To Him the Winged Secret Flame, To Her the Stooping Starlight: The Social Construction of Gender in Contemporary Ordo Templi Orientis
2013 (English)In: The Pomegranate, ISSN 1528-0268, E-ISSN 1743-1735, Vol. 15, no 1-2, p. 102-121Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Based on fieldwork in the United States, the article analyses the social construction of gender in contemporary OTO. The article addresses an important and often neglected area of study in research on Western esotericism, and discusses how the notion of binary gender is both created and challenged in interactions between OTO members. Thelemic divinity as presented in Liber AL is envisioned as consisting of a divine father, Hadit, mother Nuit, and Ra-Hoor-Khuit, their divine offspring. Despite the gender polarity constructed thus, contemporary OTO members stretch the boundaries of binary gender through a plethora of deities, personal gender performances and acceptance of different sexual orientations and lifestyles. The creativity and innovation of contemporary OTO members' gender constructions demonstrates the necessity of greater methodological diversity in research on Western esotericism, in order to allow an understanding of esoteric traditions as lived religions.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Equinox Publishing, 2013. Vol. 15, no 1-2, p. 102-121
Keywords [en]
Aleister Crowley, gender, Judith Butler, sexuality, Thelema, Western esotericism
National Category
History of Religions Religious Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-51730DOI: 10.1558/pome.v15i1-2.102ISI: 000340998400007OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-51730DiVA, id: diva2:1661761
2022-05-302022-05-302022-12-08Bibliographically approved