The Rosicrucian Seer Magical Writings of Frederick Hockley
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Bristol Rosicrucian College summons for 14 April 1873 mentioning the reading of Hockley's 'Evenings With the Indwellers of the World of Spirits' (see p. 132). Ihe I,simlan Seer _aaical Clritinas oI1rederick 80ckley Editedwithan Introductionby JOHN HAMILL With aNote on Hockley's Manuscripts by R.A. Gilbert THE AQUARIAN PRESS Wellingborough, Northamptonshire First published 1986 © THE AQUARIAN PRESS 1986 All rights reserued: Nopartofthisbook m~ bereproduced orutilized inanyform or byarry means, elearonic ormechanical, including photocojTying, recording orby infOrmation andretrieval system, without permission in writingfrom the Publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Hockley, Frederick The Rosicrucian seer: the magicalwritingsof Frederick Hockley I. Occult sciences-Earlyworks to 1900 I. Title II. Hamill,John III. Gilbert, R. A. 133 BF1410 ISBN 0-85°30-289-7 TheAquarian Press is part of the Thorsons Publishing Group Printed and bound in Great Britain FOR ELLIe HOWE CONTENTS Page Preface 9 Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1 2 Secret Writing: The Magical Manuscripts of Frederick Hockley R. A. Gilbert 26 3 Hockley's Letters to the Irwins 34 4 Extracts Concerning Hockley from the MacKenzie- Irwin Correspondence 90 5 Hockley's Evidence to the London Dialectical Society 96 6 The Burton Episode 100 7 Crystaliomancy, or the Art of Invocating Spirits by the Crystal 102 8 Excerpts from the Crystal MSS 109 9 Published Material 129 i Raisingthe Devil 129 ii Evenings with the Indwellers of the World of Spirits 132 iii Correspondence with Robert Owen 145 iv Contributions to The Zoist 184 PREFACE My interest in Hockley arose as a result of a file missing in the Library of the United Grand Lodge of England. Ellie Howe whilst researching his paper on Fringe Masonry Vlrs Quatuor Coronatorum, Vol. 85, 1972) asked for the Hockley file, but it was not to be found. As a result I had to start from scratch to find the information he required. A strange picture began to develop. On the one hand, there emerged a typicalmiddle-class Victorian professional man who, late in life, developed an interest in Freemasonry; on the other, an avidcollector of occult knowledge, a practical Spiritualist, and an acknowledged expert on all matters arcane. This phenomenon of a double persona continued to fascinate me long after Mr Howe's research was complete. The search proved difficult, for although Hockley's name appears in studies of nineteenth-century occultism and Spiritualism it is always as a passing reference and never in detail. Many details indeed have still proved elusive. To Ellie Howe lowe much, not least an endless fascination with the stranger areas of the history of ideas to which he introduced me. To R. A. Gilbert lowe not only his contribution on the HockleyMSS, but also his many useful suggestionswhen various lines of research dried up. Michael Cox has shown infinite patience during the long gestation period of this work, for which I am very grateful. For their assistance with many enquiries on details of Hockley's life I would like to thank: Dr Charles Rondle; Mr A. G. Davies; Miss Sheila Kertesz, Archivist of the Sir John Cass Foundation; Mr Martin Hayes, Local History Librarian, Croydon Public Libraries; Mr J. W. Pavey,Registrar of the Institute of Chartered Accountants; Miss Valerie Vaughan, Librarian, National Portrait Gallery; Mr Timothy D'Arch-Smith; and the Secretaries of the various Masonic groups to which Hockley belonged. March 1985 J. M. HAMILL 1 INTRODUCTION FREDERICK HOCKLEY is claimed as a major influence in the Occult Revival of the nineteenth century but little is known of the man, his life, or what happened to his near-fabled library and manuscriptcollection. Even after five years' research only a patchwork of details ofhis life has 'emerged, Indeed, it often seemedas though Hockley did not wishto be traced.Despitehis moving from one set of rooms to another his addresses can.be carefully plotted for certainperiodsofhislifebut neverforthose periods necessary for tracing him in the census returns! Nor doeshis name appear in any London or CroydonDirectory, rate list or electoral register. Indeed, until the registration of his death and provingof his will Hockley does not appear to have officially existed. For detailsof his birth the onlysource traced is his owncopy ofSibley'sUranoscopia1 in whichhe entered his ownbirth details on a nativity chart as 'Nat. Oct. 13th. ah.zo am 1808 Lat. 5I 32N'. Where he was born or what his parentage was has not been established. Byhis ownadmission- he was educated up to the ageof eightat CaptainWebb's Schoolat Haxton.Afterthat, his early life becomes something ofa mystery. From two sources! it appears that he worked forJohn Denley the occult bookseller in Catherine Street, Covent Garden, but in what capacity is not certain. From a commentin a letter to the Irwins his work may have involved copying occult manuscripts for customers, and he mayevenhavemanufactured manuscripts for Denleyto sell. The copying and productionof manuscripts was to occupy him for much ofhis life. Certainlyin the Irwinletters Hockley remembers Denley with affection and considered his periodwith him as his educationin occultism and the beginning of his 'bibliomania',as he calledhis avid collecting ofbooksand manuscripts. 12 The Rosicrucian Seer From his evidence to the Dialectical Society (see Part 5) we learn that he began his experiments with the crystal and magic mirror in 1824 at the age of sixteen. He was also a practised astrologer and follower of Mesmer's ideas on animal magnetism and its use for medical treatment. Attracted to the general developing interest in Spiritualism, he experimented with all its various manifestations but soon became convinced that scrying with the crystal or mirror was the only true form of spirit communication and the method least capable of being tampered with by charlatans and publicity seekers. He married, but details of his wife have proved elusive. From a comment to Irwin it appears that she died in the 1850s, but the records at St Catherine's House, surprisingly, list many female Hockleys dying in thatdecade. She shared her husband's interest .in Spiritualism and .may .herself have possessed mediumistic powers. TheRevd C. M. Davies records an amusing use of the powers she had." It would seem that in his youth Hockley was addicted to the pleasures of the turf, often over-staying his time at race meetings. He possessed an ancient spell by means of which it was possible to summon anyone to his presence, no matter how far away they were. Hockley's wife discovered the spell and began to use it to summon the erring Fred from the racetrack! In the words of the Revd C. M. Davies: 'All of a sudden he would feel an uncontrollable desire to go home. Whatever the hour ofnight or day might be, he must set off at once. He felt sure his wife was working the spell, and afterwards found out that such was the case.' Hockley obviously had a great affection for his wife and spent the thirty-odd years between her death and his own in trying to contact her through the spirit world. As his transition notice in Light" shows, he was eventually successful. 'He maintained his interest in Spiritual ism to the end, one of his last visits being to Mr. Egfinton," through whose mediumship he received, in writing between slates, a cherished communication from his long departed wife intimating that he would speedily rejoin her.' Whatever Hockley's position had been with Denley, by the early 1840S he was practising as an accountant in partnership with two others. Where or how he received his training is not known. He was not involvedwith any of the professional bodies in existence at this time. Again the Directories give no clue. His business address, certainly by the I 870S, was 3 Raymond Buildings, Grays Inn. It appears in aU the Directories, but as chambers housing law firms. From this, and his mention to lntroduaion 13 Irwin of a difficult.Chancery suit, it would seem that Hockley and his partners worked for a legal practice. From the letters we also know that his work took him out of London on occasion, including an annual trip to Northumberland. From the I8S0S he was much involved in Spiritualism, coming into contact with Mr and Mrs Everitt (who were to remain lifelong friends), Lord Stanhope, Robert Owen (the Social Reformer), D. Di.Home, the Revd Stainton Moses .etal. Whilst convinced of the veracity of some SpiritUali~ts he.wasnot unaware of the many charlatans, misguided enthusiasts (the 'harpies' as K. R. H. MacKenziecaUedthem) and the simple publicity seekers involvedin the SpiritUalistmovement..He was veryfree with his own knowledge and the contents of his library, with the exceptionof •the records of his own work with the crystal. Whether or not.he had actualpupils is difficult to determine. Certainly MacKenzie and Davies both regarded him as their first Master in matters Spiritualist and occult. It was to Hockley thatMacKenzieimmediately rushed on hisreturn from seeing Eliphas Levi in Paris, Hockley recording MacKenzie's account of the visit.?In the 1840S he began to publish occasional reports of his.experiences with.the crystal and magic mirror in the form of letters to the editor of The Zoist and to Robert Owen's The New Existence ofMan upon Earth. As the editors of the main Spiritualist journals were all known to him it is surprising that he did not contribute more to them. Surprisingly he published no books.. The Irwin letters infer that he was preparing a history of the Grand Stewards' Lodge and definitely state that he was preparing for publication an edited version of the philosophical revelations of his principal spirit guide, the Crowned Angel of the Seventh Sphere.