Other schools and traditions. Help finding a path.
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Hi all,
So i have been reading posts about correspondence schools and other initiatory magickal orders and there are a few that come up regularly and seem authentic and viable to someone looking to join and engage in a reliable and genuinely spiritually connected system/order. These are:BOTA - builders of the adytum
Fraternitas LVX Occulta - Fraternity of the hidden light
SOL - servants of the light
AS - Aurum SolisI am at a point where I would like to start more formal and structured work, however I don't feel ready to join the A A. So I'm looking for some recommendations or information on these groups from people who have a closer understanding/relationship with the organisations.
Also I am in Australia so this should be taken into account.
Orders change over time, and as the people running them and who are a part of them change. A lot of the posts I read are a little or a lot old so be nice to find some fresh insight and the scope of consideration to take into account how they stand and operate now. So with this and what i am and am not particularly interested in forms the main guide to my inquiry, and to recommendations and info.What I am not heaps interested in: complex gematria and an over reliance on hebrew/judaic pantheons, strong christian influences and flavour, Enochian, superiority complexes and overly large egos, too much theory and too little practical progress.
What I am interested in: Tarot, astral projection and work, alchemical symbolism, paganism, hermetic teachings and hermetic qabalah, the number seven, meditative techniques, honesty and humility.
I know some interests and disinterests are a tad contradictory, as many of them are quite co-mingled, but that's the nature of western mystery traditions it seems, and some lean one way more than others whilst still containing a sprinkling of most of them.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm really stuck on this and it is time to stop working on my own/without trustworthy correspondence, and bumbling my way through in a diffuse unstructured manner. -
I can only speak with first-hand experience of BOTA but I can recommend it (at least the first 5 courses), wholeheartedly. Especially with your professed preferences, it sounds like it would be an excellent path for you, based as it is on Tarot meditation and building everything else out from there via hermetic qabalah and alchemy.
There is a bit of a christian influence here and there but it's easily ignored or, better, understood in the context of "christ" as a state that any individual can achieve rather than as a particular jewish prophet of second temple era mythology. Any time that Jesus is mentioned in the lessons (I could probably count them on one hand) I just distilled the lesson and ignored the pseudo-history.
Don't know much about the other three except via literature published by their founders and members. Do they all have working temples in Australia?
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Hi Gnosomai,
Thank you for your input. It looks like the FLO may have an active temple/s as they have a dedicated Australian site and an Australian director of probationers. BOTA appears to be in a similar boat, with study groups throughout Australia and an Australian site. I've read on the forum about BOTA and FLO being somewhat similar but with FLO covering the BOTA coursework at a faster pace with the aim of moving towards initiation. This certainly has me leaning towards one of the two, and I hear nothing but good things about both of them. As it stands in my consideration at the moment it is a decision mostly between BOTA, FLO, and AS. I'm not sure if Aurum Solis does any in person ritual initiations or is based more on correspondence, but the website says they have Pronaos students here, but no houses. SOL has no lodges in Australia going by their website.
I am not too reppelled by judaeo-christian mythos, certainly there is much value in it, but also so much blood and ignorance, and it's hard to wring that out of it and make it holy again. I think this influence on me and the use of pagan pantheons and mythos is what keeps AS on my list and is really making this decision a hard one. But without any active temples here it might be too high a price to pay if I continued on with them, as travelling outside of Australia to get initiated is not an option now or in the foreseeable future.
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That being the case, I might recommend getting in touch with an actual person from the Australian FLO to pick their brain and ask any questions you might have. FLO does stem from the same tradition as BOTA so I would guess you'd be best served by selecting one or the other rather than one and then the other but I'm not clear on the overlap so an actual FLO member might be better able to help you there. I know there were one or two on these boards once upon a time. Not sure if they still are but maybe someone will pipe in at some point.
In case you haven't run across it elsewhere, here's the full list of BOTA courses to give you a sense of the scope of their path:
www.bota.org.nz/pdf/BOTA_Courses.pdf -
Yeah I did just that (get in contact with someone from the Aus FLO) and asked them some questions, including about the value and overlap that might be involved from embarking upon both the BOTA and FLO work. The coursework and material differs enough that there isn't a lot of overlap, and they are similar enough that they will work well together. So I'm leaning that way, especially considering they have an active initiating temple in my home town. Gonna read some of the Paul F. Case stuff I have on hand as well as some foundation documents of theirs and see where that takes me.
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Also there is Bardon, though it is an independant self initiation system, its exercices might help any hermetic practicionner. At the end of the day whatever system you practice, it is quantity and quality of practice wich matters. All truly hermetic systems are very good and you cant go wrong if it is in your path and you practice seriously.
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You haven't looked at Temple of Thelema? We have branches in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and New York City.
You can also become an at-large member, if you are able to travel to either Los Angeles or New York at least twice a year.93 93/93
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Hi Alice,
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately I do not live in the US, and can't afford to travel there either now or in the foreseeable future. Also despite a deep appreciation for the Thelemic cosmology/Mythos and the Law of Thelema itself, I do not recognise Crowley as a prophet, and so am hesitant to join a purely Thelemic group and path. Being in more direct contact with a group that feels good however, is more important to me than the paradigm that underlies it. To use a rather weird metahpor: Despite the differences in ice cream flavour this far from the farm, they all come from the same cow, and if the shop is readily accessible and is a nice place to eat, then I'll get my ice cream there and follow their recipe till the cow comes home. Which is pretty much what you were saying Hermes.
And so with all that being said the FLO seems the place for me. Time to get down to work on a double scoop cone.Thanks for the input peoples!