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How did the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn influence Aleister Crowley and Wicca?

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Oil painting The Witches' Sabbath by Francisco de Goya shows a group of figures in dark robes gathered around a crouching person, with eerie creatures flying in a moonlit sky. — Witchcraft *El conjuro* or *Las brujas* (“The Conjuring” or “The Witches”), oil on canvas by Francisco Goya, 1797–98; in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a foundational influence on modern Western esotericism, providing a practical curriculum of ceremonial magic that shaped the paths of both Aleister Crowley and the founders of Wicca.12

Influence on Aleister Crowley

Crowley joined the Golden Dawn in 1898, where he gained extensive training in ceremonial magic, tarot, and Kabbala. The order’s emphasis on practical ritual performance and its hierarchical structure provided the framework for Crowley’s later development of his own religion, Thelema. After the Golden Dawn dissolved, Crowley continued to utilize and adapt these esoteric systems within his own organizations, such as the A∴A∴ and the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO).23

Influence on Wicca

The Golden Dawn’s influence on Wicca was largely mediated through the writings and practices of its former members and the subsequent publication of its instructional materials by Israel Regardie. Gerald Gardner, the key figure behind Wicca, was deeply familiar with Western esoteric literature, including the works of Aleister Crowley. Wicca adopted the Golden Dawn’s model of ritual practice, including the use of ceremonial frameworks and the performance of rites, which were integrated into the development of Gardnerian Wicca in the 1950s.245