The Rites of Eleusis were a series of seven public

invocation An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of: *Supplication, prayer or spell. *A form of possession. *Command or conjuration. * Self-identification with certain spirits. These forms ...

s or

rites Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited, abbreviated as RITES Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India. It is an engineering consultancy corporation, specializing in the field ...

written by British occultist

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 pr ...

, each centered on one of the seven classical planets of antiquity. They were dramatically performed by

, Leila Waddell (Laylah), and

Victor Benjamin Neuburg The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

in October and November, 1910, at Caxton Hall, London. This act brought Crowley's occult organization the

A∴A∴ The A∴A∴ ( ) is a magical organization described in 1907 by occultist Aleister Crowley. Its members are dedicated to the advancement of humanity by perfection of the individual on every plane through a graded series of universal initiation ...

into the public eye.

The Rites

The names of the seven Rites are ''The Rite of'' "Saturn", "Jupiter", "Mars", "Sol", "Venus", "Mercury" and "Luna". Crowley claimed that the ''Rites'' were designed to inspire the audience with '

religious ecstasy Religious ecstasy is a type of altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness, frequently accompanied by visions and emotional (and sometimes physical) euph ...

', and that merely reading them would help people "cultivate their highest faculties". Some in the popular press thought otherwise, and considered the ''Rites'' an immoral display, riddled with ' blasphemy and erotic suggestion.' The Rite of Luna was danced by Joan Hayes also known as Ione de Forest, a lover of Victor Neuberg

In print

''Rites of Eleusis: As Performed at Caxton Hall'' Illustrated by Dwina Murphy-Gibb. Edited by Keith Richmond. UK: Mandrake, 1990 (limited edition of 1,000 copies). Contains the complete scripts of all the ''Rites'', with introduction by Richmond and explanatory essays by Richmond and Terence DuQuesne. Also includes a series of adorations, ''The Treasure House of Images'' by Capt

J.F.C. Fuller Major-General John Frederick Charles "Boney" Fuller (1 September 1878 – 10 February 1966) was a senior British Army officer, military historian, and strategist, known as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising pr ...

, and Crowley's '' Magick Book 4 (Liber O)''.

Contemporary Performances

Several modern

Ordo Templi Orientis Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult 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, Heinrich Klein, Franz Hartmann and T ...

groups regularly perform the Rites of Eleusis as written by Crowley. There is an additional "Rite of Earth" not written by Crowley which was penned by

Lon Milo Duquette Lon Milo DuQuette (born July 11, 1948), also known as Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford and by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Tau Lamed, is an American writer, lecturer, musician, and occultist, best known as an author who applies humor in the field of ...

and others as a logical extension of the Rites to complete the sequence from Saturn (Binah) to Earth (Malkuth). Beginning in 2000, Seattle base
Eleusyve Productions
has been composing original musical arrangements for each of the plays comprising ''The Rites of Eleusis''. All seven have been created and staged, with the final video, "Rite of Saturn", released in May 2020. On March 7, 2008 experimental media artist

Raymond Salvatore Harmon Raymond Salvatore Harmon (born April 7, 1974) is an American artist who works primarily as a painter. Biography Born in Jackson, Michigan in 1974, Raymond Salvatore Harmon has lived widely throughout the US (New York City; Savannah, Georgia; An ...

presented a three channel video performance of the ''Rites of Eleusis'' at Horse Hospital Gallery London, UK, by recontextualizing them into seven abstract films containing all of the original content as subliminal content hidden within each film.

References

Sources

*Crowley, Aleister - Rites of Eleusis: As Performed at Caxton Hall () *King, Francis - The Rise of Western Occultism

External links

The full text of the Rites of Eleusis
{{Thelema series Thelemite texts 1910 non-fiction books Works by Aleister Crowley