The Astral H.D.: Occult and Religious Sources and Contexts for H.D.'s Poetry and Prose

by Matte Robinson

Overview

Modernist poet H.D. had many visionary and paranormal experiences throughout her life. Although Sigmund Freud worried that they might be 'symptoms,' she rebelled, educating herself in the alternative world of the occult and spiritualism in order to transform the raw material into a mythical autobiography woven throughout her poetry, prose, and life-writing. The Astral H.D. narrates the fascinating story of how she used the occult to transform herself, and provides surprising revelations about her friendships and conflicts with famous figures-such as Sigmund Freud and the Battle of Britain War Hero Hugh Dowding-along the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628924176
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/11/2016
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Matte Robinson is Assistant Professor of English at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada.

Table of Contents

Introduction: H.D.'s Occult Education
Chapter 1: “Blasted into consciousness”: Majic Ring, Trilogy, Amen, and the Air Marshall
Chapter 2: Dans L'ombre Des Cathedrales: Other Bodies, Other Initiations
Chapter 3: Adam Dieu Rouge, Vale Ave, and the Luciferian Method
Chapter 4: La Kabbale Pratique and the Great Operation
Chapter 5: Synthesis and Conclusions
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

The Astral H.D. will inspire new critical assessments of H.D.'s great war epic, Trilogy, as well as some of her lesser known poetry, such as Vale Ave and the poems of Hermetic Definition. Robinson's grasp on the occult literature H.D. was reading in her later years is impressive, and he illuminates beautifully some of the more esoteric source material of her extensive library.

Lara Vetter

An important and useful addition to the scholarship on H.D.'s involvement in spiritualism and the occult.

Donna K. Hollenberg

“An important and useful addition to the scholarship on H.D.'s involvement in spiritualism and the occult.” —Donna K. Hollenberg, Professor Emerita of English, University of Connecticut, USA

“The Astral H.D. will inspire new critical assessments of H.D.'s great war epic, Trilogy, as well as some of her lesser known poetry, such as Vale Ave and the poems of Hermetic Definition. Robinson's grasp on the occult literature H.D. was reading in her later years is impressive, and he illuminates beautifully some of the more esoteric source material of her extensive library.” —Lara Vetter, Associate Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA

From the Publisher