Collection: Thomas Burgoyne

Thomas Henry Burgoyne (born Thomas Dalton) 1855 - 1894 was a Scottish occultist and astrologer. Thomas H. Burgoyne, an astrologer and founder of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, was born April 14, 1855, and grew up in his native Scotland.

Spontaneously psychic, he claimed that as a child he came into contact with the Brotherhood of Light, a group of discarnate, advanced beings who attempt to guide the destiny of humankind.

Today that group continues as the Church of Light. At a later date he
met a M. Theon, purported to be an earthly representative of the brotherhood who
taught Burgoyne about the Brotherhood.

He was a member of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor in Britain and was an editor of the The Occult Magazine.Burgoyne moved to America, wrote The Light of Egypt, and founded the Hermetic Brotherhood of Light in America.

Thomas Burgoyne, was a prominent member of the The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light, a group closely associated with - or possibly even the same as the better-known Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, of which he was the Secretary.

The Light of Egypt is an extensive magical treatise: to quote the Preface: 'For nearly twenty years prior to the year 1881 the author was deeply engaged investigating the hidden realms of occult force. The results of these mystical labors were considered of great value and real worth by a few friends who were also seeking light. Finally he was induced to place the general results of the researches into a series of lessons for private occult study.

The whole, when completed, presenting the dual aspects of occult lore as seen and realised in the soul and the stars, corresponding to the microcosm and the macrocosm of ancient Egypt and Chaldea, and thus giving a brief epitome of Hermetic philosophy, as taught by the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, Egypt.

Burgoyne moved to the United States around 1880 and soon afterward his writings
began to appear in various periodicals. He was brought into contact with Norman
Astley of Carmel, California, who also claimed to be in contact with the
Brotherhood of Light. Astley suggested that Burgoyne write a set of lessons to
introduce the brotherhood's teachings to the public, and Burgoyne accepted
Astley's hospitality at Carmel while he worked on the lessons. They were published
in 1889 as "The Light of Egypt."

The writing of the lessons occasioned the
establishment of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor as an esoteric occult order
and outer expression of the Brotherhood of Light. The Hermetic Brotherhood was
structured with three leaders, a seer, a scribe/secretary, and an astrologer.
Burgoyne became the scribe.

As Burgoyne understood it, the Brotherhood of Light was an occult order formed to oppose the dominant religious powers of the day in ancient Egypt. As the members died, they continued the brotherhood from their new plane of being.

Thomas H. Burgoyne (1855-1894), wrote several more books, including The Language of the Stars (1892), Celestial Dynamics (1896), and a second volume of The Light of Egypt (1900). He died in March 1894, in Humboldt County, California, still a relatively young man, before the last two were published.

Henry and Belle Wagner continued his work. 

Henry Wagner owned the Astro-Philosophical Publishing House in Denver, Colorado, which published Burgoyne's books.

Belle M. Wagner succeeded Burgoyne as scribe of the Hermetic Brotherhood.