The Book of Archai by J. Edward Cornelius incl Essay by Christopher Reed Johnson

$113.16

Available on backorder

Description

Jerry Edward Cornelius, Christopher Reed Johnston.

Privately Printed, Berkeley, California, USA, 2025. Hardcover, Limited Edition of 210 numbered copies, signed by Johnson. Printed on heavy, glossy paper to present Jerry’s images to their best advantage. 6”x9”. 353 pages. Limited UK stocks of this book are anticipated to be available in September 2025. Available to pre-order now.

AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER, LIMITED STOCKS ANTICIPATED SEPTEMBER 2025

Pre-orders are now open. J. Edward “Jerry” Cornelius (1951–2023) spent a lifetime developing Aleister Crowley’s sacred formula of ON—especially the male formula of O. Initially, he channeled his Genius unconsciously. From 1969 to 1976, Jerry flooded notebook after notebook with intriguing—often beautiful—tables, diagrams, and drawings. About his process, he writes:

Volumes upon volumes were produced in these early years. Well over twenty-five. I was such a maniac and obsessed. Some of these notebooks, only numbers 7 thru 11, which are dated from April to December 1976, still survive. … [T]hese years … were truly chaotic on a magickal level, if not seemingly disjointed, but, believe it or not, there was a purpose behind all my madness….

Jerry’s creativity and its New-Aeonic import may be appreciated through a 200-page pictorial workfrom these years—The Book of Archai. His early inspiration comes into clearer view through the addition of 76 vivid drawings I selected from Jerry’s notebooks of the period. Almost any one of these images could obsess a person for hours.

Having carefully studied The Book of Archai and Jerry’s extant notebooks and diaries, I offer an interpretative framework in “On Creation, Channeling, and the Watchers,” included in this volume. Here I express the underlying synthesis of Gnostic and Thelemic principles that emphasize the importance of achieving Wisdom and Understanding, balancing spiritual and material forces, and embracing the transformative power of the New Aeon. Viewed through Jerry’s productions, our Work in the end is simply to bring Heaven down to Earth.

–Christopher Reed Johnson

Detail of An Early Drawing by J. Edward Cornelius: Snake Ascending Tree of Life with Chakras Decipted
Detail of An Early Drawing by J. Edward Cornelius

 

Additional information

Weight 1 kg