View From The Big Hills

 George Stanton was one of the founding fathers of the Aurum Solis. The following short ghost story was told to him in 1886 by Mr Westcote. Stanton’s recollection of the story came into my possession from the estate of William Corbett, Head of the Stonehenge Lodge 667 of the Order of Druids. The l odge held its meetings in the Golden Lion Inn, Worcester Street, Bromsgrove , in the West of England in the 1880s. “On Thursday, the 25th of November, 1779, Thomas Lord Lyttelton, when he came to breakfast, declared to Mrs. Flood (originally a Miss Amphlett), wife of Frederick Flood, Esq., and to the three Miss Amphletts, who were lodged in his house in Hill Street, London, (where he then also was), that he had had a most extraordinary dream the night before. He said he thought he was in a room which a bird flew into, which appearance was suddenly changed into that of a woman dressed in white, who bade him prepare to die; to which he answered, "I hope not soon : not in two mont...

Ernest Page was the Warden of the Order of the Sacred Word, a precursor to the Aurum Solis and the modern day Astrum Sophia. A skilled astrologer, poet and magician, unlike many modern day ego-centric and self-styled mages, he exemplified humanity at its best. Much of his time was spent in dedication to the Simon Community in London helping homeless people.

Painswick’s beautiful Rococo Garden never fails to lift my spirits in the dark winter months….. Mona’s Song of Pan Bowl of oak and earthen jar, Honey of the honey-bee; Milk of kine and Grecian wine, Golden corn from neighbouring lea – These our offerings, Pan, to thee, Goat-foot god of Arcady. Horned head and cloven hoof – Fawns who seek and nymphs that flee – Piping clear and draweth near Through the vales of Arcady – These the gifts we have of thee, God of joyous ecstasy. Come, great Pan, and bless us all: Bless the corn and honey-bee. Bless the kine and bless the vine, Bless the vales of Arcady. Bless the nymphs that laugh and flee, God of all fertility. From Dion Fortune’s “The Goat Foot God”, published by the Society of the Inner Light .

Snowdrops Do you know what I was, how I lived?  You know what despair is;  then winter should have meaning for you. I did not expect to survive, earth suppressing me.  I didn't expect to waken again,  to feel in damp earth my body able to respond again,  remembering after so long how to open again in the cold light of earliest spring-- afraid, yes, but among you again crying yes risk joy in the raw wind of the new world.    Louise Gluck

I thought I'd share one of my favourite sections of a dialogue from the Corpus Hermeticum. At times the Corpus is inpenetrable. At other times it blasts your consciousness with illumination and revelatory insight. The extract I've chosen is section XIII, verses 17 to 29. Over the years I've found that this beautiful work more than repaid the time invested in contemplation and meditation. It can provide a portal or gateway to the deeper aspects of the Ogdoadic and broader Hermetic Traditions. In this part we hear Tat (Thoth) asking the Hermes to retell the hymn he heard by the Powers (dunamis), praising the Godhead, whilst he was in the Ogdoad. In some ways this short passage is the ultimate culmination of the whole Corpus Hermeticum. Essentially it sums up the overarching theory of the Hermetic system generally while, at the same time, providing an intriguing glimpse at Hermetic praxis. The focus of the dialogue in the wider Hymnody is on the experien...