Author Archives: setemheb

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”

Apocalypse and John Dee

Within the early phases of the Protestant Reformation and the first formalizing stirrings of the Witch Craze would emerge, the most important of the Righteous Scholar Magicians for the English-speaking world, Dr. John Dee (1527–1608). Dee would integrate a profound understanding of Mathematics, Astronomy, and Astrology with the magical methods developed from the distribution ofContinue reading “Apocalypse and John Dee”

On the Prince of Darkness: English Sources

The phrase “Prince of Darkness” in English was first attested to in the 17th Century. It appears in A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1604 CE) by the Archbishop of Yorke, Samuel Harsnett (1561 – 1631 CE). Harsnett, as an Anglican, was firmly against the exorcism practices conducted by the Roman Catholics. “Darkness” derives from the OldContinue reading “On the Prince of Darkness: English Sources”