Robes and the Golden Dawn

Doing all the preliminary work for setting up new temple I have been giving some thought to thinks like cloaks and tabards for the officers. For the last decade, like many groups, we have used tabards in leiu of cloaks. These are cooler than cloaks and less likely to make a mess when you walk around. I consulted the ritual however and it specifically talks about the middle pillar officers wearing robes... black, white and red. The advanced documents show drawings of cloaks.
Robes would be better than tabards or cloaks so why were these used?
The problem with modern perceptions of the GD is the belief that they operated much like we do. People wore robes and then a cloak over the top. However it occurred to me that Victorian women would not be allowed to strip down to just a robe and wear it in front of men even with a cloak over the top. This would like wearing your underwear in a ritual and throwing a cloak over the top. To the victorian middle classes a woman in her underwear was naked!
But you could not wear a robe over a victorian dress (see the picture)
What if instead of wearing robes the GD wore their every day clothes with a cloak over the top? This would be very masonic and in keeping with the tradition and the times.
The weak point in my argument is the question about what the non officers wore. The ritual refers to a black 'gown'. The meaning of word gown during this period was two different things. There was a the idea of what we would call 'a dress' and there was also the concept of what the Victorian judges would have worn -- a black shapeless over garment (which could have evolved into the Tau robe but certainly would have looked a lot different.)
Frankly I would not want modern street clothes in a ritual and would favour robes as a modern evolution.
If modern groups were to obey the ritual literally then officers would just wear an appropriately coloured robe with a cross sewn on the breast. These days we dont have a problem with robes so we should abandon the cloaks and tabards completely.

When do we change things

WHEN I first got involved in the GD I thought I would incorporate some of the material I had learnt from the various schools I have been involved with - BOTA and SOL – as well as what the old Whare Ra people had taught me. My goal was to return the GD to its place as a magical order and do things properly again. It is a sign that I am getting older when I realise that some of that drive was absolutely silly.
I received some good advice at the time which was to do nothing for a while and watch. Try to understand everything that IS done before concentrating on things that appeared lacking. Then it would became possible to see what the impact of some of those changes would be from the perspective of the entire system.
Changes have a nasty habit of gaining a life of their own and can sometimes be justified simply because people think it is a good idea.
Recently someone suggested drawing a symbol at a particular part of the ritual. They quoted an impeccable 'non-traditional' source as evidence that it should be adopted. My first response was why? Closely followed by “but that is silly”. The symbol suggested, while appearing appropriate would have taken people to the wrong place. I said to the person who suggested it. What is the first thing you think of when I say . “Oh that reminds me of the Kerubs guarding Eden, so it is appropriate,” they said. “Fair enough, but to adopt that symbol you are saying that the Temple space is the Guardian of Eden, when it is in fact a temple either of Maat or Solomon.”
This streak of conservationism is strange coming from me, so I am forced to look at it hard. Am I saying “change nothing?”. Hell no. There have been slight tinkerings that we have made to the 0=0 which have improved it. Most of them came from Whare Ra or studies within the system rather than ideas from outside groups. Some of the rituals were a bit hacked and need some tinkering just so they were possible to get your tongue around.
But when do you change something? The first thing is you have to focus on that part of the ritual and what is being done at that point. You have to think about the physical, spiritual and psychological state of the candidate. Particularly what they might be thinking. So look at the status quo and justify it. Find things within the status quo that you have not seen before. Ask around for other people's experiences of that particular moment. Then see if your suggested change will effect that.
Recently it was suggested that the Sentinel should go out of the door with the Hegemon to stand in the way of the door and keep it sealed while the candidate is prepared. The logic was that they were magically holding the portal to keep security while the candidate is being prepared. The candidate will see a bloke with a sword and think “hell this means business”. The status quo is that the Sentinel stands inside and the Hegemon goes out alone.
However think about the status quo. The candidate is alone outside the door. Nervously they are trying to remember all the things they are meditating on. They hear noises. In fact in one of those noises their sphere of sensation is dragged off them and spread to the cross quarters of the temple. This has a disorientating effect. Often they lose the ability to speak and are shaking like crazy.
Then in the middle of all this chaos, the Hegemon appears. Dressed in white and wearing a red cross they look angelic. In fact they might be the Candidate's higher self. That shock vision is powerful, particularly as the first thing they do is stick a bag over the candidate's head. The appearance of two officers would unbalance that moment.
So what about inserting symbols which are supposed to do things. Firstly it is important to know that every symbol which is drawn in the 0=0 has an effect on the candidate and their sphere of sensation. Thus if an officer draws a symbol it has to be done in a place that is appropriate and link to all the right imagery. This is a tricky business as symbols can superficially be correct but at deeper levels be way off the mark.
This does not mean that the writers of the GD rituals got it 100 per cent right either. For a while there was a part of the ritual that bugged me. It was when the candidate is being prayed for by the Hierophant. If taken literally the ritual implies that the Hierophant is facing West, toward the candidate when he is making this prayer. In the GD hall, the West is the place which is heavily guarded by the Heirus because it represents the sheds of the dead and the Qippoth. Thus, the Hierophant is praying to the unbalanced forces and dog faced demons that the candidate will be good for the order. While there are some good rationalisations for that (light in darkness and all that sort of thing), it is better that the Hierophant faces East for that prayer. Then they become the Higher Self interceding like a priest on behalf of the candidate. It took years before this change was actually adopted but I think it works.
Alternatively I have just become one of those conservative teachers that I hated when I was younger because they apparently feared change.

When a Tree Falls

My Novel "When a Tree Falls" has been published and can be bought here

Although it is not an occult novel as such it has many kabbalistic ideas and some of my own strange views of the universe. It is pretty silly.

The synopsis is:

Time is slowing down. Andrew, an English programmer, living alone in Bulgaria, finds out he is the next evolution of humanity and has to save the world before a mysterious being slows down time into a single dull moment. Andrew is forced on a quest through time and alternative realities to find God, whose true name is Jeff.
Guided by his Holy Guardian Angel, Tigger, the patron angel of computers and other things that are designed to blow up, his journey goes through Hell and out the other side. He meets demons, the Triple Goddess, finds out the secret of Avebury, Jeff's reason for creating the universe and above all the answer to the question "if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?"
It was described as an archaic romp through time, space and philosophy reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, or a bloke who has eaten too many strange mushrooms on an empty stomach.