Flying Rolls

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The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn produced a number of knowledge lectures (instructional documents) called Flying Rolls.These were issued periodically by the Chiefs of the Second Order (R.R. et A.C.) for students who had obtained the Grade of Portal or higher. The name alludes to the means by which these documents were distributed -- a single copy ("roll") was circulated ("flown") from one student to the next. Each one was sent by post to the student in a plain, unmarked envelope, on which the postage stamp was affixed upside down -- this was the "secret code" that indicated the letter came from within the Order and was not to be opened in the presence of the "profane". Each recipient was instructed to send the papers after a certain period of time to another designated recipient, and that recipient to another, until the "roll" had "flown" to all the intended recipients, at which point it was returned to the Order. In some cases the student was allowed to make a personal copy (by hand) of the text, in other cases no copying was allowed.

Students were ordered to store the papers in their possession in a "cover" that bore the seal of the Order. On the cover was a label that contained the writing:

"This material is private and has been lent to me on trust, to return on demand. It contains nothing of pecuniary value and nothing personal to myself. I hereby direct my legal representatives whomsoever, in case of my death or incapacity, to return the same at once, unread and unopened, to (the address of W. Wynn Westcott)."

It was the address on one of these covers, left (either accidentally or deliberately) in a London taxicab, that led the authorities of the British Crown to discover Westcott's involvement in a "secret occult society". Westcott was a Coroner for the City of London, and his employers demanded that he either quit the Order or lose his job, and he subsequently resigned as Chief. The Order's obsession with secrecy eventually led to their public exposure.

There is some excellent and useful knowledge to be found in the Flying Rolls, but some of the material is of questionable value to the modern student of the Golden Dawn. Examples include: the exhortations concerning their rules of "secrecy"; Some are outdated and/or clearly inaccurate, such as comparing Enochian script to the Ethiopian Alphabet.

[edit] The Flying Rolls

Flying Roll I - Warnings, by G.H. Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll II - A Subject for Contemplation by G.H. Fra. N.O.M., Remarks by V.H. Fra. L.O. and Three Suggestions on Will Power by V.H. Sor. S.S.D.D.
Flying Roll III - Instructions, by G.H. Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll IV - An Example of Mode of Attaining to Spirit Vision and What Was Seen by Two Adepti - S.S.D.D. and F. on November 10th 1892
Flying Roll V - Some Thoughts on Imagination, by V.H. Fra. Resurgam
Flying Roll VI - Concerning Flying Roll II, A Note by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll VII - Alchemy, by V.H. Fra. S.A.
Flying Roll VIII - On Tracing a Pentagram by Geometry, by V.H. Fra. Anima Pura Sit.
Flying Roll IX - Right and Left Pillars, by G.H. Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll X - Concerning the Symbolism of Self-Sacrifice, and Crucifixion contained in the 5=6 Grade, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll XI - Clairvoyance, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll XII - Telesmatic Images and Adonai, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll XIII - Secrecy and Hermetic Love, by V.H. Sor. S.S.D.D.
Flying Roll XIV - Talismans and Flashing Tablets, by V.H. Fra. S.A.
Flying Roll XV - Man and God, by G.H. Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll XVI - The History of the Rosicrucian Order, by G.H. Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll XVII - The Symbolism of the Seven Sides, by G.H. Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll XVIII - Progress in the Order, by V.H. Sor. F.e.R.
Flying Roll XIX - The Aims and Means of Adeptship, by G.H. Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll XX - Constitution of Man, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll XXI - Know Thyself, by V.H. Sor. V.N.R.
Flying Roll XXII - Free Will, by V.H. Fra. Q.L.
Flying Roll XXIII - Tattwa Visions, by V.H. Sor. V.N.R.
Flying Roll XXIV - On Horary Astrology, by V.H. Fra. Resurgam
Flying Roll XXV - Essay on Clairvoyance and Travelling in the Spirit Vision, by V.H. Fra. S.S.
Flying Roll XXVI - Planets to Tattvas: a Supplement to XII, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll XXVII - The Principia of Theurgia or the Higher Magic, by V.H. Fra. L.O.
Flying Roll XXVIII - On the Value of Magic Implements and Insignia in Methods of Divination, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F. & V.H Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll XXIX - On Lieutenants, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll XXX - Tattwas and Skrying and Hierophant's Making 0°=0° Signs, by G.H. Fra. D.D.C.F.
Flying Roll XXXI - Correspondences between Enochian and Ethiopian Alphabets, by V.H. Sor. V.N.R.
Flying Roll XXXII - The Theban Letters, by V.H.Fra. N.O.M.
Flying Roll XXXIII - Visions of Squares upon the Enochian Tablets, by Sor. V.H. Fra. F.e.R.S., V.H. Fra. A.P.S.R.
Flying Roll XXXIV - An Exorcism, by Fra. S.S.
Flying Roll XXXV - Notes on The Opening Exordium of Z
Flying Roll XXXVI - Of Skrying and Travelling in the Spirit-Vision by V.H. Sor. V.N.R