Aries – Journal for the Study

of Western Esotericism 21 (2021) 69–93

ARIES
brill.com/arie

Proximal Authority
The Changing Role of Leah Hirsig in Aleister Crowley’s Thelema, 1919–1930

Manon Hedenborg White

Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden
[email protected]

Abstract

In 1920, the Swiss-American music teacher and occultist Leah Hirsig (1883–1975) was
appointed ‘Scarlet Woman’ by the British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947),
founder of the religion Thelema. In this role, Hirsig was Crowley’s right-hand woman
during a formative period in the Thelemic movement, but her position shifted when
Crowley found a new Scarlet Woman in 1924. Hirsig’s importance in Thelema gradually
declined, and she distanced herself from the movement in the late 1920s. The article
analyses Hirsig’s changing status in Thelema 1919–1930, proposing the term proximal
authority as an auxiliary category to Max Weber’s tripartite typology. Proximal authority
is defined as authority ascribed to or enacted by a person based on their real or per-
ceived relational closeness to a leader. The article briefly draws on two parallel cases so
as to demonstrate the broader applicability of the term in highlighting how relational
closeness to a leadership figure can entail considerable yet precarious power.

Keywords

Aleister Crowley – Leah Hirsig – Max Weber – proximal authority – Thelema

1 Introduction

During the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665–1714), Sarah Churchill,
Duchess of Marlborough (1660–1744), was the second most powerful woman in
the kingdom. As the queen’s favourite, the Duchess overcame many restrictions
hampering women of the time. Sarah’s relationship with the queen eventu-
ally soured due to a combination of political differences and Anne’s growing

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70 hedenborg white

preference for Sarah’s cousin Abigail Masham (c. 1670–1734), leading Sarah
and her husband to be dismissed from the court.1 Almost two centuries later,
1960s America witnessed the emergence of a new religious movement initially
known as the Children of God and, later, as The Family International, founded
by David Brandt Berg (1919–1994). In 1969, Berg began a sexual relationship with
his secretary and convert Karen Zerby (b. 1946), known as Maria within the
movement. This prompted a revelation for Berg, who declared that his then-
wife, Jane (née Miller, 1922–2011), represented a corrupt ‘Old Church’. He cast
her out of his inner circle to make way for the ‘New Church’, to which he linked
Maria, who became his second wife. Berg elevated Maria to a central position
within the movement, and she effectively became its spiritual leader after his
death.2
Early-twentieth-century esotericism provides a similar case of influence
gained and lost via shifting personal affections: that of the Swiss-American
music teacher and occultist Leah Hirsig (1883–1975); disciple, magical partner,
and lover of the British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947). As Crowley’s
appointed ‘Scarlet Woman’ from 1920, Hirsig was his right-hand woman during
a formative period when Crowley co-founded (with Hirsig) a religious com-
mune devoted to his religion, Thelema; underwent a key initiation; and penned
numerous important texts, several of them with Hirsig’s aid. However, Hirsig’s
position shifted when Crowley appointed a new lover as his Scarlet Woman in
1924. Despite her own efforts to the contrary, Hirsig’s importance in Thelema
waned over the following years, and she distanced herself from Crowley and
the movement in the late 1920s. The present article will analyse Leah’s chang-
ing status in Thelema 1919–1930. I will propose the term proximal authority in
order to highlight how relational ties to a leader can both enable and condi-
tion a precarious form of secondary leadership, and suggest that this term has
broader applicability within the study of esotericism and religion.

2 Theoretical Framework

Max Weber defines authority as ‘the probability that certain specific com-
mands (or all commands) from a given source will be obeyed by a given group
of persons’.3 He distinguishes between three types of authority based on the
differing legitimacy claims typically made by each. The first type, charismatic

1 Harris, Passion for Government, passim.

2 Chancellor, ‘Family for the Twenty-First Century’; Vance, Women in New Religions, 77–100.
3 Weber, Theory of Social and Economic Organization, 324–325.

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proximal authority 71

authority, is accorded a person due to some (perceived) talent, trait, or aspect

perceived as inherent in their being. Charismatic religious leaders are often
viewed as divinely appointed.4 Emerging religious movements are frequently
characterised by charismatic authority. Following the leader’s death or loss
of charisma, new religions are faced with the challenge of the ‘routinisation
of charisma’, that is, the transmission of authority to new forms of leader-
ship.5 These generally follow what Weber indicates as two other main types of
authority: traditional, where the leader is selected via (what is held to be) time-
honoured custom; and rational-legal, where power is bureaucratically derived
from a specific office.6 Weber’s model is ideal-typical, and he suggests the pos-
sibility for mixed and additional forms of authority.
Weber notes that charismatic leaders often enlist ‘disciples’ to help enact
their will, selecting them based on these disciples’ own charismatic qualifica-
tions.7 This may be taken to suggest that charisma (sensu Weber) is potentially
inherent, though Weber takes care to stress that charisma is utterly dependent
on others’ acceptance of the charismatic claim.8 Accordingly, Roy Wallis has
stressed that charisma should be seen as a ‘social construction arising from the
advancement and acceptance of a charismatic claim’. Wallis indicates the cen-
tral role of a ‘committed elite’ of adherents in bolstering charisma.9 In singling
out followers worthy of particular attention, they too are perceived as cho-
sen, thus creating a bond of loyalty compelling ‘elite’ adherents to support and
reaffirm the charismatic claim.10 Competition among the charismatic leader’s
chosen ones may inspire affection for others close to the leader while they are
in ‘good standing’, but also a ‘readiness to … attack them when they fall from
favour’, so as to advance one’s own standing.11
This article takes as its starting point the precarious position inhabited by
one such ‘elite’ disciple, scrutinising the mechanisms through which relational
closeness may simultaneously enable and limit authority. I propose the term
proximal authority to denote authority ascribed to or enacted by a person
based on their real or perceived relational closeness to a leader.12 As suggested

4 Ibid., 358–360.
5 Weber, Economy and Society, Vol 2, 246–254; Weber, Theory of Social and Economic Organi-
zation, 363–366, passim.
6 Weber, Theory of Social and Economic Organization, 328–329, passim.
7 Ibid., 360–361.
8 Ibid., 359.
9 Wallis, ‘Social Construction of Charisma’, 26, 33, passim.
10 Ibid., 35.
11 Ibid., 38.
12 In my usage of the term ‘proximal’, there are parallels to religious studies scholar Erika

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72 hedenborg white

by the example of Sarah Churchill in the introduction, proximal authority

need not exclusively derive from closeness to charismatic authority; the “pri-
mary” leader’s authority may also derive from a traditional or rational-legal
claim (though a detailed discussion of such examples exceeds the scope of
the present article). This being said, the particular importance of affect in the
construction of charisma may render proximal authority more likely to arise
from closeness to a charismatic leader. Indeed, monarchs of Queen Anne’s era
arguably inhabited aspects of charismatic as well as traditional authority, and
future research (based on a broader range of cases) may determine the like-
lihood of proximal authority emerging in relation to traditional and rational-
legal types of leaders.13 Rather than a fourth type on par with Weber’s three,
I suggest proximal authority may represent an auxiliary category, highlighting
how other forms of authority tenuously spill over by virtue of relationality.

3 Background: The Scarlet Woman and the Goddess Babalon

Growing up within the dispensationalist movement, the Plymouth Brethren,

Aleister Crowley studied the biblical Book of Revelation from a young age.
Rebelling against his conservative upbringing, he identified himself with the
Beast 666.14 Spring 1904 found Crowley on honeymoon in Cairo with his first
wife Rose (née Kelly, 1874–1932). One night, Crowley performed an invocation
to impress his bride. Instead, Rose went into a trance, repeating ‘They are wait-
ing for you’. She later qualified the one awaiting was the god Horus. Scepti-
cal, Crowley brought Rose to the Boulak Museum and bid her to indicate the
god. He was stunned as Rose led him to an ancient funerary tablet with the
item number 666, bearing an image of Horus. On the Spring Equinox, Crow-
ley invoked the god. Rose later told him to prepare to take dictation, and over
the course of April 8–10, Crowley penned The Book of the Law (later given the
technical title Liber al vel Legis), dictated to him by a discarnate entity named

Appelros’ notion of ‘religious proximity’, denoting a stratifying mechanism in religious

movements that ascribes authority based on perceived closeness to a transcendent other
or others. Appelros’ concept has much in common with Weber’s charisma. Appelros, ‘Reli-
gion och intersektionalitet.’ My usage of the term ‘proximal authority’ differs from Appel-
ros’ approach in that I am concerned with the ways authority is both structured and made
precarious by relational proximity to a human other. As such, my concept has applicability
beyond religious movements.
13 For a discussion of sacredness in relation to monarchic power, see Geertz, ‘Centers, Kings
and Charisma’.
14 Rev. 13 [kjv]; Crowley, Confessions, 44.

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proximal authority 73

Aiwass.15 The text heralds the advent of a new era characterised by the maxim
‘Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law’, and the related ‘Love is the
law, love under will’.16
Liber al became the foundational document of Crowley’s religion Thelema
(Greek for ‘will’). The book is divided into three chapters, attributed, respec-
tively, to the goddess Nuit; the god Hadit; and the god Ra-Hoor-Khuit. It heralds
two additional characters, inspired by Revelation: the ‘prince-priest the Beast’
(i.e., Crowley) as prophet of the new aeon; and the ‘Scarlet Woman’, in whom
‘is all power given’.17 Though frequently used as a pejorative euphemism for the
Roman Catholic Church, or for a prostitute or sexually immoral woman, this
title in Liber al signifies the Beast’s feminine counterpart, charged with aiding
him in realising the new aeon. The lengthiest exposition of the Scarlet Woman’s
role is found in Chapter iii of the text, which presents her as a counter-image to
the Victorian-Edwardian ideal of feminine modesty, chastity, and domesticity,
instead spurring her to assertiveness and promiscuity:

iii: 43. Let the Scarlet Woman beware! If pity and compassion and ten-
derness visit her heart; if she leave my work to toy with old sweetnesses;
then shall my vengeance be known. I will slay me her child: I will alienate
her heart: I will cast her out from men: as a shrinking and despised harlot
shall she crawl through dusk wet streets, and die cold and an-hungered.
44. But let her raise herself in pride! Let her follow me in my way! Let her
work the work of wickedness! Let her kill her heart! Let her be loud and
adulterous! Let her be covered with jewels, and rich garments, and let her
be shameless before all men! 45. Then will I lift her to pinnacles of power:
then will I breed from her a child mightier than all the kings of the earth.
I will fill her with joy: with my force shall she see & strike at the worship
of Nu: she shall achieve Hadit.18

15 For Crowley’s account of this chain of events, see Crowley, The Equinox of the Gods, 70–
88; 94–118. The text was first published as ‘Liber l vel Legis sub figura ccxx as Delivered
by lxxvii unto dclxvi’. Aleister Crowley, θελημα [Thelema], vol. 3, London: privately
printed 1909. In 1919, Crowley changed the Latin title to Liber al vel Legis, following a dis-
covery by his disciple Charles Stansfeld Jones, alias Frater Achad. Crowley, The Equinox of
the Gods, 98–103. For simplicity, I will refer to the text simply as Liber al.
16 Liber al i:40, 57. The Book of the Law has been printed in a number of editions which vary in
pagination but remain consistent in numeration. For this reason, the text is quoted herein
by chapter and verse. For my own reference, I have used the 2004 ‘centennial’ edition, see
Crowley, The Book of the Law.
17 Liber al i:15.
18 Liber al iii:43–45.

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74 hedenborg white

On the basis of Liber al, Crowley claimed a form of charismatic authority as

the prophet of Thelema, while his interpretation of the Scarlet Woman’s role
changed over time. He initially viewed it as a reference to Rose, who brought
him into communication with Aiwass. Around their divorce in 1909, however,
Crowley’s interpretation was shifting, as evinced by Crowley’s first substan-
tial attempt at an explanatory commentary to Liber al—a task prescribed in
the book itself and which eluded Crowley for most of his life.19 In the ‘Old’
Comment, written around 1909–1911, Crowley wrote that the Beast and Scarlet
Woman were not ‘persons’, but ‘titles of office’.20 This realisation was seemingly
prompted by two factors: firstly, the dissolution of Crowley’s relationship with
Rose; and secondly, his meeting with the cosmetics entrepreneur Mary Desti
(née Dempsey, 1871–1931), alias Virakam. In autumn 1911, Desti transmitted a
series of communications to Crowley from the entity Abuldiz. Crowley discov-
ered Desti was in possession of a blue robe almost identical to one Rose had
worn in Cairo. Believing that Rose had fulfilled the negative prophecy of Liber
al, Crowley took this as a sign that Virakam was destined to be her succes-
sor.21 Desti aided Crowley in the writing of his Book Four, receiving co-authorial
credit.22
Crowley thus came to view the Scarlet Woman as a transferable office. In
1915, Crowley affixed the title to the American poet, journalist, and model
Jeanne Foster (1879–1970), alias Hilarion, viewing her as the mother of his ‘mag-
ical son’, Charles Stansfeld Jones, alias Frater Achad (1886–1950). Foster was
succeeded by the suffragist and Doctor of Pharmacy, Roddie Minor (1884–1979),
alias Ahitha, who transmitted a series of messages from the entity Amalantrah
in spring 1918. She was followed in 1919 by Bertha Almira Bruce (born c. 1898),
who ran a boarding house in Detroit and helped finance Crowley’s publishing
endeavours in the U.S.. Crowley sometimes revised his opinion of who had been
a Scarlet Woman after the fact. Around 1917–1918, he believed the Russia spe-
cialist Marie Lavrov (née Röhling, b. 1891), alias Olun, to be a candidate, later
describing her as a ‘doubtful case’.23 Though Crowley did not have a formalised
set of criteria, the Scarlet Women were generally his sexual and magical part-
ners, many of whom he viewed as having mediumistic abilities.24

19 Liber al i:36, iii:39–40.

20 Crowley, ‘Liber Legis. The Comment’.
21 Crowley, Confessions, 677.
22 See Crowley, Magick: Liber aba.
23 Crowley, Magical and Philosophical Commentaries, 103; Crowley, Magical Record, 145.
24 For Crowley’s list of Scarlet Women until spring 1923, see Ibid., 103. For his discussion of
succession, Kelly, and Desti, see Crowley, Confessions, 677–678.

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proximal authority 75

Crowley also came to view the Scarlet Woman as the earthly office of the
Thelemic goddess Babalon, whom he first envisioned in 1909. Inspired by a
favourable reinterpretation of the Whore of Babylon from Revelation (17),
Babalon in Crowley’s system represents the formula of passionate union with
all of existence. In Crowley’s initiatory order A∴A∴, Babalon is linked to the
ordeal of crossing the Abyss—a terrifying void separating the manifest from
the numinous, and inhabited by the demon Choronzon. By surrendering and
annihilating one’s ego, metaphorically draining one’s blood into Babalon’s cup,
the seeker can be reborn as a Magister Templi on the other side, in the City of
the Pyramids. More concretely, Babalon is linked to the sacredness of liberated
(and, particularly, female) sexuality.25
Sexuality played a crucial role in Crowley’s thought and magical practice. In
1912, he was made the British head of the initiatory fraternity Ordo Templi Ori-
entis (oto), by the order’s head, Theodor Reuss (1855–1923). oto claimed to
possess the ‘key’ to all masonic and Hermetic teachings: sexual magic, taught
in the order’s higher degrees.26 From 1914 on, Crowley explored sexual magic
systematically with a variety of male and female partners (including his Scar-
let Women).27 His technique was relatively simple: by focusing one’s intent at
the point of orgasm, Crowley believed one could attain any spiritual or material
goal, and he contended: ‘God is merely a name for the sex instinct’.28

4 Leah Hirsig, Scarlet Woman No. 6

The youngest of nine siblings, Leah Hirsig was born in Trachselwald, Switzer-
land on April 9, 1883. In 1885, Leah’s mother Magdalena (née Lüginbühl)
brought Leah and her five sisters to New York City, where Leah worked as an
elementary school teacher of music in the Bronx from 1904.29 On November 13,
1917, she gave birth to a son—Hans Hammond, of unknown fatherhood, in St

25 See Crowley, The Vision and the Voice, 148–153, 159–171. The role of Babalon in Crowley’s
thought has been analysed in Hedenborg White, The Eloquent Blood, 35–123.
26 Reuss, i.n.r.i.
27 See e.g., Crowley, Magical Record, passim.
28 Crowley, ‘Review of Heavenly Bridegrooms’.
29 Passenger list, St Laurent, 1885, Ancestry.com, New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (includ-
ing Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820–1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ances-
try.com Operations, Inc., 2010; Leah Hirsig, U.S. Passport Application, October 14, 1919,
Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA:
Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007; Board of Education of the City School District of
New York, Record extract, October 15, 1980, oto Archives.

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76 hedenborg white

Petersburg, Florida, where her sister Fanny lived.30 Her decision to give birth
out of state was possibly motivated by the regulations against married women
and mothers working as teachers at the time.31 By 1919, she had begun attending
law classes at New York University.32
On January 11, 1919, Leah and one of her sisters visited Crowley at his studio
in the bohemian and anarchist haven of Greenwich Village.33 Leah and Crow-
ley became lovers, and she took the magical name Alostrael. A few months later
she was pregnant. In autumn 1919, she resigned from her position as a teacher
and boarded an Atlantic steamer bound for Europe.34 On board, she befriended
a French governess and widow, Augustine Louise Hélène Shumway (née Fraux,
1894–1990), nicknamed Ninette, traveling with her son, Howard (b. 1916).35
Leah and Crowley reunited in France, and their daughter Anne Lea (nick-
named Poupée) was born on February 26, 1920.36 At this time, Crowley con-
sidered locations for a more permanent residence. The I Ching indicated the
town of Cefalù on the north coast of Sicily.37 In the company of Ninette and
Howard Shumway and Leah’s son Hansi, Crowley continued to Cefalù where
he rented a villa overlooking the town. Leah and Poupée arrived on April 14,
and she and Crowley marked the inauguration of their Abbey of Thelema with
an act of sexual magic.38
In June 1920, Crowley pondered the question of the Scarlet Woman. He
felt Bertha Bruce had failed, and considered whether her successor might be
the Hollywood actress Jane Wolfe (1875–1958), with whom he had been corre-
sponding.39 Crowley arranged to meet her in Tunis, but a miscommunication
delayed their encounter.40 Alone in Tunis, he reassessed. In his diary, Crow-
ley wrote: ‘Have I been a blind bat, and is 31-666-31 [Leah] the heroine of ccxx
[Liber al]?’ He consulted the I Ching, which seemed to confirm this inkling. The
revelation sent Crowley into a creative euphoria. That night, he stayed awake

30 Hirsig, Passport Application; September 29, in Leah Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters in My Life’,
1924, b.1., Aleister Crowley Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse Univer-
sity, Syracuse.; ‘Visitor is Noted Miniature Artist’, St Petersburg Times, August 9, 1925.
31 See e.g., Carter, ‘Becoming the “New Women” ’, 49–57.
32 Crowley, Confessions, 792.
33 Ibid., 792.
34 Hirsig, Passport Application.
35 Ibid., 857.
36 Ibid., 856; Crowley, Magical Record, 97.
37 Crowley, Magical Record, 98–99.
38 Ibid., 107.
39 Ibid., 131–132.
40 Ibid., 179 ff.

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writing a lascivious poem exalting his new chosen one.41 A few nights later,
Crowley worked astral sexual magic with Leah as his envisioned partner, offer-
ing the ritual as an ‘act of worship to my Scarlet Whore Alostrael’.42 On July 8,
Crowley and Leah reunited in Palermo, celebrating with a ‘prolonged and most
orgiastic’ sex magical working. The object: to mark their ‘nuptial’ after Leah’s
ascension to the role of Scarlet Woman.43
Leah’s elevation to Scarlet Woman strengthened her importance in the The-
lemic movement. She assumed several illustrious titles, including Grand Sec-
retary General of o.t.o., 8°=3° or Magister Templi, Praemonstratrix of A⸫A⸫,
and one of a few persons authorised to reconstitute the Order of Thelemites,
a third organisational structure inspired by A⸫A⸫, in the event of Crowley’s
death.44 During summer 1920, Crowley and Leah worked sexual magic with the
aim of Leah learning to use her power, and Crowley took a vow of Holy Obedi-
ence to her. Together, they embarked on a series of increasingly transgressive
sex magical rituals involving sadomasochism, gender bending, and copropha-
gia.45 Leah received a series of messages that Crowley believed originated from
Amalantrah, Abuldiz, and Aiwass—the entities that had communicated with
previous Scarlet Women. Crowley asked Leah for instructions from Aiwass, and
he considered her transmissions superior to those of Roddie Minor and Mary
Desti, and comparable to Rose Kelly’s communications of 1904. These pro-
ceedings imply Crowley continually ascribed prophetic potential to the Scarlet
Woman, though in terms of authority it is significant that the pair interpreted
the visions together, with Crowley seemingly often taking a decisive role. Jane
Wolfe arrived in the midst of these experiments, beginning her magical train-
ing under Crowley’s tutelage.46
Tragedy intervened in October 1920, when Poupée died, and the newly preg-
nant Leah suffered a dangerous miscarriage.47 After her recovery, the couple
resumed their magical work, with the aid of Crowley’s newly arrived disci-

41 Ibid., 192–194; Aleister Crowley, ‘Lea Sublime’, 1920, os N1, Gerald J. Yorke Collection, War-
burg Institute, London.
42 Crowley, Magical Record, 200.
43 Ibid., 212.
44 See Cecil Frederick Russell, Letter to Morrill Goddard, September 25, 1922, oto Archives;
Aleister Crowley, ‘The Constitutions of the Order of Thelemites’, oto Archives; Aleister
Crowley, Leah Hirsig, and Norman Mudd, Letter to Adam Gray Murray, August 8, 1924,
os ee1, Gerald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London. The Order of Thelemites
existed principally on paper during Crowley’s lifetime.
45 Crowley, Magical Record, 229–242, passim.
46 Ibid., 232, 242–259.
47 Ibid., 280–282; see also Crowley, Confessions, 867–868.

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78 hedenborg white

ple Cecil Frederick Russell (1897–1987).48 In late November, Crowley, Russell,

and Leah commenced the Cephaloedium Working—a series of magical oper-
ations involving invocations of Tahuti and Hermes. The proceedings were also
to include a ménage à trois between Russell, Crowley, and Hirsig. Russell, how-
ever, was not responsive to Crowley’s seduction, and Crowley proclaimed the
working a failure on January 20, 1921.49 Nevertheless, Russell later commented
admiringly on Leah’s ritual proficiency.50
The Cephaloedium Working was partly intended to inspire Crowley to pen a
satisfactory commentary to Liber al. This task had continued to elude Crowley,
who enlisted the assistance of Leah, Russell, and Wolfe.51 The resulting ‘New’
Comment is a lengthier interpretation of Liber al, which Crowley was nonethe-
less dissatisfied with.52 Spring 1921 marked two additional transformations for
Crowley and Leah: with her as presiding witness, Crowley took the Oath of
an Ipsissimus (the highest degree of A⸫A⸫); and Leah was ceremonially pro-
claimed Babalon.53
May 1922 found Crowley sojourning in England. That summer, he dictated
the novel Diary of a Drug Fiend to Leah, who transcribed.54 A tale of drug excess
and redemption, the novel features an Abbey of Thelema governed by Crow-
ley’s fictionalised alter ego, Basil King Lamus, with thinly veiled versions of the
Abbey’s actual inhabitants. Leah appears in the novel as Lamus’ companion
Lala, and she is mentioned in the dedication as ‘Alostrael, Virgin Guardian of
the Sangraal’.55
Crowley and Leah returned to the Abbey that autumn, which also witnessed
the arrival of Crowley’s student Frederick Charles Loveday, alias Raoul, and
his wife Betty May (1893–1955). On February 16, 1923, Raoul died after drink-
ing water from a polluted spring.56 As Crowley was temporarily ill, Leah took

48 Crowley, Magical Record, 289–292.

49 Aleister Crowley, ‘The Book of the Cephaloedium Working’, 1920–1921, o.s.a.1., Gerald
J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London.
50 Russell, Letter to Morrill Goddard.
51 Crowley, ‘Cephaloedium Working’. See Wolfe, Cefalù Diaries, December 20, 1920, for
Wolfe’s comments about the Scarlet Woman.
52 The ‘New Comment’ has been published in Crowley, Magical and Philosophical Commen-
taries.
53 Cf. Kaczynski, Perdurabo, 370. Leah’s diaries reference these events cursorily. See
April 28, 1924, in Leah Hirsig, ‘Alostrael’s Visions’, 1923–1924, osdd1, Gerald J. Yorke Col-
lection, Warburg Institute, London; and September 28, 1924, in Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’.
54 Richmond, Progradior Correspondence, 94, 100; July 1, in Aleister Crowley, ‘Typescript
Diaries’, 1922, osh3: 32, Gerald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London.
55 Crowley, Diary of a Drug Fiend.
56 February 23 in Crowley, ‘Typescript Diaries’, osh3: 33.

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charge. At midnight, on the Spring Equinox, she entered the Abbey temple
and uttered the Word of the Equinox. This was an important procedure—
since 1907, Crowley had selected a ‘Word’ at the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes,
which he believed significant to the ensuing half-year. The means by which
the Word was rendered differed from one Equinox to another. A⸫A⸫ mem-
bers in good standing were entitled to the Word, which functioned as a pass-
word of affiliation.57 Crowley ceremonially approved Leah’s declaration from
his bedside.58 This again exemplifies Leah’s ability to enact authority as Scarlet
Woman, as well as how this authority was linked to Crowley’s favour.
In the wake of Loveday’s death, Crowley was expelled from Italy by order
of the Italian authorities. He and Leah travelled to Tunis, where they were
soon joined by Norman Mudd (1889–1934), a disciple of Crowley’s as well as
a Cambridge-educated mathematician, who became Leah’s close friend.59 In
Tunis, Crowley returned to the conundrum of the comment, in whose produc-
tion he believed Mudd and Leah should take crucial roles.60 Crowley decided
to withdraw temporarily from the practical affairs of the Thelemic community,
leaving its management in Leah’s and Mudd’s hands.61 On August 30, Crow-
ley dictated the ‘Comment K’, a brief comment based on a meditation on each
verse of Liber al, in which the Beast and Scarlet Woman are described as ‘the
sole authorized exponents’ of the doctrine of Thelema.62 It is worth noting that
this passage seems to connote equivalent authority for both offices. However,
the ‘Comment K’ appears to have left very little mark on the Thelemic move-
ment; I have not found any evidence that Crowley distributed it among his
followers, and Thelemic doctrine during his lifetime was clearly interpreted
in a way that permitted the Beast to appoint and depose the Scarlet Women
according to his own judgment.
In Tunis, Crowley worried that Leah’s continuing ill health was caused by
magical mismanagement. He asked Mudd for advice, and Mudd responded
that Crowley had erred in confining Leah to what he felt was a ‘semi-seques-
tered life of general service and magickal cooperation’, when Liber al implied
the Scarlet Woman should be ‘a second, almost independent, rock of offence
in the world’. Mudd, who had fallen in love with Leah, also suggested she

57 See e.g., Richmond, Progradior Correspondence, 71; ‘Words of the Equinox’, n.d., ns 92, Ger-
ald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London.
58 N.d., Crowley, ‘Typescript Diaries’, osh3: 33.
59 Crowley, Magical Diaries, 72.
60 Ibid., 67–69.
61 Ibid., 66, 82.
62 Ibid., 136–138.

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should fulfil the commandment to be ‘adulterous’ by being married to Crowley,

and committing adultery with other men.63 Though Crowley had previously
speculated the role of Scarlet Woman may require legal adultery, he was not
impressed by Mudd’s suggestion.64
In October, Leah and Crowley took a magical retirement to Nefta, during
which Crowley made a fresh attempt at the comment, with Leah’s help. The
resulting ‘Djeridensis Comment’ is named after the Hotel Djerid where they
were staying. In contrast to the ‘Comment K’, Crowley in the ‘Djeridensis Com-
ment’ defines the Scarlet Woman as ‘any woman that transmits my Solar Word
and Being’, highlighting both transferability and the dependence of the office
on Crowley’s authority.65 This did not impact the prophetic potential of the
Scarlet Woman’s role: over the following weeks, Leah experienced a series of
visions, which informed Crowley’s work on the comment. Crowley believed she
was in direct contact with the Secret Chiefs, and she conversed with Aiwass
about passages in Liber al.66 Nevertheless, it is clear that Crowley had decisive
authority in terms of interpreting the visions. For example, one of Leah’s com-
munications suggested an alteration to the original text of Liber al, which was
never incorporated.67
In late December, Crowley embarked for France. Leah was delighted to
return to Cefalù, where she poured herself into magical work with Ninette
Shumway, Crowley’s student Adam Gray Murray, and Ninette’s lover Arturo
Sabatini.68 Under the influence of cannabis, Leah wrote an invocation to Ra-
Hoor-Khuit, which she recited aloud for 11 consecutive days.69 In March 1924,
Leah joined Crowley in France, where they spent the summer.

63 Norman Mudd, Letter to Aleister Crowley, October 11, 1923, os D10, Gerald J. Yorke Collec-
tion, Warburg Institute, London.
64 N.d. January/February 1922, in Crowley, ‘Typescript Diaries’, osh3: 29.
65 Aleister Crowley, ‘The Commentary Called D(jeridensis) Provisionally by 666’, 1923, os 16,
Gerald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London. See also Crowley, Magical and Philo-
sophical Commentaries, 307.
66 October 20–November 11, 1923, in Aleister Crowley, ‘Typescript Diaries’, osh4: 44, Gerald
J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London; Hirsig, ‘Alostrael’s Visions’.
67 November 3, 1923, in Hirsig, ‘Alostrael’s Visions’; cf. Liber al i:45.
68 Leah Hirsig, Letters to Aleister Crowley, January 19 and February 11, 1924; and to Blanche
Conn, February 17, 1924, all in os ee1, Gerald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, Lon-
don. See also February 10–19, March 20 in Hirsig, ‘Alostrael’s Visions’.
69 February 8–19, 1924, in Hirsig, ‘Alostrael’s Visions’.

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5 The Passing of the Torch: Leah Hirsig as the Former Scarlet Woman

On 16 September 1924, Crowley marked the beginning of a new era with a

novel Scarlet Woman: Dorothy Olsen (1892–1963). For Crowley, Olsen was a
revitalising influence who transformed ‘death-magnetism’ into ‘new Life’. So,
on September 20, he did what he claimed was ‘the only possible course, though
seemingly inhumane’; he left Leah.70 Distraught, Leah sought to accept the situ-
ation. She wrote to Crowley, renouncing the title of Scarlet Woman and passing
it to the ‘“Scarlet Concubine of his desire”, the daughter of Babalon’. She signed
the note as Babalon.71
Leah desired a ceremony to mark the changing of the guard, and it appears
she saw the end of hers and Crowley’s relationship close to the Equinox as sig-
nificant. She recalled that the Word of the Equinox five years previously (in
1919) had been the double word Ahitha-Alostrael, linking the magical names of
Roddie Minor and herself. Thus, she felt the current Equinox ceremony should
be conducted with herself and Olsen, and called on her and Crowley. When
the new lovers did not materialise, Leah reasoned that her own letter of renun-
ciation provided the requisite link. Nevertheless, she stressed that the title of
Scarlet Woman must be transferred voluntarily.72
Curiously, Crowley seemingly did not consider Ahitha-Alostrael the Word
for autumn 1919 (though it may have been one of the oracles he usually took at
the same time).73 Regardless, Leah’s emphasis on the connection between her-
self and a previous Scarlet Woman is significant. In requesting a ceremonial
acknowledgment of the link between herself and Olsen, and in writing a let-
ter explicitly transferring her title, Leah proposed that a new Scarlet Woman’s
authority was contingent on the approval of the old one. Ostensibly the first
Scarlet Woman to claim as much, her request challenged what appears to have
been generally accepted among the early Thelemites: the gods chose Crowley;
Crowley chose the Scarlet Woman. In other words, she suggested the Scarlet
Woman role should not solely be defined by Crowley’s whim. Though Jane
Wolfe had previously questioned why the Scarlet Woman could not be ‘as
unique and designated an individual’ as Crowley, the other Thelemites (includ-
ing Wolfe) appear mostly to have accepted Crowley’s decision.74

70 September 16–20, 1924, in Crowley, ‘Typescript Diaries’, osh4: 48.

71 September 21, in Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’.
72 September 21 and 28, 1924, in Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’.
73 ‘Words of the Equinox’.
74 Wolfe, Cefalù Diaries, December 20, 1920.

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After Crowley and Olsen embarked for Tunis, Leah summoned Norman
Mudd to Paris. He arrived on September 30, and they became lovers.75 Over
the coming days, Leah tried to understand her relationship to Crowley, Mudd,
Olsen, and the previous Scarlet Women. She reasoned that Olsen and Mudd
were hers and Crowley’s magical children, and that she should devote herself
to her ‘son’ as Crowley had done to her ‘daughter’.76 She and Mudd conducted
a magical wedding, making love and feasting on an assortment of foods, and
Leah created a seal of Babalon, affixing it to Mudd’s penis.77
In early November, Mudd returned to London.78 At his behest, Leah assumed
a short-lived mentorship of an A∴A∴ probationer, Ida de Houghton Crooke (b.
1866).79 Throughout this period, Leah maintained an almost daily practice of
meditation, ritual magic, and study of Crowley’s writings.80 She consecrated
herself as the bride of Chaos, swearing her devotion to the cause of Thelema,
and reaffirmed her Magister Templi and Scarlet Woman oaths.81 Indeed, Leah
seemingly had not relinquished the notion of being the Scarlet Woman. To
Mudd, she wrote of her ‘Formula’ as the Scarlet Woman authorising her to
‘do what I bloody well please always with the aid and approval of [Ra-Hoor-
Khuit]’.82 Referring to the god of Liber al’s third chapter as the guarantor of
Leah’s role can be read as an attempted claim to independent charismatic
authority.
As a result of Leah’s dismissal, her status in Thelema changed radically.
While the role of Scarlet Woman arguably imbued her with a form of secondary
charisma, her loss of influence attendant to her dismissal from scarlet woman-
hood indicates she did not wield independent charismatic authority. Instead,
her leadership was contingent on Crowley’s favour. In (re)claiming the title of
Babalon for herself and Olsen as her magical daughter, Leah constructed a nar-

75 September 30, 1924, in Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’.

76 October 1–2, 1924, in Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’.
77 October 4–6, 8, 1924, in Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’.
78 November 3, 1924, in Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’.
79 November 7 and December 3, Hirsig, ‘Three Chapters’; Leah Hirsig, Letter to Norman
Mudd, November 9, 1924, os ee1, Gerald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London.
80 January 6 and 11, 1925, Leah Hirsig, ‘Diary of ? Known on Earth as Leah Hirsig, Dec 29/24
e.v.’, 1924, os dd3, Gerald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute, London.
81 December 14 and 20, 1924, in Leah Hirsig, ‘New Magical Record’, os dd1, Gerald J. Yorke Col-
lection, Warburg Institute, London, and December 29, 1924 and January 17, 1925, in Hirsig,
‘Diary of ?’. Leah appears to have been the first to take an explicit oath as Scarlet Woman.
It was likely of her own design.
82 Leah Hirsig, Letter to Norman Mudd, December 4, 1924, os ee1, Gerald J. Yorke Collection,
Warburg Institute, London. Emphasis in original.

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proximal authority 83

rative that made sense of her own role, placing herself almost on equal terms
with Crowley as the Beast, and decidedly above the new Scarlet Woman in rank.
Her construction of a lineage, and emphasis on her relationship to her prede-
cessors and successor can be interpreted as an attempt to stress a traditional
(although this tradition was very new) basis for the Scarlet Woman’s author-
ity, lessening its dependence on romantic-sexual proximity to Crowley. How-
ever, there is no evidence the other Thelemites (perhaps with the exception
of Mudd) accepted her logic. In the context of Thelema, the Scarlet Woman’s
authority was clearly contingent on Crowley’s approval, and Leah’s removal
from this office correspondingly diminished her ability to impact Thelemic
doctrine, including the notion of the Scarlet Woman.

6 From Disciple to Apostate: Leah in Thelema 1925–1930

In February 1925, Leah joined Crowley and Olsen in Tunis.83 That spring, Olsen
experienced a series of magical visions guided and transcribed by Hirsig and
Crowley’s student William George Barron, by whom Leah soon became preg-
nant.84 When Crowley and Olsen left for Europe, Leah lacked the funds to
follow, remaining in Tunis. Though frustrated with Crowley, she continued to
aid his cause and maintained her magical practice. She sought the guidance of
her Holy Guardian Angel, studied the Holy Books of Thelema, and conducted
numerous autoerotic sex magical operations with the aim of returning Barron
to her side (seemingly unsuccessfully). Burning incense of red sandal and ben-
zoin, she performed the Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and reaffirmed her
8°=3° Oath.85
In summer 1925, Leah joined Crowley, Mudd, and Olsen in Weida, Ger-
many, to defend Crowley’s position at a gathering of occult leaders, who held
mixed feelings towards him. In August, Leah was one among eight signatories
to ‘Ein Zeugnis der Suchenden’ (Testament of a Seeker), a declaration aimed
at Theosophists and announcing Crowley as the ‘Teacher of the World’, also
including Olsen and Mudd.86 This move can be interpreted as an attempt to

83 February 3–5, in Hirsig, ‘Diary of ?’.

84 Dorothy Olsen, Aleister Crowley, and Leah Hirsig, ‘Visions of Dorothy Olsen’, osdd5, and
Crowley, ‘Typescript Diaries’, osh4: 48, both in Gerald J. Yorke Collection, Warburg Insti-
tute, London.
85 Leah Hirsig, ‘Diary of Alostrael 31-666-31, Started May 8, 1925’, os dd4, Gerald J. Yorke Col-
lection, Warburg Institute, London.
86 Quoted in Birven, ‘Moderne Okkultisten’, 261–262.

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build on the publicity generated by Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater in

their campaign to promote Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) as World Teacher,
inspired by the Buddhist notion of the coming bodhisattva, Maitreya.87
Following the conference, Mudd and Leah stayed on in Leipzig. On Decem-
ber 4, 1925, Leah gave birth to Barron’s son, Alexander. That winter, Mudd came
to doubt Crowley’s prophet status, and revoked his signature to ‘Ein Zeug-
nis’ in February 1926.88 In response to Mudd’s persistent critiques, Crowley
penned the ‘Tunis Comment’, warning against discussing the contents of Liber
al. In so doing, Crowley emphasised his claim to sole charismatic authority by
limiting opportunities for dissent. Leah tried to placate Crowley, who instead
started viewing both her and Mudd as potentially treacherous, possibly feeling
Leah’s failure to disavow Mudd constituted an implicit challenge to his author-
ity.89
In spring 1926, Leah journeyed on to Switzerland to stay with her relatives.
The extent of her magical practice over the following year is unclear, though
she remained in correspondence with Crowley, Wolfe, Shumway, and Mudd.90
She continued to receive the Word of the Equinox, indicating she was still con-
sidered an A∴A∴ member in good standing, and Crowley gifted her a special
copy of Liber al with the comment for her 43rd birthday.91
Nevertheless, by August of 1927, Leah’s faith in Crowley was faltering, and she
asked him for evidence of his prophet status and for the divine origin of Liber
al.92 Crowley responded that she had violated the Tunis Comment, and was cut
off from all communication until she reaffirmed her loyalty to him, circulating
this message among the other Thelemites.93 This exemplifies how the Tunis
Comment could be invoked to reinforce Crowley’s charismatic monopoly. In

87 See e.g., Santucci, ‘The Theosophical Society’.

88 Norman Mudd, Letter to Martha Küntzel, February 24, 1926, ns 116a, Gerald J. Yorke Col-
lection, Warburg Institute.
89 Leah Hirsig, Letter to Aleister Crowley, March 17, 1926, os E12, Gerald J. Yorke Collec-
tion, Warburg Institute; Aleister Crowley, Letter to Karl J. Germer, February 22, 1926, oto
Archives.
90 E.g., Leah Hirsig, Letter to Jane Wolfe, October 28, 1926, os E12, Gerald J. Yorke Collection,
Warburg Institute, London.
91 Leah Hirsig, Letter to Aleister Crowley, May 23, 1926, os E12, Gerald J. Yorke Collection,
Warburg Institute, London.
92 Leah Hirsig, Letters to Aleister Crowley, July 28 and August 4–5, 1927, os E12, Gerald J. Yorke
Collection, Warburg Institute.
93 Aleister Crowley, Draft of circular letter, August 8, 1927, os ee1, Gerald J. Yorke Collection,
Warburg Institute, London. See also Aleister Crowley, Letter to Karl J. Germer, August 8,
1927, oto Archives.

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proximal authority 85

response, Leah returned her copy of Liber al, circulating a letter (similar to
Mudd’s) retracting her signature to ‘Ein Zeugnis’.94
Leah effectively vanished from the movement after this interchange. In
December 1929, she formally renounced all claims to the title of Scarlet Woman
in a circular.95 Her final known communication to Crowley (signed by her, but
written in Mudd’s handwriting) is dated September 6, 1930, and addressed from
Escorial, Spain. In this letter, Leah declared all of her previous vows to Crowley
‘defunct’, and demanded he perform a ceremony absolving her of obligations
to him.96
There are scant records of Leah’s movements over the following years. She
eventually settled in Bern, Switzerland, resuming her career as a teacher of
music and English. There is no indication she had any contact with the Thele-
mites after 1930, though she maintained at least one habit from those days:
using astrological glyphs to mark the days of the week in her diary.97 Leah Hirsig
died in Meiringen, Switzerland on February 22, 1975.

7 Discussion: Authority and Proximity in Early Thelema

Emerging religions have often offered heightened opportunities for female

leadership.98 This applies to many of the occult orders of the fin-de-siècle,
including oto and A∴A∴. Many of Crowley’s most important disciples dur-
ing the twentieth century were women, who challenged contemporary norms
of feminine respectability by pursuing higher education, working for a living,
travelling widely, eschewing nuclear family life, and taking numerous lovers.
However, Leah’s case illustrates how Thelema—like other forms of occultism
at this time—was not immune to gendered inequalities.99 The Scarlet Woman’s
authority could be questioned on account of her gender, and the early female
Thelemites grappled with reproductive inequalities such as lack of access to

94 Leah Hirsig, Letter to Aleister Crowley, August 18–19, 1927, os E12, Gerald J. Yorke Collec-
tion, Warburg Institute, London.
95 Leah Hirsig, Letter to Aleister Crowley et al, December 1929, ns 74, Gerald J. Yorke Collec-
tion, Warburg Institute, London.
96 Leah Hirsig, Letter to Aleister Crowley, September 6, 1930, os ee1, Gerald J. Yorke Collec-
tion, Warburg Institute, London.
97 Leah Hirsig, Diary February 1973, private collection.
98 E.g., Palmer, Moon Sisters; Wessinger, Women’s Leadership; Vance, Women in New Religions.
99 Cf. Dixon, Divine Feminine; Lowry, Invisible Hosts, passim; Owen, Place of Enchantment,
91–92, passim.

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safe and reliable contraception and abortions as well as the social stigma fac-
ing unwed mothers in the early twentieth century.
The case of The Family International, indicated in the introduction, illus-
trates how romantic closeness can inspire doctrinal evolution in religious
movements. Laura Vance notes that the movement has emphasised heterosex-
ual couples in its leadership structure from the outset.100 David Berg’s rela-
tionship with Karen Zerby (alias Maria) prompted his revelation about the
‘Old’ and ‘New’ churches, which accorded sacredness to Berg’s divorce and re-
marriage.101 In Crowley’s case, the dissolution of his marriage to Rose appears
to have prompted a re-interpretation of the Scarlet Woman as a transferable
office.
While Crowley’s teachings around the Scarlet Woman remained largely con-
sistent from 1911 on, the role of Scarlet Woman meant different things in prac-
tice. Some Scarlet Women, such as Jeanne Foster and Roddie Minor, had a short-
lived involvement in Thelema, while others—such as Rose Kelly and Mary
Desti—had a stronger impact. The longevity and extent of Leah’s influence in
the Thelemic movement surpassed that of most previous bearers of the title,
as well as of those who came after.102 As a leader within the movement, she
issued instructions that the other Thelemites obeyed; made pronouncements
that influenced Crowley’s magical teachings and practice; and instructed other
Thelemites in magic. This indicates the authority Leah was able to wield as Scar-
let Woman was not only grounded in the role itself (as conceived by Crowley
prior to his relationship with Leah), but that her own personality, skills, and
interests made her adept at inhabiting and formulating this role as a source
of authority. The particular dynamics of Leah’s and Crowley’s relationship also
appear to have prompted him to assign a more prominent organisational posi-
tion to the Scarlet Woman during her term.
Wallis has indicated the importance of the ‘committed elite’ to charismatic
leadership. He notes the reciprocity characterising such relationships; the inner
circle ‘secure recognition for the leader’, and thus for themselves, as their sig-
nificance is enhanced by their closeness to the leader.103 In early Thelema,
Crowley was considered prophet and mouthpiece of the gods, thus presenting
a textbook case of Weberian charismatic authority. Crowley relied on a cadre

100 Vance, Women in New Religions, 82, 96, 99–100.

101 Cf. Wallis, ‘Social Construction of Charisma’, 31; Chancellor, ‘Family for the Twenty-First
Century’.
102 E.g., Dorothy Olsen (1924–1926), Maria Theresa Ferrari de Miramar (1929–1930), Hanni
Jaeger (1930–1931), Bertha Busch (1931–1932/1933), and Pearl Brooksmith (1933–1936).
103 Wallis, ‘Social Construction of Charisma’, 38.

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of dedicated followers who supported his charismatic claim, some of whom he

singled out as special. In this way, some of the Scarlet Women wielded a sort of
extended charisma, though their influence, as I have stressed, was contingent
on Crowley’s favour. In other words, the Scarlet Woman’s role did not entail
independent charisma, but rather what I propose to call proximal authority,
that is, authority ascribed to or enacted by a person based on their real or per-
ceived relational closeness to a leader.
As closeness to the leader is determinative of proximal authority, the latter
is inevitably conditioned. As noted above, Leah’s claim that her own voluntary
surrender of the Scarlet Woman title was necessary to guarantee the passing of
the torch can be interpreted as an attempt to contest Crowley’s right to depose
the Scarlet Woman on a whim. By invoking a link to previous Scarlet Women
and suggesting a ritual of transferral, Leah treated (or indicated the possibility
of) the role as being routinised via tradition. If effected, her suggestions would
potentially have mitigated Crowley’s decisive power in the matter of the Scar-
let Woman’s identity, and the importance of relational proximity to the title.
Crucially, however, neither Crowley nor Olsen worried about Leah’s approval.
As Leah’s relational proximity to Crowley weakened, so did her ability to issue
commands that were heeded, and Crowley’s appointment of his new Scarlet
Woman was largely accepted by the others, and did not result in a splintering
of the movement. This parallels the case of David Berg’s first wife Jane.
Returning to the first parallel example from the introduction, we can note
that Sarah Churchill’s status as the Queen’s favourite allowed her to transcend
many hindrances to women’s political influence during Anne’s reign. In fact,
historian Frances Harris notes that the Duchess of Marlborough was ‘better
placed than any female subject in England at the beginning of Anne’s reign
… to exercise influence’.104 In this way, proximal authority may rupture or over-
ride other stratifications of power to the advantage of the leader’s confidante,
who may be perceived as a legitimate emissary of the leader, or be ascribed
privileged insight, despite lacking access to traditional or rational-legal claims
to authority. Though the possibility of proximal authority is not limited to
women,105 the concept may be especially productive for understanding how

104 Harris, Passion for Government, 4.

105 A historical example of a man gaining influence in a similar way is the Swedish nobleman
Gustav Adolf Reuterholm (1756–1813), who wielded immense power 1792–1796 in Sweden
by virtue of being the favourite of Duke-regent Charles (later Charles xiii of Sweden), who
acted as regent on behalf of his nephew, Gustav iv Adolph, during this period. After Gus-
tav iv claimed the throne in 1796, Reuterholm’s position declined. See Lekeby, Gustaviansk
mystik.

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88 hedenborg white

members of marginalised groups can enact agency. For instance, where formal
patterns of authority are structured by gender and class (or birth), close rela-
tions with the leader can be a pathway to influence for a select few.
Harris argues that Sarah’s mistake was not to ‘recognise that the essential
prerequisite’ for her influence was ‘her personal friendship with the Queen’;
consequently, she lost both.106 As is similarly illustrated by the cases of Leah
and Jane Berg, and as I have stressed above, proximal authority is precari-
ous; the social milieu is primarily loyal to the original leader, whose changed
attitude to their confidante can cause immediate loss of status. Indeed, the
currently chosen may advance their status by distancing themselves from the
leader’s former favourite, possibly explaining why Crowley’s effective excom-
munication of Leah after she questioned his charismatic claim in 1927 was not
challenged. Rather than weaken his status, Leah’s denouncement of Crowley
was seemingly accepted as evidence of her own unworthiness.
Wallis’ assertion regarding how ‘elite’ followers secure their own influence
by supporting the leader’s claim can also be true in the inverse, as viewed
through the lens of proximal authority. A successful attempt to weaken the
original leader weakens the efficacy of relational proximity as a legitimising
rationale for authority—the proximal claim, as it were. Thus, it can be difficult
for proximal authority to transcend the leader it derives from. However, it is
not impossible. Kate Bowler has shown how wives of Evangelical megachurch
pastors in the U.S. navigate ideals of femininity and gender complementarity,
and can gain a sort of borrowed power in communities that, generally, do not
see women as fit to preach. Though women are rarely the main preachers of
Evangelical megachurches, Bowler observes a notable exception being some
widows of megachurch pastors, who take over their husbands’ ministry with-
out being perceived to violate the generally conservative gender roles of the
movement.107
A parallel example can be seen in The Family International: over time, Maria
became sufficiently prominent to issue her own doctrinal pronouncements.
After Berg’s death in 1994, she effectively became the spiritual leader of the
movement, alongside her partner, Peter Amsterdam (Steven Douglas Kelly, b.
1951).108 Maria’s authority has been transformed further after Berg’s death, one
of her main innovations being to emphasise the importance of prophetic abil-
ity for each member. Frequently, Maria assigns individuals to channel prophe-

106 Harris, Passion for Government, 4. After Anne’s demise, Sarah and her husband regained
favour at the court of King George i.
107 Bowler, Preacher’s Wife, passim.
108 Chancellor, ‘Family for the Twenty-First Century’.

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proximal authority 89

cies pertaining to topics she decides merit exploration, asking follow-up ques-
tions and discerning which revelations should be implemented.109 In 2010,
Maria and Peter Amsterdam dismantled the movement’s communal living
structure in favour of online organisation in a process known as ‘the Reboot’.110
This evinces how proximal authority can sometimes be transformed into more
stable forms of power when the “primary” leader passes away, so long as the
latter and their favourite are still on good terms, or perceived to be. Had Crow-
ley died while he and Leah were lovers, Leah may have decided to enact her
authority to re-convene the Order of Thelemites. If so, her authority within the
movement may have become more stable, though this remains hypothetical.
In this article, I have proposed the concept of proximal authority, based on
a case study of how the temporary chosen one of a charismatic esoteric leader
gained a precarious yet influential position. Through brief parallels to other
contexts, I have indicated the broader applicability of this concept. Proximal
authority is neither unique to Thelema nor exclusive to the (female) confi-
dantes of charismatic (male) leaders; it can derive from closeness to other
forms of authority, and is not gender-specific. Further exploration is needed
to determine how the concept can shed light on patterns of leadership and its
informal and unstable structuration via affectual ties in other forms of esoteri-
cism, new religious movements, and other social contexts.
After Crowley’s death, Thelema has transformed into an international milieu
of several thousand, comprising formalised orders where authority is legit-
imised mostly according to traditional or rational-legal logics, and loosely con-
nected groups and solitary practitioners. Over the twentieth century, interpre-
tations of the Scarlet Woman have shifted, partly through the influence of fem-
inism and the increasing visibility of women as producers of esoteric thought
and ritual. Today, the term Scarlet Woman is not only used in a historical sense
to connote the women Crowley ascribed the title to, but in reference to a mag-
ical role theoretically open to any woman (or in some cases, any person), or
as an ideal of feminine sexual liberation, and which is not contingent on any
other magician’s approval.111 This highlights how authority in esoteric groups is
not structured in a vacuum, and can be both restricted and enhanced by soci-
etal gender logics. It is unclear to which extent proximal authority is important
in contemporary Thelema and related esoteric currents, and I hope that future
research will explore such questions.

109 Shepherd & Shepherd, ‘Grassroots Prophecy in The Family International’.

110 Borowik, ‘From Radical Communalism to Virtual Community’.
111 Hedenborg White, The Eloquent Blood, 203–320, 328–331.

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90 hedenborg white

Acknowledgments

This article has been funded by Vetenskapsrådet (Swedish Research Council),

as part of the project ‘Power through Closeness? Female Authority and Agency
in a Male-Led New Religion’ (reg. nr. 2018–00439).

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