Post by Rik Wallin on Apr 5, 2007 16:35:19 GMT -6
THE MANIFESTO OF THE
NOVUS ORDO AUREAE AURORA
Issued by the
Thelemic Order and Temple
of the Golden Dawn
In Association with
New Falcon Publications and
the Israel Regardie Foundation, Inc.
By Sir David Cherubim
(Frater Superior Chief)
Copyright (C) 1991 e.v.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
In the Exalted Name of the Sun Ra-Hoor, and by His Mighty
and Supreme Benediction of Force and Fire: May His Great Light
of Power be upon you all, so that in each of your hands may be
positioned the One Flaming Sword of His Omnipotent Strength and
Might, and so that you may become free warriors of Our Lord the
Sun in our most holy and exalted army of free and courageous men
and women, which most exalted army we know under the chosen name
of the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora, which is unlike the Old Order
insofar as that its Ceremonies and Teachings are dedicated to the
ssential and inevitable establishment of the Law of Thelema
which is the Law of the New Aeon. The Old Order of the Golden
Dawn, which was organized in the Old Aeon of Osiris, was
subjected to the awful restrictions and limitations of the past,
whereas the New Order of the Golden Dawn is free from the fetters
of the Old Age of Restriction, and its Great Work is the Liberty
of every individual in the Dawning Light of the Rising Sun of
this New Aeon of Horus.
Members of the New Order of the Golden Dawn constitute a
Religious Body of Free Warriors who, by their might and skill,
seek to extend the Dominion of the Law of Thelema upon earth. The
New Order seeks to make fit its members for the Great War of
Horus which is now made manifest in the world of men and women.
Our Lord of the New Aeon is a God of War; but the War of Horus is
not, in essence, an outer war between nations of men and women;
rather is the War of Horus a personal battle for freedom, an
individual means to establish the New Law of the New Aeon, to
emancipate ourselves from the Old Ways of Restriction and to
flame forth free with Light and Liberty as mighty stars on our
own celestial orbits. The Weapon of Horus, symbolizing War, is
the Sword which indicates the active and militant force of the
Magician or the dynamic energy of his True Will. Members of the
New Order are instructed in the magical use of the Sword of
Horus; in other words, they are instructed in the Magick of the
Will by which they achieve their individual victory and conquer
all things in their personal battle for freedom.
The magical doctrine of the New Order of the Golden Dawn
asserts that every man and every woman has a course in life, just
as every star has its own orbit, and that the duty of each person
is to pursue his own course, just as every star must move in its
own orbit. This magical doctrine of the Science of Stars further
states that we have no other right but to do our own Wills, to
fulfil our own destinies; and that any deviation from this path
is a direct violation of the Law of Thelema which is the Law of
Liberty. When we really know and do our Wills we are absolutely
free within the necessary limits fixed by our own inherited
destinies; but as long as we are ignorant of our own Wills we are
not in harmony with the Universe and we become slaves of a false
fate wroght by nothing! Liberty is the essential cause behind
the manifestation of all existence: everything is born to be
free; everything lives to be free. Knowing one's True Will, and
executing that supreme knowledge, is what makes a man free, while
ignorance of the True Will goes against the actual current of the
Universe and leads to awful restriction.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is a Thelemic Academy of
the New Aeon which seeks to instruct all its members in the
Spirit of Liberty. All forms of instruction within our New
Order's programme for initiation are wholly devoted to that
essential task. As a matter of fact, all initiated members of our
New Order of Thelema are bound by a Great Oathof Magick which
aims at the complete and sole dedication of their lives to the
exercise of the Law of Liberty and its essential unfoldment in
the ineluctable scheme of divine evolution. The sole aim of
the New Order is the perfect constitution and most exalted
accomplishment of the Great Work of this New Aeon of Horus. Its
one destination is absolute freedom in Light!
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is a Thelemic Body of
Initiates who are dedicated to the magical development of a New
Race of free men and women who are consecrated to the Law of
Thelema, to establish the New Kingdom of Horus upon earth.
Members of the New Order are pledged to assist in the dynamic
creation and essential esablishment of a New Civilization
governed by the Law of the New Aeon. The Law is for all; thus
members do not concern themselves with initiating a selected few;
they concern themselves with the initiation of all mankind; and
those who are initiates of the New Order are obligated to that
grand task by way of the development of their own individual
freedom; their principal work is to uphold that obligation by
fulfilling the Law itself, that is, by doing their own True Will.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is a Royal Academy of the
Magick of Light, dedicated to the works of Scientific Illuminism,
whose method is Science and whose aim is Religion. Its chief
methods or principles of discipline are scientific and occult
research, practical mysticism, ceremonial magick and tantric
alkhemi. It derives its wisdom from various Eastern and Western
religious sources. It reflects and concentrates the Wisdom of the
Ages, and it seeks to illumine all its earnest members in that
Supreme Truth.
Now just as the Spirit of Wisdom is an eternal fact of the
Universe, so is the essence of the New Order of the Golden Dawn a
timeless reality. The Order is new only insofar as that its
Ceremonies and Teachings are not of the same type as that of the
Old School, so that its body is resurrected into a new splendid
form. In the Old School men were instructed to bend their knees
and to sacrifice themselves like slaves on a cross of suffering.
But in the New School men are instructed to bend their knees to
neither man nor god, and they are initiated into the Supreme
Truth that there is no god but Man. The cross of suffering is now
a Cross ofJoy, and the false idea of sacrifice is abolished for
ever from the Philosophy of the Order of the Golden Dawn.
Since there is only One Order in the Whole Universe, it is a
fundamental truth that the New Order of the Golden Dawn is of the
same category as that One Order in essence; but its external
rites and teachings are unique and not of the same category as
that of other external schools of the Mysteries. In essence it is
the True and Invisible Order of the Rosicrucians, that is, it is
the True Community of the Elect, or the Invisible Society of the
Secret Brotherhood of Initiates; but its philosophy has naught to
do with Christian mythology nor does it have aught to do with the
fable of hristian Rosenkreutz. It is, on the contrary, the
transformation of these mythical fairy tales and superstitions
into the sublime light of scientific and spiritual truth.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn has seven principal grades
which compose three groups, the Orders of the S.'. S.'., of the
R.'. C.'., and of the G.'. D.'. respectively. These three groups
constitute the whole of the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora, that is,
the New Order of the Golden Dawn. Before a candidate can
progress on the Tree of Initiation, by proper advancement into
the following seven grades, he must first endure the trials and
tribulations of the probationary grade of a Neophyte (0 Degree).
The following is a listingof the grades of the Novus Ordo Aureae
Aurora in their proper groups.
The Order of the S.'. S.'.
Ipsissimus ......................... 7th Degree
Magus .............................. 6th Degree
Magister Templi .................... 5th Degree
The Order of the R.'. C.'.
(Babe of the Abyss -- the link)
Adeptus Exemptus ................... 4th Degree
Adeptus Major ...................... 3rd Degree
Adeptus Minor ...................... 2nd Degree
The Order of the G.'. D.'.
(Dominus Liminis -- the link)
Zelator ............................ 1st Degree
Neophyte ........................... 0 Degree
The Ceremonies of the New Order have been constructed to
accord with the revolutionary and dynamic principles of The Book
of the Law, and they are solely designed to instruct the
Candidate in the Mysteries of Thelema, for the accomplishment of
his True Will, and for the supreme attainment of the Knowledge
and Conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel. The Rising God of
the New Temple is Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child, born
from the past Aeons of Isis and Osiris. Horus is a god of Liberty
and Life, unlike Osiris who was a god of Restriction and Death.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is not bound to the ways of the
Old Aeon, but is determined to establish the Law of the New Aeon
as expounded in The Book of the Law. The Order of the Golden Dawn
now embraces and upholds the Law of Thelema and seeks to extend
that Law in the world, to establish the New Kingdom of Horus upon
earth. The Old Temple has been transformed into a New Temple for
Our Lord Horus to indwell, that the Great Work of the New Aeon
may be accomplished in His Name.
Members of the New Order of the Golden Dawn are dedicated to
the magical task of establishing on earth, with practical
business way, the revolutionary and dynamic principles of The
Book of the Law. They accept The Book of the Law as their sole
Rule of Life, and they are consecrated to the Spirit of that book
and to the Word which it proclaims. The Book of the Law is a
revelation of paramount importance; it is the Supreme Link to the
Great White Brotherhood, by which we may participate in the
excellent knowledgeand lofty administration of the Great Work.
In The Book of the Law, I: 40, Nuit, Our Lady of the Stars
proclaims, "Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look
but close into the word. For there are therein Three Grades, the
Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt
shall be the whole of the Law." The first Grade referred to is
the Man of Earth Triad which concerns the lesser mysteries of the
Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora, which is, properly speaking, the First
Order of the degrees of the Neophyte, Zelator and Dominus
Liminis; the next Grade is the Lovers Triad which concerns the
mysteries of the Novus Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, which
is the Second Order of thedegrees of the Adeptus Minor, Adeptus
Major, and Adeptus Exemptus; and the next Grade is the Hermit
Triad which concerns the mysteries of the Novus Ordo Astrum
Argentinum, which is the Third Order of the degrees of the
Magister Templi, Magus, and Ipsissimus.
In The Book of the Law, I: 50, Our Lady Nuit further
proclaims, "There is a word to say about the Hierophantic task.
Behold! there are three ordeals in one, and it may be given in
three ways. The gross must pass through fire; let the fine be
tried in intellect, and the lofty chosen ones in the highest.
Thus ye have star & star, system & system; let not one know well
the other." Members of the Man of Earth Triad are the gross who
must pss through the fire of initiation by suitable tests of
purification, consecration and preparation. Members of the Lovers
Triad are the fine who must be tried in matters pertaining to the
intellect. Members of the Hermit Triad are the lofty chosen ones
in the highest, the elect of the A.'. A.'., who endure the
supreme spiritual tests and ordeals of the Most Holy Order of the
A.'. A.'., that is, the Order of the Silver Star.
The First Order of the Man of Earth Grade is known as the
Outer College of the A.'. A.'., and this Outer College teaches
the Lesser Mysteries of Nature. The Second Order of the Lovers
Grade is known as the Inner College of the A.'. A.'.; it is
further known as the College of the Holy Ghost (Collegia ad
Spiritum Sanctum), and this Inner College of the Holy Ghost
concentrates and expounds the Greater Mysteries of Nature. The
Third Order of the Hermit Grade is known as the Secret College of
the A.'. A.'., which is above and beyond the outer and the inner.
The grade of Zelator is the stage of Birth; Dominus Liminis
is the stage of Puberty; the grade of Adeptus Minor is the stage
of Life; the grade of Adeptus Major is the stage of Death; and
the grade of Adeptus Exemptus is the stage of Life after Death.
The Babe of the Abyss is beyond all these. The other grades of
Magister Templi, Magus, and Ipsissimus pertain to stages beyond
man's power to comprehend; they are spiritual experiences of the
most exalted type and cannot be defined by human philosophic
terms. The Third Order of the A.'. A.'. is beyond man's power to
know; he must experience a different species of consciousness to
Understand what is eyond knowledge, to commune with the
Invisible Masters, to attain true Wisdom, and to be crowned with
the Celestial Light of the Dawning Aeon of Horus.
The Neophyte is further called a Probationer; the Zelator is
further called a Magician; and a Dominus Liminis is further
called an Advanced Magician. The Adeptus Minor is further called
the Adept Magician; the Adeptus Major is further called the
Master Magician; and a member of the Adeptus Exemptus grade is
further called a Perfect Magician. The Magister Templi is also
known as the Most Excellent Master; the Magus as the Most Exalted
Magician; and the Ipsissimus as the Most Illuminated One.
The seven grades of the New Order correspond wih the seven
Chakkras of Yoga, the seven ancient Planets of Astrology and the
seven sacred Metals of Alkhemi. They also correspond with the
seven principal Sephiroth of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. It must
be noted here that Malkuth (Earth) is the synthesis of the three
Elemental Sephiroth of Yesod (Air), Hod (Water) and Netzach
(Fire). In Malkuth these three Sephiroth are the particular
energies which constitute its form. Thus in Malkuth is
concentrated the elemental powers which the Zelator is obligated
to master by way of exercising the Magical Powers of the Sphinx.
A perfected Zelator, who has completed his course of training, is
further called a Theoricus, Practicus and Philosophus. The
Thelemi Ceremony of the Zelator of the New Golden Dawn confers
initiation into the Mysteries of the Four Elements represented by
the Four Qabalistic Sephiroth below the Sephira of Tiphareth.
The symbol of the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora is a Gold Cross
of Equal Arms surmounted by an upright White Triangle. The Cross
itself represents the four grades of Zelator, Adeptus Minor,
Adeptus Major and Adeptus Exemptus. The White Triangle represents
the three higher grades above the Abyss which separates man and
god, and which none may pass but they who are free of self,
unidentified with their human ego. Yet this work is only for the
few, and not all may partake of these Higher Mysteries at this
time in the corse of cosmic evolution. In Alkhemical terminology
the Cross represents the Four Elements of Fire, Water, Air and
Earth; the Triangle represents the Three Principles of Sulphur,
Salt and Mercury. The Cross further represents the four Elemental
Chakkras called Muladhara, Svadhistthana, Manipura, and Anahata;
the Triangle represents the three higher Chakkras called
Vishuddhi, Ajna and Sahasrara. The special number of this symbol
is seven, referring to the seven principal Forces of Nature which
are represented by the seven ancient Planets of Astrology, the
seven Chakkras or Centres of Prana in Yoga, and the seven Sacred
Metals of Alkhemi. These seven principal Forces of Nature are
represented in the Thelemic Ceremony of the Zelator by seven
Officers in the Temple, of which three are greater and four
lesser. As Officers in this Ceremony, they act as human
representatives of those seven holy Forces to duly initiate a
Neophyte as a Zelator in the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora.
THE FIRST ORDER
OF THE MAN OF EARTH TRIAD
(Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora)
NEOPHYTE
Neophyte. -- His principal business is to discover his own
True Will, and to begin to obtain the knowledge and control of
the nature and powers of his own being. He is further to begin to
devote himself to the essential acquisition and performance of
the Four Powers of the Sphinx, that is, to Know, to Dare, to Will
and to Keep Silence, so that he may become genuinely fit for his
initiation. He is further to devote himself to the study and
practice of such things as he may deem fit for te cultivation of
his magical aspirations to the Higher Life of Thelema.
The Neophyte grade has no real correspondence with a
Chakkra, Planet or Metal. Muladhara, the Root Chakkra, is only an
approximation of its nature. It is purely a probationary grade
without any reference to a Sephira on the Tree of Life. It is a
stage of inner trial, when the Candidate's devotion to the Great
Work is tested by the Secret Guardians of the Mysteries. It is
the key to the higher initiations.
ZELATOR
Zelator. -- His principal business is to perform his True
Will in the world of men and women. Zelator is the name of a
"zealous student". It is the title of the assistan of an
Alkhemist who must keep the fire burning in the Athanor or
Alkhemical Furnace. The Alkhemist of the operation is the Inner
Self, the Athanor is the human body, and the Fire is the sacred
flame of the True Will. The Zelator must keep this Fire burning
in his body and brain, by constant dedication of himself to the
Great Work of performing his True Will, that he may fulfil the
Law of Thelema. The Zelator grade of the New Order of the Golden
Dawn contains within its formulae the initiation of the Neophyte
into the Mysteries of the Four Elements, so that the Zelator may
ascend up the Tree of Life to Tiphareth without having to undergo
the common initiations of Yesod (Air), Hod (Water), and Netzach(Fire). Malkuth,
the Sephira of the Zelator grade, is the Sphere
of Earth, which is the synthesis of Air, Water, and Fire.
The Zelator grade refers to Malkuth, the Tenth Sephira on
the Tree of Life. Its corresponding Yoga Chakkra is Muladhara,
the Lotus of four petals. Its corresponding ancient planet is
Saturn, and its alkhemical metal is Lead.
NOVUS ORDO AUREAE AURORA
Issued by the
Thelemic Order and Temple
of the Golden Dawn
In Association with
New Falcon Publications and
the Israel Regardie Foundation, Inc.
By Sir David Cherubim
(Frater Superior Chief)
Copyright (C) 1991 e.v.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
In the Exalted Name of the Sun Ra-Hoor, and by His Mighty
and Supreme Benediction of Force and Fire: May His Great Light
of Power be upon you all, so that in each of your hands may be
positioned the One Flaming Sword of His Omnipotent Strength and
Might, and so that you may become free warriors of Our Lord the
Sun in our most holy and exalted army of free and courageous men
and women, which most exalted army we know under the chosen name
of the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora, which is unlike the Old Order
insofar as that its Ceremonies and Teachings are dedicated to the
ssential and inevitable establishment of the Law of Thelema
which is the Law of the New Aeon. The Old Order of the Golden
Dawn, which was organized in the Old Aeon of Osiris, was
subjected to the awful restrictions and limitations of the past,
whereas the New Order of the Golden Dawn is free from the fetters
of the Old Age of Restriction, and its Great Work is the Liberty
of every individual in the Dawning Light of the Rising Sun of
this New Aeon of Horus.
Members of the New Order of the Golden Dawn constitute a
Religious Body of Free Warriors who, by their might and skill,
seek to extend the Dominion of the Law of Thelema upon earth. The
New Order seeks to make fit its members for the Great War of
Horus which is now made manifest in the world of men and women.
Our Lord of the New Aeon is a God of War; but the War of Horus is
not, in essence, an outer war between nations of men and women;
rather is the War of Horus a personal battle for freedom, an
individual means to establish the New Law of the New Aeon, to
emancipate ourselves from the Old Ways of Restriction and to
flame forth free with Light and Liberty as mighty stars on our
own celestial orbits. The Weapon of Horus, symbolizing War, is
the Sword which indicates the active and militant force of the
Magician or the dynamic energy of his True Will. Members of the
New Order are instructed in the magical use of the Sword of
Horus; in other words, they are instructed in the Magick of the
Will by which they achieve their individual victory and conquer
all things in their personal battle for freedom.
The magical doctrine of the New Order of the Golden Dawn
asserts that every man and every woman has a course in life, just
as every star has its own orbit, and that the duty of each person
is to pursue his own course, just as every star must move in its
own orbit. This magical doctrine of the Science of Stars further
states that we have no other right but to do our own Wills, to
fulfil our own destinies; and that any deviation from this path
is a direct violation of the Law of Thelema which is the Law of
Liberty. When we really know and do our Wills we are absolutely
free within the necessary limits fixed by our own inherited
destinies; but as long as we are ignorant of our own Wills we are
not in harmony with the Universe and we become slaves of a false
fate wroght by nothing! Liberty is the essential cause behind
the manifestation of all existence: everything is born to be
free; everything lives to be free. Knowing one's True Will, and
executing that supreme knowledge, is what makes a man free, while
ignorance of the True Will goes against the actual current of the
Universe and leads to awful restriction.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is a Thelemic Academy of
the New Aeon which seeks to instruct all its members in the
Spirit of Liberty. All forms of instruction within our New
Order's programme for initiation are wholly devoted to that
essential task. As a matter of fact, all initiated members of our
New Order of Thelema are bound by a Great Oathof Magick which
aims at the complete and sole dedication of their lives to the
exercise of the Law of Liberty and its essential unfoldment in
the ineluctable scheme of divine evolution. The sole aim of
the New Order is the perfect constitution and most exalted
accomplishment of the Great Work of this New Aeon of Horus. Its
one destination is absolute freedom in Light!
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is a Thelemic Body of
Initiates who are dedicated to the magical development of a New
Race of free men and women who are consecrated to the Law of
Thelema, to establish the New Kingdom of Horus upon earth.
Members of the New Order are pledged to assist in the dynamic
creation and essential esablishment of a New Civilization
governed by the Law of the New Aeon. The Law is for all; thus
members do not concern themselves with initiating a selected few;
they concern themselves with the initiation of all mankind; and
those who are initiates of the New Order are obligated to that
grand task by way of the development of their own individual
freedom; their principal work is to uphold that obligation by
fulfilling the Law itself, that is, by doing their own True Will.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is a Royal Academy of the
Magick of Light, dedicated to the works of Scientific Illuminism,
whose method is Science and whose aim is Religion. Its chief
methods or principles of discipline are scientific and occult
research, practical mysticism, ceremonial magick and tantric
alkhemi. It derives its wisdom from various Eastern and Western
religious sources. It reflects and concentrates the Wisdom of the
Ages, and it seeks to illumine all its earnest members in that
Supreme Truth.
Now just as the Spirit of Wisdom is an eternal fact of the
Universe, so is the essence of the New Order of the Golden Dawn a
timeless reality. The Order is new only insofar as that its
Ceremonies and Teachings are not of the same type as that of the
Old School, so that its body is resurrected into a new splendid
form. In the Old School men were instructed to bend their knees
and to sacrifice themselves like slaves on a cross of suffering.
But in the New School men are instructed to bend their knees to
neither man nor god, and they are initiated into the Supreme
Truth that there is no god but Man. The cross of suffering is now
a Cross ofJoy, and the false idea of sacrifice is abolished for
ever from the Philosophy of the Order of the Golden Dawn.
Since there is only One Order in the Whole Universe, it is a
fundamental truth that the New Order of the Golden Dawn is of the
same category as that One Order in essence; but its external
rites and teachings are unique and not of the same category as
that of other external schools of the Mysteries. In essence it is
the True and Invisible Order of the Rosicrucians, that is, it is
the True Community of the Elect, or the Invisible Society of the
Secret Brotherhood of Initiates; but its philosophy has naught to
do with Christian mythology nor does it have aught to do with the
fable of hristian Rosenkreutz. It is, on the contrary, the
transformation of these mythical fairy tales and superstitions
into the sublime light of scientific and spiritual truth.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn has seven principal grades
which compose three groups, the Orders of the S.'. S.'., of the
R.'. C.'., and of the G.'. D.'. respectively. These three groups
constitute the whole of the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora, that is,
the New Order of the Golden Dawn. Before a candidate can
progress on the Tree of Initiation, by proper advancement into
the following seven grades, he must first endure the trials and
tribulations of the probationary grade of a Neophyte (0 Degree).
The following is a listingof the grades of the Novus Ordo Aureae
Aurora in their proper groups.
The Order of the S.'. S.'.
Ipsissimus ......................... 7th Degree
Magus .............................. 6th Degree
Magister Templi .................... 5th Degree
The Order of the R.'. C.'.
(Babe of the Abyss -- the link)
Adeptus Exemptus ................... 4th Degree
Adeptus Major ...................... 3rd Degree
Adeptus Minor ...................... 2nd Degree
The Order of the G.'. D.'.
(Dominus Liminis -- the link)
Zelator ............................ 1st Degree
Neophyte ........................... 0 Degree
The Ceremonies of the New Order have been constructed to
accord with the revolutionary and dynamic principles of The Book
of the Law, and they are solely designed to instruct the
Candidate in the Mysteries of Thelema, for the accomplishment of
his True Will, and for the supreme attainment of the Knowledge
and Conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel. The Rising God of
the New Temple is Horus, the Crowned and Conquering Child, born
from the past Aeons of Isis and Osiris. Horus is a god of Liberty
and Life, unlike Osiris who was a god of Restriction and Death.
The New Order of the Golden Dawn is not bound to the ways of the
Old Aeon, but is determined to establish the Law of the New Aeon
as expounded in The Book of the Law. The Order of the Golden Dawn
now embraces and upholds the Law of Thelema and seeks to extend
that Law in the world, to establish the New Kingdom of Horus upon
earth. The Old Temple has been transformed into a New Temple for
Our Lord Horus to indwell, that the Great Work of the New Aeon
may be accomplished in His Name.
Members of the New Order of the Golden Dawn are dedicated to
the magical task of establishing on earth, with practical
business way, the revolutionary and dynamic principles of The
Book of the Law. They accept The Book of the Law as their sole
Rule of Life, and they are consecrated to the Spirit of that book
and to the Word which it proclaims. The Book of the Law is a
revelation of paramount importance; it is the Supreme Link to the
Great White Brotherhood, by which we may participate in the
excellent knowledgeand lofty administration of the Great Work.
In The Book of the Law, I: 40, Nuit, Our Lady of the Stars
proclaims, "Who calls us Thelemites will do no wrong, if he look
but close into the word. For there are therein Three Grades, the
Hermit, and the Lover, and the man of Earth. Do what thou wilt
shall be the whole of the Law." The first Grade referred to is
the Man of Earth Triad which concerns the lesser mysteries of the
Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora, which is, properly speaking, the First
Order of the degrees of the Neophyte, Zelator and Dominus
Liminis; the next Grade is the Lovers Triad which concerns the
mysteries of the Novus Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, which
is the Second Order of thedegrees of the Adeptus Minor, Adeptus
Major, and Adeptus Exemptus; and the next Grade is the Hermit
Triad which concerns the mysteries of the Novus Ordo Astrum
Argentinum, which is the Third Order of the degrees of the
Magister Templi, Magus, and Ipsissimus.
In The Book of the Law, I: 50, Our Lady Nuit further
proclaims, "There is a word to say about the Hierophantic task.
Behold! there are three ordeals in one, and it may be given in
three ways. The gross must pass through fire; let the fine be
tried in intellect, and the lofty chosen ones in the highest.
Thus ye have star & star, system & system; let not one know well
the other." Members of the Man of Earth Triad are the gross who
must pss through the fire of initiation by suitable tests of
purification, consecration and preparation. Members of the Lovers
Triad are the fine who must be tried in matters pertaining to the
intellect. Members of the Hermit Triad are the lofty chosen ones
in the highest, the elect of the A.'. A.'., who endure the
supreme spiritual tests and ordeals of the Most Holy Order of the
A.'. A.'., that is, the Order of the Silver Star.
The First Order of the Man of Earth Grade is known as the
Outer College of the A.'. A.'., and this Outer College teaches
the Lesser Mysteries of Nature. The Second Order of the Lovers
Grade is known as the Inner College of the A.'. A.'.; it is
further known as the College of the Holy Ghost (Collegia ad
Spiritum Sanctum), and this Inner College of the Holy Ghost
concentrates and expounds the Greater Mysteries of Nature. The
Third Order of the Hermit Grade is known as the Secret College of
the A.'. A.'., which is above and beyond the outer and the inner.
The grade of Zelator is the stage of Birth; Dominus Liminis
is the stage of Puberty; the grade of Adeptus Minor is the stage
of Life; the grade of Adeptus Major is the stage of Death; and
the grade of Adeptus Exemptus is the stage of Life after Death.
The Babe of the Abyss is beyond all these. The other grades of
Magister Templi, Magus, and Ipsissimus pertain to stages beyond
man's power to comprehend; they are spiritual experiences of the
most exalted type and cannot be defined by human philosophic
terms. The Third Order of the A.'. A.'. is beyond man's power to
know; he must experience a different species of consciousness to
Understand what is eyond knowledge, to commune with the
Invisible Masters, to attain true Wisdom, and to be crowned with
the Celestial Light of the Dawning Aeon of Horus.
The Neophyte is further called a Probationer; the Zelator is
further called a Magician; and a Dominus Liminis is further
called an Advanced Magician. The Adeptus Minor is further called
the Adept Magician; the Adeptus Major is further called the
Master Magician; and a member of the Adeptus Exemptus grade is
further called a Perfect Magician. The Magister Templi is also
known as the Most Excellent Master; the Magus as the Most Exalted
Magician; and the Ipsissimus as the Most Illuminated One.
The seven grades of the New Order correspond wih the seven
Chakkras of Yoga, the seven ancient Planets of Astrology and the
seven sacred Metals of Alkhemi. They also correspond with the
seven principal Sephiroth of the Qabalistic Tree of Life. It must
be noted here that Malkuth (Earth) is the synthesis of the three
Elemental Sephiroth of Yesod (Air), Hod (Water) and Netzach
(Fire). In Malkuth these three Sephiroth are the particular
energies which constitute its form. Thus in Malkuth is
concentrated the elemental powers which the Zelator is obligated
to master by way of exercising the Magical Powers of the Sphinx.
A perfected Zelator, who has completed his course of training, is
further called a Theoricus, Practicus and Philosophus. The
Thelemi Ceremony of the Zelator of the New Golden Dawn confers
initiation into the Mysteries of the Four Elements represented by
the Four Qabalistic Sephiroth below the Sephira of Tiphareth.
The symbol of the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora is a Gold Cross
of Equal Arms surmounted by an upright White Triangle. The Cross
itself represents the four grades of Zelator, Adeptus Minor,
Adeptus Major and Adeptus Exemptus. The White Triangle represents
the three higher grades above the Abyss which separates man and
god, and which none may pass but they who are free of self,
unidentified with their human ego. Yet this work is only for the
few, and not all may partake of these Higher Mysteries at this
time in the corse of cosmic evolution. In Alkhemical terminology
the Cross represents the Four Elements of Fire, Water, Air and
Earth; the Triangle represents the Three Principles of Sulphur,
Salt and Mercury. The Cross further represents the four Elemental
Chakkras called Muladhara, Svadhistthana, Manipura, and Anahata;
the Triangle represents the three higher Chakkras called
Vishuddhi, Ajna and Sahasrara. The special number of this symbol
is seven, referring to the seven principal Forces of Nature which
are represented by the seven ancient Planets of Astrology, the
seven Chakkras or Centres of Prana in Yoga, and the seven Sacred
Metals of Alkhemi. These seven principal Forces of Nature are
represented in the Thelemic Ceremony of the Zelator by seven
Officers in the Temple, of which three are greater and four
lesser. As Officers in this Ceremony, they act as human
representatives of those seven holy Forces to duly initiate a
Neophyte as a Zelator in the Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora.
THE FIRST ORDER
OF THE MAN OF EARTH TRIAD
(Novus Ordo Aureae Aurora)
NEOPHYTE
Neophyte. -- His principal business is to discover his own
True Will, and to begin to obtain the knowledge and control of
the nature and powers of his own being. He is further to begin to
devote himself to the essential acquisition and performance of
the Four Powers of the Sphinx, that is, to Know, to Dare, to Will
and to Keep Silence, so that he may become genuinely fit for his
initiation. He is further to devote himself to the study and
practice of such things as he may deem fit for te cultivation of
his magical aspirations to the Higher Life of Thelema.
The Neophyte grade has no real correspondence with a
Chakkra, Planet or Metal. Muladhara, the Root Chakkra, is only an
approximation of its nature. It is purely a probationary grade
without any reference to a Sephira on the Tree of Life. It is a
stage of inner trial, when the Candidate's devotion to the Great
Work is tested by the Secret Guardians of the Mysteries. It is
the key to the higher initiations.
ZELATOR
Zelator. -- His principal business is to perform his True
Will in the world of men and women. Zelator is the name of a
"zealous student". It is the title of the assistan of an
Alkhemist who must keep the fire burning in the Athanor or
Alkhemical Furnace. The Alkhemist of the operation is the Inner
Self, the Athanor is the human body, and the Fire is the sacred
flame of the True Will. The Zelator must keep this Fire burning
in his body and brain, by constant dedication of himself to the
Great Work of performing his True Will, that he may fulfil the
Law of Thelema. The Zelator grade of the New Order of the Golden
Dawn contains within its formulae the initiation of the Neophyte
into the Mysteries of the Four Elements, so that the Zelator may
ascend up the Tree of Life to Tiphareth without having to undergo
the common initiations of Yesod (Air), Hod (Water), and Netzach(Fire). Malkuth,
the Sephira of the Zelator grade, is the Sphere
of Earth, which is the synthesis of Air, Water, and Fire.
The Zelator grade refers to Malkuth, the Tenth Sephira on
the Tree of Life. Its corresponding Yoga Chakkra is Muladhara,
the Lotus of four petals. Its corresponding ancient planet is
Saturn, and its alkhemical metal is Lead.