Episode 3 of The Irregulars of Baker Street, a Netflix series set in the universe of Sherlock Holmes, introduces viewers to the Golden Dawn, a royal secret society that investigates paranormal activity and the occult.
The series, set in Victorian England, centers on a group of orphaned teenagers hired to assist Sherlock and Dr. Watson in their criminal investigations. When they begin to examine their first case, teenagers soon realize that these crimes involve paranormal phenomena and black magic.
In the second episode, Spike discovers a letter from the Golden Dawn addressed to Watson. Subsequently, the team of teenage investigators faces the secret society head-on after their leader was murdered.
The society depicted in The Irregulars of Baker Street is based on the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn of real life. Commonly called thus, the order was founded by three Freemasons in 1887. They studied a collection of known documents, such as encrypted manuscripts that supposedly included spells to control the four elements, as well as lessons in alchemy, astronomy and tarot – just like those described in the series. .
At the end of the 9th century, the Golden Dawn had more than 100 members. Although the original order no longer exists today, many of the symbols and rituals of modern occultism derive from it, such as those practiced by followers of Wicca.
As in the production of streaming, the list of members of the secret society included, in fact, several celebrities from the Victorian era, such as British actress Florence Farr and Irish poet William Butler Yeats.
