Dec 3, 1888

[Jon-Erik]

Hi everybody! I'm new here at the message board though I have been following the Jack the Ripper case for years. I wanted to ask some of the more knowledgable members of the board about something interesting I found in a Jack the Ripper chronology in my book. On 3 December 1888 Scotland Yard files record that "certain members of a quasi-religious organisation...have been closely watched for some time past". Does anyone know what this means and what it might have to do with Jack the Ripper?

[NOV9]

Hi everybody! I'm new here at the message board though I have been following the Jack the Ripper case for years. I wanted to ask some of the more knowledgable members of the board about something interesting I found in a Jack the Ripper chronology in my book. On 3 December 1888 Scotland Yard files record that "certain members of a quasi-religious organisation...have been closely watched for some time past". Does anyone know what this means and what it might have to do with Jack the Ripper?

Jon-Erik,

All I know about them is that they are a religious and socio-political organization founded in the U.S.

What part did they play in the Ripper case? your guess is as good as mine.

NOV9

[Mitch Rowe]

Hi everybody! I'm new here at the message board though I have been following the Jack the Ripper case for years. I wanted to ask some of the more knowledgable members of the board about something interesting I found in a Jack the Ripper chronology in my book. On 3 December 1888 Scotland Yard files record that "certain members of a quasi-religious organisation...have been closely watched for some time past". Does anyone know what this means and what it might have to do with Jack the Ripper?

It probably means that they are as about as likely suspects as John Lennon.

[aspallek]

Interesting. I hadn't heard that. What is the source?

[Gideon Fell]

Interesting. I hadn't heard that. What is the source?

'The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper' is the source for this quote.

[Bob Hinton]

Sources.

'The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper' is the source for this quote.

I would be extremely wary of accepting anything from that book as correct. Try and cross reference it to a more reliable source. Rumbelow and Evans recently wrote a book about Scotland Yard and the investigation, that and of course check Sugden.

[Suzi]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm The Mammoth is always a tad spurious in my opinion...but I imagine the 'Society' referred to is more than likely 'The Golden Dawn'.
This of course puts us in RDS territory,and that of Ms Cremers, Miss Collins, Alistair Crowley -altogether an Unholy Trinity- plus Mr WB Yeats!!!.

Of course-although not being an RDS 'fan'... there is that disturbing line written by himself in The Pall Mall Gazette 1st Dec 1888 re 'The Jiuves' on the 'shopping list 'for a black magician (!!!!) "strips of the skin of a suicide,nails from a murderers gallows,candles made from human fat,the head of a black cat which has been fed for forty days on human flesh (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!),the horns of a goat which has been made the instrument of an infamous capital crime,and a preparation made from a certain portion of the body of a harlot"

Barmy stuff....but none the less strangely interesting and RDS continues to fascinate-maybe not as a suspect but as an interesting fellow of the time.....

Suzi x

[Suzi]

For an overview of The GD this is a reasonable site,although maybe not the most accurate in many ways

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/occult/golden_dawn.html

As a possible connection to the Ripper I find that highly unlikely that the grey man who mixed with the crowd in Spitalfields put on his totty and headed up West to mix with the chaps of the GD!

Fascinating society though........and of course the Masonic connection cannot be denied !



As to FACTS though and GD aside...stick to Sugden/Rumbelow and Begg

Mike- Did you know that a/c to RDS's account of his life- he was the son of a HULL mill owner!!

At the risk of some 'neurasthaenia' coming on......better get back to some more ref here...

[Howard Brown]

Suzi:

There is no reference in any known occult book which mentions "the body parts of a harlot" in the concoction of some ritual. I know you are merely repeating the section which you read. David Knott and myself have searched independently through Eliphaz Levi tomes and have come up short.

I have a page here in front of me, entitled, Sabbath of The Sorcerers, which was once owned by Melvin Harris....which has all of the items you mention in your post in almost the correct order that they appear in your post, but not the "body parts of a harlot". That was pure Stephenson at its finest.


On page 116 of The True Face of Jack The Ripper, the addition of the "body parts of a harlot" is clearly mentioned in the Dec.1st edition of the PMG.

Mr. Harris had this page xeroxed from this Sabbath of The Sorcerers and could see that the "body parts" mentioned in the PMG article...is NOT on the list you mentioned and it IS in almost the same exact sequence as the PMG article.

Hope this helps.

[Gideon Fell]

I would be extremely wary of accepting anything from that book as correct. Try and cross reference it to a more reliable source. Rumbelow and Evans recently wrote a book about Scotland Yard and the investigation, that and of course check Sugden.

Yes, I am aware of the shortcomings of secondary sources but I was merely answering the query as to what the initial poster's source was for the statement. What is more relevant of course is the identification of the original official source that the authors of the said book accessed for this claim.

[Doctor X]

I am disappointed you all so readily dismiss John Lennon as a suspect.

*Flees flying bricks*

--J.D.