The Legacy of Samuel Liddell Mathers and his role in the Founding of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

As stated in the first post in this series, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (HOGD for short) was founded by three men: William Wynn Westcott, Samuel Liddell Mathers, and Dr. William Robert Woodman. To better understand the order, this post takes on the task of understanding these men. We begin with Samuel Liddell Mathers. 

Mathers was born in 1854, in Hackney, London, and educated at Bedford School, a 7-18 “public” (i.e. private) school for boys. He did not go on to university, but instead took work as a clerk. In 1877, at the age of 23, he became a freemason, rising rapidly through the ranks to become a master mason in 1878. Thus he became eligible for membership in the English Rosicrucian Society, which he entered in 1882. [1]

The “Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia”, SRIA for short, had been founded as recently as 1867, and was (and is) rosicrucian only in its inspiration, not in its lineage. SRIA puts an emphasis on education and the study of spiritual and esoteric material. The following is quoted from a modern website presenting the society:

“Members are encouraged to read original papers or extracts from the works of others and to join in the discussions that arise. Members should be prepared, not only to take part in the Grade Ceremonies, but also to listen and learn and by study and giving to others the results of that study, to take an active part in working out the great problems of life and understanding the wisdom, art, and literature of the ancient world.” [2]

Mathers seems to have undertaken his studies with zeal, for in 1887 he published the book “Kabbalah Unveiled”, consisting of his translation (from Latin) of three books of the Zohar, along with his own exegesis of the Kabbalah. (Available online, [3])

The title page gives his name as “S. L. Mac Gregor Mathers”. By this time, he had added “Mac Gregor” to his name, in honor of an ancestor who fought for James IV of Scotland. (Footnote in Yates) It was also in SRIA that he met Woodman and Westcott, the two other founders of the HOGD. In his autobiographical works, William Butler Yates gives the following description of Mathers:

“At the British Museum Reading-Room I often saw a man of thirty-six, or thirty-seven, in a brown velveteen coat, with a gaunt resolute face, and an athletic body, who seemed, before I heard his name, or knew the nature of his studies, a figure of romance. Presently I was introduced, where or by what man or woman I do not remember. He was called Liddell Mathers, but would soon, under the touch of ‘The Celtic Movement’, become MacGregor Mathers, and then plain MacGregor.” [4]

If Yates’ estimate of Mather’s age were accurate, this meeting would have taken place around 1890, by which time Mather had already become Mac Gregor. However, Yates goes on to claim that he was admitted to the HOGD in 1887, whereas the real date was March 1890. In spite of these inaccuracies, there seems to be no reason to doubt his description of Mathers the man. Yates further explains:

“He had copied many manuscripts on magic ceremonial and doctrine in the British Museum, and was to copy many more in Continental libraries, and it was through him mainly that I began certain studies and experiences, that were to convince me that images well up before the mind’s eye from a deeper source than conscious or subconscious memory.” [4]

In fact, Mac Gregor’s researches would prove highly influential, in that they made available esoteric material that had until then been hard to access. After his book on the Kabbalah, he went on to publish translations of “The Key of Solomon the King” (1889), “The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage” (1900) and “The Lesser Key of Solomon” (1904). 

When Woodman died in 1891, Mac Gregor became the leader of the HOGD and served as such until 1900; however, he moved to Paris in 1892 and directed the order from there. In the notes to Yate’s autobiographical works, we read:

“He married Moina Bergson and received the support of her friend Miss Annie Horniman, a member of the Golden Dawn, who convinced her father to employ Mathers as curator of his museum at Forest Hill. Mathers lost this position in 1891, but received an allowance from Annie Horniman until 1896. Mathers moved with his wife to Paris on 21 May 1892 and opened the Ahathoor Temple.” [4]

He was finally expelled from the HOGD in 1900, following conflicts too tedious to recount here. Little seems to be known about his activities until his death in 1918. He lived in Paris until the end, and his death certificate gives no cause of death. Aleister Crowley, in his Confessions,  implies that Mac Gregor became an alcoholic, living in “sodden intoxication”. While there is nothing unusual about alcoholism, we must remember that Crowley was highly critical of Mac Gregor and his leadership, and quite possibly exaggerated his vices. Be that as it may, it is true that Mac Gregor published nothing in his later years. [1]

The protagonists of our story lived a century ago; what we know about them comes from their own writings of the writings of other occultists. The people personally involved in this story were all imaginative, creative, opinionated and quarrelsome, not overly concerned with something as prosaic as biographical accuracy. Our reconstruction, then, must be sketchy and tentative. When examining Mac Gregor Mathers, the picture that emerges is that of a hard-working scholar and occultist, with no academic credentials but with a serious interest in his subject and a willingness to study hard; a well-meaning but poor leader who would perhaps been happier and more productive in some other role than that he came to occupy. 

In the following posts, we will continue to examine the other key figures behind the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Sources:

Image: Von unbekannt - unbekannt, PD-alt-100, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2003715

Written sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Liddell_MacGregor_Mathers

2. https://sria-nwc.org.uk/what-is-the-sria.html

3. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.36728/page/n3/mode/2up

4. Autobiographies: The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats, Volume III. Edited by William H. O'Donnell and Douglas N. Archibald.