Florence Farr

Florence Farr (7 July 1860-29 April 1917) was a West End leading actress and one time mistress of George Bernard ShawKing 1989, page 41, acting head of a famed magical order, women's rights journalist, divorcee, educator, singer, musician, and author of the novel, The Dancing Faun. She was a friend and collaborator with William Butler Yeats, Aubrey Beardsley, Pamela Colman Smith, Arthur Edward Waite, Annie Horniman and many other literati of London's Fin de siècle era, and even by their standards she was "the bohemian's bohemian". Greer (1994) Shaw wrote that she reacted vehemently against Victorian sexual and domestic morality and was dauntless in publicly championing unpopular causes such as campaigning for the welfare of prostitutes.

Early Life

Florence Farr was born in London in 1860, the youngest daughter of Mary Elizabeth Whittal and Dr. William Farr, and named after Florence Nightengale by her father, a physician and hygenist who was a friend and co-worker with Nightengale.

During her childhood she was a friend of May Morris, the daughter of Jane Morris, the renowned Pre-Raphaelite artist's model. Farr, May Morris and other friends posed for Sir Edward Burne-Jones' Pre-Raphaelite painting, "The Golden Stairs" when she was 19 years old. The painting is exhibited at the Tate Gallery in London.

Theatrical Career

From 1879 to 1882, Farr attended Queen's College, the first woman's college in England. After leaving college, she took a teaching position, but soon her aspirations turned to theatre. With her commanding presence and beautiful speaking voice (noted by Shaw), she soon attained modest success on London's West End stages, and two years later married fellow actor Edward Emery. But she chafed under the restrictions expected of a Victorian wife, and within a few years her husband left for an extended tour of America. They never met again, and she obtained a divorce in 1889 and never remarried.

In early 1890 Farr moved with her sister to Bedford Park, a bohemian London enclave of intellectals, artists and writers. Bedford Park was known for its "free thinkers" and "the New Woman" (a term coined by Shaw), where women participated in discussions on politics, art, literature and philosophy on a equal basis with men. While in Bedford Park, Farr starred in the play A Sicilian Idyll by John Todhunter (another future member of the Golden Dawn) in the part of "Priestess Amaryllis", who summons the Goddess Selene to wreck revenge on her unfaithful lover. Both Shaw and Yeats were in the audience and were greatly impressed with her performance, as well as her "starling beauty, large expressive eyes, crescent eyebrows, and luminous smile."

Farr became Shaw's mistress, who wished to mold her into his idealized vision of "The New Woman" and be the star of his plays. For Yeats she was, like Maud Gonne, a poetic muse, who's resonate voice was perfect for reciting his poetry. Both men wrote leading parts in their plays for Farr, who used her influence with Annie Horniman to have them produced. In Yeats' The Countess Catherine, she played Aleel, a bard and seer who could see into the spirit realm, and sang all of her lines while accompaning herself on the psaltry harp. In Shaw's Arms and the Man, she played the part of Louka, the villanous maid who steals the affections of the hero from the play's lead actress. In the 1890s, Yeats used Farr's 'golden voice' as part of his quest to encourage the rebirth of spoken poetry. In 1898 made her the stage manager for his Irish Literary Theatre and she became a regular contributor to the performance of his metrical plays. Farr was also the first woman in England to perform in Ibsen's plays, in particular the role of "Rebecca West" in the first English production of Rosmersholm, which gained her critical acclaim. But she was sidetracked from her acting career when she joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Golden Dawn

Farr was initiated into the Isis-Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn in London by William Butler Yeats in July 1890King 1978, page 24 Her magical name was Sapientia Sapienti Dona Data, and became Praemonstratrix of this temple in 1894F.King, 1989, page 51-52. Unlike some of her successors, she practiced magick as well as the classical techniques of invocation and evocationKing, 1989, page 52.

Disputes arose within the Golden Dawn, in which she described these as an 'astral jar', between other Adempti Minores, and a secret society within the Isis-Uranis called The SphereKing, 1989, page 66. She also expressed that the temple should be closed downKing 1989 page 67, writing to Mathers offering her resignation as his representitiveWilson, page 54, but was willing to carry on until a successor was found. Mathers reply shocked and amazed her, for it lay claims and accusiation upon William Wynn Westcott, one of the co-founders of the Golden Dawn. She gave it a couple of days before writing to Wescott requesting an explanation of, and a reply to Mathers chargesKing 1989 page 68. After Wescott denied the charges, a seven strong committee was formed to further investigate Mathers, asking for proof. Mathers sent a fierce reply, refusing to produce proof, and dismissing Farr from her position as his representative on March 23rdKing 1989 page 69.

Later Life

Farr severed her association with the Golden Dawn in 1902. She went on to write and produce (with Annie Horniman) two Egyptian plays, and her only book of fiction, The Dancing Faun. She also wrote regular articles in the British journal of art and politics, The New Age, some of which have been anthologized into books. She gave frequent performances of poetry, in particular the work of Yeats, which she set to the music of her psaltery. She was also involved in the performance and musical composition of a number of plays at the Lyceum and Court Theatre and New Century Theatres in London, between 1902 and 1906. But she still kept up her magical practices, and joined the Theosophical Society of London. There she met Ramanathan, a spiritual teacher and future member of the Tamil parliament. He described to her his plans for the education of young women in Ceylon, and she committed herself to helping him when he was ready.

In 1912, she learned that Ramanathan had established his College for Girls, and at the age of fifty-two, sold all possessions and moved to Ceylon, where she spent the rest of her life. She had come the full circle and was returning to her first vocation, that of a teacher. She was appointed Lady Principal by Ramanathan and the administration of the school was turned over to her. Certainly the skills she learned as the executive secretary or "Cancellarius" of the Golden Dawn served her in her new vocation, and due to her tolerance and respect for the Tamil traditions, the school thrived under her administration. She also kept up her correspondences with Yeats, and sent him her translations of Tamil poetry. Then in 1916, a lump in her breast was diagnosed as cancer, and she underwent a mastectomy. In her final letter to Yeats, she included a humorous drawing of herself with her mastectomy scar, and wrote: "Last December I became an Amazon and my left breast and pectoral muscle were removed. Now my left side is a beautiful slab of flesh adorned with a handsome fern pattern made by a cut and 30 stitches." But the cancer had spread, and she died a few months later in a hospital in Colombo, in April of 1917. In accordance with her wishes, her body was cremated and the ashes scattered in a sacred river.

Farr Bibliography

The Dancing Faun - (February, 2006, I-H-O Books) ISBN 1872189768

The Serpent's Path: The Magical Plays of Florence Farr - with Olivia Shakespeare (Holmes Pub, 2002) ISBN 1558184147

Egyptian Magic (Kessinger, 1997) ISBN 1564593223

La Magia Egipcia/Egyptian Magic - (Spanish - Obelisco; Translatio 2005) ISBN 8477209111

Enochian Experiments of the Golden Dawn - ed. Darcy Kuntz (Holmes Pub, 1996) ISBN 155818340X

The Book of the Grand Words of Each Mystery in Egyptian Magic - (Kessinger, 2005) ISBN 1425302335

The Gnostic Magic of Egypt - (Kessinger, 2005) ISBN 1425302327

The Legend of Ra and Isis - (Kessinger, 2005) ISBN 1425302319

The Way of Wisdom: An Investigation of the Meanings of the Letters of the Hebrew Alphabet Considered As a Remnant of the Chaldean Wisdom - (Holmes Pub, 2001) ISBN 155818290X

The Magic of a Symbol - (Holmes Pub, 2001) ISBN 155818337X

Notes

References

Farr, Florence, The Dancing Faun (1894; reprint, IHO, 2006)
Farr, Florence, The Magic of a Symbol, ed. D. Kuntz (Holmes Publishing Group, 1998 ISBN 155818337X)
Farr, Florence, Yeats, W.B., Shaw, G.B., Letters ed. Clifford Bax (Shannon, Irish University Press, 1971, ISBN 0716513943)
Greer, Mary K., Women of the Golden Dawn: Rebels and Priestesses (Park Street, 1994, ISBN 0892816074)
Howe, Ellic, The Magicians of the Golden Dawn: A Documentary History of a Magical Order, 1887-1923 (Samuel Weiser Inc., 1972)
Johnson, Josephine, Florence Farr: Bernard Shaw's "New Woman" (Colin Smythe, 1975, ISBN 090107215X)
King, Francis Modern Ritual Magic: The Rise of Western Occultism 1989 ISBN 1-85327-032-6
King, Francis The Magical World of Aleister Crowley 1978
Wilson, Colin Aleister Crowley: The Nature of the Beast 1987 ISBN 0-85030-541-1

1860 births | 1917 deaths | English stage actors