Henry B. Pullen Burry

Dr. Henry B. Pullen Burry (1854 or 1857? – Dec.30, 1926)(sources disagree on birthdate)[1] [2] was best known as a British occultist and author of the book "Qabalism",[3] who belonged to the famed occult group The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in London in 1888. The Order taught and practised ceremonial magic, Qabalism (Hermetic Qabalah), Rosicrucianism, and psychic arts such as astral projection, divination, astrology, etc. A medical doctor by profession, he was married to Rose Pullen Burry with whom he had a son given the same name (Henry Burry Pullen-Burry) and two daughters, Ethel and Winifred.[1]

On 27 November 1892, he joined the Isis-Urania Temple,[4] which was the first founded Golden Dawn temple (in 1888). Other temples were established elsewhere later. Each Golden Dawn member was required to choose a magical motto. Dr. Pullen Burry chose "Anima Pura Sit" ("Let the Soul Be Pure"). His wife Rose joined the Order in 1894. Her motto was "Urge semper igitur" ("Always press forward"?).[1]

One of the most active members in London, he rose rapidly in the Isis-Urania Temple governing hierarchy, becoming its Sub-Cancellarius official in July,1894, promoted to Cancellarius Nov. 1896. Cancellarius (Latin for "Chancellor") of a G.D. temple was its chief keeper of records and was one of the top three presiding officials in authority over a temple. During the late 1890s internal revolt against top leader and co-founder of the G.D. Order, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, Dr. Pullen Burry remained in the camp that stayed loyal to Mathers.[5]

We don't know the reasons for it (did the G.D. schism perhaps have something to do with it?), but we know Dr. Pullen Burry unexpectedly abandoned family, his G.D. temple, and home country to emigrate to the USA, initially drawn by the lure of gold during the Klondike Gold Rush.[1] The Klondike began as a widespread rush in 1897, peaking in 1898 as far as drawing the largest numbers (in the tens of thousands) of would-be-wealthy gold miners,the vast majority of whom ended up disappointed, and poorer for their adventure. The best mining claims had already been staked very early on, mostly by locals already up there, and not by the hordes of hopefuls who came later. Without having evidence to the contrary,it's probably a safe bet to think Dr. Pullen Burry did not succeed as a gold prospector. One could speculate his medical skills may have stood him in good stead though, and perhaps he made a decent living treating medical complaints of the masses of prospectors drawn North. Annie Horniman, a prominent G.D. member, also prominent in English theatre circles as founder/manager of theatre companies, came to the rescue of the Doctor's abandoned family, taking them under her wing financially, and paying for the education of the two daughters. Wife Rose later remarried.[1]

Dr. Pullen Burry did not abandon occultism when he moved to America however. He reportedly influenced the development of several temples in the US organised along G.D. lines. He corresponded for many years with American Paul Foster Case who had joined an American G.D. temple affiliated with the British based Order. Pullen Burry encouraged Case to found his own US based, G.D.-influenced occult organisation, which came to be known as The Builders of the Adytum.[6] Case wrote well known books on the Tarot, and Qabalah.

Dr. Pullen Burry and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Thanks to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, we have a first-hand description of Dr. Pullen Burry. Conan Doyle wrote of him in an article "Early Psychic Experiences", published in Pearson's Magazine, March,1924. It's reproduced in part in occult historian Ellic Howe's book on The Golden Dawn.[5] [Quote from Conan Doyle]:"There was a small doctor dwelling near me, small in stature, and also I fear, in practice. Pullen Bury [sic] was the name. He was a student of the occult, and my curiosity was aroused by learning that he had one room in his house which no one entered but himself, as it was reserved for mystic and philosophic purposes."[7] Ellic Howe continues the story, "Pullen Burry suggested that Conan Doyle should join the G.D., but did not reveal its name. Conan Doyle described an unusual dream which he appeared to equate with an 'astral visit' made by some member of the Order to discover whether or not he was a suitable candidate.He decided not to ask for admission." Another occult historian, R.A. Gilbert,mentions Conan Doyle's meetings with Pullen Burry occurred in 1898. Gilbert further quotes Conan Doyle as saying he in fact found his apparent astral examination "queer and disagreeable".[8] A month or two later, Pullen Burry brought [fellow G.D. member] Dr.Felkin (see Robert Felkin) to see him. The [Conan Doyle] article records his two visitors' extraordinary conversation about an 'astral journey' they had made together to Central Africa." [Quote from Conan Doyle's article]: "To return to the little doctor, he went out to the Klondyke [sic] and I lost sight of him for a long time. From what I learnt, I should judge that the powers of this society included that of loosening their own etheric bodies [see: "etheric body"], in summoning the etheric bodies of others (mine for example), and in making thought images...But their line of development or philosophy is beyond me. I was destined to meet Pullen Burry again, for when I was in America last year I found him full of Rosicrucian lore and occult knowledge."[9]

If Conan Doyle had decided to join instead of reject the G.D.,he would have joined the ranks of a number of famous folks who became members, including writers W.B. Yeats, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Bram Stoker, and Evelyn Underhill, Irish revolutionary and feminist Maude Gonne, British stage actress Florence Farr, and Oscar Wilde's wife Constance Mary Wilde who joined in the first year, 1888.[5][10]

The Writer

Dr. Henry B. Pullen Burry wrote at least two books that were published. One is a little-known book called "Our Morning Bath".[11] Since he was a M.D.,one might wonder if it was on the topic of personal hygiene and health. The other is his much better known "Qabalism", published by The Yogi Publication Society, Chicago, 1925. The Yogi Publication Society hardcover has been reprinted repeatedly through the decades,and may still be in print. A softcover edition published by Kessinger Publishing in 2003 remains in print as of this writing. In his book "Qabalism", Pullen Burry challenges Qabalistic orthodoxy by putting forth his own theory that the Tree of Life, the central symbolic diagram of Qabalah mysticism, should have 34 paths linking its 10 Sephira (or Spheres),instead of 32 paths, as traditionally taught.

Birth and Death

The few available references to his birth and death dates are not in agreement. One reference is found in the book "The Collected Letters of W.B. Yeats, Vol IV" in a note on p. 430, reporting birth and death dates for Dr. Henry B. Pullen Burry as "(1857 – c. 1927)".[1] However, an original newspaper clipping in this Wikipedia article original author's possession,from a newspaper dated Monday, 3 January 1927 gives the following obituary, disappointingly short on biographical detail: "BURRY – Dr. Henry B. Pullen-Burry, Multnomah Hospital, Dec. 30, 72 years. Toxemia." [2] Toxemia often refers to bacterial infections, which were more often fatal in the 1920s, before antibiotics, than now. Antibiotics didn't emerge as a life-saving medical treatment until the late 1930s, starting with penicillin. Unfortunately, the clipping does not identify the newspaper it is from. Multnomah Hospital is in Portland Oregon, Multnomah being the county the city's located in. It's possible the clipping may be from The Oregonian, famed as the longest running continually published newspaper in the US Begun in 1850, it publishes as a daily paper to this day. We know Dr. Pullen Burry died in Portland, Oregon, but whether he lived there for many years previous or not is unclear at this writing. If the newspaper obituary is correct that he was 72 years old, that would suggest he was likely born in 1854, not 1857 as the note in "The Collected Letter of W.B. Yeats Vol IV" says. The newspaper obituary states clearly he died in late 1926, just two days before the start of 1927 – which does not mean the other source's "c.[circa] 1927" claim is wrong, just less precise.

Legacy

Aside from the above mentioned G.D, members who were already famous as fiction and poetry writers, actors, etc., before joining, others became well known as occultists after first training under the G.D. or its offshoots, the most notorious of whom is Aleister Crowley. Aside from G.D. founders Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and William Wynn Westcott, some other respected occultists/occult writers that emerged from the G.D. system, and whose works are still studied today are: Ms. Dion Fortune, Dr. Israel Regardie, John William Brodie-Innes, William G. Gray, W. E. Butler (William Ernest Butler), A.E. Waite(Arthur Edward Waite), Gareth Knight(a.k.a. Dr. Basil Wilby),and Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, to name but a few.[13] [14] Dr. Henry B. Pullen Burry is another such "G.D. grad.". As G.D. alumni go, he is not as well known as some others, and not as much is known about his life. Yet,he was an important figure in the original temple in the still early days of the Order, and remained active in occult circles the rest of his life. Late in his life, his book on the Qabalah was published. It came out the year before his death. The book elucidates his understanding of that mystical system after a lifetime of study, a book significant enough in its field to have remained in print continually, or almost so, for the past 80+ years.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Collected Letters of W.B. Yeats, Vol IV, ed.by John Kelly and Ronald Schuchard, Oxford University Press, 2006, footnote p. 430.
  2. 1 2 Newspaper obituary dated 3 January 1927, newspaper origin unknown, likely a Portland, Oregon paper, possibly "The Oregonian".
  3. ↑ Qabalism, Dr. Henry B Pullen Burry, The Yogi Publication Society, 1972 edition.
  4. ↑ The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, Ellic Howe, Samuel Weiser Inc., 1978, p. 51 – 52.
  5. 1 2 3 The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, Ellic Howe, Samuel Weiser Inc., 1978.
  6. ↑ Qabalism, Dr. Henry B Pullen Burry, The Yogi Publication Society, 1972 edition, Introduction.
  7. ↑ The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, Ellic Howe, Samuel Weiser Inc., 1978, p. 199-200.
  8. ↑ The Golden Dawn:Twilight of the Magicians, R.A. Gilbert, The Aquarian Press, 1983, p.58 – 59.
  9. ↑ The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, Ellic Howe, Samuel Weiser Inc., 1978, p.200.
  10. ↑ The Golden Dawn:Twilight of the Magicians, R.A. Gilbert, The Aquarian Press, 1983.
  11. ↑ The Magicians of the Golden Dawn, Ellic Howe, Samuel Weiser Inc., 1978, p. 51.
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