The Irish poet W. B. Yeats heads…

The Irish poet W. B. Yeats heads the Order of the Golden Dawn in 1900.

Toward the end of 1899, the Adepts of the Isis-Urania and Amen-Ra temples had become dissatisfied with Samuel Liddell Mathers' leadership, as well as his growing friendship with Aleister Crowley.

They had also become anxious to make contact with the Secret Chiefs themselves, instead of relying on Mathers as an intermediary.

Within the Isis-Urania temple, disputes are arising between Florence Farr's The Sphere, a secret society within the Isis-Urania, and the rest of the Adepti Minores.

Crowley had been refused initiation into the Adeptus Minor grade by the London officials.

Mathers overrides their decision and quickly initiates him at the Ahathoor temple in Paris on January 16, 1900.

Upon his return to the London temple, Crowley requests from Miss Cracknell, the acting secretary, the papers acknowledging his grade, to which he is now entitled.

To the London Adepts, this is the final straw.

Farr, already of the opinion that the London temple should be closed, writes to Mathers expressing her wish to resign as his representative, although she is willing to carry on until a successor is found.

Mathers believes Westcott is behind this turn of events and replies on February 16.

On March 3, a committee of seven Adepts is elected in London and requests a full investigation of the matter.

Mathers sends an immediate reply, declining to provide proof, refusing to acknowledge the London temple, and dismissing Farr as his representative on March 2.

In response, a general meeting is called on March 29 in London to remove Mathers as chief and expel him from the Order.