by Dean F. Wilson

Created on: September 18, 2008

The history of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has been dealt with in a number of books, not least of all Ellic Howe's Magicians of the Golden Dawn. However, as each new scholar approaches the subject or old scholars publish a new book more and more papers, photographs, documents, and letters are published. "Revelations of the Golden Dawn", by R. A. Gilbert (a republication of The Golden Dawn Scrapbook) is just one of these examples, giving a brief look at the history of the Order, replete with some interesting source material.

The book itself is 200 pages, with seven chapters, an introduction, and a small index and bibliography. The history itself is not extensive, and only deals with some of the more pivotal moments, but Gilbert himself admits this, stating "it is not intended to be a documentary history of the Order This book is intended simply to provide an overview of the Order, and to tell its story through the lives and actions (or inactions) of its members." Thus, this book is mainly for those inquisitive for more details regarding certain aspects (primarily the matters of scandal, schism, and intrigue) of the Order's history (because, despite what Gilbert says, it deals with the history, not the practice, of the Order). It is of little value to the non historically-inclined magician, as Gilbert also expresses: "it is not designed to be a manual or practical instruction", but there is much of value here, primarily in the printing of letters and scans of Order documents, including by-laws, temple summons, notices, circulars, warrants, pledges, extracts from ritual journals, and even a few scans of Westcott's Tarot designs. All of these give us a better idea of how the original Order operated, and allows modern Golden Dawn magicians to correct any errors that have crept into their own material (via the mistakes in Regardie's book and other earlier sources).

However, there is an issue with R.A. Gilbert himself, and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about him, because I'm not entirely sure how he feels about the Golden Dawn system and magicians in general. I know that it would be nave to assume that a historian would be interested in magic, and it is perhaps good that he is not, to ensure a more unbiased view. However, it seems that Gilbert is sympathetic at times and rather dismissive at others. In his introduction he states that "there are adepts, possessed of the necessary dedication and integrity to revive the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and

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