Commodity market in Sumer between 4500 BC and 4000 BC. Sumerians first used clay tokens sealed in a clay vessel, then clay writing tablets to represent the amount—for example, the number of goats, to be delivered. These promises of time and date of delivery resemble futures contract. Early civilizations variously used pigs, rare seashells, or other items as commodity money. Since that time traders have sought ways to simplify and standardize trade contracts. Gold and silver markets evolved in classical civilizations. At first the precious metals were valued for their beauty and intrinsic worth and were associated with royalty. In time, they
Ordo Aurum Solis such as the "Llewellyn Practical Guide to Astral Projection" and "Llewellyn Practical Guide to Creative Visualization", as well as their seminal work (reprinted in three volumes) outlining the philosophy and practices of Ordo Aurum Solis: "The Magical Philosophy". Despite a few similarities to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, some of its descendants, various Thelemic orders, and other groups stemming from the Rosicrucian revival of the 19th century, Ordo Aurum Solis represents a distinct and unique system of magical philosophy and practice based on the Ogdoadic Tradition The Ogdoadic Tradition stems from the Mediterranean mystery religions of ancient Greece