What is the Golden Dawn?

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a secret fraternal magical society founded in 1888 in England by William Winn Westcott, Samuel Liddle "Macgreggor" Mathers, and William Robert Woodman. All were Freemasons and prominent members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.:R.:I.:A.:). The aim of this order was obscure at best to those who have not had a great deal of contact with it's literature. However, it's influence was (and still very much is) vast. Consider some of it's members.

S. L. Mathers was one of the founding members as well as the head of the order in its "Golden Age". On the other hand, he was also one of the orders most difficult members. His magical genius was only rivaled by his own vanity and eccentric behavior. He was responsible for translations of various magical texts such as The Kabbalah Unveiled, The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, and The Key of Solomon the King. All are major texts in the Ceremonial Magical community.

A. E. Waite was the designer of the Rider-Waite Tarot, the most well known tarot deck available. It is considered the standard for the modern tarot. Waite was a prominent member of the G.:D.: and even headed up one of its offshoot orders, The Holy Order of the Golden Dawn.

Israel Regardie, perhaps the most well known of the Golden Dawn magicians of the second half of the 20th Century, was the author of many modern classics such as The Tree of Life, A Garden of Pomegranates, and The Middle Pillar. Regardie is perhaps best known for his revelations of the teachings of the Golden Dawn in four volumes. Later, near the end of his life, he published a more organized and comprehensive volume titled The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic.

Regardie was also a student and secretary of another notorious one time member of the Golden Dawn; possibly the most notorious member in its history and of magic in general. Aleister Crowley, founder of the A.:A.:, leader of the O.:T.:O.:, and the self proclaimed Prophet of the New Aeon of Horus began his magical career in the G.:D.:. In fact, he was one of the major players in the downfall of the original order at the turn of the century. Later, after Mathers had reformed his order under the name of Alpha et Omega, only one of several splinter groups to come out of the rubble after the rebellion of the Adepts in 1900, Crowley had formed his own group, the A.:A.:. He claimed that the leadership of the physical Order was transferred from Mathers to Crowley by the mysterious "Secret Chiefs" of the order. He also began publishing mutilated versions of the Order's secret rituals and initiation ceremonies in his periodical, The Equinox, resulting in a legal battle between the two magicians.

All this, of course, means little to the beginner on the magical path or to the child of the wildly popular Neo-Pagan movement. I will not go too deeply into this subject simply because I do not know very much about Wiccans, who seem to dominate the Neo-Pagan demographic, and what they know about their roots. However, personal experience, however limited, has led me to believe that most do not know how their religion was started. The general attitude seems to be that it is older than Christianity although its current incarnation is less than a century old and bears but little resemblance to its supposed forbearers of the centuries past. As a matter of fact, the methods employed seem to have more in common with Thelema (the religion of Crowley's A.:A.:) and the G.:D.: than is usually understood to be the case. For example, the four elemental weapons used by most Wiccans (that is the Wand for Fire, Cup for Water, the Athame for Air, and the Pantacle for Earth) are obviously taken from the four elemental weapons of the G.:D.: (although, this may be more of a Thelemic influence than one from the G.:D.:). Also, the Wiccan Rede which states, "An it harm none, do what thou wilt!" is most certainly a modification of the Thelemic, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law!" taken from the Liber al vel Legis or The Book of the Law. There are others to be sure, but I believe my point is made.

The G.:D.: was so influential perhaps because of its vast curriculum. There was little that was invented by the G.:D.:, but before its formation, the magical arts were a mess of incomprehensible superstitions and contradictions. What made Mathers such a genius was his ability to untangle the mess and synthesize all the various disciplines into a single system which flowed unobstructed accross the spectrum of arts. The primary items included in the curriculum included Hermetic Qabalah, Astrology, Geomancy, Tarot, Alchemy, Skrying, Astral Projection, Talismanic Magic, Ceremonial, and the worlds first workable system of Enochian Magic. On top of this, the order included a sophisticated system of initiation that I believe is without rival. There are many other items included, certainly. In fact it is commonly said that advancement through the grades of the Outer Order is the equivalent of a university degree in magic.

Next week, I will be posting an article on the the Seven Bodies of man which I believe will be invaluable to understanding the more spiritual aims of the G.:D.:. The week following, I will be posting an article on the Holy Guardian Angel which will further illuminate it's aims. See you then.