Proximal Authority: The Changing Role of Leah Hirsig in Aleister Crowley’s Thelema, 1919–1930
Abstract In 1920, the Swiss-American music teacher and occultist Leah Hirsig (1883–1975) was appointed ‘Scarlet Woman’ by the British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), founder of the religion Thelema. In this role, Hirsig was Crowley’s right-hand woman during a formative period in the Thelemic...
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| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Lade...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Brill
2021
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| In: |
Aries
Jahr: 2021, Band: 21, Heft: 1, Seiten: 69-93 |
| normierte Schlagwort(-folgen): | B
Crowley, Aleister 1875-1947
/ Thelemiten
/ Hirsig, Leah 1883-1975
/ Autorität
/ Religiöser Führer
/ Nähe
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| RelBib Classification: | AA Religionswissenschaft AZ Neue Religionen |
| weitere Schlagwörter: | B
proximal authority
B Max Weber B Leah Hirsig B Thelema B Aleister Crowley |
| Online Zugang: |
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| Zusammenfassung: | Abstract In 1920, the Swiss-American music teacher and occultist Leah Hirsig (1883–1975) was appointed ‘Scarlet Woman’ by the British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), founder of the religion Thelema. In this role, Hirsig was Crowley’s right-hand woman during a formative period in the Thelemic movement, but her position shifted when Crowley found a new Scarlet Woman in 1924. Hirsig’s importance in Thelema gradually declined, and she distanced herself from the movement in the late 1920s. The article analyses Hirsig’s changing status in Thelema 1919–1930, proposing the term proximal authority as an auxiliary category to Max Weber’s tripartite typology. Proximal authority is defined as authority ascribed to or enacted by a person based on their real or perceived relational closeness to a leader. The article briefly draws on two parallel cases so as to demonstrate the broader applicability of the term in highlighting how relational closeness to a leadership figure can entail considerable yet precarious power. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0593 |
| Enthält: | Enthalten in: Aries
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700593-02101008 |