Premium 14 - Novels as Spycraft pt. 3, Edward Bulwer-Lytton and the Cult of Isis (Patreon)
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Today's all about Edward Bulwer-Lytton, whose works are very unique. His writing was incredibly popular and full of high strangeness, if not outright occult themes. In this episode, I talk about The Last Days of Pompeii, Zanoni, and Vril: the Power of the Coming Race.
I also discuss the Morning of the Magicians, a curious work by some French journalists that discusses (among other things) esoteric Nazism and how it intersects with Vril. I also talk about Willy Ley, an interesting German science fiction author.
To wrap it up, I examine Bulwer-Lytton's family and political legacy, and that of his children. Milner, Rhodes, and the RIIA come up, and so do the British Theosophical networks in India and Germany. Then I confront the Dope Inc. thesis that there was a "cult of Isis" that British elites sought to foster.
songs:
Flaming Lips - "In the Morning of the Magicians"
Brahmastra - "The Vril Society"
(btw I don't *know* Brahmastra is NSBM, it just looks sus, lol)
(btw, after recording this episode, I did read Vril, so expect a deep dive (wink) on that in the future)
[note: I accidentally attributed a quote of Hitler's to Madame Blavatsky; she did not say "the struggle for world domination will be fought entirely between us, between Germans and Jews". I meant to compare his concept of race to hers and misread my notes. I hope to do more on Blavatsky in the future, thank you]