#esoteric-order

[illustratus]

The Three Sacred Orders

The Ionic Order, The Corinthian Order, The Doric Order

by Miriam Escofet

[wishbow]

to hold - pam wishbow - oct 2020

[maeviuslynn]

A different take on the Golden Dawn's Rosy Cross in Taschen's Library of Esoterica.

Rosy Cross Blue by Jesse Bransford

[azhmodai]

"They were the blasphemous fish-frogs of the nameless design--living and horrible"

- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Shadow over Innsmouth"

bit.ly/azhmodai

[komorezuki]

Did Lord Dagon and Howard Lovecraft know each other?

If you love Lovecraft, as much as I do, then you definitely noticed references to his universe in GO. Yeah I'm talking about Hastur and Dagon. We also can suppose, that Lovecraft existed in GOverse. And let's imagine their communication for fun and Dagon's image as we see her. Its not a full proper analysis, mostly likely I give you small excursion into mythology about Dagon and some headcanons.

Origin

Dagon in Lovecraft!verse wasn't created from scratch. It was a Canaan god of prosperity (it was started to be interpreted as a fish-god in the Middle Ages, but its just a mistake). Later Dagon is mentioned in Old Testament as head god of the Philistines.

"Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand."

"And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands (lay) cut off upon the threshold; only (the stump of) Dagon was left to him. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day. But the hand of Jehovah was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders thereof. And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us; for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god."

A meta about this episode could be here, but I am not good at interpretations of the Old Testament. Maybe someone else will try.

In the Middle ages humans began to interpret him as a fish-god. We call it a mistake, but what if Dagon had visited Earth and inspired someone to this plausible description? Anyway, since then Dagon is associated with sea and fish. Good job for a demon.

In the 17th century, Dagon is mentioned along with the other fallen angels in Milton's "Paradise Lost". And in addition to sacred text this mention is also based on the medieval interpretation as a fish-god, which is actually (as science says) incorrect:

Paradise Lost is a very curious poem to read for ineffable fandom (but IMO very tedious), and not only for us. It has big cultural value, and no wonder HPL was inspired by it. There is a direct mention of Paradise Lost in his short story "Dagon".

Next came one

Who mourn'd in earnest, when the Captive Ark

Maim'd his brute Image, head and hands lopt off

In his own Temple, on the grunsel edge,

Where he fell flat, and sham'd his Worshipers:

DAGON his Name, Sea Monster, upward Man

And downward Fish: yet had his Temple high

Rear'd in AZOTUS, dreaded through the Coast

Of PALESTINE, in GATH and ASCALON,

And ACCARON and GAZA's frontier bounds.

HPL's influence

Well, what can I headcanon suppose. There are some details in their stories which could be received from a demon directly.

We will take rn two HPL's stories: "Dagon" and "Shadows over Innsmouth". In "Dagon" a protagonist ends up on a strange island which is kinda like naked ocean floor and finds there a mysterious monolith with glyphs and supltures carved on it. A giantic creature comes out of sea to the monolith. Narrator escapes in his boat. Later he tries to find something out about fish-god Dagon and slowly loses his mind.

I dream of a day when they may rise above the billows to drag down in their reeking talons the remnants of puny, war-exhausted mankind—of a day when the land shall sink, and the dark ocean floor shall ascend amidst universal pandemonium.

Not that Dagon was a famous deity for the world. But somehow the narrator tells about them. Certainly, HPL was well informed about mythology and he could choose a sea of more expressive sea-gods (pun intended). But he had chosen Dagon. What if it wasn't just random? I think Dagon told him something about demons and ocean. And we know how much she does want The Armageddon. Universal pandemonium, you know.

I think she could be male-presented at that time. Of course if you can call THIS a male.

This is the illustration for "Dagon". The creature is one of the Deep Ones, fish-frog men who were an underwater nation in Lovecraft's world.

Or probably Dagon herself looked like this:

Deep Ones are described in "Shadows Over Innsmouth". They are immortal, they can control a number of fish in the sea and they wear strange jewelry (And I remember her strange necklace from here). Their leaders (probably kinda deities) were Father Dagon and Mother Hydra.

This wondeful art was created by gorgeous @birdgirl22

*fangirling sounds*

A curious detail that appears in SoI. Innsmouth is a town whose inhabitants were members of mysterious Esoteric Order of Dagon. The Order sacrificed people to Dagon and gave to the Deep Ones their women to mate with them. A whole population of Innsmouth consists of hybrids. And this kinda demonic order was in a building of local masonic lodge.

Wait what~

I will just leave here my meta about masons in GOverse. TL;DR: the Lodge in the show may be a demonic nest. What a suspicious coincidence...

After all, I can add something about most notable traits of HPL's books.

The first is an anti-anthropocentrism - an idea that humanity is not the main race in the world for everyone and not the only one. In Lovecraft!verse there are old and huge races and deities (Cthulhu, Dagon etc.). In GO!verse there are angels and demons which don't think about humans at all (except azicrow but still)

The second is that HPL's deities aren't like humans as much as demons aren't. Their mind are utterly different.

And finally the third. THE INEFFABILITY. We don't get detailed descriptions of horrors.

Well, everything written above is just my headcanon but I think it makes sense to research HPL's work and maybe I can find more innuendos. Now I just want the art of Dagon chilling with HPL.

[alchemisoul]

Freemason Sufi Druid | Robert Graves

Graves turned down a CBE in 1957 and was among a shortlist of authors considered for the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, losing out to John Steinbeck. And while mostly remembered as an author and poet, his contributions to the comparative examination retracing the overlapping commonalites shared and missing links in between Western and Eastern esotericism, hermeticism, and mysticism are not as widely cited or as commonly known as those of Manly P. Hall, Madame Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, G.I Gurdjieff, P.D Ouspensky, Robert Anton Wilson, Rudolph Steiner, and Alan Watts but nevertheless stand on their own merit.

[everybodyknows-everybodydies]

...Quaranir just goes to hang out in the Frozen Hearth after showing up to be cryptic at the beginning of Good Intentions??

[hearthsandhistory]

Aleister Crowley vs. WB Yeats in The Battle of Blythe Road

This is a story about two magicians.

One of them was WB Yeats, writer, poet and politician.

One of them was Aleister Crowley.

You may not know that Yeats was a well-respected member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a very influential (if deeply problematic) esoteric and magical society. Other members included Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many other notable artists, writers, actors and political minds of the day.

Aleister Crowley was also a member (and an aspiring poet) and had a passionate rivalry with Yeats. Crowley, famously a complete shithead, was getting a reputation around town for being a total bastard and the rest of the Order of the Golden Dawn was getting sick of his shit. In 1900, they decided to kick him out of the order, which make Crowley absolutely lose his mind in anger.

Crowley decided that if he wouldn’t be let back into the club, he would storm the clubhouse and steal some of their secret papers to help found his own magical school.

He showed up one day at the meeting place of the Golden Dawn on Blythe Road in London - dressed like a highland warrior for some reason - trying to ascend the stairs into the building while shouting spells and curses.

Yeats and a few other members of the Golden Dawn stood at the top of the stairs, shouting back their own curses. Shockingly, neither set of incantations seemed to have any effect.

The two men stared one another down across the stairs as Crowley continued his approach, spells flying. Years of simmering resentment bubbled to the surface.

Suddenly, Crowley was upon them, reportedly armed with a dagger. Yeats had enough and stopped chanting.

As biographer Richard Elman later wrote, "the forces of good struck out with their feet and kicked him downstairs.”

Yeats booted Aleister Crowley full in the chest, who rolled down the stairs and was bodily thrown into the street.

That was the end of Crowley’s career in the Golden Dawn.

[multidimensionalpineapple32]

This is AI generated on Midjourney.

[mouth-less]

metrosuit commission for @foxgirlinfohazard

[hplovecraftmuseum]

In Lovecraft's masterful tale, THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH, we are told that the old Masonic Hall has been taken over by the invading and degenerate alien element that has insinuated itself into the once thriving little Yankee fishing village. This occurred at a time when Innsmouth was suffering an economic downturn. The hall now houses the unsavory and mysterious quasi religious organization called, The Esoteric Order of Dagon. The actual Free Mason organization was particularly popular in old New England. Though there have been all kinds of rumors and conspiracy theories that the group is connected to nefarious doings it is in reality a completely benign organization. Lovecraft no doubt found the rumors about the group interesting enough to warp it into something with a hideous transformation. By the way many of the men who have become president of the United States were also Masons. Masonic symbolism permeates much of the art and architecture of the U. S. Government too. (Exhibit 348)

[wishbow]

An Offering

A reminder that we are all connected in a cycle of life

[oasisr]

The boy whose exorcism was the inspiration behind The Exorcist grew up to be a NASA engineer. His work contributed to the Apollo mission in the '60s.

Nothing suspicious about this at all.

[charmfamily]

Founded in 1622, in the city of Bleakmore within the Realm of the Porphyral Vale, The Esoteric Order of the Second Death, or the Ordo Secundi Mortis, was a secret society of wealthy and influential Untamed Spellcasters experimenting in the Black Arts of Necromancy and, later discovered, Forbidden Invocation. Spearheaded by Vladislav Straud, a world-renowned Necromantic Caster and Count of the Westrein-Broassau region of Eshuavania, The Order of the Second Death grew to great power, rivaling the authority of the Hall of Arcane Knowledge by the year 1690, due to their vast legion of soldiers comprised of the reanimated dead bound to their control. Count Straud as the Head of the Society was believed to have been long deceased during this most prosperous era, having passed the Order of the Prime Magus to his grandson, Vladimir, according to documents archived by Hall of Arcane Knowledge Historian at the time, Finchwick Charm. The true identity behind the alias of Vladimir, however, was the key to discovering that The Ordo Secundi Mortis had begun to delve much more deeply and recklessly into dangerous warlock magicks, particularly a ritual involving the summoning of Lilith, the mother of all demons, whom the Order revered as "Mother Night" or Mater Noctis. Trading the souls of their sacrifices to Lilith as their patron, tapping into magic no mortal was ever meant to perform, the Ordo Secundi Mortis struck a deal with the source of their Dark Power that would grant the Highest ranking members of the Order perfect immortality, intending to use this gift to their advantage as they plotted to wage a war against the Hall of Arcane Knowledge and overthrow the Council of The Four Sages.

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Dion Fortune (introduction by Gareth Knight) - The Esoteric Orders and Their Work - Llewellyn - 1971

[ascendant-acolytes-fan]

Correct Me If I'm Wrong Here, But...

Even the most casual observer can discern that the much-lauded Puritan stalwart Thomas Brooks has authored the STUPIDEST book ever written, entitled "THE PRECIOUS REMEDIES AGAINST SATAN'S DEVICES". Even the forward drips with pretentiousness

Hopefully, the insufferable sanctimonious elements on Gab, such as the "Demolisher", will consider themselves to be utterly rebuked by the reviews of this material.

Have at it, everybody!. The Niners of O9A are proud to work in research support of your excellent scholarship!