Frederick Hockley (1809 – 10 November 1885) was a British occultist and

scryer Scrying, also known by various names such as "seeing" or "peeping", is the practice of looking into a suitable medium in the hope of detecting significant messages or visions. The objective might be personal guidance, prophecy, revelation, or in ...

who was a London-based Freemason and a member of the

Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (Rosicrucian Society of England) is a Rosicrucian esoteric Christian order formed by Robert Wentworth Little in 1865,King 1989, page 28 although some sources acknowledge the date to be 1866-67. Members are confir ...

Career

Hockley avidly collected and transcribed over many years a vast library of important occult books, works and texts, including a

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

manuscript belonging to

Sigismund Bacstrom Sigismund Bacstrom (c.1750-1805) Harvard Divinity School. 2007. Introductory bio. was a doctor, a surgeon, and a notable artist of the early Maritime Fur Trade. His drawings of the people and places he encountered on his voyages show the meticul ...

, who was initiated into an occult society in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

in 1794. This text had a great influence on British occultism. He established the spiritualist Croydon Circle in 1853, in which he claimed to be in communication with a group of spirits controlled by the Crowned Angel of the Seventh Sphere. This predated the first spiritualist organization in London, known as the Charing Cross Spirit Circle formed in January, 1857.

Scrying

Hockley practiced the art of '

crystallomancy Crystal-gazing (also known as crystal-seeing, crystallism, crystallomancy, and spheromancy) is a method for seeing visions achieved through trance induction by means of gazing at a crystal. Traditionally, it has been seen as a form of divinati ...

' or 'the art of invocating spirits by the crystal' and believed this to be one of the most important forms of spirit communication. He kept notes on many of his experiments and experiences, accumulating a vast amount of information. It is said that through close knit London circles, his freemasonry connections and SRIA connections, as well as the extensive and vast library he left behind him on his passing that he contributed to the forming and curriculum of 'The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn'. It is also alleged that the original cipher manuscript on which the Golden Dawn was formed may well have been written by Hockley.

Rosicrucians

Hockley was a close friend of Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie and other British Rosicrucians and occultists of his period. He was purportedly a pupil of Francis Barrett, author of '' The Magus'' (1801). In March, 1884 he joined the

London Spiritualist Alliance The College of Psychic Studies (founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance) is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena. History British National Ass ...

.M. A. Oxon (

William Stainton Moses William Stainton Moses (1839 – 5 September 1892) was an English cleric and spiritualist medium. He promoted spirit photography and automatic writing, and co-founded what became the College of Psychic Studies. He resisted scientific examination ...

). The London Spiritualist Alliance. Light. Volume 4. March 15, 1884. p. 108 Hockley died on 10 November 1885.

Books

*''The Rosicrucian Seer'', 1986 and 2009 *''A Complete Book of Magic Science'', 2008 *''Solomon's Clavis or Key to Unlock the Mysteries of Magic'', 2008 *''Occult Spells - A Nineteenth Century Grimoire'', 2009 *''The Clavis or Key to the Magic of Solomon'', 2009 *''Invocating by Magic Crystals and Mirrors'', 2010 *''Journal of a Rosicrucian Philosopher'', 2010 *''Abraham the Jew on Magic Talismans'', 2011 *''A Book of the Offices of Spirits'', 2011 *''Clavis Arcana Magica'', 2012 *''Experimentum, Potens Magna in Occult Philosophy'', 2012 *''Dr. Rudd's Nine Hierarchies of Angels'', 2013 *''Ars Notoria - The Notary Art of Solomon'', 2015 *''The Pauline Art of Solomon'', 2016 *''Mr. Yardley's Process'', 2016 Éditions Les Trois R *''The Clavis or Key to Unlock the Mysteries of Magic'', 2019 *''Book of Good Angels'', 2019

References

* Hockley, Frederick. ''The Rosicrucian Seer: Magical Writings of Frederick Hockley''. Wellingborough, England: Aquarian Press, 1986. * King, Francis. ''The Rites of Modern Occult Magic'' New York: Macmillan, 1970.
Description of ''Mr. Yardley's Process''
on Éditions Les Trois R website.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hockley, Frederick 1809 births 1885 deaths British occult writers British spiritualists Rosicrucians