Francis Israel Regardie's The Golden Dawn is one of the most important books in the history of modern occultism. Recently there have been a spate of attacks on Regardie's book as being incomplete or not "the real stuff" leading to new books and claims by individuals to have received new information from the Secret Chiefs. Frankly, all of this reminds me of Macbeth's speech (act V; scene V): Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. In my opinion, these claims and counterclaims all miss the point. Real magick is not about some new secret

Home...And Ready to Rock and Roll Well, I'm back home from the Babalon Rising festival and hard at work. I had a brief stint of jet-lagged tiredness, a surprise for me since even with overseas travel I've never experienced it previously. Babalon Rising is a great and growing festival. Each year more people attend. Unlike other festivals that have become increasingly "family friendly" ("Bring the kids! We have special activities for them."), BR remains staunchly adults only, giving it a different ambiance than many other events. As with any festival (BR is in French Lick, Indiana), the location plays second fiddle to the people who attend. The people at BR, including those who run the

Initiation of an apprentice Freemason around 1800. This engraving is based on that of Gabanon on the same subject dated 1745. The costumes of the participants are changed to the English fashion at the start of the 19th century and the engraving is colored, but otherwise is that of 1745. Initiation In the Western Mystical Tradition there are three purposes for initiation. The first is to make you a member of a group or a level or degree within a group. The second, which is the outcome of the first, is to give you some power, knowledge, or rights that are not available to those who have not been initiated into either the group or a level within that group. The third purpose is the most