texts the more subtle would be their understanding of them and they would be better able to avoid future mistakes. Anyone wishing to guard against vice should study intently and undertake a demanding task, whereby one can ward off and rid oneself of great suffering.

Bedford Hours Aquarius

The Image of Aquarius from the Bedford Hours (ms. Add. 18850) created around 1425 CE. This medieval illustration has Ganymede, cup bearer to the gods, pouring water out of two jugs. This manuscript (calendar) is housed today in the British Museum (London). Compare it to the Golden Dawn Tarot card, the Star, which corresponds to this zodiac sign.