Marguerite Frieda Harris, Lady Harris (née Bloxam, 13 August 1877,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England — 11 May 1962,
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
, India), referred to by her own insistence by the incorrect style “Lady Frieda Harris”, was an artist and, in later life, an associate of the
occultist
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...
. She is best known for her design of Crowley's
Thoth tarot deck
The Thoth Tarot is an divinatory tarot, esoteric tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris according to instructions from Aleister Crowley. Crowley referred to this deck as The Book of Thoth, and also wrote The Book of Thoth (Crowley), a 1944 bo ...
.
Family
Frieda Bloxam was a daughter of surgeon John Astley Bloxam, F.R.C.S. (1843 - 1926) and Jessie Findlay Bloxam nee Porter (1851 - 1926).
She married
Percy Harris Percy Harris is the name of:
*Percy Harris (lawyer), British barrister
*Percy Harris (politician), British politician
See also
*Percy Harris Bowers, Anglican priest
*Percy Harrison (disambiguation)
{{human name disambiguation, Harris, Percy ...
in April 1901. Percy Harris served as a
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
MP 1916-1918 and 1922–1945, and was
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
for his party. After her husband was created a
baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
in 1932 she was entitled to
style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
herself Lady Harris but preferred to use Lady Frieda Harris.
Frieda and Percy Harris had two sons:
Jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, ...
(born 1906, later Sir Jack Harris) and Thomas (born 1908).
Introduction to Crowley
Aleister Crowley had asked playwright and author
Clifford Bax
Clifford Lea Bax (13 July 1886 – 18 November 1962)Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-Armour, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1910, p. 106 was a versatile English writer, known particularly as a playwright, a journalist, ...
to help him find an artist for a Tarot project. On 9 June 1937 Bax invited Frieda Harris after two artists did not show up for an appointment. She was then aged 60.
As well as reading books by Crowley, Harris' study of
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a ...
's
Anthroposophy
Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers ...
was to be a critical aspect in the creation of the Thoth deck. Crowley's friend Greta Valentine, a London socialite, also knew Harris. Harris and Crowley did much of their work on the Thoth tarot deck at Valentine's house in Hyde Park Crescent, London.
In 1937 Harris began taking lessons in projective synthetic geometry, based upon the ideas of
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
as reflected in the teachings of Steiner, from Olive Whicher and George Adams.
John Symonds writes:
According to Crowley's unpublished ''Society of Hidden Masters'',
on 11 May 1938, Lady Harris became his "disciple" and also became a member of
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult Initiation, initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner (mystic), Carl Kellner, He ...
, entering directly to the IV° (Fourth Degree) of that Order due to her previous initiation into
Co-Masonry
Co-Freemasonry is a form of Freemasonry which admits both men and women. It began in France in the 1890s with the forming of Le Droit Humain, and is now an international movement represented by several Co-Freemasonic administrations throughout th ...
.
Crowley also began to teach her divination — she had a choice of discipline and opted for the
I Ching
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
.
Harris visits Crowley
The author
William Holt in his autobiography describes how he accompanied Harris to Crowley's lodgings at 93
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers.
Hist ...
,
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
. While Harris drew some charcoal sketches, there was a discussion on ''The Book of Thoth'' that Crowley was writing.
Creating the Thoth Tarot
By Crowley's own admission, the deck was originally intended to be traditional but Harris encouraged him to commit his
occult
The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
, magical, spiritual and scientific views to the project.
Harris sent Crowley a regular stipend throughout the project. She also used her society contacts to find financial backers for the exhibition of the paintings, the catalogues, and for the publication of the Tarot deck. The pressure may have taken its toll on Harris and Crowley was sufficiently concerned to call in the lawyers to protect his 66% investment in the project. Crowley gives Harris praise in the introduction to the ''
Book of Thoth
'' Book of Thoth'' is a name given to many ancient Egyptian texts supposed to have been written by Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing and knowledge. They include many texts that were claimed to exist by ancient authors and a magical book that ap ...
'':
Throughout the project she insisted on her own anonymity but she revelled in working for such a notorious man. The ''Book of Thoth'' was published in 1944 in a 200 copy
limited edition
The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...
, but neither Crowley or Harris lived to see the deck itself printed.
Crowley's last days
The surviving letters between Frieda Harris and Crowley show the level of their devotion to each other. On 29 May 1942 Crowley wrote to Pearson, the photoengraver of the Thoth deck:
There is a break in the Harris - Crowley letters after the exhibition in July 1942 but she was in close contact with him, particularly towards the end of his life, and visited him frequently. A pencil sketch she made of Crowley on his deathbed survives.
After Crowley's death she wrote to Frederic Mellinger, an O.T.O. member in Germany, on 7 December 1947:
She also corresponded with
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brosseau Gardner (13 June 1884 – 12 February 1964), also known by the craft name Scire, was an English Wiccan, as well as an author and an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist. He was instrumental in bringing the Contemporary Pag ...
and
Karl Germer
Karl Johannes Germer (22 January 1885 – 25 October 1962), also known as ''Frater Saturnus'', was a German occultist and the United States representative and later a successor of author and occultist Aleister Crowley as the Outer Head of the Ord ...
, Crowley's successor as head of O.T.O., in an attempt to assist with the Order's structure in Europe, which had been thrown into some confusion after Crowley's death.
Frieda Harris and Louis Wilkinson were the
executors
An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used.
Overview
An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...
of Crowley's Will.
After Crowley
Harris had plans to do a lecture tour in the United States and exhibit the original paintings of the Thoth tarot deck in 1948 but this never materialised.
After her husband's death in 1952, she moved to India. She died in
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
on 11 May 1962. She bequeathed the original paintings of her Tarot cards to fellow Thelemite
Gerald Yorke
Major Gerald Joseph Yorke (10 December 1901 – 29 April 1983) was an English soldier and writer. He was a Reuters correspondent while in China for two years in the 1930s, and wrote a book ''China Changes'' (1936).
Life
Gerald Joseph Yorke was bo ...
, who in turned placed them with the
Warburg Institute
The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...
along with much other Crowley material that he had collected over the years. However, Yorke retained several alternative versions of the cards and some preliminary studies which he later sold through bookdealer Harold Mortlake.
Her legacy can be found in a later reprinting of ''The Book of Thoth'':
References
Works cited
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Frieda
1877 births
1962 deaths
English Thelemites
Members of Ordo Templi Orientis
Tarotologists
Wives of baronets