In which I give an interview for Magic Tool Box UK on their YouTube channel on the Golden Dawn.
Tag Archives: Golden Dawn
Monthly Mystical Alex Sumner Abramelin
In which I talk to Jacqueline Wilson of Magic Tool Box UK about all things Abramelin. You actually get to see what I look like in real life in this video, so those of a nervous disposition may want to look away now.
Filed under Supernatural
Why the secret symbols of magic and witchcraft fascinate us – BBC Culture
Why the secret symbols of magic and witchcraft fascinate us – BBC Culture
Why the secret symbols of magic and witchcraft fascinate us – BBC Culture
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The Light Extended: A Journal of the Golden Dawn (Volume 3)
The Light Extended: a Journal of the Golden Dawn (Volume 3)
You are now able to get hold of the new edition of “The Light Extended: A Journal of the Golden Dawn (Volume 3).” This features my own article, “Self Isolation in the Golden Dawn Tradition,” as well as other contributions from Tony Fuller, Adam P Forrest, Samuel Scarborough, and more.
This is currently available in paperback from Amazon in the USA, but is also available in the UK as well on import. To get your copy, click one of the links below now!
Thanks!
Filed under Books
“Self-Isolation in the Golden Dawn Tradition”
Coming soon: the third volume of “The Light Extended, a Golden Dawn Journal” will soon be published and features an article by myself entitled Self-Isolation in the Golden Dawn Tradition. It is essentially a memoir about how to run a working GD temple during a time of global pandemic.
The same volume also contains contributions from Tony Fuller, Samuel Scarborough, Jayne Gibson, Adam Forrest, Frater Yechidah, and others. It is published by Kerubim Press: more details as I get them.
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Review: When Magic Works – edited by Mike Crowson
When Magic Works, edited by Mike Crowson
This is a story of a number of people who are now Adepts, each discovering evidence of the paranormal for the first time, and from that, extrapolating a belief in the reality of Magic. It is a story of the trials and tribulations which initiates go through when progressing through the grades of the outer order. It is a record of the nitty gritty of what is really involved in summoning ones inner resources to put into a Portal thesis, when one attempts to practice Clairvoyance, of astonishing oneself when one succeeds in consecrating a talisman and making it work. It is in short a portrait of everyday life as a member of a magical order, with the qualification that – viewed by an outsider – nothing in this book is in fact “everyday.”
My favourite parts of the book are a guided meditation for Rising on the Planes, intended to demonstrate the work of a typical inner-order member, and which can be utilised as a practical exercise for oneself. Furthermore, there is a curious mention of what happened when a number of initiates used their powers of astral projection to form a side-project of people dealing with occult forces gone bad. I must confess here that I have spoken to the editor who has privately informed me that he deliberately held back on publishing the details of some of the more terrifying incidents in which this group got involved, which is a shame as from the sound of it their exploits would provide inspiration for a score of decent horror movies!
When Magic Works: The Inner Experiences of the Adepts of the UK Temples of the Golden Dawn 2003 – 2018. Edited by Mike Crowson. ISBN 978-1716408069. Available on Amazon and other book stores now.
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Alex Sumner’s answer to What tarot card is number 11? – Quora
(A2A) The answer to this has changed over the course of history.
In every Tarot deck inspired by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn – including, most importantly, the Rider Waite Deck – Tarot Key 11 is “Justice.” However in every other deck, including every deck devised before the Golden Dawn, Tarot Key 11 is “Strength.”
Confusingly, the Crowley Thoth deck, which undoubtedly is GD-inspired in part, has its equivalent of “Strength,” i.e. “Lust” as number 11, and the counterpart of “Justice,” i.e. “Adjustment” as Key 8. This is not, as some believe, because Crowley was using his ipsissimus super-powers to change the order of these two trumps, he was simply keeping the numbering found in ancient tarot decks.
VIII Adjustment, in the Crowley Thoth Deck. Numbered 8, but nevertheless attributed to Lamed and Libra all the same.
The reason there is any confusion at all is that the GD came up with the idea that if Keys 8 and 11 were Strength and Justice respectively, they would correspond to Leo and Libra, and if you put the Fool at the head of the Tarot Trumps, the whole sequence would qabalistically map onto the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Hence the innovation was made by the GD in making Justice number 11: Crowley just changed the numbering back – although he did retain the astrological signification.
Source: Alex Sumner’s answer to What tarot card is number 11? – Quora
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The Hermit’s Lamp: The Continuing Tradition of the Modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
A blog post written by Aaron Leitch – via The Hermit’s Lamp: The Continuing Tradition of the Modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
June 14, 2020 · 1:50 pm
I like astrology, but I don’t think tarot cards are necessary. Why do people use tarot cards for astrology?
From Quora.com
I like astrology, but I don’t think tarot cards are necessary. Why do people use tarot cards for astrology?
Alex Sumner’s answer:
(A2A) Astrologers do not necessarily use Tarot cards: Tarot readers might however use Astrology. For example, relating a Tarot card to an associated Astrological meaning might help a Tarot reader interpret a given tarot spread.
In the late 19th century, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn taught that because there are 22 major arcana in the Tarot, they can be allotted to the 12 signs of the Zodiac, 7 planets, and 3 of the Elements (Air, Water and Fire). The symbolism does actually make sense, e.g. “Justice” = Libra; “The Sun” = the Sun; “Death” = Scorpio (because Scorpio is equivalent to the 8th House, which is the House of Death); etc.
Furthermore, the Golden Dawn taught that the suits of the Minor Arcana correspond to the four astrological Triplicities; whilst there is a method of assigning the individual cards to the Zodiac which aids in clarifying their meaning.
The Six of Wands: Victory!
This card, for example, is associated with the second decan of Leo and the planet Jupiter, in the Golden Dawn system.
I say Astrologers do not necessarily use Tarot cards, but of course they may choose to do so nevertheless. One of the things I like to do is to do a Horary Astrological figure at the same time as doing a Tarot reading, on the basis that a Horary chart drawn up for the Time, Date and Place of a reading ought to corroborate the Tarot cards, or perhaps the cards might supply the details of how to interpret specific features of the chart.
Filed under Supernatural
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
Alex Sumner’s answer to How and where could I start to practice Magick? (14 years old) – Quora
I am now an experienced Ceremonial Magician. However, when I was fourteen years old myself, I got turned on to the occult not through reading occult books per se, but through Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, and the fiction of H P Lovecraft.
This is not so crazy as it may sound, since because Call of Cthulhu is based in a fictionalised version of the real world, the creators actually included a lot of historical data of real-life occult organisations and personalities such as Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Israel Regardie, the Golden Dawn, etc. Because this piqued my interest, I remembered them when I came to researching the occult seriously when I was older.
Indeed, several serious occultists I know claimed that they were first inspired to take up the dark arts after reading Dennis Wheatley novels. Dennis Wheatley actually met Aleister Crowley, although he was a bit of a hypocrite in that he told his readers not to get into the occult real-life, as it was a sure path to be enmeshed by the powers of darkness, etc.
So yeah, if you do your research, you will probably find that a lot of fiction is inspired by genuine occultism. A lot however is not. The one thing I would advise against doing is watching The Irregulars. This is probably one of the worst programmes out there when it comes to historical accuracy about occultism. Or about the Sherlock Holmes universe. Or indeed about life in Victorian England generally.
(NB: if you are on Netflix and you want to watch something decent about the occult, try The Midnight Gospel instead).
The Irregulars. Not as authentic as The Midnight Gospel
Source: Alex Sumner’s answer to How and where could I start to practice Magick? (14 years old) – Quora
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Tagged as Aleister Crowley, Call of Cthulhu, Dennis Wheatley, dion fortune, Golden Dawn, israel regardie, Midnight Gospel, netflix, quora, quora.com, The Irregulars