I am just now catching up on two works by prolific occult historian Tobias Churton: Occult Paris and Aleister Crowley in America. Having long been an admirer of Churton’s work—his Gnostic Philosophy and Invisible History of the Rosicrucians are important contributions to the field—I was looking forward to these two volumes making it to the top of my reading pile. With well over a thousand pages between them, it did take a bit to find a time block to devote to them (Occult Paris came out in late 2016!). The two books actually dovetail well. The first of Crowley’s three sojourns in the Americas was in 1900 coming straight out of the occult revivals and dramas of the fin de siècle.
The second half of the 19th century was marked by a dramatic resurgence in occultism and experimental spirituality. The rise of interests was the more fascinating as it spread across all the diverse artistic disciplines from philosophy to visual arts to literature to music. Paris during the Belle Époque (1871-1914) was at the absolute epicenter of this occultural conflagration. In Occult Paris: the Lost Magic of the Belle Époque, Churton provides a most detailed and complete history of this fascinating period. During the fin de siècle, Paris was a hot bed for occult philosophy where Theosophists, Rosicrucians, Martinists, Freemasons, Gnostics, and neo-Cathars all rubbed shoulders (and traded initiations) in numerous salons.
Churton looks at the well known occultists of the time and how their work interplayed: Joséphin Peladan, Papus (Gérard Encausse), Stanislas de Guaïta and Jules Doinel. Churton also brings us the lesser known figures Saint Yve d’Alveydre, Paul Sédir, Charles Barlet, Edmond Bailly, Albert Jounet, and Lady Caithness. Peladan, of course, founded the Salon de la Rose+Croix to showcase the work of artists aligned with the philosophy of his Order of the same name. Prominent among those exhibiting in the inaugural Salon was Fernand Khnopff. Composer Erik Satie wrote several pieces for Peladan’s Rose+Croix. Churton details how this magical mix of the Montmartre neighborhood influenced the emerging masters of early modernity the composer Claude Debussy, the writers Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire, and painters Georges Seurat and Alphonse Osbert.
Paris of the 1890s set the ethos for the subsequent rise of occultism and occulture in the latter half of the 20th century. In a more direct fashion, the travels of the British magician Aleister Crowley sowed the seeds that would germinate over time into the rise of American occultism in mid century.
Following up on his examination of Crowley’s period in Germany The Beast in Berlin, Churton turns his deeply diving attention to the Master Therion’s time in the New Worls—Aleister Crowley in America. Aleister Crowley made three trips to the United States. The first in 1900 and the longest being the period across the years of the Great War. This five year stay is a fascinating period in Crowley’s story and Churton explores it in minute detail. During this time, he was prolific, conducted experimental magical workings, suffered deprivations, and authored preposterous pro-German propaganda.
Over the course of 700+ pages, Churton provides the detailed story of Crowley’s New World travels: his magical experiments, interactions with literary notables, sexual exploits, and spiritual retreats. In addition, there is a detailed analysis of Crowley’s “pro-German” political writing. Was it simply work for hire as Crowley needed the money, or was he in actuality a British agent set to subvert the German influence campaign to keep America out of the war?
The tales Churton weaves are replete with no shortage of writers, artists, spies, reprobates, and whores. What was Crowley’s connection to the sinking of the Lusitania?
Churton also examines the influence Crowley’s trip would have at seeding the occult flowering that would bloom in ironically divergent ways: the Psychedlic 60s and L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology. He provides a history of 20th century American occultism with an eye on Crowley’s influence over the century and the continent.
As one would expect from Churton, both books are well written, deeply researched, and a joy to read.