Scarlet Woman Lodge, O.T.O. | Publications

Publications
Book Reviews

Here you will find our reviews of traditional and not-so-traditional books— all reviewed with a Thelemic eye. If you use the link to purchase a book listed here, it will also help support the Lodge since we will receive a small commission from the sale. Keep in mind that these reviews are the opinions of the individual reviewers.

All Reviews:

Featured Reviews
	Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion By Hugh Urban Reviewed by Swami Mahalingam In this lucid book, Urban provides an overview of the development of discourse about “Tantra” and “Tantrism” in India and the West from the 18th through the 20th century. The text includes studies of Tantra in religious, political, literary, scholarly, and commercial contexts. Read the review...
	The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft By Ronald Hutton Reviewed by Fr. D. Sparagmos Ronald Hutton's history of 20th century Witchcraft and Wicca is a comprehensive and compelling examination of the subject. No other book to date gives such a clear and entertaining view of the origins and development of religious Witchcraft in the modern world. Read the review...

	The Slaves Shall Serve By James Wasserman Reviewed by Spartacus In 1941, Aleister Crowley wrote to Karl Germer: “There is a vile threat to the ‘rugged American individualism’ that actually created the U.S.A. by the bureaucratic crowd who want society to be a convict prison...” This book is a valiant attempt to “bring home” the nature of that threat to those who identify with the uniquely Thelemic nature of that “rugged American individualism.” Read the review...

	The Unknown God: W.T. Smith and the Thelemites By Martin Starr Reviewed by Mutatio est Stabilitas [This book] represents an enormous amount of research and personal correspondence on the author's part. His access to the major caches of Thelemic archival material as well as first person testimonials to the events reported in the book make The Unknown God an excellent piece of scholarship. Read the review...

	Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (The Strife of Love in a Dream) By Francesco Colonna, (Translated by Joscelyn Godwin) Reviewed by Paradoxos Alpha For half a millenium, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili has been one of the great literary enigmas of the Italian Renaissance. Read the review...

	Darker Than You Think By Jack Williamson Reviewed by Dionysos Thriambos The monster-type of the novel is a sorceror-lycanthrope-vampire, representing the genetic recrudescence of a pre-human race that has interbred with and become submerged in humanity. Read the review...

	The Book of the Law, Centennial Edition by Aleister Crowley Reviewed by Fr. Ash This special edition celebrating the 100th anniversary of the writing of Liber Legis is, in several ways, unlike all others. Read the review...

	The Book of Dzyan Edited & introduced by Tim Maroney Reviewed by Paradoxos Alpha Historically, the Theosophical Society (T.S.) is perhaps the single most influential occult organization of modern times. It is interesting, and not too difficult, to note the similarities between O.T.O. and the T.S. Read the review...

	W.B. Yeats: Twentieth Century Magus by Dr. Susan Johnston Graf Reviewed by Fr. Mutatio est Stabilitas When I stumbled across this title in the bookstore, I was thoroughly excited. Finally, a book that explores Yeats’ poetry from the perspective of his magickal career! I was not to be disappointed. Read the review...

	New Aeon Magick by Gerald de Campo, Reviewed by Sr. Sphinx I’m fascinated by the idea of writing as a time capsule to carry your own ideas to your future self...Gerald del Campo’s book New Aeon Magick: Thelema Without Tears is such a time capsule. Read the review...

	Memoirs of a Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen Reviewed by Dionysos Thriambos Surprisingly and delightfully, this novel is exactly what the title promises. Set in the early 16th century e.v., it consists of the memoirs of a dwarf serving as a chamberlain in the court of Leo X, the Medici pope. Read the review...

	Surpassing Wonder: The Invention of the Bible and the Talmuds by Donald Harman Akenson Reviewed by Paradoxos Alpha Akenson's book is a lively and substantial exploration of the process of religious canonization of texts in the Biblical tradition. Read the review...

	History of My Life By Giacomo Casanova (Translated by Willard R. Trask) Reviewed by Paradoxos Alpha This huge memoir is as entertaining as any novel, and certainly a whole lot longer! Read the review...

	The Practice of Magical Evocation by Franz Bardon Reviewed by Fr. Aquarius The magical universe abounds in various books, grimoires, and manuals of instruction concerning magical evocation. Yet, few of them compare to the depth and scope of Franz Bardon's second work. Read the review...

	The Baphomet By Pierre Klossowski Review by Geoffery Fulcher This novel, with its appetizing title, is a brief-but-heavy excursion into and out of history. The prologue takes place in a commandery of the Knights Templar mere days before their arrest by the French authorities. Read the review...

	The Hermetic Brotherhood Of Luxor Edited by Joscelyn Godwin, Christian Chanel, & John P. Deveney Reviewed by Sr. Sphinx The new, and only, volume-length study of this 19th Century international magical order shows a level of scholarship that deserves to set a precedent in the treatment of such topics. Read the review...

	Survivor: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk Reviewed by Metu Tchetta The wit, sagacity, and implacable unlikelihoods of Fight Club are all still in full force in Survivor, which counts down from page 289 to 1 with blinding speed. Read the review...

	Carnal Alchemy By Crystal Dawn & Stephen Flowers Sorcerers of Sodom by Roger Elwood The Golden Dawn Journal: Book I, Divination Edited by Chic and Sandra Tabatha Cicero Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism By Jan Assman