Description
Kenneth Grant
Frederick Muller Limited, London, 1975. Hardcover. First Edition. Minor shelf-wear, small tear at bottom of initial 2 leafs. Very Good in Very Good price clipped mylar protected dust-jacket.
Cults of the Shadow was the final volume in Kenneth Grants first trilogy. In this work Grant placed Thelema within the greater context of the Left Hand Path and expounded a deep and profound form of sexual sorcery or Tantra. He offered a profound interpretation of the symbolism of the dark cults as they offer us a means to awaken kundalini or the fire serpent through working with an initiated priestess who through her activated kalas accesses levels of consciousness beyond the human sphere. Clearly this is not a path for the dabbler or undisciplined, this approach to the Left Hand Path is not based on the rather mundane approach of western diabolism but on its true origin in the cults of the female gnosis as found in India, Africa, Egypt and beyond.
This first 1975 edition of Cults of the Shadow helped introduce Austin Osman Spare and Michael Bertiaux to magicians for the very first time. There had been little information about Spare’s sorcery prior to this and Grant’s works helped create a revival of interest in his art and work. Michael Bertiaux became well known after this work and published his celebrated Voudon Gnostic Workbook in 1988 which was followed by many other books, his work united Gnosticism, tantra, Thelema and voudon approaches.
Cults of the Shadow has stood the test of time and still a highly important work, it is a significant introduction to the Left Hand Path and demands careful attention.
