Esoteric Book Conference 2011

At long last, here is my write-up of the 2011 Esoteric Book Conference. For all of the information you’d ever need on the 2011 Esoteric Book Conference, see their website.

The first presenter at the conference was Brian Butler, who (through no fault of his own) had some technical difficulties, which then delayed the beginning of his presentation, and there was a bit of a knock-on effect for the remainder of the conference. Alas, these things happen. Butler has done a lot of work with Kenneth Anger, which seems quite interesting to me in many ways, but I did not have a chance to speak with him during the remainder of the conference, and he didn’t say anything about his own work during the course of his talk. His presentations was called “Marjorie Cameron: The Rituals of the Wormwood Star,” and detailed the life of Marjorie Cameron, the “incarnation of Babalon” and “scarlet woman” to Jack W. Parsons (whom Alan Moore wrote a short comic about, which was banned, but later published by Top Shelf Publications; Cameron is in one or two frames of the comic). Butler’s presentation used a great deal of visual imagery from Cameron, including several film clips (some of which are rare or had hardly been seen previously).

While not a direct critique of Butler himself, I have to agree with something I heard elsewhere during the course of the conference: namely, why were there two presentations on female magicians/esotericists/occultists (Marjorie Cameron and Ida Craddock), but neither were presented by women, and why was there only one scheduled event in the presentations program which featured women? (Granted, that was a panel of about seven women, but giving seven women the same time allotment that every other male speaker was given alone seems a bit…well, slanted, to say the least.) The presentations in earlier years, on Ithell Colquhoun (in the first year) and Florence Farr (in the second year) were both done by women…so, why not another introduction to a particular female occultists by a female scholar/practitioner this year–or, heavens forfend, TWO!?! While the EBC has been an event where there have been more male than female (or other gendered) presenters every year, it’s a noticeable matter; and given that the majority of my own associates, friends, and co-religionists at the EBC have been women, it is a factor I take very seriously. The panel on the second day (which I’ll detail later) did feature two “repeat offenders” of the EBC (which is to say, both of whom presented in the past at the EBC): Brandy Williams (who presented on the Chaldean Oracles at the first EBC) and Amy Hale (who presented on Ithell). Anyway…

The second presentation was by Robert Bartlett, an alchemist who is local to the Seattle area, and whom I have met on a few previous occasions, whose presentation was (strangely enough!) called “Alchemy in the Twenty-First Century.” It was an excellent overview of some of the history of alchemy, Bartlett’s own training in this matter, and some basic theories underlying alchemical work.

The third presentation was by Michael Staley of Starfire Publishing, who has presented in past years, and who is heavily involved in the work of Kenneth Grant. I have found Staley’s previous presentations to be a bit boring, to be honest, but I decided to give this one a try. It was called “Transmitting the Sacred Fire: Transformation and Identity in Austin Osman Spare,” and given the subject, I thought it would be worth it–and I was not at all disappointed. I hope to delve more deeply into some of Spare’s work in the future as the result of this talk (though others in previous years also had me curious, and Spare is a favorite of Alan Moore as well), but I was particularly struck by a piece Spare did called “Mind and Body” that reminded me of a piece that I’d like to see produced in relation to some other work with which I’m currently engaged. The picture below by Spare is not the one I saw in the presentation, and wasn’t shown during the presentation, but it’s striking nonetheless, and also turns out to be reminiscent of some of the images I’ve had in relation to that same project…So, enough words from me for the moment, just enjoy this image, which is called “Now for Reality.”

Nice, innit?

Fourth up was Gordan Djurdjevic, who is the author of Masters of Magical Powers: The Nath Yogis in the Light of Esoteric Notions (VDM: 2008) and India and the Occult: The Influence of South Asian Spirituality on Western Esoteric Tradition (Equinox: 2012, forthcoming), and co-editor, with Henrik Bogdan, of an anthology called Occultism in a Global Perspective (Equinox: 2013, forthcoming), all of which I’d be interested in getting at some stage. Gordan’s presentation was called “Making The Mundane Magical: Aleister Crowley’s Magus Initiation and the Practice of Esoteric Hermeneutics.” And while a great deal of what was discussed in this presentation was not “new” material to me, nonetheless Dr. Djurdjevic’s presentation was lively, humorous, extremely enjoyable, and incredibly inspirational. A particular phrase that Crowley said, and an ideal he attempted to uphold, was that a magus is constituted through action, not being or identity, and that’s an idea I can certainly get behind (and in fact was kicking around on the bus down to Seattle for the conference!). Thus, every action in one’s life becomes a “text” and a potential test for a person living such a life; and, similar statements to this were marshaled from a wide variety of sources and religious traditions in the remainder of the presentation. On the whole, quite excellent!

Next was the first part of a two-part performance/presentation by Orryelle Defenestrate Bascule (whose various projects and group websites seem to be inaccessible at present, unfortunately), who presented last year as well. He was the severed head of Orpheus, who gave a rather interesting piece on the importance of bodies, and then through various practices of breathing and chanting (which the audience was invited to join in on…alas, I did not, because such things are extremely difficult for me without notice and sufficient preparation; but, the visuals alone were quite mind-bending, at least for me!), a body was re-constructed for him that was made from a series of pieces of sculpture that were displayed and re-arranged throughout the conference previously, so that in the end Orpheus became Baphomet. While it was an interesting piece of ritual theatre, and at times quite beautiful in its language, I can’t say I entirely buy the monism of “Orpheus = Dionysos = Baphomet,” and certain other critiques of the performance that I heard from some of my friends (i.e. it culminated in the rather large cock of Baphomet being attached to the figure) continued in some of the worries about gender and its lack of equal representation at the conference. Oh well…can’t win ‘em all.

The final presentation on the first day was by Craig Williams, an ayurvedic practitioner and an associate of David Beth, who presented at last year’s EBC. Craig’s presentation was called “Voice of the Dark Goddess,” and dealt with primarily three of the Dasha Mahavidyas: Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, and Dumavati. The utility of these goddesses for work involving purification of various types, and facing particular challenges, was emphasized. A great deal of time was spent on both de-mystifying but also debunking certain aspects of chakras and chakra work, and attention was also given to the various levels of reality. It was pointed out that the “dream level” of reality, which is often seen as superior to the “waking level,” is just one further step along the process, and in Indian contexts, it’s not really given as much attention as it is in the west–astral and dream experiences can be just as illusory as things in waking life, so why attach to them? He also had some very practical ayurvedic ideas sprinkled in here and there, which I found particularly useful and personally relevant to my own situation, including certain chakra associations, physical debilities, and the correlation between these and lack of restorative sleep. While I do not think that dream work, thus, is completely useless (indeed, it is very important in many Western systems, and there’s nothing wrong with that, and it doesn’t mean that Eastern ideas are automatically superior, better, or “more right,” in my view…!?!), nonetheless this had an interesting effect. That night, I had some of the best sleep I’ve had in a long time, with no dreams of note, which is to say, none at all…and, that’s very odd for me. It even took a few days for me to start having them again, for good or ill. But, in any case…One of the other major points that Williams made was that critical skills, serious intellectual study, and so forth are not optional EVER, and when one moves to higher and more advanced levels of practice, one must continue with these. This sort of message is not heard nearly enough in spirituality generally, so I greatly appreciated it. This turned out to be one of the most useful, on a practical level, presentations of the entire conference, in my opinion.

That night, various things occurred, various people were seen, and I did not attend the musical performances, which I have likewise not done in previous years. Seeing people I don’t get to see much was far more important to me.

The second day’s presentations began with one by Dr. Vere Chappell, whose talk was entitled “Ida Craddock: Sexual Outlaw & Erotic Mystic,” which is also the title of his recent book (which I would love to pick up at some stage!). Dr. Chappell noted that a person no less than Aleister Crowley recommended one of Craddock’s works as essential to every serious magical library, and Chappell has edited that particular work (and several others by Craddock) in his book, so…! Craddock did some pioneering work not only in sex magic, but in sex therapy, and was put through the ringer for having done so, as she was severely persecuted by a person whose name I will not mention, until she was imprisoned repeatedly after several trumped up charges in kangaroo court situations, and eventually committed suicide to prove the point that what the person persecuting her was doing was entirely wrong…and, public opinion agreed with her after her death. After inquiring a bit, and overhearing some other conversations with Dr. Chappell after his presentation, it seems that Craddock had some homoerotic tendencies herself, but never acted on them. She might make an interesting Sanctus for the Ekklesía Antínoou, but in any case is a very intriguing figure, and I hope that Dr. Chappell’s work does end up reviving interest in and knowledge of her very much!

The next talk was by Dr. George J. Sieg, who I met at last year’s conference. He spoke on “The Concept of the Aeon in Mesocosmic Magic.” This was, undoubtedly, the most “academic” of the presentations, and Dr. Sieg’s speed of speech was quite difficult to keep up with in terms of taking serious notes; however, everything was easily understandable and quite clear. The beginning of his talk was spent in defining “aeonics” as the aspect of esotericism and occultism which deals with the generation and transmission of worldviews in the context of beliefs concerning cycles of time. Later parts of his discussion touched on the antinomian tendencies of many spiritual movements, starting in the 12th century C.E. with Joachim of Fiore’s idea of the “age of the spirit,” which eventually lead to the “Free Spirit Heresy” (which, contra Dr. Sieg, was never a sort of brotherhood as he suggested; the idea that it was originates in papal propaganda, particularly in relation to a beloved figure I know and have dealt with previously on this blog, Marguerite Porete), but also various radical right-wing movements that have used such ideas, and the need for action in the world to bring about these new eras. Given that it was the tenth anniversary of September 11 when this talk was being given, reference was certainly made to that event, and a moment of silence was (very tastefully, I thought) observed in the middle of his presentation in light of it.

After lunch–which I spent mostly discussing Ekklesía Antínoou- and Antinous-related matters with several co-religionists over a hot dog and soda from the Center House as we watched the surging masses play in the gigantic Seattle Center spherical fountain (which is loaded with nymphs!), the conference’s panel presentation occurred. It was called “Ladies of the Lodge: Women of Today’s Golden Dawn Speak on the Practice of Magick,” and was organized by Barbara Cormack, whose edited book on this subject is coming out soon. As mentioned previously, Brandy Williams and Amy Hale were both on this panel, as were several others whose names I was not quick enough to note down (my apologies for that!). It was an interesting and useful discussion, though I somewhat wish that there would have been more of a note toward the fact that, despite a large number of women attending the conference, the disparity in women presenters was (and has been) noteworthy…but that may have been a bit off-topic. At one point, the issue of race was raised, and the lack of women of color on the panel was noted; though I do have to disagree that the Egyptian deities should be understood as “black,” because even though Egyptians are Africans, they are not quite the same as “black Africans” and always understood themselves to be different from the Nubians, the Ethiopians, and others. In any case…

The “now you know–and knowing’s half the battle” award for the conference goes to the presentation which followed, which was by John Major Jenkins, who is not only an authority on the 2012 phenomenon, but is really one of, if not the, originator of its popular knowledge. It was excellent to hear his talk, “Lord Jaguar and 2012: A Maya King Reaches Through Time,” which not only gave a very detailed amount of background into the entire 2012 phenomenon and how the date is determined and what it signifies, but also outlined some of the newest discoveries in relation to it. Needless to say, the world is going to go on after 2012 (and I’m sorry if that upsets some of you!), it’s just that it will be YET ANOTHER turning of the age…and since the millennium, the Age of Aquarius, and now the 2012 cosmic cycle’s re-setting are all taking place in a relatively small amount of time, I think it can safely be said that if we didn’t get the point before, we ought to get it now…at least from an aeonics viewpoint, to use Dr. Sieg’s terminology. Lord Jaguar, with any luck, will help us to bring it about when the date of the Solstice in 2012 arrives (and given that’s a date sacred to Antinous Epiphanes, one of his Dionysian aspects, I think he may have something to say about it all as well!).

The final talk of the conference was by Justin Patrick Moore, a librarian, artist, and member of several different occult orders and groups. His talk was called “The Library Angel and Its Oracle,” and it not only dealt with the figure of the “Library Angel,” a.k.a. Harahel (and various other similar names), but a great deal besides that concerns anyone and everyone who loves books, who uses them, and who is of a magical or spiritual mindset. There was a great deal of fun wordplay in his presentation (“the Library Angel is not into one-night stands; quick-reads are part of an ongoing textual relationship with the Angel”), as well as reflection on bibliophilia, on the importance of freedom of the press and non-censorship, and a great many related topics. He related many personal experiences of the Library Angel’s oracle of coincidence and synchronicity in relation to books, which fit with my own early experiences of Antinous and how quite often, the right book would suddenly appear in the library, or the necessary pages would be the ones to which I’d open by chance…and this has happened several times since that presentation as well! Moore said that the Library Angel is not only useful in libraries as a research assistant, but also as a literary agent–and, since I’ve got further books that I hope to finish soon, I shall keep that in mind!

The final event of the conference, at least at the main venue, was the second part of Orryelle’s presentation, in which Orpheus was torn apart by the maenads, and had some words to say about it. It wasn’t quite as effective as the first one, I thought, but it also had its moments.

[Though I have to say--and this goes not just for Orryelle's presentation, but several of the others as well--that the level of Greek pronunciation was rather lacking in many cases, which surprised me a great deal in relation to several of the speakers. Oh well...how to handle "c" when it is a transliterated chi, and when it should actually be a kappa, was a particular problem...]

There was a Golden Dawn prosperity ritual after the main conference was over, but I was not able to attend that (which is a pity, because I could certainly use some prosperity!), nor the after-party, due to my foot problems. But, I’m happy I was able to attend the entirety of the actual events at the main venue, and I was happy to not only enjoy all of the presentations (though certainly some more than others, though none were at all wastes of time), but to see some wonderful friends and co-religionists, to sell a few books and trade for others, and to see that no matter how bad the modern book publishing scene seems to be, that there is a small group of people who will always prefer books as physical objects to blips on an electronic screen. And, hurrah for that, needless to say.

So, all praise and thanks to the gods who make books possible, especially in my own case: Thoth, Seshat, Hermes Logios, and Antinous!