Magic Of The Temple

Regarding hanging around academic circles and the Golden Dawn, eventually one will be asked about the validity of the Secret Chiefs. Are they real, or are they another fabrication of the Golden Dawn and its system of magic? What do I think regarding the Secret Chiefs? Before we can explore that I feel we need a precise definition regarding them: Secret Chiefs being a classification of beings, angels, intelligences, and humans who guide and protect the mysteries which in this cycle of the Eternal Return we call the “Golden Dawn” and its system of magic. Definition defined, before I can share my thoughts we need to clarify one more point regarding Hermetic secrecy and tradition, which can be flexed a little bit on this blog due to the medium and names not being named. Normally no opinion is offered one way or another regarding this magic thing, as to do can shut down the current, and can also limit the potency of magic. There is a reason one follows the admonishments of the S...

How do the angels appear behind the pentagrams? It was a question that I myself asked at one time, and a question that I am sure will be asked again and again in the future. I gave the same response that I was given, following Hermetic tradition and the admonishments of the Sphynx. How do you think they appear? It’s not that I don’t know how they appear, but in giving a reply, even a truthful one there could be possible consequences. Consequences? Often the question is not about the angel per se, but rather the journey up the Tree of Life. Starting this magic thing, putting in the time, having experiences- but are they the *right* experiences? Wondering if one is doing things correctly, and wanting to make sure it is so. If you value the experience of somebody in the temple, and you see things as they see thing, you must be on the right path But what if they see things differently? Or if they see it correctly, but one dismisses it based on the opinion of the person of...

There have been many surprises along the way, surprises that fill one with awe in the moment and a nostalgia of wonder with what might happen next time. It’s these little moments in the G.D. that keeps one going and doing this magic thing. The building is still there, unchanged from when it was first built, and now on its fourth incarnation, but for a short time it was something magic. Formerly a classical synagogue, it had many unique architectural features to support the work, one room in particular that was used as a temple. From a meeting room, down a long stone hallway, a single arched wooden door painted red. Inside a perfectly square room with vaulted ceilings, full stained glass windows on the east wall. Everything cut stone and polished marble floors.   At night the traffic outside would illuminate the room from the passing headlights, completely silent from the thick stone walls. Any chance that I could after a ceremony, I’d be content to just sit against the ...

Was it by chance that I happened to just find myself standing in the same exact spot by the ocean from years ago? The last time I was at this park, at this point, at this spot, is when their ashes were spread in the ocean. A detour on the parkway, a short cut taken that turned out to be a long cut, and here I was again. At a certain point my parents no longer had any idea what to do with me regarding school. Looking back, I think if there was a military school nearby they would have enrolled me there, and in looking back maybe that would have done me some good. Academically I was a failure, and nobody could figure out why despite all the tests and curriculums, I eventually got tagged as “lazy”. It took me years out of graduate school to realize just *how* I learned, *how* my mind was wired to learn, and once that was unlocked the rest became easy.   But, here I was at a new school, with new teachers, and the only subject I seemed to excel at was literature and the classics, sp...

When you were ready, or rather considered yourself ready you asked for an auspicious date at the temple. There was no control, no gatekeeping, and definitely no hand-holding. The result was a large amount of lower grade, a few higher ones, and a splash of Adepts, although I’m sure many, myself included, didn’t know the real numbers. It wasn’t fully a hands off approach, one could get feedback on the previous grade and studies, there we opportunities to run questions by somebody senior, one could even have their aura checked, but the lack of kingmaking and gatekeeping was adamant. This seemed to be by design in order to fast track out anybody who wasn’t serious and wasn’t prepared to be taken seriously. The exoteric order that many speak about was one thing, it was the esoteric order that did all the sorting out. Darwanistic meritocracy was the name it was given. I can speak to some of the methods used as they produced interesting results if not orthodox, but with all (most) o...

Whenever it was possible the two of us would just sit in the temple after one of the ceremonies, especially if was the 0=0 ceremony. That window of experience where the temple current was closed down, but the Gods still remained, standing in silence, incense still hanging in the air. To just sit in that place of power and exist in that moment outside of space and time. Visibly the temple was dormant with the pillars in place, the tablets covered, and the altar bare except for the red cross and white triangle. Invisibly, if one closed their eyes and had the sight, the temple as awash in colors. Radiant colors streaming off the Gods standing at the stations, a pillar or white light emanating from the cross and triangle, raising to the ceiling and beyond. To just sit there with the eyes closed in that moment. Did you just see that? asked my friend. My response took a few seconds to process as it left me quite startled. I did, and I think it’s time we go. At first I had a pr...

Let us adore the Lord of the Universe. Holy art Thou, Who art in all things, in Whom are all things. If I climb up to Heaven, Thou art there and if I go down to Hell Thou art there also. If I take the Wings of the Morning and flee unto the uttermost parts of the Sea, Even there shall Thy hand lead me and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Peradventure the Darkness shall cover me, even the Night shall be turned Light unto Thee! Thine is the AIR with its Movement! Thine is the FIRE with its Flashing Flame! Thine is the WATER with its Ebb and Flow! Thine is the EARTH with its enduring Stability. Today is the day of the Equinox, observed in time or close date by those temples and magicians working in the tradition of the Golden Dawn and its system of magic.  The Equinox is an interesting time of energy and opportunity that if one can hook-on and hold-on, can have interesting magical effects. *Things* tend to happen around the Equinox, meeting people, and having s...

Have you ever used the magic of the temple? To answer that I can say that I can count the number of times I have used it on one hand, and still have a finger or two to spare. I have always been very cautious about such things as a magician, realizing that the invisible world is more interconnected then one may think, and just how permanent such forces can be. Most of the time it is better to wait, and when put to use one had better be ready for the outcome. Admittedly on this I am very conservative on this, as in better to wait it out and do nothing. But you are not here to read about doing nothing. How does the sword of the magician appear? Physically it is a remarkable blade that can take a few different shapes and forms, that shape and form appearing with flashing colors and sigils of red and green, directing the forces of Mars and war, an embodiment of the will of the magician directed by imagination. Would you agree it is the least used tool of the magician, but if dra...

Are you an alchemist? It was a curious question out of nowhere, and at first I wasn’t sure of how to respond. I was paused on reflecting just what alchemy was in general, and of course what that flavor would be like from a Golden Dawn perspective. Strange things, synchronicities tend to happen around the Equinox, that time a few days to a week both before and after the auspicious date, as magicians we learn to be prepared for the opportunities that may present. I was returning some items to the library for a friend, a particular library out of my way and one that I never frequent as a framework for this telling, and after dropping off the books, a curious decision to peruse and check out what passes for the occult section in terms of books. I’m there but a few seconds and this person walks right up to me with an inquiry. Reflecting back after our conversation, which was pleasant enough, I suspect they were off to the side in the reading area of the library just waiting for so...

There once was a magician, a Magister of the Light (magi) who was forced to flee a city in ruin as it collapsed all around him.   Taking the Philosopher’s Stone with him, he planned to take it far away, somewhere out of the reach of society, to preserve it for those to come.   In the chaos of that dark night, a fragment of it broke off and fell to the ground burying itself in the dirt of the ruins.   Did the Magi notice?   Regarding that we will never know.   Sometime later a boy found the stone in the dirt, but did not know what to make of it. It was heavy like gold, yet ethereal at the same time.  Bright red-orange in color, an immediate feeling of something special that could not be described in words.   The boy put this curiosity on his bookshelf where it sat for many years.  He knew the stone was special, but there was always other pressing matters that prevented its inquiry as life got in the way.   Wh...