About the Author:
Mary Katherine Greer is a former professor of women's studies and the author of The Essence of Magic and three books on Tarot, including Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation. She leads workshops in women's mystery traditions, aromatherapy, writing, and Tarot throughout the United States and in Europe and lives in Nevada City, California.
From Booklist:
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded in London in 1888. One of several secret magical societies in existence at the time, the Golden Dawn was noted for the equality it offered women both in its internal hierarchy and when performing mystical ceremonies. While this magical order attracted several more famous followers, William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw among them, Greer's purpose in writing this book is to highlight the lives of four female members. They are Florence Farr, actress; Annie Horniman, patron of the arts; Maud Gonne, aristocratic revolutionary; and Moina Bergson Mathers, artist. All managed to escape suffocating Victorian lifestyles and eventually formed the backbone of the Golden Dawn. In this massive book, Greer explores the many years of intensive study of occult and mystical traditions the women undertook and the personal triumphs and tragedies they experienced along the way. Packed with anecdotes about major literary figures of the time, this account provides a provocative picture of four strong and brilliant women who refused to be hindered by the dictates of Victorian society. However, while this book may prove intriguing as a historical or biographical work, its use of astrology and magic to draw conclusions or explain occurrences may prove distracting to some readers. Kathleen Hughes
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