Magical organization

A magical organization or magical order is an organization created for the practice of magic or to further the knowledge of magic among its members. "Magic" in this case refers to occult, metaphysical and paranormal activities, not to the performance of stage magic. Magical organizations can include hermetic orders, Wiccan covens or Wiccan circles, esoteric societies, arcane colleges, witches' covens, and other groups which may use different terminology and similar though diverse practices.

Significant orders and organizations

Rosicrucianism is an early cultural movement that many organizations are part of. Many rosicrucian groups does not claim to practice magic, but instead only study western esotericism. Among those that do, or did, claim to practice magic are: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, and the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn has been credited with a vast revival of occult literature and practices and was founded in 1887 or 1888 by William Wynn Westcott, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and William Robert Woodman. The teachings of the Order include Ceremonial magic, Enochian magic, Christian mysticism, Qabalah, Hermeticism, the paganism of ancient Egypt, theurgy, and alchemy.[1]

Ordo Aurum Solis, founded in 1897, is a Western Mystery Tradition group teaching Hermetic Qabalah. Its rituals and system are different from the more popular Golden Dawn, this is because the group follows the ogdoadic tradition instead of Rosicrucianism.

Thelema is a religion shared among several occult organizations. Their main text is The Book of the Law, and their table of correspondences Liber 777. Three major thelemic organizations are:

Builders of the Adytum (or B.O.T.A.) was created in 1922 by Paul Foster Case and was extended by Dr. Ann Davies. It teaches Hermetic Qabalah, astrology and occult tarot.

During the second half of the 20th century, several organizations practicing chaos magic was founded. They can be divided in two distinct groups, that have nothing or very little in common:

Organizations sorted per century

The Bavarian Illuminati have no credible sources saying they practiced any "magic", and is thus not on the list. It is also sometimes difficult to determine if an organization is sincerely practicing magic. For example, The Satanic Temple is perhaps a human rights lobby organization posing as a magical organization.[3]

Some organizations in the list below claim to have been founded earlier. In the list, they are sorted to the first verifiable appearance.

Prior to the 19th century

19th century

20th century

21th century

See also

References
  1. Smoley, Richard; Kinney, Jay (1999). Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions. Quest Books, 2006. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0-8356-0844-2. Founded in 1888, the Golden Dawn lasted a mere twelve years before it was shattered by personal conflicts. At its height it probably had no more than a hundred members. Yet its influence on magic and esoteric thought in the English-speaking world would be hard to overestimate
  2. Peter J. Carroll. Liber Null & Psychonaut. ISBN 0-87728-639-6.
  3. Bugbee, Shane. "Unmasking Lucien Greaves, Leader of the Satanic Temple". Vice. VICE: Is the Satanic Temple a satanic, or a satirical group? Doug: That is a common question. I say why can’t it be both? We are coming from a solid philosophy that we absolutely believe in and adhere to. This is Satanism, and to us it couldn’t be called anything other than Satanism. However, our metaphor of Satan is a literary construct inspired by authors such as Anatole France and Milton—a rebel angel defiant of autocratic structure and concerned with the material world. Satanism as a rejection of superstitious supernaturalism. This Satan, of course, bears no resemblance to the embodiment of all cruelty, suffering, and negativity believed in by some apocalyptic segments of Judeo-Christian culture. The word Satan has no inherent value. If one acts with compassion in the name of Satan, one has still acted with compassion. Our very presence as civic-minded socially responsible Satanists serves to satirize the ludicrous superstitious fears that the word Satan tends to evoke.
  4. Alexander, Leigh (June 25, 2016). "I Was Brainwashed by a Feminist Digital Cult Leader". Vice.
  5. "Finding Salvation with an Online Cult". Vice.
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