Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

WESTCOTT, W Wynn

A qualified medical practitioner who joined the Freemasons in 1872 and became a member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA) in 1880, rising to the position of General Secretary in 1882. He was an acknowledged authority on alchemy and on Kabbalistic and Hermetic lore, and was a regular speaker to Anna Kingsford's Hermetic Society. In 1892 he became the Supreme Magus of the SRIA.

As one of four founder members of Golden Dawn (see HERMETIC ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN) he went under the various magical pseudonyms of Non Omnis Moriar and Sapere Aude. He claimed to have acquired a cipher manuscript in 1887 from a colleague, A F A Woodford, which he decoded and which was found to contain details of rituals that were to become the foundation of Golden Dawn. The account can not be verified and the authorship of the manuscript is thought to have come from another SRIA member. He is also said to have invented a secret Hebrew name for Golden Dawn.

Westcott favoured pursuance of the so-called Western philosophical path, which stood in stark contrast to the antiChristian position of other theosophists (see THEOSOPHY) headed by Helena Blavatsky. He retired fram Golden Dawn in 1897.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc