India and the Occult: The Influence of South Asian Spirituality on Modern Western Occultism (Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities)

Many friends, colleagues, and kind strangers assisted me in writing this book, by sharing thoughts, volunteering information, sending texts, and being in numerous ways supportive of the project. My most sincere thanks and gratitude go to William Breeze for his comments on and editorial corrections to the two chapters on Aleister Crowley; to Michael Staley who contributed to the chapter on Kenneth Grant by providing textual material and exchanging views on several occasions when we met in person; to Mike Magee and Mogg Morgan, who agreed to a meeting in Oxford and who helped with information on Mahendranath Dadaji and much more; to Phil Hine, for sending texts and for maintaining a healthy skepticism; to Clive Harper for bibliographical assistance and hospitality; to Andrew Stanson for help with the AMOOKOS material; to June McDaniel for sending me a typescript copy of her talk given at the 3rd Conference of the Association for the Study of Esotericism (ASE) in Charleston, South Carolina; to Daniel Schulke, for his generous help with Andrew Chumbley and the Cultus Sabbati material; to Henrik Bogdan and James Lewis, general editors of the book series, for trusting me with this work; to Burke Gerstenschlager, Carol McGillivray, and Caroline Kracunas at Palgrave Macmillan, for being patient, understanding, and helpful; and finally to my wife, Sasha Paradis, who assisted in editing and offered sound criticism and helpful suggestions at every stage of the writing of this book. It hardly needs mentioning, but I will mention it nonetheless: none of the above-mentioned individuals is responsible for any remaining errors: these are all my own and they are only mine. "At the beginning of the twentieth century, Indian Yoga and Tantra become attractive to some major exponents of Western occultism. In a gesture typical of the syncretic tendency in Esotericism, Yoga is by these Westerners often identified as an Eastern form of magic: the two disciplines were considered to share similar theoretical perspective, the difference in their methods notwithstanding. India and the Occult explores the reception of Indian spirituality among Western occultists through several case studies. Unlike existing works focusing on the activities of Theosophical Society, it looks at the 'hard-core' occultism, in particular the British twentieth century currents associated with Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Kenneth Grant, and related individuals and groups. Without denying the specificity of its Western historical manifestation, it suggests that esotericism is a category that may be applied as a conceptual tool in order to interpret aspects of non-Western religious thought and practice"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction The Idea of India in the Imaginary of Western Occultism....Pages 1-19 A Web of Relations: Interpreting Indian Yoga and Tantra as Forms of Esotericism....Pages 21-33 The Great Beast as a Tantric Hero: The Role of Yoga and Tantra in Aleister Crowley’s Magick....Pages 35-59 Solve et Coagula: Attitudes toward the Ambrosial Aspects of Human Seed in Certain Yogic Traditions and in the Sexual Magick of Aleister Crowley....Pages 61-72 Dion Fortune: The Śakti of the Age....Pages 73-90 Secrets of the Typhonian Tantra: Kenneth Grant and Western Occult Interpretations of Indian Spirituality....Pages 91-110 When Yoga Becomes Magick: Dadaji Mahendranath, His Disciples, and the East-West Order....Pages 111-135 Conclusions....Pages 137-141 Back Matter....Pages 143-194 India And The Occult Explores The Reception Of Indian Spirituality Among Western Occultists Through Case Studies. Rather Than Focusing On The Activities Of Theosophical Society, India And The Occult Looks At The 'hard-core' Occultism, In Particular The British 20th Century Currents Associated With Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Kenneth Grant, Et Cetera. By Gordan Djurdjevic.