Misadventures of a Golden Dawn Magus

Pat Zalewski: Sex, Fear-Mongering and the Golden Dawn

2011-09-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

by David Griffin

Pat Zalewski's Fear-Mongering Attack on the Golden Dawn

Pat Zalewski today wrote:

Alchemy in general teems covers a broad sweep of diverse philosophies.In the modern era a focus has been on sexual alchemy and the its teachings within hermetic orders. With Tony Fullers theory of the Sun order being equated with a third Order of the GD we find that the Cromlech temples sexual teachings are then brought into some form of alignment with GD AO 7=4 teaching. It appears that Moina also got a little confused when she pulled up Case for revealing order teachings when it may not have even been AO proper teachings. These teachings were never physical sexual activity but more of a philosophical content. Crowley of course made this more public with his OTO higher levels teachings.

I have never considered using this type of teaching in the GD because if you work on the mechanics of chakras and subtle bodies and study the conjunctions with the various rituals then the polarity that is found in some sexual teaching is already catered for but just clothed in different terms.

Now I hear that some temples have gone the full physical from time to time as a full rite. This is not the way I would consider the GD at all, but that is simply my opinion. This full rite that I heard of can be classed in a full rituals between people and also one where you select a person of interest to commune with the Secret Chiefs through the partaking of bodily fluids. What their primary life partners say about this ritual paring has never been discussed.

Now this is how some people operate and it has no place in my version of the GD universe. As as I am concerned sex is a private matter and has no business in a GD temple.

Pat

This is the same sort of fear-mongering nonsense that the Golden Dawn community came to expect from Sideshow Bob during the Golden Dawn flame war. It is also one of the main reasons that Bob's entire order deserted him earlier this year. Here is what happenned last time:

Fear Mongering, Sex and the Golden Dawn

It is sad to witness Pat Zalewksi stoop to the sort of fear mongering that typified the terrible Golden Dawn flame war by creating nonsensical Golden Dawn orgy rumors that we all would expect coming only from Sidehow Bob.

TRUTH: There is no Golden Dawn order that has ever engaged in the sort of perverse fantasy that Pat Zalewksi rumor-mongers above.

Pat, please stop trying to divert attention with these highly destructive antics and answer the questions about alchemy and the Golden Dawn that you yourself raised about the 3, 7, and 12.

For those interested in real information about sexuality and the Golden Dawn instead of Zalewksi fear-mongering, you should read:

TRUTH: Sexuality and the Golden Dawn

The Golden Dawn tradition has suffered enough due to Sideshow Bob's fear mongering marketing before his entire order walked out on him last Winter. I urge Pat Zalewski to drop the fear mongering flame war he is trying to start ...

... and to finally discuss the issues surrounding alchemy and the Golden Dawn in a fraternal manner, according to proper academic decorum.

It is bad enough that the Golden Dawn community has its very own Sideshow Bob.

We don't need another Krusty the Clown.

Golden Dawn Alchemy Debate: Pat Zalewksi vs. David Griffin

2011-07-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

On his Yahoo group, Pat Zalewski recently wrote:

"I was recently asked what was the next quantum leap in the GD. Without any hesitation, I said "alchemy". It's the major untouched area in the GD, and I am referring to spiritual alchemy and not the lab kind. But before you look at alchemy in the GD, you have to bring in a whole lot of analogies. I did this by equating alchemical steps with the Tarot and it's a good place to start.

However, alchemy is wheels within wheels, and it has to be looked at through many different prisms. For any GD temple that wants to go further into the 5=6, I would seriously suggest spiritual alchemy is a start in the right direction. Once you have a grasp of the basics, you can apply the skelatonic framework for many different applications. It's certainly worth the time and effort."

Pat Zalewski's above statement underscores once again the vast chasm that separates Golden Dawn traditionalists like myself from reconstructionists like Pat Zalewksi in our Golden Dawn community. The difference arises from a fundamentally divergent point of view. Reconstructionists like Mr. Zalewski teach that the Golden Dawn is a tradition that died when Whare Ra closed its doors. They therefore view the Golden Dawn as a "work in progress" with the gaps to be filled in as one sees fit.

Traditionalist Golden Dawn orders, like the HOGD/AO and the August Order of the Mystic Rose, on the other hand understand the Golden Dawn as a living, continuous organism that never ended. Although there were moments when there admittedly was no OUTER order activity, the Third Order has existed all along and has continued uninterrupted in its work behind the scenes since long before the Golden Dawn was born - and continues to do so until today.

I obviously disagree with Pat Zalewski's contention that alchemy needs to be "invented" for the Golden Dawn. I also disagree with Pat's dichotomy between "spiritual alchemy" and "laboratory alchemy." The real distinction lies between "initiatic alchemy" and fantasies about alchemy arising from those who do not understand it because they do not possess the initiatic keys to unlock Hermetic alchemy's mysteries.

What Pat is calling "Spiritual alchemy" in reality has nothing to do with the traditional sense the term was used by Jacob Boehme. What Pat is actually advocating is an attempt to create new analogical interpretations for alchemical symbols and processes and to force them to conform to the matrix of the Golden Dawn system.

In this instance we clearly see the sort mistake that plagues certain reconstructionists. Pat is actually advocating reinventing alchemy to retrofit it on the the Golden Dawn.

Traditionalists, of course, see no need for any of this. In fact, we see it as a misguided attempt to put the alchemical cart before the horse. In reality, Hermetic alchemy, as did the entire Hermetic tradition, existed long before the Golden Dawn. As a matter of fact, all of the rituals, magical system, diagrams, temple layouts, etc. have from the outset been permeated through and through with Hermetic alchemy. The analogies are already there - and they make direct reference to the alchemical processes and operations of the Solar mysteries of internal alchemy of the Golden Dawn's Third Order.

If Pat were advocating to discover the true meanings of the alchemical symbolism hidden in the Golden Dawn from the outset, then what he is proposing at least would make sense. Instead, however, he is proposing a reading of whatever one wants into alchemical symbolism, the way that CG Jung did in order to justify his archetypal theory.

As far as discovering on one's own the true meanings of the alchemical symbols, etc. that already thoroughly permeate the Golden Dawn, all I can say to Pat is:

"Good luck!"

Many others have tried the same thing before Pat Zalewski. There were, for example, those who wasted entire fortunes on the fool's errand to turn lead into gold. The true Hermetic philosophers called such individuals "puffers" because of the way their bellows puffed at the physical fire in their laboratories.

A Puffer With Bellows

I understand that Pat Zalewski is not advocating the sort of laboratory alchemy to fabricate physical gold that puffers engaged in. What Pat Zalewski does have in common with the puffers, however, is a mistaken belief that one can find the keys to the true understanding of Hermetic alchemy on one's own.

The following image sums up the impossibility of self-initiatioin in Hermetic alchemy as follows:

"Neither torches nor glasses can help those unwilling to see"

Herein lies a key point of difference between GD traditionalists and certain reconstructionists:

We traditionalists understand that alchemical truth has been deliberately and carefully concealed in the Hermetic alchemical texts and images - in such a way that it is completely impossible to discover their true meanings on one's own. Only the Hermetic alchemical initiate, versed in the "language of the birds" and holding the keys to the labyrinth, can unlock these mysteries.

What Pat Zalewksi has not yet understood is that initiation - and initiation alone - gives one the Ariadne's thread to successfully find one's way through the alchemical labyrinth.

I understand these things, because As an initiate of the the Third Order of the Alpha et Omega, I am also an initiate of Hermetic alchemy.

There is no need to reinvent "Golden Dawn alchemy." The Hermetic initiatic tradition holds all of the keys already. All you need is to be initiated. Bad reconstructionists, however, are so used to inventing things for themselves that they consider seeking initiation in Hermetic alchemy as beneath their dignity. They are mistaken.

All throughout history there has been only one traditional way of learning alchemy - by becoming an apprentice to an initiated Master. Without the guidance of a Master alchemist, one remains forever lost in the alchemical labyrinth.

But even with the guidance of a Master, alchemy requires so much physical and spiritual discipline that it is impossible for most people. Even for me!!!!!

This is an important area where the wisdom of the alchemical Master comes in. Of all of the various means of alchemical processing in Hermetic Inner Aclhemy, there is only one means of processing perfectly suited for my particular personality and nature.

The means of processing that brought so much energetic evolution for my Master, for example, is absolutely useless for me due to who I am. It is thus the role of the Master alchemist to help the disciple to discover his or her true nature and thus find the internal alchemical process most suited for them. In this manner it is possible with alchemy to achieve quantum leaps in evolution, even to develop one's Solar body and to achieve immortality in a single incarnation. Any goal but this, when it comes to alchemy, is mere ignorance, deception, or delusion - in any case an utter waste of time.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Outer Order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega is one of the rare initiatic schools that transmits the highest initiatic mysteries of Hermetic alchemy.

- David Griffin

P.S. - I recently raised these same philosophical objections to Mr. Zalewksi's argument on alchemy on the HOGD/AO forum. This has subsequently been misrepresented by one blogger as an attack on Mr. Zalewksi and his order.

Let us recall that there is a vast difference between fraternal debate and the sort of "ad hominem" attacks that so many years typified the tragic "Golden Dawn flame war." The HOGD/AO continues to embrace and celebrate diversity in the Golden Dawn community and remains firmly committed to avoiding a return to the flame war that so ravaged the reputation of the entire Golden Dawn tradition.

This does not mean that there should be no debate about the differences between orders, however. It is through fraternal debate that the Golden Dawn community continues to grow and evolve. Moreover, the public has a right to know the fundamental differences that distinguish the various Golden Dawn orders from one another.

Certainly, debate in our community should clearly be conducted with mutual respect and remain free of "ad hominem" attacks, anonymous trolls, etc.

I completely disagree, however, that debate in any way "squashes diversity" as has been misrepresented recently. On the contrary, delineating the differences that distinguish our orders from one another actually celebrates our diversity.

A Case of Apples Being Called Oranges

2011-06-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

by guest blogger

Frater Barrabbas Tiresius

Frater Barrabbas Tiresius is a practicing Alexandrian witch, founder of the Order of the Gnostic Star (ESSG), and a primary proponent of a United Federation of Initiatic Orders. With four books in print, Frater Barrabbas is a respected Pagan author. In the Blogoshpere, he is best known for his Talking About Ritual Magick blog.

Nick Farrell has posted yet another article in a seemingly endless attempt to give credence to his reconstructionist approach to the Golden Dawn.

I don’t know why Mr. Farrell continues to grasp at anything that would seem to redeem his perspective and make it legitimate, but perhaps he is haunted by guilt. His latest attempt at personal and selfish self-redemption can be found on his blog, where he discusses a book that he has read that he believes gives confirmation and affirmation to his approach.

The book in question is “Tehunga: Hohepa Keropa” written by Paul Moon. This book is a anthropological biography of a Maori “magician,” but I would suspect that a better interpretation of “tehunga” would be a shaman or medicine man. Nick refers to “Kereopa,” who is the subject of the book, as a magician in order to make a direct comparison with Mr. Farrell's own practices within his faction of the Golden Dawn. I believe this is not only quite a stretch, but it shows the egregiousness of Mr. Farrell's error.

Anyone who has taken an Anthropology 101 course can tell you that a shaman or medicine man is completely unlike a modern occultist or practitioner of magick. A whole world separates them, and to conflate one with the other shows either a disingenuous or complete lack of understanding. I am going to give Nick the benefit of the doubt and state that I think he is making this comparison with the full knowledge that it is erroneous - in other words, Nick is purposefully telling falsehoods to his reading public. I guess there is nothing new in that theme.

This is further complicated by the fact that there are various types of shamans within that quite large designation. While a traditional shaman undergoes a series of dangerous and sometimes horrific initiations, and has a mentor or teacher for the early part of his career, at a certain point s/he adapts to the needs of the tribe. This is where the difference between the reconstructionist and the traditionalist can be most clearly seen.

The reason why Kereopa is not worried about exactly transmitting everything, is that the knowledge is transmitted during initiation, into the subconscious of the initiate. As long as one teacher can transmit to one student who becomes a teacher, the chain remains unbroken. At such time that the necessary teachings are needed, they percolate to the surface, in the predetermined ways that tradition teaches.

This is completely different from the reconstructionist, who, without the benefit of this direct transmission, can only assume their ideas are worthwhile, when in fact, they could be complete poppycock, or the result of nightmares caused by a bit of bad cheese. The reconstructionist fashions a completely unique practice and perspective based on the factors that caused him to become a shaman. He may hold the teachings that he received intact, or he might even come up with something entirely new. Both types of shamans may dress in a specific manner, adhere to tribal beliefs, themes and even deploy tropes and fetishes in a completely expected manner, but each is unique; the traditionalist adapting to the needs of the tribe, and the reconstructionist (usually) to their own vision of “the right way”.

Nick then examines the actual words that Kereopa uses to describe the state of his tradition, saying that it’s OK that his tradition is changing and diminishing, and that some of the lore has been irreparably lost (due to his impending death) and that each new generation of shamans will remodel the tradition. Of course, Nick doesn’t tell his readers that this is part of the nature the way of shamanism and shamans; each one is somewhat unique and each one develops his/her own practice, much the same way that the old country doctor did in turn of the century America.

Of course, this is not at all similar to the way that traditions are managed or held by modern occultists. Shamanism is shamanism - western occultism is western occultism. They are not at all the same thing, but Nick would like to make this comparison because it makes his recontructionist perspective appear valid and right. Perhaps it would be true if the Golden Dawn were a dead traditioin, and the incomplete source material was all that was left. Shamanism is a living tradition, but Nick’s self created Golden Dawn order is a reconstruction from a supposedly dead system. They can’t be compared at all.

One has to wonder why Nick Farrell, who has blatantly and egregiously defamed his spiritual and magickal ancestors, would want to insist that he is behaving like a Maori shaman, fashioning a different and unique system of the Golden Dawn. Nick would have us believe that somehow these systemic differences are OK - just part of the process of being a magician - going all the way back to the beginning of time.

Somehow I doubt that Kereopa, as Mr. Farrell has done, would defame his ancestors or state that his supposed tradition is a fraud, and that he has the right to completely change everything just because he is a magician. That is a trope associated with the arrogance of a modern self-made man who answers to no one but himself.

Nick is grasping at straws and seeking to somehow assuage his guilt, obviously because he suspects that the Golden Dawn is a true living tradition, but its just not the tradition that Nick claims ownership to. Thus Mr. Farrell attempts in his books and posts to prove that the Golden Dawn is dead and that its founders were dupes and frauds. Nick wants to destroy the Golden Dawn so he can justify changing it in whatever manner he wants.

All of this is quite sad and ridiculous, and we can easily dispense with Nick’s feeble attempt at self-justification. As I have stated previously, there is a true living Golden Dawn, with an active Third Order and even a group of Secret Chiefs. Through the efforts of these Secret Chiefs and their ward, David Griffin, the head has been re-attached to the body, and new life has coursed through it, making it a bonafide tradition.

Those who are entrusted with a tradition will fight and struggle to ensure that it’s lore, beliefs and practices are kept at the highest level of integrity possible so they will be able to bequeath it intact to those who come after them. I have this duty and responsibility to my core tradition of Alexandrian Witchcraft, and David Griffin has this duty and responsibility to the Golden Dawn. If there is a Third Order and Secret Chiefs, then there must be one true, traditional order. Nick Farrell couldn’t be more terribly wrong or mistaken if he tried.

- Frater Barrabbas

"Reconstructionists? Not this generation!"

The Rant of Kahn: Nick Farrell Attacks Book Review of Mathers Last Secret

2011-05-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Nick Farrell

Readers of the Golden Dawn blog will recall my having compared Nick Farrell with Jim Kirk's genetically enhanced arch enemy, Kahn, played by Ricardo Montalban. I originally made this comparison due to the way that Farrell is trying to recreate the Golden Dawn in his own image, much as Kahn tries to do so with the entire galaxy. The comparison this week seems particularly apt, however, in light of the latest wrathful rant published on Nick Farrell's blog.

Nick Farrell, on his blog yesterday, lashed out at GH Frater SR and the HOGD/AO. Here are a couple of fine samplings from Mr. Farrell's idea of fraternal discourse:

"Neither am I going to argue with habitual drug users who think they can turn lead into Gold, have a fantasy about Arabs paying for Hebrew wands, or with single men who are so desperate for a shag they make it a mystery in the said hope that one day they will get laid.

Sure you can attack the theories in my books, (although one so called scholarly critique was packed full of so much magical ignorance, and logical holes, I could not even begin to reply to it). However, when it is about something I saw, I have decided that you can stick your theories up your arse, and I will ignore you."

How is anyone supposed to take Nick Farrell's Golden Dawn order seriously, when this is Mr. Farrell's idea of fraternal debate??????

For those who do not understand the background, the source of Mr. Farrell's ire arose when GH Frater Sincerus Renatis published a 2 part, lengthy critique, refuting sensationalist claims Mr. Farrell made in his yellow journalistic book, "Mathers Last Secret". But is this rant really all Mr. Farrell can say in defence of his unsupported theories? You can find SR's critiques here, here, and here, and SR's response to Mr. Farrell's latest rant, here.

This latest outburst from Mr. Farrell sadly reinforces the idea prevalent in the Golden Dawn community that the entire "Mathers Last Secret" book was nothing more another chess move in the decades old Golden Dawn flame war against the HOGD/AO (yawn).

Farrell continues:

"But, what is being actually being disputed in Whare Ra is a history which I am a part of. It is a history I saw...

"To an esoteric archaeologist, it is like stumbling across a society that had been cut off from the rest of the world and still worshiped Anubis and can tell you exactly what mix of incenses you use on which day."

I nearly spewed coffee over my computer laughing when I read this one.

Hey Nick! Here is a reality check. You were never a member of Whare Ra. You were not there. Just because you meet lady GaGa at a party and have a couple of drinks with former Whare Ra Adepts does not mean that you were there in the jungles of Whare Ra cooking espresso with the natives.

And I thought "Q" was a dick!

Are SRIA/SRICF invading the Golden Dawn? (Klingons in the Neutral Zone!)

2011-04-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

SRICF Bird of Prey

Many or you will recall my recent blog article on the HOGD/AO blog, entitled, "SRIA/SRICF: Secret Chiefs or Golden Dawn Impostors?" The flap started In August, 2010, when the Supreme Magus of the Masonic SRICF, William Koon II, astonished Masonic Rosicrucians gathered at Golden State College, S.R.I.C.F at the Los Altos Masonic Temple in Los Altos, California.

Golden Dawn members could not believe their ears when Koon made claims implying that the SRICF in America and the SRIA in England have the right to designate which Golden Dawn order is the "official" Golden Dawn - implying that Masonic Rosicrucians have governing authority over the Golden Dawn.

Supreme Magus Kang

This notion is, of course absurd. Since my publication of the above linked article, several anonymous trolls have weighed into the discussion, defending SRICF. For example, on Morgan Eckstein's "Gleamings from the Golden Dawn Blog, anonymous blogger "Christine" just wrote:

"The SRICF & its Most Worthy Supreme Magus couldn't give a toss about the HOGD & which order thinks it is the best or the real one. KOON doesn't make any claim of jurisdiction over the GD. Your opinion is disenfranchised and ill-informed. Masonic Orders and Masonic RC societies do not pretend to regulate or oversee the GD. Consult with the Chief Adept in Cali...Bruce Pruitt if you want to know what was really said.

Your condescension about spiritual practice and magical ability within the SRICF might have been a fair assumption in the 70's to the 90's, but it is not an accurate reflection of the current membership. If you really knew what all went on in the inner orders of esoteric Christian Masons...you would either glow with approval or resent being left out."

Here is my reply to "Christine":

I note that thus far there has only been hearsay from anonymous trolls without Blogger profiles, including yourself, disputing what was actually said by Mr. Koon.

Don't bother trying to pull the wool over my eyes regarding the esoteric value of SRICF, as I was once a member myself.

Clearly my opinion is only my own, but as a Golden Dawn Adept, a ritual magician, and as a practicing alchemist, I found precious little in SRICF that was at all Rosicrucian in more than name only. Note that Hermetic magic and Hermetic alchemy have been the spiritual practices of true Rosicrucians since the beginning. Finding precious little of any substantial esoteric or Rosicrucian value in SRICF, I quickly decided not to waste any further time or money on it.

My dim view of SRICF was confirmed, when a few years later, Pierre Meste, a high grade member of SRICF from Toulouse, France approached Senior Adepts of the HOGD/AO with the following astonishing story.

He had just returned from a meeting of the Freemasonic College of Rites in the USA. At that meeting, SRICF was preparing to install itself in France. On that occasion, this high grade Freemason from the York rite in France, was given one of the highest grades on SRICF. Astonishingly, however, Meste also claimed that a clandestine Golden Dawn temple had been convened in a hotel room to confer upon him the Adeptus Exemptus (7=4) degree of the Golden Dawn's RR+AC!

He further claimed to have received a Golden Dawn charter at the same sitting.

Meste then approached the GH Chiefs of our order with the above fantastic story, asking us to give formal recognition to his grade and charter!

Bear in mind that this gentleman had never even seen the inside of a proper Golden Dawn temple, let alone a duly consecrated Vault of the Adepti!

We of course refused his request for recognition. When we explained to Meste that the Golden Dawn is a school of spiritual development rather than a degree mill of Freemasonic merit badges, he was none too pleased. This High Grade member of SRICF appeared not even to understand why the 7=4 Grade of the Golden Dawn's RR+AC could not legitimately be conferred on him with a wave of a hand like the higher degrees of SRICF.

I am glad to hear, however, that SRICF may have meanwhile cleaned up its act a bit. I am curious to know, however, "Christine," how it is that YOU appear have such an informed opinion in the matter?

Has the SRICF now begun admitting women on an equal basis with men?

Now THAT certainly WOULD be an esoteric improvement!

Tell your Klingon Masters: "Hands off Federation space!"

The Golden Dawn Debates: David Griffin vs. Robert Zink I

2011-04-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

On his blog and Yahoo Forum, Robert Zink wrote:

Golden Dawn Orders - There Can Be Only One (Not)

Recently I was reminded about a book called the Games People Play by Dr. Eric Bernie. This was written in the 70's and it is still a classic. There is a game that people play in the book called, "Blemish." In this game, we look for faults of others in order to justify our behavior. This is exactly what happened to Mathers during the great Golden Dawn revolt in 1904. The game was to find fault with Mathers, and thus justify schism. There is debate as to where the current really ended up. I believe it stayed with Mathers, as he was the conduit with the Third Order. In the game of Blemish, the key is to find faults with someone. Often we play this game with leaders, it is a common game with dire consequences.

For the last fifteen years my name has been the first breathe out of David Griffin mouth as he rises in the morning and the last utterance at night. I have consumed more time on his blog, and yahoo group than any other two people... I wonder what others think. Years ago I called David the Highlander. In this pictorial view, we see a person who believes there can only be one. I disagree. There can and are more than one.

Recently. Some of the members or our Order under the direction of Jeff Randich, and Alex Walker have decided to create their own group. They call their group the Order of the Golden Dawn, College of the Holy Spirit. Personally I feel bad that they left the way they did, as I think our Order should have a method for those who have been in the Order for a minimum number of years to form their own group. They will have a new lineage, and time will tell where that new lineage will take them. I along with the Adepts and Chief of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn can only wish them well, and hope they inspire us to the greater service to humanity and that Light. There can be more than one!

G.H. Frater P.D.R.

Robert Zink

Care et GH Frater PDR (Dear Robert Zink),

I honestly hope that you are sincere in your above post and that you are not just engaging in yet more negative marketing by repeating your same old talking points yet again. Although many others disagree with me, including many of the Adepts who recently "expelled" you from the EOGD, I for one am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and to engage you in fraternal, scholarly debate about extremely serious challenges facing our community.

Everyone in the Golden Dawn community wants peace and harmony. Even though I am very concerned about the reputation of the Golden Dawn community, I clearly want peace and harmony in our community as well. This is why the HOGD/AO and I unilaterally launched the Golden Dawn harmony initiative three years ago. As a part of that initiative, you will recall the offer that I made you to take down, on a reciprocal basis, objectionable materials from our respective websites and blogs.

This offer still stands, Bob, even though you have rejected it out of hand for over three years. Once again, I urge you to abandon negative marketing and to join me instead in promoting peace and harmony in our Golden Dawn community.

I sincerely hope that you are being honest in your stated desire to move beyond finger pointing. I completely agree that changing the tone is a good thing. Instead of talking past one another, let's talk directly with one another right here on our fora and in the Blogoshpere. Let us move beyond finger pointing and into problem solving.

We don't need to agree on everything, but we can at least drop the "Highlander" rhetoric and debate one another in a fraternal and scholarly manner.

Let me begin by asking you this. What do you believe, Bob, is the best way for us to improve the image of the Golden Dawn in the rest of the esoteric community?

Robert Zink wrote:

Recently I was reminded about a book called the Games People Play by Dr. Eric Bernie. This was written in the 70's and it is still a classic. There is a game that people play in the book called, "Blemish." In this game, we look for faults of others in order to justify our behavior. This is exactly what happened to Mathers during the great Golden Dawn revolt in 1904. The game was to find fault with Mathers, and thus justify schism. There is debate as to where the current really ended up. I believe it stayed with Mathers, as he was the conduit with the Third Order. In the game of Blemish, the key is to find faults with someone. Often we play this game with leaders, it is a common game with dire consequences.

You are correct that when people leave an order, they tend to find fault with their leaders. Nonetheless, schism frequently brings also things to light that need to be addressed in any case. I certainly do want harmony in our community, but I do not believe that we should just sweep under the rug things that potentially affect our community in an extremely negative manner.

You will recall that the Second Order of the EOGD published a letter "expelling" you on February 4, 2011 that was signed by 95% of the Adepts. Granted that there might have been some schismatic finger pointing involved. Nonetheless, two of issues that they raised potentially affect the entire Golden Dawn community in an extremely negative manner and I do not, therefore, believe that they should just be swept under the carpet. First of all, they wrote:

Robert Zink has taken thousands of dollars from Initiates and Adepti in return for promised products and services that he did not deliver on, nor refund. His poor business practices continue to afflict many Initiates and Adepti and, despite many promises of reform, he has shown no signs of changing or even slowing down.

EOGD Hierophant and respected blogger, then wrote:

Robert Zink was expelled because he was victimizing the students who joined our Order through the illegal activities of theft, credit-card fraud, and inappropriate sexual advances to the female members of the Order.

These are extremely serious allegations, Robert. In your above post you attempt to dismiss these grave matters as mere "finger pointing" by Adepts who wanted to start their own order. The evidence, however, does not bear this out.

If the allegations of financial impropriety raised by your Adepts have no merit, then then why does the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn now have an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau?

Do you not understand how your financial impropriety affects the entire Golden Dawn community when you when you collect money for things that you never deliver and when you fraudulently use credit card numbers you obtain for EOGD memberships for other things ?

This is some serious stuff, Bob - stuff you could go to jail for and that can ruin the reputation of the whole Golden Dawn community.

You now claim your Adepts raised this issue merely because they wanted to justify starting a new Golden Dawn order. You say that I raise this issue because I am a "Highlander" that wants the HOGD/AO to be the only Golden Dawn order.

These are silly arguments, Bob. I have no desire to interfere in how you to run your own business, but like everyone else in the Golden Dawn community, I am legitimately concerned about your business practices potentially dragging my reputation and our orders reputation through the mud with you!

And speaking of reputations, we come the next issue that you raised on your blog this week, namely:

For the last fifteen years my name has been the first breathe out of David Griffin mouth as he rises in the morning and the last utterance at night. I have consumed more time on his blog, and yahoo group than any other two people.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

Bob, I lead two separate orders now and have a mundane job and a family as well. I have far better things to do with my time than to go on refuting the same old, tired, talking points from you over and over.

The truth is, Bob, that you have been deliberately attacking my reputation and trying to scare people away from me and the HOGD/AO with every negative marketing dirty trick that you could come up with for nearly two decades now!

Please don't take my word for this though. Take the word of your own Adepts instead, who gave this as one of the primary reasons for the mass exodus from your order. In the expulsion letter, your Adepts wrote:

Robert Zink has created and uses several blogs and forums that he has connected with our Order's name to make personal attacks on other members of the Golden Dawn Community especially, but not limited to, David Griffin. Let it be understood, that although David Griffin's Order and ours operate under very different philosophies and interpretations of the Golden Dawn Tradition, we do not condone these attacks by Robert Zink and they do not reflect the attitudes of the Adepti of our Second Order.

I really do welcome honest, scholarly debate with you, Bob, but you have never shown any willingness for scholarly discussion before. Instead, you merely publish some silly "Highlander" or "Nazi" propaganda talking point, I refute it, and instead of then entering into meaningful dialogue, you just republish the same old, tired, talking points over and over, ad nauseam, for decades. This has become painfully obvious to the entire Golden Dawn ocmmunity as well.

Bob, you were not back inside of an EOGD temple for a day and you were already republishing old attack articles on your Golden Dawn Blog and had even created yet another "Anonymous Bob" attack blog (this time using your new sock puppet named Mac).

I hope you realize by now that the whole Golden Dawn community has known for years that "Anonymous Bob" is really you, and that the anonymous attack blogs are yours. It is painfully obvious to anyone who knows you, because "Anonymous Bob's" blogs are filled with your regular talking points, weird use of tags, and signature spelling errors.

Bob, you have already lost nearly your entire order twice over this nonsense. Has the time has come for you to drop all of your endless attacks on me and to end all of your fear mongering negative marketing against the HOGD/AO and the Golden Dawn community once and for all?

There is one more, final thing that concerns me a great deal about what just happened with the mass exodus of your Second Order from the EOGD. I have heard you making recent posts about "love and forgiveness" lately so you can stay in the EOGD.

What I have not seen yet from you is any taking of personal responsibility or showing of genuine remorse for all of the people that you have hurt. So far, all I have seen you do is try to blame me ("Highlander" argument) or blame the Adepts who left ("Blemish" argument). Imagine if instead of all of this finger pointing, Robert Zink would rather say:

"Look, guys, over the years I have made some serious mistakes and this mass exodus has been a huge wake up call. The buck stops here. This time I am not blaming anyone but myself. I hear what you all said and I am making some serious changes in the way that I will manage the EOGD and behave towards the Golden Dawn community from now on. From now on, anyone who orders anything from me will get what hey paid for. From now on, I will only use credit card numbers for what people actually pay for and I will do my best to improve the EOGD rating with the Better Business Bureau. Moreover, I pledge that from now on, I will never attack David Griffin, the HOGD/AO or any other Golden Dawn leader or order on any of the EOGD websites, fora, or blogs, and I pledge that there will be no more "Anonymous Bob" attack blogs either."

Robert, if we heard you say these things and we witnessed you actually backing up your words with actions, the entire Golden Dawn community would welcome you back with open arms!

As it is now, sadly, you look simply like a pathetic con man who not only refuses to take personal responsibility for anything he does, and is willing to destroy the reputation of anyone, even the entire Golden Dawn community just to make a fast buck!

Think about it, Bob.

Do you really want to be just a con man and go on exploiting others until the next time your order walks out on you?

Would you not rather become a Golden Dawn leader that others can finally look up to?

Where we go from here is entirely up to you. In any case, one way or the other, my reputation, the reputation of the HOGD/AO and that of the rest of the Golden Dawn community must be protected.

The community is watching and your actions speak louder than words.

CONFIRMED: Better Business Bureau Exposes Robert Zink-EOGD Scam

2011-04-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Most readers are already aware of the extremely serious revelations made by Adepts of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn when they expelled Robert Zink.

Fallen Adept Robert Zink

The most shocking revelation, of course, was Robert Zink's misuse of EOGD websites to harvest credit card numbers for fraudulent use. An uninformed blogger recently suggested that these extremely serious allegations might be mere schismatic "sour grapes" or Golden Dawn "flame war."

In response, former EOGD Adept, Frater F. this week revealed confirmation by the Better Business Bureau of Robert Zink's fraudulent EOGD activities. Here is evidence putting all doubt to rest directly from the Better Business Bureau website:

Better Business Bureau Confirms Fraudulent Activities of Robert Zink's EOGD

"If you or someone you know has been defrauded or abused by Robert Zink or his EOGD scam, you should contact both the Better Business Bureau and the Internet Fraud Unit at your local FBI office."

For those who may not be aware of what has come out about Robert Zink and fraud in recent weeks, here is what a few former EOGD members have revealed in recent weeks. Regarding Robert Zink's fraudulent activities, long term EOGD Adept and Hierophant of its Denver Temple, VH Soror FSO wrote:

[The Adepts of EOGD's Second Order who expelled Robert Zink judged] "He [Robert Zink] was found guilty of using the Order, it's forums, websites and blogs to sell his "programs" to people, then 1.not providing services which were paid for, 2. repeatedly not sending material which were paid for and 3. Countlessly over-charging members whose credit card numbers you obtained for things like trips, clothes, and whatever else suited his fancy...not to mention his overly brazen act of opening a credit card in another members name and then charging $1500 to it..."

VH Soror FSO also wrote:

"Robert Zink was expelled because he was victimizing the students who joined our Order through the illegal activities of theft, credit-card fraud, and inappropriate sexual advances to the female members of the Order." [Note that Robert Zink's "improper sexual advances" once included illegally impregnating the underaged daughter of one EOGD member. Perpetrator Zink later left the victim DESTITUTE today as a single mother after causing her to drop out of high school].

Here is what another EOGD member who turned their back on Robert Zink says:

"Sadly these accusations are all true. I was once in the EOGD with Sideshow Bob and even supported him and wrongly defended him on forums for a while - until I saw how he defrauded people, how he treated people, including his ex wife - in fact if is was not for her he would be nothing. she did ALL the hard work for him with absolutely zero gratitude. He treated her like dirt. He [Robert Zink] conned a woman in Europe out of $30,000 of her life savings and took money from her credit card without permission. I heard the stories from some of his former members about his magical attacks on others using members, like poor, blind "VH Frater DN", Heirophant of the Temple of Isis, who wrote a recent Blog, to do his attacks for him, hoping to keep his hands clean karmically. After I left his order, I heard how he had put his own body fluids into his tinctures and sold them to new neophytes, also spraying the substance into their mouths at one of his events. He denies this. I have one of these tinctures, called "Tincture of Gold" and would be happy to send it to you for analysis. Which address should I send it to? This stuff we know he has done is probably only the tip of the iceberg... There is absolutely no way anyone should trust this man [Robert Zink] again. He should be behind bars. in Light LVX A former EOGD member."

There have been literally hundreds of people who were cheated out of the full benefits of traditional Golden Dawn initiation by Robert Zink's New Age "Astral" initiation scam. Here is what one victim of Robert Zink's New Age fraud schemes has to say:

"I wish to keep my name and email private: I paid for Zinks Miracle Mentoring and only recieved 4 of the 5 sessions. I tried contacting Robert several times to finish our mentoring and he has still never contacted me back. There were also many times where I would call for our appoitment and he would never answer or call me back, what should have taken a month took several months and we still never finished. I was ripped off and will never trust this man again."

Here is what EOGD member, Mary Dunford, says, who finally had enough the fraud perpetrated by Robert Zink:

"Hi, I just saw the post about PDR [Robert Zink] from the EOGD. Long story short... I used to belong to the EOGD and my experience was identical to the guy's on Utube.Unfortunately, they had me turn against my own physical temple that i was a part of as well. i am not part of an order now. i was looking for local temples when i came across this. to be honest, i never liked the cross order bickering, but please let anyone know that i WILL VOUCH FOR THE FACT THAT YOU WERE TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT THE EOGD BEING A SCAM. I'll give my phone number on a case by case basis. Yours truly, Mary Dunford (Formerly Soror PIQU)"

What is the Federation without the Prime Directive?

An Open Letter: Robert Zink's Crimes Against the Golden Dawn Community

2011-03-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Carete Fratres et Sorores,

As you are likely already aware, the fraudulent activities of Robert Zink (alias Frater PDR) have dragged the reputation of the entire Golden Dawn community through the mud for nearly two decades. I am perhaps more aware of this than others, as my personal reputation has been under constant, direct attack on the EOGD websites, anonymous websites, and anonymous blogs controlled by Robert Zink.

Let us all face facts. Expelling Robert Zink from the EOGD was not enough. As long as Zink controls the websites and has even one temple with even a handful of people willing to back him, Robert Zink's negative marketing, attacking other Golden Dawn orders as well as all of his credit card fraud scams, etc., will continue.

Golden Dawn Credit Card Fraud Artist: Robert Zink

No sooner was Robert Zink foolishly invited to the EOGD Isis temple for Equinox, that he resumed attacking the Golden Dawn community on the internet again. Here are a few samplings from Robert Zink's new attacks on the good brothers and sisters of the EOGD, and on the rest of the Golden Dawn community, taken from his Wordpress blog:

Robert Zink wrote:

"Beware of any Golden Dawn group that claims to be the only game in town, and any group that claims to be the EOGD that does not come from www.esoteric goldendawn.com"

"Every group has some kind of lineage. Lineage is nothing more than a tradition or a history. The shocking news is that there is one group that really has no lineage at all to the historical Golden Dawn and yet claims on a daily basis that they do. This can be dangerous! Equally dangerous is any group that claims to be the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn"

"At the time of this writing, this particular group does not even have any free standing Temples of Lodges!"

"We are the Original and only Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn.There is no other. Beware of those claiming to be the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn. Check to see when their website first went on line. There are those who left our beloved Order, but when it comes right down to it, they were all initiated by G.H. Frater P.D.R. Robert Zink) and therefore can only claim lineage to him."

"( Beware, there are those who are now using the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn name. You can always trust that you are joining the orginal Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn by visiting: www.esoteric goldendawn.com)"

It is this kind of negative marketing TRASH that has created the illusion for decades that we in the Golden Dawn community are constantly at one another's throats. The truth is that Robert Zink has been waging a one man war against the entire Golden Dawn community all along.

Enough is enough already. The time has come to take a united stand against these constant attacks on the entire Golden Dawn community. Criminals belong in prison instead of attacking the Golden Dawn community on the Internet.

The time has come to purge the Golden Dawn community of credit card fraud, the sexual abuse of minors, and all of the other sick things that Robert Zink has perpetrated in the name of the Golden Dawn - and will continue to perpetrate if we let him.

As a first step, I have put up a new FRAUD ALERT page prominently on the HOGD/AO website. We are also attempting to gather enough hard evidence that a district attorney might be willing to bring criminal charges against Robert Zink.

All EOGD members, past or present, with personal knowledge of fraudulent or abusive activities of Robert Zink are encouraged to write to me either here or using the contact link on the Golden Dawn website. Please let us know if you are only willing to add your story to the public warning page, or if you might also be willing to testify against Robert Zink in court.

The time has come to purge not only the EOGD, but the entire Golden Dawn community of fraud, child sexual abuse, etc. once and for all!

Mr. Checkov, please escort our guest to the brig.

A New Epoch in the Golden Dawn Community

2011-02-04T23:31:00.000-08:00

An important message from David Griffin (GH Frater LeS)

Imperator Ordinis, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega®

Brothers and Sisters of all temples and orders of the Golden Dawn,

As world events in recent weeks have proven, the internet has once and for all changed the world in which we live. We have entered into new age of transparency and accountability required from leaders towards those we lead.

No longer can even nation states hypocritically proclaim freedom and democracy while abusing the trust of their people by manipulating free flow of information or by abusing state secrecy. Such hypocrisy can and will henceforth be exposed.

No longer can despotic governments rule with an iron fist of oppression. As is being proven this week throughout the Arab world, such despots can and will be deposed.

The peoples of the Earth are waking up to realize that all leaders, great or small, lead only by virtue of the collective faith and will of the people.

Tonight, the truth of these principles has been proven yet once again - this time in the Golden Dawn.

Word has just arrived that our brothers and sisters in the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, initiates and adepts alike, have lost faith in the leadership of their former Imperator, Robert Zink. According to the message published below in its entirety, Robert Zink has been permanently expelled from the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn.

I have just returned from an emergency conference of the GH Chiefs of our order. The Initiates and Adepts of the HOGD/AO would like to communicate our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the EOGD. We recognize the wisdom of your decision.

To the newly installed GH Chiefs of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, on behalf of the entire HOGD/AO, i extend my hand to you in peace, friendship, and brotherhood.

Let me assure you that we in the HOGD/AO do not wish to interfere in the operation of your order. We acknowledge and appreciate, however, your commitment to maintaining high ethical standards and to promoting peace and harmony in the Golden Dawn community.

The GH Chiefs of our order pledge not to interfere in yours, but rather to lend our guidance, support, and assistance to the best of our ability. There are details that remain to be worked out, but we do not exclude any possibility, even including eventual sharing of Hermetic and Rosicrucian lineages and additional higher teachings with your order as well.

In short, we look forward to an unparalleled era of cooperation and collaboration in the entire Golden Dawn community. At long last, the time has come to put the past behind us and to begin a long overdue process of true healing and reconciliation.

Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua
David Griffin
G.H. Frater Lux Ex Septentrionis
Imperator Ordinis, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega

"Ex Deo Nascimur.
In Yeheshua Morimur.
Per Sanctum Spiritum Reviviscimus"

Here is the complete message published by EOGD membership tonight on various places around the Internet:

Expulsion of Robert Zink from the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn

Greetings in LVX,

It is come to the point where we of the Second Order have to take the unfortunate action of deposing former G.H. Frater P.D.R. (Robert Zink) of his highly influential position and expelling him from the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn. He received the grievances from the Adepti of the Second Order, but was still given a great deal of time and opportunity to reform his ways. In response to this, he persists to hold himself above accountability and has gone to great lengths to secure his own position through surreptitiously ensuring as much of the Order's assets were under his sole control as possible. There are many grievances that the Body of Adepti has brought to him, however the main points that have lead to this final decision are as follows:

1. Robert Zink has taken thousands of dollars from Initiates and Adepti in return for promised products and services that he did not deliver on, nor refund. His poor business practices continue to afflict many Initiates and Adepti and, despite many promises of reform, he has shown no signs of changing or even slowing down.

2. Robert Zink has used the forums, materials and name of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn in connection with his personal products and services against the will of the Second Order and has refused to stop doing so. The result has been that the public and our own initiates perceive that our Order endorses his products and services. Let it be clear that the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn does not endorse his products and services, nor do we approve of them at all.

3. Robert Zink has created and uses several blogs and forums that he has connected with our Order's name to make personal attacks on other members of the Golden Dawn Community especially, but not limited to, David Griffin. Let it be understood, that although David Griffin's Order and ours operate under very different philosophies and interpretations of the Golden Dawn Tradition, we do not condone these attacks by Robert Zink and they do not reflect the attitudes of the Adepti of our Second Order.

4. Robert Zink has abused his position of influence along with his well-studied knowledge of techniques such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming and psychological manipulation to endear a substantial number of Outer Order initiates to his personal unpaid servitude. We find this practice cultish, detestable and in no way a reflection of the true principles and practices of the Golden Dawn Tradition.

5. Robert Zink threatened and in several cases has admitted to performing magic intended to cause harm upon several initiates and Adepti when they attempted to hold him accountable for his poor business transactions and mistreatment of members of our Order and their non-initiate family.

As a result of the above points, Robert Zink has sullied the spiritual and magical development of a great many initiates of our Order. In addition he has caused great and in many cases irreparable damage to our Order's reputation and the reputation of the Golden Dawn Tradition as a whole in the eyes of the public.

It is for these reasons and many others not mentioned here that Robert Zink, formerly G.H. Frater P.D.R., is stripped of his rank, position, and authority and expelled from the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn.

Let it be understood that due to his surreptitious actions, the websites of our Order under the names of www.golden-dawn.org and www.esotericgoldendawn.com are under his personal control. All moneys, inquiries and applications sent via these websites currently go to him personally and do not go to our Order. Any personal information provided to his sites will ultimately be used by him as part of his marketing database to promote his personal products. No Temple of our Order supports him nor will perform initiations on behalf of those from whom he accepts money and applications. As such, any promise of initiation, astral or otherwise, that he makes will be a deception.

For the time being the official websites representing the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn as a whole will be those of our two Grand Temples: info.eogdisis.com and www.templeptah.org.

Sincerely and in LVX,

The Chiefs and Adepti of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn

APPROVAL RECORD:

The undersigned represent the entire body of the Second Order. With the exception of only a couple verbal responses, all approval statements are on file. It should be noted that all the Chiefs and Adepti of our Order, including the dissenting votes, agree that the accusations given above are true and that something must be done to protect the public and our own initiates. Those dissenting disagree only with the action of expulsion. With 3 Chief Adepti vs. 1 for expulsion and one abstention and the overwhelming approval of the Adepti of the Second Order, this act of expulsion is confirmed.

Approve, GH Frater AA, Chief Adept

Approve, GH Frater ICL, Chief Adept

Approve, GH Frater SI, Chief Adept

Abstain, GH Frater BT, Chief Adept, Nuance: Agrees that the accusations are true, agrees that Robert Zink's contact with the Outer Order should be cut

Disapprove, GH Frater TDL, Chief Adept, Nuance: Agrees that the accusations are true

Approve, VH Frater IC

Approve, VH Frater SD

Approve, VH Soror CMU

Approve, VH Frater CDD

Approve, VH Frater P

Approve, VH Frater VMP

Approve, VH Frater OOA

Approve, VH Soror RT

Approve, VH Frater MD (Ptah)

Approve, VH Frater MD (LLL)

Approve, VH Frater PV

Approve, VH Soror AEI

Approve, VH Frater ID

Approve, VH Soror POIO

Approve, VH Soror VPP

Approve, VH Frater FOF

Approve, VH Soror SM

Approve, VH Frater SA

Approve, VH Frater CE

Approve, VH Soror B

Abstain, VH Frater SLS, Nuance: Agrees that the accusations are true, agrees that Robert Zink's contact with the Outer Order should be cut

Abstain, VH Soror P, Nuance: Agrees that the accusations are true, agrees that Robert Zink's contact with the Outer Order should be cut

Disapprove, VH Frater DN (D), Nuance: Agrees that the accusations are true

Disapprove, VH Frater DN (T), Nuance: Agrees that the accusations are true, agrees that Robert Zink's contact with the Outer Order should be cut

Geographical Magick

2010-07-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

THE WAND OF POWER: CHAPTER III

by David Griffin

Once Patrick, my goldsmith, had finished cutting the golden letters for the Wand of Power according to my rigid rules, it was technically a simple matter to add the Names of Power to the staff of the wand.

The shaft of the wand was made of simple wood that was a gift from a dear friend in a city sacred to both of us. In terms of construction, epoxy actually makes a nice bond between wood and 24k gold. In the nearly 20 years that have passed since I constructed the Wand of Power, not even one letter has come off or needed to be reglued.

Affixing the letters to the staff was no real chore. What did complicate matters was my determination that this was to be no ordinary wand. The rituals would be carefully timed according to Solar and Lunar cycles of alchemical magick.

I created a unique ritual for each of the twenty Names of Power and chose a special city for each ritual. I carefully chose these cities each for various reasons, mostly for their spiritual history.

London and Paris were clearly on the list due to their historical importance for the Golden Dawn and the Alpha et Omega. Several cities, including Chartres, Einsiedeln, and Montserrat were chosen for rituals as places of pilgrimage of the Black Madonna, a vestige of the mysteries of Isis and the Great Goddess that had survived Christianity from within the new religion itself.

The Black Madonna

I ritually payed my respects to the Alchemist Queen, Christina of Sweden, in the Riario Palace in Rome where she lived and practiced alchemy following her abdication.

Christina of Sweden, The Alchemist Queen

I chose Tubigen, The Hague, and Berlin due to their key roles in Rosicrucian history. In Tubingen, I invoked the Spirit of the Rosicrucian movement and payed my respects to my primogenitors, in the city where a circle of alchemists, together with Johann Valentin Andreae, released of the first Rosicrucian manifestos.

Johann Valentin Andrae

In The Hague lies of the Palace once occupied by Princess Elizabeth Stuart and Frederick V, Elector Palatine of the Rhine. Following Frederick's failed attempt to take the throne of Bohemia and the couple's flight from Prague, Frederick and Elizabeth's Court in The Hague became a veritable Mecca for Rosicrucians and Alchemists.

Palace of Frederick V & Elizabeth Stuart in The Hague
Center of the Rosicrucian Enlightenment

This palace today houses part of the Dutch government, the Raad van Staat, so the building has heavy government security. I explained to the guards the spiritual importance of the chapel of this Palace to Rosicrucian history. To my great pleasure, the guard granted me not only entry, but even special permission to hold ritual in the Chapel. Alone in what was once the private chapel of Frederick V and Elizabeth Stuart, I invoked the Rosicrucian spirit of this place.

With the magnificent stained glass rose shining down upon me where once the altar had stood, my heart opened and I wept tears of joy. I was completely overwhelmed by the beauty and sanctity of this most sacred Rosicrucian chapel.

It is entirely possible that this was the first time in Centuries that any Rosicrucian ritual had been performed in this chapel. I was deeply moved and highly honored as I paid my respects to my Rosicrucian forbearers.

To my progenitors in the Golden and Rosy Cross Order (Gold und Rosenkreutz), I payed my respects at the tomb of former Rosicrucian Grand Master, Ormesus Magnus, Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia, in the Hohenzollern family crypt beneath the Dom church in Berlin.

Ormesus Magnus, Frederick Wilhelm II

In all, I performed the 20 invocations, in 20 specially chosen cities, welding the magical Forces of 20 Qabalistic names to the Wand of Power. Each of these 20 invocations additionally corresponded to one of the 22 Hebrew characters. Thus following the invocations of the 20 Names of Power, 2 additional invocations would be necessary to complete the entire cycle of 22.

I therefore returned to Paris, where I rented a room in a hotel directly next door to where S.L. and Moina MacGregor Mathers had once lived in Paris.

Moina and S.L. MacGregor Mathers

Here I performed a ritual with the intention of restoring the Alpha et Omega to its rightful place as an powerful school of light and guidance for those seeking spiritual development. At the crescendo of this ritual, I welded the power of the Greek characters "Alpha" and "Omega" to the Wand of Power.

For the 22d and final ritual, completing the geographical magick cycle of The Wand of Power, only one city seemed to me to correct one - once the center of occult power of the Knight's Templar, the city that still today remains confluence of the three dominant Western religions:

Jerusalem

Seal of the Knights Templar

In Jerusalem, I welded the symbols of the 7 ancient and 3 modern planets to the Wand, thus completing its Qabalistic and Astrological Magic symbolism with the culmination of the 22 invocations.

Thus, no further obstacles remained to the consecration of the Wand of Power. Having gone to such extremes in its construction, in my mind there was only one place worthy left on Earth of such a consecration:

The King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Egypt

With this Wand so sacredly assembled, its consecration should have proven easy. Little did I know what an ordeal still lay ahead of me, however, and just how wrong things would go in Egypt.

But this too is a story for another day!

Would you like to know immediately each time when a new chapter of the story of my misadventures is ready?

Click on the "Follow" button on the column to the right and I will make sure you are always the first to know. You will especially enjoy hearing about my mishaps with:

"THE WAND OF POWER IN THE KING'S CHAMBER"

TO BE CONTINUED ...

The Crucible & The Wand of Power

2010-07-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

by David Griffin

The Wand of Power

When it came to the construction of my Magical Wand, I was a perfectionist in every way.

Every letter of every Magical Name of Power for this Wand was hand cut by a Master goldsmith.

I insisted on using only gold actually provided by me, produced through alchemical transmutation by virtue of the Philosopher's Stone, then rectified and multiplied into a state of absolute purity.

Nonetheless, I still insisted on testing every single ounce of gold immediately prior to its use in my goldsmith's workshop.

For an alchemist or even for a goldsmith, it is quite simple to check the purity of gold. Here is how:

Place a piece gold in a crucible and heat it until it melts. 100% pure gold, in its molten state shines with a brilliant, yellow white light much like the Sun. This is why Gold in alchemy has always corresponded to the Sun. This is also why Gold is considered by alchemists as the noblest of all metals.

On the other hand, with molten gold, even the slightest impurity becomes immediately visible as dark spots, much like dark sunspots across the face of of the Sun. By this method, even normal 24k gold is revealed as highly impure for alchemical and magical purposes!

My poor goldsmith! Spotting such impurities is a simple matter. Removing them is another matter altogether sometimes requiring laborious rectification...

...And for gold for my magical implements, I would accept nothing less than ABSOLUTE purity. Even the slightest impurity revealed by the above test was enough for me to require additional purification of the gold.

Patrick, my goldsmith, was a Chinese immigrant, sent in advance to get his family and their fortune out of Hong Kong, prior to its return to the Communists. Patrick had never experienced such an odd client like me.

On the one hand, I gave Patrick plenty of work - work that stretched his skills to the limit and sometimes even beyond - and, of course, I paid him top dollar for his services.

On the other hand - Patrick had never experienced such a demanding client as me either. I insisted on testing, over and over, the purity every single ounce of gold prior to its use. As I was traveling as a Tour Director, I did not have easy access to my own alchemical laboratory. I therefore taught Patrick how to rectify gold by alchemical means, and required him to perform any necessary operations to reach a state of ABSOLUTE purity in any gold for use on my Wand or any other Objects of Magical Power.

Moreover, every operation involving any piece of my Wand needed to be performed at extremely precise times - according to precise Lunar or Solar cycles. Patrick humored me and always followed my instructions precisely - no matter how strange they may have seemed to him.

These Solar and Lunar cycles culminated in the completion of my Magic Wand, when I quickly mounted the Gold and Silver tips on the Wand under the light of Total Solar Eclipse in Baja California in 1991.

And so it was that under the light of this perfect Conjunctio of Sun and Moon that The Wand of Power was born...

... But this is a story for another day! Keep coming back and tell your friends about this blog.

Don't miss the next exciting chapter of the Misadventures of a Golden Dawn Magus, all about my mishaps with:

"The Black Sun & The Wand of Power"

The Magus & The Sheikh

2010-07-22T10:19:00.001-07:00

by David Griffin

The construction of my magic wand, depicted in the film above was a labor of love and an ordeal of Hercules.

Little did I know - when I started to make my wand - that it would one day become the Wand of the Magus of Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega - and one of the crown jewels of the AO, founded by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in 1906.

Last Winter, following my publication of photographs of my magical implements in the above film, a magical grimoire and art collector from Dubai offered to buy my wand for USD $1.2 Million.

As astounding as this is - and as tempted as I was - I politely refused.

To my utter astonishment, the Sheikh would not take no for an answer. Instead, he followed up with a renewed and even better offer - this time for my entire collection of golden magical implements from the film above (wand, rings, tablets, etc.).

The Sheikh offered USD $3 Million.

At the time, my finances were stretched nearly to the point of breaking - by a vast array of magical projects I still have underway. Needless to say, the offer was extremely attractive.

Nonetheless, after careful consideration - and following a period of extreme inner conflict - I turned this offer down as well.

These offers had put me in a very serious inner dilemma. Here I was, in one of the most economically challenged periods of my life, when suddenly destiny put two offers like this on my plate.

Think about it.

I could have quit my mundane job and have devoted the rest of my life exclusively to the practice of Ritual Magic and Internal Alchemy!

But then again, something just didn't feel right.

So here I am, six months later, cruising down Highway 15 towards Zion Canyon on a Tour Bus, telling the same stories in four languages I have been telling for decades.

What could have motivated a man to turn down such an offer and to resign himself to such a fate instead?

Magical ethics?

No way!

My decision was based on something far more personal - The history of how I created my magic wand - How I consecrated it - and my Wand's history in so many of my magical adventures!

At least the Sheikh had taught me me one important thing. The time is long overdue for me to share these stories of my magical adventures - and MISadventures - with YOU.

This is my story.

It is the story of how an ordinary man - filled with faith - possessed by a dream of spiritual adventure - and ready to do WHATEVER it takes to make this dream REAL ...

... became a GOLDEN DAWN MAGUS.

In the Cave of the Green Dragon

2010-07-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

Around the turn of the Millennium, Jean-Pascal Ruggiu (GH Frater Lux Aurora, Imperator of Ahathoor Temple No. 7 in Paris) and I visited the HOGD/AO temple in Mallorca, Spain. While in Mallorca, we stayed with our friend Tony, who practices a rather interesting form of Shamanism.

All week long, Tony showed Jean-Pascal and I places of unusual spiritual interest around the island. I was rather surprised, having previously considered Mallorca little more than a tourist island. All week long, Tony stirred the cauldron of a prank he was secretly planning to play on us. There was one place he was saving for last, for Saturday, the night of the Full Moon, following the Golden Dawn initiations that day.

And so it was that on Saturday night, tired though we were from a full day of initiations, Jean-Pascal and I were herded into the back seat of Tony's Surburban. Together, we drove off into the humid darkness in search of "The Cave of The Green Dragon."

We drove through an impenetrable darkness for what seemed like hours, shaken up like martinis on a road more bumpy than smooth. On the way, Tony filled our ears with stories told over Centuries by villagers living near the cave. According to legend, the cave was used not only for ritual by the Knight's Templar, but also as a place to hide treasure. The island itself served as a useful stop for the Templars along the route to the Holy Land.

Among the myriad magical lineages Jean-Pascal and I have collected over the years, we each also have been initiated into lineages of the Knights Templar. We therefore listened to these stories with particular interest and fascination.

When we finally arrived, the only entrance to the area was barred by a large and forbidding lock on a massive iron gate. Tony assured us that this forbidding lock was only there to scare away nosy tourists, which he proved by easily opening the apparently locked gate with a gentle nudge.

We entered ...

... And the hair stood straight up on the back of my neck!

Having cultivated my energetic bodies through decades of magical and alchemical practice, I have become quite sensitive to the energies of places of power. After only a few dark steps down the winding staircase, I knew in my body that this was indeed a place of extraordinary power. Specifically, this place was loaded with a powerful magical current of telluric energy.

At the bottom of the stairs, we found ourselves at the entrance to what once had been The Cave of the Green Dragon. Over the Centuries, there had clearly been a collapse, and where once solid rick had been above, the Moon and the Stars now shined down with particular brilliance.

Near the center of the cave was an ancient altar, embossed with the paten cross of the Knight's Templar. Above the altar on the wall was an ancient fresco, carved in relief into the wall, depicting two knights riding on a solitary horse, together holding a single spear, piercing the heart of a rather ominous looking dragon.

Jean-Pascal and I were both elated, each of us having fully understood everything independently of one another. We indeed found ourselves in a place of extraordinary power, a place of enormous telluric current, that had been used by magicians of the Order of the Knight's Templar for their own magical ends Centuries ago.

The name of the cave, and all of the stories about this place, even the Green Dragon - all of this - were ways for the profane to describe the enormous telluric current present in this place. Tony interjected that stories among local shamans describe an enormous non-organic entity inhabiting the cave.

Jean-Pascal explained to Tony that this "entity" is actually the cave itself. I interjected that the fresco with the Knights and the Dragon was showing how Knight Templar magicians had correctly understood how to harness the energy of this place for their own purposes.

I dispatched two Neophytes from the local Temple to fetch my sword together with Jean-Pascal's from the suburban. Luckily, we had them along as we had been in Temple all day. There was no way that I would let such an enormous magical opportunity slip through my fingers. Telluric energy like this, such a powerful material force, could be used to materialize just about anything.

There we were - in Tony's trap - set up for the prank he had been planning to play on us all week, but that had taken an unexpected twist since Jean-Pascal and I so intimately understood the magical implications of this place.

With a straight face and a sly grin, Tony led us deeper into the cave, indicating to us a place to sit and meditate, where a tiny opening led to the bowels of the cave. Here Tony's hidden agenda became apparent ...

There were BATS!!!!!!!

Hundreds of bats - bats flying in and out of the mouth of that deeper cave - bats whizzing past our heads - at exactly the place Tony had indicated us to sit.

Tony's deeper game was now out in the open. All along, Tony had intended to frighten us with stories about The Cave of the Green Dragon leading up to the bats at the mouth of the cave.

But this plan had backfired. Jean-Pascal and I simply ignored Tony's hidden agenda as well as the bats. Bats were irrelevant, except to show us where was the most powerful focal point of the telluric energies of the cave. I spent nearly an hour on that spot, in deep, magical meditation, soaking up the potent telluric energies.

Once we finished our meditation, Jean-Pascal and I decided to perform a ritual, placing our Templar swords on the altar in magical pact with The Green Dragon, to use the telluric energies to materialize a whole variety of magical intentions.

We invited Tony to pact with the dragon together with us, and to add his Shaman's staff together with our swords, Tony grew visibly afraid, terrified of ANY sort of magical pact, and warned us that The Green Dragon could be extremely dangerous.

"Hogwash," Jean-Pascal replied, "we Templars have safely pacted with this dragon for Centuries. That is the whole meaning of this place".

Jean-Pascal and I, with great satisfaction, finished our ritual at the altar, whereas Tony found an excuse to take the Neophytes back to the car, leaving us alone with The Green Dragon.

We left the cave energized, refreshed, and deeply grateful to The Green Dragon, who had not only granted the materialization of all our desires...

...but even turned the tables on Tony, the cunning Shaman that - like so many others - had underestimated the Magistri Templi of the Golden Dawn!

- David Griffin

Genesis of a Golden Dawn Magus

2009-11-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Before the Golden Dawn - for me - there was MAGICK.

I can still remember my first faltering steps down the magickal path as a youth.

The derth of symbol of my Baptist childhood yielded to the Pentacostal passion for social rules - until the bow broke on the ship my parents had set adrift over the seas of my soul.

I can still remember at sixteen seeking to fill the metaphysical void left by the vacuousness of my religious upbringing.

I remember, for example, checking out every book in the public library on hypnosis and devoting endless hours to hypnotising and reprogramming myself.

My awakening to authentic spirituality came on the heels of the sixties, the Haight Ashbury, and the Summer of Love. Thus - as a young man in the Army - I discovered both the Beatles and LSD.

The psychedelic shamanism of my twenties catapulted me into a world of magic - with the tip of the arrow pointing towards my future mission as a Magus - a mission that began one fateful night atop the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

This was the night I consecrated my magic wand - and the Spirit of the Magus I was to one day become descended from on high - informing my Ego with new purpose and direction.

From my first spiritual awakening as a young man - through my first full enlightenment under the light of a total Solar eclipse - when I realized that beyond my Ego I am everyone and everything - the center of a Universe which has no circumference and in which every point is the center - which is God.

There has been one leitmotiv that has guided and shaped my entire spiritual quest and development - the notion that sense of self - my ego and day to day sense of identity - is just a tiny part of who I truly am...

...And that if I could only make myself and my body a pure and worthy vessel for the Divine Solar Genius that lies beyond my ego - that I might even here on Earth come to fully embody the Solar essence of who - like you - I truly am.

This blog is the story of my personal spiritual adventure - unique - yet echoed in the spiritual awakening of countless Brothers and Sisters across our planet at the beginning of this new Millennium and the beginning age of Aquarius.

David Griffin

Magus, 9=2

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

outer order of the

Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega

David Griffin and the Philosophers' Stone

2009-10-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

The PHILOSOPHERS' STONE of HERMETIC ALCHEMY grants both immortality and the ability to transmute lesser metals into purest gold.

Rumors of the powers of the Philosopher's Stone unfortunately have led to countless fools wasting vast fortunes and entire lives in the misguided and vain pursuit to become rich by manufacturing gold.

Hermetic Masters derisively refer to these greedy, would-be alchemists as puffers - because of the way they puff at the fires in their "alchemical" laboratories.

Hermetic sages, however, have espoused the truth over and over:

The secret of the Philosopher's Stone actually lies within
the human body itself!

The human body is true Prima Materia of the Opus Magnum (or Great Work) of Hermetic Alchemy - And he true goal of alchemy is the transmutation of the matter of the Human Body (Lead) into pure SOLAR ENERGY (Gold).

This Great Work involves the cultivation of a Solar Body of Light and is accomplished by cooking the matter of the human body with the subtle fires of the body itself.

The most powerful and creative of these subtle fires of the human body are LOVE and SEXUALITY.

Hermetic Alchemy, therefore, is in reality a Western school of SACRED SEXUALITY, much like the alchemical traditions within Tantra and Taoism in the East.

Upon the completion of this Opus Magnum, in the final alchemical separation and projection, the perfected alchemist separates his or her consciousness from the human body at the moment of death and projects it into the Solar Body of Light, thus becoming consciously immortal in the Solar universe that exists inside of light.

Paradoxically, the discovery of the true Philosopher's Stone and the mastery of the transmutation of the physical body, also bestows upon the Hermetic Master the ability to effect alchemical transmutation with vulgar metals in the outer world as well!

By the grace of God - And thanks to the guidance of the physical Hermetic Masters known in the Golden Dawn as "Secret Chiefs" ...

... I, David Griffin, have been blessed to discover the secret of the Philosopher's Stone and to master the art of alchemical transmutation.

This has opened up a hitherto unknown branch of magic known as Alchemical Magic, that can only be practiced by the Magus having discovered the secret of the Philosophers' Stone and mastered the art of alchemical transmutation.

In attestation of the wisdom of Hermetic Masters (Secret Chiefs) of the Golden Dawn ...

... and in attestation of the power of the Philosophers' Stone, I offer to you the above video entitled:

David Griffin's Golden Dawn Magus Vlog

Note that all magical implements shown in the above video are made of gold of alchemical purity - symbolical of the purity of the energy of the Solar Body of Light created using the Royal Art of Hermetic Alchemy.

Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua

David Griffin

G.H. Frater Lux Ex Septentrionis

Imperator Ordinis, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega

Ex Deo Nascimur.

In Yeheshua Morimur.

Per Sanctum Spiritum Reviviscimus