The Magical Revival
by Kenneth Grant
(Volume I of the Typhonian Trilogies)
When the original manuscript of this book was submitted for publication, Kenneth Grant was told he had provided “too much material for one book”. This proved to be correct. The work here presented – in an enhanced edition – became the first volume of three Trilogies. It provides a detailed analysis of certain occult traditions which existed long before the Christian epoch, survived its persecutions and anathemas, and reappeared in recent times with renewed vigour.
The continuity of this magical current as reflected in the work of Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman Spare, Dion Fortune and others is here traced through the Tantrik Tradition of the Far East, the Sumerian Cult of Shaitan and the Draconian, Sabian, or Typhonian rites of the 'dark' dynasties of ancient Egypt.
Sexual magick and mysterious rites have always been practised; drugs and other substances have constantly been used to induce ecstasy, to produce visions and to facilitate traffic with the denizens of other worlds or planes of consciousness; but an initiated rationale of the process such as presented here has been rarely forthcoming.
The genuine magical tradition as revived by Adepts like Crowley is here related to its ancient sources and brought into line with phases of contemporary occultism that are evolving a New Gnosis to supersede the sterile superstitions bred of an aeon-long misunderstanding of the old. As a contribution to occult lore, The Magical Revival and its companion volumes have become standard source-books in their special field.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Return of the Phoenix
2. Metaphysical Bases of Sexual Magick
3. Dark Dynasties
4. Centres of Power
5. Drugs and the Occult
6. Barbarous names of Evocation
7. Star Fire
8. Blood, Vampirism, Death and Moon Magick
9. Strayed Gods
10. Dion Fortune
11. Austin Osman Spare and the Zos Kia Cultus
12. The Death Posture and the New Sexuality
13. Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
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Cover artwork and design by Steffi Grant.
16-page centre section of colour and half-tone plates.
Hardcover Edition - CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT
Paperback Edition
276 pages. Printed on high-quality paper and sewn-bound in a full colour printed cover. Half-tone frontispiece.
ISBN: 978-1-906073-43-5
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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.
