James Wasserman
Encyclopedia
James Wasserman is an American author and occultist, best known for his full color publication of the Papyrus of Ani
Papyrus of Ani
The Papyrus of Ani is a papyrus manuscript written in cursive hieroglyphs and illustrated with color miniatures created in the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt ....

, Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead is the modern name of an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom to around 50 BC. The original Egyptian name for the text, transliterated rw nw prt m hrw is translated as "Book of Coming Forth by Day". Another translation would be "Book of...

. A member of Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis
Ordo Templi Orientis is an international fraternal and religious organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century...

 since 1976 and a book designer by trade, he has written extensively on spiritual and political liberty.

Publishing activities

James Wasserman began his career in 1973 at Weiser Books, then the world’s largest bookstore and publishing company specializing in esoteric literature. He worked with Brazilian occultist Marcelo Ramos Motta
Marcelo Ramos Motta
Marcelo Ramos Motta was a Thelemic writer from Brazil, and member of A∴A∴.Early life=Motta was born at the city of Rio de Janeiro . Very little is known about his childhood, only that he was born into a family with Swiss-German ancestry and received a very strict education, amplified by his...

 to publish the Commentaries of AL in 1975, for which he wrote the introduction. He supervised the 1976 Weiser edition of the Book of the Law
The Book of the Law
Liber AL vel Legis is the central sacred text of Thelema, written by Aleister Crowley in Cairo, Egypt in the year 1904. Its full title is Liber AL vel Legis, sub figura CCXX, as delivered by XCIII=418 to DCLXVI, and it is commonly referred to as The Book of the Law.Liber AL vel Legis contains three...

 in which the holograph manuscript was appended to the typeset text for the first time in a popular volume. In 1977, he arranged to professionally re-photograph the Frieda Harris
Frieda Harris
[Marguerite] Frieda Harris was an artist, an occult magician, and, after she met him at age 60, an associate and friend of the author and occultist Aleister Crowley...

 Tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...

 paintings for an improved second edition of Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...

's Thoth Tarot
Thoth tarot deck
The Thoth Tarot is a divinatory tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris according to instructions from Aleister Crowley. Crowley referred to this deck as The Book of Thoth, and also wrote a book of that title intended for use with the deck....

 deck, to which he contributed the booklet of instruction. While still working at the bookstore, he met and befriended the legendary filmmakers and occultists Harry Smith
Harry Everett Smith
Harry Everett Smith was an American archivist, ethnomusicologist, student of anthropology, record collector, experimental filmmaker, artist, bohemian and mystic...

 and Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, known as Alejandro Jodorowsky, is a Chilean filmmaker, playwright, actor, author, comic book writer and spiritual guru...

.

In 1977, he left Weiser to found Studio 31, where he produced the Simon Necronomicon
Simon Necronomicon
The Simon Necronomicon is written by an unknown author, but is introduced by a man identified only as "Simon". Stories presented are a blend of Mesopotamian myths, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian and a storyline of unknown authenticity about a man known as the "Mad Arab."The book was released in...

, a volume purporting to be the mythological Necronomicon
Necronomicon
The Necronomicon is a fictional grimoire appearing in the stories by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in...

made famous by Howard Philips Lovecraft. In 2008, it was re-issued in a high quality 31st anniversary edition by Ibis Press. In 1994, Wasserman assembled a team of scholars, photographers and editorial staff to produce a full-color version of The Egyptian Book of the Dead, based on the Papyrus of Ani
Papyrus of Ani
The Papyrus of Ani is a papyrus manuscript written in cursive hieroglyphs and illustrated with color miniatures created in the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt ....

. The book was described as offering "much of value in presentation, layout and commentary" by John Baines
John Baines
John Baines is the incumbent Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford and a fellow of The Queen's College. He is the author of multiple scholarly articles and publications relating to ancient Egyptian civilization....

, professor of Egyptology
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...

 at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

.

Ordo Templi Orientis

Wasserman is described by Dan Burstein as "a founder of the modern Ordo Templi Orientis” in his guide to Dan Brown
Dan Brown
Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...

's novel Angels & Demons. A member of O.T.O. since 1976, Wasserman founded one of its oldest lodges, Tahuti Lodge, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 in 1979. Since joining he has played a key role within the Order in publishing the literary corpus of Aleister Crowley. In 1983, he worked with two other members of O.T.O. to produce The Holy Books of Thelema, a collection of Crowley’s inspired (Class A) writings. In 1986, his essay entitled “An Introduction to the History of the O.T.O.” appeared in The Equinox
The Equinox
The Equinox is a series of publications in book form that serves as the official organ of the A.'.A.'., a magical order founded by Aleister Crowley...

 III, No. 10.
In 2009, he and his wife Nancy published To Perfect This Feast, a performance commentary on the Gnostic Mass
Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass
Aleister Crowley wrote The Gnostic Mass — technically called Liber XV or "Book 15" — in 1913 while travelling in Moscow, Russia. In many ways it is similar in structure to the Mass of the Eastern Orthodox Church. However, the comparison ends there, as Liber XV is a celebration of the principles of...

, a ritual Crowley described as the central ritual public and private of O.T.O.

Public appearances

Wasserman has appeared on several television and radio programs and is a popular speaker. In 2009, he was invited to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss his book Secrets of Masonic Washington.

Books

James Wasserman’s books include:
  • Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary. 1993, 2006, Redwheel/Weiser.
  • The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day. Chronicle Books. 1994, 1998.
  • The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven. Inner Traditions. 2001.
  • The Slaves Shall Serve: Meditations on Liberty. Sekmet Books. 2004.
  • The Mystery Traditions: Secret Symbols & Sacred Art (a revised and expanded edition of Art & Symbols of the Occult, 1993). Inner Traditions. 2005.
  • An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar. Inner Traditions. 2006.
  • Secret Societies: Illuminati, Freemasons, and the French Revolution. Ibis Press, 2007.
  • The Secrets of Masonic Washington: A Guidebook to Signs, Symbols, and Ceremonies at the Origin of America’s Capital. Inner Traditions (2008)
  • To Perfect This Feast: A Performance Commentary on Liber XV. With Nancy Wasserman, Sekmet Books, 2009, 2010.
  • Pythagoras: His Life and Teachings. A modern edition of Thomas Stanley's 1687 biography, co-edited with J. Daniel Gunther, with a preface by Manley P. Hall, Ibis Press, 2010
  • The Temple of Solomon: From Ancient Israel to Secret Societies. Inner Traditions, 2011

Screenplay

  • Divine Warriors: The Birth of Heresy. With Keith Stump and Harvey Rochman, 2007.

External links

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