Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

A note left behind by Israel Regardie on the construction of the Vault walls offers an interesting approach to the toilsome task of mixing the appropriate colours for the numerous squares: "The most practical plan is to have the walls of the Vault coloured as in the last diagram. Then the way to differentiate between the various planetary sides of the Vault is simply to cover any particular side with a large sheet of strong cellophane or other plastic. So, for the Venus side, the wall could be covered with a Green sheet of plastic. For the Jupiter side with a blue sheet of plastic. For the Mars side with red. For the Saturn side with very dark blue or indigo. For the Solar side, use yellow or gold plastic. For Mercury a yellow orange plastic. And for Luna, a lavender or light violet plastic." Putting aside the fact that the suggested colours here are wrong (the Jupiter wall should be violet, Sun should be orange, Mercury yellow, and Moon blue), this idea is a n...

Something that comes as a surprise to many when first approaching the Golden Dawn system is the prohibition against mediums, which was one of only a handful of things overtly frowned upon by the founders of the Order. Of course, in modern groups this point might not be apparent, and in some cases the rule might not apply at all, but the original Order was very clear that mediumship was not permitted. In one of the early preliminary pledge forms that Candidates were required to sign, there was the following: "The Chiefs of the Order do not care to accept as Candidates any persons accustomed to submit themselves as Mediums to the Experiments of Hypnotism, Mesmerism, or Spiritualism; or who habitually allow themselves to fall into a completely passive condition of Will; also they disapprove of the methods made use of as a rule in such Experiments." This is explicit, criticising not only mediums themselves, but the manner in which they work. This is important, as the...

Robert Halvarsson of cultural magazine Tidningen Kulturen has reviewed my book Enochian Magic in Theory . You can read the original in Swedish here , but the reviewer was kind enough to translate the review below: 16th century magic today Irish author Frater Yechidah have a strong inclination and interest towards the magical-religious system in modern times referred to as enochian magic. This is evident through Kerubim Press release of the book Enochian Magic in Theory . Through this work Yechidah makes a skilled attempt at laying down the theoretical foundation which is part of the system that came out of 16th century Christian occultism. Namely the work begun by astrologer John Dee and clairvoyant Edward Kelley, and their communication with a number of entities they thought to be angels. Through the 19th century’s occult revival, this body of work and more non-rationalist systems were invented or conjured from the past. In the case of enochian magic this was done la...

Issue 3  of The Ruby Tablet, compiled and edited by Darcy Kuntz, has been released. Check it out and donate if you like the material. Contents The Egyptian Belief by P.W. Bullock Hebraic Aspects of the Ritual by Bro. Harry Carr The Order of Saint Catherine of Mount Siani L'Homme de Désire The Riddle of Man's Life by Nathanael

The Password, like everything in the Golden Dawn tradition, is more than just a word used to distinguish initiates from non-initiates - it has magical reasons and applications that far surpass its mundane purpose. At each Equinox the Password is changed. The Hiereus explains why this occurs: "The password ... will be periodically changed at each Equinox so that a member who has resigned, demitted or been expelled from the Order, may be in ignorance of the existing password." This is the practical reason, which makes sense and ties in with the Masonic roots of the practice. It was likely particularly useful in the Victorian era when members may have been travelling long distances and would not have had the luxury of internet groups from which they could get to know people — leaving the Password as one of the primary forms of knowing who was or was not an initiate for those who had not met before. But magic underscores all that we do, and while much of our ritual ...

Review by Charles Humphries (Published in a forthcoming issue of Behutet Magazine ) Enochian Magic in Theory Dean F. Wilson (a.k.a. Frater Yechidah) Kerubim Press, Copyright Dublin 2012  Trade Paperback, Nonfiction, Magick Reference ISBN: 978-1-908705-03-7 $30.00 US (most websites and retailers) http://kerubimpress.com/enochianmagicintheory/ Dean F. Wilson has offered the first of two of what look to be refreshing and welcome additions to the Enochian Section of any Magician’s library. Meant to be the first of two books, one of Theory and one of Practice, Enochian Magic in Theory is basically a summary of the structure of the extant records of the operations of John Dee and Edward Kelley. There are several accounts of these, with most die-hard enthusiasts having and perusing their own scans of the manuscripts themselves. I myself have spent the better part of two decades going through exactly that process. I know well the mistakes commonly made, the...

In celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the consecration of the Vault of the Adepti of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn by Francis Israel Regardie... The ages pass like crumpled pages in a book, Some still pristine within the annals of our mind; A century to come and go is all it took For much of magic to be lost, and now we find That somehow it is here again for us to know. The birthright of our hungered spirit lingers still, The fruit of inner trees we weather, nurse and sow That we might come in contact with our higher will. The light glows stronger now, despite time's leaden hold; The magi stir from deep within their temple tombs — What once was but a metal has become fair gold, And where an ancient garden was, a rose now blooms.

Volume 5, Issue No. 3 of Hermetic Virtues has been released, containing the following excellent articles and reviews: + Hidden Church by John Michael Greer + The Hierophant by Harry Wendrich + Tools of Light by Chic Cicero + New Way of Looking at Golden Dawn Rituals – a book review by Samuel Scarborough + Traditional Golden Dawn and the Missing Landmarks by Nick Farrell + King Over the Water – a book review by Frater YshY + Two Thrones for the Golden Dawn by Aaron Leitch + Summer Solstice Ritual by Darcy Kuntz + Change Your Motto, Change Your Destiny by Eric V. Sisco + Consciousness and the Tree of Life by Jane Gibson + An Invocation of Chokmah by Samuel Scarborough + Enochian Magic in the Golden Dawn Tradition by Frater Yechidah + The Origins of the Rosicrucian Society in England by Ian Cowburn To obtain a copy, click here .

One of the mysteries of the Vault is the fact that it is entered through the side of Venus, which seems at first to be strange, especially when the grade of 5=6 is attributed to the Sun. There are many reasons for this, however, some obvious, and others somewhat more subtle. The usual explanation I see given is that Venus is, as Regardie put it, "the occult planet which represents the Genius of this Order." Of course, he was a member of the Stella Matuina (Latin for "Morning Star," a title given to Venus, along with Evening Star), so Venus was certainly strongly applicable there, but the link is somewhat more tenuous when considering the original order and its other offshoots, all of which employed references to the Sun in their name. "Golden Dawn" is obvious enough, while "Morgenrothe" is "Dawn" (from the German for "Morning Redness") and AO is, according to Mathers, the ancient Egyptian root for "Dawn." Venus...

"Yet even in the 1=10 grade you are told you must analyse and comprehend that Light or Knowledge, and not only take it on personal authority. Let us then be Adepti in fact, and not only on the surface; let our investigations be more than skin deep. That only which you demonstrate is really known to you, and that only which is comprehended can fructify and become spiritual progress as distinguished from intellectual gain. Unless you can perceive with the soul as well as see with the eye your progress is but seeming, and you will continue to wander in the wilds of the unhappy." - William Wynn Westcott, The Symbolism of the Seven Sides

Issue 2 of The Ruby Tablet, compiled and edited by Darcy Kuntz, has been released. Check it out and donate if you like the material. Contents The Secret or Mystery of the Rose Notes: Sephiroth and Hermetic Brothers of Egypt Skylight Press Notes on the Astral Light by B.N. Acle Golden Dawn Research Trust Ritual of the Fratres Lucis (concluded) Rosicrucian Order of the Golden Dawn Allocution for the 2=9 Grade of Theoricus Ouroboros Press Alchemy by Parabolanus Forge Press The Tarot: An Antique Method of Divination Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Books Magical Aphorisms of Eugenius Philalethes

Francis Israel Regardie earned fame and notoriety when he published many of the rituals and teachings of the Golden Dawn, heralding a new period in the Order's complex history. In his book My Rosicrucian Adventure (since republished as What You Should Know About The Golden Dawn ), Regardie shared his views about the preservation of the Golden Dawn system by sharing it with the wider world. "...it is essential that the whole system should be publicly exhibited so that it may not be lost to mankind. For it is the heritage of every man and woman – their spiritual birthright." It is difficult to say what would have happened if Regardie had not published his book. Some temples closed their doors, while others continued relatively undisturbed. Yet it is largely through Regardie's work that most modern Golden Dawn students came across the system, and it is also mostly through Regardie (and Crowley) that the Order's teachings have permeated the wider Western...

Into the Aethyrs of Enochian Magic Review by Samuel Scarborough (Published in Hermetic Virtues , Vol. 5, No. 3) Enochian Magic – whether you are talking about Dee purist, Golden Dawn, or something different, there appears to be no more “sexy” magical system or magical mythos within the Western Mystery Tradition. There is something that just attracts most people in the esoteric community to Enochian magic in one way or another – whether those people are seasoned magicians with years of experience or fresh faced beginners. The latest entry into the field of Enochian magic is Dean F. Wilson’s Enochian Magic in Theory . There are several books on or about Enochian magic at any one time in print and available. Some are sensational books filled with lots of inaccurate material written by people with little or no practical magical experience, especially with Enochian magic. Some of these books are just rehashes of earlier books without much effort on the part of the author...

A poem I wrote in 2006: In vessels of beauty I sought the beloved; I sailed upon seas made of poetry and prose. This tongue-tied tale of a travelling wayman Brought me to the foot of the cross and the rose - And there in the shadow the hidden light shows. In moments of rapture and deep thoughts enclosing, I rode on a mule that was made out of me; This trip was in darkness, though on the horizon, Was a single star shining for all us to see. Lost in my thoughts, I was trapped and yet free. In times of great trial when the dark is approaching, I only need look past this valley of death, This cage of bleak remnants and careful supposings, To the great and wide ocean outside the fish net, Where the waters still nourish and the Mother is met. Inside are the waters, within is the Tree; I sailed upon oceans that were all within me. It took me so long to stop sailing and Be, And in that pure Being my being was set free - Let no Dark avail, for the Light is the Key.

Volume 5, Issue No. 3 of Hermetic Virtues has been released, containing the following excellent articles and reviews: + The Path of the Chameleon: Golden Dawn Color Studies by Sandra Tabatha Cicero + The Lovers by Harry Wendrich + Spiritual Development by Frater YShY + The Elemental Weapons of the Adept by Jayne Gibson + A life magical and rich - review by Samuel Scarborough + An invocation of Binah by Samuel Scarborough + The Book of the Concourse of the Watchtowers:  An Exploration of Westcott's Enochian Tablets - review by Lauren E. Gardner + Restoring the Goddess of Nature to the 1=10 by Nick Farrell + Into the Aethyrs of Enochian - review by Samuel Scarborough + An invocation of Qadesh Aphariel (Perfect Spirit) by V.H. Soror A.A. To obtain a copy, click here .

Peregrin Wildoak's first book, By Names and Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life , is an aptly-titled exploration of the Golden Dawn system of magic from a unique perspective. It delves into the inner workings of the rituals and techniques utilised by the Order and provides an accessible guidebook and manual for working with and within the Golden Dawn tradition. At 371 pages this is a comprehensive text, exploring many of the important teachings of the Order in some detail, with chapters on purification, meditation, divination, aura control, invocation, evocation, inner plane work, and initiation. The material on auras and dramatic invocation is particularly good, showing a wealth of experience and insight in this area. I do not always agree with some of the things Wildoak suggests, such as drawing up the light from the Earth in the Qabalistic Cross, but it is interesting to see another approach to this thriving magical tradition. There are also a couple of Hebrew ...

Olen Rush posted his excellent Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales on his blog, which is a perfect accompaniment to Sandra Tabatha Cicero's The Book of the Concourse of the Watchtowers , shedding light on one of the more mysterious aspects of Golden Dawn teaching. Image © Olen Rush This advanced Golden Dawn Enochian material shows how much more there is to explore, experience and learn in the Golden Dawn system, and Olen's treatise makes for an excellent new Flying Roll for modern adepts. Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales - Part One Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales - Part Two Short Treatise on the Sigils of the Scales - Part Three

There are many misconceptions out there about what the Golden Dawn is. Instead of disputing or debunking them, let us look at what the Golden Dawn really is. These points are in no particular order, nor are they a complete representation, but they will hopefully shed more light on this more than a century old tradition. The Golden Dawn is a syncretic tradition that combines and unifies a multitude of magical systems employed in the Western Mystery Tradition, including, but not limited to: Qabalah, Astrology, Tarot, Hermeticism, Alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Enochian, Geomancy, and various other esoteric subjects. The Golden Dawn is a school that teaches a structured approach to magic, being primarily theoretical in the Outer Order (the Golden Dawn proper) and practical in the Inner Order (the RR et AC or Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis). Some have likened the requirements of Golden Dawn study to that of a college degree, with several grade exams and, in the Stella Matutina traditio...

"I am the Knowledge of my Name."  — Thunder, Perfect Mind In the Golden Dawn the magical motto is not just a fancy name or title, but a representation of the spiritual and magical goals of the magician. It is, in many ways, the first magical act performed by the Candidate, consecrating themselves towards a given purpose, redirecting their life as they see fit. The motto therefore carries a lot of power, particularly when employed regularly in ritual work, where it becomes the very embodiment of the magical persona of the initiate. On entering the temple, Bob is no longer Bob, but Frater Whatever, and if he really chose that as his motto we would expect to see disinterest and apathy become a central focus and defining factor in his life. So, with so much wrapped up in our magical name, should we keep it secret or let the whole world know? There are varying schools of thought on this, none of which are right or wrong, and ultimately the choice to share you...

The first chapter of my Enochian book, detailing the life and history of John Dee and Edward Kelley, is available as a free download. Check it out, and if you like what you read, buy a copy of the book .

Peregrin Wildoak , author of By Names & Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life , posted an excellent summary of the inner workings of GD temples, showing how GD techniques differ from Masonic-style workings to create a truly magical tradition. This is one of the best articles on this subject and will benefit any Golden Dawn magician, whether they are a solitary worker or belong to a temple. Check it out here.

I have been reading Peregrin Wildoak 's recently released (and long-awaited) By Names & Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life , which I will review on this blog once I'm finished. So far it has been enjoyable and insightful, addressing a wide variety of subjects. One subject in particular that was raised is the idea of using magic for material gain, a hotly debated topic in occult circles. It is such a huge area that it deserves a post of its own. Please note that while this post was inspired by the relevant section of Peregrin's book, I am also making some broader comments on the topic in general. Sufficed to say, I do not agree with Peregrin's suggestion that there is no place within the Golden Dawn for magic to better our everyday lives. I used to think this for a long time, and then I realised that if I do not accommodate my material existence then I will have difficulty focusing on spiritual growth.  For example, if I cannot afford enough fo...

While the materials used to make tools might be of significance to some people, a bigger element that we see in Golden Dawn circles is an emphasis on making the tools yourself, rather than having someone else make them or buying them from a store. And this is a myth. While it is hugely beneficial to make your own tools, it is by no means a requirement, and sometimes we have to make do and employ the help of others for things we simply cannot do ourselves. I often use the example of John Dee and the PELE Ring, which was to be made of gold. In grimoiric tradition the exact instructions to be followed are usually extremely important, even if they might at times be symbolic. Dee was concerned that he would not be able to make the Ring, but the angels told him that "any honest man" could do it, which shows that he was not required to do it himself, that there is some flexibility in the original Enochian system. And there is even more flexibility when it comes to the ...

Three years ago I set up the Golden Dawn Forum for discussions on the Order, the system, and the magic, form both solitary magicians and members of a wide variety of Golden Dawn orders. I would like to remind people of its existence now that I managed to sort out some issues with spam and the registration process, and cordially invite anyone and everyone interested in Golden Dawn magic to join and participate in the many interesting debates.

Peregrin Wildoak (author of By Names & Images: Bringing the Golden Dawn to Life ) posted a very interesting interview with Nick Farrell , head of the Magical Order of Aurora Aurea , about his latest book on Samuel Mathers and the Golden Dawn, King Over the Water . Check it out here.

One of the important things to realise when making tools within the Golden Dawn tradition is that the material largely does not matter. Unlike some grimoiric traditions, the Golden Dawn generally does not see the magic as being inherent within the material itself, but rather within the symbolism employed upon it. An example of this can be found in the Theoricus Adeptus Minor paper on the Ring and Disc (see Sandra Tabatha Cicero's The Book of the Concourse of the Watchtowers , p. 258): "The Ring and the Disc may be made of any material - cardboard will do - not too light, or the elasticity of the thread may vitiate its action." It may come as a surprise to many people that cardboard was a particularly common material used by the original members. For example, W.B. Yeats made a lot of his talismans from cardboard, pasting coloured paper on to make the various polygrams, etc. Yeats' Tzadkiel Talisman Yeats' Rose Cross Lamen This is not ...

The Book of the Concourse of the Watchtowers by Sandra Tabatha Cicero presents a new layer to the Golden Dawn's Enochian teachings, revealing the set of Watchtower Tablets that Westcott was working on, and exploring the importance of colour magic within the order. This book details Tabatha's explorations of the Westcott Tablets in considerable detail, providing both the appropriate colours from the order's four colour scales and the relevant sigils for the Tablet of Union squares. The book begins with a brief and lucid introduction to both Enochian magic in general and the Golden Dawn's application of it. A lot of time is then devoted to the use of colour, which the original order considered to be one of the most vital and secret teachings it had. Tabatha then provides colour keys and formulae for painting a set of Westcott Tablets, saving fellow magicians many hours of work. The inclusion of colour plates to show the Watchtowers in their full beauty is ...