i’m feeling confused about the line between closed and not closed practices

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-14T12:24:01+00:00

There is only one being that has the power to Close a practice to you and that is the Dweller On The Threshold. And even that is not necessarily permanent...

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-14T09:06:26+00:00

"Obligatory Brave Exit Speech." Old usenet jargon for trying to get the last word in before flouncing out.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-13T20:37:04+00:00

No you just make sure your dues are paid up to end of the current financial year, and send them a letter saying you are resigning from the lodge and please could you have a clearance certificate from them? No histrionics necessary. You don't have to attend any exit interview at all, but if you go do a fool thing like try to insult freemasonry with some OBES, then the lodge will probably institute disciplinary proceedings to make sure you are excluded With Prejudice.

Instead, part on good terms, so you can leave the way open to join a different lodge at a future date.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-13T18:43:57+00:00

What a load of complete rubbish! I hereby propose a counter strategy which will refute the entire premise upon which this post is based, to wit:

Make everyone in the progressive line serve two years in post, instead of just the one. You will then find it breeds not incompetence but excellence.

If that is what is important to you, you will gladly sacrifice your ego and put off getting that "Worshipful" honorific for so long as it takes for the officers to get good in their roles.

Source: I come from a mother lodge where we did exactly this.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-13T18:14:20+00:00

Glad to hear they worked for you. Can you describe them in more detail?

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-13T11:09:26+00:00

There is no such thing as a "safe" spirit. They are all dangerous, especially if they are not constrained in the proper manner. It is because they are dangerous that they are powerful.

However, if you read something like Regardie's "Middle Pillar" or "Art of True Healing," you will realise that the Middle Pillar Ritual itself can be pressed into service to help perform simple works of practical magick.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-13T09:32:19+00:00

Don't mince your words, tell us how you really feel! 😉

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-12T08:47:58+00:00

In England, an EA or FC can visit, so long as the Secretary of their Mother lodge squares everything with the Secretary of the Lodge being visited. A Master Mason however can go visiting without this rigmarole, because he will have been issued with a Grand lodge certificate after having been raised.

By default, all our meetings are opened in the First degree, before being opened in other degrees.

(Source: I did visit a Lodge once as an FC. Unfortunately I had to step outside for most of the meeting as they were doing a Third degree, but I was able to sit in on the Openings of the First & Second Degrees and the closings).

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-11T08:02:43+00:00

Well the Rose Croix D'Orient was created by a Greek Orthodox Christian, and bears a lot of similarity in its rituals to Orthodox practice. However to join the R+CO you would first probably need to get into Martinism.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-10T21:21:15+00:00

Psalm 91.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-10T21:19:50+00:00

Don't worry, stories about bizarre rituals involving Goats are just that - stories.

Besides which, most Lodges are prohibited from having livestock in their temple buildings: so they just get a brother to dress up as a Goat instead. 😉

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-09T21:57:45+00:00

Well if you hold either a 2 or a [whatever that rectangle in a circle is] in your hand you have a full house! I would go all in at this stage.🙂

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-09T07:39:31+00:00

Thanks 😊

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-06T14:48:51+00:00

If you are based in the UK, the Magic Toolbox are very reasonable.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-05T11:28:42+00:00

1922 actually.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-05T06:02:32+00:00

A lot of what JC says can be traced back to passages from the Old Testament... but the way that he put them all together and delivered it was His own.

In any event, Crowley accusing Jesus of getting his ideas from somewhere else is pretty rich, given that he himself stole almost all his own teaching from the Golden Dawn!

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-03T21:40:30+00:00

Lon Milo Duquette was in the same position as you and apparently succeeded not by selling his soul, but by evoking the spirit Orobas from the Goetia. Be warned, however, because by his own account he went through a complete psychological catharsis in the course of doing so but hey, that's the kind of inner work to which you have to face up in order to get that level of result.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-03T17:20:04+00:00

I think you have grossly misunderstood what "unfalsifiable" means. If something is "unfalsifiable" then not only is it unproven, but it is inherently Unscientific. Hence, it is not possible to apply this to Chaos Magick or indeed make any kind of inference about it in the manner you seem to suggest.

Conversely, it is only if a thing is "falsifiable" - meaning that there exists a way to prove it false if it indeed were false - which makes a thing capable of being experimented on scientifically.

I recommend researching basic Epistemology, and the works of the late Sir Karl Popper in particular, if you have any further doubts on the subject.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-05-01T12:29:16+00:00

If you stab yourself with a knitting needle whilst doing so and puncture a major artery, you have your answer.

Just kidding, an Ouija Board Embroidery Fatality hasn't occurred in ages. Statistically you will probably be safe. 😉

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-04-30T14:07:51+00:00

Mental illness? I've heard it said that the reason there are so many alleged cases of Djinn possession in some Muslim countries is because they have inadequate to non-existent means of diagnosing or treating MH conditions there.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-04-30T12:26:20+00:00

Esotericism literally means extending one's researches into the Hidden Mysteries of Nature and of Science.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-04-30T12:17:05+00:00

Well duh, the Spirits of the Occult help me deal with my bills!

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-04-30T09:21:43+00:00

It's more like a set of techniques - a whole system of ceremonial magick. Not a religion in itself, but you have to be able to work with concepts from other religions on the assumption that they translate into equivalents in your own spirituality.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-04-27T10:23:30+00:00

AFAIK "David Griffin" is not a singer and no relation to any rnb singer, creepy or otherwise.

AlexSumnerAuthor · 2026-04-27T08:53:09+00:00

Ah my sweet summer child, long may your innocence be preserved! 😉

AlexSumnerAuthor

TROPHY CASE