3 posts tagged “book reviews”

An excellent review of the Red Goddess has just appeared in Mandrake Speaks, the Mandrake Press of Oxford newsletter.  An  indepth look at the text by the highly regarded Mogg Morgan:

The Red Goddess by Peter Grey (review)258pp, Hardback 2008 £37 + p&p
This is a beautiful, provocative, thought-provoking book, one man’s journey in search of the obscure object of his desire – full of odd typography, robust, sometimes rough language and a £37 price tag.
Using the latest research from books such as "Strange Angel" , "Love and Rockets" and "The Unknown God" the author blends his own narrative around that which he sees as the three pillars of the Babalonian mythos – Enochian Magick, Aleister Crowley and Jack Parsons. Thus one reads: "Eunuchs have been used traditionally to serve the Goddess, often as sodomitic dog priests. That name is not a slur but most likely comes from their dog position sex. These were important priests who served the ancient Love Goddess by sacrifi
cing their reproductive power. They are no longer men. They cannot penetrate the mystery. I will not advocate the joys of self castration or the smooth root of the Skopsie, but it is certainly one way to serve Our Lady. I prefer Magick with the balls to push shaft deep into the crimson petals of the Goddess."
Babalon is modern goddess, one of the most recent to emerge from the cauldron of serendipity. Even so, some, Peter Grey amongst them, would claim she has antique roots. She remerged in the modern world via the writings of Aleister Crowley, who is also responsible for renovating the old English spelling as Babalon, which has a significant numerology of 156 as opposed to 165. For Babylon, is an ancient Mesopotamian city, the Bête Noire of the ancient Hebrews, and therefore a natural cipher for corruption and hubris in the strange apocalyptic end game of the Biblical New Testament. I’m talking of the Book of Revelation, a book that exerted a powerful influence on Crowley’s imagination and one way or another figured large in his new Thelemic mythos.The Book of Revelation is widely believed to contain much hidden and indeed Kabbalistic symbolism, So no surprise that the "anti-gods" of that book turn out to be, according to Thelemites, the true corrective of the modern age.
The goddesses of ancient Babylon were Innana, Ishtar and Astarte. These are "Red Goddesses" in more ways than one – and possible role models for the modern woman who is powerful, self sufficient and above all sexual. Whether modern "scarlet woman" is, as Herodotus suggested, willing to give herself to any man for any small coin, seems unlikely these days somehow. So in as much as the author of Revelation was saying that it’s the goddesses that really bring society down, Crowley and the Thelemites say the opposite.Few would argue that Peter’s Red Goddess is a Mesopotamian creation. Most of us accept Mesopotamia, as the "cradle of civilization" and the dispersal hub for many important things, writing, astrology, technology, religion, etc etc.
I must admit my own dealings with "The Red Goddess" are in her Egyptian territory (see "The Bull of Ombos") Peter devotes a short chapter to the exploration of her possible Egyptian roots, although this is maybe a clear example of where the works of the Victorian Egyptophile Gerald Massey provide an inadequate guide to the material.AFAIK, Egypt, did indeed benefit from early contacts with Mesopotamia before the rise of the Pharaohs (i.e. 4000BCE) but its main development was independent. So for example although writing may have been invented in Mesopotamia, it was also invented quite independently in Egypt, presumably for the same imperative. The earliest reference in Egypt to the Semitic goddesses Astarte and Anat belongs to the reign of Thutmoses c1500bce, both love goddesses were married to ultimate "Red Bull" Seth. But my Egyptian "Red Goddess" has to be Hathor, a goddess as old as time, goddess of the cattle cult (hence the horns) she is indeed sensual, sexual and intoxicated. (See "Hathor’s Secrets") When old man Ra is down in the dumps she lifts her skirts and gives him a laugh.Having said something of the mythology of Innana et al, Peter soon leaves behind the ancient world. I definitely wanted more info on Mesopotamian religion, as his analysis is consistently interesting and engaging.
He then follows the tracks of the Belle Dame Sans Merci, through the writings of her numerous modern devotees, including John Dee, Marquis de Sade, Jack Parsons and indeed many a modern mage, including his own dealing with she who must be obeyed, which brings to mind the lines of the song "my knuckles are bleeding and my knees are raw". This reworking of the Crowleyian material on the nature of the scarlet women, is seen largely through his poetry and forms "The Red Goddess’ " vibrant core.Peter has no time for the post modern obsession with transgender and reclaiming the "blossoms of bone". "Eunuchs" he tells us, "cannot penetrate the mystery." But there again for me, Babalon might be like "post porn modernist" Annie Sprinkle –the love of whose life is famously the tortured Les, a female to male transsexual.
So all in all an interesting and provocative monograph; worthy I would think of some wider circulation. It might be that this first edition which is perhaps aimed at the "collector" for whom "the medium is the message." Its white wibeline cover with red embossing is very striking; there are tipped in illustrations, one in colour. And indeed interior text is black and occasional red. Even so I’d be happy to read it in a standard hardback "Starfire" mode or even a good trade paperback. But whatever way you read it, it’s definitely worth a spin. [Mogg]

www.scarletimprint.com

Our google alert brought up another reader review, we thought we'd share with you, the word is spreading:

review

Book Review
The Red Goddess By Peter Grey
Scarlet Imprint,
UK Summer Solstice 2008 edition

I enjoy the mythos of BABALON. There is something about powerful and sexual female energies that sits right with me (having worked in the past with Lilith and Morrigan, whom I still work with). But BABALON is the best aspects of both in a single entity.

So when I heard about this book, I insisted on buying it. Although the first time I heard about it, the first 2007 print run had been done (156 copies) and was sold out in quick time. And then I found a 2008 run being done, 777 copies (I got #63) with 49 hand bound leather editions being made. I bought both (still waiting for the hand bound edition to be finished and then arrive, it will be a few months).

This book is very hard to describe in words in a coherent manner. It is a wondrous mix of history, and gnostic speculation on the behalf of the author, Peter Grey.

He starts with the history of Babalon and her appearance in The Book of Revelations and why she is essentially feared by the Phallo-jealous monotheists. She empowers the freedom of enjoyment, pleasure and powerful-dangerous womanhood.

To quote two small paragraphs:

We are watchers of the dance of veils as Salome, Mary Magdalene, Isis and Astarte display the shrine of the mystery to our hungry eyes. She is a pole dancer, a dollar whore, a catwalk advert for impossibly red lipstick, a beautiful young girl. Your first love.
She is the Sophia of the Gnostics, a Black Madonna, a heroine of the heretic heart.

Both Aleister Crowley and Jack Parson's get a good lot of mention throughout the book, although in itself, it is not a Thelemic portrayed idea within the pages. Infact Grey spends a small amount of time politely attacking Crowley as a person and his documented behaviour towards women, whilst praising his spiritual practices and the path the To Mega Therion paved for the rest of us. In my reading, Grey's approach to Crowley didn't sit badly, although it may annoy or upset Othodox Thelemites partially.

The second third of the book, where the references to the O.T.O and Thelema exist the most follows on the history of Babalon to historical manifestations of her and her worship. Jesus is mentioned, along with Simon Magnus, Jack Parsons and other quite interestingly Iohn Dee, alongside his Enochian discoveries.

The third and final part explores the means to worship and bring Babalon into your life, through ritual practices, ingesting sacraments, sexual acts, bondage, chemicals and even as simple as inhaling the scent of a Damascus rose. But, as warned by the author, bringing Babalon into your life may leave scars, as she is a Goddess of both Love, Lust and War.

And last and not least, before words fail me entirely, the visual presentation of this book is breathtaking. White cover, with the BABALON lamen / sigil pressed into it in red, the bookends in a deep scarlet red, lovely thick stock paper, with smatterings of red text sprinkled throughout. And four gloss plates, illustrating Babalon herself in various forms. The Thoth Lust card by Lady Frieda Harris being the last plate.

I won't recommend everyone buys this, it may not be for them, but at least taste from its pages and get a feel for the Holy Whore, the Scarlet Woman that Rides the Seven Headed Beast.

With well over a hundred copies gone, we have been overjoyed with the response that we have received for the book.

Whilst we are awaiting a net connection in order to update www.scarletimprint.com we wanted to share some of the reactions and reviews from our readers.

These do not include the kind letters, phonecalls and personal thanks.

This is more than just a book to us.

We have moved past the hundred mark and there are still copies available, please email us to reserve a copy if you have not done so, as we do want practitioners to get them rather than collectors.

Names have been removed to protect the anonymity of our readers:

"Of all the grimoire texts I've purchased, this one seems to be the most viscerally and palpably magickal. I can feel the whole books pulsating with its living current, and I am most inspired by its talismanic power. Thank you for creating such a precious, welcome, and imposing treasure. This is clearly a book of great power."

"Yours is an important book, and clearly a work of love. The perfumed rosepetals that adorned that talismanic package are now resting in a white bowl on my altar"

"I have nearly finished my reading of /The Red Goddess/. I must say it
is was an absolutely wonderful volume! If you can imagine: there i
was, sitting in the middle of a field, unwrapping this beautiful
talisman, the scent of rose and spikenard (i think) saturating my aura
with a glorious and sumptuous bliss. Oh, if only all gifts (and i am
strongly aware that such a book is a gift, even though it was i who
purchased it) were so wonderfully presented. The wax seal and rose
petals are now permanent additions to my altar.

And the text; well-researched, amusing, insightful, witty and
sarcastic in turns, but always with its face turned to Her. The
playful and careful subtextualising is marvellous. Her veils are drawn
back, one by one, a striptease indeed! Until finally, we are teased
with the barest glimpses of the powerhouse of the author's magick; but
those glimpses are more than sufficient.

And it is always so visual! In truth, it is rather more about what
Peter's writing made me *see* than it made me *think*: to ignite the
Vision is a rare thing in a book. And that in itself it makes it
impossibly hard for me to write the review i intended to write here. I
will have to settle with what i have managed to wring from the stone
here.

It is a great thing that all these ideas have been collected together
into one volume and presented to the world. Therefore: Bravo. I seethe
with envy and admiration "

"The book arrived perfectly preserved today and all I can say is Wow. You've done a fantastic job. For once, this is a magickal text I can't wait to read through - most we get sent I go, oh that looks interesting, set it to one side and dip into it on occasion. This is a book which will be read, most likely reread and certainly treasured."

"You've done a fantastic job and should be well pleased."

"Wow what a book. So far I have just skimmed the text, but it is clearly a highly important book and beautifully produced."

Our heartfelt thanks.

In Nomine Babalon

Scarlet Imprint x