June 5th 2009 Denver Open Full Moon Ritual Led by Bast Temple

The June 5^th 2009 Open Full Moon, "The Egyptian God Paper Doll Hour", Denver Colorado, hosted by Hearthstone Community Church, is going to be led by two of the members of Bast Temple, one of the local Golden Dawn lodges.

The Hearthstone Open Full Moons are held at the First Unitarian Church at 14^th and Lafayette, Denver Colorado. The doors open at 7pm; community announcements happen at 7:30 pm; the ritual starts after the community announcements are completed. The event is free to attend; a five dollar donation is suggested to help offset the cost of the rental of the ritual/meeting room.

Golden Dawn is an esoteric tradition that formed in 1888. It was one of the first Orders to use actual Egyptian lore in its system, rather than the myths that the Hermetic tradition created after the ability to read the Egyptian hieroglyphs was lost. Yet despite being cutting edge at the time of its creation, as a lodge system, a society with secrets, the lore that they continue to use to this day is sadly out of date, something that many modern students of Egyptian lore have an issue with.

This ritual will address why the outdated lore is only an issue if you are interested in historical accuracy, and how an outdated system of lore can still produce results when used in a magical setting. There will be paper dolls of Egyptian deities involved in this ritual.

The Hearthstone Open Full Moons are led by volunteers, and their goal is to expose people to various styles of Wiccan and pagan ritual.

So why a Golden Dawn related ritual? Isn't Golden Dawn a lodge system that practices magic and not a religion?

Yes, Golden Dawn is a lodge based system of magical training and practice and not a religion. But what a lot of pagans and wiccans do not know is that Golden Dawn was one of the ancestors of the modern day Wicca and pagan movements. Furthermore, many of the techniques of Golden Dawn, including the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, along with Golden Dawn inspired techniques, such as the Middle Pillar Ritual, are now part of the standard training system of many esoteric and magical groups.

Bast Temple itself is also Wiccan friendly. While there is plenty of Christian symbolism in the Golden Dawn, Golden Dawn itself is open to members of all religions, including Wicca. The Chief Officer of Bast Temple is a member of the Wicca religion, and is especially accustomed to relating the mysteries of Golden Dawn to his religion.

The material and techniques that are going to be discussed in this ritual, presented though the use of paper dolls in the image of the Ancient Egyptian deities, are especially applicable to the magical workings of Wiccans and pagans.