ecosophia | The Order of Spiritual Alchemy: Introduction

During one of the conversations on this week's Magic Monday open post, the conversation briefly touched on one of the esoteric orders in which I was initiated, the Order of Spiritual Alchemy. That was one of several orders I encountered by way of my late teacher John Gilbert, who had been its head (his official title was Chief Guardian) for many years. It has been defunct for almost a decade now -- John closed down its website and other activities at the same time as he withdrew from most of his other public occult activities. As far as I know nobody else is still practicing the system.

I was initiated into all the levels of the OSA, however, and certified by John as a teacher of spiritual alchemy. I have therefore decided to make the teachings of the first, outermost order of the OSA public at this time, posting them here over the next two months or so in weekly installments. If any of my readers complete the work of the outer order in a satisfactory manner, I will see to it that they get the material of the two inner orders. If enough people complete the work of the outer order -- well, we'll see.

Spiritual alchemy begins with the transmutation of the emotional life. This is the work of the material covered in the outer order, which is named the Octagon Society. I will caution my readers that this work is not easy. Its material requirements are very simple -- it's the work itself that's hard. We'll get to that in future weeks. For now, here's an introductory survey.

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The Order of Spiritual Alchemy (OSA) as it now exists was founded in 1878 by American occult teacher William Robert Harrison III, who was its first Adept Master Alchemist. In its early days it taught only the material currently taught in the lowest of its three levels, the Octagon Society, but it expanded its teachings considerably under the guidance of James Fillmore Harris, who changed the title of its head to Chief Guardian of the Temple of Solomon and held that position from 1923 to 1928.

In 1947 the Council of Guardians elected Dr. Juliet Ashley as Chief Guardian. Ashley was at that time already the head of the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn and would thereafter become the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America and an archbishop in the Universal Gnostic Church. Thereafter the OSA was affiliated with these other organizations. Together they lost membership in the late twentieth century as interest in traditional occultism declined, and the Order existed only in a very quiet way for some years. It went public again in 2003 under the leadership of John Gilbert, under whom I studied the system and was initiated into all three of its levels. For personal reasons, Gilbert closed down its website and its activities in 2012 and the OSA has remained dormant since that time.

In the usual style of old-fashioned esoteric orders, the OSA claimed a colorful pedigree. The story as I was taught it is the Octagon Society was founded at the Winter Solstice on December 22, 1158 by a conventicle of Templar alchemists in the octagonal tower of Gisors Castle in Gisors, France. (It was from this tower that the Octagon Society is said to have taken its name.) The first Adept Master Alchemist was said to be one Robert de Piro, a Knight Templar and the chief of a college of Templar alchemists. It so happens that according to several recent books on the Templars—Jean Markale’s The Templar Treasure at Gisors is one of them—a certain Robert de Pirou was one of three knights of the Templar order who occupied the castle at Gisors, along with a larger group of Templar squires and lay brothers, from 1158 to 1161.

There is however no known evidence at present to bridge the gap between Robert de Piro(u) in 1158 and William Robert Harrison III 720 years later, nor does there seem to be any record of a college of Templar alchemists in Piro(u)’s time, or at any other time for that matter. A document purporting to date from the original foundation of the order was in the possession of the Council of Guardians in the 1920s but it has apparently been lost since then. Nonetheless the OSA retains some elements of Templar custom and symbolism, and the heritage of the Knights Templar is important in certain aspects of the OSA’s work.

Whatever did or did not come down from the Knights Templar to Harrison and his heirs, they taught a system of spiritual alchemy, which was intended to accomplish not the transmutation of lead into gold but the healing and transformation of the individual self into a higher mode of human existence. That system does not involve strange incantations or exotic practices of any kind, and it can be successfully practiced alongside other spiritual, religious, and magical paths. Its working instruments are a pen and a notebook—a lined spiral notebook of the sort sold as school supplies is entirely suitable. It requires fifteen or twenty minutes a day, which are spent remembering, reflecting, and writing.

This may make the OSA’s system of spiritual alchemy sound like a lightweight activity. It is not. I have done very few practices of any kind that are as challenging as spiritual alchemy. What you will be doing with that pen and notebook, if you take up these practices, is unpacking all your least favorite memories and coming face to face with all your most tangled and difficult emotions. This is the first stage of spiritual alchemy, the Nigredo (black phase) of the old alchemists. In the OSA it is called the stage of Entering the Fire; another name for it in alchemical lore is the Casting of the Molten Sea. On the far side are two more phases: the white phase or Albedo, which is called Baptism with Water in the OSA and is also known as the Making of the Rose Diamond, and the red phase or Rubedo, which in the OSA is called Entering the Mind of God and is also called the Achieving of the Philosopher’s Stone.

The goal of spiritual alchemy in the OSA system is quite literally to take apart the ramshackle structure of your thoughts and feelings one piece at a time, and put it back together in a way that is better suited to achieve happiness and success. In alchemical terms, you will apply the classic method of solve et coagula—“dissolve and reunite”—to yourself, in order to transmute the lead of your current life into the gold of a life lived in conscious awareness of the divine reality that surrounds and penetrates all things. It is not a fast process. You will need to spend a good deal of time on each of the phases, and even after you complete the full sequence, you will need to go back through them again at intervals to get the most out of the practices.

One additional note. The lessons assume that you accept the existence of a divine being. The versions I received used the phrase “the Divine.” I’m fairly sure from context that the versions of the same lessons that were in use a century ago simply said “God.” Membership when I joined the OSA was open to any person eighteen years of age or older who was willing to affirm the existence of the Divine. No other limit was placed on what religious or spiritual beliefs a member might hold, but the reference to deity is not a formality; the contrast between reality as human beings envision it and reality as we can guess the Divine might perceive it is a significant factor in the practices. For that reason I don’t recommend this work to atheists, or to the kind of agnostics who aren’t willing to postulate the existence of a deity as a working hypothesis.

Prospective students of the Order of Spiritual Alchemy when I was active in that organization were given three preliminary lessons. Those who completed those lessons and still wanted to go on—by no means the majority!—were then permitted to join the Octagon Society at the beginning grade of 0/8, and ascended step by step through the eight grades and three gates of the Octagon Society training to the grade of 8/8. Those who completed this work were then permitted to join the next level of the Order.

If you are prepared to embark on this adventure, provide yourself with a notebook and a pen. The instructions for the first of the three preliminary laws will be posted next week.

Current Mood: nostalgic

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mollari

I'm definitely interested, and I look forward to seeing the lessons next week.

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The Order of Spiritual Alchemy: Introduction

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