Golden dawn enochian chess board
The First Order taught esoteric philosophy based on the Hermetic Qabalah and personal development through study and awareness of the four Classical Elements as well as the basics of astrology, tarot divination, and geomancy. The "Golden Dawn" was the first of three Orders, although all three are often collectively referred to as the "Golden Dawn". The Golden Dawn system was based on hierarchy and initiation like the Masonic lodges however women were admitted on an equal basis with men. Many present-day concepts of ritual and magic that are at the centre of contemporary traditions, such as Wicca and Thelema, were inspired by the Golden Dawn, which became one of the largest single influences on 20th-century Western occultism. Known as a magical order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was active in Great Britain and focused its practices on theurgy and spiritual development.
ISBN 978-1-90.The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was an organization devoted to the study and practice of the occult, metaphysics, and paranormal activities during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Steve Nichols: Rosicrucian Chess of the Golden Dawn.Chris Zalewski: Enochian Chess of the Golden Dawn: A Four-Handed Chess Game.^ Ann Saddlemyer, Becoming George: The Life of Mrs.^ The Golden Dawn: a complete course in practical ceremonial magicĀ : the original account of the teachings, rites, and ceremonies of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Israel Regardie, Cris Monnastre, Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, eds., p.^ Ellic Howe, The magicians of the Golden Dawn: a documentary history of a magical order (Taylor & Francis, 1972 ISBN 0-7100-7339-9).Her husband took part in some of these games, as did MacGregor Mathers. The game, while complex, was in actual use Georgie Yeats, wife of poet William Butler Yeats, relates actually playing the game as a part of her occult training in Golden Dawn circles. Joseph Hone, biographer of William Butler Yeats, claimed, "Mathers would shade his eyes with his hands and gaze at the empty chair at the opposite corner of the board before moving his partner's piece". MacGregor Mathers, who finalised the game's rules, was known to play with an invisible partner he claimed was a spirit. The four players would form pairs of two, with each player having a partner. The rules of the game were partially derived from shatranj and other historical forms of chess the queen is played like an alfil, with a two square diagonal leaping move.
The chess board itself was also varicolored, and divided into four sub-boards in which each of one of the four elemental colors predominated. The main identifications of the pieces were: The four sets of pieces were variously colored, and identified with Egyptian deities or "god-forms".
The game was four-handed because each set of pieces corresponded to one of the four classical elements and their several watchtowers, and the game was used for divination as well as competition. MacGregor Mathers, who put its rules into final form. Enochian Chess was created by William Wynn Westcott, one of the three founders of the Golden Dawn, but the rules of the game were probably never completed by him.