John William Brodie-Innes (10 March 1848 – 8 December 1923) was a leading member of the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as a magical order, ...

's Amen-Ra Temple in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. J.W. Brodie-Innes was born at Downe in Kent, where his Scottish born father Rev.

John Brodie Innes John Brodie Innes (26 December 1815 – 19 October 1894), John Innes before 1862, was a clergyman who became a close friend of Charles Darwin at Downe in Kent, and remained a friendly correspondent for the rest of Darwin's life. Born John Innes, ...

(1815-1894) had been Vicar from 1846. His father was a friend and confidant of a neighbour at Downe,

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

. A lawyer by profession, he was a member of the Sette of Odde Volumes (a London bibliophile society), and was its president in 1911. He wrote several novels on witchcraft and magic. The most well-known is ''The Devil's Mistress'' (1915), a supernatural horror novel centred on the real-life accusations of witchcraft made against

Isobel Gowdie Isobel Gowdie was a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn during 1662. Scant information is available about her age or life and, although she was probably executed in line with the usual practice, it is uncertain whet ...

. Brodie-Innes is believed to have been one of

Dion Fortune Dion Fortune (born Violet Mary Firth, 6 December 1890 – 6 or 8 January 1946) was a British occultist, ceremonial magician, and writer. She was a co-founder of the Fraternity of the Inner Light, an occult organisation that promoted philoso ...

's occult teachers. (Fortune was also taught by such occult practitioners as

Moina Mathers Moina Mathers, born Mina Bergson (28 February 1865 – 25 July 1928), was an artist and occultist at the turn of the 20th century. She was the sister of French philosopher Henri Bergson, the first man of Jewish descent to be awarded the Nobel Pri ...

and Dr Theodore Moriarty). Throughout the dissensions of the Golden Dawn, Brodie-Innes remained loyal to

MacGregor Mathers Samuel Liddell (or Liddel) MacGregor Mathers (8 or 11 January 1854 – 5 or 20 November 1918), born Samuel Liddell Mathers, was a British occultist and member of the S.R.I.A. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order ...

, and on the death of his chief in 1918 published an affectionate obituary titled "MacGregor Mathers - Some Personal Reminiscences"() - Article reprinted from ''

The Occult Review ''The Occult Review'' was a British illustrated monthly magazine published between 1905 and 1951 containing articles and correspondence by many notable occultists and authors of the day, including Aleister Crowley, Meredith Starr, Walter Leslie ...

'', Vol. 29, No. 5 (May 1919), pp. 284–286. in the May 1919 issue of ''

''.

References

Sources

*Brodie-Innes, J.W. ''Scottish Witchcraft Trials''. London: Chis-wick Press, 1891. *Gilbert, R. A., ed. ''The Sorcerer and His Apprentice: Unknown Hermetic Writings of S. L. MacGregor Mathers and J. W. Brodie-Innes''. Wellingborough, England: Aquarian Press, 1983. *Richardson, Alan. ''Priestess: The Life and Magic of Dion Fortune''. Wellingborough, England: Aquarian Press, 1987.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brodie-Innes 1848 births 1923 deaths Scottish horror writers Scottish lawyers Scottish bibliophiles