SOME SHORT comments about the use of God-Forms in the Outer Order Rituals, or rather the Elemental Grades from 1°=10° to 4°=7°, which has to be addressed due to common misconceptions amongst reconstructionist Chiefs of the Golden Dawn. During the last two decades I have pondered and experimented practically using God-Forms in the Outer Order beyond the 0°=0°.
The common sources regarding the use of God-Forms in a Golden Dawn Temple setting may be found both in Pat Zalewski’s Golden Dawn Rituals and Commentaries and the ones based upon the document entitled The Complete Explanation of the 1°=10° Grade of Zelator written by S.L. MacGregor Mathers (which likewise has been profaned by Mr. Zalewski). I would like to share with you some of my conclusions in a general way, without going into any specifics.
As a starter, I will share with you some comments about Mr. Zalewski’s attributions. He claims that the God-Forms that he published isn’t the ones originally used by the Stella Matutina but rather the ones given to him by Jack Taylor (the S.M. versions apparently
pales in comparison). Taylor in turn claimed to Mr. Zalewski that these had been drawn up originally by Moina Mathers and secretly transmitted to him by Mrs. Felkin. However, there are no actual proofs to be found anyware to corroborate this assumption (even Mr. Zalewski questions Taylors assumption in his latest edition of the said book).
To me it seems that these God-Forms, as suggested by Mr. Zalewski, have been concocted up by Mr. Zalewski himself, with some possible help and pointers given to him by his former mentor Jack Taylor. Over the years of study and practice I have come to the conclusion that the Zalewski God-Forms are truly lacking, although the overall intention is good. There are some parts that are usable, but the majority of Mr. Zalewski’s suggestions can be discarded as quite irrelevant, or at least far from optimal.
Regarding S.L. MacGregor Mathers’ own development of God-Forms I am convinced, because of the lack of any actual documents to evidence the contrary, that he never finished this project beyond the 0°=0° under proper guidance, and only made a tentative attempt at the first and lowest of the Elemental Grades, that of the 1°=10° Grade of Zelator. If there ever were written any commentaries for the higher Grades, I’m sure they followed the same outline as that of the 1°=10° document.
As regards MacGregor Mathers’ suggestions for the 1°=10° Grade there are some quite interesting developments there if you are overly Qabalistically inclined and prefer to use telesmatic images created from Hebrew letters instead of purely Egyptian God-Forms. They are workable to be sure, however not optimal for this kind of work. From the suggestions given in the 1°=10° I have extrapolated a similar set of God-Forms for the 2°=9° to 4°=7° Grades.
The common sources regarding the use of God-Forms in a Golden Dawn Temple setting may be found both in Pat Zalewski’s Golden Dawn Rituals and Commentaries and the ones based upon the document entitled The Complete Explanation of the 1°=10° Grade of Zelator written by S.L. MacGregor Mathers (which likewise has been profaned by Mr. Zalewski). I would like to share with you some of my conclusions in a general way, without going into any specifics.
As a starter, I will share with you some comments about Mr. Zalewski’s attributions. He claims that the God-Forms that he published isn’t the ones originally used by the Stella Matutina but rather the ones given to him by Jack Taylor (the S.M. versions apparently
pales in comparison). Taylor in turn claimed to Mr. Zalewski that these had been drawn up originally by Moina Mathers and secretly transmitted to him by Mrs. Felkin. However, there are no actual proofs to be found anyware to corroborate this assumption (even Mr. Zalewski questions Taylors assumption in his latest edition of the said book). To me it seems that these God-Forms, as suggested by Mr. Zalewski, have been concocted up by Mr. Zalewski himself, with some possible help and pointers given to him by his former mentor Jack Taylor. Over the years of study and practice I have come to the conclusion that the Zalewski God-Forms are truly lacking, although the overall intention is good. There are some parts that are usable, but the majority of Mr. Zalewski’s suggestions can be discarded as quite irrelevant, or at least far from optimal.
Regarding S.L. MacGregor Mathers’ own development of God-Forms I am convinced, because of the lack of any actual documents to evidence the contrary, that he never finished this project beyond the 0°=0° under proper guidance, and only made a tentative attempt at the first and lowest of the Elemental Grades, that of the 1°=10° Grade of Zelator. If there ever were written any commentaries for the higher Grades, I’m sure they followed the same outline as that of the 1°=10° document.
As regards MacGregor Mathers’ suggestions for the 1°=10° Grade there are some quite interesting developments there if you are overly Qabalistically inclined and prefer to use telesmatic images created from Hebrew letters instead of purely Egyptian God-Forms. They are workable to be sure, however not optimal for this kind of work. From the suggestions given in the 1°=10° I have extrapolated a similar set of God-Forms for the 2°=9° to 4°=7° Grades.
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| One of the 1=10 God-Forms according to Mathers |
However, through the benevolent guidance coming from the true Third Order of the Golden Dawn, I have come to realize that even MacGregor Mathers was way off the mark and deviated from the system of attributions as given by the continental Secret Chiefs for the 0°=0°. He either directly ignored the further instructions given to him by his Secret Chiefs or he had lost contact entirely with the Third Order by the time he wrote up that document.
I won’t say anything beyond these hints that I have already provided in the foregoing paragraphs, besides the fact that the Secret Chiefs – the true custodians of the Egyptian Mysteries – of the Third Order has given the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega® the complete set of proper and corrected God-Forms for use in the entire First and Second Orders, which far surpasses all of the past errors made by either MacGregor Mathers or the more recent attempts made by modern reconstrutionist author(itie)s. (Just because you happen to write books or blogs on occult topics doesn’t by definition mean that you are a real authority on the subject that you write about.) Now my work is done.
Addendum (2014-03-13)
Since writing this blog yours truly is no longer affiliated with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Outer Order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha Omega® (H.O.G.D./A+O®). However, my general view on this subject stays firmly unchanged, as expressed in the above written text, and what I have authored previously on the Gyllene Gryningen blog still represents my overall opinion. Any practices referred to in reference to the H.O.G.D./A+O® also apply to the Order that I am currently affiliated with, namely the Hermetiska Orden av Den Gryende Morgonrodnaden (“Hermetic Order of the Nascent Aurora”) or H∴O∴G∴M+R.
S∴R∴
Bravo. Thank you for setting the record straight. It is a shame that you have to go on refuting misrepsentations from people who can;t even give a straight answer one direct question.
SvaraRaderaThank you for your patience in dealing with hate filled fake "experts" working in the service of Grand Orricers the anti-Semitic ORC like the Supreme Maga of SRIA America.
Thank you for clarifying this.
SvaraRaderaIt never ceases to amaze me how off track so many claimants are even in the FUNDAMENTALS. They write with such self-importance that it is all too easy for beginners to be dragged in by their false scholarship.
This is often just their own interpretations attached to various impossible to substantiate claims as to sources. Ingenious, but often sadly just wrong...
As for those who are spinning up denials against the evidence of their documented involvement in the hateful OR+C, they have shown their true colours by avoiding simply ANSWERING that question.
These are simply NOT Hermetic Magicians, whatever godforms they claim to use.
@Aletheia LVX: Thank you for voicing your opinions. I also generally agree regarding the inapt and un-initiated state of the majority of the students of the Golden Dawn. However, there are exceptions to this. Some of these reconstructionist have produced some quite interesting developments which may benefit us all to a certain point. Some of them have even studied the older traditions and tentatively been able to place the Golden Dawn in a greater Hermetic, Qabalistic and Rosicrucian context. Such rare exceptions may be able to produce some quite interesting interpretations.
SvaraRaderaIn Licht, Leben und Liebe,
S:.R:.
Pat Zalewski wrote yesterday on the reconstructionist yahoo-forum:
SvaraRadera"I was most surprised to find that one group was using the telesmatic created godforms as part of initiatory ritual. Simply put, godforms in ritual are not talismans, but conjunction points that help facilitate the movement of energy and people around the initiatory hall. They all have to work in juxtaposition with each other. Mathers tried this scenario when he was constructing his AO tarot cards, and only managed in part the Empress but gave up on the others; see Secret Inner Order teachings of the GD. Since these forms are made up of Hebrew
letters, then you would have to alter the Gods above the pyramid squares, and also change their colours and designation, and rework some of the chess games to follow suit. Changing a God pantheon in ritual is one thing, but applying telesmatic figures is another matter entirely. This is what happens when you learn directly from books, or from second and third generation people who learned form books and have a lack of understanding of god forms. Since godforms in ritual were essentially the domain of the Hierophant on construction and
activation, without that input you can become a tanglefoot. The only 2 people alive who spoke directly with ex-hierophant's (of the SM) to get this information on godforms are Tony Fuller and myself, from Frank Salt and Jack Taylor. You won't find the information on godforms in Regardie's books, and people can fall into traps like applying telesmatic figures when they have no knowledge of what they are doing."
I guess Mr. Zalewski was referring to this blog post and in his usual manner tried to misrepresent it in his usual and subtle way. Although I may understand his sniping at me as I was a bit critical of his own works in this field.
First of all, the creation of telesmatic images is not the same as the making of "talismans". I have often seen Mr. Zalewski doing that mistake in his books. A Talisman is not a Telesma. Talismans are physical anchors of magical force. Telesmatic images are a species of god-forms which are built up in the imagination from Hebrew words.
He forgot to tell you that MacGregor Mathers used telesmatic images in his 1=10 paper, which he damn well knows as he has profaned it in one of his books.
As I said, that formula is useful if you want to create a more Qabalistic presence to the Hall, but not as suitable for bringing down the energies into a G.D. style Temple as Egyptian god-forms. I was hinting at that in my post, but somehow he must have missed this, either intentionally or unconscious.
I agree that you cannot learn the correct formula of God-form magic from any published books, not even from Mr. Zalewski's as these latter are filled to the brim with errors. It is of course good to have a past-hierophant as your teacher (although Mr. Zalewski's works on this matter clearly shows that he was badly taught) but even better to have a teacher that represents the source of the formula of god-form magic itself (i.e. a Third Order initiate), which is the case with the Alpha et Omega®.
I repeat, both the God-forms that are represented in Mr. Zalewski's "Ritual commentaries" and in the MacGregor Mathers paper are in error.
S:.R:.
Zalewski has misrepresented his knowledge "from Whare Ra" and its Adepti in the past, as has been thoroughly proven.
SvaraRaderaThis is enough for me to discount anything he has to say, especially if he is attempting to teach or persuade.
Keep shining the light in the places where it is needed, GH Fra. SR.