Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn

Open Source Order
of the Golden Dawn
(OSOGD)

The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn (OSOGD) was an esoteric community of magical practitioners, many of whom came from pagan backgrounds. It was an initiatory teaching Order that drew upon the knowledge, experience, practices and spirit of the system of magical training and attainment developed by the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The OSOGD ceased operating in September 2019. (Website is still active 3/23 R/)

History

The OSOGD was founded by Sam Webster in 2002 and based on the principles of the open-source software movement. The organization grew out of a series of workshops on ceremonial magic held by Webster in 2001.

According to Sam Webster,

The Open Source Order was founded on the principle that true spirituality is omnipresent and access to it cannot be owned or controlled by any group or individual. Sufficiently skilled practitioners can and do modify the practices to serve specific purposes or to take advantage of the century-plus development in the craft to improve their effect.

According to The Manifesto of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn, the Order had undertaken to revise the teachings of the original Victorian era Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn system to work more effectively in the 21st century. This redaction of the original rituals has taken on the aspect of a number of principles, listed in the Manifesto as Open Source Magick, New Aeon, Freedom of Information, Thelema, Duty, Universalism, and Form and Function.

In temple work, the OSOGD uses Egyptian, Enochian and Thelemic godforms in preference to the Judeo-Christian Archangels typical of the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. According to the Manifesto, OSOGD teaches "a progressively tiered system of spiritual development designed to invoke the Higher or Divine Genius latent in every human being."

Membership

To actually join the Order, a person must have had regular access to its Lodge, which was located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Order did not conduct distance initiations, and required that all initiates attend initiation rituals in person.

Influences

The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn drew heavily from Eastern sources, Thelema, Paganism, and the works of Aleister Crowley.

Open-source religion

pen-source religions employ open-source methods for the sharing, construction, and adaptation of religious belief systems, content, and practice. In comparison to religions utilizing proprietary, authoritarian, hierarchical, and change-resistant structures, open-source religions emphasize sharing in a cultural Commons, participation, self-determination, decentralization, and evolution. They apply principles used in organizing communities developing open-source software for organizing group efforts innovating with human culture. New open-source religions may develop their rituals, praxes, or systems of beliefs through a continuous process of refinement and dialogue among participating practitioners. Organizers and participants often see themselves as part of a more generalized open-source and free-culture movement.

References

• Crow, John. "Interview with Sam Webster of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn" on Thelema Coast to Coast #28: June 24, 2006.
• Keane, Sam. "Open to Revisions" Search Magazine, Volume 6, Issue 19, May–June, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2009
• Krengel, Eric. Open Source Religion Explored Again -- Beyond the Western Traditions, January 16, 2007
• OSOGD (2002). The Manifesto of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn. Retrieved June 1, 2006.
• Wicker, Christine (2005). Not In Kansas Anymore - A Curious Tale of How Magic is Transforming America. Harper San Francisco. < ISBN:0-06-072678-4 >

More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Open_Source_Order_of_the_Golden_Dawn ]

External links

• Official website

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