I am reliably informed that Kenneth Grant – born in 1924 –died two weeks back.
I have many memories of Kenneth, and will tell them, one by one, and over and over again. I have many letters from him, and will scan them in. Kenneth was a polymath, and said over and over again the power of words was the greatest thing on the planet. He tried to get me to give his letters back to him, but I was a bit of a refusenik about that – it was he who told me that when letters were sent they were the property of the receptor. What a man!
Kenneth lived in a Typhonian Tower,and a bit like the Lady of Shallott, was always looking out for strangers living in Golders Green, he lived there for a long time, with strange creatures outside the suburban semi he, Steffi and Gregori lived.
Grant was a genius in many ways, and an idiot in other ways. In his loft was a vast collection of Austin Osman Spare paintings but once he asked me to get rid of a vast collection of 1950s pornographic paintings.
My then girlfriend, Jan Bailey, a co-editor of Sothis magazine, helped me to dump Kenneth’s 1950s porn – it took five weeks – there was so much of it. It all went in several bins.
Kenneth was eloquent about sex – his books are full of it. Once, he said, he shagged a Chinese woman on a graveyard in Soho – he said her tits were so small but her thighs so big that he came all over her face, almost immediately.
He was far less forthcoming about the Ordo Templi Orientis. This was Mr Grant’s Ivory Tower. He became a refusinek if you asked him anything about it at all – I’m kind of thinking he didn’t want to think about it himself.
In short, Kenneth Grant was a very nice person and I am totalled that he is dead. I loved him.
Sex, Like Breathing, Comes from Deep within. sometimes person remembers events in terms that have been learned at other times, baudy, street corner stuff, if even that high, as others are listening, nearby, often.
Perhaps theres better way to describe Memory of msr. Grant than mere Fantacide comments. Like Warm, Moist, Spooky site for Lovers. As Such Baudiness now lives in theMIKES’ Head & may Be UnDoing, Coming from Grave.
Dark Lite Room in Back of Home, Like Cave, Walla, Ashram MaGHEE.
Signed:PHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART von DRASHEK M.D.
Thank you for writing this tribute; it is the only one I have read by someone who actually knew Mr Grant! Do please share more of your stories and reminiscences , allowing us an insight into the man behind the myth.
thanks for sharing your reminiscences :) I think its very kind of you to scan his letters and I await it very keenly. I think he was one of the most important Thelemic magicians alive and even death can do nothing to dull his greatness in letting his work prosper and grow, influencing others like it has me. Thanks for the post and we all await more information about this special yet private man. He is sorely missed.
And not a lot of people know that.
He made some interesting observations many times. I will take my time and write a lot
I am listening to my Chakra record in anticipation.
A poignant read; informative, moving and funny. I’d be really interested to know what Grant’s OTO was like when you joined, in terms of its activities. Did you ever meet any of the people involved in the New Isis Lodge? I’ve wondered if that lodge actually ever existed outside of his remarkable imagination and I’d love to know your own thoughts on that.
“My then girlfriend, Jan Bailey, a co-editor of Sothis magazine, helped me to dump Kenneth’s 1950s porn – it took five weeks – there was so much of it. It all went in several bins.”
What a criminal act of destruction Mike – Did you not realise how rare these things are?
“…when letters were sent they were the property of the receptor”. Thanks for clearing that mystery up – I did wonder why my only letter to him was sent back in the SAE. This was ages after he’d thanked me for sending a book to him by sending one of his own. What a man indeed!
Phil, Aberdeen
93. Thank you, Mike, for sharing these storys. Ill second Chris; i keenly await to read more here in the future. Mr. Grant will surely be missed, yes, but this terrestrial dimension is just another stop on the ride. Death as we know it, is an illusion, and now a grand master has withdrawn to wander onwards. 93 93/93.
Hi Mike,
sympathies for your loss. Hindu metaphysicis, mixed with western mystic traditions, now that sounds like a volatile combination.
I more than somewhat partial, to a tipple of Buddhadharma.
Take Care,
GreekGeek :-)
There is suffering. There is the origin of suffering. There is the cessation of suffering. There is the path out of suffering.– Siddharta Gautama.
Is there still a possibility of seeing thesed letters (scanned)? They would be very informative.