Concerning the true nature of Lux E Tenebris: an angel or a man? (Or, why we should be Adepts first and scholars second)

o

THE LAST MONTH following G.H. Fra. L.e.S.’ announcement regarding the Third Order transmission of secret teachings for the higher grades of the Second Order, the R.R. et A.C. of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, has seen quite some stir and heated discussions on various fora and the blogosphere. Some conclusions have taken some ludicrous heights, in the usual reconstructionist fashion that we have come to be used to during the recent years.

Now, the good Frater Olen Rush recently published a transcript from a visionary experience back in 1888 by one Frater Vota Vita Mea, that is Thomas Henry Pattison which is listed as No. 8 of the Horus Temple No. 5 membership roll, admitted as a 5°=6° by march 1888.

This letter has previously been published in full by R.A. Gilbert in his The Golden Dawn Scrapbook, pages 37-39. The transcript reeds in full thus (retaining comments by Mr. Gilbert within square brackets):

Copy of Communication from the Inner Ring, made to Fra. Vota Vita Mea, given in his letter of June 20, 1888 to Fra Sapere Aude:

The Crowned One gave to Fras. V.V.M. and H. [presumably F.D. Harrison] much information concerning the natural creation and the following symbol was the one he adopted to illustrate primary creation or the union of first causes:

After this Fra. H. was conducted by an Eagle-headed messenger into the presence of the Angel R + [Raphael] (whom I, S'Rioghail Mo Dhream, know by the motto L[ux] e T[enebris]) He said:

‘I wish to speak to you of the G.D. The prime mover of it must exercise the keenest possible care, and must not accept people into its secrets who are not Occult Students, they all ought to have some occult development which has been the outcome of their own research; otherwise much Evil Magic will be the result. Much good can come out of it if rightly directed, but one Evil One can upset the Harmony of the whole, so that its efforts would be neutral for a lengthy period. The Idea in view must be not to establish an Order; but to gather together those men who are an Order In themselves. Understand that the G.D. is MY Order and that I am and must be accountable for it. The last one initiated [Dr T.W. Coffin, who left the Order within a year having remained in the grade of Neophyte] must be considered and allowed to wait before giving information; 2 or 3 others also are not of much use, and others are likely to drop out. You must take every care not to initiate any who have no occult tendency in a degree developed. Convey my message to those who can carry out my advice.

‘You must consider yourselves highly favoured indeed for being allowed to come in contact with the one (the Crowned One) you did tonight.

‘Also, I would caution and advise you to be very careful in the use of Divine Names, and all symbols should (be) correctly traced. I have seen this lady in Switzerland whom you have been trying to release. I confirm the work you have attempted. But you have failed to fully carry out your intention. The failure is due to the want of correctness in carrying out your Ritual. When the Divine Names are used they are made operative by the emotion of the Soul; if uttered by a cold soul-starved man they are of no use. Put your soul-power into them, and let your whole being speak them; then they do become Operative; and the final Issue of this lady in Switzerland is left open at present for your instruction. You have discovered and commanded the assailants, but you have not yet subdued them; although she will be very carefully watched now: You must make your promise of protection a fact, and establish it as a permanent operation. I shall see you again as to this.’

He also said; - ‘The G.D. will soon find the prime movers plenty to do; they will have more applicants than they can take; and if not careful will get beyond their control.’

He then said to Fra. H, ‘You can go’; and the Eagle-headed Messenger conducted him back.

Now, people has of course noted the particular mention by S.L. MacGregor Mathers of Lux e Tenebris, the motto that MacGregor Mathers re-used for his later in the flesh Secret Chief which he met in Paris in 1892. Some have therefore speculated that MacGregor Mathers started out with a belief of solely astral or angelic powers as the source of the Third Order, and that he later on changed his beliefs into the concept of continental Rosicrucian initiates.

For me this seems plausible, and even more plausible that he believed in both. I personally believe that MacGregor Mathers used the Lux e Tenebris phrase as a generic motto for whatever Secret Chief or source of inspiration he had come into contact with or believe in at a certain point. After the meeting with his physical Secret Chief in Paris he started to apply that motto onto him. Later on there started to spread a false rumour that the identity of L.e.T. was a Dr. Thiessen of Liege, who supposedly died in 1909. However, it’s a well known fact amongst initiates that the L.e.T. motto is a blind, and that the real motto and true identity of MacGregor Mathers’ continental Secret Chief is still secret to this day.

However, one reconstructionist and history revisionist author has even suggested that MacGregor Mathers must have referred to the infamous Madame Horos as his Secret Chief when he announced that he had been visited by them in the flesh. But in his usual manner this author hasn’t made his homework sufficiently enough and completely either missed or ignored the fact that MacGregor Mathers’ in the flesh contact with Madame Horos was established in early 1900, while he made his first official and written claims of physical contact with his Secret Chiefs back in 1896, that is four years prior to him taking in Madame Horos and her husband as guests at his Paris house. He also totally misses the fact that MacGregor Mathers in a weak moment (probably his weakest) believed Madame Horus to be fräulein Sprengel, who used the motto of Sapiens Dominabitur Astris, not that of Lux E Tenebris.

Now let me present the facts, not any fantasies, and again quote MacGregor Mathers’ manifesto concerning the Secret Chiefs in full:

The Manifesto of G.H. Frater Deo Duce Comite Ferro 7° = 4°, Adeptus Exemptus, Chief Adept and Ambassador of those Secret and Unknown Magi who are the concealed Rulers of the Wisdom of the True Rosicrucian Magic of Light:

Unto

The Theorici Adepti Minores of the Order R∴ R∴ et A∴ C∴

Notice: This Manifesto is to be placed in the hands of each Theoricus Adeptus Minor upon his or her attainment of that Grade. After he or she has carefully read the same; he or she must send a written Statement of voluntary submission in all points regarding the Orders of the G∴D∴ in the Outer and the R∴R∴ et A∴C∴ to G.H. Frater Deo Duce Comite Ferro before being permitted to receive any further instruction. Unless he or she is prepared to do this, he or she must either Resign from the Order, or elect to remain a Zelator Adeptus Minor only. And he or she hereby undertakes to refrain from stirring up any strife or schism hereon in the First and Second Orders.

It is necessary that you who have now attained the Grade of Theoricus Adeptus Minor after having passed through the numerous examinations on the Secret Knowledge of the Zelator Adeptus Minor Grade of the Second Order should now understand how that wonderful system of Occult Wisdom has been obtained for you.

Prior to the establishment of the Vault of the Adepts in Britannia (the First Order of the G∴D∴ in the Outer being therein actively working) it was found absolutely and imperatively necessary that there should be some eminent Member especially chosen to act as the link between the Secret Chiefs and the more external forms of the Order. It was requisite that such Member should be me, who, while having the necessary and peculiar educational basis of critical and profound Occult Archaeological Knowledge should at the same time not only be ready and willing to devote himself in every sense to a blind and unreasoning obedience to those Secret Chiefs: - to pledge himself for the fidelity of those to whom this Wisdom was to be communicated: - to be one who would shrink neither from danger physical, astral, or spiritual, from privation or hardship, nor from terrible personal and psychic responsibility; one who, while receiving for transmission the Hidden Wisdom of the Rosy Cross, should be willing to pledge himself under the severest penalties possible, that the Order should be worked in conformity with the principles laid down by those Secret Chiefs not only for the present time but in the future also: - and who should further possess an Iron Will unable to be broken by any unlooked for opposition that might arise in the carrying out of these duties: - he must further pledge himself to obey in everything the commands of the aforesaid Secret Chiefs 'perinde ac cadaver' body and soul without question and without argument whether their commands related to: - Magical Action in the External World; or to Psychic Action in other Worlds or planes, whether Angelic, Spiritual, or Demonic; or to the Inner Administration of the Order to which so tremendous a Knowledge was to be communicated; and that he must further be prepared to abide in any country; to undertake any journey at a moment's notice, or to confront the chances of death, pestilence or elemental upheaval, if called upon in the course of fulfilling their demands to do so; that he would further undertake, whatever might occur, never to lose faith in the Chiefs of the Order, and to keep his body in such a condition of physical health and especially of vital energy, that the ordinary chances of corporal illness and exhaustion should not be permitted to become any bar to his constant efforts and exertions: - all this and yet further conditions were insisted upon as the only pledges under which this Divine Wisdom was to be permitted to be given out: - and these had to be confirmed by the most terrible Obligations.

I, MacGregor Mathers, 'S Rioghail Mo Dhream 5° = 6°, Deo Duce Comite Ferro 7° = 4°, was the Frater selected for this Work: whom you know as the Chief Adept of the Second Order under the title of Deo Duce Comite Ferro which I had taken upon me.

At my urgent request Soror Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum [i.e. Moina Mathers] was allowed to be associated with me in this labour, but only on condition of pledging herself in the same manner, though in a less degree.

With all this it was insisted that I, the aforesaid Frater, and in a less degree the aforesaid Soror were to be held responsible for any action undertaken thro' misapprehension of the instructions of the Chiefs, no matter in what manner those Instructions were to be conveyed.

That yet further it must not be expected that these pledges should confer upon me any right to expect abnormal material support or assistance. The conditions in question, being only those on which I was to be allowed so great an honour as to be the Recipient of the Knowledge for transmission to the Order; and also that in all this my obedience was not to be the passive one of an unreasoning Machine, but the active one of the intelligent and voluntary Ministrant of the Magic of the Eternal Gods.

These preliminary conditions having been solemnly undertaken by us; then, and only then was I able to proceed to the attainment of the Knowledge of the full 5° = 6° Ritual and of the Obligation thereof; and the establishment of the Vault of the Adepts; my quitting England being a necessary preliminary thereto.

The working of the Second Order having been thus initiated I was enabled to proceed to the acquirement of the Wisdom of the Zelator Adeptus Minor Grade for transmission to you: - a work, the enormous strain and labour of which it is impossible for me to exaggerate. For, you must not think that the obtaining of this Knowledge of the Second Order for you has been merely and simply the somewhat commonplace labour of translating a heap of unclassified MSS ready placed in my hands for that purpose. This might indeed be difficult and fatiguing, but it would be the merest child's play compared with the Herculean task that I have been called upon to execute.

Concerning the Secret Chiefs of the Order, to whom I make reference and from whom I have received the Wisdom of the Second Order which I have communicated to you, I can tell you nothing.

I do not even know their earthly names.

I know them only by certain secret mottoes.

I have but very rarely seen them in the physical body; and on such rare occasions the rendezvous was made astrally by them at the time and place which had been astrally appointed beforehand.

For my part I believe them to be human and living upon this earth; but possessing terrible superhuman powers.

When such rendezvous has been in a much frequented place, there has been nothing in their personal appearance and dress to mark them out as differing in any way from ordinary people except the appearance and sensation of transcendent health and physical vigour (whether they seemed persons in youth or age) which was their invariable accompaniment; in other words, the physical appearance which the possession of the Elixir of Life has traditionally supposed to confer!

On the other hand, when the rendezvous has been in a place free from easy access by the Outer World they have usually been in symbolic robes and insignia.

But my physical intercourse with them on these rare occasions, has shewn me how difficult it is for a mortal, even though advanced in Occultism, to support the actual presence of an Adept in the Physical Body; and such meetings have never been granted to my own personal request, but only by their own special appointment; and usually only for some reason of special importance.

I do not mean that in such rare cases of physical converse with them that the effect produced on me was that intense physical exhaustion which follows depletion by magnetism; but, on the contrary, the sensation was that of being in contact with so terrible a force that I can only compare it to the continued effect of that usually experienced momentarily by a person close to whom a flash of lightning passes during a violent storm; coupled with a difficulty in respiration similar to the half-strangling effect produced by ether; and if such was the result produced in one, as tested as I have been in practical Occult Work, I cannot conceive a much less advanced Initiate being able to support such a strain even for five minutes, without Death ensuing.

Almost the whole of the Second Order Knowledge has been obtained by me from them in various ways; by clairvoyance, by Astral projection on their part and on mine-by the table, by the ring and disc, at times by a direct Voice audible to my external ear, and that of Vestigia, at times copied from books brought before me, I know not how, and which disappeared from my vision when the transcription was finished, at times by appointment Astrally at a certain place, till then unknown to me; and appointments made in the same manner and kept in the same manner as in the case of those rare occasions when I have met them by appointment in the physical body.

The strain of such labour has been, as you can conceive, enormous; in especial the obtaining of the Z ritual, which I thought would have killed me, or Vestigia or both, the nerve prostration after each reception being terrible from the strain of testing the correctness of every passage thus communicated; the nerve prostration alluded to being at times accompanied by profuse cold perspirations; and by severe loss of blood from the nose, mouth, and occasionally the ears.

You know the extreme and sustained attention and critical judgment requisite to obtain any reliable and truthful answer through the Table or the Ring and the Disc. Add to all this Ceremonies of Evocation, almost constant strife with opposing Demonic Forces endeavouring to stop the delivery and reception of the Wisdom; and the necessity of keeping the mind exalted towards the Higher Self; while at the same time exercising the critical Archaeological Knowledge and having to make the many references necessary to detect any misapprehension of meanings of passages in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldaic, Egyptian and what not; and you will only then have a faint idea of what my struggles have been. The only one among you who has known the fearful difficulties I have had to contend with, has been Sapere Aude [Westcott] and he has therefore well known that such work could not be done in a hurry and rapidly like mere mechanical transcription, or even like ordinary original composition.

But unless the Chiefs are willing to give me the Knowledge, I cannot obtain it for you: - neither will I give it to you unless I know that the Order is being worked conformably with their wishes and instructions.

What I discountenance and will check and punish whenever I find it in the Order is any attempt to criticise and interfere with the private life of Members of the Order; neither will I give the Wisdom of the Gods to those who endeavour to use it as a means of justifying intolerance, intermeddling, and malicious self conceit. The private Life of a Person is a matter between himself or herself, and his, or her God; and no person who has taken the obligation of 5° = 6°, and studied the same can be ignorant of its clauses and penalties.

The Temples of the Order are places for the performance of Sacred Ceremonies, and the petty criticisms and uncharitableness of social clubs and drawing rooms, should be rigidly banished from them. To invoke carelessly and inadequately the Divine White Brilliance and the Forms of the Eternal Gods while permitting your mind and lower personality to be filled with uncharitableness; towards your neighbour, self righteous pride, and trivial social considerations, is an abominable blasphemy; it is that taking the Name of God in vain which is a most pernicious sin; for by so doing you cannot touch the God, but instead and in his semblance arouse the Evil Antithesis.

This, I know, has been a sin among you during the last twelve months; and be sure that this must bring its reaction; and there is no surer road to this error than the encouragement of the feeling of the Pharisee: ‘God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are’. Such a formula, whether expressed or implied, means at once separation from that God who is universal.

Of what use are the Second Order Centres, if they are not places where the Gods and the Angelic Forces are invoked in Spirit and Truth; and where Mystic Powers have their abode, and where petty social gossip can find no place.

It is possible for you to be word perfect in all the knowledge of the Zelator Adeptus Minor Grade and to know all its Ceremonies by rote; and yet unless you can really and profoundly grasp their inner meaning, an uninitiated person who has a strong will, faith, reverence, self sacrifice, and perseverance, may be more truly a Magician than you.

Finally, the reading of this Manifesto will have made you comprehend the enormous amount of time and energy necessary to obtain the Wisdom of the Second Order. To this must be added the considerable amount of labour connected with the Order - my own work in the outer world - and with all this the imperative necessity of keeping my physical health and vital energy always up to full pitch; and at times having had the extra disadvantage of being compelled to earn my own living in the world.

I therefore expect you to aid me to the best of your ability by carrying out my wishes regarding the management of the Order and by abstaining to the utmost of your power from putting any extra hindrance in my way.

I have considered it advisable that you should have both had in your possession and carefully studied the whole knowledge of the Zelator Adeptus Minor Grade before receiving this Manifesto.

S. L. MacGregor Mathers. 'S Rioghail Mo Dhream
Deo Duce Comite Ferro 7° = 4°
87 Rue Mozart, Auteuil, Paris
October 29th, 1896

It is my belief that this manifesto should be treated as an official order document and statement on the nature of the Secret Chiefs and the Third Order, at the time period of MacGregor Mathers’ most frequent encounters with them. I would also in this instance want to quote W. B. Yeats from his Autobiographies, written in 1926. Here Yeats recalls a conversation with MacGregor Mathers concerning the the Secret Chiefs:

Once, when Mathers told me that he had met his Teachers in some great crowd, and only knew that they were phantoms by a shock that was like an electric shock to his heart, I asked him how he knew he was not deceived or hallucinated. He said, “I had been visited by one of them the other night, and I followed him out, and followed him down that little lane to the right. Presently I fell over the milk-boy, and the milk-boy got in a rage because he said that not only I but the man in front had fallen over him.” He, like all that I have known who have given themselves up to images, and to the speech of images, thought that when he had proved that an image could act independently of his mind, he had proved also that neither it, nor what it had spoken, had originated there.

This account fully corroborates MacGregor Mathers’ beliefs as shown in the above quoted manifesto and fully refute Madame Horus as his Secret Chief, which is a proposperous and outrageous proposition in the first place. A further evidence of this is that it is clearly stated in the manifesto that the reason of MacGregor Mathers and his wife Moina to leave England and permanently moving to Paris was to come closer to his Secret Chiefs, such as L.e.T.; thus it reads:

I [was] able to proceed to the attainment of the Knowledge of the full 5° = 6° Ritual and of the Obligation thereof; and the establishment of the Vault of the Adepts; my quitting England being a necessary preliminary thereto.

S.L. MacGregor Mathers’ statement must be placed in juxtaposition with what Moina Mathers, in her preface to her husband’s book The Kabbalah Unveiled, wrote in 1926 concerning this matter:

Three or four years later he was told by his Occult teachers to transfer his centre to Paris, where my husband and I lived for the rest of his life.

There is no doubt in my mind that Moina clearly refers to S.L. MacGregor Mathers’ prime motivation to move to Paris as to facilitate his communication with his Secret Chiefs. If they were solely astral or angelical contacts, surely there wouldn't be any need of a physical relocation. These written statements, when compared together, for me clearly confirms that his Occult teachers were real and physical individuals.

It is fine by me that there is a variety in the Golden Dawn community. It is fine by me that we share different views regarding the Secret Chiefs and the Third Order, or even that some deny the very existence of the latter and regard it only to be a myth, etc. Each to his own. But what I cannot accept is that facts are being twisted around to serve a militant reconstructionist agenda.

I have watched this debate regarding the Secret Chiefs silently up until now. I honestly don’t care what others think about them or about others’ opinions about my beliefs. These days I’m not surprised at anything anymore; there are obviously no limits to the amount of delusions in the community. Without any connection with the tradition to restraint the imagination people have all sorts of personal opinions and are damn proud to present them all over the internet. The idioticy of the Golden Dawn community is starting to get so piled up it must be almost impossible to wade through it as a prospecting initiate. People may actually start to believe in these fantasies. That’s why I feel obliged to set the record straight.

This whole matter has made me ponder the sad and sordid state of the Golden Dawn community. It has dawned upon me for the last couple of days that it [i.e. the community] produces scholars rather than Adepts. Many today even equate them two. Since the dawn of the last revival of the Golden Dawn Tradition in the 1970’s, it has been a subject to historical research with scholars as Ellic Howe, Francis X. King and R.A. Gilbert. This has put a tone to the whole current. Adepts of the tradition has followed suit en masse.

Now, I do believe that scholarship is a good thing, but if taken moderately. To many initiates and students of the Golden Dawn have an overly detached and dispassionate attitude towards its Tradition. It is not a historical curiosity that can be reconstructed at will; it’s a living Tradition that wants to express itself according to its own rationale. Is has its own soul, it is an entity which acts as an intermediary between the Divine and the mundane. It is possible that the first quoted document (from V.V.M.) captures that notion and spirit. Read it again from this point of view.

Where are the feelings of awe and sacredness in relation to the Tradition? I don’t know about you, but I have had a strong and passionate love affair with the Golden Dawn. For me It is truly a mistress. A jealous mistress, yes, but one which also comforts me and makes me aspire to better myself as a human. I am never alone with the Golden Dawn. She is a infinite source of joy and inspiration. The richness of the Golden Dawn, of its written and living Tradition, is awe inspiring. It is a beautiful Tradition which has been passed on to us to be managed as its stewards, for the betterment of its initiates. As initiates we are her children. Some of her children have been more able than others to act as her vehicles for transmission and expression, which has developed or reformed the Tradition further. These are the most proficient Adepts and prominent teachers, who would naturally become the Chiefs.

Granted, the Golden Dawn is not a religion, and the Order is not a Church. Neither should it be a personality cult. But the Order is not an academic institute, nor is its teachings any science theory. The Golden Dawn is a spiritual path which can be equated with any spiritual path, also those as represented by different religions and Churches. The Order is a Holy institution. It is eternal. Its Halls are sacred as well as it rites; its Officers represent and channel divine powers. It is part of a long chain of vehicles which has transmitted a divine knowledge to aspiring initiates who search for Apotheosis and the attainment of the Philosopher’s Stone. These initiates are aware that by themselves they may produce some minor effects, but with the aid of the Order they become able to create vertible Wonders.

It is only if you approach the Temple with reverence and true spiritual love and compassion that you can gain that sought after illumination. Show deep respect for the Adepts that has walked these steps before you. Show deep respect for its former teachers who has presented the teachings of the Tradition for your own benefit. For your own benefit, mind you!

Would any eastern brother scorn and ridicule its Master or teacher? Would a tantrika downplay on the achievements of previous Masters and teachers of his kaula (spiritual family)? Would a Buddhist show disrespect or spite towards the Boddishatvas? Would a Qabalist badmouth any of its long chain of Masters, or Tzadiks, such as Isaac Luria, Sabbathai Zvi, Nathan of Gaza or Jacob Frank? Why do you think a traditionalist Qabalist makes homage to these individuals whenever he mentions their name, in the same manner as a muslim gives honour to the prophet? Do you believe a Martinist would slander Martinez de Pasqually or Louis Claude de Saint-Martin? No? Why do you think? Because they were perfect Masters? Think again.

Now, I’m not admonishing anyone to feel reverence to S.L. MacGregor Mathers or to place him upon a pedestal. He is not a demi-god; he wasn’t a saint. What I’m saying is that we as initiates and Adepts should feel respect and gratitude to him, and other past teachers of our Sacred Order and Tradition, such as W.W. Westcott, J.W. Brodie-Innes or R.W. Felkin, and even Paul Foster Case and Dion Fortune. I happen to believe that MacGregor Mathers wasn’t that monster as some has tried to make us believe. I happen to believe that he was a good man and a great teacher, a dedicated person who did his very best to make each and everyone of us, who are heirs to his achievements, to gain communion with our God. However, this is not at all about canonisation.

Being initiates we belong to a family with ancestral roots that goes back to antiquity. The Golden Dawn is but the latest form that this entity or ancient egregore has taken in our modern era. We as initiates are part of that egregore. We have the duty to pass on the tourch, which has been passed on to us from our elder brethren and sisters, some of who are historically known and others are not. When we receive the torch we must aspire to leave it in a better condition that it was previously, when the time finally arrives to pass on the torch to further generations. We do not better our Tradition and perfect our Order’s teachings by badmouthing our predecessors, who did the very best that they could manage considering their resources and individual abilities. We do it by setting our own example by our own hard work in perfecting our own base nature. Through our hard work may we come to understand not only ourselves but also that mistress we call the Golden Dawn.

Why is this such a damn hard concept to understand in our post-modern era? This latest tendency amongst some outspoken authorities in the community is childish, to say the very least. It’s infantile and is filled with ugly projections. It smells awful of that old oidipean theme – that of killing your own father to acquire the Kingdom and its Queen. These individuals simply cannot accept the fact that they have to rest upon the shoulders of previous teachers’ achievements, even if they happen to be long since dead. This overly fixation on certain historical personages is an unhealthy sign, which is truly counterproductive.

Many of our previous Adepts, reformers and Chiefs weren’t that perfect and most illuminated individuals that we would hope them to be. We all know that. Probably only few numbers of them achieved that state that we long for as Adepts, to become more than human. Thus it’s easy to turn that initial idealization into literal demonisation. But as initiates we should know better than to succumb to such infantile urges; nothing necessitates this. There is no excuse for us as professed initiates to make ridicule of our ancestors, especially not in public arenas, just to attain scholarly peer recognition or to make greater sales of our books. Attain apotheosis for God’s sake (literary). Stop being scholars; start acting as true initiates and real Adepts instead.

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.

S∴R∴

Magic and attitude

o

IN A RECENT discussion on the blogosphere someone suggested that we all have different interpretations or perspectives of how we perform our magical rituals within the Golden Dawn tradition, but in the final analysis we all harvest the same results with them. Now, is this a correct assumption or simply yet another truism? Well I do have an opinion on this matter, which will follow, but I am also interested in hearing yours.

I believe that our paradigm and emphasis – the interpretation – of what we do also shapes our magic, as well as it shapes our universe. This is largely in contrast with alchemy (that is of the operative material / energetic type, not the speculative or “spiritual”) which is an art-form that is the most scientific of all the hermetic “arts”. This means that alchemy is more of an objective science than it is a subjective art; if you perform certain processes, objective results will follow which is more independent from your own understanding of them. But you have to know the correct processes to reap the harvest.

Traditionally in your alchemical training, you just receive a process and a very basic understanding from your alchemical master so that you will keep yourself within the borders of the overall operation; your alchemical master won’t tell you what effects to expect until you experience them, in which case he will confirm them for you. And if you don’t experience them you are simply doing it wrong or not good enough. Alchemical effects are signposts to success so to speak.

But the thing is, even if you had some fancy idea with what you would expect from an alchemical processing, that wouldn’t change the outcome if you persevered in your technique. Alchemy doesn’t care about your belief system. It doesn’t even care about your morals or spiritual attainment. It will still produce the pre-supposed results if you persevere. There is this aspect of magic as well, but not at all to the same extent as with alchemy. Thus magic is more of an art than it is a science. If you are to succeed with magic, you have to have gained a certain understanding of what you are supposed to do, and the spiritual (and moral) attainment that follows with it.

Thus with magic, things are a lot more subjective and belongs to the powers of the mind, that is will and imagination, to a greater extent. If alchemy is more of a material and etheric / energetic science, magic is more of an etheric / energetic and astral art, while contemplation and meditation belongs to the mental and spiritual realms. Of course, according to occult law, a higher plane always affects a lower; what I am talking about here is upon which plane certain practices operates on a causal level. An operation has greater effect on that plane in which it also has its causual affinity; thus alchemy, which operates mainly on the etheric / energetic and material planes, is the most effective means to transmute your body. In the same manner, magic, which operates mainly on the astral, is the most effective means you have to transmute your personality and the powers of the mind, etc.

It also works the other way around; there is a repriprocity going on here. Thus your alchemy will be affected by the condition of your body, or how your body works; that’s why diet, physical exercise and hygiene is important in alchemy. Hatha Yoga is an Oriental tradition that examplifies this, as it involves all of these component parts in relation to bodily manipulation. And even more so, magic will become affected by the conditioning of your thinking and feeling, by your particular though forms and projections; that’s why right attitude, virtuous conduct and mental hygiene is crucial for the successful outcome of magical operations.

Thus when it comes to magic – the realm of the astral and etheric – a certain perspective or outlook will affect your imagination, thus resulting in different effects of ritual, or at least altered states. That’s what I meant in a previous essay when I said that although me as a traditionalist share a ritual in common with a reconstructionist, and perform it outwardly almost exactly in the same manner as a “reconstructionist” would do it, we will still reap different results because we see them with different lenses.

Now, don’t misunderstand me here. There are of course objective results in magic too; someone entirely ignorant of what he is doing with a rite, with no expectations at all, will still harvest something – a neutral or objective state. We do perform our rituals in a certain way for a reason; the geometrics, proportions, colours, movements and signs are there for a set purpose. Rituals are performed in the body and physical space-time continuum and thus affect objective physical / etheric results as well. But our mind constantly feedbacks with its interpretations and consequently also alters the objective results. This means that perhaps on a Neophyte level the effects are more or less the same between practitioners, if performed properly, and also quite limited, but that amongst Adepts you will see quite different effects and also more profound results.

Then there is the question if there is a “right” way to perform a ritual or a “wrong” one, if we all agree upon the premise that our outlook changes the effect. Yes, I believe there are certain optimal ways to view or understand our common rituals. I have had the benefit of sharing my magic with many initiates, and tutoring several students, for the last two decades. There certainly are effects to be expected that are shared between us. But if we suddenly change our perspective, out of different reasons, that goes contrary with the statistically significant results between a number of initiates and a traditional understanding, what will happen then? Suppose you read a book or some text on internet which interprets a ritual for you in a convincing way that changes your outlook upon it, even though your previous outlook is shared with the experience of several others, won’t that change its effects which goes contrary to its nature? Yes, I believe it will.

Thus, the best way to learn ritual magic is not to have any preconceived opinions about it, beyond some very basic ideas so that you know what to use a certain ritual for. As with alchemy, there should be certain signs to expect from continuous performance of ritual that the tutor will use to check if the student is progressing with his work. As an Adept, his imagination and willpower being developed into near perfection, the effects of ritual will be greatly enhanced. And if they are harmonious with the basic nature of that ritual and in agreement with tradition the enhancement effect will be even greater. Thus the right attitude in magic is crucial.

So my suggestion to anyone working with the Golden Dawn system of magic, with only the published material as a guide, is to shun any analyses of rituals, even my own. I know that the temptation to search for “facts” is great in this post-modern age of information, especially in the initial stages of the work, but unfortunately there are to many strange notions floating around and especially on the internet. Most true teachers of the system are not writing publicly. And those that are only writes about general topics and only very scarce or non at all about specifics.

Just work with the system, learning the theory from the official documents as published by Israel Regardie, and observe what is happening. Take careful notes from the results that follow. Don’t share them with anyone, especially not on the internet. Stay away from blog-journals and do not consider writing your own, especially if you are a beginner in the practice. Remember that your own insights can become a stumbling block for another practitioner. See what experiences and opinions that sticks around after a few years. Chances are greater that they reflect the true nature of that ritual or magical formula.

S∴R∴

How to marry the Bridegroom with his Bride: A follow-up to Alchemy and the Golden Dawn

o

TODAY – at last – there seems to be a somewhat general agreement in the Golden Dawn community that Alchemy should serve as the capstone to the initiatic system, or at least take on a more substantial role in the senior Grades. This has not always been the case, however. With the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn / Alpha et Omega® this process was initiated following the general reformation anno 1999. As the Alchemical corpus is vast and contains many different aspects (“ways” and “paths”), this implementation and integration of Alchemy with the Golden Dawn has since then been a work in progress, and continues to be so.

I have already written about how I regard these issues in a previous essay; my ideal projected Order. This present essay may bee seen as a companion or follow up to this initial contribution. Or rather it is a comment on recent discussions regarding this would-be marriage of the Golden Dawn with Alchemy. In this respect the “Bride” is the Temple or Order of the Golden Dawn Dawn in the Outer and the Vault of the Adepti of the R.R. et A.C., the bridegroom being the Hermetic Alchemical Tradition since antiquity preserved through the Third Order.

I have, since the very start of my studies of the Golden Dawn Tradition, often asked myself: “Why is the Order actually called the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn? Why not the Qabalistic Order of the Golden Dawn instead? Most of its teachings are Qabalistic anyway? Where is the Hermetica? Where is the Alchemy?” Well, it’s time for the Golden Dawn to properly deserve its designation “Hermetic”, don’t you think?

Now, quite recently, this has become a general discussion and debate – finally! But other than this superficial likeness, that most of us agree with the premise that alchemy should become integrated somehow with the Golden Dawn tradition, the different factions within the community are dealing with this deficiency or lack of Alchemy in the Second Order or R.R. et A.C. in completely different ways. What we see today is rather a polemic how Alchemy should correctly be interpreted. This major difference may be properly analyzed using the already suggested model of “traditionalism” vs. “reconstructionism”.

Reconstructionist reformers are quite stubborn on their self reliance in creating their own system / interpretation of Alchemy – from a non-operational perspective – and forcing it into the Golden Dawn system. There is also a general skepticism, amongst reconstructionists embracing modern natural sciences as dogma, regarding the true value of operational Alchemy, either of the “external” and laboratory type, or of the “internal” kind, the latter often associated with Eastern Tantra and Yoga or Daoism, and thus “foreign” to the Golden Dawn. Few reconstructionists belive in a true material Philosopher’s Stone. Thus they are only interested in developing the speculative or “spiritual” side of alchemical interpretation, which is beyond the scrutiny of natural science, the Stone serving as the metaphor for the illuminated Soul, or similar such notions. Thus is created a dualism between spirit and matter, which is the very antithesis of true Alchemy.

Traditionalists on the other hand are instead doing research into older alchemical and Rosicrucian Mss. and oral traditions to develop their Second and Third Orders in an alchemical (and operative) direction. They also agree upon that there exists an intrinsically Occidental form of Internal Alchemy which is akin to Oriental Tantra but at the same time unique and distinct from the latter, seeing the physical body and matter as an expression of spiritual forces. Traditionalists believe in a actual Philosopher’s Stone and in the reality of transmutation, both of the body and of base metals. Some of these researching Adepti have also struck gold in their digging, finding a dusty copy of the legendary Arcana Arcanorum, and some even fewer receiving internal processings which goes way beyond that.

One well known and respected authority of the post-modern reconstructionist faction of the Golden Dawn, who also disputes the veracity of physical transmutation using the agent of the Stone, has even stated that the Alchemical tradition needs to be adapted to the Golden Dawn paradigm for it to work with the latter in harmony, to prevent any changes to the overall Golden Dawn sub-systems, etc., which is quite baroque for a traditionalist as myself. This type of militant reconstructionism not only tries to reconstruct the Golden Dawn, but the entire Hermetic tradition behind it as well. For a traditionalist it is the other way around in the process of integrating Alchemy with the Golden Dawn tradition; the alchemical tradition has millennia behind it compared to the single Century with the Golden Dawn and should properly mould the latter.

That said, the more I study and practice the Royal Art and do comparative study of esoteric traditions, the more I am convinced of the fact that Alchemy truly is an archetypal language (in a non-Jungian sense) which forms the foundation for most spiritual and religious systems. May I please refer the reader to my latest blog effort. As an example, just by chance while attending a wedding ceremony, I noticed the symbol of the Ouroboros (the serpent biting its own tail) in the Church, flanking the statue of the Crucified Christ. Students of alchemy are well aware of its significance as a symbol of the Royal Art. Its interconnection with Christ and his resurrection is intriguing and proves my case; a wedding ceremony in itself is of course charged with an alchemical significance.

The twin Ourobori (the two gilded circles)
on each side of the crucifix, at Varbergs Kyrka.

Thus, I do believe there is some merit to “spiritual alchemy” after all, although it is quite a recent invention compared to operative alchemy. As an example, the interplay between the King (God / Sol) and Queen (Goddess / Luna) – “the dual contending forces” or sexual polarity – permeates all levels of manifestation, both in the large and the small. Spiritual or analogical alchemy actually saw its first beginnings with the works of Jacob Boehme of the 17th Century, and was also to some extent developed in the original Golden Dawn as well, more than two Centuries later. Alchemy lends itself very well in better understanding the underlying mechanics of the initiatory system of the Golden Dawn, in particular with respect to the phases of the Great Work and the colours, etc.

Being a typical Virgo I cannot help doing that myself on occasion; it really helps me grasping the greater context of the Golden Dawn system. However I would never dream of changing one letter of the old alchemical tradition. On the contrary, if something should be changed it is the Golden Dawn tradition itself, although that fortunately enough seldom must be done as it was based upon the Hermetic Alchemical Tradition in the first place. As I said, its initiatory system lends itself splendidly for alchemical interpretation.

In his recent book Rosicrucian Tradition of the Golden Dawn Samuel Robinson seems to have done something to this effect, and as it looks in the first analysis, from a traditionalist point of view. I am eagerly anticipating its arrival in my mail box in a week or so, and after a careful reading I will return with a full review. I sense it’s a good piece of work, having been following the written words of the author on yahoo for the last years, although his alchemical analysis seems to be limited to the somewhat flawed Stella Matutina 5 degrees system (along the Middle Pillar); Malkuth (Outer Order and first degree), Yesod (second degree) and Adeptus Minor (third degree). No doubt he has corresponded these degrees to the three stages of nigredo, albedo and rubedo, as I myself once did years ago, that is before I discovered the actual reason behind why the Stella Matutina reformed its 11 grade system into a 5 degrees system; today I do it quite differently that for me makes more sense.

However, it must be stated clearly that any “sprititual alchemy” can only constitute a minor part of the alchemical corpus of the Second Order or R.R. et A.C., which primarily must be an operative alchemical order. Anything less than this constitutes a mere “mental masturbation”, if you excuse my rather vulgar use of language. But alchemy is not about intellectual mind games and fanciful speculation, actually, but rather about the energetic transmutation of the body of the initiate, for him or her to “become more than human”, that is, one of the divine immortals or demi-gods – the divinization of humanity. Its techniques are designed with this aim in mind.

What I like with Mr. Robinson’s take on the work of developing the alchemical tradition is that he seems to have a mainly operational emphasis, focusing on the laboratory aspect of alchemy or “external alchemy”, something that I myself agree upon. However I believe we have to work with all of the kingdoms of nature, not only the vegetable, that is, the mineral as well as animal. Our Rosicrucian ancestors in the 18th Century mainly worked on the mineral and animal kingdoms. This is the heritage that we have to administer to our initiates.

To summarize this present discussion, I must emphasize that if you look upon the Golden Dawn tradition from the perspective of the alchemical tradition the former will reveal itself, but if you do the reverse – that is interpreting the alchemical tradition from the limited perspective of the Golden Dawn – your understanding of Alchemy will be clogged. Or to use the above metaphor of the bride and the bridegroom: In most traditional cultures the bride moves to the household of the bridegroom and also takes upon her the latter’s surname. In the case of the Order of the Golden Dawn, this surname is “Hermetic”.

Please don’t misinterpret my latest metaphor (which happens all the time it seems). If you would know me personally you also would know that I am a strong defender of women’s rights, as also MacGregor Mathers was one Century earlier and any initiate would. In truth, the dual contending forces are equal in standing, as shown by the two Pillars in the Hall of the Neophytes. However, in this particular case, the metaphor of a traditional marriage is quite apt as it is the younger tradition (the Golden Dawn) which should adapt itself to the older Tradition (Hermeticism); it is also a question of the merging of generations. However, from this union also something new and fresh emerges; a future offspring. One such “offspring” is the allowance for alchemical speculation, in the vain of so-called “spiritual alchemy”, if done in moderation and without loosing track of the true aims of operational Alchemy. The other is the merging of Magical Ritual with Alchemical Operation, of which I spoke in my earlier essay. Ora et Labora!

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∴

Theurgic Black Magic

o

Reading Rufus Opus’ latest blog post and its follow up today I was mildly upset as well as quite intrigued by its contents. Now I haven’t been following his blog or looked at his web page in any greater detail, although it seems to me he is one of the more knowledgeable and proficient magicians out there on the blogosphere, having his foundation in neo-Platonism and esoteric Christianity. It also stands quite clear that he is a very well respected authority on Magic and the classical traditions.

The main issue for me personally is that Rufus Opus has used and frequently is using ritual magic to affect the free will of individuals that annoys him. Using a consecrated material substitute for that particular annoying person he invokes the 7 Planetary Lords and initiates her to their influence to remedy her “sickness” or “faulty ways” of thinking and feeling towards her neighbors – i.e. to stop being such an pain in the neck. This, he claims, he is doing for her own good.

But him being a professed Christian, it makes me wonder if Rufus Opus has ever considered the ethics involved in this kind of “black” magic? What about the free will of man? And who is he to actually know what is best for a human being? Isn’t that the prerogative of God? Is it right to use magic to initiate persons against their will? Is it fair to heal people without their consent?

In my humble opinion, it takes a Magician of Christ’s standing (or a man-god) to free individuals from their burden of karma. Does Rufus Opus consider himself being His equal? It does seem to me that he in fact is doing this out of compassion for the souls of these inflicted individuals. But is he aware of all the consequences of his actions and of the intricate interconnections which we call “fate”, that this person is suppose to experience for her to grow spiritually? Is he aware that in doing this he perhaps is ridding that person from a possible important lesson in life because of any future consequences of Rufus Opus’ actions?

Shouldn’t spiritual development and psychic maturity mainly come (or originate) from within the person, and not from any outside influence? Even if someone can be an important initiator to start a process of growth, personal insight still have to come from within to have any fundamental changing effect, as may be construed from the word itself. Isn’t it the work of the Divine Genius or Holy Guardian Angel of that person to teach her lessons? Isn’t Rufus Opus, when he stepps in, taking his place in Its stead?

These are just some questions that popped up reading Rufus Opus’ last two blog posts. I have my personal opinion regarding all of this, but I don’t know for sure what is the right conduct in instances as this. I suppose there is a line that may be crossed where a Magician can put on the cloak of Christ to remedy mental and behaviour sickness of this kind, but are these instances that he has exemplified – i.e. that of people causing strife and being generally annoying – really belonging to this category? I’m interested in hearing your opinions on this matter.

Rufus Opus himself refers to this formula of Theurgy used against others as the “truest form of Black Magic”. But I don’t know if one form of black magic is actually better than any other. Compare this use of magical manipulation of someone’s free will with an ordinary magical attack where you want to injure or hurt someone. In the latter case you at least have left that person’s free will and integrity intact, even if his life perhaps has been shattered to ruins, if you know what I mean. So I don’t actually know which of these two kinds of black magics is morally superior. What I’m sure of though is that any such magical manipulation of someone else’s fate creates negative after-effects for the magician himself; consider the heavy burden of karma being carried over from that other person. That is a heavy burden ideed for an ordinary magician to carry.

Personally I have never resolved to using back magic of any kind, nor would I do it in any future, perhaps with the exception of warding off someone else’s direct magical attack against me or any of my beloved ones (especially the latter) – but then again that last example wouldn’t constitute any “black magic” in the first place as self-defense is ethically permittable. As I have said in a recent previous blog post, there are situations where severity is required to deal with certain aggressions. However, I’m not a particularly paranoid person, although I do believe that I and others close to me in fact have experienced magical attacks in the past.

What I would do, if being in a similar situation as that of Rufus Opus, is to pray for the annoying person’s soul to receive the Light to better her ways – that is, receive the Light only if she consent to it. Remember that no true initiation forces itself upon any individual; the conscious consent of the candidate is always an important factor also during the ceremony itself (see the “Ritual Z.3” of the R.R. et A.C. corpus). That kind of working could also have involved opening up a direct line with that person’s Holy Guardian Angel, praying for it of doing that, having one’s own Angel communicating with the other person’s Angel or, if one somehow knows the other Angel’s name, through evocation. But then again not forcing anything upon any of them, neither Angel nor Man, only requesting for the Angel’s guidance of the poor soul. As a kind of compassionate prayer.

Perhaps the best solution to all of this would have been to invoke one’s own Holy Guardian Angel or Divine Genius to provide for oneself some more patience and forgiveness towards the other person. We cannot (or shouldn’t dare to) change anyone else, but we definitely can and should change ourselves. As initiates that is our main and constant task.

I’m not trying to be overly judgmental of Rufus Opus’ actions and ideas here, although I would admonish caution against anyone considering what he has suggested. His blog posts have raised several important issues and questions that I wanted to address. What I’m saying is that it may be proper to do this kind of workings if you are working under the consent of the Divine, being given the authority to burn away someone else’s Karma or alleviating his burden of Guilt or Sin, partaking of the level of initiation that equals that of Jesus Christ. In the Golden Dawn scheme of things, this would equal someone being at least a Magus 9°=2°. I hope that Rufus Opus has already earned this spiritual standing, for the sake of his own soul and that of his victims.

S∴R∴

Historical research vs. anthropology: a blind spot in oral tradition

o

I have been lurking the recent witches debate raging with quite some amusement, the scholarly work of Professor Ronald “Q” Hutton being contested and in particular his not so recent book Triumph of the Moon: A history of modern pagan witchcraft. Ben Whitmore quite recently published his rebuttal called Trials of the Moon, and simultaneously my own Chief G.H. Fra. L.e.S. (David Griffin) openly acknowledged himself as being a Pagan of the particular Italian based Stregheria Tradition, joining the pagan apologist choir. Now, suddenly the pagan witches issue became a concern of the general Golden Dawn community as well, with Morgan Drake Eckstein and Peregrin Wildoak joining in the debate with Mr. Griffin, on the opposite side of the fence.

Professor Ronald Hutton

Now, I have to be honest at the outset that this issue doesn’t lay particularly close to my heart, at least not as close as to that of Mr. Griffin’s, or that of Mr. Wildoak’s or Mr. Eckstein’s. I wouldn’t even label myself as being a “Pagan”, nor would I label myself as being a “Christian” either. And if anyone is wondering, no I’m not a Stregherian Witch although I find that old religion quite faschinating, being one of the few examples in Europe of a surviving pagan tradition. What is especially interesting with Stregheria, or l'Arte Eccelsa (“The Sublime Art”), for me personally is that it linked to ancient Roman paganism, and in particular to the cult of Diana, the Huntress. Thus it is the only remaining pagan living tradition coming from ancient Rome.

The Goddess Diana

But when it comes to personal religious beliefs I abhor labels such as “Paganism” and “Christianity” as none of them can truly grasp any real spiritual truths, at least not how I would define my own religions beliefs. Being a non-dualist Hermeticist I sometimes make fun of it all in calling myself a “Christian Pagan”; I’m neither and I’m both. What I believe in, in the core of my own being – with a religious fervour – is in the Hermetic Godhead, the ONE and ALL. Qabalists refer to It as the Ain-Soph.

But I also believe that the ONE expresses itself through the many; from a purely pragmatic view I do sometimes supplicate and invoke specific “pagan” lesser deities in my own personal Theurgy, depending on my current needs on that particular occasion, in the name of personal and spiritual development, and with the aim of Apotheosis. As a Hermetic Alchemist I believe that every human has the seed inside of him or her to become truly godlike, “to become more than human”; to become a man-god. If you like, you also can call it being “angelical” in nature. Thus we may all one day become one with the “sons of God”.

Apotheosis

With this particular aim in mind I often find myself drawn to the foremost Occidental exemplar, i.e. Jesus Christ. I regard Christ to be one of several personages who succeeded in the Great Work of becoming transhuman and godlike, but one that I particularly find most appealing. Being a Westerner and European I prefer to call upon his name as a patron of Alchemists and demigods in the making. Orientals instead prefer Buddha, or any of their local Bodhisattvas, in the same manner as Shia Muslims rever their Imams. Thus I’m intrinsically drawn to all deities enacting the death and resurrection mythos, such as Osiris, Dionysus, etc.

Crucified Dionysus

But as a practicing Alchemist I am also drawn to the dual deities expressing sexual polarity in creation, the God and the Goddess. The former expresses the Solar and the latter the Lunar qualities and energies in the macrocosm (world) and in the microcosm (man). I prefer not to give these two deities any names, as they are true archetypes which cannot really be reduced to anyone single pantheon, but I must confess that in this instance I have recently found myself being pulled toward Oriental Saivism and the tantric Shakti cults; the interplay between Siva and Shakti resonates in my being as expressing a both sublime and profound, as well as concrete, spiritual truth with strong Alchemical connotations.

So what am I in the final analysis? To be honest, I have no idea, and please don’t put a label upon me. There is no religion today which clearly can express my current believes. It’s like in my political views; I wish that every citizen could be given a total of five votes to distribute amongst several parties as no one particular expresses all my opinions. The same thing with my spiritual beliefs; on my altar you will find a picture of the crucified Christ, as well as Siva and Shakti united in ecstasy! Don’t you dare to call me a Christian, for God’s sake! Don’t even contemplate to label me as a pagan, or else..!

Siva and Shakti

But personal belief systems isn’t the actual issue at hand here. Even the main character in this drama, Prof. Hutton, refuses to reveal his religious beliefs, “if any”. Oh, I have to make yet another confession before I proceed; I haven’t actually read Triumph of the Moon. Neither have I read Trials of the Moon. Why? I don’t bother doing it to be honest. I have more important issues to deal with; there is only 24 hours in one day, minus 6 hours (or less) of sleep. But I do have read Mr. Griffin’s entertaining rebuttals and also the previous debates between him and Mr. Eckstein or Mr. Wildoak. I have also read the latest interview that Caroline Tully made with Prof. Hutton, followed by Mr. Griffin’s rebuttal. So I believe I’m entitled to an opinion, although flawed and meagrely educated it may be.

In my alchemical studies, both theoretical of the Oriental Tantra (mainly through the book The Alchemical Body by David Gordon White) and practical of the Occidental Alchemy (through the guidance of my Alchemical Masters), I have finally come to realize that there exists a direct lineal transmission from ancient Shamanism down to the modern practice of Alchemy. Tantra emerged from the Kapalikas, the cremation ground ascetics and their ecstatic worship of Siva and Shakti, a form of worship that shares much in common with what we today regard as being shamanic. Now, I have also been informed by my teachers that Hermetic Alchemy has a basis in ancient goddess worshipping Shamanism. This Occidental tradition has many similarities, at least superficially, with the Tantrik Kapalikas, as its devotees worship the God as well as the Goddess in a straight forward manner.

Kapalika ascetic

The funny thing is that last weekend I attended a pagan conference in my hometown Gothenburg, where I held a lecture on Golden Dawn god-form magic. During that conference I listened to a highly illuminating lecture held by the Wiccan Priestess Caroline Levander, who talked about her religion as a mystery tradition. When she spoke of the great two deities of Wicca, the God and Goddess, shivers almost went through my spine in recognition. I remember thinking, “how alchemical” all this sounded. Thus I dare to say that even in Wicca we find shamanic traces going back to the ancient worshipping of the Great Mother Goddess.

The God and Goddess

Thus here is my main contestation of Prof. Hutton’s whole thesis, that there are no continuous and surviving elements in between modern European paganism and that of the ancient or pre-Christian religions. How should we define “Paganism”? Could Shamanism be properly labelled as “Pagan”? Today, in Neo-Paganism we surely find Witchcraft and Shamanism within the same fold; on the said conference last weekend I also participated in a shamanic drumming session. But is it possible to compare ancient Paganism, such as the Greek and Egyptian religions, with Shamanism? To answer this we must problematize the use of the term “Paganism”. In truth this originally Latin word, as well as its English equivalent “Heathen” or the Italian word “Stregheria” was coined by Christians in a degradory way. So traditional Stregherians, if we may call them such, prefer to use their ancient name l'Arte Eccelsa.

The Stregherian Arch Priestess

Diana del Bosco Sacro

It is better to refer to these old religions as “ancient” or perhaps even “pre-Christian”. Shamanism surely enough is both ancient and pre-Christian, as is l'Arte Eccelsa. The interesting part here is that in many of these ancient mystery religions of Rome, Greece and Egypt, we could find ecstatic practices which evokes Shamanism, if we would dare to look closely enough. With l'Arte Eccelsa this relation between ancient Roman Paganism and Shamanism surely is established, or so I have been informed by its initiates. So, perhaps in Prof. Hutton’s native country there are no longer any surviving elements of Shamanism, but in Europe you will find evidences of a living and continuous shamanic tradition, not only in Italy. “Where else?” you might ask. Let me tell you.

In my own country we have the Sami people and their shamanic Wizards, called “Noaidievuohta” or “Noaidi” for short. One of my associates some decades ago found himself badly bruised with broken bones somewhere near the Finnish border, in the middle of a vast wilderness. He eventually passed out after crawling for several hours and when he woke up he found himself in a Sami goahti or hut (similar to the North-American tipi). The only thing he remembers from this episode is that some kind of a medicine man made a series of rituals over him. A week later he could leave the hut being miraculously healed; would it not had been for his encounter with a Noaidi, he is convinced that he wouldn’t be alive today. I trust this man and his anecdotal story.

A Sami Noaidi

A year ago, on a party with some Thelemites, I met a nice woman who was an ethnic Sami. She told me about the Shamans of her people – the Noaidi – that these were working very secretly but had continued the old religion of the Sami in an unbroken lineage since the dawn of her culture. The real tragedy in all of this is that most Sami people nowadays are Christian and abhors the old animistic religious beliefs and the ways of the Shamans. That is the greatest reason for the continuous seclusion of the practicing Noaidi, the persecution of their own people. This phenomenon is the main reason for us not finding these traditions today in Christianised Europe, both in Scandinavia and in Italy. Imagine a practicing witchcraft working out in the open right in the very heartland of the Catholic faith and the home of the Vatican! You couldn’t without serious peril, at least not until quite recently.

Noaidi ritual drum

Only today has the l'Arte Eccelsa emerged in a non-distorted, non-American and non-reconstructionist form, not being afraid of being burned at the stake or imprisoned for life in a dungeon. I only wish that my own brethren in Sweden and neighbouring countries (the Sami people occupies an area in the far North stretching from Russian Kola Peninsula in the East to Norway in the West, approximating to a total of 100.000 individuals) could find the same courage; but their shame is to great as of yet I’m afraid.

The Sami people

So, this is my biggest problem with Prof. Hutton and his reconstructionist stance on modern paganism. He doesn’t seem to acknowledge the shamanic component fully, or at least there is some ambivalence in his words. Let me quote him briefly from Caroline Tully’s interview:

…I acknowledged that Carlo [Ginzburg]’s use of shamanism, as an interpretative framework for the beliefs that underpinned the early modern witch trials, drew useful attention to linkages and similarities across Europe. I also felt, however, that it obscured major regional differences in ancient conceptions of the supernatural which explained important variations in the trials, such as why it was mainly women who were accused in most places but mainly men in some, why some areas experienced intense witch-hunts and other none, and so forth.

So, if Prof. Hutton in fact does acknowledge Shamanism as a model for a greater understanding of European Paganism, why has he failed at least to see the still living Pagan traditions in Scandinavia? Is it perhaps because he finds it difficult to “kill his darlings”? It makes me wonder what actually transpires inside of his head, what truly motivates him in his quest. We all have our conscious or unconscious agendas and paradigms, of which we have difficulties in seeing outside of the box, so to speak. If they are unconscious, the more difficult to loose the blinkers.

Another thing I would like to bring up in this context is how we should define a living tradition of Paganism? What is a living tradition? Does it have to have its own congregation and followers, an ecclesial chaste, or could it had survived through different forms, and even being assimilated into (and thus formed) local Christian practices and beliefs?

I don’t know how big Celtic folklore is in Britain today, but I know for a fact that in Sweden there are obvious traces of the old Norse religion and even more of old folk magical practices. Our peculiar way of celebrating Christmas, to take but one example. I won’t go into details but it has been confirmed by ethnography that even one century ago Christmas – which is called Jul (as in Yule) in Swedish – as a celebration took overtly pagan forms. We also have the supposedly “Christian” celebration of “Lucia” (supposedly a Catholic woman Saint from Italy) on December 13th, which has strong local pagan origins and undertones.

The pagan Yule Goat, a standard feature
in Swedish Christmas decoration

Lastly we have the “unique” Swedish celebration of Summer Solstice, which is one of the most celebrated holidays in Sweden and that has retained almost all of its original pagan expressions, lacking typical Christian dilutions, albeit much restrained as compared with the old ways which involved orgies of free sex. All of this points to the fact that many old pagan practices have survived in popular folklore and even through annual festivals.

A typical Summer Solstice celebration in Sweden

My wife, who has a past as a Neo-Asatro practitioner, has told me that in Island (which today is mostly notorious for its erupting volcanoes), the only country in Scandinavia which never did prohibit the old religion, the Norse folklore is very explicit even though the Asatro movement has even more recent origins than Wicca. Thus in an environment as this, it is feasible to conclude that a “reconstruction” of an old religion isn’t such a hard feat as the link to the actual ancient and pre-Christian religion isn’t wholly severed and may be yet seen in disguised forms.

Another quite funny observation regarding the Neo-Asatro movement in Scandinavia is that it has taken quite shamanistic forms called Seid, involving singing and chanting, and a shamanic style divination tool using the runes, etc. This again expresses a very ecstatic form of Paganism, proving that Shamanism truly must be regarded as being the very foundation of all so-called “paganistic” expressions.

Asatro practitioners in Sweden

But let us return to Finland again. In the minds of many Swedes, the “land of 1000 lakes” is an even more mysterious site that airs heathendom and naturalistic folk magic. In my personal study of 18th Century Swedish Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry, most prominently in Kjell Lekeby’s essential tome Gustaviansk Mystik, there are several references to Finish mages and oracles. Some of them visited the Capital of Sweden, Stockholm, and practiced as nature-healers and divinators. In the minds of Swedish occultists of the late 18th Century, Finland was filled to the brim with wizards and shamans that inspired awe in Swedish aristocracy (who spend their leisure time dabbling with occultism). One of the most powerful Swedish occultist during this time, Gustaf Björnram, was supposedly initiated into some form of Finnish shamanic magical tradition. He taught one of the Swedish royalties in the art of magic, who was later crowned as Carl XIII, in particular necromantic sorcery.

The Swedish Freemasonic King Carl XIII

Finland has also today the largest collection of folklore and old pre-Christian poems, gathered during the last two Centuries, mainly drawing from Karelian traditions. The biggest bulk of these poems in fact consists of magical spells and charms. A collection of those sources found its way in to Elias Lönnröth’s anthology Kalevala, wich has served somewhat as a “Holy Book” for Finnish neo-pagans, but also later recognized by theosophists and anthroposophists. One Pekka Ervast, who was an theosophist and Freemason, created a new masonic blue degrees rite based upon Kalevala for his own organisation called Ruusu-Risti (Rose-Cross). However, all of this is just a quite recent re-creation of a supposed original Finnish religion with strong romantic-nationalistic sentiments.

A scene from the ‘Kalevala’

In the wake of the 13th Century Christian crusade, waged by the Swedish states man Birger Jarl, all practice of ancient Finnish traditions became prohibited. But in an effort of survival the old pagan ways and deities merged and became corresponding with Christian Catholic and other Christian saints, reminiscent of Voodoo and Hoodoo. However, although it does seem, according to my Finnish neo-pagan friends, that the old Finnish folk religion has died out in its pure form as a continuous tradition in all practical respects, they don’t argue against the possibility that there still may be eldery nature-healers and folk magician still practicing the old arts in some remote villages. The recounts among Swedish magicians in late 18th Century with a reference to a living folk magical (and perhaps even pagan) Finnish tradition is significant and must be taken to account in the overall picture.

My point in all of this is that if we are to find any possible traces of an original pagan religion and magical tradition in Europe, we should not only look towards Italy but also do research in the farthest Northern and Eastern part of Europe, in Scandinavia and in Russia. But this requires more than academic scholarly research; this requires a different type of science than Prof. Hutton represents. Thus we come to my main argument, epitomized in a interesting detail I found in the Hutton-interview where the good Professor is addressing the oral tradition and scholarly considerations, which is next to nil. Let me quote the pertinent part in the following:

I have no interest in contesting the claims of modern Pagans to represent a secretly surviving tradition, as long as the practitioners do not attack me or offer any actual historical evidence for scrutiny. If they do neither, then they are effectively standing outside history and are not the concern of a historian.

Here it is obvious that Prof. Hutton has a blind spot about the size of a lunar eclipse. He reduces his academic research only to “history”. This makes it obvious for me that “history” isn’t about truth at all, it is a species of reconstruction by it self only based on documented evidence and research made in private collections and libraries. Hasn’t it ever occurred to Prof. Hutton that in early and “primitive” forms of Paganism the oral transmission probably was the totality of that tradition?

As an example, the Indian Kapalikas doesn’t rely on any texts, as in the later form Tantras (the Tantric source texts), etc. Hadn’t it been for the fact that the official religion in India in fact is Pagan, we probably wouldn’t be able do any research on the Kapalikan cult.

The reason why it’s so hard for us to be able to make good studies of any surviving traditional pre-Christian religions, is because of the fierceful and vehement Christian persecution and the witches trials. Prof. Hutton however asserts all over his interview that the witches burned at the stakes during the inquisitions in fact weren’t representatives of the old Pagan religions; Prof. Hutton argues that most of them witches would have been treated as the plague also by the pre-Christian clergy. Here he fails to recognize that in many religions, both polytheistic and monotheistic, there has always been a division between (a) state sanctioned or official magic performed by the priesthood of that religion, and (b) unofficial or non-sanctioned folk magic praciced by natural healers, such as described in Richard Cavendish book A history of magic. Thus I cannot stop wondering how many old wise women and men practicing shamanic folk magic and natural healing, helping their neighbours in need, actually died in that process? Many I believe. More than we can imagine.

A Witch casting her circle

In a similar vein Prof. Hutton won’t find any documents that proves the existence of Sami Noaidi in some library. But does it mean that Noaidis actually doesn’t exist? Of course not! There exists an academic field called anthropology which could remedy the limited world view of Prof. Hutton. But that would entail him actually coming to Sweden and seeking out a real Noaidi, something that takes perseverance and stamina. In a best case scenario he would have to become initiated into the shamanic practice itself. Calos Castaneda and his books about Don Juan Matus, the Yaqui Shaman, is a well known example of this. What European paganism needs is its own “Carlos Castaneda” visiting Italy, Scandinavia and Russia.

S∴R∴