Out now! Wheels within Wheels: Chakras and Western Esotericism
I’m very pleased to announce the release of a new edition of my work exploring the early passage of knowledge about chakras into Western Esotericism. This new edition collects the material originally published as a series of 4 chapbooks in 2018, and I’ve added some more information about the early tantric traditions.
Beginning with an overview of how chakras were conceptualized in early tantric traditions, I trace how chakras captured the imagination of both Indian and European Theosophists in the late 19th century. I explore their appearance in the early Western Esoteric imagination, from the Christian mysticism of James M. Pryse to the practical exercises of Aleister Crowley. I then go on to examine the influence of Sir John Woodroffe’s The Serpent Power and the writings of Charles Webster Leadbeater. The final section of the book discusses how chakras were psychologized in the work of Jung, and their role in contemporary therapy culture.
Wheels within Wheels is available from Amazon in paperback and digital versions. There will be a book launch at Treadwells Bookshop early in April. Details to follow.
New blog posts
I’ve neglected my blog of late, being occupied with getting Wheels within Wheels out. I’ve only managed one post this year - the first in an occasional series examining subtle body schemas in tantric texts. This first post is an overview of the elements of the subtle body in the Netratantra.
Amy Hale - Sex Magic
My good friend Amy Hale was in London recently promoting her new book, Sex Magic: Diagrams of Love Ithell Colquhoun. The book was launched at the Arusha Gallery on Monday 5th February alongside a special exhibition of contemporary artists, then a few days later, Amy was interviewed by Christina Harrington at Treadwells Bookshop.
Sex Magic explores a body of visual work produced by Ithell Colquhuon between 1939-42 focused on sacred sexual union. Her stunning artwork is juxtaposed with a series of poems Colquhuon wrote on the themes of love and longing. Amy’s introductory essay provides a much-needed context for the ‘Diagrams of Love’ and explores the influences on Colquhuon’s life and works. This is a fantastic, ground-breaking book!
Sex Magic is available from Treadwells Bookshop or direct from the publishers.
Callum James - The South Downs: The Paths of the Dead
Another friend, Callum James, has just published The South Downs: The Paths of the Dead. It’s a stunning book, an account of four months of walking; meditations on place, memory, and history - where pasts and present collide, and subjectivity resides in rocks, grass, and wind.
“Callum James has produced an exceptional work that tells of place and our relationship to it without the cliquey distancing art language of psychogeography that chokes so many other books. Refusing to dismiss the spirits of place summoned by walking, his words offer an alternative poetry of emotional punch and connection. This is a walking of the South Downs with mud on its boots, beauty entangling its soul, and the shout of the dead in its ears.”
David Southwell, Creator of Hookland
The South Downs is available from Broken Sleep Books
Thanks for reading.