Canaan Lane

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, (1854 – 1918), was one of the most influential figures in modern Occultism. He is primarily known as one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a ceremonial magic order whose offshoots still exist today.

Mathers was an eccentric whose chosen lifestyle was unusual in its time. He added the "MacGregor" surname as a claim to Highland Scottish heritage, although there is little evidence of such in his family background.

Upon the death of William Robert Woodman in 1891, Mathers assumed leadership of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. After a schism in 1900, Mathers formed a group called Alpha et Omega. His wife was Moina (also known as Mina) Mathers (neé Bergson), the sister of the philosopher Henri Bergson.