7.30pm for 8pm start. 

All welcome. 

Donations welcome. 

Frieda Harris, Aleister Crowley and the Book of Thoth

Frieda Harris is credited as the Artist Executant of the Book of Thoth and Crowley openly acknowledges that he would not have been able to complete the Work without her.

Frieda Harris came from a well-to-do middle-class family and was married to a prominent Liberal Party politician. In between her obligations as wife, mother and society hostess, her husband, Sir Percy Harris, encouraged her to pursue her artistic interests, and by the early 1930s, she had established herself as a moderately successful artist, exhibiting publically.

A spiritual seeker from an early age, Frieda had explored Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Christian Science as well as Greek mythology and the mysticism of the Celtic Revival. She was also a member of a Masonic Order and fascinated by the works of William Blake.

Although they moved in similar circles, Crowley and Harris didn't meet until they were introduced at a dinner party, hosted by their mutual friend, Clifford Bax in the summer of 1937. By the following February she had produced preliminary sketches and was, according to Crowley, 'seriously on the Path.' Crowley's initial estimated duration for the project was a few months, but at Frieda's suggestion, they decided to create an entirely new set of cards, which would take them nearly five years to complete.

In this talk, Deja Whitehouse will explore the partnership between Crowley and Harris, the development of the designs and the process of initiatory learning that enabled her to incorporate the diverse occult and esoteric strands into her artwork, the result of which was 'something immensely beyond anything that [Crowley] had ever contemplated.'