Golden milk for the masses

“The Essential Golden Dawn” is a good introduction to the history, philosophy and rituals of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a British occult society which flourished during the 1890's. Although soon torn apart by personality conflicts and ideological differences, the Golden Dawn nevertheless plays a role in modern Western esotericism second only to the Theosophical Society.

Former members of the order and its off-shoots include Dion Fortune, Aleister Crowley, Charles Williams, A. E. Waite, Paul Foster Case, Arthur Machen and Nobel Prize laureate W. B. Yeats. Another well known ex-member was Israel Regardie, who revealed the Golden Dawn's secret rituals in 1937, ironically in order to protect them from being forgotten or distorted by the dying fragment of the original society. The authors of this book, Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero, have attempted to resurrect the Golden Dawn, apparently with the blessings of Regardie.

Since “The Essential Golden Dawn” also contains introductory chapters on Hermeticism and the history of Western esotericism, the book can be read with some benefit even by people who aren't specifically interested in the Golden Dawn's system. Those fascinated by secret societies will find the sections on the Golden Dawn's initiatory rituals to be of particular interest (yes, you really are supposed to lie down in a coffin!). Some magical rituals are described and the authors reveal some of the subjects taught in the higher grades of the order, including astral travel, scrying and Enochian magic. The Ciceros also reveal something I have suspected for a long time: the legend of Christian Rosenkreuz is an allegory for the life of Christ.

After trying to digest John Michael Greer's Qabalah book “Paths of Wisdom” twice without succeeding very well, I found “The Essential Golden Dawn” a good praeparatio evangelica, so I give it four stars. This may not be meaty enough for the hard core occultist, but it's certainly golden milk for the masses!