The Society of Magi

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The Society of Magi (SoM) was an international fraternal magickal organization that brought together people of different magickal traditions to network together in order to share knowledge, information and opportunities in both magickal as well as mundane matters. Its structure was loosely similar to that of Freemasonry, with a series of graded initiations.

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[edit] The beginning

The SoM is reported as to have formed in the early 1980's. However due to their extreme secrecy, the actual date is unknown. There are unconfirmed claims that the original version of the SoM had started in the mid 1960's. In 1997 the SoM had reported over 1500 members in 24 countries, with over half of the members were in the United States.

[edit] Organizational structure

The instructional authority of the SoM membership was the Senior Mentor. There were many Senior Mentors of the SoM, each sovereign and independent of the others, and defined according to a geographic territory. Thus there was no central instructional authority, although each Senior Mentor maintained a list of other Senior Mentors that they formally recognized. If the other Senior Mentor reciprocated the recognition, the two Senior Mentors were said to be in amity, which permitted the Mentees of the one Senior Mentor to be mentored by the other Senior Mentor, and vice-versa.

To be recognized by another Senior Mentor, one must (at least) have meet that Senior Mentor's requirements for magickal adeptness. In keeping with the non-dogmatic nature of the SoM, however, there was no universally accepted list of guidelines for magickal adeptness, and even Senior Mentors in amity with each other often had completely different ideas as to what those guidelines were. Many Senior Mentors took no official position at all as to what the guidelines were.

[edit] Membership

The membership structure in the SoM was similar to that of Argenteum Astrum (A∴A∴) in that members officially only know those directly above and below in the chain of instruction. There are no regular group rituals and members are expected to work alone, consulting as needed with their Senior Mentor in the Society.

This structure was chosen to focus on the improvement and magickal literateness of the member as an individual. Since the SoM was dedicated to being an organization that focused on creating effective magicians, as opposed to creating magickal groups, this structure worked the best. There was a very strong emphasis on developing successful mentor/mentee relationships as well as maintaining the chain of initiation from Senior Mentor to mentee, and devoting one's attainments to those individuals who follow.

[edit] The End

In 1999 David Michael Cunningham, the SoM's last officially appointed administrator, had called the organization to an end. This event occurred shortly after Fr. Scott Yancey, the last founding member, chose to distance himself from the SoM after the SoM had grown too large for its original organizational structure.

[edit] References

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