CULT PROFILE: Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The largest occult society in England at the turn of the century and maybe even today, Hermatic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded by William Robert Woodman (1828-1891), William Wynn Westcott (1848-1925) and Samuel Liddel Mathers (1854-1918. All three founders were Freemasons.
Having a lodge basis with three levels of membership, the cult was steeped in the gaunt of Masonic and neo-Rosicrucian mysticism. Its practices were inspired by Qabalah (the Q is used to distinguish this cult from the Jewish Kabalah) and included spell casting, yoga, tarot, channeling and astrology. Hermeticism, alchemy and grimoires like the 13th-century Sefer Raziel HaMalakh and John Dee’s (1527-1609) Enochian magic. Famous members included William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) and Arthur Machen (1863-1947). The group is where Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) got his start, though left at odds to start his own philosophical system.
Day in the Life of an Aspirer 