The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc® (H.O.G.D.) is a non-profit corporation which is closely related to a modern magical order of the same name. While bearing the same name as the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the modern order does not have direct descent or institutional lineage from the original order. The Order was established in the late 1970s and chartered in 1997 by a leading member of the Societas Rosicruciana in America, which itself has no verifiable direct links with the original order. The H.O.G.D.® provides certification to other modern organizations also following the Golden Dawn tradition.

The Order

The magical Order, The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, was founded in 1977 in Columbus, Georgia. It follows the traditional hierarchical structure of the original Golden Dawn Order in England with a ruling triad of Officers known as "Greatly Honoured Chiefs" who rule both the First or Outer Order as well as the Second or Inner Order (known as the Ordo Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis or the RR et AC). The modern Order also follows the traditional teachings, grade structure, and ethos of the original Order. Temple officers are known as Temple Chiefs. Although it has a worldwide membership with temples in several countries, the Order is private and membership is by invitation only.

Noted authors on the Golden Dawn Charles Chic Cicero and Tabatha Cicero are currently two of the G.H. Chiefs of the Order.

The Corporation

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc® (H.O.G.D.) is also the name of a non-profit organization incorporated in 1988 by Charles "Chic" Cicero in the state of Florida, which holds the U.S. trademark THE HERMETIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN & Design. Also known as Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., or just "The Florida corporation", it owns and maintains a website as well as a free online magazine dedicated to the Western Esoteric Tradition.

The Order and the corporation are related organizations, but they are not one and the same.

Teachings and goals of the Order

The modern Order promotes the teachings of the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a magical fraternity originally founded by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and William Wynn Westcott in London in 1888. Its stated goal is "the continued preservation of that body of knowledge known as Hermeticism or the Western Esoteric Tradition."

As such it considers itself a custodian of the Hermetic Tradition, keeping the knowledge of this tradition intact, while at the same time instructing those individuals called to the initiatory path of the Mysteries. The various strands of the Hermetic Tradition are said to include the ancient Egyptian, Græco-Egyptian, and Græco-Roman mystery religions, Neoplatonism, Iamblichan theurgy, Gnosticism, Qabalah, alchemy, Rosicrucianism, and Esoteric Christianity. This tradition holds a belief in both the macrocosm and the microcosm and seeks to comprehend both. It is ultimately monotheistic, although it conceives of the ultimate Divinity, which is both immanent and transcendent, as emanating through various forms and expressions. The modern-day Order promotes tolerance for all spiritual paths and holds to the fundamental Rosicrucian principle that spiritual wisdom is not a commodity but should be given gratis.

The First Order of the Golden Dawn is a school, providing a solid foundation where the student gathers the tools, building materials, and information necessary to:

1. receive an influx of Divine Light
2. establish an alignment upon the Qabalistic Tree of Life and correspondingly imprint the Tree within the psyche
3. stabilize the unbalanced portions of the psyche through Elemental equilibration
4. create the groundwork and solid substructure necessary for more advanced magical work in the Adept grades of the RR et AC.

Specific Teachings of the Order

According to the Ciceros' award winning book on the subject of the Golden Dawn: its history, teachings, principles, and ethics:

"There are several ways in which magic is applied in the Golden Dawn—in Qabalistic rites, divinations, consecration of talismans, skrying and visionary work, and so on. While the goal of a specific magical working might not seem entirely spiritual to the outside observer (such as performing a divination to ask a mundane question, or consecrate a talisman designed to attract the beneficent powers of the planet Jupiter) they are very important to the magician’s understanding of the theurgic arts. All of these methods are designed to give the Golden Dawn student a broad, working knowledge of the magical process, as well as providing safeguards and guidelines for what to do and what not to do in magic. The only way to really learn magic is through practice—aided with advise from experienced authors, teachers, and peers. The real objective of all of these procedures, as practiced by Golden Dawn magicians, is to gain esoteric knowledge in order to be better able to connect with the divine and complete the Great Work.

"The theurgy of the Golden Dawn is magic of the highest spiritual quality. It is not performed for vain amusements, self-aggrandizement, or personal power. Rather it is performed for true knowledge of the Divine Self and the betterment of humankind as a whole. This type of magic comes very close to true mysticism that transcends all religious dogmas—it is the best portion of all religions. The mystic seeks to rise within his inner being beyond the five senses to grasp the hidden nature of the universe and attain a direct experience of God or the Universal Reality. To accomplish this, the mystic employs meditation, contemplation, and prayer. The Golden Dawn magician also uses these methods, in addition to the techniques of ritual, invocation, etc. —the same theurgic techniques advocated by Iamblichus in the fourth century.

"Divine theurgy is an act of self-creation and self-union. It is an awakening of the human soul to its highest potential. Theurgy is a burning desire—a desire to dedicate one’s life to the search for divine knowledge. The magician seeks a deeply personal relationship with the Divine Self of the Universe. And this is accomplished through magic.

"The tools of magic are the human faculties of mind, willpower, aspiration, and imagination. When the human will is purified and in harmony with that of the Divine Source of the Universe, then the magician can cause change to occur in the physical realm 'in conformity with will.'

"Hermetic magic is a spiritual science—one of its basic principles states that the universe was created by a divine and eternal power, and that the essence of the universe is, indeed, divine. This magic is a specialized system of discipline that has a spiritual goal. It is a personal science based upon the fundamental knowledge of the true human being that lies beyond the illusion of the outer, secular human.

"The final objective of Golden Dawn ceremonial magic is the gradual purification of the student’s lower or outer personality and the realization of an elevated state of consciousness, so that the Magician's ego gradually enters into a union with his or her own Higher Self and ultimately with the Divine. Every action, idea, and utterance in any ceremony is designed to bring about this final conclusion. Each and every detail of a Golden Dawn ritual serves to remind the operator of this single goal. Every impression, by means of a Hermetic and Qabalistic system of associated ideas, is made the beginning of a sequence of interrelated thoughts that culminate in the ultimate aim of the ceremony. When this is truly accomplished, and the perfect moment of spiritual euphoria is achieved, a clear and open channel is created between the intellectual mind and the soul, concluding in an increased concentration of magical potentialities, awareness, and the exaltation of the true and divine nature of the magician."

Critical safeguards of the Golden Dawn system as practiced by the Order

Following the scheme of the original Golden Dawn, very little in the way of practical magic is taught to students in the Outer Order, in which students are instead required to learn the rudiments of occult knowledge.

"The primary reason for this by far is so that the student’s psyche is not overwhelmed by the spiritual forces being awakened in it by the alchemical process of initiation—a delicate process which, if botched, can result in the all too common scourge of ego-inflation and infantile megalomania. Unfortunately a good percentage of magicians persist in disrespecting the Golden Dawn’s time-honored initiatory process and in ignoring the essential safeguards built into the system by its very founders.

When the Golden Dawn’s initiatory process of alchemical separation, dissolving of psychological impurities, and recombination is not allowed to run its course to completion — when students seek to rush through the grades without attending to the work of the soul — then the process is never completed and no true reintegration occurs. The result is often an over-inflated ego and messianic complexes, as well as countless magicians claiming to be the reincarnation of Crowley or Mathers."

The Order considers ego-inflation to be a major danger in magical work, both within the Golden Dawn tradition and elsewhere, since in the process of broadening awareness and awakening latent abilities, the magician can also re-awaken the mechanism of infantile megalomania by which, as children, we believed that the world revolved around us.

"The work of the soul must take precedence over any desire to speed up the process. Divine Light cannot be poured into broken vessels — and we are all broken vessels until we decide to take the steps necessary for our own restoration. It is for this reason that the First Order student should refrain from performing the more advanced magical operations of the Second Order. Such techniques have a very powerful effect on the psyche, and combined with the effect of elemental fragmentation caused by the Outer Order grades, they can put additional stress on the student’s etheric body."

History of the Order

The history of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (Order), began in 1977 with the founding of the Isis-Urania temple in Columbus, Georgia:

"In 1977 a certain Frater S (Chic Cicero) and his wife established an autonomous Golden Dawn temple in Columbus, Georgia, since there was no longer a functioning Order of the Golden Dawn. At this time Frater S. began construction of the Vault of the Adepti, the powerful ritual chamber required for a valid initiation into the Adeptus Minor grade of 5=6."

According to author Gerald Suster, this temple was the only working Golden Dawn temple in the United States at the end of the 1970s.

An account of these events have been published in an article by Charles "Chic" Cicero:

"My business was going well, and it gave me the resources and time that I needed to begin building a Golden Dawn Temple. In 1977 I rented an old house that would be used only for the temple. (…) We immediately began to transform the house into a Golden Dawn temple. The two things I started to build right away were the Neophyte Hall and the Vault of the Adepti. (…) When the Neophyte Hall was finished, we initiated ourselves into the 0=0 grade. We then initiated about fourteen other people who wanted to become members of our temple. We called our temple Isis-Urania, after the original London temple of Mathers, Westcott and Woodman. (…)"

According to published accounts, Chic Cicero was one of the key people who helped Israel Regardie resurrect a legitimate, initiatory branch of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the early 1980s. In June of 1982, Israel Regardie traveled to the Isis-Urania temple in Columbus, Georgia to take on the offices of Initiating Hierophant and Chief Adept in the temple's Vault of the Adepti. During the visit, Regardie initiated two people into the Adeptus Minor grade and a third into the Neophyte grade. Neither of those individuals on that occasion were Chic Cicero or his wife. During this time, Regardie also consecrated the Cicero's Vault of the Adepti and established the Second Order. Following this meeting, Chic Cicero, Cris Monnastre and another Frater began working together in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. A series of letters that Regardie wrote to Chic Cicero and the Isis-Urania temple can be found online.

In 1997, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was given a charter by the former Imperatrix of the Societas Rosicruciana in America as “having been duly accepted, recognized and elected to carry on all esoteric lineages and authorities presently in the trust of this Order.” One of the lineage affiliations listed on the charter is that of the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.” The SRIA was founded with some help from Dr. Wynn W. Westcott. Israel Regardie was initiated into the Neophyte and Zelator grades of the SRIA in 1926 and 1927 respectively, as confirmed by the Minutes Book of the SRIA. The SRIA used Golden Dawn rituals and called itself “the Congregation of the Golden Dawn of the Outer” since its inception in 1909.

It was been suggested by prominent Golden Dawn historian R. A. Gilbert that Regardie's initiations into the SRIA in 1926 and 1927 respectively might have been recognized by the primary remnant of the original Golden Dawn in England (Hermes Temple in Bristol) when he was initiated there in 1933:

"The most famous non-Christian member (of the SRIA) was undoubtedly Israel Regardie who joined the Washington College in 1926 and was welcomed as a visitor to the meetings of the Metropolitan College during his brief sojourn in the Society. His membership may have also been the most significant event in the Society’s history. What has never been clear about Regardie’s involvement with the Golden Dawn is just how and where he was initiated. The presence of substantial slabs of Golden Dawn ritual in the S.R.I.A. ceremonies—and the open use of titles on its documents; petitions for example, were for ‘Acceptance in the Congregation of the G.D. of the Outer, Societas Rosicruciana in America’—would have convinced Regardie of the validity of his initiation and justified his later entry into the Stella Matutina. But in the absence of further documents this must remain as speculation.”

Goals of the Florida Corporation

According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc.'s official website, H.O.G.D. (the corporation) promotes the teachings of the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a magical fraternity originally founded by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and William Wynn Westcott in London in 1888. The stated goal of the organization is educational, spiritual, and philosophical. The website also states that their goal is "the continued preservation of that body of knowledge known as Hermeticism or the Western Esoteric Tradition." H.O.G.D. works to promote the research, study, and teachings of the Golden Dawn tradition and the Western Esoteric Tradition in general, as well as the Hermetic philosophy described in the written works of S. L. MacGregor Mathers, Dr. W. Wynn Westcott, Dr. Israel Regardie and others. H.O.G.D. also provides student referrals to various other groups in the Hermetic Tradition.

History of the Corporation

In 1988, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc. was incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Florida, with Chic Cicero listed as its registered agent and President.

Trademark and Certification

In 1995, the Florida corporation filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the logo and design for "The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn." The trademark registration was granted in 1997. The Florida corporation has been and continues to be the sole and exclusive owner of United States Trademark Registration No. 2,034,866 for their mark THE HERMETIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN & Design.

According to the organization's website, the corporation grants certification to use the name "Golden Dawn" to a number of completely independent groups. The corporation's stated policy with respect to these groups is that it has "no desire to interfere with the esoteric teachings or administration of such organizations."

H.O.G.D.'s website lists the following organizations as having received certification:

• The Ordo Stella Matutina / Sanctuary of Ma'at Order of the Golden Dawn
• The Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn
• Sodalitas Rosae Crucis et Solis Alati
• The Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn (formerly known as The Hermetic Order of the Morning Star)

External links

• Website of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc ®