The Lady and the Beast: The Extraordinary Partnership Between Frieda Harris and Aleister Crowley

Although Lady Harris is acknowledged as the artist of Aleister Crowley’s Book of Thoth, to date, most studies have focused predominantly on Harris’s role as Crowley’s ’artist executant’, and almost exclusively from Crowley’s perspective. Whitehouse argues that Harris’s involvement extended far beyond the artwork itself. The Book of Thoth was a collaboration in which each partner fulfilled a variety of roles; building on Crowley’s magical theories and practices, and Harris’s artistic skills and social awareness that enabled her to promote and exhibit their work as it evolved.

The Lady and the Beast presents a critical analysis of the life and works of Frieda, Lady Harris (1877 - 1962), wife of Sir Percy Harris (1876 - 1952), Liberal MP and party chief whip. Frieda Harris, née Bloxam, fulfilled her parents’ expectations of finding a suitable husband, managing the family home and raising a family. She supported her husband’s political endeavours, and in return he encouraged her to pursue her own interests, especially her painting. However, research indicates that Harris was already fascinated by mysticism and alternative belief structures prior to her meeting with Crowley in 1937. Her esoteric interests, combined with her demonstrable skills as a painter, made her ideally suited to illustrate Crowley’s Thoth Tarot.

In manifesting Crowley’s vision of the Occult Tarot, Harris’s paintings embody the intersection of art and esotericism. Crowley (1875 - 1847) believed that the Tarot was fundamental to all magical disciplines and his Book of Thoth would become ’a standard Book of Reference, which will determine the entire course of mystical and magical thought for the next 2000 years.’ Without Harris, there would be no Book of Thoth. Whitehouse presents a study of Harris’s life and works, seeking to assess her true contribution to Western Esotericism.

Deja Whitehouse has a degree in Classical Studies from the University of Hull. In 2017 she was accepted as a post-graduate research candidate by Professor Ronald Hutton at the University of Bristol and was awarded her PhD in January 2020. Since then, she has continued as an independent scholar, delivering conference papers, and publishing various articles and book chapters specializing in Frieda Harris and other women in the occult. She is a member of the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE).