Roots of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

In my book over the Bavarian Illuminati it was established that the Gold- und Rosenkreutz [Golden and Rosy Cross] were the enemies of the Illuminati and vice versa. Why? 1) They were competitors for initiates; 2) Illuminati were rationalists and outright worshippers of reason, while the Rosicrucians pursued mysticism and theosophy and indulged in all manner of practical occultism (séances, theurgy, thaumaturgy, astrology, sorcery, kabbalistic magic and alchemy), which the Illuminati frowned upon, to say the least; 3) and the fact that the Rosicrucians were also aligned with the obscurantists of religious orthodoxy, the Jesuits, and recruited members from among its ranks.


A short overview of the “esoteric transmission” from the Golden and Rosy Cross can be had here. The Golden Dawn’s grade system is identical to that of the earlier 18th century secret society, and they benefited from “the entire esoteric corpus of this essential Rosicrucian order.”

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