Alpha et Omega
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The Alpha et Omega was an
Origin
In 1900, the hegemony of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was disturbed by a letter sent from Samuel Mathers, who was living in Paris, to his representative in London, Florence Farr. In the letter he claimed that his co-founder Wynn Westcott forged communications between himself and the Secret Chiefs, who had given him the authority for the Order to exist. This revelation culminated in a rebellion of the adepts of the Isis-Urania Temple No. 3 wherein Mathers was expelled from his position as Chief.
This was quickly followed, in 1901, by the Horos scandal (see Ann O'Delia Diss Debar), in which two con artists used Golden Dawn materials obtained from Mathers to cover a sex scam. The name and reputation of the Golden Dawn were defamed in the courts and in the press. S.L. MacGregor Mathers subsequently dissolved the Order of the Golden Dawn in 1906 and founded the Alpha et Omega in Paris.[9] However, the name A.O. also first appeared in a copy of a 0°=0□[clarification needed] Hall of the Neophytes ritual owned by Henry Kelf and is dated 1905. It appears to have been used soon after the schism.[10]
Two temples in Great Britain remained loyal to Mathers and joined the Alpha et Omega, one in London and the other in Edinburgh. Two or three former Golden Dawn temples in the United States, including Thoth-Hermes in Chicago, remained loyal to Mathers during the schism and became part of the Alpha et Omega as well.[5]
Expansion
Elsa Barker, a poet and author who traveled frequently between Europe and the USA, became Mathers’ emissary to the American temples of the A.O. For example, the minutes book of the Ahathoor temple mentions that, on July 3, 1911, just prior to Elsa Barker’s return to the USA, Mathers had received applications from 9 members to form a new temple, Neith Temple No. 10.[citation needed]
By 1913, Mathers was presiding over at least five Temples of the Alpha et Omega; the original Isis-Urania Temple No. 3 (with 23 Inner Order members by 1913), presided over by Dr. Edmund William Berridge, the Ahathoor Temple No. 7 in Paris led by Mathers himself, the Amen-Ra Temple No. 6 in Edinburgh, presided over by John William Brodie-Innes, the Thme Temple No 8 in Chicago, The Thoth Hermes Temple No 9 in New York, presided over by Michael Whitty, and the Neith Temple No. 10 in New York.
Three other American temples of the Alpha et Omega were founded after the First World War: Ptah No. 10 in Philadelphia in 1919, Atoum No. 20 in Los Angeles in 1920, and Themis No. 30 in San Francisco in 1921.[citation needed]
When Mathers died in 1918, he was succeeded by Moina Mathers, his widow, and J. W. Brodie-Innes.[11] After Moina's death in St Mary Abbots Hospital on 25 July 1928 [12] Isabel Morgan Boyd, her daughter Isme, and Edward John Langford-Garstin took over the London temple.[12]
Decline
According to Langford-Garstin's cousin Ithell Colquhoun, the AO "survived until the outbreak of [World War II] in 1939"[13] when it was "officially closed" [14] and its temple-furniture destroyed "at the instance of the Secret Chiefs."[15] Colquhoun later asserts that the furniture, along with its Vault of the Adepti, were "consumed in a bonfire" at Sacombe Park, Hertfordshire.[16][17]
Rituals
While the rituals of the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its Stella Matutina offshoot were published in the early 1900s (1909-1910 [18][19] and 1937 [20] respectively), the rituals of the A+O remained secret until they were published in 2011.[21][22]
Challenges and legacy
Two famous members of the Alpha et Omega were Dion Fortune (pen name of Violet Firth) and Paul Foster Case. Dion Fortune was initiated into the Alpha et Omega in 1919 and eventually reached the grade of 2°=9□. With the approval of Moina Mathers, Fortune created an outer court for the A+O for the purpose of attracting prospective initiates, initially called the Christian Mystic Lodge of the Theosophical Society, as a "guise", and then later known by its formal title, the Fraternity of Inner Light.[23] In 1922, Dion Fortune published the Esoteric Philosophy of Love and Marriage. Moina Mathers considered this to be an unauthorized expose of secret teachings of the Alpha et Omega, and also, according to author Francis X. King, became concerned about Dion Fortune's increasing skill with astral travel and reception of "trance messages from Masters of the Western Tradition" (see Secret Chiefs). This conflict eventually resulted in Dion Fortune’s expulsion from the Alpha et Omega.[23] Fortune later joined the Stella Matutina and attained the grade of 5°=6□. Her expulsion from the A+O and transfer to the S.M. Order occurred while she was simultaneously running her own occult school, which became better known as the Society of the Inner Light.[24][25]
In 1918, Paul Foster Case was initiated into the Thoth-Hermes Temple of the Alpha et Omega under the direction of Michael Whitty.
Langford-Garstin was particularly annoyed with the publication of Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn in 1934,[31] a set of four large volumes detailing, according to King, "the majority of the Golden Dawn manuscripts". The first volume of the set contained the knowledge lectures of the Outer Order. King claims that the publication of this had a shattering effect on the Alpha et Omega as well as on the Stella Matutina.[32]
In 1966 a box with some magical tools of the Order of A+O was found on the beach after the cliff gave way dropping them into the sea; a photograph was published in the Daily Telegraph with a notation that they had belonged to a witch.[33]
Members
- Paul Foster Case, an American occultist
See also
- Cipher Manuscripts – Collection of 60 folios regarding magical initiation rituals
- Magical organization – Organization for the practice of occult magic
References
Notes
- ^ McKeown 2001: "The Golden Dawn ceased to exist by that name after October, 1901, replaced by Mathers' Alpha et Omega and the London group’s Order of the Morgan Rothe. No longer associated with the SRIA after 1902, Mathers continued to oversee a few temples until his death, when his wife, Moina, assumed supervision."
Citations
- ^ King 1971a, p. 43.
- ^ a b Cicero & Cicero 2002.
- ^ Greer 1985, pp. 160–63, 244, 263–264, 350.
- ^ King 1971a, pp. 110–111.
- ^ a b King 1971a, p. 111.
- ^ King 1971b, p. 195.
- ^ Colquhoun 1975, pp. 52.
- ^ Greer 2003, p. 19.
- ^ Greer 1985, pp. 160–63, 244, 263–64, 350.
- ^ Farrell 2011, p. 1.
- ^ King 1989, pp. 141.
- ^ a b Farrell 2011, p. 55.
- ^ Colquhoun 1975, p. 139.
- ^ Colquhoun 1975, p. 40.
- ^ Colquhoun 1975, p. 8.
- ^ Colquhoun 1975, p. 45.
- ^ Farrell 2011, p. 59.
- ^ Crowley 1909, pp. 217–334.
- ^ Crowley 1910, pp. 133–280.
- ^ Regardie 2002.
- ^ Farrell 2011.
- ^ Cicero 2012.
- ^ a b King 1971a, p. 143.
- ^ Greer 1985, pp. 355–57.
- ^ King 1989, p. 143.
- ^ a b c Greer 2003, p. 88.
- ^ Greer 1985, pp. 352–53.
- ^ Greer 1985, pp. 350–5.
- ^ King 1971a, pp. 141–142.
- ^ Clark 2013, p. 89.
- ^ King 1989, p. 154.
- ^ King 1989, p. 155.
- ^ King 1971a, pp. 154–155.
Works cited
- Cicero, Chic; Cicero, Sandra Tabatha (10 May 2002). "Golden Dawn Time Line". Llewellyn Encyclopedia.
- ISBN 978-0-9795177-1-6.
- Clark, Paul A. (2013). Paul Foster Case. His Life and Works. Fraternity of the Hidden Light. ISBN 9780971046948.
- ISBN 978-0854350926.
- ISBN 978-0877289265.
- Crowley, Aleister (1910). The Equinox, Vol 1, Issue 3 (Facsimile ed.). Weiser/Red Wheel. ISBN 978-0877289265.
- Farrell, Nick. (2011). Mathers' Last Secret. Rosicrucian Order of the Golden Dawn. ISBN 978-0-9846753-0-2.
- Gilbert, Robert A. (1983). The Golden Dawn, Twilight of the Magicians. Aquarian Press. ISBN 0-85030-278-1.
- Greer, John Michael (2003). The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 978-1-56718-336-8.
- Greer, Mary K. (1985). Women of the Golden Dawn: Rebels and Priestesses (1st ed.). Park Street Press. ISBN 0-89281-607-4.
- ISBN 1-85327-032-6.
- King, Francis X. (1971b). Ritual Magic of the Golden Dawn. Destiny Books. ISBN 978-0-89281-617-0.
- King, Francis X. (1989). Modern Ritual Magic: The Rise of Western Occultism. Prisma Press. ISBN 1-85327-032-6.
- McKeown, Trevor W. (26 February 2001). "Samuel Liddel MacGregor Mathers". Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon.
- ISBN 978-0875426631.
Further reading
- A.o.C., Fra. (2002). "A Short Treatise on the History, Culture and Practices of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn". Osogd.org. Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
- Armstrong, Allan; Gilbert, R. A., eds. (1997). Golden Dawn: The Proceedings of the Golden Dawn Conference, London – 1997. Hermetic Research Trust.
- Davis, Sally (6 August 2022). "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: Biographies of Members". Zenodo.org. . Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- Greer, Mary K.; Kuntz, Darcy (1999). The Chronology of the Golden Dawn. Holmes Publishing Group. ISBN 1-55818-354-X.
- Gilbert, Robert A. (1998). Golden Dawn Scrapbook: The Rise and Fall of a Magical Order. ISBN 1-57863-037-1.
- ISBN 0-87728-369-9..
- Kuntz, Darcy, ed. (1996). The Complete Golden Dawn Manuscript. Golden Dawn Studies. Translated by Darcy Kuntz. Holmes Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1558183254.
- Regardie, Israel; et al., eds. (1989). The Golden Dawn: A Complete Course in Practical Ceremonial Magic. Llewellyn. ISBN 0-87542-663-8.
- ISBN 0-87728-700-7.