The birth

It is fair to say that Sumer was the birthplace of all civilization, where the invention of writing took place, along with maybe one of the first elaborate forms of religion. Some of the most important esoteric principles and practices were passed into Egypt, where they became associated with the magical knowledge of the early Egyptians. This is how the Western Tradition truly started, eventually spreading to the countries around the Mediterranean Sea.

Birth of the "Gold Chain" (the chain of the adepts)

The God Thoth and the Goddess Isis are the real founders of the hermetic and theurgic traditions. The “Sacred Mysteries” and the “Cult of Isis” became better known than the Theurgic and Hermetic Traditions derived from the teachings of Thoth. This part of the heritage constituted the roots of what was called, hundreds of years later, “Theurgy,” the “divine work.”

Until the 5th century, this fascinating tradition continued to develop in several steps that will be explained in more detail on other parts of this website. The first main aspect was the development of the cult of Thoth in Hermopolis. Based on the founding story of the creation of the world, the priests elaborated rites and sacred mysteries. The same happened for the Goddess Isis, who was also linked to magic.

During the Hellenistic period of Egypt known as the Ptolemaic period, from the name of its founder Ptolemy I, this very ancient tradition became associated with the Greek Mysteries. This is the time when philosophy and theurgy were taught in Alexandria. This period and place should be seen as the birthplace of the tradition we are referring to.

​

Egypt, Birthplace of the Western Tradition

The first famous figure to travel to Egypt in order to learn the secrets of this ancient religious and Magical Tradition was Pythagoras, in the 5th century. He spent a long time there and obviously received the teachings and training available in the Temples of this country. Just as Pythagoras had done, Plato traveled to Egypt to receive teachings from priests who were part of the clergy of Heliopolis. Then back in Athens (Greece) after years of learning, he founded the Academy. Today scholars agree on the fact that this Academy maintained the organization of the Pythagorean School by the publication of books and with oral and private teachings. It is startling to realize that this Academy was active from the 5th century BCE until the 6th century CE, for over 10 centuries!

Porphyry of Tyre (233-305 CE), who was the Scholarch (chief) of the Platonic Academy of Athens, was one of the masters of Iamblichus. It is very likely that he passed on his philosophical heritage and initiations (from Plato and Pythagoras) to him. Iamblichus additionally learned all the platonic texts, enacted several ancient Mysteries, and ultimately received what became a real revelation, the full revelation of the “Chaldaean Oracles.” Iamblichus discovered the sacred science that was inherited from the Chaldeans and the Egyptians: Theurgy! Of course, some kind of magic existed prior to this period, but Iamblichus unified these different doctrines, all of which originated from Egypt and Chaldea, upon the theological and ritual foundation of the Chaldaean Oracles. It was really at this moment that this spiritual family found its axis and homeland. Iamblichus taught in Apamea throughout the entire first quarter of the 4th century.

​

The Dark Days

Meanwhile, during the period when Iamblichus was teaching, Christianity was rising rapidly, imposing its absolute and intolerant view. Unfortunately, and as is very often true in the history of humanity, it was not the moderate participants who shaped this new religion...

The Ptolemaic dynasty ended in 30 BCE. The school of Alexandria continued to exist until the 5th century. Hypatia was savagely murdered by Christians while the Library of Alexandria was destroyed by the rising rage of Christianity. Initiates, theurgists, philosophers, and scientists fled to other countries such as Italy, Greece, Syria, etc. Keeping these elements in mind, it is possible to say that the Hermetic and Theurgic Tradition was maintained in Byzantium, Greece, and Italy. First of all, I would like to highlight the names of Leon the Mathematician, Michael Psellos, and Michael Italikos. All of these men respectfully learned the “Chaldaean oracles” and wrote extensively about these texts. Italikos was even named the “second Plato.” It is indubitably the case that Magic and even Theurgy were used by many scholars.

During the early days of the Christian religion, the Emperor Justinian declared that the Orthodox Nicene Christian faith was the official (and only permitted) religion that could be practiced in the Empire. The Emperor’s Codex contained two statutes that mandated the total destruction of all pagan practices, even in private life.

In 529, the Neoplatonic Academy of Athens was closed by order of the Emperor. From that day forward, Paganism was actively suppressed, as were all related pagan creative works (books, art, etc.) by fanatical monks, encouraged by the authorities of the Empire.

As a result of that decree, an uncounted number of male and female initiates were captured, tortured, and killed in the name of “pure Christian love.” The secrecy of our Tradition and beliefs became an obligation, a simple matter of survival.

The Renaissance

In the fifteenth century, the Theurgic Neoplatonic tradition reappeared. Gemistus Pletho (1355–1452) met Cosimo de Medici in Florence and influenced the latter's decision to create a new Platonic Academy there. Cosimo subsequently appointed Marsilio Ficino as the head of the newly formed Academy. He proceeded to translate all of Plato's works into Latin, including the Enneads of Plotinus, and various other Neoplatonic writings. The group that met at the Villa Careggi perpetuated both the initiatory mysteries of the Neoplatonist tradition and the Theurgic initiation. Besides this main philosophy, other parts of the Western tradition were known by some members of the Academy. Giovanni Cavalcanti was an initiate of the “Fideli d’Amore,” and Pico della Mirandola was a specialist in Qabalah. The tradition of the “Fideli” was created by French troubadours of the Middle Ages, while Qabalah came from the Hebrew religion. Both were progressively incorporated into the main beliefs and tradition of the Academy. It's essential to keep in mind that close contacts existed between other Academies in Italy, such as the Academy of Venice and Naples (Academy of Secrets). This group’s remarkable activities marked the rebirth of this ancient pagan tradition that changed the Western world on many fundamental aspects, including philosophy, theology, art, and more.

​

Modern Times

The period between the Italian Renaissance and the rebirth of the Order in 1897 has been well-documented by the Grand Master Jean-Louis de Biasi in his book “Rediscover the Magick of the Gods and Goddesses,” Llewellyn Publications. We invite you to delve deeper into the subject by reading the historic section of this book. After the Renaissance, the Theurgic Neoplatonic tradition continued to exist. We should mention an interesting group called “the Fratelli Obscuri,” which was active in Italy during the 16th and 17th centuries. This secret organization concealed the laudable object of propagating the sciences and the love of virtue. The Fratelli Obscuri had been established in imitation of an older society that had existed since before the fall of the Grecian Empire in the towns of Constantinople and Thessalonica. It was divided into three grades. Antonio Pizzalleti, Grand Officer of this organization, came to London and installed the new Society under the name of “the Tavern of the Muses. A few years later, William Sedley and Thomas Smith established two new Taverns, one at Oxford and the other at Cambridge.” Another tavern was opened at York, and many more also opened at the time John Selden was the head of the Fratelli Obscuri in England. Eventually, the Fratelli Obscuri in England transformed their society into the Tobaccological Society. The tobaccologists (named Priseurs or Nicotiates in France) were known as the “Children of Wisdom.” Remember that the Neoplatonicians were called “Friends of Wisdom” and philosophers. Freemasonry seems related to this tradition. Perhaps the most significant is the “Academy of the Sublime Masters of the Luminous Ring” (Académie des Sublimes Maîtres de l’Anneau Lumineux).

​

According to the oral tradition of the Aurum Solis, an “Order of the Helmet” was established in England during the reign of Elizabeth I. This Order could have combined the Fideli d’Amore and Careggi successions. Francis Bacon, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, and many others were among its initiates. Deeply involved with the beginnings of this Order was the “Italiante” movement of the early years of Elizabeth’s reign. She herself had, during her sister’s reign, been tutored by a Platonist scholar and had avidly studied the works of Castiglione, an intimate of the Medici. Under her personal patronage were Giacomo Aconcio, an initiate of the Ogdoadic Guild Mysteries, and Bernardino Ochino, a Sienese. Ochino, it may be mentioned, before traveling (by way of Geneva) to England, had narrowly escaped the trials of the Inquisition in Rome through the timely warning of another initiate, Cardinal Contarini.

​

Around the 1990s, it has been claimed that these heritages were organized by a group called the “Societas Rotae Fulgentis” prior to the official rebirth as Aurum Solis in 1897. After further historical investigation, it appears that this claim was rooted in some books from the Renaissance, knowledge coming from the previous organizations already mentioned, and a rite called "Rota Fulgens Solis." As the official head of the “Antiquarian Society” in London stated in a personal communication with the current Grand Master: “I’ve never heard of a ‘Society of the Blazing Wheel’ or ‘Societas Rotae Fulgentis.’ I have checked the main histories of the Society, which are ‘A History of the Society of Antiquaries’ by Joan Evans (1956) and ‘Visions of Antiquity,’ edited by Susan Pearce (2007), and there is no reference to an inner body called this or any other name. […] ."

​

During the 20th century, Druidic and shamanic traditions were incorporated into the Aurum Solis under the name “Green Flame of Albion.” It was also the time when the past Grand Masters Denning and Phillips created the expression “Ogdoadic Tradition” to talk about this hermetic and theurgic lineage that eventually became the Aurum Solis. Specific sections of this website provide more details about the various parts of this heritage.

Today, the Aurum Solis presents all these parts of its heritage in a clear and well-structured manner in three ways: 1- the Holistic system of Mediterranean Yoga encompassing all the sciences that must be mastered to achieve a happy and successful life 2- The specific ray "Theurgy" 3- The inner circle of Mediterranean Yoga, called "Stella Gloriosa." The two latter are, in fact, one and contain the Theurgic curriculum organized. Besides this main corpus of teachings and practices, several main components can be found either in the holistic system of Mediterranean Yoga or in the ray of the Glorious Star called "Theurgy."

​

Then, the amazing history of this tradition can continue to be well alive, providing ancient keys very adapted to the modern world.