Fama Fraternitatis - 1614

Wiewohl wir nun wohl wissen, daß es umb ein ziemliches noch nicht an dem, da wieder unserm Verlangen oder auch anderer Hoffnung mit allgemeiner Reformation divini et humani, solle genug geschehen, ist es doch nicht unbillich, daß, ehe die Sonne auffgehet, sie zuvor ein HELL oder dunkel liecht in den Himmel bringt und unter dessen etliche wenige, die sich werden angeben, zusammen tretten, unsere Fraternitet mit der Zahl und Ansehen des gewünschten und von Fr.R.C. fürgeschriebenen Philosophischen Canons, einen glücklichen Anfang machen oder ja in unserer Schätz (die uns nimmermehr aufgehen können) mit uns in Demut und Liebe genießen die Mühsamkeit dieser Welt überzuckern und in den Wunderwerken Gottes nicht also blind umbgehen.

Vi vet dock att det enligt vår åstundan och andras förväntningar efter någon tid kommer en allmän reformation av både gudomliga och mänskliga ting. Ty innan solen går upp, upplyses himlen av
MORGONRODNADENS ljus. I väntan på denna reformation församlas några få som med sitt antal skall utöka vårt brödraskap, höja dess anseende och stärka dess förhoppningar och ge de av Fr.R.C. föreskrivna Filosofiska Canons en lycklig begynnelse. I all ödmjukhet och kärlek skall dessa nytillkomna tillsammans med oss dela våra skatter, som aldrig skall förgås, och så lindra denna världens möda och inte längre vandra ovetande om kunskapen om Guds underbara verk.

Howbeit we know after a time there will now be a general reformation, both of divine and humane things, according to our desire, and the expectation of others: for it is fitting, that before the rising of the Sun, there should appear and break forth AURORA, or some clearness, or divine light in the sky; and so in the mean time some few, which shall give their names, may joyn together, thereby to increase the number and respect of our Fraternity, and make a happy and wished for beginning of our Philosophical Canons, prescribed to us by our brother R.C. and be partakers with us of our treasures (which never can fail or be wasted) in all humility, and love to be eased of this worlds labor, and not walk so blindly in the knowledge of the wonderful works of God.

Definition

Det brittiska ordenssällskapet Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn och den tyska Frimurarlogen L'Aurore Naissante, vilket grundades i London 1888 respektive Frankfurt-am-Main 1807, delade på samma hebreiska namn Chevrah Zerach Bequr Aur, förevisat i gyllene gult vid bloggens huvud, vilket ordagrannt kan översättas till “Stigande Gryningsljusets Sällskap”. Denna tyska Rosenkorsiska Frimurarloge i Frankfurt, vilket måste anses vara det ursprungliga modertemplet till GOLDEN DAWN, kallade sig på tyska även Loge sur Aufgehenden Morgenröthe, vilket kan översättas till “Gryende Morgonrodnadens Loge”. Detta skiljer sig åt från den engelska seden att översätta orden Bequr Aur till “Golden Dawn” eller “Gyllene Gryningen”. Med anledning av Rosenkorstraditionens tyska ursprung är en mer korrekt översättning av Bequr Aur, genom franskans L'Aurore Naissante och tyskans Aufgehenden Morgenröthe, inget annat än GRYENDE MORGONRODNADEN. Denna hänvisning till ett stigande gryningsljus, morgonrodnad eller aurora är en klar hänvisning till den allmäna reformationen omnämnt i det ovan citerade stycket från Fama Fraternitatis. Denna blogg har dock valt att behålla den försvenskade anglo-saxiska termen GYLLENE GRYNINGEN för att denna, invand som den är, lättare associeras med den Rosenkorsiska tradition som här ämnas att framställas.

Licht, Leben, Liebe

söndag 3 april 2011

The importance and significance of lineage and tradition

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A couple of weeks ago I answered a query on the necessity of secrecy and lineage, in particular the one claimed by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Outer Order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega®. The querent asked if the mysteries aren’t written upon the face of nature for those with eyes to see to discern? He also asked if higher states of consciousness, truth, understanding, and ancient wisdom are within the sole repository of one group and its untraceable (not susceptible to objective verification) lineage?

My answer to this was the following, interpolated with some notes that came to my mind while preparing this post: Cosmic consciousness and Union with the ALL, as well as Immortality, is the birthright of every human. But there exists a particular set of techniques that may facilitate this birthright better than the slow and normal processes of Nature. These techniques, which mimics the way of Mother Nature but at the same time enhances it, constitutes a tradition and thus a lineage. Lineage, passed from a true initiator to the initiate, also confers direct changes of consciousness; this should be the case in all genuine initiation, also that of the Golden Dawn in the Outer, although changes in the latter are more subtle compared to initiations of a higher degree or arc.

Note: This fact is the reason why almost all of the yogic and tantric Far Eastern brethren emphasise the significance of correct lineage, tracing it back to some mythical figure or demi-god in the ancient past. The first thing that finds the newly initiated student is the narrative of the chain of past masters. Especially made mandalas containing a list of these (see image at the head for an example) are provided to the student to meditate upon to adjust his mind to the mindset of past masters and egregore. The Sufi orders of the Near Eastern brethren places equal emphasis on lineage; the student becomes humbled by the fact that by the hand placed upon him by his initiator he feels the grip of all the past masters back to Mohammed himself. In continental Europe a similar concept of lineage is a natural part of the Lodge culture in the different Martinist and Rosicrucian bodies.

This scorn against the notion regarding importance placed in lineage is a quite recent phenomenon and may almost be entirely restricted to the Anglo-Saxon domain or English speaking nations, although not if you trace your history further back than to the 1960’s when the old books by Aleister Crowley and Israel Regardie were repulished and widely circulated, serving as the source for the establishment of new Golden Dawn Temples without any trace back in history. Thus today it is politically incorrect in the Golden Dawn Community to claim any lineage whatsoever, because of this situation, and any such suggestions immediately becomes ridiculed by the reconstructionalist cohort.


But I must emphasize that there exist several different traditions (although they are not that different in essence, only in culture and language) which are probably equally effective, both in the West and the East. The particular tradition that the H.O.G.D./A+O teaches in its higest Grades is part of the Western Hermetic Alchemical Tradition, which has many similarities with Hindu and Tibetan Tantra and Daoist Internal Alchemy; there are some differences but many similarities – they are all part of the Alchemical Tradition. But Cosmic Consciousness and Union with the ALL, and perhaps even conscious Immortality, may be achieve by other means as well, such as contemplative mysticism and Theurgy. However, those who have experienced the true Alchemical Tradition (both Occidental and Oriental) knows that its formulae of energetic manipulation and transmutative powers of matter are second to none.

Note: Furthermore there exists several different European bodies within the Hermetic tradition of the Occident that do possess these mysteries, or at least parts of it. But in the Golden Dawn Community these higher and traditional teachings are extremely rare, with some few exceptions, not because it’s not accessible to them but because most teachers and leaders with an reconstructionalist bent aren’t at all intersted in it or even doesn’t believe it exists; they are suffering from a blind spot.

So in the final analysis, the querent in part was right that the mysteries of the ALL talks to us all through Nature. But I hold that there also exists man made formulae, based upon millennia of experience amongst a long chain of initiates, and highly evolved teachers which can provide a species of “short cut” to experiencing states of consciousness which are the innate part of Nature. This formulae are conferred through lineage, both in the Occident as well as in the Orient.

S∴R∴

2 kommentarer:

S.V. sa...

SR.:

I do so enjoy your blog articles. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your application of that knowledge.

Sincerus Renatus... sa...

Care Fra. S.V.,

Thank you for your kind words. But it should be me thanking you, at is was you who asked these questions in the first place. Thank you for giving me the inspiration to write this.

In Licht, Leben und Liebe,
S:.R:.