William Butler Yeats is one of the many famous names to come from the original Golden Dawn. His poetry and writings were a display of his passion for mysticism and the Occult Sciences. These were largely expressed in various publications (e.g. Your Pathway), earning him the Nobel Prize in 1924 for literature. But more important was his desire and striving for knowledge of that which is beyond what we know and that of the unknown. William Butler Yeats was third-generation Irish, born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. From day one he was up against a wall regarding his religious beliefs, for his grandfather was a deeply Orthodox Rector in the Church of England, while his father was a complete religious skeptic.
With this conflict already in place, young William walked the very fine line of between faith and disbelief. Being faced with this dilema, Yeats was destined to find the balance by whatever means necessary. This first step occurred after reading numerous text on the subjects of Occultism, the Tibetan Mysteries, Buddhism, and other beliefs. All of these subjects ignited his desire to learn and to know. Aside from his readings, what further expanded his desire was his discovery of a society purporting to be Ancient and non-European. This new movement simply called The Theosophical Society, claimed to have the ability to offer a “synthesis” of religion, science, and philosophy.
For at that particular time in human development, none of these three disciplines were ready to integrate with the other, but this is what fascinated Yeats. This is what he longed for. Upon hearing of the Society, Yeats soon met the founder, Madame Helene Blavatsky, and was very intrigued by her. After many metaphysical conversations with her and many hours of long thought on the issue, Yeats took one of his first steps on his path of occult wisdom, and joined the famed Theosophical Society of London. The Society provided Yeats with a kind of outlet that he needed to express his thoughts and feelings that the Victorian society of the time might have considered risque or improper. After attending various Theosophical meetings, Yeats felt at home. William felt this way at least on an outside level.
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But deep on the inside, his heart had another desire that the Society could never touch. Being around others who shared similar lines of thinking was a step in the right direction for Yeats, but he realized that there was more to all this learned knowledge than just plain talk. With the thoughts in his mind forming very strongly, Yeats was once again yearning for more than what his universe had revealed. But soon after this discovery was made, Yeats also discovered that fellow members of the Theosophical society felt the same. It was at this point that Madame Blavatsky was approached by such people, asking for more. She obliged, and formed an additional branch to the Society called, “The Esoteric Section.” This branch of the Society dared to venture into the area of magic and hoped to prove to others that Occult phenomena is possible.
This was the answer to Yeats prayers, (to an extent).
In addition, the E.S. assured everyone that they would not actually be practicing magic but would be undergoing the necessary magical training before magical power was entrusted Such magical training consisted of the learning of magical and esoteric symbols, c correspondences, creating interrelationships between the seasons, various parts of the body, the five elements, colors, numbers, etc. As fulfilling as all of this new knowledge and experience was, Yeats soon lost hope in this new branch, due to the fact that all experiments performed by the E.S. were quite unsuccessful. Several took place; raising the ghost of a flower, evoking a dream by use of a symbol under the dreamer’s pillow, all of which failed. Once again, Yeats felt that something was missing.
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After witnessing many failures and only minimal success, Yeats lost hope in this new branch, and felt it was time to continue on, rather than stay stagnant. This led to his discovery of another society, which many of his friends in the T.S. were joining. This new organization was beautifully titled, “The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.” The Golden Dawn satisfied Yeat’s need to dig into his very core, and unleash what has been buried for so long. As Yeats soon discovered, the Golden Dawn Incorporated traditional European Cabalistic Magic and astrology, as opposed to the wisdom of the East. In addition, the Golden Dawn encouraged exploration and wielding of power (over the material universe, unlike Blavatsky who constantly warned students against the practice of phenomena and oftentimes discouraged it altogether.) This highly pleased Yeats, and allowed him to open his magical aspirations to as high as he would go. Aside from knowing various friends in the Golden Dawn that were previously attending the T.S., Yeats’ decision to join the Golden Dawn can be credited to one of the Order’s founders: S. L. MacGregor Mathers. His magical powers left a strong and lasting impression upon Yeats, and assured him of the validity of the Golden Dawn’s Work.
Instead of handing him theories on how and why things work, the Golden Dawn showed him the answers, gave him the desired results, and the freedom and the opportunity for constant experimentation and expression. This expression was further reflected in his writings. For example, his poem, Images, makes many references to various Occult meanings. Restored by drinking that miraculous wine to human form: Day beats upon their eyes Sounds of unfinished battle upon their ears One sways his head and laughs, another weeps. Then all laugh out, discovering in laughter that the dark valley at the mountain forest Where wold must war on walk, abounding Grow out of that foul blood, is magical That they imagined it and bound themselves. Therein contented with that bitter sweet But the wind changes and the valley howls One howls his answer back and one by one They drop upon all fours, creep valley — wards Question that instant for these forms O heart These chuckling & howling forms begot ”WILLIAM Butler Yeats, at the age of seventy-three, stands well within the company of the great poets. He is still writing, and the poems which now appear, usually embedded in short plays or set into the commentary and prefaces which have been another preoccupation of his later years, are, in many instances, as vigorous and as subtle as the poems written by him during the years ordinarily considered to be the period of a poet’s maturity.
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Yeats has advanced into age with his art strengthened by a long battle which had as its object a literature written by Irishmen fit to take its place among the noble literatures of the world. The spectacle of a poet’s work invigorated by his lifelong struggle against the artistic inertia of his nation is one that would shed strong light into The phenomenon of a poet who enjoys continued development into the beginning of old age is in itself rare. Goethe, Sophocles, and, in a lesser de gree, Milton come to mind as men whose last works burned with the gathered fuel of their lives. More often development, in a poet, comes to a full stop; and it is frequently a negation of the ideals of his youth, as well as a declination of his powers, that throws a shadow across his final pages. Yeats in his middle years began to concern himself with the problem of the poet in age. He wrote in 1917, when he was fifty-two.
A poet when he is growing old, will ask himself if he cannot keep his mask and his vision, without new bitterness, new disappointment. . . . Could he if he would, copy Landor who lived loving and hating, ridiculous and unconquered, into extreme old age, all lost but the favor of his muses. .
. . Surely, he may think, now that I have found vision and mask I need not suffer any longer. Then he will remember Wordsworth, withering into eighty years, honoured and empty-witted, and climb to some waste room, and find, forgotten there by youth, We can trace, in Yeats, the continually enriched and undeviating course of an inspired man, from earliest youth to age. We can trace the rectitude of the spiritual line in his prose and poetry alike. And there is not a great deal of difference between the “lank, long-coated figure . . .
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who came and went as he pleased,” dramatizing himself and his dreams in the streets of Dublin (the youth who had known William Morris and was to know Dowson and Wilde), and the man who, full of honors in our day, impresses us with his detachment and subtle modernity. Yeats, the fiery young Nationalist, rolling up with his own hands, the red carpet spread on a Dublin sidewalk “by some elderly Nationalist softened or weakened by time, to welcome Viceroyalty,” is recognizable in the poet of advanced years who does not hesitate to satirize certain leaders of the new Ireland. Yeats’s faith in the development of his own powers has never failed.” Yeats continued his search for knowledge of that which is not written for man to read. But like all things, life comes to an end. His accomplished life ended when the Sun entered Aquarius on January 28th, 1939. Roqueborne, South France was where he took his last breath. A last breath that would be long remembered by those in the world of literature, and the thousands who are thinking with a Western Mind.
