tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-965291110074390288.post3566686005324630140..comments2023-04-16T10:24:32.414+01:00Comments on Mishkan ha-Echad - Golden Dawn Blog by Frater Yechidah: Why Egypt?Frater Yechidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08630272924336872824noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-965291110074390288.post-26699911033271592182008-11-01T22:17:00.000+00:002008-11-01T22:17:00.000+00:00There isn't much authentically Egyptian about Flor...There isn't much authentically Egyptian about Florence Farr's *Egyptian Magic*, sadly. Farr continued the Renaissance error of viewing the Hermetic Corpus as ancient Egyptian, rather than as post-Chrsitian (the correct dating first assigned by Isaac Casaubon in 1614, according to Frances A. Yates, <I>Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition</I>, p. 398). <BR/><BR/>To this error she added the Romantic delusion--common in the 19th century--that history is peppered with "initiates" belonging to "ancient" secret societies. (However, this should not detract from the abundant evidence that Farr must have been an impressive ritualist--see, for example, W. B. Yeats's statement in his <I>Autobiographies</I> p. 149,that Farr had "an incomparable sense of rhythm and a beautiful voice," was "erudite in many heterogenous studies" and "driven by an insatiable, destroying curiousity.")<BR/><BR/>The meanings that Farr and the G.D. assign to Egyptian symbols has little or nothing to do with the meaning that the ancient Egyptians assigned to them.<BR/><BR/>Moreover, the writings of E. Wallis Budge --which were good for 100 years ago -- have been superseded. Unfortunately, they continue to be influential in occult circles because they are available in inexpensive Dover editions, whereas the works of more modern Egyptologists can be expensive and hard to find. But in recent decades very good works on Egyptian magic have become available in paperback, such as Geraldine Pinch's <I>Magic in Ancient Egypt</I> (British Museum Press, 1994; University of Texas Press edition, 1995). There is no longer any reason for occultists to repeat the G.D.'s and Budge's factual errors except willful ignorance.<BR/><BR/>One of the most perniciuos ideas is the baseless theory of the Egyptian origin of the tarot cards, first proposed by Count Antoine de Gebelin in 1781 and popularized by the French occultist "Eteilla" (real name: Alietta) two years later. For a good account of this fanciful bit of pseudo-history, see <I>Tarot Symbolism</I> by Robert V. O'Neill (Lima, Ohio: Fairway Press, 1986).<BR/><BR/>Were Florence Farr alive today, she would be sitting in the Reading Room of the British Museum, pouring over the latest work of Egyptology. Unfortunately, today most of people who are intersted in the occult are not of the calibre of Florence Farr Emery or her close friend, W. B. Yeats. Even Mathers and Westcott--though given to humbug--did try to make use of what the great European libraries had to offer.<BR/><BR/>Why is the original menaing of the Egyptian symbols relevant to magic? Well, according to certain magical theories (e.g., Yeats's), these symbols were empowered though millennia of continuous use in ancient Egypt (remember, the pyramids are as distant in time from Julius Casear as Caesar is from our own day). "Whatever the passions of man have gathered about becomes a symbol in the Great Memory, and in the hands of him who has the secret it is a worker of wonders, a caller-up of angels or of devils" (Yeats, "Magic", 1901). To use these ancient symbols without knowledge of their original Egyptian meanings, is like taking a powerful drug without knowing its properties.<BR/>--M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-965291110074390288.post-31583786637643759522008-10-19T16:56:00.000+01:002008-10-19T16:56:00.000+01:00Oh, I thought they focused on Egypt just cause any...Oh, I thought they focused on Egypt just cause anyone who could build pyramids like that must be pretty cool. I hope folks don't disagree with the Egyptian tradition just cause of that urban myth that says the pyramids were built by Martians.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09592301746655964163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-965291110074390288.post-31901207034575206322008-10-19T16:55:00.000+01:002008-10-19T16:55:00.000+01:00Oh, I thought they focused on Egypt just cause any...Oh, I thought they focused on Egypt just cause anyone who could build pyramids like that must be pretty cool. I hope folks don't disagree with the Egyptian tradition just cause of that urban myth that says the pyramids were built by Martians.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09592301746655964163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-965291110074390288.post-80637298282084612542008-10-14T20:53:00.000+01:002008-10-14T20:53:00.000+01:00What's interesting to note is that despite the hug...What's interesting to note is that despite the huge influence the Egyptian Revival, and the overall interest in antiquities during the victorian era many of these ideas are just flat out wrong. This whole connection with the ancient egyptians was done more out of a very romantic view then out of any historical fact.<BR/><BR/>Despite the fact that most of those past findings have been disproven about everything starting in Egypt its unfortunate that many people still believe so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-965291110074390288.post-62554245621763919942008-10-14T01:11:00.000+01:002008-10-14T01:11:00.000+01:00There was a general Egyptian revival going on in t...There was a general Egyptian revival going on in that time period. Farr wrote a small book on Egyptian Magic. It was assumed that the Egyptians were the root of the tradition, just like it was assumed centuries earlier by the Hermetics. <BR/><BR/>A better question would be why does Golden Dawn continue to use the Egyptian symbolism that they do despite the fact that it is outdated. Simple, it works really well. <BR/><BR/>And besides, there are people like me who really like using it.Morgan Drake Ecksteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09258538066497554895noreply@blogger.com