Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic:
The Essential Ida Craddock
By
Vere Chappell
Sex, Magick, Aleister Crowley, Orgasms, Erotic Dances, Angelic Beings, Revolutionary Activism, Liberation, Persecution, Defiance, and Suicide.
"The
Sexual outlaw sat alone in her room, considering her
arrested in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, DC.
three months in the workhouse on Blackwell’s Island,
an at forty-five years old, she had been
convicted once again. appear in court to face
sentencing for her crime..." And so begins Vere
Chappell’s Sexual Outlaw, Erotic
Mystic.
Persecuted by Anthony
Comstock and his Society for the Suppression of Vice, this turn-of-the-century
heroine was also a spiritualist who learned many secrets of high magick through
her claimed wedlock to an angelic being. Born in Philadelphia in 1857, Ida
Craddock became involved in occultism around the age of thirty. She attended
classes at the Theosophical Society and began studying a tremendous amount of
materials on various occult subjects. She taught correspondence courses to women
and newly married couples to educate them on the sacred nature of sex,
maintaining that her explicit knowledge came from her nightly experiences with
an angel named Soph. In 1902, she was arrested under New York's anti-obscenity
laws and committed suicide to avoid life in an asylum.
Now for the first time, scholar Vere Chappell has compiled the most extensive
collection of Craddock's work including original essays, diary excerpts, and
suicide letters--one to her mother and one to the public.
"So, whether this book
encourages people to discuss their own encounters more openly or to
explore the considerable material now available on
sacred sexuality, Ida Craddock, through the
grace of Vere Chappell and in adherence to the laws protecting freedom of
speech, is again teaching fundamental
principles of sex morality to the Borderland.’ You have in your hands a book
that can provide you with a map to that
territory and a description of what Craddock found to be its greatest
perils and safeguards." ―From the Foreword by Mary K.
Greer
"Ida Craddock is an unsung heroine of women's liberation
and alternative spirituality who literally sacrificed herself in the long battle
with the forces of social repression that resulted in the freedom of choice in
sexual matters that we take for granted today. Sexologist and occult scholar
Vere Chappell brings Craddock to life in this incisive yet sympathetic
biography. He also lets her speak for herself by including her seminal work,
Heavenly Bridegrooms." -Hymenaeus Beta, Frater Superior O.T.O.
"Ida Craddock was a turn-of-the-century spiritualist who married, and had sex
with, an angelic being. She even wrote an essay about it entitled Heavenly
Bridegrooms. (Aleister Crowley said that no occult library was complete
without it.) Centuries ahead of her time, she championed the divine purpose of
sex. As a result she was persecuted by moral tyrant Anthony Comstock and a
puritanical, misogynistic society. Eventually she was arrested and sentenced to
a long prison term. She committed suicide instead, and left behind both a
private letter to her mother and a letter meant for the public. Both of those
letters and Heavenly Bridegroom are incorporated into this exciting and
timely biography. Thanks to lawyer Theodore Schroeder, Craddock's writings were
preserved for a century. Many of them were the basis for later occult treatises.
Now Vere Chappell has updated them and made them accessible to modern readers.
The result is a monumental, not-to-be-missed contribution to the histories of
occultism, sexuality (and tantric practices), and women's rights. -Anna
Jedrziewski, New Age Retailer
"Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic is an excellent book about fascinating
topics! A great addition to any respectable sex library." -Annie Sprinkle
Ph.D., Sex Worker turned author and Ecosexual Sexecologist
"Finally, we have a book that does justice to Ida Craddock's important but
often-overlooked role in the histories of feminism, sex therapy, and sacred
sexuality. I can think of no better person than Vere Chappell to introduce this
remarkable woman to a new generation. Chappell artfully weaves together a
selection of Ida Craddocks' key writings with an insightful biography that takes
readers along on her fascinating journey from stenographer to advocate,
provocateur, and martyr of freedom. Highly recommended." -Richard Kaczynski
PhD, author of Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley and The
Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley
"Within the first few pages of this brilliant book, Dr. Chappell resurrects the heroic Ida Craddock from the depths of obscurity to the vanguard of modern consciousness. Her courageous struggle against ignorance, superstition, and tyranny is seared into the reader's awareness as we observe her persecution by those who vilified her truths as blasphemy. This book also provides the first publication of a number of skillfully-annotated copies of Craddock's all-but-unknown writings. Her revolutionary teachings will be of great value to an audience prepared by the century of social progress Ida Craddock fought so earnestly to create. Aleister Crowley, another sexual outlaw, called her writings on erotic mysticism, "of incalculable value to every student of occult matters"." -James Wasserman, editor of Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary and author of An Illustrated History of Solomon's Temple
"Ida Craddock is an unsung heroine of women's liberation
and alternative spirituality who literally sacrificed herself in the long battle
with the forces of social repression that resulted in the freedom of choice in
sexual matters that we take for granted today. Sexologist and occult scholar
Vere Chappell brings Craddock to life in this incisive yet sympathetic
biography. He also lets her speak for herself by including her seminal work,
Heavenly Bridegrooms." -Hymenaeus Beta, Frater Superior O.T.O.
"Ida Craddock was a turn-of-the-century spiritualist who married, and had sex
with, an angelic being. She even wrote an essay about it entitled Heavenly
Bridegrooms. (Aleister Crowley said that no occult library was complete
without it.) Centuries ahead of her time, she championed the divine purpose of
sex. As a result she was persecuted by moral tyrant Anthony Comstock and a
puritanical, misogynistic society. Eventually she was arrested and sentenced to
a long prison term. She committed suicide instead, and left behind both a
private letter to her mother and a letter meant for the public. Both of those
letters and Heavenly Bridegroom are incorporated into this exciting and
timely biography. Thanks to lawyer Theodore Schroeder, Craddock's writings were
preserved for a century. Many of them were the basis for later occult treatises.
Now Vere Chappell has updated them and made them accessible to modern readers.
The result is a monumental, not-to-be-missed contribution to the histories of
occultism, sexuality (and tantric practices), and women's rights. -Anna
Jedrziewski, New Age Retailer
"Sexual Outlaw, Erotic Mystic is an excellent book about fascinating
topics! A great addition to any respectable sex library." -Annie Sprinkle
Ph.D., Sex Worker turned author and Ecosexual Sexecologist
"Finally, we have a book that does justice to Ida Craddock's important but
often-overlooked role in the histories of feminism, sex therapy, and sacred
sexuality. I can think of no better person than Vere Chappell to introduce this
remarkable woman to a new generation. Chappell artfully weaves together a
selection of Ida Craddocks' key writings with an insightful biography that takes
readers along on her fascinating journey from stenographer to advocate,
provocateur, and martyr of freedom. Highly recommended." -Richard Kaczynski
PhD, author of Perdurabo: The Life of Aleister Crowley and The
Weiser Concise Guide to Aleister Crowley
"Within the first few pages of this brilliant book, Dr. Chappell resurrects the heroic Ida Craddock from the depths of obscurity to the vanguard of modern consciousness. Her courageous struggle against ignorance, superstition, and tyranny is seared into the reader's awareness as we observe her persecution by those who vilified her truths as blasphemy. This book also provides the first publication of a number of skillfully-annotated copies of Craddock's all-but-unknown writings. Her revolutionary teachings will be of great value to an audience prepared by the century of social progress Ida Craddock fought so earnestly to create. Aleister Crowley, another sexual outlaw, called her writings on erotic mysticism, "of incalculable value to every student of occult matters"." -James Wasserman, editor of Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary and author of An Illustrated History of Solomon's Temple
"While many of her ideas would be laughable by the
standards of sexologists today, they were visionary in the late 1800's. Simply
by being willing to discuss sexuality at all and espousing its enjoyment as a
right for women as well as men, Ida Craddock was a pioneer and deserves to be
known. Vere Chappell's Sexual, Outlaw, Erotic Mystic: The Essential Ida
Craddock informs us thoroughly on the life and work of this remarkable
woman." Isadora Alman MFT, Ask Isadora columnist and author of
Bluebirds of Impossible Paradises: a Sexual
About the Author:
Vere Chappell
is a writer, photographer, and researcher specializing in spirituality
and sexuality. He has a bachelor's degree in Cognitive Science, a Master
of Business Administration, and a doctoral degree in Human Sexuality. He
has traveled throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle
East, including research trips to Greece, Turkey, Israel, Egypt,
Thailand, and Nepal. He has lectured extensively on sexuality and the
occult, and written numerous papers and articles on the subject. He
lives in Southern California. (Photo credit: iPhotography Studio)
Odyssey of the 70's
"Sexual Outlaw and Erotic Mystic is an important book
about a remarkable woman: Ida Craddock. Sex educator and sexual mystic,
Spiritualist, teacher, rabble-rouser, free-thinker, and unfortunate suicide, her
life’s work advanced both spiritual exploration and social liberation. As a
contemporary magic worker, I feel that we are greatly in her debt, and are
fortunate to have this record of the life and writings of this little known—yet
highly influential—person. Bravo, Vere Chappell." T. Thorn Coyle,
author of Kissing the Limitless and founder of Morningstar Mystery
School