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Why I got kicked out of Golden Dawn and Thelema (Go look for a better ceremonial magick teacher)

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Given my experience as a lodge officer and student of the Hermetic Golden Dawn and its offshoots, occasionally I need to explain (if only to remind myself) why I am not allowed to teach and lead in GD.  A who's who of the Golden Dawn community. I was not selected by a lodge to be a leader, or teacher. No, I accidentally declared myself one when attending my first Open Full Moon in fall 1996. Finding myself in the presence of a hundred-plus Denver witches, all who seemed to be experts in some esoteric field or another, I introduced myself with the only thing that I felt confident in discussing: Hermetic Golden Dawn, Thelema, and Aliester Crowley. It was either that, or talk about being an erotica author, right? Everyone who heard that initial introduction of mine, which included the mention that I was a published writer, no one ever allowed me to move past, or forget that intro. I got rewarded, or punished for it, depending upon the ego of the occultist. A couple of shop owners used...
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RIP Morning Glory Reader (Creator of Herbs and Arts occult shop)

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This last Sunday (or was it, Saturday), Morning Glory Reader died in hospice early in the morning. Morning Glory was an important influence in my life because she created Herbs and Arts occult shop at Colfax and Race in 1993. Those familiar with my stories about my Denver occult education will recall that I lived my second life in her shop from September 1996 when I entered the open ritual community until 1999 when she sold the store to another owner, and the vibe changed.  Khari ceased to do business with Herbs and Arts when the new owner wanted pottery at a price point cheaper than her loss point. Sad, really, Morning Glory's Herbs and Arts had been the first to accept my wife's pottery to sell in their store. I wish I had photos from the old days. Being braver than Khari, or having been a Public Witch at Work, I had taken full advantage of the classes that teachers had announced at the Open Full Moons. I took several Wicca 101s, and Tarot 101s. From one couple, we went from ...
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Location: Denver, CO, USA
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Winner of Smash a Pot

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There was definitely a winner at last month's Smash a Pot to celebrate Gena Marie getting new kidneys. It was whoever got this potter shard on the studio roof.  Nice color, ain't it? You have to be impressed. Not only did they have to get it up there, they had to get it around the corner from the original angle. It's a little distance--a trick shot, if you were trying on purpose. It's the Olympics! Picture thy enemy's face. Clear the firing range. Why would potters and their friends threw pottery at walls? They claim it's to create pieces for artwork that they plan on doing. I have never actually seen any such work ever made. It might just be a myth. Let's just call this "art."
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Duck visit (Bird recovery center)

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While I was talking to guests at Smash a Pot earlier this month, I mentioned that I have seen foxes, racoons, and baby bunnies in my yard, yet I have never seen a duck or goose yet in my garden. Well, Monday that changed, for the neighbor brought a duck who needed to rest for awhile to my yard (he has dogs).  Ain't she a cute duck? She stayed in my herb garden for a few hours, recovering from whatever she was resting from. Left sometime during the night, or early morning on Tuesday. So now, I can add Duck to the list of wild life that I have seen visiting my yard and garden. Ah, the blessing of the Earth god, Geb. It's like we created a place for this duck. No sneaking up on this duck.
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Getting ready for Smash a Pot (18 July 2026)

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 Here is a pile of pottery that Khari has reserved for tomorrow's Smash-a-Pot ritual to celebrate our friend getting her new kidneys. We are going to toss these pieces of ceramics at a wall to break them into smaller pieces. Because it's fun to do. And once in the pile of tossing, it can't be removed--sorry. Broken and rejected pottery.
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Location: 2727 Cook St, Denver, CO 80205, USA
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Can the Golden Dawn system be complete (Are the teachings a closed end system)?

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The other day, I made the mistake of looking at the Great Gherkin's website. To see if he was alive. Because he accounts for a significant amount of my pageviews on my old Gleamings from the Dawn blog. Is he (and his model wife) still selling what I was complaining that they were hawking back in the day? No, the video title was about a mind virus. It seems that the Great Gherkin is selling sci fi in the second era of Trump. Probably with Democrats as the alien invaders. I didn't watch the video.  That wasn't my problem with his page. The Great Gherkin will be the Great Gherkin. No, speaking as a teacher that wrote a piece for the Hermetic Golden Dawn Flying Roll commentary book, my issue is the idea that for less than three hundred US dollars, a student can get access to all lessons of every Grade of the HGD system, just so the Pickle can include GD membership as a bonus material to his current scam. How did I get into this book?!? That the understanding of the Golden Dawn ...
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Celebrate Gena getting new kidneys (Smash a pot on 18 July 2026)

Our second garden party of the 2026 season (July 18) will be celebrating Gena Marie getting her new kidneys. She was on the list for several years waiting for new kidneys, and finally got them. Yay! Khari has decided that besides the potluck, we are doing a pot smash. So we will be smashing all the "seconds" (pottery that came out of the kiln flawed), symbolizing the negative stuff in our lives going away. It's a fun ritual that I have never been able to do at an OFM (Open Full Moon) at a rented location because of the clean up (churches and spiritual centers frown on the broken pottery shards). But we have a nice wall to use just outside of the studio, so we can smash away. And we own the property, so we can do whatever we want to. Hence, smashing pottery is a go.  Location: 2727 N. Cook St., Denver, CO 80205 Date: July 18, 2026 Time: 6pm to 9pm.  Cost: Bring a pot, or plate to smash, if you have one to spare. The more, the merrier. 
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Location: 2727 Cook St, Denver, CO 80205, USA
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