Thomas Karlsson (born 1972) is a Swedish

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

ist and

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

writer, with a PhD in the

History of Religions The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BC). The prehistory of religion involves th ...

from

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, ...

. (Thomas Karlsson's PhD thesis, in Swedish) In 1989 he founded Dragon Rouge, a

Left-Hand Path In Western esotericism the left-hand path and right-hand path are the dichotomy between two opposing approaches to magic. This terminology is used in various groups involved in the occult and ceremonial magic. In some definitions, the Left-Hand ...

initiatory organisation.

Occultism

In 1989, Thomas Karlsson and six other magicians founded Dragon Rouge, a

initiatory organisation and a Draconian Tradition Order, led by Karlsson.''GENERAL INFORMATION''
. As a book author, he concentrates on occult, philosophy, and

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

topics. The Dragon Rouge website cites

Carlos Castaneda Carlos Castañeda (December 25, 1925 – April 27, 1998) was an American writer. Starting with ''The Teachings of Don Juan'' in 1968, Castaneda wrote a series of books that purport to describe training in shamanism that he received under the tu ...

Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, Esotericism, esotericist, and Far-right politics, radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocracy (class), aristocra ...

, and

Kenneth Grant Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byn ...

as some of the magical writers whose work is read by the order, as are texts by classical philosophers such as

Herakleitos Heraclitus of Ephesus (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἡράκλειτος, Ἡράκλειτος , "Glory of Hera"; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of th ...

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, and Plotinos, as well as modern philosophers like

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centu ...

, and

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson Le Roy, ...

. His personal influences include

Sumerian mythology Sumerian religion was the religion practiced by the people of Sumer, the first literate civilization of ancient Mesopotamia. The Sumerians regarded their divinities as responsible for all matters pertaining to the natural and social orders. Ove ...

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...

tantra Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the India ...

, the Goetia, and the

Qliphoth In the Zohar, Lurianic Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah, the ''qliphoth/qlippoth/qlifot'' or ''kelipot'' ( ''qəlīpōṯ'', originally Aramaic: ''qəlīpīn'', plural of ''qəlīpā''; literally "peels", "shells", or "husks"), are the represe ...

. In an interview dated in 2003, he claims he experienced

astral projection Astral projection (also known as astral travel) is a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a subtle body called an " astral body" through which consciousness can funct ...

s as a child, but did not think of them as supernatural experiences until he started formally exploring the occult. In his book ''Amongst Mystics and Magicians in Stockholm'' (2012), he describes experiences he had in the years 1989–1991 which are related to the establishment of Dragon Rouge. The book exhibits Karlsson's influences from people such as

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

and Anton LaVey.

Music

Karlsson was the lyricist of

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guita ...

band Therion, and wrote almost all the band's lyrics between 1996 and 2010; however, Karlsson was never regarded as an official band member. He was also the lead vocalist of the

dark wave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

music project,

Shadowseeds Shadowseeds II is a dark wave/esoterical musical project consisting of Thomas Karlsson and Tommie Eriksson, who before 1999 spelled his name Tommy Eriksson. Shadowseeds released their first album The Dream of Lilith in 1995 on Dark Age/Megaroc ...

Books

*''Uthark - Nightside of the Runes'' (). ** a.k.a. ''Uthark - Im Schattenreich der Runen'' (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

title, ) — incl. Therion-CD '' Secret of the Runes'' *''Kabbala, kliffot och den goetiska magin'' () ** a.k.a. ''Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

title, ) ** a.k.a. ''La Kabbala e la magia goetica'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

title, ) ** a.k.a. ''Kabbalah, Qliphoth und die Goetische Magie'' (German title, ) ** a.k.a. ''Qabale, Qliphoth et magie goétique'' (French title, ) ** a.k.a. ''Qábalah, Qlífot y Magia Goética'' (Spanish title) *''Astrala resor ut ur kroppen'' () *''Adulrunan och den götiska kabbalan'' () ** a.k.a. ''Le rune e la kabbala'' (Italian title, ) ** a.k.a. ''Adulruna und die gotische Kabbala'' (German title, ) ** Revised and translated to English as: ''Nightside of the Runes: Uthark, Adulruna, and the Gothic Cabbala'', Inner Traditions 2019 () * ''Götisk kabbala och runisk alkemi. Johannes Bureus och den götiska esoterismen'' () — Doctoral thesis, Stockholm University, 2010 *''Bland mystiker och magiker i förorten'' (2012) () ** a.k.a. ''Amongst Mystics And Magicians In Stockholm'' (

title, 2014) ** a.k.a. ''L'éveil du Grand Dragon Rouge'' (French title, ) ** a.k.a. ''Entre Místicos y Magos en Estocolmo'' (Spanish title) ** a.k.a. ''Tra Mistici e Maghi a Stoccolma'' (Italian title), Hekate Edizioni 2020

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsson, Thomas 1972 births Living people 20th-century occultists 21st-century occultists Esotericists Left-Hand Path Stockholm University alumni Swedish male writers Swedish occultists Swedish songwriters Therion (band) members Western esotericism scholars

Occultism

Music

Books

Notes

Further reading

External links