The Dark Lord
H.P. Lovecraft, Kenneth Grant and the Typhonian Tradition in Magic
by Peter Levenda
One of the most famous - yet least understood - manifestations of Thelemic thought has been the works of Kenneth Grant, the British occultist and one-time intimate of Aleister Crowley, who discovered a hidden world within the primary source materials of Crowley's Aeon of Horus. Using complementary texts from such disparate authors as H.P. Lovecraft, Jack Parsons, Austin Osman Spare, and Charles Stansfeld Jones ("Frater Achad"), Grant formulated a system of magic which expanded upon that delineated in the rituals of the OTO: a system that included elements of Tantra, of Voudon, and in particular that of the Schlangekraft recension of the Necronomicon, all woven together in a dark tapestry of power and illumination.
The Dark Lord follows the themes in the writings of Kenneth Grant, H.P. Lovecraft, and the Necronomicon, uncovering further meanings of the concepts of the famous writers of the Left Hand Path. It is for Thelemites, as well as lovers of the Lovecraft Mythos in all its forms, and for those who find the rituals of classical ceremonial magic inadequate for the New Aeon.
Traveling through the worlds of religion, literature, and the occult, Peter Levenda takes his readers on a deeply fascinating exploration on magic, evil, and The Dark Lord as he investigates of one of the most neglected theses in the history of modern occultism: the nature of the Typhonian Current and its relationship to Aleister Crowley's Thelema and H.P. Lovecraft's Necronomicon.
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Table of Contents
Preface: Dancing with the Dark Lord
Introduction: The Beast in the Cave
Chapter One: Strange Aeons
Chapter Two: Gods, The Beast, and Men
Chapter Three: Unspeakable Cults
Chapter Four: The Necronomicon Gnosis
Chapter Five: Sons of God, Daughters of Men
Chapter Six: The Mauve Zone
Chapter Seven: The Dark Lord
Appendix: Kalas, Tithis, and Nityas
Glossary of Terms
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Hardcover Edition
352 pages. Black cloth hardcover, with silver foiling on spine. Glossy printed dustjacket.
ISBN: 9780892542079
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“This is a work of heresy, a book meant to challenge. What else would the reader expect from that Dark Lord who inhabits the most primal and hidden depths of the unconscious? For hie is the Lord of the Shadow Realm, the Enemy, the Other. He inhabits the undiscovered territory which must be charted and mapped by any who wish to consider themselves worthy explorers of the psyche.”
James Wasserman, author of In the Center of the Fire and The Temple of Solomon
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About the Author
Peter Levenda is an author, lecturer and occult historian. His esoteric titles include The Dark Lord, Tantric Temples, and The Tantric Alchemist. His histories include The Hitler Legacy and Ratline. Levenda has appeared as an expert on Nazi occultism and strange science on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, the Science Channel, and TNT. He is or was a member of MENSA, of the American Academy of Religion, of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, of the Norman Mailer Society, and the T. E. Lawrence Society.
