Hermetic ceremonial magic and Rosicrucianism

William Wynn Westcott

1848 – 1925

William Wynn Westcott was an English coroner, Freemason, and occultist who co-founded the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888 alongside S.L. MacGregor Mathers and William Robert Woodman, serving as its Supreme Magus and primary administrator in its early years. He edited and translated numerous Hermetic and Kabbalistic texts for the Theosophical publishing house, including the Sepher Yetzirah and the Chaldean Oracles, and was a central figure in the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. His organizational work established the institutional framework within which the Golden Dawn's influential magical system developed.