A LITTLE OF THE HISTORY OF BAPS

by

David Bingham

 

This article started when the new Editor asked if I would write something on the Crystal Ball for the Mercury. It seemed simple until I started to think of the background of what went with it, for the Crystal Ball is just one element of the whole that makes up the pentagram. The elements being, AIR – FIRE – WATER – EARTH and, of course, SPIRIT, making the five-pointed star equal and balanced perfection. As I continued thinking, there was no way I could write about the Crystal Ball (WATER) without first considering the elements of EARTH, AIR and FIRE, for WATER magically must always follow FIRE to ensure the FIRE is extinguished following any ritual. So, to my way of thinking, I would not start on an article on the Crystal without first working on the other elements.

 

As I sat pondering on this subject, I suddenly noticed that part of the BAPS Glyph was made up of the pentagram itself. I remembered that our original Glyph, given by Russell Grant, was the moon in Aquarius covering the world - our symbol for the New Age of Aquarius, Air, communication, light, free, unfettered and forward-looking. In the early days, BAPS tried many different approaches to what form it should take. It was always in a state of flux and movement, and found it difficult to do much except to project itself at Fairs, Exhibitions and Festivals around the country, and even abroad.  This was necessary at the time in order to spread the word and bring the esoteric out of the closet, so to speak, and this we did – something that the Society should be proud of.

 

In 1979, the resignation of the then President, Dennis Atkinson, put the Vice President, Chryss Craswell (now Alexander for the numerological minded) at the helm. Chryss was subsequently elected as President in 1981, and again in 1983 and 1985. During this period of office, Chryss was also the Editor of the Mercury magazine, and during her terms of office, the Glyph not only received a facelift, but also the addition of the pentagram, placed in such a position as to support the world, and so this added all the elements to the Glyph and not just the AIR – EARTH and WATER that it started with.

 

So what did the pentagram do for BAPS?  Maybe it should have found the Society a home, but it did not!  In retrospect, maybe we were ahead of our time in not being a fixed-based organisation. Today, it is all email, telephone and work from home so maybe we were prophetic!

 

If that’s what it didn’t do, what did it do?  It started a definite system for vetting new consultants. Up until then, it had been a very informal testing procedure, which didn’t make it any easier. In fact, it sometimes made it more difficult because you read for whoever was at the meeting or Exhibition you happened to be at. I, myself, read Sand, an unusual Divination at that time, and my baptism was not just two readings but four or five for those I considered to be the best Psychics and Astrologers in the country. So the Society started to take form. Consultants are the back-bone of the Society and it is up to each one to ensure that we all measure up to our standards.  Whether you are to be vetted, or are asked to vet someone, it is the pentagram added to the Glyph that started it all!

 

On top of that, it also set in motion the revision of the BAPS Rules. This was the first BAPS full constitution, which was formally accepted on May 12 1983 at 21.53 BST, built up by a sub-committee consisting of Douglas Ashby, George Dale and myself. We spent many an hour thrashing out the odd word here and there, but it was again the new foundation brought about by the pentagram. The Glyph went from the old to the new without many people even noticing the change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To

 

 

BAPS progressed quietly, using the new power of the pentagram in the Glyph to give us what we are today - a Society that sets a standard of teaching, giving understanding on esoteric subjects, and supplying media needs.

 

BAPS today, like the star, has a broad base, a spiritual outlook, and aims for perfection within it’s many facets of working.

 

What I have discovered, whilst writing this article, is that the pentagram has not been officially recognised as part of our alms, even though it has been used for 20 years!  At the next A.G.M, it will be it’s 21st birthday, the right time for it to be included formally as part of our Glyph!

 

 

Autumn 2003