Whats Your Views/advice On Joining A Temple Or Similar Group? Options

I want to join a temple or group to help further myself. I am not aware of any officially magic groups since I live in central Ohio, in a medium sized town. However there is a very large free mason temple in my town. But I don't think this is what I am looking for, I met on of the guys that was higher up and spoke to him about it and quite frankly I thought he was an idiot. He knew everything, and seriously I mean everything this man must have obsessive interests in trivial pursuit games and jeopardy ect., however he seemed sort of socially awkward and I stopped taking him seriously once he brought up "star trek" on his own. He also said he was a 33 degree mason which I think he wasn't supposed to say because he leaned in and whispered it to me when I asked. But if anyone has had any positive experiences I would like to know.
There are various Golden Dawn sort of groups that let you join online with "astral initiation" but I am skeptical. So what are your experiences and advice? I would like to join a serious group with similar interests.

This post has been edited by ☞Tomber☜: Aug 13 2010, 06:17 PM

However there is a very large free mason temple in my town.

Out of virtually any group I can think of, I wouldn't go anywhere near the Masons, personally. I also wouldn't really recommend structured groups in general. Worst case scenario, the group you will join will be a cult, which will simply fleece you of your money, and expose you to various forms of abuse. Best case, even if they are legitimate, what you're essentially looking at is surrendering the direction of your own development to the agenda of somebody else. Is that really something that you want to do?

If direction is what you need, get a copy of this:- http://www.amazon.com/Self-Initiation-Into...83367486&sr=8-2 and then study it on your own. If you have questions, ask some of the people here. If you want to meet people with similar interests, you could maybe try looking for some pagan or spiritual meetup groups in your area on Meetup.com.

Don't join an order, though. That is simply looking for trouble.

EDIT:- Fio Praeter Humanus and other skilled individuals offer online classes in this subforum, as well:- http://www.sacred-magick.org/index.php?showforum=84

This post has been edited by Petrus: Sep 1 2010, 01:08 PM

Out of virtually any group I can think of, I wouldn't go anywhere near the Masons, personally. I also wouldn't really recommend structured groups in general. Worst case scenario, the group you will join will be a cult, which will simply fleece you of your money, and expose you to various forms of abuse. Best case, even if they are legitimate, what you're essentially looking at is surrendering the direction of your own development to the agenda of somebody else. Is that really something that you want to do?

If direction is what you need, get a copy of this:- http://www.amazon.com/Self-Initiation-Into...83367486&sr=8-2 and then study it on your own. If you have questions, ask some of the people here. If you want to meet people with similar interests, you could maybe try looking for some pagan or spiritual meetup groups in your area on Meetup.com.

Don't join an order, though. That is simply looking for trouble.

EDIT:- Fio Praeter Humanus and other skilled individuals offer online classes in this subforum, as well:- http://www.sacred-magick.org/index.php?showforum=84

Wow, I disagree with almost everything you're saying here! And that's a rare feat for me to find here. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bigwink.gif) Hope you don't mind if I call out where I'm not seeing eye to eye with you...

What do you have against the Masons? I'm not a Mason, but I know a number of persons who have affiliated with them and they're good people. I'd prefer to at least know why you have something against this group instead of hearing an ominous and vague dismissal of them.

Yes, obviously it's a good idea to be very careful when joining a group. This involves mainstream organized religion as well as "occult" groups. As I've mentioned before, the majority of groups that actually qualify as "cults" aren't what we'd call "pagan" or new age, but are rather tightly-knit Christian organizations. (I really need to find the book to cite that, but hopefully you can take my word for it until I do.) Even very reputable groups that aren't cults (I'm thinking of some protestant churches I know of, and some zen groups) will often want money and will sometimes have screwed up political hierarchies...but how is that different than any other human organization?

Best case, even if they're legitimate, you're surrendering everything you are to someone else's agenda? I really don't understand this point, and it seems a bit paranoid...like a group is about trying to "control" your progress. If you absolutely don't want to take part in a system, fine. But I see nothing wrong with participating in a group if you like what that group is doing. Want to sit zazen, do walking meditation, and make bows to the Buddha? Join a local zen center. Want to take part in the Golden Dawn system of magic? Then join a reputable G.D. organization. Yes, Buddha has an agenda...and so did the founders of the Golden Dawn...and what's wrong with aligning with that? You make it sound like the illuminati are behind the scenes and looking to brainwash! lol

I think you're making the mistake of assuming that any group you're with will discourage and forbid you from participating in any other ideas or systems, and I really don't think this is true. I've met Buddhists who also attend Christian organizations. I've met Masons who are affiliated with multiple occult groups...and still manage to hang out at orthodox churches! I've met persons who are members of both O.T.O. and wicca covens. Yes, you'll find the dogmatic Buddhist or Mason or Thelemite who will condemn other traditions and look down on people who stray from the established doctrine, but they've got some learning to do and (unless they're in charge) it won't matter. And yes, the G.D. might not give you extra credit for doing walking meditation elsewhere, but what's the point of finding fault with this?

I wish you wouldn't dismiss all orders and organizations as either cults or otherwise "trying to control your direction." There's already enough prejudice against this field, and I don't think it's fair to make universal dismissals of all groups when there's plenty of wholesome activities going on out there.

This post has been edited by monkman418: Sep 1 2010, 02:41 PM