The second half of the 19th century can deservedly be considered the golden age of secret mystical organizations. The aristocracy and intelligentsia of all sorts happily plunged into a thick soup of mystical rites, ritual gatherings and endless intrigues. In general, it was they who caused the rapid collapse of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a society that was not only powerful, but also incredibly popular. But he was predicted glory no worse than the Masons …
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HERMES
What is Hermeticism? It is difficult to explain in a nutshell, but we will try. It all started with Hermes. Yes, that same Greek god-rogue, merchant and messenger in winged sandals. In addition to all other duties, he was also considered the patron saint of magicians and alchemists, and in general one of the first divine sages. And then one day, one of his hypostases, Hermes Trismegistus (from the Greek "three times the greatest"), having killed the giant Argus who served Hera, decided to wait out the wrath of the sovereign goddess in Egypt. Having quickly taught the local, then still uneducated population, writing and laws, Trismegistus took the name Thoth and became revered as a keeper of wisdom. So he did not dare to return to his homeland, he set about writing a number of works of philosophical and magical content, in which he outlined his views on the essence of the universe. These events were "documented" at different times by such respected people as Mark Tullius Cicero, Lucius Lactantius and Augustine Aurelius. The most important of the works of Hermes are: "Asclepius", "Emerald Tablet" and "Hermetic Corps" - the common name for fourteen (in another edition - eighteen) small treatises, united by a common theme. It was they who formed the basis of Hermeticism - an occult doctrine that devoted itself to a close analysis of texts from the god of wisdom himself. It was they who formed the basis of Hermeticism - an occult doctrine that devoted itself to a close analysis of texts from the god of wisdom himself. It was they who formed the basis of Hermeticism - an occult doctrine that devoted itself to a close analysis of texts from the god of wisdom himself.
Hermeticism was forgotten for hundreds of years, but then they again became interested in it. In 1460, a monk named Leonardo, agent of Cosimo Medici, brought copies of hermetic treatises out of Constantinople. Subsequently, they were translated from Greek into Latin and immediately became the focus of attention of all sorts of alchemists and magicians eager to decipher ancient knowledge. Hermeticism attracted many famous people - Paracelsus, John Dee, Jordan Bruno … And in 1888, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in Great Britain.
MYSTERY TIME
In a very short time, the Golden Dawn became as widespread as possible for a secret society. From 1888 to 1896, hundreds of adepts were attracted and ten "temples" were founded - seven in Europe and three in the United States. Of course, an organization of such a scale could not arise from scratch - just a seed fell into fertile soil. In the 1850s, the French Occult Renaissance was created, in 1848, with the light hands of the Fox sisters, spiritualism appeared in the United States, followed by a number of relatively small organizations of mediums and magicians. In the 1860s, half-forgotten Freemasonry gained strength, growing many new lodges and collecting a huge number of followers. Finally, in 1875, the notorious Helena Blavatsky and Colonel Henry Olcott founded the Theosophical Society in New York, which embraced both people disenchanted with traditional religions and seekers of mystical mysteries.
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In general, this is where the history of secret organizations could have ended, since Theosophy satisfied almost all requests of a mystical and religious nature. But Blavatsky, with her irrepressible character, simply could not limit herself to only one area of knowledge, turned her gaze to the East and turned to Buddhism. And after her - and the whole Theosophical Society, to the great discontent of the admirers of Western traditions. It was unrealistic to persuade the founder of Theosophy, so members of society who disagreed with her, including very high-ranking ones, resigned. And the mystical ideas left out by the Theosophists were useful in the creation of the Golden Dawn.
RITUAL CASES
At the head of the Golden Dawn were three - London coroner William Westcott, Dr. William Woodman and occultist Samuel Liddell Mathers. Initially, despite its general magical orientation, the organization adhered exclusively to a theoretical basis. At the lectures, neophytes were taught hermetism, Kabbalah, astrology, the basics of alchemy, geomancy and Tarot - a fairly extensive, but at the same time, the usual set of mystical knowledge. In 1891, Woodman died, his place was left unoccupied, and power in the order fell on the shoulders of the remaining two people. Mathers, who adored ritualism, by that time had developed the most complicated rite of passage to the degree of the Junior Adept. It doesn't sound very serious, but in fact it was the first degree of the inner circle - the Order of the Ruby Rose and the Golden Cross. They were no longer limited to theory,and in the whole practice was fired - improving in predictions of the future, astral travel and "real" alchemy. It was believed that there was also a third, absolutely secret, order, headed by invisible Lords who did not have embodiment on the physical plane. Hints at the existence of omniscient divine leaders were sure to confirm the followers' confidence in their chosen path.
Now all this speculation about the endless depths of Western wizardry may sound like unscientific delirium, but at the time it worked very well. Among the members of the Golden Dawn, there may have been enough naive people, but there were few fools - esotericism went side by side with philosophy, astrology - with astronomy, alchemy - with quite real chemistry. At the head of the order were the smartest people who knew how to attract supporters. Mathers' rituals were cunning, curious and multifaceted, while Westcott himself deciphered the so-called "Cipher Manuscript", the basis of all Golden Dawn traditions. The text was written by Kenneth Mackenzie himself, also known as the author of the Royal Masonic Encyclopedia. In addition, Westcott created a "pedigree" for his order, having come up with a letter from a certain Fraulein Sprengel, a great spiritual leader from Germany,allegedly the founder of the first Order of the Golden Dawn. Smoke and mirrors, nothing more, but people definitely liked it.
GOLDEN SUNSET
The comfortable existence of the society of admirers of the magic of Hermes was shaken already in 1895, when Mathers had an ugly quarrel with one of the main sponsors of the order - Annie Horniman. Two years later, Westcott left the organization - the British authorities found out about his "secret life" and threatened with dismissal. Mathers remained to rule almost alone and did not cope with this in the best way - for example, by divulging the secret that Fraulen Sprengel did not exist at all. Intrigues and quarrels grew like a snowball, which resulted in a final split by the beginning of the 20th century. Rituals were forgotten and altered, former adepts hastily founded their own orders, trying to cash in on the remnants of the popularity of the Golden Dawn, copying the usual structure and rituals. By the 1930s, only a pale shadow remained of the order, and the memories might have completely sunk into oblivion,if not for the work of Israel Regardie. In 1937 he published four volumes of The Golden Dawn, where he carefully described most of the rituals and lectures. Subsequently, he was condemned for divulging secrets, but thanks for the preservation of knowledge.
It is not known whether Hermes himself wrote the works on hermeticism, or some talented anonym of antiquity, and whether true power was in them. The Order of the Golden Dawn could not shake the foundations of the universe with the help of forgotten knowledge, but it remained in history as one of the most canonical examples of a magical secret society, split due to internal squabbles. It is possible that the cunning Greek god originally planned everything like that.
Maxim Filaretov