The Paris AtlasCharting the artists, works, and places worth returning to.
Cover of The Testament of Magdalen Blair by Aleister Crowley

The Testament of Magdalen Blair

by Aleister Crowley

Crowley’s short, hallucinatory tale of psychic connection, suffering, altered consciousness, and psychological horror.

Published
1913
Setting
England
Shelf rating
4.0

About Aleister Crowley

Illustrated portrait of Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley

5 books shelved

The story, briefly

Spoiler-free

A woman discovers that she can experience another person’s thoughts and suffering, and the psychic connection becomes grotesque, hallucinatory, and frightening.

What's inside

A woman’s psychic access to another person’s consciousness draws her into suffering that becomes increasingly difficult to separate from her own.

Why we recommend it

  1. Crowley at his darkest and most hallucinatory

    The story concentrates altered consciousness and psychic suffering into psychological horror.

What this book explores

Book editions

Ebook
Ebook
Available in digital collections of The Equinox

Reader reviews

Loading reviews…

Cover of The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham

The Magician

W. Somerset Maugham

A Gothic novel that turns Crowley’s occult reputation into supernatural menace.

Read our take

Recommended alongside The Stratagem and Other Stories.

Also recommended in books like The Diary of a Drug Fiend.

If you like Aleister Crowley

Explore authors with a similar voice, perspective, and influence.

  • Illustrated portrait of Simone de Beauvoir

    Simone de Beauvoir

    French writer and philosopher whose novels, memoirs, and social analysis examined freedom, gender, responsibility, aging, and the material conditions that shape a life.

    View author
  • Illustrated portrait of Louis-Ferdinand Céline

    Louis-Ferdinand Céline

    The doctor of the Paris slums who wrote the century's blackest, funniest novel — and changed the sound of French prose.

    View author
  • Illustrated portrait of Henry Miller

    Henry Miller

    The Brooklyn dropout who arrived in Paris broke at thirty-eight and wrote the exuberant, banned books that ended American censorship.

    View author
References

References

The sources below include the primary text, editions, scholarship, archival materials, and other records that informed this page. They document The Testament of Magdalen Blair, its publication, and its place in literary history.

  1. 1The Testament of Magdalen Blair

    Novel
    Aleister Crowley, 1913
    Used for

    The primary text represented by this page, used for descriptions of the work’s contents and for any quoted passages shown here.

  2. 2The Testament of Magdalen Blair

    Website
    The Hermetic Library, 1913
    Used for

    Web source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the The Testament of Magdalen Blair page.

    View source
  3. 3Crowley, Aleister (1875–1947) — authority record

    Official record
    Bibliothèque nationale de France
    Used for

    Official record used to verify names, dates, institutional details, or other factual information on this page.

    View source
  1. 4The Yorke Collection

    Archive
    The Warburg Institute, University of London
    Used for

    Archival evidence used to document the historical record connected to The Testament of Magdalen Blair.

    View source
  2. 5Aleister Crowley in Paris: Sex, Art, and Magick in the City of Light

    Biography
    Tobias Churton (Inner Traditions)
    Used for

    Biographical evidence used to verify chronology, relationships, and historical context connected to The Testament of Magdalen Blair.

    View source
i
Why these sources are here

The primary text is the baseline reference for every book page. Additional references document publication history, interpretation, and historical context where that evidence is available.

Explore more resources