In the old province of Languedoc, northwest of Marseilles, on the resplendent Golfe du Lion, emerged the Cathars – a mysterious Christian sect shrouded in accusations of heresy – in the 11th […]
The English Civil War: A Wild Ride to Democracy
Ah, the English Civil War. This rambunctious ruckus, also known as the Great Rebellion or the English Revolution, was a turbulent time of political, social, and religious upheaval. Picture warring factions, rousing […]
Of Piety and Pedagogy: Catholicism and Education in Poland
Poland is a Catholic country in its bones – the faith survived the Protestant Reformation, Prussian repression, and the atheistic communist era. So steadfast has it been that historian Neal Pease christened […]
The Rise and Fall of Rome: Are We Headed for a Repeat?
Rome: the greatest Western civilization of all time? The civilization all others look up to. Its military conquests, engineering feats, and cultural contributions continue to shape our world today. After all, there’s […]
The Strange Genius of Nikola Tesla
Visionary. Genius. Charlatan. Nikola Tesla is one of the most celebrated (and controversial) scientific figures of the 20th century. During his life, the inventor, engineer, and futurist mastered eight languages, promoted modern […]
The Rat Utopia Experiments That Predicted Humanity’s Dark Future
Global population estimates exceeded 8 billion people in November 2022. That’s more people than have ever existed! In fact, a jaw-dropping 7pc of people who have ever lived are alive today. Surely, […]
An Introduction to Stoicism: The Philosophy of Grit
LIFE is suffering. If there’s one thing philosophers agree on, it’s that. Whether you’re shivering cold, racked with grief, or dealing with a terrible disease, no one can control the situation they’re […]
Is Freemasonry a Modern Iteration of Raja Yoga?
“When the soul sees itself as a center surrounded by its circumference—when the Sun knows that it is a Sun, surrounded by its whirling planets—then is it ready for the Wisdom and […]
A (Very) Brief History of the Order of the Golden Dawn
THE Victorian era saw a proliferation of occult and esoterically inclined orders and society, from new formations of Martinism to the Theosophical Society and its Esoteric Section to Numerous Masonic appellate bodies. Possibly the most well-known, and immediately influential, is the Order of the Golden Dawn. Originally envisaged as an initiatory school of theoretical magic, it because, with its Rosicrucian Inner Order, both a school of initiates and a college of Adepts, practicing both and theurgy. The Golden Dawn existed from the late 19th to the early 20th century in Great Britain and France, and into the 1970s in New Zealand. Its teachings, rituals, and initiations are still influential today.
From Time Immemorial, Humanity’s Celebration of the Summer Solstice
The Summer Solstice, which is also commonly known as Midsummer, takes place when one of the Earth’s poles reaches maximum tilt towards the Sun. In the Northern hemisphere, this occurs when the […]