SLM Mathers (1854-1918) & The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Mathers was born on 8 January 1854 in Hackney, London. After his father died he lived with his mother at Bournemouth. Later in life he was to claim that he was descended from the Jacobite Ian Macgregor of Glenstrae.

Mathers made a number of scholarly translations of magical texts including, The Key of Solomon the King, The Grimoire of Armadel, The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage and portions of The Zohar, one of the principle texts of Jewish mysticism.

On 4 October 1877 Mathers was initiated into the Freemasons, becoming a Master Mason on 30 January 1878. This status enabled him to join the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SocRos) where he met William Wyn Westcott and William Robert Woodman. These three men were to become the co-founders of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

William Wyn Westcott (1848 – 1925) was born in Leamington, Warwickshire. His parents died before he was ten years old and he was subsequently adopted by his uncle, a surgeon called Richard Westcott Martyn. Westcott studied medicine at University College, London, and became a qualified physician in 1871. He worked with his uncle as a partner in a practice in Somerset before being appointed coroner for North East London. He joined a Masonic lodge in Crewkerne and by 1880 was a leading member of the SocRos.

William Robert Woodman (1828 – 1891) was also a physician and a member of the SocRos. In 1867 he was secretary of the Rosicrucian Society, becoming Supreme Magus in 1878.

As for the origins of the Golden Dawn Westcott claimed that he had discovered an old, coded manuscript in a Farringdon Road bookshop in 1887. This paper, he alleged, gave the name and address of a Fraulein Sprengel, a Rosicrucian adept living in Nuremburg, Germany. This manuscript was also said to contain a number of mystical rituals which were subsequently expanded by Mathers. Westcott wrote to Fraulein Sprengel and was authorised by her to found the Isis-Urania Temple of Die Goldene Dammerung.

This led to the creation, in 1888, of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn by Mathers, Westcott and Woodman. Each member of the Order was known by a magical motto which they chose on joining. Mathers chose Deo Duce Comite Ferro (With God As My Leader And The Sword As My Companion), Westcott was Sapere Aude (Dare To Be Wise) and Woodman was known as Vincit Omnia Veritas (Truth Rules All).

Further temples were established in England, New Zealand and Paris. Notable members included scholar A.E Waite (Sacramentum Regis), poet William Butler Yeats (Demon est Deus Inversus), actress Florence Farr (Sapientia Sapienti Dono Data), author of supernatural fiction Arthur Machen, and the writer Allan Bennett (Yehi Aour).

The Golden Dawn had a hierarchical degree structure based on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The Golden Dawn was considered the outer order and consisted of the first four degrees. The inner order, Ordo Rosae et Aureae Crucis (The Rose of Ruby and Cross of Gold) consisted of a further three degrees which were held by Mathers, Westcott and Woodman. This order was based on the myth and symbolism of Christian Rosenkreutz. Above this there were another three degrees, those of the Argentium Astrum (Silver Star), which could be held only by the unknown hidden chiefs on the astral plane. The teachings of the Order included magic, alchemy and astrology. These were taught in theory in the outer order and put into practice in the inner order.

Mathers was introduced to Madame Blavatsky by Anna Kingsford and was invited to join the Theosophical Society but he declined.

In 1890 Mathers married Moina Bergson and shortly afterwards they moved to Paris.

In about 1897 Westcott retired from the Golden Dawn, possibly due to pressure from some of his colleagues in the medical profession. However, this did not stop him from holding the position of Supreme Magus in the SocRos or later, in Durban, South Africa, becoming president of two Theosophical Society lodges. Westcott died on 30 June 1925.

Westcott’s retirement and Woodman’s death left Mathers as the sole inner order adept, holding the degree of Adeptus Exemptus.

Mathers was funded for a while by Annie Horniman, a member of the Golden Dawn herself, but this arrangement ended amidst disputes and Horniman being expelled from the Order in 1896. During further disagreements between Mathers in Paris and the other members of the Order in England, Aleister Crowley attempted to claim the Order’s London premises and papers on behalf of Mathers. However, this attempt failed and Mathers was himself expelled form the Golden Dawn after he revealed that Fraulein Sprengel and the cipher manuscript were both fictitious.

Mathers died on 20 November 1918.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (1900)
The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (Clavicula Salomonis Regis)
The Key of Solomon the King (Clavicula Salomonis)
The Kabbalah Unveiled
The Grimoire of Armadel



Sources

Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology, 5th Edition, J Gordon Melton, Gale Group 2001.
A History of Magic, Witchcraft & Occultism, WB Crow, Abacus (1968) 1972.
The New Believers: Sects, Cults & Alternative Religions, David Barrett, Cassell & Co 2001.
The Essential Golden Dawn: An Introduction to High Magic, Chic & Sandra Cicero, Llewellyn 2003.
The Golden Dawn Companion, RA Gilbert, The Aquarian Press 1986.

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