A SHORT ARTICLE & LETTER BY MACGREGOR MATHERS

The following article by Mathers was written by him on October 7th 1884 and published in
the S.R.I.A. journal. I do not believe this has since been republished but am open to
correction. A lengthy and rather pompous letter disagreeing with Mathers was published by
one Bro. L. Hespiradoux which is too long to give here but Mathers rejoinder letter is
included. Although Mathers article is somewhat basic it contains a few interesting points
and is offered here for historical interest. Mathers first use of respective below is obviously
incorrect he means the reverse, and his reference to the author of the Zohar, following his
quotation from Eliphas Levi is confusing. The two diagrams of the Pentagram and
Hexagram are omitted.
On Some Esoteric Significations of the Six-Pointed and the Five-Pointed Star
A Paper by S. Liddell Mathers, Honorary VIII [degree], read before the Rosicrucian Society
of England.
I propose to lay before you this evening a brief paper on the Esoteric Significations of those
two well-known symbols which are to be found in every Masonic lodge, and which yet are
even more replete with Occult suggestions than others which have been more jealously
shrouded from the gaze of the Uninitiated I refer to the Six-pointed and the Five-pointed
Stars, better known to Students of Occult Science under the respective appellations of The
Sign of the Macrocosm- and The Sign of the Microcosm.
Let us first examine the Six-pointed Star, the Sign of the Macrocosm, or Greater World,
sometimes also called the Shield of David and The Seal of Solomon. It consists of two
interlaced Triangles, one with the apex upwards, the other inverted; or, the symbols of the
uniting of Fire and Water, of Astral Light and Spermatic Chaos. In some ancient works it is
represented with the inverted triangle black, and the other triangle red; the respective
colours of Fire and Matter; or, in the Alchemical nomenclature, of Sulphur and Mercury.
Further, it is the Symbol of Equation of Force, of the balance of Light and Darkness, of God,
and of NATURE. Its Six points symbolize the Six limitations of Matter, the Six faces of the
Cube of the Universe, the Six Days of Creation. To the Initiate it conveys the whole first
Chapter of Genesis and the Qabalistic Cosmogony of the Zohar. The following extract,
given by Eliphaz Levi, affords an illustration of this:The Knowledge of the Occult is the Science of Equilibrium. Forces which produce
themselves without being counterbalanced perish in the Void. Thus have perished the
Kings of the Ancient World, the Princes of the Giants; they have fallen like trees without
roots, and their place is found no more. It was owing to the conflict of unbalanced Forces
that the devastated Earth was bare and without form, when the Breath of God made a
firmament in the Heavens and separated the mass from the Lower Waters. All the
aspirations of Nature were then towards Unity of Form, towards the Living Synthesis of
Counterbalanced Powers, and the Brow of God, crowned with Light, raised Itself above the
vast Ocean, and reflected Itself in the Lower Waters. His two Eyes appeared, radiating with
Brilliancy, darting arrows of Flame, which crossed with the Rays of the Reflection.

The Forehead of God and His two Eyes formed the TRIANGLE OF THE HEAVENS, and
the Reflection formed the TRIANGLE OF THE WATERS. Thus was the NUMBER SIX
revealed, which was that of the Universal Creation.
The author of the Zohar continues his sublime dream, and goes on to describe the
formation of the World. In the Book of Jasher we read In the Beginning God created the
AEther and the Chaos. In the Book of Genesis we read that Darkness was upon the FACE
of the Deep, and the Ruach Elohim moved upon the Face of the Waters. And thus, as
Synthesis of that Mighty Work, the Sign of the Macrocosm stands forth the Star of the
Universe, the Star of the Creation, the Symbol of the Life of Nature; while above and
through the Chaos of Existence vibrates the Mind Divine. With such sublime meanings
hidden in the six-rayed form, can we then wonder that it was considered so significant as
emblem; that it was called the Talisman of Talismans, and the Pentacle of Pentacles?
Let us now consider the Five-pointed Star, the Symbol of the Microcosm or Lesser World, of
our own Human Life as contrasted with that of the Universe. It may be described as a figure
formed by a line starting from a given-point, and reflected four times so as at length to
terminate at the point where it commenced. It was in use among the Pythagoreans, and it
was called by them Pentalpha, as it resembles 5 As grouped around a centre. This Symbol
has two distinct classes of Signification according to whether it is represented with the
single angle upwards or downwards. In the former instance it is symbolic of Good, in the
latter of Evil.
With the point upwards it represents Man the Image of God, Adam the Image of the Adam
Qadmon. In it are contained the Symbols of the Sephiroth the Pillars of Heaven and Earth.
It is Life particularized as opposed to Life generalized. In this sense also it may be taken as
the emblem of Anthropomorphic Theology, the mixed and united God-Man, darkly referred
to by the Qabalists as the Seir-Anpin. It is especially the symbol of the more Exoteric
forms of the various Creeds; - of that beautiful Poem of Nature, the Greeks Artistic
Religion; of the Mithras of Persia, the Krishna of India, the Osiris of Egypt; for it is the
Symbol of that Greatest Equilibrium Who is the Second Person, the I.H. and the V.H.
combined with the S.
But with the point downwards it is the representative of Evil, it is the Head of the Goat, the
cold and dark Capricorn of the Zodiac, the Black He-Goat of the Sorcerers of the Middle
Ages, the Baphomet, and the Hyle, and the Averted Force. It is the Destruction of the
Equilibrium, the Separation of the Universe, the wild whirling Motion of unbalanced Powers,
the Averse of the Qabalistic Sephiroth.
Time and space alike forbid my entering more fully into this subject, and I must, therefore,
close this paper, hoping that it has at least interested my hearers.
October 7th, 1884.
THE SIX-POINTED AND THE FIVE-POINTED STARS
To the Editor of the Freemason

Dear Sir and Brother,

Will you kindly permit me through the medium of your columns to answer Bro.
Hespiradouxs objection to my calling the Six-pointed Star the Seal of Solomon?
I must first of all premise that in a paper, read as mine was, before so august a body as the
Rosicrucian Society of England, which numbers amongst its members many deeply read
and thinking men, I should not have ventured to advance an unguarded statement; neither,
after having studied occult subjects for upwards of ten years, should I have been likely to
select a capricious meaning, and attach it to a wrong symbol. Furthermore, my paper was
one which did not profess to give a mere exoteric translation of those glyphs, and one which
would be known to the merest neophyte in occult lore. Far be it for me to undervalue
Masonic learning, bur even that is exoteric in its teachings when compared with those of the
Rosicrucianism.
Now, it appears to me that Bro. Hespiradoux contradicts himself in his article, for at the
commencement he says that the Seal or Signet of Solomon was . a Pentalpha, or
endless Triangle, but not a Six-pointed Star, and yet at the end he quotes Richardsons
Dictionary that the muchra Salimani, or Seal of Solomon was two triangles interlaced, and
this is what the archaeologists generally think. Also he says previously that The Pentalpha
is sometimes called the Pentangle of Solomon, and is said to have constituted the Signet or
Seal of our ancient Grand Master. Perhaps the self-contradiction can be accounted for by
the fact that the whole of Bro. Hespiradouxs article, with the exception of the part taken
from the Boston Freemason, is transcribed verbatim from Mackeys Lexicon of
Freemasonry, pages 318, 358, 359, 348, 349, 242, 310, 311, 277, and 324. I would
suggest to Bro. Hespiradoux that he would do well in future to consult more authorities than
one before impugning the correctness of my occult knowledge, especially as I have had
occasion in my researches to consult some hundreds of ancient and mediaeval authors,
besides having read nearly all the modern works on the subject.
Among others I may mention the following authors who uphold the fact of the two interlaced
triangles being the Seal of Solomon: Hargrave Jennings, in his work The Rosicrucians
page 166; Eliphaz Levi, in various places in his LHistorie de la Magie, Dogme et Rituel
de la Haute Magie. And Clef des Mysteres; and Madam Blavatsky in Isis Unveiled, page
135 of volume I. In the Clavicula Salomonis Regis vel Lemegeton both the Hexalpha and
Pentalpha are attributed to the Hebrew monarch, and are there called respectively the
Hexagram and Pentagram of Solomon; the figures are given at the end of the first part,
called, Goetia.
The Six-pointed Star is not necessarily to be inscribed in a circle; when it is, the circle
signifies the Bebedicta Linea of the Qabalists. The Name of God in any form is not
necessarily inscribed thereon, seeing the figure itself is a Glyph of the Almighty, and to
each of its angles is attributed one of the Six-fold Forms of the Ternary of the Awful Schema
of the Tetragrammaton. For it is the Name which rusheth through the Universe and
returneth to the Abyss of the Unity, when before the Throne of the Countenance of His
Synthesis are prostrate the Ten Sephiroth Belimah, and before the face of the Unity what
Numeration wilt thou enumerate?

The word Seal does not necessarily mean a Signet; it is applied, like the terms Pentacle, or
Pantacle, to any synthetical hieroglyph. I may be wrong; but I believe I have seen ancient
bronze, as well as stone signets. I am, dear Sir and Brother, yours in fraternity,
S. L MATHERS, Hon. VIII [degree]
Societas Rosicrucianae in Anglia
London.
A FEW CURIOUS DETAILS CONCERNING MACGREGOR MATHERS AND THE A.O.
The following are a few slightly less well known facts about Mathers, the reformed Alpha et
Omega Order, and the Paris Ahathoor Temple.
Over the 12 year period between 1909 and 1921 there were 50 members of Ahathoor and
37 were initiated into the 0=0 Grade. Mathers and his wife Moina (Mina) seemed
particularly devoted to Order work and the Temple met almost weekly, usually on a Friday,
except when external events prevented this. Like the Golden Dawn, the Stella Matutina, and
the New Zealand Smaragdum Thalasses Temple also, rituals were not performed routinely
at Ahathoor meetings unless there was a candidate (apart from Equinox). This is contrary
to the practice of many modern Golden Dawn Orders.
When no candidate was available Mathers, or occasionally, another, would give a lecture on
some aspect of the rituals or another occult topic. On Friday 28 May 1909, for example, the
members examined the idea of the Egyptian year, the epochal days, Rhea and Thor, and
the birth of the Five Gods Following this a brief explanation was given of the Zodiac Signs,
and the symbolism of the Cherubim was given.
An abbreviated form of the rituals was sometimes held at Ahathoor but not usually as a
shortcut, or to save time, but solely because there were insufficient officers present to
conduct the ceremony. This was especially relevant during wartime when candidates (and
officers) were only available for a brief period. The same reasoning applied to the several
candidates visiting from the United States of America. I have seen no apparent evidence, at
least with regard to Ahathoor, that two or more candidates for initiation were ever roped
together as has been suggested. In fact the abbreviated ceremony of opening a Grade by
sceptre also occurred within the Golden Dawn Temples, as revealed by the Ahathoor
Temple minutes for the period 1893- 1900. Members of the Isis-Urania, Amen Ra and other
temples ,such as Florence Farr, William Westcott, and Annie Horniman attended on some
of these occasions and evidently found nothing remarkable about either the abbreviated
form nor the Masonic allusions. When the full ceremony was performed it was referred to as
opening and closed in full or ancient form.
In a similar vein, there is scant evidence to support the notion that Mathers moved away
from the Golden Dawn ceremonial methods towards a more Masonic style. Whatever
Masonic aspects existed within the A.O. documents and practices were also present within
those of both the Golden Dawn and indeed the Stella Matutina in its earliest period. The
Masonic procedure, for instance, where the Hierophant rises thrice before closing the
ceremony to enquire whether any member has anything to propose for the good of the

Order (etc.) is also present in some early documents of Whare Ra. This practice fell into
disuse at Whare ra as it did also within the A.O. The only discernable Masonic element
Mathers retained at Ahathoor was to read and accept the minutes of the previous meeting
before closing the Temple.
There were occasions at Ahathoor, both as a Golden Dawn and an A.O. Temple, that a
candidate was put through several Grades over a day or two, or even on the one occasion.
The Minute for 25 June 1896, for example, notes The exceptional course of conferring the
four Grades from Zelator to Philosophus all at once was necessitated by Honoured Frater
Alto Petes having been absent from Paris since his admission to the Order, and by his
remaining in Paris but a few days prior to his departure for a term of years on foreign
service." A similar procedure was carried out for the American member Elsa Barker (Soror
Unitas) and it may be observed incidentally that in 1917 there was at least two A.O.
Temples in New York.
Mathers wrote new rituals for the consecration of a new temple and the installation of new
Chiefs. Neither of these involved, however, any bowing before a statue of Isis as has been
suggested. This misunderstanding appears to have arisen from a misreading of A.E.
Waites diary notes for his meeting with Henry Brasch. The latter, who didnt like the
Egyptian components of the Order, objected to the new rituals including obeisance to Isis.
The word obeisance does not mean bowing but rather deferential respect. This is a
reference to a new antiphony Mathers introduced into the Neophyte, Equinox and
consecration rituals. It involves a call and response between the Hierophant and the
Hiereus, followed by a further response from the Hegemon. The call in question involves
identifying Isis with the Beginning, Dawn, Star of the Morn, Youth, Increase, and so forth.
Additional to the useful suggestions given by Nick Farrell (in his King Over the Water) as
to where Mathers may have acquired the idea for the Antiphony there is also the
possibility he was influenced by a similar antiphony which appears in a Cromlech Temple
ritual, and there is firm evidence that Mathers joined the Cromlech Sun Order around this
period.
There is some further evidence that Mathers stressed the connection between the Orders
rituals and the Egyptian Mysteries and presumably Brasch objected to this also. For
example, both Mathers and Moina referred to the speeches of the various officers in the
0=0 Grade as the Mikra (or Miqra) and spoke of the candidate being received in The
Gates, Endimion and Birantha. These are all terms used in the Egyptian Initiation
scheme of the Crata Repoa. Mathers also introduced the term Mysteriophoros as the title
of an officer who was a type of Director of Ceremonies. Mathers often took this role which
presumably replaced that of Past Hierophant.
One intriguing note appears in the Ahathoor Minute book stating at the end of May meeting
1911 Sephirotic applications were given to the Paternoster (Our Father) and Ave Maria
(Hail Mary). This reference invites further speculation, noted by Ithell Colquhoun in her
book on Mathers, that Mathers had converted to Roman Catholicism. As I intend writing on
this subject further I will say no more here other than to note that the same claim
concerning conversion was made about Mrs. Tranchell-Hayes (a later A.O. Chief who was

the mentor of Dion Fortune). Like Mathers, Tranchell-Hayes was a member of the Cromlech
Temple, known as Soror, or Fratrix, Ishtar.
At the Ahathoor meeting on Thursday 12 December 1918 the role of Hierophant was taken
by Comte de Peretti della Rocca (Frater Virtus et Honor). Moina Mathers was Hiereia. At
the conclusion Moina announced that some three weeks before Mathers had died. The
minutes state: The G.H. Soror Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum 5=6, Praemonstratrix, recited in a
stumbling (or, emotional) manner that the Supreme Chief of the Order, the Greatly
Honoured Frater Frater SRioghail Mo Dhream 5=6, Imperator, Deo Duce Comite Ferro,
7=4, left his earthly body during the night of Tuesday November 19 to Wednesday
November 20 at midnight, but he will remain among us Spiritually he will continue to protect
us, guide us and teach us.
In his last moments he prayed (the French prie also means to ask, beg) the G.H. Soror
Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum 5=6, Praemonstratrix, In Rosa Rubeae et in Aureae Cruci:
Victoria Mea, 7=4, in conjunction with G.H. Frater Sub Spe 5=6, Fidei Tenax 7=4, and
the G.H. Frater Resurgam 5=6, In Spiritus Sancto, 7=4, to watch over so that nothing
would interrupt the work of the Order, and that the tradition would always be observed. He
named as his Successor and as Supreme Chief of the Order, representing the Secret
Chiefs, the G.H. Frater Sub Spe 5=6, Fidei Tenux, 7=4. The Temple was closed with the
Mystic Repast.
THE S.M. AND ThAM. A SMALL HISTORICAL NOTE
There is no evidence I am aware of that the ThAM subgrade for 5=6 was ever used in
Whare Ra (SM/S.T. Order) in New Zealand where the progression was made directly from
5=6 to 6=5 after a minimum period of five years. This was not the case, however, regarding
the S.M. in Britain where the ThAM subgrade continued to be used right through into the
1930s.
What is of interest (to me) is that whereas there was a clear distinction made between
ThAM and 6=5 it is not known how this related to the respective curricula. For those who
enjoy statistics, as at 11 November 1915 there were eighty three members of the British
S.M., of whom forty three were men and forty women. The number of Second Order
members was forty with forty three belonging to the First Order. Including Miss Felkin five of
these were 6=5 members and four of these were also ThAM. A further four members of the
5=6 Grade were approaching their ThAM and expect to reach it before the Felkins leave
[for New Zealand]. Another 5=6 member had made some progress towards achieving the
ThAM subgrade but another four members were still quite at the beginning.
Felkin appointed several committees to rule the SM, especially in advance of his pending
departure for New Zealand. Besides one made up of ten 5=6 members (one member being
ThAM) charged with the teaching of the Order, a further committee ruled the Second
Order and in the opinion of Miss Christine Stoddart no one below ThAM was able to judge
who should be on the latter committee. Additionally, there was a mysterious Delphic

Oracle and a Veiled Tribunal some members of which were given special work (to which
Stoddart also objected).
In contrast to the fairly modest British membership numbers Felkin was to achieve
spectacular success with the membership of the Whare Ra Temple achieving some 300 at
its peak.
FRANK SALTS HAUNTING AS A BOY
Frank Salt joined Whare Ra in 1936 as a 19 year old teenager and he went through all the
Grades to 7=4, later serving as Imperator, Cancellarious and Demonstrator, the last being
the position in which he served longest and the one he loved most. His father the Rev.
Gilbert Salt was a vicar in the small town, Opotiki, where they lived and he too was an
Order member who reached the Inner Order also. Franks mother, sister and one of two
twin brothers also joined Whare Ra. His sister was a particularly keen member and visited
temples in England but unfortunately she died at a young age of a brain tumor. Financially
the family was extremely poor while the family was young and the floor of their primitive
house during one period was actually just solid earth. Although Franks mother was an
Order member she became a violent schizophrenic with a fondness for knives the
children would lock their doors in fear. Later she was committed to an institution. Frank
remarked to me that the Order methods not merely were of no help to her but, he believed,
made her condition considerably worse. In this context Frank related to me a type of
haunting he experienced as a boy.
Regarding the haunting at Opotiki there are various interpretations of this, but I report it
as it seemed to me at that time. Recall that my mother was a violent schizophrenic at that
time, and some effects may have been linked to that condition, the odd sounds at night,
opening doors etc.
I was often uneasy at night, and sometimes saw green oval forms, dirty green, coming up
to my bed, sometimes with a bogy smell. I had heard that evil flees from the Sign of the
Cross, and after blocking the door and wiring shut the windows to ensure nothing physical
was in the room, I encased myself in lines of light, from top of head, down to the front to the
feet, up the back to the top, then the same round each side, with a circle round me at chest
height, making four Crosses of Light about me I then uttered the Name Jesus. only
much later in life finding out that I was performing the Rose Cross Ritual! This kept the
green things at a distance and I could go to sleep. My sister always kept her door and
windows locked and her light on. She too, was having funny feelings.
After mothers death, Ewen Campbell (a 9=2 senior member of Whare Ra) drove M.C.
(Mrs. Felkin) on a trip and they both came and cleansed the house. Mrs. Felkin said she
thought there was a skull buried somewhere. Later, my twin brothers did find a skull and
threw it into a bog behind our house. But the house felt different after the banishing.