Isis-Urania Temple

Last updated

The Isis-Urania Temple was the first temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The three founders, Dr. William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, were Freemasons and members of Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.). [1] It continued as one of four daughter organisations into which the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn fragmented, the others being the Alpha et Omega, the Stella Matutina and Aleister Crowley's A∴A∴.

Contents

History

In October 1887, Westcott wrote to Anna Sprengel, whose name and address he received through the decoding of the Cipher Manuscripts. A reply was purported to have been received with much wisdom, and honorary grades of Exempt Adept were conferred upon Westcott, Mathers and Woodman, as well as a charter to establish a Golden Dawn temple to work the five grades outlined in the manuscripts. [2] [3]

In 1888, the Isis-Urania temple in London was founded, [2] in which the rituals decoded from the cipher manuscripts were developed and practiced. [4] In addition, there was an insistence on women being allowed to participate in the Order in "perfect equality" with men, which was in contrast to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.) and Masonry. [3]

Towards the end of 1899, the Adepts of the Isis-Urania and Amen-Ra temples had become extremely dissatisfied with Mathers' leadership, as well as his growing friendship with Aleister Crowley. They were also anxious to make contact with the Secret Chiefs, instead of dealing with them through Mathers. [5] Among the personal disagreements within the Isis-Urania temple, there were disputes between Florence Farr's The Sphere, a secret society within the Isis-Urania, and the rest of the Adeptus Minors. [5]

Separation

After the Isis-Urania temple declared its independence, there were even more disputes, leading to the resignation of William Butler Yeats. [6] A committee of three was to temporarily govern, which included P. W. Bullock, M. W. Blackden and John William Brodie-Innes. After a short time, Bullock resigned, and Dr. Robert Felkin took his place. [7] During this time they fell into conflict with Annie Horniman which led to her leaving the order for good. In May 1903 Brodie Innes attempted to pass a new constitution in which he would become head of the order. He was opposed by a majority of the remaining members led by Arthur Edward Waite, Marcus Blackden, and William Alexander Ayton. The Waite group proposed that the order should be reorganised and refocused in a mystical direction retaining control of the Isis-Urania temple, while those wishing to pursue active magical operations should separate. This led a minority under Felkin and Brodie-Innes, and including Yeats, to separate to form the Stella Matutina. [8]

Independent and Rectified Rite of the Golden Dawn

Waite, Blackden and Ayton were now the leaders of the order which they now named Independent and Rectified Rite of the Golden Dawn or the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn which aimed at exploring mysticism. However Blackden and Ayton in fact took no active role leaving Waite in charge. Those who adhered to the reformed order included Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Pamela Colman Smith, and Isabelle de Steiger. The order also gained an active new member Evelyn Underhill in 1905. After Ayton's death, Col. Webber took his place. [9] Waite continued his Isis-Urania Temple work during the years leading up to World War I and initially maintained a somewhat peaceful relationship with the Amoun Temple of the Stella Matutina though refusing contact with Alpha et Omega.

The new temple, Francis King argued, "abandoned all magical work, abolished examination within the Second Order and used heavily revised rituals designed to express a somewhat tortuous Christian mysticism. [9] [ undue weight? – discuss ] These revisions were carried out by Waite putting them into action in 1910, and have been described by King as "pompous and long windedness". [9] Waite's alterations to the rituals were partially inspired by his investigations into the origins of the Cipher Manuscripts which began in 1908. Waite concluded that the manuscripts inconsistencies meant they could not reflect genuine ancient Egyptian traditions as had been claimed, and in fact had been composed some time in the late nineteenth century. This led to a virulent new dispute between those who accepted Waite's findings and those who did not. These disputes brought Marcus Blackden out of seclusion to argue that the cypher manuscripts represented genuine ancient knowledge transmitted orally via the Egyptian fellaheen. This conflict led Waite to close the temple in 1914 and forming a new order, the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross in complete independence from the Golden Dawn and its offshoots, taking a number of members with him. [10] R. A. Gilbert backs Waite's explanation for the end of the order, while King speculates that real reason for the ending of the order was that a number of the Adepts had a strong dislike for Waite's new rituals. [11]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Regardie 1993, p. 10.
  2. 1 2 King 1989 , p. 43
  3. 1 2 Regardie 1993 , p. 11
  4. ↑ King 1997, p. 35.
  5. 1 2 King 1989 , p. 66
  6. ↑ King 1989, p. 78.
  7. ↑ King 1989, p. 94.
  8. ↑ Gilbert 1983, p. 44.
  9. 1 2 3 King 1989 , p. 96
  10. ↑ Gilbert 1983, pp. 72–3.
  11. ↑ King 1989, p. 112.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn</span> British magical order (1887–1903)

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, more commonly the Golden Dawn, was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as a magical order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was active in Great Britain and focused its practices on theurgy and spiritual development. Many present-day concepts of ritual and magic that are at the centre of contemporary traditions, such as Wicca and Thelema, were inspired by the Golden Dawn, which became one of the largest single influences on 20th-century Western occultism.

A magical organization or magical order is an organization or secret society created for the practice of initiation into ceremonial or other forms of occult magic or to further the knowledge of magic among its members. Magical organizations can include Hermetic orders, esoteric societies, arcane colleges, and other groups which may use different terminology and similar though diverse practices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. E. Waite</span> British occultist mystic, poet and writer

Arthur Edward Waite was a British poet and scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider–Waite tarot deck. As his biographer R. A. Gilbert described him, "Waite's name has survived because he was the first to attempt a systematic study of the history of Western occultism—viewed as a spiritual tradition rather than as aspects of protoscience or as the pathology of religion."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel Regardie</span> English occultist 1907–1985)

Francis Israel Regardie was a British-American occultist, ceremonial magician, and writer who spent much of his life in the United States. He wrote fifteen books on the subject of occultism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Wynn Westcott</span> Coroner, ceremonial magician, theosophist and Freemason (1848–1925)

William Wynn Westcott was a coroner, ceremonial magician, theosophist and Freemason born in Leamington, Warwickshire, England. He was a Supreme Magus (chief) of the S.R.I.A and went on to co-found the Golden Dawn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers</span> British occultist (1854–1918)

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist and member of the S.R.I.A.. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a ceremonial magic order of which offshoots still exist. He became so synonymous with the order that Golden Dawn scholar Israel Regardie observed in retrospect that "the Golden Dawn was MacGregor Mathers."

Whare Ra is the name of a building in Havelock North in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. The building housed the New Zealand branch of the magical order the Stella Matutina. It was designed and the construction overseen by one of New Zealand's most famous architects, and a senior member of the Order, James Chapman-Taylor.

Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia or SRIA is a Rosicrucian esoteric Christian order formed by Robert Wentworth Little in 1865, although some sources acknowledge the date to be 1866-67. While the SRIA is not a Masonic order, aspirants are strictly confirmed from the ranks of subscribing Master Masons of a Grand Lodge in amity with United Grand Lodge of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamen (magic)</span> Magical pendant worn around the neck

A lamen is a magical pendant or breastplate worn around the neck so that it hangs upon the breast over the heart. Its uses vary but, most commonly, the term refers to a symbol of authority and a focus of magical energies. Aleister Crowley described the lamen as "a sort of coat of arms. It expresses the character and powers of the wearer." Crowley and DuQuette have proposed that the magical lamen might be a modern adaptation of the priestly breastplate of the ancient Hebrews.

The Cipher Manuscripts are a collection of 60 folios containing the structural outline of a series of magical initiation rituals corresponding to the spiritual elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. The "occult" materials in the Manuscripts are a compendium of the classical magical theory and symbolism known in the Western world up until the middle of the 19th century, combined to create an encompassing model of the Western mystery tradition, and arranged into a syllabus of a graded course of instruction in magical symbolism. It was used as the structure for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

The Stella Matutina was an initiatory magical order dedicated to the dissemination of the traditional occult teachings of the earlier Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Originally, the outer order of the Stella Matutina was known as Mystic Rose or Order of the M.R. in the Outer. When occult writer Israel Regardie released documents of the Golden Dawn to the public it was the teachings of the Stella Matutina that he revealed, not those of the original order. The Stella Matutina was one of several daughter organisations into which the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn fragmented, including the Alpha et Omega led by John William Brodie-Innes and Macgregor Mathers, the Isis-Urania Temple led by A.E. Waite, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpha et Omega</span> Occult organisation

The Alpha et Omega was an occult order, initially named the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, co-founded in London, England by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in 1888. The Alpha et Omega was one of four daughter organisations into which the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn fragmented, the others being the Stella Matutina; the Isis-Urania Temple led by A. E. Waite and others; and Aleister Crowley's A∴A∴. Following a rebellion of adepts in London and an ensuing public scandal which brought the name of the Golden Dawn into disrepute, Mathers renamed the branch of the Golden Dawn remaining loyal to his leadership to "Alpha et Omega" sometime between 1903 and 1913. "The title was usually abbreviated as A.O." and according to some sources its full name was "Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega". All of the temples of the order appear to have gone out of existence by the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Farr</span>

Florence Beatrice Emery was a British West End leading actress, composer and director. She was also a women's rights activist, journalist, educator, singer, novelist, and leader of the occult order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. She was a friend and collaborator of Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats, poet Ezra Pound, playwright Oscar Wilde, artists Aubrey Beardsley and Pamela Colman Smith, Masonic scholar Arthur Edward Waite, theatrical producer Annie Horniman, and many other literati of London's fin de siècle era, and even by their standards she was "the bohemian's bohemian". Though not as well known as some of her contemporaries and successors, Farr was a "first-wave" feminist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; she publicly advocated for suffrage, workplace equality, and equal protection under the law for women, writing a book and many articles in intellectual journals on the rights of "the new woman".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Robert Woodman</span>

Dr. William Robert Woodman, was Supreme Magus of the S.R.I.A and one of three co-founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Woodman was a medical doctor, horticultural expert and occultist. He was also a member of several metaphysical orders in England.

Magical mottoes are the magical nicknames, pen names, or pseudonyms taken by individuals in a number of magical organizations. These members were known and sometimes referred to in many publications by these mottoes. Members of these organizations typically adopted such a motto at their initiation into the neophyte grade of the organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Alexander Ayton</span>

William Alexander Ayton was a British Anglican clergyman with an interest in alchemy. He was Vicar of Chacombe from 1873 to 1894. In 1894 he retired on a small pension, and he died at Saffron Walden in 1909. He translated from Latin the life of John Dee written by Thomas Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert William Felkin</span>

Robert William Felkin FRSE LRCSE LRCP was a medical missionary and explorer, a ceremonial magician, member of the S.R.I.A, member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a prolific author on Uganda and Central Africa, and early anthropologist, with an interest in ethno-medicine and tropical diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chic Cicero</span> American occult writer (b. 1936)

Charles "Chic" Cicero is an American esoteric writer. He was born in Buffalo, New York. He has been a practicing ceremonial magician for the past forty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc.</span> Magical organization founded in 1977

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. is a 501(c) non-profit organization associated with a modern magical Order of the same name. While bearing the same name as the historical Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888–1908), the modern Order does not have direct descent or institutional lineage from the original Order or from the S.R.I.A.

Edmund William Berridge (1843–1923) was a medical doctor in London, homoeopathist in the United States and occultist. He joined the Golden Dawn in May 1889, taking the magical name "Respiro" and the motto Resurgam. He was also a follower of Thomas Lake Harris.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.