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Posts tagged ‘Orientalism’

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1. Edward Sellon and the Cannibal Club: Anthropology Erotica Empire – VI

   In the third installment of this series, I examined the erotic writings of Edward Sellon. Now I will turn to his “anthropological” work – the two lectures delivered to the Anthropological Society of London (ASL) – Linga Puja: On the Phallic Worship of India and Some Remarks on Indian Gnosticism, or Sacti Puja, the Worship of the Female Powers and follow through with a look at some other works dealing with Phallic worship from the ASL.

   Continue reading »

   

   March 19th 2021

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Lectures

   Tags: Edward Sellon, nineteenth century, Orientalism, Phallicism

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2. Yogis, Magic and Deception – IV

   “The great classic of Sanskrit literature is the Aphorisms of Patajañali. He is at least mercifully brief, and not more than ninety or ninety-five percent of what he writes can be dismissed as the ravings of a disordered mind.”
   Aleister Crowley, Eight Lectures on Yoga

   Given the general disdain with which physical yoga was viewed at the turn of the twentieth century, Aleister Crowley’s incorporation of yoga into Western Esotericism is all the more remarkable. (He’s also, by the way, the first western esotericist to develop practical exercises relating to the chakras.) However, in bringing elements of yoga practice into his formulation of magic, Crowley left a good deal out – including any suggestion that yoga practices could lead to the flowering of extraordinary abilities ranging from flight to being able to enter the body of another person. In fact, he seems to have been decidedly skeptical of the very idea. Continue reading »

   

   October 29th 2020

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult, tantra

   Tags: Crowley, Orientalism, yoga

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3. Yogis, Magic and Deception – III

   In the previous post in this series, I examined how the powers of yoga were represented in the writings of the leaders of the Theosophical Society, such as HP Blavatsky and William Quan Judge. For the next two posts, I will examine some of Aleister Crowley’s ideas about yoga and yoga powers. First though, I will take a look at Patañjali’s Yogasūtra – which is widely held to be the original source for Crowley’s take on Yoga – and show how the attainment of extraordinary powers is dealt with. Continue reading »

   

   October 12th 2020

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult, tantra

   Tags: Crowley, Orientalism, yoga

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4. Book Review: The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick

   I have to thank David Southwell for sparking my interest in the Indian Rope Trick. In 2019, I was preparing a lecture on the relationship between Yoga and Magic for Treadwells Bookshop (see Yogis, Magic and Deception – I) and was reading an early draft to David. He pointed out, quite rightly, that of all the Yogic feats I had mentioned, I had omitted the most famous of them all – the Indian Rope Trick! Continue reading »

   

   July 19th 2020

   Posted by Phil Hine in Book reviews, History, Occult

   Tags: nineteenth century, Orientalism, yogis

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5. Yogis, Magic and Deception – II

   In the previous post in this series, I briefly sketched out the orientalist position on yoga & yoga powers before outlining how the extraordinary abilities attributed to yogis became associated with stage magic and deception. Now I will take a look at how yoga powers were represented in the writings of the leaders of the Theosophical Society. Continue reading »

   

   December 4th 2019

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult, tantra

   Tags: nineteenth century, Orientalism, Theosophy, Treadwells, yogis

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6. Yogis, Magic and Deception – I

   This post is an extract from a recent lecture at Treadwells Bookshop, entitled “Flying through the air, entering other bodies: Yoga and Magical Powers”. The lecture examined the relationship between yoga and magical or extraordinary abilities. When I began reading for the lecture, I was very familiar with the anti-Yoga views of 19th century scholars such as Max Muller or H.H. Wilson, but less so regarding how attitudes to yoga and yoga powers intersected with popular culture. So here is a brief examination of how yogic powers became associated with stage magic, duplicity and deception. Continue reading »

   

   December 2nd 2019

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult, tantra

   Tags: nineteenth century, Orientalism, Treadwells, yogis

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7. What Theosophy did for us – II: Places of Power – ii

   Continuing from the previous post in this series which examined how Theosophical ideas about race reflected wider discourses of the period; I will now look in broad terms at the Theosophical Society’s relationship with Egypt, India and Tibet. Continue reading »

   

   November 5th 2018

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult

   Tags: nineteenth century, Orientalism, Theosophy

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8. What Theosophy did for us – II: Places of Power – i

   In this essay, I will examine the three countries which, for Blavatsky and her followers were particularly associated with occult wisdom – be it a secret tradition, or the home of spiritual masters: namely, Egypt, India, and Tibet. For each of these “places of power” I will try and examine the Theosophical relationship with them, and, with respect to India and Tibet, the legacies of that relationship. This first post will deal with issues related to racial theories, and I will examine the Theosophical relationship with India, Egypt, and Tibet in the second part. Continue reading »

   

   November 1st 2018

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult

   Tags: nineteenth century, Orientalism, Theosophy

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9. What Theosophy did for us – I: Introduction

   This series is based on lectures I gave at Treadwells Bookshop of London in 2006, examining the Theosophical Society and its legacy on contemporary occulture.

   The Theosophical Society (TS) was the most influential of modern esoteric movements, not only for its role in shaping the contemporary occult subculture but in influencing the modern world as we know it. Over the course of this series of posts, I’ll be exploring different aspects of the Theosophical Society’s teachings and activities, and examining some of the more notable personalities associated with the Society, such as Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater. What I also want to attempt is to examine some of the beliefs which became associated with the Theosophical movement and place them in the context of wider currents stirring within the period. Continue reading »

   

   October 24th 2018

   Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult

   Tags: nineteenth century, Orientalism, Theosophy

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10. Chakras into the west: BK Majumdar, Arthur Avalon and Serpentine conundrums – II

    This is the second of a series of posts examining the work of Baradā Kānta Majumdār, a Bengali author who was a member of the Theosophical Society in the 1880s and later collaborated with Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) in his English translations of Tantric texts. Continue reading »

    

    March 8th 2018

    Posted by Phil Hine in History, Occult, tantra

    Tags: chakras, Orientalism, Theosophy

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