Click here to view the embedded video.

In this – the first ever- episode of SittingNow TV, we present the first of four lectures from the ‘Summer of Love’ event put on by Scarlet Imprint back in August.

Ulysses Black is not a name known to the occult community, despite having generated, under different guises, considerable interest through much sought after publications and artwork. As Ulysses Black he assails the issue of identity through performance art and ritual action. From influences such as Joseph Beuys and Hermann Nitsch as well as the Western Magical Tradition he plots a return to mythical Ithaca.

Ken Eakins

]]> http://sittingnow.co.uk/2011/11/22/sittingnow-tv-episode-01-the-voyage-of-ulysses-black/feed/ 6 AA,Aleister Crowley,Identity,Jack Macbeth,Magick,Magick in theory and practise,Occult,Orlando Britts,performance art,Peter Grey,Red Goddess,scarlet imprint In this - the first ever- episode of SittingNow TV, we present the first of four lectures from the 'Summer of Love' event put on by Scarlet Imprint back in August. Ulysses Black is not a name known to the occult community, despite having generated, In this - the first ever- episode of SittingNow TV, we present the first of four lectures from the 'Summer of Love' event put on by Scarlet Imprint back in August. Ulysses Black is not a name known to the occult community, despite having generated, under different guises, considerable interest through much sought after publications and artwork. As Ulysses Black he assails the issue of identity through performance art and ritual action. From influences such as Joseph Beuys and Hermann Nitsch as well as the Western Magical Tradition he plots a return to mythical Ithaca. Ken Eakins Right Where You Are Sitting Now no http://sittingnow.co.uk/2011/11/16/coincidence-control-network-file-001/ http://sittingnow.co.uk/2011/11/16/coincidence-control-network-file-001/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:38:33 +0000 Ken Eakins http://sittingnow.co.uk/?p=4333

This week – Crowley the Jack the Ripper wannabe, Kenneth Anger’s Theramin, Found footage foul-play, Occupy heats up, Frank Miller is a douche, The end of legal weed, Huge Asteroids, Jack the Ripper’s knife, and Facebook censorship.

Welcome to your reality.

Personnel – Joe Nolan, Kim Monaghan, Joseph Matheny, and Ken Eakins.

Email us with stories you think we should discuss here.

Show Links:

Musical Interludes:

Axxon – Choc Milk Addiction

Kid 606 – Comeuppance

Bob Log III – Make you say wow

The man they want to keep hanging.

Ah, it seems not a month goes by without poor old Uncle Al getting a  lambasting in the press. Most recently, he was name-checked when a bunch of deranged occult-pedos were caught mis-interpreting his ‘Book of the Law’ (read all about it!). 

The Daily Mail claims, after speaking to author Mark Beynon, that Crowley is to be implicated as a serial killer:

Mark Beynon has drawn on previously unpublished evidence to conclude the occultist – dubbed the wickedest man in the world –  masterminded a series of ritualistic killings in ‘revenge’ for the British archaeologist Howard Carter’s opening of the boy-king’s tomb.

After analysis of inquest reports, Crowley’s diaries, essays and books, he also argues Crowley was a Jack the Ripper-obsessed copycat murderer.

His ‘victims’ included Carter’s personal secretary Captain Richard Bethell, who was found smothered to death at an exclusive Mayfair club, and Bethell’s father Lord Westbury, who plunged seven floors to his death from a St James’s apartment where he reportedly kept tomb artefacts.

The article goes to to claim that Crowley is very loosely connected to some of the victims, and is a Jack the Ripper copycat.

NOW, I haven’t read ‘London’s Curse: Murder, Black Magic and Tutankhamun in the 1920s West End‘ yet – it’s on its way from Amazon now – so I will report back shortly; but it seems very odd to me that only now has an author and ‘historian’ (I can’t find any academic credentials for Mr Beyon) linked this together.

Could it be that Crowley’s name is once again being used to sell books? We’ll have to see.

Ken Eakins

(source: The Daily Mail)

SittingNow.co.uk were invited to film the events of the first ‘Summer of Love’ event in Brighton by the excellent Scarlet Imprint.

A veritable Summer of Love distilled into one brimful cup of intoxication, illumination and revelation.

Speakers, dancers, performance art, and ritual combine to create a truly magical happening in a secret, central and spectacular location

The first four episodes will consist of full-length lectures from four of the speakers at the event (seen in the trailer above), and will begin later this month.

I know, I know…we took our sweet time…worth the wait, trust us.

Ken Eakins 

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of Kickstarter projects, I don’t why, I guess I’m just a bit ‘bah hum-bug’ at times. This, however, seems like a a decent one. Firstly, it’s a Crowley production, and I’m always in for a bit of Uncle Al. Secondly, productions like these are expensive as hell to put on:

We at Eleusyve Productions are currently working on our 4th full length rock opera based upon the seven planetary theatrical rituals that comprise Aleister Crowley’s Rites of Eleusis. The Rite of Sol, our current project, will be stage over several days in Seattle WA, with additional promotional performances else-where as our schedule and finances permit.

For those of you who are playing along at home, this is our second attempt to get funding for this project. Sadly, we did not reach our first goal. We’ve decreased the amount of funding we’re going to need, as we’re going to have to move to a smaller venue.

The money we collect through Kickstarter will be used to cover the cost of theater rental, insurance, sets, props and costumes for the production.

Watch scenes from The Rite of Mercury, The Rite of Venus and The Rite of Luna on YouTube.

For more information about Eleusyve Productions please visit our website.

If you can afford it, sling these cats a dollar. I was pretty impressed with their earlier productions, and I’d like to see more.

Ken Eakins

Fellow Brightonian, well-regarded tattooist, and fan of The Great Beast,  James Woodford, has produced these great looking Crowley-inspired Ouija boards:

Hand made Ouija board of the Great Beast.

Limited run of 50 boards.

litho print mounted onto hand stained and treated board with colour matched felt backing for that luxurious touch.

complete with planchette designed and fabricated by myself. In wood. Again hand finished to a high standard.
Each board has a hand made bag for safe keeping, covered in Crowleys unique interpretation of the unicurcal hexagram.

these truely are made with love and are a unique addition to any collection.

I would nip down the road and get one of these, alas I don’t have the required funds (£200) to hand. But for those of you that do, this looks like a very nice piece indeed.

Check them out, on James Woodford’s site.

If you’re a fan of both Crowley, and Ouija boards, then I recommend getting your hands on J. Edward Cornelius’ ‘Aleister Crowley and the Ouija Board’ released recently, it’s a good read.

Ken Eakins

I enjoy reading about Aleister Crowley‘s exploits as much as the next guy. He climbed mountains, did a boat-load of drugs, penetrated his way through more people than your average Victorian  lothario, and claimed to eat people.

What rarely gets a nod, however, is his massive impact on modern occultism. Uncle Al introduced more esoteric concepts – that many use on a daily basis – than any other living occultist in the Western hemisphere, and is partially responsible for bringing Buddhism into the popular lexicon.

I can live with this though, The man courted scandal, so it’s his own fault in many ways.

What I can’t live with are abusive tracky-bottom-wearing oddballs who do abhorrent acts in his name, muddying his already delicate reputation, and making it more stigmatising for us poor wand-wavers. From the Daiy Fail:

The leader of a Satanic sex cult is facing a lengthy jail sentence after being found guilty of multiple counts of rape and child abuse.

Colin Batley, 48, exercised absolute control over his sect in a seaside cul-de-sac – abusing and exploiting helpless children as ‘sex toys’ for more than a decade.

He was found guilty yesterday of 35 sex offences against children and young adults. Yet social services were alerted to Batley’s child abuse in 2002 – and took no action.

One helpless girl was ‘initiated’ when she was just 11 and threatened with death by ‘cult assassins’ if she did not comply. At least two of his young victims gave birth as a result of the ‘systematic and prolonged abuse’.

Yesterday at Swansea Crown Court, Marling, 42, and Elaine Batley, 47, were found guilty of five counts including sexual activity and indecency towards children.

He and his wife had been dabbling with the occult ever since they were married 30 years ago and were obsessed with Aleister Crowley, the most notorious Satanist of the 20th century, the self-styled ‘Great Beast’.

One of Crowley’s publications, the Book of the Law, includes the passage: ‘Let all chaste women be despised. Sex with anyone is not just permissible but to be encouraged.’ And this: ‘Some of the most passionate and permanent attachments have begun with rape. Rome was founded thereon.’

Apart from anything else, the Book of the Law provided justification for the couple’s own ‘open marriage’.

I dunno, you open the gates of hell in the middle of a desert, threaten William Butler Yeates a few times, and all of a sudden a bunch of ugly middle aged woman, and a gun-weilding Cat Weazel turn all bat-shit crazy and start abusing children.

This is 2011 right?

Ken Eakins

(Via: Daily Mail)

Kenneth Grant, one of the sole remaining links to occultist Aleister Crowley has died. Like his take on Thelema or not, you cannot deny the influence of the man’s work. From Starfire:

Kenneth Grant died on 15th January 2011 after a period of illness. Our condolences go first and foremost to his family, whose privacy is something which we all wish to respect at this difficult time.

Kenneth Grant had an extraordinary life, and his work has a remarkable depth and breadth of magical and mystical insight. In particular, his monumental series of Typhonian Trilogies is creative, innovatory and inspiring, extending across thirty years from the publication of the opening volume The Magical Revival in 1972, to the appearance of the final volume The Ninth Arch in 2002. This is a substantial body of work, constituting a solid foundation for further development, widening and deepening in the years to come; his work will continue.

Michael Staley,

SittingNow would like to extend our condolences to Grant’s friends and family.

This is a pretty fantastic rendering of Aleister Crowley’s ‘Rite of Saturn‘ by The Club De La Faye. The curators of the video, ‘The Ecstatic Society‘ plan to release more of Crowley’s rites.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Ecstatic Society in Denmark is a free-spirited creative embryo, mainly established to manifest Aleister Crowley´s Rites of Eleusis in a modernized form. The project does embrace change lovingly, and other interesting paths might certainly be pursued in time. The rites are manifested in collaboration with groups, artists and organizations. Collaborators so far are Club de la Faye, Cosmasia Kraft and Studiosapiens.

Ken Eakins

Imagine finding that in your Christmas stockings!

From Mego action figure obsessed megomuseum.com:

Here’s a fascinating cult icon, Aleister Crowley. He was a famous occultist who was followed by Led Zepplin guitarist Jimi Page. He inspired the Ozzy song “Mr Crowley”.
I hoped to capture some of the mystique and intrigue of this person in the figure. I think he looks pretty creepy. Awesome box by Toyroom! This one gave me goosebumps.

I’m not sure if you can buy the plastic Great Beast 666, but I want three!

Ken Eakins

(via: Dangerous Minds)