I have "started" the meditation 3 days ago, and was wondering if i need any prior knowledge of tarot to do it. This because supposedly we are supposed to feel something when a card is drawn and i fell exactly nothing since I don't know what said card means. I also am wondering about how to do the meditation, i have just searched up in the internet about the meaning of the card and try to see if it reflects about something in my life, but i think that might be the wrong way of doing it since it requires for me to think and meditation is all about concentration and not thinking basically...

so for the last few months I been doing a lot of research on what magical path to follow by reading up on them, I landed on the golden dawn tradition. I am interested in John Micheal Greer work on it, I was gonna do his Celtic golden dawn but decided I prefer traditional. So my question is should I do learning ritual magic first by him or just jump straight into the golden dawn? Not sure what to do any help would be appreciated.

Hello magicians,

I am looking for interesting and creative ways to represent the first three Sephiroth: Kether, Chokmah, and Binah in physical space.

Other than printing a poster of the tree of life and pasting on the wall, I was thinking of a giant triangle or pyramid. Other than that, I am slim on ideas.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

I find it difficult to meditate and this has been the biggest barrier to my practice for a minute. An alternate title would be "how to start meditating" or "what meditation practices would you recommend for someone who has a hard time quieting the mind or staying still"?

Lmao

I am interested in learning about GD as I feel an affinity to it. However, the main thing discouraging me is that “magic” and spell work is prohibited in the 3 major religions.

Am I missing something or not understanding correctly? To me, it could be considered white magic and even this is considered prohibited.

I would appreciate your insight.

Hello Everyone,

I was trying to understand why in the Golden Dawn tradition we have those specific 10 Divine Names associated to the 10 Sephiroth. In my studies I could trace these associations back to Agrippa's three books on occult philosophy, but they could be first introduced by Johann Reuchlin or Athanasius Kircher.

More than anything I'm looking for the original motivation that led to associating those 10 divine names with the 10 sephiroth. Do you know any books that have explored the topic in depth?

Thanks

So before I get downvoted by everyone…😂

I’m doing my basic neofite rituals, I have had zero negative experiences and feel fantastic. Everything is going better than ever and I can clearly feel the energies presence. I’m also on week 3 out of a 4-5 week water fast.

Now to my question, all of the sudden a ton of absolute 10 unicorn level girls are dropping in my inbox out of nowhere and coming up to me outside, they seem just as confused as me but kind of happy to be there.

The reason I’m asking is just because of the sheer amount of times this has happened the last two weeks.

This has to have something to do with my energy body right?

Has anyone read this book by Dion Fortune? I just read it and I am still scratching my head as to how -exactly- you are supposed to practice this book! Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks!

^

Hello,

This illustration is used on Wikipedia and listed there without an author. Title: A Greek maker of plăcintă (a style of pie), Bucharest, 1880.

The signature, the style and the approximate period speak for Louis Le Breton, because he also published his 69 works in the Dictionnaire Infernal 1863 with L.B. as his signature.

The year 1880 would of course not be correct because Louis Le Breton died in 1866, but if the author is not known, the year probably won't be correct either.

Mathers took over most of the illustrations from Le Breton, so this could be interesting, what do you think? Another Louis Le Breton illustration?

Bucharest, Greek pie-maker, 1880

If we are supposed to work our way up to complete communion with our higher genius so we can have control over the elements so we can manifest specifically what we want (in line with our HG)....what is our purpose if there is nothing in particular we want except simple contentment? Contentment no matter what's going on or who's around ...just "being" happily. Am I in the wrong spiritual path for this?

Hi all.

New (ish) to golden dawn, just read Israel Regardie's Middle Pillar. I really enjoy the QC and find it brings a lot of peace to my heart and feels like a good release.

Can you do it multiple times a day? Could I do it again and again for an hour? I don't see why not?

Doing LBRP like 4ish times a week.

Just curious what other ppl think.

I understand we supposedly have free will but because of astrology, doesn't everything eventually end up the way it's written in the stars (regardless our decision today), maybe just in a different way than first thought?

I saw magicians use for the earth element the pentagram pentacle , but Golden Dawn uses for the earth element the one with hexagram and colors. Is there a reason and what is the difference. Thank you

i’ve been reading through a lot of pages on this reddit the last couple days and i’m grateful to hear a lot of different perspectives and voices in doing this work

i’ve been practicing since december of last year starting with the LBRP, which i have kept up daily since. i added the middle pillar exercise, liber resh, daily tarot meditation, and journaling obviously, all maintained daily since the start of the year(with the exception of a 4 day lapse of the liber resh last week just due to a general feeling of annoyance and frustration). all of this is through following Lyam Thomas Christopher’s curriculum in his Kabbalah, Magic, and the Great Work Of Self Transformation book.

all that is is to say, it started off great! i kept feeling these waves of gooey glowy inner radiance just going about my day during the first couple months. somewhere around february i slumped back into some familiar territories of depression, the novelty had sort of worn off a bit maybe, and though i’ve stayed consistent in my practice i’ve just been feeling bummed and disconnected.

i guess everyone’s journey is going to be unique, most of my frustration is centered around an inability to focus, and wondering what sorts of changes to look out for. my brain just doesn’t stop thinking(it has always been this way) and i often find it difficult to feel tapped into the motions of the ritual, the vibrating of the names, my mind drifting off to other matters or even just seemingly somehow too self aware of what i’m doing. there’s also this whole element of spiritual trauma i’m dealing with from my youth of just assuming i’m somehow inherently unworthy of self transformation by these means.

i’ve been reading a bit that maybe there is an over emphasis on the banishing aspect of the LRP, and it makes sense to me to have a sense of balance with invocation especially since i’m not doing any specific magical workings at the time that would require the banishing of certain influences.

i dunno i guess i’m just looking for more perspective and any guidance anyone might have!

thanks y’all

I'm a male, 34 and live in the Western U.S.

I am curious how I ought to pace the material with my time. Do I rush through it, studying quickly and (almost) frantically?

There is an alchemical addage somewhere I cannot source: hurry, but not too quickly...

Or do I relax and try and assimilate at its own pace? I'm empowered to keep studying but...is there an end in sight (for anyone)?

I like the somatic and verbal components of ritual immensely, the tarot, and learning my qabalah, and astrology of course.

Should I feel strained/desperate here?

I moved here last fall and after settling I've felt like getting back on my magical practice which has been difficult to keep steady without a sense of direction. Googling "hermetic golden dawn Berlin" yields a single page website that looks promising but has no information at all. golden-dawn-berlin.de

Does anyone here know of a group or temple that is taking novices?

As a part of my assignments for my anthropology class on witchcraft and magic, I am tasked with interviewing members of an existing magic practice. I chose and researched to focus on the Golden Dawn and formulated ten questions. If anyone chooses to participate, I both respect and even ask that you don't give away any secretive information, just your experience and general/public subject matter. Me and my teacher are both invested in understanding cultural diversity and inclusion, so it's not a hit piece or anything anti-religious, either. I just want to hear your personal experience, inspirations, etc. And would all be done through text response.

I hope to potentially hear from you soon if this is possible.

Let's say I didn't resonate too much with a pre-established path, even if it's well done, it is just me. But what about doing a ritual to tune into some forces? Like a ritual for the beginning of the season? Where I can learn more about it? Are ritual all made with godforms?
- - -
I'm making this questiong for the simple fact that maybe I don't wanna become a magician but I wanna live magic as part of my life, live it as a mistery of life behind the need of conquerying it...
That said I don't wanna disrespeect anyone, and if you have a path and your genuine in what you are doing I wish you good luck...
It's just that sometimes the techiniques hide more than showning... I'm more in tune with magic when I do yoga in a devotional way more then 'thinking' at the principles... Maybe I'm just bad at it ;D
Anyway I just wanna have more of what I found already... Without goin into hoplessnes because I chose a path that it't not for me... So I'm not looking for big books on theory but more on proper way I can make a ritual without too much scholarship.
P.S. I have almost 0 experince in ritual, but some experience in the "sensations of magic" as any human (the difference is that i seek it more consciously) if this can count...

My main goal in studying magic is to find out what really happens after death, so that, thanks to this knowledge, I can go through the process of dying consciously and without fear and prepare for the form of existence that awaits me after death.

This is my main goal, since the only thing you can be 100% sure of in life is that I will die and I will not be able to take with me any of the material things, savings or any other useless crap, the only thing I can take with me this is the level of my energetic and spiritual development.

I am also sure that I am not just a body, because before coming to the path of studying magic, I practiced Advaita Vedanta and Dzogchen for 5 years, as a result of which I experienced what is commonly called the death of the ego, the non-dual experience of unity with everything, going beyond limits of my body and concepts by recognizing myself as pure consciousness/spirit, so I have no doubt that everything does not end in death. (In Advaita Vedanta this is called finding your “TRUE SELF”; in Dzogchen it is called “RIGPA”, In Zen this is called "Kenshō") Therefore, I want to study a map of the territory in which I will find myself after death while still alive.

Buddhism, Hinduism and many other religions answer these questions, but abstract theoretical knowledge from books is not enough for me; I want to be convinced of the truthfulness or falsity of these theories from my own experience, so that this is living knowledge, and not read from books.

I intuitively feel that I can get many answers from the Western magical tradition.

So I started studying the Golden Dawn, but before I dive headfirst into the practice, I would like to clarify a few points.

Actually questions:

What does the Golden Dawn teaching say about what awaits us after death?

Do studies according to the Golden Dawn system lead to gaining an understanding of what will happen after death?

Do Golden Dawn practices lead to gaining control over what happens after death?

Do the practices of the Golden Dawn lead to visiting other subtle planes of existence invisible to the ordinary human eye?

If yes, then by what methods is this achieved?

As far as I know, in magical history there were people who, in their subtle bodies, moved to the higher spheres of existence and contacted enlightened beings to receive from them knowledge directly about how the world works, what is the role of man in the universe, how the process of dying works and how life works after death.

Is it possible, thanks to the practices of the Golden Dawn, during one’s lifetime to personally visit those spheres of existence in which a person will find himself after death in order to prepare for existence in them in advance and expand one’s experience of knowledge of reality?

Is it possible, with the help of Golden Dawn practices, to personally communicate with enlightened beings and receive from them knowledge that will answer these questions and explain how these processes work?

In Buddhism and Hinduism there are people who have transcended death and moved to a higher level of existence while still alive. In Buddhism there is a transition to the Body of Light and the Rainbow Body, and in Hinduism there is Divyadeha.

Are there any analogues in the Western magical tradition and the Golden Dawn?

I heard that in the Golden Dawn something was mentioned about ascended masters in the third order/circle or something similar. Correct me if I am wrong.

For me, these are key questions, since I cannot seriously engage in a system that does not lead to these goals, since for me these are the main tasks of spiritual evolution, I am not interested in achieving material wealth, accumulating a large amount of money or climbing the social ladder for the sake of respect from other people, I think that this is a waste of time, since it will not help me in any way, not during death, not after death. The only thing I need money for is to create comfortable conditions for myself for spiritual practice that will lead me to knowledge of the truth about the nature of reality.

Many thanks in advance to everyone who shared their experiences and opinions regarding these issues.

The title of my post might seem unusual, but I've recently acquired Cicero's "Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition," and having already delved into Echols's "High Magick" and "Angels," I'm curious about a specific aspect:

In Cicero's work, they detail rituals like the Rose Cross but don't include the extensive visualizations found in Echols's texts, such as envisioning various colors of light. Can one progress through the different grades and engage in the meditations effectively without these detailed color visualizations?

For instance, if someone follows Cicero's instructions without performing Echols's advised visualizations, such as picturing a cube adorned with golden and red crosses at each corner (a concept from "Echols's Angels and Archangels"), will the ritual's impact remain the same? Is the perception of these colors an esoteric insight that one naturally acquires, or is it advanced knowledge typically imparted by a seasoned Golden Dawn practitioner?

i searched the topic and the answers kind of vary...

ive been at home the last couple days feeling like crap with a seasonal cold. havent done my daily LRP in that time, which also makes me feel like crap.

is it a good idea to perform or no? maybe just the QC?

I'm interested in starting my journey with the GD. I was wondering if there's anyone here from the central VA (richmond) area.

Thanks!

I'm following the chic cicero curriculum... If I need physical items do you have any siggestion where I can buy them?

So I've been practicing golden dawn style curriculum for about 8 months now, not strict GD, I did jump into things like hexagram rituals and the rose cross already but only did so because I thought I was conscious enough already to approach these rituals maturely. I still made the LRP my foundational practice and still do it is really the philosophers stone as they say, I've always been into spirituality and my initial foot in the door was the vedic practices, zen, and I also got quite heavily into folk magic/witchcraft and chaos magick (which I no longer practice at all). Firstly, I've done a LOT of psychological work on myself prior to sticking to an everyday GD curriculum, the thing that first got me into the esoteric about 4 years ago was psychedelics as I was astounded at their abilities to remove the ego and shed light on past traumas and release/catharsis etc (only ever used in a manner for betterment of myself I was never one to go to a rave or event like that tripping it was a form of almost therapy for me and exploration of the mystical) anyhow, since I've started the GD style practice it has caused drastic changes in my psyche, 90% of which are for the better imho, however the other 10% so to speak can be hard to digest, I feel like I'm drifting away from my mother and best freind who are the only 2 people I really have in my life that I'm close too, they are both inquisitive and spiritual by nature themselves but I can only describe it as it feels like I'm becoming more conscious of my own neurotic behaviours and tensions in my psyche and dealing with them, I see them and they appear almost fully unconscious and it's painful right now, my best freind is extremely defensive and thinks because he's done psychedelics and dabbled in zen that he's fully conscious and has even asked me before if I think he could have crossed the abyss.. (he's never done a ritual in his life and uses cocaine frequently still even though he's a "recovered" addict 😒) he even seems to have starting resenting my practice as well and almost belittling it because he can see I'm really really happy and he's not really in a good place currently he's just split from his fiance and his dad has been diagnosed with cancer, my mother is in a marriage she isn't happy with at all, she works a job she hates and it's currently manifesting as physical ailments for her such as her scoliosis in her back becoming much worse the more mental tensions she accumulates. As in too the point she can hardly walk, she accepts that it's probably energetically caused as well but just dosnt do anything about it apart from complain. Now I'm 100% aware that neither of them do any of these unconscious things purposely or with ill will and I think of myself as far from being a fully enlightened being so it's not like I'm looking down on them, I get it. But how do I deal with watching the world around me keep themselves in limbo by becoming controlled by their ego, the more I become conscious of this in myself and the more I correct it the more I notice it in others and I'm not even judging them it's just difficult to even relate to people currently for me? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I just don't understand why those close to me don't take action against the things I hear them constantly moan about whilst I'm currently acting as both of their support networks which isn't sustainable all the time for me anyway as I'm human and flawed myself, I need support sometimes and I'm not both of their therapists I love them but it's not my responsibility to correct them it's there's, how do I find balance between commitment to the great work and relating to those who havnt even took the first step to breaking out of unconscious behaviour yet? Im sorry if this isn't the right sub reddit for this post it's just been really intense since the start of the year the more committed I become too my practice, it's currently all I do (I luckily am not working atm and have savings to live for a good while) so my days consist of constant study and ritual practice, I'm aware that's not the path for everyone and that's fine but how do I balance my path with others? It just hurts to see people basically self harming from my point of view, the analogy I could use is it's like those close too me are complaining about a broken bone constantly and then dismissing going to the ER for it as something they'll get round too if that makes sense? Thanks if u took the time to read this I just needed to get this off my chest and hopefully get advice.

Is this normal to start to feel a disconnection from "normal" society the more I practice and the more my psyche changes towards seeing spiritual enlightenment as my path?

So I've studied GD for a while now, at least 10 years maybe 11. I've noticed that it is one of the more detailed and organized systems of magic. I've also noticed that it has declined in practitioners over time steadily. With the birth of the Internet and socal media I've seen some very much lesser known practices make a "come back" or become popular from obscurity. Although this evolution in tech and community sharing I believe that the GD didn't get the same amount of "boost" as the others did. Why do you think this is the case? Also what could lead the system to grow rapidly again and/or what would need to happen for this to happen. Personally I'm perfectly fine with it the way it is, but in today's time and the esoteric world there's so much garbage out there and money grabs, it would be best for the GD to come back it's glory days.

In "The Tree of Life" by Israel Regardie (Ch. 13 "Grimoires and Magical Evocations"), he states that the evocations of the spirits (referring to The Lesser Keys of Solomon the King and/or The Goetia) is to be undergone prior to attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of the HGA. Is he really saying these Invocations should be conducted prior to events of Initiation or Self-Initiation without any magical experience at all?