Primary & Historical Sources
The Lantern Volumes I-III
Published between 2012 and 2019, the three volumes of The Lantern continue the name and spirit of the earlier journal associated with Whare Ra, bringing together historical research, previously unpublished or difficult-to-obtain Order material, and writings preserved through the New Zealand Stella Matutina tradition.
Volume I — A Wayfaring Man, Part I (2012) marks the centenary of the establishment of Smaragdum Thalasses in New Zealand. It contains the first part of Harriet Felkin’s A Wayfaring Man, her account of the life of Dr Robert Felkin, together with The Magic of Havelock North, material on Felkin as an astrologer, and several writings and recollections by Frank Salt (Frater Fiat Lux) concerning the purpose and practice of the Order.
Volume II — A Wayfaring Man, Part II (2015) completes Harriet Felkin’s account and includes historical material concerning Father J. Charles Fitzgerald, an early Stella Matutina paper on the symbolism of the Rose, the surviving transcript of the warrant establishing Smaragdum Thalasses, and a selection of Temple notices, addresses and administrative documents from the later years of Whare Ra.
Volume III — Berashith (2019) centres upon Frank Salt’s previously unpublished Berashith, a study of the Hebrew letters and their application within the Order’s system. It also reproduces Stella Matutina Tarot images, papers on the Elementals, Outer Order Daily Rhythms, The Dance of the Zodiac, early administrative instructions and historical addresses. The volume concludes with correspondence surrounding the closure of Whare Ra in 1978 and Frank Salt’s subsequent intention to preserve and, should circumstances permit, re-establish the work of the Order.
Originally issued as limited hardbound editions of 100 copies each, all three volumes are now made freely available in PDF form as a service to the wider community.
The Magic of Havelock North
An account of the remarkable spiritual and cultural milieu that developed in Havelock North during the early twentieth century, and from which Whare Ra and the Smaragdum Thalasses Temple emerged.
The essay traces the Havelock Work, the Society of the Southern Cross and The Forerunner, before examining the arrival of Dr Robert Felkin and the establishment and subsequent development of the Stella Matutina in New Zealand.
By D.P., originally published in The Lantern Vol I, Sub Rosa Press New Zealand 2012.
The Havelock Work 1909-39
A first-hand account of the Havelock Work by John von Dadelszen, a participant in the movement and later a senior Chief of Whare Ra.
Written in 1983, the article traces the remarkable cultural and spiritual movement that developed around Reginald Gardner in Havelock North, including The Forerunner, the Shakespearean Pageant, the arrival of Dr Robert Felkin and the establishment of the Hermetic Order in New Zealand. It concludes with the later development of the Tauhara Centre.
By John von Dadelszen. Originally published in Te Mata Times, September 1983.
Research & Scholarship
Anglo-Catholic Clergy and the Golden Dawn, Anthony Charles Fuller
Anglo-Catholic Clergy and the Golden Dawn: The Ritual Revival and Modern Magical Orders 1887–1940 is Tony Fuller’s doctoral thesis, submitted to the University of Exeter for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology in September 2009, under the supervision of Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke.
This substantial two-volume study examines the relationship between the nineteenth-century Anglo-Catholic revival and the emergence of modern magical orders, particularly the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its successors. Fuller explores their shared concern with ritual, symbolism, the supernatural and the possibility of communion with the divine, while carefully distinguishing Anglo-Catholicism itself from the heterodox occult currents of the period.
Of particular relevance to Whare Ra is Fuller’s extensive treatment of the Stella Matutina and its New Zealand history. Drawing upon documentary and personal sources, the thesis contains important material concerning Robert and Harriet Felkin, the Smaragdum Thalasses Temple at Havelock North, Whare Ra, and the continuation of the Order’s work in New Zealand. The thesis also records material derived from surviving New Zealand Order documents and Fuller’s correspondence and research with former members.
The thesis is presented here in its original two-volume form as a historical and scholarly resource.
Tony Fuller has kindly given permission for The Lantern to make these PDFs freely available.
Anthony Charles Fuller, Anglo-Catholic Clergy and the Golden Dawn: The Ritual Revival and Modern Magical Orders 1887–1940, PhD thesis, University of Exeter, 2009.
A Cure for Disenchantment: Smaragdum Thalasses Temple, Havelock North, New Zealand, Timothy Worrad
Timothy Worrad examines the unusual longevity and success of the Smaragdum Thalasses Temple, which operated at Havelock North from 1912 until 1978. He places Whare Ra within the wider context of New Zealand’s early twentieth-century alternative spirituality, the Havelock Work, and what he describes as a spiritual “third way” between orthodox religion and scientific rationalism.
The article also considers the importance of the purpose-built temple at Whare Ra, the authority and influence of Robert and Harriet Felkin, and the role of supernatural and Rosicrucian claims in sustaining the Order’s identity. Particular attention is given to Harriet Felkin’s long leadership and to the decline of the Temple following the deaths of the Felkin family.
Timothy Worrad, Preternatural: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural, Volume 9, Issue 2, September 2020
