Thinking About Magical Orders

[Silenciumetaurum]

Lately, I've been thinking about the Ordo Aurum Solis (https://www.aurumsolis.org/about-us) and how much I have admired that group over the years—from a distance. I've been in multiple magical groups (am currently in two large ones—and possibly a third very private one if we can wake up its egregore soon) and I've found that orders are like celebrities. Meeting a celebrity is an interesting experience. Sometimes, the person is exactly who you expected him or her to be, but only sometimes. This may be why people say you should never meet your heroes.

So the OAS. I have no desire to join them, but I like the thought of their work the same way I liked the first order curriculum of the Argentium Astrum. There was a time when I was in conversation with the Cancellarius of the AA, intending to enter that order. But working through the initial reading changed my perspective and showed me that it would not be a good fit. So I never affiliated. On the other hand, Frater RO (an old member of Studio Arcanis and a highly skilled magician with a lot of experience) seems to have found a home in the AA and I am very happy for him. Not every order is right for every seeker.

So I guess the question is: do orders confer anything special that an individual sincerely leading the magical life cannot find on his or her own? I think they do: group input, a sense of community, more advanced practitioners as examples and teachers, and a metaphysical lineage (more specific and potent than what is commonly meant by "magical current"). But in terms of personal power and evolution, I think that must be done individually. Most of us will have at least one magical teacher if we keep leading the life. I've had several. But no one can do the work for us. In the end, whether we are in a group or just operating as solitaries, we have to roll our sleeves up and get into it.