William Wynn Westcott

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Westcott in the regalia of the Rosicrucians

William Wynn Westcott (born November 17, 1848 in Leamington Spa , England , † July 30, 1925 in Durban , Republic of South Africa ) was an English doctor , author , Freemason , Rosicrucian , theosophist and one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn .

Live and act

Childhood, marriage, children, work

Westcott was born in Leamington Spa on November 17, 1848, the youngest of six children. In 1858 he lost both parents, whereupon his uncle Richard Westcott Martyn adopted him. He attended Kingston Grammar School in Kingston upon Thames (now a borough of London ) and graduated from University College London with a bachelor's degree in medicine . After this graduation he joined his uncle in 1871 as a partner in his medical practice in Martock (near Yeovil ), where he practiced as a doctor until his uncle's death in 1879. After a break in Hendon to study Kabbalah , Hermetics and Alchemy , he was appointed Deputy Coroner in Hoxton in 1881 and Chief Coroner for North East London and parts of Middlesex in the early 1890s . He held this office until his retirement in 1918.

On February 18, 1873, he married Elizabeth Burnett , the marriage had five children. Four of them died while he was still alive. Westcott is often referred to as Dr. Westcott described, as already mentioned, he graduated as Bachelor of Medicine , where and when he doctorate doctorate is unclear.

Freemason, Rosicrucian, Theosophist

In 1871 he joined Crewkerne in the local Masonic Lodge Parrett and Ax , and in 1874 the grand master of selected (Worshipful Master). In the following years he joined other Masonic lodges and organizations, such as the Lodge of Brotherly Love , Quatuor Coronati Lodge and the Lodge of Masonic Research .
Around 1880 he joined the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA), rose to general secretary in 1882 and reached the Supreme Magus there in 1892 .
In the early 1880s he joined the London Lodge and thus the Theosophical Society . In the 1890s he was also admitted to the Esoteric Section as a probationary candidate . Becoming acquainted with Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland in the Theosophical Society , he gave a series of lectures as an honorary member at the Hermetic Society , which had been founded by Kingsford and Maitland in May 1884 after they left the London Lodge.

The Golden Dawn

The establishment of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn took place under mysterious circumstances. According to Westcott, the theologian AFA Woodford found the so-called Cipher Manuscript in a cabinet owned by Kenneth Mackenzie in 1886 or 1887 , according to other sources Woodford is said to have found it in a London second-hand bookshop. However, this manuscript was coded and Woodford could not decipher it, so he gave it to Westcott, who is considered an expert. Westcott believed to recognize that the code resembled the one that had been used by Johannes Trithemius around 1500 , and he actually succeeded in deciphering it together with William Robert Woodman . The result was a sketchy initiation ritual in five degrees. The manuscript was also accompanied by a note, according to which one could find out more from a Ms. Anna Sprengel , chairwoman of the Rosicrucian Order, in Stuttgart ( Nuremberg ?). Westcott contacted Sprengel who is said to have authorized him to found a branch of the Rosicrucian Order in England called the Isis-Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn . In addition, Sprengel provided him with the necessary requirements and information for starting work in the Order. One day, however, the contact with Ms. Sprengel broke off, allegedly she had died and the other members of the German Rosicrucian Order were not prepared to provide any further support. So much for Westcott's statements. In reality, neither the existence of Mrs. Sprengel, let alone that of a German Rosicrucian order, has been proven to this day. The assumption is that Westcott invented the whole story in order to fake a tradition that is lost in the darkness of the past and thus to bathe the founding of the Golden Dawn in a mystical light. In any case, it was Westcott's intention to create his own esoteric order, he needed a tradition and this story, whether true or false, provided the necessary background.

The material in the hands of Westcott and Woodman, from whatever source they got it, was apparently too meager for any in-depth religious activity to be built upon. Despite years of preoccupation with the topic, the two’s own knowledge was apparently not enough to set up the necessary seamless inauguration ceremonies. This gap was filled by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers , who had great magical knowledge and probably also mediumistic skills. Mathers claimed to be in contact with beings (perhaps masters of wisdom ?) And to receive occult material from them. In any case, in the years that followed he wrote five extensive rituals, each of which served to initiate a degree . With this the order material should be complete and nothing stood in the way of the foundation. Westcott, Woodman and Mathers took a written religious vow on February 12, 1888, thus establishing the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn .

Westcott himself held the office of Cancellarius ( lat. Chancellor ), around 1890 he was Praemonstrator (lat. Office- holder , teacher ) and from 1892 Chief Adept ( Grand Master ). After some of Westcott's internal papers with occult content became public under unexplained circumstances, it aroused annoyance. The government advised him that working as a coroner and doing magic at the same time was viewed as incompatible. He drew the consequences from this and gave up his “official” position at the Golden Dawn in March 1897. Successor as Chief Adept was Florence Farr , but unofficially he was still active as a consultant.

The author

He left behind an extensive oeuvre of translations and his own works in the fields of medicine and esotericism, some under his pseudonym " Sapere aude ". In the medical field, he drew on his decades of experience as a forensic surgeon with around 10,000 cadaver openings. Here he dealt primarily with suicide and alcoholism . The most fruitful work he did in the field of esotericism. Among other things, he translated the Sefer Jezirah from the Hebrew and works by Éliphas Lévi . As an author, Westcott devoted himself to the subjects of astrology , divination , numerology , talismans , alchemy and theosophy . He was also the editor of a series of monographs entitled Collectanea Hermetica .

Last years and death

After retiring as a coroner in 1918, he emigrated to South Africa in 1920 with a daughter and her family , where he settled in Durban . Here he mainly devoted himself to writing, theosophical and Masonic topics were in the foreground. But even here he was still in writing in contact with Robert William Felkin , whom he supported with his New Zealand offshoot of Stella Matutina and Whare Ra . He died in Durban on July 30, 1925 at the age of 76.

Works (selection)

  • The numbers, their occult power and mystical meaning . Verlag Heliakon, Munich 2015, ISBN 9783943208252 .
  • A social science treatise, Suicide, etc. HK Lewis, London 1885.
  • An Introduction to the Study of the Kabalah . Cosimo, New York 2005, ISBN 1596053941 (reprint from 1910)
  • Collectanea Hermetica . Kessinger Publishing , Whitefish 1997, ISBN 156459260X (reprint from 1893–1896)
  • Rosicrucians, Past and Present, at Home and Abroad . Kessinger, Whitefish 1997, ISBN 1564597563 (reprint from 1915)
  • The Occult Power of Numbers . Newcastle Publishing Company, North Hollywood 1984, ISBN 0878770755 (reprint of 1890)

literature

  • Henri Clemens Birven : The Art of Living in Yoga and Magic . Origo Verlag, Zurich 1953.
  • Ithell Colquhoun: Sword of Wisdom, MacGregor Mathers and the "Golden Dawn" . Kersken-Canbaz, Bergen 1996, ISBN 3-89423-030-4 .
  • RA Gilbert: The Golden Dawn Scrapbook, The Rise and Fall of a Magical Order . Samuel Weiser, York Beach 1997, ISBN 157863007X .

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