Liberating Babalon, the Red Goddess - Lecture

Babalon is a goddess who has been chained to male occultists with problematic viewpoints and attitudes towards women. Yet, in this exists a sacred paradox, a dichotomy of Babalon that shows that even here, there is unconditional love, unconditional lust, and that the Red Goddess cannot be contained even by those who try to limit her to a singular expression of the erotic.

In this lecture, Garbriela Herstik will look at the history of Babalon, and at the men who have contributed to this current, and what we can learn from them: Aleister Crowley, Jack Parsons, John Dee, and Kenneth Anger. She then turns to the women who are liberating Babalon from the male gaze: Manon Hedenborg White, Amodali, Alkistis Dimech, Georgia Van Raalte, and others. After looking at the historical and modern context, Herstik looks at reframing Babalon as the goddess of erotic witchcraft and as living current of the Divine Erotic.  All have access to her using the tools of the Lust card in the tarot deck, the Qabalistic Tree of Life, sex magick, chanting, dancing, meditation, and prayer. The talk concludes with exploring Babalon as a goddess of sex workers, through kink, as a goddess of divine chaos and unconditional love. Examples of ritual and devotional work are presented, giving ideas for attendees to try. 

Gabriela Herstik works magically at the intersection of the esoteric and erotic. A devotee of the Goddess of Love and Lust, she is co-founder of Kink Coven, a full moon ritual play party dedicated to protecting and celebrating sex workers. She leads Sex Magick Discussion Circle (just what it sounds like) monthly on Zoom. She is author of three books.