GLORIA MUNDI

A New History of Sex Magic

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


This eight week class will explore the history of sexual magic in the west, with a particular focus on the reception and use of sexual magic during the Occult Revival period. Taking an approach which is grounded in feminist, queer and postcolonial theories, this class will seek to draw out the complex relationships between gender, sexuality, history and esotericism.

To book your place in the 2023 cohort, please Click Here.

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.


Course Structure:

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

Week 1: Ancient Sex

  • Hierodules, Holy Whores, and some preliminary remarks on the history of sex

  • Fluidic fantasies: Baubo, Barbello and the Barborite Heresy

  • The Descent of the Goddess: The Myth of an Ancient Matriarcy

Week 2: Mediaeval Fantasies 

  • The Witch’s Sabbath, historiography, and feminine experience

  • The Arthurian Formula and the Secret of the Holy Grail

  • Alchemy and Sexual Magic

Week 3: Decadent Perversions

  • Berthe de Corrier and the Fantasy of the Witch Woman

  • Attempts on a Black Mass

  • The Substance of the Gods

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

Fees and Technicalities

The course will begin October 2023, and classes will be held weekly via zoom (time TBC). Each week there will be two live classes (distributed across time zones), which will each 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.

About Dr Georgia van Raalte

Georgia van Raalte is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Arts and Spirituality at Harvard Divinity School, where her research explores initiation, sexuality, and grail mythology. Georgia 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.

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.

FAQs

 

Why ‘Western’?

The division of forms of spirituality into ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ is deeply problematic, and nowhere more so than in the history of esotericism (See Allan and Roukema, “Time to drop the ‘Western’”). However, I have chosen to focus this course on explorations of sexual magic within western culture in order to a) distinguish western forms of sexual magic from the complex transmission history of tantric spiritualities in the west and b) increase awareness of the way that orientalism, colonialism and orientalist fetishism has influenced the development of sexual magic in colonizer nations across the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

Will there be a practical component to this course?

No, this course will be wholly academic in its approach to the material explored. However much of this material can be brought to bear on aspects of practice. In addition, I plan to launch a second course this coming winter which will be titled ‘Sexual Magic in Theory and Practice’, and which will involve a more practical approach to the subject.

Do I need to be an academic to take this course?

Absolutely not, though students will be expected to have some prior knowledge of esotericism. The course will be academically rigorous in its material and will include reading material and optional homework exercises.