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It sometimes strikes me that the whole of science is a piece of impudence; that nature can afford to ignore our impertinent interference. If our monkey mischief should ever reach the point of blowing up the earth by decomposing an atom, and even annihilated the sun himself, I cannot really suppose that the universe would turn a hair.
-- Aleister Crowley
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Satan'sAdvocaat |
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Post subject: Sax Rohmer and the Golden Dawn
 Posted: Jun 26, 2009 - 01:57 PM
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Joined: Mar 30, 2009
Posts: 70
Status: Offline
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In his very enjoyable essay on the fiction of Sax Rohmer - Sinister Shades in Yellow - I was surprised to see that Alistair Coombs readily accepted the assertion of Cay Van Ash that Rohmer was a member of The Golden Dawn, "where he knew but apparently disliked Aleister Crowley". (From Master of Villainy, 1972, page 29). While some readers of Starfire Volume II No.3 may not be very familiar with the details of Sax Rohmer's life, many of them will doubtless be familiar with the 'Crapulous Contemporaries' section in Sandy Robertson's The Aleister Crowley Scrapbook (1988), which features photographs of Rohmer and Bram Stoker both of whom have been rumoured as G.D. members. The image of Rohmer is the publicity shot of the suave and successful, silk-robed, pipe-smoking author of oriental mystery. Robertson comments:
Quote: › "Also, Sax Rohmer (Arthur Sarsfield Ward), creator of Fu-Manchu, while doubtless a serious student of the occult despite the active opposition of his wife, seems not to have been a bona fide Golden Dawn member. Master of Villainy, an excellent biography by his widow and his disciple, is on shaky ground when it asserts that Rohmer was a Golden Dawn adept and an enemy of Crowley without giving any details or proof." (Page 47)
Therefore, who is to be believed and is there any truth to the story?
Strangely enough, in the same year that Rohmer's biography appeared, Ellic Howe published his seminal history, The Magicians of the Golden Dawn (1972). In a concluding survey of the contemporary status of the Order, he states:
Quote: › "There are allusions to the G.D. in Louis Pauwel's and Jacques Bergier's sensational bestseller Le Matin des Magiciens, 1960. As might be expected they had no difficulty in adding to the G.D. mythology, e.g. by stating that Bram Stoker...and Sax Rohmer...were both in the Order. They were on safer ground when discussing the writer Arthur Machen's membership, but blundered badly when they recorded that W.B. Yeats presided at ceremonies wearing a kilt with a golden dagger tucked into his belt and wearing a black mask." (Page 285)
Ellic Howe's book has often been attacked by Golden Dawn enthusiasts for its unsympathetic approach to the Order's occult exploits and credentials, but as regards documentary research and analysis it cannot really be faulted. A much more sympathetic survey from a distinguished 'occult insider' appeared in 1975, Ithell Colquhoun's Sword of Wisdom - MacGregor Mathers and 'The Golden Dawn'. She was able to make use of informants who were probably not accessible to Howe, but on the subject of our alleged members she has something very similar to say:
Quote: › "Probably no existing membership-list of a GD temple is complete; on the other hand some 'authorities' add names without warrant...Bram Stoker should be included in the roll if one follows his French biographer, Antoine Faivre; Rider Haggard and 'Sax Rohmer' if Dr. Serge Hutin is to be believed. Le Matin des Magiciens (=The Dawn of Magic) by Pauwels and Bergier - unreliable in details - is a favourite source; or else fantasy is simply given free play." (Page 144)
Pauwel's and Bergier's brief and garbled account of the G.D. comes at the end of their interesting little chapter on Arthur Machen. Their source of information is given as 'Nos.2 and 3 of the review [i]La Tour Saint-Jacques, 1956: 'L'ordre hermetique de la Golden Dawn' by Pierre Victor. this is on pages 145-146 of the Mayflower paperback edition of The Morning of the Magicians (1975). As to who Pierre Victor was, or from where he obtained his information is a matter of conjecture. Some information about the Order was in print in the 1950s - most significantly, perhaps, the first edition of The Great Beast by John Symonds had made its appearance in 1951.
Bram Stoker's alleged membership has been effectively dealt with by R.A Gilbert in The Golden Dawn -Twilight of the Magicians (1983). At the beginning of his chapter dealing with occult fiction inspired by membership of the Order, he states succinctly:
"Dracula itself cannot be laid at the door of the Golden Dawn, for Bram Stoker (despite popular claims to the contrary) was never a member, but he was a friend of Brodie Innes and they did discuss their mutual interest in the dark side of occultism." (Page 81)
However, Sax Rohmer's alleged membership still has its distinguished supporters; in The Ninth Arch (2002), Kenneth Grant argues:
Quote: › "It is more than likely that he had been a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The rules that required members to destroy all traces of their involvement in the Order would have been adhered to rigidly by one such as Rohmer, making research in that area doubly difficult." (Page 83)
I would like to make a simple observation that might clarify the issue. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn began its descent into schism and acrimonious fragmentation in the April of 1900. Aleister Crowley played a significant role in the early stages of this process before setting sail for the Americas at the end of June, after which time his involvement with the Order was essentially a matter of his personal dealings with MacGregor Mathers. Rohmer, or rather Arthur Henry Ward as he was then, had only been born in 1883, he would not have reached the age of 21 years until 1903 and was therefore too young to have been a member of the Order and to have made the acquaintance of Crowley therein.
It is possible that Rohmer could have been a member of one of the Golden Dawn offshoots: the Stella Matutina of Dr. R.W. Felkin, or the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn of A.E. Waite, but once again there is no evidence. Rohmer's The Romance of Sorcery was published in 1914 - does it contain any evidence of G.D. teaching ? I do not know, but I doubt it. In 1916, Waite founded his Fellowship of the True Rosy Cross: Dr. R. Watson Councell, the family doctor and friend-mentor of Rohmer is alleged to have sponsored his initiation into a Rosicrucian Society, but there is no indication that this may have been the one. Rohmer did write the preface to Watson Councell's Apologia Alchymiae (1925); it makes interesting reading but sticks very much to the subject of the book. (This is available on the Web). By 1925, the G.D. and its offshoots were very much in decline and disarray, and much more interesting things were happening with the O.T.O. in Germany - which brings us back to Aleister Crowley. It is very possible that Rohmer could have made Crowley's acquaintance in London society of the 1920s and 1930s - quite probably at the Cafe Royal - but there would not appear to be any published anecdotes to support this. It has been suggested that Servius Jerome, the villain of Salute to Bazarada (1938), is based on Crowley - I must attempt to acquire a copy. |
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the_spurious_simon_iff |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jun 29, 2009 - 01:42 PM
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Joined: Jan 30, 2008
Posts: 59
Status: Offline
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I'll admit at the time this piece of information was taken on good faith. However, I found out subsequently from a good contact that there is in fact no way of knowing for sure. Others, like G. Suster, have accepted the involvement. Since Robertson seems to be the only individual on the planet who is troubled by it, then perhaps HE should have provided some evidence against (he obviously couldn't). If I recall correctly, for instance, Robertson also presumed as preposterous Kipling's suggested involvement with an occult group, despite, amongst other things, Kipling's prior journalistic affiliation with Sinnett in India.
I'm currently displaced from any sources but I believe the GD had well over 100 members in its early days in the UK alone. The fact Rohmer may have been in his late teens at the time means nothing. He could have been a member of the Cromlech, for instance, which was in existence before and long after the demise of the 'outer court'. Ash's opinion is based upon something.
Unaware of the Bazarada connection although I didn't myself notice any such depiction, although this was quite a time ago. Generally, Rohmer's black magicians/sorcerers, as distinct from the Chinese villains, seek their archetype from Arabs he had encountered in Egypt and Syria and from the Arabian Night romances. The fact AC's behaviour at times consciously or unconsciously mirrored some of these characters, means the connection might be valid on some level. |
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MichaelStaley |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 01, 2009 - 08:17 PM
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Joined: Apr 21, 2004
Posts: 1300
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Whilst not averse to swinging both ways, as the trapeze artist said to the bishop, on this occasion I'm with the Spurious One here. Cay van Ash knew Rohmer I believe, had access to his papers in the course of researching and writing the biography (in full collaboration with Rohmer's widow Elizabeth), and thus was likely in my view to have had access to information that we don't have. As suggested by said Spurious One, Rohmer may well have belonged to one of the several splinter groups that arose following the schism with Mathers.
Whether Rohmer knew Crowley within or outwith the Golden Dawn is another matter.
Best wishes,
Michael. |
_________________
"It's all in the egg".
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Satan'sAdvocaat |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 02, 2009 - 01:22 PM
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Joined: Mar 30, 2009
Posts: 70
Status: Offline
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Thanks for your responses, Gentlemen. As I think I recognised, Rohmer could have been a member of one of the GD splinter groups - Ellic Howe had to acknowledge that the membership lists of these were really a matter of conjecture.
But I still stand by my assertion that Rohmer was too young to have been in Isis-Urania Temple and to have 'known' Crowley as a fellow member. Perhaps someone who has read the GD Ordinances and Regulations which have been published for some time now, apparently, could confirm my conviction that you had to be of legal maturity, ie. 21 years, to be accepted for membership ??
As for Cay Van Ash having access to Rohmer's papers, we can't have it both ways: if he did then surely he would have given details; if Rohmer had destroyed them as required, and he didn't have access then there was nothing to give details of.
Personally, I believe he was just following up on the suggestion in Pauwels and Bergier.
Anyway, I won't lose sight of the fact that the best of Rohmer's novels are a source inspiration to the magical imagination, not so much esoteric as an exotic miasma of narcotic wickedness.
Yours Truly - S.A.
_______________________
The Children of Transgression are the Dragons of the Law. |
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MichaelStaley |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 02, 2009 - 05:27 PM
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Joined: Apr 21, 2004
Posts: 1300
Status: Offline
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Satan'sAdvocaat wrote: › Anyway, I won't lose sight of the fact that the best of Rohmer's novels are a source inspiration to the magical imagination, not so much esoteric as an exotic miasma of narcotic wickedness.
I think there's a little more to it than an"exotic miasma of narcotic wickedness". When reading Dope for the first time, I was struck by he intensity, particularly when the death of the one-eyed raven Tling-a-ling is recounted.
Whilst many if not most of Rohmer's novels have a mechanist solution - for example, She Who Sleeps and Bat-Wing - there are some that don't, and these are the best of his fiction in my opinion. On the whole, I think him better in short stories than in longer form.
Best wishes,
Michael. |
_________________
"It's all in the egg".
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Satan'sAdvocaat |
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 03, 2009 - 05:13 PM
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Joined: Mar 30, 2009
Posts: 70
Status: Offline
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Its all a matter of oppinion said the bishop to the trapeze artist with the wooden leg, but I fear that you might be heading for a tragedy. Yes, she said, I think it happens to me when I'm appearing in 'Hecate's Fountain'.
I've been doing my best to resist the temptation to yield to the predictable, but...
Well, Michael, I do agree that DOPE is an intense and compelling read, but unless someone outside of the 'family' contributes to this bloody thread in the near future, I'm going to go away and play with my own Tling-a ling !
Cheers - S.A.
_______________
The Children of Transgression are the Dragons of the Law. |
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