Åpne denne publikasjonen i ny fane eller vindu >>2023 (engelsk)Inngår i: International Theosophical History Conference 2023, "The Reception of Egypt and the Ancients in Theosophy and Related Esoteric Currents", Alexandria, Egypten, 13–14 oktober 2023., 2023Konferansepaper, Oral presentation only (Annet vitenskapelig)
Abstract [en]
This paper analyses the reception of Egyptian antiquity in the central sacred text of the religion Thelema, founded by the British occultist Aleister Crowley. In spring 1904, Crowley was sojourning in Cairo when his wife Rose surprised him by channeling a message from the god Horus. At Crowley’s behest, Rose substantiated her revelation by leading Crowley to an offertory tablet in the Boulaq museum, showing a Theban priest presenting offerings to the god Ra-Horakhty (a melding of Horus and Ra) alongside the goddess Nut and the winged solar disk (Horus Behdety/Horus of Edfu). On April 8–10, Crowley then transcribed a revealed text: The Book of the Law. Proclaiming the advent of a new aeon, which Crowley later called the Aeon of Horus, the text comprises three chapters, ascribed, respectively, to the deities Nuit, Hadit, and Ra-Hoor- Khuit. Contrary to ancient Egyptian cosmologies, The Book of the Law posits an erotic, dialectical ontology whereby the ecstatic union of Nuit (the Thelemic cosmic feminine principle) and Hadit (the masculine principle) gives rise to Ra-Hoor-Khuit, identified with the liberating energies of the new aeon. In this paper, I will highlight the gendered connotations of Egyptological reception in The Book of the Law.
Emneord
esotericism; gender; Thelema; Aleister Crowley; Egyptosophy
HSV kategori
Identifikatorer
urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-63211 (URN)
Konferanse
International Theosophical History Conference 2023, "The Reception of Egypt and the Ancients in Theosophy and Related Esoteric Currents".
2023-10-222023-10-222024-08-30bibliografisk kontrollert