Thoughts on Western Initiatory Orders [TRANSLATION]

I came across an article that I found genuinely interesting and somewhat amusing, and I thought it would be worth sharing here in translation.

The text was written by a priest from an Umbanda temple in Brazil, reflecting on his personal experiences with various Western initiatory orders. What caught my attention wasn’t just the subject itself, but the way he describes the internal tensions, contradictions, and occasional conflicts he encountered along the way.

I tend to be quite critical of centralized institutions in general. I lean toward the view that spirituality is, at its core, an individual and autonomous path rather than something that should be mediated or structured too rigidly.

In any case, I’m sharing this more as material for reflection than as something to agree or disagree with outright. I’ll leave the text below for anyone who’s interested.​

This translation was generated using Google Translate, with only minor adjustments made by me. If you notice any issues, feel free to let me know.

This is a message that I wrote a few years ago to a dear Brother, in which I speak about some Western Initiatic Orders, especially Martinism:


Dear Brother,

I believe that I cannot and should not speak of the Masonic Order of the Elus Cohanin (Coën) of the Universe, because I have not practiced anything of this Order for a long time. I confess to you that the Western initiatory Orders have disappointed me and continue to disappoint me. Reading the works of René Guénon, more diligently, I can understand why he left all the Orders of which he was a member. They no longer had a place in his life. I believe the same thing happened to me. There were years and years of practice, several nights of study, huge periods of abstinence and fasting that were not enough for my completeness. The encounter with La Chose, the great search of the Elus Cohanin, which many prefer to ignore and pretend is not the true search of the Order, happened, however, I saw, over time, that the search for the phenomenon was a meaningless thing. There is the phenomenon, what next? What is the phenomenon for? Who will appear? What do I want? These questions remained unanswered within the context of the Western initiatory Orders.

My Brother, I was initiated into the Martinist Order at the age of 18, thirty years ago. I was initiated into Elu Cohen at the age of 27. At 34, Réau-Croix. I participated in countless Orders, many of which you know, others I only knew existed through books, I even believed that they didn't really exist, they were just legends. However, all of them have not yet discovered what they are for. Spiritual chivalry, perfect brotherhood, the last pillar of Initiation, the disaggregating force of darkness, etc., are very beautiful catchphrases for all of them, but are they really what they say they are? Who guarantees? To which tradition, "Guénonian" terms, do they belong? Do they deliver what they promise? You know that the answers to these questions disappoint us. How many Martinist Orders are there? How many orders do Elus Cohanin? How many Masonic obediences? How many lineages? I am not referring to the Orders that are created to accommodate thoughts, but to those that arise in the face of various quarrels and contentions that permeate all of them.

The Martinist Order installed in Brazil at the beginning of the XVIII century. It became the Neo-Pythagorean Institute. The Martinist Order of South America, in our country, becomes the Expectant Church. In the 70s, Ary Ilha Xavier, from Cachoeira do Sul, who had been initiated into the Martinist Order (the one that became the Neo-Pythagorean Institute, but which he did not want to follow), went to France and managed to be recognized as S.'.I.'.I.'. by the son of Papus, bringing here the Martinist Order (known as the Martinist Order of Papus), once again. This Order quickly expands, forming groups throughout the South and Southeast. Emilio Lorenzo comes to Brazil, installs other Orders and Lodges, confers the degree of S.'.I.'.I.'. to many Brothers and things are moving. Ary and his best friend Otto die. The Martinist Order is left without ground. Another S.'.I.'.I.'., "Seo" Jaime, takes over the Order and tries to keep it. With "Seo" Jaime things begin to change in the understanding of the Martinist Order. A new and terrible concept begins to be preached: the Order does not initiate blacks, because they have no soul; women cannot rise to the degree of S.'.I.'.I.'. because there is no Yud (in an esoteric sense he would not have the principle of creating, inherent to the male sex, according to his understanding). This becomes a truth in the Martinist Order and it was in this Martinist Order that I was initiated. The Gnostic Church, the Rectified Scottish Rite and the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis and Mizraim, among other Orders, become internal Orders of the Martinist Order. In the early 90s there were a series of questions about this way of conducting the Order. There is a big rift, with many fights. The Brothers of St. Paul are the first to rebel against what was happening. The search for other Martinist Orders around the world begins. There is the Martinist Order of the Knights of Christ, revived by Remy Boyer. It is installed in São Paulo. Several Martinist groups are affiliated with it. Rituals are changed and thoughts are changed: everyone is now equal before the law!

Shortly thereafter, there is, again, in São Paulo, another split. Members of the group that started the revolt are vying for power to see who would lead the OMCC. One of them, secretly, takes the course at the International College of Esoteric Studies (ICES), in Barbados. He goes there and is initiated as S.'.I.'.I.'.L.'. and receives the consecration of Gnostic Bishop. When he returns, he presents his certificates to his contender, saying that he was now rightfully the true leader. Conflict erupted. Another split. The Martinist & Synarchic Order (OM&S) emerges, or rather, it is established in Brazil by the hands of the S.'.I.'.I.'.L.'. who studied at ICES.

The one who wanted to lead the OMCC, like the now Grand Master of OM&S, travels to the USA in the company of another Brother and both receive the degree of H.'.I.'.I.'.L.'. and they are consecrated Gnostic Bishops. Negotiations are made for one of the Americans to come to Brazil for the installation of an Elu Cohen Store. This is done. An Elu Cohen Store is installed in São Paulo. Others are installed in the South, because the vast majority of southerners, thanks to the strength of articulation that the group from São Paulo, in question, had, co-opted most of the Martinist Lodges that followed the Martinist Order, which is now called "the Brazilian Branch". This caused enormous dissension. Blood brothers started not to look at each other. "Seo" Jaime was so sad, they say, that he was mentally disturbed by the abandonment.

Another coup was going to happen. The Grand Master of OM&S, not satisfied with the hat he had taken at the helm of OMCC, goes to France, contacts Remy Boyer and returns from there with all the Letters Patent: the possible and the impossible. Another shock, new split! Numerous Orders are completely installed in Brazil and the command of almost all of them is in the hands of a single person. Remy Boyer comes to Brazil, demonstrating that everything is very well. Elevates to the Degree of Réau-Croix some Brothers [last degree of the Masonic Order of the Elus Cohanin (Coën) of the Universe].

The group from São Paulo, the one that originated the rebellion, leaves the OMCC. He continues to practice her rituals, but without connecting with her. The Grand Master goes there on a meeting day and publicly slaughters the columns of the Lodge, presenting the Letter of Abatement of the Lodge's columns. New stir. More problems. New searches begin. In the early 2000s, the Ancient Martinist Order (AMO) was created in the USA. This does not arise from any previous split, but from a need to accommodate various traditions and rites under a single umbrella. There was no disengagement from the OMCC, but a dual belonging. The group from São Paulo quickly joins AMO.

OMCC, OM&S and several other Orders are under the command of a single person. As you well know, power corrupts. There are new splits of Lodges dissatisfied with the conduct of these Orders. Many of them are affiliated with AMO. New malaise.

Remy Boyer learns of all this and shoots down the columns of OMCC in Brazil (they say that she has returned to activities, but I cannot confirm it, in Rio de Janeiro). They are then disputing, or rather, fighting each other to see who is in charge and who has the true initiations. The OM "Brazilian branch" languishes, having only two Lodges in the South.

Then other disagreements begin. AMO, in Brazil, is left aside by several groups. Problems happen and the leadership of AMO in the USA shoots down the columns of the Order in Brazil (they say that this has also resurfaced in our country, but I cannot confirm it). The Martinist Order of Brazil and the Martinist Martinist Order of Brazil were then created, which welcomed a large part of the Lodges that had been left without the direction of a central body. With the death of "Seo" Jaime, all the Lodges of the Brazilian branch are affiliated to the Orders that I mentioned in this paragraph.

Why, my Brother, did I do all this retrospect? Simple, to show that the Western Orders cannot account for the human condition. You have been able to observe that in 20 years or so, there have been countless rifts, battles and enmities between those who should consider themselves Brothers. Well, of course Brothers fight, but there were very ugly things that could not be resolved. I participated directly in all these facts, not as an observer, but as part of the process. Bitterness exists to this day. I do not speak to the vast majority of the members of the old Martinist Lodges, I have come to be frowned upon, as persona non grata, as well as many other Brothers.

Thus, I, Sâr Wladimir and Sâr Mejnour, all with the last degrees of the Orders that existed in Brazil or close to them, decided to seek as many Orders as possible that we could find. Whoever was initiated into one of them would transmit the initiation to the others. All this was facilitated, of course, by our Letters Patent and Degree Certificates, which were recognized by the great majority of Western Orders. With this we collected more than 50 Orders which, for us, became a laughing stock. We didn't care which Order it was, the important thing was to belong to it (some with an ethical background that I didn't like, as you well know, and others that had nothing to do with us, but that didn't matter much to us). People came from other countries to exchange bloodlines with us, especially from Spain, the United States and Latin American countries or to have their bloodlines recognized by us.

Sâr Wladimir decides to walk his own path and leaves us. Sâr Mejnour does not approve of this and is very upset. We continued, Sâr Mejnour and I, to search for Orders. There came a time when we couldn't find anything new. We met a lot of nice people, strengthening ties with those we didn't even imagine. Sâr Mejnour then established the Sovereign Sanctuary of Gnosis, created to accommodate the various Orders we possessed. SSG has a meteoric rise, thanks to the high personal power that Sâr Mejnour held. Sâr Wladimir, after a few months away, resumes the connection with us, which does not last long, being removed by Sâr Mejnour. Unfortunately, two years after the creation of the SSG, Sâr Mejnour is assassinated. With the death of Sâr Mejnour I put SSG to sleep.

Even before the tragic and fateful event that took place with Sâr Mejnour, things began to become meaningless. The "great high", for us, was the constant search for something new, something that we did not know, that was different from what we already had, but the rituals were almost all identical, the doctrine very similar, the practices were copies of the Golden Dawn. Thus, there was no more interest in the search, because we realized that we would know nothing new.

Of all these searches that we did, something unanimous touched us: Afro-Brazilian religiosity. Sâr Mejnour became Babalorisha, being my initiator. Sâr Wladimir begins to take an interest in Jurema and Caribbean Obeah. Interestingly, a similar process took place in Europe and the USA. Many Martinists there were initiated in Santeria, others went to Nigeria and were initiated in Ifá. Some, once again, came to Brazil and were initiated by Sâr Mejnour or by other people, including me, in Umbanda and Kimbanda.

Even the Grand Master of OM&S was seen in an Umbanda Terreiro, consulting with a Preto-Velho, which was the reason for much laughter among us, because he was very embarrassed to be surprised there. The Venerable of the other Lodge, the first to rebel, one day requested a counter-spell for Sâr Wladimir, because he had been the victim of a love filter, made by a practitioner of Wicca and he could not deal with that energy, even though he was Réau-Croix, Gnostic Bishop, S.'.I.'.I.'.L.'. and so on. Sâr Wladimir, in disguise, gave him a practice of Santeria. However, given to syncretism, the Venerable did not know that he was doing something from Santeria, but believed that he was doing something from Christian practice. He was fine and to this day he doesn't know that he practiced a "macumbinha"*!

My Brother, returning to the beginning of the message and to the main idea of it, I tell you that there is no reason to divulge my connection with the Order of the Elus Cohanin, because I do not believe in its effectiveness. I am not going to offer something in which I do not believe, whose effectiveness is only phenomenal. A few years ago I misjudged St. Martin, who considered Pasqually's ceremonial magic meaningless, preferring Boehme's mystique. Today I understand him perfectly, just as I understand René Guénon. I am not intending, with this, to discourage you from any search or belonging to Orders, on the contrary, I am only talking about myself, presenting you with the reasons I have for not continuing something that, for me, I repeat, has no meaning.

Despite the ominous tone of my message, I want to tell you that I am very happy with my choice. I found what I needed, in the religious sense, and in the Afro cults all the magic I had always sought, magic without elaborate ceremonies, without paraphernalia, without cloak and sword, simple and humble, but it works. With it I was able to help countless people who had no more hope, who could not find support and understanding anywhere, who were being persecuted by dark spirits, who had disrupted their lives. All my impetus as a knight of God's justice could be employed, with almost immediate results. That made me and makes me very happy. In this new magical phase, quite distant from the Western tradition I had, I sought to know in depth what I was doing.

One TFA

Translator’s Note:
*“Macumbinha” is an informal and somewhat humorous diminutive of “macumba,” used to refer to a simple Afro-Brazilian ritual or spell, often in a colloquial or ironic sense.

Source: “Pensamentos sobre Ordens Iniciáticas Ocidentais”, by Mario Filho. Published on the Templo Caboclo Pantera Negra website:

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