Tag Archives: gerald yorke

The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema

The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema (Selected Writings, 2) [also] by Phyllis Seckler (Soror Meral), edited by Dr David Shoemaker et al., the 2012 hardcover limited edition of 666 from College of Thelema of Northern California (now the International College of Thelema) and Teitan Press, is part of the collection at the Reading Room.

Phyllis Seckler aka Soror Meral's The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema from Teitan Press

“Phyllis Seckler (‘Soror Meral:’ 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,’ and an Adeptus Minor of the A∴ A∴ The Kabbalah, Magick, and Thelema is the second volume of writings by Phyllis Seckler to be published by the College of Thelema of Northern California in association with The Teitan Press. Like the first volume, The Thoth Tarot, Astrology & Other Selected Writings, this collection is edited and introduced by three of Seckler’s former students: Rorac Johnson, Gregory Peters, and David Shoemaker, but this second volume additionally includes a short Foreword by one of her best-known early A∴ A∴ students, Lon Milo DuQuette.

In common with Crowley, Seckler found short, pithy essays, written in the form of ‘letters,’ to be an excellent and powerful teaching method, and the main body of this work comprises a series of these letters, covering diverse topics from kabbalah and the practice of ritual magic, through philosophy and spiritual enquiry to commentary on the Thelemic culture of the time. Originally published in Seckler’s journal In the Continuum, they are here presented for the first time in book form, accompanied by redrawn and corrected diagrams.

The book also reproduces a number of important letters that passed between Seckler and other significant figures in the history of post-Crowleyan Thelema, including Karl Germer, Israel Regardie, Grady McMurtry, Gerald Yorke, and Marcelo Motta. These letters, which cover matters as varied as the leadership succession of the O.T.O. and the thefts at Karl Germer’s library, are published here for the first time, as are a number of related photographs. ” [via]

 

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.

Secret Agent 666

Hermetic Library fellow T Polyphilus reviews Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult by Richard B Spence, from Feral House:

Richard B Spence's Secret- Agent 666 from Feral-House

 

Secret Agent 666 is a terrific read. Author Spence is no kind of expert on occultism, and seems basically unperceptive on even such related topics as Freemasonry. But he does have useful expertise on British espionage in the first half of the 20th century. Although Spence has documentary support for Aleister Crowley’s status as an asset of the British intelligence apparatus, he also uncovers evidence of apparent “scrubbing” throughout the archives of various UK and US agencies. Much of the narrative he presents, then, is admittedly speculative.

The best-supported details for Crowley’s career as a propagandist agent provacateur are those for the World War I period, and perhaps as much as half of the book focuses on that interval. Spence’s references are far-ranging, and include sources of dubious value, but the conclusions he draws from them are still credible, and framed with appropriate caveats. His most important source throughout is Crowley’s Confessions (and not just the published version), to which he brings vast amounts of missing context by identifying the political allegiances and intelligence activities of Crowley’s many associates.

The presentation refrains from any attempts to interpret Crowley’s “Secret Chiefs” as his superiors in espionage. In fact, his supervisors were more likely to appear in the form of his A∴A∴ pupils, such as Gerald Yorke. Still, anyone interested in the intersection between occultism and international politics would be well-served by placing this book on a reading list just next to K. Paul Johnson’s works on the Theosophical Masters.

Spence is in no hurry to make Crowley either a villain or a hero. He does opine that the Beast was always a loyal Englishman, who relished clandestine intelligence and propaganda work, and had a long history of doing such work. Also, he disclaims any reductionism with respect to Crowley’s occult activities: The fact that a particular magical retirement might have have been opportune for a certain spy operation does not mean it wasn’t also a genuine spiritual undertaking. For those already familiar with Crowley’s general biography and magical accomplishments, the result is the restoration of missing pieces of the mage’s career, with reasonable explanations for many previously-murky travels and initiatives. [via]

 

 

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.

Aleister Crowley, The Golden Dawn and Buddhism: Reminiscences and Writings of Gerald Yorke

You may be interested in a new book, being published by Teitan Press (though for some reason it does not appear on their website): Aleister Crowley, The Golden Dawn and Buddhism: Reminiscences and Writings of Gerald Yorke. Edited by Keith Richmond, with contributions by David Tibet, Timothy d’Arch Smith and Clive Harper.

“Aleister Crowley, The Golden Dawn and Buddhism comprises a series of 20 essays by Gerald Joseph Yorke, set down over a thirty-year time-span.”

“Gerald Yorke’s interests are reflected in the essays and lectures which are published together here for the first time. Most of these pieces were groundbreaking: his short memoir of Crowley was the first sympathetic biographical piece of any length to be published after The Beast’s death, and his essay on Crowley’s O.T.O. and sexual occultism is the first clear account of the subject in the English language. His essays on ritual magic are unique in their matter-of-factness and sanity, and his writings on the Golden Dawn arguably mark the beginnings of historical research into that group. He also wrote knowledgeably on subjects such as Yoga, Tantra, Mantra and Zen at a time long before they had become common terms in the West.”

“Above all, Yorke’s essays offer a rare blend of straightforward scholarship and genuine first-hand experience.” [via]

Currently on offer through Weiser Antiquarian in trade edition and deluxe edition.