Aurum Solis (Latin for “gold of the sun”) an influential magical community and occult secret society in the late twentieth-century, was originally founded in 1897 by British occultists Charles Kingold and George Stanton. With interruptions during the two world wars, it remained active in a quiet way through the first two-thirds of the twentieth century. It suffered a short-lived schism in 1957, when a group of members broke away over differences in the initiation ritual; the group thus formed, the Ordo Sacri Verbi (Order of the Sacred Word), this Order was governed by the council of three members until 1959. In 1971 the Order of the Sacred Word has been completely introduced in the Ordo Aurum Solis until today.
At the time of its reconstitution, the Aurum Solis came under the leadership of Vivian Godfrey and Leon Barcynski, two London occultists who set out to break the Aurum Solis out of its rut of obscurity. Using the pen names Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips, the husband and wife team together authored many books (some reappearing in newer editions) that cover different aspects of magical practice, such as the Llewellyn Practical Guide to Astral Projection and Llewellyn Practical Guide to Creative Visualization, as well as their seminal work (reprinted in three volumes) outlining the philosophy and practices of the Ordo Aurum Solis: The Magical Philosophy. It has had its ups and downs since that time, but remains active in Britain. The Aurum Solis symbolism and techniques covered in their books have also influenced occultists throughout the western world.
According to its internal history, the Aurum Solis is one expression of the Ogdoadic Tradition. The Ogdoadic Tradition stems from the Mediterranean mystery religions of ancient Greece as well as the Theurgic practices of the priesthoods of Ptolemaic Egypt. Its signature symbol is the Eight-pointed Star of Regeneration, an emblem signifying the Regeneration of the Soul and Divine Inspiration. Its philosophy and practices appear in the works of early Hermetists and the teachings of the Neoplatonic schools of Alexandria, Apamea, and Athens in Late Antiquity. According to its initiates, the father-figure of the Tradition is Hermes Trismegistus. The heart of this tradition is what Plato, Iamblicous, Proclus and the other masters called "the sacred way of return". Such older organizations as the Knights Templar, the Fideli d’Amore, and Francis Bacon’s no real evidence of a distinct Ogdoadic Tradition can be found in records of occult traditions before the 1970s, however, nor do any of the Aurum Solis’ distinctive symbols and practices occur in any of these older orders, so it is fair to assume that these claims are simply another example of the retrospective recruitment so common among secret societies.
The Aurum Solis works three degrees, or Halls, each with their own distinctive symbolism. The three grades associated with the Halls of the Order are as follows:
I. Neophytos, or Apprentice of the Great Work.
II. Servitor, or Servitor of the Secret Flame.
III. Adeptus Minor, or Priest of the Gnosis.
The teachings of the order, however, are very closely modeled on those of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, with the same blend of Cabalistic and Enochian material and exact equivalents for every ritual practice in the Golden Dawn toolkit, a point-for-point equivalence not found in any of the other Hermetic magical orders of the time.
Another source for the Aurum Solis system is the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, to which Vivian Barcynski belonged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and from which the Aurum Solis seems to have borrowed some of its distinctive features. These borrowings have occasionally been presented as evidence that the Aurum Solis was invented out of whole cloth in 1971, at the time of its supposed reconstitution, but this does not necessarily follow; secret societies routinely rework their teachings and training programs in the light of new information, and material from other secret societies is among the most common raw material for such projects.
Sources :
The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies by John Michael Greer;
http://www.aurumsolis.info/;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurum_Solis
Pic Source :
http://www.ojardimhermetico.com/eng/08aurum.htm
At the time of its reconstitution, the Aurum Solis came under the leadership of Vivian Godfrey and Leon Barcynski, two London occultists who set out to break the Aurum Solis out of its rut of obscurity. Using the pen names Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips, the husband and wife team together authored many books (some reappearing in newer editions) that cover different aspects of magical practice, such as the Llewellyn Practical Guide to Astral Projection and Llewellyn Practical Guide to Creative Visualization, as well as their seminal work (reprinted in three volumes) outlining the philosophy and practices of the Ordo Aurum Solis: The Magical Philosophy. It has had its ups and downs since that time, but remains active in Britain. The Aurum Solis symbolism and techniques covered in their books have also influenced occultists throughout the western world.
According to its internal history, the Aurum Solis is one expression of the Ogdoadic Tradition. The Ogdoadic Tradition stems from the Mediterranean mystery religions of ancient Greece as well as the Theurgic practices of the priesthoods of Ptolemaic Egypt. Its signature symbol is the Eight-pointed Star of Regeneration, an emblem signifying the Regeneration of the Soul and Divine Inspiration. Its philosophy and practices appear in the works of early Hermetists and the teachings of the Neoplatonic schools of Alexandria, Apamea, and Athens in Late Antiquity. According to its initiates, the father-figure of the Tradition is Hermes Trismegistus. The heart of this tradition is what Plato, Iamblicous, Proclus and the other masters called "the sacred way of return". Such older organizations as the Knights Templar, the Fideli d’Amore, and Francis Bacon’s no real evidence of a distinct Ogdoadic Tradition can be found in records of occult traditions before the 1970s, however, nor do any of the Aurum Solis’ distinctive symbols and practices occur in any of these older orders, so it is fair to assume that these claims are simply another example of the retrospective recruitment so common among secret societies.The Aurum Solis works three degrees, or Halls, each with their own distinctive symbolism. The three grades associated with the Halls of the Order are as follows:
I. Neophytos, or Apprentice of the Great Work.
II. Servitor, or Servitor of the Secret Flame.
III. Adeptus Minor, or Priest of the Gnosis.
The teachings of the order, however, are very closely modeled on those of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, with the same blend of Cabalistic and Enochian material and exact equivalents for every ritual practice in the Golden Dawn toolkit, a point-for-point equivalence not found in any of the other Hermetic magical orders of the time.
Another source for the Aurum Solis system is the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, to which Vivian Barcynski belonged in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and from which the Aurum Solis seems to have borrowed some of its distinctive features. These borrowings have occasionally been presented as evidence that the Aurum Solis was invented out of whole cloth in 1971, at the time of its supposed reconstitution, but this does not necessarily follow; secret societies routinely rework their teachings and training programs in the light of new information, and material from other secret societies is among the most common raw material for such projects.
Sources :
The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Societies by John Michael Greer;
http://www.aurumsolis.info/;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurum_Solis
Pic Source :
http://www.ojardimhermetico.com/eng/08aurum.htm
The article has a lot of wrong information about Ordo Aurum Solis. First of all, Aurum Solis has a unique system of initiation and throughout a literature that is not associated with the Golden Dawn, nor with the Druid movement of Great Britain "Bards, Ovates, and Druids. The differences in Hermetism with the Golden Dawn is that Aurum Solis uses completely different ritual than Golden Dawn does and Solis is formed with ancient Greek tradition, while Golden Dawn focus in Hebrew, Sephirotic and Qabalistique philosophy. In addition, Aurum Solis has more ancient philosophy than the modern of the Golden Dawn- AOS focuses more in ancient philosophers while other orders are very much Harry Potterish. The fact that Aurum Solis has three degrees doesn't mean that is associated with a pagan tradition. The clothing, rituals, philosophy, theurgy, don't exist in other orders, and Aurum Solis never became a circus or operating for money. Only it's members know about the order and no one else. All the articles you will see in the web are hypothetically written without any approach to reality. Another one order I take serious is the Builders of the Adytum.
ReplyDelete@Mr. Eustace: Thank you for your correction. I hope you can provide more information about this article, or if you have other reliable sources of your own.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Best regards,
Tripzibit
Please don't put your website link in Comment section. This is for discussion article related only. Thank you :)