#occultism

#occultism

Theirs was a feud over the practices of occult society the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn; but it was also-at least for Crowley-over poetry. Crowley envied Yeats' literary skill; Yeats could not say the same about Crowley. But while he did not necessarily respect his enemy, Yeats feared him, as did nearly everyone else. As Yeats' biographer wrote a few months after Crowley's death in 1947, "in the old days men and women lived in terror of his evil eye."

The practice of cartomancy, or divination with cards, dates back several hundred years to at least 14th century Europe, perhaps by way of Turkey. But the specific form we know of, the tarot, likely emerged in the 17th century, and the deck we're all most familiar with- the Rider-Waite Tarot-didn't appear until 1909. Popular mainly with occultists like Aleister Crowley and Madame Blavatsky in the early 20th century,