Order of the Golden Dawn

From: "The Golden Dawn: Frequently Asked Questions and Resource List"

© Steven R. Cranmer, 1993, 1994, 1995

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is an initiatory society devoted to spiritual, philosophical, and magical development. To quote its "history lecture," (from I. Regardie's book, The Golden Dawn):

"The Order of the G.D. [Golden Dawn] is an Hermetic Society whose members are taught the principles of Occult Science and the Magic of Hermes."

Started in London in 1887 by three British Freemasons, Dr. William Robert Woodman, Dr. William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, the first Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, with the title "Isis-Urania," began to admit Fratres and Sorores in 1888. For the next two decades, they generated a body of esoteric knowledge unparalleled to this day. Traditions as seemingly different as Chaos Magick and Gardnerian Wicca have roots in the Golden Dawn, and it has influenced scholars (e.g., A. E. Waite) and poets (e.g. W. B. Yeats) alike. The Order of the Golden Dawn contains a great deal of Masonically-derived symbolism, but has no formal connection with Freemasonry or any of its appendant bodies.

The Golden Dawn "system of magic" is a tool designed to educate the student of the esoteric in both practical matters of ritual and divination, and in abstract metaphysical ideas. The focus of the Golden Dawn material is primarily Western--i.e. Judeo-Christian, Greek, and Egyptian--but some Eastern ideas have crept in over the years. It is a "hierarchical" or "matricular" system, in that certain information is reserved for students who have passed beyond a certain point in their occult education. The system of grades is as follows (along with their correspondences with the classical elements, the seven ancient planets, and the ten sephiroth of the Jewish Kabbalah), with the student beginning at the top:

NAME ELEMENT PLANET SEPHIRA 0=0 Neophyte --- --- --- 1=10 Zelator Earth --- Malkuth, Kingdom 2=9 Theoricus Air Moon Yesod, Foundation 3=8 Practicus Water Mercury Hod, Splendour 4=7 Philosophus Fire Venus Netzach, Victory 5=6 Adeptus Minor Spirit Sun Tiphareth, Beauty 6=5 Adeptus Major --- Mars Gevurah, Might 7=4 Adeptus Exemptus --- Jupiter Chesed, Mercy 8=3 Magister Templi --- Saturn Binah, Understanding 9=2 Magus --- --- Chokmah, Wisdom 10=1 Ipsissimus --- --- Kether, Crown

The grades of Neophyte through Philosophus comprise the First, or Outer Order. A grade called the "Portal" comes between 4=7 and 5=6, and this contains some very powerful symbolism on the transition between the Outer and Inner "Mysteries." The three Adept grades comprise the Second, or Inner Order (Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis), and are normally only open to those who pass rigorous examinations and are chosen on other qualifications. The final three grades (which refer to the "Supernal" sephiroth) comprise the Third, or Hidden Order of Masters. There is considerable disagreement among Order sources as to whether living human beings can attain these final mystical grades (not unlike the Bodhisattvas of Buddhism, it seems).