Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Kenneth Grant, British occultist and writer, head of the Typhonian Order died he was , 86.

Kenneth Grant  was a British occultist, novelist, and poet, who with his partner, the artist Steffi Grant, headed the magical order previously known as the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis but which is now referred to as the Typhonian Order died he was , 86..

(23 May 1924 - 15 January 2011)

 Occult background

Grant's occult experiences began in 1939 during World War II, when he claims to have received the first transmission of the "outerhuman being" S'lba. This was followed in 1943 with the reception of The Chronicles of Kralnia.[1] He met and began personal tutelage in magick under Aleister Crowley in 1944, at the age of twenty when Crowley was sixty-nine. Grant was also strongly influenced in his occult work by Austin Osman Spare.[2]

A∴A∴ and Ordo Templi Orientis

Grant met Aleister Crowley in 1944 and was initiated into the A.'.A.'. in 1946. According to occult historian P.R. Koenig, Crowley called Grant "a definite gift from the Gods", but a careful reading of this citation shows Crowley was praising Grant's work as a secretary. In March 1946, Crowley wrote in his diary: "Value of Grant: if I die or go to U.S.A., there must be a trained man to take care of the English O.T.O."
After Crowley's death, Grant's was issued a IX° charter in O.T.O by Crowley's successor, Karl Germer, in 1948; and received authorisation to form an O.T.O. Camp in England in 1951.[1] In 1952, he wrote a new manifesto for his group and had 5000 copies printed.
In 1954, Grant began the work of founding the New Isis Lodge. The lodge became operational in April 1955 when Grant issued a manifesto announcing his discovery of a "Sirius/Set current" upon which the lodge was to be based. Karl Germer was so displeased with this manifesto that on July 20, 1955, he issued a "Note of Expulsion" expelling Grant from O.T.O.,[1] and naming Noel Fitzgerald as the leader of the British section of the Order[3]
Grant later claimed for himself the title O.H.O. (Outer Head of the Order) of Ordo Templi Orientis, although the sole alleged documentary evidence of his appointment has since been admitted to be fake.[4]. His competing organisation was commonly called the "Typhonian" Ordo Templi Orientis, but is now officially renamed the Typhonian Order. The New Isis Lodge was absorbed into Grant's Order in 1962.[1]
Grant died on 15 Jan 2011 after a period of illness.

Biographer of Austin Osman Spare

Grant was a great admirer and close friend of Austin Osman Spare. Together they founded the Zos Kia Cultus in 1952.[1] Over the years, Grant did much to bring his friend Spare's name into western occult society, including the publication of Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare and Zos Speaks!, as well as numerous references and mentions in the Typhonian Trilogies.

Partial bibliography

The Typhonian Trilogies

Other works on the occult

  • Remembering Aleister Crowley Skoob Books, 1992. ISBN 1-871438-12-8
  • Dearest Vera Holograph letters from Austin Osman Spare to Vera Wainwright, edited by Kenneth & Steffi Grant, Fulgur Limited, 2010.
  • Hidden Lore: The Carfax Monographs by Kenneth & Steffi Grant, Fulgur Limited, 2006.
  • Borough Satyr, The Life and Art of Austin Osman Spare, (includes a contribution from Steffi Grant), Fulgur Limited, 2005.
  • Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare, Fulgur Limited, 2003.
  • Zos Speaks! Encounters with Austin Osman Spare, Fulgur Limited, 1998.
  • At the feet of the Guru ISBN 0954388763

Poetry

  • The Gulls Beak
  • Black to Black
  • Convolvulus

Novellas and short stories





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