Horizon, Ordo Templi Orientis | Sri Sabhapati Swami and Tamil Yoga in Modern Occultism (Excerpt) | Keith Cantú | Horizon O.T.O. @horizon-oto | Uploaded May 2021 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
The Tamil Śaiva yogi Sri Sabhapati Swami (b. 1828 C.E., also spelled Sabhapaty Swamy / Svāmī or transliterated Capapati Cuvamikal) remains largely a hidden source for South Asian and modern occult conceptions of the body. In addition to English, Sabhapati’s writings and/or hagiographical accounts survive in Tamil, Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindustani, Marathi, German, and French (with a record of Telugu), and his work is distinguished by its rich visual depictions of yogic physiology.
In this talk, a portion of which is here excerpted, Keith presents a brief sketch of Sabhapati’s life and works and then talks about the way he was engaged by the founders of the Theosophical Society, Henry Olcott and H.P. Blavatsky, and how his works were later translated into German by Franz Hartmann. He then devotes special attention to the way Aleister Crowley integrated his teachings into some of his meditative instructions published in The Equinox and elsewhere, and explains how he and other occultists would have likely interpreted his instructions on canceling (note: not “balancing” or “aligning”!) the cakras. Finally, he shows how his forthcoming editions and translations of Sabhapati’s works, especially those written in a specific form of “Sanskritized” Tamil and Hindustani, provide many additional ritual instructions of practical relevance to modern occultism, such as mantras and rites for invoking various gods and goddesses, the nine deities of the planets and lunar nodes (navagraha), and many other rites that fit well within the kind of “eclectic syncretic” method that Crowley and other occultists promoted as a viable alternative to — but not necessarily a replacement for — traditional cultural forms of religious practice.
Keith Edward Cantú is a scholar of religious history who recently fulfilled the requirements for a PhD in Religious Studies (South Asian religions) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to be awarded in June of this year. His dissertation, entitled “Sri Sabhapati Swami and the ‘Translocalization’ of Śivarājayoga,” examined the Tamil, pan-Indian, and international reception of Sabhapati’s system of yoga, which spans multiple linguistic and cultural worlds, including Theosophy and later Thelema via the works of Aleister Crowley. He has also published articles, chapters, and edited books on Western esotericism and post-Orientalist discourses, on Islamic esotericism and the Baul Fakirs of India and Bangladesh, and on Sanskrit literature on alchemy, and serves as an Associate Editor for Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism. Keith was previously a member of Horizon Lodge before moving to Santa Barbara to complete his studies and continues to pursue his abiding interest in all things related to O.T.O. and A⸫A⸫.
To view the entire lecture, please subscribe to us at the $10 tier on our Patreon: patreon.com/horizonoto
The Tamil Śaiva yogi Sri Sabhapati Swami (b. 1828 C.E., also spelled Sabhapaty Swamy / Svāmī or transliterated Capapati Cuvamikal) remains largely a hidden source for South Asian and modern occult conceptions of the body. In addition to English, Sabhapati’s writings and/or hagiographical accounts survive in Tamil, Sanskrit, Bengali, Hindustani, Marathi, German, and French (with a record of Telugu), and his work is distinguished by its rich visual depictions of yogic physiology.
In this talk, a portion of which is here excerpted, Keith presents a brief sketch of Sabhapati’s life and works and then talks about the way he was engaged by the founders of the Theosophical Society, Henry Olcott and H.P. Blavatsky, and how his works were later translated into German by Franz Hartmann. He then devotes special attention to the way Aleister Crowley integrated his teachings into some of his meditative instructions published in The Equinox and elsewhere, and explains how he and other occultists would have likely interpreted his instructions on canceling (note: not “balancing” or “aligning”!) the cakras. Finally, he shows how his forthcoming editions and translations of Sabhapati’s works, especially those written in a specific form of “Sanskritized” Tamil and Hindustani, provide many additional ritual instructions of practical relevance to modern occultism, such as mantras and rites for invoking various gods and goddesses, the nine deities of the planets and lunar nodes (navagraha), and many other rites that fit well within the kind of “eclectic syncretic” method that Crowley and other occultists promoted as a viable alternative to — but not necessarily a replacement for — traditional cultural forms of religious practice.
Keith Edward Cantú is a scholar of religious history who recently fulfilled the requirements for a PhD in Religious Studies (South Asian religions) at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to be awarded in June of this year. His dissertation, entitled “Sri Sabhapati Swami and the ‘Translocalization’ of Śivarājayoga,” examined the Tamil, pan-Indian, and international reception of Sabhapati’s system of yoga, which spans multiple linguistic and cultural worlds, including Theosophy and later Thelema via the works of Aleister Crowley. He has also published articles, chapters, and edited books on Western esotericism and post-Orientalist discourses, on Islamic esotericism and the Baul Fakirs of India and Bangladesh, and on Sanskrit literature on alchemy, and serves as an Associate Editor for Correspondences: Journal for the Study of Esotericism. Keith was previously a member of Horizon Lodge before moving to Santa Barbara to complete his studies and continues to pursue his abiding interest in all things related to O.T.O. and A⸫A⸫.
To view the entire lecture, please subscribe to us at the $10 tier on our Patreon: patreon.com/horizonoto
