Navigating the Esoteric and the Digital: A Comparative Analysis of Predictive Systems in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Facebook

 This essay aims to draw parallels between the predictive systems between The Hermetic Order of

the Golden Dawn and Facebook and to ask why making such connections is even useful to how

we understand the individual human factor’s relation to a wider predictive system.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (HOGD)was a secret society founded in the late 19th

century that focused on the study and practice of various occult and mystical traditions. Entrance

into (HOGD) involved a series of rituals and initiations, reflecting the organization's emphasis on

ceremonial magic, mysticism, and Western esotericism.

Facebook is a social media platform which relies heavily on data collection to enhance user

experience, personalize content, and target advertisements (Hewgal, 2018, p. 1). Although newer

social media platforms may be more relevant to the year of this essay's completion, the reason

Facebook is being used as a primary example as it has accumulated a substantial amount of user

data over the years, providing a rich dataset for analysis and discussion. Additionally, its

emergence during a time when social media companies were less guarded about data practices

allows for a clearer understanding of the evolution of data collection and privacy issues in the

realm of social networking.

An Explanation of “System”

Before the predictive systems of each of these bodies is analysed and compared, a more general

explanation of systems must be given. Simply put, a system is a structured and interconnected set

of components or elements working together to achieve a specific purpose or function. A system

goes beyond a mere aggregation of components; it orders its world by organizing elements

meaningfully to perform functions that contribute to the existence of the whole. Systems thinking

challenges human-centric perspectives, considering humans as just one among many

interconnected biological, social, and technological systems. The application of systems theory

extends into various fields, encompassing cybernetics, second-order cybernetics, dynamical

systems theory, social systems theory, chaos theory, and complexity theory (Magnus, Shipp,

2009, pp 23-27). In essence, to think in terms of systems is to conceptualize the world in relation

to function and organization, embracing the complexities of behavior in nonlinear and

unpredictable systems found in nature, technology, and society.

In the context of Kenneth Boulding's General Systems Theory(Magnus, Shipp, 2009, pp71-77),

the concept of systems provides a framework for understanding the organization and hierarchy of

phenomena in the empirical universe. Boulding proposes two complementary approaches to the

organization of general systems theory. The first approach involves examining general

phenomena across various disciplines and constructing theoretical models relevant to these

phenomena. The second approach focuses on arranging theoretical systems and constructs in a

hierarchy of complexity, leading toward a 'system of systems.' Considered as individual human

beings, systems at this level possess self-consciousness and a complex image structure.

Language and symbolism, particularly the capacity for speech, discern humans from other

animals. Humans exist not only in time and space but also in history, impacting behavior

profoundly. This way of thinking about systems regarding looking outside of the human unit and

systemising what exists above it in the “hierarchy”, like human above animal, exists larger,

systemic organisations.

Distinguished from individual human systems, social organizations constitute another level.

Roles and communication channels are central to these systems, influencing behavior, value

systems, and human emotion. These aim to control and influence the human individual through

predictive systems.For instance; “The Golden Dawn Order system is based upon a hierarchical

structure in which certain information and knowledge is retained for students who have reached

specific grades or levels of achievement in their esoteric training.” (The Golden Dawn System,

n.d.https://hermeticgoldendawn.org/golden-dawn-system/) .

Predictive systems

A predictive system refers to a computational or analytical framework designed to forecast or

anticipate future outcomes or trends based on historical data, patterns, and relevant variables.

This system leverages algorithms, statistical models, or machine learning techniques to analyze

past information and identify patterns that can be used to make predictions about future events or

behaviors. Predictive systems rely on extensive data analysis, examining historical datasets to

discern patterns, correlations, and trends that can be indicative of future occurrences. Predictive

systems are also used for behavioral analysis, such as predicting consumer behavior, social

trends, or user preferences based on historical patterns and data.

Entry Rituals

The entry rituals are the entry point of the system, these need to be completed before the system

can produce predictions. HOGD had “an elaborate set of initiation rituals that invoked a mythical

past of secret Rosicrucian lineages and ancient Egyptian wisdom” , as Egil Asprem describes

their aims as achieving “religious experience in religious minds “. The effects of the order’s

ability to generate predictive processing came from a combination of the “effects of

participating in rituals” and “ charismatic authority” both of which lended energy flow to its

predictive system.

(Asprem,2022,https://junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2022/2/4/hacking-perception-with-ritual-prac

tice-religious-experience-in-predictive-minds).

The Neophyte initiation ceremony was a symbolic death and rebirth ritual, representing the

candidate's journey from darkness to light, ignorance to knowledge (Israel, 2015, pp 51-55)

.Candidates were introduced to the study of ceremonial magic, the use of ritual tools, and the

interpretation of symbols. They learned about the Qabalistic Tree of Life, Tarot cards, and other

mystical concepts. Neophytes were taught the The Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, a

foundational ritual for banishing negative energies and invoking divine forces. It became a

fundamental practice in the Golden Dawn tradition (Israel, 2015, pp. 56-57) .

Cookies are the primary way that data is collected by companies, like Facebook, who use data as

a part of their predictive systems. They are also the first step of the entry ritual users must

undergo to use Facebook’s services, they act as an access token (Access Tokens for Meta

Technologies, n.d., https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/guides/access-tokens/).

Cookies are used for tracking and analyzing user behavior, which is an input into the predictive

system. They are also responsible for predicting what type of advertising the user would be

susceptible to (Cookie Consent Resource, n.d.,

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/app-events/cookies/ ).

After this first step of the ritual, a user is often faced with a Captcha test (Mitchell,

2008,https://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/100/ ). Captchas add an extra layer of security to

prevent unauthorized access, protecting user accounts from hacking attempts and unauthorized

logins. Also, by requiring users to pass captcha tests, Facebook can reduce the likelihood of

spam and fraudulent activities on the platform. This helps keep the predictive system “clean”,

allowing only useful data into the feedback loop. The system is also kept clean by users being

required to agree to Facebook's terms and conditions, a document which outlines the rules,

rights, and responsibilities of both the user and Facebook. Accepting the terms and conditions

implies that users consent to Facebook's data usage policies, privacy practices, and other terms

outlined in the agreement. The terms and conditions specify the acceptable use of the platform,

outlining prohibited activities, content guidelines, and consequences for violating the rules.

The final step in the initiation ritual is the requirement to “log in”. Logging in enables Facebook

to offer a personalized experience by associating user-specific data, preferences, and activities

with individual accounts. By having an account by which you log in with, you are given a new

name through which you access a password protected interface.

Parallels between these entry rituals are as follows;

The HOGD concept of “a foundational ritual for banishing negative energies and invoking divine

forces'' is also partaken by Facebook through the existence of cookies as they are a form of

digital ghost that follow you from website to website, collecting data, a ghost which the system

welcomes into it to provide the factors for prediction. These “divine forces” are ranked above the

human unit in the closed system’s hierarchy which is decided by the Order.

Both include the interpretations of symbols, the HOGD ritual with interpretations of the Rosy

Cross, Qabalistic Tree of Life, and the pentagram and the Facebook ritual of the Captcha test (

choose the squares that show buses). These show both systems avoiding the factor of

unauthorized access. The true proof that one has access to these secret societies comes with the

name that one “logs in” with and the secret passwords and codes used to access the system,

transporting the user from surface web to deep web.

Power to Induce Experiences

The power to induce experiences and the idea of predictive systems are connected through the

concept of simulation and anticipation. Induced experience is what makes up the bulk of a

predictive system. While the aforementioned entrance rituals were the starting point of energy

flow within the system, the mode by which predictions can be made comes from visualisations

based on the data collected by other factors in the system. The ability to induce experiences

refers to the capacity to create or generate sensory and perceptual stimuli that simulate various

aspects of reality.

“On the predictive processing view, mental imagery constitutes the store of possible perceptual

hypotheses. When a hypothesis successfully explains the sensory input, it is experienced as a

percept.”(Asprem,2022,https://junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2022/2/4/hacking-perception-with-ri

tual-practice-religious-experience-in-predictive-minds ). The principal way that members of

HOGD practiced prediction was the use of mental imagery. This would be focused upon through

meditations of tarot card spreads and astrology. Journaling these realisations and symbols was

important as part of their belief of how to make it come true, a type of manifestation. When these

images were concentrated on and on reflection came true, this would create a positive feedback

loop in the predictive system.

In 2014 Facebook altered users' news feeds to reduce exposure to either "positive emotional

content" or "negative emotional content," resulting in corresponding changes in users' own posts.

The study claimed to provide experimental evidence for massive-scale emotional contagion via

social networks

(Booth,2014,https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/29/facebook-users-emotions-ne

ws-feeds ). Facebook asks you to sacrifice privacy and the use of personal data to predict and

influence behavior. Surveillance capitalists use predictive algorithms to sell certainty to

businesses.Businesses aim to predict and influence consumer behavior for their economic

success.Facebook conducted massive-scale contagion experiments to affect real-world emotions

and behavior. (Zuboff, 2019,

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/04/shoshana-zuboff-surveillance-capitalism-assaul

t-human-automomy-digital-privacy ). In fields like marketing or entertainment, predictive

systems can use the power to induce experiences to tailor content to individual preferences. By

predicting what users might enjoy based on their past behaviors and preferences, these systems

can create personalized and engaging experiences. The ability to induce experiences can also

control the decision-making process of users to operate in the interest of advertisers who are of

monetary value to Facebook. By providing decision-makers with simulated previews of

potential outcomes ( personalised recommendations of products, the simulated preview is the

individual being induced to imagine owning the product), predictive systems can generate

scenarios, allowing individuals or organizations to make more informed decisions by considering

a range of possible futures.

Parallels between this ability to induce experiences are as follows;

Both HOGD and Facebook are using predictive models to control environments and therefore

outcomes and behavior. At first examination it seems as though it is the responsibility of the

individual human factor to be able to imagine the future but these visions are controlled by the

systems that they are visualised in. Induced experiences in predictive systems use simulations to

improve predictions, enhance decision-making, and create personalized and immersive

experiences in various domains under the guise of choice but in reality operate under a strict

system of rules and steps. In HOGD this is the prediction system ruled by tarot cards and

concentrating on the symbols of the order which are then reaffirmed through journaling until the

imagined scenario comes true and reaffirms the belief of the human factor. Facebook takes your

prior meditations from other websites, via cookies, and reaffirms them in customised, third party

advertising, which lead the user to actualise an imagined future inspired by the symbols shown to

them on the site.

Error monitoring - feedback loop

Error monitoring plays a crucial role in predictive systems by forming a feedback loop that helps

improve the accuracy and performance of the system over time.The predictive system makes

predictions based on input data and the current model. The predicted outcomes are compared

against the actual outcomes or ground truth. Errors are calculated by measuring the difference

between the predicted values and the actual outcomes.

“ “Successfully explaining” means that error signals are suppressed – or that the error

monitoring process itself is disrupted in a way that allows top-down processing to prevail.

Having a strong set of prior expectations tied up in mental imagery that are culturally imbued

with spiritual significance is a prerequisite for unusual experiences that will be interpreted as

“religious.”

(Asprem,2022,https://junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2022/2/4/hacking-perception-with-ritual-prac

tice-religious-experience-in-predictive-minds ). It can be proposed from this that a belief based

order, operating on magickal grounds requires a suppressant to the error monitoring in their

predictive system. The alarm bells of reality do not tend to be heard if an individual’s imagined

visions seem to come true under the pretense of strong expectations built under a teaching of

symbols linked to spiritual significance. It could be said that these are the prerequisite conditions

for a spiritual prediction to be believed. Asprem then explains how these predictions and visions

can be triggered under the HOGD system of prediction; “Engaging in practices or situations that

inhibit error monitoring – e.g. certain rituals, sensory deprivation, interacting with a charismatic

authority, or taking certain psychedelic substances – are triggers.”

(Asprem,2022,https://junkyardofthemind.com/blog/2022/2/4/hacking-perception-with-ritual-prac

tice-religious-experience-in-predictive-minds ).

This does not mean, however, that all rational error monitoring is abandoned within the system.

Only the error monitoring performed by the individual human factor is dulled, in order to lul

oneself into belief. Error monitoring does exist within the larger system, a system of collective

individual followers, “The careful structuring of the Golden Dawn system includes built-in

safeguards that are designed to furnish students with increased spiritual awareness, magical

knowledge, and psychic integration in a manner that is both gradual and secure.” (The Golden

Dawn System, n.d.https://hermeticgoldendawn.org/golden-dawn-system/ ) .

By integrating error monitoring into a feedback loop, a predictive system can iteratively enhance

its performance, adapt to dynamic environments, and maintain its effectiveness over the long

term. Facebook uses extensive logging to record events, errors, and exceptions in its systems.

Monitoring tools are employed to keep track of system health, performance, and anomalies.

Automatic alerting systems may be in place to notify engineers or teams when certain thresholds

or error rates are exceeded.When errors occur, systems are designed to automatically report error

details to a centralized system for analysis. Engineers can use this information to understand the

nature of errors, their frequency, and potential impact. For predictive systems, monitoring the

performance of machine learning models is crucial. This includes tracking metrics like accuracy,

precision, recall, and F1 score.Deviations from expected model behavior can trigger alerts. (How

Facebook keeps its large-scale infrastructure hardware up and running, 2020 ,

https://engineering.fb.com/2020/12/09/data-center-engineering/how-facebook-keeps-its-large-sca

le-infrastructure-hardware-up-and-running/ ).

The practice of HOGD suggests that in certain religious or magickal practices, there is a need to

suppress individual error monitoring to enhance belief in spiritual predictions. On the other hand,

regarding Facebook, while individual error monitoring is not deliberately suppressed, the system

is still designed to automatically report errors for analysis, implying a collective monitoring

approach. Asprem (Asprem, 2022) mentions the role of strong prior expectations tied to mental

imagery and symbols with spiritual significance in triggering unusual experiences interpreted as

religious. Similarly, in the Facebook example, the monitoring system is based on predefined

thresholds and expectations, triggering alerts when deviations from expected behavior occur.

Possible Human Need to Create Systems of Prediction

This discussion continuously brings up how the individual experience of the human factor is

being mined by the predictive systems of which they are a part, to be used for the system’s

greater interest (energy flow and feedback loop continuation). The human need to find comfort

in prediction is deeply rooted in our cognitive and emotional makeup. Predicting future events

and outcomes provides a sense of security, control, and understanding of the world around us, the

future is inherently uncertain, and this uncertainty can be anxiety-inducing. Accounting for the

human need to find comfort in prediction is relevant to the wider discussion as although both

HOGD and Facebook are spoken about in the wider culture as if they have their own sentience.

Both magick systems and tech systems are arguably man made yet are treated as if they are a

separate force,and that a way the human factor connects to them is via prediction.

This discussionof systems, particularly in the context of Kenneth Boulding's General Systems

Theory and the comparison between the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (HOGD) and

Facebook, reveals intriguing parallels in the conceptualization, entry rituals, power to induce

experiences, and error monitoring within predictive systems. Systems, as structured and

interconnected sets of components, extend beyond mere aggregations, organizing elements to

contribute to the existence of the whole. Boulding's theory provides a framework for

understanding the organization and hierarchy of phenomena in the empirical universe.

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