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BROTHER CURWEN, BROTHER CROWLEY

By Aleister Crowley and David Curwen, Edited and with an Introduction by Henrik Bogdan and a Foreword by Tony Matthews.

1st 2010 Teitan Press hardback in dustwrapper. Frontis and 8pp photos. Ltd. ed. 777 copies.

In September 1944, a fifty-one year old Londoner named David Curwen wrote to Aleister Crowley, initiating a correspondence that would last several years. While Curwen approached Crowley with deference, the relationship that evolved between them was a complex one that defied the accepted parameters of the student-teacher nexus. For David Curwen was no newcomer to the study of the occult, and Crowley soon discovered that the flow of knowledge would not be simply one way. In particular Crowley was tantalized by the deep understanding of the principals of tantra that Curwen had acquired during the course of many years study under a mysterious guru.

At Crowley's urging Curwen joined the O.T.O., but he remained skeptical of many of "the Beast's" claims, and the two ultimately parted company on strained terms. However, Curwen retained his interest in the occult, and in later life he devoted himself to the study of alchemy, publishing the results of his researches pseudonymously in the book In Pursuit of Gold, a work that many believe to be the most significant study ever published of practical alchemy.

In addition to reproducing all of the surviving correspondence between the pair, the book includes an important biographical Foreword by David Curwen’s grandson, Tony Matthews. The letters themselves have been edited and annotated by the scholar of Crowley and Western esotericism, Henrik Bogdan, who has also contributed an illuminating Introduction that gives context to the relationship between Crowley and Curwen, as well as exploring the history of their interest in sexual occultism and tantra, and the influence that they had in Kenneth Grant. £37.50

THE THOTH TAROT, ASTROLOGY & SELECTED WRITINGS

Phyllis Seckler

1st 2010 390pp Teitan Press hardback in dustwrapper. Limited edition 777 copies.

Phyllis Seckler (1917-2004) was introduced to the teachings of Aleister Crowley in the late 1930s and became a regular participant in the activities of Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis in California, and rose to become a Ninth Degree member of the "Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis." She was admitted to the A.'. A.'. under the tutelage of Jane Wolfe, eventually taking the now well-known "magical name" Soror Meral and was later confirmed as an Adeptus Minor by Crowley's successor, Karl Germer. Seckler was a key figure in the reinauguration of the O.T.O. in 1969, and a few years later she founded the College of Thelema, with the intention that it would provide important background training and education for aspirants to the A.'. A.'. Although not as widely known as some of her contemporaries, Seckler played a crucial role in the history of Thelema, not only through her efforts to explore and revive Crowley's creed, but also by training a new generation of its students.

The Thoth Tarot, Astrology & Other Selected Writings, is edited by three of Phyllis Seckler’s former students: Rorac Johnson, Gregory Peters, and David Shoemaker. It includes a biographical sketch of Phyllis Seckler drawn from her own autobiographical writings, and two of her most important essays: “The Tarot Trumps of Thoth and Psychology” – a detailed analysis of the psychological and magical symbolism of the Trumps of the Thoth deck – and “Thoth Tarot and Astrology,” a significant study of astrology and the natal chart, with special reference to the cards of the Thoth deck. Both of these essays were previously serialized in Seckler’s journal In the Continuum, but they are here presented for the first time in book form, accompanied by redrawn and corrected diagrams.

In addition to the essays the book also contains a selection of important correspondence between Seckler, Crowley, Karl Germer and Jane Wolfe. These are followed by a transcript of the last major interview conducted with Phyllis Seckler, in which she recounted the details of her introduction to Thelema and involvement with the old Agape Lodge, her subsequent participation in various organizations, and her thoughts on developments within the Thelemic world. £37.50

THE MAGICAL REVIVAL

Kenneth Grant

New ed. 274pp Starfire hardback in d/w. Illus. inc. col. Ltd. ed. 1500 copies.

When the original manuscript of this book was submitted for publication, the author was told he had provided "too much material for one book". This proved to be correct. The work here presented – in an enhanced edition – became the first volume of three Trilogies. It provides a detailed analysis of certain occult traditions which existed long before the Christian epoch, survived its persecutions and anathemas, and reappeared in recent times with renewed vigour. The continuity of this magical current as reflected in the work of Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman Spare, Dion Fortune and others is here traced through the Tantrik Tradition of the Far East, the Sumerian Cult of Shaitan and the Draconian, Sabian, or Typhonian rites of the 'dark' dynasties of ancient Egypt. Sexual magick and mysterious rites have always been practised; drugs and other substances have constantly been used to induce ecstasy, to produce visions and to facilitate traffic with the denizens of other worlds or planes of consciousness; but an initiated rationale of the process such as presented here has been rarely forthcoming. The genuine magical tradition as revived by Adepts like Crowley is here related to its ancient sources and brought into line with phases of contemporary occultism that are evolving a New Gnosis to supercede the sterile superstitions bred of an aeon-long misunderstanding of the old. As a contribution to occult lore, The Magical Revival and its companion volumes have become standard source-books in their special field. £30.00

OUTSIDE THE CIRCLES OF TIME

Rev. ed. 2008 332pp Starfire hardback in dustwrapper. Illus

Outside the Circles of Time was first published in 1980. This edition has been newly typeset, with some of the original illustrations now in colour, and augmented with previously unpublished artwork by Steffi Grant. Long out of print, this is the fifth volume in the series of Grant’s Typhonian Trilogies. Limited to 1500 copies. Outside the Circles of Time covers “a network more complex than was ever imagined: a network not unlike H.P. Lovecraft’s dark vision of sinister forces lurking at the rim of the universe”. The book explores a complex of such ideas, from Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine, Crowley’s Book of the Law, Lovecraft’s Necronomicon, and Frater Achad’s researches, alongside the work of Soror Andahadna (a.k.a. Nema). £30.00

SNAKEWAND / A DARKER STRAIN

2000 Hardback, 168 pages, colour dustjacket by Steffi Grant. Frontispiece reproduces 'Hybrid', a 1929 drawing by Austin Osman Spare of a hyanae.

This is the second volume in the series of novellas by Kenneth Grant. This volume consists of two stories, both of them concerning the voodoo Bultu, or Cult of the Spectral Hyanae.In the first story, 'Snakewand', a set of voodoo drums exercise an insidious, hypnotic rhythm which brings about possession in those who fall under its sway, sweeping an entire town to destruction. In the second, 'The Darker Strain', something malefic is transmitted at a seance, again bringing about possession and transformation into a hyanae.

These stories, and other tales in this series, were written in the wake of rituals performed over a period of seven years in New Isis Lodge. Many were the magicians and mediums who passed through the Lodge, and some of them feature in the series of novellas. Their mundane personalities may not have appeared unusual to casual observation, but when elongated and siderealised by the unique perspectives which their magical roles created for them, they achieved an apotheosis, an epiphany. This extraordinary phenomenon demonstrated the heights and the depths which human nature is capable of scaling and of fathoming, in the delirious frenzy inspired by their art. These tales are likewise orientated to the other side of a reality rarely glimpsed outside a magically charged Circle. £25.00

GAMALIEL / DANCE DOLL DANCE

2003 hardback, 158 pages, colour dustjacket by Steffi Grant. Colour frontispiece 'Altar of Lam' by Steffi Grant.

This is the third volume in the novella series by Kenneth Grant, and consists of two stories. The first, 'Gamaliel: The Diary of a Vampire', presents the history of a woman, Vilma, who attempts to invoke unseen Intelligences but takes a wrong turn. She loses her way in the Gamaliel, the Qliphoth of Yesod, and eventually succombs to vampiric possession. The story unfolds as extracts from her Magical Diary, the editor of which makes a horrifying discovery as the Diary closes.

The second, 'Dance Doll Dance', is an account of Tantric Sorcery. It centres upon the fatal emanations of an idol, bequeathed to the narrator of the story. It becomes clear from a sinister pattern of events that the idol thrives on blood and sexual rites. The narrator is enmeshed in a nefarious web of intrigue and allure, and his energies are vampirised, culminating in a cataclysmic rite based on the Dakshina Kalika Yantra.

Like other stories in this series, they were written in the period when New Isis Lodge was in operation, in the 1950s and early 1960s. £25.00

THE OTHER CHILD AND OTHER TALES

2003 hardback, 216 pages. Colour dustjacket by Steffi Grant. Colour frontispiece 'The Stellar Lode' by Steffi Grant.

The final volume to date in Kenneth Grant's novella series, it consists of two novellas with a common theme of Ancient Egyptian sorcery, and four short stories.

The first novella, 'The Other Child', is a tale of two brothers, one a Child of Light, the other of Darkness, and the struggle for a cataclysmic magical power which they each partially glyph. A scholar of Ancient Egyptian studes is unwittingly drawn into the struggle, eventually assuming a priestly destiny as events unfold.

The second novella is 'The Stellar Lode', previously published many years ago but here re-edited and published within the novellas series. We learn of a small glass sphere into which, ages ago, was sealed by means of sorcery the soul of a powerful Egyptian Queen. The sphere exerts a powerful talismanic effect on those into whose hands it passes, each possessor playing an unwitting part in an urgent cosmic drama, echoing roles which they had played ages past, in the original drama which gave birth to the sphere.

Also included in this story are four powerful short stories having in common a state of perichoresis, or interpenetration of dimensions, across time and space. Whether caught in the events of ages past, or passing through a sequence of related dreams, we traverse a web of inter-relationships, parts of a great and unfolding cosmic drama in which our roles are myriad. £25.00

AT THE FEET OF THE GURU

2006 hardback, 134 pages, colour dustjacket designed by Steffi Grant.

Collected for the first time as one volume are these penetrating essays on Eastern Mysticism which Kenneth Grant wrote from the early 1950s onwards. Published originally in various Asian journals as well as the 1970s encyclopaedia series Man, Myth & Magic, they concern Sages such as Ramana Maharshi, Pagal Haranath, Ramakrishna, Anandamayi Ma, Sivananda, and others.

At the core of these essays is the crucial insight of Advaita - a Sanskrit word meaning ‘not divided', and associated with the Indian school of Advaita Vedanta and the work of perhaps its most famous exponent, the Sage Sri Shankacharya. It is an insight which has been expounded most succinctly in modern times in the works of Sri Ramana Maharshi, of Tiruvannamalai, who is the subject of several of the essays in the present volume. Central to these particular essays is his technique of Atma Vichara, or enquiry into the Self, a practice leading to the dissolution of the veils of illusion which obscure the singularity and universality of Awareness, often epitomised as Cosmic Consciousness.

Generally regarded as uniquely Eastern, Advaita is on the contrary a fundamental insight that is at the core of most if not all schools of mysticism and spiritual progress which seek to penetrate to a reality beyond the glamour of appearances. It is implicit in the Western magical tradition, magic being specifically the manipulation of glamours. Much of Crowley 's work, for instance, is saturated with this insight. It is also this same fundamental understanding of Advaita which underpins Kenneth Grant's Typhonian Trilogies, and which is in the present volume consolidated and deepened over the course of these essays.

Printed on high-quality paper, 132 pages long, with a section of fourteen black-and-white plates, the book is sewn hard-bound, with an attractive full-colour dust-jacket designed by Steffi Grant. £25.00

Aleister Crowley and Related

ALEISTER CROWLEY, THE GOLDEN DAWN AND BUDDHISM

Reminiscences and Writings of Gerald Yorke

Keith Richmond (ed)

1st 2011 344pp Teitan Press. h/b in d/w. Col. Frontis and 16pp plates. Ltd. ed. 930 numbered copies. A series of 20 essays by Gerald Yorke, who for four years was one of Aleister Crowley's closest followers, and remained a lifelong friend. Although in later life he embraced Buddhism, Yorke was one of the handful of people who laboured to preserve the legacy of "The Beast" after his death in 1947, and through his work as a publisher's advisor he was also instrumental in the publication of many of the most important works of his times on the occult, yoga and Buddhism. Yorke's profound practical as well as theoretical knowledge of these subjects is reflected in these essays, some of which are published here for the first time. They are accompanied by a biographical Introduction by Keith Richmond, a Reminiscence by Timothy d'Arch Smith, and a revised version of Yorke's Crowley Bibliography by Clive Harper. The book concludes with a lengthy Interview with Gerald Yorke by David Tibet, undertaken shortly before Yorke's death in 1983. £38.50

TWO GRIMOIRES

Austin Osman Spare

2011 156pp Starfire h/b in d/w. Prof. illus. inc. colour

Two Grimoires is a sumptuous book, the core of which is the publication for the first time of two elaborate book dummies or grimoires by Spare which he produced during the years 1905 and 1906. Each consists of more than twenty finely-drawn pen, ink and watercolour images, in some cases accompanied by brief captions. Internal evidence suggests that they were intended for publication, but were never completed. The publication of these is here accompanied by two finished pictures by Spare from the same period, incorporating elements from the grimoires. Augmenting the grimoires are an Introduction by Michael Staley and two illustrated essays of commentary and preliminary analysis by William Wallace and Stephen Pochin. £30.00

COCKNEY VISIONARY

1st 2010 100pp Jerusalem Press hardback in dustwrapper. Limited edition 900 copies.

This lavishly illustrated publication accompanies the Austin Osman Spare exhibition held this Autumn at the Cuming Museum, London. This landmark book comprises:

An introduction by Robert Ansell

A cartographic study by Gavin W Semple

Biographical essay by Geraldine Beskin

Essays by the curators, Christopher Jordan and Stephen Pochin

Magical essay by Michael Staley

plus detailed commentaries on the works in the collection by renowned Austin Osman Spare commentator Dr William Wallace. Also included is a DVD of the Spare documentary “The Bones Go Last.” £60.00

THE BOOK OF PLEASURE

Austin Osman Spare

New ed. 2011 100pp Jerusalem Press 4to h/b in d/w. Prof. illus. Letterpress ex-libris, designed and produced by Joseph Uccello. Ltd. ed. 900 copies.

First published in 1913, this magical book is resplendent with full page symbolist illustrations that represent some of the artist’s most corrosive and beautiful draughtsmanship. It is also festooned with examples of his automatic drawings and sigils, this work has established Spare as a formidable and unique figure in twentieth century western magic. Includes the original 1913 introduction by Ernest H.R.Collings and the 1975 introduction by Kenneth Grant.

This edition reprints all the graphics and half-tone illustrations from a particularly fresh and well printed copy of the first edition. Illustrated endpapers and divider pages feature photomontages of the original book, overprinted with designs by Spare in silk varnish. We have also located an original art work from the book and include a new reproduction for inclusion in this edition.

A re-worked version of one of the original illustrations is also featured, alongside Mr Staley’s eulogy to Kenneth Grant and his relationship with this book. Featuring an evocative introduction by Alan Moore and an illustrated analytical magical essay by Michael Staley. £44.00

LUNAR AND SEX WORSHIP

Ida Craddock

Edited and with an Introduction by Vere Chappell.

1st 2010 318pp Teitan Press hardback in dustwrapper. Frontis. Limited edition 650 numbered copies.

Philadelphia-born Ida Craddock (1857-1902) was a forceful public exponent of women's rights and sexual freedom whose interest in Theosophy and Spiritualism led her into a profound involvement with the occult. Attacked by conservatives as promoting obscenity and immorality on account of her reforming activities, Craddock became the focus of an organised campaign of persecution. Facing a lengthy prison sentence that she did not expect to survive, she instead took her own life, at age forty-five.

After her death, Craddock's work on sexuality and occultism attracted the interest of a small number of well-known figures, including Aleister Crowley, who wrote that she possessed "...initiated knowledge of extraordinary depth. She seems to have had access to certain most concealed sanctuaries.... She has put down statements in plain English which are positively staggering."

Amongst her papers, Craddock left two manuscripts, "Lunar and Sex Worship" and "Sex Worship (Continued)" that had been commissioned by her patron, the Spiritualist W. T. Stead. They are effectively studies of sexuality in religion and mythology, as viewed through the prism of Craddock's own experiences and beliefs.

This Teitan Press edition of Lunar and Sex Worship is the first ever publication of "Lunar and Sex Worship" and "Sex Worship (Continued)." It comprises the complete text of both works, edited and introduced by Vere Chappell, an expert on the life and work of Craddock. £37.50

CONVOLVULUS AND OTHER POEMS

2005 hardback, 188 pages, colour dustjacket designed by Steffi Grant.

This is the long-awaited collection of poems by Kenneth Grant. Included here are two collections previously published - Black to Black and other poems (1963) and The Gull's Beak and other poems (1970). Also included is a third, previously unpublished collection, Convolvulus: Poems of Love and the Other Darkness. Together, these poems span the years from the nineteen-forties to the present day. Integrated with the poems are twenty-one sketches by Austin Osman Spare.

Printed on high-quality uncoated paper in black and green throughout, Convolvulus is a book of delicate beauty, where the drawings by Spare complement these haunting poems by Kenneth Grant. Published in a limited edition of 750 copies. £25.00