Webinar mit Golden Dawn Imperator David Griffin

Das letzte Webinar auf englisch zum Thema Ritual-Magie des Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn® mit Golden Dawn Imperator David Griffin war mit 67 Teilnehmern aus 18 Ländern aus der ganzen Welt sehr gut besucht.

Wegweisend für den Golden Dawn in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, hat der Alpha+Omega-Orden vor kurzem unsere virtuellen Tempel mit Live-Video/Audio-Funktionen aufgerüstet, mit einer maximalen Kapazität von 500 Teilnehmern.

Begleitet uns am Samstag, den 24. November 2012, um 21:00 Uhr für ein besonderes Webinar in deutscher Sprache, direkt geführt vom Mutter-Tempel des Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn® in Pahrump, Nevada (USA).

Klickt HIER  ,um in den virtuellen Tempel von Alpha Omega, am  Samstag, 24. November 2012 um 21:00 Uhr einzutreten.

Alpha Omega

Wir machen Magier!

Imperator David Griffin des

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®

Introspection and the Higher Self

So, folks....i've been posting nothing for a long time now and iam sorry for the few fans i have of this blog. I hope you all still stay tuned.
The reason for not writing for so long is that i have been involved in a deep phase of introspection and retirement, both magical and analytical, and the outcome of this and the conclusions i draw are often so personal that i feel it is counter productive to share, seeing that everybody has its own individual way of pesonal development and i dont want to spoil the process for those who are "lesser" developed by giving answers that everybody has to conquer for him/herself.
Nonetheless, i think it is time again to share a little bit.

Its a fact that i feel i have made quantum leaps in self knowledge throughout the last two years, and the credit goes to the wonderful magical system of the Golden Dawn, as well as to my experiences as a client on the couch of my analyst.
One fundamental thing that i had to learn is that i had many false ideas and misconceptions about
myself as a person, and how i interrelate with the world around me.
Magically, this is the process that the advancement on the path of PEH, which is connected to ATU XVI, The Tower, has set in motion.
The lightning flash of higher reason that destroys outmoded beliefs, ideas and conceptions. Conceptions that hinder the process of true knowledge.
This can come as a shock, but this shock can change into a feeling of deep relief also.
Many of the insights i have got through this have thrown me into a critical phase of doubting my whole belief system and inner motives and led me to the question of what i really want to be and achieve in this world and reality.
What has really thrown me into a dark night of the soul, a phase of inner conflict that is crucial to true inner development, was the realization that i am much more a robot of inner conditioning and fear and impulses to avoid those many fears (the hydra that raises its many heads to nearly all areas of life!) than i ever thought or wanted to truly admit before myself.
I learned that you have to be very attentive and watchful in every second of your life and that it needs a great deal of honesty to accept your own faults and flaws.
But the realization of fear is the first step to overcome it or at least to handle these forces in a more healthy and careful way.
To learn that you are a robot, a slave of automatic consciousness and conditioning, is a tough thing. Especially when you consider yourself a spiritual person and somebody who wants to attain the Light and be a perfect servant for a higher Will, the Will of the One-All!
But already Buddha taught that the first step towards Freedom is to accept that Life means suffering, and that suffering comes through attachment.
And attachment can also mean holding on to outmoded infantile survival techniques and infantile self images that stand in the way between you and your divine Genius.

So, i learned a great deal about me on a very mundane level through my analytical process.
I learend that it is often good to allow oneself a certain maneuvering room between the first impulse and reaction.
Because the first impulse to the many negative situations in life is, alas, often fear!
Most of the people are driven by fear.
Fear is such a fundamental emotion. But it is the best way to face all your fears, without holding back anything, because this is the way how it can be conquered and transformed.
Then, fear can be a very useful guide and teacher.

On the magical side i learned that the attainment of knowledge and conversation with your Guardian Angel, not to speak of the perfect and constant embodiment of it! is an ongoing process and much more far reaching than i ever wanted to believe.
To bring the divine spark to full bloom in ones body and consciousness IS the attainment of the inner Stone.
And between the final attainment, the Summum Bonum, and the beginning of self transformation as with a well designed magical system like the one that is practised in the Golden Dawn, are many intermediary levels, although i understand the process to be a continuous and natural one.

On the slighty-above-average level the Genius speaks to you through your unconscious, through dreams, sudden intuitions about spiritual and magical principles (gnosis) and higher reason.
When you want to know something from your Genius, you have to be attentive, because the way His answers are revealed can come through seemingly mundane channels also.
Sometimes speaking to an outsider can reveal a very important key to something, or sometimes you get hold of a book that reveals an answer and causes a sudden flash of insight.

The most fantastic revelations are of course those that come totally unexpected.
Sometimes you ponder for weeks about some alchemical passage you have read and not understood, and suddenly, in a split second, the veil is lifted before your eyes and you understand some principles in such a profound way that you have never dreamt of before!

This is what true gnosis is about, and during the last months i have been blessed with some wonderful insights about the true nature of magic and alchemy that i now truly believe that the greatest teacher and master is residing IN YOURSELF.
An order and a teacher can give you the tools for learning the language of the secret forces of nature and your consciousness, and can ignite fruitful conditions in your soul and thereby preparing the acre by initiation, but the real answers come through personal gnosis. At least at the level where i am now.

The other thing that i have learned already many years ago, after having performed the famous Bornless invocation several times, and what i am still about to learn is that knowledge about my Angel comes through the establishment of ever more healthy boundaries between myself and the world around me.
And this is perfect in line what i have been taught about the Sphere of Sensation and what magic tries to achieve with it.
Which implies a paradox, because the aim of Theurgy is to purify oneself from the innate flaw of separateness, the realization of the One All inside!

And this is why certain mysteries cannot be told, but only experienced and conquered by constant labour.

Yours in the Light,
Fr.:. L.:.

Who cares for the lamp of the all pervading One Power?

It was after years of travelling through the wilderness, enduring many hardships that were meant to refine both my inner nature and my relation towards the Sole and Most High Lord, that i came to a desert that was the lonliest place in all of the worlds.

It consisted of nothing but sand, strechted from infinity to infinity, and no creature or plant was living there.
There was only permanent night extended over this deserted plane, and the sight of myriads of stars and galaxies sending their light down on it as the only sign of hope i could reach for.

But eventually i found a lonely tent in the midst of this desert.

It was foursided, and supported by pillars on every corner, and had curtains in deep blue with golden stars on it.
On every side it had three golden pennants extended from its roof.



Although i could find no entrance, i managed to enter it by prayer, and when i was in i found that the inside was circular shaped, and there was nothing in it but a little burning oil lamp in the midst of the floor and a Being that was sitting in front of it, caring for the Light to never extinguish.
I was desperate to see the face of this caretaker, but was informed by intuition that his countenance has to remain in darkness this time.

When i was asking him for his mission he revealed to me that he was installed by the Lord to care for that Light, and i saw him playing with the reflections and shadows that it threw on the walls.

Then i lifted my eyes towards the roof and found that i could pierce through it and stare into the majesty of the starry sky.
And suddenly my whole being was lifted up into space and i trembled before its immeasurable vastness and glory.
Then i beheld a woman clothed in shining gold, bearing a torch with a dazzling golden flame.
She was so full of beauty and grace that no word can describe it properly.
And she was walking in a circle, lifting her torch up high, and the beam of the torch was wandering through all the fixed constellations.

While she was walking i saw her face turning older, but by no means loosing its grace.
It was turning from old to young to old, in an endless fashion of unspeakable beauty.

The caretaker told me that the mystery of Time is that it is a circle, and a circle has no beginning and no end, and that the Lord has designed it as this in order that mankind is wandering through Aeon after Aeon, from Black to Gold in an endless round, and that nothing was ever meant to come to an end.



So i was thanking the Lord in an ardent prayer. I was attesting that iam infinitely small and I was praying to become a better man, and that the cloud of unknowing is falling from my eyes, and that by His grace i may eventually attain the most glorious medicine, not only for the refinement of my own nature and the salvation from my sins as a mortal, but for the betterment of all mankind, and to the glory of His Ineffable Name.


Ben Gamuret,
Summa scientia nihil scire-
World without ends.

Can you imagine magicians outside the blogosphere?

Sorry, folk, for not having posted something for so long.
Iam quite lazy regarding this blog at these times.
Although iam a fan of most of the bloggers who belong to my Order, and also of one blog of a certain gentlemen that does not belong to my Order, but who seems to work in a similar tradition, iam quite fed up with the flame wars, bickerings and ego-show-offs that go on at the occult blogosphere.
Following this means unnecessary distraction, at least on my part.

I better concentrate on serving my Order and the Temple i belong to and on working to become more than human, which is the Great Work. And iam working quite hard on that.

Iam totally tired of magicians with profile neurosis and people who have not yet learned the lesson that spiritual pride is such a common obstacle on the path to attainment.
Seeing attitudes like this simply makes me yawn.
And believe it or not, there are magicians and adepts out there who dont even care about whats going on at the web! This is a revelation, huh?
Even most of the brethren in my Temple dont care for the on-goings at the web, and they do a good job in not caring but instead focussing on their magical development!
And to be honest, i think the adepts and Chiefs of my Order are much more polite and welcoming to "outside" GD orders and magicians than i would ever be.
For me, it WAS NEVER a question of belonging to the right or wrong Order.
When i got initiated back in 2003, i knew i now simply belong to THE Golden Dawn, nothing more and nothing less. I didnt need any proof. My initiation was proof enough.
And IF i would have needed proof afterwards, there would have been MANY instances, instances that were and are so precious to me that i would not even think about talking about them publicly.
Well, iam quite traditionalistic, and iam very strict in regards to secrecy, because i believe secrecy to be a necessary seal INWARDLY and OUTWARDLY when hoping for success on the path of transmutation.
To all the people out there who call themselves magicians in the Golden Dawn tradition, but have nothing better to do than trying to undermine the magical authority that gleams through the bits and pieces of revelations that were made publicly here at the web, and on behalf of my Order, i simply refer to to the fox in the fables of Aesop, who wanted to enjoy pears he saw on a tree.
But when he realized that he could not reach them, he simply went on to rant about their bad taste.

This all does not mean that i want to give up this blog.
I simply need time to re-think what i REALLY want to say, because there has already been said so much and also true things by other people.
Neither do i want to keep this as a magical diary, nor do i want to debate on subjects where others already have been quite competent and eloquent.
I dont want to re-invent the wheel, and at the moment i dont want to even discuss my Magic, but instead focussing entirely on my practise, experience and internalization.
I also dont want to let the public follow my hardships or breakthroughs on this difficult path.
And it IS a difficult path. The more you progress, the more tricky and subtle the obstacles and tests will become.
Well, i have some ideas on my mind what to say here, but they are not ripened yet.
I have time. I hope you have time, too.

And till time is ripe i advice you all to KNOW YOURSELF.
This is part of the herculean task. While Theurgy is a great means to develop higher and divine consciousness in a safe manner, i know from experience that it does not cover up the whole business of knowing yourself.
You can attain divine consciousness on a regular basis and STILL suffer from dysfunctional behaviour without even knowing that.
There are other tools to cover up the business of knowing yourself entirely, so use it, because
it is in vain that the wine of Gods is poured into broken vessels.

A bit bitter today,
your Ben Gamuret.
Summa Scientia Nihil Scire

Side adventures

Today i have several things on my mind which i think are worthy to share.

One thing, for example, that fascinates me since long, is how to bring statues to life.
As you can imagine, i have a few egyptian statues at my home.
My main Deity which i have since 7 years is constantly cared for.
I regularly anoint his chakras with Abramelin Oil we made as a side project once.
I visualize him growing large in space, with all his colours and attributes, and vibrate his name into him.
I BREATHE life into him (try this with Godforms you use for your Magic).
You can also combine this perfectly with the Vibratory Formula of the Middle Pillar.
For egyptian Deities the coptic spellings work best, of course.
I also offer him food, worship him, pray to him, read paragraphs from the egyptian Book of the Dead, light special coloured candles, burn special incense, sometimes combined with the planetary day and hour to which this God is attributed.
All this has the effect that subtly and slowly but nonetheless unmistakingly the statue begins to develop an Aura and to radiate energy.
Through all this, the statue becomes an easy focal point for contacting the power behind.
Certainly it would have the best effect when the statue is not treated like a statue, but as the Deity itself, but hey, thats a hard nut to crack for most that are brought up in a cultural environment like ours.
But nonetheless, this Magic is really simple.

Another thing that i use sometimes is the application of the Z formula for protection for my house.
This may sound silly, but iam convinced it works.
More than one time it happened that some visitors have not found my bell, although the description to find it was clear. Later on it turned out that it was quite good that these people did not find it!
And i dont mean the over elaborate workings á la Regardies black brick.
For what i mean you just have to be able to sit down and use your visualisation skills.
There is one power in this formula that can be extended like a protecting shield over the borders of your apartment or house.
You can use this also for giving energetical comfort to people in trouble, of course only when they want it or ask for it.
You can also install astral guardians on your doors.
By names and images are all powers awakened.
Or draw an invisible pentagram on your doorstep, and this is pretty much folk Magic.
Not that iam paranoid or have over valuable possessions in my house, by the way.
For the most part its just the fun of creating my own magical castle, or so to speak.
But i also live in an area where burglary gets more common.
It already happened to some neighbours in my apartment block, and well, caution is the mother of wisdom.

I am anyway pretty much attracted by the practical side of Magic these days.
I know what it means to practise Theurgy, and i know that constant practise makes the master, but i also know that the more practical or thaumaturgical side of Magic is a huge field that i only have touched here and there.
For finding practical applications of Magic (apart from the creation of talismans by ceremonial workings) you not only have to dig quite deep in the theoretical documents of the First Order, but you also have to do research outside the system.
I think the 72 angels of the Shemhamphorasch could be used for spiritual as well as for practical purposes (and in fact i think they were exactly meant for that), but i cannot fight the feeling that their publicly known and published sigils are corrupt.
Because of that i started to do some experiments with their hebrew names and psalms only.

I have also done some research in folk magic and am totally fascinated by the pagan traces that are still alive where i grew up.
But i better leave this for another posting some day.

Summa Scientia Nihil Scire,
your Ben Gamuret

Effects of a well functioning Egregore

One thing that astonishes me more and more is how perfectly in line and attuned are the minds of members who work closely together for a longer time, even if the characters are totally different.
Well, you certainly know this from close friends. E.g. you think of a friend, and at the very moment your phone rings.
But i experienced this to be on a much more advanced state amongst co-workers on a magical level.
We often dream similar things at the same night, mutually block our telephone lines or ponder about similar topics and come to the same conclusions, and this works even across the continents.
It also happened more than once that when something is going on across the ocean, at a time when we are sleeping here, we dream correspondingly.
How far from being a dead tradition is this, then? Lots of Laughter!

But well, everything can be refined endlessly.
Just think about something i read at Agrippa's- the experiment of sending information by moonlight.

The purpose of Theurgy

In everything there are two poles, especially in human consciousness.
Human consciousness can be regarded as operating on one scale, having two opposite poles, or opposite extremes of one and the same thing.
The one end is our individual consciousness, or unprocessed Mercury.
The other end is consciousness of the One Self, or Mercury of the Sages.
The purpose of Theurgy or Lunar Magic is to "simply" achieve a gradual shift in consciousness towards the realization of the Divine, which is already hidden inside us, because Man is the hermetic Arcanum.
This is the herculean task.
The more fixed our sense of human individuality, the more tedious the Work will be.
But a continuous purification of the metals will lead to a purification of perception towards the other end of the scale.

In classic alchemical tracts the alchemist is often demanded to search and look into the mysteries of Nature instead following obscure procedures laid down by so-called puffers.
This kept me wondering for a while.
I thought things like: shall i study agriculture now or go with reading glasses through meadows studying the interplay of flowers and bees and things like that?
But then it dawned upon me that the nearest and most obvious and easiest thing for me to study is human nature.

There are two substances mingled and conjoined in every human being and it is said that this conjunction is relative loose and can be solved by Art.
These two substances go with many many names.
It is Mecury and Sulphur, Water and Fire, Moon and Sun.
Translated to the body its blood and heat.
At the level of consciousness its Spirit and Soul.

These substances trapped inside the body cause a feeling of seperate identity.
A new born child does not have this identity.
And a child is generated by a process not unlike coction.
When the child is born, again a process not unlike gradual coction will produce this identity sooner or later. The older it becomes, the more fixed this identity will be.
And it is again a process of coction that helps to overcome the obstacles that are formed by the personality itself and to attain the famous Ravens head.

I can imagine that there are ways that work faster towards this attainment than others.
Its all a question of which Fires you use in your Work.

It is said that Mercury is everything that the Alchemist needs.
It is also said that Nature enjoys herself, and Nature overcomes herself.

So what are we doing when we train our minds and bodies with techniques for which we only need our mind?


Thought of the day.
Oculator Abis,
Frater L.e.N.e.

Magical Synergy

Following the energy debate on different blogs that are listed on my blog roll, i want to give in my two cents also, although maybe a little late.

Iam sure that energy work comprises the most important factor in magical development, since i believe that it is only by being able to feel ever greater amounts of subtle energies inside the physical body that the astral body, which is closest to the physical body, can develop.
Just like a baby needs food to grow, the energetic bodies need subtle energy to develop.
And to feel a greater variety of subtle energies is what makes us more than human.
But subtle energy is not necessary subtle energy suited for this undertaking.
In Reiki you also work with subtle energy, but compared to L.V.X. in the Golden Dawn i experienced Reiki as much more low vibrating (and therefore easier to feel).

In the Golden Dawn we have a great set of techniques that enables the practitioner to invoke, raise and move magical energies through the body.
Apart from the initiation ceremonies, which render the matter of the candidate philosophical (thanks to S.R. for borrowing this), the practical work is done by the combined effort of will, imagination and vibration.
We have basic techniques to invoke L.V.X. in a more general manner, and we have more advanced techniques with which to invoke L.V.X. in a ever more differentiated manner, not unlike sending light through a colour prism.
With all this comes a great deal of mental concepts, kabbalistical and otherwise, which may be necessary in this regard or not, i dont know.
But at least the objects of study, which should bit by bit complement the practical experience, serve the purpose of training the intellect, which is a good thing in itself.
The lust for learning ever more is what keeps people young.
And the classic hermetic and alchemical studies have the wonderful effect of both accustoming the mind of the student with the subtle intricacies of what is known as the "Language of the Birds", and of rooting out certain misconceptions about matter and spirit we have inherited by our culture.

But back to energy work:
I found out that energetic evolution can be experienced also on a collective group level.
I experienced this with the german Temple, of which iam proud to be part of.
Of course, we would not progress with our work there if we would not do our daily energetic and magical work at home.....but the more we progress on a personal level, the more the energy that we raise and invoke in Temple Openings accumulates.
And i dont believe that a Temple is as strong as its weakest member.
Given you have three strong Officers that have attained a certain level, one or two relative beginners will not weaken the intensity of the flow.

Temple work is something that is growing slowly in intensity.
You need a core of people who get along well with each other, and who bring the necessary perseverance, discipline and a certain character that allows to work in a hierarchical structure.
People who are lazy or dominated by their power drive will dismiss the work or fall out of the system very soon. You also need people with strong commitment when it comes to sacrifice your weekends for rather altruistic ends.
But if these points are covered, the road is free for discovering and exploring the mysteries of the Golden Dawn and magical evolution on a group level also.

The amount of energy that can be raised by this collective work is HUGE.
I remember many occassions when i served as main officer in initiation ceremonies where i felt such a great amount of energy that my body was literally shaking, mostly at very distinct points of the rites.
And after 8 years of constantly working together the energetic flow of the Hall begins to subtly materialize even before the actual Opening ceremony is happening.
We sit down at our positions, and i already feel it flowing through me, and i can see it also, lighting up my Sphere.

When the Hall comes to life, you can feel and see the L.V.X. manifesting around the Altar, on the Pillars, on the implements, streaming along the main channels of the Hall, like the Middle Pillar that is formed by the three main officers in the Hall of Neophyte, but also vitalizing the whole air in the Hall to a truly visible extent.
Everything starts to vibrate, even seemingly dead objects, and everything breathes.
I can tell: this is spiritualisation of matter!
And i never experienced it as strong as this when i was working alone.
The combined wills of several people can achieve much more, and the sum is greater than its parts.
Magical synergy!


Oculator Abis,
Frater L.e.N.e.

Books i have recently read and recommend for earnest seekers

-The magical writings of Thomas Vaughan, ed. by A.E. Waite
-Treatise on the Great Art by Don Pernety
-The Twelve Keys by Basilius Valentinus
-Corpus Hermeticum (auf dt. von Edition Akasha)

The counter-initiatic force

In his latest posting on the Golden-Dawn-blog, David Griffin talked about the counter-initiatic force as a force that tries to hinder important initiatic events.
Well, i think i have encountered this force several times for myself.
I remember my first date with the german Imperator back in 2002.
I wanted to introduce myself to him, and ask for initiation into the Neophyte grade.
We had an appointment in a cafe i knew well.
I was in there right on time, and since i have already seen him at the official inauguration of the german Temple, i knew after whom i was looking.
But i could not see him, neither inside the cafe at one of its tables, nor outside or in front of it.
I spent maybe half an hour going in and out again, desperately looking after him.
Then i went home again, sadly thinking that he must have made a joke on me, and doubting my worthiness for initiation into the Order.
But then i decided to call him again and it turned out that he, like me, was there right on time, and could not find me too!
When we finally met again, we could not explain how we could not have met at this first date.
This still puzzles me.

What is also still on my mind is my trip to America to attend an international Golden Dawn gathering and to receive my Philosophus initiation (!).
First, my bosses would not grant me vacation.
But then i decided to go there for just a weekend, despite my voice of reason (and now, of course iam glad i ignored that voice on that special account).
One or two days before my actual flight, several flight unions started to strike.
This caused great horror in me, since i knew i had to be exactly on time in Las Vegas to not miss anything important.
Finally every plane i had to take was too late and i missed every planned connection flight.
I found myself at the airport in Frankfurt, not knowing for one hour where my luggage is or which plane to take. Time was running, and i already had the thought of giving up altogether, and flying back to Berlin.
Finally, maybe 15 minutes before start, i found out that i had been redirected to an alternative route, and that my luggage was already at the new plane.
All in all i spent 24 hours on planes and in airports. And i would have missed the last possible flight from Washington to Las Vegas, and thereby coming one whole day later and only being able to meet-and-greet before going home again, would i not have ran through the customs and practised queue-jumping (i remember one european guy shouting: "Oh these germans, they always cant wait!").

The most bizarre thing happened one day before my scheduled flight to another european city for my initiation into Portal.
I woke up very early in the morning because the heater in my sleeping room started to make nerving hammering sounds.
I rushed out of bed, deciding to deaerate it now.
I grabbed a screwdriver and fumbled with it at the valve on the side of the heater.
Suddenly, the valve broke off, and a fountain of hot, almost boiling water flooded my room. It was a matter of seconds, and all my bed and furniture and book piles on the floor stood under water.
It even ran in cascades down the stairs to the lower floor.
In my shocking state, i was nonetheless really quick in collecting every towel from my house.
Fortunately, a good friend and neighbour came to help me with the mess.
But then i realized that the hot water had flown over both my hands, and that they started to blister!
So i went to my doctor and got both my hands bandaged.
Well, i thought, now i can cancel my flight and postpone my initiation.
But over night my hands started to heal very quickly, and when i was ready for the flight the next day, miraculously i even needed no bandages anymore.

I think i even know, to some extent, the counter-initiatic force, or the force that wants to hinder spiritual progress, before every greater invocation i plan. Especially in the past, or when i began to invoke regularly.
There have been many voices and moods that wanted me to linger away from my plans.
Sometimes this manifested as urgent phone calls from friends with unexpected news, sometimes maybe as slight headaches (that passed at the moment when i started to do my preliminary banishings), sometimes as subtle ailments in one or another kind.

In regard to my personal work at my temple at home, i always thought this to be a kind of spiritual or magical test in itself.
My own Evil Persona, trying to convince myself in subtle ways to give up my lofty plans.
But the more often i conquered this force with firm will, the less distractive or convincing it became.

But now i wonder about the gravity of the counter-initiatic force when it ever comes to higher initiations.
Will i nearly escape death if i ever receive higher adept grades?
Lots of laughter.

In L.V.X.,
L.e.N.e.

Gustav Meyrink and the occult tradition in Germany before World War II

All through the years i have always been interested in the occult history of Germany, and especially Berlin.

Of course, I have read Karl Frick's masterpiece of scholar research "Die Erleuchteten", a heavy volume which deals with all the gnostic-theosophic and alchemical-rosicrucian secret societies in the german speaking countries up to the end of the 18th century.
Therein i found the most extensive excourse on the german Gold-und-Rosenkreutz-Orden and its spin-off the asiatic Brethren i have ever read, both organisations being antecedents of the modern Golden Dawn.

I have another book in my possession, a limited edition of 500 copies which is simply called "Gold-und Rosenkreutzer", published by the "Archiv für altes Gedankengut und Wissen" in Germany, with beautiful typeset and bound in red linen, and this one consists mainly of very cryptic recipes of laboratory alchemy written down by different brethren of the old G.u.R. Order.

A very detailed historic account on the occult history of Germany and Bohemia we also find in the biography of Gustav Meyrink, a german writer (1868-1932) who is famous for his occult novels, especially "Der Golem".

Gustav Meyrink not only was the head of the bohemian branch of the Asiatic Brethren, but also of countless other masonic and esoteric bodies and branches of that time. He knew every renowned person of the occult and theosophic scene of that time, and he also was in mail contact with William Wynn Westcott, from whom he received certain instructions on hermeticism.

This biography is full of interesting anecdotes on occultism, since Meyrink, throughout his whole life, tried to "become more than human", and experimented with several systems to achieve this, western and eastern techniques alike.

At the end of his life he even said that he found out that the primary aim of any occult student should be to strive to not only change consciousness through magic, but moreover to transmute the physical body into higher forms of energy.

This, and the whole knowledge displayed throughout his extensive body of writing, published and private, reveals that he certainly has reached a high level of attainment.

One of the most interesting anecdotes that comes to my mind when remembering Hartmut Binders biography is that Meyrink once described the official emblem of the Asiatic Brethren, which consisted of the heads of a boar and of an unicorn, placed symmetrically to each other.

Then there is http://user.cyberlink.ch/~koenig/, the page of one Peter König, who is regarded as one of the best historic researchers on german occultism, especially on the phenomenon of the O.T.O., the german Fraternitas Saturni, and everything that predated these two organisations. It is said that Peter König possesses even more material on the history and origin of the O.T.O. than the O.T.O. itself.

On the 7th of December 1937, the german Nazi government forced every masonic and related esoteric organisations to close down their lodges, and on Königs research page we find a facsimile of the original edict with a list of all the names of these esoteric bodies. And hey, this list is HUGE.
Amongst all the numerous masonic organisations, we find also countless rosicrucian bodies, and even one organisation called "Der hermetische Orden der Goldenen Dämmerung", which, of course, caught my greatest interest, since i never heard of one german branch of it before.

I also once saw on TV a documentary on Hitler and the occult, where i saw shots of the inside of several occult lodges in Berlin in the 30s.

This all sums up to the conclusion that there once was a rich occult tradition in the german speaking countries, and that this tradition suffered a severe cut through Hitlers regimen.
He not only was committing genocide, but also murdered a vast esoteric corpus, and at the same time, and paradoxically, tried to incorporate bits and pieces of plain esoteric knowledge into his semi-esoteric ario-sophic Order of the S.S.
Hitler made tabula rasa on the occult landscape of Germany, and i believe only the smallest pieces of it could survive underground.

After World War II, the occupation forces of America helped to re-erect Freemasonry, and a few personalities from the several occult bodies who survived the War began to re-erect the O.T.O. and a pansophic lodge out of which was born the Fraternitas Saturni.
Soon Crowley appeared on the scene, and after becoming head of the english branch of the O.T.O. through Theodor Reuss, exerted his influence on the german countries as well, by proclaiming that he was the Prophet of the New Aeon at a famous congregation of occultists in Thüringen in the 40s.
Since then, the loose strands of german occultism that survived WWII became influenced by the Law of Thelema in varying degrees, and in my opinion, spoiled.

What is left in Germany since then is Freemasonry, the O.T.O., and the Fraternitas Saturni, that was founded by one Eugen Grosche, formerly secretary of the pansophic lodge, who was also present at the convention in Thüringen and highly excited by Crowleys appearance.

And last but not least, in 2002 a Temple of the Golden Dawn was inaugurated in Berlin
by David Griffin, the international Imperator G.H. Frater L.e.S., to bring back the Light to its original place!

My conclusive thought on all that is, although its sad that probably a great deal of knowledge simply got lost during WWII, its maybe not necessary to have a vast amount of esoteric bodies here, like it has been in former times.
We have to bear in mind that at the beginning of the 20th century, and even before, it was to some extent simply "trendy" to be member of a secret society- given that you were upper class or at least of "good standing", of course....
Quantity is not quality.

9/11, Pluto etc.

For most of you this will be an old hat, but i found it interesting to examine the astrological chart of New York on 11th September of 2001.
We see an exact opposition of Pluto in Sagittarius and Saturn in Gemini.
Religious motivated terror against established structures (in Gemini- Twin Towers).
A little plain my interpretation, maybe, but nonetheless interesting.

Pluto is an explosive, unpredictable force.

We also had a Pluto return into Scorpio when the AIDS crisis came up in the early 1980s.

I for myself have Pluto and Uranus in my seventh house in Libra and Scorpio-
this fits to my experiences, or better the absence of experience, with long lasting relationships.

On the other side, i never had difficulties in learning to know every person that i wanted to learn to know- and i know a great deal of very interesting persons!

But I found out that those partners who were willing to stay with me for longer than several months in an intimate relationship always have been persons with a strong Scorpio influence, and the longest relationship i ever had was with an artist who had Pluto in Scorpio in his first house!

Well, maybe i should start to look after persons with certain astrological nuances instead other features, HAHA.

Tears and Wisdom

Iam going through an incredibly tough time. All through the last year i had to face my inmost fears and sorrows. I had to face emptiness, boredom and chaos. I had to ask myself if iam trying to compensate my sometimes low self-esteem with success in magic. I felt like running in circles. I also felt like 8 years of practising magic led to nowhere, and questioned if i had chosen the right goals when "only" wishing spiritual attainment.
I indulged in vices that nearly brought me to the edge of ruin.
I also over and over asked myself why i do attempt to write at this dammit blog.
I cried so much during the last months like i never cried throughout all the last 8 years.
But: now i definitely know that all my eager and zealous invocations of the Highest have taught me one thing, and at least this one special thing, although this realisation had to come up with many tears and struggles: and this one thing is-----
COMPASSION. Compassion, that is understanding of and forgiveness for my own faults, and my own needs, and compassion for all human beings and their right to experience joy and freedom.

Sorry for sounding melodramatic this time, but emotion is a powerful force and it can teach valuable things at times.

Astral initiation?

Following recent articles about astral initiation into the Golden Dawn on the blogosphere i cannot help but giving in my two cents about this topic too.

I have many years of experience in active Temple work, and assisted as magical Officer at numerous initiations of dozens of candidates throughout the grades of the Golden Dawn in the Outer.
Especially the experiences i made when assisting at Neophyte receptions comprise the highlights of my whole magical journey until now, and i deem them so precious that i never dared to speak about that in public so far.
And its not because i fear to violate my magical oaths- as long as i never give out names, dates and places, they remain unsullied.
Its more about the fear that a true transcendental experience becomes stained when trying to verbalize it.
And its a question of magical power that is kept strong by keeping it hermetically sealed (and with this i touch the very sore spot behind my relation to this blog of mine, but i digress)....

Of course i heard about the legend of Moina Mathers, who, after the death of her husband, gave one american A.O. temple dispensation to nominally confer the grade of Neophyte without physical initiation to any candidate who is willing to send in 10 Dollars per mail. I never read anything about this temple performing astral initiations instead, by the way.

Well, its a pity that Moina cannot reply on this anymore, because i believe this is either an idle rumour or Moina simply was out of her head in her later years.
To be honest, the picture of her that i had in my mind after reading books of Dion Fortune, Ithell Colquhoun or Mary K. Greer never was free of ambivalence, seeing a certain deal of envy and competitivness and also some instability in her character.
But, anyway, who is free of flaws? And also, this alone can't be reason enough for throwing overboard important magical principles.

First of all, when i speak of initiation i mean initiation into the system of the Golden Dawn.
Initiation is a wide concept, from rites de passages in so-called primitive cultures to truly primitive adolescent rites in our culture, everything is possible.

Initiation into the Golden Dawn means getting initiated into the grade of Neophyte.
In general, i believe that the main intention behind this ceremony, apart from the official reception into a magical brotherhood, is to awaken into activity the divine spark that lies dormant in every human being.
It tries to trigger and raise the vibration of the seed of Soul and illumination that is trapped deeply in our material bodies.
It cleanses the Sphere of Sensation or Aura of the candidate, and by opening certain energy channels makes his etheric and astral bodies more receptive for the influx of L.V.X., the magical universal and transformative energy without every performance of ritual magic would be worthless.
And, last but not least, it also impresses on the mind and consciousness of the candidate the idea of illumination in a symbolic manner.
So it is clear that the initiation into Neophyte tries to accomplish its aim on more than one level.
There is a transmission of energy that works on the subtle bodies via the physical body, and a reprogramming of the mind by occult symbols, and in certain points the technique behind this resembles what i have read about brain washing techniques long ago.

Symbols are the language of the unconscious.
It is common to every occult student that the mere act of looking upon magical symbols will have an effect on the unconscious. By staring at a Tarot Trump, you allow the symbolism of the card to sink deeply into your mind. On the deepest level, the Trump will become an entity that is talking to you, leaving distinct messages and imprints for you to work with, if you are aware of it or not.

The whole ceremony of Neophyte is loaded with occult symbolism. There is nothing in it by chance. Every prop or implement, every speech and movement made by the officers, from the Banner of the East down to the colour of the robes of the officers, everything has a kabbalistical, magical or alchemical meaning or concept behind.

To see a Temple of the Golden Dawn in full bloom for the first time of his/her life is like a magical assault on the senses of the canidate. Even when the candidate knows nothing at all about the meaning of the symbolism displayed there, it will leave an important imprint on his consciousness, and this is the meaning behind the Z3- document stating that
"...the Sacred Rites may gradually, and as it were, in spite of himself, lead the Neophyte unto the Knowledge of his Higher Self".

But there is more behind it than just displaying certain symbols.
The Golden Dawn makes use of an ancient technique that accomplishes it to imprint these symbols much more deeper upon the mind than by simply showing them.
And part of this technique is to blindfold the candidate for quite a time, and to send him through a challenge and drama that makes his mind highly absorptive. The whole dramatic procedure of the ritual arouses his nature to the greatest extent.
By these devices, the emotional armour of the candidate is temporarily cracked and the symbols are allowed to flow in unfiltered, without the necessary barriers that ensure the sanity of our daily affair with the world around us.

This is no uncommon procedure. Freemasonry makes use of this technique, and we are also told that in ancient mystery cults like Eleusis the aspirants had to grope through darkness and to go through physical and emotional challenges before being received into the Light.
Sadly enough, even terrorists know about the effectiveness of putting somebody into emotional and physical insecurity in order to reprogram his mind and value system.

I think the whole process of re-programming the mind by ceremonial devices is impossible to accomplish by astral initiation.
While a magician or Adept may be able to send occult energy or force over long distances to somebody, or to ignite a certain current of force that is felt and absorbed by somebody at another place, i think s/he is not able to manipulate the energetic body in the same way as when performing the ceremony when the candidate is present.
The astral body is rooted in the physical body and its development is largely dependent on the treatment of the physical body. So if you want to affect anything, it would be only logical to affect the root of it.

I think there are many magicians out there who can attest that a magical ritual performed physically has a much more deeper and long lasting effect than any ritual performed only on the astral level, that is in imagination.
The hidden forces of nature strive to be "incarnated" on the material level.
This is the reason why you always complete any invocational round of a force with the consecration of a talisman- by doing this, you complete the formula of YHVH, you make the force practically accessible in your all day life.

I think Dion Fortune once spoke about this aspect. She said that a occult force, if not called down into a material basis, is likely to bring trouble to the Sphere of the occultist, because till then it is "only" whirling in the astral.
But when bound into a talisman, the force is equilibrated.
The talisman in case of the Neophyte Ceremony is the candidate himself!
And what a living and vibrant talisman he is, with all his senses in divine expectation and awe!

So i believe that the energetic transfer accomplished by astral initiations is at least very dubious.
And i believe that the re-programming of the mind and unconscious by the symbolic impact is simply impossible with astral initiation.

It also makes me sad to hear that aspiring Golden Dawn- candidates only receive astral initiations. With this they get robbed of the most wonderful and exciting experience i can imagine.
Of course i know that the successful performance of a Neophyte ceremony requires the Hierophant and its officers to build up and enliven the astral hall, that is the Godforms and invisible stations of it.
This part of the work sets in motion the magical current of the Order- and that will saturate, purify and consecrate the astral body of the candidate as well.
By names and images all powers are awakened and re-awakened.
This is basic knowledge for any Golden Dawn magician.
But this is only half of the work required for a successful initiation....

And there is also the argument that astral initiation is offered in order to serve students who cannot afford travelling to a temple.
Well, i travelled around the globe in order to receive certain initiations, although iam not a wealthy man at all!
Its always a question of what it is worth for you.
And this path never was there for serving the masses, but for the few and elected.


May you be blessed under the wings of the Eternal!
Summa scientia nihil scire,
Fr. L.

Reflektionen zum neuen Jahr

1. Januar 2011, Dies Shabbatai, Sol in Capricornus, Luna in Sagittarius:


Ich bin Typhon,
die innere Wüste,
ein karger durstiger Acker.

Ein Mensch, zum Tier degradiert, da all seiner höheren Anteile entledigt.

Ein seelenloser Zombie, gesteuert von blindem Verlangen,
auf die gröbsten Vitalfunktionen reduziert, gierig, zerstreut und unersättlich.

Meine Augen sind die Einfallstore zu einer ausgetrockneten Einöde.

Von der Seele abgeschnitten, damit ich mir bewusst werde, was ich vermisse, was ich verloren habe- und was ich dennoch wiedererlangen kann, sollte ich meinen Glauben nicht komplett verlieren.

Erst wenn ich dessen beraubt werde, wird mir bewusst, was für ein natürlicher und wesenseigener Bestandteil meines Gesamtgefüges mein inneres Licht war, doch war ich vorher praktisch betriebsblind, wie Adam im Garten Eden vor dem Fall.

Die Schleier der Nacht verbergen den göttlichen Funken der Seele so gut, dass sie ausgelöscht zu sein scheint, und dies bewirkt das eigentliche erste Gewahrwerden Ihrer Selbst.

Erobert man sie sich zurück, wird die ursprüngliche Reinheit wieder hergestellt.

Eine Reinheit, die vor dem Fall nur scheinbar vorhanden war, da der mit den Schlacken des Egos behaftete Abglanz mit der eigentlichen Glorie verwechselt wurde, eine Glorie, die sich schon spätestens mit dem Einsetzen der Adoleszenz verflüchtigt hatte.
"Nicht ehe Ihr werdet wie Kinder...."

Die Vision von Typhon, stumpf und leer aus mir herausglotzend, ist die Vision des Hüters der Schwelle, also dem Anteil meiner selbst, der den Zutritt über die Schwelle blockiert, und ist die folgerichtige Entwicklung meiner magischen Arbeit des Jahres 2010.

Und dies alles bestätigt wiederum die wunderbare Funktionsweise der Einweihung, der dunklen Nacht und der Erlangung-
noch besitze ich sie nicht, die Perle, die alles enthält.

Oh helfe mir Gott und meine höhere Seele!

(Typhon besiegt Osiris, damit Osiris wiederauferstehen kann, der fleischgewordene Solar-Mythos.
Typhon, auch Set, der dunkle Zwillingsbruder des Horus, des aktiven menschlichen Willens, der vom automatischen Bewusstsein gesteuerte, seelenlose Roboter, der nur auf die Befriedigung seiner gröbsten animalischen Instinkte und Triebe programmiert ist.
Es ist Zeit, dass der Gott im leeren Tempel wieder aufersteht- der Sieg der Sonne über die blinden Kräfte der Natur.)

Das Labyrinth der Alchemie

Nachdem ich nun mehrere Jahre verschiedene alchemistische Texte und Bilderserien studiert habe und immer noch studiere und sicher noch ein ganzes Stück studieren werde!- darunter Basilius Valentinus, Eugenius Philalethes, Raymundus Lully, Evola, Helmond, Böhme, Michael Meier's Atalanta Fugiens, Rosarium Philosophorum, Book of Lambsprinck, Aurora Consurgens, Mutus Liber etc. etc.- ganz nach dem hermetischen Leitsatz "Ora, lege, lege, lege, re-lege, labora et invenies"- kann ich zwar noch nicht behaupten, dass ich die Kunstsprache der Alchemie vollkommen durchschaut habe- fehlen mir doch noch einige ganz entscheidende initiatorische Schlüssel-, aber hatte trotz allem schon ein paar Geistesblitze, die mir etwas weiterhelfen konnten.

Es gibt manche Texte und Bücher, die ich schon mehr als dreimal gelesen habe, und wahrscheinlich so oft wiederlesen werde, bis mir das Licht dämmert.
Es heisst ja, dass wenn die "Weißung" eintritt, der Alchemist an einem Punkt angelangt ist, wo er -theoretisch- all seine Bücher verbrennen kann.
Ich nehme an, dass damit gemeint ist, dass wenn einmal ein Kontakt zu einer höheren Ebene, dem Genius oder Engel, etabliert ist, keine Führung "von außen" mehr notwendig ist.
Nun, ich stecke eben noch mitten im schwarzen Werk.
Bücher sind für mich noch vonnöten- und als Bibliophiler mehr als nötig, ja leidenschaftlich geliebt!

Ich glaube, das Prinzip, die Alchemie theoretisch zu verstehen, besteht darin, seinen Geist mit all den Informationen zu füttern, die vorhanden sind (und ich meine damit KLASSISCHE Texte und Bilderserien aus der hermetischen Tradition)- egal, ob man sie versteht oder nicht- und gleichzeitig daran zu glauben, dass das Unterbewusstsein eigene Schlussfolgerungen und Erkenntnisse formulieren wird, unabhängig vom Verstand, und diese zu einem gegebenen Zeitpunkt als Geistesblitze präsentiert.
Natürlich funktioniert das nur mit begleitender meditativer oder rituell-magischer Praxis (Ora et labora).
Und mehr als einmal hatte ich diese kleinen Geistesblitze!
Mittlerweilen bin ich schon so an diese Art theoretischer Arbeit gewöhnt, dass ich mir denke: je unverständlicher und verstiegener solch ein Text, umso besser!
Mit einer fast schon perversen Lust stürze ich mich auf die verwirrendsten Traktate.
Heisst es nicht, dass je unverständlicher die Adepten über ihre große Kunst geschrieben haben, umso klarer sie sich ausgedrückt haben?
Gerade alchemistische Bilderserien wie die "Atalanta Fugiens" von Michael Meier transportieren nicht selten universale Wahrheiten.
Nun sind universale Wahrheiten oft paradox, und erscheinen dem Verstand als unlogisch, und Logik ist eben nur ein überlebensnotwendiges Werkzeug unseres Verstandes, dem Vermittler zwischen dem höheren Bewusstsein und der instinkthaften Natur.
Auch in den östlichen Traditionen gibt es Methoden, den Verstand und die Logik auszutricksen, um an ein höheres Verständnis zu gelangen- man denke nur an die berühmten Zen-Koans.

Ich erinnere mich aber noch genau an meine ersten Reaktionen, als ich Bücher wie "Die entschleierte Alchemie" von Johannes von Helmond, oder "Die hermetische Tradition" von Julius Evola gelesen habe.
Das erste Mal Helmond ist bestimmt 7 Jahre her, und ich habe verächtlich darüber gelacht!
Nun, nach mehrmaligem Lesen, ist es ein wahrer Brunnen der Weisheit für mich geworden.
Beim erstmaligen Lesen von Evolas Meisterwerk hätte ich das Buch am liebsten erzürnt an die Wand geschleudert, oder gleich aus dem Fenster.
Aber ich habe gelernt, dass theoretisches Verständnis mit persönlicher Reife und Entwicklung wächst.
Viele dieser alchemistischen Bücher kommen wir nach Jahren des Wiederlesens vor, als hätte ich sie niemals zuvor gelesen.

Die Kunstsprache und Bilderwelt der Alchemie ist ein Labyrinth aus Allegorien, Fabeln und Symbolen.
Nicht selten wird innerhalb eines Textes ein Feuer als Wasser und dann wieder als Salz bezeichnet, oder Schwefel als Merkur und Merkur als Schwefel oder Salz.
Alleine für den Merkur gibt es wahrscheinlich hunderte von Bezeichnungen, die sich ähnlich sind oder widersprechen.
Meine Vermutung ist auch, dass oft Wölfe, Löwen, Drachen oder Geier ein- und dasselbe Ding bezeichnen.
Auch, dass manchmal z.B. Putrefaktion, Calcination und Sublimation nur technische Ausdrücke für ein- und dieselbe Operation sind.
Abgesehen von der Tatsache, dass viele alchemistische Autoren das Geheimnis extra verschlüsselten und die verschiedenen Ausdrücke und Abfolgen der Prozesse und Kunstkniffe vertauschten etc., um den Profanen in die Irre zu führen, und den wahren Suchenden zu weiterer persönlicher Forschung und Arbeit zu ermutigen, ist ein wichtiges Prinzip, das in diesen Texten steckt, das Prinzip der Erziehung des Bewusstseins zu einem höheren Verständnis.

Letzten Endes glaube ich, dass es nur eine Wahrheit, ein Licht, und ein Geheimnis, ein Arcana Arcanorum gibt, aber dieses Geheimnis so einfach und gleichzeitig gewaltig ist, dass es dem Verstand nur in Allegorien mitgeteilt werden kann, und auch nur in kleinen Häppchen.
Das Bewusstein muss schrittweise an das Geheimnis gewöhnt werden.
Dafür dient die Kabbala, die Magie und die hermetischen Allegorien. Sie bereiten das Bewusstsein graduell darauf vor, irgendwann das ganze Geheimnis erfassen zu können.
Und ist es dann erfasst, ist das Licht im Bewusstsein in seiner vollen Glorie gedämmert, verhindert es seine wesenseigene Natur, dass es klar und direkt, d.h. ohne Symbol oder Allegorie, ausgedrückt werden kann.
Deshalb: Isis schützt sich selbst!

Oculator Abis!
S.S.N.S.

Golden Dawn als eine archaische Form der Psychoanalyse

Als ich das erste Mal auf der Couch meines Psychoanalytikers lag, hatte ich sofort ein Schlüsselerlebnis.
Mir war sofort klar, warum man liegt und wieso der Analytiker nur als Stimme hinter Deinem Kopf wahrnehmbar ist.
Es hatte etwas extrem beruhigendes zu wissen, dass da eine Stimme aus dem Off ganze zwei oder drei Stunden in der Woche nur dafür da zu sein scheint, sich um Dich und Deine Probleme und Sorgen zu kümmern.
Das weckte Assoziationen von einem Über-Papa und dem lieben Gott, der sanft zu Dir spricht, und Dir vor allem auch zuhört.
Ich ahnte auch, dass irgendwann und unweigerlich genau diese Stimme ganz ätzend und unausstehlich werden wird, dass dieser Punkt kommt, und dass das dann ein Zeichen ist, dass die psychologische Übertragung in vollem Gange und erfolgreich ist. Der Garten Eden fällt unweigerlich und die Hydra wird ihre hässlichen Kopfe in der dunklen Nacht erheben und dies ist gut, denn es ist die notwendige Bedingung, damit Eden sich zu seiner ursprünglichen, ja noch reineren Glorie erheben kann.

Ich hatte das Gefühl, ich verstehe den Prozess gleich von der ersten Stunde an so gut und instinktiv, weil ich ihn kenne. Oft dachte ich, dass der Prozess, den man im Äußeren Orden des Golden Dawn durchläuft, nichts anderes ist als eine archaische Form der Psychotherapie.
Die Übertragung zwischen Analytiker und Patient in einem psychoanalytischen Prozess ist der Schlüssel zum Verständnis des eigenen Wesens.
Die Übertragung, die zwischen dem initiierenden Hierophanten und seinem Kandidaten geschieht hat dasselbe Wirkprinzip, doch dockt sich direkt an der feinstofflichen Matrix an.
Abgesehen davon hat man der Reformation des Ordens im Jahr 1999 zu verdanken, dass man den initiatorischen Effekt noch verstärken und verfeinern kann und damit zu einem noch umfassenderen Wissen über das eigene Wesen gelangen kann, indem man systematisch und entsprechend den Graden bis 5=6 alle Elemente, Planeten und Sternzeichen invozieren und damit analog die Persönlichkeit in 24 grobe Teile zerlegen und betrachten kann.
Invoziere dreimal Widder mit vollem Herzen und ganzer Kraft, und Du weisst genau, welchem Anteil deiner Persönlichkeit diese Kraft entspricht, da Dir in den folgenden Wochen entsprechende Situationen widerfahren werden.

Kurzum: Ich glaube, dass die Ausbildung, die man im Golden Dawn durchläuft, das Verständnis und den emotionalen Zugang zu einem psychoanalytischen Verfahren extrem erleichtert und dass gleichzeitig der analytische Prozess das Verständnis um die magisch-initiatorischen Effekte und Mechaniken extrem vertiefen kann.

Es grüßt,
Frater Leise

The Woman of Revelation

I was asked by somebody if i think that the Golden Dawn is a luciferian path.
Of course, i said no, and i had to laugh, because magical orders that promote a so-called luciferian path simply teach black magic, or work with unbalanced forces, the back side of the tree and the goetia etc.
But then this man insisted on the simple etymology of the word Lucifer as Light-Bearer and that the initiate of the Golden Dawn invokes LVX, Light, and works with this Light and therefore can be seen as a Light-Bearer.
And this brought me to something that i was thinking about many weeks now, for a long time not knowing how to formulate it right.

Of course every true alchemist loves God.
The love for God, His Wisdom and His Creation i believe is pre-requisite for any serious alchemical work.
By the way, without being true christian in heart, you would have not been allowed to the famous german Gold- und Rosenkreuz-Order.
This should clear away the notion of black magic in the term "luciferian".

But on the other hand, the brothers of the Rose-Cross as well as magicians and alchemists of the west were not seldomnly famous for their many social contacts.
Withdrawal from the outer world is never propagandised at this path, or maybe only at rare occassions as requisite for certain operations in a limited time frame.
Moreover, chastity or physical ascetism is not required as well to have success in magic. A healthy attitude towards sexuality prevents the student from becoming obsessed by his own complexes instead of attaining to his highest potential, and in regards to semiluxury food moderation and discernment is the key.
Even Jesus drank wine every day and loved to have many people around him, people of every kind, even a "whore".

I once had the intuition that the alchemist, instead of refraining from the material, by his ascent on the Mount of Abiegnus in reality descends deep down into the Materia- in order to give Divinity back to Her, that what she has lost at the Fall in Eden. This is also in line with the antinominan attitudes in sabbatean and especially frankist movements in the kabbalistic traditions.

The magician does channel Light into his/her sphere, and this Light i believe not only inflames our beings, but the beings that are around and with us also. I think this happens, on a subtle level, without you having any intention to do so.
It often happened that friends who have no clue of or interest in what i do spiritually and magically told me of experiences in their lives that corresponded with the element i was initiated in at that time and i certainly know that not all of these coincidences just happened because i had manipulated my focus...
When two people meet in a room, their spheres automatically mix to a certain extent.
What much more mingling of subtle energies when two people make Love!
Therefore being a magician or theurgist maybe means to propel evolution also.

More than one time i had the slightly heretic and, alas, megalomaniac thought that my energetic evolution maybe is only one side of the coin.

I had to think about St. John's Apocalypse.
The woman that appears, clad with the Sun and the Moon under her feet, and crowned with twelve Stars.
Its Isis, the goddess of Magic;
the four beasts about the throne, the presidents of the forces of the elements;
the book of the seven seals and the lamb in the midst of the throne and four beasts and elders...

The thought of mine was, and i urge you to instead of taking this too serious to take it with a certain wink:
maybe the magicians of the Golden Dawn are just like marionettes of the Divine that call down the forces of the macrocosm into their microcosmic spheres, believing that they unite with God internally, which may be true, but at the same time, and more important, they create the Kingdown of God on the whole globe by accelerating the collective evolution. Breaking the seven seals and speeding up a process for mankind and our planet in general.

Believe me or not, i undertake speculations like this mostly for personal entertainment. My ascendant sign is Pisces, therefore i have the strong inclination to let my fantasy drift in any possible direction and at any given time....but the outcome of it i do often take with a good pinch of salt.


Sincerely,
the Son of Gamuret

The Chymical Wedding, II

When Christian, in the second chapter of "Die chymische Hochzeit des Christian Rosencreutz", arrives at the castle where the (al)chymical wedding takes place, he has to pass through three portals.
At every portal he meets a guardian, at every portal he has to give something, but he also receives something in reward.
Written over the first portal he reads "Procul hinc, procul ite Prophani!", which is the latin version of "Hekas, hekas, este bebeloi!", the call of the Kerux in the Neophyte ceremony.
At this point it is clear that, whatever will take place in the castle, is reserved for initiates only.
And that Christian already is an initiate is clear when we read at the beginning of the first chapter that he sits down, like every evening, to engage in humble prayer and to create an undefiled "easter lamb" in his heart. He also tells us that "the Father of Light has shown him not only few of his mysteries so far".

At the portal, Chrisitan is asked to buy a "sign".
He has no money with him, so he tells the guardian to take whatever he likes.
The guardian takes a small bottle of WATER that Christian carries in his bag.
He then receives a golden coin with the letters S.C. on it.
It is not particularly said that this sign is a coin, but i always thought it to be exactly that. There is this old german word "Denkpfennig", which can be a coin that has engravings to remember you of something or to identify yourself before a higher instance.
The coin Christian gets is a perfect symbol for every initiation or grade you receive.
Remember that coins are attributed to pentacles and the element of Earth.
This means that something has manifested, or came down.
It is also a symbol for positive acknowledgment for what you have achieved.
In the sense that denkpfennige were nominal fees for your landlord in medieval times this coin in this novel can be compared to the effect of the elemental initiations in the Outer Order of the Golden Dawn as some kind of astral passports for the astral planes in question.

For the meanings of the letter S.C. Johann Valentin Andreae gives different possible interpretations in his footnotes to his first edition.
One of them is "Signum Crucis".
This, as well as Christians formal verbal introduction to the first guardian as Christian, the "Brother of the Red Rose Cross", delineates him as not only an initiate, but an an adept of the inner mysteries.
Andrea gives more alternatives like "Spes Caritas" (hope and love), but this is not the point i was thinking about-
Christian will receive more coins with letters on it, passing signs for the portals.
The second coin has the letters S.M., the third S.P.N.
Apart from that it is good mental training to cabbalise the meanings of these letters, by gematria or finding the yetziratic attributions, i know that when i was reading that, i had to think about what the practising magician or theurgist is doing with words and letters.
For the profane, Adonai is just a hebrew word meaning Lord and Ararita is just an acronym out of 7 hebrew words.
But by constant magical practise and faith in God and your magic you breath ever more life into these words.
You make them meaningful and thereby vibrant with power and life.
You turn simple words into effective magical agents.
There existed whole magical schools who only practised energising and vitalising certain words or names of power in order to attain illumination.

Over the second portal Christian reads "Date et dabitur vobis!" (Give and you will receive). The path of initiation always means that you have to invest a certain amount or manifestation of energy into something to be rewarded, at least time, discipline and faith.
Think of the five red cords and tassels on the Banner of the East symbolizing divine self-renunciation: the adept has to give up his illusion of being separate from the All.

At the second portal there is a wild lion that is tamed by the second guardian.
Very simplistic, the lion can be seen as a symbol for tremendous energy, or LVX, or the magical agent per se, on the human level as the force of Kundalini.
Christian buys the second sign with S.M. ("Sal Menstrualis", Salt of Purification, or "Studio Merentis", to the study of the Most Worthy) on it, by giving the guardian the SALT he has with him.
I find it curious that he first gives water, and than salt.
Iam lacking of deeper understanding of the alchemical principles so far, but am naive enough to interpret this in terms of that you can work on your energetic bodies (salt) by working on your consciousness (water) and not the other way around.

He then hurries to the third and last portal before the entrance.
He slips through it just before it is closed- he seems to be the last one that comes through it (Matthew 19,30-;-))

This time, he does not have to give anything in order to get the last sign.
But instead, by slipping through the closing gate in the last second, he looses a piece of his cloth that got tucked into the gate.
Clothes are a symbol for personality or persona in the sense of identity or "outer mask".
This is a re-affirmation of the necessity to overcome that which is called the flaw of seperateness.

He then sees that on one side of the portal is a happy picture with the word "Congratulator" over it, on the other side is a sad face with the word "Condoleo".
For me, this is the most excellent because most concise definition of the effect of magical initiations in general.

It has happened to me more than once that i at the one hand had reason to rejoice, but on the other hand, sometimes on a material or "profane" level experienced challenges. Sometimes these two events were so closely timed that it cannot be held as by chance. "By chance" does rarely exist for a magician.

Iam not the guy who builds a house in 1=10, marries in 3=8 and has success in 4=7.
Thats why i so deeply sympathise and feel a great empathy with this protagonist called Christian.
Throughout the book, he is a victim of mocking and scorn.
It already starts at his way to the castle, when he looses his bread for cheeky birds, and continues at the portal when he is the last one to come in and looses a bit of his cloth, and culminates in the (mostly) funny mockeries his brethren and masters play on him.
But at the end, he will receive the greatest gift.

Sexuality, again

Inspired by one comment on H. Frater A.I.T.s excellent blog, i feel inclined again to share some thoughts about sexuality.
To my astonishement, i often come across students asking me how to behave sexually and asking about my attitude towards this issue.
This is a sign that the general attitude towards sexuality in our culture and civilisation is in a deep misery.
Although it seems as if we are living in an elightened, modern and progressive time, i think nothing has changed since medieval times- maybe it has changed to the worse...
Sex is everywhere in mass media- in movies, real life documentaries, advertisements, internet, porn is free for everyone....But for what? Sex still has its "dirty" and sinful connotations.
But i say: There is nothing whatsoever dirty about sex- if its straight, bi- or homosexual. As long as two adults are involved and they are in perfect agreement.
Its just the crooked attitude of christianity that left the impression of sex as being dirty and sinful on our collective subconsciousness- even if we are not christian- we live in this culture and are impregnated by its moral standards and crooked ethics.
Maybe iam in a better position to talk about this issue because iam gay and from very early on i had to make my own thoughts about what is normal or sinful and what not. Even today i find myself often confronted with people thinking or expressing in some way or another that iam no "real man". Thats bullshit. I think i have much more right to call myself a real man than many other straight guys who never questioned their behaviour.
And my advise is: Try to root out all notions of sex as being dirty or sinful from your consciousness. This is not your idea.
Sex is nothing to be ashamed of.
Sex is holy and an expression of the holy will to UNITE.
Sex is the same drive as the will to unite with your Higher Soul, only expressed on a lower arc.
Nobody has to feel ashamed or feel like a sinner only because he enjoys having sex with somebody or him/herself.
Nobody has to "sublimate" his sexual feelings and orgasms.
Orgasms are JOY and i truly believe that God wants his children to experience JOY.
Its not God who will judge you for having joy.
Its the false and crooked attitudes and ideas planted in our subconsiousness that make us feel at odds with sexuality- and these false ideas and notions simply have to be rooted out and cleansed.