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Kenneth Grant (Typhonian Order), "Vinum Sabbati" (1961)

Nilsson, Johan LU (2023) p.174-186
Abstract
This chapter highlights Kenneth Grant’s “Vinum Sabbati” (1961). Grant became an influential figure in the British Thelemic movement, and to some extent British occultism in general, after Aleister Crowley’s death in 1947. “Vinum Sabbati” is a short essay on the Witches’ Sabbath, and two principal lines of reasoning are intertwined in the text. To some extent, Grant argues that the witches’ Sabbath had roots in pre-Christian magical ceremony; the main part of the text, however, is an attempt to explain the logic and magical motive behind the rite of the Sabbath. What Grant here calls “the medieval Sabbath” is perceived by him to be a corrupted remnant of an ancient Egyptian religious ceremony dedicated to the god Set. Moreover, the Devil,... (More)
This chapter highlights Kenneth Grant’s “Vinum Sabbati” (1961). Grant became an influential figure in the British Thelemic movement, and to some extent British occultism in general, after Aleister Crowley’s death in 1947. “Vinum Sabbati” is a short essay on the Witches’ Sabbath, and two principal lines of reasoning are intertwined in the text. To some extent, Grant argues that the witches’ Sabbath had roots in pre-Christian magical ceremony; the main part of the text, however, is an attempt to explain the logic and magical motive behind the rite of the Sabbath. What Grant here calls “the medieval Sabbath” is perceived by him to be a corrupted remnant of an ancient Egyptian religious ceremony dedicated to the god Set. Moreover, the Devil, presiding over the Sabbath, is described by Grant as a reinterpretation of older pagan deities such as Pan or Set, he is the sun and the life force—but he is also that source of creation in which the performers of the Sabbath are trying to reabsorb themselves. Even though “Vinum Sabbati” is one of Grant’s earliest texts, it expounds basic elements of an understanding of the Devil that is never really revised. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Satanism : A Reader - A Reader
editor
Faxneld, Per and Nilsson, Johan
pages
13 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
ISBN
9780199913558
9780199913534
9780197650394
9780197650400
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780199913534.003.0011
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4cd59abc-4091-4090-8b07-2592ae5e8f43
date added to LUP
2023-12-05 13:35:03
date last changed
2023-12-07 11:28:06
@inbook{4cd59abc-4091-4090-8b07-2592ae5e8f43,
  abstract     = {{This chapter highlights Kenneth Grant’s “Vinum Sabbati” (1961). Grant became an influential figure in the British Thelemic movement, and to some extent British occultism in general, after Aleister Crowley’s death in 1947. “Vinum Sabbati” is a short essay on the Witches’ Sabbath, and two principal lines of reasoning are intertwined in the text. To some extent, Grant argues that the witches’ Sabbath had roots in pre-Christian magical ceremony; the main part of the text, however, is an attempt to explain the logic and magical motive behind the rite of the Sabbath. What Grant here calls “the medieval Sabbath” is perceived by him to be a corrupted remnant of an ancient Egyptian religious ceremony dedicated to the god Set. Moreover, the Devil, presiding over the Sabbath, is described by Grant as a reinterpretation of older pagan deities such as Pan or Set, he is the sun and the life force—but he is also that source of creation in which the performers of the Sabbath are trying to reabsorb themselves. Even though “Vinum Sabbati” is one of Grant’s earliest texts, it expounds basic elements of an understanding of the Devil that is never really revised.}},
  author       = {{Nilsson, Johan}},
  booktitle    = {{Satanism : A Reader}},
  editor       = {{Faxneld, Per and Nilsson, Johan}},
  isbn         = {{9780199913558}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{174--186}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  title        = {{Kenneth Grant (Typhonian Order), "Vinum Sabbati" (1961)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199913534.003.0011}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/oso/9780199913534.003.0011}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}