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To simply associate yourself with the Order of Hermes you have only to submit the membership request form at this link. This makes you an associate member of the Order and permits you to complete the first degree of the Order, moving you from an associate to a neophyte within the Order.
At the point in time that you have completed the tests for the first degree and have been certified for them, if you wish to continue with the next degrees, you are asked to make the commitment of a yearly membership fee of $20.00. This expectation will increase at the time you enter the status of grandmaster (sixteenth degree) to $50.00 per year.
The completion of degrees is largely self-paced, but it is unrealistic to expect to finish a degree in less than 3 months, and the Order will apply an absolute brake of 5 degrees per year.
Additionally there are two stopping and “soul-searching” points. The first is the transition between neophyte and master (when you have completed the fifth degree) and the second is the transition between master and grandmaster (when you have completed the fifteenth degree).
In the case of the transition to master, you will be asked to fill out an additional form and write an essay explaining your commitment, your aspirations, and your intentions. You will also be asked to sign, at that time, binding secrecy oaths regarding your future training (1). In the case of grandmaster, a second, more complex essay and more awesome oaths will be administered.
Initiation to the highest degree, the invitational twenty-first degree, cannot be done virtually and will require travel - either of the Proctor General and if available at least one Proctor, or travel by you, or both, to a mutually agreeable location where a lodge can be sealed and the initiation and ritual undertaken.
While many members of the order will prefer to keep their membership in a secret society, well… secret - for those who prefer some form of recognition, it is permissible, once you are a neophyte, to append O.H. after your name on documents (Order of Hermes). Once the rank of master is attained, you may use M/O.H.. Likewise grandmaster GM/O.H. For those fortunate enough to attain the rank of proctor P/O.H. and for the proctor general, if s/he wishes to indicate rank, then PG/O.H. is appropriate.
(1) These oaths are in the form of legal documents. You should have a lawyer examine the documents if you have any questions. They will then have to be notarized and submitted by certified mail. They will be documented, and permanently stored in the records of the Order. You will be notified when they have been received, and again when they have been entered into the record. At the time that they are entered into the record, in the case of the status of master, you will be inducted into the sixth degree. In the case of the status of grandmaster, a background check will be initiated, and as long as you pass that check, you will then be inducted. The check will generally take two to six weeks. Google Sites
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