Jason Miller made a nice post about the difference between transcendental and worldly gods here. Within that article he says that an unnamed scholar claims that the problem with the Golden Dawn is that the assumption of god forms by its members reflected the eternal conflicts within the mythos of the pantheon.
I disagree.
The first reason being that in a lodge the ritual work can be rotated thus diluting the problem. Secondly, the famed Whare Ra temple used the same ritual officers in the same rolls for decades and, from my limited knowledge, did not self-destruct into flaming ego balls roasting over a fallen altar.
The problem with the GD is in its final test. Eventually, the magician reaches Geburah in all its martial glory. At this point, the magician has no initiators but himself. If others are present that same hierophantal relationship no longer exists. It is up to the magician to be his own reconciler. Fail the test and find yourself in the midst of apocalyptic visions and martial pissing contests. Fireballs at twenty paces! Unfortunately, the failures can be famous. They can even retain followers and attract new converts as a 6=5 is more than a force to be reckoned with.
The successes tend to be much quieter in Chesed. They, as Jason Miller might say, have quested and are now building their castles as a base for the rest of the Work. Last I checked, building one's castle can be pretty difficult if you're constantly creating the din of battle. They Work in silence and reflect That which can only be expressed in silence.
This is not merely the test of the 7=4 aspirant but the would-be neophyte. If all he can see is the fearsome failures he'll find nothing more in Golden Dawn or its off shoots. In this, s/he makes two very large misses.
The first is that someone went from neophyte to 6=5. This should be honored even if the honoree doesn't appear to be deserving of the slightest respect or in deep need of some ludes. A lot of success goes into making a 6=5 failure.
The second miss is that the future 7=4 is building his castle. Here is the potential for a spiritual master. Here is the adept quietly, nearly secretly, leading the way. Here is the model of the spiritual work that can be found in no book ancient or modern, a model that can not be found within the Golden Dawn or any order or religion, a model that can only be fashioned within. Within, the Universe resides.
The Golden Dawn has it famous failures but such are just as much of a blind to those that will not see as the radiant light of Ain Soph Aur is to those that fail to seek its source.
(Castle picture: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-008636-bodiamcastle-misty_castle-gallery_picture)
1 comment:
The scholar was Richard Kazinsky.
I myself don't know enough about the history of the GD to have an opinion one way or the other, but I think that any one reason alone would be far to simplistic. Your reasoning in this matter is to me, quite sound.
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