The occult emerged from the shadows in the 1960s as a result of many factors, including the easing of censorship laws, the erosion of 50s morals and a renewed interest in topics that had been largely suppressed for a myriad of other reasons, all contributing to the new-found fascination of the subject in general. Society and culture itself were also transforming, aided by the abundant use of drugs--and as far as the occult was concerned--particularly LSD and other psychotropic, mind-altering (aka "mind-expanding") substances.
During the early period of this movement, the charismatic Anton Szandor LaVey founded the Church of Satan on Walpurgisnacht, April 30, 1966. Additionally, the practice of magic (i.e. rituals, spells) had been decriminalized in England over a decade before. These two events helped to facilitate the burgeoning interest of a large number of would-be pagans to freely explore what had been previously looked upon and treated as forbidden. Fortune telling using Astrology, the Tarot, crystal balls, pendulums and the Ouija Board also became popular.
This confluence made it a perfect cauldron from which the occult bubbled over into the mainstream. The media rabidly feasted on this new, lurid phenomenon, and a wave of newscasts, talk shows, documentaries, and other means of wide-spread exposure followed. Embraced with open arms by the hippies and other counterculture groups, the general public was brazenly titillated with the images and stories of sexy witches, uninhibited covens, nudity, open sex and the marketing of charms and spells where one could learn everything from how to put a hex on your enemies to attract anyone you desired.
Another prevalent form of transmitting this information was through books. A wave of how-to books, histories and other non-fiction titles flooded the market and filled the spinner racks. Alongside these were mass-market paperbacks designed with tawdry covers, all aimed to cast a spell on the consumer. Virtually no genre was spared and occult or occult-themed novels found their way into horror, science-fiction, romance and other types of fiction.
The so-called "occult explosion" began retreating back into the shadows in the late 1970s, when another mystical phenomenon called the "New Age"--with its seeds sown in the previous decade--began its ascent to the cosmic heavens.
Selected here are examples of the aforementioned occult paperbacks to illustrate the wide variety of titles that were available in their heyday. Some are from my personal collection and others are from various sources on the internet.
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| Cover original by Jeff Jones. |
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| Cover photograph of a young Caroline Munroe. |
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| Cover detail of the novel, Isobel. |
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| Cover detail of John Fowles' book inspired by Aleister Crowley. |
I have little interest in the interiors, but the covers are remarkable to say the least. That's some good "Jeff Jones".
ReplyDeleteWho adopted the name 'Jeffrey Catherine Jones' from 1998 onwards, by the way.
DeleteThe Occult raised its profile in British high society in the early 1900s, largely thanks to the exploits of Aleister Crowley and his various Satanic endeavours. Dennis Wheatley's bestselling horror novel The Devil Rides Out (1934) was influenced by meetings with Crowley, the Revd Montague Summers, author of History of Witchcraft and Demonology (1926), and Rollo Ahmed, who later wrote The Black Art (1939).
ReplyDeleteRip and Steve: No disrespect intended, but I opted to use the artist's name as it was used at the time the book was published.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned it merely as a footnote, not an endorsement.
DeleteSteve: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn created a bit of a splash, too, in the 1890s. I've read a few of Crowley's non-fiction and fiction books and find them difficult to wade through much of the time. "The Confessions" was very interesting despite its prodigious length.
ReplyDelete