Revealing the Stele
A one day seminar
Saturday 19th September 2009 e.v.
The Atlantis Bookshop, in association with The Company of Heaven, is pleased to offer an opportunity to take a closer look at the Stele of Revealing, the central icon of Thelema.
First presented at the Moot-with-No-Name, ‘Revealing the Stele’ develops themes outlined in the original lecture.
The seminar will be presented by Gary Dickinson, a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and artist executant for the Company of Heaven, which produces replicas of the Stele. Gary has a wide experience of presentations to museums throughout the world, most recently the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Programme
10.00 – 10.30am – Reception at the Atlantis Bookshop
The seminar will be formally opened with a ritual recitation of Crowley’s paraphrase of the hieroglyphs of the Stele of Revealing.
The Stele – A Pre-History
Now regarded as an icon of Thelema, the Stele of Revealing is an ancient Egyptian artefact that played a vital function in the funeral ritual of its original owner, Ankhefenkhonsu, a 25th dynasty priest of Montu.
The morning session places the Stele of Revealing back into its original context, examining the origins and development of funerary stelae in ancient Egypt.
The Stele’s specific iconography will be discussed in relation to ancient Egyptian belief systems and changes in burial practice.
The first session concludes with a visit to the Egyptian galleries in the nearby British Museum to see actual examples including objects from the burials of the priesthood of Montu.
Lunch – an optional private lunch at The Plough, a haunt of Crowley’s sometimes described as the ‘Magician’s Pub’.
The Revelation
The afternoon session concentrates on the Thelemic dimension of the Stele of Revealing. The presentation will look at the Stele’s role in the ‘Cairo Working’ of 1904 and its relationship with the Liber AL vel Legis, the Book of the Law.
The influence of the Stele of Revealing on the life and writings of Crowley will be discussed, examining John St John (1908), The Vision & the Voice (1909), the ‘Miracle of St Jane Cheron’ and other references in Crowley’s diaries (1920) and the Book of Thoth (1944).
The day will conclude with a visit to Cleopatra’s Needle on the Thames Embankment where, in 1937, Crowley famously gave copies of the Book of the Law to representatives of the races of humanity.
The seminar costs £31.00 per person (lunch not included).
Places are strictly limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Please contact The Atlantis Bookshop to book a place.