The Order of the Golden Dawn

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 06 Feb 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Emiac	06 Feb 2004
you know, I've heard that the Order of the Golden dawn only lasted 15 years. What's happened to all of the teachings 'n' stuff then? Is anyone going to revive it?

HOLMES	06 Feb 2004
your question about the gd is more of a spiritual matter to encompass the overall question, yes it has been revived in some parts of the world, the makers of the magical golden dawn tarot would be good people to ask, the writings of the golden dawn have been made public such as isreal regardie huge book on the golden dawn. tarot wise, there is a golden dawn tarot made by robert wang, the magical golden dawn tarot made tarot of cermonial magick by lon milo duquette in fact it is more then ever in the tarot world but for the beginner they do not see, that most decks are based on either the paul foster case, the waite, the thoth , which are based on the golden dawn, which in itself was based on the classic tarot of marsielles or so they say. for such an influental sect to exist as gold dawn did would probaly never happend , simply due to the fact there is only king of rock and roll, one hank williams, and so one golden dawn. but it doesn't mean there couldnt' be a silver night , :O)

jmd	06 Feb 2004
The Golden Dawn has in fact lasted far longer than fifteen years. What occured were factions which split off - but continued to work in various ways - and these factions again split off, merged with other impulses, split again, etc. Golden Dawn Temples and groups are still in existence, many with what may be called 'apostolic' succession. In New Zealand, the Zalewskis have continued to maintain a working group (they were also the ones who initiated Israel Regardie into the 7=4 grade), and with Regardie (who put together much of the GD's formerly closed rituals, scrolls and notes), others have also formed GD working Temples (mainly in the USA). The UK continues to have working Temples descendents of GD. Here in Melbourne, there are at least two working groups, one of which stems more from the deviations which Crowley introduced, the other which seeks to maintain more closely Regardie/Zalewski (which vary a little) rituals and impulse - though I have lost contact with each group a number of years ago, so it is possible, though unlikely, that they have ceased functioning. Even more variations exists amongst Temples in the USA and the UK. As with any area of interest, it is wise to read widely and become familiar with what is being offered - though most people are benign, there are certainly a small number who would take advantage of the gullible. With regards to Tarot within the Golden Dawn (to bring this thread to the Forum's raison d'etre), there are a variety of texts and decks which pertain to the order, either directly or indirectly. Indirectly, many popular decks have gone through the treadmill of GD allocations, including the RWCS (Rider/Waite/Colman Smith) and, with some further modifications, the Crowley/Harris Thoth. Waite and Crowley were each at some time members of the GD, and each also set up their own Order based on the GD, with different orientation and peculiar modification. Hope this helps a little more :)

The The Order of the Golden Dawn thread was originally posted on 06 Feb 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.