Editing Thelema (section)

===Kenneth Grant===
[[File:Kenneth Grant.jpg|thumb|Grant in the library of his Golders Green home, taken by Jan Magee in 1978]]
[[Kenneth Grant (occultist)|Kenneth Grant]] (1924–2011) was an English [[ceremonial magic]]ian and advocate of the Thelemic religion. A poet, novelist, and writer, he founded his own Thelemic organisation, the [[Typhonian Order|Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis]]—later renamed the Typhonian Order—with his wife Steffi Grant.

Grant drew eclectically on a range of sources in devising his teachings.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=161}} Although based in Thelema, Grant's Typhonian tradition has been described as "a ''bricolage'' of occultism, Neo-Vedanta, Hindu tantra, Western sexual magic, Surrealism, ufology and Lovecraftian gnosis".{{sfnp|Bogdan|2015|p=1}} Grant promoted what he termed the Typhonian or Draconian tradition of magic,{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=95}} and wrote that Thelema was only a recent manifestation of this wider tradition.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=106}} In his books, he portrayed the Typhonian tradition as the world's oldest spiritual tradition, writing that it had ancient roots in Africa.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=96}} The religious studies scholar Gordan Djurdjevic noted that Grant's historical claims regarding Typhonian history were "at best highly speculative" and lacked any supporting evidence; however he also suggested that Grant may never have intended these claims to be taken literally.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=109}}

Grant wrote that Indian spiritual traditions like Tantra and Yoga correlate to Western esoteric traditions and that both stem from a core ancient source and have parallels in the perennial philosophy promoted by the [[Traditionalist School]] of esotericists.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|pp=92–93}} He believed that by mastering magic, one masters this illusory universe, gaining personal liberation and recognising that only the Self really exists.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=98}} Doing so, according to Grant, leads to the discovery of one's True Will, the central focus of Thelema.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=109}}  Grant further wrote that the realm of the Self was known as 'the Mauve Zone', and that it could be reached while in a state of deep sleep, where it has the symbolic appearance of a swamp.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=99}} He also believed that the reality of consciousness, which he deemed the only true reality, was formless and thus presented as a void, although he also taught that it was symbolised by the Hindu goddess [[Kali]] and the Thelemic goddess [[Nuit]].{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=100}}

Grant's views on [[sex magic]] drew heavily on the importance of [[sexual dimorphism]] among humans and the subsequent differentiation of gender roles.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=168}} Grant taught that the true secret of sex magic were bodily secretions, the most important of which was a woman's menstrual blood.{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=96}} In this he differed from Crowley, who viewed [[semen]] as the most important genital secretion.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=174}} Grant referred to female sexual secretions as ''kalas'', a term adopted from [[Sanskrit]].{{sfnp|Djurdjevic|2014|p=107}} He thought that because women have kalas, they have oracular and visionary powers.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=169}} The magical uses of female genital secretions are a recurring theme in Grant's writings.{{sfnp|Hedenborg White|2020|p=165}}