Care Fratres et Sorores,
In the year 2002, a group of spiritual seekers- mainly Hermeticists, Alchemists
and Magicians- came together to form a Magical Working Group in cyberspace.
They gathered in an on-line forum established for the purpose
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magical_working_group), and there began an
international exchange of ideas. It was here the first seeds were planted
for what would become the Ordo Stella Matutina.
In 2003, the Hermetic Sanctuary of Ma'at (http://www.self-initiation.com/)
was organized as an on-line sanctuary- or "cyber-Temple"- so that all members
of the Ordo Stella Matutina might have access to student resources, regardless
of physical location or distance from a physical Temple. It is the primary
"classroom" of our Outer Order, where students meet with teachers and take
their tests from anywhere on the globe. Furthermore, the Sanctuary's "doors"
(and resources) were opened to all seekers. Solitary students who choose
to follow a path of Self-Initiation were welcomed, as were members of independent
Temples or Orders following paths similar to our own. The Hermetic Sanctuary
of Ma'at quickly evolved into one of the largest and well-respected on-line
schools of the Golden Dawn Tradition.
At last, in 2005, the Ordo Stella Matutina was officially constituted, and
its first physical Temple established. The O.S.M is a physical initiatory
Order, dedicated to the dissemination of the traditional teachings of the
historical Golden Dawn's Hermetic Society, through the process of instruction
and initiation. Our esoteric Order is a gateway into the Western Mystery
Tradition, which includes, but is not limited to, the study and practice
of Qabalah, Hermeticism, Theurgy, Alchemy, Tarot, Geomancy, Astrology and
Ritual Magic.
We are a fully established Hermetic Order working within the original Golden
Dawn and Rosicrucian Tradition. Our teachings, training exercises, and ritual
methods primarily adhere to the original Golden Dawn and Stella Matutina,
as taught by its primary founders; Dr. William W. Westcott, Dr. Woodman,
and S.L. MacGregor Mathers, and later through Dr. Felkin, W. B. Yeats, Florence
Farr, Brode-Innes, Dr. Israel Regardie and Chic and Tabatha Cicero.
We are self-starters, claiming no descent or linage, directly or indirectly,
from the English Golden Dawn of Mathers and Westcott. We do, however, teach
and share with students, their original magical curriculum and ideas along
with their magical framework. Israel Regardie's account of the Golden Dawn
is the cornerstone on which our Order is built, along with the expanded Outer
Order knowledge lectures of the Cicero's. The majority of our Inner Order
curriculum comes from both published and unpublished original Golden Dawn
documents, and some of the modern day Inner Order Course of Pat Zalewski
and our own Order.
We are an independent Order, not directly affiliated with any modern day
Orders of the Golden Dawn, but are sympathetic with their aims.
Aims and Purpose of the Order
For the aims of our Order I can quote a portion from the Fraternity of the
Rose Cross Monitor, with some minor changes which we have incorporated:
"The aim of the Order is to provide aid and encouragement in working out
the great problems of Life, and in searching out the secrets of Nature; to
facilitate the study of the system of Philosophy founded upon the Kabalah
and the doctrines of Hermes Trismegistus,... and to investigate the meaning
and symbolism of all that now remains of the wisdom, art and literature of
the ancient world." (page 5)
Therefore, our main study consists of the material we call Kabalah and Hermetics.
It is the foundational studies of the philosophy "inculcated by the original
Fratres Rosae Crucis."
Purpose
Our primary purpose is to provide an open door to all who genuinely seek
Initiation into the Magical Tradition of the Golden Dawn. We also encourage
the development of the Solitary Magician and Magical Groups who are unable
to attend a physical temple by helping them tap into that current of energy
which has empowered the Magician since ancient times, while fostering the
fraternal consciousness of Love and Harmony as set forth in the principles
of the Ageless Wisdom Tradition.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Order, as a diversified magical community of lifelong
learners and magicians', is to commit ourselves and others to challenge students
to their full learning potentials; to develop each individual's mind, body,
and soul; and to inspire students to become productive members of our global
society, through an integrated magical exoteric and esoteric instructional
program.
Goals
Our goals are to help the student to develop a deeper reflection and inner
connection to the Light of Truth. It is at this point that the student becomes
aware of subtle laws and principles that govern the entire Universe. It is
through initiation and the Golden Dawn Tradition of study that the student
becomes the Magician, and Adept, which begins to awaken our latent powers.
This leads to not only spiritual success, but to victory and success in every
aspect of life.
Vision
The Order is a respected Golden Dawn magical learning organization known
for its distinctive strengths in providing superior and relevant distance
learning to its students. In pursuing this vision, the Order's System:
· Creates interactive, effective learning environments for all members.
· Serves its members' diverse personal and magical development needs.
· Expands access to membership for the less fortunate and underserved
learners.
Service; Leadership; Relevance in a global society.
These values define our mission at Hermetic Sanctuary of Ma'at System. They
guide how we educate and support distance learners. They shape the growth
of our two institutions, Hermetic Sanctuary of Ma'at and Ordo Stella Matutina.
They are a roadmap for how we prepare you for success as a magician.
Above all, we exist to serve you. Our students quickly discover a tight-knit
community of proctors, staff and fellow students. You'll engage in one-on-one
discussions with proctors. You may work on a project with other students
who live in your town or join online chats to discuss coursework with classmates
who live across an ocean.
We continuously strive to keep the learning environment creative, demanding
and relevant to what's happening in the world today.
In fact, we commit ourselves to providing the best in the magical career-relevant
programs, and an impressive curriculum.
The proctors teaching these programs are truly "real-world" magicians who
incorporate knowledge they learn from the curriculum.
Core Values
The Order's System is guided in fulfilling its mission by these shared principles
and core values:
Learning: The Order's System fosters an environment that promotes a life
of learning for its students and uses feedback from its participants and
supporters to improve the quality of its teaching, learning, and support.
Quality: The Order's System holds a strong commitment to high standards in
all aspects of its magical educational activities, learning outcomes, and
support services. It seeks to continuously strengthen the overall effectiveness
of its operations.
Integrity: The Order's System conducts its operations and makes its public
representations in an ethical manner. It assesses its operations in an open
and collaborative manner and practices fairness, honesty, and objectivity
in dealing with its students.
Accountability: The Order's System is accountable to its students and the
public for fulfilling its mission in an appropriate manner by openly assessing
its operations and by inviting external evaluations by other Orders.
Access to Underserved: The Order's System seeks to broaden access to its
magical curriculum by underserved individuals and groups who wish to engage
the organization in their learning goals.
Adaptive and Responsive: The Order's System anticipates and adapts to its
changing environment and responds to the needs of the organization and its
students in manners both appropriate and timely. .
Innovation: The Order's System seeks imaginative and effective solutions
to its challenges and innovative ways to fulfill its mission.
Collaboration: The Order's System seeks and nurtures partnerships with its
students and the magical communities it serves in creating effective learning
environments for its learners.
Freedom of Inquiry and Expression: The Order's System supports the rights
of its members to freely inquire and express their opinions. It engages and
encourages an open exchange of ideas and seeks input from all who wish to
participate in its learning curriculum.
Diversity: The Order's System embraces and promotes diversity in its policies
and practices to prepare its magical learners to live and work successfully
in an increasingly diverse society. It strives to create diverse learning
environments by welcoming students, staff and proctors who bring diverse
ideas, values, backgrounds, and beliefs to the learning and Order's egregore
and magical environment.
Western Mystery Tradition and Magic
1. The Stella Matutina is not a religion, we do not preach dogma or ask students
to obey empty words of man, but rather we seek inner transformation through
the study and application of the Body of Knowledge as taught in the esoteric
and arcane Western Mystery Tradition.
2. This transformation encompasses the whole of the students being. It is
a system that not only targets spiritual maturation, but also the psychological,
social, mental, and emotional growth.
3. We provide a safe course of study that is well backed by the time-honored
system of the Golden Dawn Tradition of magic, with access and communication
between a qualified Adept and the awakening student.
4. We offer membership, and a means to enter into the Golden Dawn Current,
which has several advantages. Each member is assigned a personal Proctor
from our tutorials and examinations division who oversees them, step by step,
through a systematic, disciplined study and practice of ritual magic. Once
a member has completed the magical work and intellectual study required for
a grade, and has passed the relevant examinations, he or she then receives
a 'certificate of dispensation,' demonstrating their eligibility for legitimate,
physical initiation into the corresponding grade at one of our temples. Another
option is if one is unable to attend a physical initiation, you can as a
second option perform the Self-Initiation Rituals as outlined in the study
book. Our Group is designed to take you step-by-step from where you are now
to the door of Adepthood, but the work is dependent on you and you alone,
for no one can ever tell you your True Will except you! In this, we are different
and unique from many other groups proclaiming to offer the esoteric teachings
of the Golden Dawn and the Western Mysteries.
Regardless if you are already affiliated with the Golden Dawn, or other systems
of magic, or even just working by yourselves, we invite you to join our
online-study-group endeavor an add your magical impetus to an ever growing
base of serious students that are unable to drive 100s of miles to attend
an organized temple or lodge.
There are three ways of working with the grades of the Order
1. Membership into the Ordo Stella Matutina through Temple Initiation.
Members who join the Ordo Stella Matutina through initiation in one of our
local temples can access their grade curriculum and the related files,
participate in our scheduled online classes and grade discussion forums,
check their mastery of the grade curriculum through our online quizzes, and
take the knowledge portion of their advancement examinations through the
on-line Hermetic Sanctuary Of Ma'at (HsoM).
2. Distance Members and Solitary Practitioners
Solitary practitioners, Triangle Groups and members at a distance who cannot
travel to one of our local temples to receive physical initiations can access
their grade curriculum and related files, participate in our scheduled online
classes and grade discussion forums, check their mastery of the grade curriculum
through our online quizzes, and take their advancement examinations in the
HsoM and perform the Self-Initiation rituals.
3. Associate Temple Members
The Ordo Stella Matutina has partnered with several Associate Temples and
Orders worldwide to use our online curriculum and testing system for their
own membership. We have no control over these orders and have no desire to
control their activities. We provide this as a gesture of goodwill to the
greater occult community.
The key differences between the different membership paths are as follows:
· Solitary practitioners start their path at the Probationary grade.
This grade prepares the candidate of Self-Initiation by providing instruction
on the techniques needed to perform the solitary initiation rituals.
· Solitary practitioners must perform the Self-Initiation rituals as
described in the Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition book by Sandra
Tabatha and Chic Cicero.
· Solitary practitioners receive an Official Certificate of Completion
for successful completion of the grade requirements and advancement examinations
through the Hermetic Sanctuary Of Ma'at which is governed by the Ordo Stella
Matutina.
· Ordo Stella Matutina members receive an Official Grade Certificate
which signifies that they have completed the grade advancement requirements
and received the physical temple initiation for the grade.
· Because there is absolutely no possibility that one can initiate oneself
into the Inner Order, solitary practitioners must visit one of our local
temples to receive all of their physical initiations from 0=0 to Portal before
becoming eligible to submit their advancement requirements into the grade
of Adeptus Minor (5=6).
· Additional examinations may be required from the solitary member by
an OSM temple to ensure that the student has mastered the outer order grades
before they can be considered for advancement into the Inner Order.
· Under normal circumstances there is no grade reciprocity between the
Ordo Stella Matutina and the Associate Temples that use our curriculum but
students from other associate temples may join as a regular member through
additional testing and going through the necessary temple initiations. We
will need a letter of recommendation from the associate temple before we
will consider any kind of grade reciprocity.
How You Benefit
"Through the powers of initiation and knowledge blossom all inner talents
and powers that are thereafter awakened and re-awakened". One develops a
higher, selfless purpose in life. Spiritual Wisdom is the only lantern amidst
the darkness of ignorance . In essence, perfect peace and happiness can only
come when all the aspects of one's life are integrated together in harmony
and cooperation. These aspects are expressed through the four elements of
Fire, Water, Air, and Earth working under the direction of Inner Light and
Spirit.
Our Order offers an opportunity to interact with other Aspirants and Adepts
who share the same interests while establishing a valuable Aquarian adjunct
to independent study and through Self-Initiation.
Membership
We are a small Order of initiates and students, who prefer to concentrate
on quality instead of quantity. Like the original Order of the Golden Dawn,
membership is not based on sex, race, age, religion, sexual preference or
nationality.
Membership is based on the applicant's perseverance and interpersonal chemistry,
which results from his or her inclusion in the group. We are a 'family'
organization, having little interest in simply filling our roster with names
of initiates we no longer know.
There are meetings held at various places throughout the world, which are
free and open to anyone who wishes to attend. These meetings follow a study
group format including such things as group rituals, meditations and practical
application methods. There is a nominal annual donation of $36.00 and physical
temples set their own fees (usually, $5.00-10.00 per month, with no additional
Initiation fees.
In order to be considered for Neophyte initiation a prospective member must
fulfill the following requirements:
1. Active association with the group over a period of 3 months.
2. Show an interest in learning of such magical subjects as the Elements,
Planets, Kabbalah, Astrolgy, Tarot.
3. A general feeling among all involved parties that the time is right.
We welcome new members and eagerly await them, but we do not recruit membership.
The magical path is not for everyone, and our group in particular is not
for everyone. For those who come to us seeking instant certification, power,
or participation in wild sex orgies, we have nothing to offer. We also frown
upon the selling of one's magical abilities or knowledge, or misusing it
to attempt to oppress or exploit others.
We stand well in the occult subculture, and have good relations with its
factions, particularly the hermetic and alchemy community.
Study of the magical arts is a long, drawn out affair. It takes time,
perseverance, and sometimes support from others. We can offer you these.
The Future
The period of Transition is a period between the passing out of the Piscean
Age, with its emphasis upon authority and belief, and the coming in of the
Aquarian Age, with its emphasis upon individual understanding and direct
knowledge. Our world needs people who are not at war with themselves, people
filled with inner power and peace. It was these people throughout history
who have brought just enough Light into the world to attract others who were
tired of the blindness. We hope you will join with us in seeking to continue
this noble ideal.
If you feel that the Hermetic Sanctuary of Ma'at might be what you're seeking,
write us a message at: info@ritual-magic.com
and visit us at www.ritual-magic.com
In LVX,
The Chiefs of the Ordo Stella Matutina /
Hermetic Sanctuary of Ma'at
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