Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (Rosicrucian Order of A+O)

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Main article: Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is the outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of the A+O.[1] The Order's website contains the claim that the Order is "the only Golden Dawn order remaining under the direct guidance and protection of the Secret Chiefs of the third order."[2] According to David Griffin and Cris Monnastre in an article written for the tenth anniversary edition of Gnosis magazine entitled Israel Regardie, the Golden Dawn, and Psychotherapy included in his book The Ritual Magic Manual, the Rosicrucian Order of A+O has completed the three order system originally conceived for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn but never completed by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and William Wynn Westcott.[3]

The material taught in the Outer Order is described in David Griffin's The Ritual Magic Manual. The material taught in the Second and Third Orders remains secret, but includes the highest secrets of magic and alchemy in the Western Esoteric Tradition.[4]

Contents

[edit] History of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega

Main article: Alpha et Omega

An Order called the Alpha et Omega was founded in Paris, France by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in 1906.[5] Mathers was a co-founder and Chief of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in England in 1888. Mathers founded the Alpha et Omega (also known as the A+O) in response to a rebellion of Adepts in London and an ensuing public scandal which had brought the name of the Golden Dawn into disrepute.[6]

[edit] Modern day

In 1999, following what they alleged to be a Rosicrucian cycle of 111 years, the Rosicrucian Order of A+O proclaimed a general reformation of the order.[7] The Alpha et Omega order deemed this necessary due to the publication, first by Aleister Crowley and later Israel Regardie, of formerly secret material comprising the curriculum of the R.R. et A.C. (their ‘Second’ or ‘Inner’ order).[8] The A+O therefore moved all material profaned by publication to its ‘Outer Order,’ the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and replaced it with a Hermetic curriculum of operative alchemy and theurgy (magic) deriving from pre-Golden Dawn, Rosicrucian and Hermetic sources.[9]

In 2001, the Alpha et Omega opened Harparkrat Cyber-Temple, an online resource that enables individuals in remote areas to study and practice theurgy and alchemy under order supervision.[10] According to their web site, the Rosicrucian Order of A+O today operates a network of temples throughout Europe and North America.[11]

The Rosicrucian Order of A+O additionally claims on its web site to have in 2002 reestablished contact with the, ‘Secret Chiefs of the Third Order,’ which the A+O contends are not ‘Astral Masters’ residing on the ‘Inner Planes,’ but rather representatives of an extremely secretive and ancient, continental European, Hermetic mystery school which has preserved the highest teachings of the Hermetic tradition since it was brought to Europe from Egypt by the Roman Empire.[12]

[edit] The System, Teachings, and Practices of the Order

According to the A+O, the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn had always been intended to comprise a three order system, although Mathers had only been successful in manifesting the ‘Second Order’.[13] The Alpha et Omega claims to have received new Cypher Manuscripts containing the teachings and initiation rituals of this ‘Third Order’ from the ‘Secret Chiefs’ in 2002.[14] The Grades of the ‘Third Order’ are those of Magister Templi (8=3), Magus (9=2), and Ipssissimus (10=1). The Esoteric teachings of these grades comprise what the Alpha et Omega calls the ‘solar’ or ‘direct’ mysteries. [15] These teachings, according to their web site, include not only theurgy (magic) but the highest and most secret teachings of alchemy. [16]

This three order system was originally envisioned by the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to have included three distinct types of orders. The ‘First Order,’ the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is a ‘symbolical’ order. [17] Symbolical orders are those in which esoteric teaching is communicated primarily via symbols encountered during the initiation rites. [18] The Second Order, the R.R. et A.C. is an operative order. Operative orders, according to the A+O, fall into two general categories, those like the R.R. et A.C., whose operations refer to higher processes, and are thus called ‘lunar’ or ‘analogical,’ and those whose operations refer only to themselves and are thus ‘solar’ or ‘direct’ as is the case with the esoteric practices of the Third Order. [19]

It should be noted, however, that the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega no longer strictly follows this progression. Since the former curriculum of its ‘Second Order,’ the R.R. et A.C. was moved to the A+O’s outer order during the Reformation of 1999, the A+O’s ‘First Order,’ the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, is no longer merely symbolical. This change the A+O justifies by claiming on its web site that people today are better prepared to practice theurgy (magic) today than they were in 1888, and no longer need to waste years performing only banishing rituals before beginning more advanced magical practices.[20]

The theurgy practiced in the Alpha et Omega’s Outer Order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, consists primarily of the invocation of Elemental, Planetary, and Zodiacal magical forces. These invocation rituals are described in David Griffin's The Ritual Magic Manual. The practices of the A+O’s ‘Second and Third Orders’ remain secret, yet their web site claims that they are based on unpublished theurgy (magic) and alchemy.[21]

[edit] The Aims and Purpose of the Order

According to their web site, the purpose of the order is to "assist individuals to awaken and unfold their dormant potential by providing them with the necessary tools to achieve self-realization. This process transforms body, mind, and spirit, and ultimately leads to an entirely new relationship with the universe wherein the experience of duality, ego identity, and the distinction between self and not-self, inner and outer, are completely transcended, resulting in the self-realization of being that One Thing which is the entire universe."[22]

[edit] Registered Trademarks

According to their web site,[23] the Rosicrucian Order of A+O is the registered owner of the trademarks Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega® [24] and Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (R.R. et A.C.)®.[25][26] The Alpha et Omega is also the registered owner of the trademark Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn® in the European Union[27] and in Canada.[28], while The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. owns the respective trademark in the United States. The Rosicrucian Order of A+O in 1996 contracted with The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. a mutual "right to usage" of the trademark Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn® worldwide while acknowledging each Order's "exclusive ownership" of their respective nationally registered trademarks. A copy of this contract[29] was filed for recordation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[30]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn / Rosicrucian A+O Retrieved June 9. 2006.
  2. ^ Ibid.
  3. ^ Griffin (1999), p. 649.
  4. ^ Ibid.
  5. ^ Ruggiu, Jean-Pascal and Nicolas Tershchenko. Introduction Historique du Temple Ahathoor N° 7 de Paris. Retrieved June 9. 2006.
  6. ^ Ibid.
  7. ^ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®: Reformatio Fraternitatas. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  8. ^ Ibid.
  9. ^ Ibid.
  10. ^ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®: Harparkrat Cyber-Temple™. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  11. ^ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®: The Aims and Purpose of our Order. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  12. ^ Ibid.
  13. ^ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®: Curriculum Retrieved July 11, 2006.
  14. ^ Ibid.
  15. ^ Ibid.
  16. ^ Ibid.
  17. ^ Ibid.
  18. ^ Ibid.
  19. ^ Ibid.
  20. ^ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®: Reformatio Fraternitatas. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  21. ^ Griffin (1999), p. 649.
  22. ^ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®: The Aims and Purpose of our Order. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  23. ^ Status of the Trademark of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Retrieved June 9. 2006.
  24. ^ CIPO Registration No. 0847088
  25. ^ CIPO Registration No. 0847087
  26. ^ (search for CTM 000063891)
  27. ^ (search for CTM 000063925)
  28. ^ CIPO Registration Number 0795942
  29. ^ Agreement. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  30. ^ USPTO Reel 2810, Frame 0405 records the 1996 right to usage contract

[edit] References

  • Colquhoun, Ithell (1975). Sword of Wisdom: Macgregor Mathers and the Golden Dawn. Neville Spearman. ISBN 0-85435-092-6
  • Griffin, David J. (1999). The Ritual Magic Manual: A Complete Course In Practical Magic. The Golden Dawn Publishing. ISBN 0-9658408-9-1
  • Ruggiu, Jean-Pascal (1998). Les rituels d'initiation de l'Ordre hermétique de la Golden Dawn. Télètes. ISBN 2-906031-29-1
  • Ruggiu, Jean-Pascal (1998). Rituels magiques Golden Dawn. Télètes. ISBN 2-906031-19-4
  • Ruggiu, Jean-Pascal (2005). La magie hénokéenne de l'Ordre hermétique de la Golden Dawn. Télètes. ISBN 2-906031-37-2
  • Runyon, Carroll (1997). Secrets of the Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscripts. C.H.S. ISBN 0-9654881-2-8

[edit] External links

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