Wicca Teachings: The Golden Dawn And Religion

It is a widespread misunderstanding that the Golden Dawn completely disconnected from Religion. To pursue the Magical Path of Theurgy without taking Religion into strong consideration would not be only futile but also heavily disharmonious with the magical current of the Golden Dawn Tradition.

It is in the 0=0 Initiation and therefor also in the Z-Documents and the Cipher Manuscripts what the Sceptre of the Hegemon symbolizes: Religion, which guides and regulates life. In other words, Religion is a fundamentally improtant prerequisite to Magic and Theurgy in particular. Without taking the religious background of the hermetic Qabalah into consideration, the principle tought by this deeply mystical traditions become only a spiral of psycho phenomenal theories with no mystical depth at all. Also the deeply mystical Rosicrucian principles that are tought in the inner order will be absolutely meaningless if Religion is absent from the Adepts recollection. It would also be highly disrespectfull of our more ancient predecessors like Johannes Trithemius, Raimundus Lullus, Albertus Magnus, Nicolas Flamel etc. who were using their Religion into which they where deeply involved to rise from their state of humanness ionto the state of being able to write the extraoridnary papers and treatises that we draw our mystical knowledge until this day.

In todays world the term Religion has become alsmost a cursed word and many people have developed a quite harsh judgement towards anything religious. Such an attitude of resentment towards Religion is even worse than not taking it into consideration, because it will corrupt the deep mysticism of the Golden Dawn and for that matter all other Orders working in this tradition. The condescending view of certain Orders and and individuals concerning Religion usually stems from a disgruntled past experience with one ore more representatives of the religion in question. The step leading from being disappointed with a priest, mullah, lama etc. to disregarding or even hating a perticular oany religion is a very human step. However it is not worthy of an initiate of the Sacred Magic of Light. Also our modern humanist society is very proud of elevating Man to Godhood but debasing Religion to mere stupid superstition. Where humanism has brought many benefits for mankind, its dangers have yet to recognized and dealt with.

Religion is also not a state of mind reserved only for those poor uninitiated ones that still need the supersticious ideas of a church or monastery, for such a thinking is highly condescending and speaks of an ego problem of the respective initiate and of nothing else. Religion is also not something that one needs to grow out of for inspite of all spiritual development we are and remain human beings who need and exoteric Religion completing the esoteric Mysticism we find in our Orders. Religion is the tool and insignia of the Hegemon, of Ma'at who is the Goddess of the Neophyte Temple the very entity that brings us from Darkness to Light. And Religion is one of her principle emblems.