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Whare Ra is a building in Havelock North in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. The building housed the New Zealand branch of the magical order the Stella Matutina. It was designed and overseen by James Chapman-Taylor, a senior member of the order.
Whare Ra was one of the last surviving temples that could trace its lineage back to the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It was the only temple to operate in a permanent, purpose-built building.
In 1910, Revd. Father J. Fitzgerald travelled to New Zealand on Church business, and was introduced to the group.Patrick J. Zalewski (1988). 094140465X, Falcon Press. 094140465X He was suitably impressed, and prior to his return to Britain, promised to stay in touch and to do what he could to help. One of the last G.H. Chiefs of the Order later recollected:
In due course he wrote that if further progress were to be made, that certain people of his acquaintance would need to come out from England.
In 1912 Dr. Robert Felkin, Chief of the Order of the Stella Matutina arrived, assisted by his appointment as Inspector of the Australasian Colleges of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia by William Wynn Westcott, one of the original Chiefs of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Supreme Magus of the S.R.I.A.
During their three-month stay, sufficient members had been initiated to make a beginning, and the building commissioned and sufficiently advanced to enable its Consecration. Before leaving New Zealand to return to England, a Warrant was issued establishing the Smaragdum Thallasses Temple No. 49 of the Order of the Stella Matutina. The three Chiefs that appeared on the Warrant were Reginald Gardiner, Mason Chambers, and probably Harold Large (or possibly Thomas Chambers).
A trust had been set up to manage the monetary affairs of the Order, with the trustees being Mason Chambers, his wife Margaret Chambers, the younger John Chambers, and Reginald Gardiner. The trust deed stated that the group was formed:
John von Dadelszen, who spent most of his adult life in the Order, and who had been a Temple Warden and one of its last Chiefs, stated that the Order:
A contemporary of John von Dadelszen, and fellow Chief Archie Shaw, wrote of the role of the three Chiefs, in his 1960 address to members:
Topics studied included comparative religion, mythology, geomancy, astrology, tarot, cabala, alchemy and tatwas.
After a minimum prescribed period, and having passed appropriate examinations, a student would then progress to the next grade, and receive another “Advancement” through a ceremonial experience. In all, there was one initiation ceremony and 10 advancement ceremonies used in the Order, although arguably the last one or possible two were reserved for a small number of very senior members and leaders of the group.
The Order was really two orders, an “Outer” or “First Order” where basic disciplines and rudimentary knowledge were taught, and an “Inner” or “Second Order” where in essence the member received advanced teachings to enable them to become effectively priests, capable of making their own connection with the divine. Admission to the Second Order was by invitation only.
The “Work” of the Second Order took the theory and knowledge taught in the First Order, and turned it into ceremonial and ritual with the intent of strengthening the link with the divine, personal spiritual enlightenment, and the advancement of life in general.
The core content of the study materials and the methods used by members of the Smaragdum Thallasses included almost all (if not all) of the original content of the Golden Dawn, verbatim. However, some of the wording in the initiation and advancement ceremonies were changed by the Stella Matutina, which the Smaragdum Thallasses came out of, minimising masonic style references but by and large keeping the structure and intent the same as the original.
After time, and with decades of experience applying the methods of the Golden Dawn, the Smaragdum Thallasses also produce a plethora of new material unique to its membership. A natural renaissance of knowledge and expertise unfolded.
Entrance to the Temple, by the candidate for initiation, was via a secret staircase behind a wardrobe, located in Felkin's surgery.
In 1931 a devastating earthquake hit the area, and many buildings were levelled or damaged. With its fortress like construction, Whare Ra was unscathed.
Gardiner replaced Felkin as a Greatly Honoured Chief of the Order, and with Mrs and Miss Felkin, ruled for a further stable period of 33 years.
In its heyday during the 1930s, it has been estimated that its membership numbered some 300 men and women, and during its 60-plus-year history that approximately 400–500 people had been initiated. It was during this time that the Temple distanced itself from the affairs of the Stella Matutina in Britain, and renamed itself simply the Order of Smaragdum Thallasses.
In 1949, in the last issue of The Lantern, Mrs. Felkin stated:
In the Annual Report for year ending 31 December 1959, the Order's Cancellarius reported that:
In 1959 Gardiner and Mrs Felkin died, followed by Miss Felkin three years later.
During the late 1960s, Frater Albertus of the Paracelsus Research Society visited Whare Ra. He reported this visit to members of the society in one of their bulletins.
Much to the regret of many esoteric historians, they burnt most of the group's regalia, Temple furnishings and records. Some things survived, including the Temple's pillars, the two sphinxes which flanked either side of the dais steps. Many copies of the rituals and lectures were passed on and preserved.
Whare Ra is now in private hands, and has been registered as a Category I protected building by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.
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