Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah

After the schism of 1900, Edward William Berridge (Resurgam) took over the London branch of the Order loyal to Mathers. This has been documented previously in some history books and online timelines as the "Isis Temple", and many have assumed that this was a new Temple, particularly with information suggesting it was "No. 11". The problem with this assumption is that there is contradicting evidence, which suggests it was actually still called "Isis-Urania", and thus was likely seen as a continuation of the Temple No. 3 founded in 1888 (Temples No. 1 and 2 being fictional). Consider, for example, the reverse of a surviving Admission Badge from this Temple, dated Sep 1910: Another example from the same collection (currently held in The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Cornwall, England):   Both clearly show "Isis-Urania-Temple". There are numerous other examples of this.   Further, on 18 January and 22 February 1902, letters by Resurgam (Berridge)...

Last year I explored the official view of the Order , spanning several decades, on the topic of mediums, one of the few areas of spiritual practice that was overtly prohibited by the founders of the Golden Dawn. In fact, while Mathers and Westcott disliked certain other groups (the Lake Harris school, the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor and the Rose Croix of Sir Peladan, for example), the Order took a stauncher view on mediumship and related practises, so much so that it became part of the Oath every initiate had to take. Here I will share some more examples of the Order's views on mediums, which might help clarify the matter and show that it was not a view taken lightly, nor was it only held for a certain period of time or by just one or two people in the Order. The first example is from Dr. William Berridge, who shows the Order's dislike of mediumship in one of his illustrations of experiences he had: "A lady, hoping to develop herself spiritually had all...