Kenneth Grant (23 May 1924 - 15 January 2011)

The death of Kenneth Grant has been announced. Grant died on 15th January after a long illness but in keeping with the privacy that characterised his life the announcement has only just been made.

I first became aware of Grant and his work 20 years ago, when as a young man I made that leap into the abyss that marks the beginning of ones magickal development. At that time I was a regular visitor to the Golden Dawn, a small occult bookshop in the old Corn Exchange in Manchester city centre. The Golden Dawn was an Aladdins Cave of books, prints, journals and pamphlets where I used to browse for an age before deciding to part with my money. One of the first books I bought was “The Magicians Dictionary”, by American linguist and occultist EE Rehmus. Rehmus was himself an original and creative thinker but it was his exploration of the Typhonian Tradition, which Grant had done so much to illuminate and expound, that really thrilled me. I then set out on a lengthy (and costly) campaign of acquiring as many of Kenneth Grant’s books as I could. In those pre-internet days that meant placing orders with booksellers and waiting many weeks for the title to arrive. Throughout those early years of the 1990s I devoured each title as it was re-issued by Skoob, branching out to the Starfire journal to fill in the gaps then avidly collecting Grant’s titles published by Fulgur Press, including several signed deluxe editions.

Those who have heard the albums Endvra released during this period will have no difficulty divining Grant’s influence on my thinking. Whilst I was interested in traditional Crowleyan Thelema I was captivated by the Typhonian Tradition. Grant’s ideas resonated in perfect harmony with my own and as I used his work to develop my internal folklore and ritual landscapes the themes he explored, especially in “The Nightside Of Eden” and “Hecate’s Fountain” exerted a deep and profound influence that lasts to this day.

I am not a disciple, nor a member of any order. I do not view Grants work either through rose tinted spectacles or through the antagonistic prism of inter-group jealousy. I came to Kenneth Grant with an open mind and an open heart and I found revelations that have unlocked doors that lead both inwards and outwards. I am saddened by the news of his death.