Pat Zalewski
Pat Zalewski (pronounced "Saleski"; born 1948) is an occultist, author, martial artist, and Adept in the Golden Dawn tradition.
Early life and travels
Zalewski was born in Brisbane, Australia, on May 21, 1948. At the age of 18 he left for Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, where he travelled the Sepik and Fly Rivers and lived briefly in Bougainville Island. He learned to dive under George Tyers, a wreck diver in Rabaul, and was among the first to dive in the area known as "George’s Wreck" in the mid-1960s.
In 1965, Zalewski obtained a brown belt in karate under Tamio Tsuji, who later became the first Australian national karate coach (1968). He also trained briefly in martial arts in Hong Kong and Qigong in Macau. While living in Thailand, Zalewski met photojournalist Sean Flynn (photojournalist), who persuaded him to participate in a Muay Thai match. Zalewski later recalled: “I jumped into the ring and a few minutes later got carried out and spent four days recovering. It was the fastest and hardest $200 I ever made.”
In 1969, he traveled to Ceylon Shri Lanka and India, studying Tantric yoga under Master Vivandatta before visiting Nepal. Later that year he returned to Cairns, Australia, where he obtained his black belt in karate under Hiro Tanaka, a student of Gichin Funakoshi.
In 1970, Zalewski moved to New Zealand, where he continued training and teaching karate. He founded three clubs in Wellington and established the New Zealand Seikukan Karate Association. By 1975 he was selected to compete as a member of the New Zealand team at the IAKF World Karate Championships in Los Angeles, USA.
Occult Studies
Zalewski was introduced to the teachings of the Golden Dawn in the mid-1970s. After initial solo practice, he founded a Golden Dawn temple, initiating members through grades from Neophyte (0°=0°) to Adeptus Minor (5°=6°).
In 1979, he met Jack Taylor, a 7°=4° Adept from the New Zealand Smaragdum Thalasses Temple (Whare Ra) of the Stella Matutina (offshoot of the original Order of the Golden Dawn). Zalewski worked with Taylor to establish a fully functioning Golden Dawn order. Taylor and other Whare Ra adepts instructed Zalewski in the First Order rituals and higher grades, and Taylor initiated him into the 6°=5° and 7°=4° grades.
During this training, Zalewski documented Whare Ra’s oral teachings, preserving material that had previously been transmitted only verbally.
In 1983, Zalewski began corresponding with Israel Regardie, who later traveled to New Zealand to meet him. Encouraged by Regardie, Zalewski began writing extensively on the Golden Dawn and later gave seminars in the United States.
In the late 1980s, scholar Robert S. Ellwood visited New Zealand to research the Golden Dawn. His book Islands of the Dawn includes interviews with Zalewski and material from Zalewski’s own work Secret Inner Order Rituals of the Golden Dawn.
By 1995, Zalewski had moved from Wellington to Hastings, New Zealand and the Thoth Hermes Temple closed after three initiations to the 7°=4° level.
Martial Arts Achievements
Zalewski received his 5th dan in karate in 1997.
In 2000, he was inducted into the New Zealand Martial Arts Hall of Fame and named Martial Arts Historian of the Year for his published articles. Two years later he received a 6th dan in karate, a 5th dan in Kobudo, the World Karate Union title of Karate Historian of the Year, and the Australian title of Martial Arts Historian.
Later Golden Dawn Work
In 1999, Zalewski returned to Australia, where he founded a temple in Cairns.
In 2001 he took on Martin Thibeault, founder of the Order of the Golden Dawn, as his personal 5°=6° student and protégé. In 2004 he began a Golden Dawn Inner Order correspondence course.
In 2006, Zalewski presented a seminar at the O.G.D. Mother Temple in Montreal, Canada, where he initiated Martin Thibeault into the 6°=5° Adeptus Major grade. In 2008, he further conferred on Thibeault the 7°=4° Adeptus Exemptus grade and designated him as his sole successor in the Golden Dawn lineage. In the 9 years that followed Zalewski initiated Thibeault through the remaining Grades of the system (Babe of the Abyss, 8°=3° Magister Temple, 9°=2° Magus) culminating with the 10°=1° Ipsissimus Grade conferred in 2021. They continue to work together to the present day.
Bibliography
1988 — The Secret Inner Order Rituals of the Golden Dawn - (2nd Edition 2016)
1990 — Golden Dawn Enochian Magic - (2nd edition 1994 and 3rd edition 2018)
1992 — The Equinox & Solstice Ceremonies of the Golden Dawn (with Chris Zalewski)
1993 — Kabbalah of the Golden Dawn - (2nd edition 2023)
1994 — Golden Dawn Rituals and Commentaries (2nd edition 2010 and 3rd edition 2022)
1995 — Z-5: Secret Teachings of the Golden Dawn, Book I: The Neophyte Ritual
1995 — Z-5: Secret Teachings of the Golden Dawn, Book II: The Zelator Ritual 1=10
1999 — The Magical Tarot of the Golden Dawn (with Chris Zalewski) -
(reissued and expanded 2019)
2002 — Talismans & Evocations of the Golden Dawn - (2nd edition 2023)
2006 — Inner Order Teachings of the Golden Dawn - (2nd edition 2022)
2011 — Alchemy and Golden Dawn Ritual
2018 — Godforms of the Golden Dawn Tradition
