Difference between revisions of "Hymn of One"

Latest revision as of 00:59, 10 March 2010

This page is about the organization called The Hymn of One. For the KateModern video of the same name, see Hymn of One (video).

Hymn of One
First Mention Last Mention Losing My Religion Catching Up, Closing Out
Movement information
Front for	The Order
LG15	10070
Members	Bree Avery Emma Wharton Kate Strathcarron Steven Roberts Julia Van Helden Maggie Schaeffer Ola Polak Chasina Wilson Leigh Taylor Jayde Cooper Antonia Moore Complete List
List of Hymn of One's blogs

The Hymn of One (HoO), originally believed to be Thelemic in nature, is now known to be the religious front for a mysterious organization called The Order. Many argue that the HoO is not truly a religion, but a cult. They note the HoO's brainwashing techniques, such as having members recite "The Hymn of One is fun" repeatedly, as highly characteristic of cultish behavior.

Most members of the Hymn of One are very naïve, and don't know anything about the Order whatsoever. Many members live in controlled communities, made up entirely of Hymn of One members.

On February 3rd, 2010, Greg Mason posted a video explaining that the FBI had exposed the Hymn of One as a dangerous cult after it caught their attention in late 2008. The religion was disbanded in the United States and its members were banned from the country. While this allegedly happened back in the late 2009, no further information has been revealed on this matter.

Recruitment

The Hymn of One recruits new members through a number of seminars they hold, during which they promise new members enlightenment, control, and the chance to find their "eternal songs."

According to Raymond Wharton's journals, the people who attend these seminars are often those who have made mistakes and need direction in their lives. Many are escaping drugs or alcohol, and end up replacing those addictions with the Hymn. After all, "there is no casual membership in the Hymn."

Principles & Beliefs

According to Steve, finding one's eternal song is "basically what we can do when we go deeper into our own conscious and find out exactly what we're about . . . in this harsh world."

The Hymn of One allegedly advocates free will, but, like most cults, do not truly believe in it. This is evidenced in the way they pursued Bree and tried to manipulate her into doing the Ceremony, even after she had decided against it.

According to Sonia, members of the Hymn of One apparently believe in the principles of the "Eternal Hand." Though full details of the "Eternal Hand" remain unknown, Sonia further explained that it is based in trust and that "the primary relationship in the Hymn of One is the group. Specifically the leaders. You're never attached to one individual. Not even if you love them. It's called "Trust in the Divine Symphony." Sonia then concluded with "One note in the symphony never cared about what the other note is doing. It just accepts its own song.''

Several Hymn of One members believe in doing service around the world. A fine example of this would be the Lullaby Project, comprised of several volunteers who believe to be helping low-income mothers-to-be during their pregnancies.

They also revere Aleister Crowley as an important figure in their system of beliefs, and quote him on their official website (http://www.hymnofone.org).

Practice

Members of the Hymn of One are known to do certain prayers, as evidenced by Bree when preparing for the Ceremony, as well as by Steve, who claimed that the writing of Rupert Van Helden helped him to properly do his prayers.

A Song Circle at the Lullaby Project

Practicing Hymn of One members are often be seen starting their day with a form of social meditation called a "Song Circle", where they are supposed to listen to their internal, eternal song.

They are also told that it is their duty is to protect trait positive girls from the time they are born until the time they complete the Ceremony, but have no knowledge of what the Ceremony actually is. This was best demonstrated by Steve volunteering to keep an eye on Kate upon discovering that she was Trait Positive. As he revealed, "Someone at the Hymn of One told me to defend you. I was just doing my job. I wanted to help . . . Everybody at the Hymn Of One cares about Kate. She's trait positive. She needs to be protected!"

In fact, within the Hymn of One there exists an elite team of twenty men infamously known as Watchers, whose sole mission is to protect Trait Positive girls. They too have no knowledge of the Ceremony or even the Order. According to Alex, "Watchers will absolutely use violence if violence is used first, and if that's the case, watch out! These guys make Marine Corps look like Quakers." This fits with what Chris told the TAAG in the video They Belong With Us: "We're not shy about using force...when necessary."

Finally, while members of the Hymn of One do not celebrate conventional holidays, they do have a day to celebrate their eternal song; members of the Hymn of One celebrate the "Day of Eternal Song", which takes place every year on April 7th.

Significance of Women

Trait Positive girls aside, the Hymn of One does strongly value their female members. Bree once said that her mother was introduced to The Hymn of One by a university professor when she was studying at Edinburgh. She mentions that her mother had been "looking for answers", and believed that she found them with the Hymn of One. Bree's father, however, noted some changes in his wife after she joined. He said that while she used to be introverted, after joining she was the "first to pick an argument." (Losing My Religion (Apr. 3, 2007)).

From this, we can deduce that not only are female members respected, but that they encourage them to stand up for themselves, and more importantly, their religious beliefs.

Limits on Lifestyle

Though most members claim that nothing's better than finding one's eternal song, there are certain limits and restrictions that the religion imposes on its members. For example, the Hymn of One strongly discourages its members from practicing acts of indulgence or consuming products that are known to be harmful to one's health:

• Consuming alcoholic beverages, for example, is not tolerated by the Hymn of One, as noted by Carl turning down a night on the town with Chris by claiming that "It's against my principles."

• Steve once mentioned that since joining the Hymn of One, he stopped smoking, claiming that "Every time I felt a craving, I'd just, I'd listen to my Eternal Song and I'd be all right. I didn't need one."

• Finally, according to Nikki Bower, chocolate is another "no-no". However, it seems that even the pious Carl has been known to smuggle in the sweet now and again.

It's also interesting to note that abstinence is expected of members higher up within the Hymn of One. This was notably preached by Hymn of One author, Rupert Van Helden (though, like Carl, it's been revealed his actions don't necessarily reflect what he preaches).

While lower-level members are allowed to date, they do not celebrate marriages. Instead, when two people wish to spend their lives together, they perform an Eternal Unity Bond. Despite the difference in names, Rupert revealed that it's still, "a lot like a marriage, yes."

Initiation

A Hymn of One pamphlet

The Hymn of one uses a variety of recruitment methods, such as promotional videos, fliers, and seminars, each claiming that the religion is open to everyone. They promote the idea that one can find eternal happiness by singing one's eternal song.

New members typically register with a membership form, and -- after an unknown amount of time -- are asked to participate in an initiation ceremony. According to Sarah, the initiation involves formalizing one's "lyrics" then followed by singing one's song.

A copy of "Finding the One"

Published Works

To date, only one book based on the beliefs of the Hymn of One have ever been placed in the spotlight. The book, Finding the One, by Rupert Van Helden is apparently a popular text to give to new members of the Hymn of One, as witnessed by Steve giving a copy to Kate for Christmas and Carl giving a copy to Sarah during her initiation.

I Have Found the One is the second Hymn of One book by Rupert Van Helden. It was revealed to the world when he proposed to Julia.

Holidays

Only a few holidays that the Hymn of One practices are known, though there are no doubt many more.

• The Day of the Eternal Song - April 7
• Summer Solstice
• Winter Solstice
• The Solar Eclipse

The Hymn of One logo

The Hymn of One's logo is an upside-down musical symbol known as a fermata. A fermata is used either over or, in the case of the upside-down fermata, under a note. It signifies that a note will be held out for longer than its true value. The actual value of a note with which a fermata is used is up to the conductor of the performer. However, the idea of using the symbol is that the note is held indefinitely. This alludes to the Hymn of One's mantra of "finding your eternal song".

As Sarah would argue: "They're big into music analogies at the Hymn of One."

Website

Hacked by the HoN

They Hymn Of One web site was hacked by the Hymn of None on August 29th, 2008. [1]

Currently...

"We place no reliance on virgin or pidgeon. Our method is science, our aim is religion."

-Aleister Crowley

To whom it may concern,

Over the past three years our church has been repeatedly attacked, maligned, and terrorized both online and in the real world. While we have faced the slanderous, degenerate behavior with the brave face and determination our teachings have instilled in us, this previous weekend's events have gone too far. A group of pranksters who've populated the internet community www.lg15.com interrupted our planned holy pilgrimage, used some form of explosives to destroy several valuable artifacts, and, proceeded to attack and injure several of our brethren.

We can no longer stand idly by. We have been in contact with several charitable organizations that have offered to give legal services to our simple church to combat these unfounded, hate-filled attacks. The authorities have been contacted, and, assure us that the criminals will be brought to justice.

We have also been advised by our legal team to greatly reduce our online presence, and to merely catalog and ignore any future aggression from this sick and vile community.

Please be forewarned if you are one of the aforementioned, you will be hearing from both law enforcement and our lawyers in the coming weeks.

May you find your eternal song,

The Hymn of One

contact@HymnOfOne.org

External links

• Website