02 - Occult Secrets & The Golden Dawn

“Nearly all the…gentlemen were members of secret societies and… pursued their studies in the direction of magic, deeming they could ultimately resolve the nature and use of all occult powers into a scientific system.” Emma Hardinge Britten, Ghost Land (1876)

This chapter covers various occult topics, such as séances, the inner workings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn for Keepers who wish to make use of that organization in their games, an introduction to the practice and perils of Astral travel, as well as Mythos tomes. In addition, the rules for reading Mythos tomes and casting spells are here, too.

Occult origins of the British Empire

Doctor John Dee (1527–1608 or 1609), the court astronomer to Queen Elizabeth, and her “Royal Advisor in Mystic Secrets,” was the man who invented the term “The British Empire.” He was a passionate advocate for colonizing the Americas. In addition, he talked to “angels” and received the Enochian language from them, was an alchemist who claimed to be able to create gold, and translated the Necronomicon from Latin into English in 1586. His house was in Mortlake, west of London, where he amassed a huge occult library, but an unruly mob vandalized and ransacked his home and library while he was abroad in Bohemia. He died in poverty and obscurity after Elizabeth’s successor James I rejected and stopped supporting him.

Sometime before May 1593, he performed a summoning ritual on the Isle of Dogs, a peninsula formed by a loop in the River Thames, east of the City of London. This ritual led to the death shortly thereafter of playwright Christopher Marlowe, designated as a sacrifice. It was this ritual that tipped the hand of chance over centuries and generations, and raised Britain up to become the first truly global imperial power. The name of the entity invoked was not recorded, but was presumably one from the pages of the Necronomicon.

The Isle of Dogs is, by the late-Victorian period, highly industrialized and the home to the West India Docks (from 1802), East India Docks (from 1806), and Millwall Dock (from 1868); however, just to the east of Millwall Dock is an open, undeveloped (and quite smelly) area known as the Mudchute, used for the dumping of silt and for football (soccer) fields, and John Dee’s cobbled ritual circle is still there for all to see, marked by a curb of stones-someone has maintained it.

It is known in occult circles as the Omphalos (navel, sacred center) of Britain and is aligned to several culturally significant sites including St. Paul’s Cathedral and some of Hawksmoor’s Churches (see Chapter 5, page 147).

RUNNING SÉANCES

A séance is a classic scene of Victorian literature and an ideal setting for part of an investigation. Investigators might encounter a spirit medium in either a public meeting (meeting sizes varied from small gatherings to halls filled with hundreds or even thousands of people) or a private reading, either in the medium’s residence or a private home.

Public meetings are often not “materializations” (see below) but rather demonstrations of clairvoyant “tests” (i.e., “cold readings,” as performed by modern, stage mind-readers), since in larger gatherings, one can play the odds. Some mediums go to great lengths in their research, memorizing recent death notices in the papers to gather background information on potential audience members, and compiling “test books” or “blue books” of client information that they pass around among fellow mediums.

Private séances tend to take place under stricter conditions, usually dictated by the medium. Carrying out meetings in the dark fell out of fashion after a few high-profile critics like stage magicians Maskelyne and Houdini exposed a series of frauds, so gas lamps remain lit, although most practitioners claim their powers work best with the gaslight turned down extremely low. It is customary for mediums to be held or restrained in some way to prevent them using parlour tricks to fool their audience. It is from this that the practice of everyone holding hands around the table becomes common, although such precautions are easily overcome as fraudsters are not above using a false hand or two to allow them to work unnoticed.

Often the medium enters a trance state to better communicate with the spirits, after which a variety of effects might manifest. In 1871, Kate Fox’s English husband, H. D. Jencken, produced a list of the “materializations” that attendees at a séance might expect to witness:

• Hearing rapping and knocking.
• The medium being untroubled by heat from hot coals.
• Movement of objects and levitation of the medium or furniture.
• Hearing words, phrases, music (sung or played on an instrument), and animal or bird calls.
• Spirit writing through the hand of the medium (“automatic writing”).
• Sketching of natural objects, such as flowers, and people.
• Writing on a slate or on paper by the spirit.
• Levitation of uncontained fluids.

Other effects produced by mediums included the production of ectoplasm (a glowing, gauze-like substance produced by the interaction of spirits during the medium’s trance, often appearing from the mouth or ears of the medium’s body), lights, glowing limbs, and musical instruments that played themselves.

It is also extremely common to tie up the medium in a “cabinet,” which may simply be an adjoining room, and the sitters sing hymns until the cabinet produces various floating lights, musical noises, glowing faces, and suchlike. When the lights go up, the medium is still bound hand and foot. What possible explanation can there be but the supernatural?

It is up to the Keeper whether a spiritualist holds real power, is a fraudster, or just self-deluded. Everything in the list above can be faked. The methods used by a fake medium depend on the circumstances. In their own rooms, they can use any props available to stage magicians-hidden wires, noise-makers, wax hands for that sepulchral touch, prop furniture that allows a tethered medium to move around in the dark, even fake walls hiding confederates. Some mediums are practiced escapologists.

They may have an assistant (or several) in on the deception, manipulating props, acting as the ghosts, or just distracting clients. Fraudulent mediums make “ectoplasm” by swallowing fine muslin and then regurgitating it at the right moment. Strategically placed phosphorous creates luminescent effects, and it is easily extracted from match-heads.

NPC mediums should have high skill values in Sleight of Hand, Psychology, and Fast Talk, the better to wriggle out of ropes and improvise pronouncements from beyond the grave.

Of course, sooner or later an investigator group is likely to run across a séance where the phenomena are not entirely mundane-this is Call of Cthulhu after all. Once the way is open, or the call put out by the medium, a wide range of beings from other dimensions may manifest, including the dead, the denizens of the Astral Plane, interdimensional intelligences, inhabitants of past ages, secondary personalities, and malign Mythos entities.

RULES FOR A SÉANCE

If the investigators wish to engage a “real” psychic for a sitting, or an investigator wishes to try, use half POW (or Pulp Cthulhu Medium skill) to determine how successful the medium is in contacting the “other side.” Each session of mediumship costs 1D10 magic points and lasts as long as the Keeper desires. With success, the medium falls into a trance state and may, at the Keeper’s discretion, summon the presence of a deceased person or another entity, and thereby do one or more of the following:

• Answer questions.
• Relate a message.
• Tell of a future event (possibly a warning) in a suitably vague manner.
• Indicate the vague location of an object of desire (a tome, artifact, etc.).

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GOLDEN DAWN

It is your decision as Keeper as to how much actual Mythos magic the Golden Dawn has available, and how much knowledge its NPC members have of the Mythos. You are free to rule that Hermetic Magic is just nonsense, and that the Golden Dawn simply consists of self-deluding though harmless middle-class dabblers on the fringes of the true, unspeakably awful, occult reality. It may be that the Order’s members do know some “real” magic but only Folk magic (see The Grand Grimoire of Cthulhu Mythos Magic for more on that).

This chapter, however, presumes that Hermetic magic does have real in-game effects, though not overly powerful ones. It also assumes that most members, including Adepts, have no particular interest in dealing with the Mythos gods, even if they have heard of them-just as they are not particularly interested in dealing with Judeo-Christian/goetic “devils.” The Golden Dawn is primarily about spiritual self-improvement for them, and they assume that the Mythos gods are abstract astral/ spiritual entities (or elsewise avatars of human deities) and not an immediate or physical threat to the world, any more than Apep or Beelzebub is.

As Keeper, you are free to spin things differently, and for Pulp Cthulhu games, that is an excellent option; make heavy-hitting spells available to occultists, if you like. Maybe the Golden Dawn secretly devotes itself to combating the Mythos, and the Adepts are out every weekend closing Gates and combating insane sorcerers. Or, alternatively, perhaps one of the Adept cliques secretly worships Yog-Sothoth or some similar entity-Mathers and Farr both have gathered loyal circles, and Crowley is just begging to become a Call of Cthulhu antagonist of some form. In such cases, the investigators may find they have stumbled into a hornets’ nest of betrayal and cosmic evil. The options are varied - one option is in Cult of the Amber Elder (Chapter 5, page 147). At the very least, you can keep your investigators guessing!

More on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is in the Cthulhu by Gaslight: Investigators’ Guide (pages 157-164), and their key personalities have game profiles in Chapter 4: Notable Victorians (page 111).

USING THE HERMETIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN

So, your investigators want to join the Golden Dawn? That is not a bad idea for an extended campaign. At the very least, it provides an investigator-friendly organization where new plot hooks may surface, replacement investigators be found, and financial aid sought from wealthy members. It is also not particularly expensive in comparison to most London clubs: 10s upon first joining, and 2s/6d annually, along with the cost of robes and pamphlets. The organization provides a network of “interesting” personal contacts, plus teaching in the Occult skill and some esoteric abilities. And it may, at the Keeper’s discretion, provide actual magical teaching.

Remember that many of the Order’s members are highly regarded members of society and are sensitive to the risk of scandal and exposure. So, while individual members may have some Cthulhu Mythos knowledge and experience, the Order itself keeps a low profile.

Access to its influential members (both in terms of the occult and wider society) could be of great use to investigators from time to time, but temper this with the turbulent history of the Golden Dawn. It may well be that at the time of the investigators’ greatest need, the Golden Dawn may be facing exposure or going through one of its many schisms. If they pick a side, it may have an impact on their future interactions with other members.

NEOPHYTE INITIATION

It is not recommended that investigators are run, in game, through a historical initiation rite to the various grades. Golden Dawn ritual symbology is complex, dense, un-intuitive, and quite honestly not as entertaining as a normal game session. The Neophyte Initiation summary follows:

The candidate wears a black robe, bound with a triple cord that represents the restrictions of Nature that are shortly to be removed, and a blindfold representing their ignorance.

An officiant leads them into a large hall in which various members of the Order are waiting in positions symbolizing spheres on the Kabbalistic tree of life. Each member has a ritual function, representing a god or an occult concept. The candidate, addressed as “Child of Earth,” progresses from node to node, led by “Anubis of the East.” The repeated challenges by the “Anubis of the West” or “Kerux,” necessitate purification by goddesses wielding water and fire before further progress can take place. The candidate receives their motto, kneels before three Adepts representing the Supernal Triad, and makes a pledge which follows (in part):

To keep secret the Order, its name, and the names of the members, as well as the proceedings which take place at its meetings. To maintain kindly and benevolent relation with all the Fraters and Sorors of the Order. To prosecute with zeal and study the occult sciences. To observe the above under the awful penalty of submitting myself to a deadly and hostile current of will set in motion by the chiefs of the Order, by which I should fall slain or paralyzed without visible weapon, as if blasted by the lightning flash.

They only get a few glimpses of the hall from under the blindfold and are threatened briefly by the three members of a Dark Triad. Eventually, after many consecrations and promises, the officiants utter the words, “Child of Earth! Long hast thou dwelt in darkness! Quit the night, and seek the day!” and remove the blindfolds. The Supernal Triad declares, “Frater/Soror [name], we receive thee into the Order of the Golden Dawn!”

The leadership presents the badge of the grade, and then instructs them on the symbolism of the grade. Finally, the Kerux conducts the Neophyte to a table and gives them a bottle of liquid, telling them to pour a few drops on the plate before them. As they do so, the solution changes to a blood color, and the Kerux says, “As this pure, colorless, and limpid fluid is changed into the semblance of blood, so mayest thou change and perish, if thou betrayest thine oath of secrecy of this Order, by word or deed!”

A brief closing ceremony follows.

JOINING THE ORDER

Investigators interested in joining the Order must demonstrate a sincere interest in the occult and have an introduction to the Order from another member.

Some members want to learn everything the Order can teach them, from Enochian to Alchemy. They study hard and rise through the grades. A focused person could complete the First Order grades in between one and two years of dedicated study, although other employment would slow that considerably. Other members love the pomp and mysticism of the ceremonies, the dressing up in robes, and become fine ritualists, but don’t rise in grade. But to get the most out of the Golden Dawn, investigators should neglect neither the academic learning nor the ceremonialism.

Initiates must sign a pledge of silence about what they learn within the Order. They must also create their own motto (usually in Latin, although Mathers’ is in Scots Gaelic), which other members of the society will use in place of their real name.

The First, or Outer Order, consists of Neophyte and four degrees, or grades, as follows, awarded by examination:

• Neophyte $(0=0)$
• Zelator (1=10)
• Theoricus (2=9)
• Practicus (3=8)
• Philosophus (4=7)
• Portal Stage

The numbers after the degree titles are of Kabbalistic meaning, each number representing one of the ten spheres (Sephiroth) of the Hebrew tree of life, as well as a divine name of God in Hebrew, an archangel, an order of angels, a color, and an element. The $1=10$ grade (Zelator), for example, ties to the element Earth (1) and the Divine (10), signifying that the ritualist dwells in the earthly realm but aspires to the divine. At the other end of the scale, for the Secret Masters, the Ipsissimus ( $10=1$ ) is the peak of occult mastery and dwells in the divine realm.

The Second, or Inner Order, also known as the Order of the Rose of Ruby and the Cross of Gold, consists of three further degrees. Members of the Inner Order teach initiates in the Outer Order, determine which candidates can join the Order, and issue warrants to create new temples. Until 1892, only Mathers, Westcott, and Woodman are members of the Inner Order.

• Adeptus Minor (5=6)
• Adeptus Major (6=5)
• Adeptus Exemptus (7=4)

These grades expand in 1894 to replace Adeptus Minor with:

• Zelator Adeptus Minor (5=6)
• Theoricus Adeptus Minor (5=6)
• Practicus Adeptus Minor (5=6)

Finally, there are the three degrees of the Secret Masters, these being:

• Magister Templi (8=3)
• Magus (9=2)
• Ipsissimus (10=1)

However, no student has ever achieved these degrees. The current holders exist only on the Astral Plane.

The Astral Plane

Working on the Astral Plane is extremely important in Golden Dawn practice. The evocation of a god, the binding of devils (as in the Abramelin Ritual, page 63), the raising of cones of power, and other similar tasks normally take place in the Astral rather than the mundane world-i.e., an outside observer would see nothing supernatural and might very well claim that the magical practitioner is hallucinating, imagining things…or pretending. The difference might not always be terribly clear to the practitioner either.

The existence of the Astral Plane has an abundance of attestations from mystics, yogis, and spiritual philosophers, but incontrovertible facts are few. The following claims (some contradictory) are among the more common:

• The Astral Plane underlies material reality and occupies the same space, but the denizens of the two do not normally interact.
• The Astral Plane is the corridor between Life and the Afterlife, crossed by the soul on the way to being born, and after death. It is full of ghosts.
• The Astral Plane is the Catholic realm of Limbo.
• The Astral Plane is the Celestial Realm above the terrestrial Earth, wherein reside the Planetary Intelligences and Spirits.
• You can visit the Astral Plane consciously through astral projection, shamanic journeying, meditation and mantra, near-death experience, lucid dreaming, or other means. It is only the conscious self/soul that ventures forth this way, leaving the material body (still alive) behind.
• The Astral Plane’s population consists of gods, angels, spirits, or other higher beings, including the Secret Chiefs of the Golden Dawn.
• The Astral Plane’s population consists of monsters that devour unwary souls.
• Astral entities can fasten or feed upon living people in the Material World-causing personality changes, physical malaise, melancholy, obsession, emotional problems, and insanity. Magical practitioners are particularly likely to draw the attention of these parasites.
• The Astral Plane has no set geography.
• The Astral Plane has a similar geography to the material world, in that at least some of the same landmarks are visible in both.
• You can travel swiftly via the Astral Plane to spy on anywhere in the material world, but the view is not always terribly clear.
• The Astral Plane is described as “misty,” “shadowy,” “luminous,” “dark,” or “fluid.”
• Astral bodies of the living remain attached to their material bodies by a cord (sometimes described as “silver”), and, if severed, it is near impossible to find one’s way back.
• Astral projection leaves the empty material body open to possession by other entities.

The Astral Plane has its own fauna; it is also a place where one may encounter entities who are just “passing through.” “Gods” and “devils” may be there, but the Order teaches that they are not so much individual personalities as forms or emanations of the impersonal, indefinable, unknowable, un-acting Supreme Cause or Light, as comprehended through the wisdom of the ancients-through which the occultist can encounter, embody, and ascend to unity with that ultimate godhead.

Ra “exists” not because he made the world, but because Ancient Egyptians gave symbolic shape to the divine power of creation (and by “exists” the Order means “can be magically evoked” it is not at all clear that Ra has any personal consciousness or active life beyond that). Golden Dawn occultism is not pagan worship.

In Cthulhu Mythos terms, one may draw an unpleasant comparison between the underlying, personality-less Ain Soph, or Unknowable God, of whom the universe is the living body, and Azathoth, the mindless center of the universe. Or between the ten spheres of the Sephiroth, those divine emanations that encompass all of existence and time, and Yog-Sothoth the one-in-all and all-in-one. But these are deep mystical waters and are left for the Keeper to explore or to avoid. This side of things is very much up to the Keeper’s interpretation.

It is certainly possible, in theory, for investigators to evoke Bast or other gods of the Earth (or the Dreamlands) and meet them on the Astral Plane. Occultists would be beyond foolish to try to travel astrally to R’lyeh, Carcosa, or the Court of Azathoth, although that sort of out-of-body experience sometimes occurs in Mythos fiction. Some have reported that the Court of Azathoth exerts a kind of “gravitational pull” on astral travelers that venture too far out into space. Travelers who find they are unable to break free from their trance may become trapped for eternity, changed, or be devoured.

The Golden Dawn underemphasizes the dangers of the Astral Plane to members of the Outer Order. They encourage solo exploration and advise that the Pentagram of Protection is normally sufficient, but if something unpleasant or hostile crosses their path, the occultist needs only keep their distance or wake voluntarily from their trance to escape. This isn’t bad advice, as far as it goes…but it really isn’t comprehensive.

The Outer Order

The First, or Outer, Order of the Golden Dawn is a university of esoteric knowledge. While its initiates learn a limited protection spell at initiation, no further practical magic instruction occurs until the Portal Stage, which is not strictly a grade but a period of preparation that readies the initiate for the Inner Circle.

Upon initiation, an investigator Neophyte embarks upon a steep learning curve in the Hermetic Ritual skill (base chance $01\%$ ), which should be marked upon their character sheet, as well as being taught the spell, Pentagram of Protection-see Hermetic Skills, page 51.

At Zelator ( $1=10$ ) grade, the investigator learns the techniques of the Astral Projection skill (base chance POW divided by 10), and at least one method of Divination (base chance $00\%$ ). Then they practice these skills in their own time. The Order considers the Pentagram of Protection both necessary and sufficient for any unpleasantness they may encounter on the Astral Plane.

The “skills at graduation” in Table 3: Outer Order Accomplishments are minimums, granted by study if the investigator is not already at that level or higher. Furthermore, the level of knowledge is not cumulative with any existing skill on initiation. Therefore, an initiate with a base Occult skill of $5\%$ will graduate as a Neophyte with an Occult skill of $10\%$. If an initiate has 25% Occult skill already, they must still pass through all the grades, but they will not increase their Occult Skill until graduating as a Theoricus. This could well prove frustrating for more knowledgeable investigators—as it was for the young Crowley, who was less than complimentary about the teachings and membership of the Golden Dawn and left the order convinced he had learned nothing from them. The Golden Dawn encourages independent study, so it is possible to increase the Occult skill in the usual way. A Neophyte with an Occult skill of 10% may check that skill during an investigation and increase it to 14%, but graduation to Zelator will still only raise their Occult skill to 20%. The same goes for the granting of the other skills, such as basic Hebrew script and vocabulary—it is not cumulative with existing knowledge of Hebrew. Likewise, the Hermetic Ritual skill rises at each graduation, unless the investigator’s skill already exceeds this amount, in which case the grade increases, but the investigator does not gain an additional Hermetic Ritual.

The Inner Order

Practical magic is an important part of the curriculum for Adepts in the Second, or Inner, Order. Adepts learn an enhanced protection spell at initiation, known as the Hexagram Ritual (and other spells, at the Keeper’s discretion).

The skills and abilities of the Inner Order do not employ the same educational methods as learning spells from a Mythos tome. They do not result from solitary hours spent over a book but rather being in a place of education, with a curriculum designed to accommodate failures as well as success. As such, there is some certainty that upon graduation from each grade, students have mastered each element to the appropriate degree. Learning a new spell takes 1D8 days with one-to-one tuition and costs no Sanity, though casting the spell usually does, depending on the individual spell description.

As with all spell learning, the first time the magician casts a new spell, they must make a Hard POW roll to succeed. Failure means nothing happens (but magic points are expended). Casters may push the casting roll, if necessary; on a pushed attempt, the spell always works, but a failed roll means that the casting has dire side effects. If the occultist opts not to push this roll, they must relearn the spell from scratch (undergoing another 1D8 days of study).

Note that depending on the year, Inner Order accomplishments vary, as per Table 4 (page 53) for the years 1888-1893 and Table 5 (page 53) for 1894 onward.

Hermetic Skills (Optional)

These skills are optional. They focus on dealing with the Astral Plane. If you feel they don’t fit into your campaign, leave them out. Two are POW-based, because they rely on semi-mystical insight and magical talent.

Hermetic Ritual (BASE: 01%)

*After Neophyte initiation.

Represents a facility at performing the elaborate rites of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It is not simply academic knowledge, and this skill does not increase through book learning, only through participation. It includes the ability to remember all the correct movements and words, an understanding of the symbolism involved, the mental discipline to hold exactly the right imagery and attitudes in mind without distraction, a physical fluidity with the gestures and actions, and the ability to intone the magical words with the right emphasis and drama.

After every group ritual performed alongside more senior members of the Golden Dawn, make a Hermetic Ritual roll. Success means learning has taken place, and a skill check can take place. This means that those who participate zealously in rituals can advance in the Hermetic Ritual skill far faster than the minimum grade skills in the accomplishment tables nearby. Ritualists may push rolls, but failure means that the ritual is ruined (dropped a chalice, spoken the wrong lines, and so on); consequences range from utter humiliation to a backlash of magical forces, at the Keeper’s discretion.

If performed solo, a successful Hermetic Ritual roll (and 2D10 minutes of ritual time in appropriate attire with the proper wands, inscribed circles, accoutrements, etc.) can have one of several effects, as appropriate to the intent of the ritualist (it cannot have multiple effects):

• Adds a bonus die to an Astral Awareness, Astral Projection, or Divination roll.
• Adds a bonus die to the casting roll that accompanies the first-time casting of a particular spell.
• Adds a bonus die to the first opposed POW roll made when targeting a spell against another, such as a Binding or some form of mind control spell.

Ritualists can push Hermetic Ritual rolls by starting the ritual again from scratch. A failed pushed roll either causes the spell in question to have a catastrophic side effect, or, if it is a skill enhancement, it attracts the attention of an Astral Predator or Astral Vermin (pages 58 and 59 respectively).

Example: Xerxes Arundell, a Theoricus Adeptus Minor, is attempting to travel in astral form and see what Jane Griffin is up to, since she isn’t answering his telegrams. His POW is $45\%$, but he possesses base $20\%$ Astral Projection skill because he has been slacking on his homework. Luckily, he loves the theater of rituals and has raised his Hermetic Ritual to 50%. He performs a short Hermetic Ritual and rolls 38%, which is a success. His chance of success at Astral Projection increases significantly with the addition of a Bonus die on that roll. He rolls an 08%-an Extreme Success-so the Keeper rules that he not only immediately sees Jane fighting a ghoul in a cellar, but can cast spells on the ghoul (see Astral Combat, page 56). To the rescue!

Table 3: Outer Order Accomplishments

Grade	Study Time*	Occult Skill at Graduation	Hermetic Ritual Skill at Graduation	Other Skills at Graduation
Neophyte $0=0$	16	10%	2%	Skill: Hebrew (1%) Spell: Pentagram of Protection
Zelator 1=10	30	20%	3%	Skill: 10) Skill: [[02 - Occult Secrets & The Golden Dawn#DIVINATION (BASE 00 %) [SPECIALIZATIONS] | Divination (1%)]]
Theoricus $2=9$	30	30%	5%	Skill: [[02 - Occult Secrets & The Golden Dawn#DIVINATION (BASE 00 %) [SPECIALIZATIONS] | Divination (5%)]]
Practicus 3=8	30	40%	7%	Skill: [[02 - Occult Secrets & The Golden Dawn#DIVINATION (BASE 00 %) [SPECIALIZATIONS] | Divination (10%)]]
Philosophus 4=7	30	50%	9%	Skill: Hebrew (5%)
Portal	16	55%	10%	Spell: Restorative Meditation
*Weeks-assuming all free time goes toward study.

Table 4: Inner Order Accomplishments (1888-1893)

Grade	Study Time*	Occult Skill at Graduation	Hermetic Ritual Skill at Graduation	Other Skills at Graduation
Adeptus Minor 5=6	26	60%	20%	Spell: Hexagram Ritual
Adeptus Major 6=5	78	70%	40%	Spell: Astral Exorcism Spell: Bind Astral Entity
Adeptus Exemptus $7=4$	78	80%	70%	Spell: Shrivelling
*Weeks-assuming all free time goes toward study.

Table 5: Inner Order Accomplishments (1894 Onwards)

Grade	Study Time*	Occult Skill at Graduation	Hermetic Ritual Skill at Graduation	Other Skills at Graduation
Zelator Adeptus Minor 5=6	26	60%	20%	Spell: Hexagram Ritual
Theoricus Adeptus Minor 5=6	26	65%	25%	Spell: Astral Exorcism Spell: Bind Astral Entity
Practicus Adeptus Minor 5=6	26	75%	30%	Spell: Sword of the Spirit Spell: Breastplate of Righteousness
Adeptus Major $6=5$	26	80%	40%	Spell: Amulet of Astral Protection
Adeptus Exemptus $7=4$	78	90%	70%	Spell: Shrivelling

*Weeks-assuming all free time goes toward study.

Astral Awareness (Base: POW divided by 10)

• Cost: 1 magic point It is a major goal of any Golden Dawn member’s occult training to develop an intuitive awareness of what is happening on the Astral Plane in their vicinity. Astral Awareness is the equivalent of a Spot Hidden roll, but “spots” things “hidden” because they are astral. This perception may be visual or an “impression” of a visual experience, it may be a feeling, a scent, or a sub-vocalized voice in their head that seems to speak another’s words. The major component is trusting one’s magical intuition-which can lead to somewhat risible readings from a failed pushed roll.

Examples: if the magician walks into a room, and it feels cold and unwelcoming, they’ll believe that an unfriendly demonic entity is there; if they awake in the morning with a headache, they’ll think it is the result of something astral feeding upon their energies overnight, and so forth.

Astral Awareness does not automatically incur a Sanity cost, as insights granted are partial and vague, but may do so in some circumstances-if the occultist were to get a glimpse of the Queen in Red’s true aura and nature, for example. The Keeper may rule that an Extreme success in spotting an astral monster permits such a clear vision that the monster’s Sanity cost is applied.

Astral Awareness may also, at the Keeper’s discretion, include a sensitivity to the “atmosphere” of an ancient site, to ghosts, ley lines (though note that this term and concept did not exist in the Victorian era), the residual magic of a previously performed and powerful rite, or to ongoing magic, such as an active magical ward, a curse, or the “aura” of an enchanted item. Astral Awareness is a prerequisite for Astral Exorcism and Bind Astral Entity spells.

It is important to note that if you can see something on the Astral Plane, then it can see you. All gods-Outer, Elder, Earthly, or Dreamlands (and all entities with POW 100 or more) have automatic Astral Awareness at $100\%$. It’s not possible to spy on such entities from the Astral Plane without being noticed and identified.

Astral Projection (Base: POW divided by 10)

Astral Projection, or Astral Travel, is a skill, not a spell. In theory, almost anyone can perform it once taught the basic trance technique-just as (in theory) “anyone” can develop a six-pack. In practice, the gruelling repetitive effort required to reach success is beyond most people. Some naturally talented folks can do it in their sleep without even knowing and thus end up in the Dreamlands.

During a successful Astral Projection trance, the occultist’s body is inert, relaxed, and appears to be in a deep sleep; meanwhile, their consciousness (mind’s eye, soul, or spirit) rises out of the body and goes forth into the Astral Plane. From there, it may travel at lightning speed across the world, to distant planets, or even cross over into the Dreamlands. It may seek out known locations or known people and view them through the astral veil. These dreamlike visions reveal information readily observable, though unless the skill roll is a Hard or Extreme success, the information may be fragmented, vague, or distorted by the occultist’s own preconceptions or imagination.

With an unsuccessful roll, the astral body does not rise out of the material one, and no magic points are lost. The practitioner is likely to simply doze off. With a Hard Astral Projection success, the investigator has the option of making themselves visible on the Material Plane for up to 1D10 minutes-while they can gesture to communicate, they cannot vocalize or interact with material objects. With an Extreme success, the investigator may initiate astral combat on a material entity (see Astral Combat, page 56). Practitioners cannot push this skill roll, although they can try it again after 1D6+2 hours following a failed attempt.

When used, the occultist experiences having a glowing, naked body made of energy or light, and may use that body on the Astral Plane as if it were “real” casting spells, brawling, and interacting “physically” with other astral travellers, although they cannot carry equipment or weapons. And, as noted above, the occultist’s astral body cannot interact with the Material World in any way-it cannot open boxes or books, for example. Two people meeting on the Astral Plane can converse freely. Anyone under surveillance from the Astral Plane may notice if they succeed with an Astral Awareness roll.

The occultist can wake at will; the trance lasts 1D3 hours and leaves them with 1 magic point remaining. There is a lingering sense of dislocation and exhaustion. The Sanity cost for the first successful use of this skill is 1D4, as the occultist undergoes a permanent transformation from exposure to the new vistas. Subsequent journeys do not have a Sanity cost, although what investigators see on, or from, the Astral Plane may have its own Sanity cost as per normal. If an outside party awakens the occultist’s body by shaking them, the wrench causes the automatic loss of 1 Sanity point.

Some real-world locations provide landmarks on the Astral Plane, though in a form that look rather different to their material ones. For example, Cleopatra’s Needle in London looks like a jet-black spire crawling with scorpions, shooting a crackling beacon of eldritch light into the astral sky, while the site of the Tyburn Gallows (junction of Edgware and Bayswater Roads, London) is not visible in Victorian London since it was demolished, but it still appears as a towering tripod edifice on the Astral Plane, surrounded by the ghosts of the hanged. The Keeper should determine what important landmarks on the Material Plane have a corresponding presence in the Astral Plane, and devise suitable astral versions of them.

Divination (BASE: 00%) [SPECIALIZATIONS]

• Cost: 1D6 magic points
• Time required: 1D10 minutes

Divination is an attempt to “read” (by randomized means), the forces at play in a situation, whether occult, spiritual, emotional, or physical. Divinatory methods are disciplines, not spells, and rely on the interpretation of symbolism as well as flashes of inspiration. Success bestows a profound insight into a present situation, or into a probable future outcome of events. The future is not fixed, or at least not exactly. The Keeper decides the events but doesn’t control the dice-remember, divinatory warning of investigator death can just mean a close call. Skill specializations must develop separately for each of the main branches or paths of Divination, which are:

• Astrology: divination by the position of the planets compared with the subject’s time of birth.
• Cartomancy: divination by a deck of cards, usually the tarot.
• Dowsing: divination by rod or pendulum.

Astrology provides the best means of divining future events. Cartomancy provides the best means of gaining insight into present situations. Dowsing, whether in the field or over a map, provides the best means of finding the physical location of something the investigator seeks. Numerous other methods exist, but they are minority disciplines in Victorian Britain:

• The I Ching: a Chinese system well-known in the Golden Dawn.
• Augury: interpreting the flight of birds; quite common in Classical times, mostly now an extinct art.
• Haruspicy: reading the entrails and blood splashes of sacrifices; common in Classical times, mostly now an extinct art.
• Oneiromancy: interpretation of dreams.
• Drawing the Sortes: taking random texts from books, particularly the Bible.
• Geomancy: divination of random marks made upon the earth, from the Arabic ilm al-raml, or “science of the sand.” Note that casting Viking runestones is a late 20th century innovation.

The investigator should explain what they are trying to divine, and the Keeper then decides the difficulty of the roll required and imparts information accordingly. A failed roll leads to a vague, unhelpful reading. A failed pushed roll always results in a misleadingly false reading, and there is a $5\%$ chance that it draws the attention of an Astral Vermin (page 59). Note that Divination can be an excellent in character alternative to making an Idea roll.

Example: Xerxes Arundell seeks to divine the outcome of the 2:30 horse race at Kempton, but fails the roll badly and, as funds are scarce, decides to push the roll which he fails again. Today is not his lucky day and not only does he lose the shirt off his back, but he also attracts the attention of an Astral Vermin that begins to drain his magic points as he sleeps. He is found several days later, barely conscious, in his Mayfair flat by Jane Griffin, a fellow member and Practicus Adeptus Minor. Jane makes her Occult roll and identifies the malady is supernatural in nature, and an Astral Awareness roll identifies the nature of the cause. She successfully performs a Hermetic Ritual to enhance her Astral Exorcism spell, and Xerxes begins to recover.

Astral Combat

Most astral fauna is harmless or indifferent to the traveler-but not all. Some entities are hungry and seek sustenance in the form of magic points (MP), while others-perhaps entities humanity might describe as “demons” and “devils”-seek permanent bodily possession. Some are territorial or have malign motivations of their own. Rarer still are the soul-eaters of the greater Cthulhu Mythos entities.

Keeper note: it is normally not possible to initiate combat from the Material Plane to the Astral Plane, although some powerful Mythos entities, ancient wizards, and so on may be exceptions to this rule.

Astral-on-astral combat

A being on the Astral Plane may initiate combat with another also on the Astral Plane. Two beings on the Astral Plane can see each other clearly; a Sanity check may apply. Use the following to determine how combat proceeds.

• Attacks are always at point-blank range; no ranged attacks occur on this plane.
• Attacks are not actually physical, but, to the participant, appear as normal combat (using fists, tentacles, and so on)-usually fists for investigators, since it is rare for human antagonists to possess weapons on the Astral Plane (see Sword of the Spirit, page 64).
• An astral attack consists of an opposed POW roll.
• Initiative is determined by POW order, highest first.
• If the attacking being wins the opposed roll, their opponent suffers 1D10 MP loss. Powerful entities (i.e., Mythos gods, “greater demons,” and superior astral travellers, such as ancient wizards) cause 2D10 MP loss, or more-and some of these may also cause permanent POW loss.
• If the target of the attack wins the opposed POW roll, the attacker loses 1D10 MP. An astral entity usually flees before reaching zero MP; if it is reduced to zero, it disappears-dead or simply vanquished, determined by the Keeper.
• Combat spells, such as Dread Curse of Azathoth, can be used on the Astral Plan; if one would normally cause hit point damage, such as Wrath of Ages, it instead causes damage to the astral body (MP instead of HP).
• An investigator can break off combat at any time after the initial attack and wake up in their own body, provided they have at least 1 point of POW.
• The “silver cord” that links body and projected “soul” is the embodiment of the occultist’s POW. If their POW is lost or consumed (reduced to zero) for any reason on the Astral Plane, they are never able to find their way back to their body and wake up, provoking a Sanity roll (1D4/1D10 loss) upon this realization; in addition, for each “day” they are adrift in the Astral Plane, they suffer the loss of 1 point of Sanity. They may linger on the Astral Plane, attempting to gain MP in some manner, hoping for rescue, and most likely going insane if their time on the Astral Plane is lengthy, or else becoming fodder for some astral predator.
• An investigator reduced to zero MP awakens forcefully from their astral trance, blacks out briefly, and suffers a Sanity roll (1/1D4 loss) from the shock. They wake up having regenerated 1 MP (if circumstances allow).
• An investigator reduced to zero MP and zero POW suffers the annihilation of their “life force,” although their physical body might carry on living for a few days before wasting away.
• Human-on-human astral brawling is, therefore, relatively harmless, and undoubtedly Yeats and Crowley went toe-to-toe on the Astral Plane; however, reduction to zero MP leaves the loser open to Possession (page 57).

Astral-to-material combat

More rarely, an astral entity may initiate combat on someone in the Material World. Astral races/monsters don’t normally notice material ones, but exceptions do exist, and some physical places with a reputation for being haunted or cursed are just thin spots in the astral veil, where predators are able to reach through to feast on the embodied. Certain acts can also draw astral attention-for example, when an occultist or medium has used their mystical skills to become aware of an astral entity (or ghost), this awareness becomes mutual. Use the following to determine this form of astral combat.

• Decide: is the astral attacker visible to the target and/or onlookers? Ghosts are often visible to normal perception, but astral entities normally are not, and in that case, make an Astral Awareness (page 52) roll.
• A target on the Material Plane, attacked by an astral entity, can fight back only if they know it is happening. Such spiritual combat may look to others like the target of the attack is flailing wildly at the empty air or just freezing on the spot with a look of shock. Either way, combat continues, with opposed POW rolls, as per Astral-to-Astral Combat (above) until one side or the other runs out of MP or the astral attacker disengages.
• If the target on the Material Plane knows they are being attacked, they suffer a Sanity roll (0/1D4 loss) when first attacked, and then lose 1 point of Sanity every time they take MP loss thereafter during the combat.
• If the target on the Material Plane doesn’t know what is happening (they cannot see the attacker, or fail an Astral Awareness roll), they just feel awful and may lose MP steadily to zero, if the combat continues.
• At zero MP, the target faints and may be open to Possession (following); otherwise, after a rest, they regain their senses and can recover MP normally.

Possession

When an astral creature reduces a corporeal target’s MP to zero, the entity may, if it wishes, automatically possess the target. In doing so, it shares the target’s body and, as its MPs naturally regenerate over time and rest, keeps all but 1D6 +1 for itself. It does not take over an investigator’s actions or body, but exerts a subtle influence on their personality, causing nightmares, mood swings, strange urges and hungers, inexplicable lapses of concentration or memory, restlessness, sleepwalking and sleep-talking, and bizarre obsessions-the Keeper should tailor these as required to the needs of the scenario.

• Full “demonic-style” possession, as seen in movies, is possible, but reserve such extraordinary displays for NPCs, since this type of possession robs players of autonomy and leaves them twiddling their thumbs.
• Living humans cannot possess other humans, as they are tied to their own bodies. Ghosts and some other astral entities can, at the Keeper’s option, but normally only for 1D10 hours-the Keeper may extend this time if they wish. Possessed investigators get the opportunity to throw out the possessing entity with an opposed POW roll every 10 hours thereafter (this roll may be made in secret by the Keeper).
• Some ghosts (and possibly other monsters) may possess the dead, who have zero MP, although limit this possession to a maximum of 1D10 minutes at the Keeper’s discretion.

Possessing entities/spirits are discernible with the Astral Awareness skill (page 52), but cannot be engaged in combat on the Astral Plane, as their victim’s own bodily aura is a very effective shield. The only real way to evict them is an exorcism, which may take the form of the spell Astral Exorcism (page 61), a spell such as Cast Out the Devil* or Dismiss Spirit*, or a religious/folk magical rite.

**See The Grand Grimoire of Cthulhu Mythos Magic.

Many different types of entities inhabit or move through the Astral Plane, including Mythos creatures with a multi-dimensional aspect; some possibilities include:

• Desh**
• Dimensional Shamblers*
• Ghosts*
• Hunting Horrors*
• People of K’n-yan**
• Rat-things*
• Spectral Hunters**
• Terrors from Beyond**
• Worm that Walks** *See Call of Cthulhu: Keeper Rulebook. **See Malleus Monstrorum (Vol. 1).

The two creatures following are the most common fauna native to the plane, and are suitable antagonists for investigators’ first astral explorations.

Astral Predator, sharks from beyond

Astral Vermin, parasitic feeders

Hermetic Spells

Hermetic spells, like Folk Magic, tend to be low-powered in comparison to Mythos spells, and are also zero to low-cost in terms of Sanity as they are meant to be cast regularly as part of magical practice. Hermetic spells are entirely concerned with the challenges of Astral Travel. These spells, as previously noted, are taught to members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, although students of other occult traditions may know these spells at the Keeper’s discretion.

Outer Order Spells

Pentagram of Protection Restorative Meditation

Inner Order Spells

Amulet of Astral Protection