Marsha Keith Schuchard received a Ph.D. in British literature for her explorations into the esoteric-erotic underground traditions of 17th- to 20th-century secret societies and their influence on British and Irish poets and artists. She is the author of Restoring the Temple of Vision and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
" . . . using new and fastidious research methods, Schuchard breaks
new ground with her investigation of the psycho-sexual practices
that surround this famous artist."-- "SirReadaLot.org, June
2008"
"Blake's efforts to go very deeply into the physical in order to
better experience the divine are typical of most refined thinking
of his day, in which science lagged behind the longings of the
human spirit for true unfettered spiritual opening. Its author is a
recognized expert in this subject matter."-- "Barbara Bamberger
Scott, Curled Up With a Good Book, July 2008"
"Dr. Schuchard (Ph.D. in British literature) has worked diligently
to present information which expands our understanding of William
Blake's lifetime (1757-1827), and its impact on his own subsequent
generations. He has been praised and vilified; exalted and
suppressed; called a genius and a pervert. Modern research has done
much to flesh out the perceptions which have existed, and the
author has made a major contribution by assembling much of this
newly discovered information into an easily accessible, and
readable, book."-- "Spiral Nature, September 2010"
"Dr. Schuchard has worked diligently to present information which
expands our understanding of William Blake's lifetime (1757-1827),
and its impact on his own and subsequent generations."-- "Michael
Gleason, Witchgrove.com, June 2008"
"Fueled by new archival discoveries of Blake family documents,
[Schuchard's] analysis probes spiritual paths and recreates sexual
focuses of his work which were initially changed by his pious
executor. New Age libraries will find it a winner."-- "The Midwest
Book Review, Aug 2008"
"This is a landmark book and critical to anyone seeking to
appreciate the cultural climate of esotericism in the late
Eighteenth into the early and mid Nineteenth Century."-- "Institute
of Hermetic Studies, Aug 2008"
"Exposes a forgotten visionary/sexual underworld. Scholarship with
the momentum of a detective story."-- "Iain Sinclair, The
Guardian"
"Fans of biographical minutiae will find it invaluable, and the
closing insights into the refusal of Blake's libido to synchronize
with his fading physicality are deeply moving."-- "Niall Griffiths,
The Telegraph"
"Influenced by alchemists, kabbalists, and Emanuel Swedenborg,
Blake became interested in sexual techniques in order to achieve
spiritual vision. . . . [This book] bravely explores the
'sexual-spiritual underworld' of this great poet and artist,
drawing on newly uncovered archives and photographic techniques
that reveal the extreme eroticism of Blake's drawings before they
were censored. . . . A fascinating history of both the erotic and
the occult. The prose is fast-paced and accessible, and the author
thoroughly reanimates her subject's extraordinarily unorthodox
ideals of sexuality."-- "Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, The Sunday
Times"
"Schuchard places Blake at the heart of a secret London as high on
spiritualized sexuality as San Francisco in the 'summer of
love.'"-- "Miranda Seymour, The Sunday Times"
"Schuchard reveals a weird esoteric, erotic, and apocalyptic
counterculture, brewing in what we otherwise consider the
'enlightened' eighteenth century."-- "Gary Lachman, The Independent
on Sunday"
"This remarkable book opens the reader's eyes to what fired Blake's
writings and art."-- "David V. Bennett, The Independent"
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