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First published in 1937, Israel Regardie's The Golden Dawnhas become the most influential modern handbook of magical theory and practice. In this new, definitive edition, noted scholar John Michael Greer has taken this essential resource back to its original, authentic form. With added illustrations, a twenty-page color insert, additional original material, and refreshed design and typography, this powerful work returns to its true stature as a modern masterpiece. An essential textbook for students of the occult, The Golden Dawnincludes occult symbolism and Qabalistic philosophy, training methods for developing magical and clairvoyant powers, rituals that summon and banish spiritual potencies, secrets of making and consecrating magical tools, and much more.… (more)
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Very briefly, the GD was a late XIX century England (victorian-edwardian) metaphysical initiatic-ritualistic organization congregating a wide eccletic corpus of mystical, occult and magic traditions from every continent. Its
Mr. Regardie was a late witness of the (already decadent) Order lore and rituals and managed to salvage most of it for posterity in this huge book (originally in two volumes).
Many Golden Dawn concepts were incomplete or inaccurate certainly due to dubious sources, convenient adaptations and incomplete studies. A minor example: as any latin subject knows (and calls them when playing any card game) historically the correspondence between Tarot suits and French-inspired modern ones is swords-spades, coins-diamonds (not clubs as in GD), sticks-clubs (not diamonds as in GD) and cups-hearts.
From the GD "tradition" a myriad of brotherhoods, orders and movements derived and many more certainly will come to be. Most of modern so-called "new-age lore" was, directly or indirectly, inspired on it. Two (undeservedly) influential tarot decks (Rider-Waite-Smith and Crowley-Toth) were created based on GD's creed and virtually every modern decks which appears every day follows the same trend.
Recommended to every occult-lore buff and historian.