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Lectures and launches
Treadwell’s lecture series has become legendary, bringing together scholars and practitioners of Western esotericism. Many talks sell out, so booking ahead is advised. Reserve seats by phone, 020 7240 8906. Payment is required at the time of booking and we take most cards. We have an archive of past lectures, and you can also subscribe to our mailing list to get regular email updates. We also have courses | | 
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05 August 10 (Thursday)
Book Launch:
Precious - The Memoir of Precious Williams
Published by Bloomsbury
Precious: A True Story (US title, Color Blind) is a memoir of childhood - a West African girl who believed in magic and was obsessed with fairies and esoterica, growing up on an all-white council estate with white private foster parents. The author, Precious Williams, has been contributing editor at Elle, Cosmopolitan and the Mail on Sunday. Her work has also been published in The Times, Marie Claire, the Sunday Times Magazine, the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Financial Times, Glamour, Korean Vogue, New York magazine, Wallpaper and other publications. Her journalism focuses on lifestyle and celebrity interviews, including Nina Simone, Yoko Ono, Destiny's Child, P Diddy, Bryan Ferry, Lenny Kravitz, Naomi Campbell and Ali G. Born in the UK, Precious is of Sierra Leonean and Nigerian descent and she has lived in London and in New York. She studied English Language & Literature at Oxford, holds a postgraduate diploma in journalism, and is currently working on an MA. More information here.
Price: FREE but reply required: precious @ preciouswilliams.com
Time: 7.00 pm to 9.30 pm
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11 August 10 (Wednesday)
It's a Right Royal Brew:
It's the Middle Ages and the Devil's Afoot in London
A Guided Walk with Delianne Forget
Kings, queens and courtiers who dabbled in magic! In the shadow play of power politics and court intrigue, many medieval people communed with Old Nick to win favour and fortune. Even kings and queens were not immune to the lure of the Dark Side. Come and meet some royal personalities who could always count on their local sorcerer when the chips were down. Delianne Forgetis your guide: from toads to talismans, she knows it all, bringing her her blue-badge expertise together with a first-hand knowledge of things magical. Delianne\'s Halloween tours were so popular they all sold out. Meets NOT at the shop but Westminster Tube Station, Exit Four. The tour guide will be holding a sign.
Price: £7.00 in advance through Treadwell's
Time: 6.50 for 7.00 start
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14 August 10 (Saturday)
It's A Right Royal Brew:
It's the Middle Ages and the Devil's Afoot in London
Guided Walk with Delianne Forget
Kings, queens and courtiers who dabbled in magic! In the shadow play of power politics and court intrigue, many medieval people communed with Old Nick to win favour and fortune. Even kings and queens were not immune to the lure of the Dark Side. Come and meet some royal personalities who could always count on their local sorcerer when the chips were down. Delianne Forget is your guide: from toads to talismans, she knows it all, bringing her her blue-badge expertise together with a first-hand knowledge of things magical. Delianne is popular, so book early. Meets NOT at the shop but Westminster Tube Station, Exit Four. Delianne will be holding a sign.
Price: £7.00 in advance through Treadwell's
Time: 1.50 for 2.00 pm start
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16 August 10 (Monday)
Witches, Wizards and Warlocks:
The London of Medieval and Later Magic
A Guided Walk with Delianne Forget
This walk takes you through the darkened cobblestone streets of the Embankment and Covent Garden, to the sites of secrets behind some of the area's past magicians and witches, some famous- some infamous. Your delightful and knowledgeable guide Delianne is a London registered Blue Badge Guide with a solid grounding in London history. A white witch herself, she also knows her magic from cauldron potions to good-luck charms. Book early as her walks usually sell out quickly. Meets and starts at Treadwell's Bookshop.
Price: £7.00 in advance through Treadwell's
Time: 6.50 for 7.00 start
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18 August 10 (Wednesday)
A Right Royal Brew:
It's the Middle Ages and the Devil's Afoot in London
A Guided Walk with Delianne Forget
Come and meet some royal personalities who looked their local sorcerer when the chips were down. Yes, kings, queens and courtiers dabbled in magic - in the shadow play of power politics and court intrigue, many communed with Old Nick to win favour and fortune. Even royalty were not immune to the lure of the Dark Side. Delianne Forget is your guide: from toads to talismans, she knows it all, bringing her her blue-badge expertise together with a first-hand knowledge of things magical. Delianne's tours sell out, so book early. Meets NOT at the shop but Westminster Tube Station, Exit Four. The tour guide will be holding a sign.
Price: £7.00 in advance through Treadwell's
Time: 6.50 for 7.00 start
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23 August 10 (Monday)
Witches, Wizards and Warlocks:
The London of Medieval and Later Magic
A Guided Walk with Delianne Forget
Follow the cloaked witch down the darkened cobblestone streets of the Embankment and Covent Garden, to the sites of secrets behind some of the area's past magicians, some famous- some infamous. Your delightful and knowledgeable guide Delianne is a London registered Blue Badge Guide with a solid grounding in London history. A white witch herself, she also knows her magic from cauldron potions to good-luck charms. Book early as her walks usually sell out quickly. Starts at Treadwell's Bookshop.
Price: £7.00 in advance through Treadwell's
Time: 6.50 for 7.00 start
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25 August 10 (Wednesday)
Witches, Wizards and Warlocks:
The London of Medieval and Later Magic
A Guided Walk with Delianne Forget
The Embankment and Covent Garden are full of sites hiding the secrets of many past magicians, occultists, alchemists and witches -- some famous- some infamous. Your delightful and knowledgeable guide Delianne takes you to their haunts, and regales you with tales of their lives and deeds. Delianne is a London registered Blue Badge Guide as also a white witch, so she also knows her magic as well as her history. Book early as her walks usually sell out quickly. Starts at Treadwell's Bookshop.
Price: £7.00 in advance through Treadwell's
Time: 6.50 for 7.00 start
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26 August 10 (Thursday)
'The Way of Things to Come':
Jung's Red Book and the Age of Aquarius
Dr Hereward Tilton (University of Exeter)
The central concepts of the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) - such as individuation, the archetypes and the collective unconscious - emerged during a prolonged and perilous period of self-analysis following his break with Freud. Jung charted the course of this ‘night journey’ in extraordinary detail in his so-called 'Red Book', an illuminated manuscript only recently published which reveals its author as a prophet of the New Age. This talk will explore Jung’s visions of ‘the way of things to come’, focusing in particular on his experience of apotheosis or deification as the Mithraic god of time, Aion. Our speaker for the evening is Hereward Tilton, a staff member at the Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism who has taught on early modern alchemy, Rosicrucianism and magic at universities in Holland, Germany and Australia.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for 7.30 start
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27 August 10 (Friday)
Through A Glass Darkly:
Inside the Victorian Seances of the Fraudulent Mediums
Sorry, SOLD OUT
This performance is Sold Out. Seats available at the November performance (see below)
Price: £10.00 in advance
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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01 September 10 (Wednesday)
Irish Gods Come Back to Life:
AE and the Tuatha Dé Danann, and After
Dr Mark Williams (Peterhouse, Cambridge)
In 1896, the Irish mystic, theosophist, poet and painter George Russell ('Æ') wrote in haste to W. B. Yeats, with extraordinary news. 'The gods have returned to Eri, and have centred themselves in the sacred mountains and blow fires through the country. They have been seen by several in vision, they will awaken the magical instinct everywhere, and the universal heart of the people will turn to the old Druidic beliefs.' The universal heart may have failed to fulfil his prophecy, but this talk considers how Irish mythic gods, the Tuatha Dé Danann, have been envisioned, recreated, and appropriated during the 20th century. Whether re-imagined as personified hermetic forces or symbols of emergent nationalist consciousness, the Tuatha Dé are more familiar now than ever before, appearing in children's literature, eco-protest and neo-paganism. During the course of the hour, we will trace this remarkable evolution. Dr Mark Williams of Peterhouse College is a Research Fellow in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic at Cambridge.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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02 September 10 (Thursday)
Occult London in the Sixties & Seventies:
Interview with Francesca Rossetti
in Conversation
Francesca Rossettiwrote (as Francoise Strachan) the 1970 Aquarian Guide to Occult, Mystical, Religious Magical London, and other titles of the era. Tonight, for those of us who weren't there, she remembers alternative London of the sixties and seventies.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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23 September 10 (Thursday)
Traditional Witchcraft:
With Special attention to the 1734 Tradition
Stuart Inman
"Traditional Witchcraft" is an intriguing, but poorly understood, strand of contemporary pagan witchcraft, which is currently experiencing an upsurge of interest, if websites and publishing trends are to be trusted. Much of the written material on the subject is obscure, and sometimes even misleading. This talk aims to clarify some of these mystifications, and to give an insider's perspective. It will look at: various strands feeding into origins of Traditional Craft; the ways it differs from Wicca (as well as some points of resemblance); and its central symbols, tools and methods. Although the focus will be on the 1734 tradition, stemming from Joe Wilson and Robert Cochrane, it will cover other strands in Traditional Craft, including the Toad-bone ritual. Stuart Inman studied the 1734 system with Joe Wilson for nearly seven years between 1998 and 2004. He is one of the three Virtue-holders of the Tradition and is also a Doyen of Toteg Tribe. He has spoken at Treadwell's before , and returns by special invitation.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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24 September 10 (Friday)
Haunted Sound System:
Voodoo Music, Voodoo Life
Stephen Grasso
Stephen Grasso digs through the crates and presents an overview of the influence of African Diaspora magico-religious traditions on music, tracing a trajectory from references to hoodoo conjure in pre-war blues lyrics, to Congo Square Voodoo and the birth of jazz, African Spiritual Churches, Mardi Gras Indians and New Orleans Funk. The talk will also look at Cuban and Brazilian Orisha music and its influence on Latin jazz, bossanova, tropicalia and New York proto-disco; the influence of Jamaican Obeah, Kumina and Pocomania on reggae, and the clandestine Voodoo undercurrents of grime and dubstep in London. The talk will include excerpts from the records, played from vinyl, and will be followed by a DJ set based on the talk. Stephen Grasso is a practitioner, and well-known author in British occultism.
Price: £10.00 includes talk and music set
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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30 September 10 (Thursday)
Interview with a Witch:
Chris Crowley in Conversation
with Christina Oakley Harrington
Chris Crowley identified with the Pagan view of the natural world in his teens. His magical journey has taken him into Wicca and the Western Magical Tradition. He has taught Wicca and initiated in Germany, Scandinavia, Italy and North America. He is Vice-President of the Pagan Federation and lives partly in London and partly in rural Brittany. His is the author with Vivianne Crowley of Ancient Wisdom and Your Dark Side. Tonight he talks about his calling to the Craft, working in the Western mysteries, his adventures along his spiritual journey, and his observations on the pagan community -- of which he has been a member for over 30 years.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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06 October 10 (Wednesday)
Jung and the Occult:
Was Jung a Mystic?
Gary Lachman
Psychologist Carl Jung insisted that he was first and foremost a scientist, yet from the start his interest in the human psyche had a decidedly paranormal, even occult, slant. From his early days attending séances, to his last pronouncements on an 'Age of Aquarius' - including his recently published Red Book - Jung moved in territories most scientists ignored or ridiculed. Jung himself, though, had a very ambivalent relation to mysticism and the occult; in his personal life he embraced a variety of occult ideas, but as a 'scientist' he downplayed his involvement Only late in his career did he make public his belief in esoteric notions like synchronicity and a New Age, and admit performing of magical practices like the Chinese I Ching. Jung's mystical and occult investigations have been responsible for the huge interest in many of the 'alternative' ideas widely popular today. Gary’s talk will chart hisoccult history, look into the reasons behind his early reticence and later advocacy... and finally asks, was Jung really a scientist at all? Gary Lachman writes on the meeting ground between consciousness, culture, and the western esoteric tradition. His most recent book is Jung the Mystic: The Esoteric Dimensions of Carl Jung's Life and Work.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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13 October 10 (Wednesday)
Alchemical Countdown:
Number and Number Symbolism in Alchemy
Paul Cowlan
'Behind all there is a definite scheme of numbering. There is a twelve and a ten and a seven and a three and a One.' So says the Corpus Hermeticum - The Secret Sermon on the Mountain. The formless Chaos; the ineffable One; the dyad of Eternal Opposites; the sacred Three; the quadruple Elements and Humours; the Quintessence; the perfect Six; the multi-faceted Seven; the celestial Ogdoad; the Nine spheres... This talk looks at alchemy through an expanding and contracting net of numbers. Taking in the fundamental influences of Hermeticism and Platonic cosmography, counting up or down, it reveals a world of arcane belief which is sometimes startlingly close to contemporary scientific theory. Paul Cowlan has been working with alchemical symbolism for over 20 years. He is a musician and poet, lives in Germany, and has been lecturing at Treadwell's for six years. His illustrated talks are clear, lively and suitable for those new to alchemical symbolism.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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28 October 10 (Thursday)
The Book in Western Art:
Symbol, Device, Allegory
Laura Miller
Books are beautiful -- so it is no surprise they appear in Western art. Their appearance always has symbolic meaning – a coded idea, particular to time and context: religious upheavals, revolutions, publishing history, changes in patronage, the role of the artist, and so on. Art and book specialist Laura Miller gives an illustrated slide lecture taking us from the late medieval, through the reformation, and right through the romantic and modern periods. Taking a broad, magpie-like approach, she will take the audience through a lively, intelligent talk (yes, it is porn for book fetishists) - decoding their symbolism for us. Laura Miller is a librarian at the University of London and this talk is based on research originally completed for her Msc in Librarianship at City University for which she was awarded a distinction. She completed her undergraduate studies in the History of Art at Cambridge University. A gifted speaker, she returns to Treadwell’s by special invitation.
Price: £7.00
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start
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26 November 10 (Friday)
Through A Glass Darkly:
Inside the Victorian Seances of the Fraudulent Mediums
The London Magician
At this exclusive evening of lecture and performance, the London Magician will talk about the the mind-reading and magical effects that first flourished in the Victorian seances hosted by fraudulent mediums - people who were emulating genuine psychics in parlours across England. Meeting the dead, past-life regressions, amazing mind-reading, apports -- the fraudulent mediums were the forefathers of the cold reading prodigies of today. But more than being told, you will be shown: magic will be performed, minds read, tales and fortunes told. Illusion, mentalism and magic meet, through a glass darkly. Performances sell out quickly, please book early.
Price: £10.00 in advance
Time: 7.15 for 7.30 start
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