Monthly Archives: May 2023

The Beast and the Book

Aleister Crowley’s family had been members of the Plymouth Brethren, a community of worshipers whose Christian doctrine derived from the world of John Nelson Darby (1800 CE– 1882 CE). Like many 19th Century Christians, notably the American Baptist William Miller (1782 CE – 1849 CE), Darby felt that the time of Great Revelation was atContinue reading “The Beast and the Book”

Saturday Quote

Of course the world forces us all to compromise with our environment to some extent, and we only waste our strength if we fight pitched battles for points which are not worth a skirmish. It is only a faddist who refuses to conform with conventions of dress and the like. But our sincerity should be Roman about things that really matter to us. And I am still in doubt, as I write these words, as to how far it is right to employ strategy and diplomacy in order to gain one’s point. The great men of the world have stood up and taken their medicine … Adaptation to one’s environment makes for a sort of survival; but after all, the supreme victory is only won by those who prove themselves of so much harder stuff than the rest that no power on Earth is able to destroy them. The people who have really made history are the martyrs. Confessions, Aleister Crowley

Florence Farr, Midwife of the Aeons

When looking for examples of outstanding female magicians in the Occult Revival, few figures can stack up against Florence Farr. An actress, composer, and director in London’s West End, she was a friend to some of her time’s most significant literary and artistic figures. Oscar Wilde, Pamela Coleman Smith, Aubrey Beardsley, and William Butler YeatsContinue reading “Florence Farr, Midwife of the Aeons”

Prince of Darkness: Setian Usage

The title “Prince of Darkness” had little role in the Work of the Church of Satan and its founding Magus. LaVey, at his most cogent, stuck pretty closely to using Satan, and Satan alone, as the name for the central figure of the Church. While he recognized early on the various devils of the world’sContinue reading “Prince of Darkness: Setian Usage”

Golden Dawn Rising

The Rosicrucians were a myth written into reality. They were an early example of what contemporary writer and magician Grant Morrison calls a “hyper-sigil.” A new social reality can be made by crafting a narrative that would attract certain people’s imaginations. As John Dee was spending his last days at Mortlake amongst his looted libraryContinue reading “Golden Dawn Rising”

Messianic Kabbalism

Sabbatai Zevi (1626 CE– 1676 CE) holds several distinctions. He was a Rabbi in a Sephardic community. He was a serious student of the works of Isaac Luria and the Kabbalah. He also engaged in conscious antinomianism of Jewish practice under the authority that he was the Messiah. The details and specifics of what SabbataiContinue reading “Messianic Kabbalism”

Saturday Quote

“In Political Science the term ‘ideology’ has an undesirable connotation, since it generally refers to structured systems of belief and behavior that are imposed upon a target group, and not supported by reason or philosophy. See a detailed definition here. Ideologies are usually identified by the ‘-ism’ suffix, as in capitalism, communism, fascism, socialism, etc. PhilosophersContinue reading “Saturday Quote”