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Correspondence from Vérité San Peur [Truth without Fear] to the Editor of Light
1 February 1902.
Letter to the Editor of Light.
That the Chiefs of this terrible Order are possessed of: 1. Clairvoyant powers of a very advanced quality; 2. They must have a gift of prevision; 3. They must have a knowledge of the powers of nature called Occult, and be able to put them into practice by producing results on the material plane; 4. They must have power over life and death.
Now what does Mr. MacGregor Mathers say? In his letter in Light of January 11th, he declares that he is, and has been for years, the Head of the Order of G.D. [Golden Dawn]; and its teachings, he says, are of the highest social and religious virtues, and fraternal charity, and those persons who cannot adhere to these principles are neither allowed to come in nor to remain members. He points out, moreover, that dissension is rife in the Order, that the Horoses presented themselves and deceived him most cruelly by pretending to be members of his Order; that he does not know how they became possessed of the knowledge; that Mrs. Horos managed to take from his house certain MSS. relating to the Order which she promised to return, but he had not yet succeeded in getting them back. The words "my Order" are used six times in his letter, but no secret Chiefs are mentioned, he being the Head.
If the Head or Chiefs of this Order have the clairvoyant faculty, why was it not used when the dissentients presented themselves for admission? All this internal discord would then have been avoided. And when the Horoses presented themselves, why did these rulers permit themselves to be deceived and allow secret MSS. to be stolen, and in part ultimately published, and the letters G.D. used with the name Horos? Was the implied prevision of any service to this Head, or to the Chiefs or Rulers, when such stupendous troubles could have been averted? What use is this punitive current of will when it cannot command the return of MSS., protect its Chiefs and members from disgraceful slander, nay more, protect the name of the Order and its ritual?
All this talk about occult powers, astral plane, astral projection, astral existence, is most misleading, and this assumption of knowledge a dangerous deception; and it brings odium upon a most interesting branch of transcendental philosophy. What right has "Resurgam" [Edward Berridge] to say that had these Horoses been slain they would have become "dangerous entities on the astral plane"? How can he know? To frighten and deceive weak-minded students who are honest and true in their studies, with these threats of occult powers is, to my mind, a most unwarranted pretence.
There is no ground for belief in the existence of such a power, and if there were, its use would deserve to be denounced as malignant, cruel and revolting.
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