I rembember Fiat Lux telling me how shocked he was to receive this letter, even though it had been a handful of years since he last attended any Ceremonies – he withdrew earlier when it became obvious (to him) that the the ship was adrift.
There seemed to have been several reasons that finally led to the Temple closing its doors. Amongst these were the facts that:
– Council rates and other costs were mounting, and the trustees (Whare Ra’s dues and expenditure were administered by a charitable trust) were under pressure to subdivide the land to make the books balance
– One of the Order Chiefs had developed quite pronounced Alzheimer’s, to the extent she was publically telling strangers she was the head of a secret magical order. She was then living in Whare Ra, and there would have been great difficulty in evicting her (I believe this to be the principle reason for the closure)
– Another of the Chiefs was a respected lawyer in a family firm, and there was considerable pressure placed on him to distance himself from the Order
The Order’s Cancellarius, David Osbourne 8=3, was tasked with destroying the archives at Whare Ra. He did so, but saved an early set of the Grade Advancements from the fire, which have been preserved and passed on.
Kasmillos
