Secret Chiefs
The Secret Chiefs are said to be transcendent cosmic authorities, a Spiritual Hierarchy responsible for the operation and moral calibre of the cosmos, or for overseeing the operations of an esoteric organization that manifests outwardly in the form of a magical order or lodge system. Their names and descriptions have varied through time, dependent upon those who reflect their experience of contact with them.
One early and influential source on these entities is Karl von Eckartshausen, whose The Cloud Upon The Sanctuary, published in 1795, explained in some detail their character and motivations. Several 19th and 20th century occultists claimed to belong to or to have contacted these Secret Chiefs and made these communications known to others, including H.P. Blavatsky (who called them the "Tibetan Masters" or Mahatmas), C.W. Leadbeater and Alice A. Bailey (who called them Masters of the Ancient Wisdom), Guy Ballard and Elizabeth Clare Prophet (who called them Ascended Masters), Aliester Crowley (who used the term to refer to members of the upper three grades of his order, A∴A∴ ), Dion Fortune (who called them the "esoteric order"), and Max Heindel (who called them the "Elder Brothers").
Contents |
[edit] The Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded by those claiming to be in communication with the Secret Chiefs. One of these Secret Chiefs was Anna Sprengel. Her name and address were decoded from the Cipher Manuscripts.
[edit] S.L. MacGregor Mathers
In 1892, Mathers was convinced that he had contacted these Secret Chiefs, and that this confirmed his position as head of the Golden Dawn.[1] He declared this in a manifesto four years later saying that they were human and living on Earth, yet possessed terrible superhuman powers.[1] He used this status to found the Second Order within the Golden Dawn,[2] and to introduce the Adeptus Minor ritual.[3]
[edit] Aleister Crowley
While in Algeria in 1909, Crowley, along with Victor Neuberg, recited numerous Enochian Calls or Aires. After the fifteenth Aire, he was told he had attained the grade of Magister Templi (Master of the Temple), which meant that he himself was now on the level of these Secret Chiefs.[4][5] He also called this a possibility and in fact a necessary step for all who truly followed his path.[6]
In 1947, when Aleister Crowley died he left behind a sketch of one of the "Secret Chiefs" Crowley's invisible mentor called LAM. The sketch looks like a Grey Alien.[7]
[edit] Ernest Scott
In 1986, the journalist Edward Campbell wrote a book, The People of the Secret, under the pseudonym "Ernest Scott".[8] The author, referring to a thesis first published by John G. Bennett in his work The Dramatic Universe in 1956, postulates that there is a "Hidden Directorate" influencing, guiding and intervening in humanity's destiny over the centuries.[9] According to the author, amongst those with links to the directorate are the Sufi and Sarmouni mystics. The work was published by the writer, thinker and Sufi teacher Idries Shah's Octagon Press.[10]
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Wilson 1987 page 48
- ^ Wilson 1987 page 54
- ^ F.King 1978, page 17
- ^ Wilson 1987 page 92
- ^ F.King 1978, page 54
- ^ One Star in Sight, available at http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/aba/app2.html says the order in question "is composed of those who have crossed the Abyss...the two crises -- the Angel and the Abyss --- are necessary features in every career."
- ^ Grant, Kenneth. Outside the Circles of Time. London: Frederick Muller Ltd., 1980
- ^ Stacey, Don (2006-05-18). "Obituaries: Edward Campbell". The Stage. http://www.thestage.co.uk/features/obituaries/feature.php/12653/edward-campbell. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
- ^ Lessing, Doris (2005). Time Bites. HarperPerennial. p. 368. ISBN 0007179863. See the review The Sufis and Idries Shah in the book.
- ^ Scott, Ernest (1986). The People of the Secret. Octagon Press. ISBN 0863040381. Contains an introduction by Colin Wilson.
[edit] References
- King, Francis (1978). The Magical World of Aleister Crowley.
- Wilson, Colin (1987). Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast. ISBN 0-85030-541-1
[edit] External links
[edit] Positive
- The Brothers of the Rose Cross
- The Masters and the Path of Occultism by G. de Purucker
[edit] Critical
- Fictitious Tibet: The Origin and Persistence of Rampaism by Agehananda Bharati.
