Carl William Hansen (11 October 1872 – 3 August 1936) was a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
dairy farmer
Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...
,
Luciferian,
wandering bishop, and
occultist
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
. Born in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and first initiated into
Martinism
Martinism is a form of Christian mysticism and esoteric Christianity concerned with the fall of the first man, his state of material privation from his divine source, and the process of his return, called 'Reintegration'.
As a mystical traditio ...
in 1898 by
Alphonse Wallen, Hansen used the pseudonym Ben Kadosh to publish ''Den ny morgens gry: verdensbygmesterens genkomst'' ("The Dawn of a New Morning: The Return of the World's Master Builder") in 1906.
Inspired by the French
Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
movement, and such writers as
Carl Kohl, his major interests seems to have been
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
and
astrology
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
. Until 1905 he was in communication with Swedish playwright and
alchemist August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...
.
[Welblund, Aage: Den sidste Guldmager og Kabbalist, Social-demokraten, 19 May 1946 (newspaperarticle), and Pedersen, Bjarne Salling + Madsen, Peder Byberg: Den Hellige Soen, 2006.] Some of Hansen's occult ideas inspire the
Neo-Luciferian Church today.
[The Neo-Luciferian Church . Retrieved on 30 October 2006]
In September 1921
Theodor Reuss
Albert Karl Theodor Reuss (; June 28, 1855 – October 28, 1923) also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Carolus Albertus Theodorus Peregrinus was an Anglo-German tantric occultist, freemason, journalist, singer and head of Ordo T ...
issued fringe masonic charters to Hansen for Gnostic Primas, Memphis & Misraim,
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Heinrich Klein, Franz Hartmann and T ...
and the
Hermetic Brotherhood of Light
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light was a Fraternity that descended from the Fratres Lucis in the late 18th century (in turn, derived from the German Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross), and was the seed from which Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) ('O ...
.
[Lomholt, Sigurd: Vinkelfrimureriet : irregulære og bedrageriske Frimurer-Riter samt det danske Vinkelfrimureri's Historie i Nutiden. Copenhagen 1931.] In 1923 he engaged in the founding of a Martinist lodge in Denmark, later dissolved and rebuilt as the lodge The Three Columns. This lodge formed part of ''The Danish Grand Orient'', chartered by
Joanny Bricaud
Jean (or Joanny) Bricaud (11 February 1881, Neuville-sur-Ain, Ain – 24 February 1934), also known as Tau Jean II, was a French student of the occult and esoteric matters. Bricaud was heavily involved in the French neo-Gnostic movement. He was ...
in Lyon as ''Grand Orient de la vraie et haute Maçonnerie ésoterique et gnostique du Danemark.'' The Danish Grand Orient worked until 1929 where it merged with the ''Grand Orient of Denmark and the North'' and formed ''The Grand Lodge of Denmark'', an
irregular Masonic body.
Despite his livelihood in
dairy products
Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in ...
, Hansen listed himself as a
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
for Hartmann's 1927 edition of ''Who's Who in Occultism''. Hansen died from a heart attack at the age of 64.
Biographies of Hansen have been written by
Peder Byberg Madsen and
Bjarne Salling Pedersen and included in the 2006 reissue of ''Den Ny Morgens Gry, Lucifer-Hiram, Verdensbygmesterens Genkomst''.
References
External links
"The Dawn of a New Morning: the Return of the World's Master-builder"(2010 English translation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Carl William
Danish male writers
People from Copenhagen
1872 births
1936 deaths
Danish Luciferians