In the Western Mysteries the themes of birth, death and rebirth are seen in various representations. Whether it is the Masonic initiatory myth of Hiram Abiff, the discovery of the tomb of Christian Rosenkreütz or the Dying and Resurrected God of myths the world over, the theme of dying and being reborn is inherent. The […]
“First, That none of them should profess any other thing than to heal the sick, and that gratis”.- Fama Fraternitatis Healing has always been a part of the Western Mystery Tradition. Most working groups of the tradition today have some method of healing as part of their school’s curriculum. It is part of who we […]
One of the first rituals taught in the different schools and traditions linked to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is the Qabalistic Cross. It has many uses that have evolved over the past century or so when it was first introduced in ritual form by the founders of the Hermetic Order of the […]
The following exercises are an adaption from other works in the tradition of the Golden Dawn, such as those suggested by Israel Regardie’s “The One Year Manual”. There have been other variations of these exercises inspired by the teachings Paul Foster Case, that as far as is known, have not been published. The ones below […]
There are several ways of categorizing the different worlds used in the Western Mystery Tradition. Many of them overlap or complement one another. One of the purposes of using a “Worlds Model” is for the individual to be able to give some type of categorization of what they are experiencing and witnessing when they are […]
Pentagrams are one of the most versatile symbols used in the Western Mystery Tradition. Today they can be seen in the various Pentagram rituals stemming from the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn including those found in Wicca and Thelema. Elemental, planetary and zodiacal workings may also employ the pentagram or when working with […]
Spring Cleaning! We all seem to do it at roughly the same time each year. Most of us aren’t even aware that we do this annually. We seem to intuitively know that we are about halfway through Winter and preparing for Spring. We may pass by some blossoms and see the first stirrings of new […]
In the previous post, the Natural Order of the Elements, it was seen that there are reverberations regarding correspondences throughout a magical system of placing the elements in their natural order. It must be stressed that one set of correspondences should be consistent throughout a system. Magical systems throughout time have observed the natural world […]
Most systems of magical training usually begin with some type of subtle body work. It forms one of the foundations of magical work and training to prepare one to be an instrument for the Divine. In Western Esotericism this subtle body work is usually a simple version of the Middle Pillar Exercise or one of […]
The principle of correspondences is one of the mainstays of any magical system. In the West this is one of the first points of magical philosophy to be learned in one’s magical training along with 6 other principles that have been summarized quite well in the Kybalion, a Neo Hermetic text. The Kybalion has had a […]
