Presenting: The Initiates Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

The Initiate’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

Written by: Rachael Walker, Peregrin Wildoak, Samuel Scarborough, and Nick Farrell

Introduction:

The following is a document entitled The Initiates Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. Its purpose, to open perspective to the needs of individuals, organizations, and mentors in the esoteric community as well as to offer some food for thought to the individual regarding various experiences they may have on their magical and spiritual path. It has been written by representatives and leaders of a variety of Golden Dawn organizations with the input and suggestions of people from the esoteric community. Due to the vast number of such organizations, not all, course, could be represented, and it is of the understanding of those who worked on this project that the breadth of the needs of every individual organization or person could not be met in a succinct Bill. There is also the understanding that everything included in this Bill may not be agreed upon by all, as each person has their own experiences and opinions to draw from. Instead, we hoped to make the “Bill” as universal as possible, and furbished in a way that would inspire those on a magical/spiritual path to travel it with common sense, contemplation, and guidance from the Divine at each turn. Truly, this “Bill” is merely a document of suggestions, based on the experiences of contributing individuals to help one to be aware of the various personal, political, social, and spiritual intricacies that may present themselves on the path of the initiate. I would like to thank all of the individuals who put their time and effort into helping me write or review this document, Peregrin Wildoak, Samuel Scarborough, Nick Farrell, Xandyr Walker, Nineveh Shadrach, J. Randich, and all of those in the esoteric community who chose to come forth and make suggestions on various fora, networking sites, and the blogosphere during this process. As of this publishing there are a few Orders who have chosen to ratify this Bill or parts of it into their by-laws or constitutions. It should be made clear that this document is meant to be a service for the community, to be used by individuals and organizations as an inspiration to help better the lives of others. If you have a group or organization and believe that this document or its ideas will be of a benefit to you, please use it as you see fit. Although intellectual property rights are maintained on this document, its ideas belong to the community.

On a personal note, I would also like to especially thank the individual who first recommended this idea. Unfortunately, his suggestion came in the form of an anonymous commentor on one of my blog posts...none-the-less, it's a perfect example of the power that each one of us has in this community to bring forth positive changes every day in ourselves and in the community.

Rights and Responsibilities in the Practice of Magical Spirituality

Preamble

We as followers of the magical way, profess that no magical path is the same, nor is any individual Lodge, Order, Group, Initiate or person who chooses to follow a magical or spiritual path. We do recognize that as followers of various mystical traditions we share a common ground based on the right for each person to follow his/her particular spiritual calling and for each individual to have their basic human rights respected while engaging in such practices alone or with others who have chosen to follow the most honoured and illustrious methods of the Spirit. We understand that as humans we posses human faults and that no man or woman however seemingly elevated is beyond risk of the temptations of the ego or flesh and that these temptations should they overcome any one of us can and may put others at risk. Therefore we present this Bill of Rights and Responsibilities as a service to the magical and spiritual communities so that in times of confusion a person or group may have access to a resource which may provide guidance to them during times of need. This Bill is not put forth by any one person or group, but instead at the request of the magical community and with input of various traditions, teachers, students, and organizations. We recognise and respect the incredible blessings we have been given by the Divine and seek to honour the Immeasurable One through our efforts to cultivate a magical society that is based in love, respect, equality, and the promotion of human rights and actions that are becoming of our most perfect and unblemished souls. To this end we claim, that regardless of tradition or path we:

Value and hold dear all magical symbols and paths, for they are the bridge between our limited self and the Unborn, Real, and Eternal Truth.

We consciously cultivate respect for the magical way of life and the avenues whereby we may walk along it – the various teachers, Orders, teachings, books and wisdom so freely given to us.

We understand that Magic will transform us and that as we practice our path we will change completely. We consciously choose to live with change, recognising also that only that which is born can change or die. The unborn, uncreated aspect of the Self never changes nor does it ever die. Magic guides us more and more to identify with the True Self.

We recognize that the magical path is one of relentless honesty. We understand that as beings who may have not yet become one with our True Natures we are rife with resistance to change and are imbued with negative, self-serving patterns of action and behaviour. We do not deny our addictions to the lower or ego-self, but seek to change them in accordance with the higher or Divine Will.

We know that spiritual unfoldment takes place inwardly and has no unique outer sign recognized by our finite consciousness, other than Truth, Love, and Compassion. We also recognize our own self identified egos are sources of delusion and that we must refrain from consciously and irrecoverably judging another, but seek to engage with all people in the spirit of genuine fraternity.

Based upon these edicts we therefore present this Initiates Bill of Rights and Responsibilities as an honour to the Divine, our Souls, to the Masters who have gone before us, and to each person who has been brave enough to choose the Noble Path.

Section I: The Rights and Responsibilities of the Candidate

Section II: The Rights and Responsibilities of the Initiate

Section II: The Rights and Responsibilities of Leaders, Teacher, and Mentors

Section IV: The Rights and Responsibilities of Orders, Lodges, and Magical Groups

Before Joining A Spiritual Organization A Candidate Has the Right To:

· Know the purpose for why the Order or group exists

· Know the oaths, obligations, and by- laws he/she may be responsible to make and adhere to upon initiation as well as what will be expected of them in terms of time, finances, resources, and loyalties

· Have any general questions regarding the group, its history, its workings, its materials, and its beliefs fully answered before initiation or admittance.

· Take as long as one requires before committing to join

· Be given proper reasoning in a compassionate manner if one is refused admission

· Have any financial obligations handled appropriately before joining

The Candidate Has the Responsibility To:

· Accept that certain information, including but not limited to the exact name of the group, is not available to non-initiates

· Fully understand that if one joins a secret, occult, or magical group that his/her involvement including the possible requirement of maintaining certain secrecies or obligations may affect one’s personal life, as well as others who are a part of one’s life outside the group such as spouses or children

· Understand all of the requirements of membership before joining (and ask for assistance if required in gaining this understanding)

· Engage in all appropriate research of the group and it's history so as to have an appropriate understanding of it's full reputation, purpose, and goals

· Gain a general understanding of the broader magical traditions through published literature and internet content to understand the many options available to one seeking a spiritual path and to use this knowledge to make an informed decisions about which magical/spiritual path to follow and/or which group may best serve the purpose of one’s path

· Inform, upon request, the history of one’s spiritual work thus far, so that one’s future mentors may have a better understanding of one’s level of understanding of the mystery traditions

· Take care of any financial obligations before accepting membership

· Begin to address any culturally instilled fear of magic or ‘the occult’ which may impede his/her connection with the group or one’s spiritual practice

· Fully contemplate the nature of following a magical path, living a magical life, and the responsibilities of being a part of a magical group

As a Member of a Spiritual Organization an Initiate Has the Right To:

· Be treated with respect and integrity, regardless of grade or background, as a member of the fraternity

· Fair and equal treatment regardless of age, race, religion, sexual preference, lifestyle, gender, disability or other difference in life circumstance

· Follow one’s religious path and private spiritual practice, and to develop themselves individually where desired and work beyond the set curriculum of the Order and to pursue complimentary paths of magical/spiritual practice as long as it does not violate the natural progression of the system one has chose to follow nor one’s oaths or obligations

· Know that the institution is functioning with financial and legal integrity, and know where any monies donated or requested are going, as well as to be given proof of such upon request

· Be given a copy of the group/Order’s constitution, rules, regulations, by-laws and other information concerning the administration and rulership of the Order, and to be informed promptly of any changes to these

· Be able to vote as an equal on Order matters as outlined in the Order’s constitution, rules, regulations, by-laws

· Have one’s personal, familial, work/school, or religious responsibilities and the required time needed for such outside of the group respected

· Have one’s level of comfort in ritual involvement, or level of service outside of what was informed of them upon entering the Order or group respected

· Autonomous decision making with respect to any ‘higher’, ‘received’ or ‘Third Order’ teachings

· Be free from sexual, spiritual, mental and financial abuse, bullying, exploitation or manipulation

· An Order free from the promotion of leaders’ or members’ business, politics, financial interests or promotion of lifestyle, sexual preference, religion or other spiritual group

· Be told and given the outline of training and method of progressing within the Order and the requirements for progress

· Raise objections and questions regarding leaders’ decisions they think are unethical or against the good of the Order, and to receive an answer in a timely and fraternal manner

· Have the ability to suggest changes to the method of Order administration, the Order’s constitution, rules, regulations and by-laws and have those changes discussed and voted or acted upon at the appropriate venue and time

· An Order free of slander, defamation, verbal and other abuse directed at members of the group or other Orders or magical groups or their leaders

· An Order that is free from activities that are illegal; nor should there be suggestions from Order leaders or members to engage in any illegal activities in the privacy of their own home

· An Order free of magical attempts to harm, hinder, control, dominate or attack any other person

· To uphold their Oaths and Obligations made to any Order or group, and never to be asked by the leadership of an Order or group to do anything contrary to those Oaths and Obligations. These are not limited to, but include, being asked or commanded to violate the Religious, Moral, or Civil Obligations of the Initiate

The Initiate Has the Responsibility To:

· Respect the Order, its members, teachers, symbols and teachings and to follow all requirements set forth and agreed upon before initiation

· Support other Order members in following their own religious and spiritual paths

· Request access to Order records only for genuine and serious reasons

· Read and study the Order’s constitution, rules, regulations, by-laws and other information concerning the administration and rulership of the Order

· Vote with consideration based on the ‘good of the Order’ and not upon the notion of fear or favour in regards to gaining or losing position, title, access to higher grade materials or personal gain in any other terms

· Be open to the Order’s teachings and those of individual teachers, evaluating them without bias or prejudice

· Support other member’s choices regarding any ‘higher’, ‘received’ or ‘third Order’ teachings.

· Treat other members with fraternity and love regardless of age, race, religion, sexual preference, lifestyle, gender, disability or other difference in life circumstance

· Protect other members from any sexual, spiritual, power or financial abuse, bullying, exploitation or manipulation

· Accept and welcome their group leaders as human and imperfect

· Contribute to the upkeep of the Order through equally shared resource and financial contribution to the best of one’s ability and to help support members of the fraternity on their path of spiritual development

· Refrain from judging other member’s level of ‘spiritual development’

· Keep secret and confidential all information they have obligated and agreed upon

· Work through the spiritual practices and lessons set by their teachers with respect, dedication and honesty and to not request advancement beyond what one has received until all obligations of one current and past grades or positions have been fulfilled

· Refrain from using magic to harm, hinder, control, dominate or attack any other person

· Not teach other members material or knowledge outside of their particular level of advancement nor share with them secret knowledge obtained in confidence

· Not engage in slander, gossip, or action against a brother or sister

· Understand that although one has the right to study complementary spiritual paths and practices that when being a part of a magical group, one may be required to fulfill particular obligations before becoming privy to higher teachings and, to know that if one should seek out these teachings before the allotted time, one may find themselves at spiritual risk of not fully understanding the consequences of working with more advanced levels of magics and entities involved.

· To apply common sense to any and all situations, both within and outside of the Order or Group that they are a member, and to have one’s decisions respected

· To pursue the Work with integrity, discrimination, patience, diligence, moderation, responsibility, self-sacrifice, and service to others

· To report any criminal offense should it be witnessed or brought to light that anyone within the group including its leadership is or has engaged in violations concerning theft, sexual misconduct, extortion of finances or otherwise and to request that if a person be proven guilty that he/she be appropriately reprimanded

· To honor and respect the Sacred Tradition and one’s True Self by behaving in a manner that is becoming of the Sacred Traditions not only in an Order setting, but also in one’s private and public involvements.

· To understand that the members of the Order or group including other members, leadership, mentors, or officers of the Temple have other obligations outside of the Order that may affect their own involvement and ability to perform duties

When Leaving an Order An Initiate Has the Right To:

· Leave freely at any time, for any reason

· State freely to the leaders why they are leaving

· Have their decision to leave met with respect by Order leaders and members and be free from any verbal or other retribution or malice directed at them, nor to be inappropriately pressured to stay

· In cases of great concern, to have their views relayed to the entire Order at the appropriate time and through the appropriate media

When Leaving an Order the Initiate Has the Responsibility To

· Accept the Order may wish to conduct an ‘exit interview’ or questionnaire to ascertain reasons for leaving, and to honestly answer these questions where possible

· Try and find replacements or alternatives for any duties the Initiate may have committed to in the near future and to appropriately resolve any financial obligations agreed upon by the Initiate

· To return to the Order any property, manuscripts, tools, rituals, robes, implements of office etc, that were loaned to the Initiate, and to destroy any items that the Initiate committed to destroy via oath or obligation, including any Order rituals the Initiate was obligated not to copy.

· To refrain from slander, defamation, verbal and other abuse directed at the Order, its leaders or members

· To maintain the oath and obligation of secrecy regarding the Order as laid out in the oath or obligation in the section pertaining to leaving the Order

· To act with integrity upon leaving by not revealing the identities of the members of the Order or group, not engaging in destructive acts upon its materials, instruments or places of worship or sacred spaces, not stealing or committing crimes against the institution, nor distributing on the internet or otherwise its teachings, grade materials, pictures of members, events, ritual tools, regalia, or places of sacred ground

A Teacher, Leader, or Mentor of an Order has the Right To

· Be treated with respect by all students and members of the Order

· Have responsibilities and a life outside of the Order and their teaching obligations, as well as to have their time and responsibilities respected

· Be given appropriate time to respond to student requests or questions

· Continue to be trained and taught by their mentors.

· Be given the needed materials and lessons needed to teach others in light of the Tradition of the group or Order.

· Be supported in their mentorship by other mentors and leaders.

· Be seen as another human being who still has faults and treated with compassion and support should he/she succumb to these faults

· Refuse advancement to students who have not met the requirements set forth by the organization or present and past grade levels and to ask for assistance in responsibilities given if one is unable to fulfil or complete them

A Teacher, Leader, or Mentor Has the Responsibility To

· Inform their students and their organization of time constraints , and the best or preferred way of contacting them when outside of Order functions

· Inform a student honestly if one’s knowledge in a certain area will not answer or fulfil their educational needs and to take the time to research to the best of their ability the answer to the question.

· Interact with all students and members in an appropriate manner, and with the highest sense of integrity never engaging in gossip, improper sexual advances, or other actions that would break the bonds of the sacred student-teacher relationship.

· Step down from position if displayed or un-displayed faults begin to interrupt the spiritual development of others or in any other way cause serious harm

An Order Has the Right To:

· Have its teachings and rules followed by members who have been properly informed of them and who have agreed and given oath to do so.

· Have its teachings, materials, secrecies, workings, members, and rituals protected.

· Have autonomy and not be controlled, threatened or defamed by another Order/Lodge or group or person within or without the Order.

· Not recognize grade, position, or title given to an Initiate by another group or Order nor is required elevate them to such position if an Initiate seeks admission into their Order.

· Ask that all responsibilities that were agreed upon before admission be fulfilled by the members of the group so that it may maintain proper functioning as an institution.

· Have the ability to reject membership by any person, or remove any member should they violate their oaths, engage in poor behaviour toward the Order, its’ Temples, or members, or engage in illegal activities which may harm the Order or any of its members.

· Create its own rules, regulations, by-laws, offices, and voting structure and to require that these guidelines be followed in agreement for admission.

An Order Has the Responsibility To:

· Maintain behavioural and legal integrity to its members as well as to other groups and Orders.

· Respect the teachings of other groups, even if their chosen beliefs or practices are not agreed with.

· To keep detailed records of finances, and distributions of monies and to share them with the members upon request if it is believed that ill practices regarding them are being set forth.

· Not claim to be the only path to salvation, enlightenment, the Mystery Traditions, spirituality, nor the only beneficiary of certain Currents, Energies, Knowledge, or Lineage that is known to be shared among the practices and beliefs of other groups.

· Not to engage in “member-poaching”; which is defined as the active recruitment of another Orders’ or groups’ members.

· Not misrepresent the functioning or purpose of an Order to those outside or seeking admission, to appropriately and honestly answer all questions pertaining to the Orders functioning and rule, and to bestow knowledge of vows, oaths and obligations that will be required of a candidate before admission into the group takes place.

· Not function as a business used for economic or personal gain of an individual or persons but instead to function as a school of spiritual enlightenment designed for the improvement of its members, unless otherwise stated to the members before admission takes place.

· Not to use threat or promise of elevated or demoted status, grade-advancement, secret teachings, defamation, or otherwise to manipulate, coerce or control a member or members to engage in any actions that are against his/her personal beliefs, vows, integrity, or outside responsibilities.

· Not to proclaim seniority or lineage over another group or Order, nor publicly defame or slander another group or organization or person’s within.

· Not to interfere with the internal workings of another group or organization nor attempt to create schism.

Interview with Ninevah Shadrach Part One

I am happy and honored to present this wonderful interview with Ninevah Shadrach author of the newly released Encyclopedia of Magical Squares. Nineveh is an accomplished scholar,mage, and author. In this interview we discuss the ancient traditions of the Ruhaniat and it's influences on the Western Mystery traditions.

You have been a practitioner of Ruhaniat and the Golden Dawn, as well as a priest in the Order of Melchizedek and Marduk (Osiris). For those who may be unaware of what Ruhaniat is can you give us a brief description?

Ruhaniat is taken from the Arabic root Ruh, which means Spirit. Ruh is the exact same as the Hebrew word Ruach. Ruhaniat basically means all that pertains to the spiritual arts. This covers all kinds of familiar topics such as astrology, theurgy, geomancy, alchemy, and so forth. English has multiple words to describe the various kinds of magic out there. Arabic isn’t as precise. The word Sihr is used for everything from stage magic to the darkest form of the craft. This is why instead of using Sihr most Arabs prefer to use the word Ruhaniat to describe the esoteric field in general and that includes more positive approaches to magic.

What is the main force or principle behind Ruhaniat?

The main active agent in Ruhaniat that allows for metaphysical things to happen is identical in many ways with the Greek idea of pneuma or Hindu concept of prana. Everything in the universe is part of a great universal spirit. Each thing possesses its own Ruhaniah or spiritual emanation or intelligence. Often, these Ruhaniah are seen as both integrated with the thing as well as distinct. They have an intelligence to them that can be called forth, communicated with and enlisted to bring about effects. Doing so requires knowledge of the sacred properties of letters, numbers, planetary movements and even stones and plants to create a harmonic connection. This is why Ruhaniat often has a complex system of planetary and elemental correspondences. Ruhaniah stands often as a separate category from arwah or spirits, which can be either ghosts or disincarnate beings, jinn, an independent semi-physical race that competes with humans, or angels, beings of light operating as agents of the Creator. Ruhaniat has its roots in pre-Islamic Near Eastern mysticism and esoteric lore, which covers a tremendous amount of influence from the Babylonian (Sabian cults) and the Greek and Persian schools of thought. This is partly due to the translation of texts from pre-Islamic societies, as well as to the fact that many of the masters of this tradition either resided in North Africa or were originally from Mesopotamia or Persia.

Is there any relationship between Ruhaniat and the Golden Dawn?

From my study of Western literature, I would say that Ruhaniat has had an impact on the streams that formed the Golden Dawn and it isn’t as unfamiliar as most people suspect. Think of the Picatrix as a prime example of an important text through Western esoteric history, which is part of the corpus of Ruhaniat. Some of the influences are a bit more under the radar. For example, the word "Armadel" is a corruption of the Arabic "Almandel", a methodology of evocation and scrying. The number of Arabic grimoires on magic exceeds the Hebrew and English ones by at least ten fold. You can also see parallels and influences when looking at the adoption of the names of spirits. "Amaymon" the Goetic king is an easily identified corruption of the Arabic "Maymon", the jinn king of Saturn.

Geomancy is part of Ruhaniat, correct? How different is this from the Golden Dawn version?

It goes without saying that Geomancy, which originated in Arabia and North Africa, has found its way into Golden Dawn teachings, albeit in fragments. Comparing notes between classical variants and the version that the Golden Dawn uses, I found enough variations in correspondences, structure, and interpretation method. The figures are the same, but that is about it really. Based on what is available, I can’t imagine anyone getting that excited with Geomancy compared to the Tarot. The accuracy of Geomancy is totally underrated. I have seen a method in an Arabic source where a Geomantic reading was cast, the figures were converted to letters, and that answer spelled out the location of a missing person whose body was fished out from the Nile based on that info. Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming the Golden Dawn for this. On the contrary, I am thankful to them for keeping the basic principles alive in Western occult literature by integrating it into their system. They simply didn’t have much to work with from the original sources and had to rely on European literature like Agrippa’s.

It sounds like you are seeing a cultural barrier of some sort.

I think there does exists a kind of bias and blindness due to political, religious, and historical divide between the Muslim world and the Western world. The work of famous medieval Arabic astrologers has also had an impact on Western astrology and its development. Astrology seems to be more open about its influences and, like a football, keeps getting thrown from one culture to the next in its developmental states and everyone is just fine with that. There is the old Babylonian phase, the Hellenic phase, the Arabic phase, and so on.The same can’t be said for magic and other branches of the esoteric field. You don’t often see acknowledgement of the Arabic influences, which creates the sense of separation and distance and unfamiliarity. I remember someone drafting a history of magic and suffering from a 500-600 year empty space. He counted all kinds of various cultural influences on Western esoterica, but had this gap. I tried to explain to him there was no gap. That period was when the Muslim world had the magic ball and was expanding on its development before passing it on. Let’s take a look at planetary magic squares introduced in Agrippa’s book and then in various grades in the Golden Dawn. There is rarely mention of one of the oldest published sources on them, which is the work of Ahmed al-Buni in the early 12th century. In the end, the issue goes beyond the matter of acknowledging the contributions of another culture. It is about pointing students toward the source so they can go further than the fragments that made its way into their corpus. If al-Buni’s influence had been recognized, it would have led to more interest in the rest of his work; that would have even further enriched the Western Mystery Tradition and further empowered the magic of Western practitioners over the span of hundreds of years.

Do you really believe the Arabic influence has had such an impact on the Western Mystery Tradition?

I believe the impact varied over time. Obviously, there has been little direct influence for a long time. However, this has been changing and there has been a shift more and more toward exploring this stream as of late. Yet, historically this influence was present. This influence is acknowledged and given credit as far back as the Rosicrucian story, in which Christian Rosenkreuz studies under the wise men of Fez and Damkar and takes an Arabic master with him to found the society in Europe. We see this story play out again in the Golden Dawn. Even if people today were to ignore the narrative, it is still there like the story of Genesis in the Bible.
Later on the idea of the Arabic Master had its impact on Felkin of the Stella Matutina with his contact with the Arabian master Ara Ben Shemesh.

Here is what we know:

• Felkin came under influence of the “Sun Masters”, the fabled Secret Chiefs
• Around 1908 he came in contact with Ara Ben Shemesh (“Lion son of the Sun”)
• Ara Ben Shemesh belonged as one of the “Sons of Fire” inhabiting a Near Eastern “temple in the desert”, who had been given permission to contact and teach Western students.
• His appearance to Felkin was a shadowy presence and was later described by a clairvoyant as being in Arabian dress.
• He described himself as a Chaldean
• He was seeking someone to help him in uniting Eastern (Ruhaniat) and Western teaching.
• He promised to appear physically later and Felkin and his brethren waited for years for this master to show up in New Zealand and teach them great wonders. According to people familiar with the story, he never did.

Beside a historical anecdote about astral encounters, what does that mean to the average student of the Golden Dawn? There has been criticism of Felkin over this incident.

Let me defend poor Felkin’s reputation. He is often maligned for this particular incident by those that are overly dismissive or ignorant of the symbolism in question. I will now shed some light on this from the perspective of both Ruhaniat and Near Eastern mystery tradition. At its heart, the Golden Dawn is an Osirian order. As you correctly identified earlier in one of your questions, Osiris is the Egyptian rendition of the Akkadian Marduk, associated with the constellation of Orion. However, it dates back much farther. The Osiris cult was an importation of an older Sumerian religion. The mystery of the son of Enki known as Dumuzidabsu or Asari Murdug gave rise to Asar Unefer in Egypt. By the time of the Akkadian period, Asar remained as Asarluhi and, based on Semitic language rules, Murdug was transformed to Marduk (K in Akkadian was a substitute for the Sumerian G).

Why is this important?

For one, the title of Marduk was Mariutu (Son of the Sun). This wasn’t just his title, but the title of many of the old priests of Uruk. For example, Enmerkar, the builder of the temple of E-anna, was called Mariutu (son of the Sun) just like his father Ara Ben Shemesh being a Chaldean (another name for the Babylonian era) wouldn’t have had a Hebrew name. It would make sense that he was speaking to Felkin in a language that he himself understood as a mystical language. It is more likely that his Chaldean title was Mariutu. "Ara" means lion and in old Babylonian motifs, we see the powerful Goddess Ishtar riding on a lion. The metaphorical lion is none other than the mystical son figure whose identification as the lion makes its way later into the Christian religion with the conversion of the Assyrians into Christianity and, of course, is mentioned in the Old Testament. On the surface, the title “sons of fire” is a reference to the jinn, but there is more to it than that. Marduk’s alternate name is Gibil, which translates as Fire God. However, the word for fire and light here is the same. "Aur" means both fire and light. The narrative of the “children of fire” (Beni Aur) also appears in apocryphal literature in Israel, where it is translated as children of light. The double connotation of fire and light has its direct connection with the emanations of the Sun. All of this brings us right to the “secret chiefs” of the Golden Dawn, the Sun Masters. I have seen no compelling evidence to believe in the existence of “secret chiefs” specific to the Golden Dawn, human or otherwise. Of course, this in itself doesn’t negate their existence.Having said this, I do believe in the existence of “secret chiefs” of the entire spiritual teachings of humankind, esoteric and exoteric. This isn’t something that started with channeling in the early 1900s. Ruhaniat text dating to the Middle Ages makes mention of “asyad al-ruhaniah” (Masters of Ruhaniah). One such master is no other than Metatron, known in Arabic as “Sayed Metatron” or Master Metatron. Metatron is a later rendition (attribute wise) of Nabu, the son of Marduk, whose temple in Sumerian is called Ezida (House of Righteousness) connecting him directly with the Akkadian Kittu (Righteousness) the son of Shamash (Sun), in later Babylonian theology. There is another layer to this mystery, when you consider the belief in the Near East that stars are bodies of angels and a less known mystery connecting the souls of all living things emanating and returning to the vault of souls, which are part of the Ruhaniah of stars.I think if Felkin failed to understand something, it is that Ara Ben Shemesh, whoever he is really, was guided by the "Sun Masters" to use the GD as a vehicle, but that should the situation change, that vehicle would be abandoned and another found. Assuming, indeed, that Ara Ben Shemesh intended to return physically, since he was seen as a shadowy apparition, it is likely what Felkin saw was a jinn announcing or heralding the arrival through incarnation. In Ruhaniat, each human has a jinn qareen or companion from birth. These jinn often appear as shadowy figures. Of course, if such an incarnation was to occur, it would have been futile for Felkin to wait, since he couldn’t know when it would happen and the child still would have to grow up.
I want to emphasize that I am not a member of Whare Ra, nor affiliated with any of its members. I just wanted to show how understanding Ruhaniat can shed some light on such experiences within the Golden Dawn.

Can you tell us a little about the differences between Ruhaniat and the Golden Dawn?

This is a tough question as I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I can say that the aims are the same, many of the methods are in harmony, and that while Ruhaniat isn’t the father or mother of the Golden Dawn, it sure is it's distant uncle. However, where the familial lines break has less to do with the Golden Dawn itself, but more with the cultural situation as it exists in the world today compared to the ancient world. In other words, it is between Ruhaniat vs modern new age thinking, or modern magick.

Can you tell us a little about the differences between Ruhaniat and modern magick?

Another difference between old and new is the idea that all power comes from within. You see more and more people basically pushing the Creator out of the picture altogether and making it all about us manifesting our own creation. Many old teachers of Ruhaniat argued that this was the danger of sorcery or association with the lower world denizens. One sign they warned against was that of letting power get into your head and feeling like you’re on equal footing with the Creator and attributing all gains to your own personal power. They saw that more with sorcerers and less with Ruhaniat practitioners and noted that. I should mention that I am using sorcery here in the Arabic sense to identify those who work with lower world denizens and seek to gain power over others. In Ruhaniat, the powers were always seen as having come from the Creator as a gift and blessing to help one spiritually and to benefit one’s community.There are differences between Ruhaniat and the styles of magic strongly influenced by Crowley. Crowley’s Aiwass would have been identified easily as an Ifrit (a class of jinn) by most practitioners of Ruhaniat, and the message and teachings he infused into magic bear hallmarks of that influence and not just Crowley’s own genius. In modern times, magical practices and objectives are considered more and more to be primarily a combination between mental imagination and pure human will unified to cause reality to conform to one’s personal will.This flies in the face of the teachings of Ruhaniat, which sees the craft as a direct tool to unveiling the barriers between the human consciousness and the realm of pure spirit. It was likened to soap, a tool to purify and cleanse the human soul and psyche and bring it to a state of spiritual perfection.The practitioners of Ruhaniat were also practical people and used their craft to help others on a physical level. The idea of high and low magic didn’t exist as it is understood today. There was nothing unspiritual about improving your life materially. High and low were associated in older Arabic literature with the realm of the Gods (angels, heaven, etc.) and the realm of the underworld (dead, lower jinn, demons, etc.) This brings me to another point, which I think is becoming exceedingly unpopular in today’s pop-occultism world. You didn’t dance between both worlds back in the day. You chose to align yourself with either. Psychologically, we all want to balance and deal with our shadow self and not suppress it, but transmute it. However, Ruhaniat deals with objective spirits and, as such, they advised shifting back and forth. The lower jinn were harmed or made uncomfortable by the presence of the upper world denizens. Contrary to modern conceptions of banishing at will and evoking at will, you always had one or two such beings as your companion to help you out once you got started. The opposite side is that celestial or upper world beings required a certain level of purity elevation and were turned off by regular companionship with beings from lower worlds. Finally, Ruhaniat makes no distinction between magic and mysticism. In Ruhaniat mystical practices were often integrated into all facets of the craft ranging from prayer and fasting, to solitary retreats in darkness, engaged in chanting hymns and mantras. Ruhaniat is also strict about its dietary requirement of veganism during spiritual practices and admonishes its practitioners to even avoid looking at meat and slain animals when going through extended meditations. You don’t need to be a vegan all the time of course, but I know for me, my spiritual practices lead me to vegetarianism as a daily life choice. The re-integration of mysticism and spiritual discipline of a devotional level with magic and esoteric thought is what often gets most modern Western practitioners to experience a kind of mental computation error. Many have come to think of magic as a form of mental creation backed by will and most prefer not to have structure in their styles of magic; instead they like to create their own rituals. Ruhaniat would be a challenge as it requires consistent structured practice and discipline.

Can you give me an example of how a Ruhaniat ritual would differ from more modern methods?

Sure! Let’s say you want to consecrate a talisman. It takes time and preparation to just figure out the proper square that goes on it, the planetary timing (not just day and hour), and the consecration can take up to 40 days. You don’t project your own energy at it, but bring the energy from the macro universe and animate it like a golem. You want it to give you what you don’t possess, so you attract forces greater than yourself to it.

So, what makes this a better path for the average person?

It all boils down to efficacy. In the more popular modern methods, you often have to rely on faith that your work has done something. Frequently, the talisman is infused by your own will and energy, so it doesn’t have any more than what you can produce. If you are good, it may have energy, but it requires that you be psychic or intuitive to know that it has anything to it. In the Ruhaniat method, the talisman is placed on a tripod, and then it spins on its own – yes, on its own - and once it’s charged its energy is often physically tangible to random people. Some might report a feeling of their hand on fire or outright electrical shock from touching it. These are not the reactions of occultists, though I have had occultists have equally shocked reactions, which always amuses me, because they should know better. I’ve had family members visit where I asked them to close their eyes and first placed magical talismans on their hands and then normal objects without telling them what I was doing, and their reaction was amusing to behold.

This was part one of my interview with Nineveh...stay tuned for part two!

Favorite Quotes

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.-- Albert Einstein

Don't follow any advice, no matter how good, until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think in your mind that the counsel is wise. -- David Seabury

It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him. -- Abraham Lincoln

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. - Chinese Proverb

Nature is too thin a screen; the glory of the omnipresent God bursts through everywhere..-- Emerson

Seriousness makes inflexible that which should remain flexible, the heart, the mind, and the spirit. Inflexibility causes the hardening of constructs, and the feeding of the ego that should instead be molded by the Divine daily. - Rachael Miller

Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him. -- Epictetus

Virtue means doing the right thing, in relation to the right person, at the right time, to the right extent, in the right manner, and for the right purpose. Thus, to give money away is quite a simple take, but for the act to be virtuous, the donor must give to the right person, for the right purpose, in the right amount, in the right manner, and at the right time.-- Aristotle

The world is a dangerous place to live;
not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the people who don't do
anything about it.. -- Albert Einstein

As the earth bears all that cast upon it, both the pure and the impure, and feels no resentment nor rejoicing, so shall you receive favors and rebuffs alike, with indifference. --Zen Proverb

Of other men, make him your friend, who is most distinguished by virtue. - Pythagoras

And when, after having thrown aside thy body, thou comest to the realms of the most pure ether. Thou shalt be a god, immortal, incorruptible.- Pythagoras

Interview With Sandra Tabatha Cicero

BIO: Sandra “Tabatha” Cicero is an American esoteric author and lecturer, best known for her work in the field of Western Hermeticism. Born in rural Wisconsin in 1959, Cicero graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee with a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts in 1982. She has worked as an entertainer, typesetter, editor, commercial artist, a computer graphics illustrator, and a paralegal. She met her husband, Chic Cicero, in the early 1980s when she was initiated into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Ciceros are two of the G.H. Chiefs of the contemporary Order of the same name, which claims initiatory lineage to the original Golden Dawn through their mentor, Israel Regardie. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is an international Order with Temples in several countries (www.hermeticgoldendawn.org). Tabatha is also the Supreme Magus (Imperatrix) of the Societas Rosicruciana in America, a Rosicrucian Order that was founded in 1907 (www.sria.org).

Tabatha and Chic have co-authored several successful books on the Golden Dawn, Tarot, Qabalah, and the Western Mystery Tradition including The Essential Golden Dawn, which won a COVR award in 2004 as one of the year's best titles in the field of magic. Together, the Ciceros have edited, annotated and added new material to recent editions of classic magical texts by Israel Regardie including The Middle Pillar, A Garden of Pomegranates, and The Tree of Life. At the encouragement of Israel Regardie she painted The Golden Dawn Magical Tarot.

They are also regular contributors to Hermetic Virtues Magazine (www.hermeticvirtues.org) and on-line store, specializing in hand-crafted Golden Dawn implements.

1. What is it that first got you interested in the Golden Dawn and what was it that made you want to dedicate your life to studying and practicing it?

I have always had a very strong sense of the Divine Presence and a keen interest in comparative religion, the occult, and esoteric subjects of all stripes. In the early 1980s I came across Regardie’s book, The Golden Dawn in a Walden's book store in San Angelo, Texas. It was the blue hard-cover Llewellyn edition. I browsed through the pages and thought to myself, “This is the only book on magic that I will ever need.“ I had $38 in my pocket, and the price was around $37.50. I considered this a good sign. When I looked at the ritual of the Pentagram, I was immediately attracted to the organization of the workings. The invocation of the archangels had me hooked immediately. The very first time I performed the LBRP and visualized the four archangels around me, there was no turning away from the system. I had to know more.

2. Is there one thing you can pick out from your experience with the Golden Dawn that has really impacted your personal growth such as a mystical experience, lesson, magical working etc.?

I'd have to say that, over the course of my esoteric journey, there have been several mystical experiences that have had a profound impact on me. I can honestly say that one of those graceful synchronicities we call "magic" was present at every major event in my life where I came into contact with one of my teachers (being in the right place at the right time, usually through highly convoluted circumstances), so that I could meet some person of great importance to my spiritual quest.

I have never considered myself a particularly psychic person. When I first joined the Golden Dawn in 1983, I was asked what magical motto I wanted to use in the Outer Order. Being a Double Taurus with a rural background, I said "...um... how about Child of Earth?" (This was translated as Felia Telluris.) At the time of my initiation into the Neophyte Grade, I heard the Officers keep referring to me as "Child of Earth." It wasn't until later that I realized they were not referring to my newly adopted magical motto, but rather the generic title of the Neophyte who has started up the path of Initiation. This is exactly what I mean by a "graceful synchronicity" so typical of magic. It was the kind of numinous event that lets a person know when he or she is on the right path.

The most memorable events in my life revolve around the teachers and friends I have had the pleasure of knowing along the way: Israel Regardie, my soul mate Chic Cicero, my Hierophant, and the many wonderful Fratres and Sorores who have shared the journey with me for almost 30 years. It's rare these days that a core group of people in a magical Order can actually remain close friends and magical companions for three decades of ritual work. It is a true honor and privilege.

3. You are well known for your scholarly contributions to the Golden Dawn community. After the years that you have spent studying, writing, and teaching can you tell us what aspects of the Golden Dawn system you feel are most important for a person to learn and study?

If I could name only one aspect of the GD curriculum that I feel is essential, it would have to be the Qabalah. The Qabalah is the single most important area of study for any magician—offering a wealth of information to anyone who examines it in depth. It is the dominant segment of Western occult philosophy, and portions of it permeate Jewish, Christian, Hermetic and Pagan esoteric practice. Regardie said that “the Qabalah is a trustworthy guide, leading to a comprehension of the Universe and one’s own self.” The Qabalistic Tree of Life can be described as a double-helix DNA blueprint of God in the Divine Universe; its pattern exists everywhere. As Magicians we must not only explore the various aspects of the Qabalah, we must also integrate its teachings in our very souls.

4. Is there anything about the Golden Dawn system that you haven't been able to delve into as deeply as you like but are really looking forward to exploring further?

There are always more aspects to the system that could stand further development and examination. At the moment I am busy finishing up a book on Dr. Wynn Westcott's Enochian Tablets. My study of these unique Tablets has lead me into new avenues of exploration into the Golden Dawn Enochian system. It's been an exciting project.

But every aspect of the GD system needs to be explored and meditated upon. It is an endless source of inspiration, knowledge, and ritual work. I don't think it is possible for anyone to say, "I know everything there is to know about the Golden Dawn system of magic." There is always more to be known.

5. Is there still Golden Dawn material that remains unpublished or has not ever been made public? If so, do you think it will be important for those who may have their hands on it to eventually get this information out to the public?

There is still unpublished archival material out there, and I believe Chic and I have seen most of it. Eventually all such materials will be made available to the general public through the proper channels.

But just because something is unpublished doesn't make it somehow better than material that has been published. Some unpublished material just seems stale and dated. It might be useful from a historical perspective to have access to this material, but I believe that some people have placed far too much importance on the acquisition of old papers and far too little focus on what is ultimately important to the Great Work—personal evolution and spiritual growth. If I only had a dime for every time I heard about someone hording old papers or lording their possession of such papers over others, like a child bragging about having the best toys in front of other children. Even worse, there is at least one recent instance of an individual duping people into giving him copies of unpublished documents, allegedly for his own private use, which he then publishes, breaking the trust of people in the esoteric community under totally false pretenses. In any event, I can't think of one instance where owning a bunch of papers makes anyone a better person or a "superior" magician. It's just ridiculous and arrogant.

At the other end of the "paper hoarding" spectrum, you have people who actually destroy rare magical documents so that nobody else can learn from them. That's just so sad.

A living magical tradition takes its guidance from the past, but it must evolve to be relevant to lives of modern-day Initiates. For example, archeologists are always uncovering new information about the ancient world—things that were just not known in the Victorian era. Therefore, our knowledge of ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices may change, and this can influence our modern praxis. We must learn from the past, not become slaves to it. The words of a ritual on a old piece of paper do not come alive—they do not become magic—until we perform and internalize them. If we don't, they remain just "words, words, words."

6. As someone who is involved with publishing books on the Golden Dawn tradition, do you feel there are certain responsibilities to the public that must be remembered by those who would seek to do to the same?

I think it is very important for modern authors to remember that it is absolutely fine to build upon and adapt the traditional teachings of the Golden Dawn to a more modern approach, and even a mixture of different spiritual traditions, so long as the various sources are made perfectly clear to readers. Some people prefer a traditional approach, while others add teachings from various spiritual paths: Theosophy, Thelema, Wicca, etc. So long as these different approaches work within the framework of their respective Orders, and spiritual growth is achieved by the Initiates, who is to say that one way is right and the others wrong?

Do magicians from various groups always have to argue about how many angels will fit on the head of pin?

However, authors have a responsibility to make sure that whatever materials they advocate are clearly identified as to their origins: original GD manuscripts, an spin-off Order, a specific temple within the greater Golden Dawn Tradition, a specific teacher's oral tradition, or the author's own thoughts and adaptations of GD material.

For example: the modern tri-colored Caduceus Wand that many Golden Dawn groups use today differs from the traditional staff used by the original Order and its offshoots. The modern version did not come from Israel Regardie. It was a product of Chic's work in the Isis-Urania Temple in Georgia in the late 1970s. This wand IS the Caduceus of Hermes. To many of us, it is an obvious and logical improvement over a simple colored staff supposed to "represent" the Caduceus of Hermes. The Caduceus of Hermes, with its entwined serpents, is explained in the 2=9 Ritual in the speech describing the Keryx's Lamen. It certainly would have been easier to use the caduceus symbolism in the Lamen rather than to make a full Caduceus staff. However, the word Caduceus is derived from the Greek Kerykeion which means "herald's staff." The word Kerykeion is the origin of the word keryx or "messenger, herald," and the oldest form of the Kerykeion was a rod with two twining serpents at the top in such a way that they resembled horns—this later morphed into what we know as the Mercury symbol. Either the Kerykeion or the full Caduceus form would make a proper "Staff of the Herald" or "Rod of Hermes." In my opinion, a simple tri-colored staff with no serpents attached would be half of the "Herald's Staff," or a portion of the actual "Rod of Hermes," minus the two primary conduits of energy. You could easily hold the Caduceus by the bottom (blue) section of the wand by creating a Caduceus with a longer shaft and smaller serpents. I've seen plenty of perfectly fine adaptations, including a 6" metal caduceus affixed to the top of tri-colored staff.

Is the modern Caduceus Wand of the Golden Dawn as described in Secrets of a Golden Dawn Temple traditional? No. Is it better than a traditional painted staff said to "symbolize" a Caduceus Wand? We certainly think so.

In books such as Tarot Talismans, Chic and I try to indicate where we have used traditional Golden Dawn teachings and where we have adapted those teachings for a new approach. It's just a good rule of thumb.

7. The Golden Dawn is obviously a very male dominated tradition...but over the past five to ten years more and more women have been joining. Is there any advice you can give to other women out there about traveling this path?

I'm not so sure that it is fair to say that the Golden Dawn is a "very male dominated tradition." During the heyday of the original Golden Dawn, about one-third of the members were women, and many of them came from the Theosophical Society. The original GD added Eastern Theosophic elements to the GD curriculum in order to attract more women Initiates. There were a number of strong women in positions of power in the original Order: Florence Farr, Annie Horniman, Moina Mathers... These were hardly "shrinking violets." They were excellent role models for today's female Initiates.

Of course there are many more women who choose Wiccan-type groups over ceremonial magic. Why is this? I believe it has to do with both perception and opportunity. People mistakenly assume the Golden Dawn is male-dominated—I've never thought of it that way. As for opportunity, men who are interested in esoteric subjects have traditionally had more opportunity to connect with each-other through Masonic organizations. In contrast, magically-inclined women have had much more opportunity to connect with each other through the neo-pagan community.

In our Order, women make up close to half of the membership. We have been very blessed to have a number of strong women in charge of several temples over the years. From the very beginning of our Order, at least one of the G.H. Chiefs has always been female.

I guess I would tell women who are thinking of exploring the Golden Dawn Tradition to remember that the Neophyte Hall, also called the "Hall of Two Truths" is dedicated to the goddess Maat, goddess of Justice and Truth, and two highest officers in the Hall, Praemonstrator and Imperator, are associated with the sister goddesses Isis and Nephthys.

8. How would you like to see the Golden Dawn tradition grow over the next 100 years? Are there personal goals you have that you would like to see manifest before it gets passed onto the next generation?

I am happy to see the various ways that our Order, as well as other Golden Dawn Orders, are taking the tradition out of the dusty archives and keeping the GD a vibrant, living tradition for seekers of diverse paths. This is vitally important, and it doesn't matter whether the group is considered traditional GD or mixed tradition GD—it must be a living system that is capable of growth and evolution within the context of its own core principles.

Our own Order is very traditional, and yet we are fully willing to make what we consider to be enhancements of the GD system or corrections of errors in the old documents. Take for example the colors of the Hebrew letters on the Minutum Mundum diagram and the Rose from the Golden Dawn’s Rose Cross Lamen. All the old documents from the Golden Dawn, Stella Matutina, and the Alpha et Omega state that the King Scale color of the Path of Yod (or Virgo) is Yellow-green. That’s fine, but they also state that the color of the letter Teth (or Leo) is greenish-yellow. That is just wrong. They can’t both be the same color, neither of which is a primary color. Take a look at the Rose—it is a true artist’s color wheel. If you look at the outer petals of the Rose, you can see quite easily that the color of Teth (Leo) has to be pure, primary yellow, otherwise the color wheel doesn’t work.

In another example, we feel that the correct name of the angel of elemental Fire is Ariel ("Lion of God") not Aral. The original GD documents preserved a mistake in Agrippa wherein the names of Ariel and Aral were switched. This age-old confusion is due to the fact that the four rulers of the elements were not recognized as the names of orders of angels: Seraph, Tharsis, Kerub, and Aral (Arel or Erel) are actually the singular forms of Seraphim, Tarshishim, Kerubim, and Erelim.

So even traditional Golden Dawn groups like ours change things when we feel that certain points can be improved upon, while remaining true to the spirit and ethos of the original teachings. As magicians, we shouldn't be so tied to the past that we take "tradition" for gospel, leaving no room for the creative innovation and inspiration that is the very hallmark of magical practice.

8. What do you think is the biggest challenge for a student of the Golden Dawn and what advice do you have for over-coming it?

The biggest challenge by far is to avoid the trap of Ego inflation: Regardie was adamant about this, which was why he suggested that magical students undergo some form of psychotherapy to guard against this phenomenon. We experience something called infantile megalomania in early childhood, when we all believe that we are the very center of the universe—our own wants and needs are paramount to everything else. As we mature, we grow out of this stage of extreme-self-centeredness. However, the practice of magic can sometimes result in the reemergence this mechanism, especially in those who may have an inflated ego to begin with. The practice of magic works to expand the mind’s latent psychic abilities.

Unfortunately some magicians begin to experience delusions of grandeur and messianic tendencies as the infantile megalomania is reactivated. In magic, infantile megalomania (the "I am the New Prophet" syndrome) is very easy to spot—they are the ones always bragging and tooting their own horn, claiming to have all the best magical toys, disparaging other magicians continuously, proclaiming to be the world's single greatest magician, boasting lineage that goes all the way back to Atlantis, etc.—you get the idea.

One of the best ways to overcome ego-inflation is to listen to the advice of your Fratres and Sorores as well as others in the greater GD community: whenever you start to get a swelled head and visions of grandeur, you can be sure that other magicians will step up to the plate and take you down a few notches, as well they should. (It is a bit more difficult when the offending egotist is the head of a temple or Order—in that case the membership may be too blinkered or fearful to let the leader know that he or she is swimming off-course.)

Luckily, most magicians within the GD tradition strive to maintain psychic balance and spiritual equilibrium, which are among the specific goals of the Outer Order work.

9. At some point, if a person studies long enough they may be blessed with serving as a teacher of this tradition. Can you give us some words of wisdom about the nature of teaching this path? Is there anything that we should always keep at the forefront of our minds?

There is an old Zen saying that covers it nicely: "Before enlightenment: Chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment: Chop wood, carry water." Always remember that your students are your companions on the path of Light. You have something of value to teach them. Be open for those times when they have something to teach you. Never, ever feel that you are superior to anyone else. And be damn certain that you don't begin to treat anyone else as if you were.

10. Do you have any current projects in the works that you would like to share with us? Anything exciting that we can look forward to?

We currently have several irons in the fire: Basics of Magic—The Best of the Golden Dawn Journal: Book II: Qabalah, and Westcott's Enochian Tablets, both published through HOGD Books, will be available sometime next year. Also, look for a new annotated edition of Regardie's The Philosopher's Stone coming from Llewellyn. In addition, we are working on a book/oracle deck on the Qabalah tentatively called The Tree of Wisdom: Experiencing the Magic of the Qabalah, and another book on the Mystery Religions with the working title of Hiera Mysteria: The Sacred Mysteries. A Survey of the Western Mystery Traditions, both Ancient and Modern.