https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays daily 0.75 2025-04-18 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/bodies-bodies-bodies monthly 0.5 2025-04-18 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/0w19xya4r7z7ya2r25d0bshl9nvi8p monthly 0.5 2023-07-18 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/bodyofgod monthly 0.5 2023-05-09 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/whose-gnosis-is-it-anyway monthly 0.5 2022-03-15 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/babalon-aesthetic monthly 0.5 2022-03-15 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/babalonthemother monthly 0.5 2022-03-11 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/babalonisall monthly 0.5 2022-03-11 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/essays/wehavealwaysbeenfalling monthly 0.5 2022-03-11 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/home daily 1.0 2023-06-14 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/publications daily 0.75 2025-04-30 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/contact daily 0.75 2020-11-16 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/aboutme daily 0.75 2023-10-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/7adda235-39b8-4c4d-9549-6d74a3aaa906/352163455_798858788533678_9172421921365241258_n.jpg About Me - Dr Georgia van Raalte an academic researcher whose research focuses on occult and esoteric literature, contemporary magical practice, and the intersections of magic and sexuality. She is an esoteric theologian and the author of Approaching Babalon: Essays for the Abyss. She is a poet and an artist as well as a witch, magician, and a pagan Priestess. Her academic research, artistic practice, and magical work are all concerned with initiation: with mystical, literary, and artistic provocations of transcendence, and the personal, social, and cultural transformations that are catalyzed thereby. https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/the-history-of-sexual-magic daily 0.75 2023-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/144905d8-3191-424f-a240-19177d76add7/275842591_1107490503372600_1673727424567898150_n.jpg The History of Sexual Magic Each week we will explore a different manifestation of sexual magic, examining it from both a historical perspective and a critical theoretical one in order to deepen our understanding of what sexual magic is and how it works. Together we will seek to unravel some of the key methodological problems within the study of esotericism, including the use and value of emic vs etic knowledge, the use (and abuse) of the spectre of feminism, and the construction of mythic Others, whether gendered or geographical. We will explore questions such as, why is sex such a central aspect of heterodox spirituality? Why is the symbology of gender difference such a central aspect of esoteric discourse? And what can sexual magic tell us about the nature of sex, gender difference, and god? After finishing this class you will have a thorough understanding of the history of sexual magic in the west and the historiographical and theoretical issues around this subject. You will understand the ways that feminist, postcolonial and queer theories can be brought into the history of esotericism in order to better illuminate this hidden tradition. You will also have a deeper understanding of how magical sexuality can be used, adapted and explored in the contemporary world, as well as the pitfalls and problems to be aware of. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/dc57de22-e5cf-4a18-9b80-a85992148c9c/277373973_4337276183042545_4580647713196821459_n.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/4e0fb68b-7317-46a2-b45a-f22c9049b540/277359594_1405312563253800_3014570629096461070_n.jpg The History of Sexual Magic Week 4: Aleister Crowley Sex Magick in Theory and Practice The Great Work, The Ninth Degree, and the Formula of the Gnostic Mass Erotic Destruction and Babalon Week 5: Postcolonial Perspectives Crowley in the Desert Orientalism and the Holy Whore Tantra in the Western Contex Week 6: Dion Fortune The Doctrine of Polarity The Circuit of Force Eroticism and Initiation Week 7: Small Gods Austin Osman Spare and Sigil Magic Ida Craddock’s Heavenly Lover Maria de Naglowska and Paschal Beverly Randolph’s Magia Sexualis Week 8: Feminist Sex Magic The Nature of Difference Aesthetics, Eroticism and Power Symbols of Divinity https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/sexual-magic-in-theory-and-practice daily 0.75 2022-10-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/13c578a9-7357-49b5-ac1c-173014be0031/690px-Witch%27s_Sabbath_%28Sabbat%29_MET_DP808094.jpg Sexual Magic in Theory and Practice 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/0a0523d2-ea96-44c8-99cd-bf1c0d60b113/colquhoun1_465_737_int.jpg Sexual Magic in Theory and Practice 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 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/ad3d1a2f-9474-4567-976e-a46cf2d5556c/d49905521d3e98b655fc3b68469d0c52.jpg Sexual Magic in Theory and Practice 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 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/store daily 0.75 2022-10-05 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/store/p/gloria-mundi-a-new-history-of-sex-magic monthly 0.5 2023-07-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4d5df1378d637cba3ce59c/144905d8-3191-424f-a240-19177d76add7/275842591_1107490503372600_1673727424567898150_n.jpg Store - Gloria Mundi: A New History of Sex Magic https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/store/p/sexual-magic-in-theory-and-practice monthly 0.5 2022-10-05 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/store-1 daily 0.75 2022-10-18 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/store-1/p/style-03-g2rtt-8yagt monthly 0.5 2022-07-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1603995400336-KDBQV5GIMQCNOVKCTZ3K/acc_3-Detail.jpg Store 1 - Style 03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278648406-JDR1L8KCOJ1K1V45D77K/acc_3-A.jpeg Store 1 - Style 03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278654563-GL7D0APCL12LON507K1U/acc_3-B.jpeg Store 1 - Style 03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278660689-MQSSAE19PQBKJ52TXO6S/acc_3-C.jpeg Store 1 - Style 03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278668020-6T52KYIESVTRQZVCURQA/acc_3-D.jpeg Store 1 - Style 03 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/store-1/p/style-02-hxmaf-j7p8b monthly 0.5 2022-07-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1603995083204-2LAEQFW6874J4KQ58WBY/acc_2-Detail.jpg Store 1 - Style 02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278416100-QZN62VBHRIMO8YO6PP66/acc_2-C.jpeg Store 1 - Style 02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278422195-X2XDZN873M23GKMZ38CH/acc_2-D.jpeg Store 1 - Style 02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278428544-KR5KLTNI3GK2U08MQETQ/acc_2-A.jpeg Store 1 - Style 02 https://www.georgiavanraalte.com/store-1/p/style-01-ej5na-azzxc monthly 0.5 2022-07-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1603994731437-KTTMR9VGPR43KG9VKXXR/acc_1-Detail.jpg Store 1 - Style 01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658277820692-JFZDGPMLNJIZ0A694HA8/acc_1-A.jpeg Store 1 - Style 01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658277933525-6Q5Q7MECPC2EQOOFHDAJ/acc_1-D.jpeg Store 1 - Style 01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658277987657-8D4FK0RSGLVHOFJ58MKD/acc_1-B.jpeg Store 1 - Style 01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec321c2af33de48734cc929/1658278042407-106IVCJ9CJFSOMJ3UCKM/acc_1-C.jpeg Store 1 - Style 01