Story of O has always moved me, especially that Castle Initiation which O goes through. And the O character is the sort of a girl I often find a mutual attraction with. And this temperament was how she got selected for their order. There will be other initiations, and they are themed differently. But it is that first one which is deeply moving. I have here posted many times that in my organization the women's initiation will be largely based on that Castle Sequence in Story of O, right down to the special uniforms.
Yesterday I got for the first time to read a bit about the Russian Maria de Naglowska and her writings and her Paris initiatic order, 1932 until her death in 1936. She is commonly known as an associate of Julius Evola and a translator of Pascal Beverly Randolph, as well as being a practitioner of sex magic. But the specifics of her views and practices I had not known.
So I read the few pages which the Austrian born and Netherlands based Esotericism Scholar Hans Thomas Hakl had written.
Immediately, knowing just this little bit, I am strongly drawn to her ideas. And I get this feeling that maybe she influenced Story of O, 1954. I felt this even though on the surface many things are completely different.
What de Naglowska had was a Satanic religion, and they did offer women up to Satan on the altar, including de Naglowska herself. And her's was an initiatic order.
Story of O is not overtly religious or Satanic and there are no altars. Though I do not plan to do this in my organization, Story of O does involve sado-masichism.
What they both have in common is a doctrine of total female sexual submission, without reserve or selectivity. And in both cases, this is the most important thing they are to gain from the initiations. And of course a woman who has been initiated this way is no longer really any kind of a slave, she now has extreme power.
And in fact this is what I encountered in our local underground circuit, the ones I have called "Beloved Latina Escorts". If any one of them is presented with a room full of men, she is going to try and fuck them all. The fact that a guy wants to fuck her is all she really needs.
And it is de Naglowska who gives the full statement of this doctrine, and it relates to her idea of what Satan is.
Story of O full text online, use zoom in to make it bigger, 95 pages, published 1954 archive.org
So I start to dig around, knowing that Story of O has quite a following.
And PAY DIRT!
" In America Stephen Flowers, self appointed Grand Master of the ‘Order of the Triskelion’ goes as far as to suggest that Story of O has concealed within it, “a great philosophical, and virtually mystical, message”, and traces a lineage of secret societies devoted to sex magick dating back to the nineteenth century. " " The “concealed… mystical message” of Story of O is for Stephen Flowers, “a message of personal transformation and change, of the path of the human soul on the road to empowerment and even transcendence”. His interpretation of Story of O reiterates Susan Sontag 6 and also traces a history of “transformation of the personality through psychosensual experience” from the earliest shamans and fakirs through ancient tantric practices to the activities of the likes of Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner, and of William Seabrook, who Flowers insists was a member of the brotherhood La Fleche d’Or. Established in Paris in the 1930s by Maria de Naglowska (the “Sophiale of Montparnasse”), this magical order (maintains occult student Robert North – without supporting evidence it should be said) included French writers Michel Leiris, Georges Bataille, Pierre Klossowski and Jean Paulhan himself. " Paulhan was the publisher, and Story of O was written for him.
" Stephen Flowers’ argument is persuasive. Many were attracted to the psycho-sexual Hermeticists and other exponents of the esoteric renaissance , men and women (particularly in France) affiliated to various orders such as Freemasonry, H.B. of Luxor, Martinism, Cabalistic Rose+Croix and other brotherhoods. Aury knew of the developing interest in hermeticism revealed in contemporary French periodicles, and the revival of the “naïve passion for secret societies” inherited from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. "
“The eroticism found in Histoire d’O,” wrote George Bataille, “also contains the impossible aspect of eroticism. To accept eroticism means to accept the impossible – or more to the point, to accept that desiring the impossible constitutes eroticism. O’s paradox is similar to that of the visionary who dies of not dying, or to martyrdom that consists of compassion shown by the torturer to the victim. This book reaches beyond the word, breaks out of its own bonds, dispels any fascination for eroticism by revealing the greater fascination exerted by the impossible. What is impossible here is not only death, but total and absolute solitude…”
“I often used to dream about secret societies. And of course when the war came along, with its resistance network, I had one ready made” – Confessions of O
^^^^ And this is what makes the difference, between occultism which is an opiate just like religion, and a progressive occultism. Resistance is not just talk, it is action.
Still looking for a connection I feel is probable, between Anais Nin and Maria de Naglowska.
SJG
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (Live at Tokyo Dome 1990) ft/ Lisa Fischer youtube.com
Sympathy For The Devil (Live at Tokyo Dome 1990) youtube.com
O-Art of Stefan storyofo.info
Lots of people re-create the castle initiation, as in my own way I will also be doing :) :) :) storyofo.info
Dresses ( other people have other ideas about this ) lionara-moden.de
Crowley's OTO, late 30's, Los Angeles miltonisland.files.wordpress.com
Robert North book cover ecx.images-amazon.com
amazon.com
amazon.com
The Satanic Rituals of Maria de Naglowska, book cover is4-ssl.mzstatic.com
On the altar: ocultismopel.files.wordpress.com
krzysztof-azarewicz.pl
Pelotas Occulta, curious web site ocultismopel.wordpress.com
SJG
Jennifer Connelly dildo scene from 'Requiem for a Dream' tuscl.net