Introduction • the Hoodwinking • the Occult Revival O the Who's Who List of 19Th & 20Th Century Occultism
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The Changing Role of Leah Hirsig in Aleister Crowley's Thelema, 1919
Aries – Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism 21 (2021) 69–93 ARIES brill.com/arie Proximal Authority The Changing Role of Leah Hirsig in Aleister Crowley’s Thelema, 1919–1930 Manon Hedenborg White Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden [email protected] Abstract In 1920, the Swiss-American music teacher and occultist Leah Hirsig (1883–1975) was appointed ‘Scarlet Woman’ by the British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), founder of the religion Thelema. In this role, Hirsig was Crowley’s right-hand woman during a formative period in the Thelemic movement, but her position shifted when Crowley found a new Scarlet Woman in 1924. Hirsig’s importance in Thelema gradually declined, and she distanced herself from the movement in the late 1920s. The article analyses Hirsig’s changing status in Thelema 1919–1930, proposing the term proximal authority as an auxiliary category to MaxWeber’s tripartite typology.Proximal authority is defined as authority ascribed to or enacted by a person based on their real or per- ceived relational closeness to a leader. The article briefly draws on two parallel cases so as to demonstrate the broader applicability of the term in highlighting how relational closeness to a leadership figure can entail considerable yet precarious power. Keywords Aleister Crowley – Leah Hirsig – Max Weber – proximal authority – Thelema 1 Introduction During the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665–1714), Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660–1744), was the second most powerful woman in the kingdom. As the queen’s favourite, the Duchess overcame many restrictions hampering women of the time. -
Ade Mark Inter-Partes Decision O/222/07
O-222-07 TRADE MARKS ACT 1994 IN THE MATTER OF APPLICATION Nos 2322346A & 2322346B BY ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS TO REGISTER TWO SERIES OF TWO TRADE MARKS OTO/ O T O & O.T.O. / O. T. O. IN CLASSES 9, 16 & 41 AND IN THE MATTER OF CONSOLIDATED OPPOSITIONS THERETO UNDER Nos.92269 & 92270 BY STARFIRE PUBLISHING LIMITED. BACKGROUND 1) On 31 January 2003, Ordo Templi Orientis of JAF Box 7666, New York 10116- 4632, United States of America applied under the Trade Marks Act 1994 for registration of a series of four trade marks, which, for administrative purposes, were split into two series of two trade marks as follows: Mark Number Class Specification OTO 2322346A 9 Printed publications in electronic readable O T O. form. 16 Printed matter; printed publications, By Consent No. books, stationery. E768739 and E2345700 41 Instruction, education and training services all relating to religion and religious matters. O.T.O. 2322346B 9 Printed publications in electronic readable O. T. O form. 16 Printed matter; printed publications, By Consent No. books, stationery. E768739 and E2345700. 41 Instruction, education and training services all relating to religion and religious matters. 2) On 26 January 2004 Starfire Publishing Limited of 9 Temple Fortune House, Finchley Road, London, NW11 6XH filed notice of opposition to the application. The grounds of opposition are in summary: a) The letters OTO/O.T.O. are an acronym derived from the initial letters of the name Ordo Templi Orientis (hereinafter OTO) which is the name of a spiritual fraternity which emerged from European freemasonry around 1905. -
Introduction 1 a New Order
Notes Introduction 1. Alex Owen, The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 120. 2. Corinna Treitel, A Science for the Soul: Occultism and the Genesis of the German Modern (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), 3–4. Such scientists included Karl Friedrich Zöller, a well-respected professor of astrophysics at the University of Leipzig, physicists William Edward Weber and Gustav Theodor Fechner, mathematician Wilhelm Scheibner and the psychologist Wilhelm Wundt. 3. Owen, The Place of Enchantment. 4. Treitel, A Science for the Soul. 5. David Allen Harvey, Beyond Enlightenment: Occultism and Politics in Modern France (Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2005). 6. For a thorough discussion of the struggle by historians to establish the enchanted nature of the modern see Michael Saler ‘Modernity and Enchantment: A Historiographic Review,’ American Historical Review, 2006 111 (3): 629–716. 7. Nicola Bown, ‘Esoteric Selves and Magical Minds,’ History Workshop Journal, 2006 61 (1): 281–7, 284, 286. Similar criticism comes from Michael Saler. Michael Saler, review of The Place of Enchantment: British Occultism and the Culture of the Modern, by Alex Owen, American Historical Review 2005 110 (3): 871–2, 872. 1 A New Order 1. R.A. Gilbert, Revelations of the Golden Dawn: The Rise and Fall of a Magical Order (London: Quantum, 1997), 34. 2. Gilbert, Revelations, 45. 3. Ellic Howe, The Magicians of the Golden Dawn: A Documentary History of a Magical Order 1887–1923 (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972; York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, 1978). Gilbert, Revelations. -
The Theory and Practice of Sexual Magic, Exemplified by Four Magical Groups in the Early Twentieth Century
THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF SEXUAL MAGIC, EXEMPLIFIED BY FOUR MAGICAL GROUPS IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY Hans Thomas Hakl For obvious reasons, sexual magic is a subject that evokes controversy and curiosity. Surprisingly, however, there exists—with the laudable exception of two works on the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor and on Paschal Beverly Randolph1—practically no critical scholarly literature that studies it as a historical phenomenon and, as a result, the infor- mation available to a wider public tends to be sensationalist, second- hand, and mostly unreliable. In this chapter we will present a factual presentation of the theories and practices of four of the most important groups and orders devoted to sexual magic in the twentieth century, based upon direct study of the relevant primary sources.2 It should be noted though that probably the most famous of these sex magical orders—Theodor Reuss’s and Aleister Crowley’s Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.)—is not included in this overview, because it is the subject of a separate chapter by Hugh Urban elsewhere in this volume. The Fraternitas Saturni3 The Fraternitas Saturni (FS), Germany’s most important magical order in the 20th century, was offi cially founded in Berlin on Easter, 1928. 1 See the article by John P. Deveney in this volume. 2 One of the main obstacles to a critical study of sexual magic is the fact that we are mostly dealing with secret societies and initiatic orders, the documents of which are largely not available to the general public or to scholarly research. The usual reti- cence about making materials intended for internal use available to outsiders is further enhanced in the case of sexual magic, due to the controversial nature of the teachings and practices. -
Gnosticism, Transformation, and the Role of the Feminine in the Gnostic Mass of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.) Ellen P
Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 11-13-2014 Gnosticism, Transformation, and the Role of the Feminine in the Gnostic Mass of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.) Ellen P. Randolph Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14110766 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Liturgy and Worship Commons, New Religious Movements Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Randolph, Ellen P., "Gnosticism, Transformation, and the Role of the Feminine in the Gnostic Mass of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.)" (2014). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1686. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1686 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida GNOSTICISM, TRANSFORMATION, AND THE ROLE OF THE FEMININE IN THE GNOSTIC MASS OF THE ECCLESIA GNOSTICA CATHOLICA (E.G.C.) A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES by Ellen P. Randolph 2014 To: Interim Dean Michael R. Heithaus College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Ellen P. Randolph, and entitled Gnosticism, Transformation, and the Role of the Feminine in the Gnostic Mass of the Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. -
A Time Line of the Global History of Esotericism with Emphasis for Yoga Science on the West Since the European Renaissance
A Time Line of the Global History of Esotericism With Emphasis for Yoga Science on the West since the European Renaissance Scott Virden Anderson1 – http://www.yogascienceproject.org Email: [email protected] Draft 5/25/08 This is incomplete, a work in progress, a snapshot as of the draft date. To take it any further would consume more time that I have right now, so I’m setting it aside for the moment and posting this version as is. Note especially that the most recent part of the story is not well covered here and you’ll find only a few entries for the 20th Century (and there is much more to the story in the 19th Century as well) – interested readers can get a good feel for this more recent period of esotericist history by consulting just three books: Fields 1981,2 Hanegraaff 1998,3 and De Michelis 2004.4 Fields gives a good overview of Buddhism’s journey to the West since the 18th Century, Hanegraaff tells the story of the Western esotericisms that were “here to begin with,” and De Michelis recounts how “Modern Yoga” came to the West already “well predigested” for Westerners by Anglicized Indian Yogis themselves. My feeling is that at this point esotericism is best thought of as a global phenomenon. However, some scholars feel this approach is overly broad. Of particular importance for my Yoga Science project is the modern period beginning with the European Renaissance – since the notions of “science” first arose and came into contact with the older traditions of esotericism only in these past 800 years. -
BONA DEA, a Mind Portrait of Individualism
BONA DEA, A Mind Portrait of Individualism The thesis composes a mind-portrait of a millennial notion of fear and anxiety. I created a fictional character named BONADEA ; she embodies the millennial longings and self-devotion. I am connecting her mind to occult philosophy- and theory, this to elevate her subjective worldview, which is a product of the individualistic culture of late Western capitalism. I am presenting One selected structure of be- liefs, excluded from objectivity that might lead to an ephemeral subjective understanding of fear and anxiety. Every I is from the perspective of BONA DEA, ev- ery WE is referring to the millennials. The work is fictional and consists of diary notes and essays. BONA DEA, the roman goddess, the wife, the sister, Daughter of the nature god Faunus. She was the fauna, the female equivalent to the horned god. Cornelia Isaksson 2 Rietveld Academie 2017/2018 Biliography (1) (10) “The shining ones” is used by DEA to en- She uses the story of Pan to understand her hance her belief in the millennials being off- own actions, furthermore to legitimize them springs of occult gnosis theory. The term re- by accepting them as a necessity creating fers to her generation being descendants of change. Serpent power. (11) (2) By connecting Pan to her own anxiety, she Thelema and The book of the Law serve as undermines it and starts believing she actu- the catalyst for DEA by connecting the Thel- ally can control it. emite law to contemporary individualistic standards. (12) The Night of Pan translates her overcoming (3) of anxiety. -
Yeats, Reincarnation, and Resolving the Antinomies of the Body-Soul Dilemma
Article To Never See Death: Yeats, Reincarnation, and Resolving the Antinomies of the Body-Soul Dilemma C. Nicholas Serra School of Liberal Arts Faculty, Upper Iowa University, 605 Washington Street, P.O. Box 1857, Fayette, IA 52142, USA; [email protected] Received: 31 July 2017; Accepted: 27 August 2017; Published: 5 September 2017 Abstract: This essay addresses the ideas and schemas of reincarnation as used in the poetry and prose of William Butler Yeats, with particular focus on the two editions of A Vision. It contrasts the metaphysical system as given in A Vision (1937) with a number of inconsistencies found in Yeats’s poetic corpus, with an emphasis on how one might interpolate an escape from the cycle of lives, in at least one possibility while still maintaining corporality. The justification for this last comes from an analysis of complex cabalistic metaphors and teachings that Yeats learned as a member of MacGregor Mathers’ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Keywords: A Vision; Golden Dawn; cabala; Aleister Crowley; Theosophy; Yeats; reincarnation Among the literary schools of the twentieth century, the Modernists are unquestionably among the most taxing for readers, not least because they undertook diverse and highly individual experiments in their attempt to redirect and reinvent Western literature in the aftermath of World War I, but also because, in company with the neoclassical writers of the eighteenth century, many delighted in what might be seen as egotistical displays of erudition, patching together dense patterns of language, symbols, and symbolism, daring readers to prove their wittiness (or worthiness) by excavating the clearly present but often inscrutable authorial intentions. -
A Cultural History of Tarot
A Cultural History of Tarot ii A CULTURAL HISTORY OF TAROT Helen Farley is Lecturer in Studies in Religion and Esotericism at the University of Queensland. She is editor of the international journal Khthónios: A Journal for the Study of Religion and has written widely on a variety of topics and subjects, including ritual, divination, esotericism and magic. CONTENTS iii A Cultural History of Tarot From Entertainment to Esotericism HELEN FARLEY Published in 2009 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com Distributed in the United States and Canada Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 Copyright © Helen Farley, 2009 The right of Helen Farley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 978 1 84885 053 8 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress catalog card: available Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham from camera-ready copy edited and supplied by the author CONTENTS v Contents -
The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse, 1900-1939
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The problem of disenchantment: scientific naturalism and esoteric discourse, 1900-1939 Asprem, E. Publication date 2013 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Asprem, E. (2013). The problem of disenchantment: scientific naturalism and esoteric discourse, 1900-1939. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:26 Sep 2021 12 Perceiving Higher Worlds Two Perspectives I slept with faith and found a corpse in my arms on awakening; I drank and danced all night with doubt and found her a virgin in the morning. Aleister Crowley, The Book of Lies (1913), chapter 44. INTRODUCTION: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH TO HIGHER KNOWLEDGE Esoteric claims to higher knowledge are usually about much more than stating superior facts, no matter how exotic or unusual. -
The Secret Rituals of the Men in Black, You Ask Yourself
SECRET RITUALS of the MEN IN BLACK Allen H. Greenfield “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. “That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” - Genesis 6:1-2. A ‘snapshot’ compiled by Jonathan Sellers. SECRET RITUALS OF THE MEN IN BLACK Allen H. Greenfield [profusely illustrated and introduced by Jonathan Sellers] 2005 First Digital Edition Copyright © 1998, 2005 by Allen H. Greenfield All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and re- trieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast. First Edition: October, 2005. Cover designed by Jon Storvick. Graphic Design by Jonathan Sellers / FACME_ORG. Preface Copyright © 1998 by Dean James. All Rights Reserved. Introductory Remarks and Afterword — Copyright © 2001 - 2005 Jonathan Sellers. Set in Adobe Garamond Pro and Futura Extra Black. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Printed in the United States of America. DEDICATION Dedicated to the memory of my friend Gray Barker, who heard the poetry singing amongst the stars. “From this mysterious personage, at once a sage and a hero, all the principal sections of the Vril-ya race pretend to trace a common origin. -
Theosophy Is of the Devil by David J
Theosophy is of the Devil By David J. Stewart I could have just as easily saved this article under "New Age" or "Witchcraft," because there's not a dime's difference between the two. I saved it under "New Age" because the primary agenda of Theosophy is to further the New World Order, i.e., the Beast system of the coming Antichrist. The following historical information concerning Theosophy is a quote from Wikipedia.com... Photo to Right: Occultist and Satan worshipper, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Theosophy, literally "god-wisdom" (Greek: θεοσοφία theosophia), designates several bodies of ideas. The 6th century neo-platonist Pseudo-Dionysius seems to have been the first philosopher the term applied to. There was a group of Renaissance philosophers: Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, Robert Fludd, and, especially, Jacob Boehme; the Enlightenment theologian Emanuel Swedenborg was influenced by these. And finally, the word was revived in the nineteenth century by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky to designate her religious philosophy which holds that all religions are attempts by humanity to approach the absolute, and that each religion therefore has a portion of the truth. Together with Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge, and others, Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. This society has since split into a number of organizations, some of which no longer use the term "theosophy." SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy Please notice that Helena Petrovna Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. Her most popular work was a two- volume book she wrote titled 'The Secret Doctrine,' in which she woefully states... "Lucifer represents.. Life.