Normally, an Initiate of the Aurum Solis would not need to create or approximate a consecrated Temenos of the Outer Order, as this would be the province of their local Commandery or House. They would have their home oratory or working space and would travel to the Temenos for Initiations and such.
In our case, we will be creating and consecrating our own personal working Temenos. We will discuss the technical details of a traditional Aurum Solis Temenos, as well as the modifications required for our work.
The Outer Temple, the Temenos, is described as ideally a room whose sides are of equal length, thus, to define a working area which is a square. Walls and ceiling ideally of a light, neutral color, while the floor should ideally be black. Traditionally, the entry door is in the west, and able to be securely locked.
While traditionally, five consecrated Tesserae are placed within the floor of the Temenos, in recessed squares, as magical “foundation deposits,” this is a process most won’t have access to, as many will be working in their spare room, or basement, or garage, etc. We will be outlining a Temenos consecration that allows for the more “temporary” nature of most of our working spaces.
Centered upon the ceiling should be the Black Rose, five-petalled, its topmost point facing east. The petals of the Rose are black and edged in gold, and the central knob is silver, with three parallel black lines (east-west), and three parallel black lines (south-north). The central knob is also edged with gold.
The diameter of the Rose is approximately two palm-breadths. If your room is specially dedicated to this Arte, perhaps you might paint the Black Rose upon the ceiling, but for a solution that allows for easy removal (or working around light fixtures, etc.), painting the rose upon another surface, such as a round, wooden craft plate, and then determining a way to affix it to the ceiling as needed may be more appropriate. In many cases, the center of the room’s ceiling may have a light fixture or fan – in which case, suspending the Black Rose beneath the fixture with secured twine or chains is desirable.
In a traditional Temenos, placed central to the eastern wall, a platform of two or three narrow steps would be placed: the lowest black (if there are three), the next red, the upper white.
The two columns of the House of Sacrifice are erected upon the top white step. In the published material, these columns are described as the left being Emerald Green and the right being Gold, however, in photos from the Ordo Astrum Sophiae – an offshoot of the Aurum Solis following more closely to the original praxis of the Order – showing the Temenos of the Winged Serpent Commandery, the two pillars are the more “Qabalistically” expected black and white, but with the Greek names NOMOTHETES written in Gold on the white pillar, and MACHETES written in Emerald Green on the black.
I had assumed that this was a “local variant/personal preference” until I recently recalled Melita Denning’s painting of Ernest Page in ritual gear, and sure enough he’s standing between the two pillars of the House of Sacrifice, and they’re Black and White, with the names in the Gold and Green, respectively – just like in the Winged Serpent photos.
Given that, we shall assume that the Black/White with colored lettering for the names are normative/standard and proceed accordingly.
While most members of the A.S. would not have this House of Sacrifice in their home Temenos, we do recommend creating one for your own independent work. However, it need not be a full large-scale version like you would find in an A.S. Commandery Temenos (although if you have the skill and resources, why not?) – we recommend creating a smaller version which you may affix to the Eastern wall during your magical work, at approximately eye-level. A small 8×12 inch rectangular mirror and a trip to your local craft store should provide you with all you need to recreate a miniature private House of Sacrifice complete with veiled mirror.
The Banner of the New Life
The Banner of the New Life is the Banner of the Order Aurum Solis. When its position is not otherwise prescribed, it is displayed in the southeast. The Banner originally employed in Aurum Solis had black field, white interlaced 8-rayed Star, yellow Octagon, and red Equal-armed Cross. If you would like to employ the Banner of the New Life in your own personal Temenos, we do not recommend utilizing the Aurum Solis banner. Rather, we have created and use a slightly “modified” (though still meeting the description just noted) version of the “Banner of the New Life of the Ogdoadic Tradition.” The reason for this is two-fold:
- Simply put, we are not members of the Aurum Solis, and
- In order not to run afoul of any copyright issues
You are more than welcome to make use of this Banner in your own work.
Beyond these modifications, your personal Home Temenos may be laid out as described in Aurum Solis: Initiation Ceremonies and Inner Magical Techniques .