Montague Summers: Occultist, Catholic, Witch-Hater January 9, 2009

7.15 for 7.30 start

Introducing Montague Summers (1888-1948), one of the 20th century's greatest eccentric occultists. Tonight is a romping and informative night on the Englishman who translated the Hammer of Witches, who dressed as a Christian bishop, who lived with his boyfriend in Twickenham, who performed private pseudo-catholic rites, and who claimed to have dabbled in the black arts as a youth in Oxford. Montague Summers believed that the people persecuted in the witch hunts had really been satanic devotees, members of an evil cult. One can only wonder what he would have made of Wicca.

Juliette Wood is one of Britain's leading experts on myth and folklore. A Director of the Folklore Society, London, she is also an associate lecturer in the School of Welsh Cardiff University . A regular contributor to TV and radio, she is the author of several books on Celtic myth and legend, such as The Celts: Life, Myth and Legend (Duncan Baird 2003) and The Rose and the Thistle: Essays on the Culture of Late Medieval and Renaissance Scotland (Tuckwell Press). Her most recent book is Eternal Chalice: The Enduring Legend of the Holy Grail (IB Tauris, 2008).

Reserve your place via Treadwell's by email ([email protected]), or by phone, 020 7240 8906. Payment confirms booking. Treadwell's hosts courses and workshops taught by most experienced and gifted practitioners we know -- tutors who are not only advanced in their subjects but are also able to consider their practices thoughtfully and critically. Our aim is to make the study of esoteric disciplines available to thinking, well-read enquirers. You can also get events updates via an RSS Feed (http://www.treadwells-london.com/events.php). We have an archive of past courses (http://www.treadwells-london.com/coursespast.asp), and you can also subscribe to our mailing list (http://www.treadwells-london.com/mailinglist.php).

Official Website: http://www.treadwells-london.com/