Sincerus Renatus - 9 Mar 2010

Freemasonry forms an important part of the Golden Dawn tradition. The founders, Dr. William Wynn Westcott, Dr. William Robert Woodman and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, where all high ranking Master Freemasons. They were all also initiated into the Holy Royal Arch and belonged to several other Freemasonic Rites. They were also high ranking members of the freemasonic research lodge or Rosicrucian organisation called Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, or S.R.I.A. for short.

Their predecessors Kenneth MacKenzie (who wrote the Royal Masonic Cyclopedia), Fredrick Hockey and Adolphus F.A. Woodford, all had the same firm freemasonic foundation. And each and everyone of these English gentlemen somehow connected to the mysterious Cypher Mss. of the Golden Dawn. Therefore it is not strange that there is lots of evidence of freemasonic origins seen in the Golden Dawn tradition and its symbolism.

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Gyllene Gryningen - May 14, 2009

This essay was inspired by a some words coming from Samuel Robinson regarding the Stella Matutina teachings of implement handling, which he claims didn’t at all originate in the Golden Dawn but came directly from Rudolf Steiner. This intriguing comment made me want to look into this subject as most information, and especially of that kind which calles itself the “oral teachings” of Whare Ra, almost has become gospel because of it being disseminated in litterature. As I started to collect facts and doing my research, this project just grew larger and larger, as I was able to extract information from my main sources, i.e. The Magicians of the Golden Dawn: A Documentary History of a Magical Order 1887-1923 (1978, Samuel Wiser, York Beach) by Ellic Howe, Ritual Magic in England (1887 to the Present Day): The Golden Dawn & Other Magical Orders (1970, Neville Spearman, London) by Francis King, Secret Rituals of the Golden Dawn (1973, Aquarian Press, Denington Estate) by R.G. Torrens and Ordo R.R. et A.C. (1976, R.A. Gilbert) by Arthur Edward Waite.

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Roots of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn