The origins

Rooted in the Ancient Mystery Schools, born out of the Chaldean and Egyptian religions, and eventually integrated with the Hellenistic Mysteries, Aurum Solis has survived.  The Hermetic tradition is still alive!

ORDO AURUM SOLIS continues to perpetuate and transmit this vital initiation into the Theurgic tradition.

The "Ogdoadic Tradition" and the "Golden Chain" (the chain of the adepts)

The founders of the Aurum Solis tradition were the masters of the Platonic and Neoplatonic tradition who were initiated in both these mysteries and in the Theurgic tradition. The heart of this tradition is what Orpheus, Plato, Iamblicus, Proclus and the other masters called "the sacred path of return".

The three pillars

The three pillars of this tradition are: philosophy, theurgy and Love of the Beauty. These three pillars were the basis of the Neoplatonistic tradition at its inception, and they are the visible body of the Ogdoadic tradition even today.

The transmission

The inner work of our Tradition includes an initiatic transmission, as well as various Theurgic practices and philosophical teachings. The texts of the Neoplatonists and Theurgists whose writings are fundamental to our path reflect our pagan heritage and the Great Mysteries which are the foundation of our Order.

Hermetism

Hermetism is the heart of our Neoplatonic heritage. From his birth as Thoth, to his manifestation as Hermes Trismegistus, our divine founder has given power and blessings to our Tradition. Hermetism is an amazing tradition which associates the practice of Theurgy with a rational approach to the mysteries of the life.

The neoplatonic tradition

In the main, Neoplatonism is a religious philosophy. Neoplatonism is a form of idealism which combines various elements of Polytheism. Its beliefs are deeply connected to traditional spirituality. The core of the Neoplatonic tradition contains both theoretical and practical parts: the first part deals with the highest origins of the human soul, and explains how the soul has departed from its high estate; the second part reveals the path by which the soul may again return to its Eternal and Supreme.

The dark days

During the early days of the Christian religion, the Emperor Justinian declared that the Orthodox Nicene Christian faith was the official (and only permitted) religion that could be practiced in the Empire. The Emperor’s Codex contained two statutes which mandated the total destruction of all pagan practices, even in private life.

In +529 the Neoplatonic Academy of Athens was closed by order of the Emperor. From that day forward, Paganism was actively suppressed, as were all related pagan creative works (books, art, etc.) by fanatical monks, encouraged by the authorities of the Empire.

As a result of that decree, an uncounted number of male and female initiates were captured, tortured and killed in the name of “pure Christian love”. The secrecy of our Tradition and beliefs became an obligation, a simple matter of survival.

The Renaissance

In the fifteenth century, the Theurgic Neoplatonic tradition (the Ogdoadic tradition) reappeared. Gemistus Pletho (1355–1452)  met Cosimo de Medici in Florence and influenced the latter's decision to found a new Platonic Academy there. Cosimo subsequently appointed Marsilio Ficino as head of the newly formed Academy. He proceeded to translate all Plato's works into Latin, including the Enneads of Plotinus, and various other Neoplatonic writings.

The group that met at the Villa Careggi was simultaneously initiated by Plethon into both the initiatic mysteries of the Neoplatonist tradition and the Theurgic initiation. This group’s remarkable activities marked the rebirth of this ancient tradition.

The Aurum Solis

Just before the dawn of the 20th Century, a number of "antiquarian" and "folklore" societies in England were engaged into chronicling curiosities of the ancient times, and pursued their own chosen researches. Some of them were connected to the Cambridge Platonists.

One of these societies became known as Societas Rotae Fulgentis (Society of the Bnalzing Wheel). It restored the link with the last Neoplatonician initiates, heir to the antique Tradition that was transmitted by Pletho. This society took the name of Order of the Aurum Solis in 1897, thereby continuing the Golden Chain of the Adepts under its various aspects.