In Remembrance: Kenneth Grant (1924-2011)
Editor’s note: Artist and researcher Scott Spencer has kindly written the following obituary in honor of Kenneth Grant. The more esoterically inclined readers of Coilhouse will immediately recognize that name. Those who are unfamiliar –but curious– may wish to click the many hyperlinks attached below and begin to explore Grant’s strange and beautiful work. Condolences to Grant’s widow, Steffi, their family, and friends.
Portrait of Kenneth Grant by Austin Osman Spare
“So life takes fire from death and runs. Whirling amidst the suns.”
~A. Crowley
Liber Pyramidos
It was announced today that occultist, author, artist, and gentleman Kenneth Grant passed away after an illness on January 15, 2011. He was 86 years old.
Grant, long a compelling figure in the world of occultism, has a legacy that extends back over half a century. He was the last man alive to have close ties to Aleister Crowley, having served as personal secretary to “The Beast”, and having been initiated into the Ordo Templi Orientis and Argentum Astrum by Crowley himself. After Crowley’s death, Grant and his wife Steffi were among the few attendees at Crowley’s funeral service. Subsequently, Grant became well known for helping to keep Crowley’s concepts and philosophies alive in the troubled decades following his death, and for the further continuation and expansion of Thelemic ideas over six decades.
Kenneth Grant’s occultism was not the fervent, dry adherence of the ideologue. Rather, he fashioned a deeply personal, fantastical, dynamic, and intricate system of magic woven together from syncretic elements of Tantra, Voudon, Gnosticism, Surrealism, fiction and a variety of other exotic threads. Building on the foundations of Crowley’s work, Grant expanded the current understanding of the meaning and implications of the “Law of Thelema”. Much like the mystic William Blake, Grant forged his own path beyond esoteric speculation, writing first-hand accounts of what he perceived to exist outside of the range of mundane experience.
Over the course of sixty years, Grant cataloged his evolving exploration of Crowley’s system of Magick and philosophy across a series of nine books that came to be known as the Typhonian Trilogies. Grant had stated that he wanted the act of reading these books to be an esoteric experience in and of itself. Certainly, the trilogies contain a maelstrom of esoteric ideas, dream imagery, and highly technical esotericism that, for the receptive reader, can border on a consciousness-altering experience. In addition to these seminal works, Grant wrote a variety of articles, fiction, and poetry, all of which are being made available via his official publisher, Starfire.
Portrait of Steffi and Kenneth Grant by Austin Osman Spare
Grant is also responsible for the enduring legend of the occultist and artist Austin Osman Spare, who had a profound influence on both his and Steffi’s art and world view. As Spare’s executor, Grant helped to catalog and publish Spare’s paintings, drawings, and writings, securing his friend’s art the long-term influence and respect it wields today. Were it not for the Grant’s loyal championing, the world would most likely lack knowledge of the rich, haunting body of work that Spare left behind.
Mr. Grant is survived by his aforementioned wife, the artist Steffi Grant –who has been an integral presence in Grant’s work since the beginning– and their family. His work continues via the Typhonian Order and individual explorers the world over. Through whatever strange spheres or iridescent geometric shapes he may choose as his vehicle among the scintillating transplutonian stars, may his journey continue!
February 2nd, 2011 at 8:37 am
[...] Despite, or perhaps because of, this tension over succession, Grant was a hugely influential writer, thinker, and magician. At the news of his death yesterday, tributes from all corners of the magickal/occult world started to pour out. “Rest well, occultist Kenneth Grant. May the next leg of the journey be as interesting as your time on earth.” – T. Thorn Coyle “Kenneth Grant was a most significant author to many of us young magicians in the 1970′s. He revived Austin Spare through his books and articles in Man Myth and Magic and deserves to be remembered for that and his kindness to the artist during his life. His remarkable magical partnership with Steffi Grant is without parallel. His life spanned contact with the Old Guard occultists and he spoke the language of the modernist magician. He was a generous correspondent and kind to me and others in our interactions with him. I shall miss him.” – Geraldine Beskin, The Atlantis Bookshop. “Kenneth Grant’s occultism was not the fervent, dry adherence of the ideologue. Rather, he fashioned a deeply personal, fantastical, dynamic, and intricate system of magic woven together from syncretic elements of Tantra, Voudon, Gnosticism, Surrealism, fiction and a variety of other exotic threads. Building on the foundations of Crowley’s work, Grant expanded the current understanding of the meaning and implications of the “Law of Thelema”. Much like the mystic William Blake, Grant forged his own path beyond esoteric speculation, writing first-hand accounts of what he perceived to exist outside of the range of mundane experience.” – Scott Spencer, Coilhouse [...]
February 2nd, 2011 at 1:42 pm
In 1973 I was working on my graduate degree in Berlin, and also at the time essaying the initial work in Mr. Grant’s version of the OTO. I spent the winter holidays visiting friends in London and my contact in the Order procured me an invitation to visit Mr. Grant. He spent a number of hours giving a 23 year old would-be magician a pep talk while feeding me some excellent sherry. While I went a different way from his in the ensuing years, I have always felt the deepst gratitude for his kindness and advice, and will miss his ongoing influence on contemporary occultism.
February 2nd, 2011 at 1:59 pm
one hopes his soul will be at peace forever.
A∴A∴
February 2nd, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Paul,
What a wonderful recollection. Thank you so much for sharing that memory with us.
Scott
February 2nd, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Scott, thank you for this remembrance.
We are losing so many of our great magicians…
I hope that there are more out there who have such devotion –
our world needs them now more than ever.
February 3rd, 2011 at 12:32 am
I’ve been alternately entranced, frustrated and appreciative of Kenneth Grant’s work since I discovered him a decade or so ago. The best retrospective of Kenneth Grant’s work was no doubt penned by Alan Moor in Chaos 14- if any of you who’ve followed his work haven’t read it, its a delightfully clever and sincere look at Kenneth Grant’s work and its place in the 20th century occult canon.
Check it out!
http://www.fulgur.co.uk/authors/grant/articles/beyond-our-ken/
February 4th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I just wanted to say that for me it was Mr. Grant’s books, The Typhonian Trilogies, that were The Key that really opened my mind to the World of Magick!
Mr. Grant you and your writings will surely be missed!
93/696
February 7th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
[...] Grant, long a compelling figure in the world of occultism, has a legacy that extends back over half a century. He was the last man alive to have close ties to Aleister Crowley, having served as personal secretary to “The Beast”, and having been initiated into the Ordo Templi Orientis and Argentum Astrum by Crowley himself. After Crowley’s death, Grant and his wife Steffi were among the few attendees at Crowley’s funeral service. Subsequently, Grant became well known for helping to keep Crowley’s concepts and philosophies alive in the troubled decades following his death, and for the further continuation and expansion of Thelemic ideas over six decades. (via coilhouse) [...]
July 5th, 2011 at 8:08 am
A.O.Spare…Never enough talk about his genius. Thanks for reminding :)