Atlantis Bookshop

The Atlantis Bookshop is an esoteric bookshop in Museum Street, London.[1] Established by Michael Houghton in 1922,[2] it is currently owned and run by Bali Beskin and her mother Geraldine.

Exterior of the shop

Atlantis has long been a hub for London's occult world.[3] Gerald Gardner attended meetings of The Order of the Hidden Masters in its basement during his formative years,[4] and also held meetings of his own Coven there. The shop published his first book on witchcraft, the novel High Magic's Aid.[5] Here he also met Ross Nichols, later a key figure in the Druid world, who edited Gardner's 1954 Witchcraft Today.[6]

Atlantis hosts art exhibitions and esoteric talks, workshops and book launches. For many years it ran a discussion group for pagans and magicians called "The Moot With No Name" in the nearby Devereaux Arms off Fleet Street,[7][8] which then moved to Milford's pub in Milford Lane as "The Atlantis Bookshop Presents" before ceasing some years ago. It also publishes occasional volumes under its own imprint, Neptune Press,[3] for example an illuminated edition of Aleister Crowley's The Book of the Law.[9]

The shop featured in the British 1971 film Gumshoe.

In the 1980s, the Odin Brotherhood used the shop as a contact point.[10]

References
  1. Carr-Gomm, Philip & Heygate, Richard, The Book of English Magic, John Murray, 2009, p.373
  2. "Atlantis Bookshop". Time Out London. 30 November 1999. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  3. Carr-Gomm & Heygate, p. 453
  4. "Mike Howard Part 2". www.thewica.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  5. Ruickbie, Leo, Witchcraft Out of the Shadows: A History, Robert Hale, 2004, pp.103, 251
  6. Carr-Gomm & Heygate, p.181
  7. "The Atlantis Bookshop Events - the Moot with No Name". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  8. Carr-Gomm & Heygate, p. 453, 473-4
  9. The Book Of The Law, The Illuminated Edition: Amazon.co.uk: Crowley, Aleister: 9780954706326: Books. ASIN 0954706323.
  10. Mark Mirabello. The Odin Brotherhood. 5th edition, Oxford: Mandrake of Oxford, 2003, p 109 ISBN 1-869928-71-7

51.5174°N 0.1251°W / 51.5174; -0.1251

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