View from the Big Hills

The London Group was formed by previous members of two esoteric groups strongly linked with Dion Fortune -- the  Society of the Inner Light and the Society of Western Mythologists.  The former of these groups had changed its direction, teachings and  practices, resulting in a number of members leaving to pursue avenues they believed were more appropriately aligned to serving the needs of the emerging Aquarian Age.  The latter had closed its temple in the early 1970s. It had been a working group founded by three previous members of the Society of the Inner Light, two of whom had lived in Queensborough Terrace.  They left the Society, feeling that new forms were needed for a New Age, and that the Society was running in contradiction to this need. Similarly, Basil Wilby, more well known as the author Gareth Knight, also left the Society shortly after them for the same reasons.  There was new work to be done, and new people were needed to do it.  To that e...

The year following the end of the horrific First World War marked a pivotal time in the development of British Occultism. In 1919, Violet Mary Firth was initiated into the London A.·.O Lodge of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It was at this point in her life that she made an important connection, for participating in the young Soror D.N.F.’s initiation was a certain Maiya Curtis Webb.  Maiya’s magical motto at the time was, “Ex Fide Fortis,” essentially meaning, “Of Strong Faith,” and she is understood to have also become Violet’s superviser after her initiation. The two worked the Mysteries together on and off over the subsequent two and a half decades. Further biographical details from my earlier researches can be found here . At the time, as is still customary in many magical groups nowadays, Violet was required to choose a Mystery Name by which she would be known to her fellow Brethren and also to the Inner Planes. Making a relatively unoriginal choice, she ad...

I took a day trip to the Rococo Gardens in Painswick in the Stroud Valleys. Surrounded by a carpet of budding snowdrops I walked past the beautiful statue of Pan. I've been on good terms with him for a number of years.   With the Spring energies and the returning daylight on their way, I was very much struck by Rumi's short piece on daylight. Rumi: Daylight If ten lamps are present in one place, each differs in form from another; yet you can't distinguish whose radiance is whose when you focus on the light. In the field of spirit there is no division; no individuals exist. Sweet is the oneness of the Friend with His friends. Catch hold of spirit. Help this headstrong self disintegrate; that beneath it you may discover unity, like a buried treasure. * In many ways, the promise of Spring is the promise of the Light returning....and that Light hath healing in its wings.......healing that brings Unity of Spirit. Best wishes Ce...