Would you have been admitted?
Twenty tests, each built on a dated text and set beside it. None opens a door: they show what the texts asked for.
The Magus degree test
Two degrees of the zodiac carry the image of a Magus. From your date of birth; the only test here with a paid report.
The 36 faces
A second computed test: the face of the zodiac your Sun was in, with its ruling planet, nature and image, from the 1488 text.
The 28 mansions of the Moon
A third computed test, from Arabic astrology through Agrippa: the mansion your Moon was in, and what it was held to be good for.
The 72 genii
A fourth computed test, from the Kabbalah as Lenain gives it (1823): your three genii of birth, for the body, the morals and the soul.
Christian’s onomantic horoscope
A fifth computed test, and the rarest: Paul Christian’s method of 1870, which turns your names and birth date into arcana and planets. Reconstructed and checked on his own example.
The Arbatel test
Basel, 1575. The seven preparations required of anyone who would learn the art.
The Rosicrucian test
Kassel, 1614. The six rules of the Fama, and the warning to the greedy.
The 1723 Freemason test
London, 1723. The Charges of Anderson’s Constitutions: who may be admitted to a lodge.
The German Golden and Rosy Cross
The laws of 1710: the art already practised, no wife, two years as an apprentice, seven locks of hair, silence for life.
AMORC in 1932: the Threshold
The Rosicrucian Manual of 1932: invited, then a supplicant; a committee, a ballot, an oath signed in the Black Book.
The School of the Golden Rosycross
The Dutch school, by what it publishes itself: eighteen years, a vegetarian life, no alcohol or drugs.
The Martinist first degree
The ritual of 1896, approved by Papus: free to commit, two signatures, an inquiry, the blindfold, the Man of Desire.
The first degree of the Rite of Memphis
The statutes of 1849: a sponsor who answers “body for body”, a will, three questions, an oath.
The consecration test: the priestess
Ur, c. 554 BC, and Emar, 13th century BC. Named by a sign, checked three times, renamed, shaved, enthroned, for life.
The tantric disciple test
The Gandharva and Kularnava Tantras, as reported by Arthur Avalon in 1918: who may be a disciple, and who is refused.
The Golden Dawn Neophyte test
London, 1888, as printed in 1909. Blindfold, obligation of secrecy and study, and the penalty.
The Cagliostro test
Lyon, 1784. The Egyptian Rite: an hour alone, no metals, and an oath of blind obedience over a flame.
The Egyptian Order test
Naples, 1896. Kremmerz’s Brotherhood of Myriam, outer circle of the Egyptian Order: honesty, disinterest, secrecy, and one initiator.
The Benedictine test
Monte Cassino, about 530. Four days at the door, a year of trial, everything given away.
The Pythagorean test
Croton, sixth century BC, as told by Iamblichus. Three years ignored, five years silent.
Readings: the nine texts compared · The 1863 calendar against its 1488 source · The orders named in the interview