Spiritual pride rarely ambushes the Neophyte, who wrestles with discipline and doubt. It waits a little longer, ready to harry the Adept. In spiritual matters, pride is far more insidious than vanity. It can manifest as guardianship, responsibility, or even zeal, and it most often conveys a sense of importance, a sense of indispensability.Continue reading “The Burden of the Adept”
Category Archives: (j) Praxis
After the Ceremony
How did the Chief expect a student to spend their Tuesday morning? One of Dr Felkin’s quiet contributions to the Order was to develop something that had remained largely unrealised within the curriculum inherited from the Isis-Urania Temple: how the Candidate was to continue the Work after the Ceremony had ended. While Initiation could impressContinue reading “After the Ceremony”
The Outer Order Syllabus
While the following cannot be considered exhaustive, nor representative of every phase of development during the more than sixty years of the Smaragdum Thalasses Temple No 49, it is nevertheless representative of what a student of Whare Ra would typically receive during their passage through the Outer Order—a process which, if pursued by a diligentContinue reading “The Outer Order Syllabus”
When the Golden Dawn was an Order
I am conscious of the privilege of having worked with Frater Fiat Lux, 7=4, a member of Whare Ra since the 1930s. With the passing of that generation, very few remain who were formed within the old Temple culture. Most who now approach the Order do so through its published corpus. Fiat Lux trained meContinue reading “When the Golden Dawn was an Order”
On the Work of the Neophyte
From the series “On the Work of the Grades” – reflections on the path of the Candidate through the Grades. One task of the Neophyte is to establish separation — to draw a deliberate line between the life that was and the life that now begins. This involves a conscious reorientation of the will. TheContinue reading “On the Work of the Neophyte”
On the Work of the Zelator
From the series “On the Work of the Grades” – reflections on the path of the Candidate through the Grades The Zelator lays the groundwork — to make firm that foundation upon which all later progress must depend. The Element of Earth is assigned to this Grade. Earth is form, body, and substance: the vesselContinue reading “On the Work of the Zelator”
Concerning the Vivification of the Minutum Mundum
“Colour cannot be specifically defined unless one goes into microns of wave-length, and even then there are tints containing black or white, or even both. Many writers have tabulated colours in the Four Scales, but working from tabulations is not only lazy but also by-passes the very growth of the psyche we court. As theContinue reading “Concerning the Vivification of the Minutum Mundum”
On the Work of the Theoricus
From the series “On the Work of the Grades” – reflections on the path of the Candidate through the Grades The work of the Theoricus is to awaken the inner sense — to perceive not only through the eyes or the intellect, but through the awareness of the intelligence that lies beneath and binds allContinue reading “On the Work of the Theoricus”
On the Work of the Practicus
From the series “On the Work of the Grades” – reflections on the path of the Candidate through the Grades The work of the Practicus bears fruit when the student learns to see clearly into the waters of their own nature. In the Water of Hod, emotion must be transcended and transformed. Emotion often precedesContinue reading “On the Work of the Practicus”
On the Work of the Philosophus
From the series “On the Work of the Grades” – reflections on the path of the Candidate through the Grades The journey through the Outer Grades mirrors Nature’s own slow evolution and awakening. From mineral to plant, from plant to animal, from animal to man: each stage adds motion, perception, and thought just as aContinue reading “On the Work of the Philosophus”
