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The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was one of the
most influential occult societies of the late 19th – 20th
century. During it’s
hay-day in the late 1800’s the society attracted some of the most
distinguished occultists of the time including:
W. B. Yeats, A.E.Waite, S.L.MacGregor Mathers and Aleister
Crowley to mention just a few.
How the Order of the Golden Dawn was conceived, is shrouded in mystery and controversy and various accounts of what transpired abound. Taken from my own notes and research, here is my version of the alledged events leading up to its conception and later its demise.
In the late 1800’s “Old George Pickingill” had
amongst his pupils two Master Masons by the names of “Hargrave Jennings” and
“W.J. Hughan”. Both would later
become founder members of the “Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia”; from which
the Order of the Golden Dawn would eventually emerge.
Doreen Valiente in her book “Witchcraft for Tomorrow” alleges that Jennings purchased from the estate of the late “J.B. Ragon”, certain Rosicrucian manuscripts (The Ragon Manuscripts). Ragon was a French occultist and writer of note who died in 1862. Jennings was not sure of what he had, so he took the manuscripts and consulted Old George Pickingill. Old George concluded, that while he had a bill of sale from the Ragon estate, the manuscripts were incomplete, containing only fragmented pieces of rituals and details of a degree structure from “Die Goldene Dammerung”, an old German occult order.
Jennings then conspired with Old George to concoct a cipher manuscript (Cipher MS) giving the owner dispensation to found a new branch of the “Goldene Dammerung”. To give the illusion of age they wrote the cipher in brown ink and copied the text from an old book in the British Museum. This Cipher MS was then secreted among the Ragon manuscripts and passed on to another mason the Rev. A.E.A. Woodford, who believed them to be authentic.
In 1887 Dr. William Wynn Westcott a London coroner
and a Rosicrucian, obtained the Ragon manuscripts from the Rev. A.E.A. Woodford.
Westcott using his knowledge of occult writings was able to decipher the
manuscripts, and like Old George saw that they contained fragments of what
appeared to be rituals of “Die Goldene Dammerung”, he then discovered the
Cipher MS and realized the potential of what he had acquired.
Westcott in turn asked an occultist friend S. L. MacGregor Mathers, who
was much more skilled in translation and occult knowledge to flesh out the
fragments into full-blown rituals. Westcott
then forged his papers to give them authenticity and history.
Westcott later produced the now complete Ragon
Manuscripts, together with the bill of sale from the Ragon estate, and the
Cipher MS to prove he had dispensation to set up an independent lodge in
England. The Isis-Urania Temple of
the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was then established in 1888.
Westcott, MacGregor Mathers and a Dr.W.R. Woodman (the Supreme Magus of
the Rosicrucian Society of Anglia.) were named as the three chiefs of the order.
The Golden Dawn quickly established itself as the leading occult society
of its day, attracting some 315 initiates during its hey-days 1888 through 1896.
Dr. William Robert Woodman / Dr.William Wynn Westcott / Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers
Mathers had created an elaborate hierarchy
consisting of 10 grades or degrees. Each
degree corresponded to one of the 10 sephiroth of the Tree of Life of the
Kabbalah, with an extra 11th degree for neophytes (new initiates).
The degrees were then divided into three ascending orders: Outer, Second
and Third. Advancement was through
the Outer Order by examination under the direction of the Second Order. Initially only Westcott, Mathers and Woodman were members of
the Second Order, which in turn was under the direction of the Secret Chiefs of
the Third Order. The Secret Chiefs
of the Third Order were believed to be the entities occupying the astral plane.
The three degrees of the third order were: Master of the Temple, Magus
and Ipissimus. The latter
(Ipissimus) could only be achieved by crossing an unknown and uncharted Abyss.
Dr.W.R. Woodman passed away in 1891 and his position
in the second order was never replaced. Mathers then re-wrote the initiation ritual for the Adeptus
Minor rank (The Second Order initiation.) and re-named the Second Order the
“Order of the Rose of Ruby and Cross of Gold”.
From thence initiation into the second order was by invitation only.
Mathers by this time was the nominal head of the
order, while Westcott, holding the same rank and position in the order seemed
happy to remain in the background. In
1891 Mathers ran into financial difficulties, he and his wife “Mina” (also
active in the Order) became penniless. They
were rescued by the benevolence of a rich member of the order, “Annie Horniman”.
With Annie’s support Mathers and his wife moved to Paris and set up
another lodge, leaving Westcott to rule the London lodge while he was away.
Mathers continued to write the curricula material
for the order and send it back to London, but as time moved on he became
obsessed and jealous over Westcott’s obvious success with the London lodge,
which had grown in popularity in his absence.
He became increasingly autocratic and in 1896 claimed that the Secret
Chiefs had initiated him into the third order as Master of the Temple.
Annie Horniman disputed his claim and cut off her support, Mathers
responded by expelling her from the order.
In 1897 other members of the society began to
discover Westcott's questionable role in the authenticity of the Ragon
Manuscripts, and to question the origins of the Golden Dawn.
Westcott refused to give a satisfactory answer to their queries and
quietly resigned from his post. He
was succeeded by Florence Farr, but under the sole leadership of Mathers in
Paris. By now irreparable damage
had been done and schisms continued to develop among the leaders and members of
the order. The Golden Dawn was
beginning its decline.
Aleister Crowley was initiated into the outer order
of the Golden Dawn on the 18th November 1898 and quickly advanced
through the ranks. Seeking
admission to the second order in May the following year, the leaders of the
London lodge refused to advance him. They
accurately sensed his failings both magical and sexual, and envisaged the
trouble that could possibly follow in his wake.
Not to be put off, Crowley traveled to Paris later that year and
confronted Mathers, insisting on his initiation into the second order.
To the consternation of the London lodge, Mathers complied and admitted
Crowley on the 16th January 1900.
The London lodge refused to recognize Crowley’s
initiation to the second order and dissension between Mathers and the London
lodge members grow deeper, almost to the point of open revolt.
In an effort to regain control, Mathers made the fatal mistake of
dispatching Crowley back to England as his Special Envoy.
Crowley was to seize the quarters of the Second Order, then situated at
36 Blythe Rd, in Hammersmith, and compel the members to sign a pledge of
allegiance to Mathers. Crowley
arrived back in England on the 14th April and made his farcical
attempt three days later. He appeared wearing Highland dress, disguised in a black
facemask, a large golden cross dangling from around his neck, and carrying a
gilt dagger. He was stopped at the
door by the landlord and asked to leave assisted by a policeman.
Incensed with this futile attempt to seize and take
over the second order premises, the members of the Golden Dawn gathered together
and a resolution was passed, they expelled both Mathers and Crowley from the
order. The first and original
“Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn”, came to an inglorious end.
During its height the Golden Dawn had attracted the
best and most prominent occultists of its time, and possessed the greatest known
repository of Western occult knowledge ever assembled.
Influenced by the writings and philosophy of Eliphas
Levi, its main studies centered on the Kabalistic “Tree of Life”.
Three magical systems were taught: the "Key of Solomon", "Abra-Melin" and
"Enochian magic". Other materials
that were incorporated came from the "Egyptian Book of the Dead",
"William Blake’s
Prophetic Books" and the "Chaldean Oracles". Instruction
was also given in Astral Travel, Scrying, Alchemy, Geomancy, the Tarot and
Astrology.
The key purpose of the order was “to prosecute the Great Work, which is to obtain control of the nature and power of ones own being”. Many elements of the Golden Dawn’s rituals came from Rosicrucian and Freemasonry sources, and have further been absorbed into many of the rituals used today in modern Witchcraft. Off shoot Orders of the Golden Dawn exist today, but never again I fear will the like of the original ever reappear.
Revelations of the Golden Dawn - by R.A. Gilbert
Witchcraft for Tomorrow
- by Doreen Valiente
The Golden Dawn - Israel Regardie
Let there be peace in the world - Where have all the flowers gone?
My Personal Page / My Place in England, UK / My Family Tree (Ancestry)
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Correspondence Tables:
Incense / Candles / Colours / Magickal Days / Stones and Gems / Elements and Elementals
Traditions Part 1 - Alexandrian Wicca / Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) / Ár Ndraíocht Féin (ADF) / Blue Star Wicca / British Traditional (Druidic Witchcraft) / Celtic Wicca / Ceremonial Magic / Chaos Magic / Church and School of Wicca / Circle Sanctuary / Covenant of the Goddess (COG) / Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) / Cyber Wicca / Dianic Wicca / Eclectic Wicca / Feri Wicca /
Traditions Part 2 - Gardnerian Wicca / Georgian Tradition / Henge of Keltria / Hereditary Witchcraft / Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (H.O.G.D.) / Kitchen Witch (Hedge Witch) / Minoan Brotherhood and Minoan Sisterhood Tradition / Nordic Paganism / Pagan Federation / Pectic-Wita / Seax-Wica / Shamanism / Solitary / Strega / Sylvan Tradition / Vodoun or Voodoo / Witches League of Public Awareness (WLPA) /
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An extract from the Malleus Maleficarum
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Rituals contributed by Crone: Samhain / Yule / Imbolc / Ostara / Beltane / Litha / Lammas / Mabon
Tools of a Witch / The Besom (Broom) / Poppets and Dolls / Pendulums / Cauldron Magick / Mirror Gazing
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In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar. For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following: Birch / Rowan / Ash / Alder / Willow / Hawthorn / Oak / Holly / Hazel / Vine / Ivy / Reed / Elder. Also see: The Willow Tree (Folk Music)
Mystical Sacred Sites - Stonehenge / Glastonbury Tor / Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni / Avebury / Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant / Ireland - Newgrange /
Rocks and Stones:
Stones - History, Myths and Lore
Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin: / Apophyllite / Amber / Amethyst / Aquamarine / Aragonite / Aventurine / Black Tourmaline / Bloodstone / Calcite / Carnelian / Celestite / Citrine / Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond / Emerald / Fluorite / Garnet / Hematite / Herkimer Diamond / Labradorite / Lapis Lazuli / Malachite / Moonstone / Obsidian / Opal / Pyrite / Quartz (Rock Crystal) / Rose Quartz / Ruby / Selenite / Seraphinite / Silver and Gold / Smoky Quartz / Sodalite / Sunstone / Thunderegg / Tree Agate / Zebra Marble
Wisdom:
Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill / I Talk to the Trees / Awakening / The Witch in You / A Tale of the Woods
Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:
Murder by Witchcraft / The Fairy Witch of Clonmel / A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch / The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) / Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife / The Story of Jack-O-Lantern / The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost / Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) / The Two Brothers - Light and Dark
Old Masters of Academia:
Pliny the Elder / Hesiod / Pythagoras
Abramelin the Mage / Agrippa / Aidan A. Kelly / Albertus Magnus “Albert the Great” / Aleister Crowley “The Great Beast” / Alex Sanders "the King of the Witches” / Alison Harlow / Amber K / Anna Franklin / Anodea Judith / Anton Szandor LaVey / Arnold Crowther / Arthur Edward Waite / Austin Osman Spare / Biddy Early / Bridget Cleary / Carl Llewellyn Weschcke / Cecil Hugh Williamson / Charles Godfrey Leland / Charles Walton / Christina Oakley Harrington / Damh the Bard (Dave Smith) / Dion Fortune / Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki / Dorothy Morrison / Doreen Valiente / Edward Fitch / Eleanor Ray Bone “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” / Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelly / Dr. Leo Louis Martello / Eliphas Levi / Ernest Thompson Seton / Ernest Westlake and the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry / Fiona Horne / Friedrich von Spee / Francis Barrett / Gerald B. Gardner / Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca / Gwydion Pendderwen / Hans Holzer / Helen Duncan / Herman Slater "Horrible Herman" / Israel Regardie / James "Cunning" Murrell / Janet Farrar & Gavin Bone / Jessie Wicker Bell “Lady Sheba” / John Belham-Payne / John George Hohman / John Gerard / John Gordon Hargrave (the White Fox) / John Michael Greer / John Score / Johannes Junius the Burgomaster of Bamberg / Joseph John Campbell / Karl von Eckartshausen / Laurie Cabot "the Official Witch of Salem" / Lewis Spence / Margaret Alice Murray / Margot Adler / Marie Laveau the " Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" / Marion Weinstein / Matthew Hopkins “The Witch-Finder General” / Max Ehrmann and the Desiderata / Monique Wilson the “Queen of the Witches” / Montague Summers / Nicholas Culpeper / Nicholas Remy / M. R. Sellers / Mrs. Grieve "A Modern Herbal" / Oberon and Morning Glory Zell-Ravenheart / Old Dorothy Clutterbuck / Old George Pickingill / Paddy Slade / Pamela Colman-Smith / Paracelsus / Patricia Crowther / Patricia Monaghan / Patricia “Trish” Telesco / Philip Emmons Isaac Bonewits / Philip Heselton / Raymond Buckland / Reginald Scot / Robert Cochrane / Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and "The White Goddess" /
Rudolf Steiner / Rosaleen Norton “The Witch of Kings Cross” / Ross Nichols and The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids / Sabrina - The Ink Witch / Scott Cunningham / Selena Fox / Silver Ravenwolf / Sir Francis Dashwood / Sir James George Frazer / S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” / Starhawk / Stewart Farrar / Sybil Leek / Ted Andrews / The Mather Family - includes: Richard Mather, Increase Mather, Cotton Mather / Thomas Ady / Vera Chapman / Victor Henry Anderson / Vivianne Crowley / Walter Brown Gibson / William Butler Yeats / Zsuzsanna Budapest
Many of the above biographies are brief and far from complete. If you know about any of these individuals and can help with aditional information, please cantact me privately at my email address below. Many thanks for reading :-)
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