Aleister Crowley
Was the magical name of the great magus born in 1875 as Edward Alexander Crowley. His father, a rich brewer, was also a Plymouth Brother, a strange and mysterious sect not unlike the Masons, and his son Aleister grrew up to be a complete non-conformist and something of a profligate rebel as well as one of magic's most advanced thinking figures. Though many of his philosophies are highly dubious in terms of moral integrity - he was not above a certain sadistic tone in many ceremonies - he believed the way to get to "the light" was through the shadowlands of personality. He certainly explored them well. A diabolist rather than what we would term a witch, he based much of his thinking on the Egyptian model of magic. He wrote copious amounts of visionary poetry with little literary success, but his volumes on magic caused a sensation and outraged English society. He began his lifelong exploration of magic (Which he called "magick") when he was 30, and he known for his brilliant wit as well as his biting cynicism. Though he was feared, he was also admired by many literary and artistic luminaries of the day - Somerset Mougham based his novel The Magician on his exploits. He was a poet, writer, mountaineer, master chess player, distinguished lecher, master magician and, ultimately, a drug addict. Revelling in being notorious, he went as far as to claim that he was the Beast from the bible's book of Revelations. Crowley developed the great advance in Tarot with his Crowley-Thoth deck, a highly charged and highly sexual Tarot based strongly upon his specialty, Egyptology. Though not a joiner by nature, he did briefy belong to the Golden Dawn, a group of theosophists who were involved in Kabbalistic magic, based on traditional Hebrew forms of magic. (W.B. Yeats, the esteemed Irish poet, was also a member.) The membership of Crowley in the sect created incredible turmoil in the group as he was nothing if not a provocateur. The Golden Dawn claimed the path to spiritual ascent, and Crowley mocked them all, including the powerful Eliphas Levi and Waite, who developed the Rider Waite Tarot deck. Rigorously dissolute, he formed societies of lost souls willing to worship him and his will in sometimes ridiculous cerremonies; his semi-permanent sects eventually went to Italy to escape the discrimination that he inevitably attracted. In "pagan" Italy (at least according to E.M. Foster) Crowley attracted more atention than even he wanted and was ultimately deported from that country after rumours of human sacrifice on his island community reached the ears of the authorities. In his twilight years back in England he became a herion junkie, his habit costing him more than he had and he spent the last years of his life living off those who were still susceptible to the considerable Crowley charisma. He died a dissolute - though still amazing - old man at the age of 68. Though he was undoubtedly bordering on the insane and his motives were almost always egocentric, he had a tremendous ability to assert his will, and he must be remembered as the man who restored the Tarot to its rightful place in magic, and who contributed more to the ancient art than any other magician since the middle ages. For more information about the man known as "The Beast", read his The Confessions Of Aleister Crowley, published in 1971.
Madame Blavatsky
A self-proclaimed adept and a the founder of the Theosophical Society, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was a charismatic woman whos theatrical ability, showmanship, beauty and immense knowledge of the occult made her the toast od London. She wrote several important books on occultism, which were also devoured by the sensation-starved ladies of the day. Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine spread her message, which was that she received her knowledge through telepathic messages from hidden master in Tibet. (Theosophy is the science that claims to gain knowledge of God, or Goddess, or indeed Spirit through mystical insight.) She had a rowdy personality and was a fiesty woman, who loved a party and loved a drink and a cigar even more, She suffered the indignity of many violent verbal attacks from hostile "logical" detractors, who claimed she was a fruad, but she weathered all these storms with the help of her intelligence, unique personality and Cossack courage. She continued to hold seances with remarkable success, and her ability to contact the other world was indisputable. She was in contact with unseen forces and with nature, and it is on Blavatsky that the modern image of the occult woman, ouija board and cyrstal ball, and exotic accent, is modelled. Her adventurous career took Russian woman to Mexico, Europe, India and Tibet. She introduced her brand of spiritualism to New York in 1873, two years before forming the Theosophical Society, of which there are branches all over the world, including several in Australia. Her aims of universal brotherhood, the study of Eastern literature and her research into the latent faculties of humanity deserve acknowledgment and praise. W.B. Yates - who appears to have been something of an occult groupie, said of her: "A great passionate nature, a sort of female Dr Johnson." She died in 1891 at the age of 60.
Kassandra
Was the Greek priestess of Apollo who predicted the downfall of Troy. She would enter visionary states and prophetic verses would fall from her lips, much in the way of the Delphic Oracle. She was considered mad, however, and her warnings went unheeded. War was inevitable and the siege of Troy resulted in that civilisation being wiped out. Though all the men were murdered and the woman sold off to the Greeks as slaves (many others chose suicide rather than enslavement), she and many of the other Trojan women survived. She used perfume and insense in her craft; fire and flame was important to Kassandra as well.
Morgan Le Fey
Has been painted as evil by nearly all Arthurian scholars, including Thomas Mallory, who reignited interest in the Arthurian legends through his book, The Morte D'Arthur. But Morgan was Lady of the Lake, a priestess of the Triple Goddess, and it is history's shame to have painted her black. alf-sister to Arthur, she bore his child, Gawain, under the festival of the Horned God (not the devil, but the God of the Hunt, representing masculinity and sheer sex, basically!). Unfortunately for both Arthur and Morgan, Christianity made inroads into Camelot, and their coupling was seen as diabolical, thus Gawain was seen as a sort of demented imp, rather than just the over-ambitious youth he grew into. Morgan kept holy the memory of the Lake though she lived a country life for much of span on earth. She had the horned moon of the Triple Goddess tattooed between her brows and she was a vegetarian for much of her life.
Merlin (the merlin)
Was not his actual name, but The Merlin was the highest of the Druid seers, a powerful magician who put Arthur on the throne and finally crumbled under the Christians, leaving only Morgan to remember and uphold Avalon. He taught the legendary Arthur all he could of kingcroft and all he knew of nature and the linking of all things. Arthur was wise, much because of The Merlin's teachings.
Eliphas Levi
Not a real name but, again, a magical name - in this case of the French writer Alphonse Luis Constant. Levi was essentially an alchemist who revived many medieval forms of the occult, including the Cabbala and the Tarot. His was a search wisdom - his fame was by a by-product of his intellectual stature and his ability in other, more literary areas. Levi actually coined the word Tarot, from the Latin word rota for whell or circle, seeing in the Tarot the symbolic search for meaning that we all must make if we are to achieve knowledge. Also an avid Egyptologist, he was interested in numerology and was a statuesque and charismatic man, huge rotund and with a great grey Rasputin-like beard, he was a figure that captured the imagination. Eliphas Levi died in 1975; his master work is The Dogma And Ritual Of High Magic, published in 1856.
A.E. Waite
Another great figure in 19th century magic, A.E. Waite was the deviser of the Rider Waite deck of tarot, the deck that is used more often than any other. With the exception perhaps of the Prediction deck, the Rider Waite deck is one of the least symbolic. Waite designed it specifically to muddy its mystic value, to hide its true nature from those who may not be able to handle its powers - or keep them to himself, which fits in with his egotism a little more. Born in 1857, this great figure (yet another Egyptologist) dies in the London blitz of 1940. Crowley hated him. He also connected the Grail legend and the tarot. He practised high magic, but was something of a speptic himself, scoffing at divination. If he'd been less mocking, maybe somebody would have told him to get out of London in time. He was also a member of the order of Theosophy, was known as a bit of a grouch and wrote deliberately obscure and sometimes misleading books to keep everyone - except him - om their toes in regard to magic. Do not read him if you are not a truly serious scholar. Intuition and truth were not his strong points.
Dion Fortune
Was one of the Golden Dawn's strongest and most prolific members - she wrote many books on all manner of rituals and aspects of occult lore and knowledge, such as Psychic Self-DSefence. She had a constant fight on her hands to be heard within the order - the egos of Crowley, Mathers and Waite were large and difficult to get around. She wrote the standard mofern textbook on the Cabbala and was deeply involved in a personal exploration of the mysteries. She was a victim of pyschic vampirism while still very young and she developed many ways for women to maintain their psychic health and avoid being drained by those around her - if anyone knew how to deal with such things Dion should have! She is hard to read, being intensely wordy and sometimes indirect, but her knowledge is vast and precious. Dion believed in disciplined magic and meditation, claiming that unless you are well trained in mystic traditions, all sorts of subconscious material may arise when seeking answers. It is possible you are just being totally self-indulgent, not truly enlightened. She advised using the Tarot as a symbolic dictionary upon which to meditate.
Anton LaVey
The most notorious figure in mofern Occultism, LaVey is a witch but he is a Satanist witch, which most Wiccan workers reject because Satanism is merrely an inversion of Christainity. LaVey works out of Los Angeles, has written the eminently sensible and highly witty The Satanist Bible and though she's not often credited, his relied a great deal on his wife Zeena for advice, guuidance and stylistic inspiration. A charismatic figure, he is a true self-made man. He also played the Devil in the Polanski film Rosemarry's Baby. LaVey started out, by the way, as a police photographer - his photographs are very good, indeed!
Gerald Gardner
An anthropologist and sociologist, Gardner was a student of witchcraft more than a true witch, but his profound interest in the craft and in its symbols and artefacts has contributed much to the revival. A member of a coven that prefers to remain secret, Gardner believed he had traced a pure line of the craft that predated the written word. A practising devotee, he wrote the book Witchcraft Today, a rambling and uncertain tome, but one that has many interesting tit-bits and tall tales, even if the style is sexist and pompous from time to time. His great advantage was his steady tone, which meant that rather than the amateur theatrics or devil-worshipping connotations of witchcraft, Gerald Gardner, being respected, actually bought respectability to the practice of the craft. He became the director of the Museum of Magic and Witchcraft, which he funded and established on the Isle of Man, in England. He must be remembered as the one who took the sensation out of the ordinary person's mind and made it safe for many witches to get that little bit closer to coming out of the closet.
Zsussana B. Budapest
Founded the feminist witchcraft movement and has no time for woman or witches who dont use their lives or their craft to fight for themselves. She is a powerful teacher who is very much into reclaiming the wild woman within and also is strident in terms of believing in women's artistic and political merit. She was born in Hungry about 56 years ago, and escaped that country as a refugee with her mother, a witch and sculptress. She studied in Austria and is now a resident of the United States, where she has written books about the craft and its ties to feminism. She is a much-needed and strong voice, openly ambisexual and a woman of vast energy and commitment. She is particularly skilled in spells, and is an urgent advocate of hexing, specifically for warding off sexuall harassment at work, among others. No lily-livered witch, she is a new warrior woman.
