W.B. Yeats was an Irish literary figure that drew heavily from elements of mysticism. His interest in mysticism deeply impacted his works even early on in his career. In 1886 Yeats finished his poem “The Stolen Child” which focuses on the Irish myth of faeries that steal children. From 1886 until 1888 Yeats worked on his collection of poems, The Wanderings of Oisin, which deals with a mythical, Irish hero. 1888 also marked the publication of Yeats’ Fairy and Folktales of Irish Poetry. As Yeats’ interest in mysticism increased, there was a concomitant increase in his literary output dealing with mysticism. In 1892 Yeats wrote the play The Countess Kathleen, which deals with a devouring woman, Various Legends and Lyrics, and Irish Fairy Tales.

Playing a central role in shaping Yeats’ views of mysticism was the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. As Yeats’ interest in the group increased, he rose to become leader of the Second Order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Yeats also later established the Dublin Hermetic Society, a group similar to the Golden Dawn. In analyzing the development of the organization and the group’s other key figures, one can better understand the environment that informed Yeats’ beliefs and writings.

Yeats was a major participant in occult activity. As a student in the Metropolitan Art College, he met George Russell who would become a well-known author, publisher and poet under the name A.E. He also befriended John O’Leary, the Fenian leader.

At this time, Yeats became very interested in Irish poetry and ancient Gaelic stories. In 1885 at the age of 20, along with Russell and Charles Johnson, he founded the Dublin Hermetic Society. Yeats took as his magical name Daemon est Deus Inversus. This organization was based upon the teachings of the controversial Madame Blavatsky. The purpose of the group was to perform magical experiments; its mission was to formulate a religion based on the combination of literary works and mythology.

The organization was Yeats’ first serious participation in the occult. He supervised the first meeting of the Dublin Hermetic Society on June 26, 1885. In 1886, his friend and poet Katherine Tynan took Yeats to his first séance. This experience terrified him, but it sparked his interest into becoming a more active participant in the occult.

Yeats’ family moved to London soon after. There, he joined the London Lodge of the Theosophists, another one of Blavatsky’s sects. At this time, he surrounded himself with astronomy and astrology. He was obsessed with the supernatural. In fact, he was so obsessed that he was expelled from the Dublin Hermetic Society and the London Lodge of the Theosophists.

In 1890, he joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In London he met the Irish writers Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw. In January 1889, tall, red-haired Maud Gonne knocked on Yeats’ door with a note from O’Leary. Yeats brought Gonne to occultism. He introduced Gonne to Mathers in Paris, and she was initiated into the Golden Dawn in November 1891 and took a magical motto of Per Ignem ad Lucem, meaning “through fire to the light.”

Gonne claimed to be a psychic. She said she saw the funeral of her father before he died, and she predicted the times certain political prisoners would be released from their life sentences.

Soon after, in 1900, Yeats became the head of the Golden Dawn.

After Gonne rejected several of Yeats’ marriage proposals, he married Georgie Hyde Lees in 1917. Their marriage might have been disastrous because Yeats was still obsessed with Gonne and her daughter Iseult, but on their honeymoon Hyde Lees allegedly communicated with spirits. She studied magic and mystic teachings, and Yeats claimed that she was a psychic. She was also a member of the Golden Dawn.

Yeats’ involvement with the occult had several influences on his life. He said, “The mystical life is the center of all I do and all that I think and all that I write.”