A Treasure Trove of Australian Occult History

I was lucky enough to visit Sydney University today as part of Sydney Rare Book Week. Think of it as the adult version of Book Week that my kids get to participate in every year at primary school, except without the fancy dress costumes. (At least, I didn’t dress up.) But honestly? I was just as excited as if I had. Why? Let me tell you.

Dr Brendan French has recently donated his incredible joint library to Sydney University Library. This is a collection of over 15,000 items he built over decades with his late partner, Gregory Tillett who passed away in 2018.

Today, he gave a brief hour-long talk about it, and I absolutely loved it.

Brendan offered an overview of the occult and esoteric worldview, exploring the gnostic search for knowledge and how it is approached from an occultist perspective. He then delved into a rich history of some of the most fascinating figures involved in the Theosophical Society (leveraging his own PhD research), particularly here in Sydney and across Australia, and spoke at length about new religious movements such as Wicca, and even extending to modern Satanism and UFOlogy. There was just a small selection of items to view today.

For those of us in the pagan and occult communities, this kind of resource to be publicly available is invaluable (publically available within reason, super rare or fragile items cannot be accessed). Having access to rare books, primary sources, and documented histories can assist us with understanding modern traditions and practices. Frankly, I’m relieved to know that there is no generative artificial intelligence used in the creation of these texts, perhaps angelic and planetary intelligences, but hey, that’s exactly what we’re here for!

As the librarians introducing this talk today noted, this donation also ensures that these texts remain accessible for future generations of seekers, scholars, and occult practitioners. What an extraordinary gift to preserve wisdom and to honour Gregs’ legacy. Check out the university for access if this is your thing.