Lionel Snell

Ramsey Dukes is the current and most well-known pen name of Lionel Snell, a contemporary English magician, publisher and author on magic and philosophy. He has also under the pen names Lemuel Johnston. Angerford and Lea, Adamai Philotunus and Per Anum Ad Astra. His regular satirical column The Satanist's Diary was published in the magazine Aquarian Arrow during the 1980s and early 1990s under the pen name The Hon Hugo C StJ l'Estrange and included a multitude of other pen names as contributors.

Early life

Born April 1945 in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire before his family moved to the Gloucestershire Cotswolds that year. In his youth, Snell enjoyed a series of scholarships that brought him to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated in Pure Mathematics. His writings on Austin Osman Spare in Agape Occult Review (1972) and his magical theories published in SSOTBME - An Essay on Magic (1974) and Thundersqueak (1978) brought him into contact with the nascent chaos magic movement in the 1970s. This comparatively rigorous and modern style of magic, largely shaped by fellow scientist Peter Carroll, provided a fertile ground for his own ideas.

Career

In 1977, he performed a well-known, but notably laborious and rarely attempted ritual called the Abramelin operation.[1]

Since 1972 he has written and published several books noted for their impact on late 20th-century magic and humor. Words Made Flesh (1987) was written from a more philosophical point of view and notable for its original outline of the "information model" theory of magic that our universe could be a virtual reality—as later explored in The Matrix. It is an example of the author's ongoing studies in the relationship between magic and rationalism.

Dukes has worked on the subject of magic with diverse associates including the Ordo Templi Orientis and Illuminates of Thanateros.[1]

Partial bibliography

Works include:

Notes

  1. 1 2 Hine, Phil. An Interview with Ramsey Dukes in HEAD magazine.
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