William Alexander Ayton was a British Anglican clergyman, with an interest in alchemy

Alchemy

Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...

. He translated from Latin the life of John Dee

John Dee (mathematician)

John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....

 written by Thomas Smith

Thomas Smith

-Politics:*Sir Thomas Smith , English scholar and diplomat*Thomas Smith , governor of Carolina*Thomas Smith , governor of Newfoundland and Labrador...

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He is generally thought to have been a member of the shadowy Society of Eight founded in 1883. He became a member of the successor Order of the Golden Dawn. He was a supporter of the reforms of Arthur Edward Waite

Arthur Edward Waite

Arthur Edward Waite was a scholarly mystic who wrote extensively on occult and esoteric matters, and was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. As his biographer, R.A...

, which split the Order as the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn and the Stella Matutina

Stella Matutina

The Stella Matutina was an initiatory magical order dedicated to the dissemination of the traditional teachings of the earlier Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Originally, the outer order of the Stella Matutina was known as Mystic Rose or Order of the M.R. in the Outer...

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External links

• Modern Rosicrucian groups at www.alchemywebsite.com