BEWARE: Regardie Initiatiory Lineage Hoax

The publications of Israel Regardie, unfortunately, have recently engendered a host of modern, American groups on the Internet calling themselves "Golden Dawn," but having no connection to the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in Europe in 1888. The teachings of these Regardie-based groups derive almost without fail, entirely from the Golden Dawn material published by Israel Regardie, which dead-ends partially through the Adeptus Minor (5=6) level. In  desperate mover to give themselves an air of legitimacy, certain Regardie-based groups have deliberately created a myth of a "Regardie Golden Dawn initiatory lineage." Such a notion, however, is highly problematic. Israel Regardie knew that he had no authority to initiate or grant a charter to anyone and honestly admitted this on numerous occasions, including in the attached letter. To begin with, Regardie was never even initiated in the Golden Dawn but rather only in the schismatic Stella Matutina, founded by former Golden Dawn Adept turned rogue, R.W. Felkin. Moreover, Regardie was never granted dispensation to initiate anyone by the G.H. Chiefs of the Stella Matutina and certainly had no authority to grant any sort of charter or even to consecrate a Vault of the Adepti.

Fully aware of these facts, Israel Regardie nonetheless did consecrate a Vault of the Adepti in 1982 in order to initiate his student, Cris Monnastre, into the Adeptus Minor (5=6) grade. These events provided fertile soil for a myth of a "Regardie initiatory lineage" to be deliberately cultivated by certain Regardie-based groups following Regardie's death. It should be noted that, in his life, Regardie only had four students. These were Cris Monnastre, William Kennedy, Larry Epperson (Adam Forrest), and Alan Miller (Christopher Hyatt). Regardie never endorsed any "Regardie-based" Golden Dawn group or order, although this imprimatur has been putatively claimed by a variety of organizations following his death.

One could potentially argue with some legitimacy that Israel Regardie has become the progenitor of his own occult school with its own lineage deriving exclusively from Israel Regardie, as is the case with numerous lineages deriving from teachers in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism in the East. In this limited sense, the Regardie-based groups could perhaps honestly claim a "Regardie lineage." Dishonesty enters and public confusion arises, however, when Regardie-based groups deliberately attempt to conflate such a  "Regardie lineage" with a "Golden Dawn" lineage, which by his own clear admission, was never Regardie's to bestow.

BEWARE: Certain New Age Golden Dawn groups have published deliberately false and misleading information about our order in order to sell dubious and non-traditional "Astral" or "Long Distance" Initiations on the Internet. 

Contrary to this disinformation, our order has never claimed any sort of Golden Dawn lineage through Israel Regardie. For complete and accurate information about the actual lineages held by our order and their true spiritual function and importance, please see our lineage page. and the article on the truth about lineage in spiritual traditions.