Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The precursor to modern occultism
Abstract
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (referred to as the “Golden Dawn” henceforth) is the name popularly given to a late Victorian fraternal order which developed in England in the last two decades of the 19th century and which continued into the 20thcentury under a variety of names through successor organizations. This order drew members of both genders from the middle and upper classes of its day in the United Kingdom. Eventually, it had members throughout the British Commonwealth as well as France and the United States of America. The Golden Dawn has had a preeminent role in alternative or esoteric spirituality that still persists today even though the original body of the order did not last past the First World War.
Based Partly on the Kabbalah
It is necessary to note that the Golden Dawn made extensive use of Cabala in its thought. Cabalistic writings and terms are derived from the Hebrew language.
Founded by Freemasons
The three founders, William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott and Samuel Liddell Mathers, were Freemasons.
Cipher Manuscripts
The foundational documents of the original Order of the Golden Dawn, known as the Cipher Manuscripts, are written in English using the Trithemius cipher. The manuscripts give the specific outlines of the Grade Rituals of the Order and prescribe a curriculum of graduated teachings that encompass the Hermetic Qabalah, astrology, occult tarot, geomancy, and alchemy.
According to the records of the Order, the manuscripts passed from Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, a Masonic scholar, to the Rev. A. F. A. Woodford, whom British occult writer Francis King describes as the fourth founder (although Woodford died shortly after the Order was founded). The documents did not excite Woodford, and in February 1886 he passed them on to Freemason William Wynn Westcott, who managed to decode them in 1887. Westcott, pleased with his discovery, called on fellow Freemason Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers for a second opinion. Westcott asked for Mathers' help to turn the manuscripts into a coherent system for lodge work. Mathers, in turn, asked fellow Freemason William Robert Woodman to assist the two, and he accepted. Mathers and Westcott have been credited with developing the ritual outlines in the Cipher Manuscripts into a workable format.
Christian Kabbalah
The Christian Cabala is derived from the Jewish mystical tradition that preceded it of the same name and which continued to coexist with it (Hanegraaff 395). Pico della Mirandola, who was an associate of Marsilio Ficino, is known as one of the first Christian practitioners of the Cabala. Mirandola and others were primarily concerned with the use of the Cabala as the confirmation of the truth of their Christian heritage but they found that “the study of cabalistic sources provided western esotericism with a rich reservoir of theosophical speculations which…could be syncretized with hermeticism and the occult sciences” (Hanegraaff 396). This ultimately divorced Christian Cabala from its Jewish origins as western esotericism developed as an independent body of knowledge outside of any orthodoxy. This Cabala formed an important component in providing a specific theological direction to its practice.
Connection to The Theosophical Society
In the early 1880’s Kingsford and Maitland were members of the Theosophical Society, and by 1884 they were the heads of the London Theosophical Lodge. However, they resigned when they realized that the Eastern focus of the society could never truly be reconciled with their own Western beliefs.
Founding of The Hermetic Society
In 1885, they formed the Hermetic Society which attracted people like S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, the founders of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn.
Founding of the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn
In 1888, three Qabalists, Freemasons, and Rosicrucians founded the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, to carry out the work that was abandoned by the Theosophical Society. These founders of the Golden Dawn intended that the Order should serve as the guardian of the Western Esoteric Tradition—keeping its knowledge intact, while at the same time preparing and teaching those individuals called to the initiatory path of the mysteries.
The primary creator of the Golden Dawn was Dr. William Wynn Westcott. A London coroner who was interested in occultism, Westcott was a Master Mason and Secretary General of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia or the Rosicrucian Society in England (also called the SRIA). Westcott, along with two others founded the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888. However, the Golden Dawn was definitely Westcott’s brainchild.
Members
…it was the club (or cult) of the Victorian age, counting many of the era’s most prominent celebrities among its members.
By the 1890s, The Order of the Golden Dawn was in its golden age, clocking in at over one hundred members. Prominent cultural figures like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, and W.B. Yeats were all members, and temples such as the Isis-Urania Temple in London and the Amen-Ra Temple in Edinburgh were popular spots for in-the-know Victorians.
Many celebrities belonged to the Golden Dawn, such as the actress Florence Farr, the Irish revolutionary Maud Gonne, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats, the Welsh author Arthur Machen, and the English authors Evelyn Underhill and Aleister Crowley.
Three Divisions
The "Golden Dawn" was the first of three Orders, although all three are often collectively referred to as the "Golden Dawn". The First Order taught esoteric philosophy based on the Hermetic Qabalah and personal development through study and awareness of the four classical elements, as well as the basics of astrology, tarot divination, and geomancy. The Second or Inner Order, the Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, taught magic, including scrying, astral travel, and alchemy. The Third Order was that of the Secret Chiefs, who were said to be highly skilled; they supposedly directed the activities of the lower two orders by spirit communication with the Chiefs of the Second Order.
Grades
The Golden Dawn consisted of ten main grades, associated with the symbolism of the Kabala: zelator 10°=100°, theoricus 20°=90°, practicus 30°=80°, philosophus 40°=70°, adeptus minor 50°=60°, adeptus major 60°=50°, adeptus exemptus 70°=40°, magister templi 80°=30°, magus 90°=20°, and ipsissimus 100°=10°.
The Decline of the Order
in March of 1897, when Westcott’s association with the Golden Dawn become known to the authorities. Westcott resigned from all offices within the Golden Dawn and the R.R. et A.C. Florence Farr, the famous stage actress, then became the head of the London branch of the Order. But without Westcott’s enthusiastic supervision and propensity for orderly paperwork, the extensive gradework and examination system of the Second Order in London began to decline.
To make matters worse, an individual named Aleister Crowley, who had been in the Order for approximately one year, became eligible for initiation into the Second Order in December 1899. Florence Farr, along with several of the London Adepts, saw Crowley as a questionable initiate, and rejected his initiation. Crowley immediately went to Paris and was initiated into the Second Order by Mathers. This did not sit well at all with the London Adepts, who refused to acknowledge Crowley’s initiation. A full-blown rebellion was at hand. The Second Order members in London formed a committee to investigate the allegations of fraud. In April of 1900, Mathers declared the Second Order committee annulled. He sent Crowley to London as his emissary in order to take possession of Second Order’s private rooms and implements. However, this plan was foiled by the diligence of William Butler Yeats and some of the other London Adepts, who promptly expelled both Mathers and Crowley.
The Demise
Another blow to the Order was on the horizon in 1901. This problem was named Madame Horos. And in 1901, she was responsible for bringing unwanted publicity to the Golden Dawn. Mr. and Mrs. Horos were a couple of charlatans and con-artists who had somehow managed to convince MacGregor Mathers that Madame was actually the real Anna Sprengel. Mathers was fooled for a while, but when he started to get suspicious, they stole some copies of the Golden Dawn’s rituals and fled to London.
Once in London the Horos couple set up their own personal Order—The Order of Theocractic Unity which—unknown to its members—featured fraud, extortion, and sex. Mr. Horos was eventually arrested for rape. When charged by the authorities, the Horos couple claimed to be the leaders of the Golden Dawn. The result was that many of the most arcane secrets of the Order were made public. The initiation rituals of the Golden Dawn were printed in the London newspapers. The Order was scandalized by the whole episode.
The original Order now began to split apart.
Symbolism
Books
The Golden Dawn by Israel Regardie: Vol 1 | Vol 2 | Vol 3 | Vol 4
Closing
Though short-lived, this Order became somewhat of a blueprint for occult practice ever since.