The Golden Dawn Scrapbook

The Rise and Fall of a Magical Order

by R. A. Gilbert

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn--the last, and greatest, flowering of the Victorian Occult Revival--embodied the quintessence of the Western Hermetic Tradition and gave it a unique, practical expression. Its rituals have been publicly available for some 60 years, while its history has been clinically dissected as an academic exercise. But the Golden Dawn was, above all, a living organism, and R. A. Gilbert presents a new perspective on the Order, bringing it to vibrant life through the lives and works of its founders and members.

Gilbert uses photos and personal letters never before seen or published, and describes the rituals, structure, and personalities involved with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, from its creation in the late 1800s to the ignominious dissolution of its hierarchy in the early 1900s. From the initial birth of the movement by founding members William W. Westcott, William R. Woodman, and Samuel L. MacGregor Mathers, through the sensationalistic press the Order received during the trial of the Horos, to its eventual breakup as each personality split the Order further apart--Gilbert offers an intimate and cohesive history of this much-maligned, and often misunderstood group. This is a story of fallible men and women who aspired to a new vision of reality. It is their very humanity--their weaknesses as well as their strengths--that gives to their Order a nobility, grandeur, and purpose it would have otherwise been denied.

"This is not a book for those who wish to put the founding members of the Golden Dawn upon the summit of some unrealistic, superhuman pedestal. It is not a book for those who believe that the likes of Westcott and Mathers are still alive, walking among us, and handing out charters. It is not a book for those who wish to make outrageous claims of direct institutional lineage to the original Golden Dawn. It is not a book for anyone who wishes to believe in such fables. This book deals with Reality.

This is a book for those who wish to gain a better understanding of the real roots of the Golden Dawn and those magicians who created the Order, as well as those who were drawn to it. This is a book for those who wish to learn the facts about the Golden Dawn from the world's leading Golden Dawn historian. This book, lavishly illustrated and full of accurate information, gives the reader the clearest picture to date of the Order's history, influence, and the men and women who gave it life."

-- Chic and Tabatha Cicero, authors of Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition

R. A. Gilbert is exceptionally qualified for his task. Not only is he the leading authority on the history of the Golden Dawn, but he also has unique and unrestricted access to every major Golden Dawn archive throughout the world. In addition to his many esoteric interests, he lectures frequently in the United States about the Golden Dawn and Masonry. His written works include The Golden Dawn: Twilight of the Magicians, The Golden Dawn and the Esoteric Section, The Elements of Mysticism, A. E. Waite: Magician of Many Parts, and The Golden Dawn Companion: A Guide to the History, Structure, and Workings of the Golden Dawn.

  The Golden Dawn Scrapbook
by R.A. Gilbert
(Samuel Weiser, Inc., Sept. 1997) Limited edition hardcover, over 80 illustrations, ISBN 1-57863-007-X  $24.95