Sexual Magic in Theory and Practice

A Class Taught by Dr Georgia van Raalte, hosted by Temple of Our Lady of the Abyss.


In this course we will embark on an exploration of the Mysteries of Eroticism and Embodiment. Rejecting the phallocentric approach to sexual Magic, this course foregrounds the experience and subjectivity of the Other. Classes will blend historical exploration, critical theory, practical experience with magic and personal gnosis.  Together we will make a series of psycho-erotic excavations, delving all the caves and crevices that are scattered across our shared erotic-esoteric landscape. 

 

This eight week class will explore the theory and practice of sexual magic in the modern world. Combining academic and practitioner-centric perspectives, this class will take an approach which is explicitly inclusive of women, queer communities, and people of colour.

Informed by theorists such as Georges Bataille, Michael Foucault, Julia Kristeva and Helene Cixous, as well as the magical work of Paschal Beverly Randolph, Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune and Austin Osman Spare, this class will probe the intricacies of sexual magic.  Each week we will explore a different aspect of sexual magic, examining it from a theoretical perspective as well as a practical one in order to deepen our understanding of what sex magic is, how it works, and how it manifests across a multiplicity of different bodies.

Together we will explore the the way that our ideas of magic, mysticism and god are inextricably entwined with our experiences of eroticism and sensuality, and propose new modes and practices for working with these nexus within the body. 

No previous knowledge or practice is assumed, and all are welcome.



Course Structure:

(Please note the course structure and content may be subject to change)

Week One: “The Great Work”

  • Esotericism, Esotericism and Initiation

  • Orgasm, Ejaculation, Creation

  • Imagination, Art, and the Power of Desire

Week Two: Theosexuality

  • Invocation, Evocation, God Forms

  • The Eroticism of Possession and Mediumship

  • Sex with Gods, Monsters and Angels

Week Three: “Hieros Gamos”

  • Polarity Magic in the Modern World

  • The Magical Child

  • The Fisher King and the Rituals of Sex

Week Four: The Holy Grail

  • The Magical Use of Sexual Fluids

  • Excretive Preoccupations

  • The Dark Goddess and the Mysteries of Sex

Week Five: The Chapel Perilous

  • Shame and Shamelessness in Sexual Magic

  • Sacrifice and the Little Death

  • Sexual Subjectivities and the Morality of Sex Magic

Week Six: Haunting Flesh

  • Incubi, Succubi and Sexual Hauntings

  • Magical Sado-Masochism

  • Trauma and Initiation

Week Seven: The Scarlet Woman

  • Sex Work is God’s Work

  • Glamour, Charisma, and the Mesmeric Arts

  • Sex, Magic and Liberation

Week Eight: Solitary Sex

  • The HGA and the Internal Erotic

  • Sigils, Egregores and Sublimations

  • The Erotic Potentials of Imaginal Worlds

Technicalities

The course will begin Tuesday 10th January, and classes will be held weekly via zoom (time TBC). Each week there will be one live class, which will last for two hours. This class will include a lecture portion and a discussion portion, where students can ask questions and share thoughts. These classes will be recorded for those who cannot attend the live event, or who wish to listen more than once. Each week students will receive an optional reading list and optional homework assignments. Students will also have access to a private facebook group to share thoughts, engage in discussions, and ask questions.

Please note that places in the course are strictly limited, however the course will be repeated in 2024. Click here to book your place in the 2023 cycle.

About Dr Georgia van Raalte

Georgia van Raalte completed her PhD at the University of Surrey, where she explored in the erotic, initiatory literature of Dion Fortune. She has an MA in Western Esotericism from the University of Amsterdam. As an academic she specializes in feminist explorations of esotericism and has a particular interest in the history of sexuality within western esotericism. She has lectured widely on topics such as Aleister Crowley’s sexual magick, Dion Fortune’s magical eroticism, and the female body in esotericism, and has published several articles on related topics. Her current research explores the impact of occult fiction on contemporary paganism.

Georgia van Raalte is also an esoteric practitioner and occult writer. She has published three books on mystical subjects and has performed public rituals and given lectures and classes on esoteric subjects across the globe. She is Priestess and Co-head of Temple of Our Lady of the Abyss, a contemporary magical Temple dedicated to the Goddess Babalon.