Kenneth Grant is Dead, Alas

by Frater 222

On February 1st of 2011 Starfire Publishing publicly announced that Kenneth Grant passed away on January 15th, 2011.

In 1944 a 20 year-old Grant became a student of 69 year-old Crowley and it appears he was his last living student. Grant was also a close friend of the godfather of Chaos magick, Austin Osman Spare.

An obituary on the Llewellyn Blog rightly pointed out:

"There is no doubt that Grant was a controversial figure. Still, without him we might not have had the current interest in the works of Nema, Spare, Achad, Lovecraft, and the actual practice of magick (as opposed to the theoretical study of magick). Without Grant, Chaos Magick might not have developed."

Hymenaeus Beta, in his essay "Culture v/s Cult", said Grant's:

"...excellent book The Magical Revival indeed contributed to a genuine revival in the early 1970's...We count some of Mr. Grant's most enthusiastic readers among our members."

Grant's books are known to sale for hundreds of dollars on the used book market and his last book, Beyond the Mauve Zone, is currently going for $849 at Amazon.

Perhaps, an obituary on Kenneth Grant is best summed up in a quote from his second book Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God.

"The keen and persistent practice of Thelema by even a few dedicated individuals will effectually overthrow society and thereby facilitate the unhindered development of the New Aeon and the reintegration of human consciousness."

Sources:
http://www.starfirepublishing.co.uk/main_frames_page.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Grant
http://volesoft.com/2011/02/01/kenneth-grant-is-dead-great/
http://volesoft.com/2011/02/06/kenneth-grant-aossic-aiwass-memories-are-made-of-this/
http://www.llewellyn.com/blog/2011/02/a-sad-loss-kenneth-grant/
http://wildhunt.org/blog/2011/02/kenneth-grant-1924-2011.html
http://www.lashtal.com/nuke/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-4872.phtml
http://rodneyorpheus.com/?page_id=110