Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

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...

The word Adept brings a lot to mind, so much so that I believe it necessary to clarify some things regarding Adepts in the Golden Dawn system. Firstly, using the word Adept on its own is a bit of a misnomer, for the Golden Dawn classified Adepts based on just how much they knew and could do (within the context of the system). Those who are advanced to 5=6 were Adepti Minores, which shows that they are Lesser Adepts, in much the same way there is a Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram before the Supreme Ritual is taught. Only at 6=5 is an initiate an Adeptus Major and only at 7=4 is he or she an Adeptus Exemptus. Yet within these lofty grades are a set of sub-grades, which specify even further the level of the initiate. For example, in 5=6 we have the Neophyte Adeptus Minor, Zelator Adeptus Minor, Theoricus Adeptus Minor, Practicus Adeptus Minor, Philosophus Adeptus Minor, and finally Adept Adeptus Minor. All of that is before 6=5 is even approached. Of course, historically t...

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...

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...

In February of this year Nick Farrell, the head of the Magical Order of Aurora Aurea , released Mathers' Last Secret: The Rituals & Teachings of the Alpha et Omega . The book caused a stir among many people and groups. Some were pleased to see more unpublished documents shared with the wider public, while others saw it as a further profanation of the Golden Dawn system. It's technically the second book in a three part series, with the first originally intended to be published by Thoth Publications a few years ago. It's almost guaranteed that the other two books will cause further controversy within Golden Dawn circles, but they provide some valuable information about the Alpha et Omega, the order that Mathers established when the original GD split.

The Book of the Tomb , an AO document comprising a series of instructions (including a Flying Roll) on the construction of the Vault of the Adepti, has been published online by Nick Farrell on his website and can be found here . Some of it has already been in print, including in Regardie's black brick, but this copy is much more complete, with a number of illustrations to boot. This is a very important document for all Golden Dawn orders, especially those currently attempting to construct a Vault.