Description
Ida Craddock; Vere Chappell
The Teitan Press, Maine, USA, 2010. Limited Edition, limited to 650 numbered copies, this is copy no. 243. Hardcover with dust-jacket. 318 pages. Edited and with an introduction by Vere Chappell. Mild shelf-wear, a few light barely visible surface scratches to dust-jacket. Near Fine.
“In an uncharacteristically glowing book review Aleister Crowley wrote that Ida Craddock possessed “…initiated knowledge of extraordinary depth. She seems to have had access to certain most concealed sanctuaries…. She has put down statements in plain English which are positively staggering.”
It was high praise, but there can be little doubt that Craddock was a deserving recipient. Her long-term interest in the occult and open-minded approach to sexual matters led her to develop a fascinating and original perspective on the relationship between sex and spirituality. Craddock explored this subject in a number of works, notably Heavenly Bridegrooms – the posthumously-published book that was so favorably commented upon by Aleister Crowley – and also in two manuscripts, Lunar and Sex Worship and Sex Worship (Continued). These were commissioned by Craddock’s patron, the Spiritualist W.T. Stead, as studies of sexuality in religion and mythology, viewed through the prism of her own experiences and beliefs.
This Teitan Press edition is the first ever publication of Lunar and Sex Worship and Sex Worship (Continued). It comprises the complete text of both works, edited and introduced by Vere Chappell, an export on the life and work of Craddock and the author of Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida Craddock.”
