The Lyttelton Ghost Story – George Stanton

 George Stanton was one of the founding fathers of the Aurum Solis. The following short ghost story was told to him in 1886 by Mr Westcote. Stanton’s recollection of the story came into my possession from the estate of William Corbett, Head of the Stonehenge Lodge 667 of the Order of Druids. The lodge held its meetings in the Golden Lion Inn, Worcester Street, Bromsgrove, in the West of England in the 1880s.

“On Thursday, the 25th of November, 1779, Thomas Lord Lyttelton, when he came to breakfast, declared to Mrs. Flood (originally a Miss Amphlett), wife of Frederick Flood, Esq., and to the three Miss Amphletts, who were lodged in his house in Hill Street, London, (where he then also was), that he had had a most extraordinary dream the night before.

He said he thought he was in a room which a bird flew into, which appearance was suddenly changed into that of a woman dressed in white, who bade him prepare to die; to which he answered, "I hope not soon : not in two months?" She replied, "Yes, in three days." He said he did not much regard it, because he could in some measure account for it, for that a few days before he had been with Mrs. Dawson, when a Robin Redbreast flew into her room ...

In the evening of the following day, being Friday, he told the eldest Miss Amphlett that she looked melancholy; "but," said he, "you are foolish and fearful; I have lived two days, and God willing, I will live out the third."

On the morning of Saturday he told the same ladies that he was very well, and believed he should "bilk the ghost."

Some hours afterwards he went with them, Mr. Fortescue, and Captain Wolseley, to Pitt Place, at Epsom; withdrew to his bedchamber soon after eleven o'clock at night, talked cheerfully to his servant ... stepped into bed with his waistcoat on, and as his servant was pulling it off, put his hand to his side, sunk back, and immediately expired without a groan...

This declaration of his dream, and his expressions above mentioned, consequential thereunto, were upon a close enquiry asserted to me to have been so by Mrs. Flood, the eldest Miss Amphlett, Captain Wolseley, and his valet de chambre, Faulkner, who dressed him on the Thursday; and the manner of his death was related to me by William Stuckey, in the presence of Mr. Fortescue and Captain Wolseley; Stuckey being the servant who attended him in his bedchamber, and in whose arms he died.”

I guess the moral of this story is that if a bird flies into your room and promptly changes into a woman dressed in white then do one thing - run! Fast! Do not under any circumstances enter into dialogue with her...

Ernest Page

Ernest Page was the Warden of the Order of the Sacred Word, a precursor to the modern day Astrum Sophia. A skilled astrologer, poet and magician, unlike many modern day ego-centric and self-styled mages, he exemplified humanity at its best. Much of his time was spent in dedication to the Simon Community in London helping homeless people.

Florence - City with the Heart of Eight

One of the prime aims of the Ogdoadic esoteric initiatory system worked by Astrum Sophia is spiritual Regeneration. While this is predominantly focussed on personal regeneration, the Work can lead to regeneration of communities, countries and the planet. The general premise of Regeneration can be symbolised in many different forms depending on the context. Perhaps one of the best-known forms is the symbol of the eight-pointed Star of Regeneration as displayed, but not limited to, on the Banner of New Life.

As a basic geometric shape, the eight-pointed star is found in the ritual symbology of various magical groups. However, it has arguably been the Aurum Solis, Astrum Sophia's parent Order, prior to the current Grand Master, that has most highlighted in public writing the use of the eight-pointed star within a magical context during the 1970s and 80s.

During a recent discussion with a companion about the origin of the Star, I started wondering whether there were any possible links with its use to earlier aspects of the Order in its various forms. This train of thought led me to Tuscany in Italy.

Out of all the cities on Earth, one particular place radiates the Heart of Eight most strongly. Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, abounds in countless architectural and artistic depictions of octagons and eightpointed stars. Indeed, it is practically impossible to walk for more than a few moments through this great city’s cobbled streets without finding representations of this symbol in churches, cathedrals, civic buildings and palaces.

Key characters from the city’s lively and creative history also figure in the “history of the Order” which is outlined in The Robe and The Ring. Amongst these are Dante Alighieri, Guido Cavalcanti, Cosimo, Lorenzo and Guiliano de Medici, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Angelo Poliziano and Michelangelo Buonarotti. All of them potent and enduring names from the past. All of them trail-blazers. All of them part of a regenerative bursting forth of consciousness, the effects of which ripple down through to the 21st Century.

 

Without the chemistry of Florence and its citizens, the Renaissance as we know it would never have happened. There is of course the English Renaissance branch, but its contribution is an altogether different story for another day.

At the heart of their Florence rose, as it does today, the magnificent Baptistry of San Giovanni. For over 1700 years, the plaza upon which the building stands has been the center of Florence’s spiritual life. According to written records, a baptistry building has been on this site since at least 897 A.D., although baptismal sacraments were celebrated here as early as 394 A.D. Dante, having been outcast from the city, surprisingly still referred to the Baptistry as, “my lovely San Giovanni.” Anyone who has visited this spiritual powerhouse will fully appreciate his sentiments.

 

For many centuries the Baptistry was believed to have been an Augustan Temple to Mars converted at a later date to Christian use. Scholar’s in the 19th and early 20th Centuries scoffed at this idea, but perhaps this folk-belief is not so far from the truth. During the 20th Century it was found to have been built upon 1st to 3rd Century Roman remains.

Like a number of other buildings in Florence, its structure is octagonal and contains a plethora of stylised eight-pointed stars. Some striking examples of the Tessera which surround the inner octagonal dome are shown below:

Close to the Baptistry’s inner heart lies the Palindrome. Here we are amazed to see a central Sun surrounded by the 12 signs of the Zodiac and the words “En Giro Torte Sol Ciclos Et Rotor Igne.” This was quite heretical for the time. Let us recall the Inquisition, which condemned Galileo as a heretic in 1633 and placed him under house arrest in his native Florence during the last years of his life when he suggested the Earth moved around a central Sun. Yet the palindrome predates Galileo’s discoveries by hundreds of years, having been laid in the Baptistry in the early 13th century.

 

The palindrome and Zodiac in turn are surrounded by a further Latin inscription which is now only partially legible. Enough of the wording remains to be able to translate this roughly as “Let all those who wish to behold marvellous things come here. Let them behold that which once seen is indeed capable of satisfying…the higher things of the sky encircle the lower part of the temple.” What a wonderful expression of the Hermetic maxim, “As above, so below.”

In turn this again is encircled by four creatures, possibly griffins. Further flooring symbolises a collection of other animals. Thus, entering through the main door, people who came to Baptism would first have to physically cross this world of beasts and elemental things. Next they would experience the starry wisdom of the Zodiac, finding the Spiritual Sun at the center. Only then could they reach the octagonal font of Baptism. It’s a magical glyph that repays meditation.

For many seekers over the centuries, the Baptistry was built in an octagonal shape to symbolise the “octava dies” or the mythical “Eighth Day” of Christian spirituality.

 

On one level this can be seen as the time of the Risen and Regenerated Christos, a time beyond the mundane human time measured in units of seven days. The magical sacrament of Baptism celebrated here symbolised seekers passing from “Death in Sin” to the “New Life of Christ,” an “Eighth Day” without end or beginning, a state outside usual time and space.

This particular expression of “Ogdoadia” may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, viewed within the broader range of symbolism centred around the number eight and the concept of Regeneration it provides a valuable additional piece to our understanding of the overall jigsaw On the same square and almost overshadowing the Baptistry rises the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. This spectacular building contains many more examples of eight-pointed stars and shapes inside and outside. Perhaps the most striking is that lying at the center of the Cathedral’s largest front window (shown below). Inside the centre of the Cathedral lies a vast high altar and choir enclosure. This enclosure, octagonal in shape like Brunelleschi’s awe inspiring dome above it, also expresses much of the symbolism of the Baptistry. The emphasis is again on the Risen and  Regenerated Christos.