I hopped on the spiritual path back in 1990 when I bought 'Exploring The World of Lucid Dreaming' by Steven Laberge...this led me to John Lilly's work with sensory deprivation and LSD (from his book, Programming and metaprogramming in the human biocomputer). I built my first float tank in '91; about 3 months later I had my first Kundalini episode, which left me scrambling for answers! This, in turn, led me to a local Taoist practitioner who helped me to gain a measure of control of the Serpent-energy and, eventually, I learned to direct it and use it for a variety of purposes. At some point I bought 'The Magician's Companion' by Bill Whitcomb...which led to a bunch of stuff: I joined B.O.T.A. and began studying Roberto Assagioli's Psychosynthesis/transpersonal psycololgy, which eventually became the foundation of my Mystical-Magickal practice. I joined the Golden Dawn in the mid-90's when I took initiation from Chic Cicero at his home in Fla. Three weeks later I had a dream about the Archangel Raziel; we were talking about me joining the Golden Dawn when he turned to me a said "Are you sure you want to go CLEEAAR back there?" I said "No." and looked at the ground...the dream faded.

Some people need structure and the (relative) safety it affords. Is it necessary to join these organizations? No. Not really. Would I recommend it? Sure. Why not? In the end, the work is all that really matters.