Portraits of Occult Women
by Ùna Maria Blyth
Paperback edition. 206 pp.
a meandering ghost train through the lives, work, politics and beliefs of both familiar and lesser known female occultists from thedistant past to the 20th century.
From the freedom fighting New Orleans Voudon QueenMarie Laveau to the witch-next-door personality of Sybil Leek, these biographical portraitsbring light to women often sidelined in occult spaces and memory in favour of the heavyweights such as Arthur E. Waite, Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner.
Readers will discover that there was much more to Pamela Colman Smith's magicalundertakings than her illustrations for the Rider Waite Smith tarot deck, and that DoreenValiente, whilst valiantly fighting for the modernisation of Wicca, was an ardent follower oftelevised football.
Filled with fascinating historical trivia, there are deeper narratives at play in thiscompendium too - the struggle for women's liberation, pleas for modernisation of religiousmovements, the reign of the patriarchy in many magical traditions, and the fight for civilrights.
Thoroughly well-researched and written with the flair of an impassioned queer, feministoccultist, Muses No More tells the centuries-spanning stories of women who threw off theiraprons in favour of the search for greater esoteric knowledge.
The book concludes with tried and tested personal practices and rituals, respectfullydesigned in honour of these wondrous women, so that we might channel their power andknowledge to cast off our own apron strings and pursue the mysteries of the vast unknown.
