Henry Stevenson Liddell

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Henry Stevenson Liddell (1886? - 1924?) British Occultist, Magician and writer. Founder of the Order of Sophia, an Occult organization allegedly created to combat corruption and negative influences of other Occult organization of the day and bring about peace and spiritual wisdom to humanity.

Despite his notoriety for founding the Order of Sophia and the lesser know Sophia Institute of Theology; little is know about the elusive history Henry Stevenson Liddell. Very few credible sources or historical records relating to Liddell have ever been found. This fact, along with the amount of myth, lore and rumors, some of which may have been perpetuated by Henry Liddell himself, make it nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction.

1 Early life
2 The Order of Sophia
3 Later Life and Death
4 Anne Liddell
5 Legacy and Mystery
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Early life

He was supposedly born in Milford Haven around 1886 to Dorothy and Victor Liddell. Before being lost in a tragic fire, Liddell’s memoirs, and writings gave little guidance as to his early years or his family, but he claimed that his father was a barrister and his mother was nanny. According to these writings, Henry was a relative of the famous occultist Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, though this has never been confirmed. He claims that the two of them corresponded regularly and that Mathers introduced him to the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (much to his father’s dismay). Though it was rumored that he was a member of the Order, as well as the British Theosophical Society, he supposedly left both organizations under bitter circumstances, probably due to philosophical disagreements. Instead of embarking upon a traditional education (his father was intent on having him attend Cambridge), the young Liddell concluded that his best chance for fulfilling his thirst for knowledge was to travel abroad.

Liddell spent several years traveling throughout Europe as well as the Mediterranean, Egypt, the Middle East, Turkey and India where he studied the Hindu religion and meditation. After researching philosophy and mythology in Greece, Liddell went to the Turkish city of Ephesus where, supposedly, he had a transcendental experience while meditating at the statue of Sophia, the Goddess of Wisdom.

[edit] The Order of Sophia

Shortly thereafter is when he supposedly wrote the Sophian Oath and before returning home, secretly initiated the Order of Sophia. The order was created as alternative to the Magical and Occult Orders of the day, which Liddell saw as corrupt and meaningless, lacking both wisdom and a sense of duty for the common good.

The exact number of initiates remains a mystery ranging from hundreds, to a select few (the latter being the most likely). Liddell claimed that the “Knights”, (as initiates were ordained), of the Order constituted a large variety of characters ranging from the mysterious and esoteric (Scientists, Artists, Monks, Healers, Psychics, Magicians) to the absurd (Gypsies, Alchemists, Traveling Circus Performers, even Vaudeville actors). According to one source, Liddell viewed himself as a warrior-priest in the spirit of the Templar Knights and that his charge, and that of the Order’s, was to fight evil, corruption and injustice by way of Love, Wisdom, Mercy and Compassion. Liddell felt that his Order would help to usher in the Age of Aquarius and bring humanity into a new era of peace and understand.

Though many of his writings may have been unusual and bordered on absurd (he sometimes wrote about fairies and elves that existed throughout Europe), many feel that because of his numerous reference to the teachings of Jesus along with those of the Sacred Feminine, and forms of Hellenistic Goddess worship, Henry Liddell may have practiced some form of Gnosticism. Some of his lost works may have even contained fragments of ancient Gnostic writings.

Regardless of his exact teachings or philosophy, Henry Liddell, was said to be profoundly gifted to a degree at which not only was he was said to be a practitioner of Ritual Magick, but also a clairvoyant or possessed some kind of extra-sensory perception.

[edit] Later Life and Death

Upon returning home, penniless, Henry learned that his mother had died in his absence and that his father refused to acknowledge him. At the age of 35, or sometime near, Liddell left England never to return. Upon settling in British East Africa (modern day Kenya), where he re-established the Order of Sophia, Henry married Anne, a 19-year-old widow, and planned to publish the first volume of his writings. Tragically, Henry Liddell would not live to complete his writings. According to a friend of his wife, Liddell died from Dysentery in the summer of 1924 at about the age of 38. He was buried in a mass grave outside a village near Machakos. Apparently before passing away, Liddell imparted to his wife the secrets of the order and its purpose along with other pieces of information in which Liddell concluded that he and possibly other members of the order had been cursed. Apparently, Henry concluded (probably to the satisfaction of his own ego) that by the Order’s attempts to raise spiritual awareness, and expose the corruption and secrets of other magicians and occult figures, he had brought about their wrath.

[edit] Anne Liddell

After leaving Africa, Anne, supposedly traveling under an assumed name, traveled to England and the United States where she unsuccessfully sought a publisher for her husband’s work. Though unable to show any evidence other than hearsay, Anne felt that certain publishers of esoteric and occult volumes not only plagiarized her husband’s work, but sought to destroy his legacy. She even went so far as to claim that members of the Golden Dawn, possibly even Aleister Crowley himself, put a curse on her husband and were part of a conspiracy to erase his memory from history altogether. After reportedly settling in Mexico, Anne was killed in a fire that also destroyed all but a few pages of her husband’s work.

Though considered paranoid and delusional by her few friends, Anne Liddell's suspicions may have turned out to be true as subsequent searches for historical records or even simple birth and residence documents pertaining to Henry Stevenson Liddell and his family seem to have vanished without a trace.

[edit] Legacy and Mystery

If one was to pursue even the most rigorous search of public records, they will find little or no evidence that Henry Stevenson Liddell or his family ever existed. All that exists are a few eye witness accounts and a single photograph which some claim isn’t Liddell at all. According to the records, no such person as Henry Stevenson Liddell or his wife Anne have ever existed. Based on the evidence that exists, most would say that the Order of Sophia and its origins are a complete fabrication. But believers answer this with the notion that the existence of Henry Liddell, the Order of Sophia as well as their ideology and purpose is a matter of faith.

In 2003, a series of personal papers allegedly belonging to the late Texas Historian, James Thomas Deshields were found in a safe deposit box in San Antonio, Texas. Among the contents were a series of badly burned documents which appeared to be some of the lost writings of Henry S. Liddell. Unfortunately, before the authenticity of the documents could be verified, most, if not all of them mysteriously disappeared. Skeptics of the Liddell legends believe that this was simply another ploy by the Order of Sophia to bring attention to their cause or ad legitimacy to what many say are historical fabrications based on nothing more than hearsay and myth. Others contend that the disappearance of the documents ads fuel to the conspiracy theories and the idea that Liddell’s writings and teachings have been “erased from history”.