Library of your professor in witchcraft and Golden Dawn

Because many of you will never be able to meet me during real world office hours, here is a peek at what you might see on my library shelves, if I cared enough to let you in.

The highest honor that a Jewish boy can do in eyes of God . . . 

. . . is study the Talmud.

Jewish mothers brag when their sons start to study this book. 

Not my mother, Lilith--no, I was shamed.

I am not a real Rabbi Son.

Still I need a Kosher excuse not to do something . . . eat poisonous food.

So I turned to a Jewish Law Book . . . really the Talmud, which you might think is a religious book, comes across more like a Business Manual. "It is okay to pay your son less than your employees because someday he will inherit the business." But damn it, I don't want to inherit a salvage business . . . construction business . . . correction, remodeling . . . produce business . . . huh? space shuttle theme rides . . . hobby farmer . . . no, I am not blue collar; you surrounded me by books in my childhood--I am Egyptian Scribe. 

I write. I live in a library. I am in danger of be turned into a monkey. 

Please note that this list will be updated as the blog grows.

This current update is on 14 July 2025 and 20 July: Preparing for a major Hermetic GD study.

Hermetic Golden Dawn

The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn: Divination, Meditation and High Magical Teachings. Pat Zalewski, and Chris Zalewski. Aeon--London (2008). Images used were from the Classic Golden Tarot (Richard Dudschus and David Sledzinski). For many of us, this book was read in multiple formats. My first experience of it was as a Pirate Correspondence Course--authorship unknown; I knew my "mentor" did not write it. Mainly because I was the one ghostwriting his new ritual material for his Thelema. But this course, along with (lol) Hermetic Order of the Morning Star International and John Mayer's Runic Wicca courses, becoming my benchmark for how a course is set up. Later, I learned that it's the Zalewskis' Outer Order Correspondence Course--yeah, you can read the course right in this book. It called Creative Titling. No explanation of the history. 

Golden Dawn Ritual and Commentaries: The Secret Teachings of the Golden Dawn--Ritual Documents Z.4 and Z.5. Pat Zalewski. Rosicrucian Order of the Golden Dawn--Limited Leather (2011). Illustrations by Richard "Skip" Dudschus. Edited by Darcy Kuntz. "You damage my copy--I break your face." My entry for most expensive university textbook that I am still using. This is the book I use as my benchmark for what the rituals actually say, or where the officers should be standing. Or what that diagram should really look like. If it is wrong in this book, so am I. Most importantly, here is where everyone gets their godforms from; this is the most detailed list, therefore, I might be quote it. 

While I would prefer you to be a lodge initiate, there is another route if you are Thelemic.

Or a very annoying Hermetic.

Self-initiation!!!

Students of Thelema, fans of Aliester Crowley, the Great Beast, do not need to be told about how to self-initiate themselves. They just simply scream the Invocation of Horus, and move on with their lives--being a force of chaos in an universe full of mars energy. 

If you want a more balanced approach, it's takes a little bit more planning--here's a book.

Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition: A Complete Curriculum of Study for Both the Solitary Magician and the Working Magical Group. Chic Cicero, and Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Llewellyn--St Paul (1995 . . . 1998). The 1995 First Edition has the colored plates by Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Do I need to say which edition only comes out as needed? This book went back into print because so many students had organized together under Mark Imhotep (Santuary of Maat). One of them was my Freemason brother, MTO; who when I learned was living in Lakewood, I said, "Why be a self-initiate when me and Khari still have the lodge tools--why don't you and Blessed Brian come and help Neophyte one another?" That's how Bast Temple Two happened. I was slumming in SOM because a friend asked a question about one of their unique lessons. Had to join to look at it . . . never meant to be any form of officer. But I was known lodge officer. Because I never bothered to disguise my past experience as a ritual officer . . . even if I hid the fact that I started out as a Thelemic, rather than a Hermetic. By the way, I am a Kissing Cousin to the the Ciceros, thanks to Master Cherubim healing my lineage, and I have Hermetic Inner Order grandchildren who have no clue that their magical blood actually goes though Aliester Crowley, and Israel Regardie--it's like Sith mated with Jedi.

Please note that I have done a lot of work with Brothers and Sisters from the Sanctuary of Maat, who worked our dear green book, so I am going to be curious to compare it with . . .

The Complete Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscript: Deciphered, Translated, and Edited. Darcy Kuntz. Introduction by R.A. Gilbert. Holmes Publishing Group--Edmonds (1996). An awesome book to have . . . or to skim through once like eidetic memory Sherlock Holmes did--photographic memory before there was such a thing . . . but not required to own. 

Secrets of the Golden Dawn Cipher Manuscript: Deciphered and Annotated. Carroll "Poke" Runyon, M.A.; Foreword by Pat Zalewski. Afterword by R. A. Gilbert on Wynn Westcott's Cipher Manuscript Notebook. Church of Hermetic Sciences (C.H.S.)--Silverado (Feb 2005) 4th Printing. Books don't leave the library. I love this book, but it's not needed.

Mainly because I will be summing it up Programmer Foundation Blueprint wise to you.

Because that is what the Cipher Manuscript is--Programmer Notes. 

The big question is When were the Programmer Notes created?

And just how important is this answer. Well, in 1895, when this question was first asked, it was very important--because Mathers needed Westcott out of Golden Dawn, so that Mathers alone could collect that meal ticket money . . . hey, I call it as I see it. 

Does it matter that the Hermetic Golden Dawn is a recent invention, if it works?

Computers are recent invention. Should we throw them out because William Shakespeare didn't have access to one? Or the ancient Greeks? The Egyptians?

At some point, new inventions are allowed . . . new becomes old . . . old becomes tradition.

In the case of Golden Dawn, we are going to be examining in the Fall 2025 Outer and Inner Study programs that the Hermetic school is sucking up everything around it.

For instance, the color scales of the Inner Order of Adept Minor are only possible to study because the technology has developed for watercolors. The Queen of Mourning is painting; she has a hobby. And Mathers married a Mad Artist . . . Moina's a Mad Hatter. 

Still Westcott, Mathers, Moina, and their source documents are inspired. 

So we will be studying one of source documents that they would never call attention to. But as Leaders, as Fearless Teachers of Mystery Schools, there would be certain documents that they would be sure to try to secure access to upon publication. 

One of which was published in 1890. 

Budge and the British Museum published an "elephant folio" (14 3/4 by 21 inches) fascimile of Papyrus of Ani. In 1895, Budge would publish his translation of the Book of the Dead. We will not be using these because we don't own the one, and laugh at Budge.

What we will be using wasn't possible lately--thanks UFO aliens for updating printers. 

James Wasserman is a RC Saint.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day. Being the Papyrus of Ani (Royal Scribe of Offerings). Written and illustrated by Scribes and Artists Unknown. Including the Balance of the Chapters of the Books of the Dead known as the Theban Recension--compiled from ancient texts dating back to the roots of Egyptian civilization. Translated by Dr. Raymond O. Faulkner (1972). With additional translations and a commentary by Dr. Ogden Goelet, Jr. (1994). With original color illustrations based on the facsimile volume produced in 1890 under the supervision of P. Le Page Renouf and E. A. Wallis Budge. Introduced by Carol A. R. Andrews. Edited by Eva Von Dassow. In an edition conceived and produced by James Wasserman. Get this book. 

I am using the Chronicle--San Francisco (2008) edition. The work was done by Wasserman in 1994 and 1998 to put together this great book. It's 59% the size of the actual scroll, so you do lose some of the awesomeness, but we cope--right?

And we know that some of the Book of the Dead makes its way into the Hermetic Golden Dawn. Have we examined the whole scroll? This scroll was available to the Creator of the Cipher Manuscript . . . think about that . . . are we missing things here, boys and girls.

This is the Egyptian Book of the Dead--get the preferred edition.

What other Egyptian RC Inner Order things (lessons) would have been written if Mathers had not ran off to France to play politics? We can ask this question. It's a fair question. 

You see, Mathers had access to the Papyrus of Ani, even if he did not have the Elephant Folio. It's in the British Museum. We know that he occasionally went there. Sherlock.

This is our Source Papyrus for Hermetic Golden Dawn. Even if you can't read the Egyptian, if you are creating a new lodge system, a new esoteric order, how could you not include this majestic scroll inside of your new mystery school. Maybe it's just the Rabbi.

No. Seriously, I brought a copy at Barnes and Noble with part of my Saturday overtime money. The only hourly manager in the system--the Loco Gyro Brothers hated it--probably saved my life. Anyways, one of my Hermetic Golden Dawn student obsessions is the Forty-Two Judges of the Ancient Egyptians. Because me and a teacher disagreed about how to apply the astrological layer to their Godforms; it sparked a lifelong quest to learn.

One night, I am studying the gatefold of the Forty-Two Judges in the studio alone. Semi-dark. Past Hierophant. And one evening, the Forty-Two leap out at me. Yeah, complicated.

This is best of both worlds. 

Best illustrated papyrus of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The mystery scroll. 

With not an outdated Budge translation. I love my RC brother--he's great for knowing the GD answer, but he's wrong. If you get this preferred modern book, it's technology--rescanned to correct the colors, so they "pop"--get the book--trust me, it's Golden Dawn. 

So much information on two sides of paper, my Master.

No, we are not studying your FYI sheet.

Unlike other stuff that I collect, there's a lot of stuff that you should ignore in my study.

Because that would be copyrighted by a dead guy.