In 1898 the notorious Aleister Crowley was initiated into the order and rose rapidly through the degrees. In 1897 doubts also arose over certain of Wescott’s questionable activities in founding the order, and Florence Farr, the mistress of the playwright George Bernard Shaw, became Chief of the Second Order. Although Mathers had spent considerable time in translating the manuscript of The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage, he would eventually be expelled from the society that he had cofounded. She withdrew her support in 1896 when Mathers claimed that the Secret Chiefs on the astral plane had initiated him into their ranks. Arcane information was also derived from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Chaldean Oracles, and the Prophetic Books of William Blake.Īnnie Horniman, sponsor of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, was also a benefactor of the Golden Dawn. Students received instruction in astral projection, alchemy, astrology, tarot, automatic writing, and clairvoyance. Woodman, supreme magus of the Rosicrucian Society of Anglia, were the three “Chiefs Second Order,” who received direction from entities on the astral plane known as the “Secret Chiefs of the Third Order.” The Golden Dawn taught three magical systems-the Key of Solomon, Abra-Melin, and Enochian. When the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was formally established in 1888, its hierarchy was based on the Tree of Life as structured in the Kabbalah. Mathers expanded the rituals to create the format of the Golden Dawn. Wescott claimed to have come into possession of an ancient manuscript of Hermetic knowledge that contained the mystical rituals of a secret society of magi. Waite, Algernon Blackwood, Annie Horniman, Florence Farr, Dion Fortune, and Arthur Machen.

Yeats, Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, A. Founded by William Wynn Wescott, a Rosicrucian, and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, an occultist, the Golden Dawn soon numbered among its members such luminaries as W. With such prominent members as Aleister Crowley, the “Beast 666,” the Order of the Golden Dawn has a dark reputation as a secret society of sinister magicians.ĭuring its glory days, from 1888 to around 1903, the Order of the Golden Dawn harbored one of the greatest repositories of magic knowledge in the Western world. He is also well known for creating the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. The accompanying book provides and introduction to Cabalistic, Zodiacal, and Alchemical symbolism, creating a powerful tool for divination and spiritual growth.Ĭomplete with a 240-page book and two versions of the temperance card-as required in Golden Dawn rituals-this is the best Tarot available for students of the Golden Dawn and the Western magical tradition.Occultist Arthur Edward Waite was one of the early members of the Order of the Golden Dawn. Written and created by internationally known adepts Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, this is ideal for the beginning student but equally appealing to expert Tarot readers. This is the first tarot deck to incorporate the symbolism necessary for use in rituals. This tarot incorporates all of the temple symbolism needed for use in the Golden Dawn rituals.Ĭreated at the behest of the renowned occultist and father of the modern Golden Dawn movement Israel Regardie, this stunning deck masterfully blends traditional Tarot imagery with descriptions from the Golden Dawn initiation ceremonies.

Since it’s inception over 100 years ago, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has continued to be the authority on the initiatory and meditative teachings of the tarot.

Golden dawn magical names