The aim of this article is to advance knowledge on how mindfulness and meditation are understood in the educational system, an important yet under-explored context for these phenomena in Sweden and internationally. This is done by means of an exploratory and qualitative study of how mindfulness and meditation are constructed in Swedish textbooks for Religious Education (RE) and Physical...
Abstract This editorial introduction provides a biographical overview of the life of Leah Hirsig, a Swiss-American schoolteacher, occultist and, during the 1920s, lover and follower of the prominent British occultist Aleister Crowley. Hirsig’s involvement in Crowley’s religion, Thelema, is traced, from her initial meeting with Crowley in 1918–1919 until her departure from the movement in...
Abstract The article analyzes four works of poetry and illustration produced by the artist, poet, and occultist Marjorie Cameron (1922–1995) in the 1950s and 1960s. Widow of rocket scientist and occultist John “Jack” Whiteside Parsons (1914–1952), an early follower of Aleister Crowley’s (1875–1947) religion Thelema, Cameron was also a friend and collaborator of Beat artist Wallace Berman...
Abstract The study analyzes constructions of femininity and feminine sexuality in interpretations of the goddess Babalon, a central deity in the British occultist Aleister Crowley’s (1875–1947) religion Thelema. Babalon is based on Crowley’s positive reinterpretation of the biblical Whore of Babylon and symbolizes liberated female sexuality and the spiritual modality of passionate union with...
Abstract This chapter sets the scene for the study by briefly introducing some of its core contents and defining the aim of the book: to analyze constructions of femininity and feminine sexuality in interpretations of the goddess Babalon from the fin-de-siècle until today. The chapter presents Babalon and her origins in the writings of the British occultist Aleister Crowley and establishes the...
Abstract This chapter analyzes how contemporary esotericists conceptualize Babalon as a challenge to hegemonic perceptions of femininity. As highlighted in previous chapters, the 1990s onward has witnessed increasing gender-critical awareness in the esoteric milieu. Present-day esotericists connect Babalon to assertiveness, liberated sexuality, sexual aggression, and dominance, thus presenting...
Santa Muerte is establishing a presence among practitioners of contemporary occultism in Europe and North America. The occult milieu is highly different from the Mexican cult of Santa Muerte, having a strong heritage of secrecy and tradition as social capital and being mostly middle-class in orientation. Nonetheless, this Catholic folk saint with a mostly pragmatic, popular, and grassroots cult...