The decline in popularity of the lodge system in the last century has impacted heavily upon the magickal community. With the publication of many once secret Order documents most students don't feel the need to partake in the lodge system at all; after all, why travel to a temple when you can do the work in your own living-room? However, this attitude leaves much to be desired, and clearly shows the lack of understanding of why the lodge system existed in the first place. But what are modern students who are not already a member of a surviving lodge to do? That's where "Inside A Magical Lodge" by John Michael Greer comes in.
This book, while being a decade old, has much to offer the modern student of magick, whether they are a member of a lodge or not, and even if they have no intentions of either making or joining a lodge. However, for those who do intend to make their own lodge, this book is, in my opinion, essential.
The first five chapters cover a broad range of the "fundamentals" of the lodge system, structure, symbolism, magic, and, of course, the alluring and controversial topic of secrecy. The depth and insight with which Greer explores these topics makes this part of the book almost worth the price alone, and is valuable to all students of magick, solo or not.
The next five chapters puts this information into practice in a theoretical lodge, which the author calls the Order of the Athanor, based on alchemical symbolism. While this Order is quite basic in terms of structure and symbolism, these chapters give a good idea of how the rituals, ceremonies, ordinances, and other essential "kit" for an Order and lodge are created and implemented. A ritual of opening and closing (in both an "outer" and "inner" form), a single-degree initiation ceremony, and rituals of institution (founding a lodge and consecrating it appropriately) and installation (the handing over of power to new officers on a rotational basis) are provided, all as part of this fictional order. Then a deeper look at the inner work and applications of these rituals is supplied, in much the same vein as the Z-documents of the Golden Dawn system
Speaking of the Golden Dawn system, it's easy to see that Greer has knowledge of and experience with it, and a student of this system will learn plenty about how and why certain things occur in the course of the initiations (the procedure for opening and closing, for example). The Golden Dawn was created in the heyday of the lodge system, and thus a student of it would be most unwise to ignore this aspect of his or her magickal studies.
The next chapter deals with a fictional meeting at the "Green Lodge" of the Order of the Athanor, which reads like a bad short-story, and is basically just a repetition, in narrative form, of the rituals given in previous chapters, with a bit of controversy between two members arguing about how a training program should be implemented. This is easily, in my opinion, the worst part of the book, but it might be useful for some readers in helping them visualise how a lodge meeting might play out.
The final two chapters give a summary of points on creating a magical lodge and joining a fraternal lodge, giving extra information on certain procedures. An appendix of legal documents relating to incorporation, tax exemption, and other such matters that a growing lodge might need to deal with is also provided, but this will be of little interest to the casual reader who has no intention of putting the information into practice.
Some people argue that Greer's work is a little dated, not accounting properly for the rise of the internet and the ease with which information (and, indeed, people) travels nowadays, but that is, in no way, argument enough to ignore this text. Indeed, for any Order or group, no matter who they are or what their aims may be, the section detailing the ordinances, constitution, and charter of the Order of the Athanor can, and, indeed, should, be implemented (if there is not already a similar legal element in place). I've seen so many groups struggle with issues that could easily be dealt with if the ordinances were in place. It might be boring and technical, and everyone wants to get to the "real" work of practicing magick, but these are the foundations that every serious group needs to consider and work on. Otherwise, and this is usually the case, a difficulty will be encountered, and it will shatter the group, which will ultimately collapse.
This book is designed to avoid such an event by giving the reader an inside look into a magickal lodge, in both creating and running one. Anyone involved in such a process can benefit immensely from this text.
"Inside A Magical Lodge", by John Michael Greer: Llewellyn Publications (1998)