Kenneth Grant
| Kenneth Grant | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 May 1924 Ilford, Essex, England |
| Died | 15 January 2011 (aged 86) |
Kenneth Grant (23 May 1924 – 15 January 2011) was a British occultist, novelist, and poet, who with his partner, the artist Steffi Grant, headed the magical order previously known as the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis but which is now referred to as the Typhonian Order.
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[edit] Occult background
Grant's occult experiences began in 1939 during World War II, when he claims to have received the first transmission of the "outerhuman being" S'lba. This was followed in 1943 with the reception of The Chronicles of Kralnia.[1] He met and began personal tutelage in magick under Aleister Crowley in 1944, at the age of twenty when Crowley was sixty-nine. Grant was also strongly influenced in his occult work by Austin Osman Spare.[2]
[edit] A∴A∴ and Ordo Templi Orientis
Grant met Aleister Crowley in 1944 and was initiated into the A∴A∴ in 1946. According to occult historian P.R. Koenig, Crowley called Grant "a definite gift from the Gods", but a careful reading of this citation shows Crowley was praising Grant's work as a secretary. In March 1946, Crowley wrote in his diary: "Value of Grant: if I die or go to U.S.A., there must be a trained man to take care of the English O.T.O."
After Crowley's death, Grant's was issued a IX° charter in O.T.O by Crowley's successor, Karl Germer, in 1948; and received authorisation to form an O.T.O. Camp in England in 1951.[1] In 1952, he wrote a new manifesto for his group and had 5000 copies printed.
In 1954, Grant began the work of founding the New Isis Lodge. The lodge became operational in April 1955 when Grant issued a manifesto announcing his discovery of a "Sirius/Set current" upon which the lodge was to be based. Karl Germer was so displeased with this manifesto that on July 20, 1955, he issued a "Note of Expulsion" expelling Grant from O.T.O.,[1] and naming Noel Fitzgerald as the leader of the British section of the Order.[3]
Grant later claimed for himself the title O.H.O. (Outer Head of the Order) of Ordo Templi Orientis, although the sole alleged documentary evidence of his appointment has since been admitted to be fake.[4] His competing organisation was commonly called the "Typhonian" Ordo Templi Orientis, but is now officially renamed the Typhonian Order. The New Isis Lodge was absorbed into Grant's Order in 1962.[1]
Grant died on 15 Jan 2011 after a period of illness.
[edit] Biographer of Austin Osman Spare
Grant was a great admirer and close friend of Austin Osman Spare. Together they founded the Zos Kia Cultus in 1952.[1] Over the years, Grant did much to bring his friend Spare's name into western occult society, including the publication of Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare and Zos Speaks!, as well as numerous references and mentions in the Typhonian Trilogies.
[edit] Partial bibliography
[edit] The Typhonian Trilogies
- The Magical Revival ISBN 0-87728-217-X
- Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God ISBN 0-87728-250-1
- Cults of the Shadow
- Nightside of Eden ISBN 1-871438-72-1
- Outside the Circles of Time
- Hecate's Fountain ISBN 1-871438-96-9
- Outer Gateways ISBN 1-871438-12-8
- Beyond the Mauve Zone ISBN 0-9527824-5-6
- The Ninth Arch ISBN 0-9543887-0-4
[edit] Other works on the occult
- Remembering Aleister Crowley Skoob Books, 1992. ISBN 1-871438-12-8
- Zos Speaks! Encounters with Austin Osman Spare, Fulgur Limited, 1998.
- Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare, Fulgur Limited, 2003.
- Borough Satyr, The Life and Art of Austin Osman Spare, (includes a contribution from Steffi Grant), Fulgur Limited, 2005.
- At the Feet of the Guru: Twenty Five Essays, Starfire Publications, 2006. ISBN 0954388763
- Hidden Lore: The Carfax Monographs by Kenneth & Steffi Grant, Fulgur Limited, 2006.
- Dearest Vera Holograph letters from Austin Osman Spare to Vera Wainwright, edited by Kenneth & Steffi Grant, Fulgur Limited, 2010.
[edit] Poetry
- The Gulls Beak
- Black to Black
- Convolvulus
[edit] Novellas and short stories
- The Stellar Lode
- Against the Light ISBN 0952782413
- Snakewand and the Darker Strain ISBN 0952782472
- The Other Child and other tales
- Gamaliel Diary of a Vampire and Dance, Doll, Dance ISBN 0954388720
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Evans, Dave (2007). Aleister Crowley and the 20th Century Synthesis of Magick. Hidden Press, Second Revised Edition. ISBN 978-0-9555237-2-4
- Evans, Dave "Trafficking with an onslaught of compulsive weirdness: Kenneth Grant and the Magickal Revival". Journal for the Academic Study of Magic, 2, Mandrake, 2004. ISBN-10: 1869928725 ISBN-13: 978-1869928728
[edit] External links
- Fulgur Limited: Bibliography, Biography and Articles
- Obituary in The Independent by Declan O'Neill
