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Golden Dawn explained a bitGolden Dawn explained a bit

2005-04-07 - 7:22 a.m.
As occurs from time to time, someone asked me the other day "What is the Golden Dawn?". Here is my reply:


The Golden Dawn is not a religion, it is a system of training in Ceremonial Magic and spiritual alchemy. Some of the rituals have masonic roots. It started out as a secret organization back at the end of the 19th century. The highly mysterious yet fully public documents of the Golden Dawn have had a significant impact on the formation of wiccan traditions in the last few decades.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in 1888 in London by William Wynne Westcott and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, and was based on the Cipher Manuscripts, a mysterious document of unknown origins, but which appears to be based on Rosicrucian teachings. The Golden Dawn ceased to exist as an entity in 1903, but fractured into two spin-off groups, the Stella Matutina and Alpha et Omega.

The rituals used in the GD, particularly the various Pentagram rituals and hermetic principles had an influence on Gerald Gardner (in fact he claimed at least the 4=7 grade in his book High Magick's Aid, and was given a charter by the O.T.O (see below)) , and consequently they were incorporated in Gardnerian, Alexandrian, and Odyssean branches of Wicca. Over the years variations and adaptions have crept in, and in the seventies these and other rituals were re-introduced to Wicca in the form of the Isian tradition, and are also present in Thelemic Wicca, which has its roots with Crowley.

The Golden Dawn is (or perhaps, was) the Outer Order of the O.T.O (Ordo Templi Orientis). In the outer order, the student learns a great deal about the elements, the qabbalah, alchemy, astrology, geomancy and many aspects of high magic. Once the student has completed their outer order studies, they may join the inner order - The R.R. et A.C. wherein the Great Work is undertaken, and the student becomes the teacher. One important point here: Any adept who transitions to the inner order is forbidden from publically proclaiming membership in that order. Consequently, whether the inner order still exists is a matter of some debate.

The third and final order is composed purely of ascended masters, and despite what any individual may claim, no living being can truly hold any grade above Adeptus Exemptus (7=4) whilst still incarnate.


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