THE HISTORY OF THE

THELEMIC ORDER OF
THE GOLDEN DAWN
(From the Thelemic Golden Dawn newsletter, 2001 e.v.)

We shall now give a proper account of the history of the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn,
commencing from that point in earthly time where the Spirit of the Order assumed its
fundamental form, and we shall give details regarding the main figures of our lineage, the
founders and teachers of our esoteric Magical Society, which, be it Hermetic or Thelemic in
kind, is given the sacred name of the Golden Dawn.

We shall begin in the year 1887, when Dr. William Wynn Westcott (1848-1925), a London
Coroner, Theosophist, Freemason and Rosicrucian, obtained a Cipher Manuscript from a
debatable or rather unknown source. In this Cipher MS. there were contained skeleton rituals
of initiation, attributions of the Tarot Trumps to the letters of the Hebrew Alphabet, and the
name and address of a Rosicrucian Adept located in Germany, Soror Sapiens Dominabitur
Astris (Fräulein Sprengel). Westcott wrote to her with the result that in November of 1887 she
authorized him to found an English branch of the Golden Dawn. This led to the establishment
of Isis-Urania, Temple No. 3, of the Order of the Golden Dawn in the Outer, in the year 1888.
It was on February 12, 1888 that Westcott and two other Masons and Rosicrucians signed the
Preliminary Pledge Form of the Golden Dawn. Then a Warrant was created for these three to
constitute and rule the Isis-Urania Temple and they signed it on March 1, 1888.

Westcott was a member of an Esoteric Society of Master Masons, called the Rosicrucian
Society of England (Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, or Soc. Ros., founded in 1866 by Robert
Wentworth Little). After the death of the founder of this society in 1878, Dr. William Robert
Woodman (1828-1891) became its Chief or Supreme Magus. After Woodman's death in 1891,
Westcott became the Supreme Magus of the Soc. Ros. Another member of this esoteric
society was Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854-1918). Mathers, like Westcott, was a
member of its High Council. Westcott invited both Woodman and Mathers to join him as
Chiefs of the Isis-Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn. It was Mathers who assisted Westcott
in decoding the Cipher MS. The key was contained in Abbot Johann Trithemius'
"Polygraphiae" (1561). Mathers also expanded on the skeleton rituals of initiation and it was
his occult genius that made the Golden Dawn into a Magical Order. He eventually became the
sole Chief of the Order.

Now regarding three other very important figures of the Golden Dawn who played such a
major part in shaping Aleister Crowley's magical career and who therefore play a significant
part in our history. In February of 1894, a man named Allan Bennett (1872-1923) was initiated
as a Neophyte of the Golden Dawn. He quickly advanced to the Grade of Adeptus Minor.
Crowley first met Bennett in the spring of 1899 during a Golden Dawn ceremony. Bennett
then acted as Crowley's magical mentor and later as his Guru (Yoga Instructor) in 1901.
Bennett took the Yellow Robe in 1902 and became a Buddhist Monk, but which he later
abandoned. He is well known as the Leader of the first Buddhist Mission to the West. In June
of 1894, a man named Julian L. Baker was initiated as a Neophyte of the Golden Dawn. He
advanced to the Grade of Adeptus Minor on March 10, 1896. And on July 12, 1895, a man
named George Cecil Jones (1873-1953) was initiated as a Neophyte in the Golden Dawn. He
advanced to the Grade of Adeptus Minor on January 11, 1897. It was Jones who proposed to
Crowley that he join the Golden Dawn and he sponsored Crowley for his Neophyte initiation.
(Jones also later assisted Crowley in the formation of Astron Argon, or the Order of the A.·.
A.·., from 1906 to 1909.) Crowley met Baker during the summer of 1898, and Baker
introduced Crowley to Jones in September of 1898.

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) joined the Golden Dawn as Frater Perdurabo (Neophyte 0=0)
on November 18, 1898. He was initiated to the next grade of Zelator (1=10) in December of
1898, as a Theoricus (2=9) in January of 1899, as a Practicus (3=8) in February of 1899, as a
Philosophus (4=7) in May of 1899, he then took his Portal Initiation in December of 1899, and
was initiated as an Adeptus Minor in Paris on January 16, 1900 by Mathers who Crowley first
met in May of 1899. Now scandal and schism arose in the Order in 1900; the London Adepts
were in revolt against Mathers, the Chief of the Order; and by the end of March, the London
Temple declared independence from Mathers. Both Crowley and Jones originally sided with
Mathers during the revolt, but later went their own ways, Crowley to Mexico who then became
a Freemason. Crowley stated, "In 1900, the Order in its existing form was destroyed."

On April 8th, 9th, and 10th of 1904, Crowley received from his Holy Guardian Angel (Aiwass)
the Book of the Law (Liber Legis), which proclaimed that he was the Prophet of a New Aeon
(New Age) and that his office was that of being the Founder and High Priest of a New Order
of the Golden Dawn, which he later called the Order of the A.·. A.·. (Astron Argon),
maintaining, however, the name of the Golden Dawn as the title of the Outer Order. Crowley's
reception of the Book of the Law was a direct manifestation and result of his initiation into the
Order of the Golden Dawn. The Golden Dawn was, in fact, the basis of the Proclamation of
the New Aeon of Horus and the Law of Thelema. After receiving the Book of the Law, Crowley
wrote and sent a letter to Mathers informing him that the Secret Chiefs had appointed him to
be the visible Head of the Golden Dawn. Mathers did not respond, but nor did Crowley expect
a response from him.

On July 27, 1906 Crowley renewed his Adeptus Minor obligation during a visit with Jones.
Crowley wrote, "Fra P. [Crowley] was crucified by Fra D.D.S. [Jones] and on that cross made
to repeat this Oath...". Later these two Adepts discussed the idea of forming a New Order. By
December 10, 1906, Jones recognized Crowley as a Magister Templi (Master of the Temple).
Crowley, however, did not actually accept this grade until December 3, 1909. But by their
sincere efforts and spiritual preparation a New Order was made manifest in the year 1907,
called the Order of the A.·. A.·. (Astron Argon).

In October of 1928, a man named Francis Israel Regardie (1907-1985) met with Crowley in
Paris to become his personal secretary and student. On October 28, 1930 Regardie took the
Oath of the Probationer of the A.·. A.·.. (A copy of this Oath is printed in chapter eleven of the
sixth revised edition of Regardie's book, "What you should know about the Golden Dawn.") In
January of 1933, shortly after severing with Crowley, Regardie joined the Order of the Golden
Dawn (Stella Matutina) at Hermes Temple in Bristol with the Neophyte Motto Ad Majorem
Adonai Gloriam. (In the book, "The Eye in the Triangle", Regardie states that he retained this
same Neophyte Motto for his 5=6 Adept degree, the Adeptus Minor Grade.) Regardie
resigned from Hermes Temple of the Stella Matutina on December 5, 1934. Many years later
Regardie initiated Frater Adonai Achad (a past Chief of the T.·. G.·. D.·.), who also became
Regardie's legitimate heir, continuing the Regardie lineage of the Golden Dawn through a
reorganized form of the Order, called the Hermetic Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn, in
association with the Israel Regardie Foundation. Regardie died on March 10, 1985. Frater
Adonai Achad [Christopher Hyatt] initiated Frater Aurora Aureae [David Cherubim] as an
Adept of the Golden Dawn on March 10, 1990, five years after Regardie's death, and Frater
Aurora Aureae was chartered to operate his own Temple of the Golden Dawn and he received
certification up to the Grade of Adeptus Exemptus of the Regardie lineage of the Golden
Dawn. Frater Aurora Aureae also became one of the Officers of the Israel Regardie
Foundation and later a Chief, or the Cancellarius, of the Hermetic Temple and Order of the
Golden Dawn.

On the Vernal Equinox of 1990, Frater Aurora Aureae and Frater Adonai Achad inaugurated
the Thelemic Order of the Golden Dawn (New Order of the Golden Dawn), and they acted as
the Ruling Chiefs and Hierophants of the Order. This was a major spiritual and historical
event. To start, twelve candidates were initiated into the grade of the Neophyte, and within a
year the Order began to expand in both the US and other Countries. The Thelemic Order of
the Golden Dawn (Order of the T.·. G.·. D.·.) is dedicated to the teachings of Aleister Crowley,
Thelema and the Golden Dawn.

On December 4, 1994, Frater Aurora Aureae peacefully resigned as a Chief Officer of the
Hermetic Temple and Order of the Golden Dawn and Israel Regardie Foundation. (On
December 4, 1994 Frater Aurora Aureae also officially resigned from the O.T.O., or Ordo
Templi Orientis, which he joined on June 16, 1985 at Baphomet Lodge in LA, CA USA.) Now
Frater Adonai Achad and Frater Aurora Aureae departed ways in peace, with Frater Aurora
Aureae becoming the sole Chief and Grand Hierophant of the Thelemic Order of the Golden
Dawn (Order of the T.·. G.·. D.·.), continuing with other Initiates the Great Work of Spiritual
Initiation and Illumination in the world of men and women.

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