Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 08:40:10 -0700 From: nv91-asa@nada.kth.se Subject: Ok, here is my first try to post one of my groups. This group is quite probably the real historical Illuminati (The Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria was quite obviously one of their schemes). To get a good owerview and history about secret societies, read Umberto Ecos "Focaults Pendulum". Also recomended is "The Complete Golden Dawn Magickal System" by Israel Regardie, for a genuine look at how a hermetic order really worked. Rosicrucians (A subgroup of the Order of Hermes) ----------------------------------- The rosicrucians are not a tradition, but a camp inside the Order of Hermes. After the failure during the middle ages of the false order, the Order was shaken to its foundations. Many mages simply left to other traditions or founded their own small groups. Many claimed that the failure was due to excessive contact with the mundane world, and retreated into pure study. The Rosicrucians were a more radical camp of the order. They claimed the failure was not due to the contact with mundanes, but due to the fact that they had initiated almost anybody into the false order. This led to the appearance of diabolists, power-hungry or destructive mages. The rosicrucians wanted to continue to spread the hermetic ideas among the sleepers, but now only to the OworthyO. During the period of 1500-1600 the rosicrucians organised themselves, slowly preparing for their grand plan. To avoid the Technomancers they had invented a trick: to hide in the open. Their idea was to create as many false orders as possible, to confuse and annoy the Technomancers. In 1615 they publicised "Fama Fraternitatis" and "Confessio fraternitatis Roseae Crucis, ad eruditos Europae", two manifestos revealing their existence and some of their powers. They also contained a request to all the learned men in Europe to join them in their quest. Of course this lead to a lot of noise. The Traditions were furious. The technomancers were furious. The learned and not-so-learned men was curious, and wanted to join. Exactly what the rosicrucians had planned. Soon a lot of people was searching for the elusive rosicrucians. Learned men was writing their own books about them, subtly pointing out that the author was a very wise man and certainly a prospective member. Some people mistook these books for secret messages from the rosicrucians themselves, and began to believe that the author was one of them. Others were writing texts condemning rosicrucianism, and after a while there was hundreds of manifestos, books and texts about the rosicrucians. The rosicrucians were quiet. Soon there began to start rosicrucian orders all around Europe. Secret societies began to flourish, and the rosicrucians (the real ones) silently took control over some groups, using them as bases of operations. The Technomancers simply couldn't stop them, because for every genuine order there was hundreds of copycats. The rosicrucian movement evolved. Today they are the secret masters of several Masonic groups and a lot of different secret societies. And they continually start new groups and movements. Using these as a front, they initiate the OworthyO into the secrets. Often they do not make them into full mages, preferring to diffuse their enlightenment into society. The orders are a very useful place to find new candidates for membership. They also try to contact as many powerful and wealthy patrons as possible, to protect themselves and expand the orders even more. The Technomancers are powerless against all these secret groups. They can't eradicate them, since that would be very suspicious, and they contain too many influential people. They instead try to infiltrate them or subverting them in order to stop the rosicrucians. The rosicrucians counter by creating even more new groups, and luring the technomancers into traps. Whole groups are faked, just to fool them into doing something stupid. The technomancers try to discredit the groups, hoping to erode their enemies power base. They also start new groups themselves, hoping to lure the rosicrucians to try to take them over, and then catching the infiltrators. This secret war have been raging among the secret societies for several centuries, and there are no indications of an end. Everyone is tangled up in a web of intrigue, and paranoia is rampant among all involved. The Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn was one of their most successful fronts. It initiated people in plain sight. Unfortunately it split up because of internal strife (and possible technomancer infiltration). This created a lot of new orders, some which evolved away from the rosicrucians. Aleister Crowley used methods both from the rosicrucians and the Cult of Ecstasy (to the rosicrucians dismay). The splinter groups have influenced a lot of other groups, like wicca, chaos magic and lots and lots of "real" Golden Dawn orders. This has both helped the rosicrucians, as there are now even more groups to hide in, but the unorthodox hermetics that have evolved are an source for embarrassment. Philosophy: ----------- Mankind must Ascend, but is hindered by its ignorance, malice and greed. We must prepare the way in secrecy, initiating the worthy into the mysteries and spreading the enlightenment into the world. This must be done in secrecy, lest our enemies will find and destroy us. As long as we hide among our imitators we are safe. In order to guard our secrets, we must reveal them. Organisation: ------------- The rosicrucian order are tightly organised into smaller orders, but the different orders have little contact. This have led to incidents where two orders have begun to fight each other, without realising who the enemy was. The orders are organised into grades of initiation. Each member have a grade, and is not allowed to learn the secrets of the higher grades until he is initiated into it. The initiations are complex rituals, wherein the candidate is instructed into the mysteries, the secret passwords and handshakes. The grades below are an example, based on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, one of their most successful front orders. Level 0: Probationer A candidate for membership, but not a mage yet. Many are acolytes. Level 1: Neophyte The candidate is initiated and awakened. He is instructed and remain in this grade until he has mastered forces 1. Level 2: Zelator, Theoricus, Practicus, Philosophus. These four grades represent the elements. The initiate learn to control the lesser forces. When the mage has mastered a force he may be initiated to the next grade. Level 3: Adeptus Minor, Adeptus Major and Adeptus Exemptus. These grades are for those who have reached forces 3. Level 4: Magus and Magister Templii. The mage now have power over the greater forces. Adepts of Forces. Many mages of these grades control different secret societies for the main order. Level 5: Ipissimus. Now the mage is a Master of the forces, and often allowed to create his own order. Meetings: --------- Mainly the four equinoxes and each full moon. Different orders have quite different schedules. Initiation: ----------- Varies among the orders. A typical initiation consists of an elaborate Masonic-looking ritual, wherein the initiate is led around the temple and presented with different symbols, guardians and must answer questions and swear oaths. After a long and tiring time, during which the suspense has been slowly built up, the initiate is unexpectedly shocked in some way, which will (hopefully) awaken his avatar. Often the initiate will have some sort of vision of the avatar. Chantry: -------- Wien is the site of the oldest chantry, an old manor. This chantry is one of the most influential Hermetic chantries in Europe. It is officially owned by the fraternal order Ordo Rosae Crucis (to be secret, you have to obvious). Acolytes: --------- Freemasons, members of secret organisations, illuminati fans. Sphere: ------- Forces Foci: ----- Often the same as the Order of Hermes, but sometimes they use a wand, a sword, a cup and a pentacle instead of the Seal of Salomon. Which foci is used depend upon the type of magick they want to perform. A fireball would use the wand, while a invisibility spell would use the sword. The Wand is used for fire and destructive magic. Most often it is red, with inscriptions in hebrew or latin. The Sword is for air, light and electricity. Often an elaborate cermonial sword, or perhaps a dagger. The Cup for water and life magic. Often made of silver, with complex inscriptions. The Pentacle (a disk with a pentagram on, or a shield or a coin) is used for earth, matter and stability. Concepts: --------- Mason, conspirator, ceremonial magician. Quote: ------ "I, in the presence of the Lord of the Universe and of this Hall of Neophytes of the Order of The Golden Dawn in the Outer, regularly assembled under warrant from the Greatly Honoured Chiefs of the Second Order, do of my own free will and accord hereby and hereon most solemnly pledge myself to keep secret this Order, its name, the name of its members, and the proceedings which take place at its meetings, from all and every person in the whole world who is outside the pale of the Order, and not even to discuss these with initiates, unless he or they are in the possession of the password for the time being; nor yet with any member who has resigned, demoted or been expelled, and I undertake to maintain a kind and benevolent relation with all the Fratres and Sorores of the Order." Stereotypes: ------------ Akashic Brotherhood: Our eastern allies. They have at last seen the need to spread the enlightenment. Unfortunately many are still locked up inside their old monasteries. Celestial Chorus: Beautiful philosophy, but what is behind their masks? Remember what the inquisition did, remember what the Jesuits did against the masons and old rosicrusian order. Be careful. Cult of Ecstasy: Not even worth mentioning. Dreamspeakers: It is nice to dream, but one have to change something. They have no power anymore. Euthanatos: Their goals are questionable, but at least they are actively working for them. Hollow Ones: Perhaps a sign that our work have begun to give fruit. Too bad they seem to lack any direction, and most of them are not worthy their powers. If we can find them before they get caught into their own weird beliefs, we can maybe turn them to the light. Orthodox Order of Hermes: They do not seek to spread the Ascension among the sleepers anymore. Instead they have retreated into pure research to avoid the dangers outside. Still, without them we would not have been able to get this far. Unorthodox Order of Hermes (Chaos mages, Thelema etc.): A tragic mistake. We cannot avoid responsibility for these perversions of the order. This clearly shows how important it is to be careful when initiating. Aleister Crowley should never have been initiated, and we are still paying the price. Sons of Ether: Still left on the material plane. And they are even less outwardly active than our brethren in the old order. Verbena: The allow the forces of nature and their flesh to rule their souls. They are lost. Virtual Adepts Interesting group, and very effective. We have much to learn from them. Unfortunately their philosophy is both ridiculous and limited. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! nv91-asa@hemul.nada.kth.se