1885 (WOD)

EventsEdit

• Hassam al-Jadidi ibnu Faridi, later founder of House Fortunae, is born.^[1]
• Reginald Proctor visits Queen Victoria and convinces her to set up a body called the Grand Council of World Government.^[2] The Inner Circle is interested, but their enthusiasm is crushed by the death of Wolfgang von Reismann.^[3]
• The Berlin Conference. European Nations gather to regulate the colonization of Africa. It is agreed to not openly antagonize other nation's claims.^[4]
• Adirondack Forest Preserve created in New York.^[5]

October Edit

• October 31: Benjamen Holmscroft invites some friends and acquaintances to discuss the formation of a society dedicated to the scholarly pursuit of the occult, away from the delusions of the Hermetic Order of the Rising Day.^[6][7] Among those invited are Winthrop Murray, French occultist Etienne DuLac, Reverend Jebediah Spector Brown, American thanatologist Jonathan Kelvin, and the Irish poet Liam McPhee.^[8]

November Edit

• November 24: The Arcanum is officially founded in London, England^[7] in the wake of the mystical Parisian War of the Roses.^[9] The event is recorded by Winthrop Murray.^[8] Etienne DuLac angrily withdraws from the fellowship. The Canon (or Syllabus), the guiding principles of the Arcanum, is also compiled at about this time.^[10]

December Edit

• The formal structure of the Arcanum is established.^[11]

• December 1: Winthrop Murray describes the proposed structure of the Arcanum. Benjamen Holmscroft seemed amused that there are nine founders, but wouldn't reveal why.^[7]

• December 25: Winthrop Murray writes of the Rituals of the Arcanum created by Benjamen Holmscroft. Much has been borrowed from the Hermetic Order of the Rising Day, but some seems new. Holmscroft claims they descend from the Mysteries of Eleusis and Orpheus and from the sacred cults of Isis and Osiris. Murray finds this hard to believe, since these traditions were purely oral. Likewise, Holmscroft insists the Rituals remain oral, and it is unlawful to repeat them outside their context.^[12]

• December 26: Winthrop Murray writes about having returned from the Initiation into the Arcanum, which was powerful and moving. Notably absent was Reverend Brown, who either had Yuletide Mass or refused to participate in a clearly pagan activity. Benjamen Holmscroft has announced that news of the Arcanum is spreading, and other scholars have expressed interest in joining.^[12]

References Edit

1. ↑ MTAs: Order of Hermes Tradition Book, p. 39
2. ↑ MTAs: Technocracy: Syndicate, p. 22
3. ↑ MTAs: Guide to the Technocracy, p. 69
4. ↑ VAV: Victorian Age Companion, p. 39
5. ↑ WTA: Rage Across New York, p. 26
6. ↑ MTAs: Halls of the Arcanum, p. 19
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} MTAs: Halls of the Arcanum, p. 22
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} MTAs: Halls of the Arcanum, p. 20
9. ↑ MTAs: Mage: The Ascension Second Edition, p. 274
10. ↑ MTAs: Halls of the Arcanum, p. 14
11. ↑ MTAs: Halls of the Arcanum, p. 23
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} MTAs: Halls of the Arcanum, p. 24