scarletimprint (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} scarletimprint) wrote,@ 2007-09-21 11:09:00 |
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Silver Star Review of The Red Goddess
THE RED GODDESS -- Babalon, The Holy Whore by Peter Grey, Scarlet Imprint, 7/7/07.
It is said you can't keep a good woman down. A bad one is even harder to restrain. Imagine how insistent Babalon, the Great Whore of Revelations, must be. She has been around for millennia and shows no sign of going away.
Crowley's Thelema has a decidedly Solar-Phallic orientation. Spermo-Gnostic, indeed. The role of Scarlet Woman in his life was filled by any number of disposable women, who served only as faceless receptacles for his Holy Seed. Crowley should have known that Babalon, the very Scarlet Woman herself, would not play that game for long. She is rising now, in the 21st century, to her true stature; the Cup of Abominations in one hand... and a Sword in the other. It is She who rides the Beast. She holds the reins. She is the driver -- he is only a sportscar, just a shiny hunk of metal until She turns the key and steps on the gas. Babalon is not content in this Aeon to be a mere passenger. She's the one who will pass you going 156 mph on the freeway, top down and topless, driving a car she rented from Duke of Madness Motors, trailing champagne bubbles and cocaine dust behind her. You'd best turn on your windshield wipers if you can't keep up.
Peter Grey's THE RED GODDESS is an impressive contribution to this evolving Cultus Babalon. Jack Parsons' abortive attempt to to sire the Antichrist from Babalon incarnate ended in his own immolation. But the story didn't end there. This book is proof of that. Belarion would be delighted.
Book One traces the origin of the name "Babalon" back to the ancient city Babylon. The ruling goddess of that city was Ishtar -- a goddess of both sacred sex and war. Ishtar in Babylonian culture was but the latest version of an even older love/war goddess: the Sumerian Inanna. This whore-goddess made a lasting impression on the Israelites held captive in Babylon, as can be seen in some of the books of the Old Testament, and became in their minds the symbol of the antithesis of the patriarchal, wrathful and jealous Yahweh. "Babylon the Great" of the New Testament Book of Revelations, Grey contends, is no other than Inanna/Ishtar, seen through the distorted lens of the Judeo-Christian mindset.
In Book Two, Grey illustrates Her movement through time by studies of magicians who had, um, "intercourse" with this deity over the centuries -- from Simon Magus to Dee & Kelly to Crowley to Parsons. THE RED GODDESS is not a paean to AC's version, though. "Babalon is not a trademark owned by the estate of Aleister Crowley," Grey writes, acknowledging Crowley's work as important but not the beginning or the end of the story. The Dee chapter reminded me that Crowley did not coin the spelling "Babalon" -- it comes from Dee and Kelly's angelic conversations.
Book Three is concerned mainly with "modes of worship", but there is not a single formal ritual in this book, not a single incantation in barbarous words. This not a grimoire; it is more suggestive than authoritative. After the historical accounts and analysis of Books One and Two, here Grey suggests ways the Holy Whore can be worshipped today. Ceremonial magic sure ain't what it used to be. Today, it takes a visit to a strip club or bordello to approximate a liaison with the Holy Whore. Today the magical weapons include booze, a little blow or X, mirrors and roses, and "bridles, whips, needles and knives" for the adventurous.
On first reading I had some trouble buying into this idea of a "strip club Babalon" or "Babs the Barmaid" (my terms). But, the closest thing we have to the sanctuary of Militta these days is, sadly, the bar and the bordello. In Sumer and Babylon, the annual duty of every woman was to travel to the Temple of Inanna/Ishtar and there engage in an act of sacred prostitution with a stranger. In other times and cultures, too, the Whore was indeed considered Holy. Now, work in the "sex industry" is a matter of economic necessity, not a sacred duty to the Goddess. What was once sacred sexuality has become sordid. Our loss.
THE RED GODDESS is not only a work of devotion from Grey to the Goddess, it is itself a talisman. Arriving from England with a red wax seal of the Star of Babalon on the envelope, the tome was protected by bubblepack surrounding a slipcase tied in a scarlet ribbon, and scattered over it, 7 perfumed rose petals. The limited edition of 156, released on 7/7/07, was not intended for rare book collectors alone; it's apparent that Grey intended it to fall into the "right hands". In my case, it did. I had been researching Dark Goddesses for months, focusing on the Stryx, Lamia, Lilith, and eventually Inanna/Ishtar. I had begun to suspect a connection between Inanna and Babalon, and the THE RED GODDESS confirms that. There is much in the book that relates directly to my current work; it is one of those books that arrived at my doorstep at just the right time.
I don't fully accept Grey's concept of Babalon, which some may see as no less misogynistic than Crowley's, or Grey's conclusions, which are a little too Apocalyptic for my taste. There is little in the way of citation, but this doesn't presume to be an academic work. It came more from the heart than the head. If nothing else, it is an entertaining read, an open invitation to LET GO! Challenging, uncompromising, sarcastic and insightful, and at times downright funny. I have to say too it is one the most precisely edited books I've read in a long time. Each sentence says what the author intends to say. This was not dashed off on a word processor over a weekend. Blood, sweat and tears stain the pages (figuratively, not literally -- my copy is quite clean).
This is a limited first edition but I hope someday to see it reach a wider audience, in a more affordable format. Babalon IS Rising, and this is one of the books that will spark the debate about just what that means
THE RED GODDESS -- Babalon, The Holy Whore by Peter Grey, Scarlet Imprint, 7/7/07.
It is said you can't keep a good woman down. A bad one is even harder to restrain. Imagine how insistent Babalon, the Great Whore of Revelations, must be. She has been around for millennia and shows no sign of going away.
Crowley's Thelema has a decidedly Solar-Phallic orientation. Spermo-Gnostic, indeed. The role of Scarlet Woman in his life was filled by any number of disposable women, who served only as faceless receptacles for his Holy Seed. Crowley should have known that Babalon, the very Scarlet Woman herself, would not play that game for long. She is rising now, in the 21st century, to her true stature; the Cup of Abominations in one hand... and a Sword in the other. It is She who rides the Beast. She holds the reins. She is the driver -- he is only a sportscar, just a shiny hunk of metal until She turns the key and steps on the gas. Babalon is not content in this Aeon to be a mere passenger. She's the one who will pass you going 156 mph on the freeway, top down and topless, driving a car she rented from Duke of Madness Motors, trailing champagne bubbles and cocaine dust behind her. You'd best turn on your windshield wipers if you can't keep up.
Peter Grey's THE RED GODDESS is an impressive contribution to this evolving Cultus Babalon. Jack Parsons' abortive attempt to to sire the Antichrist from Babalon incarnate ended in his own immolation. But the story didn't end there. This book is proof of that. Belarion would be delighted.
Book One traces the origin of the name "Babalon" back to the ancient city Babylon. The ruling goddess of that city was Ishtar -- a goddess of both sacred sex and war. Ishtar in Babylonian culture was but the latest version of an even older love/war goddess: the Sumerian Inanna. This whore-goddess made a lasting impression on the Israelites held captive in Babylon, as can be seen in some of the books of the Old Testament, and became in their minds the symbol of the antithesis of the patriarchal, wrathful and jealous Yahweh. "Babylon the Great" of the New Testament Book of Revelations, Grey contends, is no other than Inanna/Ishtar, seen through the distorted lens of the Judeo-Christian mindset.
In Book Two, Grey illustrates Her movement through time by studies of magicians who had, um, "intercourse" with this deity over the centuries -- from Simon Magus to Dee & Kelly to Crowley to Parsons. THE RED GODDESS is not a paean to AC's version, though. "Babalon is not a trademark owned by the estate of Aleister Crowley," Grey writes, acknowledging Crowley's work as important but not the beginning or the end of the story. The Dee chapter reminded me that Crowley did not coin the spelling "Babalon" -- it comes from Dee and Kelly's angelic conversations.
Book Three is concerned mainly with "modes of worship", but there is not a single formal ritual in this book, not a single incantation in barbarous words. This not a grimoire; it is more suggestive than authoritative. After the historical accounts and analysis of Books One and Two, here Grey suggests ways the Holy Whore can be worshipped today. Ceremonial magic sure ain't what it used to be. Today, it takes a visit to a strip club or bordello to approximate a liaison with the Holy Whore. Today the magical weapons include booze, a little blow or X, mirrors and roses, and "bridles, whips, needles and knives" for the adventurous.
On first reading I had some trouble buying into this idea of a "strip club Babalon" or "Babs the Barmaid" (my terms). But, the closest thing we have to the sanctuary of Militta these days is, sadly, the bar and the bordello. In Sumer and Babylon, the annual duty of every woman was to travel to the Temple of Inanna/Ishtar and there engage in an act of sacred prostitution with a stranger. In other times and cultures, too, the Whore was indeed considered Holy. Now, work in the "sex industry" is a matter of economic necessity, not a sacred duty to the Goddess. What was once sacred sexuality has become sordid. Our loss.
THE RED GODDESS is not only a work of devotion from Grey to the Goddess, it is itself a talisman. Arriving from England with a red wax seal of the Star of Babalon on the envelope, the tome was protected by bubblepack surrounding a slipcase tied in a scarlet ribbon, and scattered over it, 7 perfumed rose petals. The limited edition of 156, released on 7/7/07, was not intended for rare book collectors alone; it's apparent that Grey intended it to fall into the "right hands". In my case, it did. I had been researching Dark Goddesses for months, focusing on the Stryx, Lamia, Lilith, and eventually Inanna/Ishtar. I had begun to suspect a connection between Inanna and Babalon, and the THE RED GODDESS confirms that. There is much in the book that relates directly to my current work; it is one of those books that arrived at my doorstep at just the right time.
I don't fully accept Grey's concept of Babalon, which some may see as no less misogynistic than Crowley's, or Grey's conclusions, which are a little too Apocalyptic for my taste. There is little in the way of citation, but this doesn't presume to be an academic work. It came more from the heart than the head. If nothing else, it is an entertaining read, an open invitation to LET GO! Challenging, uncompromising, sarcastic and insightful, and at times downright funny. I have to say too it is one the most precisely edited books I've read in a long time. Each sentence says what the author intends to say. This was not dashed off on a word processor over a weekend. Blood, sweat and tears stain the pages (figuratively, not literally -- my copy is quite clean).
This is a limited first edition but I hope someday to see it reach a wider audience, in a more affordable format. Babalon IS Rising, and this is one of the books that will spark the debate about just what that means
