Alchemical Rebirth within the Golden Dawn

In the old Golden Dawn, Apha et Omega and Stella Matutina, there little given out on alchemy, save for the fundamentals of Sulphur, Salt and Mercury. However, Mathers did do a forward to Homers Golden Chain and also did a 1907 translation of Splendor Solis. The problem was that alchemy as an ad hoc concept within the early Golden Dawn Orders and lacked any appropriate scaffolding to secure a proper foundation that fit within within the core teachings those orders adhered to. The alchemical Purifying Fire text that Westcott translated, and A. E. Waite lectured on, was symbolic alchemy, and also what could be called shambolic in approach without any thorough cohesive factors other than its obscure link to the Sephiroth, a point which noted Hebrew scholar Gershom Scholem, in his Alchemy and the Kabbalah, criticised as not being originally, kabbalistic in origin.

When I wrote the 1993 book, Kabbalah of the Golden Dawn, I utilised a three, seven and Twelve stage system of alchemical steps as a structure for applying the principle to both the tarot cards, the development of the paths of the King Scale colours and the Sepher Yetsirah as a baseline. This was developed further in 1999 with the first limited edition of our Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn, and the 2008 edition through Aeon Books which reached a far greater audience. The original formula was was also further amplified in the Inner Order Teachings of the Golden Dawn in 2006/2022 editions. Apart from the publication of this formula over a number of books, it was further expanded in my Golden Dawn course teachings to private students in the early part of this century. Many of those that I taught, had their own temples, so the formula was well known in Golden Dawn circles. Whether you want to class this as a revival is relative, but it certainly passes the smell test and is hardly a secret.

Now what exactly does this formula involve? The important thing to first remember is that

within alchemical steps, they have other steps embedded within in them, that have not fully matured as steps on their own, and that is the primary takeaway point. The other point to remember that the order of these steps often varies with different authors. The first three Primary alchemical steps are Separation (Air), Purification (Fire) and Cohobation (Water). These may appear basic, but Mathers knew otherwise when he did an official introduction to Homers Golden Chain to be used ritualistically and through a practical frame of reference of how the elements worked together in theory and practice.

The next level is the seven alchemical steps of Calcination(Mars); Sublimation(Jupiter); Solution (Venus); Moon (Putrefaction); Mercury (Distillation); Saturn (Coagulation/Earth) and the Sun (Tincture/Lapidation).

When reaching the twelve stage level, the Zodiac association leads the way forward. The hidden steps with the above seven are now fully matured. Aries(Reverberation); Taurus(Fixation); Gemini (Separation); Cancer (Circulation); Leo (Exaltation and Solution); Virgo (Dissolution); Libra (Imbibition/ Cohobation); Scorpio(Digestion); Sagittarius (Elevation); Capricorn (Cibation); Aquarius (Congelation) and Pisces (Conjunction/Impregnation). If you want to go further into the zodiac analysis- such as the Minor Arcana, then consult the Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn.

Now when you study these steps and compare them with others you will find a variety of orders and titles. The four alchemical colours, of Black, White, Yellow and Red are applied to the Court cards and also relate to the Four Worlds and are an overview. This is a fairly basic equation and is both agile and flexible and can easily be modified to suit the occasion where needed.