This past Thursday, I gave my lecture on the development of Gothic literature. It had been almost a year in the making. Aside from the fact that there is ever so much more research I could have done, here are a few of the things I learned along the way.
1. Edgar Allan Poe was the first American writer to attempt to earn a living solely from his writings.
2. Charles Williams, Bram Stoker, Edith Nesbit, Aleister Crowley, and Arthur E. Waite all belonged to the same occult society: the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
3. Crowley's famous "do what thou wilt" is proceeded by the injunction to "do no harm."
4. H. P. Lovecraft isn't so much scary as he is disturbing.
5. Poe helped pioneer the genre of detective fiction.
6. Williams may in fact be invoking the sephiroth in his repeated statements: in the Omnipotence, under the Mercy, the City, under the Protection, etc.
I don't have any more lectures lined up as of yet, but this was certainly the most researched one I've given to date. As we swing around toward a new school year, we'll see what's ahead. Until then, the Platypus is taking a break from anything creepy for at least a week. Next up on the list are Eusebius and "Eifelheim."
1. Edgar Allan Poe was the first American writer to attempt to earn a living solely from his writings.
2. Charles Williams, Bram Stoker, Edith Nesbit, Aleister Crowley, and Arthur E. Waite all belonged to the same occult society: the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
3. Crowley's famous "do what thou wilt" is proceeded by the injunction to "do no harm."
4. H. P. Lovecraft isn't so much scary as he is disturbing.
5. Poe helped pioneer the genre of detective fiction.
6. Williams may in fact be invoking the sephiroth in his repeated statements: in the Omnipotence, under the Mercy, the City, under the Protection, etc.
I don't have any more lectures lined up as of yet, but this was certainly the most researched one I've given to date. As we swing around toward a new school year, we'll see what's ahead. Until then, the Platypus is taking a break from anything creepy for at least a week. Next up on the list are Eusebius and "Eifelheim."
Comments
I really should study more Crowley. He overlaps with a lot of stuff I take interest in.
Just for accuracy: Crowley's 'saying' is two-fold, the latter as a response to the first:
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law"
"Love is the law, love under will".
Nowhere does Crowley talk about not harming. Indeed his Liber Oz expands these 'laws' into 'rights' and concludes that man has the right to kill anyone who thwarts them.
The concept of not doing harm comes from the early development of Wicca by Doreen Valiente:
"Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill, An it harm none do what ye will."
Bram Stoker was never a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn or its successors.
thanks :)
Stoker was mentioned as a member in some book quite sometime ago and thereafter it was repeated. However, if you look at the membership roles of the Order as published in R.A. Gilbert's "The Golden Dawn Companion" he is not listed.
That said, he certainly was close friends with a number of Order members. Thanks.