TheIsis-Urania Temple was the first temple of theHermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The three founders, Dr.William Robert Woodman,William Wynn Westcott, andSamuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, wereFreemasons and members ofSocietas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.).^[1] It continued as one of four daughter organisations into which the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn fragmented, the others being theAlpha et Omega, theStella Matutina andAleister Crowley'sA∴A∴.

In October 1887, Westcott wrote toAnna Sprengel, whose name and address he received through the decoding of theCipher Manuscripts. A reply was purported to have been received with much wisdom, and honorary grades of Exempt Adept were conferred upon Westcott, Mathers and Woodman, as well as a charter to establish a Golden Dawn temple to work the five grades outlined in the manuscripts.^[2][3]

In 1888, the Isis-Urania temple inLondon was founded,^[2] in which the rituals decoded from the cipher manuscripts were developed and practiced.^[4] In addition, there was an insistence on women being allowed to participate in the Order in "perfect equality" with men, which was in contrast to theSocietas Rosicruciana in Anglia (S.R.I.A.) and Masonry.^[3]

Towards the end of 1899, the Adepts of the Isis-Urania and Amen-Ra temples had become extremely dissatisfied with Mathers' leadership, as well as his growing friendship withAleister Crowley. They were also anxious to make contact with theSecret Chiefs, instead of dealing with them through Mathers.^[5] Among the personal disagreements within the Isis-Urania temple, there were disputes between Florence Farr'sThe Sphere, a secret society within the Isis-Urania, and the rest of the Adeptus Minors.^[5]

After the Isis-Urania temple declared its independence, there were even more disputes, leading to the resignation ofWilliam Butler Yeats.^[6] A committee of three was to temporarily govern, which included P. W. Bullock, M. W. Blackden andJohn William Brodie-Innes. After a short time, Bullock resigned, and Dr.Robert Felkin took his place.^[7] During this time they fell into conflict withAnnie Horniman which led to her leaving the order for good.^[8]

In May 1903, Brodie Innes attempted to pass a new constitution in which he would become head of the order. He was opposed by a majority of the remaining members led byArthur Edward Waite, Marcus Blackden, andWilliam Alexander Ayton. The Waite group proposed that the order should be reorganised and refocused in a mystical direction retaining control of the Isis-Urania temple, while those wishing to pursue active magical operations should separate. This led a minority under Felkin and Brodie-Innes, and including Yeats, to separate to form theStella Matutina.^[8]

Waite, Blackden and Ayton were now the leaders of the order which they now namedIndependent and Rectified Rite of the Golden Dawn or theHoly Order of the Golden Dawn which aimed at exploringmysticism. However Blackden and Ayton in fact took no active role leaving Waite in charge. Those who adhered to the reformed order includedArthur Machen,Algernon Blackwood,Pamela Colman Smith, andIsabelle de Steiger. The order also gained an active new memberEvelyn Underhill in 1905. After Ayton's death, Col. Webber took his place.^[9] Waite continued his Isis-Urania Temple work during the years leading up toWorld War I and initially maintained a somewhat peaceful relationship with the Amoun Temple of theStella Matutina though refusing contact withAlpha et Omega.

The new temple,Francis King argued, "abandoned all magical work, abolished examination within the Second Order and used heavily revised rituals designed to express a somewhat tortuousChristianmysticism.^{[9][undue weight? –discuss]} These revisions were carried out by Waite putting them into action in 1910, and have been described by King as "pompous and long windedness".^[9] Waite's alterations to the rituals were partially inspired by his investigations into the origins of theCipher Manuscripts which began in 1908.^[10]

Waite concluded that the manuscripts inconsistencies meant they could not reflect genuineancient Egyptian traditions as had been claimed, and in fact had been composed some time in the late nineteenth century. This led to a virulent new dispute between those who accepted Waite's findings and those who did not. These disputes brought Marcus Blackden out of seclusion to argue that the cypher manuscripts represented genuine ancient knowledge transmitted orally via the Egyptianfellaheen.^[10]

This conflict led Waite to close the temple in 1914 and forming a new order, theFellowship of the Rosy Cross in complete independence from the Golden Dawn and its offshoots, taking a number of members with him.^[10] R. A. Gilbert backs Waite's explanation for the end of the order, while King speculates that real reason for the ending of the order was that a number of theAdepts had a strong dislike for Waite's new rituals.^[11]

• Rosicrucianism

• Gilbert, Robert A. (1983).The Golden Dawn: Twilight of the Magicians. The Aquarian Press.ISBN 0-85030-278-1.
• King, Francis (1989).Modern Ritual Magic: The Rise of Western Occultism. Prism.ISBN 1-85327-032-6.
• King, Francis, ed. (1997).Ritual Magic of the Golden Dawn: Works by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Others.Destiny Books.ISBN 0-89281-617-1.
• Regardie, Israel (1993).What you should know about the Golden Dawn (6th ed.). New Falcon Publications.ISBN 1-56184-064-5.