Self-Initiation Into the Golden Dawn Tradition: A Complete Curriculum of Study for Both the Solitary Magician and the Working Magical Group [Paperback]

Chic Cicero (Author), Sandra Tabatha Cicero (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2002

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has been considered one of the most important Western magical systems for over a century. Although much of their knowledge has been published, to really enter the system required initiation within a Golden Dawn temple — until now.

Regardless of your magical knowledge or background, you can learn and live the Golden Dawn tradition with the first practical guide to Golden Dawn initiation. Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero offers self-paced instruction by two senior adepts of this magical order.

For the first time, the esoteric rituals of the Golden Dawn are clearly laid out in step-by-step guidance that's clear and easy-to-follow. Studying the Knowledge Lectures, practicing daily rituals, doing meditations, and taking self-graded exams will enhance your learning. Initiation rituals have been correctly reinterpreted so you can perform them yourself. Upon completion of this workbook, you can truly say that you are practicing the Golden Dawn tradition with an in-depth knowledge of qabalah, astrology, Tarot, geomancy, spiritual alchemy, and more, all of which you will learn from Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition.

·No need for group membership
·Instructions are free of jargon and complex language
·Lessons don't require familiarity with magical traditions
·Grade rituals from Neophyte to Portal
·Link with your Higher Self

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to learn the Golden Dawn system, Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition explains it all. The lessons follow a structured plan, adding more and more information with each section of the book. Did you really learn the material? Find out by using the written tests and checking them with the included answers. Here is a chance to find out if the Golden Dawn system is the right path for you or to add any part of their wisdom and techniques to the system you follow. Start with this book now.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Llewellyn was the company that republished the original books on the Golden Dawn after they had been ignored for over a quarter of a century. We have always thought that the Golden Dawn was important.

That's why I'm glad we can present Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero. It offers the most comprehensive and scientific system for studying the Golden Dawn tradition ever published.

With this book, you have everything necessary to initiate yourself through the outer grades of the Golden Dawn, from Neophyte through Portal — a total of six initiation ceremonies. These rituals are specially designed for the solitary practitioner, but they can be adapted for groups of two or more magicians. Each grade initiation is followed by a comprehensive Knowledge Lecture for you to study and absorb. Each chapter provides an examination at the end, so you can test your grasp of the material and check the answers in the back of the book.

The Knowledge Lectures are expanded with more in-depth information than has ever been published in one place before. You will learn other rituals, divination, and more as you move through the Grades. Never before have the teachings of the Golden Dawn been so readily available. You can learn it all when you get Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition.

About the Author

Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero are Senior Adepts of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.  They share an enthusiasm for the esoteric arts.  They live in Florida with their cat, Lealah, where they work and practice magic.



Sandra Tabatha Cicero is a Senior Adept of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and holds a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.  

Product Details

• Paperback: 792 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (September 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567181368
• ISBN-13: 978-1567181364
• Product Dimensions: 1.6 x 7.1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #295,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for any serious student of Western Magic December 17, 2000

By "fratervm"

Format:Paperback

This is hands down the best do-it-yourself course in Magic. Challenging and well thought out, it will deliver on its promise to provide the resources for becoming a practicing Golden Dawn Magician. And even if you are already an experienced practicioner, this course is well worth working your way through to strengthen your understanding of the Art. I give it only four stars, however, because the Ciceros--in their usual way--have left out a great deal of practical instruction; e.g., a typical instruction will read something like "Now take a ritual bath and perform the LBRP..." Of course, a student who is a beginner will be baffled by this, and will not be able to glean the proper techniques from the Cicero's sketchy instructions (a skeletal outline of the LBRP is given, but it is truly the bare bones of the ritual.) This deficiency can be remedied by supplementing the course with Donald Michael Kraig's "Modern Magick" which is rich in practical instruction, but sometimes poor in intellectual depth--a feature that "Self-Initiation" has in abundance. Despite this failing, though, the solitary practioner cannot do better than this book!

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for the Intermediate Student October 27, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

If you are a beginner in the study of Magick, especially High Magick then you should get Donald Michael Kraigs "11 lessons in High Magick" first and go through it. This book is wonderful but it will be extremely overwhelming for someone who is new to the practice. This book is so jam packed with info and hard to stay focused if you don't have patience. I Love this book though very informative and great Lectures. A must read for anyone interested in the Golden Dawn Tradition.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource! April 6, 2007

By Immanuel

Format:Paperback

I originally bought this book back when it was released in 1995. While I thought it was an excellent companion to Doc Regardie's Golden Dawn, it appeared to be a very daunting task. Eventually my original copy would disappear... somewhere.

A few years later a friend who was moving away gave me his copy of the book. He was heavily involved in Wicca and I was, at the time, an initiate of the Society Ordo Templi Orientis and deeply, deeply involved in my A.'.A.'. work. While I appreciated the gift and would occasionally reference it, I pretty much left it sitting on my shelf. In the interveing years I have slowly shifted away from Thelema, not totally, but in many ways I find I no longer feel the strong identification with the Current I once felt. Rather, and from my discussions with other magicians, it seems I have gotten beyond the point where Crowley and Thelema are necessary to my spiritual development while recognizing them as practical tools that helped me to get where I am and define my sense of identity. Thelema helped me to release the Ego in the sense of what I call the "I am the Beast" syndrome. Robert Anton Wilson writes about what I mean extensively in his "Cosmic Trigger". Think of it as a "Psychology of Liberation".

Like many of the reviews here though, I thought Self-INitiation was overly complex, contained too much information and impractical. I am now sitting down with it and rethinking the entire approach.

Anybody who says this book is too complex is simply trying to rush through the material or hasn't confronted their own inner laziness. It is necessary to begin with the introduction which explains the theory behind the book and gives practical instructions on beginning the work of Self-Initiation and explains the various godforms that are assumed in the rituals.

The Knowledge lectures, outside of the addition of more complete material on Astrology, are expanded versions of the same knowledge lectures presented in the Regardie books. While Regardie's work just listed symbols etc. the Ciceros have explained the symbols and expanded on them in interesting, if not always necessarily useful, ways. The expansion of the Astrology material alone is excellent. The key here is to take time with the material and to absorb it, not simply memorize the material. If you were going through a traditional Golden Dawn group these are the very same things you would be learning and using in your advancement through the grades and it seems, reading reviews and based on my own experiences, that many people just want the quick fix via a book rather than taking the time to absorb the material. The Ciceros suggest a 6 months period between the taking of each of the grades but this is based on the Self-Initiation rituals presented in the book. I think the material contained in the expanded knowledge lectures could be absorbed in a month or two quite easily, but take about 3-4 months just to be thorough.

The presentation is excellent and I wish this was how Regardie's book were laid out with each knowledge lecture preceded by the grade ritual corresponding. Also there is expanded ritual work when compared to the traditional Golden Dawn material that I think overall adds to the system in very positive ways. Also included are wonderful and updated reading lists reflecting modern developments in psychology, philosophy, science and occultism.

If anything in this book can be considered a flaw it is the Self-Initiation rituals themselves. They are almost exactly the original rituals with some modifications for self initiation but they require so much material to be constructed that they are not financially sound and the space required isn't always practical. I think that they should have stripped the rituals totally or used the Z documents to construct new self-initiation ceremonies that aren't nearly so verbose and complicated. While I don't think initiation should be a simple or easy affair, it is evident that simpler versions that are as effective as the original GD rituals are possible and do exist such as Crowley's Liber Pyramidos as published in the Equinox vol. IV no. 1. The elemental rituals also could have been reworked easily. The Watchtower ceremony could be used as the basis for this process with the elemental symbols of each grade worked into the candidates aura in the course of that ritual coupled with the Middle Pillar ritual to balance that energy.

As far as I care though, the rituals are unnecessary for advancement if the aspiration is pure. There is nothing like just doing the work to begin the process of initiation. The time period the Ciceros provide, 3 months for the beginning work, 9 months for the Neophyte and then 6 months for each of the elemental and portal grades is far longer than necessary for proper self initiation. Regardie in his Complete GOlden Dawn System of Magic writes that he thinks the performance of the Watchtower Ceremony and Middle Pillar ritual can self initiate a person and surmises that someone he knows that has performed this combination about 50 or 60 times has the credentials of a full initiate. This tells me that much could have been done with the Self Initiation rituals themselves. This system of self initiation is best done in a group.

But as I said, outside of the rituals themselves, the knowledge lectures are the best published, practical and thorough. You can not allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the amount of material contained in the book, just take it one step at a time.

A final note on the question of self-initiation. There have been long standing debates on whether self initiation is possible and I have to ask... how did the first Master become a Master is there was no one to initiate him? The debate has really raged about the 5=6 ritual. I don't think it is self-initiation that is at question but the experience of the ritual that can not be conferred. Self-initiation is not based on system, it isn't based on orders, it is based on personal aspiration in the face of the darkness.