MYSTIC PERTH by Philip Sharpe Beneath a convincing veneer of lacklustre ambitions and a boring nightlife, Perth has actually long been a hotbed of esoteric, mystical activity. A cursory scratch upon the city’s surface reveals a host of different traditions operating in the shadows of Perth’s occult community, dating as far back as the West Australian gold rush of the 1890s.
Moving to modern times, Wicca entered the scene during the cultural upheavals of the 1960s. The main promoter and initiator of Wicca in Australia, Simon Goodman, was a Perth local, and as a result Perth was for a long time the Australian witchcraft capital. In fact, the first nationally recognised Neo-Pagan Church, The Church of Wicca, was formed in Fremantle in 1989. It became the biggest pagan organisation in the Southern Hemisphere, reaching six thousand members worldwide before imploding in 2000. This arose because the the arch-priestess, Lady Tamara Von Forslun, was actually a transsexual named William who had a sex change in the 70s and had neglected to reveal this fact to her fellow priestesses. The ensuing controversy scattered the community into many isolated covens throughout Perth. For the uninitiated, Wicca is a consolidation of pagan rituals and beliefs introduced to the United States by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s. Focused on nature worship and pre-Christian theism, it’s rather too eclectic to concisely describe; suffice to say if you see someone with a necklace or tattoo with a five pointed star with its point facing up, recognising it might just get you laid. Locating
pagan groups these days is not at all hard; some light inquiries at any shop where crystals are sold will give you all the leads you need. On the darker side of the spectrum, the Ordo Templi Orientis thrives here in Perth, with its Southern Cross lodge in Maylands. The OTO is a hermetic cult heavily influenced by famous occultist Aleister Crowley and his system of Thelema. Claiming ancestry (among many others to do so) to the Templars and later Weishaupt Illuminati of the 18th Century, they discard all laws and traditional moral doctrines, and claim man as a universal brotherhood. They focus on increasing levels of mysticism through initiation deeper into the Order, with a similar ranking system to Freemasonry. It is very hard to find accurate internal information on them as they are outrageously secretive, but through some digging I’ve found the A∴A∴(Astrum Argentum, a sister lodge whom ‘are in close alliance’ and have a curricula that ‘interpenetrate at points’). Basically, intoxicated sex magick. However, there’s a rumour that the OTO has been stagnating in the upper orders for some time, failing to produce fully educated members to continue the order. Locally, the Perth OTO brought an exhibition of Crowley’s ‘Nightmare Paintings’; so called magical trance art, to Fremantle last year which will now also be showing in Sydney this November. Note that it came to Perth first. All this, while saying nothing of many other groups sprawled among Perth such as the recently reformed Golden Dawn, our three hundred and sixty nine Freemasonic lodges, the Order of Nine Angles, Scientology and its wacky escapades, the Liberal Catholic Church, the Rosicrucians or our Buddhist centres with their resident Lama’s (very rare!). Nightlife in Perth is quite lively, it seems; only we aren’t invited.
picture by Marnie Allen
The Theosophist Society started innocuously enough, with an advertisement by a Mr. and Mrs. Patterson in the Perth daily papers in 1897. Soon, they found enough members to start a lodge, and began teaching the Theosophist program of ‘ancient wisdom’– celibacy, intensive yoga, vegetarianism (not for any reason you mainstream vegetarians may use) and meditation on the Morningstar. Theosophy’s origins begin with a Russian occultist named Helena Blavatsky. A noblewoman in exile from Russia who saw herself as a missionary for the ultimate philosophical truths, she founded the society in New York. It quickly spread to India where it synthesised traditional Western occult traditions with Eastern. In fact, the society pretty much amalgamates almost all religions and creation myths in their desire to create a Universal Brotherhood, as well as ‘synthesise Science, Religion and Philosophy’. Despite this claim, Theosophy has very interesting ideas about race, specifically Aryans, claiming them to be the most spiritually gifted of the races. Since foundation, the society has been quite the pioneer for women’s empowerment in Perth. Edith Cowan, the first Australian woman MP, has been claimed as an ardent Theosophist, which makes the claims of her Christianity intriguing given that reincarnation and belief in Theosophy as the highest religion are core tenets of the Society. Another famous example was Bessie M. Rischbieth, who was not only one of the first women appointed a Justice of the Peace in WA and the first woman to sit on
the Children’s Court, but also a delegate to the 1935 League of Nations Assembly. In modern times the Theosophical Society has become extra fascinating because of their tie-ins with powerful entities. The major publishing school of Theosophy, Lucis Trust (originally named Lucifer Publishing Company), has a consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, where its World Goodwill group is a recognised NGO. Locally in Perth they maintain their library and lodge on Glendower St, opposite Hyde Park in Perth (go and ask them to ‘drop some mad old wisdom styles’ on you- Ed.)
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You can do courses in Wicca every Friday with Lady Tamara von Forslun, which include information on ‘The Burning Times’ and access to a legal witches temple! Contact her at 0420907929 or tvforlun@tamaravonforslun.com.au.