Alpha and Omega

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Alpha et Omega or A∴O∴ denotes a successor order that emerged from the Golden Dawn and was founded around 1900/1903. Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers , one of the founders of the Golden Dawn, united under this name those temples that had remained loyal to him after the secession of the adepts of the London mother temple Isis-Urania . In its active years, the Order had three temples in Great Britain and others in France and the United States .

Well-known members of the A∴O∴ were Paul Foster Case , the later founder of the Builders of the Adytum , and Dion Fortune , the later founder of the Fraternity of the Inner Light .

history

The A∴O∴ saw itself as the only legitimate successor to the Golden Dawn, while the Stella Matutina was viewed as illegitimate. Immediately after the rebellion of the London mother temple Isis-Urania, Berridge collected all the Mathers still loyal adepts in the newly founded Isis temple. Critics point out, however, that William Wynn Westcott , also one of the founders of the Golden Dawn, although he also initially joined the Temple of Isis, was at the same time connected with the rebels and later until his death Robert William Felkin continued to build the Stella Matutina supported.

After the death of MacGregor Mathers on November 19, 1918, William Brodie-Innes took over together with Moina Mathers and Dr. Edmund Berridge led the order. However, this constellation of three lasted only a relatively short time, because after the deaths of Berridge († May 13, 1920) and Brodie-Innes († December 8, 1923) only Moina Mathers remained, who saw herself as the sole director. However, the A∴O∴ already seemed to have split up into two different branches that were hardly in contact with each other. Because right after her return to London in 1919, Moina Mathers took control of the London temples, while Brodie-Innes, who was the actual head of the A∴O∴, limited himself to his Scottish branch.

After Moina Mathers death († July 25, 1928), Isabel Morgan Boyd, her daughter Esme Boyd and Edward John Langford-Garstin took over the management of the London Isis Temple, which was officially closed at the beginning of the Second World War on the instructions of the "Secret Superiors" has been. The temple furnishings and textbooks were burned in the fire.

Some of the Alpha et Omega activities apparently continued into the 1970s, but paradoxically now under the domination of the Stella Matutina. Because Brodie-Innes had appointed Carnegie Dickson as his successor, who was at the same time head of all remaining British temples of the Stella Matutina, whereby the two branches were effectively reunited. In particular, the activities of the Hermes Temple in Bristol continued into the 1970s, although initiations had not been carried out since the 1960s.

Known members

In 1918 Paul Foster Case was moved to the Thoth Hermes Temple No. 9 in New York initiated and quickly rose to senior function. He was killed in 1922 because of differences of opinion, u. a. regarding sex magic, excluded by Moina Mathers.

Dion Fortune was placed in Alpha-et-Omega Temple No. 3 inaugurated in London. Because of various disputes with Moina Mathers, u. a. because of her work The Cosmic Doctrine she had to leave the A∴O∴, but later continued her training at the Stella Matutina .

Temple of A∴O∴

Altogether the following temples belonged to the A∴O∴:

  • Ahathoor No. 7, Paris
  • Isis, London (based on Isis-Urania No. 3 / Alpha et Omega No. 1) (1900 to approx. 1939)
  • Neith, London (1910 to 1912)
  • Alpha and Omega No. 2, Edinburgh (Amen-Ra No. 6 revived by Brodie-Innes)
  • Alpha and Omega No. 3, London , (southern branch of Alpha et Omega No. 2) (1914 to 1919)
  • Thme No. 8, Chicago
  • Thoth-Hermes No. 9, New York City
  • Ptah No. 10, Philadelphia
  • Atoum No. 20, Los Angeles

Organizations that emerged from Alpha et Omega

literature

English:

  • Nick Farrell: King Over the Water - Samuel Mathers and the Golden Dawn. Theoklesia 2012, ISBN 978-1-908705-01-3 .
  • Nick Farrell: Mathers Last Secret - The Rituals and Teachings of the Alpha et Omega. Rosicrucian Order Of The, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9846753-0-2 .

German:

  • Ithell Colquhoun : Sword of Wisdom, MacGregor Mathers and the "Golden Dawn". Kersken-Canbaz, Bergen 1996, ISBN 3-89423-030-4 .
  • John Michael Greer: Encyclopedia of Secret Doctrines. For the German-speaking area edited and supplemented by Frater VD Ansata Verlag, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7787-7270-8 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Alpha et Omega  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Nick Farrell: King Over the Water 2012. The BIRTH of the ALPHA et OMEGA , p. 115ff.
  2. ↑ a b Ceremonial Magic Unveiled by Dion Fortune in the Occult Gazette , January 1933. According to this, the Fraternity of the Inner Light was originally founded by Dion Fortune as a forecourt organization with Moina Mather's approval to attract new members to the A∴O∴. Unfortunately, this leads to the erroneous assumption that Moina Mathers authorized Dion Fortune to found a successor organization to the A∴O∴.
  3. ↑ Compare Ithell Colquhoun : Sword of Wisdom 1985. The author divides the various successor organizations of the original Golden Dawn into offspring of regular and irregular origins.
  4. ^ Mather's last instructions to his wife Archive link ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ a b Ceremonial Magic Unveiled by Dion Fortune in the Occult Gazette , January 1933. Here Dion Fortune reports how she was accepted into the southern branch of the Scottish Alpha et Omega in 1919, which, however, was dissolved shortly afterwards, which is why she was included in the group of Moina Mathers (Isis Temple) changed, which claimed to be the "more orthodox" of the two directions.
  6. ^ A b Nick Farrell: King Over the Water. 2012, p. 150f and P. 159.
  7. ^ A b Nick Farrell: King Over the Water. 2012, p. 155ff.
  8. ^ Pat Zalewski : Talismans & Evocations of the Golden Dawn. P. 93f .: According to this, Dion Fortune only achieved the grade of Theoriucus (2 = 9) in the AO, but continued her training in the Stella Matutina up to Adepus minor (5 = 6).
  9. ↑ Compare Ithell Colquhoun: Sword of Wisdom 1985. The author gives here a comprehensive list of the individual temples. Much of the data given here should be treated with great caution, however, as the author, a cousin of Edward Langford-Garstin, "only" collected a lot of "hearsay".
  10. ↑ Nick Farrell: King Over the Water. 2012, pp. 141ff. Neith Tempel under the direction of Dr. Henry Brasch and Mrs. De Bashe existed independently of Berridge's Isis Temple.