Greetings God brothers and God sisters!
Scarlet Imprint is now taking pre-orders for an awesome new book called:
At the Crossroads
This new anthology brings together authors and practitioners of various Afro-Caribbean and Western systems of occultism to compare notes on their traditions’ difference and, especially, similarities. From the Scarlet Imprint page:
At the crossroads the paths of magicians and worlds meet.
Grimoire and root workers, Hoodoo and Vodoun, Quimbanda and Ifa. A potent fusion is occurring, a second diaspora.At the Crossroads tells the stories of what happens when the Western Magical Tradition encounters the African Diaspora and Traditional religions, and vice versa. It is a mixing and a magic that speaks of a truly new world emerging.
My own offering to this brew is called Folk Traditions and the Solomonic Revival. The above quote, actually, is a fair description of exactly what my essay is about. I discuss the current cross-semination taking place between the modern Solomonic movement and various folks traditions – such as Santeria, Voodoo and Hoodoo. I briefly mention the relationship these traditions have shared in the past, and then explore the important impact such folk traditions are having upon the current understanding and practice of the medieval European grimoires.
And this goes far beyond the magick of Solomon, too. This movement reflects a relationship between Westerners and magick that was lost thousands of years ago, but which is now re-emerging and flourishing throughout every aspect of the occult revival. It is having an effect on everything from the Golden Dawn and Thelema to Wicca and Neopaganism. My essay, and Crossroads overall, gets right to the heart of this new movement and why it is so vastly important for all of us.
At the Crossroads is going to be a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand what exactly is happening to magick in the Western world in the 21st Century.
Zorge,
Aaron
Contents
Peter Grey – Preamble: Standing Still
Jake Stratton-Kent – Necromancy: the Role of the Dead in a Living Tradition
Aaron Leitch – Folk Traditions and the Solomonic Revival
Eric K Lerner – Eleggua; Eleggua’s Worlds (art)
Stephen Grasso – Open up the Gate
Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold – The Invisible City in the Realm of Mystery
Richard Ward – In the Shadow of the Cross
Drac Uber & Ivy Kerrigan – Libations for the Lwa
Michael Cecchetelli – Countermeasures
Humberto Maggi – Crossing Worlds
Ryan Valentine – A brief history of the Juju
Hagen Von Tulien – Soul Dream (art)
Kyle Fite – The Syncretic Soul at the Cross of Cosmic Union
ConjureMan Ali – Goetic Initiation
Christopher D Bradford – Nigromantic Putrfaction
Chad Balthazar – A Garden Amidst the Flames
Angela Edwards – Queen of Fire & Flesh (art)
Jake Stratton-Kent – Magic at the Crosssroads
Ananael (The Secrets of Wisdom) 
Hi Aaron,
I have a few Wiccan friends who are also members of the Golden Dawn.
I’m interested in the intersection of ATRs and Golden Dawn.
What’s the official line?
Are members of African Traditional Religions (Santeria, Palo, Ifa, etc.) allowed to join the Golden Dawn?
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Greetings, Hodos
I know of no such restrictions in the Golden Dawn. Neither my wife nor I are full-fledged initiates of Palo or Santeria, but she does practice a “spiritual” path of Palo – has her Nganga, etc. I am a Solomonic practitioner with heavy influences from Palo and Santeria. We are both students of Ochani Lele (back before he was giving public classes). Never has any of this been an issue in our Golden Dawn path – and in fact my wife has given lectures on the subjects to Golden Dawn audiences. Plus, those audiences have usually included a few who *also* practice some form of Afro-Caribbean spirituality. So, while there is no “official line” where it comes to ATRs and the Golden Dawn, there certainly seems to be plenty of both going on side-by-side.
Personally, I wouldn’t say there is much cross-over between the two systems in any official sense. However, there *is* a lot of crossover between GD and Solomonic work. And there is crossover between Solomonic work and ATRs. So, there can be an indirect influence. For example, my wife and I have introduced our understanding of offerings – learned primarily from the ATRs, Conjure and Solomonic sources – into our Golden Dawn Temple. Whenever an angel is invoked, we bring in food offerings.
Once, we even brought offerings to an angel who (according to an astrological chart) stood in *opposition* to our intended work. We began by making offerings to that angel in the West of the Hall. Then we proceeded with the standard GD invocations for the angel we wanted to attract (with offerings there as well – placed in the East). It worked, very well.
At home we do much the same thing. The GD ceremonies – when they involve a specific entity – are followed by food offerings. Such offerings are left on the altar for a specific number of days, then the remains are taken to the river.
So far, that kind of thing remains a curiosity in the Golden Dawn community. But we are working to change that. 🙂
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Thanks for your response Aaron.
I know of GD magicians who discreetly practice other disciplines. Its sort of like a magical, pre-Stonewall behaviour. Not wanting to be “out”.
But your public acknowledgement of your various interests is encouraging.
It advances matters when someone with your reputation openly advocates cross-discipline workings (GD, Solomonic and ATRs).
I am familiar with all three magical practices and I agree with the necessity to make the distinction. But once this is clear in the operator’s mind (and conscience), then the different disciplines can potentially inform each other, as beautifully illustrated by your angel West/East offerings.
It saddens me when I hear knee-jerk reactions from practitioners of different practices against another style out of ignorance, and oddly enough – fear.
Thank you for also alerting me to Ochani’s work. I belong to a NYC Palo group and am also involved in GD and solomonic work.
I have to be careful within each of these areas who I share this with. But I occaisonally, “bump” into other practitioners in the various groups in areas that they feel are guilty magical pleasures for them.
I suppose OTO members don’t have this restriction as much as they are more receptive to do their own thing / Will. But GD members, in my experience tend to have a more unspoken, restrictive ethos about practicing other magics.
So its lovely to hear that you and your wife are helping to disintegrate these artificial boundaries.
LVX
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((Thanks for your response Aaron.
I know of GD magicians who discreetly practice other disciplines. Its sort of like a magical, pre-Stonewall behaviour. Not wanting to be “out”.))
I do know that many folks who are members of (or just come through) my Temple sometimes keep their side-projects to themselves. But, in our case, it’s not because they fear being “outed” – its simply because they would rather take the opportunity in Temple to discuss their Golden Dawn work instead. Still, the side-projects come up every once in a while. I’ve even given lectures on Solomonic and Mixed-Qabalah workings, and had many a discussion about Dee-purist Enochiana. Still, I have to devote most of my time there to teaching the G.D. mysteries – which makes sense.
((But your public acknowledgement of your various interests is encouraging.
It advances matters when someone with your reputation openly advocates cross-discipline workings (GD, Solomonic and ATRs).))
Yes, but I don’t want to give the wrong impression to other readers here. As ecclectic as I am, I’m not a “mix and match” occultist either. When I proactice Wicca, I practice Wicca. When I do a Solomonic operation, I do a Solomonic operation. When I do G.D., I do G.D. I don’t make new “hybrid” traditions such as was popular back in the 90s. lol
That, of course, doesn’t mean one tradition can’t influence another where it is appropriate. I’ve done my share of Qabalistic Crosses in Solomonic operations – because it’s a good form of blessing and it fits. Same goes for bringing in offerings to Golden Dawn entities. And, of course, nearly anything Solomonic can be applied to either Golden Dawn or Wicca – because the grimoires are foundational to both practices.
And, now that I’ve said all of that, I see you said:
((I am familiar with all three magical practices and I agree with the necessity to make the distinction. But once this is clear in the operator’s mind (and conscience), then the different disciplines can potentially inform each other, as beautifully illustrated by your angel West/East offerings.))
So we are definitely on the same page. 🙂
((It saddens me when I hear knee-jerk reactions from practitioners of different practices against another style out of ignorance, and oddly enough – fear.))
Yeah, I talked about his back in the “Five Gravity Wells” post on this blog. If you haven’t read it, do a search.
((Thank you for also alerting me to Ochani’s work. I belong to a NYC Palo group and am also involved in GD and solomonic work.))
Oh then you’re going to LOVE Crossroads. :):) I have found there are quite a few folks out there like you and I. (Me a Solomonic mage influenced by the ATRs and you an ATR practitioner influenced by Solomon.)
As for Ochani – I am reading an *awesome* book of his right now about Lucumi sacrifice. It’s not available yet (hopefully you’ll see my name on the inside or back cover when it is), but trust me you’ll love it. Never before published material.
((I have to be careful within each of these areas who I share this with. But I occaisonally, “bump” into other practitioners in the various groups in areas that they feel are guilty magical pleasures for them.
I suppose OTO members don’t have this restriction as much as they are more receptive to do their own thing / Will. But GD members, in my experience tend to have a more unspoken, restrictive ethos about practicing other magics.))
I’d say a new culture is emerging where they won’t have to stay in the Nganga closet. lol
((So its lovely to hear that you and your wife are helping to disintegrate these artificial boundaries.))
You bet. When we first brought in offerings to the Temple, others looked at us like we had three heads. UNTIL they saw it in practice.
I’m currently working on an anthology book about ritual offerings, to help further spread the practice through the Western occulture. 🙂
Zorge
Aaron
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