Robert Felkin
Encyclopedia
Robert William Felkin was a medical missionary
and explorer, a ceremonial magic
ian and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
, a prolific author on Uganda
and Central Africa, and early anthropologist
, with an interest in ethno-medicine and tropical disease
s.
He was founder in 1903 of the Stella Matutina
, a splinter lodge of the Golden Dawn, and later founded the Whare Ra
lodge in Havelock North, New Zealand
in 1912.
The fullest account of his life is found in A Wayfaring Man, a fictionalised biography written by his second wife Harriet and published in serial form between 1936 and 1949.
, Nottinghamshire
, in 1853, March 13, the son of Robert Felkin (1828-1899), a Nonconformist lace
manufacturer. His grandfather, William Felkin (1795-1874), son of a Baptist
minister, remains one of the best known names in the Victorian lace industry and was mayor
of Nottingham in 1851, when he exhibited at the Great Exhibition. But he overreached, and the business failed disastrously in 1864, when Felkin retired to write standard works on the lace and hosiery
trades. His son and partner Robert Felkin Sr settled in Wolverhampton
to take up a position as manager of the home department of Mander Brothers
, varnish
manufacturers. Robert Jr was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School
, where he met the explorer David Livingstone
, who inspired him to become a medical missionary.
, Germany, after his schooling, where his uncle Henry Felkin lived, and became fluent in the language. In about 1876 he began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh
. In 1878, as yet unlicensed, he joined a mission led by the Church Missionary Society to Central Africa. He travelled up the Nile
to Khartoum
, where he met General Gordon, and then on through what was then wild and unmapped country to the African Great Lakes
. Eventually he spent two years in Africa, and became personal physician to King M’tesa, who had previously tried to kill him. In Zanzibar
, he actively campaigned against the slave trade. He published several articles on tropical medicine
and childbirth in medical journal
s, and also wrote Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan (1882, with Rev.C.T. Wilson), Egypt Present and To Come (1885), Uganda (1886), and other African works.
In 1881, he returned to Edinburgh when his health deteriorated to complete his medical studies (LRCP, LRCS, Ed, 1884). While still a medical student he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
, a member of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and a corresponding Fellow of the Berlin Anthropological Society.
, his father's employer, who had been a friend since childhood, and became a collaborator in both his esoteric work and his work for child welfare. They had a son (Samuel) Denys and a daughter, Ethelwyn (1883-1962), who was to publish on the legacy of the Golden Dawn under the name "Ethel Felkin".
In 1884 he studied further in Marburg
, acquiring his M.D.
there in 1885. Following this he practiced as a doctor in Edinburgh for some years, returning to Africa and travelling frequently with his wife in Europe.
and the Bhagavad Gita
, and some members of the group were Theosophists. Robert and Mary joined the Theosophical Society
in Edinburgh in 1886, but found it lacking in terms of ritual, and eventually joined John William Brodie-Innes
' Amen-Ra Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
on 1894-03-12.
He continued to write and publish: he edited (with others) a collection of the letters and journals of Mehmet Emin Pasha
, whom he had met (translated by Mary), which appeared in 1888, and published Hypnotism, or Psycho-Therapeutics in 1890. Following a breakdown from strain and overwork he transferred his practice to London in 1896.
In 1903 Mary died and Robert reinforced his commitment to both Anglican Christianity and occultism. He made a retreat at the monastery of the Mirfield
fathers, the Community of the Resurrection
, and considered joining the order. Several of the Mirfield fathers had an interest in Rosicrucian
and Golden Dawn Christian mysticism
, and regarded Felkin as an eminent figure in that tradition. One of these priests, Father Fitzgerald, would later play a key role in bring Felkin to New Zealand.
Also in 1903, a schism occurred within the Order of the Golden Dawn, when Felkin and Brodie-Innes split from A.E. Waite to form the magically-inclined Order of the Stella Matutina. The poet W.B. Yeats joined the Stella Matutina and was a member for 20 years. Felkin’s main temple in London was called Amoun.
of the Order, and other supposed adepts on the astral plane
. Having these supposed contacts reinforced his position as leader in the order. Around 1908 he also claimed to have contacted an "Arab Teacher" called Ara Ben Shemesh ("Lion Son of the Sun"), one of the "Sons of Fire" inhabiting a Near Eastern "temple in the desert", who had been given special permission to contact and teach Western students. His first contact with Ara Ben Shemesh seems to be recounted in A Wayfaring Man, which describes how a conversation between Felkin and Waite was interrupted by the appearance of a "shadowy presence". Felkin called for Harriet, who was clairvoyant, and she saw "a tall man in Eastern dress, kuftan, galabieh, and turban. He has a smooth olive face, and large dark eyes." Apparently this figure, described in the account as "the Chaldean", was seeking someone to help in uniting Eastern and Western teaching. Upon learning that he "believed in the Lord Jesus Christ", Felkin and Waite agreed to collaborate with him.
Another mystical teacher was Sri Parananda, whom Felkin claimed to have first seen materialising out of steam at the Bad Pyrmont
baths in Germany
. This apparition, described as a dark Eastern man with a beard and large black eyes, wearing a flowing robe and a peculiar conical cap, arranged with Felkin to meet him in exactly one month in the lounge of the Carlton Hotel in London. According to Felkin their subsequent meeting in the flesh was the start of a series of conversations that lasted for several years.
in Mary Chapel Lodge, Edinburgh, on January 8 1907, was passed to the Fellow Craft degree on 12 February and raised to Master Mason on 26 February. On 11 April that same year he was admitted to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
(SRIA), Metropolitan College, to which only Master Masons are admitted. The officiating celebrant was Dr. W. Wynn Westcott
, Supreme Magus of that society and co-founder of the Golden Dawn.
According to R. Ellwood, by the time Felkin first visited New Zealand in 1912 he was already a 32° Freemason, one of the highest to visit the country thus far. But according to K. Edney of the New Zealand SRIA, Felkin's interest in Freemasonry was probably slight; he was never Master of the Lodge nor joined the Holy Royal Arch, and it is unlikely that he joined any higher degrees; his motive for joining Freemasonry and the SRIA seems to have been to gain credibility with continental occultists and contact members of the original Rosicrucian
society. Anna Sprengel, a member of this fabled German society of nearly god-like adepts, had allegedly warranted the founding of the Golden Dawn, and Felkin believed that she and her order still existed deep under cover in Germany, along with the tomb of Christian Rosencreutz. In search of this group he and Harriet travelled to Europe in 1906, 1910 and 1914, and on one of these trips he met with Rudolf Steiner
and claimed to have contacted other Rosicrucian
adepts. Felkin considered Steiner to be an extremely high initiate, and after their meeting incorporated elements of Anthroposophy
into his practice, including homeopathy
.
During their 1914 trip the Felkins became stranded in Germany when Britain declared war
on Germany on 4 August. Harriet's fictionalised account of his life suggests that he had been sent there on an urgent mission by the "Sun Master" Ara Ben Shemesh, despite all warnings of impending war. They managed to avoid arrest, and escaped the country via the neutral Netherlands
with the help of German Masons.
at the invitation of the Society of the Southern Cross. This was a prayer and meditation group closely involved with the "Havelock Work
", an arts and spirituality movement embraced by the whole town. Reginald and Ruth Gardiner and Harold Large, founders of both the Havelock Work and the Society of the Southern Cross, believed that eastern methods of spiritual training such as Theosophy were unsuitable for westerners, but also felt that the Church had lost the esoteric teachings of Jesus and his disciples. They were determined to undergo rigorous training and initiation to merit learning those hidden teachings. These three had started daily meditations together, and were soon joined by Miss M. M. McLean and Reginald's sister, Miss Rose Gardiner. Reginald Gardiner considered the Havelock Work to be a cultural society "built around this silent power station". The meditation group grew, and began to incorporate simple ritual, calling itself the Society of the Southern Cross.
In 1910 the Mirfield Fathers sent a mission of help to New Zealand, preaching and conducting retreats. Miss McLean, who had met Father Fitzgerald in Britain, arranged for him to meet members of the Havelock prayer group, and he agreed to direct their spiritual work from Britain. He instructed them in an esoteric approach to Christianity, but soon decided they had reached a stage where personal instruction was necessary for further progress, and he recommended Dr. Robert Felkin for the task. Within a week the group had cabled £300 passage, supplied by Maurice Chambers and his father, Mason, and his uncle John, for Felkin, Harriet and Ethelwyn to visit New Zealand for three months. During this visit in 1912 Dr Felkin established the Smaragdum Thalasses Temple of the Stella Matutina. The New Zealand Order became known by the Maori name of Whare Ra
or "the House of the Sun". Foundations of the house at Whare Ra were laid down by the architect Chapman-Taylor
, who later became a member of both the Golden Dawn and the Order of the Table Round (Ordo Tabulae Rotundae), a neo-Arthurian mystical and chivalric order also brought to New Zealand by Felkin.
Back in England in 1916 Felkin was appointed Inspector General of colonial colleges for the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
, although he seems never to have functioned in this capacity. In that same year he also founded three more daughter-Lodges of the Stella Matutina, together with a side-order, and claimed to found the Guild of St. Raphael. He published on the theme of 'Rosicrucian medicine' and, at the height of the German U-boat activity, emigrated permanently with his family to New Zealand, as his health broke down with recurrent malaria and other tropical diseases.
Felkin become involved in the Bahá'í Faith
, through his meeting with `Abdu'l-Bahá
in London in 1911 at Lady Blomfield's. Felkin introduced Maurice Chambers to the Faith and presented him with two Bahá'í ring stones that Abdu'l-Baha had given him. Felkin may have had an article on the Bahá'í Faith published in a local newspaper, although there had been an earlier article by British Baha'i Alice Buckton published circa 1909 in the Havelock Journal "The Forerunner".
Felkin spent the rest of his life in New Zealand, where he continued to practise as a consulting physician as well as a magician between bouts of ill health. His strong personality and clinical acumen, combined with a kind and generous nature brought him patients from far afield, including Australia. On 28 December 1926, he died at Havelock North, and was buried in the Havelock North cemetery facing the Whare Ra, wearing the cloak, mantle and purple cross of a Knight of the Ordo Tabulae Rotundae. He was survived by his second wife Harriet, his daughter Ethelwyn, and two sons; Harriet and Ethelwyn were later buried with him.
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
and explorer, a ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic
Ceremonial magic, also referred to as high magic and as learned magic, is a broad term used in the context of Hermeticism or Western esotericism to encompass a wide variety of long, elaborate, and complex rituals of magic. It is named as such because the works included are characterized by...
ian and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a magical order active in Great Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which practiced theurgy and spiritual development...
, a prolific author on Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Central Africa, and early anthropologist
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, with an interest in ethno-medicine and tropical disease
Tropical disease
Tropical diseases are diseases that are prevalent in or unique to tropical and subtropical regions. The diseases are less prevalent in temperate climates, due in part to the occurrence of a cold season, which controls the insect population by forcing hibernation. Insects such as mosquitoes and...
s.
He was founder in 1903 of the Stella Matutina
Stella Matutina
The Stella Matutina was an initiatory magical order dedicated to the dissemination of the traditional teachings of the earlier Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Originally, the outer order of the Stella Matutina was known as Mystic Rose or Order of the M.R. in the Outer...
, a splinter lodge of the Golden Dawn, and later founded the Whare Ra
Whare Ra
Whare Ra, is the name of the building which housed the New Zealand branch of the Order of the Stella Matutina. It was designed and made by one of New Zealand’s most famous architects, and a senior member of the Order, James Walter Chapman-Taylor....
lodge in Havelock North, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1912.
The fullest account of his life is found in A Wayfaring Man, a fictionalised biography written by his second wife Harriet and published in serial form between 1936 and 1949.
Early life
Robert William Felkin was born in BeestonBeeston, Nottinghamshire
Beeston is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is southwest of Nottingham city centre. Although typically regarded as a suburb of the City of Nottingham, and officially designated as part of the Nottingham Urban Area, for local government purposes it is in the borough of Broxtowe, lying outside...
, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, in 1853, March 13, the son of Robert Felkin (1828-1899), a Nonconformist lace
Lace
Lace is an openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric. Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was...
manufacturer. His grandfather, William Felkin (1795-1874), son of a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister, remains one of the best known names in the Victorian lace industry and was mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Nottingham in 1851, when he exhibited at the Great Exhibition. But he overreached, and the business failed disastrously in 1864, when Felkin retired to write standard works on the lace and hosiery
Hosiery
Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as hose...
trades. His son and partner Robert Felkin Sr settled in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
to take up a position as manager of the home department of Mander Brothers
Mander family
The Mander family has held for over 200 years a prominent position in the Midland counties of England, both in the family business and public life....
, varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
manufacturers. Robert Jr was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School
Wolverhampton Grammar School
Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational independent school located in the city of Wolverhampton.Initially Wolverhampton Boys Grammar School, it was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who was also Lord Mayor of London in the year of...
, where he met the explorer David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
, who inspired him to become a medical missionary.
Medical missionary in Africa
He worked for a period in ChemnitzChemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
, Germany, after his schooling, where his uncle Henry Felkin lived, and became fluent in the language. In about 1876 he began studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. In 1878, as yet unlicensed, he joined a mission led by the Church Missionary Society to Central Africa. He travelled up the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
to Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
, where he met General Gordon, and then on through what was then wild and unmapped country to the African Great Lakes
African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes and the Rift Valley lakes in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African Rift on the continent of Africa...
. Eventually he spent two years in Africa, and became personal physician to King M’tesa, who had previously tried to kill him. In Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
, he actively campaigned against the slave trade. He published several articles on tropical medicine
Tropical medicine
Tropical medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with health problems that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or prove more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions....
and childbirth in medical journal
Medical journal
A public health journal is a scientific journal devoted to the field of public health, including epidemiology, biostatistics, and health care . Public health journals, like most scientific journals, are peer-reviewed...
s, and also wrote Uganda and the Egyptian Soudan (1882, with Rev.C.T. Wilson), Egypt Present and To Come (1885), Uganda (1886), and other African works.
In 1881, he returned to Edinburgh when his health deteriorated to complete his medical studies (LRCP, LRCS, Ed, 1884). While still a medical student he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland...
, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
, a member of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and a corresponding Fellow of the Berlin Anthropological Society.
First marriage and medical practice
In 1882 Felkin married his first wife, Mary ("Polly"), daughter of Samuel Small Mander of WolverhamptonMander family
The Mander family has held for over 200 years a prominent position in the Midland counties of England, both in the family business and public life....
, his father's employer, who had been a friend since childhood, and became a collaborator in both his esoteric work and his work for child welfare. They had a son (Samuel) Denys and a daughter, Ethelwyn (1883-1962), who was to publish on the legacy of the Golden Dawn under the name "Ethel Felkin".
In 1884 he studied further in Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
, acquiring his M.D.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
there in 1885. Following this he practiced as a doctor in Edinburgh for some years, returning to Africa and travelling frequently with his wife in Europe.
Theosophy and the Golden Dawn
Mary and Robert seem to have been introduced to esotericism through a Bible study circle they joined in Edinburgh; other scriptures were discussed, including the Tao te chingTao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
and the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
, and some members of the group were Theosophists. Robert and Mary joined the Theosophical Society
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
in Edinburgh in 1886, but found it lacking in terms of ritual, and eventually joined John William Brodie-Innes
John William Brodie-Innes
John William Brodie-Innes was a leading member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn's Amen-Ra Temple in Edinburgh....
' Amen-Ra Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was a magical order active in Great Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which practiced theurgy and spiritual development...
on 1894-03-12.
He continued to write and publish: he edited (with others) a collection of the letters and journals of Mehmet Emin Pasha
Emin Pasha
Mehmed Emin Pasha — he was born Isaak Eduard Schnitzer and baptized Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer — was a physician, naturalist, and governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria on the upper Nile...
, whom he had met (translated by Mary), which appeared in 1888, and published Hypnotism, or Psycho-Therapeutics in 1890. Following a breakdown from strain and overwork he transferred his practice to London in 1896.
In 1903 Mary died and Robert reinforced his commitment to both Anglican Christianity and occultism. He made a retreat at the monastery of the Mirfield
Mirfield
Mirfield is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It is located on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury...
fathers, the Community of the Resurrection
Community of the Resurrection
The Community of the Resurrection is an Anglican religious community for men. It was founded in 1892 by Charles Gore with Walter Howard Frere and four others....
, and considered joining the order. Several of the Mirfield fathers had an interest in Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
and Golden Dawn Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism
Christian mysticism refers to the development of mystical practices and theory within Christianity. It has often been connected to mystical theology, especially in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions...
, and regarded Felkin as an eminent figure in that tradition. One of these priests, Father Fitzgerald, would later play a key role in bring Felkin to New Zealand.
Also in 1903, a schism occurred within the Order of the Golden Dawn, when Felkin and Brodie-Innes split from A.E. Waite to form the magically-inclined Order of the Stella Matutina. The poet W.B. Yeats joined the Stella Matutina and was a member for 20 years. Felkin’s main temple in London was called Amoun.
The Sun Masters
From the time that Felkin assumed leadership of the Stella Matutina, he came increasingly under the influence of the "Sun Masters", the fabled Secret ChiefsSecret Chiefs
The Secret Chiefs are said to be transcendent cosmic authorities, a Spiritual Hierarchy responsible for the operation and moral calibre of the cosmos, or for overseeing the operations of an esoteric organization that manifests outwardly in the form of a magical order or lodge system...
of the Order, and other supposed adepts on the astral plane
Astral plane
The astral plane, also called the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical , medieval, oriental and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions...
. Having these supposed contacts reinforced his position as leader in the order. Around 1908 he also claimed to have contacted an "Arab Teacher" called Ara Ben Shemesh ("Lion Son of the Sun"), one of the "Sons of Fire" inhabiting a Near Eastern "temple in the desert", who had been given special permission to contact and teach Western students. His first contact with Ara Ben Shemesh seems to be recounted in A Wayfaring Man, which describes how a conversation between Felkin and Waite was interrupted by the appearance of a "shadowy presence". Felkin called for Harriet, who was clairvoyant, and she saw "a tall man in Eastern dress, kuftan, galabieh, and turban. He has a smooth olive face, and large dark eyes." Apparently this figure, described in the account as "the Chaldean", was seeking someone to help in uniting Eastern and Western teaching. Upon learning that he "believed in the Lord Jesus Christ", Felkin and Waite agreed to collaborate with him.
Another mystical teacher was Sri Parananda, whom Felkin claimed to have first seen materialising out of steam at the Bad Pyrmont
Bad Pyrmont
-External links:* * -Multimedia:*...
baths in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. This apparition, described as a dark Eastern man with a beard and large black eyes, wearing a flowing robe and a peculiar conical cap, arranged with Felkin to meet him in exactly one month in the lounge of the Carlton Hotel in London. According to Felkin their subsequent meeting in the flesh was the start of a series of conversations that lasted for several years.
Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism
Felkin was initiated FreemasonryFreemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
in Mary Chapel Lodge, Edinburgh, on January 8 1907, was passed to the Fellow Craft degree on 12 February and raised to Master Mason on 26 February. On 11 April that same year he was admitted to the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia is a Masonic esoteric Christian order formed by Robert Wentworth Little in 1865, although some sources acknowledge the date to be 1866-67. Members are confirmed from the ranks of subscribing Master Masons of a Grand Lodge in amity with United Grand Lodge of...
(SRIA), Metropolitan College, to which only Master Masons are admitted. The officiating celebrant was Dr. W. Wynn Westcott
William Wynn Westcott
William Wynn Westcott was a coroner, ceremonial magician, and Freemason born in Leamington, Warwickshire, England...
, Supreme Magus of that society and co-founder of the Golden Dawn.
According to R. Ellwood, by the time Felkin first visited New Zealand in 1912 he was already a 32° Freemason, one of the highest to visit the country thus far. But according to K. Edney of the New Zealand SRIA, Felkin's interest in Freemasonry was probably slight; he was never Master of the Lodge nor joined the Holy Royal Arch, and it is unlikely that he joined any higher degrees; his motive for joining Freemasonry and the SRIA seems to have been to gain credibility with continental occultists and contact members of the original Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
society. Anna Sprengel, a member of this fabled German society of nearly god-like adepts, had allegedly warranted the founding of the Golden Dawn, and Felkin believed that she and her order still existed deep under cover in Germany, along with the tomb of Christian Rosencreutz. In search of this group he and Harriet travelled to Europe in 1906, 1910 and 1914, and on one of these trips he met with Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher...
and claimed to have contacted other Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
adepts. Felkin considered Steiner to be an extremely high initiate, and after their meeting incorporated elements of Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
into his practice, including homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
.
During their 1914 trip the Felkins became stranded in Germany when Britain declared war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
on Germany on 4 August. Harriet's fictionalised account of his life suggests that he had been sent there on an urgent mission by the "Sun Master" Ara Ben Shemesh, despite all warnings of impending war. They managed to avoid arrest, and escaped the country via the neutral Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
with the help of German Masons.
New Zealand
In 1912 Felkin, together with Harriet and Ethelwyn, visited Havelock North, New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
at the invitation of the Society of the Southern Cross. This was a prayer and meditation group closely involved with the "Havelock Work
Havelock Work
The Havelock Work was an arts and spirituality movement in the small town of Havelock North, New Zealand, begun in 1907 by Reginald and Ruth Gardiner and Harold Large, and embraced by the whole town...
", an arts and spirituality movement embraced by the whole town. Reginald and Ruth Gardiner and Harold Large, founders of both the Havelock Work and the Society of the Southern Cross, believed that eastern methods of spiritual training such as Theosophy were unsuitable for westerners, but also felt that the Church had lost the esoteric teachings of Jesus and his disciples. They were determined to undergo rigorous training and initiation to merit learning those hidden teachings. These three had started daily meditations together, and were soon joined by Miss M. M. McLean and Reginald's sister, Miss Rose Gardiner. Reginald Gardiner considered the Havelock Work to be a cultural society "built around this silent power station". The meditation group grew, and began to incorporate simple ritual, calling itself the Society of the Southern Cross.
In 1910 the Mirfield Fathers sent a mission of help to New Zealand, preaching and conducting retreats. Miss McLean, who had met Father Fitzgerald in Britain, arranged for him to meet members of the Havelock prayer group, and he agreed to direct their spiritual work from Britain. He instructed them in an esoteric approach to Christianity, but soon decided they had reached a stage where personal instruction was necessary for further progress, and he recommended Dr. Robert Felkin for the task. Within a week the group had cabled £300 passage, supplied by Maurice Chambers and his father, Mason, and his uncle John, for Felkin, Harriet and Ethelwyn to visit New Zealand for three months. During this visit in 1912 Dr Felkin established the Smaragdum Thalasses Temple of the Stella Matutina. The New Zealand Order became known by the Maori name of Whare Ra
Whare Ra
Whare Ra, is the name of the building which housed the New Zealand branch of the Order of the Stella Matutina. It was designed and made by one of New Zealand’s most famous architects, and a senior member of the Order, James Walter Chapman-Taylor....
or "the House of the Sun". Foundations of the house at Whare Ra were laid down by the architect Chapman-Taylor
James Walter Chapman-Taylor
James Walter Chapman-Taylor born London, England, Was known as one of New Zealandʼs most important domestic architects of his time bringing the Arts and Crafts Movement to New Zealand houses...
, who later became a member of both the Golden Dawn and the Order of the Table Round (Ordo Tabulae Rotundae), a neo-Arthurian mystical and chivalric order also brought to New Zealand by Felkin.
Back in England in 1916 Felkin was appointed Inspector General of colonial colleges for the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia is a Masonic esoteric Christian order formed by Robert Wentworth Little in 1865, although some sources acknowledge the date to be 1866-67. Members are confirmed from the ranks of subscribing Master Masons of a Grand Lodge in amity with United Grand Lodge of...
, although he seems never to have functioned in this capacity. In that same year he also founded three more daughter-Lodges of the Stella Matutina, together with a side-order, and claimed to found the Guild of St. Raphael. He published on the theme of 'Rosicrucian medicine' and, at the height of the German U-boat activity, emigrated permanently with his family to New Zealand, as his health broke down with recurrent malaria and other tropical diseases.
Felkin become involved in the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
, through his meeting with `Abdu'l-Bahá
`Abdu'l-Bahá
‘Abdu’l-Bahá , born ‘Abbás Effendí, was the eldest son of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. In 1892, `Abdu'l-Bahá was appointed in his father's will to be his successor and head of the Bahá'í Faith. `Abdu'l-Bahá was born in Tehran to an aristocratic family of the realm...
in London in 1911 at Lady Blomfield's. Felkin introduced Maurice Chambers to the Faith and presented him with two Bahá'í ring stones that Abdu'l-Baha had given him. Felkin may have had an article on the Bahá'í Faith published in a local newspaper, although there had been an earlier article by British Baha'i Alice Buckton published circa 1909 in the Havelock Journal "The Forerunner".
Felkin spent the rest of his life in New Zealand, where he continued to practise as a consulting physician as well as a magician between bouts of ill health. His strong personality and clinical acumen, combined with a kind and generous nature brought him patients from far afield, including Australia. On 28 December 1926, he died at Havelock North, and was buried in the Havelock North cemetery facing the Whare Ra, wearing the cloak, mantle and purple cross of a Knight of the Ordo Tabulae Rotundae. He was survived by his second wife Harriet, his daughter Ethelwyn, and two sons; Harriet and Ethelwyn were later buried with him.