Modern Order of Essenes: PDFs, Sound Files, and Forum

[ecosophia]

I've finished the process of turning the Essene lesson material into PDF files for ease of distribution. They're being released under a Creative Commons license, meaning you can copy and distribute them freely so long as nobody charges any money for the material. Copies are currently being hosted by the Order of Spiritual Alchemy and the Inclusive Sacramental Church of Christ:

https://octagonsociety.org/archives/modern-order-of-essenes/

https://lumenecclesiachristi.weebly.com/our-liturgy.html (scroll down -- there's a lot of other good stuff on this page)

Please host and circulate the Essene material anywhere you like.

The Order of Spiritual Alchemy page linked above also has a set of sound files of John Gilbert teaching portions of the Apprentice work and giving the Apprentice attunement. John was always editing and altering his material, and so what you'll hear him saying isn't quite the same as the material I published. You can make use of either version, of course, or do the traditional thing and come up with your own version on the basis of your own experiences and meditations.

Finally, the OSA has also set up a forum for practitioners of the Modern Order of Essenes, the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose, and other orders affiliated with the OSA; it has a couple of MOE-specific pages.  You can find it here:

https://octagonsociety.org/forum/

You'll need to set up a free account and log in to access it.

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to passing on the necessary information to those who qualify as Essene Master Teachers, but other than that, the Modern Order of Essenes is back on its feet, or as close to it as I can manage. In due time -- it's going to be a few months at least -- I'll proceed to the final step in passing on the material I received from John Gilbert:  the reactivation of the clergy training program for the Universal Gnostic Church. Stay tuned!

Comments

[thinking_turtle]

Many thanks for making the lessons you received from John Gilbert available to the public. I've been doing the Blessing Walk for a few weeks now, it's really enjoyable.

I seem to get stuck at a certain level of magic systems, like the Golden Section's Sphere of Protection or the Druid Magic Handbook's Ogham. Yet the beginning exercises are very helpful.

[ecosophia]

It's fine to just work with the basic exercises; not everyone is meant to go on to the complex stuff. John always encouraged students to spend some time with the beginning practices, and stay there if that suited them.

[(Anonymous)]

If I have gone all the way through the OSA but not the MOE, is the UGC still an option for me? Any early thoughts about what form the UGC will take?

[ecosophia]

To enter the clergy training program for the UGC you have to complete the work of at least one of the orders associated with it -- the Order of Spiritual Alchemy, the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose, the Modern Order of Essenes, or the Ancient Order of Druids in America; I'll also include the Dolmen Arch course, since it's comparable, and once all three books are published, the training program of the Golden Section Fellowship. You also have to do the Gnostic Lessons. If you complete the OSA work and do the Gnostic Lessons you'll be qualified.

[(Anonymous)]

In which way is the Dolmen Arch comparable to these other systems? Or to which of these other systems is it most similar?

Milkyway

[ecosophia]

The Dolmen Arch is closest to the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose, all things considered; it's a system of Druid occultism that relies on the Sphere of Protection, discursive meditation, and a range of other old-fashioned occult practices as its training methods.

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for the explanation. I‘ve seen it mentioned quite often, but wasn‘t really sure what it entails.

Does the Dolmen Arch require worship of any particular deities? Or will it also work for people who aren‘t close to any druid pantheons?

Milkyway

[ecosophia]

The Dolmen Arch system can be worked with reference to any deities you choose.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you very much! :-)

Hm, that sounds interesting. I‘m still busy with other stuff, but, as we say in Germany, „Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude“ („anticipation is the nicest form of enjoyment“).

Milkyway

[jprussell]

For what it's worth, here's my point of view as someone who has just started Grade 3 (of 7) in the Dolmen Arch:

- I keep up my worship of Anglo-Saxon Gods, but that has allowed for seeing some interesting parallels in the meditation material, especially the Mabignogion
- Also, when scrying, I have noticed more Celtic-flavored beings showing up, but then, I've also been scrying the Ogham for a while now, so that could also have something to do with it
- As for what is involved, the very heavy emphasis is on meditation. Each grade has a book from the Mabinogion, 9 Druid Philosophy triads, some completion exercises for when you finish the rest of the grade, and usually a handful of topics from other lessons/exercises that likely ought to be meditated on
- Each grade also tends to have one or two other exercises to work on while you're doing everything else - like improving your memory or a new approach to thinking in meditation
- There's no divination explicitly as part of the course

So, after divination suggested to me that I ought to pursue the DA and the DMH "simultaneously," while not doing any of the more advanced rituals in DMH due to a new kiddo, here's my default approach that lets me hit all three legs of the magical cauldron, with variations due to seasonal rituals or the like:

- SOP Everyday
- Grove on Thursdays for scrying
- DA Meditation Topics on MTW
- Scry whatever is on the plan for the DMH on Thursday (currently wrapping up the Ogham, then on to the Wheel of Life, eventually to pathworking)
- Meditate on scrying session FSS
- Do an Ogham or Rune reading every day
- Do any other occult/spiritual exercises at other times of the day

Going with this program, it's taken me just over a year to get through the first two grades and start the third, but I also had a baby during that year and had to slow down on the spiritual practice for a bit. If you were using every day for DA topics, I reckon it would likely go much quicker - the course recommends at least 3 months per grade which feels about right for the lower end of spending enough time on it.

Lastly, I'd say that I have found the work extremely rewarding. It's harder and subtler than what DMH has done for me, but it feels like tapping into a very deep vein of wisdom.

Hope this helps you work out whether it's a good option for you!

[(Anonymous)]

Jeff,

Thanks a lot!! This has been very helpful indeed. :-)

Milkyway

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks! In the Cleric UGC lesson, there is reference to an alb, which after a quick search, means a robe. Is there a specific type required?

[ecosophia]

An alb is specifically a white robe, and is normally worn with a cord belt:

[(Anonymous)]

I hope it's not too off-topic to post some findings about albs. Even though the revived UGC is still a ways off, the Cleric UGC lesson is specific about the use of an alb during the ceremony, so I thought I'd look around.

It seems it isn't too easy to find pure cotton albs, these two links below all feature albs made from partly from polyester:
https://www.gaspardinc.com/clergy-essentials/men-s-clergy-apparel/albs.html
https://www.almy.com/Product2/zc0003152/category/AlbsForMen/parent/ClergyApparel-Man

I don't know how big a deal it is to have plastics in the garments you wear for spiritual work, but I don't like the idea personally.

There is this robe, but not specifically an alb:
https://www.medievalcollectibles.com/product/mens-celtic-ritual-robe/

And this alb from a British company is cotton, but pricy:
https://www.wattsandco.com/collections/albs-cottas-surplices

[(Anonymous)]

All the links you posted are pricy in my view! Since I asked JMG the question before and he said any white robe will do, I want to point out that the less well-heeled of us also have options which are much less expensive, such as this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078VXGCPJ And it's pure cotton.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, they are all pricey! Good to know that cheaper options are available. Thanks for the link, although that shows up as being partly polyester as well. I'll keep looking!

[ecosophia]

I've had good experiences with this company --

Azoth Art

-- and their albs are 100% cotton.

[francis_tucker]

Wait, there are UGC lessons?? Where?? I thought (from reading above) that those wouldn't be showing up for several months. JMG, What am I missing or misunderstanding? Is Anonymous talking about some older papers that have circulated?

[ecosophia]

Yes, there are a set of Gnostic Lessons issued by the UGC back in the day. They've already been published twice by me -- you can find them, for example, in the third volume of the Essene papers linked above -- and I'll be posting them again here in due time.

Thanks for the mention

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Archdruid John,

Thank you for the mention!

And Thank you for the permission to post the lessons on my website.

Felix

Re: Thanks for the mention

[ecosophia]

Thank you for hosting them! Your site has quite a selection of resources that my Christian readers may find useful, so I thought it was a good idea to point them there.

On the Creative Commons

[homeopathic_meditations]

Sorry to nitpick about this, but I do not think the license you have chosen does protect your work in the way you have stated here.

In the Apprentice PDF it says "This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License", also known as the CC-BY-NC-4.0 Licence. AFAIK you are demanding your readers that they do not charge money for the distribution of the works, and that they attribute the original work to you and give a way to find the original work, but they are free to modify the work as they see fit. Also once the work is modified, they are able to license it whatever way they see fit, including in a for profit way.

If you are interested in having the PDFs distributed without any modifications at all, you must license them as "Creative Common Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivatives" (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Other popular option is for the licensor to force the licensees to release every derivative work under the same conditions they received the original (in this case, to extend the work but not profit directly from it); if that interest you, then the appropriate license would be "Creative Common Attribution- NonCommercial- ShareAlike" (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Re: On the Creative Commons

[ecosophia]

Um, I'm quite aware of this. I am allowing people to do as they wish with the material, and if someone wants to try to do their own version and make money off it, they're welcome to make the attempt. The important thing to me is to make sure that the original version is freely available to anyone who wants to study it.

Re: On the Creative Commons

[homeopathic_meditations]

That's very generous, thank you. I, for one, would be glad if a graphic artist would pick up your "MOE X Guide"s and turned them into "MOE Ilustrated X Guide"s. Once more, I am sorry for assuming you had not intended it that way (since you make a living out of your intellectual property and all that), but as they say... asking is for free.

Re: On the Creative Commons

[ecosophia]

No problem. I'd love to see someone do an illustrated and expanded version of this stuff, and I can't assume that the person who does that is in the kind of comfortable financial situation I'm in these days -- they may need to make some money on the investment of their time. (Me, I'm grateful that I don't have to do that!)

[(Anonymous)]

I'm pretty sure a long-time friend of mine is possessed. He has made several appointments to come over and visit during the past year but he always cancels at the last moment, most likely because of the daily banishing I do on my house. My experience is limited, but what I think is going on is that the destructive influencer has been enhanced by the traditional blood magic my friend has been doing as part of his cultural practices. Maybe he didn't take the rituals seriously enough and broke protocol, but now he seems to have lost the divine connection and is treating it as an ego boost. He always struggled with constantly-in-crisis and rage addiction, but at least he was helping people and attempting to do charitable work. A few months after his last shots something apparently pushed him over the edge, and according to the stories we heard it sounds like he's begun destroying his Magnum Opus with unreason. The problem with this case is that the psychic attacks are very powerful. He's angry with me even though I'm trying to help him with some business stuff and blames me for his failures even though he has been completely uncooperative lately. My wife and I are totally wiped out after his latest attempt to come visit today (his GF said they turned around halfway here) and my magically sensitive dog yelped like someone kicked her and was limping around for a few minutes. It's actually a relief that he didn't come because I can sense the strong possibility of violence. I don't think I'm up to the task of exorcising such a powerful entity at this time. I accepted all the Essene attunements but got distracted since then, and was wondering if I should start from the beginning to build up my momentum or just pick up where I left off, which was getting ready for the master grade. Thank you for your consideration on this matter.

[ecosophia]

If you're looking at doing an exorcism -- which is challenging work! -- I recommend starting from the beginning and making sure that you practice every single day while you're getting back up to speed.

[(Anonymous)]

I suppose that’s what new moons are for. Thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

Wonderful! I was just hoping for such a thing!

Much thanks!

Tangerine Vexatious Harpy

New material

[(Anonymous)]

Hi JMG

Thank you very much for all of these resources. Very handy as I want to go back through again from the start and firm up each stage, especially now that I've added in the healing breath.

My memory and/or CTRL+F skills may be failing me, but if not it looks like there's some not-seen-before material in the Healer manual...The Advanced Blessing Walk / Foot crystal activation, and the two sections on Breath of Acceptance and Breath of Forgiveness? Does anyone else recall these in the weekly posts?

Thanks,
JH