The Golden Dawn - An Enterprise?

Is tradition practical or painstakingly incorrect in today’s modern world?

In a recent discussion with several private temples, myself included, many of the Adepts of all orders have came to the same conclusion. The Golden Dawn has become an Enterprise. A way for several within the community to make their living from this historic name of a very sacred tradition and current.

So what is the problem? The problem is this, it is now become an enterprise. It is about making money, not about making knowledge. Has it become practical for an initiate to simply pay for training or rank within an old system of magic? What does the initiate benefit from this, or what does our community benefit from this?

The Golden Dawn Temple vs Self Initiation

A compare and contrast of joining a Golden Dawn Temple (Order) or utilizing Self Initiation, via means of published materials both past and present.

Many new Magicians and Adepts seek the ultimate goal, to understand and transcend through the many paths of the Tree of Life. For some, finding the right way may be burdensome. There are many Golden Dawn temples and orders that can be found on the web, but there are also many that can't.

After reading many of online arguments, both publicly posted on order's web sites, and on forums, it makes one wonder why the trouble of a temple when I have all of the materials at hand....?

While Self Initiation is beneficial in many areas, Temple and Order Initiation is profound. It is my goal to outline below the Pros and Cons of Temple Initiation and Self Initiation. One should note that our site offers a comprehensive online Temple (Order) registry, with additional links for the Magician or Initiation whom wishes to seek out the order of temple that may be right for them. To view our temple registry, click here.

The Golden Dawn & Lineage

Lineage has been a frequent discussion, and most certainly a heated debate. Lineage, via the Golden Dawn current, doesn’t exist in a “first class” aspect. Most, if not all, modern temples are third and sometimes fourth generation offshoots of the original Isis Urania, or Temple LLL.

There are few instances which a surviving temple or original Order/Temple charter exists. One such instance of this is the Whare Ra Temple.

Although these few exist, that does not mean, by any means that these temples are “Official” or that the materials they teach are “original” to the Order of System of the Golden Dawn or the Rosae Rubae. Often temples use materials which are either published, or have reworked them to fit their temples needs via previous temple materials from other orders, temples, or research. This is a common practice with all old “official” Golden Dawn temples. Each temple started because at one point there was a basis of belief that something needed changed or something else needed to be implemented. The likeminded individuals set out and created their own temple, still yet using some of the original documents, and adding their own.

An example of this is the Horus Temple, and the Ptah temple from the United States. Each of these temples, although governed by the Ahathoor Temple, in Paris via Moina Mathers, did not conform neither to the Alpha Omega Temple nor to the temples themselves. Each had in essence the same materials, and yet completely different. A grand example of this is the Neophyte initiation. While the Ptah temple had followed the Alpha Omega format, the Horus temple removed several aspects of the initiation to simplify it.

Simply put, true linage is found within the adept. It is found in the practice and dedication of not only one adept, but the whole alike. Bickering about whom has what charter is pointless. That “charter” does not make a difference to the GD Current. Not one iota. In closing, “Lineage is found at the Heart of the Adept”. Nothing more, nothing less.