Tag Archives: Typhonian

The Typhonian Tradition is not an ancient cult but a modern one based on the writings of orientalist Kenneth Grant. Aleister Crowley’s Liber 231 was the subject of his book Nightside of Eden and thereafter the ‘Nightside Narrative’. Grant called the inverse paths or Qliphoth the Tunnels of Set, and this became a central part of what is called the Typhonian Tradition. However, while there was a Setian Gnosis within Hermeticism and a cult of Set in ancient Egypt that could be called ‘Typhonian’, a tradition cannot be self-invented.

Liber 231 is attributed to Crowley; however, the latter is known for his plagiarisation of the work of others so we cannot know for sure. Liber 231 is no more than a list of names with brief descriptions and small drawings, presumably by Crowley. In the ferment of Grant’s macabre imagining, this was expanded into the twenty-chapters of the second section of Nightside of Eden. Grant was exclusively interested in the qliphotic aspect of the paths of the Qabalistic Tree of Life.

What is perhaps unique to Western occultism, or was once unique at least, as the Western mentality has now become ‘global’, is the inversion of symbolism so that the higher or spiritual meaning is lost altogether, or as is very often the case, deliberately denied. Grant was candid in admitting that he had no knowledge of, or even any interest in, any spiritual path whatsoever, or in any kind of teaching. For example, the purpose of his book At the Feet of the Guru was to deal exclusively with supernatural phenomena produced by notorious gurus. The main subject of interest was in magical tricks and ‘extraordinary’ manifestations—something that always fascinates neo-spiritualists. In some ways it might be said that he used similar devices in his writing, deluding his followers with the ambiguous inversion of all traditional symbolism gathered from a wide variety of sources, along with extensive elements of fantasy produced from his own imagination or from the writing of others, whether fiction or non-fiction.

Using the terms of Advaita Vedanta, Grant made it appear as though the Supreme Realisation of the Self as Brahma, as taught by Shankaracharya for example, could be obtained by conjurations of demonic forces, with the added assistance of sexual magick and voyeuristic onanism. It may seem surprising but many persons have been taken in by this subterfuge, to the extent they even think that Grant was a kind of ‘teacher’ or guru in his own right—something that he would have laughed at and mocked, since he never pretended to be any such thing! Grant could, perhaps, be considered as one of the first postmodern occultists, with whom there is no truth but ‘what you make of it’.

Adapted from Thirty-two paths of Wisdom [Ordo Astri].

Hermetic and Rosicrucian

Hermetic and Rosicrucian Studies: Books on operational Magick, Ritual and Thelema. Including Astrology and Tarot Divination.

For books on advanced metaphysical studies and Raja Yoga, click here (opens a new page).

Hermetic Qabalah Foundation—Complete Course
Revised 2024

Studies: Hermetic Qabalah Foundation—Complete CourseYour studies in Hermetic Qabalah should start here! Herein is the key to spiritual alchemy, magick and yoga: the Tree of Life is seeded in the astrosome of the magician so the rituals and practices are a gateway to true knowledge. Awakening the Serpent Power allows the development of possibilities required to transcend the perceptions of the mind and realise true knowledge. The Angel or supranatural power of divinity can assist in the conscious return to the Garden of Eden. The Qabalah is the basis for meditation, magick, astrology and tarot, including the art of gematria, talismans, invocation and evocation, the pentagram and hexagram and symbolic weapons. All this is seamlessly integrated with the one-year practical coursework through ritual meditation. Preliminary work includes the Wisdom of Breath, Ritual Sonics, Assumption of the Godform and a variant form of the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram. The student then moves, step-by-step, towards creation of an astral double by which the individual possibilities are extended.

Format: trade paperback; perfect binding (6” x 9”)
Order the book here.

Studies: Hermetic Astrology
Revised and Extended (2024)

Studies: Hermetic AstrologyYour studies in astrology should start here! The hieroglyphs of the stars are the flaming runes of knowledge that were written in the sky aeons before any human hand cut a stroke with a stylus. The primary aim of this book is to explain astrology in a simple and concise way. The veriest beginner will quickly gain an understanding of their natal horoscope, while those already well-versed in the subject will find here magical applications for the art that do not appear in other books on astrology. This will be very welcome to those who wish to find a key to astrology and even occultism, without psychologisation or meaningless jargon. The intelligent enthusiast has no need for number-crunching arithmetic or reliance on computers for interpretation. Here in one small book is a complete ‘teach yourself’ course in astrology covering chart interpretation, the dignities of signs, houses and planets, aspects and astrological timing. Knowledge includes the Part of Fortune, the Dragon Stars or Nodes of the Moon and Sexual Magick, the Egyptian Ka or double, the Holy Guardian Angel, Evil Genius, Outer Gateways, use of Tarot cards and the natal chart as a Master Key of Life.

Standard perfect bound paperback: view/order from the author’s website here.

Hardbound edition: Linen wrap, blue boards, with endpapers and gold folio stamp on the spine. Order from the author’s website here.

Magical Theurgy—Rituals of the Tarot
Revised 2024

Studies: Magical Theurgy—Rituals of the TarotMagical Theurgy is a powerfully compelling grimoire of modern and traditional magick, and comprises a course in ritual magick and Tarot. The book gives the elemental mudras or Godforms and a meditation method, plus simple and advanced magical rituals. Hermetic Tantra-yoga serves as an excellent means of awakening power for those familiar with the Western Mystery Tradition, and who wish to take their knowledge further. The book includes a guide on how to make and charge talismans with illustrations of the Magic Squares (or Kameas) and sigils of planetary spirits. Everything needed by the magician is here placed under one cover including Solomonic magick and planetary hours. The tables of Qabalistic correspondences are inclusive of magical powers, potencies, colours, perfumes, magical weapons, plants, gems, legendary creatures and the vices and virtues. Tarot divination is the means of opening and extending lines of communication between the temporal and the supernatural worlds. A complete method is given here. The core of this book is the Grand Tarot Operation, a thirty-day theurgic operation.

The book’s cover art shown here is from the hardbound edition. The paperback edition has the same design but on a white background.

Standard perfect bound paperback (white cover): Order from the author’s website here.

Hardbound edition (black cover): Linen wrap, blue boards, with endpapers and gold folio stamp on the spine. Order from the author’s website here.

Studies: The Mystic Tarot
and the Trees of Eternity (Revised 2024)

Studies: Mystic Tarot and the Trees of EternityMuch of this book is from the diary record of the author—an adventurous magician that flits owl-like through the twilight realms of sorcery only to reappear as the soaring falcon of spiritual light. Each of the twenty-two chapters is divided into two sections, Light-path and Night-path, and is headed by a commentary on the relevant text from the Sepher Yetzirah. The methods include Theurgic, Goetic and Enochian magick. The narrative is anchored through earth location, in this case the ‘Island’ promontory on the West Penwith Peninsula. The book thus has a distinctly elemental nature, reflective of changing weather and seasons. Various themes are woven together, one of which reveals what it was like to work as an Initiate of Kenneth Grant’s Typhonian Order. The culmination is a magical battle between sorcerers. The experiential account is nonetheless accurate to the last detail; the events in the so-called real world mirror the interior worlds of spiritual and magical working.

Standard perfect bound paperback (purple cover): Order from the author’s website here.

Hardbound edition (black cover): Linen wrap, blue boards, with endpapers and gold folio stamp on the spine. Order from the author’s website here.

Books: Ritual Magick—Initiation of the Star and Snake
Revised 2024

Studies: Ritual Magick—Initiation of the Star and SnakeStudies in ceremonial and ritual magick. The rituals and methods given in this book are drawn from the legacy of the Hermetic Order of the Star and Snake. It is a complete magical system of initiatic grades or degrees, brought to the highest level. Our ritual mandala objectifies the Cosmic Serpent. The winding snakes of the Caduceus are the dual expression of the Occult Force. The lunar and solar forces are invoked simultaneously to raise consciousness in the central column. We orient to the stellar North, the place of greatest power. It marks the ‘imperishable’ or immortal constellations that circle the Polar Axis. In the ritual circle, the North is a gateway for manifestation of the invoked forces of the operation. The sounding of eleven knocks or knells for us signifies the perfect harmonisation of the macrocosm, the ‘six’, and the microcosm, the ‘five’.

Read more...

Subjects include the Eight Limbs of Yoga, the Circle of the Place, Mudras or signs of the grades, Ritual of the Gates of Babalon, formulation of the Magical Name, Opening and Closing the Temple, Star and Snake Tantra-yoga, (revised) Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram, Rising on the Planes, Skrying and Clairvoyance, Consecration of Talismans, the Egyptian Mass, Ritual for Psychic Self-defence, the Holy Guardian Angel, Ritual of the Rosy Cross, Consecration of the Magical Sword, Goetic Evocation, the Ceremony of the Watchtowers and Enochian Magick.

Format: trade paperback; perfect binding (6” x 9”); 284 pages in total.
Order the book here.

Babalon Unveiled! Thelemic Monographs
Second Revised Edition (2023)

Books: Babalon Unveiled! Thelemic Monographs Cover ArtStudies on Thelema. Second Edition Revised (8th April 2023): Here is the definitive work on Thelema, magick and the key role of the Shakti. ‘Lapis Philosophorum’ redefines Thelema, liberating it from the accretions of modern and postmodernist obfuscation.

‘Babalon Unveiled’ is the title piece of this collection and is one of seven related studies on the mystery of the Goddess in her various names and forms, including that of the Scarlet Woman. Each shows an aspect of her oracular voice as it has been heard and recorded down the ages. ‘Angels of Sacred Dance, Love and Whoredom’ examines how the divine feminine of pre-religious antiquity was demonised, resulting in the host of ‘fallen angels’ whose identity is yet preserved in traditional texts. The book is dedicated to the memory of Rose Edith Kelly, otherwise known as Rose Crowley or Ouarda the Seer. Rose was the medium for the transmission activated through the Stele of Revealing in the Cairo museum in 1904.

Format: 6 x 9 hardcover, dustjacket; blue linen boards; gold foil stamp lettering on spine; white end papers, 168 pages in all.

Order book from the author’s website here.
Read an article from the Second Edition here.

Dreaming Thelema and Magical Art

Studies: Dreaming Thelema and Magical ArtStudies on Surrealism in magick and the occult. Comprises two books under one cover. Both volumes presented here comprise a Qabalistic tour de force. Surrealism has always embraced magick. Surrealist automatism owes nothing to traditional sciences but a good deal to the methods of spiritism and occultism. We here present a republication of two of our earlier books, Magical Art and Dreaming Thelema (2016), printed on full colour pages as they both feature artwork. They have been completely re-written from a metaphysical point of view—for that is something entirely absent in both academic and neo-spiritualist works. In some respects, Magical Art is a vindication of the work of the English scholar and poet Thomas De Quincey and his Confessions of an English Opium Eater. It also features the work of English Surrealist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun. The second book concerns the doomladen cosmic vision of H.P. Lovecraft, for it is central to the ideas expressed in the topsy-turvy world of orientalist Kenneth Grant, which are here subjected to rigorous intellectual scrutiny—as is the work of Aleister Crowley. Thelema is explained from a metaphysical perspective. The book includes 17 original Surrealist paintings.

This luxurious book is hardcover, linen wrap, with endpapers and gold folio stamp on the spine. It comprises 140 pages in all on premium 80# white coated photographic paper and is fully illustrated throughout.

Order hardcover book from the author’s website at Lulu here.

Liber 373 Astrum Draconis (Revised 2024)

Liber 373 Astrum DraconisStudies in the art of magical invocation. The Way of the Dragon Star: True sight is the perception of that which is invisible to men. Thus do we Awaken from the Dream of Life to the Life in Spirit! This book comprises a unique course in magick that includes knowledge lectures, invocation, rituals, yoga and meditation. The book embraces a special form of devotional (bhakti) yoga, which combines our methods of kriya yoga and devotion to the Shakti with classical Hermetic or occult philosophy, including the invocation of celestial supra-human intelligences for the purpose of obtaining knowledge. Our work is to reach out to the stars. This does not in any way deny the importance of sending roots down into the earth upon which our physical shells have their being. Working with the shape, form and invisible spirit of the place where we live is a key principle in the Tantrik arts. So far as the ‘locality’ of deities is concerned, as we can reach out to any star in the cosmos so we must extend our reach to every corner of the globe.

Standard perfect bound paperback: Order from the author’s website at Lulu here.

The Phoenix and other Stellar Rites of Initiation
Revised 2024

Continue reading →

About the Author

Oliver St. John has dedicated his life to the seeking out of spiritual truth and knowledge. The quest began with the theory and practice of magick and the occult, including related sciences of Tarot, Qabalah, ritual, astrology and divination. More lately, he has applied the metaphysics of Advaita Vedanta to construe the doctrinal knowledge of all traditions. This includes an adaptation of Raja Yoga that does not denature, reduce or over-simplify it. This is essential to preserving initiatic possibilities. It also provides a means of transcending the limitations imposed through the over-reliance on psychism that typifies occultism and neo-spiritualism.

St. John has written more than twenty books and is the Director of Studies of Ordo Astri, Hermetic Order of the Star and Snake. He is also a musician, creates his own podcasts, including the music for them, and writes and edits the periodical House of the Net Journal. His Egyptian Tarot and book is now published by Crossed Crow Books, Chicago.

There are two distinct phases to his life’s work. The first was focussed on developing a cohesive initiatic system of magick out of the considerable legacy of the Golden Dawn, as conveyed to him by its heirs among the previous generations of occultists. This meant taking a synthetic and more unified approach as opposed to the syncretism that sometimes renders disparate elements ineffective. Greater and ‘real’ emphasis is placed on the pre-religious Egyptian deities so they become central within a mandala of study and practice. Meditation is integral to operative theurgy and is not regarded as separate or mere adjunct. A high level of technical accuracy is encouraged; theoretical knowledge is indispensible, as is concentration of the mind. The second and more recent phase concerns the universal and primordial gnosis; Raja Yoga and Advaitan Jnana Yoga are the means of self-realisation. Devotional Bhakti Yoga is an essential support to knowledge.

Read an in-depth interview with Oliver St. John at Perseus Academy here

Born in London, Oliver St. John currently lives near the rugged coastline of the Land’s End Peninsula, Cornwall. His background includes training and working with Mary Long, author and student of Dion Fortune, the late Gareth Knight and Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, co-founder of Servants of the Light Association. He was one of the very few persons to complete a  five-year course in Applied Qabalah then delivered by the latter group. He was also at one time active in the neo-pagan Fellowship of Isis, enjoying a voluminous correspondence with Olivia Robertson, the co-founder. He is a member of the Typhonian Order (Ordo Typhonis) since over twenty years, and has contributed articles, including a short story within the Lovecraft genre, to Starfire Journal. He continues to teach students around the world and is working on several new book projects.

Oliver St. John: image from his Egyptian TarotPrototype for the four Princes from the Egyptian Tarot (Crossed Crow Books), designed and drawn by Oliver St. John. The figure is modelled on the ancient Egyptian high priest of Thebes, named Ankh-af-na-khonsu on his funeral stele.

Books by Oliver St John

Oliver St. John YouTube Channel

Top of Page