Magical Lodges

I've been reading "The Place of Mingled Powers: Spiritual Beings in the Magical Lodge" by John Michael Greer, and one of the parts that stood out to me was an offhand comment that the lodge system developed because Western Occultists, by and large, don't have dedicated spaces.

This strikes me as a significant lack. If you look at the history of modern occultism (starting probably with the Renaissance, because earlier it would have been called something different), we see that it generally did not favor large groups, large workings, or have any societal support whatsoever. Those three facts alone sort of necessitate against having a large or permanent space.

Mr. Greer also notes Occultism is, by and large, a part-time activity for most occultists. This is starting to change a bit, but for the most part, occultists have another profession or vocation, and occultism is sort of a side interest. This also does not lead one to having a permanent space.

I know there are older spiritual traditions that have large magical sites, especially where magic and religion blur: Tibetan Monasteries, Shinto shrines, Hindu temples. In the West, we've drawn a fairly stark line between magic and religion, and our closest would probably be the theurgic churches and monasteries of the older branches of Christianity: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Coptic. Those sites can be useful to western occultists, but are far more geared toward religion than magic. Examples abound: Ladakh for instance, or Meteora.

Also in the past, we have the famous example of an attempt at an occult monastery is, of course, the Abbey of Thelema. Aleister Crowley famously envisioned a world-wide focus for magical practice and devotion in Cefalù, Sicily, Italy. It lasted only three years.

I've heard of at least two permanent spaces for occultists cropping up. One is the New Alexandrian Library, which I'm assuming may have already outgrown it's space, and its only been open this year. The other is the Pittsburgh Witch House, which I'm given to understand will have both study and ritual space, and act as sort of a 'monastery' for occultists. From their site: "Part art collective, part temple, and part clubhouse."

Do you know of any permanent magical spaces or monasteries cropping up around full-time occultists or magicians?

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I cannot recommend Liber Spirituum enough. It's written by many people who are my friends and who are occultists of major import. The book is of high quality and a pleasure to read. Amazing stuff.



Comments

Anonymous said…
I agree with JMG that the part-time and relatively-solitary nature of occultists has led to the part-time system inherent in lodges — and you can see the circle in wicca and pagan traditions of the last forty or so years as being a parallel tool for making temporary sacred space. I haven't read this book you speak of, but "INSIDE A MAGICAL LODGE" by him deals much more with the legal, metaphysical, symbolic, and physical toolkit of lodge systems, and I've found that volume exceptionally helpful for using my work with a more regular lodge group, Toastmasters, in a magical way.

But I understand that INSIDE A MAGICAL LODGE is one of JMG's least-well-selling books, which dismays me. Among other things the book makes clear that a well-ordered lodge should be a relatively-democratic institution, and that the spiritual development of its members depends upon the regular rotation of its officers, the term-limits of its officers, and the regular process of taking on leadership roles and letting them go. I know that my own spiritual and magical work within a lodge system has benefitted MIGHTILY from the stepping-into officer roles, and stepping-out again... I can't recommend it highly enough.

Looks like I have another book to add to my list. Thanks for the recommendation.

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