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The Golden Dawn is comprised of two Orders (three Orders?) - The Outer Order and The Inner Order.
I had in my physical possession a wealth of GD literature, including many by Nick Farrell, where in each of his series, he would include an Inner Order initiation ceremony. It covered up to Magus or Magister Templi, if I recall correctly.
Yet, Waite wrote a book on the initiation of the Rosy Cross Fellowship, where it covered Zelator Adeptus Minor up to Magus.
So ... Two or three separate orders?
If three, it would be akin to the thirty three Masonic degrees.
If not, one could theoretically self initiate into the Fellowship of the Rose Cross after Outer Order self Initiation, in which case, you could theoretically self initiate into a Magus.
Different. As far as I know, the Golden Dawn does not really have any Rosicrucian lineage. "Anna Sprengler" (their alleged Rosicrucian source) was a fabrication.
It was one of those things societies felt they had to do to seem legitimate. (Much like the real Rosicrucians pretended that their lineage went back much further, to the fabricated Christian Rosenkreutz).
That said, it's not easy to say if there ever really was a Rosicrucian order. Originally, there were just Rosicrucian manifestos written by a single guy in the 1600s, pretending to be a whole secret order. But scholars and mystics did incorporate those manifestos into their spirituality, making them Rosicrucians even if they weren't a society, just different people in different places. So there may not even be any lineage for GD to be part of or not part of. In which case, they are just another group who took inspiration from the manifestos.
(I might not have all that right, the general gist is that it's epistemologically complicated though. But the simple answer to your question is "they're not the same")
Frater Acher is a good source on the Rosicrucians. (Acher is German, as was Rosicrucianism, so he has access to texts that haven't been translated).
Rosicrucian Magic is a book of magical reformation that lays a path of contact with spirits and beings through a lens of integrity. Drawing upon wisdom and knowledge from the ancient world through to eighteenth century influences and beyond, Frater Acher takes us on a journey of discovery on...
I had in my physical possession a wealth of GD literature, including many by Nick Farrell, where in each of his series, he would include an Inner Order initiation ceremony. It covered up to Magus or Magister Templi, if I recall correctly.
This can not be, unless you are talking about SRIA, which the GD founders were parts of at one time. And they use the same grading system.
There are similarities but GD is also very different than SRIA. So becoming Magus in there wouldn't make you a GD Magus. What kind of logic is that?
Fuego, I am gonna be blunt with you. You are focusing on a tree and missing the forest in the picture.
Magus is 9=2. This is a grade that is either unachiavable when in incarnation, or its one in a billion instance. Lets calculate here.
So, have you passed the Babe of Abyss? No? Lets go back a bit. Have you completed Adeptus Exemptus and have a good grasp of Macrocosm? No? Alright lets go back. Have you passed the Portal grade even? No. My dude you are 1=10 at tops.
If the Self Initiation problem is bothering you so much why don't you just go with Thelema? Crowley claims he went all the way to Ipsissumus. There you have it, not only you can become a Magus, you can go into the final grade™.
Points taken. I was simply wondering the connection between the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Outer and Inner Order of the Fellowship of the Rose Cross (concensus appears to claim they're different). And if they were related and self initiation through the three were possible to Magus in each, if there was a spiritual relation to the 33 degrees of the Masons, concensus says a loud NO.
Points noted. Still working through Christophers book and side straddling Kraigs book.
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However ... if Initiation by Outline of Initiation Ceremony works (Christophers scenario), and Initiation by Chessboard works, for the Outer Order, it may work for Inner Order (Crowleys, Regardies and Farrels work) and the FRC/SRIA/AMORC initiations (Waites Work/Cromlech Temple work).
Points taken. I was simply wondering the connection between the Inner Order of the Golden Dawn, and the Outer and Inner Order of the Fellowship of the Rose Cross (concensus appears to claim they're different). And if they were related and self initiation through the three were possible to Magus in each, if there was a spiritual relation to the 33 degrees of the Masons, concensus says a loud NO.
Points noted. Still working through Christophers book and side straddling Kraigs book.
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However ... if Initiation by Outline of Initiation Ceremony works (Christophers scenario), and Initiation by Chessboard works, for the Outer Order, it may work for Inner Order (Crowleys, Regardies and Farrels work) and the FRC/SRIA/AMORC initiations (Waites Work/Cromlech Temple work).
In the Outer Order of the GD no magic was taught. Magic was reserved for the Inner Order. After you had spent about 5 years going through the elemental grades you then went through the Portal to the Inner Order & your robe was changed from black to white (refer black & white pillars in the Outer Order temple). Going through the Portal then sealed the connection between you and your HGA. Remember, the Inner Order of the GD was about 'becoming more than human' and taking your place amongst the gods. There were no written initiations after Adeptus Minor 'cos now you are a god and you're on your own. The GD idea was that crossing the abyss to the highest degrees would only happen after death. Crowley, & some members of his AA claimed degrees from the other side. The SRIA, of course, is a Rosicrucian order. In fact, any Order that uses the symbolism of the Rose & the Cross is Rosicrucian. It's a philosophy rather than an Order. I think you'll find Farrell himself wrote any rituals beyond Adeptus Minor. Farrell, however has, I believe, from memory, a great take on the Olympic Spirits which, of course, the GD didn't define.
The Golden Dawn is comprised of two Orders (three Orders?) - The Outer Order and The Inner Order.
I had in my physical possession a wealth of GD literature, including many by Nick Farrell, where in each of his series, he would include an Inner Order initiation ceremony. It covered up to Magus or Magister Templi, if I recall correctly.
Yet, Waite wrote a book on the initiation of the Rosy Cross Fellowship, where it covered Zelator Adeptus Minor up to Magus.
So ... Two or three separate orders?
If three, it would be akin to the thirty three Masonic degrees.
If not, one could theoretically self initiate into the Fellowship of the Rose Cross after Outer Order self Initiation, in which case, you could theoretically self initiate into a Magus.
Also, it's more nuanced that that. The Golden Dawn was the order order not the whole thing we now call the Golden Dawn. The inner Order was called the R.R.
et A.C. which is Rubae Roses et Aurae Crucis meaning 'Ruby Rose and Gold Cross. As you might guess from this name the inner order was Rosicrucian in order and curriculum. In the Outer Order you went from silence to utterance, witnessing the Golden Light which you then learned 5=6 to be the light of the Cross. The GD taught a Coptic narrative of the Egyptian mysteries leading of to the Christian mysteries.
The GD does have Rosicrucian Lineage. The three founding chiefs were all officers of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, a form of Rosicrucianism that requires you to be a Master Mason. It was a revival of the Golden Dawn's Namesakes, The Order of the Golden And Rosy Cross founded circa 1750 by Herman Fictuld. Herman's group is the first evidence a formal lodge structure of Rosicrucian initiation. It is where we get the grade structure on the tree.
The Cipher Manuscript was found in a Masonic library, presumably with the SRiA and supposedly it had been thrown in the trash for some reason. It is legitimate though mysterious yet Anna's name was most likely forged on it to give the GD a claim of unbroken lineage. The SRiAs paper trail having been lost. The Cipher manuscript was believed to contain, if not the first five rituals of the GD's namesake, a ritual (in Masonry ritual can refer to all the ritual ceremonies of a lodge body) of a system inspired by and intended to revive the operative practices of said group.
As to wether Anna, or Annie, ever existed I can not say and I'm not sure if anyone can. What I can tell you is that Lodge LLL did indeed exist, being a German lodge that had/would lose its charter becoming unrecognized. This was one of the reasons why Mather's had to come up with secret superiors, as their supposed lineage was becoming a disgrace to them. At the same time there was pressure on him to reveal who they were. So he stated that they were incorporeal, having transcended. You can imagine how well that went and when he initiated Crowley to 5=6 that was the last straw. He should have just gotten the charted from the SRiA. It would not make any sense to list a real lodge that could deny his claim so I have no doubt the LLL was initially involved.
The Fellowship of the Rosy Cross you speak of is A.E. Waites group that formed from his remnant of the GD faction. He got rid of all/most of the Egyptian stuff, emphasizing the groups Rosicrucian roots. He also emphasized more mysticism than magic.
Lastly, Self initiation, contrary to popular belief, is not possible in the GD or any Freemasonic derived tradition. Don't get me wrong, you can do the work and progress on the tree but that's not going through a formal initiation ritual that requires a whole degree team to put on or being passed/linked to the group egregore.
The first Rosicrucians were few, four by their own admittance and they met once a year, probably in a Masonic Lodge. The Manifestos contain language and influences that Masons would recognize and the arguments for their being Masons is strong, but then there's only so much that can be said here about that.
Thank you for clarifying these points.
It then begs the question, for those on the RHP, what is the next best route to being a successful (not an armchair mage) magician, if you cannot get into a lodge of the Golden Dawn (or the Crowley lodge derivations) lodge, if self initiation is not a true route to magick?
I still intend to work through Lyam Thomas Christopher's "Kabalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation", Donald M Kraig's "Modern Magick", and the Ciceros "Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition", using Opening by Watchtower for everything if need be.
In the Outer Order of the GD no magic was taught. Magic was reserved for the Inner Order. After you had spent about 5 years going through the elemental grades you then went through the Portal to the Inner Order & your robe was changed from black to white (refer black & white pillars in the Outer Order temple). Going through the Portal then sealed the connection between you and your HGA. Remember, the Inner Order of the GD was about 'becoming more than human' and taking your place amongst the gods. There were no written initiations after Adeptus Minor 'cos now you are a god and you're on your own. The GD idea was that crossing the abyss to the highest degrees would only happen after death. Crowley, & some members of his AA claimed degrees from the other side. The SRIA, of course, is a Rosicrucian order. In fact, any Order that uses the symbolism of the Rose & the Cross is Rosicrucian. It's a philosophy rather than an Order. I think you'll find Farrell himself wrote any rituals beyond Adeptus Minor. Farrell, however has, I believe, from memory, a great take on the Olympic Spirits which, of course, the GD didn't define.
Not Quite. You did go practice the LBRP which is operative magic, anything else was under predispensation from your mentor. Though you did practice a few exercises and meditations.
The HGA was not originally part of the GD curriculum or part of the original GD being a later addition during the revival era. Instead they focused on the Higher Genius albeit a clear path on how to do this wasn't laid out. It can be considered your Holy Guardian Intelligence. Very similar but slightly different.
Going through portal doesn't seal the connection. You don't even come into contact with your HGA till 5=6 and again the was in systems like the A.A. and now in GD revivals.
If you are referring to the Cipher Manuscript yes it only contained outlines for 0=0 to 4=7 which Mathers turned into full-fledged ritual. He then wrote 5=6, 6=5 and 7=4 and there are reasons to believe he was working on, and may have even finished inner order rituals for 2=9 to 4=7 which would have been in Yetzirah. In the GD 0-0 is in Malkuth while in ignorance of the tree, and 1=10 to 4=7 are in Assiah in knowledge of the tree. Adeptus Minor is at Tiphereth in Assiah and Malkuth in Yetzirah. This is why it is both the crown of the outer order and the badge of entry to the inner order.
Portal didn't originally exist. It started as the first part of 5=6 and that's why it has officers from both orders but it was felt a four part initiation would just be too long so it was broken up into two grades.
You do not become God at 5=6 but you do witnesses the Holy Spirit of God within you, knowing that the live that is within you is God. This imparts ability and authority to do works and why you did nothing operative outside the LBRP until Adeptus Minor.
Because no man should ever endeavor in any important undertaking, let alone summon a spirit without first seeking the blessing of deity.
Many think the LBRP is a mere banishing ritual but you are banishing Malkuth and with it the lesser Sepheroth (elementally), into Tiphereth, your awareness going from base dross to spirit: Lead into Gold.
It would not make sense to have higher degrees if you were already God...
That is true, the GD did not confer any degrees higher than 7=4 because it was believed no man other than Jesus, Enoch and Elijah had crossed the 50th gate into Magister Templi. Oh you could cross over into it some, but to complete cross would be the dissolving of your physical body into the universal solvent. Even Crowley never claimed Ipsissimus, going only to Magus which while more difficult than Magister Trmpli is "the same distance in on the tree" but you can't be fully either with a physical body still anchoring you.
Well, while I agree with you that no order has exclusive rights over Rosicrucianism
because it is a mystical and philosophical path of Christianity, putting a rise and cross on your order dies NOT make you Rosicrucian. For example, AMORC while they have adopted the label do not teach Rosicrucian philosophy. They teach a mixture of Crowley, Blatvasky and New Age, which shouldn't be surprising as their actual lineage is a schism from the OTO.
The Olympic Spirits are actually very significant to Rosicrucianism. The Arbatel and the Theosophia Pneumatica are both highly inspired by Paracelsus whose work was a core route of Rosicrucians.
To say the GD said nothing about the Olympian Spirits would be untrue. It would be true to say we don't know what they said. They are listed in one of the knowledge lectures but the oral instruction that originally went along with illustration does not survive, being oral. The closest you are going to get is talking to original members of Whare Ra or students of Regardie.
Thank you for clarifying these points.
It then begs the question, for those on the RHP, what is the next best route to being a successful (not an armchair mage) magician, if you cannot get into a lodge of the Golden Dawn (or the Crowley lodge derivations) lodge, if self initiation is not a true route to magick?
I still intend to work through Lyam Thomas Christopher's "Kabalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation", Donald M Kraig's "Modern Magick", and the Ciceros "Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition", using Opening by Watchtower for everything if need be.
I don't mean to discourage you, spiritual progress is still to be had working the system. You can still grow and develop and you can even have an Initiatory experience from the egregore or some spirit but at the end of the day that's UPG.
You don't have to be initiated to be a valid practitioner. However it is bad firm to speak of self-initiation because it is a misnomer. You can't bring yourself into something you don't have. Initiation is to be brought into something and to begin.
You can still reconstitute and consecrate your elemental constitution. You can still align to an experience the planetary sphere, consecrate tools and talismans. You can still have gnosis, but it won't be gnosis from initiation.
Work through Modern Magic and the Cicero's book despite is horrible title and refer the contents of both back to the black and yellow bricks if you have them.
Then follow reputable GD magicians seeking to learn and pick up good habits from them and learn from outer court offerings where available. Getting involved in the GD community you'll meet the right people.
My biggest price of advice is learn a proper understanding of the LBRP. It is the most important ritual of the GD system. You won't get far at all until it dies what it was designed to do and once it does you will see the L.V.X.
Not Quite. You did go practice the LBRP which is operative magic, anything else was under predispensation from your mentor. Though you did practice a few exercises and meditations.
The HGA was not originally part of the GD curriculum or part of the original GD being a later addition during the revival era. Instead they focused on the Higher Genius albeit a clear path on how to do this wasn't laid out. It can be considered your Holy Guardian Intelligence. Very similar but slightly different.
Going through portal doesn't seal the connection. You don't even come into contact with your HGA till 5=6 and again the was in systems like the A.A. and now in GD revivals.
If you are referring to the Cipher Manuscript yes it only contained outlines for 0=0 to 4=7 which Mathers turned into full-fledged ritual. He then wrote 5=6, 6=5 and 7=4 and there are reasons to believe he was working on, and may have even finished inner order rituals for 2=9 to 4=7 which would have been in Yetzirah. In the GD 0-0 is in Malkuth while in ignorance of the tree, and 1=10 to 4=7 are in Assiah in knowledge of the tree. Adeptus Minor is at Tiphereth in Assiah and Malkuth in Yetzirah. This is why it is both the crown of the outer order and the badge of entry to the inner order.
Portal didn't originally exist. It started as the first part of 5=6 and that's why it has officers from both orders but it was felt a four part initiation would just be too long so it was broken up into two grades.
You do not become God at 5=6 but you do witnesses the Holy Spirit of God within you, knowing that the live that is within you is God. This imparts ability and authority to do works and why you did nothing operative outside the LBRP until Adeptus Minor.
Because no man should ever endeavor in any important undertaking, let alone summon a spirit without first seeking the blessing of deity.
Many think the LBRP is a mere banishing ritual but you are banishing Malkuth and with it the lesser Sepheroth (elementally), into Tiphereth, your awareness going from base dross to spirit: Lead into Gold.
It would not make sense to have higher degrees if you were already God...
That is true, the GD did not confer any degrees higher than 7=4 because it was believed no man other than Jesus, Enoch and Elijah had crossed the 50th gate into Magister Templi. Oh you could cross over into it some, but to complete cross would be the dissolving of your physical body into the universal solvent. Even Crowley never claimed Ipsissimus, going only to Magus which while more difficult than Magister Trmpli is "the same distance in on the tree" but you can't be fully either with a physical body still anchoring you.
Well, while I agree with you that no order has exclusive rights over Rosicrucianism
because it is a mystical and philosophical path of Christianity, putting a rise and cross on your order dies NOT make you Rosicrucian. For example, AMORC while they have adopted the label do not teach Rosicrucian philosophy. They teach a mixture of Crowley, Blatvasky and New Age, which shouldn't be surprising as their actual lineage is a schism from the OTO.
The Olympic Spirits are actually very significant to Rosicrucianism. The Arbatel and the Theosophia Pneumatica are both highly inspired by Paracelsus whose work was a core route of Rosicrucians.
To say the GD said nothing about the Olympian Spirits would be untrue. It would be true to say we don't know what they said. They are listed in one of the knowledge lectures but the oral instruction that originally went along with illustration does not survive, being oral. The closest you are going to get is talking to original members of Whare Ra or students of Regardie.
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I don't mean to discourage you, spiritual progress is still to be had working the system. You can still grow and develop and you can even have an Initiatory experience from the egregore or some spirit but at the end of the day that's UPG.
You don't have to be initiated to be a valid practitioner. However it is bad firm to speak of self-initiation because it is a misnomer. You can't bring yourself into something you don't have. Initiation is to be brought into something and to begin.
You can still reconstitute and consecrate your elemental constitution. You can still align to an experience the planetary sphere, consecrate tools and talismans. You can still have gnosis, but it won't be gnosis from initiation.
Work through Modern Magic and the Cicero's book despite is horrible title and refer the contents of both back to the black and yellow bricks if you have them.
Then follow reputable GD magicians seeking to learn and pick up good habits from them and learn from outer court offerings where available. Getting involved in the GD community you'll meet the right people.
My biggest price of advice is learn a proper understanding of the LBRP. It is the most important ritual of the GD system. You won't get far at all until it dies what it was designed to do and once it does you will see the L.V.X.
To be blunt, I've heard of and wanted to try using Opening by Watchtower, embedding rituals within Opening and Closing. With Christophers program, and other rituals per Kraig and Cicero that can be integrated into Christophers daily Formula (a series of rituals in each quarter), this can be done.
To be blunt, I've heard of and wanted to try using Opening by Watchtower, embedding rituals within Opening and Closing. With Christophers program, and other rituals per Kraig and Cicero that can be integrated into Christophers daily Formula (a series of rituals in each quarter), this can be done.
I'm not familiar with Christopher's work. Christopher who?
The Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram are what we call frame rites. While they absolutely are operative and thus can stand in their own as magical formulas and works, they are also intended to set a given space and tune for work.
This comes from Masonic ritual whereby we an opening on and closing of a degree to do the work thereof. -though don't confuse Masonry with a magical tradition, it is a mystery tradition.
Therefore yes, you often have work that is done between your opening and closing frame rite(s).
Each initiation ritual of the Golden Dawn opens on its particular grade. Philosophus for example opens the space for working only with Fire and the Elemental qualities of Netzach.
The Supreme Ritual of the Pentagram, esp. when giving the grade signs at each quarter- is opening on all of the elementary grades at the same time in dynamic.
The LBRP is a composite general opening.
The lesser ritual of the hexagram is like unto the LBRP but macrocosmic and in Yetzirah.
The SRP also gives the signs of the rending and opening of the veil, which were originally of 5=6 before Portal was extracted and constituted therefrom.
The Spirit pentagrams in the SRP are the mediating spirit of Tiphereth and the veil is rendered so the light can come into and guide the elements. Tiphereth is to that which the Divine L.V.X. descends and is designated to the elements. Thus the fire in the soul of Man and the world soul hath a measure in the plan of salvation and lurianic reintegration. Thus are L.V.X. signs of L.V.X. To experience what I mean perform L.V.X. either after the rending in every quarter or at the center of the crossroads which is Tiphereth as pertains to that space.
The writings of Paracelsus are invaluable in the outer order and works like the Arbatel invaluable in the inner order.
The Star Ruby operates from Tiphereth and is the perfection of the elements as the base materia into the red stone. The LBRP likewise is the process of this stone turning the elements into Gold. The LBRP brings one to the spirit and if angels while the Ruby brings one to the Word and if intelligences
The Star Sapphire is of no concern right now.
The Opening by Watchtower is a more formal opening which Christians the space and it's furniture. While the Pentagram rituals are frame rites for setting the tune and space, -Opening by Watchtower is just that, opening while also activating the watchtowers and furniture of a dedicated space. It is not a routine rite but fir the set up and maintenance if your Temple.
It is to the elements what the consecration of the vault is to the planets.
Thank you for this literal wealth of information. Like the Ciceros "Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition", Lyam Thomas Christopher has a book called "Kabalah, Magic, and the Great Work of Self-Transformation". Designed for Neophyte to Portal grades through a variety of grade Formulas (series of rituals).
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@Yazata .. Please lock this thread, the answers have been provided.
