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The Golden Dawn
The original “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” was a magical fraternity founded in London in 1888 by Dr. William Wynn Westcott, a physician, municipal coroner and Freemason. According to Westcott, a manuscript written in cipher was given to him in 1887 by Reverend A. F. A. Woodford, an elderly Masonic scholar who claimed to have purchased it from a “dealer in curios.” Westcott began deciphering the manuscript using the cipher found in Abbot Johann Trithemius’ book Polygraphiae and found it to be a series of ritual outlines for an ancient German occult order. After the grade rituals from Neophyte through Philosophus were completed, Westcott asked fellow colleagues Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Dr. William Robert Woodman to join as chiefs of the new order. The original Lodge founded in 1888 did not teach any magick per se (except for basic “banishing” rituals and meditation), but was rather a philosophical and metaphysical school. This was called later called “the outer order.” The “inner order,” which became active in 1892, was the circle of Adepts who had completed the entire course of study and Initiations of the Outer Order contained in the Cipher Manuscripts. Mathers was responsible for the Rosicrucian inner order of the Golden Dawn being established where practical magick was taught—the R. R. et A. C. (Order Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis or Order of the Ruby Rose and Gold Cross). Some influences on Golden Dawn concepts and work include hermetics, the western mysteries, freemasonry, theosophy, Eliphas Levi, Papus, medieval grimoires as well as Enochian and Egyptian magick. It has long been thought that the synthetization of these influences into a new school of thought is largely the merit of Mathers, who at times was teaching things he had discovered only days or hours before. However more recent work seems to suggest that Dr. Westcott was a considerable influence.
“The Golden Dawn,” as it is commonly referred to, was probably the single greatest influence on 20th century western occultism. While it existed, it was the focal point of the development and redevelopment of magical thinking in Europe. In it, most concepts of magic and ritual that have since become core elements of Wicca, Thelema, off-shoot western mystery schools and other forms of magical spirituality. In its heyday, many cultural celebrities belonged to the Order. Some well known members included Aleister Crowley, Arthur Machen and William Butler Yeats. The membership also included a large number of professional people, especially physicians, chemists, ministers and writers, many of whom were Rosicrucians and/or Masons. The Order ceased to exist in 1903 but continued under at least two spin-off organizations, the Stella Matutina (Morning Star) and the Alpha et Omega, as well as a renamed faction headed by Arthur Edward Waite that underwent further splits. The Stella Matutina closed its doors in the United Kingdom before WWII, but continued to function under the popular name Whare Ra in New Zealand until the late 1970s. After dissolution, Israel Regardie published a large part of the order’s documents, contravening his vow of secrecy. Before his death, he was involved in initiatives to resume the Golden Dawn tradition. References
Suggested reading
“The Golden Dawn” is licensed under the Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.”
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