The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn left a lasting mark on British occultism, and the decades following its collapse saw a proliferation of occult traditions and orders that were profoundly influenced by its magical practices. It is nearly impossible to identify an occult movement from the twentieth century that was untouched by the Golden Dawn and its Qabalistic system of magic.

One interesting case study for the Golden Dawn’s influence is the modern witchcraft revival begun by Gerald Gardner. Much has been made of the Golden Dawn’s influence on Wicca, but unlike many influential twentieth-century occultists, Gardner never belonged to the Golden Dawn, and none of his rituals are explicitly Qabalistic. Nonetheless, Gardner was familiar with Qabalistic magic, as were other key figures in Wicca such as Doreen Valiente and Alex Sanders. This talk will explore what these figures actually had to say about Qabalah and its influence on their magic, showing what Qabalah had to offer for the founders of Wicca.

Bio

Jack Chanek is the author of Qabalah for Wiccans and Tarot for Real Life. He is a Qabalist, Gardnerian Wiccan, Tarot reader, and Slavic polytheist. Jack lives in New Jersey, where he works as an academic philosopher researching Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of science.

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Dr. Amy Hale is an Atlanta-based anthropologist and folklorist writing about esoteric history, art, culture, women and Cornwall in various combinations. Her biography of Ithell Colquhoun, Genius of the Fern Loved Gully, is available from Strange Attractor Press, and she is also the editor of the forthcoming collection Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses from Palgrave Macmillan. Other writings can be found at her Medium site https://medium.com/@amyhale93 and her website www.amyhale.me.

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