Tag Archives: esoteric ideas

Crowley’s Apprentice

Crowley’s Apprentice: The life and Ideas of Israel Regardie by Gerald Suster, the 1990 paperback from Samuel Weiser, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Gerald Suster Crowley's Apprentice from Samuel Weiser

“Dr Israel Regardie was one of the most complex and fascinating personalities of the esoteric revival. In this new biography, Gerald Suster, a close friend and disciple of Regardie’s, brings together his life and ideas in a thoughtful and knowing way.

The esoteric revival began with the establishment of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in the 1890’s. Regardie became Aleister Crowley’s secretary in 1928 and by 1932 he had become an esoteric writer and philosopher in his own right. Over the years Regardie moved away from the Order of the Golden Dawn into fields of alchemy and psychology, eventually achieving a brilliant reconciliation of psychology and his earlier esoteric ideas.

This study of Regardie illuminates his original and courageous thinking, as well as explores the evolution of one of this century’s greatest thinkers.”

 

The Hermetic Library Reading Room is an imaginary and speculative future reification of the library in the physical world, a place to experience a cabinet of curiosities offering a confabulation of curation, context and community that engages, archives and encourages a living Western Esoteric Tradition. If you would like to contribute to the Hermetic Library Reading Room, consider supporting the library or contact the librarian.

Kenneth Anger’s Occultism

Kenneth Anger’s Occultism with Judith Noble is an event at Treadwell’s in London, that may be of interest, on Jul 24, 2013 at 7 pm.

“Kenneth Anger is a legend of avant-garde film and a key figure in the counterculture and the late 1960s occult revival. Tonight, a leading expert on esotericism and film considers the way in which Anger created and deployed a unique cinematic occult system in his films, which function as magical rituals for their audiences as well as for their maker. Anger’s magical system, iconography and filmmaking methods are unpacked with clarity of depth and understanding. Judith Noble has a lifelong career in film and media, and decades of study of western esoteric ideas. She now lectures at the Arts University, Bournemouth.”

Credo the webseries trailer

 

Credo the webseries trailer is a video for a project that appears from their social network page to have begun work on actually filming episodes. The trailer dialogue quotes The Book of the Law, Liber AL vel Legis, I 15, “and in his woman called the Scarlet Woman is all power given” but also has a rather angry man in what appears to be a pulpit or witness stand shouting a radical misquote: “People do what they will. That is the whole of the law!” So, you know, it seems like this is going down a lazy path into sensational boogeyman territory with a storyline based on crazy people and panicky straw man interpretations of esoteric ideas, or some such.

But, maybe they can pull it out of the nose dive and avoid another Chemical Wedding fiasco. Or, at least, make it clear in the narrative that the character is mistaken. How interesting would it be if the next line of dialogue has the seemingly stuffy and square old man in the trailer turn out to be rational enough to point out the misquote and hip-check the nutter? “You know, that is not what the Book of the Law actually says, and I’d encourage you to read Aleister Crowley’s comments on the topic, because you may find that enlightening in regard to the difference between ‘want’ and ‘Will’. Also, anger management much?”

Anyhow, this is a project I’ve noticed before, and was quite sure I’d mentioned though I cannot now find where (maybe it’s an old social post not added back to the blog yet), so I thought I’d point this out and also that they are actually casting now and appear to be getting this series filmed. I half think I should suggest that if you’re an actual Thelemite in the Colchester Essex area, you could try an audition and stealthily get someone on the inside who can at least activate the autopilot in time to avoid a wreck …

“An original supernatural thriller webseries being independently produced in Colchester Essex. Created by Will Wright and written by Tobias Bowman” [via]