Literary Necromancer

Alchimia – The Divine Feminine in The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz

Melissa Seims — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 07:13:43 GMT

Below is an article I wrote for the Order of the Rose and Cross nearly twenty years ago. Having read it again recently, I thought it was worth giving it a new airing and adding some cool pictures to it. For anyone who has never read it, I can only urge you to get a copy of ‘The Chemical Wedding’. It is very readable - a fairy-tale for adults that is loaded with symbolism. Like all good books, it gives up more every time you read it.

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“Oh Thou Who giveth sustenance to the Universe, From whence all things proceed, to Whom all things return, Unveil to us the face of the true Spiritual Sun, Hidden by a disk of golden light, That we may know the truth and do our whole duty, As we journey to Thy sacred Feet.”

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, Alice A. Bailey

Much has been written about the meaning behind the seventeenth century allegorical tale The Chemical Wedding. The story revolves around the alchemical adventure of our protagonist Christian Rosenkreutz, who is helped along his path by various colourful characters. I wish to focus on the feminine roles in this intricate and enigmatic story, without which Rosenkreutz could never have completed his spiritual journey.

The Rosicrucian path is one rich in symbolism, allegory, and metaphor. Symbols are a concise way to sum up a concept. They manage to transcend most language barriers whilst retaining an inner meaning. Good symbols seem to be capable of expressing fundamental concepts. Many have designs of a geometrical simplicity which belie the beauty and power of numbers as fundamental expressions of the Universe around us. It is precisely this simplicity which gives The Chemical Wedding, the third Rosicrucian publication, its accessibility. Written like a fairy-tale, it fires the imagination and ignites the soul. No-one who reads it will be able to avoid making mental associations between what they read and what they know.

The Chemical Wedding, came at a time when the equality of women left a lot to be desired. This is one of several reasons why this book is so amazing. The powerful women in the story, of which there are several, are complex and come richly cloaked in symbolic and alchemical meaning, not relegated to some subservient role, which was the fate of many women back then.

It Sux to be an Author

Melissa Seims — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:49:14 GMT

My definitive book Light in Extension: A History of Bradford’s 1888 Golden Dawn Temple Horus No.5 was released in September last year to great reviews. It is the first book to be written on this particular topic and also probably a first for a woman to write in such depth on Golden Dawn history.

I spent a year obsessively researching and writing it in o…

Horus No.5 hits Bradford...

Melissa Seims — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:23:30 GMT

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I’ve been in Yorkshire for the last week and gave three different talks. When you put yourself out there to talk about ‘weirder’ stuff like the occult and esoteric it can be a bit daunting but the friendly Yorkshi…

Chaos Magic & Fairies in Yorkshire

Melissa Seims — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 14:19:42 GMT

So I’ve just spent one of the most wonderful weekends ever, in the lovely weather and beautiful timeless and evocative landscape of Yorkshire. Namely Ilkley Moor, Cottingley, Hebers Ghyll, Sunnydale and East Morton.

I travelled up on Friday and met up with Robert Williams, Steve Smith, Mick Lyons, PD Brown and then later, Alexandra Stockdale-Haley. The m…

The Mystery of the Emaciated Woman

Melissa Seims — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 08:03:18 GMT

The Mystery of The Emaciated Woman (A Here Be Magick revision) (with thanks to Anna Greenwood)

In my 2021 book, Here Be Magick, I stated that the ‘emaciated’ woman, Charles Cardell writes about at the very beginning of his 1964 publication Witch, was Olwen Greene (AKA Olive Green). Following a conversation with Anna Greenwood, in which she said to me t…

John Upton: A Happening

Melissa Seims — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:37:02 GMT

John Upton: A ‘Happening’[1]

By Melissa Seims

‘Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact.‘ William Burroughs

In this article we are going to look at the mischievous Brighton counterculture anarchist and artist, John Upton. He was also a High Priest of the Wica having known an…

Mermaids Kissed by Sun and Sea

Melissa Seims — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:30:31 GMT

Two days ago I posted ‘Undine’ - a previously unpublished short story by Israel Regardie . It would appear by doing that, I had invoked a watery sprite, and Regardie’s story reminded me of my own time with mermaids.

When I was a young child I went on a family holiday to Pentewan Sands in Cornwall. Just south of its beach, is Portgiskey Cove. It was there…

UNDINE by Israel Regardie

Melissa Seims — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:34:31 GMT

Below I present ‘Undine’ - a short story by the British-born ceremonial magician, occultist, and psychoanalyst, Israel Regardie. I believe this may be the first time it has seen the light of day and has been hidden away for nearly a century.

The undated MSS was gifted to me by the Golden Dawn historian Dr Tony Fuller and we suspect this story likely come…

Five Mystic Circles do we Cast

Melissa Seims — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:29:34 GMT

When I wrote ‘Here Be Magick’ WiLL the Fish was of invaluable assistance to me and has long been captivated by the story of the Coven of Atho. This week he sent me the below and with his permission, I post it here:

FIVE M…

Whispers and Images from Dumblecott

Melissa Seims — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 08:01:18 GMT

During my research for Here Be Magick, I obtained copies of photographs taken by the copytaker and photographer Frederick Park. Dating from March 1961, they come from when Park and reporter William Hall had furtively been shown around the Cardells’ estate in Charlwood by Ray Howard. Shortly afterwards, Howard, Hall and Park had hidden in the undergrowth near Cardell’s Inner Grove and went on to witness something they weren’t going to forget in a hurry; the mysterious magickal practices of Charles and Mary Cardell.

The Witness Statement of William Hall

Melissa Seims — Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:01:17 GMT

Further to my recent post on the Coven of Atho I thought I would post the full witness statement of the respected reporter William Hall. I think it is genuine and not something he fabricated. What do you think?

If genuine then there can be no doubt that Charles and Mary Cardell were practising something that we would recognise today as Witchcraft, even though that was not a word they themselves used.

The 1967 witness statement of William Hall:

The Coven of Atho and its Enigmatic 'Head'

Melissa Seims — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:30:24 GMT

Below is an updated version of an article I wrote over 20 years ago about a curious tale of Witchcraft in Surrey. In 2022, its muse took hold of me again, and my book on this peculiar story was subsequently published…

British Witchcraft in the 1950s and 60s attracted a cast of colourful characters including Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, Alex Sanders,…

Holy Smoke!

Melissa Seims — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 06:08:43 GMT

I am a trustee for the group Custodia Borealis - our vision is to create a museum of British Magic and the Occult educating on and celebrating our rich esoteric history. We are currently awaiting charity status and have just signed a lease for a room to be used as our official archive and are receiving donations and loans of objects. Recently we were do…

Inheritor of a Dying World...

Melissa Seims — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 09:59:48 GMT

I wrote this article about twenty years ago and have now slightly revised it. I hope it gives some insight into what the initiatory process of the Golden Dawn is actually like…

Your head is covered by a black bag suffused with the smell of incense from prior initiations. Your palms are slightly sweaty as you are led, tentatively stepping forwards, into the temple. A disembodied voice cuts through the formality of your admittance: ‘Inheritor of a Dying World, arise and enter the Darkness’. This powerful phrase, loaded with meaning, beckons you onwards in your magical and spiritual journey.

The 'Black and White' Pillars of the Golden Dawn's Horus No.5

Melissa Seims — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 07:45:24 GMT

A short follow-on from my new SS article ‘A Symbolic Gem’

The black and white’ pillars used by the August Order of Light, were inherited directly from the Golden Dawn’s Horus No.5 Victorian temple in Bradford following its abeyance in 1901. They have been used continuously for over 135 years and depict scenes from Chapters 17 and 125 of the Egyptian Book…

A Symbolic Gem: The Forgotten Temples of an August Occult Order

Melissa Seims — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 08:24:40 GMT

‘…a symbolic Gem! It is the only one in the world, and there is not likely to be another.’

Alvin Langdon Coburn

In 1983, a mysterious occult temple was uncovered in the attic room at 52a Godwin Street in Bradford. It was hailed as the lost temple of Bradford’s 1888 Golden Dawn temple known as Horus No.5.

It was not.

Well, not really… the wider story is muc…

Literary Necromancer

Melissa Seims — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 09:35:48 GMT

As an independent writer and researcher on Britain’s esoteric, occult and magical history, I spend a lot of time pulling my pieces together and I’m often metaphorically knee-deep in historical documents. I have no university grants or funding behind me and this really is a labour of love.

I am also a long-time magical practitioner - most notably in the…