Below are links to various resources and sites that many of us enjoy, some of which are well established within the Thelemic community, while others are less known. The G∴D∴ groups are listed in alphabetical order and not by relevance and comprise a great variety of lines. We make no claims of validity – nor may we attest to the quality of another’s work, that is simply not our place; instead we aim only to provide resources so that others may discover their own path.
— GOLDEN DAWN ORGANIZATIONS WORLD-WIDE —
International Golden Dawn Organizations:
Independent Local Golden Dawn Organizations:
- Orden Hermetica de la Aurora Dorada -
Temple LUX Thot, (Argentina, Buenos Aires)
- New Ra Temple of the Golden Dawn (Australia, Brisbane)
- Hermetic Order of the Red Dragon (Australia, Melbourne)
- Ordem Hermética da Aurora Dourada - Temple LUX Ptah (Brasil, Sao Paolo)
- Ordem Golden Dawn / Aurora Dourada - Isis-Thoth Templo (Brasil, Rio de Janeiro)
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn [Cicero] - Ma’at-Heru Temple (Canada, Toronto, Ontario)
- Ancient and Honorable Order of the Golden Dawn - {archive} (Ireland, Dublin)
- Magical Order of the Aurora Aurea (Italy, Rome)
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn [Cicero] - Tempio Inside-Sophia (Italy)
- Orden Hermética de la Aurora Dorada [Alpha et Omega] (Mexico D.F.)
- Hermetic Society of the Golden Dawn (Nigeria)
- Hermetiska Orden av Den Gryende Morgonrodnaden (Sweden, Gothenburg)
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn [Cicero] (United Kingdom)
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn [Cicero] - Maat-Sophia Temple (USA New York, Long Island)
- Mountain Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn (USA Arizona, Phoenix)
- Order of the Golden Dawn Universum (USA Arizona, Los Angeles)
- August Order of the Mystic Rose (USA Arizona, Mountain View)
- Order of the Golden Dawn - Thoth-Hermes Temple (USA Colorado, Denver)
- Orden Sagrada Aurora Dorada / Ordo Sacra Aureae (Venezuela)
- Circulo Aurora Dorada (Venezuela, Anzoategui)
[See also: MAGICK ORDERS]
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— FEATURED GOLDEN DAWN ORGANIZATIONS —
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is the European-headquartered Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (H.O.G.D.), an organization dedicated to the continued preservation of that body of knowledge known as hermeticism, or the western esoteric tradition. The order is rooted in the hermetic and Rosicrucian traditions that teach and practice the triad of spiritual disciplines known as the Trivium Hermeticum; theurgy (magic), astrology, and alchemy. The theurgy includes Qabalistic, Egyptian, Enochian, and Chaldeaen magic. The order promotes the teachings of the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the magical fraternity founded in London in 1888 by William Wynn Westcott (1848–1925), S(amuel). L(iddell). MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), and R. Woodman.
The founders used certain documents known as the Cipher Manuscripts, which had been encrypted using the Trithemius cipher by Freemason scholar Kenneth MacKenzie (1833–1886). MacKenzie had been initiated as a Rosicrucian in Vienna by the Hungarian count Apponyi in 1850. This provides the link to Golden’s Dawn’s Rosicrucian lineage.
Upon his return to England, MacKenzie founded the esoteric society that later became the Golden Dawn under the original name Fratres Lucis, or Brethren of the Cross of Light. MacKenzie’s temple was number one, the Bristol temple of F. G. Irwin was number two, and the Isis-Urania temple, where the Golden Dawn was founded, became number three.
During a visit to Paris in 1891 MacGregor Mathers reestablished contact with MacKenzie’s continental European adepts, whom he referred to as the “secret chiefs.” MacGregor Mathers founded the Second Order of the Golden Dawn’s projected three-order system, Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, or R.R. et A.C. He eventually moved permanently to Paris to be close to his Rosicrucian teachers.
Following a rebellion of adepts in London in 1903 and a press scandal involving the Golden Dawn name, in 1906 MacGregor Mathers changed the name of the order to the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, keeping the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn as its outer order.
According to the order’s Web site, in 2002 Golden Dawn leaders Jean-Pascal Ruggiu and David Griffin met in Paris with representatives of MacKenzie and MacGregor Mathers’s continental European secret chiefs, from whom they received the initiation rituals and curriculum for the Golden Dawn’s projected third and final order. These materials allegedly include the secrets of Hermetic Inner Alchemy, which uses the physical body in a prima materia, first matter. According to the Golden Dawn, this opus magnum, great work, is a system that uses the subtle fires of the body, including love and sexuality, to transmute the physical body into higher and more refined forms of energy. The goal is to project consciousness into a solar body and the moment of death, thus rendering the alchemist consciously immortal.
As originally designed by its founders, the Golden Dawn was to be an hermetic society dedicated to the philosophical, spiritual, and psychic evolution of humanity. It was supposed to be a school and a repository of knowledge concerning the principles of occult science and the various elements of western philosophy and magic. Symbolism used within the H.O.G.D. came from a variety of religious sources, and people from very diverse esoteric religious paths found themselves at home with the Golden Dawn.
The order owns the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn trademark in the European Union and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn International trademark in Canada. In the United States, they operate by legal agreement adopted by the U.S. District Court as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega. They also own the R.R. et A.C. trademark of their second order, Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis and the Alpha et Omega trademark of their three-order superstructure founded by MacGregor Mathers in 1906, Ordo Rosae Crucis, Alpha et Omega.
Address: PO Box 1757, Elfers, FL 3468
Membership: In 2008, 4,215 members were reported.
References:
- Howe, Elllic. The Magicians of the Golden Dawn. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972.
- King, Francis. Ritual Magic in England: 1887 to the Present Day. London: New English Library, 1972.
- Regardie, Israel. The Golden Dawn. 4 vols. Chicago: Aries Press, 1937–1940.
- ———. What You Should Know about the Golden Dawn. Phoenix, AZ: Falcon Press, 1983.
- Wescott, Wynn. History of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. n.d.
Sources:
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The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Outer Order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega (O.A.)
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega, is the U.S. jurisdiction of the European-headquartered Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in the United Kingdom in 1888. The order has been credited with constructing a brilliant synthesis of mythical and magical material from varied sources of the western magical tradition. When the order was discontinued early in the twentieth century, its work was carried on by organizations founded by several of its members, and most of its materials have been published. A most important event was the publication of its main rituals by Israel Regardie (1907–1985).
In the early 1980s Regardie was considered by many in the occult world as the last contact point with the era of the Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley (1875– 1947). Regardie and his student, Cris Monnastre, resurrected the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis (R. R. et A. C.). In 1982, under Regardie’s guidance, Monnastre founded the Osiris Khenti Amenti Temple in Los Angeles, California. Over the succeeding years, other temples were opened.
In 1988 Monnastre retired from the Golden Dawn, leaving the Golden Dawn adept David Griffin as his successor. In 1999 Griffin merged the order with the European-headquartered Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, forming a triad of chiefs with Ukrainian nobleman Marquis Nicholas Tereschenko and the reigning imperator of S. L. MacGregor Mathers Ahathoor Temple Number 7 in Paris, Golden Dawn adept Jean Pascal Ruggiu.
The Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis operates temples of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn around the world. The United Confederation of Independent and Autonomous Temples, officially known as the Confederatio Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis (C. F. R. C.), consists of temples from around the world, descending with initiatic and/or chartered lineage and affiliation from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, as reinstituted by Regardie and Monnastre. Within the confederation, it is believed, are reunited initiatic and/or chartered lineages deriving from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, and the several groups formed from them early in the twentieth century, specifically the Stella Matutina, the Ordo Rosae Crucis, Alpha et Omega (Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega), the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn (deriving from A. E. Waite), and the Order of the Sacred Word.
The order offers ritual initiation as well as instruction in the Rosicrucian system of ceremonial magic. It is claimed that this system facilitates personal as well as spiritual development through a systematic program of ritual initiation and the spiritual disciplines of ceremonial magic (a powerful tool for self-realization and transformation).
The order distinguishes itself from several other groups claiming roots in the Golden Dawn that engage in what the order views as dubious practices, in particular “initiation by proxy”or “astral initiation.”All initiations marking the progress of the student are performed while the student is physically in the presence of the initiator, during which time, it is believed, the actual transmission of magical energies occurs.
The European-headquartered Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn operates in the United States by a legal agreement adopted by the U.S. District Court as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the outer order of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega.
Membership: In 2008 2,130 members were reported.
Remarks: In 1982 Cris Monnastre was given a number of Israel Regardie ’s personal magical accoutrements, among which were Regardie’s Elemental Weapons, a complete Rosicrucian chess set, and a Rose Cross that he had inherited from Elsa Barker (an important historical link in the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega between Mathers’Ahathor Mother Temple, No. 7, in Paris and the temples of the A. O. in the United States). She has donated these items to the R. R. et A. C.
Address: 270 N Canon Dr., Ste. 1302, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
References:
- Regardie, Israel. The Golden Dawn. 4 vols. Chicago: Aries Press, 1937–1940.
- ———. The Middle Pillar. Chicago: Aries Press, 1938.
- ———. My Rosicrucian Adventure. [1936.] St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1971.
- ———. What You Should Know about the Golden Dawn. Phoenix, AZ: Falcon Press, 1983.
Sources:
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The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn
From the "Manifesto of The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn":
As Western Civilization enters a new Aeon, so must its esoteric traditions. Our solution is not to destroy the old traditions, but to make them new again.
Our Order is a manifestation and heir of the Golden Dawn current — that is, an autonomous entity, but one that draws upon the knowledge, experience, practices and spirit of the system of magical training and attainment developed by the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. That Order was in turn an heir to the Hermeticists, Alchemists and Magi of the Renaissance and of the Classical world.
The practices of the Golden Dawn lodges were built upon the foundation of Hermetic and Qabalistic philosophy, though the outward form of their rituals and symbolism were sociologically derived and culturally biased. The first Chief of the Order, S.L. Macgregor-Mathers (Fr. D.D.C.F.), admitted this in his final statement to the Order before his death. As reported by his wife and lifelong collaborator, Moina Bergsen Mathers (Sr. V.N.R.), he said:
“He asks that you should keep intact the official Instruction of the Order, knowing that he received it in a direct line from the most pure Rosicrucian sources, even though these Mysteries are found somewhat modified in their exterior form, for reasons of Tribe and Culture.”
So we conclude that the form of the Golden Dawn system is modifiable “for reasons of Tribe and Culture,” and in fact requires of us to do so given the vast cultural differences between 1888 England and ourselves today.
Since the essence of the Golden Dawn constitutes “mysteries,” and insofar as they are valid they transcend culture, every time the culture shifts, the Mysteries must be “rediscovered” — which is to say they must be re-cast into a form that has the desired effect of Initiation and Exaltation on practitioners belonging to the new culture.
Therefore Het-Nuit Lodge, our working body, is undertaking to redact the existing forms of the Golden Dawn System to work more efficiently and correctly within a culture that is radically different from the Anglican Christian/Victorian Era from which the originals came. Entering on a new millennium is as good a time as any for a new start, so it is fitting that Het-Nuit Lodge grew out of a ritual workshop held in February of 2001ev.
So far, this redaction has taken on certain distinct aspects:
Open Source Magick:
The revelation of the once-secret Hermetic symbols and philosophies that are the foundation of the Golden Dawn’s system has long since occurred, yet we still see Lodges swearing their Aspirants to absolute secrecy with mighty oaths of death and destruction, if they dare to reveal to the uninitiated the “secret knowledge” which the uninitiated could buy cheaply at a used book store. We see no reason to follow this defunct and even harmful approach.
Instead, following the demonstrably advantageous practice of the Open Source Software movement, we build our Order on the sources of knowledge that are accessible to anyone. Our sources are already open; we simply affirm this obvious fact. We have no “secrets” to conceal, in particular those that have already been revealed. And in any case, the era of artificial secrecy is at an end. Ours is the Information Age, and we embrace it fully. Therefore we ordain and establish our order as the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn.
New Aeon:
Het-Nuit bases its authority to redact the GD system on the concept of Aeonic Evolution. The early years of the 20th century mark the “dawning of the Age of Aquarius,” which was the ending of the Modern Era that began with the European Enlightenment and concluded with the Second World War. It was the period that saw the original GD Order explode into schisms, and also saw Aleister Crowley’s writing of Liber AL, the Book of the Law. These things are not at all a “co-incidence,” but rather a line drawn in the sands of time. The old must be put to rest and the new be born.
Freedom of Information:
We agree with Robert Anton Wilson, who said, “Accuracy of signal and free flow of information define sanity in my epistemology.” Our ritual works, commentaries, instructional documents, diagrams and formulae are all available to the general public, for free without restriction. Our primary means of distribution is the World Wide Web, chosen for it’s economy and ease of universal access.
Therefore, as we produce works they will be tested in our own lives, modified if need be according to insights gained through our own experience and that of others with whom we share them (like the ‘beta testing’ of computer software) to assure ourselves of their efficacy, and then, upon our satisfaction, released to the general public by posting them to our website in open ‘pdf’ or similar format. Anyone will be allowed and is encouraged to download and use the rites, etc. The files will be open and editable, allowing the user to easily make changes at will. This approach preserves the integrity of our original work while giving users the freedom to apply their own intelligence and insight in light of their own necessity.
Thelema:
Het-Nuit Lodge is not an attempt to rebuild the Golden Dawn on the basis of ‘purely Thelemic’ principles, but Thelema informs and transforms the understanding and purpose of our Work.
Without going into deep discussion of Thelemic philosophy, we take inspiration from the idea the “Ra-Hoor-Khuit hath taken his seat in the East at the Equinox of the Gods” (AL I.49) and alter our rituals accordingly. We operate from the paradigm that the Aeon has changed and Horus (Ra-Hoor-Khuit) is its avatar, as Osiris (Ausar-Un-Nefer) was the avatar of the previous Age of Pisces.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that every man and every woman is a Star, and has a ‘True’ Will in life, one that can be discovered by the invocation of the Higher Genius found in us all. Once having discovered one’s ‘True’ Will, then one has no right but to do that Will. That Love is the Law, and Love under ‘True’ Will is Perfect Love.
Duty:
The Order will not require or promote any form of moral dogma, religious canon, apocalyptic doctrine or political philosophy. In keeping with the well-established and eminently wise tradition of the original Order, the civil, moral and religious beliefs and practices of the individual members are none of the Order’s business, however much the teachings and practices of the Order may deepen awareness of one’s commitments.
The Order exists for one reason and one reason only: the elevation of individual human beings from ignorance of their true nature to Magical Adepthood. The Order asks nothing of its Initiates but a sincere commitment to penetrate the Occult Mysteries and apply the knowledge gained to their own lives in a productive and compassionate manner. The only duty to our Order of the Golden Dawn is the Aspirant’s duty to his or her Higher Self, to their own True Will and spiritual destiny, and to the comity of the community.
It is our greatest desire and fondest hope that others will take what we have done and build on it for the future, adapting it without breaking it, to work as well for themselves.
Universalism:
The original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was steeped in the Protestant Christian mythology and symbolism that typified the era and the religious background of the original members. The Het-Nuit Lodge, on the other hand, was established by 21st century Pagans, who do not subscribe to the Pauline Christian philosophy of a “fallen” humanity in need of redemption from our sinful nature. Instead, our true nature is that of the gods, and the source of our suffering is our ignorance that masks our true nature from ourselves. As Pagans, we also hold that a multifarious expression of the Divine is more representative of its actual Nature than a monotheistic one. This is not to exclude all forms of magical practice and ritual based on Judeo-Christian mythology, but rather to include the rest of the rich mythological history of the World’s cultures on an equal basis. As has been said, “There is none but contains a Ray from the Ineffable Light you are seeking.”
The basic symbolism of our Temple and Rituals reflect these principles in their form and function, but are built upon the same foundation of a graded system of spiritual development based on the Hermetic and Qabalistic principles that transcend all outward forms.
We have, as much as possible, diminished the Yahwistic and Christian influences that marked the old Aeon manifestation of the Order. Yahweh no longer has primacy as in the Hebraic Qabala, as we acknowledge the Caananite and broader context of which the Hebrew Qabala is product and a remnant. We exalt the Egyptian and Hellenic Pagan archetypes as applied to interpreting the Qabalistic Tree of Life, which figures so prominently in the Golden Dawn system. Our use of the Qabalah and the Hebrew alphabet is as a system of symbolic glyphs and magickal names particularly well suited to the learning process.
Form and Function:
The formula of the Dying and Resurrected God (Osiris) is replaced in our Temple by the formula of the Crowned and Conquering Child (Horus). We find the focus on death and sacrifice a distraction from the sufficiently daunting task of creating a sustainable magickal life in this post-modern era. Birth, and the challenges that ensue, inspire us to Adeptship.
In much of our temple work, we use the Egyptian, Enochian or Thelemic godforms instead of those of the Semitic Archangels. We have done some re-assignment of symbolic positions of the Temple Officers. Horus is the Heirophant of the Temple in the East, replacing his father Osiris, and his former place in the West is taken by Set. Not only is this redaction consistent with the new Aeon, it also reflects current scholarship in Egyptology that was unknown 100 years ago.
Like any Golden Dawn form, we are an Initiatory teaching order. What we teach is a progressively tiered system of spiritual development designed to invoke the Higher or Divine Genius latent in every human being. By this invocation can a person discover and follow his or her True Will, and have both the power and the wisdom to effectively use the tools of Hermetic magick.
In short, our goal is to normalize Adeptship.
Sources:
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— FROM THE ARCHIVES —
Hermetic Order of the Morning Star International
Alpha Ωmega Rosicrucian Mystery School
The Hermetic Order of the Morning Star International Golden Dawn – Canada is the Canadian jurisdiction of the European-headquartered Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1888. It is a worldwide fraternity dedicated to the “great work,”the higher development of spiritual growth through the magical way of life. The order believes that magic is a powerful system of inner growth and spiritual development. As a mystery school, it is designed to take the student step-by-step to the door of adepthood. The adept in the making learns the “secrets”of listening and hearing to what is thought of as one’s inner voice of light, often called the “higher genius”or “holy guardian angel.”
The order owns the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn International trademark in Canada. They also own the Canadian R.R. et A.C. trademark of their Second Order, Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis, and the Canadian Alpha et Omega trademark of their three-order superstructure founded by S. L. MacGregor Mathers in 1906, Order Rosae Crucis, Alpha et Omega.
Students are taught through a series of graded lessons from the starting point of neophyte. Each grade has a series of lessons, more than 175 of which constitute the lessons for the outer order (neophyte to philosophus). Students receive the lesson for their grade, and they work at their own speed. The student is tested on each grade before being passed into the next grade. The movement from grade to grade is marked with an initiation ceremony held in the Temple of Isis Mighty Mother in southern California, or if a person cannot come to the temple, initiations may take place through what is termed an “astral initiation.”
The actual teachings of the order are given to members only, but they flow from the now generally well documented teachings of the western mystery tradition found in the material produced by and written about the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Almost all of the rituals and teaching materials of the lesser and outer schools originally produced for the Golden Dawn early in the twentieth century have been published, and during the 1980s several groups appeared that directly draw upon these materials. Lessons of the Morning Star include the study of mystical Christianity, Qabalah, Egyptian mysteries, philosophy, Tarot, Greek mysteries, alchemy, astrology, astral travel, clairvoyance, and ritual magic.
V.H. Frater T.D.L., the imperator, and V.H. Soror T.F., prae monstratrix, were the leaders of the order in 2008.
The order has established the Golden Dawn Forum, an email list with free discussion on subjects including Tarot, Qabalah, hermetics, healing, and initiation. A Western Mysteries Form was created as an Internet mailing list for serious discussion of hermetics, ritual, and alchemy. Sincere students are encouraged to join.
Address: 4035 E Guasti Rd., Ste. 306, Ontario, CA 91761
Membership: In 2008, 926 members were reported in Canada.
Periodicals: Sword of Wisdom.
Sources:
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— FROM THE ARCHIVES —
Thelemic Order and Temple of the Golden Dawn
The Thelemic Order and Temple of the Golden Dawn was established in 1989 by Christopher S. Hyatt and David Cherubim. The Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in 1990 as the Thelemic Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn in Los Angeles by David Cherubim, its frater superior chief. It is a magical / religious / scientific order devoted to the teachings of Aleister Crowley and exists to assist in the initiation of persons into the magical life of Thelema. Thelema (or will) was the basic concept of Crowley’s magical system. The order offers seven grades of initiation from neophyte to ipsissimus, each level representing one of the seven chakras of the human body in the Indian tantric system, one of the seven planets of traditional astrology, and one of the seven metals of alchemy.
The order has attempted to interpret Crowley’s Book of the Law (1904), the basis of his proclamation of the new Aeon of Horus in which his followers now consider we are living. Regarding ritual, the order believes that the injunction “rituals shall be half-known and half-concealed”means that initiation rituals should be developed in response to the nature of each initiate. Thus each initiation of a member becomes a unique event.
The members of the order together constitute a religious body of free warriors who are seeking to extend the dominion of the Law of Thelema; that is, they are attempting to establish on earth the principles of The Book of the Law. The methods for accomplishing this task are occult research, practical mysticism, ceremonial magick, and tantric alchemy. The order also offers members a system of self-initiation based upon the Qabalah (Kabbalah) and the Tarot.
The order has been created in an environment in which the great majority of Crowley’s writings (including the rituals of the Ordo Temple Orientis, which he headed) have been published and are readily available. It is assumed that members have or will gain a solid background in Crowley’s thought.
In the early 1980s Hyatt, a student of the famous magician Israel Regardie (1907–1985) and founder of Falcon Press, conceived the idea of a new magical order inspired by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn, the original ceremonial magic organization founded in 1880 in England, had become the fountainhead of modern magical teachings. Regardie made many of the teachings of the order available to the general public in 1937–40 when he published The Golden Dawn, a multivolume reprint of the basic documents and rituals. Regardie also wrote a number of books that have become standard reading for anyone doing ceremonial magick. Falcon Press was also responsible for reprinting many of Regardie’s books in the 1970s and early 1980s. David Cherubim, a ceremonial magician, met Hyatt shortly after Regardie’s death in 1985. The first initiations for the order were made in March 1990. Since that time, initiation ceremonies have been held each equinox and solstice.
While inspired by the older Golden Dawn, the new order differs in several important aspects. The older Golden Dawn, for example, had a distinctly Christian cast. The new order is Thelemic. It accepts the revelation of the “new aeon” that began in 1904 with the giving of The Book of the Law to Aleister Crowley by the entity Aiwass. The new aeon is named for Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, and is designated the Crowned and Conquering Church.
The Law of Thelema (or Will) as enunciated inThe Book of the Law asserts the right of every person to be the god that they are rather than follow false gods and their outmoded commandments. There are no gods but man. Each individual has a duty to discover his or her true purpose in life, and to create and assert that purpose. The order initiates members into the truth of their godhood and supplies them with means (ceremonial magick, tantra, astrology, yoga, tarot, and the Qabalah) of realizing their true will. The goal of the order is to create a new race of free men and women who will in turn build a new civilization based upon the Law of Thelema.
Membership is limited to people over 18 years of age. The order has a correspondence course for members unable to attend lectures in either Phoenix or Los Angeles. Falcon Press publishes the writings of Hyatt, Regardie, and others in basic agreement with the Thelemic teachings. Associated with the order is the Israel Regardie Foundation in Los Angeles, originally established by Regardie’s student Laura Jennings.
Address: C/o New Falcon Publications, 1755-A Purina Way, Sparks, NV 89431
Membership: In 1997 the group reported that there were 200 members in the United States, 20 in Canada, and 100 in Brazil. There were temples for initiation in the United States and Brazil.
Periodicals: Newsletter.
References:
- Crowley, Aleister, Lon Milo DuQuette, and Christopher S. Hyatt. Enochian World of Aleister Crowley: Enochian Sex Magick. Phoenix, AZ: Falcon Press, 1991. 162 pp.
- DuQuette, Lon Milo, and Christopher S. Hyatt. Aleister Crowley’s Illustrated Goetia: Sexual Evocation.Phoenix, AZ: Falcon Press, 1992. 222 pp.
- Hyatt, Christopher, ed. An Interview with Israel Regardie: His Final Thoughts and Views. Phoenix, AZ: Falcon Press, 1985. 144 pp.
- New Golden Dawn: Flying Roll. Parts 1–15. Phoenix, AZ: Thelemic Order and Temple of the Golden Dawn, 1990–1991.
Sources:
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Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn
T∴G∴D∴ | Ordo et Templum Aurorae Aureae Novae
Founded In Service to the A∴A∴
HISTORY OF T∴G∴D∴ | O∴T∴A∴A∴N∴
We shall now give a proper account of the history of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn, commencing from that point in earthly time where the Spirit of the Order assumed its fundamental form, and we shall give details regarding the main figures of our lineage, the founders and teachers of our esoteric Magical Society, which, be it Hermetic or Thelemic in kind, is given the sacred name of the Golden Dawn.
We shall begin in the year 1887, when Dr. William Wynn Westcott (1848-1925), a London Coroner, Theosophist, Freemason and Rosicrucian, obtained a Cipher Manuscript from a debatable or rather unknown source. In this Cipher MS. there were contained skeleton rituals of initiation, attributions of the Tarot Trumps to the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, and the name and address of a Rosicrucian Adept located in Germany, Soror Sapiens Dominabitur Astris (Fräulein Sprengel). Westcott wrote to her with the result that in November of 1887 she authorized him to found an English branch of the Golden Dawn. This led to the establishment of Isis-Urania, Temple No. 3, of the Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer, in the year 1888. It was on February 12, 1888 that Westcott and two other Masons and Rosicrucians signed the Preliminary Pledge Form of the Golden Dawn. Then a Warrant was created for these three to constitute and rule the Isis-Urania Temple and they signed it on March 1, 1888.
Westcott was a member of an Esoteric Society of Master Masons, called the Rosicrucian Society of England (Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, or Soc. Ros., founded in 1866 by Robert Wentworth Little). After the death of the founder of this society in 1878, Dr. William Robert Woodman (1828-1891) became its Chief or Supreme Magus. After Woodman's death in 1891, Westcott became the Supreme Magus of the Soc. Ros. Another member of this esoteric society was Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918). Mathers, like Westcott, was a member of its High Council. Westcott invited both Woodman and Mathers to join him as Chiefs of the Isis-Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn. It was Mathers who assisted Westcott in decoding the Cipher MS. The key was contained in Abbot Johann Trithemius' "Polygraphiae" (1561). Mathers also expanded on the skeleton rituals of initiation and it was his occult genius that made the Golden Dawn into a Magical Order. He eventually became the sole Chief of the Order.
Now regarding three other very important figures of the Golden Dawn who played such a major part in shaping Aleister Crowley's magical career and who therefore play a significant part in our history. In February of 1894, a man named Allan Bennett (1872-1923) was initiated as a Neophyte of the Golden Dawn. He quickly advanced to the Grade of Adeptus Minor. Crowley first met Bennett in the spring of 1899 during a Golden Dawn ceremony. Bennett then acted as Crowley's magical mentor and later as his Guru (Yoga Instructor) in 1901. Bennett took the Yellow Robe in 1902 and became a Buddhist Monk, but which he later abandoned. He is well known as the Leader of the first Buddhist Mission to the West. In June of 1894, a man named Julian L. Baker was initiated as a Neophyte of the Golden Dawn. He advanced to the Grade of Adeptus Minor on March 10, 1896. And on July 12, 1895, a man named George Cecil Jones (1873-1953) was initiated as a Neophyte in the Golden Dawn. He advanced to the Grade of Adeptus Minor on January 11, 1897. It was Jones who proposed to Crowley that he join the Golden Dawn and he sponsored Crowley for his Neophyte initiation. (Jones also later assisted Crowley in the formation of Astron Argon, or the Order of the A.·.A.·., from 1906 to 1909.) Crowley met Baker during the summer of 1898, and Baker introduced Crowley to Jones in September of 1898.
Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) joined the Golden Dawn as Frater Perdurabo (Neophyte 0=0) on November 18, 1898. He was initiated to the next grade of Zelator (1=10) in December of 1898, as a Theoricus (2=9) in January of 1899, as a Practicus (3=8) in February of 1899, as a Philosophus (4=7) in May of 1899, he then took his Portal Initiation in December of 1899, and was initiated as an Adeptus Minor in Paris on January 16, 1900 by Mathers who Crowley first met in May of 1899. Now scandal and schism arose in the Order in 1900; the London Adepts were in revolt against Mathers, the Chief of the Order, and by the end of March, the London Temple declared independence from Mathers. Both Crowley and Jones originally sided with Mathers during the revolt, but later went their own ways, Crowley to Mexico who then became a Freemason. Crowley stated, "In 1900, the Order in its existing form was destroyed."
On April 8th, 9th, and 10th of 1904, Crowley received from his Holy Guardian Angel (Aiwass) the Book of the Law (Liber Legis), which proclaimed that he was the Prophet of a New Aeon (New Age) and that his office was that of being the Founder and High Priest of a New Order of the Golden Dawn, which he later called the Order of the A.·.A.·. (Astron Argon), maintaining, however, the name of the Golden Dawn as the title of the Outer Order. Crowley's reception of the Book of the Law was a direct manifestation and result of his initiation into the Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn was, in fact, the basis of the Proclamation of the New Aeon of Horus and the Law of Thelema. After receiving the Book of the Law, Crowley wrote and sent a letter to Mathers informing him that the Secret Chiefs had appointed him to be the visible Head of the Golden Dawn. Mathers did not respond, but nor did Crowley expect a response from him.
On July 27, 1906 Crowley renewed his Adeptus Minor obligation during a visit with Jones. Crowley wrote, "Fra P. [Crowley] was crucified by Fra D.D.S. [Jones] and on that cross made to repeat this Oath..." Later these two Adepts discussed the idea of forming a New Order. By December 10, 1906, Jones recognized Crowley as a Magister Templi (Master of the Temple). Crowley, however, did not actually accept this grade until December 3, 1909. But by their sincere efforts and spiritual preparation a New Order was made manifest in the year 1907, called the Order of the A.·.A.·. (Astron Argon).
In October of 1928, a man named Francis Israel Regardie (1907-1985) met with Crowley in Paris to become his personal secretary and student. On October 28, 1930 Regardie took the Oath of the Probationer of the A.·.A.·. (A copy of this Oath is printed in chapter eleven of the sixth revised edition of Regardie's book, "What you should know about the Golden Dawn.") In January of 1933, shortly after severing with Crowley, Regardie joined the Order of the Golden Dawn (Stella Matutina) at Hermes Temple in Bristol with the Neophyte Motto Ad Majorem Adonai Gloriam. (In the book, "The Eye in the Triangle", Regardie states that he retained this same Neophyte Motto for his 5=6 Adept degree, the Adeptus Minor Grade.) Regardie resigned from Hermes Temple of the Stella Matutina on December 5, 1934. Many years later Regardie initiated Frater Adonai Achad (a past Chief of the T.·.G.·.D.·.), who also became Regardie's legitimate heir, continuing the Regardie lineage of the Golden Dawn through a reorganized form of the Order, called the Hermetic Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn in association with the Israel Regardie Foundation. Regardie died on March 10, 1985. Frater Adonai Achad initiated Frater Aurora Aureae as an Adept of the Golden Dawn on March 10, 1990, five years after Regardie's death, and Frater Aurora Aureae was chartered to operate his own Temple of the Golden Dawn and he received certification up to the Grade of Adeptus Exemptus of the Regardie Lineage of the Golden Dawn. Frater Aurora Aureae also became one of the Officers of the Israel Regardie Foundation and later a Chief, or the Cancellarius, of the Hermetic Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn.
On the Vernal Equinox of 1990, Frater Aurora Aureae and Frater Adonai Achad inaugurated the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn (New Order of the Golden Dawn), and they acted as the Ruling Chiefs and Hierophants of the Order. This was a major spiritual and historical event. To start, twelve candidates were initiated into the grade of the Neophyte, and within a year the Order began to expand in both the US and other Countries. The Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn (Order of the T.·.G.·.D.·.) is dedicated to the teachings of Aleister Crowley, Thelema and the Golden Dawn.
On December 4, 1994, Frater Aurora Aureae peacefully resigned as a Chief Officer of the Hermetic Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn and Israel Regardie Foundation. (On December 4, 1994 Frater Aurora Aureae also officially resigned from the O.T.O., or Ordo Templi Orientis, which he joined on June 16, 1985 at Baphomet Lodge in LA, CA USA.) Now Frater Adonai Achad and Frater Aurora Aureae departed ways in peace, with Frater Aurora Aureae becoming the sole Chief and Grand Hierophant of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn (Order of the T.·.G.·.D.·.), continuing with other Initiates the Great Work of Spiritual Initiation and Illumination in the world of men and women.
On December 21, 2017, Frater Aurora Aureae (David Cherubim) left his earthly body behind and moved into the great unknown.
On May 29, 2010, Frater Aurora Aureae had named and chartered his custodian Frater Christeos Aurora with the authority to initiate, and officially represent the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn as the last member of the Grand Temple of T.·.G.·.D.·.
On December 21st, 2018 the Order of the T.·.G.·.D.·. is being reawakened from its sleep, under the Grand Master of he Order G.H. Frater C.A., under the name "T.·.G.·.D.·. | Order and Temple of the New Golden Dawn, promulgating the New Æon of Horus as continuation of the Old Golden Dawn and the Æon of Osiris.
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A COMPENDIUM BY FRATER D.M.T. 
