Commentary on the Oath of the Order Sir Stephen Edred Flowers, GM.Tr.

Among the corner-stone documents of the Order is the Oath created by the Second Grand Master of the Order, Michael Aquino. By means of this Oath the Knight or Dame becomes part of the Order. In these few words are contained a world of power. So deep are these words in wisdom that I thought I further commentary on them would be useful in extending their significance among all those who have spoken them in their Oath Workings, and for those who will be speaking them in the future. I do hereby swear fealty to the fylgia that is my immortal Doppelgnger and pledge obedience beyond death unto life eternal in Walhalla. It is meaningful that the Oath begins with I the significator of Self-Consciousness. This ego is sword to be loyal to its own higher Self, which is identified both as the fylgja and Doppelgnger. The Old Norse term fylgja man also is rendered in English as fetch. This is the Daimonic Self the indwelling Divinity of the Self. In ancient times this was often seen as a contra-sexual human image (a feminine for men, masculine for women), as an animal (the symbolic character of which corresponded to the Principle, or neter, of the individual), or as a geometrical shape hovering out before the person. This is the magical double virtually identical in concept with the Egyptian ka. The Germanic mind-set would perhaps empathize more an I Principle connected with the Form of the fylgja than a pure assumption of that Form. The modem German term Doppelgnger indicates the (post-) modernity and timelessness of the concept, and also emphasizes the idea of an Essential Double in a parallel zone of the multiverse from which knowledge and power may be gained. It is to this indwelling magical self that loyalty (=faithfulness) is pledged. The fylgja in all its aspects is the focal point of the Order. The Order is made up of the fylgjur of its Initiates. The fylgyur of the Knights and Dames of the Order share a certain Essence the intensified Form of the Gift of Wotan/Set-hen. It is to this individual fylgja and to the body of the fylgjur of the O..T.. that obedience is pledged obedience to the higher purpose of Becoming within the Self and within the Order and cosmos. Eternal life (= active Becoming) in Walhalla (= the Hall of the Fallen) is alluded to in the Wewelsburg Working and is the ancient teaching of the Erulians. [See The Way of Wotan and the Left-Hand Path in Runes III5.] In the name of the Prince of Darkness, in his image as Wotan Helljger of the One Eye, I accept the power to cast the Runes and to ride amidst the Walkyries through the storm of this world. Here the power and Form of the godhead of the Order is invoked in an act of taking up the powers to cast Runes and to ride with the Walkyries. The godhead or Principle of the Order is identified as the Prince of Darkness = Wotan. [Actually he prefers the term Drighten of Darkness.] A part of the symbiotic relationship between these principles is illustrated in the Woden/Set-hen Working in the Ruby Tablet. Wotan and Set are modalities of same Force or Principle. One Essential

quality of the Wotan modality is its progressive character it is itself thrust forward on the cutting edge of Becoming. This is why this Form is the godhead of the O..T.. the Order of the cutting edge of the evolution of magical Forms. The one eye of Wotan indicates that he has pledged one of his eyes to the depths of darkness within Mimirs Well to the Well of Memory or Reflection. This eye still sees in the darkness, and informs Wotan from the depths, while the other eye continues to see out over the world. This one eye has the power to synthesize or correlate the contents of the bi-hemispherical brain. The upper eye sees into the core of the Mysteries of the objective universe and hence of Nature while the lower eye delves into the Mysteries of the subjective universe(s) and hence of the non-natural realm of Consciousness. Casting the Runes is an active process. The power to do so indicates the magicians ability to project and engineer the Mysteries (Runes) of congruousness and to able to read the import of these Mysteries as they interact with the world. To ride with the Walkyries is to project ones Self into the realm of these embodiments of the higher magical Self and to become active there. Essentially the fylgja and the Walkyrie are similar entities. The Walkyrie is more non-natural in that it (she) may be sent directly from the Drighten of Darkness to attach itself to a Knight or Dame, while the fylgja is usually inherited from an ancestor or fellow Initiate. The purpose of the ride amidst the Walkyries is to become active in the process of causing this world to Become. A changing world is a stormy world and the storm is filled with thunder and lightning. What I am and what I have been are become as the ravens Huginn and Muninn, to fly ever higher and farther, and my Will is become as the spear Gungnir, which strikes as lightning amidst the thunder of Mjllnir. The first part of this statement is concerned with the peculiarly Germanic view of time with an emphasis on the past what I have been as the Well of Memory. This is the storehouse of eternal Forms that inevitably shapes what any present Form is what I am. These aspects are synthesized in the Initiate, and are seen to work in the dyed of ravens Huginn (mind, cognition, Left-brain) and Muninn (memory, reflection, right- brain). These ravens sit on either side of an Initiates head and inform him or her of their realms of activity. Through them Initiates are able to project themselves in order to learn ever higher (deeper) and more remote secrets (Runes). Huginn (cognitive thought) work is in the what-I-am and Muninn (reflective memory) in the what-I-have-been. Note that subtly in the grammar of the statement Huginn is identified with what the Initiate is in the present moment and Muninn is identified as what the Initiate has been. Cognition is a tool of the present moment, while memory is an eternal storehouse of Forms. Synthesized with inspiration these faculties lead to future transformations of self. The second part of this statement reiterates the central position and power of the magical Will the Wotanic spear Gungnir to cause modulations in the subjective and objective universes. From the point of the spear the Initiate becomes omnijective. The lightning of Gungnir is primary and focused; the

reverberation that follows the activation of the Will is the thunder of Mjllnir. The Will is done in the objective universe through the consciously focused synthesis of the facets of the complex subjective universe. From the twilight Tyr descends to place upon my heart the Trapezoid of the Dark Fire, that I may become more than I seem. The twilight is a hidden reference to the synthetic mystery of dagaz (d), which is the Runic essence of the Dark Fire or Black Flame. From this realm, symbolically located in the polar region of the night sky, Tyr (t) (Ziu) descends to place the Trapezoid upon the heart of the Initiate. This section is most profound. Tyr is the Principle of Judgment, of Measurement, of cognitive intelligence. When he is directed to place the [non-natural] Trapezoid of the Dark Fire of this enlightenment on the heart on the seat of the reflective/intuitive and emotive faculty a great synthesis is affected. In many ways this speaks of a dynamic combination of the values of the Enlightenment ([Neo-] Classicism) with Romanticism (sometimes more accurately called Germanticism or Gothicism). This synthesis is essential to the Order, and to its individual I initiates. It should also be noted that the ancient Germanic peoples, like the ancient Egyptians, located the center of true thinking in the heart or core of the human body. Once this synthesis is complete perhaps a long process in which the taking of this Oath may be the beginning, middle, or end the Initiate will truly be more than he or she seems. Few are ever faithfully able to say, with Nietzsche, that they sacrifice in the Temples of both gods. [For Nietzsche these were called Dionysius and Apollo, for the O..T.. they are Wotan and Tyr (Set).] For the Over-man who can affect this synthesis, the emotive/intuitive and cognitive/analytical are brought under the control of the conscious Will on the path of Becoming. My honor is known by my faithfulness. This statement refers to the Chivalric character of the Order. It indicates that the honor (power) of the Knight or Dame is known and measured by other Knights and Dames within the Order by the degree of faithfulness (loyalty and discipline) to the ideal of the Order that the Initiate evidences. The key Working tool in effecting this part of the Oath is the Working of Sumbel. Loki attest to this my seal: With these words the god/etin, Loki, is directed to witness and confirm the act of the Oath-taking. Loki may, on one level, be understood as a destroyer aspect of Wotan. He has the power to dissolve Forms, and in so doing makes way for more advanced new Forms affected by the magical Will. Loki is the influence of destruction for the sake of transformation or evolution. Various aspects of this influence are seen in three of Lokis offspring: the Fenris-Wolf, the Midgard-Serpent and the goddess Hel, who is Death. That the Initiate can use Loki, a trickster god to attest to an Oath shows a certain level of conscious control of the subjective universe.

This Oath, when spoken with full conscious intent, is a great Working. It is hoped that this analysis and commentary will aid in the realization of the purpose and power of the Order and of its individual Initiates. Walhalla!