Before it’s too late … I wanted to wish a Happy Astral Birthday to William Butler Yeats, the great mystical poet.

There are a great number of people who are unaware that Yeats was not only a long-time member of The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, but he was also the Head of the Order for a time.

For a time, during my teenage years, I was a huge fan of Yeats — even before I knew he was a ritual Magician. Of course, those familiar with the life of Aleister Crowley no doubt are aware that Yeats and Crowley were not on the best of terms. Crowley joined the same G.’.D.’. Lodge as Yeats in 1898, much to the chagrin of many of the members of the Isis-Urania Temple in London.

All mysticism aside, Yeats was a gifted and very spiritually-oriented poet, who at one time was the Poet Laureate of Ireland, won the Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature in 1923. Yeats is known as the greatest Irish lyric poet of all time, and is regarded by many as the greatest poet of the 20th Century (although my personal vote goes to the late, great Ted Hughes, former husband of the ever more late Sylvia Plath, but i digress).

There are quite a few books written about the magickal poetry and symbolism of Yeats, which are worth checking out (I’ll have to go through my library and post some of the better titles).

On this day, I urge all my magickal friends to take a moment to read through some of the poems left behind by the hermetic Mage. I’m sure you will find much to enjoy in the inspired words and visions he so carefully left behind. Happy birthday Mr. Yeats.