Paschal Beverly Randolph (October 8, 1825 - July 29, 1875) was born according to conflicting sources in New York or Virginia, a free man of mixed-race ancestry.

His background led naturally to his being a spokesman for the abolition of slavery, and he trained as a doctor of medicine. However, Randolph was also a spiritualist, and an advocate of the use of hashish to create trances. After initiation by Eliphas Levi, Randolph founded the Fraternitas Rosae Crucis, the oldest Rosicrucian organization in the United States, which today avoids mention of Randolph's assiduous interest in sex-magic.

His magico-sexual theories and techniques formed the basis of much of the teachings of The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor although it is not clear whether or not Randolph himself was ever actually associated with the Order (Godwin et al 1995).

Famous occultists and practitioners of sex magic Theodor Reuss and Aleister Crowley were heavily influenced by Randolph in both organizing the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) and in their sex magic rituals.

In 1875 Randolph committed suicide at the age of 49 and was succeeded as Supreme Grand Master of the Fraternitas, and in other titles, by his chosen successor Freeman B. Dowd.

In 1996 the biography Paschal Beverly Randolph: A Nineteenth-Century Black American Spiritualist, Rosicrucian, and Sex Magician by John Patrick Devaney and Franklin Rosemont was published (ISBN 0791431207).

Other References

• Joscelyn Godwin, Christian Chanel, and John Patrick Deveney, The Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor: Initiatic and Historical Documents of an Order of Practical Occultism, Samuel Weiser 1995

• SOUL, The Soul World © 1932 The Homes of the Dead; By Paschal Beverly Randolph 1825-1875; Published by; The Confederation of Initiates; Beverly Hall, Quakertown, Pa.

External links

• Biography by catherine yronwode at luckymojo.com
• Biography at soul.org

1825 births | 1875 deaths | Occult writers | Occultists

Paschal Beverly Randolph