Victor Neuburg had two claims to fame: he discovered Dylan Thomas, and Aleister Crowley once turned him into a camel. Obsolete Spells presents another side of Neuburg, through his own earthy-yet-diaphanous poems and the strange books of the Vine Press, a hand-operated imprint he ran from his West Sussex cottage between 1920 and 1930.
‘Using previously unpublished letters and diaries, Churton explores how Crowley was initiated into the Golden Dawn’s Inner Order in Paris in 1900 and how, in 1902, he relocated to Montparnasse. Soon engaged to Anglo-Irish artist Eileen Gray, Crowley pontificates and parties with English, American, and French artists gathered around sculptor Auguste Rodin: all keen to exhibit at Paris’s famed Salon d’Automne. In 1904 — still dressed as “Prince Chioa Khan” and recently returned from his Book of the Law experience in Cairo — Crowley dines with novelist Arnold Bennett at Paillard’s. In 1908 Crowley is back in Paris to prove it’s possible to attain Samadhi (or “knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel”) while living a modern life in a busy metropolis. In 1913 he organizes a demonstration for artistic and sexual freedom at Oscar Wilde’s tomb. Until war spoils all in 1914, Paris is Crowley’s playground.’
In The Cult of Aleister Crowley, J Edward Cornelius adds over 150 pages to his Memoirs of an A.’.A.’. Initiate. Jerry details ‘the ongoing fight for Thelemic freedom against the Restrictionists in the A.’.A.’. lineage who have taken control of the O.T.O.’
The purpose of the Carfax Monographs was to reconstruct and elucidate the hidden lore of the West according to the canons preserved in various modern esoteric orders and movements. This… Read more »
Kamuret’s edition of Aleister Crowley’s Sword of Song has been sent to the printers! Edited, annotated and introduced by Richard Kaczynski, this edition far surpasses that found in the Collected Works: red and black ink has been employed to capture the feel of the 1904 edition; a 50 page introduction by Crowley’s foremost biographer introduces the reader to the many themes to be found throughout the book; finally, copious end-notes further elucidate concepts and ideas in need of clarification.
This book explores the lives of two writers, one born in Germany (Viereck) and one born in England (Crowley), who were both influenced by decadent French writers such as Baudelaire… Read more »
Sacred Intent gathers conversations between artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020) and longtime friend and collaborator, the Swedish author Carl Abrahamsson. From the first 1986 fanzine interview about current projects, over philosophical… Read more »
The Holy Books of the A.’.A.’. is now available for order in Finland, Sweden, and Norway.
The MWM [Boscastle’s Museum of Witchcraft and Magic] zine, Conjuration, has sold well and there are still a few copies left should you like to grab one. Issue 3 is due out late July.
In 1974, Robert Anton Wilson wrote a book about the ideas and tribulations of his close friend, Dr. Timothy Leary. Intriguingly, this manuscript would not be published until some 46 years later, having been put aside and then lost for decades.
Drawing on previously unpublished diaries and letters, Tobias Churton provides the first detailed treatment of the final years of Crowley’s life, from 1932 to 1947. He opens with Crowley’s nick-of-time escape from the Nazi takeover in Germany and his return home to England, flat broke. Churton offers extensive confirmation of Crowley’s work as a secret operative for MI5 and explores how Crowley saw World War II as the turning point for the “New Aeon.”
