Occult: The Hidden History of the Western Esoteric Tradition

Transcript of my talk for the NZ Skeptics and NZARH Conference, November 2024
This was a challenging presentation as it was given to a large room of people who, aside from the organisers, had little to no knowledge of the subject matter and also little interest in approaching it with curiosity. This meant I challenged myself to be as concise and historical as possible, while I also chose to be completely honest about the place I am coming from.

Hello everyone, my name is Mary MacGregor-Reid, I’m an artist and I have a very long standing interest in the occult, most of all in the area of Western Esotericism. I don’t really know when or why I got so interested in this area but I cant honestly remember a time where I wasn’t drawn to these things. This isn’t my academic area – I do have a masters degree but it’s in fine art not history. This knowledge about the occult I’m sharing today is something I’ve accrued over time through my own study and my experience with the various systems in western esoterica. I am an initiate in an occult order and I have worked with most of the practices I’m going to talk about today, some more than others. That being said I do consider myself an atheist although at the same time I’m well aware of the neuroscientific hypothesis that humans have a part of the brain that makes us hard-wired to experience spirituality; The God Module as its sometimes called. I know that I experience that so I’m very focused on rationality and critical thinking to offset it. I don’t think that being skeptical or rational precludes one from interest and exploration of this fascinating area of esotericism. I also wonder if this propensity for experiencing wonder and beauty due to magical thinking could have some benefits in being a source of creativity? The occult has a huge influence on my art work which together propel my research and practice.

There are magical practices all over the world involving ritual, incantation, altered states etc but in the west – which is obviously my heritage  - occultism describes the western esoteric tradition. It’s a vast area that incorporates many different ideas and has woven itself into the history of religion and of science in Europe and the Near East, particularly in the Mediterranean, going back at least a couple of thousand years.  The word occult has in the present day come to encompass anything people can think of that involves magic, sorcery, the supernatural, ritual and a host of basically weird phenomena outside of the everyday. It also is usually associated with things that are perceived as dark or scary.

From my point of view all the supernatural ooky spooky stuff people associate with occultism is not occult, it is just plain old spooky. The word occult as a descriptive means hidden. To occult something is to hide it. And that is the crux of what occultism is as a practice, knowledge is not just hidden from the outside world it is also hidden from the practitioner themselves until the time when he or she can comprehend it. The esoteric traditions allow for experiential knowledge to unfold like a flower revealing petal after petal. The whole closed rose cannot be observed in its entirety, it must be understood little by little as it blooms. I know this sounds odd but it is the best way I can express it.

Some people describe Western Esoterism as the ideas that science discarded. I think that’s reductive as many of these ideas were the early forms of what modern science was to become. I also wonder at times if there aren’t still concepts within the tradition that science has yet to quantify but will quantify in the future. There is certain hubris in thinking we know all there is to know and that all truths have been uncovered or will imminently be explained.

Because this history is so large I’m only going to touch on a few key areas that I think you might enjoy. I there are any historians in the room feel free to point those errors out at the end, I’m not wedded to the idea of being right!

So with that in mind lets travel all the way back to Ancient Egypt. As you probably know the Ancient Egyptian civilisation is understood to date back to around 3000BCE ending around 30BCE when Egypt was conquered by the Romans. Although their religion did change through those 3000 years, the crux of the belief system stayed pretty much the same. The gods changed in status but the primary figures endured, funerary practices changed but their core focus on the afterlife did not. Even when the Pharaoh Akhenaten attempted to redirect worship to a single sun god the people discarded the idea as soon as he died and went back to their old beliefs.

Magic was a spiritual force known as heka which permeated all things and magical ritual was completely ingrained in Egyptian life. Their art and writing were part of the same symbolic language which not only conveyed meaning but also spiritual ideas. The amazing symbology of Egyptian art and its depictions of gods and mortals is captivating right up to the present day.

While Greece had been trading with Egypt for some time but it wasn’t until the Hellenistic Period after the invasion of Alexander the Great in 332BCE that Greco-Egyptian fusion occurred. It was at this time the Greeks really began to get interested in the Egyptian gods. They had previously seen reflections in their own gods so it wasn’t too hard to blend them together. (as an aside this is something that even happens with Christianity, especially Catholicism. For example in the Carribean west African voodoo deities were integrated with Catholic saints to create new versions of both).

There is one god I want to talk about in particular as he is a nexus of western esotericism. This god is Djahuti or Thoth to the Greeks.

Here he is with his beautiful ibis head and his writing equipment. This guy was the one who held all the knowledge, knew all the ceremony and ritual, he invented hieroglyphs, he was also a psychopomp in that he guided the dead to the afterlife and had the important task of recording the weight of the deceased heart when weighed against a feather.

The cultural exchange happening in the Ptolemaic and Hellenistic period created syncretism between Greek and Egyptian religion. Greeks saw Djahuti and related him to their god Hermes who was also associated with writing and knowledge, wisdom and magic. Out of this syncretism was born a mythical figure known as Hermes Trismegistus or Hermes the Thrice Great. If you have heard the term ‘hermetic’ or ‘hermeticism’ as relates to the occult then this is where it all started. Hermes Trismegistus is said to have written the Corpus Hermetica a collection of philosophical and hermetic texts that form the basis of Hermeticisim. The word esoteric has its roots in Ancient Greek. It comes from esoterikos meaning belonging to an inner or secret circle. The kind of magic practiced my hermetic philosophers is called theurgy and it is expressly performed to experience divine knowledge and to comprehend the interconnectedness between all things. There is also another kind of magic called thaumaturgy which is described as practical magic because it is more focussed on manipulating the material world and instigating worldly outcomes – this tends to be the branch often associated with the occult in the present day.

 There were many other other ideas that came up in this period which are relevant to the occult tradition. Along side the pagan mystery cults there are three very important philosophies: Gnosticism, Neoplantanism and Alchemy.

 Arising in around the 1st CE Gnosticism is typified by a belief in the attainment of gnosis or secret knowledge. Developed among Jewish and Christian sects Gnostic texts often describe a dualistic universe created by a flawed deity with the true divine only reachable through this hidden gnostic knowledge. This false deity is often described as the demiurge because it fashioned a material world but is not the universal Creator. They believed that within every human lies a fragment of the true god, a divine spark which can be awakened through gnosis. Apocryphal texts like the Nag Hammadi Library found in 1945 and the Pistis Sophia revealed a lot about gnostic ideas.

Towards the end of the Hellenistic period in the 3rd century CE emerged Neoplatonism, a philosophy which unsurprisingly drew from the works of the great philosopher Plato. At the heart of Neoplatonism is the concept of “The One” an ultimate, transcendent source of all reality and existence which is beyond all attributes and descriptions. Everything in the universe emanates from The One in a hierarchical or emanatory order. The first emanation is the Nous (Divine Mind), followed by the World Soul, and finally the material world. The goal of human life, according to Neoplatonism, is to return to The One through philosophical contemplation and spiritual purification. Neoplatonism’s emphasis on the unity of all existence and the ascent of the soul towards a transcendent source has left a lasting legacy on Western esoteric which you will see later on in this timeline.

Heading back over to Alexandria in Egypt there is a huge melting pot brewing with knowledge coming together from many sources including Greek, Egyptian and Jewish scholars. This cultural synthesis was crucial for the development of another kind of esoteric practice and a particular favourite of mine: alchemy. Alchemy in Alexandria was not just about transforming base metals into gold but also about spiritual transformation and enlightenment. Alchemists sought to understand the fundamental principles of the universe through a combination of scientific experimentation and mystical insight, they didn’t separate their chemical experiments from their spiritual pursuits as what happens in the spiritual realms is also reflected in the material. Many people associate alchemy with the process of attempting to turn base metals, such as lead, into gold. But this process is also a way to describe the desire to turn a base human into one who can reach communion with the divine. From our vantage point we might scoff at their early attempts at chemistry but they were making scientific discoveries about the elements and the way chemical processes work.  As far as the hidden or occulted knowledge goes, alchemical texts are the most perfect example of this. Everything is coded and hidden in symbolic language both written and pictorial.

 On this slide we have 2 famous early alchemists; on the left a bust of Zosimos of Panopolis and on the right a 17th century depiction of Mary the Jewess both from the 4th century. If you’ve done much baking you would have come across a technique that bares her name. The Bain Marie or Mary’s bath where one vessel is floated inside another vessel full of heated water to maintain a gentle temperature.

Id like to share with you some examples of alchemical artworks to show how they clearly illustrate the way alchemical documents typify the concept of hidden knowledge.

These are some of a large body of diagrams crated in 1718 describing in symbolic code the alchemical process. Looking at them you can see what they aren’t just giving chemical instruction, although that is in there with the various animals and birds representing physical processes they are also representing spiritual processes.

The Donum Dei meaning The most  precious gift of god includes a series of 12 beautiful instructive  illustrations. It outlines the stages of the Magnum Opus, or the Great Work, which is the alchemical process of transformation. This includes the stages of nigredo (blackening), albedo (whitening) and rubedo (reddening) It personifies the process through the use of a king and queen as opposing but complimentary forces.

There is a quote I particularly enjoy from the 16thC alchemical text The Rosarium Philosophorum “Whenever we have spoken openly we have said nothing. But where we have written something in code and pictures we have hidden the truth.” To me that encapsulates so much about the practice of occultism.So as you can see this early period of history in the Mediterranean produced ample material for future occult philosophy. Handily these strains of thought were able to intertwine with each other because they were so similar in their pursuit of the divine – maybe a bit less so with gnosticism but it’s still extant in esoteric thought going forward. In particular the knowledge and texts from Alexandrian alchemists and hermetic scholars were later transmitted to the Islamic world and medieval Europe. Its revival in Europe was in part due to the translation of Arabic works into Latin in the 12th century, which is where we are going now. By the late middle ages alchemy was taken seriously by philosophers, scientists, and theologians including those in the church although that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t treated with some suspicion by the more prosaic among the clergy. Their work led to the production of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, potash, and sodium carbonate, and the identification of elements like arsenic, antimony, and bismuth. They also developed laboratory devices and procedures that are still used today. Medieval alchemists aimed to discover the relationship between man and the cosmos, to advance science and medicine and to discover the divine secret of the philosophers stone. The philopsophers stone is one of those ideas that is both simple and deceptively complex , it’s arguably the most important aspect of alchemical practice. The quest for the stone is a symbol of alchemists quest for divine realisation

By this time alchemy and hermeticism were inextricably bound together along with neoplatonic philosophy. Gnosticsm was more tied to Christian mysticism but was still hanging in there as something the established church were suspicious of. In fact in the early 1200s the papacy launched a full crusade against a heretical gnostic sect called the Cathars. Ostensibly they were Christians of a sort, but not the kind the pope approved of. They built some fantastic clifftop castles in the south of France and were able to hold out against the crusaders for about 20 years which is very impressive.

 Perhaps the most important esoteric tradition to rise out of the middle ages is a system akin to those we have already talked about but also quite distinct; Jewish kabbalah.

I’m going to talk about this quite a bit as it is integral to later occult thought.  Kabbalah is a profound and intricate form of Jewish mysticism often traced back to the 12th and 13th centuries in Spain and Southern France, where it began to coalesce out of older Jewish traditions. Kabbalah delves into the nature of the divine, the structure of the universe, and the role of human beings within this cosmic framework – this desire to understand the oneness of the divine with the universe is sounding pretty familiar by now right?

One of those earlier practices that was united with kabbalistic practice was Hebrew gematria which has been traced in its simplest forms back to around 78 BCE and is first mentioned in Jewish literature in the 2nd century CE. It’s a intricate system where numerical values are assigned to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This studying of the correlation between numbers and letters allows for a kind of meditative state particularly useful for studying sacred texts like the Torah where hidden meanings can be revealed through the interrelation between letters and numbers. The Hebrew language lends itself to this study because not only do words have meanings, but letters also have meanings so combining them adds depth to the meaning again. There is also a Greek version of this system called isopsephy which also involves assigning numerical values to words, and it's believed to have been influenced by the Pythagorean tradition that originated in the 6th century BCE.

The practice of gematria in Kabbalah is not just about numerical calculations; it's a form of meditation and contemplation that can lead to mystical experiences and a deeper understanding of the universe. It is said that through gematria, one can uncover layers of meaning that relate to the cosmic structure of the 10 Sefirot -which you can see here in this slide. This is the Etz Chaim also known in English as the Tree of Life. It’s a kind of diagrammatic portrayal of the process through which the Divine creates the physical and metaphysical realms. The term 'Sephirot' derives from the Hebrew word for 'spheres' and signifies the different attributes of God as they manifest in our world. You will find in later western esotericism that all sorts of groups of things are laid onto these sefirot to organise their place in creation; for example, planets, pantheons of gods, even things like plants or gems are ascribed to each sphere. But really this visualisation is mostly to do with the journey of the soul to the divine, which is an idea you no doubt recognise from earlier systems I’ve discussed. Down here we have malkuth which is furthest away from the divine emanation right up here in Kether. Malkuth is our material worldly selves going about our every day existence but still with a spark of the divine. We can follow a path up this winding ladder to hopefully experience what is up here in the divine area known as the supernals, beyond which are the infinite aspects of the ain soph, god without end. This tree can actually be associated with the one found in the Garden of Eden standing alongside the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from which Eve picked the apple. In hermetic and gnostic traditions there is the idea that the biblical fall of mankind symbolises the separation of humanity from the divine, and as you will notice here there is a void between the 3 supernals and the rest of the tree.

 There was a lot happening in the Middle Ages including various expressions of mystic Christianity, the knights templar coming back from the crusades with esoteric ideas and the witch trials which I personally always thought to be more about controlling a population through fear than having much to do with the occult. I know that many people associate witchcraft with occultism but I personally see traditional witchcraft as sitting more in the folk magic or natural magic area and running alongside the esoteric systems we are looking at, but not strictly part of it. Although others might disagree with that take.

 In the Renaissance period occultism started to be taken seriously once again and found its way into the general intellectual and cultural milieu. In particular Hermeticism and Neoplatanism were championed by polymath academics such as Paracelsus who integrated science with the esoteric. The early scientists of this era appreciated the interconnectedness of things and so were drawn to philosophies that also supported this idea. Along with his spiritual interests Paracelsus had a rather revolutionary approach to science placing an emphasis on observation and testing rather than established doctrine and this made him very effective in his medical discoveries. Naturally this hybrid scientific approach also leant itself perfectly to alchemy which continued to flourish with academics across Europe.

Something that really took off in this era and  continued to play a major role in occultism going forward was the compiling of magical grimoires. These tended to cover topics like astrology, demonology, angelology, divination, talismanic magic and other rituals for communicating with spirits. Mostly they deviated from the theurgical or divine practices we have looked at so far, but they still played a big part in the whole esoteric movement. They tended to be compilations of various texts that had been copied from each other, translated from other languages and often had unknown provenece. There certainly weren’t any definitive copies of texts in this era. An interesting set of manuscripts from this time are attributed to the biblical King Solomon and came to be known as the Clavicula Solomonis the Key of Solomon and the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon along with the Ars Notoria and the Testament of Solomon. These are fascinating books and you can even buy them today translated from 17thC manuscripts housed in the British Museum. The Lemegeton or Lesser Key Solomon is especially interesting in this regard because it contains a book called The Goetia which instructs on summoning and compelling demons that expressly classed as evil. It is tied to the belief that Solomon was given power over demons by the archangel Michael and subsequently used this power to enslave a number of them to complete the work of his great temple in Jerusalem. The grimoire itself is a catalogue of 72 demons each with skills that can be evoked do things like attain knowledge about a subject, to influence others, to gain something materially  - mostly things that are of earthly befit to the magician but not always of benefit to others. These images here show the sigils of each demon which could be used to call upon it. You’ll find a lot of familiar names there as horror movies love to grab a suitable demon from this horde when needed.

 When people imagine the occult, I think this what comes to mind. It’s classic ceremonial magick with all the bells and whistles; magical circles, seals, sigils, rings, robes, incantations. It’s complex and beautiful in its pageantry. This sort of ritual is designed to overwhelm the senses, to impress the magician him or herself as much as whatever spirit is being summoned. It is also very traditional in its relationship with a Judeo Christian god of whom the magician is an emissary on earth. In all the magic circles and seals you can find the Hebrew names of god used as protection for the magician; Adonai, Elohim and the most holy name, the tetragrammaton, yod heh vou heh. Interestingly demons are never mentioned in the bible in relation to Solomon. The story of the temple is found in apocryphal sources such as certain versions of the Talmud and in The Testament of Solomon. Considering King Solomon’s reign is dated at around 970-930 BC this is quite significantly prior to the compilation of these books. Its not known if other versions of this particular work are found in the intervening years but there are many other grimoires from the ancient world involving ritual, ceremony and the summoning of spirits that do relate to this work. In fact Goes, the root word of goetic, was from the Greek word used to describe sorcerers, diviners and practical magickians. I think its is perhaps surprising to many people, the fact that demonology was being practiced by Christians and that the traditional god was providing protection to them when doing so. It shows how certain forms of magic were less stigmatised then other forms  - say witchcraft  - perhaps because the western esoteric tradition was passed along in the greater part by learned men and not peasants or women. Though that’s not to say there weren’t key women in its history.

 A big question around these entities is what are they? I suppose early magicians saw them as literal demons or evil spirits, whereas later occultists saw them as aspects of the psyche symbolically represented as these spirits. There is also the question of does it really matter either way? This can be hard to swallow when you are after definitive truths but it does tend to be an ongoing theme in western esotericism where everything is imbued with multiple aspects and meanings.

If we take a look at over Elizabethan England at the beginning of the 16th century there is something going on that is the complete opposite of demonology but is still full of the sae questions; Enochian magick. This is, in my mind, even more complex and impressive than anything any of the previous ceremonial grimoires contain and it came into being seemingly in one go, fully formed.

You may have heard of Queen Elizabeths the first advisor John Dee? He was a true polymath with an insatiable thirst for knowledge being not only a mathematician, astronomer, court astrologer and spy but also an occultist. Dee worked closely with a scryer called Edwards Kelly.

So what is enochian magic and what were Dee and Kelley up to? They had started off their esoteric experimentations doing the usual thing that occultists do and trying to ascertain knowledge of the universe. Kelley would go into a trance state and used a black obsidian mirror belonging to Dee to receive visions and instructions. Dee would meticulously record everything they did which is why we know so much about it now. At some point Kelley started to receive a language which, over time, they compiled into a series of texts and tables that outlined a unique alphabet of 21 letters along with its the syntax and grammar. The entities transferring this information were understood by Dee and Kelley to be angels and the language came to be known as enochian in reference to the biblical Enoch. I’ve come across a few different justifications for this name; one of them is that its because enoch was he who walked with angels, and another is that the angels themselves told Dee that they were the same beings who had communicated with Enoch. Either way the angels told Dee and Kelley that this celestial language was not only unutterably ancient but also held the true essence of creation and its reception formed the basis of what is known as the Liber Loagaeth, or "Book of Speech from God".

 The significance of the Enochian language in the context of Dee and Kelley's work cannot be overstated. It represented a direct line of communication with higher realms and was considered the pure language of the angels. The angels also gave them instructions for making contact and for observing the aethyrs a system of 30 realms emanating from a divine centre, all with 3 letter names. In order to make contact the magician required a number of quite elaborate tools carved and marked with the enochian language. Probably the most impressive and fascinating or these tools is a large wax disk inscribed as seen on this slide. This is the sigillem dei aemeth or seal of gods truth. 4 smaller versions of this seal sit under the legs of a small table inscribed with enochian letters. I think of these as being like isolators magically separating the table and everything on it from the floor and therefore the material world.

The ritual itself involves chanting and intoning of letters and enochian keys or calls designed to unlock a gateway to other realms. I have worked with this system myself and the only word I can use to describe it is “uncanny”. A friend of mine described the chanting of the letters backwards and forwards and around and around the table to be akin to the movements of a barrel lock clicking, which is one of the best descriptions I’ve heard.This system was naturally influenced by previous esoteric systems and continues to influence later ones, but it still stands out to me as being singular in the way it works.

Jumping forward into the modern era we see an explosion of interest in the occult. In the 17th century we see the mystical movement of Rosicrucianism was formed In 1854 occultist Eliphas Levi wrote his seminal work Dogme et Ritual de la Haute Magie which significantly influenced future occultists. In 1875 the mystical movement of Theosophy was established and in the 19th century there was significant interest in spiritualism or contacting the dead, which in my mind sits outside western esoteric history but was still part of the same groundswell. Artists and poets were also showing an undisguised interest in the occult with William Blake producing visionary art and poetry, Poet WB Yeats, a future occultist and the artistic symbolist movement arising in France, Britain and Belgium all in the 19th century. This image of Baphomet from Eliphas Levi’s Dogma et Rituel de la Haute Magie is possibly one of the best known and most used occult images in contemporary pop culture - I’m sure you will have seen it.

 One of the most notable occult groups of this time period was the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn founded in London in 1888. It was conceived by three freemasons and It took everything I have talked about so far and consolidated the knowledge into a kind of syllabus with the structured initiation and degree process of Masonry. Now I haven’t mentioned masonry so far even though it has a very long history going right back to actual stonemasons. This is because it wasn’t until esoteric masonry arose in the 18th century that it started to blend with other movements. You know how I talked about King Solomons temple? This also has great symbolic meaning to Masonic philosophy, as does Christian mysticism, kabbalah and hermeticism. Unlike Masonry the Golden dawn was open to both sexes and it attracted many interesting members of British society. This was also a point in history where the west was being more widely exposed to eastern mysticism particularly in the form of Buddhism. Yoga and meditation techniques were incorporated into esoteric practices of this time with them really fitting in quite well.

 Initiates of the Order would pass through various rites and trials to allow them access to the next stage of their journey. They used the Tree of Life as a map of their path, they used gematria, enochian magic, Ancient Egyptian symbolism. Initiation was a way to instruct members in the mysteries of the order with the unknown being an important element in the experience making secrecy was of utmost importance.. There’s a saying in esoteric orders: to know, to will, to dare and to keep silence. I think the ability to keep silence is something we don’t value enough. Secret societies seem to bother people which is strange because most of the time if you want to know what the secret is you just have to join the society!

 Naturally with so many strong personalities and artistic temperaments involved the Golden dawn fell apart after a few years. Out of its implosion came a young man called Aleister Crowley, single most important occultist of our era. He was a polymath of the same variety I’ve mentioned previously. As well as his reputation as an occultist he was a poet, a prolific author, a mountaineer, a skilled chess player and a painter. His history is very full, there are numerous books written about him and even more written by him!

 Crowley took everything he could out of all available esoteric systems from both the west and east. He travelled widely through Egypt, the near east and china. He also spent time with a fellow Golden Dawn member studying Buddhism and Hinduism in India and had previously been in the Himalayas on mountaineering expeditions scaling K2 and Kangchenjunga. He wrote books covering many of the practices I have previously described; The Vision and The Voice describes his work scrying Enochian aethyrs, Liber 777 is comprehensive collection of kabbalstic correspondences plus his interpretation of the sepher sephiroth and a treatise on gematria, he edited and annotated the modern copy of The Lemegeton, the majority of his books included alchemical symbolism, hermetic thought and ceremonial magick. His symbolic pantheon of choice was ancient Egyptian. He took what could be described as a kind of scientific approach to magickal practice coining the phrase “The method of science, the aim of religion” to explain his process. I’m sure its not as rigorous as the contemporary scientific method but he sought to prove that working could be replicated and that there was a consistency of outcome achievable by anyone.

 While in Egypt on honeymoon with his wife Rose he experienced a pivotal moment in his esoteric career. He received a message from a being calling itself Aiwass who instructed him to write what he was divulged over the course of 3 days. This writing is called Liber Al vel legis or the Book of the Law. Although Crowley put it aside and promptly forgot about it later when he did rediscover the manuscript it became the basis for his philosophy known as Thelema. Being written in Egypt this text was heavily influenced by the ancient religion and featured many of its gods and its symbolism. The book is in three parts and has the voice of three characters; a woman Nuit representing the endless sea of space, a man Hadit representing the singular seed of creation and a child Ra-Hoor-Khuit an aspect of Horus representing a new way forward. Its quite poetic.

Here again is the question of whether these entities are actual gods or representations of ideas. Crowley himself wavered back and forth on whether he thought Aiwass was a part of his own subconscious or some sort of independent entity. In his writing Crowley espoused ideas about parallel universes and parts of ourselves that exist elsewhere I think its pretty clear that the gods are symbolic but it’s still beautiful to imagine them in their ancient Egyptian form. Here is an image from the tarot deck he worked on with the artist Lady Frieda Harris. It’s a representation of the composite good god Heru ra ha in his double form as Ra Hoor Khuit, a warrior, the aspect of force and motion. Then as Hoor Par Kraat or Harpocrates n the Greek, the silent one or our secret self. You can also see Nuit arching over his thrown and Hadit as the winged disk.

 The outcome of the book of the law is the credo “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law and “Love is the Law, Love under Will” Contrary to popular belief Will is not the same as Want. This is not Do what you want, in fact in many cases is could even be the opposite.

It has to be said that Crowley was a complex character and not always the nicest person. Scandals and drama followed him around, numerous love affairs, accusations of demon worship and he was also terrible with money having spent his family fortune on mountaineering trips. Despite all his failings he was an astonishing person and I admire him greatly. Being human and imperfect isn’t a reason to reject their work after all the magick is in the practice not in the person. People should be seen as human with all that might entail, nobody should be made into a guru or be seen as perfect or above others. Whether people love him or hate him, Its hard to describe the profound impact Crowley had on modern occultism,

 The western esoteric tradition has a long history and as you can see its still around. While there isn’t the same overlap between science and the occult now as there once was, there are still echos of the tradition. Around the 2nd century BCE a man called Democritus traced all experiential phenomena back to the movements and changing combinations of minute particles which he called atoms – indivisible in Greek. There was no way to observe or prove this magical theory for hundreds of years. In the 20th century scientists succeeded in the transmutation of elements by changing the atomic structure of an element through bombarding its nuclei with high-energy particles. By bombarding mercury-196 with neutrons, it can be converted into gold-197. The alchemists would be proud.

 This image is a photograph of a series of miniature sculptures I created in 2023 inspired by alchemical writing and illustrations. I took the figures from previous still and video works I had created based on the three main processes of alchemical transformation and I hope that you can see the history of western esotericism that I have presented to today represented in my work.

I find myself overwhelmed by the staggering beauty of the universe and need some way to express that. Today I’ve been using words like god,  divine and magick but those are just useful placeholders for something that doesn’t have words to describe it. One the one hand it could be a heart touched by the fire of heaven or equally it could be witnessing the transit of mercury across the blazing face of the sun.

I have 2 pieces of writing here that I want to juxtaspose. the first from one of the greatest astrophysicists of all time Carl Sagan which as an aside I think the kabbalists would have loved. And the second one from one of the greatest occultists of all time Aleister Crowley. They both reveal the naked splendour of existence in different ways but I don’t think they are so far apart.

 The cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths, of exquisite interrelationships, of the awesome machinery of nature. The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.

- Carl Sagan, Cosmos

As night hath stars, more rare than ships
In ocean, faint from pole to pole,
So all the wonder of her lips
Hints her innavigable soul.

Such lights she gives as guide my bark;
But I am swallowed in the swell
Of her heart's ocean, sagely dark,
That holds my heaven and holds my hell.

In her I live, a mote minute
Dancing a moment in the sun:
In her I die, a sterile shoot
Of nightshade in oblivion.

In her my self dissolves, a grain
Of salt cast careless in the sea;
My passion purifies my pain
To peace past personality.

Love of my life, God grant the years
Confirm the chrism - rose to rood!
Anointing loves, asperging tears
In sanctifying solitude!

Man is so infinitely small
In all these stars, determinate.
Maker and moulder of them all,
Man is so infinitely great!

 - Aleister Crowley, At Sea