The Historical Golden Dawn for Castle Falkenstein: Dramatis Personae

In general, the major players in the GD were a divinatory and artistic group of people, poets, scholars, artists and actors, interested in astrology, tarot, visions, and their relationships to the lives of the people they touched. All in all, an interior-focused, self revelatory group.

The GD grew at a tremendous rate, and there were at least three chapter houses, or Temples, by the early 1890s. Some members were also firmly rooted, especially Maud Gonne and Willie Yeats, in the Irish revolutionary movement. The theatre they formed, Abbey Theatre, formed a base on which Irish nationalist productions could be based. Annie Horniman provided the capital, and Florence Farr some of the acting until it, like the GD, fell to arguments and jealousy.

Following are Falkenstein character descriptions for some of the major players in the GD, whether real or fictional.

Sprengel, Fraulein Anna
Sapiens Dominabitur Astris - "The wise one will be ruled by the stars"

Sorcery- Great
Education- Good
Charisma- Good
Social Graces- Good
Athletics- Poor

Fraulein Anna Sprengel is historically probably fictional. However, she makes a good founder for the order in a Castle Falkenstein world, setting the GD squarely within the boundaries of Bavaria. Her presence as the founder of the GD suggests that she is a major player behind the scenes to free Britain from the control of the unseelie. Truly, the early actions of the London members suggest this, as they struggled to enlighten themselves and their fellow man.

Fraulein Sprengel is actually a fae cousin to Auberon, and her sorcerous ability is all theoretical. However, that theoretical knowledge spans centuries. She is volatile, unpredictable, and emotional in her dealings with the human race. She has the desire to help them become better than they are, but she is easily distracted from the larger picture by her pet projects: Mathers was one of these; Crowley another. Each time she becomes distracted, the subject is likely to become irrational and step on the toes of his brethren.

Education-Great
Physician- Good
Sorcery- Good
Connections- Good
Social Graces- Good
Exchequer- Poor

In 1875, Westcott joined the Masonic Lodge at Crewkerne, England, and in 1878 took a two years' hiatus to study the Quabalah and other metaphysical subjects. In 1881 he became deputy Coroner for Hoxton, and was appointed Coroner for North-East London in the early 1890s. Sometime before 1878 he was admitted to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, (a scholarly society open only to high-ranking Master Masons). In 1890 he became Worshipful Master of the Masonic Research Lodge Quatuor Comati. He was also included in the "Esoteric Circle" of Mme Blavatsky's Esoteric Society of the Theosophical Society. When the Hermetic Lodge broke from the Theosophical Society to form the Hermetic Society in 1884, he joined as an honorary member.

This is a busy man. He has been described as "docile, scholarly, industrious, addicted to regalia and histrionics." He never married, but had numerous platonic friendships.

Woodman, William - b.1828 d.1890
Magna Est Veritas et Praevalehit - Great is the truth and it shall prevail

Physician- Great
Sorcery- Good
Education- Good
Exchequer- Good
Connections- Good
Athletics- Poor

A medical doctor, qualifying in 1851, Dr. Woodman practiced medicine at Victoria Villas, Stoke Newington until the 1870s. He was a Master Mason (take that and run with it, Hosts!), and served as secretary of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, (a scholarly society open only to Master Masons) in 1867. It was here that he met and became friends with Westcott and Mathers, becoming Westcott's mentor in the occult.

In 1878 he became Supreme Magus of this Society. He was a student of Old Hebrew Philosophy (the Qabalah) and Egyptian Antiquities. He was familiar with works of the Gnostics, Platonists, Neo Platonists, and also of Medieval Sciences such as Astrology, Alchemy and the Tarot. To the Golden Dawn he lent an aura of conservatism, of the older Victorian mores in sorcery, though he was not active, and died peacefully soon after it was formed.

Mathers, Macgregor
S Rioghail Mo Dhream - Royal is my tribe [gaelic]
Deo Duce comite Ferro - With God as my leader and the sword as my companion

Sorcery- Great
Athletics - Good
Education- Good
Performance- Good
Stealth- Good
Exchequer- Poor

Although (or perhaps because) he is the youngest of the founders, Macgregor Mathers is the driving force behind the Golden Dawn in Britain. He translated the Cipher document into a form that could be used, and he wrote the rituals of initiation and the knowledge lectures. Macgregor is arrogant, demanding, and forceful. If he is in town, you will know it. Some people believe him a little touched from working with the forces beyond, but the truth is, he was eccentric to begin. If he has become a bit more eccentric it is only to be expected given the strain of his studies.

An aspiring artist in Paris when she met Macgregor Mathers, this lithe, elfin girl gave up her dreams to be with him. They married in 1890. He dominates her every move, and she sometimes chafes under the control, despite a lack of self-confidence. Usually, however, she is the perfect hostess, and his perfect counterpoint. Costumes and scenery for temple rituals are her forte. She is fluent in French, German and English. When she speaks, it is with a voice of resonance which proves her knowledgeable.

In 1892 the Mathers' moved to Paris. When her husband died in 1918, she felt a bit lost without her husband's direction, but continued in his footsteps, establishing the Alpha et Omega Lodge, running it for 9 years. Moina died in 1927, after a drastically declining health, and her decision to refuse all food.

Exchequer - Great
Art- Good
Sorcery- Good
Connections- Good
Education- Good
Social Graces- Poor

Farr, Florence
Sapientia Sapienti Dono Data - Wisdom is a gift given to the wise.

Performance- Great
Sorcery- Great
Education- Good
Charisma- Good
Social Graces- Good
Comliness- Good
Exchecquer- Poor

Florence Farr was born in 1865 in West London. She went to Queen's College, the first women's college in England. Although she taught school for a while, she quickly lost interest and turned her aspirations to the stage. Farr is known for her extraordinary speaking voice - which can resonate throughout a performance hall. She has turned that voice to ritual, using it to access deeper levels of sorcery than others.

Within two years of going on the stage she married Edward Emery, a fellow actor, who proceeded to treat her like a proper Victorian wife. They separated within a few years, and Emery emigrated to America. They never met again. Florence returned to the stage, where both George Bernard Shaw and W.B. Yeats wrote plays for her; and to the Golden Dawn, which she joined in July of 1890.

She was extremely talented at divination, skrying in general, and until the rift in the Dawn, Mathers encouraged her in this. She receives the credit for being the only member to conjure a spirit (Taphthartharath) into full appearance, and was later raised to Praemonatrix of the Isis-Urania temple. When Westcott resigned in 1897, she became the Chief Adept in Anglia, and forced her into the political intrigues in the Order. In 1902 she severed all her ties to what was left of the Order and returned to acting full time. In 1912, she moved to Ceylon to teach.

Sorcery - Great
Social Graces - Good
Connections (Irish revolutionary) -Good
Education- Good
Performance- Good
Exchequer- Poor

Education- Great
Sorcery- Good
Athletics- Good
Social Graces- Good
Connections (Irish revolutionary and Literary)-Good
Exchequer- Poor

Bored with the Theosophists, whom he saw as scholars who did nothing practical with all their knowledge, Yeats backed out of the "Esoteric Section," which Mme. Blavatsky had created partially at his urging. Moving to the Golden Dawn was not only an act of defiance for him, but also an act of self-actualization. It was the urging and support of Annie Horniman and Florence Farr that truly launched his career as a poet and playwright.

Despite wide acclaim for his poetry, Yeats was/is always short on cash, quite possibly because of his insistence upon remaining in Ireland and being a true Irish poet. His monetary patron is Annie Horniman.

Sorcery- Great
Performance- Good
Athletics- Good
Marksmanship- Good
Social Graces - Poor

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This site updated Sunday, September 10, 2000