The Eloquent Blood: The Goddess Babalon and the Construction of Femininities in Western Esotericism - Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism (Hardback)

Eloquent Blood is a rich, courageous book, with many layers of concept and debate... A text to be read, considered carefully, and debated by all scholars of modern and contemporary esotericism. - Jay Johnston, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, Brill

This book is an excellent contribution to the researchon esotericism, gender, and their intersections. - Patricia Sophie Mayer, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review

... the overall clarity of Hedenborg White's narrative, her mastery in the use of relevant sources and data, and her ability to combine these with a sound theoretical basis. The Eloquent Blood, therefore, is certain to be recognized as one of the most important contributions to the field of contemporary occultism and alternative spiritualities in recent years, as well as to the intersections between gender and contemporary forms of religion more broadly. To that should be added the overall beauty of Hedenborg White's writing as reflected both throughout the book and particularly in its final passage (342), making The Eloquent Blood true to its title. - Shai Feraro, International Journal for the Study of New Religions

This is one of the more important monographs to appear from the study of modern occultism in the past decade and warrants wide reading among scholars researching this area. It certainly has things to interest others too, especially those exploring the interplay of gender and religion...Not only does it deepen understandings of...important characters in the twentieth-century occult milieu, but it also provides one of the first published studies to draw on ethnographic research among contemporary Thelemites — something we need to see far more of. - Ethan Doyle White, Nova Religio

Combining rigorous textual analysis with pioneering field work, Hedenborg White reveals the significance of the goddess Babalon within Thelemic history, thought, and practice. Beyond this single-deity focus, she also offers keen, urgent, and provocative insights into the stakes of feminism, femininities, and queer identity within contemporary Western esotericism more broadly. The Eloquent Blood is the most important work of gender and esotericism studies since Alex Owen's The Darkened Room (1989). - Christine Ferguson, author of Determined Spirits: Eugenics, Heredity, and Racial Regeneration in Anglo-American Spiritualist Writing, 1848-1930

A transgressive goddess, erotic rituals, a notorious occultist with countless male and female lovers-- the Thelemic religion is perfect fodder for sensational clichés about sex and the occult. Here, we finally have a book that approaches the subject equipped with meticulous primary-source research and the cutting edge of gender and sexuality studies. Anyone with an interest in the complex gender configurations of modern occultism needs to read this book. - Egil Asprem, Associate Professor in the History of Religions, Stockholm University

This work is notably original, a pioneering comparative historical and ethnographic study of Babalon as a discursive construct, a lived reality among Crowleyite circles, and a challenge to the general concept of esoteric female deities, who are usually not so challenging, violent, or transgressive. There is nothing of comparable quality or depth in existence. - Carole Cusack, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Sydney

This book is an excellent contribution to the research on esotericism, gender, and their intersections. - Patricia Sophie Mayer, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review