BOTA membership

mac22

Ok...after much deliberation I joined BOTA. I waited for the lessons to arrive. I must say I was pretty much disappointed. The self initiation ritual was very lame. The two lessons were on Practical Occultism and had little, if anything, to do with the Tarot or qaballah. The rest of the packet was full of ads and cheap commercialism . Is this really what the Whare-Ra lodge of the Golden Dawn [the last original lodge] closed down in lieu of???

All in all I'd suggest that the seeker put the money toward a subscription to this forum/website or buy one the fine books recommended here.

From what I've seen of "membership" it's of the same quality & nature of AMORC in San jose Ca and their "lessons."

In fact I'm very glad I steered clear of both these and other such "secret" organizations 35+ years ago when I started on the path otherwise I might have given it up as a blind alley jejune of any real benefit or real knowledge.

Has anyone seen the complete course?
 

Scion

Hey Mac

You couldn't have posted that more fortuitously!

For some reason, I've been reading a lot of P.F.Case recently and spiralling in on the BOTA for the past few weeks, but something about it smacked of back-of-the-bookstore mysticism. Your feedback/review confirmed my own instinctive misgivings and now I feel comfortable steering clear.

Truth be told, the most interesting element to me is coloring a B&W line art deck myself, and I feel like I can do that without supporting pseudo-occultic shills. Much better to help Solandia build the community here, indeed.

Thanks.

Scion
 

MarkMcElroy

Glimpses

With the help of a few friends, I've seen many of the BOTA lessons.

Later lessons offer more in the way of Tarot-specific content -- some of it interesting, some of it useful, and some of it not.

For good or ill, we seem to be living in a time when much that was esoteric and hidden has become exoteric and revealed. The result? Many teachings carefully guarded and grudgingly dispensed by the secret societies is now widely available.

Secrets that once possessed some shock value or myterious appeal are now run-of-the-mill content, available through any number of books and web sites. The books and tapes of many self-help gurus (Tony Robbins, for example) merely serve up once-magickal processes, now de-mystified and sterilized for mass consumption, in glitzy new packaging.

That said: I can see some value in the deliberate pace and gradual study associated with an approach like BOTA's. The value it offers any one individual, though, very likely varies according to how widely read he or she may already be ... and the extent to which he or she possesses a penchant for the charming, baroque prose of the lessons' authors.
 

mac22

Scion said:
Hey Mac

You couldn't have posted that more fortuitously!

For some reason, I've been reading a lot of P.F.Case recently and spiralling in on the BOTA for the past few weeks, but something about it smacked of back-of-the-bookstore mysticism. Your feedback/review confirmed my own instinctive misgivings and now I feel comfortable steering clear.

Truth be told, the most interesting element to me is coloring a B&W line art deck myself, and I feel like I can do that without supporting pseudo-occultic shills. Much better to help Solandia build the community here, indeed.

Thanks.

Scion


I colored my BOTA deck about 20 yrs ago--- very helpful.

And I have most everything PF Case ever wrote, even a lot of private printed stuff. He was extremely Knowledable. Anybody have an opinion about ann davies writings?
 

mac22

MarkMcElroy said:
That said: I can see some value in the deliberate pace and gradual study associated with an approach like BOTA's. The value it offers any one individual, though, very likely varies according to how widely read he or she may already be ... and the extent to which he or she possesses a penchant for the charming, baroque prose of the lessons' authors.

I have no problem with either patience or deliberate pacing & gradual study otherwise I wouldn't have spent 35+ years on the path :D.....What I DO object to is the deliberate hucksterism
 

Adjustment

mac22 said:
Ok...after much deliberation I joined BOTA. I waited for the lessons to arrive. I must say I was pretty much disappointed. The self initiation ritual was very lame. The two lessons were on Practical Occultism and had little, if anything, to do with the Tarot or qaballah. The rest of the packet was full of ads and cheap commercialism . Is this really what the Whare-Ra lodge of the Golden Dawn [the last original lodge] closed down in lieu of???

All in all I'd suggest that the seeker put the money toward a subscription to this forum/website or buy one the fine books recommended here.

From what I've seen of "membership" it's of the same quality & nature of AMORC in San jose Ca and their "lessons."

In fact I'm very glad I steered clear of both these and other such "secret" organizations 35+ years ago when I started on the path otherwise I might have given it up as a blind alley jejune of any real benefit or real knowledge.

Has anyone seen the complete course?
Thanks for the information
 

Bonnie

I feel that in dealing with an organization like BOTA, it is definitely a situation of "your mileage may vary". I have not signed up for their studies yet, but I do intend to. As with all things, I will take away what serves me well, and leave behind what does not.

I will put my personal focus and energy into it, and will see where it takes me. If it becomes too commercial, I will leave it behind.

We all go into studies like this with different levels of background, and different expectations. My thought here might be that while reading about the experience of another gives us some food for thought, that the decisions we make need to be based on where we are as individuals.

Bonnie

~May Your Path Be Well Lit And Well Traveled~
 

wandking

I too have seriously considered joining BOTA because it's one of the few orders that show true lineage to the GD. I feel it's valid that the order starts out slow, much like the GD did. I also feel Paul Foster Case is rolling over in his grave over the crass commercialism that was previously discribed. Was that the BOTA, which is based in Chicago?
 

mac22

wandking said:
I too have seriously considered joining BOTA because it's one of the few orders that show true lineage to the GD. I feel it's valid that the order starts out slow, much like the GD did. I also feel Paul Foster Case is rolling over in his grave over the crass commercialism that was previously discribed. Was that the BOTA, which is based in Chicago?

No it's based in Southern Ca. I find it very telling that in EVERY correspondence [ even their Xmas card] there is a donation offering envelope. I have decided on a TOTTALLY different correspondence course..but more of that in another post.

As for beginning slow I have no problem with that. What I objected to was beginning with the broad sweep of "practical occultism" that has little to nothing to do with either the Tarot or the Qabalah.


Then there is the look & feel of the course..The lessons look as if they come of a mimeograph machine from the 50's...In today's age of desk top publishing, & camera ready copy this could [and should imho be corrected]. This is tacky for an organization who claims to be the repository of "the Holy Qabalah & Sacred Tarot." & claims Stewardship of the Western Mystery Teachings. In contrast their website looks very professionally done.

In my case I assumed this professional look & feel would extend to their correspondence course....it doesn't :D