Difference between revisions of "The Order"

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The Order is the secret, and apparently powerful organization behind the Hymn of One, the religion which Bree belonged to.

Much of the Lonelygirl15 series revolves around the mysterious Order and the obscure ceremony that they want Bree or other trait positive girls to perform. The Order appears to be a complex organization with multiple factions and positions, and still not fully explained purposes.

Furthermore, the concept of The Order has also developed, and perhaps morphed, since Lonelygirl15 started.

Overview

Bree's early videos mentioned that she had been "religious" her whole life, but Bree did not reveal what the name of her religion was. She did reveal that she was not Christian.

An organization called "The Order of Denderah" was first mentioned in the video Learning To Drive (Sept. 20, 2006). In that video, Daniel and Bree were arguing about Bree's ritual and she exclaimed that her parents were "not Order of Denderah!" A few weeks later in his Order Of Denderah video (Oct. 6, 2006), Daniel tried to research the Order of Denderah because he suspects that it is Bree's religion. The concern of many fans through this time period of the show was that Bree's religion was some type of evil cult.

In early November 2006, Gemma disclaimed that Bree was part of relgion: "It's more like a secret society. It's not a religion after all." Gemma also disclaimed any connection to Thelema, and called the organization, simply, The Order. (Learning Egyptian (Nov. 9, 2006)). It was unclear at the time whether Gemma meant that the Order was the same as the Order of Denderah.

Eventually, Bree reveals that her religion is called the The Hymn of One, and describes as a front for the Order, a "recruiting branch." (Losing My Religion (Apr. 3, 2007)).

Religious Influences

Although the Creators have claimed that they do not want the Order to be associated with any one religion, many references to existing religions can be found throughout the series. These references include:

• The picture of Aleister Crowley on Bree's bedroom wall.
• Bree attended summer camp in the summers of 2005 and 2006 with peers from her religion in which they put on a play about Pilgrims arriving at Plymouth and the adventures that they had.
• Bree's studies of Enochian in preparation for the ceremony.
• Bree's mention of her mother's strong belief in Free will, as well as other references to the importance of free will in choosing to do the Ceremony.
• Preparation for the ceremony for Bree included studies on The Zodiac of Denderah.
• Bree attends a ceremony on the Fall Equinox in September 2006 in which her dad performs bibliomancy.
• References to Aleister Crowley on the Hymn of One website.

Furthermore, on more than one occasion, Bree expresses reservation about sharing her beliefs with others. Her religion is unusual and sometimes adds to her alienation from her peers.

• Bree has told viewers that she does not talk about her religion because she expects some people would be very disrespectful of it. (A Change In My Life)
• Bree mentions that she was once friends with a girl named Cassie, who stopped coming over because the "religion thing kinda freaked her out." (My Helper)

The most logical reason for the religious trappings of the the Order is that they are operating under the guise of "The Hymn of One" to mask their real operations and true intentions.

Structure and Inner Workings of The Order

The Order is very secretive about its operations; Bree has mentioned that information is often withheld from lower-level members, and that some of these people's lives are dedicated to keeping their business private.

• The Leaders: Over time, it has been revealed that the figures of authority within the Order include The Deacons and Elders. There have also been references to rouge Elders who apparently have not obeyed all the rules of the Order.

• The Hymn of One contains the believers in its cult-like religion, which are generally not aware of the Order or its activities. It has been described as the recruitment arm of the Order. Older lonelygirl15 videos sugggest that many members of Bree's religion (before it was dubbed The Hymn of One) live in communities, which are widespread across the globe. There are at least three communities: one in England, one in South Africa, and another in New Zealand. Although Bree lived in Southern California, no mention of a commune in that location was ever made, although Bree seemed to live in some type of commune environment before finally doing the Ceremony in August 2007. It is also clear that other members of the Hymn of One do live in Southern California because Bree attended summer camp nearby, and the Hymn of One later has done recruiting activities in the same area.

• Watchers. Watchers were originally described by Gemma as a twisted "Knights of the Round Table" part of the Order. (A Watcher (Nov. 17, 2006)). Gemma's description, however, was later contradicted by Alex, in Proceed with Caution (July 23, 2007): "He's part of a 20-member team whose only mission is to protect girls like Bree. They have no knowledge whatsoever of the Ceremony, they've never even heard of it. They're members of the Hymn of One and they don't know anything about the Order, its intentions, its makeup; they don't even know the Order exists. Be that as it may, Watchers will absolutely use violence if violence is used first, and if that's the case, watch out!"

• Shadows. Guards for Elders.

• Rank of Bree's Parents According to different accounts from Bree and Gemma, Bree's mother appears to hold a higher rank in the Order than her father.

• OpAPHID - During the period of time in the series where OpAphid was the official ARG of lonelygirl15 (Nov. 2006 - March 2007), OpAphid was represented to be a militant enforcement branch of the Order, and often some of the people hunting down Bree. Bree and Gemma both mentioned the acronym OPAPHID in vlogs. And in An Awkward Silence, Gemma said that it was a guide to their interactions with outsiders. Later videos from Tachyon (who opposed OpAphid) revealed that Gemma appeared to be show that Gemma was an OpAphid agent. One the crossover between OpAphid and Lonelygirl15 ended in the Spring of 2007, Nikki Bower reported that OpAphid and Tachyon appeared to be missing in action.