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The Following refutation is in response to Pat Zalewski's unsubstantiated accusations that I, David Griffin, somehow plagiarized his work in my Ritual Magic Manual. As will be shown below, such allegations clearly have no scholarly basis, but are rooted in mere political sniping from a competing Golden Dawn order.
I would like to begin by clarifying that Pat Zalewski is correct in his assertion that in the research involved in my integration of the Enochian materials of John Dee into the RR+AC systems of Planetary and Zodiacal magick, I relied mostly on primary reference materials, primarily the original manuscripts of John Dee obtained on microfilm from the British Museum, together with the papers of S.L. MacGregor Mathers. In the rare instances where any secondary sources were used they were, of course, properly footnoted.
Zalewski's cited example also clearly demonstrates how thoroughly referenced the Ritual Magic Manual actually is, in itself quite unusual for modern Golden Dawn books. In this sense, my quickly written above statement quoted by Pat Zalewski is indeed slightly inaccurate, which I readily admit and for which I readily apologize, of course, for any potential resulting misunderstanding.
Nonetheless, Pat Zalewski's above statement does nothing to support his repeated and unsupported claims that I have 'plagiarized' his work. On the contrary, the footnote he references from the RMM actually provides solid evidence of how groundless his accusations of plagiarism actually are! I am therefore grateful to Mr. Zalewski for pointing out this footnote and providing me with an excellent opportunity to further refute his baseless and unsupported allegations of 'plagiarism.'
The American Heritage Dictionary defines 'plagiarism' as "the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own." This is clearly not the case in this present instance, as I have obviously referenced Mr. Zalewski's work according to proper academic standards. Moreover, I mention Mr. Zalewski's work in order to demonstrate how I consider the position he sets forth in "Golden Dawn Enochian Magic" to be flawed. This is followed by my own position which is based on a careful examination of the original John Dee documents, in this case "Earthly Knowledge, Aid, and Victory," in Sloane MS. 3191. This is completely acceptable scholarship according to all academic standards and certainly does not constitute 'plagiarism' as Mr. Zalewski would like us to believe. On the contrary, this example goes far to prove that I indeed did 'not' plagiarize Mr. Zalewski's work, but rather took issue with it.
Zalewski's position that I consider to be flawed in this instance is properly referenced in the Ritual Magic Manual as: Pat Zalewski, Golden Dawn Enochian Magic, St. Paul: Llewellyn, 1990, pp. 31, 32. Mr. Zalewski's position is flawed because it is based merely upon an unreflective aping of the position set forth by S.L. Macgregor Mathers in a lecture to members of the Golden Dawn, entitled "On the Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac," in which S. L. MacGregor Mathers attempts to explain the Golden Dawn correspondences according to the distribution of the twelve Tribes of Israel encamped in the desert as they appear in the Old Testament. Mathers attempts to elucidate these correspondences by weaving a tapestry of associations with the Tribes, derived primarily from Biblical sources. These include the children of Jacob, their various Mothers, their order of birth, and the blessings of Moses and Jacob upon the various Tribes. Interestingly, Albert Pike presents a nearly identical exposition of similar associations in Morals And Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Mathers then comments upon the various armorial bearings ascribed to the twelve Tribes. This ascription exactly corresponds to that of the twelve ensigns attributed to the twelve Tribes in English Royal Arch Freemasonry. Thus it becomes apparent that the source from which the Golden Dawn borrowed this particular set of correspondences is English Royal Arch Freemasonry, and in his own work, Pat Zalewski merely followed these correspondences without even considering the difficulties underlying the arrangement MacGregor Mathers copied from Royal Arch Freemasonry.
The successful and correct integration of Enochian material from John Dee into Rosicrucian Zodiacal Magic has historically met with two difficulties. The first impediment arises because John Dee, in "Earthly Knowledge, Aid, and Victory," attributes the Twelve Tribes of Israel to the Signs of the Zodiac differently than does the R. R. et A. C. The Signs of the Zodiac thus correspond differently with the Enochian Zodiacal Kings in the Dee versus the R.R. et A.C. system. The second difficulty relates closely to the first and concerns the best method of attributing twelve Divine Names from the Elemental Tablets to the Zodiacal Signs.
In his work, Pat Zalewski does not even recognize these difficulties, but merely copies MacGregor Mathers in an unreflective manner without any consideration of underlying conflict with the original John Dee Enochian manuscripts. The above cited arrangement from MacGregor Mathers and aped by Zalewski, although seductive, is seriously flawed. The Elements of the Tablets from which the Divine Names originate do not correspond with the Elemental Triplicities of the Zodiacal Signs. When used in Ceremonial Magic, the failure of this arrangement becomes obvious. For example, it requires the Magician to invoke Sagittarius (a Fire Sign) using a Fire Invoking Pentagram while vibrating ARSL, a Divine Name from the Elemental Tablet of Water. Furthermore, the attribution of the Elements to the Quarters in this arrangement bears no resemblance to anything else in the R. R. et A. C. system!
What I point out in the Ritual Magic Manual is that John Dee clearly intended a different arrangement than the one that MacGregor Mathers chose, however, and that Dee's arrangement is implied in a diagram, entitled "Ordo Israelis Dispersi, hoc Estate 1585," illustrated on page 635 of the Ritual Magic Manual and available in my paper "The Book Of the Concourse of the Planetary and Zodiacal Forces" that you may download for free from our website at:
http://golden-dawn.com/goldendawn/UserFiles/en/file/pdf/concourse p z forces.pdf
The diagram that I provide on page 635 of the Ritual Magic Manual (and reproduced in the aforementioned free download) illustrates an alternative, superior means of integrating the John Dee Enochian and RR+AC systems of Zodiacal Magic. Although Dee does not include the Glyphs of the Zodiacal Signs, but rather the numbers one through twelve, his intention is nonetheless easy to deduce. When one assigns the Zodiacal Signs from Aries as one through Pisces as twelve, the resulting attribution of the twelve Tribes of Israel to the Zodiacal Signs exactly matches those given by Cornelius Agrippa in his book on Celestial Magic. Dee clearly intended to attribute the twelve Tribes of Israel as well as the Enochian Zodiacal Kings to the Signs of the Zodiac according to the correspondences used by Agrippa.
Dee's diagram, thus understood, aligns the Zodiacal Signs according to their Elemental Triplicities in each of the four Quarters. The Fire Signs thus find their place in the East, the Earth Signs in the South, the Air Signs in the West, and the Water Signs in the North. This arrangement exactly coincides with the Golden Dawn attribution of the Elements to the four Quarters according to their "Natural position in the Zodiac." Thus it provides an excellent vehicle for the complete integration of the John Dee Enochian and the R.R. et A.C. systems of Zodiacal Magic.
In conclusion, the example cited by Pat Zalewski in no way supports his baseless accusation that I have plagiarized Zalewski's work. On the contrary, it actually shows in the present instance that I have correctly referenced his work according to proper academic standards. It also shows that not only have I not copied Zalewski's work without crediting him, but that I have actually taken issue with it, because Zalewski's work is in this instance based on an unreflective copying of MacGregor Mathers, and fails to even consider how it conflicts with the arrangement that Dee intended.
My contribution to Golden Dawn scholarship in this particular instance, as enshrined in the Ritual Magic Manual is to recognize the conflict between the Dee and the MacGregor Mathers attributions and to find a satisfactory solution to this problem that integrates well with both systems.
No such arrangement is perfect, and deviating from the arrangement that MacGregor Mathers borrowed from Royal Arch Freemasonry indeed causes issues with other aspects of the R.R. et A.C. system. However, as far as Zodiacal magic is concerned, this heretofore unrecognized arrangement successfully finds a way to integrate the arrangement intended by Dee with an arrangement already present in the RR et AC, according to the 'natural position of the elements in the Zodiac.' This is not plagiarism. It is scholarship but rather an original contribution to the continuously evolving magical system of the Golden Dawn.
Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua
by David Griffin
G.H. Frater Lux Ex Septentrionis
Imperator Ordinis, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Chief Adept, R.R. et A.C.
Archon Basileus, Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega
"Ex Deo Nascimur.
In Yeheshua Morimur.
Per Sanctum Spiritum Reviviscimus"
I. THE ISRAEL REGARDIE CULT MANIFESTO
In breaking news today, SRIA/OR+C (reconstructionist) Golden Dawn orders across the Internet published a "Regardie Cult Manifesto," listing the various Golden Dawn groups which together form a political and religious cult built around the person of Israel Regardie.
Astonishingly, these groups today unwittingly outed their intimate relationship as "de facto" trademark lisencees of the other party that the Alpha Omega has a trademark settlement agreement with, the leaders of which are also SRIA leaders and founders and Grand Officers of the anti-Pagan and anti-Semitic "Order of the Rose and Cross," the de facto "Third Order" of the Regardie Golden Dawn Cult. The only other signatories of the Manifesto were Llewellyn authors and their wives who may have been mislead about the way what they were signing was going to be misprepresented.
This is quite surprising, since these groups and individuals have pretended to have no relationship with the other party of the trademark settlement agreement, in order to defame the AO in an attempt to violate the non-disparagement clause of that agreement, attempting to libel the Alpha Omega with impunity by using prohibited "back doors."
This proves beyond the shadow of any doubt the ongoing manipulation of the Golden Dawn community by these parties and their agents, who have now been outed behind the Witch Hunt against the Alpha Omega for two entire decades!
Today's Regardie Cult Manifesto, was published simutaneously on the same host of blogs and Yahoo fora that have been used over and over to attack the Alpha Omega with literally thousands of misrepresentations, ad hominum attacks, and other libelous statements for two entire decades.
Interestingly, both SRIA/OR+C defamation agent Peregrin Wildoak and anti-Pagan OR+C founder and Grand Officer, Nick Farrell, each today misrepresented the Regardie Cult Manifesto, as follows:
Peregrin Wildoak wrote:"The mass celebration also shows the depth and collegiate spirit of the Golden Dawn community. The folk listed below are simply a small representation of the community, showing a diverse range of interests, backgrounds and Orders."
Actually, the Regardie Cult Manifesto shows only the reconstrtuctionist faction of the Golden Dawn community and inextricably links to said party - all those who have feigned independence in their constant misrepresentation and defamation attacks on the Alpha Omega.
Nick Farrell, wrote:"IF YOU HEAR THAT THERE ARE FLAME WARS BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE GOLDEN DAWN, YOU MIGHT WANT TO LOOK AT THIS LIST. THEN YOU WOULD REALISE THAT HOW MANY OF THE MODERN GOLDEN DAWN ORDERS ARE WORKING TOGETHER AND ARE FRIENDLY." ACTUALLY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE NON-GD AUTHORS AND THEIR WIVES, THE REGARDIE CULT MANIFESTO IS SIGNED BY ALL ONE GROUP: THE OTHER PARTY OF THE TRADEMARK AGREEMENT and their "de facto" licensees who have feigned "independence" in attacking our order, but have been now been conclusively linked together in the Regardie Cult Manifesto.
This is a great breakthrough in ending the Golden Dawn Witch Hunt against the Alpha Omega as it LEGALLY proves who has been behind the libel and defamation all along, in clear violation of signed agreements as well as of applicable laws.
The Dark hand of the racist SRIA, and the anti-Pagan and anti-Semitic OR+C, together with the other party of the settlement agreement, have now all been conclusively linked - not only to all of the public blogs and fora attacking the Alpha Omega continuously now for two decades, but - as pointed out by GH Frater SR above - also to the ANONYMOUS blogs that have attacked our order for 20 years with the most vile defamatoin imaginable. Moreover, in addition to their defamatory propaganda, the hypocrisy of these parties feigning to "condemn flame war" has been fully exposed as well.
Finally, why have Nick Farrell, and leaders of the other party STILL not spoken out to explain why they are founders and Grand Officers of the anti-Pagan, anti-Semitic, segregationist Order of the Rose and Cross?
Despite an avalanche of red herrings, the silence is deafening!
II. TRUTH! IS THERE AN "ISRAEL REGARDIE" GOLDEN DAWN LINEAGE?
The publications of Israel Regardie have engendered a host of modern, American groups on the Internet calling themselves "Golden Dawn," but having no connection to the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in Europe in 1888. These groups have created a Golden Dawn political and religious cult of personality centered around the person of Israel Regardie.
The teachings of these Regardie-based groups derive almost without fail, entirely from the Golden Dawn material published by Israel Regardie, which dead-ends partially through the Adeptus Minor (5=6) level. In a desperate move to give themselves an air of legitimacy, certain Regardie-based groups have deliberately created a myth of a "Regardie Golden Dawn lineage." Such a notion, however, is highly problematic.
Israel Regardie knew that he had no authority to initiate or grant a charter to anyone and honestly admitted this on numerous occasions, as for example in the attached letter. To begin with, Regardie was never even initiated in the Golden Dawn but rather only in the schismatic Stella Matutina, founded by former Golden Dawn Adept turned rogue, R.W. Felkin. Moreover, Regardie was never granted dispensation to initiate anyone by the G.H. Chiefs of the Stella Matutina and certainly had no authority to grant any sort of charter or even to consecrate a Vault of the Adepti.
Fully aware of these facts, and although he had no authority or lineage to do so, Israel Regardie nonetheless did consecrate a Vault of the Adepti in 1982 in order to initiate his student, Cris Monnastre, into the Adeptus Minor (5=6) grade. The highly misleading Manifesto on reconstructionist blogs and fora today was celebrating the anniversary of this event.
Regardie's publications, together provided fertile soil for a myth of a "Regardie Golden Dawn lineage" to be deliberately cultivated by certain Regardie-based groups under the control of the "Christians only" SRIA and OR+C following Regardie's death. It should be noted that, in his life, Regardie only had four studenats. These were Cris Monnastre, William Kennedy, Larry Epperson, and Alan Miller (Christopher Hyatt). Regardie never endorsed any "Regardie-based" Golden Dawn group or order, although this imprimatur has been putatively and groundlessly claimed by a variety of organizations following his death, including those listed on the "Regardie Cult Manifesto" published today.
One could potentially argue with some legitimacy that Israel Regardie has become the progenitor of his own occult school with its own lineage deriving exclusively from Israel Regardie, as is the case with numerous lineages deriving from teachers in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism in the East. In this limited sense, the Regardie-based groups could perhaps honestly claim a "Regardie lineage." Dishonesty enters and public confusion arises, however, when Regardie-based groups deliberately attempt to conflate such a "Regardie lineage" with a "Golden Dawn" lineage, which by his own clear admission, was never Regardie's to bestow. Here are Israel Regardie's own words in this regard:
"You have my blessing - - which is all I can give you. I have no authority, you must remember, I am simply the editor of the Golden Dawn material. Beyond that, I am nothing whatsoever." - Israel RegardieHere is a facsimile of the entire letter from Israel Regardie setting the record straight himself - that he had no Golden Dawn lineage or authority whatsoever to transmit to anyone. Those who are building a political and religious cult of personality around Regardie have no real basis for this, according to Regardie's own words!
BY G.H. FRATER S.R.
Donald Michael Kraig recently wrote:
"Recently there have been a spate of attacks on Regardie's book as being incomplete or not "the real stuff" leading to new books and claims by individuals to have received new information from the Secret Chiefs...In my opinion, these claims and counterclaims all miss the point. Real magick is not about some new secret ritual, an alternate correspondence on the Tree of Life or a variation on a well-known ritual that changes a word or two. Real magick is about what you do with what you have. And with Regardie's book, you have a lifetime of training and learning and practice...I've known some people who have tried to figure out the Golden Dawn and its techniques and given up in disgust, saying it was too complicated (complex, yes, but once you understand the complexities it's not complicated at all). Alternatively I've known people who say that it's too simple, but who have never ventured into the third or fourth volumes. I've also known people who have literally reversed important aspects of the rituals, knew they were doing this, but claimed they were doing Golden Dawn work. And, as mentioned above, others claim what's there isn't enough and are "receiving" new, more advanced information. I imagine some of these people will attack me for what I've posted here, and that's okay."(For the benefit of the uninformed reader, Donald Michael Kraig is well known in the Golden Dawn community as an initiate of a Regardie-based Golden Dawn order founded in Georgia by an OTO member/Lewellyn author in the early 1980's. Kraig's Golden Dawn statements frequently so closely resemble the positions of this order that Kraig often appears its de facto spokesperson.)
Care Frater Don,
Who is it exactly that has been "attacking" Israel Regardie's book? Is it, in your opinion, not possible for our two orders to disagree on fundamental philosophical points about the Golden Dawn, without the need to resort to calling philosophical disagreements "attacks"?
Personally, I fully embrace diversity in our Golden Dawn community and view both philosophical disagreement and scholarly debate as not only positive but as actually helping the Golden Dawn tradition to continue to grow and evolve. As brothers from different Golden Dawn orders, can we not agree to disagree without feeling attacked or wagging fingers at one another making wild accusations?
Has the time not come to leave behind old wounds for the good of the Golden Dawn community? - instead of merely not mentioning names while continuing to make sniping remarks?
Moving on to more important matters, I fully agree with you that Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn compendium is one of the most important books ever published. (I personally believe, however, that the Golden Dawn would have been better off today, had Regardie not broken his vows by publishing this material though).
You are correct that Regardie's Golden Dawn compendium contains so much magical material that normal people will never be able to fully master it. The book itself is certainly not incomplete. It accurately reflects the Golden Dawn as it was developed in 1888.
The fact, however, nonetheless remains that the Golden Dawn as it was then developed remained a truncated and incomplete system. The Golden Dawn was never intended to end at the relatively low, (5=6) Adeptus Minor level. The grade system is based on that of the Gold and Rosy Cross Order of 1777 Germany. You are well aware that the grades of the Second Order (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus were never fully developed by S.L. MacGregor Mathers. Whether you agree with this or not, the reason for this is that Mathers was cut off from his source - as the Secret Chiefs were not at all pleased with what he had done with the 5=6 material.
The net result of this is that there are a great many Golden Dawn Adepts today who were initiated into Adeptus Minor (5=6) long ago. Many of these are the best and the brightest among us in the Golden Dawn community. These Adepts have mastered the published Regardie material (that ends at this minor grade) long ago.
Some of these Adepts have even been initiated into Adeptus Major (6=5). But what did they find there? In most Golden Dawn orders, they either nothing at all - or merely something that their local leaders concocted themselves.
Should these Adepts - the best and the brightest among us - really remain forever stifled in their initiatic progress at Adeptus Minor?
I do not think so - and neither do the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega. This is why they have finally released the material for Adeptus Major and Adeptus Exemptus that they had originally intended to release through Mathers until he botched the Adeptus Minor.
These materials complete the magical developments that begin with 5=6. I have given one example already of how this is the case in my previous blog, regarding the magical squares deriving from Agrippa and how they are still cyphered as included in the (5=6) Adeptus Minor material of the Golden Dawn. The entire original system is now fully revealed in the (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus grades of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega.
As I mentioned earlier, I believe diversity is a very good thing in the Golden Dawn community. If someone is looking for the personal ideas of Pat Zalewski, his order provides a valuable contribution to our community. If someone is looking for a personality cult centered around Israel Regardie, they can also find that in our Golden Dawn community too. The great news, however, is that if Adepts are looking for traditional Golden Dawn training that completes what they started learning in the (5=6) Adeptus Minor grade, the Alpha Omega is now making this material available to our Golden Dawn community for the first time in history as well.
I must admit that I am a bit surprised at how much venom has been aroused by this joyous new, however. Judging from all of the buzz on the internet, especially on certain Yahoo fora, one would think that the old Golden Dawn flame war had reared its ugly head again.
Rest assured that the A.O. is not trying to lord anything over anyone. We are actually performing a valuable service to the entire Golden Dawn community by making this advanced material available to all of the brightest and best among us - assuming that they can fulfill the same traditional requirements that have been in place since 1888 - and are willing once and for all to keep vows of initiatic secrecy inviolate.
One thing that has surprised me in this entire discussion has been that so many Golden Dawn leaders have come out saying that they do not believe that MacGregor Mathers really met in person with the Secret Chiefs in Paris in 1891 as Mathers himself plainly stated. These individuals are in for a big surprise in years to come, since the advanced teachings are very real and will ultimately be verified by Adepts from a cross section of the entire Golden Dawn community.
Meanwhile, the even the radical reconstructionist Golden Dawn faction is already finding it more and more difficult, in light of serious new academic research, to dismiss Mathers own statements regarding his physical meeting with the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order in Paris in 1891. The cynics and the sceptics in the Golden Dawn community apparently have not read the latest academic research on the subject. I quote from page 159, "William Blake e William Butler Yeats, by Arianna Antonielli (2009: BILIOTECA DI STUDI DI FILOLOGIA MODERNA - Library of Studies in Modern Philology, Florence University Press, p. 159):"Nel 1891, Mathers viene chiamato a Parigi da un emissario dei misteriosi Capi Segreti del terzo ordine, a lui noto soltanto come Frater Lux E Tenebris. Guardiano delle tradizioni misteriche dei Sumeri, dei Caldei e degli Egiziani, Frater Lux E Tenebris deposita nelle mani di Mathers le chiavi per accedere a quella sapienza antica e segreta. Una volta a Londra, Mathers ha tutto ci`o di cui necessita per fondare, nel 1892, l'Ordine Interno o Secondo della Golden Dawn: una societ`a prettamente rosacruciana chiamata infatti 'RR+AC', Roseae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis."English translation:
"In 1891, Mathers was called to Paris by a mysterious emissary of the Secret Chiefs of the Third Order, known to him only as Frater Lux E Tenebris. Guardian of the mystery traditions of the Sumerians, the Babylonians and Egyptians, Frater Lux E Tenebris deposited in Mathers' hands the keys to access this ancient and secret wisdom. Once in London, Mathers has everything he needs to found in 1892, the Inner or Second Order of the Golden Dawn a purely Rosicrucian society called the 'RR + AC ', Roseae Rubeae et Aureae Cross. "Note that the above cited quote recently appeared not on a publisher's publicity blog, but rather in a highly respected academic journal.
Indeed, it is these self same Sumerian, Babylonian, and Egyptian initiatic mysteries that are now being further transmitted in (6=5) Adeptus Major and (7=4) Adeptus Exemptus grades of the Inner Order the Alpha et Omega.
