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Alpha et Omega

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The Alpha et Omega was an occult order founded in Paris by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in 1906. Mathers was a co-founder and Chief of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was founded in England in 1888. Mathers founded the Alpha et Omega in response to a rebellion of Adepts in London and an ensuing public scandal which had brought the name of the Golden Dawn into disrepute.[1]

Background and history

In 1900, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was rocked by disagreements between Dr. Edward Berridge and Annie Horniman, culminating in a rebellion of the Adepts of the Isis-Urania Temple No. 3. This was quickly followed, in 1901, by a scandal involving impostors using Golden Dawn materials for unseemly ends, culminating in the name of the Golden Dawn being dragged through the mud in the courts and in the press, and provoking further schism within the Order. In 1906, therefore, S.L. MacGregor Mathers summarily closed the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and founded the Alpha et Omega.[2]

Two temples in Great Britain remained loyal to Mathers and joined the Alpha et Omega, one in London and the other in Edinburgh. The former Golden Dawn temples in the United States; Thme No. 8 in Chicago and Thoth-Hermes No. 9 in New York City; each remained loyal to Mathers during the schism and became part of the Alpha et Omega as well.[citation needed]

Elsa Barker, a poet and author who traveled frequently between Europe and the USA, became Mathers’ emissary to the American temples of the A.O. For example, the minutes book of the Ahathoor temple mentions that, on July 3, 1911, just prior to Elsa Barker’s return to the USA, Mathers had received applications from 9 members to form a new temple, Neith Temple No. 10.[citation needed]

By 1913, Mathers was presiding over at least five Temples of the Alpha et Omega; the original Isis-Urania Temple No. 3 (with 23 Inner Order members by 1913), presided over by Dr. Berridge, the Ahathoor Temple No. 7 in Paris led by Mathers himself, the Amen-Ra Temple No. 6 in Edinburgh, presided over by John William Brodie-Innes, the Thme Temple No 8 in Chicago, The Thoth Hermes Temple No 9 in New York, presided over by Michael Whitty, and the Neith Temple No. 10 in New York. When Mathers died in 1918, he was succeeded by his wife, Moina Mathers in cooperation with J. W. Brodie-Innes.[3]

Two famous members of the Alpha et Omega during this period were Dion Fortune (Violet Firth) and Paul Foster Case. Dion Fortune was initiated into the Alpha et Omega in 1919 and eventually reached the grade of Portal. With the approval of Moina Mathers, Fortune created an outer court for the A+O called the Inner Light. In 1922, Dion Fortune published the Esoteric Philosophy of Love and Marriage. Moina Mathers considered this to be an unauthorized expose of secret teachings of the Alpha et Omega, which eventually resulted in Dion Fortune’s expulsion from the Alpha et Omega. Fortune later joined the Stella Matutina and was directly admitted into the Portal Grade. She later went on to found her own occult school, known as the Society of the Inner Light.[4][5]

In 1918, Paul Foster Case was initiated into the Thoth-Hermes Temple of the Alpha et Omega under the direction of Michael Whitty. On May 16, 1920, Case was initiated into the Alpha et Omega's Second Order, and was made a Minor Adept on June 6, 1920. Upon Michael Whitty’s death, Paul Foster Case became the Praemonstrator of Thoth Hermes Temple. Shortly thereafter, Moina Mathers wrote to Case criticizing him for discussing teachings concerning esoteric sexuality in the presence of outer order members which provoked Case’s resignation as Praemonstrator.[6] When Case began to question certain fundamental teachings of the order, including the system of Enochian magic, Case encountered increasing friction with the Chiefs of Thoth-Hermes temple. In December, 1921, Case therefore wrote to Moina Mathers asking for permission to demit from Thoth-Hermes temple, but was expelled by Mathers instead in January, 1922. Case went on to found his own esoteric school, known as the Builders of the Adytum.[7]

Three other American temples of the Alpha et Omega were founded after the First World War: Ptah No. 10 in Philadelphia in 1919, Atoum No. 20 in Los Angeles in 1920, and Themis No. 30 in San Francisco in 1921.[citation needed]

E.J. Langford-Garstin and Mrs. Tranchell-Hayes took control after the death of Moina Mathers.[8] They were particularly annoyed with the publication of Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn,[9] the first volume of which contained the knowledge lectures of the Outer Order and therefore had a shattering effect on the Alpha et Omega as well as on the Stella Matutina.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Greer, 1995, pp. 160-63, 244, 263-264, 350
  2. ^ Greer, 1995, pp. 160-63, 244, 263-64, 350
  3. ^ King, 1989, pg. 141
  4. ^ Greer, 1995, pp. 355-57
  5. ^ King, 1989, pg. 143
  6. ^ Greer, 1995, p. 352-53
  7. ^ Greer, 1995, pp. 350-5
  8. ^ King, 1989, page153-154
  9. ^ King, 1989, page 154
  10. ^ King, 1989, pages 155

References

  • Gilbert, Robert (1983). The Golden Dawn, Twighlight of the Magicians, Chapters 5, 6, & 7, "Emanation." ISBN 0-85030 278-1
  • King, Francis (1989). Modern Ritual Magic: The Rise of Western Occultism. ISBN 1-85327-032-6
  • Greer, Mary K. (1995). Women of the Golden Dawn: Rebels and Priestesses. ISBN 0-89281-607-4
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