Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

Image Copyright: British Museum It is widely believed today that the Obsidian Mirror on display in the British Museum was used by Dee and Kelley, a matter that is largely taken for granted, thanks to it being in the same display cabinet as other items linked with Dee, and its attribution to the Elizabethan magician by museum staff. This Mirror is of Aztec origin, leading some to suggest a possible Aztec link to the Enochian workings. Yet this is all based on the assumption that this device was, in fact, Dee's, whereas there is no real evidence that this is actually the case. This assumption is primarily based on a claim by Horace Walpole, who received this item in 1771. The note pasted to the accompanying case, believed to be written in Walpole's handwriting and initialled by him, reads: “The Black Stone into which Dr Dee used to call his Spirits.” It was not acquired by the British Museum until 1966, where it continues to be labelled as Dee's “Magical Mirro...

It may seem strange at first when some people encounter the diagram of the Kerubim and the Flaming Sword in the 1=10 Grade, which shows on either side of the Flaming Sword the heads (and only the heads) of the two Great Angels Metatron and Sandalphon, both of whom have horns. These same angels are also drawn with horns on the Great Seal that is found on the Obligation and Membership Scroll of the Second Order. Generally when we think of horned entities we think of devils and demons, not angels, so this can be quite a surprise to many, and may even lead some to question the nature of these depictions. This view of horned beings was not always the case, however. For example, Moses was often depicted with horns, based on a translation of Exodus 34:29 in the Vulgate, where the Hebrew קרן ( qaran ) became the Latin cornuta (meaning "horned"). The Hebrew word can also be translated as "to display horns" (or, more simply, "horned"), based on its root...

As a follow-up to my previous blog post , questioning the supposed rule that a Rosicrucian cannot claim to be a Rosicrucian, I have discovered some additional references that really do make it clear that the Golden Dawn founders, at least, did not accept this view (and, indeed, violated it, if there ever was such a rule then to violate), and it was also not (and still is not) held by many others within the wider Rosicrucian community. 1. Mathers wrote an open letter that was published in the public occult journal Lucifer (run by the Theosophical Society) in 1889 (just one year after the founding of the GD), challenging a group called the Order of the Dew and the Light, which claimed to be the true and only descendants of the "Fraternitas Rosae Crucis." He explicitly stated that he was writing "on behalf of the Metropolitan College of the Rosicrucian Society of England," openly named Woodman as head of that same order, and stated that Westcott was Secre...

A common view espoused today is that a Rosicrucian may not claim to be a Rosicrucian, that doing so essentially shows that he or she is not actually a member of that Fraternity. Peregrin Wildoak raised this topic in his recent blog post with a number of sources for this rule, and though the sources may appear initially compelling, there are a number of issues which make me question just how authentic this prohibition really is, and how valid it is in the context of the Golden Dawn. 1. The primary sources for Rosicrucianism are, of course, the Fama and Confessio , and it is the Fama that gives us six articles that the ancient brethren bound each other to keep. The first two of these concern us, given that they are cited as evidence for the aforementioned rule. "1. First, That none of them should profess any other thing than to cure the sick, and that gratis.   2. None of the Posterity should be constrained to wear one certain kind of habit, but therein to foll...

For decades, the designs on the Lamens worn by the Officers in Golden Dawn ceremonies has largely been taken for granted, with the vast majority of people relying on or replicating the forms given in Israel Regardie's The Golden Dawn , or other books. The original source material shows some subtle, and not so subtle, differences, which I will highlight in this series of articles. To begin, let us look at the Lamens as given in Regardie's book: Next, let us look at the original designs drawn by Mathers, with his accompanying description beneath them (click the image for a larger version): There are numerous points of interest here, but for now I will focus on one that I think has been consistently overlooked: the fact that the Lamens of the Inferior Officers (Kerux, Stolistes, and Dadouchos) do not have a white circle (or border) around them. Of course, it is always possible that Mathers made a mistake, forgetting to add the circles, but the descript...

A variety of popular books, and the advent of the internet, have created and perpetuated a number of errors in the Elemental Implements, which are being unwittingly copied and promulgated by a new generation of occult students. Firstly, Robert Wang's The Secret Temple gave the wrong Divine Names for the Elemental Implements, adopting the Sephirothic names instead of the Elemental ones (that we see in the Supreme Ritual of the Pentagram). His errors were duplicated and popularised by Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick . Wang and Kraig give the following: Fire Wand: YHVH Tzabaoth Water Cup: Elohim Tzabaoth Air Dagger: Shaddai El Chai Earth Pantacle: Adonai ha-Aretz The correct names are: Fire Wand: Elohim Water Cup: El Air Dagger: YHVH Earth Pantacle: Adonai Further, most depictions of the Earth Pantacle are missing a name: Aphar ( עפר ). This is another name for earth, often translated as "dry earth" or "dust". It goes ...

05 September 2015—Dublin, Ireland—KERUBIM PRESS has announced that readers can now pre-order the Limited Hardback Edition of its latest esoteric title, Enochian Magic in Practice by Frater Yechidah (ISBN 978-1-908705-13-6), due to launch in January 2016. There will be only 100 signed and numbered copies of the Limited Hardback Edition. A paperback edition will follow several months later. The sequel to the widely praised Enochian Magic in Theory , this book has been in the works for some time, and we are proud to finally bring you this much-awaited volume. Check out the (preliminary) back cover description: The second of Frater Yechidah’s eagerly awaited Enochian Magic series, detailing John Dee and Edward Kelley’s magical system in extraordinary detail, from the Heptarchic system to Enochian proper. This expansive volume goes beyond the theory, giving a detailed, thorough and comprehensive guide on how to put Enochian magic into practice, from skyring and evoc...

For some years there has been some debate on what the "true" name of the Golden Dawn was, whether it was Hermetic, Esoteric, Rosicrucian, or something else entirely. Some suggest it was one or the other, and that all other descriptors are wrong, but history says otherwise. Firstly, if we look at the rituals themselves, the terminology used is "Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer." This is, to the best of my knowledge, universal in all surviving copies of the original Order rituals. The Ordinances give: "The First Order of the G.D. in the Outer." The Bye-laws of Isis-Urania give: "Order of the G.D. in the Outer." Circulars issued to members announcing meeting times also use this form. Likewise, the temple warrants use the same. However, all labels on Order documents contained the title "Hermetic Order of the G.D." To muddy the waters a little more, the title page of some documents gives: "Hermetic Students...

Every so often I encounter some "rules" regarding how old one should be before embracing the occult, or comments that dismiss the role and contribution younger people have made. While some of these have some logic behind them, many of them are based on the presumption that older equals wiser (which, unfortunately, is not always the case). It is well known that some Rabbis, such as Shabbatai HaKohen, suggested that a man should not study the Qabalah until he is at least 40, and that this gives him time to live life, have and raise a family, and thoroughly learn Jewish tradition and law. Yet, according to Professor Elliot Wolfson, the Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU, this rule was not widely followed, with many Qabalists starting out before 40, and some not even living to 40 years of age. “For the most part, I do not see that this was ever taken too seriously until recent times,” Wolfson said, according to MyJewishLearning . “As inte...

My previous post highlighting evidence of the Sentinel's presence in the grades beyond 0=0 sparked some interesting and engaging debate, and has led me to further explore this issue, which has resulted in additional evidence that reinforces the argument I originally made. To begin with, some questioned the reliability of Crowley's copies of the rituals, despite them being largely identical to other copies made by original members. Of course, what Crowley teaches in the OTO or AA is not a reliable indication of what the GD taught, but his transcripts of the GD rituals are a completely different matter. Indeed, Crowley clearly opted not to make alterations to the text of the rituals themselves, but rather made notes on the opposite pages. While he may have shown a lack of understanding of the GD rituals (he writes, for example, "Is the Hg [Hegemon] an 'inferior officer'? I think not," despite the fact that the ritual says "I superintend the...

In the modern Golden Dawn community, it is commonly believed that the Sentinel is not present after the 0=0 (or, in some cases, after the 1=10), but there is a significant body of evidence that shows that this was not the case in the original Order, that, in fact, the Sentinel stood outside the door of the Hall for all grades of the Outer Order. Before we explore this evidence, let us consider some of the reasons why the Sentinel "dropping out" has become the status quo: 1. The vast majority of ritual scripts, including the redacted Stella Matutina texts printed in Regardie's book, do not mention the Sentinel in 1=10 and above. In most cases, when the Kerux or Hegemon is asked to check if the Hall is properly guarded, the rubrics simply say "Done," "Does so," "This is done," "Having done so," or something equally vague. In some cases, no rubric is given at all. 2. There is an established pattern of officers dropping out...

For many, making magical tools is a significant challenge, and for some it is even an obstacle. After all, not everyone has woodworking or metalworking skills, so the Elemental Implements can seem quite daunting. Something that I found interesting when going through Ritual G was the wording for creating each of the implements. There is a subtle distinction between making/forming  two of them (the Wand and the Pentacle) and adapting the remaining two from existing objects (the Dagger and the Cup). For the Fire Wand, we are told that it is "convenient to make the wand of wood," though cane (or bamboo) with an existing hollow and notches presents an easy alternative. Yet either method requires some amount of assembly. For the Air Dagger, we are told that "any convenient dagger, or knife, or sword may be adapted for this purpose; the shorter the better." For the Water Cup, we are told that "any convenient clear glass cup may be adapted..." ...

The Four Implements (the Wand, Cup, Dagger, and Pentacle) are perhaps the most iconic and memorable set of tools in the Golden Dawn tradition, relating to the four elements, the Tetragrammaton, and the four suits of the Tarot. Due to their elemental nature, some groups have incorporated their use into the Outer Order, tasking initiates to make and consecrate each particular tool in the grade related to that particular element. On the surface this might seem like a good way to better imbue the tool with the associated element, but the big problem with this, aside from Inner Order teaching not belonging in the Outer Order, is that these four implements are not to be separated (as would be the case if divided by the four Elemental Grades). Ritual G tells us that these implements "have a certain bond and sympathy between them," elaborating as follows: "So that even if one only is to be used, the others should also be present. Even as each of the four Elemental T...

As we remember the suffering of the Jews, and other minorities, at the hands of the Nazis, let us also consider that members of esoteric societies were also persecuted, and often were seen as a political threat to Hitler. As many as 200,000 Freemasons are believed to have been murdered by the Nazis, and Hitler issued orders to ban and dissolve Freemasonic lodges, as well as "Freemason-like organisations," including the Golden Dawn and the OTO. Freemasons were forced to wear an inverted red triangle in concentration camps, marking them as political prisoners. On a list of almost 50 "forbidden organisations," issued in 1936, we see the following: Hermetischer Orden der Goldenen Dämmerung This is German for "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn." Of course, by this stage the original Order no longer existed, but the name still had a powerful resonance, and there were several temples from the various offshoots still active. Wherever ther...