Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. It also draws on Classical Graeco-Roman mythology, Celtic cosmology, Kundalini yoga, Tantra, shamanism, Chaos theory, and the various spiritual traditions associated in many different cultures with the Universal Goddess. This book traces the rise of various forms of magical belief and practice from the influential late nineteenth-century Hermetic Order ... More

Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. It also draws on Classical Graeco-Roman mythology, Celtic cosmology, Kundalini yoga, Tantra, shamanism, Chaos theory, and the various spiritual traditions associated in many different cultures with the Universal Goddess. This book traces the rise of various forms of magical belief and practice from the influential late nineteenth-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn through to the emergence in more recent times of Wicca and Goddess worship as expressions of contemporary feminine spirituality. It also explores Chaos Magick and the occult practices of the so-called Left-Hand Path, as well as tenty-first-century magical forays into cyberspace. Key figures profiled here include Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Austin Osman Spare, Rosaleen Norton, Gerald Gardner, Starhawk, Z. Budapest, Anton LaVey, Michael Aquino, Michael Bertiaux, H.R. Giger, Carlos Castaneda, Michael Harner, Peter J. Carroll, and Terence McKenna; all have contributed in different ways to the increasing fascination with mythic consciousness and archaic spirituality.