Rites of Eleusis (Crowley)
Encyclopedia
Invocation
An invocation may take the form of:*Supplication or prayer.*A form of possession.*Command or conjuration.*Self-identification with certain spirits....
s or rites written by British occultist Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, each centered on one of the seven classical planets of antiquity. They were dramatically performed by Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, Leila Waddell (Laylah)
Leila Waddell
Leila Ida Nerissa Bathurst Waddell, also known as Laylah, was a daughter of Irish immigrants to Australia, a famed Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley, and a powerful historical figure in magick and Thelema in her own right....
, and Victor Benjamin Neuburg in October and November, 1910, at Caxton Hall
Caxton Hall
Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily for its historical associations...
, London. This act brought Crowley's occult organization the A∴A∴ into the public eye..
The Rites
The names of the seven Rites are The Rite of "Saturn", "Jupiter", "Mars", "Sol", "Venus", "Mercury" and "Luna". Crowley claimed that the Rites were designed to inspire the audience with 'religious ecstasyReligious ecstasy
Religious ecstasy is an altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness which is frequently accompanied by visions and emotional/intuitive euphoria...
', and that merely reading them would help people "cultivate their highest faculties". Some in the popular press thought otherwise, and considered the Rites an immoral display, riddled with 'blasphemy
Blasphemy
Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...
and erotic
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...
suggestion.' The Rite of Luna was danced by Joan Hayes also known as Ione de Forest, a lover of Victor Neuberg
In print
Rites of Eleusis: As Performed at Caxton HallIllustrated by Dwina Murphy-Gibb. Edited by Keith Richmond. UK: Mandrake, 1990 (limited edition of 1,000 copies). Contains the complete scripts of all the Rites, with introduction by Richmond and explanatory essays by Richmond and Terence DuQuesne. Also includes a series of adorations, "The Treasure House of Images" by Capt J.F.C. Fuller
J.F.C. Fuller
Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO was a British Army officer, military historian and strategist, notable as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising principles of warfare...
, and Crowley's "Magick Book 4 (Liber O)
Magick (Book 4)
Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4 is widely considered to be the magnum opus of 20th century occultist Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema...
".
Contemporary Performances
Several modern Ordo Templi OrientisOrdo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis is an international fraternal and religious organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century...
groups regularly perform the Rites of Eleusis as written by Crowley. There is an additional "Rite of Earth" not written by Crowley which was penned by Lon Milo Duquette
Lon Milo Duquette
Lon Milo DuQuette, AKA Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford, is an American writer, lecturer, and occultist, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of Western Hermeticism.-Early life:...
and others as a logical extension of the Rites to complete the sequence from Saturn (Binah) to Malkuth (Earth).
Beginning in 2000, Seattle based Eleusyve Productions has been composing original musical arrangements for each of the plays comprising The Rites of Eleusis. Completed productions include "The Rite of Luna", "The Rite of Venus", and "The Rite of Mercury".
On March 7, 2008 experimental media artist Raymond Salvatore Harmon
Raymond Salvatore Harmon
Raymond Salvatore Harmon is an American media artist, painter, and filmmaker. As a graffiti artist Harmon has used the tags BETA and RSH...
presented a three channel video performance of the Rites of Eleusis at Horse Hospital Gallery London, UK, by recontextualizing them into seven abstract films containing all of the original content as subliminal content hidden within each film.
Sources
- Crowley, Aleister - Rites of Eleusis: As Performed at Caxton Hall (ISBN 1-872736-02-5)
- King, Francis - The Rise of Western Occultism