Mystical and Magical Societies and Practitioners

By Martin Ettington

This book a reference guide to mystical and magical orders around the world. Major religions are not the focus although I do in include some mystical organizations within some religions. These organizations include Jewish Kabbalah in Judaism, and the Sufis in Islam.

There are many societies around the world which don’t fall into the standard religious categories. Some are spiritual in nature, and the ones listed here are those which follow some types of mystical and/or spiritual practices or beliefs.

Many of these organizations subscribe to the beliefs that through our own efforts we can develop our spiritual abilities which can do amazing things.

The groups listed are also current and have active members in our world.

I’ve also included some metaphysical organizations which also have spiritual goals but may also include a focus on the mystical.

There is also some history of the usage of psychedelic plants for spiritual and paranormal experiences. (Disclaimer: these can be very dangerous and should only be done with experienced practitioners.)

Not included are organizations who worship or follow Satan or the Devil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Martin Ettington
• Release date: Apr 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005599669

Martin Ettington

The owner Martin K. Ettington is an Engineer by training and has had multiple careers. These include technical sales for GE and HP. Martin also Owns his own software and consulting business.Martin’s interest in the Paranormal and Occult goes back to his childhood. He has had many paranormal experiences and has been a student of Eastern Philosophies and Meditation for 35 years.Seeking Enlightenment; he knows that we are already all Enlightened. We just have to realize this deeply.His books are expressions of his creativity to help others understand what he has internalized through study, experience, and membership in different societies.Not many technical persons or scientists spend a lot of time in parallel studying the Metaphysical and have had many spiritual or psychic experiences too.Therefore, Martin believes that he can provide a unique vantage point to integrate Western Scientific thinking with Eastern exploration of the mind and spirit.

Book preview

This book is intended to be a reference guide to mystical and magical orders around the world.

We do not cover the major religions although I do in include some mystical organizations within some religions. These organizations include Jewish Kabbalah in Judaism, and the Sufis in Islam.

There are many societies around the world which don’t fall into the standard religious categories. Some are spiritual in nature, but the ones listed here are those which follow some types of mystical and/or spiritual practices or beliefs.

Many of these organizations subscribe to the beliefs that through our own efforts we can develop our spiritual abilities which can do amazing things.

The groups listed are also current and have active members in our world.

I’ve also included some metaphysical organizations which also have spiritual goals but may also include a focus on the mystical.

Not included are organizations who worship or follow Satan or the Devil.

Here are some of my experiences with these societies:

In High School and for a while in college I belonged to the Rosicrucians and would read the monographs they sent me weekly. This was how I started to learn about developing my own spiritual abilities.

In college on the side I started attending Theosophical meetings and reading many Theosophical books on Mysticism and Spiritual Abilities.

I also learned meditation and yogic practices at that age and learned a lot about opening chakras and my own spiritual abilities.

Later on as an adult on my own I also learned some shamanistic practices which resulted in one of my most important enlightenment experiences.

My training has included some basic Wicca practices too.

These experiences caused me to have a broad understand of the mystical and paranormal and the fascination people have with these groups which is a big part of the reason I wrote this guide.

2.0 Pre Nineteenth Century Mystics & Magic

There have been many mystical organizations in world history. The ones listed in this chapter are either still active today or have modern groups who are active.

The Druids are a good example. The ancient Druids died out back in Roman times but there was a modern revival in the nineteenth century who try to practice what the early Druids believed to the best of their knowledge.

The history of ceremonial magic is also included since there are many practitioners today who practice it in many of these societies or independently.

There is also a chapter on the usage of psychedelic plants. Some mystical practices require them and these plants have been used for these reasons for thousands of years.

The Druids

Druids occur in many mystical tales. In one, a Druid, Figol, threatened to bring fire to rage on his enemies and prevent the men and their steeds from going to the toilet! Their bodies would fill with urine! Of course, from our knowledge of the world today we know that this is impossible, but so many accounts of druids are riddled with mysticism, magic and possible exaggeration.

The origin of the word ‘Druid’’ is unclear, but the most popular view is that it comes from ‘doire’, an Irish-Gaelic word for oak tree (often a symbol of knowledge), also meaning ‘wisdom’. Druids were concerned with the natural world and its powers, and considered trees sacred, particularly the oak.

Druidism can be described as a shamanic religion, as it relied on a combination of contact with the spirit world and holistic medicines to treat (and sometimes cause) illnesses. They were said to have induced insanity in people and been accurate fortune tellers. Some of their knowledge of the earth and space may have come from megalithic times.

There is a lot of mystery shrouding the actual history of the Druids, as our knowledge is based on limited records. Druidism is thought to have been a part of Celtic and Gaulish culture in Europe, with the first classical reference to them in the 2nd century BC.

Their practices were similar to those of priests today, connecting the people with the gods, but their role was also varied and wide-ranging, acting as teachers, scientists, judges and philosophers. They were incredibly powerful and respected, able to banish people from society for breaking the sacred laws, and even able to come between two opposing armies and prevent warfare! They did not have to pay taxes or serve in battle. Druid women were also considered equal to men in many respects, unusual for an ancient community. They could take part in wars and even divorce their husbands!

One of the earliest accounts of Druids was written by Julius Caesar in 59-51 B.C. He wrote it in Gaul, where prestigious men were divided into Druids or nobles. It was from the Roman writers that historians have gained most of their knowledge of the Druids. Druids were polytheistic and had female gods and sacred figures, rather like the Greeks and Romans, but their nomadic, less civilized Druidic society gave the others a sense of superiority. This renders some of their accounts historically uncertain, as they may be tainted with exaggerated examples of Druidic practices. Druidic human sacrifice was recorded but there is no definitive evidence to support this.

Within the Druid class, it is believed that there were subsections, all with color-coded robes. The eldest Druid, or one deemed to be the most wise, was the Arch-druid, and would wear gold robes. The ordinary Druids would wear white and act as priests. The Sacrificers would fight and wear red. The blue Bards were artistic, and the new recruits to Druidism completed lesser tasks and were held in lesser esteem, wearing brown or black.

All aspects of Druidism were well structured and ordered; from the hierarchy of the Druid class, to their pattern of life that followed nature’s cycles. They observed lunar, solar and seasonal cycles and worshipped according to these on 8 main holy days.

They would celebrate New Year on Samhain, the day that we refer to as Halloween (31st October). This was when the last harvest would take place and it was a day full of mysticism and spirituality because the living and the deceased were the closest to being revealed to each other than on any other day.

Yule was the winter solstice, a time when Druids would sit on mounds of earth, for example at New Grange in Ireland, throughout the night, waiting for sunrise, when they would be reborn!

Imbolc (2nd February) involved using sheep’s milk by way of celebrating motherhood. Ostara was the spring equinox, and Beltane took place on 30th April as a festival of fertility. Litha was the summer solstice, a time when they believed that the ‘holly king’ took over from the ‘oak king’ of Yule. Lughnasa was the first harvest on 2nd August and Mabon was the autumnal equinox. Then the cycle of holy days would repeat itself again, reflecting the cycles of nature, planets and indeed life itself, as the Druids believed in reincarnation. They also believed that sins committed in a previous life could be made up for in the next.

Their places of worship (‘Temples of the Druids’) were quiet, secluded areas, like clearings in woods and forests, and stone circles. Probably the most famous stone circle in Britain is Stonehenge, an ancient megalithic monument dating back to about 2400 B.C. Most people’s first thoughts about the Druids might be of them congregating around Stonehenge and casting magical incantations.

There is indeed thought that this was a place of worship for them, as it still is today for pagans and other neo-druids. There is disagreement though, about whether the Druids built Stonehenge or not. It is not clear exactly when the Druids came to Britain, but it is likely that they actually arrived after Stonehenge was built.

The Isle of Ynys Mon, Anglesey, and Wistman’s Wood in Dartmoor are both believed to be Druidic sites. Indeed, Anglesey was supposedly a place where Druids were taught. It took about 20 years to learn the lore, as it was complex and had to be learnt off by heart as they rarely used a written language. This is one reason why we know so little about them. The Gaul’s had a limited written language, involving Greek characters, and then with Caesar’s rule this became Latin and old records were lost. Some legends must also be treated with caution as they may have even been altered by