Israel Regardie: The Man Who Published the Golden Dawn

Israel Regardie (1907–1985) was the occultist who made the Golden Dawn system public. A former secretary to Aleister Crowley and briefly a member of the Stella Matutina, he published the order's rituals and teachings as The Golden Dawn (1937–1940), and later wrote widely read books on Kabbalah, ritual and meditation, including The Middle Pillar. Trained as a chiropractor and psychotherapist, he spent much of his life arguing that ceremonial magic and modern psychology illuminate one another.

Early Life and Years with Crowley§

Israel Regardie was born in London on 17 November 1907 to a poor Jewish family who had come from Eastern Europe; the family name was originally spelled Regudy. In 1921 the family emigrated to the United States and settled in Washington, D.C. As a teenager Regardie studied art and read widely in Theosophy, Hindu philosophy and yoga. He also learned Hebrew, which would later help him in the study of Kabbalah.

In the mid-1920s he read the works of Aleister Crowley and began a correspondence with him. In 1928 Crowley invited him to Paris to work as his secretary. Regardie spent the next few years in Crowley's service, typing manuscripts, handling correspondence and absorbing his teaching. When the French authorities refused to let Crowley stay in 1929, Regardie also had to leave France, and he followed Crowley to England. The relationship ended in the early 1930s amid quarrels over money and personal matters, and Crowley later reacted angrily to Regardie's publications. Regardie nonetheless remained loyal to Crowley's importance as a teacher, and decades later wrote a sympathetic study of him, The Eye in the Triangle (1970).

A Garden of Pomegranates and The Tree of Life§

In 1932 Regardie published two books that established his reputation. A Garden of Pomegranates is an outline of the Kabbalah as used in Western magic, explaining the sefirot, the paths of the Tree of Life and their correspondences. The Tree of Life: A Study in Magic is a systematic account of ceremonial magic, its theory and its methods, drawing heavily on Golden Dawn and Thelemic sources. Both were written in a clear, unmystified style that contrasted with the dense prose of earlier occult writers, and both remain in print.

The books drew on material that was still nominally secret, which annoyed both Crowley and the surviving Golden Dawn orders. They also brought Regardie into contact with Dion Fortune and with members of the Stella Matutina, the successor order whose history is told in our article on the Stella Matutina and the Alpha et Omega.

Initiation in the Stella Matutina§

In the early 1930s Regardie was initiated into the Stella Matutina's Hermes temple in Bristol. He advanced quickly through the grades and reached the Second Order. What he found disappointed him. In his view the chiefs of the order had a poor grasp of the material they guarded, the temples were declining, and the system was in danger of disappearing with its ageing members. He left after a short time, and in My Rosicrucian Adventure (1936) he gave a critical account of the order and argued for making its teaching freely available.

Publishing The Golden Dawn§

Between 1937 and 1940 Regardie published The Golden Dawn in four volumes with the Aries Press in Chicago. It contained the initiation rituals of the Outer and Second Orders, the Knowledge Lectures, the Second Order instructional papers, the rituals of the pentagram and hexagram, the Enochian material and descriptions of the Vault of the Adepti. Members of the surviving orders regarded this as a breach of oath. Regardie defended it as an act of preservation, and history has largely vindicated his judgement: within a generation the original orders had all but vanished, while his books spread the Golden Dawn system worldwide.

The importance of the publication is set out in our history of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Almost every modern ceremonial magician, and many Wiccans and Thelemites, learned the elements of their ritual practice from texts Regardie made available.

The Middle Pillar, Psychology and Therapy§

Regardie believed that the techniques of magic were fundamentally psychological. In The Middle Pillar (1938) he described an exercise, developed from Golden Dawn practice, in which the practitioner visualises spheres of light along the central column of the Tree of Life, from above the head down to the feet, while intoning divine names, and then circulates the energy through the body. He presented it as a method of balancing the psyche and of healing, and drew explicit comparisons with the analytical psychology of Carl Jung. The exercise is described further on our ritual page for the Middle Pillar. Like other intensive meditative practices, it is generally recommended in moderation, and people with a history of mental illness are usually advised to seek professional guidance.

In The Art of True Healing (1937) and The Philosopher's Stone (1938), a psychological reading of alchemical texts, he developed the same theme. After moving to New York he trained as a chiropractor, and during the Second World War he served in the United States Army. From 1947 he lived in Los Angeles, where he practised chiropractic and psychotherapy for many years. He became a follower of Wilhelm Reich's body-centred therapy, and he insisted that anyone undertaking serious magical work should first undergo psychotherapy, a recommendation unusual among occultists of his time.

Later Life and the Golden Dawn Revival§

From the late 1960s Regardie returned to occult writing and publishing. His edition of The Golden Dawn was reissued in new formats, culminating in a large one-volume edition revised with the help of Chic Cicero and Sandra Tabatha Cicero. He also issued The Complete Golden Dawn System of Magic (1984), and edited Crowley's writings for new publishers, bringing out works such as Gems from the Equinox (1974). His own later books include Ceremonial Magic: A Guide to the Mechanisms of Ritual (1980) and Foundations of Practical Magic (1979).

In his last years Regardie encouraged the creation of new Golden Dawn temples and helped consecrate a vault for one of them in the early 1980s, lending his authority to the revival that followed. Disputes over who was his legitimate successor contributed to the rivalries among modern Golden Dawn organisations. He died in Sedona, Arizona, on 10 March 1985. Gerald Suster's biography, Crowley's Apprentice (1989), gives a portrait of a generous, irreverent man who regarded magic as a disciplined path of self-knowledge rather than a source of mystery or glamour.

Frequently asked questions§

Why did Israel Regardie publish the Golden Dawn rituals?§

He believed the surviving orders were decaying and that their teaching would be lost if it remained secret. He also thought the material should be available to serious students outside the orders. Members regarded the publication as a breach of his oath, but it preserved the system and spread it worldwide.

Was Israel Regardie Crowley's student?§

He was Crowley's secretary from 1928 for several years and learned much from him, though the relationship ended in quarrels. Regardie later wrote a sympathetic study of Crowley and edited many of his works.

What is the Middle Pillar exercise?§

It is a meditation developed by Regardie from Golden Dawn practice, in which the practitioner visualises spheres of light along the central pillar of the Tree of Life while intoning divine names. Regardie presented it as a method of psychological balance and healing.

What books did Israel Regardie write?§

His best-known works are The Golden Dawn (1937–1940), A Garden of Pomegranates and The Tree of Life (both 1932), The Middle Pillar (1938), My Rosicrucian Adventure (1936) and The Eye in the Triangle (1970).

Sources and further reading§

• The Golden Dawn — Israel Regardie, 1937
• A Garden of Pomegranates — Israel Regardie, 1932
• The Tree of Life: An Illustrated Study in Magic — Israel Regardie, 1932
• The Middle Pillar — Israel Regardie, 1938
• My Rosicrucian Adventure — Israel Regardie, 1936
• The Eye in the Triangle: An Interpretation of Aleister Crowley — Israel Regardie, 1970
• Crowley's Apprentice: The Life and Ideas of Israel Regardie — Gerald Suster, 1989