Table Of ContentEsotericismandNarrative
Aries Book Series
Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism
Editor
MarcoPasi
EditorialBoard
Jean-PierreBrach
WouterJ.Hanegraaff
AndreasKilcher
AdvisoryBoard
AllisonCoudert–AntoineFaivre–OlavHammer
MonikaNeugebauer-Wölk–MarkSedgwick–JanSnoek
GyörgySzőnyi–GarryTrompf
volume 24
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/arbs
Esotericism and Narrative
TheOccultFictionof CharlesWilliams
By
ArenRoukema
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Coverillustration:DeborahRoukema,Emanation,2018(allrightsreserved).
TheLibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailableonlineathttp://catalog.loc.gov
LCrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2018016516
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ISSN1871-1405
ISBN978-90-04-36903-0(hardback)
ISBN978-90-04-36911-5(e-book)
Copyright2018byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
KoninklijkeBrillNVincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillHes&DeGraaf,BrillNijhoff,BrillRodopi,
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ForDeborah
∵
“Isyourworkaromance?”
“Itisaromance,anditisnotaromance.Itisatruthforthosewhocancompre-
hendit,andanextravaganceforthosewhocannot.”
Edward Bulwer-Lytton,Zanoni(1842)
∵
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction:ThroughthePortal 1
WilliamsandtheOccult:SomeDiscursiveComplications 4
EncounteringtheOccultinWilliams’sFiction:ALiterary/Historical
Method 18
1 LifeandTimes:ChristianOccultisminModernEngland 28
ALifeinMyth 28
“ButaboutThisRealityofYours…” 36
The“DeadMaster” 42
ArthurEdwardWaite 47
OccultImaginationandtheSecretTradition 54
ConstructingaCordonSanitaire 62
PartI:Occultismvs.Mysticism 62
PartII:Occultismvs.Christianity 68
ChristianOccultism 73
2 TheFellowshipoftheRosyCross:AModernOccultExperience 76
MasonicRosicrucianism 78
ThePathsoftheTreeofLife 85
TheF.R.C.andtheGoldenDawn:TheAdeptusMinorRituals 95
3 FictionandExperience 106
TheUnbearableLightnessofFiction 108
FantasticNarratology:TheLiminalityofEsotericKnowledge 113
TheNovels—IntrusionsoftheSupernatural 119
TheGothicOccult 128
IntheNetworkofOccultFiction 131
TheNovelsofanAdeptusExaltatus 134
“TheEndofDesire”—TheDiscoveryoftheHigherSelf 139
OccultFiction,OccultLife 145
4 Kabbalah:CharlesWilliamsandtheMiddlePillar 151
A.E.WaiteandModernOccultKabbalah 154
BecomingShekinah:CharlesWilliamsandtheMiddlePillar 159
viii contents
TheGreaterTrumps 171
KabbalisticErosandRomanticTheology 174
5 TheHigh-Priestess:CharlesWilliamsandModernMagic 182
MagicintheWest 184
The“High-PriestessofHeaven” 187
RitualSemioticsandtheMagicalImagination 192
6 AMagicalLifeinFiction 206
ActiveImagination 208
ActiveWill 211
TheWayofP’o-lu 214
ArtMagic:Sex,Poetry,Consciousness 218
Reanimation:EnchantmentandEmpowerment 226
InterpretiveDrift:TheDevelopmentofaModernChristian
Magic 233
7 TheTransmutationofCharlesWilliams:SpiritualandLiterary
Alchemy 238
FromMetallurgytoParticlePhysics:ABriefHistoryofAlchemy 240
Influences:Lee,Waite,Atwood 248
RosicrucianAlchemy 252
TheGreatWorkinFiction 256
ALiteraryAlchemist 267
Epilogue:TheCoagulationofBelief 274
Bibliography 287
Index 309
Acknowledgements
Likemostprojectsofthiskind,thisbookwouldstillbebutanembryo(ifcon-
ceivedatall)withoutthehelpandencouragementof colleagues,friendsand
family.IwishtothankWouterHanegraaffandMarcoPasioftheCenterforthe
HistoryofHermeticPhilosophyandRelatedCurrents(HHP)attheUniversity
of AmsterdamforsupervisingmyinitialresearchintoCharlesWilliams’seso-
teric associations, and subsequently encouraging me to expand that smaller
projectintoamonograph.IamverygratefultoPeterForshawandUlrikePopp-
Baierfortheirhelpwithaspectsoftheinitialresearch,andtoallmycolleagues
attheUniversityofAmsterdamforthelonghoursincafesdiscussingmatters
culturalandhistoric.ThanksalsotoBruceShelveyandLynnSzaboforhelp-
ing me get to Amsterdam in the first place. Accolades for improvements on
earlierdraftsgotoRogerLuckhurst,EgilAspremforadviceonthehistoryof
magic, Boaz Huss for feedback on Waite and the kabbalah, and Mike Zuber
forhelpgrapplingwiththehistoryandphilosophyof alchemy.Allremaining
errorsareminealone.ThankyoutoDavidDoddsandSørinaHigginsforhelpful
discussionsonanumberofaspectsofWilliamscriticism,andtoBrianHorne
forfacilitatingaccesstotheCharlesWilliamsSocietyArchiveatOxford.Many
otherfriendsandcolleaguesprovidedbothemotionalandintellectualsupport
intheprocessofwriting,editingandpublishingthisbook.Toattempttoname
eachonewouldbeanexerciseinfutility(andaccidentalexclusion),butIam
particularlythankfultoJimmyElwing,EricaGillingham,FrancisGene-Rowe,
RhodriDavies,andAafkeBeukematoeWater.
Thisbookalsowouldnothavebeenpossiblewithouttheuniquecollection
ofesoterictextsgatheredattheBibliothecaPhilosophicaHermeticainAmster-
dam, particularly the library’s collection of both published and unpublished
materials from A.E. Waite. I am grateful to the Ritman family for giving me
access to their comprehensive collection and particularly thankful to Esther
RitmanandCisvanHeertumfortheirenthusiasticassistancewithnavigating
thecollection.ThanksalsotoBobGilbertforhisadviceonaspectsofthiscollec-
tion.PaulMonodandKateSykes,atMiddleburyCollege’sCentreforMedieval
and Renaissance Studies at St Michael’s Hall in Oxford, were equally helpful
with access the Charles Williams Society (CWS) Archive. Thanks also to the
staffattheKing’sCollegeArchive,theBodleian,andtheBritishLibrary.Imuch
appreciatepermissionfromtheCWStoquotematerialfromitscollection,from
theCharlesWilliamsestatetodocumentnotesfromWilliams’s“Commonplace
Book,”andfromthe JournalofInklingsStudiestoreproduceportionsof“AVeil
thatReveals:CharlesWilliamsandtheFellowshipoftheRosyCross”(2015).
