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S.L. Mathers

1854–1918 · England
S.L. Mathers

Description

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist and member of the S.R.I.A. He is primarily known as one of the three founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a ceremonial magic order of which offshoots still exist. He became so synonymous with the order that Golden Dawn scholar Israel Regardie observed in retrospect that "the Golden Dawn was MacGregor Mathers."

Facts

Born8 January 1854, Hackney, London, England
Died5 or 20 November 1918 (aged 64), Paris, France
Alma materBedford School
OccupationOccultist
Known forHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
SpouseMoina Mathers
ParentWilliam M. Mathers

Life & work in brief

Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.

Work / contributionSignificance
Early lifeMathers was born on 8 January 1854 in Hackney, London, England.
LifestyleMathers was a practicing vegetarian, or (according to some accounts) vegan, an outspoken anti-vivisectionist, and a non-smoker.
CriticismIn addition to many supporters, he had many enemies and critics.
Decline and deathMathers died on 5 or 20 November 1918 in Paris, during the Spanish influenza pandemic.

Contribution to the celestial-alphabet tradition

Golden Dawn chief who translated the Key of Solomon and codified the Hermetic-Kabbalistic ritual system. He systematised the planetary-talisman and kamea apparatus into a teachable curriculum — the immediate institutional source of the modern Western stellar-magic tradition.

In the Luco Library
The Key of Solomon the King (Clavicula Salomonis)
tr. S. L. MacGregor Mathers

The planetary kameot — the apparatus they worked with

The 7 magic squares ↔ 7 doubles ↔ 7 planets (Sefer Yetzirah §4). Each square's order n gives a distinct sigil modulus; the constant is M = n(n²+1)/2. Saturn 3×3 = the Lo Shu (M=15), the basis of the Aiq-Bekar sigil method. Caveat (§6.3 / §15b.3): the sigil-over-kamea method is Renaissance (Agrippa, 1531), not medieval Jewish.

♄ Saturn3×3
8
1
6
3
5
7
4
9
2
double ב · M=15
♃ Jupiter4×4
16
2
3
13
5
11
10
8
9
7
6
12
4
14
15
1
double ג · M=34
♂ Mars5×5
17
24
1
8
15
23
5
7
14
16
4
6
13
20
22
10
12
19
21
3
11
18
25
2
9
double ד · M=65
☉ Sun6×6
35
1
6
26
19
24
3
32
7
21
23
25
31
9
2
22
27
20
8
28
33
17
10
15
30
5
34
12
14
16
4
36
29
13
18
11
double כ · M=111
♀ Venus7×7
30
39
48
1
10
19
28
38
47
7
9
18
27
29
46
6
8
17
26
35
37
5
14
16
25
34
36
45
13
15
24
33
42
44
4
21
23
32
41
43
3
12
22
31
40
49
2
11
20
double פ · M=175
☿ Mercury8×8
64
2
3
61
60
6
7
57
9
55
54
12
13
51
50
16
17
47
46
20
21
43
42
24
40
26
27
37
36
30
31
33
32
34
35
29
28
38
39
25
41
23
22
44
45
19
18
48
49
15
14
52
53
11
10
56
8
58
59
5
4
62
63
1
double ר · M=260
☽ Moon9×9
47
58
69
80
1
12
23
34
45
57
68
79
9
11
22
33
44
46
67
78
8
10
21
32
43
54
56
77
7
18
20
31
42
53
55
66
6
17
19
30
41
52
63
65
76
16
27
29
40
51
62
64
75
5
26
28
39
50
61
72
74
4
15
36
38
49
60
71
73
3
14
25
37
48
59
70
81
2
13
24
35
double ת · M=369

Lineage — influence tree

Where S.L. Mathers sits in the magi lineage: who shaped this figure, and who this figure shaped in turn. Mage names link to their own ficha.