Nightside of Eden
by Kenneth Grant
(Volume IV of the Typhonian Trilogies)
There exists a map of consciousness, with its light and dark byways, in the form of a qabalistic glyph known as the Tree of Life. It has its roots in the primal earth of Eden, but its branches extend into extra-terrestrial dimensions. This Tree, which is a familiar concept to mystics and magicians alike, has another side, a nightside which receives but passing mention in contemporary manuals of occultism; as if the ancient writings of the Arabs and Jews contained allusions to mere figures of speech and monstrous fancies.
Nightside of Eden interprets the symbolism of the Tree of Death, the ‘other’ side of the Tree of Life which forms the basis of the Western Occult Tradition. Kenneth Grant, whose Typhonian Trilogies have infused new life and meaning into ancient and forgotten mysteries, here provides an exhaustive survey of the other side of the Tree, haunted by dark forces that are today seeping insidiously into human consciousness and threatening it with violent disruption. The creative magical current represented by Aleister Crowley, Charles Stansfeld Jones, Austin Osman Spare, and in our day by Michael Bertiaux, Margaret Cook, and others, is here traced to its source in the formless voids beyond the threshold of mentation.
Nightside of Eden is an explication of the Cult of Choronzon and an initiated exposition of the Mysteries of the Left-Hand Path in relation to Western Occultism. Here, for the first time, the head of a genuine Magical Organization reveals the esoteric doctrines of the ‘black’ magic of the Left-Hand Path, as well as the practical application of psycho-sexual formulae of which very little is generally known.
The book is illustrated not only with the demonic sigils of the ‘other side’, which make of it a grimoire of the Dark Doctrine, but also by curious works of siderealism, or stellar art, sprung from the New Aeon consciousness which permeates those occult Orders working in harmony with the Typhonian Tradition.
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Table of Contents
Author’s Foreword
Part One: Trees of Eternity
Introduction
1. The Place of the Cross
2. Qabalah of the Primal Gnosis
3. The Light that is Not
4. The Door of Death
5. Beyond the Pylon of the Pit
6. Typhonian Teratomas
7. Idols of Merodach
8. The Divine Ape
9. The Negative Way
10. Adumbrations of Maat
11. The Vulture’s Mouth
12. Typhonian Totems of the Tantras
Part Two: The Tunnels of Set
Introduction
1. Amprodias
2. Baratchial
3. Gargophias
4. Dagdagiel
5. Hemethterith
6. Uriens
7. Zamradiel
8. Characith
9. Temphioth
10. Yamatu
11. Kurgasiax
12. Lafcursiax
13. Malkunofat
14. Niantiel
15. Saksaksalim
16. A’ano’nin
17. Parfaxitas
18. Tzuflifu
19. Qulielfi
20. Raflifu
21. Shalicu
22. Thantifaxath
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Afterword
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Cover artwork and design by Steffi Grant.
20-page centre section of colour and half-tone plates.
Hardcover Edition
320 pages. Black-cloth hardcover, sewn-bound, octavo format. Printed on high-quality paper, with illustrated endpapers. Full colour dustjacket, half-tone frontispiece.
ISBN: 978-1-906073-20-6
Paperback Edition
320 pages. Printed on high-quality paper and sewn-bound in a full colour printed cover. Half-tone frontispiece.
ISBN: 978-1-906073-47-3
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About the Typhonian Trilogies
The Typhonian Trilogies consist of nine volumes, spread across thirty years, from the first, The Magical Revival, in 1972, to the final, The Ninth Arch, published in 2002. Although each volume is complete in itself, taken in series they represent a developing body of work.
A beautifully-written and in-depth account of the development of the Trilogies, situated within the context of Kenneth Grant’s development as an occultist can be found here: The Typhonian Trilogies - Starfire Publishing Ltd. This account was written by Michael Staley, longtime friend and confidant of Kenneth and Steffi Grant, and the founder of Starfire Publishing. Through his publishing imprint, Michael is the custodian and continuation of the Grants’ legacy by making their irreplaceable work available to a contemporary audience.
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About the Author
The late Kenneth Grant (1924 – 2011) was an English occultist, poet, novelist, and writer. He was the head of several important Thelemic orders and the author of the influential Typhonian Trilogies series.
When Aleister Crowley died in 1947, Kenneth Grant became heir apparent of the esoteric magical order Ordo Templis Orientis (OTO). Alongside his artist wife Steffi, Grant was one of few to attend Crowley's funeral service, becoming the last living link with "the Beast", whose work he championed, nurtured and refined for over six decades. From his New Isis Lodge, established in London in 1955, through to his final organisational vehicle, the Typhonian Order, Grant's occult credentials are without parallel.
Grant’s own brand of occultism was a fusion of science, fantasy and metaphysics, through which he offered a radical decoding of Crowley, the artist Austin Osman Spare and the author H.P. Lovecraft, alongside healthy doses of astral projection. Grant's writings and teachings have proved a significant influence over other currents of occultism, including chaos magic, the Temple of Set, and the Dragon Rouge. They also attracted academic interest within the study of Western esotericism, particularly from Henrik Bogdan and Dave Evans.
