Secret Tarot Knowledge: Israel Regardie

Israel Regardie: The man who brought secret Tarot knowledge to the masses

Not many people have had as unusual a life as Israel Regardie – or become famous for such an unusual achievement.

Regardie was born in London in 1907. He moved with his family to America at age 13. From early on, Regardie was fascinated by religion and the occult. Of the many books he read on these subjects, one especially struck him – Book 4 by the (in)famous occultist Aleister Crowley.

Regardie sent a letter to Crowley, singing his praises of the book. It must have been quite an impressive fan letter because Crowley didn’t just reply with an autograph, but with a request for Regardie to join him as his personal secretary. Regardie happily agreed, and was off to Paris, where he spent 1928 in Crowley’s service (the two went their separate ways a (tumultuous) year later, when Crowley could no longer pay for his services).

It’s often said that meeting your heroes can be disappointing. In Regardie’s case, it seems that one of the things that disappointed him about Crowley was that the occultist didn’t share secrets of magic with his followers. He instead expected them to discover and practice on their own. Still, Crowley did help Regardie get into the Stella Matutina, a secret occult society that was a direct descendent of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which had stopped activity in 1903.

If you’re a fan of tarot, the name “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” may be familiar to you. It’s a secret occult society that originated in 1887 in London and counted an impressive number of writers and artists in its ranks. One of them, Pamela Colman Smith, would go on to collaborate with fellow member Arthur Edward Waite in creating what is the world’s best-known tarot deck, the Rider-Waite deck, which was first published in 1909.

While the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn studied and celebrated many esoteric subjects, tarot held a very important place. The cards were considered a sort of encoded compilation of esoteric knowledge, as well as a tool for divination and an essential part of a number of the society’s rituals.

But if the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and its descendant, the Stella Matutina, were secret societies, how do we have all of this information?  

That’s where Israel Regardie comes in.

Regardie was disillusioned with the Stella Matutina’s leaders, who seemed self-absorbed and full of pride at their titles. He wanted to bring their knowledge to the masses, especially in order to preserve rituals that remained from the Golden Dawn. His book My Rosicrucian Adventure (also called What You Should Know About the Golden Dawn) was published in 1935.

The book didn’t really make an impact on the general population. Those in the esoteric world, however, were furious. In revealing these secrets, Regardie had broken a sacred oath. 

But for historians and anyone interested in the occult, he’d shared invaluable knowledge. Over the course of the next few decades, which saw him become a chiropractor and psychologist, fight in World War II, and even be called upon to edit some of Crowley’s writings, Regardie would continue to publish books and information about the Golden Dawn, as well as other esoteric subjects.  

There’s some fascinating information on Tarot to be found in these pages. You can read about the key points in great detail in this article from the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition. 

Essentially, for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Stella Matutina, and other related groups, tarot was seen as a serious way to practice divination – but not only that. The cards were also symbols for the progress of members on the Tree of Life, and in the ranks of their secret order. The tarot was also seen as a sort of guide, or book, that combined astrology, Kabbalah, and various occult teachings. It was an important part of a belief system involving auras, energies, and ceremonial magic. 

Lower-tier members of the Golden Dawn and the orders derived from it had to memorize the cards. As they rose in the hierarchy (celebrated in ceremonies that featured tarot cards and symbols), more of the tarot’s mysteries and uses were revealed to them. 

Regardie’s exposés didn’t sell well at first, but by the 1960’s, when the counterculture had started showing an interest in “New Age” topics, they grew in popularity.  It’s also around this time that both Crowley and Regardie’s own Tarot decks were published.  Crowley’s , called the Book of Thoth, was originally conceived between 1938 and 1962, but wasn’t published until 1969. Today, it’s one of the most famous Tarot decks.

Israel Regardie’s deck, called the Golden Dawn Tarot, was published in 1977. Regardie worked with a Dr. Robert Wang to illustrate the Golden Dawn’s interpretations and symbology of the Tarot. While not one of the most famous Tarot decks in use today, it’s an important resource in its own right, since it contains so much of the symbolism and interpretations that Regardie wrote about in his exposés. 

Regardie’s rather eventful life ended in 1985 in Sedona, Arizona, a place known for its peculiar energy. He may have left this word several decades ago, but his revelations about the Stella Matutina and, ultimately, the Golden Dawn, live on. You can find a number of Regardie-related resources, from his books, to documentaries about him, by doing a simple online search for his name, or, if you prefer, his name and a particular area of interest for you (for example, “Israel Regardie Tarot” or “Israel Regardie Golden Dawn”).

The Golden Dawn Tarot deck is easily available to purchase from a lot of different websites, so if you’re curious, grab yourself a copy of the deck. Afterall, it’s a piece of Tarot history, a way to explore an important and influential interpretation of the cards and their secrets.