Golden Twigs

Aleister Crowley and T.S. Eliot had but a few things in common - one of them was inspiration by The Golden Bough of J.G. Frazer, the monumental study of the origins of Magic and Religion. Frazer's influence was immense and it changed the way ordinary people felt about their lives. This collection of eight compelling tales intensely dramatize themes drawn from The Golden Bough, from the ancient legend of the sacred oak of Nemi to Satanism in modern France. Like Poe's short stories, magic, murder and mystery are woven together into stories you won't forget. Written in America during the First World War, these creative re-tellings of folklore and legend are collected here for the first time, edited and annotated by Martin P. Starr, a scholar of Crowley's life and works. Illustrated with a previously unpublished portrait of Crowley by Arnold Genthe.