Libraries and the Occult

Cecile Dubuis

“Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MA of University College London.”

September 2004

Abstract The principal aims of this study are to look at how libraries currently deal with occult

collections and as to why such materials are still not widely available to the public

through the library system.

Its intent is to cover both historical and current collections, how libraries have dealt with

them and on the classification difficulties that arise from such a broad yet relatively

untouched subject.

A further section of the dissertation will consider some of the history of occult

collections, on where they have gone to, on the changes or lack thereof between then and

the present day, and on how some libraries advertise such collections whilst others still

hide them away.

Another aspect of the project will discuss some of the issues of censorship and how the

occult field is under constant pressure to either remain hidden or to prove its validity and

useful. Here, I will also consider some of the current controversies and the librarian’s

dilemma.

The majority of the collections that I have been able to access and explore are based in

London, or in other parts of the United Kingdom. However, I have also incorporated

studies on important collections that are housed overseas.

In addition to both historical and present day collections, a further section looks at the

future of the occult collection with regard to online resources and current library-building

projects.

I

The occult, whilst continuing to enjoy a significant growth in interest with the public at

large, remains predominantly unchartered territory for the librarian. This study will try to

consider and discuss some of the issues that surround this most mysterious of subjects.

Signed declaration

I declare that this dissertation is my own work and that all sources have been

acknowledged

Cecile Dubuis

II

Contents

Items Page no. Chapter 1. Introduction 1

1.1 The definition of an occult collection 1

1.2 A new demand for a new society 2

1.3 Misconceptions and controversy 4

Chapter 2. Classification 6

2.1 The difficulties 6

2.2 How different classification schemes deal with the occult 8

2.2.1 Dewey Decimal Classification 8

2.2.2 The Library of congress Classification 12

2.2.3 The Bliss Classification 14

2.2.4 The Librarie Lucien Dorbon 17

2.3 Special collections 20

2.3.1 Generalities 20

2.3.2 The Ferguson Collection 21

2.3.3 The Harry Price Collection 23

2.4 The alternative 26

Chapter 3. Library Collection 29

3.1 Occult as a main subject 29

3.1.1 The Library of Avalon 29

3.1.2 The Theosophical Library 35

3.2 Libraries on other subjects but with a very

Substantial occult section 41

3.2.1 The Wellcome Library 41

3.2.2 The London Library 45

3.2.3 The Warburg Institute 49

3.3 Public Libraries 54

III

3.3.1 The Battersea Lending Library 54

3.3.2 The New York Public Library 55

3.4 Other special libraries in the UK 56

3.5 Major collection outside the UK 59

3.5.1 The Bibliotheca Hermetica Philosophica 60

3.5.2 The Monash Library 61

Chapter 4. Censorship 63

4.1 Introduction to censorship 63

4.2 Occult representation 65

4.3 The librarian dilemma 66

4.4 Children and the occult literature 69

4.5 The Harry Potter dilemma 68

4.6 Conclusion to censorship 71

Chapter 5. The historical tradition and the

online revolution 72

5.1 Libraries as keeper of forbidden knowledge 72

5.2 The tradition of occult library 73

5.3 The online revolution 75

Chapter 6. Conclusion 77

6.1 The future 77

6.2 Summary of what has been covered 78

Bibliography 81

Appendices: Appendix 1: Bliss PX: The Occult Appendix 2: The Magical Library of Harry Price, exhibition booklet Appendix 3: Exhibition leaflet: Confession of a teenage witch.(Wellcome) Appendix 4: London Library subject sub-divisions on science and miscellaneous Appendix 5: London Library map Appendix 6: Monash Library exhibition on the occult (prints from their WebPages.)

IV

Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1 The definition of the occult “According to the Oxford English dictionary, the term “Occult” in the sense of “not

understood or able to be understood by the mind, beyond the range of ordinary

knowledge”, dates from 1545. By 1653, the accepted meaning of the word had extended

to cover those would be sciences of the ancient and medieval worlds, such as magic,

alchemy, astrology and theosophy, which were supposed to contain some knowledge of,

or to have power to activate, the secret and mysterious forces of nature. However, it

took the work of Eliphas Levi in 19th century Europe to develop occultism into a way of

looking at the world, with its own rites. In fact, the beliefs, theories and techniques

embraced by the terms “occultism” or “esoterism” were already widely known in later

antiquity and some of them such as magic, astrology, theurgy and necromancy, had

been invented and systematized some 2000 years earlier in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The historical field of occultism might remain very imprecise but for one point which

happens to circumscribe it: the written history of occult philosophy does not start until

more or less the dawn of Christianity.” (Nataf, 1996, p1)

Firstly, we should clarify and discuss what an occult collection includes. The principal

misconception surrounding the subject has arisen from years of censorship and taboo;

that the occult only concerns certain dangerous and negative influences such as

Satanism or demonology. This is not the case. Instead, whilst these issues are certainly

part of the occult, the subject encompasses many other aspects of interest and study.

There are too many topics involved to be able to present a complete list here. However,

as a way to illustrate what would come underneath the occult banner, here is a short list

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of keywords which would most likely be found on the shelves. I have used many of

these keywords in my searches on the subject.

Supernatural, Paranormal

Para-psychology and Pseudo-sciences

Alchemy

Magic (white, Enochian, natural, angel and black)

Witchcraft, Wicca, Paganism, Druids, Earth Goddess

Spells, Amulets, Charms, Rituals

Divination methods: Palmistry, Tarot, Crystal, Oracles, Physiognomy and Runes

Satanism, Devil-worshipping, Demonology, Exorcism, Possession

Vampirism, Zombies, Monsters and Revenants

UFO’s, Aliens, the Unexplained, Crop circles, Standing Stones, Loch Mess Monster

Myths, Legends and folklore

Ghost, Haunting, ESP, Psychoanalysis, Reincarnation,

Secret Societies, Freemasonry, Gnosticism, Rosicrucianism, Sects, Knights Templar

Alternative religions (Tantrism, Taoism, Sufi, Voodooism, New Age)

Occultism, Esoterism, Theosophy and more

1.2 A new demand for a new society

Contrary to some of the more fundamentalist views, the occult ,in all its forms, is a

popular subject. Today’s society is more open-minded and enjoys a greater freedom of

expression than has been the case previously. Whilst societies and organisations that

involve themselves in various aspects of the occult have always been around, it is only

relatively recently that they have become accessible rather than hidden and secretive.

The Internet has been instrumental in allowing these organisations to promote

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themselves and to inform others, which gives them the ability to publish information

online without prejudice or censorship. The sheer breadth and number of these

organisations testifies to the demand in these interests; London alone has a great many

pagan groups, folklore societies, New Age associations, vampire communities, Gnostic

societies and alchemical research groups to name but a few. This does illustrate a need

for written material and yet, whilst so many publications are available either online or in

the shops, a comparatively small amount is available within libraries.

Despite this, a lot of library literature shows awareness in the increase in interest and

demand for occult-related materials. “The literature of pseudoscience is vast, yet

endlessly fascinating. The demands for books and articles on extrasensory perception

(ESP), monsters, unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and a host of such subject is great

and rising”(Thompson, 1884,p176)

“Anyone visiting a large bookstore cannot fail to notice how many shelves are devoted

to subject commonly labelled ‘mind, body and spirit’. The fashion for ‘new age' shows

no signs of abating” (Wilkins, 1999, p70)

“Boom in the States in the sale of occult books, books in the ‘new age’ category had

risen by 75% since 1993”. (Daily Mail, 29th October, 1998)

“We can see this change reflected in the literature of today, with the last thirty years

witnessing an increase in books dealing with what the Dewey Classification Schedules

call ‘controversial knowledge’; the occult sciences, the paranormal, the esoteric as it is

variously know.” (Wilkins, 1999, p70)

Lastly, as Bogey said in his article on the subject: “The occult is booming and book

sales in the new age/occult category have risen at twice the rate of books as a group. As

a result this area may not be adequately represented in libraries.”(Bogey, 1996, p145)

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1.3 Misconceptions and controversies

Today the term occult denotes a variety of knowledge beyond the range of everyday

experience. Whether supernatural, mystical, magical or paranormal the interest and the

demand are there. The labels may vary from one bookstore to another but the majority

will have a section dedicated to the occult. London has many bookstores that specialise

in the subject and most will agree that their clients and readers are not all lunatics with

dangerous ideas. The materials are being used by scholars and researchers as well as by

individuals with a personal interest in the variety of aspects that form the occult. One of

the library’s roles is to mirror society and its range of interests and whilst the demand

for materials is clearly there, coverage of the topic within the library is frequently poor

and somewhat narrow.

One of the most frequent remarks found in the various articles that I have read on this

subject is the lack of analysis of user needs in conjunction with the evident increase in

interest. It would be understandable if the interest simply wasn’t there, but it is, and

many institutions are still uncertain of how to deal with the controversy and difficulties

associated with the occult. Many of the debates on the topic concern the legitimacy of

the subject matter and the fact that it is not yet completely accepted by the academic

world as a valid field of study. As such, the existing sources of information are of

dubious provenance. This in turn leads to difficulties in choosing which materials to

hold as part of a collection. The process of integrating or building upon an existing

collection will vary immensely, depending upon whether you are a believer, a sceptic,

simply curious or completely opposed to the subject.

This dissertation will look at some of the issues described above. The next chapter will

look at some of the classification difficulties whilst the third chapter will consider some

of the major occult collections presently available and how they deal with the issues

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surrounding the subject. Chapter four will focus on the issue of censorship and how it

has shaped the history of the occult collections. Chapter five will delve further into both

the historical background and the online revolution, before finally looking into the

library projects that are happening around the world today.

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Chapter 2. Classification of the

occult

2.1 The difficulties The growth in publication and demand for occult or pseudo-scientific literature has

raised a number of issues. One of these issues concerns the classification of these

diverse and apparently new subjects. At some stage most libraries will encounter the

subject of the occult. Relatively few will deal with it in the same way, even though the

purpose of subject arrangement is to assist the reader in locating books belonging to the

same or similar fields. Unfortunately, the occult seems to be one of the least considered

subjects when it comes to classification. This can often result in materials being divided

among other subjects such as philosophy, psychology and religion. This can make it

difficult to find occult materials. In such cases, a further difficulty can arise for the user;

that of asking for help in locating “occult books”. Frequently arising from historical

taboos and misconceptions, reactions may not always be negative or judgmental but it

does depend somewhat on the beliefs and opinions of the library staff concerned.

Particularly those who eschew the subject from a standpoint of little or no personal

knowledge.

An example of the diversity of where such materials can be shelved can be obtained by

looking at how bookshops handle the subject. Whilst they do not need to follow the

same classification schemes as the library, they still have to arrange the materials in a

way that helps members of the public locate the required items. Frequently, esoteric and

occult literature will be found under a wide range of subject headings: Self Help,

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Psychology, Religion, Women’s Literature and even Cookery (magic and herbs!). Few

bookshops will actually use the term “Occult” due to the stigma attached to it. More

frequently, if a bookshop carries these publications, they will be shelved in a section

more euphemistically termed “New Age”, “Mind, Body and Spirit” or simply just

“Spirituality”.

An example of this practice can be seen mirrored in the public library. Even though the

Dewey name for “133” is Parapsychology and Occultism, the library will frequently

refer to this section as “The Unexplained”. This is the case within Southwark libraries.

As previously mentioned, depending upon which scheme is used, occult related

materials may be collated with or integrated into other main subjects such as Religion,

Philosophy, Psychology and Social Sciences. None of these are particularly wrong as

the occult covers such a large range of issues. As such, it will rarely have its own class

status. In the past the items were either catalogued with the sciences (Alchemy was seen

as a legitimate science before being ruled out as an occult science) or within

miscellaneous. I came across this early classification list in Shoham’s Library

classification. (Shoham, 2000, p41)

“In the early eighteenth century, the Sion College Library was classified by subject:

A Bibles, Concordances

B Liturgies

C Rabbinical authors

D-E Commentaries on the Bible

X Philosophy

Y Philology

Z English, French and Italian Philology

AB Miscellaneous: Coins, Magic, Witchcraft, Demonology

IB Dictionaries in all subjects” (Shoham, S, 2000, p41).

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When unsure, it is usually safe to use miscellaneous. Unfortunately for today, the

subject is a little too large to fit within miscellaneous any more.

Another difficulty encountered by libraries is the fact that many of the books will not

have previously been catalogued, which eliminates the possibility of copying or

checking another institution’s records. Decisions will often have to be made by the

institution alone and guidance in this subject is not as widely available as with the more

popular subjects.

2.2 How the different classification schemes deal

with the occult.

Whilst it would be impossible for me to consider every classification scheme here, I

have chosen to look at a few that have dealt with and considered this topic.

2.2.1 Dewey Decimal Classification

When dealing with a large general collection, Dewey is frequently the scheme chosen.

Here, the different keywords of the occult subjects are reasonably well represented. To

most public library users 130 and more specifically 133 will be the first place to check

for materials. However, not all occult related items will be located under this number.

Here’s a list of where in Dewey materials may be located:

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In the 000’s (Computer Science, Information, General works…) under:

001 Knowledge

In the 100’s (Philosophy & Psychology) under:

110 Metaphysics

130 Parapsychology & occultism

140 Specific philosophical schools

150 Psychology

170 Ethics

180 Ancient, medieval & eastern philosophy

190 Modern western philosophy

In the 200’s (Religion) under:

200 Religion

210 Philosophy & theory of religion

280 Christian denominations & sects

290 Other religions

In the 300’s under:

360 Social problems & services (with 366 for various secret societies)

390 Customs, etiquette & folklore

Table 1: DCC 130 main sections

130 Parapsychology & occultism

131 Parapsychological & occult methods 136 (unassigned) 132 (unassigned) 137 Divinatory graphology 133 Specific topics in parapsychology & occultism 138 Physiognomy 134 (unassigned) 139 Phrenology 135 Dreams& mysteries Table 2: DCC 133 section and its subdivisions 133.1 Apparitions 133.2 Parapsychological and occult aspects of specific

things 133.3 Divinatory arts 133.4 Demonology and witchcraft 133.5 Astrology 133.6 Palmistry 133.8 Psychic Phenomenon 133.9 Spiritualism 133.42 Demonology

.422 Satanism (Devil worshipping)

.423 Evil spirit (including incubi, succubi, vampires, werewolf)

.425 The evil eye

.426 Demoniac possession

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.427 Exorcism of demons 133.43 Magic and witchcraft 133.44 Spells, curses, charms

.442 Love spells and charms

.443 Good luck spells and charms

.446 Therapeutic spells and charms This is just one example. Some sections have even more subdivisions f. Astrology, for

example, has subdivisions for all the different signs of the zodiac, planets and other

aspects.

The other main section is Religion. Dewey is sometimes seen as being biased towards

the Christian religions and western thought as Christianity uses most of the 200 section

(200-289) whilst the other religions are crammed in under the 290’s. Occult and

witchcraft can also be found across different fields within religion.

Within 203 Public worship and other practice

203.1 Religious healing

203.2 Divination

203.3 Witchcraft (work on witchcraft under 133.43 and work on modern

revival of witchcraft under 299.94)

203.4 Offering, sacrifice

203.42 Human sacrifice

Most other “alternative” religions are crammed in the 290’s

Table 3: DCC 290 Other Religions

290 Other Religions 291 (Unassigned) 296 Judaism 292 Greek & Roman religion 297 Islam, Babism & Babai Faith

293 Germanic religion 299 Religions not provided for elsewhere 294 Religions of Indic origin 299.1-8 in Africa, north America… 295 Zoroastrianism

299.9 Religions of other origins .92 Religions of other ethnic origin .93 Religions of eclectic and syncretistic origin .932 Gnosticism .933 Subud .934 Theosophy .935 Anthroposophy .936 Scientology .94 Religions based on modern revivals of witchcraft (Class here Neopaganism & Wicca)

10

In our modern society it may seem strange that the Zoroastrians have their own

subdivision whilst pagans are a subdivision of a subdivision, despite Paganism now

being a recognised religion with a very large following.

To check this I tried searching different libraries catalogues using the Dewey system to

see which sections yielded the most popular results. Using the keywords “occult” as

well as “Wicca” and “Magic”, the most popular result was 133 as well as a few under

364 (part of social science mainly concerning books on murder relating to occult

practice or rituals). Esoteric is one of the keywords which doesn’t seem to be well

represented within Dewey, the only entry is under Esoteric Associations and societies in

366.1-5, with 366.1 being the Freemasons, 366.2 being Knights of Phythias etc.

Folklore has its own section and unusually, is also within social science under 398 with

sections for ghosts, werewolves, vampires, cannibalism and death customs.

In Dewey, as in most classification schemes, the occult is also covered under the arts,

history and in literature. In 130, there are also 3 unassigned sections leaving scope for

future development. One rather unusual placement is for UFO’s and Aliens, which are

kept within 001 “Knowledge”.

001.1 Intellectual life

001.2 Scholarship

001.3 Humanities

001.4 Research

001.9 Controversial knowledge

.94 Mysteries (reported phenomena not explained like Atlantis, Bermuda triangle…)

.942 Unidentifiable flying object (UFO) including any human-alien encounters

.944 Monster and related phenomena (including yeti, loch ness monster…)

.95 Deceptions and hoaxes

.96 Errors, delusions, superstitions

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Strangely in most public libraries I have used this type of book and they are usually

found under 133 mixed in with the rest of the ‘weird literature’.

2.2.2 Library of Congress Classification

In the LCC, the largest section given over to occult related subjects is under BF. Table 4: LCC B-BJ Philosophy. Psychology

B BC BD BF BH

BJ

Philosophy as general Logic Speculative philosophy Psychology, parapsychology, occult Sciences Aesthetics Ethics, social usages, etiquette

Table 5:LCC the three categories in BF

(Information copied from Library of Congress Classification, 2001.)

BF 1-990 Psychology 908-940 The hand. Palmistry

BF 1001-1389 Parapsychology 1001-1-1045 Psychic research. Psychology of the conscious 1048-1108 Hallucinations. Sleep. Dreaming. Visions 1111-1156 Hypnotism. Suggestion. Mesmerism. Subliminal projection 1161-1171 Telepathy. Mind reading. Though transferred 1228-1389 Spiritualism. Including mediumship, spirit messages, clairvoyance

BF 1404-1999 Occult sciences 1404-1486 Ghosts. Apparitions. Haunting. 1501-1562 Demonology. Satanism. Possession. 1562.5-1584 Witchcraft 1585-1623 Magic. Hermetics. Necromancy. 1651-1729 Astrology 1745-1779 Oracles. Sibyls. Divinations. 1783-1815 Seers. Prophets. Prophecies. 1845-1891 Fortune telling 1891-1055 Miscellaneous mainly UFO’s and aliens

Another section where occult related works might also be found is in the BL-BQ

sections for Religion and the BR-BX sections for Christianity.

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Table 6: LCC BL-BX BL BM BP BQ

Religions. Mythology. Rationalism Judaism Islam. Bahai Faith. Theosophy, etc. Buddhism

BR BS BT BV BX

Christianity The Bible Doctrinal Theology Practical Theology Christian Denominations

As an example here, paganism can be found under BL432. However, there is no entry

for Wicca even though it is the most popular of the pagan religions. The term “Nature

worship” is used instead. Some entries may also be found under the Christianity section

as the bible will have subentries for words such as occultism, devils and witchcraft. In

many ways, they are related.

Another section where occult works may be found is under Z. However, this is unlikely

to see much use as it pertains to bibliography. Nonetheless, bibliographies relating to

occultism, astrology, exorcism, ghosts and the like are to be found under Z6876-6880.

Whilst searching on the Yale University Library catalogue, I used the word occult as my

principal keyword to see if the majority of the books would come under the sections

mentioned above. I discovered that most items were found under BF and BP. However,

works dealing with alchemy were actually catalogued under QD (Science-Chemistry)

with only a few works located in the BH or BF section; these dealt with the more

magical aspects of alchemy. From the standpoint of tradition this does make some sense

since it was only in the nineteenth century that alchemy was no longer viewed as a

proper science. Since then, things have changed and it is no longer seen as a valid aspect

of chemistry, so it does depend to a large extent on the personal opinions of the

cataloguer as to whether the books are likely to be found in either B or Q. Additionally,

I found a number of books dealing with the occult and the Third Reich under DD

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(History – Germany). This is also subject to controversy since not everyone agrees that

the search for the Holy Grail was part of Germanic history. Consequently, such titles

may be judged to be historical or occultist fantasy.

Another anomalous topic is that of UFO’s and extra-terrestrials. At present, these are

lumped in with miscellaneous. However, in recent years, interest in the subject has

literally exploded. This subject frequently accounts for the largest volume of books in

the miscellaneous section within most public libraries. This section is likely to require

more detailed headings as the subject is growing rapidly.

Generally speaking though, looking at the list of subject headings for the occult field in

the LCC shows it to be very comprehensive as it appears to cover most subjects.

2.2.3 Bliss Classification (BC2) Table 7: BC2 overview of the main classes. A/AL Philosophy and Logic J Education AM/AX Mathematics K Society AY-B General Sciences, Physics L/O History C Chemistry, Chemical engineering P Religion, Occult, Morals and Ethics D Space and Earth Science Q Social Welfare & Criminology E/GQ Biological Science R Politics & Public administration E Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics, etc. S Law F Botany T Economics & Management G Zoology (inc. Agriculture and Ecology) U/V Technology, Engineering H Physical Anthropology, Human Biology W Recreation, Arts, Music I Psychology and Psychiatry X/Y Language & Literature At first the class P in Bliss was mainly concerned with religion and ethics, after revision

it became a class with three distinct main classes, often interlinked

They are Religion (P), the Occult (PX) and Morals and Ethics (PY).

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Adding the occult to religion is a logical and reasonable change because of the nature of

these subjects, especially as religion really is a mixture of theology, philosophy and

social content.

Table 8: BC2, P main subdivisions P Religions, Theology PF Religious systems PB Systematic Theology, Theology Proper

PG Religions and Mythologies

PX Occult PD Practice of religions, Religious activities, Devotional religions

PY Morals and Ethics

PX is for the Occult and naturally, I will be looking at that section in detail.

However, relevant subdivisions may also be found under religion. In this scheme,

religion is not predominantly Christian as was seen to be the case with Dewey. It covers

a wider range encompassing the well-known through to the lesser known areas and

groups.

Mysticism (PBY) also has an alternative at PW, should there be a need for it to be seen

as a main class. PW is strategically situated between Religion and the Occult, as indeed

is frequently the case with the subject of Mysticism itself. Once again Folklore is in a

completely separate section and can be found under KMV Q.

PBM provides a section for supernatural beings including dragons, monsters and ghosts.

Individuals such as shamans, magicians and witch doctors can be found under PDF

(Founders of religions).

Most older religions are housed under PG for Religions and Mythologies. This section

covers areas ranging from freethinking and primitive religions through to the likes of

druidism, witchcraft and spiritualism (which are also represented under PX). Commonly

linked with both Wicca and witchcraft, Pagans are represented under PFE.

This classification is very comprehensive; most of the facets of the occult are

represented within PX

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Table 9: BC2, PX section PX6 Psychology, EPS, Paranormal research. PXL Artefacts (cards…) PXA Philosophy of the Occult PXM Other PXB Practice of the Occult PXN Communications, ESP, etc. Or in PX6 PXC Events, general processes PXP Divination, mantic arts, prediction PXD Numbers and numerology PXQ Magic PXE Substances, alchemy PXR Witchcraft and sorcery PXF Heavenly bodies, astrology PXS Demonology and necromancy PXG Human body (physiognomy, phrenology, palmistry) PXV Writers and writings of the Occult PXJ Disembodied persons, spirits, spiritualism PXW Movements, societies, etc. PXK Other spirits, supernatural beings More detailed subdivisions available in illustrations 2 & 3.

Bliss does have a lot of details for examples within the Magic section PXQ

Table 10: BC2, PXQ for magic

PXQ BM Rituals BV Black Mass BW Others, A/Z PXQ Q Sympathetic magic QR Imitative magic, mimicry QS Contagious magic, correspondences R Symbolic magic, expressive magic S Instrumental magic SQ Productive SR White magic SS Protective ST Destructive magic T Black magic

This is just one example but it does illustrate the precision available. No other scheme

that I looked at had so many choices of rituals and types of magic available. This system

could be easily adapted for an esoteric or occult collection because of the amount of

classes already provided. Nearly all of the keywords that I have used in my definition of

the occult and in the various searches and catalogue searches are cited in the index and

have a place in this classification.

Some of the keywords that I was unable to find in this scheme are UFOs, aliens and

flying saucers. These are, however, not always attributed to the occult and are

frequently to be found within science or folklore and as such, their absence is less

surprising. Wicca and New Age, as discussed previously, are not available either.

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Fashion trends do play a part in this and, even within occult literature, terms are often

used interchangeably: Witchcraft, Wicca and Neo-paganism to name but a few. In one

form or another, they are still represented in some way.

This is one of the rare schemes that has recognised the occult as being more or less a

main class. Bliss also allows different aspects of the entries to appear in different

classes. Alchemy is more likely to be represented in the occult as well as in science.

Similarly, astrology will often appear in both the occult and astronomy, whilst some of

the supernatural beings are frequently represented in both religion and folklore.

The standard citation order enables combinations with categories, from the general

through to the specific. BC2 is flexible and provides a very thorough representation of

the diversity and range of the topics within the occult field.

2.2.4 Librarie Lucien Dorbon This classification scheme is not in use in any library at present, as far as I am aware.

Originally, it was created by the Lucien Dorbon bookstore, which specialised in occult

and esoteric literature. Consequently, even though their books were specifically for sale,

they still went through the same process of organisation to assist the public in finding

the materials that they were interested in. I have decided to discuss it here as I have

never come across anything like it before. Quite clearly, the creators of the system put a

great deal of thought into it.

Unfortunately, I was unable to locate much information about the bookstore, which no

longer seems to exist. Nonetheless, they appear to have produced a large quantity of

information in the occult and esoteric fields at the beginning of the twentieth century in

France. The Librarie Dorbon was in its time, the one place to go to obtain occult works

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and I therefore feel that it is important to discuss their unique system of classification

here.

The information was gathered using the manual they produced, a three volume

bibliographical work of all their occult and psychic science items. (Caillet, 1912)

In it they explained how their subjects are classified. The system they used was called

the “Science of the Magi” and dates back to antiquity. It is based upon the idea of there

being three worlds or orders.

1. The Divine (the Archetype)

2. The Natural (the Macrocosm)

3. The Human (the Microcosm)

1. The Divine world is mainly for immaterial ideas, doctrine, theosophy, and thoughts.

The three main divisions are:

• Mysticism (miracles, apparitions, prophecies…)

• Religions (sects, secret societies…)

• Philosophy (exoteric, metaphysic…)

2. The Natural world is more practical.

• The Meta-sciences (black and white magic, witchcraft, grimoire…)

• The Sciences (numeracy, astrology, alchemy…)

3. The Human world, where man is the main subject.

• Invisible man (magnetism, hypnotism, suggestion…)

• Ethnology (history, sociology…)

• Letters and Arts (myths, legends…)

• Anthropology (Buddha, Jesus, Plato…)

• Medicine (hermetic, death…)

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Many tables are also available in their bibliographical works. Even after many readings,

I still found it very complex to use and to understand as it requires a large amount of

fore-knowledge of the different topics to be able to use it well. I have listed some of the

subdivisions and smaller sections here to give a feel of where some of the key subjects

would be found.

Table 11: The three orders in Dorbon system 1. The Divine Order 2. The Natural order 3. The Human Order 1.1 Mysticism 2.0 Meta-sciences 103.Cabbala 105. Spiritism 111. Apparitions 1111. Dreams 112. Oracles 113. Stigmata

201. Magic 202. Witchcraft 2021. Talisman, amulets 2022. Secrets, grimoire 203. Divination

1.2 Religion 2.1 The Sciences 1211. Oriental religions 1212. Mythology 1213. Secondary religions 12131. Druidism 1214. Sacred books 12141. Tarot 122. Christian theology 1221.Bible, inquisition 12224. Antichrist 12312. Templars 12331. Rosecrucians

211. Maths 212. Physics 2122. Geography 2124. Alchemy 21241. Chemistry

3.0 Invisible man 301. Animal Magnetism 302. Personal magnetism 303. Metaphysics 3.1 Ethnography 314. Sociology 3.2 Letters 3201. Periodicals 3202. Encyclopædia 3203. Theatre 3.3 Arts 3.4 Anthropology 3413. Monsters 3.5 Medicine

One can only imagine that the shop was organised in this way. Unfortunately, like so

many occult collections, it is no longer in existence and I haven’t discovered any other

collections using a similar system. Theoretically, I can see how it worked. In practice it

would be confusing particularly, when it came to deciding where each new item would

go.

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2.3 Special collections

2.3.1 Generalities

Another way for libraries to deal with such unusual collections is to keep them together

in their own organisational unit; something normally referred to as a special collection.

Frequently special collections will require different treatment to that of a normal one

and are more than likely to be housed entirely separately. Their physical environment is

also frequently different as special care is often needed to help guard against damage

and theft. Special collections can come from a variety of sources including demand

arising from members’ particular interests, as a gift from society benefactors or as a

purchase by the library if deemed to be complementary to their existing collection.

Quite often private occult collections will either be donated to a library or be sold at an

auction. During my research I came across a wide range of private collections evidenced

in the main by the existence of their catalogues. Most of them were very difficult to

trace as many have been bought by other private collectors. Of the many private

collections, most were sold at auction and as is often the case, these collections become

dispersed once the owner or founder has passed away.

However, two large private collections went on to become “special collections” and I

will be discussing them next.

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2.3.2 The Ferguson collection

Ferguson was a great collector and also a professor at the University of Glasgow from

1874-1915. His private collection mainly dealt with alchemy, chemistry, occult

sciences, witchcraft, Cabbalism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry and gypsy literature. The

collection comprises over 7,500 volumes including 104 incunabula’s and 317

manuscripts primarily on alchemy. All of the books in his collection were catalogued by

Ferguson himself and he also added detailed bibliographical entries and notes. Ferguson

also catalogued the extensive alchemical collection of James Young in Bibliotheca

Chemica in 1906 (this collection is now housed in the University of Strathclyde

Library). The Alchemy Research library website describes these collections as follows:

“Together they provide access to 85-90% of all alchemical books.” Ferguson, whose

knowledge of alchemia was reputedly unequalled, had arranged the books in

alphabetical order under the author’s name.

When he died the collection was divided up and sold in two lots. One of these lots was

bought by Glasgow University with the help of a special fund whilst the rest was sold

by Sotheby’s. In 1943, Glasgow University published a two-volume catalogue of the

collection available in their purpose built department of special collections.

In answer to concerns that the collection was unable to expand a side project was

established in 1997 called the Alchemical Research Library. This project continues to

acquire volumes complementary to the Ferguson collection. These books will

eventually become part of the collection proper and will be kept in perpetuity. The

classification of the collection is, like many special collections, slightly different to the

library’s collection as a whole and as such is stored as a whole under one unit.

21

Illustration 1: Catalogue search with the Ferguson collection as location

Surprisingly, many of the items have now been catalogued and their details are available

electronically. The Glasgow University Library has set up a wide range of different

ways of linking into the collection. Many of the keywords such as demonology,

witchcraft and occult in the online selective subject index will take you straight to the

Ferguson Special Collection page.

Additionally, the catalogue can be searched in a variety of ways and the library also has

a significant quantity of books on this subject in their normal collection. In 1985, an

exhibition called the “Damned Art” was organised by the library to show the books

relating to the history of witchcraft and demonology. As with many special collections,

it is hard to tell how the collection itself have been organised, although each item does

appear to have its own number.

22

Illustration 2: the Ferguson Collection online page.

As a whole, the library uses the Library of Congress subject headings and, whilst the

classification numbers do not appear to follow the scheme completely, searching the

main catalogue will yield results for most aspects of the occult under the Anthropology

section K.

2.3.3 The Harry Price collection

Also known as the Harry Price (1881-1948) Library of magical literature, this special

collection is housed in the historic collections section of Senate House in the University

of London.

The collection ranges from 1533 to the twentieth century and comprises over 14,000

books, pamphlets, press cuttings, manuscripts, photographs, slides and artefacts.

This collection is unique in the U.K. and the material is based on the cultural history of

attitudes towards the occult. Harry Price was a psychical researcher and as well as

keeping the notes from all of his recorded investigations, he also collected lots of works

23

on psychical phenomena, spiritualism, hypnotism, occult works by multiple authors and

in many languages. The collection used to be housed in the National Laboratory for

Psychic Research, which he created (from 1922-1927). It moved to the University of

London Library after it was bequeathed to them. This collection is unusual as it consists

not only of books but also equipment used for investigations and séances, odd objects

like gramophones records, lantern slides, admission tickets to a Houdini show, medals

and coins celebrating different artists, a rapping hand, prophetic writings, personal

correspondence, drafts of lectures, reports regarding psychical investigation, magic and

the paranormal.

As with the majority of special collections, the system of arrangement is unique to

University of London Library, “The collection has no original order because readers

were allowed to consult the material before it had been arranged and described by an

archivist. The order has been imposed by an archivist, which reflects the major activities

of the creator. The fonds have been divided into 9 sub-fonds which are:

HPA Papers relating to personal matters and early interests

HPB Legal and financial papers

HPC Papers relating to psychic research

HPD Publications and other related material

HPE Papers relating to radio and film

HPF Manuscripts and printed material

HPG Photographic archive

HPH Film archive

HPI Artefacts

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal

research within a supervised environment and restrictions of the library’s Palaeography

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Room. Non catalogued material may not be seen.” (Aim25, University of London home

page, online)

This collection is slightly different as one of the Price's goals was to prove the existence

of psychic and occult phenomena. He was a lifelong investigator into such fields and his

interests are reflected in the collection. Unlike the rest of the libraries I discuss in this

study, I did not come across this one until nearing the end of my research. It was only

whilst investigating the Psychical Research Library that I discovered that the actual

main collection had moved to Senate House. Even in the 1927 library catalogue, the

collection is described, as being “the most complete collection … every important book

on phenomena and pseudo-phenomena every language and of every age” (Price 1929,

p68). Consequently, I was surprised to come across this collection at such a late stage in

my research, though this may be due to the collections apparent lack of promotion. As

Steve Connor writes in his articles about it, “The Harry Price collection is one of the

great and unsung glory of the University of London Library- the collection is not nearly

as famous and visited as it ought to be. I even wonder sometimes whether the collection

the Harry Price collection is not sometimes of an embarrassment to the ULL.” (Connor,

2002, online).

He also states that when the collection was made available to all a lot of books went

missing. However, the real problem, as described by Alan Weesencraft (who was in

charge of the collection) was that they used to get a lot of lunatics in. Connor describes

how he was allowed to study the collection on the “chilly eighth floor, under the genial

eye of Alan Weesencraft, the keeper of the collection’s secrets. He was the only person

who not only knew what was in the collection, but also where is was.” (Connor, 2002,

online). Connor also describes the difficulties encountered when searching for such

25

materials and how useful it is to be aware of the range of keywords one subject might be

under, and to have the ability to access the collection as a whole and not on an item-by-

item basis. I have not included institutions such as the Bodleian Library or the British

Library in the following chapter for this last reason. Since this article, things have

improved. An exhibition about the collection is on show presently, offering a rare

opportunity to see some of the items together. (See Appendix 2).

The classification scheme here was designed to fit the collection and consequently does

not follow any recognised scheme, as is the case with most special collections. I could

also have included this library in the next chapter on collections but decided against it

even though they have some material on the occult (under sociology on the 6th floor).

This is because the majority of the collection is in the special collection HPL described

above.

2.4 The alternative

Predominantly, the occult comes under other larger headings. However, as the scope of

collections evolves, the issue of the occult as a subject heading on its own has

frequently been raised. One person advocating that the occult should have its own

heading is Langbridge in his chapter on the classification of philosophy, religion and the

occult.

‘The term “occult” itself is used with a wide range of meanings. Admittedly there is a

common element to them all (“hidden things”), but for classification purposes some

analysis is necessary. Here, as in all areas of knowledge, distinctions must be made

26

between phenomena, theorical and practical disciplines. The occult has been poorly

treated in most classification schemes, partly because it is not taken seriously in the

academic world, but also because occult phenomena and occult studies have been

confused. Difficulty really comes from the multiple meanings for some of the

keywords.

We may sum up this brief survey by saying that there should be a class for occult

studies quite distinct from science or religion and that its main ingredients should be

magic, including such activities as healing by occult means, and the writings of the

esoteric tradition. The scientific investigation of uncommon faculties and phenomena,

on the other hand, belongs to the discipline of science. The most significant factor of all

occult studies is their symbolic forms of expression. This puts them in the same

category as art and religion, in contrast to the rationale disciplines of science,

philosophy and history.’ (Langbridge, 1976. p72-74)

Unless a specific classification is created (as seen in the Dorbon and in the next chapter

discussing the Library of Avalon and the Theosophical Library), in most schemes the

occult will be attached to another group.

Due to the growth in the volume of publications and in the interest in the subject matter

it is possible that the occult will indeed have its own section in the future. This will

depend on both cultural and academic changes. At present, no academic courses are

available specifically on the occult although the subject is not completely ignored and

many other courses do touch on it. Myths, legends and strange phenomena are

frequently researched by the scientific community with a view to either proving or

disproving them. As Wilkins discusses in his articles “if the occult did eventually

achieve academic acceptance and become a curriculum based subject, a second hurdle

27

presents itself; the common library problem of what should be acquired from the vast

number of items issued every year.”(Wilkins, 1999, p71).

Clearly, this is looking far ahead and before these problems of acquisitions present

themselves, the subject does first need to be accepted as a serious field of study. Such

materials and their subsequent classification could then be looked into properly.

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Chapter 3. Library collection

3.1 Occult as a main subject.

3.1.1 The Library of Avalon (Glastonbury)

History

“In 1988, a small group of Glastonbury residents decided to recreate, in a modern sense,

the great library which existed in medieval times at Glastonbury Abbey. They found

premises and asked for donations of books, which might interest visitors and residents.

They began with 200 books on mythology. From those small beginnings, the library has

now a stock over 8.000 books. All have been donated by the public, by publishers, and

by members. No books are bought.” (Library of Avalon, 2002, online)

I visited the library on the 14th June 2004 and the collection has now exceeded 10.000

books. Funding is via a membership scheme, an annual national literary competition,

and donations: the library is registered as an educational charity.

Collection

When the collection was started by author and historian Geoffrey Ashe, the books were

mainly on mythology and particularly on Glastonbury itself.

As describe in Rosalind Johnson’s article on the library “Geoffrey Ashe saw the library

as a resource for literature on mythology from Glastonbury and around the world. But

as he asked for donations to build up the collection, the scope widened. People gave

books on comparative religion, the environment, alternative technology, complementary

29

therapies, astrology, divination, occult studies, science fiction and fantasy, as well as

mythology, archaeology and history. A local minister encouraged the development of

the section on Christianity, and the stock was further enriched by the donation from the

Wessex Research Group library.” (Johnson,1999 p524)

As explained above, the collection is wide and varied. The majority of the books can be

borrowed with the exception of collections lent to them by societies. These loans are

kept together and labelled separately so that it is clear that they can be used as reference

materials only.

Other collections in foreign languages are also available on demand but due to the lack

of space, these are kept outside the library at this point. The library also has a special

Arthurian collection. This includes materials on archaeology, legends and people, as

well as material on Somerset and Glastonbury itself; works cover both the historical as

well as mythological aspects of the region.

Fictional works are also included as long as the book fits within the library’s theme and

spirit. The children’s section comprises books whose theme also suits the library rather

than just including books that touch on myth or fantasy, as there would simply be too

many of these.

Donations and membership

Donations are the key to the library’s survival. These come from a variety of sources

including the local community as well as from visiting authors, tourists and individuals.

Reference access is completely free of charge. However, the library also relies heavily

on subscribing members. They offer three levels of membership; a six month

30

subscription is available for researchers and visitors, an annual subscription and a

lifetime membership. Plans to create a distinction between becoming a friend or a

borrowing member of the library are under discussion at the time of writing.

Classification.

The library has developed and copyrighted their own classification system. Naturally,

this is called the Library of Avalon Classification. This scheme has been extended over

a number years to accommodate the diversity of the subject matter before finally

gaining formal copyright status in 1990. Whilst it hasn’t been used by another

institution as yet, the scheme could prove a valuable commodity for other, similar

collections in the future.

Originally influenced by the BLISS scheme, the system uses 2 letters (occasionally 3

for further subdivisions) and the first three letters of the author’s surname. The scheme

divided into three main headings: Nature, Mind and Spirit, and Special Collections.

Table 12: Library of Avalon headings A Reference (Nature) B The Universe C-F The Earth G-H Society I-M The Individual N Human Products (Mind and Spirit) P Knowledge Q Esoteric Knowledge R Mythology S-V Religion (Special Collections) W Somerset and Glastonbury X Arthurian Y Children books

31

This scheme starts with the Universe and Science and extends toward more spiritual

topics. Broadly-scoped headings such as The Individual will extend into subdivisions

such as health, healing, pathology and spirituality. Due to copyright reasons, I am

unable to illustrate the entire system. However, a fairly extensive subject index is

available onsite to help direct the reader to the right letter and the shelves are also

clearly labelled to facilitate this.

Examples of subdivisions

Under Mind and Spirit (P-V)

P Knowledge

PB is philosophy

PC is metaphilosophy

Q Esoteric Knowledge

QB Occult studies

QBB Ethic bodies- Chakkras

QBC Astral Projection

QC Reincarnation

QN Cartomancy

QNB Numerology

Catalogue

A catalogue is available on the website. Unfortunately, not all of the information here is

up to date, a situation presently under revision. Browsing the library is still the best way

to locate materials. Borrowings are recorded in a ledger using pen and ink; an

antiquated system that seems to work well for them.

Censorship.

As a visitor to a place that enjoys such diverse cultural interests, you wouldn’t expect to

hear that the library has had any problems with censorship. It came as something of a

32

surprise then to hear that some items have generated complaints and that requests for the

removal of certain items have been received. Clearly though, when you house subjects

that are diametrically opposed such as works on the Bible and Aleister Crowley’s books

on the dark arts and Satanism in close proximity to each other, it can lead to complaints

as the follower of one objects to the presence of another. However, given that one of the

library’s guiding principles has always been to hold an open collection that

encompasses all aspects of religion, myth and magic it is naturally going to be subject to

the dogmatic principles of some of its users. In spite of this, it does hold a large and

varied collection and the majority of works that come within its remit are likely to

considered and accepted.

Future

In many aspects, the library is quite different from others. Due to the lack of Internet

access, fax machines or photocopiers it is unable to offer some of the more usual

services. On the other hand, it is quite rare to find a library staffed by people who are all

genuinely interested in the subject matter. The library is a little book paradise with an

excellent collection of esoteric works. After all, it is located in Glastonbury; a place

whose history is firmly rooted in the myths and legends of the region.

At present, the library has around 90 members and ways of attracting more are always

being considered. The library has also let its space out for use by suitable associations

such as the Earth Mysteries Group for the purpose of holding meetings and giving

lectures, and as such provides a perfect setting for such events.

33

Illustration 3, 4 & 5: Library of Avalon photos

34

3.1.2 The Theosophical Library

(London)

The Theological Library is privately run by the Theolosophical Society for the benefit

of members of the society and for individuals interested in becoming subscribers.

The London headquarters contain one of Europe’s finest collections of esoteric books

available for loan and includes works on Theosophy, Astrology, Mythology,

Parapsychology, Yoga and World Religions.

History

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott and William Quan Judge founded the

Theosophical society in 1875, and it is now active in over 50 countries worldwide.

There are currently 38 lodges in the UK and many of them will have libraries of varying

size. The London lodge is also the national headquarters and holds the main library

collection. Two other extensive collections are also available in Leeds and Torquay. The

Theosophical library was opened in 1880. The society is composed of a wide range of

people, religions and interests with a common desire to study religious truths and to

share the results of their studies. This movement has been described as “the most

important movement to have influenced the growth of occultism in the twentieth

century” (Walker, C. p67.)

Illustration 6: Helena Blavatsky

35

Collection and access

The main stock consists of a lending section of approximately 12,000 volumes, plus

periodicals and audiocassettes. A reference library is also available onsite but the access

is restricted; most of the material here is rare and contains a lot of first editions. Here,

the books are all kept within locked glass cabinets. This was originally Madam

Blavatsky’s personal collection.

Any member of the public can join with a £10 deposit and books can be borrowed with

a hire charge of 50p per item, more valuable books can also be borrowed but a deposit

will be required in these instances. Only one librarian maintains the library and its

collection and the opening hours are mainly restricted due to this. They are Tuesday to

Friday 2-6.30pm and on Sundays 4-8.30pm when there is an evening lecture.

The layout of the library

The library itself comprises three rooms, the first of which contains the enquiry desk,

general encyclopaedia, reference works, bound journals and oversized books. The main

room follows on from this and houses the bulk of the collection. The last room is kept

locked and contains the reference library. Some duplicates and less frequently used

materials are also kept in a storage room elsewhere.

Acquisitions and catalogue

Most of the acquisition decisions are made by the library committee, which consists of

the librarian and two executive members of the society. Most of the new acquisitions

are from the society’s own publications sent from the branches across the world. The

society also has three publishing companies. Unfortunately the British one has been

36

dormant for the last few years. The librarian is the main person responsible for

identifying new publications via specialist bookshops and esoteric events. Purchases are

made with the agreement of the committee whilst suitable donations do not need to be

approved.

The library only acquired a computer for the first time last year, so only fairly recent

acquisitions are available in an electronic catalogue (around 80 publications); the

remainder of the collection is only available via a card catalogue. This catalogue can be

searched by subject and author and forms the main searching tool for the collection.

Entries to this only ceased a year ago. The ability to find suitable slips and cards was

becoming increasingly difficult.

The reference collection also has its own separate slip catalogue for authors and card

catalogue for subject. The periodicals are mainly by the Theosophical societies around

the world although organisations such as the Buddhist Society, the Astrological Society

and the Society of Psychical Research are also represented.

There are no plans at present to electronically catalogue the reference collection due to

the rarity of some of the books and their insurance value. Consequently, access still has

to be discussed individually.

Most books within the esoteric and occult fields will be consider for the collection but

due to money and space restrictions, unless they are of great importance to Theosophy,

only one item per author is a general rule. Some subjects are also less likely to be added

due to historical disagreements. For example; books on Hatha Yoga, the Black Arts

(specifically the Satanic Bible by Anton La Vey) are not part of the collection. This is

due to the founders’ dislike of the arts that may cause bodily harm. Conversely, generic

literature on movements such as the Church of Satan is included whilst, as in the

example given above, more specific doctrines are unlikely to be accepted by the

37

committee. Other types of books unlikely to be considered for the collection are those

by religious societies who maintain arms budgets. On the other hand, the latest donation

received by the society consisted mainly of works by Aleister Crowley and these are

now going to be included. The library has only had the one complaint about a book in

the collection but this was based on the fact that the author was an apprentice of

Crowley’s and also a recognised paedophile. As a result, this book was immediately

withdrawn. The relatively low profile of the library suggests that the bulk of its

readership is made up of society members in the main and it is probably this factor that

leads to the extremely low level of complaints.

The purpose of the society is to study and research the different wisdoms and religions

of the world and as such, is less likely to find an issue with censorship compared to

some of the other libraries and organisations that are more within the public eye.

Classification

The classification system was created with the founding of the library in 1880.

Unfortunately, the present librarian was unable to give any further details about its

creation. The system used is unique to the library having been specifically created for it.

The subjects are divided between letters and the books are then organised in

alphabetical order by the author’s name.

Table 13: Theosophical Library main headings A Theosophy B Psychic World C Comparative Religion D Philosophy- East & West E Mysticism F Science G Modern Civilisations & Cultures H Fiction

J Alternative Health K Folklore & Mythology L The Arts M Yoga N Ancient Civilisations O Western Occultism P Psychology R Astrology & Divination S Society

38

Table 14: theosophical Library subdivisions examples O Western Occultism

O1 general O2 Hidden tradition (Chivalry, Holy Grail, Druids) O3 Kabbalah O4 Number, sound, colours, tarot, crystal and sacred geometry O5 Hermetic and Alchemical O6 Historical and bibliographical O7 Masonry

O8 Modern School

Some larger sections also get further subdivisions Table 15: Theosophical Library, C section C Comparative Religion C1 Religion C2 Scripture C20 General Indian texts C20.1 Vedas and Purana C20.2 Tantric works C20.3 Upanshads C21 Hinduism C22 Modern Sects It is the responsibility of the librarian to decide where each book will go. He does not

rely on the use of other sources for assistance as the majority of the publications will not

have been catalogued previously. Cataloguing decisions are based upon the presence of

keywords in any introductory sections of the book as well as in the index. The most

frequently used keywords will generally be used as keywords in the catalogue.

One of the most surprising things about this library is the extent of the collection given

how little it is used. This is mainly due to the misconception that you need to be

member of the society or at least have an interest in the theosophist movement to use

the library which, as I discovered, isn’t the case. However, there are plans for more

extensive publicity to be carried out in the future. Hopefully special libraries such as

39

this will continue to survive through the support of the organisations that maintain them.

Nonetheless, it was like discovering a little esoteric heaven in London

Illustrations 7, 8 & 9: Theosophical Library photos

40

3.2 Libraries on other subjects but with a very

substantial occult section

3.2.1 The Wellcome Library for the History and

Understanding of Medicine (London)

Often mistaken simply for a medical library, “The Wellcome Library collection spans

works on numerous subject areas that have impacted on the human condition physically,

spiritually and psychologically. The library is full of surprises, even for those with

interests outside medical science”. (Library own booklet).

Illustration 10: Magic page from the Welcome Library Booklet

41

In addition to the obvious ranges of medical and scientific works, the collection covers

the subjects of religion, folklore, witchcraft, magic, astrology, alchemy and much more.

The general collection comprises 600,000 printed volumes, of which 70,000 books and

journals are available on open access shelving. The early printed book collection (up to

1851) comprises 66,000 items as well as a large archive and manuscript collection,

oriental collections, iconographic collections, a medical photographic library and other

visual and audio resources.

Three different classifications are used within the library, the clinical collection of

medical textbooks and journals uses National Library of Medicine classification. The

information service, audio, film and visual collection uses the information services

classification designed by the library itself .The history of medicine collection, where

the occult materials are located, uses a modified version of Barnard.

Table 16: Barnard versus Wellcome Barnard Wellcome A Generalia A Science B Natural Sciences B Medicine C General medicine C Hospital, Medical education D History of medicine D Anatomy E Specific disease E Specific disease As a result, the placement of occult subjects differs here. They can be found under PY

(P: Neurology and Psychiatry- PY: Psychical Research including spiritualism, occult

psychology, radioaesthesia and water divining). You could almost assume that they

relate to a disease, as they are placed next to dementia and kleptomania.

CZ (C: General Medicine-CZ: medical folklore

ZQF (Z: Geographical, Anthropology & Sociology-ZQ: Social & cultural anthropology-

ZQF: Folklore, mythology, magic and religion.)

Few keywords were actually available in the index.

42

In the Wellcome Library, books relating to the occult would be found in the following

sections:

Table 17: The Wellcome Classification and occult related subjects

A: Science ABA Science and religion AHA Alchemy AJA Astrology AS Animal lore/ zoology AS.CZ Dragon, unicorn…

B: Medicine BQ-BT Medicine 17-20th C. BU Anthropology

BUA Medical folklore BUC Traditional Medicine (including shamanism, witch doctors..)

BV Occult Medicine and Science BV.AA BV.AS BV.AK BV.CA

Renaissance, Arcana, Golden Down Freemasonry, Rosicrucian, secret societies Philosophy of the occult, symbolism Secret doctrine, individual occultist: Blavatsky, Crowley…

BVA Magic and medicine (in Russia, ancient worlds…) BVB BVBA Witchcraft

Cannibalism BVC Medical Astrology BVD BVDA

Spells, Grimoire

These subdivisions are described using shelving marks and indices. Barnard also makes use of numerous tables, which can be added after the letters to be

more precise and descriptive. In the library they have simplified the table usage to just 4

subdivisions.

The first letters of any classmark represent the general subject area.

1. Author. If the book is about one of the general subjects listed as above, the first 3

letters of the author’s name will be added.

Example

Vampirism BVE Demonology, Devil & Possession BVF Cabala BVG Amulets BVH Crystals &Gems BVI Evil Eye

BVK Tarot, Divination C: Hospital, medical education, nursing…

CA CACBA Religious Orders, knight templars, hermits, knights of

Malta… CW Religion & Medicine (including faith healing, leper knights, miracles…)

43

2. Place. Following the table created by Barnard, place can be determined by a number

BVB.36 Witchcraft in France

3. Time. All classmarks can also be broken down by time division

BVB.AA5 Witchcraft in the 16th century

BVB.361.118 Witchcraft in Paris in the 19th century

4. Genres. The use of this depends upon the section involved but it is mainly for the

type of document. (.AD for conference, .AH for essay, .B for bibliography…)

BV.ENC: Encyclopaedia of the occult

BVA. AK Dictionary of magic

The exact quantity of books available in these subjects is hard to determine as not all are

on open shelves and older materials are not always available in the catalogue.

To get a general idea here are some examples on the numbers of books found for

different keywords in the library catalogue (this does not include the manuscript or

archive materials which, in the case of sections such as alchemy and witchcraft, will

also be of fair size.)

Table 18: Wellcome catalogue search results Keyword Hits Keyword Hits Keyword Hits Occult 165 Witch 182 Witchcraft 723 Magic 1361 Alchemy 1676 Devil 320 Religion 4998 Dragon 137 Vampire 14 Some people may be surprised to find such materials here. However, they have

historically been considered a valid part of academic science and, even when threatened

by Christianity, the occult sciences were frequently used to heal the sick. In the

Wellcome library, they do not see these subjects as taboo but embrace them as historical

testimony. On occasion, they have even advertised these aspects of their collection by

exhibiting some of the rare books and materials using their subject as the theme. This

44

allows them to promote some of the less well-known aspects of their collection as well

as to educate and inform their visitors. As they describe onsite: (See Appendix 3)

“ White magic was practiced by ‘wisewomen’ who knew the basics of herbal medicines

and were thereby quasi-medical practitioners to poor, rural communities.”

3.2.2 The London Library (London)

This library is the country’s largest independent, private subscription library; it has been

described as a “kind of temple of Serendipity in the middle of the capital” (Sproston,

2004). The library contains over one million books in all European languages. The main

subject is the humanities but even though it isn’t one of the main subdivisions, the

library has a very substantial occult collection.

Their classification system was devised at the beginning of the twentieth century and

due to the scope of the collection is unique. Unlike most schemes it does not group

works into one single location, instead location is determined by the physical

dimensions of the work and then by alphabetical order within each ‘shelfmark’ main

section.

Table 19: London Library shelfmarks system

The shelfmarks system. A. = Art RR. = Reading Room

H. = History S. = Science & Misc.

L.= Literature T. = Topography

R. = Religion

45

Most of the occult collection is represented within the Science & Miscellaneous

classmarks. There are three sizes:

4to: Quarto

8vo: Octavo

Folio

To get a reasonable idea of what is available scanning the subject list was of great

importance to help ensure that I did not miss some of the keywords when looking on the

shelves. This is because similar topics will be shelved in different locations, depending

upon the letter of alphabet that they start with. Some of the keywords relevant to my

subject have been highlighted in the subject sub-division in Science & Miscellaneous

list (see Appendix 4 ). This system can make for some odd groupings. For example

books about the Devil are shelved between books on dentistry and dogs. Peculiarly the

materials on the shelves date back to the 1800’s and can be borrowed; earlier materials

are kept locked away. It was difficult therefore, to gain an appreciation of the extent of

occult materials within the collection, a problem compounded by the necessity to check

three different ‘size’ locations for each subject. I attempted to get an approximate idea

of the quantity available by combining the number of shelves with the approximate

amount of books on each. It is still a fairly sizeable collection.

Table 20: Books on shelves in London Library 4to &

Folio 8vo

Alchemy 9 40 Death & Death 16 200 Folklore 123 2500 Freemason 15 140 Hand (palmistry) 5 30 Occult sciences 17 350 Witchcraft 5 150

46

This does not include astrology or materials available within the religion and reference

sections. The religion section is extensive and within its subdivisions there are a lot of

books on alternative religions such as Druidry, Gnosticism, the Rosicrucian’s,

Swedeborgs, Paganism, Mysticism, Spiritualism, serpent worship and more.

The library also has a significant quantity of journals on the subject such as “Lucifer”,

the Freemason’s Magazine and Masonic Mirror as well as a complete set of the Journal

of the Society for Psychical Research which is still being added to today. From my

simple calculations, the occult side of the collection runs to about 5,000 volumes

excluding books that were currently out on loan or those pre-1800 materials that are

kept locked away.

Acquisitions in occult subjects are still being made today but only if they can be proved

to be complementary to the existing collection. The history of each volume can be

traced through the slips inside the books. From these, I was able to deduce that the

majority of books were from the mid nineteenth century or the 1920’s. Many of the

volumes are rare with a great deal of first editions. At differing points, I was able to

browse a 1928 publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, a French history of Witchcraft

from 1900 and a number of first editions of Alisteir Crowley’s works. Curiously, some

of the donations have been made by the Wellcome Library, an institution mentioned

elsewhere in this study.

The ambience of the place is also curiously appropriate for researches into the field. The

majority of the library is in near darkness, with light switches for each aisle and an iron

grid floor separating the levels so that it is possible to see several floors both above and

below. (See map in Appendix 5). The main folklore section is kept within the basement

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as the size of this part of the collection necessitating the use of rolling cases. This part

of the collection covers everything from British goblins to medieval fables and even

Moroccan legends written in French.

The place is quite literally a maze and is catalogued in a variety of ways. For materials

acquired prior to 1954, searches have to be conducted using a printed catalogue divided

both by author and subject. This catalogue comprises four volumes covering different

periods (1913, 1920, 1928 and 1950). A card catalogue is also available for acquisitions

made between 1954 and 1983 and there are numerous keyword for this. As a result, a

lot of terms have to be considered in addition to the ones in the subdivisions list and

may include entries such as amulets and charms, demonology, ghosts, vampires etc.

An electronic catalogue is available for acquisitions made after 1950 and from this it is

possible to gain an overview of what is available and which items have been bought in

recent years. However, it soon becomes apparent that the main value of the collection is

derived from the materials acquired prior to 1950.

The library is perfect for browsing but it is quite important to remember the different

places to check for each subject in order to avoid missing large quantities of books. The

fact that you have to check each topic individually, as well as by size, means that it is

easy to overlook some sections. Their religion and folklore section is one of the largest I

have come across and the quality of items in the collection as a whole makes this place

both unique and unusual. Clearly, the way that each side of the occult is represented

without shame or prejudice makes it one of the most comprehensive and accessible

collections in London.

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3.2.3 The Warburg Institute Library (London)

This was one of the most difficult libraries to gain access to, and also one of the most

talked about collections when discussing the issue of occult collections in the pagan

scene or whist enquiring in the specialist occult bookshops around London.

Anticipating some form of reaction, I was quite surprised by the immediate warning

received at the point of registration. Somewhat bluntly, I was advised that many of the

items that I might be interested in are not available on the open shelves and that access

to them was unlikely to be granted. Despite this unusual start, I was still able to see that

the library has an impressive collection even just on the open shelves.

The classification here is also very unusual. The building and consequently the books

are divided into four main sections: Action, Orientation, Word and Image. ‘This unusual

arrangement embodies the aim of the Library: to study the survival and the

transformation of ancient patterns in social customs and political institutions (Action);

the gradual transition, in Western thought, from magical beliefs to religion, science and

philosophy (Orientation); the persistence of motifs and forms in Western languages and

literatures (Word) and the tenacity of symbols and images in European art and

architecture (Image). The uneven growth of the collections have forced us to move the

sections on Magic and Science to the fourth floor’ (Warburg Institute, 2004, online).

49

Table 21: Warburg Institute classification

F: Magic & Science (Orientation) H: Politic History

4th Floor: Action

D: Social History B: Western Religion G: Oriental Religions

3rd Floor: Orientation

A: Philosophy E: Literature 2nd Floor: Word

N: Preservation & Transmission of Literary and Scholarly Work C: Post-Classical Art History K: Classical Art & Archaeology

1st Floor & Basement: Image

CR: Modern Art

On the fourth floor under the Action is the section F for Magic and Science

The general divisions of section F are as follows.

Table 22: Warburg F: Magic & Science F Magic and Science FE History of medicine

FF Natural sciences FN Mathematics FB Magic FM Divination FC Magical objects FH Prophecy FD Sorcery and secret societies FA Astrology & Astronomy FO Zoology, botany, mineralogy, pharmacy FI Cosmology FG Alchemy and chemistry FP Geography, cartography Other sections of interest were folklore (DD under Social History) and some of the

topics under comparative religion (BF under Western Religion).

The F section is always referred to as science, which is interesting as most of the items

within it are more related to magic than science, also the word occult is never mentioned

or found anywhere when looking at the collection and its content.

Each subsection is divided by more precise topics and details are available at the end of

each bay. These details are essential as their shelving does not follow any alphabetical

logic.

How the classification system was developed and used was not very clear and

unfortunately, no-one seemed able or willing to clarify it for me. One explanation found

in an article by Dr Wind was that the 3 letters represent the three levels of classification,

50

the first letter represent the general subdivision (F for Magic&Science), the second

letter specifies the general subject by using a systematic or historical differentiation and

the third letter specifies geographical or chronological meanings (Wind, 1935, p193).

They also separate sources and studies.

In the magic section this is not always as applicable.

Examples of subdivisions.

Table 23: Warburg FC & FM FC: Magic FCH 1- Sources FCD 1- Studies FCB 20- FCB 785- FCB 822-

The Evil Eye Amulets & Magic Stones Knots & Mazes Magic Mirrors

FM: Divination

FMH 1- Sources

700- 1200- 1875- 1890- 2000- 2320- 2610- 2705- 3010- 3610- 3825- 4110-

FMF 1- Studies FMO 1- … 300- … 500- … FME 1- FMN 1- FMI 1- FMA 1-839

General Monsters Comets Divination from involuntary movement Palmistry Phrenology Dream interpretation Crystal gazing Geomancy Fortune telling books Dice & Board games Chess Card games General Monsters Solar eclipse Comets Augury Dream interpretation Hydromancy Fortune telling books & games

Aside from the materials on the shelves, another interesting aspect of the Warburg

library is their Yorke Collection. When searching the catalogue many of the results are

to be found under the location ‘Yorke collection’ especially anything more ‘occultist’.

Curiously, there isn’t any information available on the Yorke Collection and its origins

anywhere within the library; no details online, no handouts about how to access it and

51

no leaflets. It is simply mentioned on the catalogue. I decided to ask if I could obtain

some information about what is in the collection or just some background information

about it but the reaction was quite unusual and left me with the feeling that I had asked

the forbidden question. Nonetheless, I was informed that it was a “discrete collection”

and that the library did not wish to advertise it. I later found out that Yorke was a

disciple of Aleister Crowley and, on his death in the 1970’s, bequeathed his collection

of documents on Crowley to the library. The Yorke collection is now treated as part of

their archives and, like the rest of the archives, proof of research is necessary to obtain

access to them. Unfortunately, the person in charge of this aspect of the library was

away for the summer and as such, I was unable to find out much more. In some ways

this ties in with some of the arguments discussed later about censorship and the library

as the keeper of dangerous knowledge.

After talking to many different people I was eventually able to look at a PDF file about

the microfilm of the collection and whilst this did not give an indication of the size of

the collection it did give me some insight into the types of materials, involved as well as

to what may be found in the online catalogue.

Table 24: The Yorke collection Yorke 1: Aleister Crowley Papers: notebooks, manuscripts and typescripts Yorke 2: ACP: papers relating to Ordo Templar Onentis Yorke 3: ACP: published novels Yorke 4:ACP: mixed letters Yorke 5:ACP: short fiction and drama Yorke 6:ACP: commentaries to the Book of Law Yorke 7:ACP: poetry Yorke 8:ACP: manuscripts and transcripts of authorised published books Yorke 9:ACP: diaries Yorke 10:ACP: letters Yorke 11:ACP: financial, legal and other personal papers Yorke 12:ACP: galley proofs, bound proofs, privately printed editions, a noted editions Yorke 13:ACP: catalogues, bibliographies and handlists Yorke 14:Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: notebooks

52

From earlier research I had discovered that this library is also famous for housing rare

tarot decks designed by varied occultists. Unfortunately no further information was

available about these either.

Illustration 11: Warburg catalogue search result

When searching the catalogue some of the keywords yielded a lot of results; folklore

(1536), magic (1217), tarot (109), witchcraft (601), demonology (219), occultism (599)

and Crowley (773)

More material is also available in their photographic collection with images covering

Magic & Science, Gods & Myths and Rituals.

Their open shelves held a lot of material but this was not as varied as other, similar

collections. The lack of information about what else was there left me with the

impression that there was a good deal more and whilst I was not expecting to be shown

every book, I was hoping to get a better view into the background and management of

their collection.

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3.3 Public libraries

Most public libraries will have a small amount of books in their 133 sections; no major

public collection is really available in London.

3.3.3 The Battersea Lending Library.

Whilst researching the topic, I discovered that the Battersea Library had a special

collection on the occult. This came about as a result of the subject allocation made for

each borough within London, so, whilst Westminster was allocated medicine, Battersea

received both the Occult and Architecture. Unfortunately, whilst visiting the library in

order to assess the collection, I was not granted access to it. The member of staff that I

spoke to was quite judgemental, stating that he couldn’t understand why anyone would

want to see the collection, which is housed within the basement. Seemingly, the only

way to have access to the material would be to check the catalogue and to request that

specific items be brought up from the basement; something that also would require me

to join the library as a member. Surprisingly, it seems that not all of the items within the

collection have been catalogued and as such, suggests that there are items to which no-

one but members of staff there have access. Purchases for this collection ceased in 1974.

In some ways, the reactions that I encountered here reflect some of the misconceptions

and prejudices that users may be confronted with when showing an interest in non-

mainstream subjects. Explaining the reasons for my research was acceptable but having

to justify my interest in occult material is unfair and, I imagine, a bigger issue for some

users. Not able to see the collection for myself, the only information I have available

54

about the size of the collection is that it is apparently housed within approximately 12

bays of shelving.

To get a feel for the scope of their collection, I used their catalogue to conduct some

searches. Whilst the results only run to the low hundreds it is clear that this library holds

a larger collection than most other local public libraries.

Table 25: Battersea Library catalogue search results Keyword Catalogue hits Occult 94 Paranormal 61 New age 97 Supernatural 139 Witchcraft 145 The classification system used in both the open shelves and for the special collections is

Dewey and most of the material can be found under ‘133’.

3.3.2 The New York Public Library

I have included the New York Public Library here because they both maintain a large

occult collection and, quite rarely, they advertise it as well. Seemingly, they are aware

of why users may need access to such materials. The library has dedicated an entire

section of its website to the occult sciences and parapsychology. In their research guide,

they acknowledge the fact that many requests involving the occult do occur. Where one

person might express an interest in ghosts, alchemy or witchcraft, another might be

researching clairvoyance, reincarnation or other paranormal phenomena. They describe

both fields as being very wide and in order to help their readers, they have created a

guide providing general sources and bibliographies. (NYPL, 2004, online).

55

As a library they collect a wide range of topics from esoteric magic, spiritualism and

witchcraft to a strong collection on divination and theosophy. The science library has

materials on flying saucers and alchemy, the Oriental division has material on

mysticism and yoga, the Slavic and Baltic division has works by the occultist Blavatsky

and the Schomburg Centre for research into Black culture collects titles on voodoo,

santeria and related topics.

They acknowledge the different focuses found within the occult subject and their

website also lists the subject headings employed by the catalogue

To give a general overview of the amount of material available I have included a table

showing the number of records found for some of the keywords. Some results include

both fictional and non-fiction works. Two different catalogues are available. The one I

used was CATNYP. Most of the collection seems to use Dewey but some results clearly

use a different scheme depending upon which division the material is housed under.

Table 26: NY Library catalogue search results Keyword Records

found Keyword Records

found Keyword Records

found Occult 710 Witchcraft 2002 Paranormal 109 Magic 7111 Parapsychology 1493 Superstition 832 Alchemy 888 New Age Mvt. 291 Astrology 2335 Sects 1441 Secret societies 534 Freemason 72 Vampire 341 Psychical research 186 Esoteric 512

3.4 Other special libraries in the UK. As I was researching I came across more specific libraries mainly dealing with one

particular section within the occult, or the esoteric, as some prefer it to be called.

They were more often than not based on one movement or one philosophy. Such

collections are very interesting and are usually open to the public (frequently on a

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subscription or membership basis) but are mainly there to serve its members or

followers. Here are some examples of such libraries dealing with some of the esoteric

fields.

The Anthroposophical Society Library (London)

This society is an offshoot from the theosophical movement (who created the

theosophical library). The library contains mainly works by its founders and

publications by its members as well as a number of general books relevant to

anthroposophy including philosophy, mythology, occultism, freemasonry, alternative

technology and sciences.

The Lucis Trust Library (London)

This society is also another offshoot of the theosophical movement, created by Alice

and Foster Bailey who were both prolific writers on mysticism. In 1923 they created the

Arcane School to teach a mixture of esoterism with Christianity.

The material available here is mainly written by its creators. Additional materials covers

related subjects such as philosophy, mysticism, esoterism and Christianity. Like the

Library of Avalon, the collection is based on donations and a catalogue is available on

request. The size of the collection is hard to determine due to the lack of modern

technology available here but the room is of a fair size.

The Society for Psychical Research Library (London)

Founded in 1882 they were the first to investigate paranormal phenomenon.

This library used to house the Harry Price collection discussed earlier from 1922 to

1927. Nowadays it is slightly different to other specialist libraries. Since 2002 most of

the library has become available for download (for members only), the catalogue itself

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only has 1984 books, excluding the society’s entire back catalogue of journals since

1884. The Paranormal Review, proceedings and abstracts are also available online.

Interesting features are the page-by-page search availability and a fantastic list of

keywords.

The Freemason Library (London)

This is a strange case because they do not see themselves as part of the occult other than

from the “hidden” factor. Nevertheless I thought it worthwhile to mention them here

since freemasonry is one of those subjects always found within any occult collection.

Their library does have a few books on subjects associated with mystical and esoteric

traditions. The library is free of charge and open to all for reference access. The library

itself is beautiful and the volume of books available on the subject of freemasonry is

surprising. However, it is difficult to assess how much material they actually have on

other occult topics and not all of it is openly available to the general public.

Searching their electronic catalogue yielded the following results:

Table 27: Freemason Library catalogue search results Occult 53 Alchemy 58 Witchcraft 25 Magic 75 Knights templar 642 On Crowley 9 Fortean Picture Library (Wales)

This is a curious one but one I thought worth mentioning. Unfortunately there isn’t a

printed word counterpart but the owners of the collection, Janet and Colin Bord are as

famous for their books as they are for their pictures. They have photographed most of

Britain’s spooky and ancient sites (from stone circles to the Loch Ness monster to

strange carvings). In addition to the prints, pictures and engravings, they also maintain a

specialist collection relating to ‘Fortean’ phenomena: anomalous happenings of every

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kind from showers of frogs to spontaneous combustion. Another strong feature of the

collection is the focus on British and Welsh folklore.

They offer a subject index for their mysterious and Fortean phenomena collection

ranging from abductions to the Yeti. Their antiquities and folklore collection offers a

range of subjects from abbeys to witch sites. Picture can also be searched for by

country.

I am unaware of the current size of the collection but in 1966, it was described in the

Picture Researcher’s Handbook as comprising 20,000 colour and 30,000 black and

white images and is quite possibly significantly larger today.

It is difficult to ascertain how many special libraries within this field are around. Just in

London alone, there are many societies and groups and the ones of a reasonable size are

likely to collect and acquire books relating to their interest. This section gave but a

small overview of the collections available and in most cases, the ones that I was able to

visit in person.

3.5 Major collections outside the UK

All across the world similar material is available. Interest in the occult is international

although subject to variations depending on the prevalent religions, beliefs and folklores

of the region in question. For example, in the USA, parapsychology and stage magic

both enjoy large audiences and this is reflected in the public library system through

extensive collections of both paranormal investigation and stage magic and illusion.

Significant quantities of their more famous collections appear to have been created by

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well-known magicians and these do appear to mix the illusionist side with books about

the real craft of magic. These include the Houdini collection and the Milbourne Library.

The University of West Florida maintains an excellent collection on parapsychology,

the occult sciences, witchcraft, alternative religions and the psychology of dreams.

However, one of the most interesting aspects of their collection is the wide choice of

periodicals available. In other parts of the USA, witchcraft related collections are also

widely available for historical reasons. In some parts, the historical aspect outweighs the

occult and has the result of increasing the level of acceptance of the material; the

libraries in Salem being a prime example. Large special collections on Witchcraft are

also housed in the University of Pennsylvania Library and the Cornell University

Library has a collection of over 3,000 titles documenting the history of the inquisition

into witchcraft and the persecution of its followers.

I will end the subject of collection with two libraries worth mentioning.

3.5.1 The Bibliotheca Hermetica Philosophica (Netherlands)

This is a major library within the field mainly consisting of manuscripts and printed

works in the field of the hermetic tradition. The library holds 19,500 volumes and using

the description available on their website the term ‘Hermetica” is used to cover a

heterogeneous body of works attributed to the legendary philosopher Hermes

Trismegistus. These are mostly works that are philosophical, theosophical, astrological,

magical or alchemical in nature.

60

It is part of the Ritman Institute whose research is specifically concerned with

documenting and researching European Hermetism from the Middle Ages through to

the era of the Enlightenment. Manuscripts and printed books in the fields of hermetic

philosophy, alchemy, magic, mysticism and Christian Kabbalah, Paracelsism, the

Rosicrucian teachings, theosophical masonry, Western Esoterism, Gnosis, Cathars,

Anthroposophy and more.

3.5.2 The Monash Rare Book Collection. (Australia)

This collection is similar to others discussed earlier but I decided to include it here

because of a major exhibition they held in 1998 called simply ‘The occult’. This being

such a wide subject they decided to limit the books on display to those dealing with

Western occultism from the seventeenth century onwards. Also available is a catalogue

and a very detailed online description of the displays with illustrations and

commentaries. The show had some very unusual and rare items from very famous

occultists.

Their own explanation for the decision to put on such an exhibition is particularly

supportive of my discussion and as such, I have decided to include it here. “Some will

doubtless wonder just what a bastion of scholarship such as a University library is doing

with books of this nature, to which the reply must simply be that the ‘occultisms’ have

shaped the world-view of a great many people, and as such they simply cannot be

ignore. It would be easy to underestimate the effect of the occult in our society.

Virtually anyone from an English-speaking or European background will know their

astrological birth sign, and even the ‘quality press’ finds space for horoscopes. There

are numerous references to the occult in popular culture… like it or not. There can be no

61

doubt that belief in one or another manifestations of the occult has played- and

continues to play- a significant part in the lives of many people, and this exhibition will

provide an unusual opportunity for the not-so-involved to view some of the books on

which beliefs are founded.”(Richmond, K, The Occult exhibition at the Monash, 1998,

online).

See Appendix 6.

Illustration 12: Main display case on witchcraft.

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Chapter 4. Censorship

4.1 Introduction to censorship

If your interests lie in strange phenomena, premonitions or rainfalls of frogs rather than

in the academic sciences or the humanities, why should it be more difficult to obtain

relevant literature via the public libraries? As with many other subjects, there is a vast

resource of information available but for these subjects it is often ignored purely

because of its “paranormal” or “occult” labels. In addition to the ubiquitous

misconceptions and its historical background, one of the main problems arise from the

issue of censorship, frequently borne of religious beliefs.

Censorship is nothing new; the suppression of information has been around for as long

as the written word. As Blanchard discusses in his book, censorship of reading matter

goes back a long time before the printing process was invented and book-burning began

even before books assumed their modern form.

In 123 BC Chinese Emperor Shi Hwang-Ti burned nearly all the books in China in

order to wipe out old ideas. The Church and State have often united in order to burn

both humans and books for things they deemed immoral or against the religion in state

at the time. Later anything deemed as heresy by the state was to be burned and the

occult having always been seen as the enemy of the church was often the prime target.

63

During Elizabethan times every printing house in London was searched twice a week in

case improper material was being produced. Many subjects across time have raised

criticisms, fear and as a result often become targeted by different groups in order to stop

anything on their subject from being accessible. In the 1920’s it was communism. One

example used by Blanchard incurred in 1953 when Mrs Thomas J White demanded that

the story of Robin Hood be removed from all Indiana textbooks on the ground that it

followed the communist line. (Blanchard, 1955, p83).

In the end it wasn’t removed, however the presence of the complaint made everybody

wary. Later she was appointed to the Indiana state textbook commission giving her

significantly more power. The next target was to be the elimination of all books on

Quaker religions. Although they were not always successful with their plans, it would

still result in a proportion of children no longer having access to and choices in subject

matter.

Just recently I came across an article in the 2004 June CILIP Update issue about a US

school that has banned the novel “Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress” by Dai Sijie,

from the 9th grade reading list following a parent’s complaint. Apparently, their 15-year

old- boy was “taken aback” by its sexual references. Consequently, the book was

removed from the curriculum and banned from the school library. The school is now

required to obtain approval in advance for the following year’s reading list.

Communism may no longer be the threat that it was once seen as, but the subjects of sex

and of the occult is still seen as taboo.

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4.2 Occult representation

The Occult has always been a target, frequently because all sorts of sin can be attached

to it from sexual acts to blasphemy or crime.

This is the main issue for occult topics, most often when it is represented in a negative

light, particularly by the tabloid press who are more likely to show particularly bad

cases. As in many fields, there are both the good and bad sides and frequently here

represented by “black” and “white” magic. Headlines such as “satanic ritual murders”

and “occult child abuse” are likely to fuel religious groups and their campaigns to

withdraw access to certain materials, particularly for children. In America, there is a

popular seminar circuit featuring clergymen, law enforcers and therapists who claim to

disclose the persuasive influence of Satanism in America, each group relying on the

others’ undocumented evidence with the vociferous backing of some fundamental

Christian groups. The supposed criminal connections in all this provides the “evidence”

that certain books or types of music can twist the minds of young people. Satanic crime

seminars present a model of behaviour that sets children, so called “dabblers” at one

end, with the clandestine Satanist at the other. Satanists allegedly sacrifice upwards of

50,000 people every year in fealty to the Evil One. We never obtain evidence of the

existence of such nefarious, murderous Satanists, say the so-called experts, because they

leave no traces! (Hicks, 1991 p53)

Such arguments seem incredible but they have a lot of followers. Despite the lack of

provable evidence that occult books encourage vicious murders and that listening to

heavy metal or “devil-worshipping” music, as it is often called, promotes negative

effects, these arguments are still used again and again. The occult has many faces and

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topics and, as in any field of interest, some are more dangerous than others and can be

taken to extremes.

Using an interest in the occult as a reason to discriminate is not new; the past and its

numerous witch trials prove that. So many attitudes and actions are easily attached to

magical activities and witchcraft. At least nowadays we are no longer judging people as

much on their powers and beliefs. Unfortunately in the written form it is easier to

analyse and criticise.

4.3 The librarian dilemma.

Many materials on the various aspects of the occult are available in bookstores and on

the Internet but when it comes to libraries it is frequently more difficult to find. Many

librarians have to face the dilemma of balancing the right to read whatever we want

with the pressure from different groups on what should and shouldn’t be on the shelves.

This was one of the many issues in the American Libraries Annual Conference in 1992,

the arguments ranged from “public libraries have a duty to stock materials ranging from

evangelical teachings to the satanic bible” to “not every kid who reads The Headless

Cupid is going to wind up sacrificing chickens on Mama’s dining room table.” Another

argument was that exposing schoolchildren to such material is equal to promoting

religion in the classroom to children. Other were concerned about the danger of role-

playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, which they believe might lure kids into

Satanism.

66

The University of Minnesota conducted a study of role-playing games and their

influence. As a result they found that most Dungeons and Dragons players were well-

adjusted people for whom game represents a healthy, creative exercise in the

imagination. Unfortunately, these studies are very often ignored.

One problem is that there is no consensus within the library profession on the handling

of pseudoscience materials, some openly resist the purchase of works they consider

dubious; others attempt to provide a balance. While the American Library Association

and other groups often support in their defence against censorship, the librarians unite

readily to resist outside demands for it. There is little agreement regarding the potential

for internal censorship implicit in selection and cataloguing. (Thompson, 1984, p178)

These different arguments have been talked about quite often and most of the time it is

left to the librarian’s discretion. As Wilkins said in order to describe both side of the

discussion “why would any reputable library want to concern itself with ‘New Age’

ideas? Is not the whole subject tainted with lunatic fringes, with misguided people

taking science fiction, fantasy and mythology as the truth?” while on the other hand

some say that as it is a part of society, libraries should reflect this interest regardless of

their own opinions.

If a library started to build such a collection, complaints would start to come in. Of that,

there can be no doubt. On the other hand if it is legal, why should libraries be stopped

from doing so?

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Today most of what was regarded as controversial materials in the past are now

accepted (Darwin, Hitler, Freud, Marx), so why should the same not happen with

materials written by Alistair Crowley, Anton Lavey, or Madame Blavatsky ?

Despite the fact that they are still sometimes perceived as being dangerous, even after

death, by certain religious groups, it does seem to be a rite of passage for controversial

literature. Thankfully, through the actions of more open-minded or independent

organisations, such books have become available.

4.4 Children and occult literature.

Frequently, censorship issues are raised because of children. Most opposition groups are

aware that adults will, in some way or another, gain access to such ‘dangerous

knowledge’. Should children also have freedom of access? Should they be told the

truth? Is the banning of supposedly dangerous material the best way to protect them?

After all, children should not be underestimated. They have a critical mind and can very

often separate fantasy from reality. They are more likely to be confused or fascinated in

these subjects that are seen as forbidden. More often than not if they are told not to,

young people will be more encouraged to try it. Amazingly, most of these beliefs are

older than some of the religions that now seek to ban them.

Recently books featuring witches, monsters and other demonic characters have raised

parents concerns about their effect on young people. Libraries are increasingly being

challenged about the presence of these books on their shelves. Without actual evidence

of the effects of such books on children a lot of accusations are made and without actual

proof of negative effects. How can a librarian decide which fantasy is damaging and

which isn’t ?

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The success of books like the Harry Potter and the David Pullman books has brought to

life their worst fears once again.

4.5 The Harry Potter dilemma

As well as being best sellers and at the top of most children’s wish lists, the Harry

Potter series also tops the list as one of the most challenged books in libraries.

The complaints centre on its alleged occult and satanic themes, its religious viewpoints

and its anti family approaches and violence. Some people think that the leading

character is a bad influence on children, promotes an immoral lifestyle and should be

banned from elementary schools and children’s libraries. On the other hand most

schools and libraries are defending such books for their positive effect at renewing

children’s interest in reading.

The Harry Potter phenomenon has raised lots of comments and an endless amount of

negative articles usually written by religious organisation of some kind. Due to the

success of shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Charmed, Angel, Sabrina the Teenage

Witch and X-Files, the new generation has been accused of having been desensitised to

the occult.

Some views which are raised are very strong. Author Michael O’Brien said “ reasonable

Christian parents would not permit their children to read a series of enthralling books

depicting likeable young people involved in drug-dealing or premarital sex, or torture.

Why, then, have they accepted a set of books which glamorise and normalize occult

activity, even though it is every bit as deadly to the soul as sexual sin, if not more so?”

(O’Brien, 2001).

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Another concern relate to a scene about the making of a potion by cutting a mandrake’s

roots; apparently creating desensitisation to abortion. Other fears are that rather than

having hooked a generation on reading, children are now going to search for literature

with more thrills now that they have an appetite for darker and dangerous literature.

Apparently “the premiere of Harry Potter the movie will lead to a whole new generation

of youngsters discovering witchcraft and wizardry…increasing numbers of children are

spending hours alone browsing the internet in search of satanic websites” (Quote by

Peter Smith, general secretary of the British Association of Teachers and Lecturers in

the article by Kjos, online)

One last theory against this particular series of books is quite an elaborate one. An

online article proposes how the books are actually an allegory. The way that it is written

and packaged to look like fantasy when, in truth, it is a true depiction of the training and

work of an initiate in an occult order. Each step taken by Harry is compared to the steps

of an initiating occultist. Apparently, it’s not just fiction, J.K. Rowling’s agenda is to

instil in children a familiarity with occult truth – she just clothed it for fun. (Peter,

online)

Do horror films and vampire novels really have such an impact on the young soul as it

is sometimes suggested? Many people believe that these actually help children to

consider the issues of good and evil and to be aware of the different beliefs in existence.

As Stuart Hannabus phrased it “Monsters have been peeping round the corners of

reading for young people ever since it existed. There have been the creatures of myth

and legends, like the Minotaur and the Hydra, which have percolated their way through

to young people in adaptations and retellings.”(Hannabuss, 1982 p301)

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Comics and films have always portrayed such images; some are banned but only on

very rare occasions and only in some countries. Nowadays such decisions are rare and

with the ease of buying DVDs or downloading from the Internet, you would think

censorship would be more of an issue on these levels. However, the Internet is now too

large to be taken on, while libraries, and especially school libraries, are still easily put

under pressure. On the whole most of the issues raised are usually in conjunction with

Christian beliefs because the teachings of the Bible are in conflict with stories on magic

and sorcery.

4.6 Conclusion to censorship

The censorship issue is more important in the US than in the UK. In 1976, 200 protests

were reported to the American Library Association’s Office For Intellectual Freedom, in

1977, 300 and by 1983 it had reached 900 complaints per year. These statistics only

covered the reported complaints; it is likely that many more complaints were dealt with

directly by the school and its library. Obviously every book can be deemed offensive by

one group or another but does it really matter? Do we need to be protected that much?

With the prevalence of television and newspapers, I do not think books are the most

influential items in today’s society. Morals and values differ from one person to another

and we should accept that if we don’t like a book then we shouldn’t read it.

Labelling anything New Age or alternative as being dangerous is one of the key

problems. As all of the subjects that come under the Occult banner are put into one bag,

the protester can attack more or less everything and it is usually the lack of knowledge,

combined with the common misconceptions and prejudices that are the main factor.

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Chapter 5. The historical tradition

and the online revolution

5.1 libraries as keepers of forbidden knowledge

Even if none of these materials are no longer seen as forbidden these topics still provoke

ambivalent feelings. After all, the occult has always held a strange place in our culture.

On the other hand, such mysterious and often believed dangerous knowledge does have

a place within libraries, one of whose stereotypes is that as a keeper of forbidden

knowledge. There is a common perception that “libraries are storehouses of knowledge.

There is a common perception that within their walls lies the compendium of everything

known and understood by humanity.” (Bartel, 2001, online). This symbolic image has

often made libraries seductive and secretive places because they can be seen as the

holder of important secrets and the librarian holds the key to all this knowledge. In

reality this image is very far away from today’s place of the library in the information

era.

Some of these stereotypes are still present and with it the concept of occult material

being protected and kept from the commoner in libraries. Very often in literature and

film when someone wants information on forbidden or occult knowledge, the answer

will be in the library.

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In film and books like Buffy, Harry Potter, the Ninth Gate or Club Dumas, libraries

always seem to have a forbidden section, where the dangerous books are kept. They

either keep prohibited knowledge under lock and key or burn it (Fahrenheit 451 and the

Name of the Rose). In the Name of the Rose they prefer to conceal rather than

enlighten, Eco portrayed the library as a mystical, secret, even sacred place to be

defended at all costs, certainly to the extent of several murdered monks.

Much of the current debate on the future of libraries is no less passionate. They no

longer see themselves as collection conservators, but rather as service providers, as

wholesalers of knowledge. The library is no longer secret or sacred. (Owen, 1996, p98).

Subsequently the meaning of occult has become ‘hidden’ so it is logical that such

images very often are seen as interrelated. Obviously this representation has been

exaggerated through books and films but you can still sometimes get similar protective

reactions when enquiring about books on such subjects. Some libraries do offer access

but some of the rarest collections are either very private or very difficult to reach.

5.2 The tradition of occult library

One other tradition outside of the stereotypical or fictional image is the fact that occult

libraries have always been around. The subject is not a new one; it is simply a less

dangerous one to raise. There is nothing new in having such material in libraries and

such collections can be traced back to ancient libraries “we know the nature of the

literature preserves in Egyptian temple libraries. The great body of it was of a liturgical

or hermetical, occult philosophical, alchemical and medical character.” (Thompson,

1962, p 2).

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However when the faith changed and Christianity decided such classical literature was

to be banned due to its pagan origin these materials were no longer available to the

masses, although some was protected by a few courageous librarians. “By the fifth

century paganism was dead, but the pagan spirit as embodied in classical literature was

perpetuated, and some of the ancient classical literature was preserved and cherished, in

the libraries of those few bishops who were cultivated enough and brave enough to flout

the Church’s wrath.” (Thompson, 1962, p43)

Across this century many other open minded collectors have tried to perpetuate and

safeguard such knowledge on subjects from alchemy to the black arts to non-Christian

religious books. Due to the secrecy surrounding such collections, the extent of them is

unknown. However a few famous men and their libraries have gained historical status

as having built such collections, thereby continuing the notion of the occult library.

Even if now they are seen as simply manuscripts and rare or valuable books, in their

time it was not always popular or safe to hold such prohibited materials.

These are such examples:

The John Dee Library was one of the finest known libraries in renaissance England. At

the time intellectuals often searched beyond the field of academic studies and became

interested with the occult and in Dee’s case even with necromantic pursuit. He was able

to continue his interest through his patronage from the monarch and aristocrats though

never being very far from being condemned by the Catholic Church. He went from

being adviser to Queen Elizabeth I on occult matters to being imprisoned for using

enchantment, a sometimes-dangerous activity in this time.

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The Wizard of Earl library, Henry Percy was the 9th Earl of Northumberland and his

interest in alchemy and other pseudo-sciences earned him the title of ‘The Wizard Earl’.

Similarly to other famous intellectuals he fell foul of the crown and spent 22 years in

the Tower of London. Once released, his library became crucial to him and is often

talked about in occult circles as being one of the greatest.

Stanislas de Guaita Library (1860-1897), spent his lifetime building a library

comprising a very broad collection of books ranging from rare alchemical works to

ritual and ceremonial items. His home and library became the centre and meeting

ground for the study of the esoteric arts in Paris. He also created the Cabalistic Order of

the Rose Cross entitling members to become Doctors of the Cabala.

5.3 The online revolution

With the rapid growth of the Internet and particularly the World Wide Web, access to

information on any subject is relatively easy. Interest in the occult is mirrored by the

profusion of websites available. In comparison to their physical counterparts, online

occult libraries are numerous and each can be found within just a few clicks.

Searching for the term “occult library” can yield a vast number of results.

Unfortunately, not all of these are libraries as such but frequently refer to extensive lists

of titles, personal collections or to bookstores. A relatively small proportion will

actually lead to physical libraries accessible by members of the public whereas a

significant proportion of these sites produce bibliographical lists to help others build

private or institutional collections.

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Nonetheless, whilst searching I was able to locate some libraries such as “the Online

Magical Library”, “The Psychonomicon Occult Library”, “The Library of Knowledge”

and others catering for all aspects of the occult. Some of these also offer e-books

available for download.

Online access to occult information is so popular that often other features are also

present to help users in their research. Specialised search engines are just one of these

features some of which are “AvatarSearch”, “UFOSeek”. Also to be found online are

encyclopaedia like the “Occultopedia”. These are just some of the examples that I have

come across.

Obviously online users have to be aware that between the nature of the subject and the

lack of academic review of online material not all of the information may be credible or

true. However at a price, some online resources can provide complete access to occult

books without some of the prejudice and censorship to be encountered elsewhere. In

this way, the Internet has stolen a march on the public library system in providing

access to occult materials.

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Chapter 6. Conclusion

6.1 The future

As has been shown, some collections do exist and the material is available but on a

relatively small scale. Some projects such as the Library of Avalon are being mirrored

in new projects around the world to create collections of esoteric material on subjects

that are not usually well covered in the more traditional library setting.

One of these projects is the New Alexandrian Library Project. The vision here is to

create a place “where knowledge from many esoteric traditions can be accessed by

scholars and serious seekers. The New Alexandrian Library will be a modern, state of

the art library with a capacity to preserve and to protect all formsof esoteric knowledge.

Books, periodicals, special collections, music, media, digital data, etc., will all be

carefully catalogued and cross-referenced to ease the work of research. The library will

work to restore and preserve rare and damaged documents. The New Alexandrian

Library will be primarily a research and reference library, not a lending library. The

land for this project is being donated as well as the architectural plans”. (The New

Alexandrian Library, 2004, online).

The Library will be located in some sacred woods in Southern Delaware and run under

the aegis of a non-profit Wiccan organisation created in 1984. They are mostly based on

esoteric tradition and European folk religions. The collection will be inclusive of all

spiritual traditions similarly to the original Alexandrian Library in Egypt. At present,

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they still have a long way to go in terms of raising the funds for the project. Nonetheless

they hope to be able to open no later than 2010.

This is one of the larger projects being carried out. A smaller but similar ongoing

project is the Serbian Library Project. The founder and inspiration for the whole project

is Dejan Banovic, a spiritual leader and student of the ‘Serbian Academy of Esoteric

Sciences’. The project was created in 1998 and has since been gathering monetary and

physical donations. As a whole the project does not appear to be as well organised or

developed as the New Alexandrian Library, though obviously this depends mainly on

funding and resources to start with.

Such projects usually start with the vision of one person and can result in important

places like the Library of Avalon. However, unlike the Library of Avalon whom has

clear advantages in location with its historical and folkloric background, I am not

familiar with the organisation or location of these projects so it is hard to evaluate their

potential for success. Nonetheless it is inspiring to see that there is a common feel for

the need to access to such materials and even though the occult or esoterism has yet to

gain a more academic status, individuals and groups are creating projects to make it

available.

6.2 Summary of what has been covered

Fiction of both a gothic and horrific nature now enjoy a mainstream status, so why not

the non-fiction side? After all, most of the books in an occult collection are just the

investigation and history of such creatures, phenomena and practices. People have

always been fascinated by the supernatural, evidenced by the popularity of the fiction

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and motion pictures available. Why would something that has been there since

beginning of time be seen as such a threat? Having an interest in or reading about the

occult does not necessarily make you a dangerous person, despite the fact that many

organisations would like to portray it so.

I hope this study has examined some of the difficulties surrounding such collections

whilst also considering why such issues are there. The nature of the subject is a

complicated one but the discovery of and visits to some of the collections have made the

research thoroughly enjoyable and I will await the opening one day of an institution

similar to the library of Avalon in London, one that covers every aspect of this

fascinating subject.

In this dissertation the libraries that I have covered were mainly English speaking. This

was due to practicality and other limitations within my research. I am sure some other

countries may have some fantastic collections if you were to research them in more

detail. Also I decided not to include institutions like the British Library and the

Bodleian Library even though they are likely to have a lot of material. This is due to the

fact that they maintain enormous collections and as such, do not give any special focus

or attention to the occult side. Also, access to their collections is somewhat limited and

as such, it would prove difficult to gain a full appreciation of the collection as a whole.

At the outset, finding out which libraries had a significant collection was not easy. Very

few advertise the fact and it was largely down to the help of fellow researchers and

specialists in the subject that I started to discover them.

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In one particular visit to the occult bookshop Watkins, I was informed that there are

indeed a lot of collectors around and it has since become apparent, a lot of occult

material resides in private collections.

Whilst the meaning of the word “occult” has come to be known as hidden or concealed,

the historical material on the subject does not have to be shrouded in mystery yet the

location of some collections remains unknown even though it is no longer a crime to

hold such interests.

Many sides of the occult are now mundane, odd perhaps but not worrisome for most

people. In the last few decades many have become part of everyday life. No one

considers the daily horoscopes published in newspapers to be dangerous yet trying to

find a reasonable quantity of books on studying astrology or the other divinatory arts

within your local library is still quite difficult.

This subject is ambiguous and marginal in virtually all ways: socially, intellectually,

academically, religiously, scientifically, and conceptually. It does not fit in the rational

world but this is also what makes it so fascinating and interesting. The imbalance

between the amount of interest in the field and the stock within the library system is a

result of such dilemmas.

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‘Harry Price Library of Magical Literature’ [Web Page]. (n.d). < http://www.curl.ac.uk/rslpguide/ULL%20Harry%20Price.htm >. Accessed on 16 July 2004. ‘J. R. Ritman Library- Bibliotheca Philisophica Hermetica’. [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.xs4all.nl/~bph/ >. Accessed on 10 March 2004. ‘Library of Avalon’ [Web Page]. (2002). < http://www.libraryofavalon.co.uk/ >. Accessed on 7 November 2003. ‘The Library of knowledge’. [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/tomekeeper/ >. Accessed 6 June 2004. ‘The London Library’ [Web page]. (2003). < http://www.londonlibrary.co.uk/ >. Accessed on 25 June 2004. ‘Lucis trust Library’ [Web Page]. (2003). < http://www.arcaneschool.org/arcane/lrulesl.htm >. Accessed on 28 June 2004. ‘Medlina.Com’. [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.medlina.com/parascience_&_pseudoscience.htm >. Accessed on 5 June 2003. ‘The Monash Library’. [Web Page]. (n.d). < http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/exhibitions/occult/xocc.html >. Accessed on the 5 August 2004. ‘The New Alexandrian Library Project’. [Web Page]. (2002). < http://www.sacredwheel.org/nal/core.html >. Accessed on 10 June 2004. ‘The New York Public library’. [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.nypl.org/ >. Accessed on the 28 June 2004. ‘Occultopedia’. [Web Page]. (n.d). < http://www.occultopedia.com/occult.htm >. Accessed on 30 June 2003. ‘Online Magical Library’. [Web Page]. (n.d). < http://www.hermetics.org/ebooks.html >. Accessed on 18 March 2004. ‘The Percies and Petworth’ [Web Page]. (n.d). < http://www.geocities.com/percyfamilyhistory/petworth.html >. Accessed on 11 March 2004. ‘The Psychonominon Occult library’. [Web Page]. (1998). < http://members.tripod.com/~ideomagi/nf_library_dir.htm >. Accessed on 6 June 2004. ‘Salem Public Library’. [Web Page]. (n.d). < http://www.salemlibrary.org/circ/catalog.html >. Accessed on 10 March 2004. ‘Serbian Esoteric Library Project’. [Web Page]. (n.d). < http://www.serbianesotericlibraryproject.0catch.com/ >. Accessed on 10 July 2004.

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‘The Society for Psychical Research’ [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.spr.ac.uk >. Accessed on 7 July 2004 ‘UFOSeek’. [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.ufoseek.com >. Accessed on 26 June 2004. ‘University of Pennsylvania Library: Witchcraft’. [Web Page]. (2004). < http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/guides/hist/witchcraft.html >. Accessed on 30 June 2003. ‘University of West Florida Library: Parapsychology and the occult’. [Web Page]. (2004). < http://library.uwf.edu/eli/Social/Parapsychology.shtml >. Accessed on 30 June 2003. ‘Warburg Institute Library’ [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.sas.ac.uk/warburg/ >. Accessed on 3rd August 2004. ‘Wellcome Library’ [Web Page]. (2004). < http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/ >. Accessed on 26 July 2004. ‘Yale University Library [Web Page]. (2004). < http://www.library.yale.edu/ >. Accessed on 20 July 2004.

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Guide to tables and illustrations

Tables Page no.

Table 1: DCC 130 main sections 9

Table 2: DCC 133 section and its subdivisions 9

Table 3: DCC 290 other religions 10

Table 4: LCC B_BJ Philosophy. Psychology 12

Table 5: LCC the three categories in BF 12

Table 6: LCC BL- BX 13

Table7: BC2 overview of the main classes 14

Table 8: BC2, P main section 15

Table 9: BC2, PX section 16

Table 10: BC2, PXQ for magic 16

Table11: The three orders in Dorbon system 19

Table 12: Library of Avalon headings 31

Table 13; Theosophical Library main headings 38

Table 14: Theosophical Library subdivisions examples 39

Table 15: Theosophical Library, C Section 39

Table 16: Barnard versus Wellcome 42

Table17: The Wellcome classification and occult related subjects 43

Table 18: Wellcome catalogue search results 44

Table 19: London Library shelfmarks system 45

Table 20: Books on shelves at the London Library 46

Table 21: Warburg Institute classification 50

Table 22: Warburg F: magic and science 50

Table 23: Warburg FC and FM 51

Table 24: The Yorke collection 52

Table 25: Battersea Library catalogue search results 55

Table 26: NY Library catalogue search results 56

Table 27: Freemason Library catalogue search results 58

V

Illustrations Page no.

Illustration 1:Catalogue search with the Ferguson 22

collection as location

Illustration 2: Ferguson Collection online page 23

Illustrations 3, 4 & 5: Library of Avalon photos 34

Illustration 6: Helena Blavasky 35

Illustrations 7, 8 &9: Theosophical Library photos 40

Illustration 10: Magic page from the Wellcome Library booklet 41

Illustration 11: Warburg catalogue 53

Illustration 12: Main display case on witchcraft. 62

VI