Mary Anne Atwood (née South) (1817 – 1910) was an English writer on

hermeticism Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical and religious tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretism, syncretic figure combining elements of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. This system e ...

and spiritual

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

. Atwood was born in

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

, France but grew up in

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Her father, Thomas South, was a researcher into the history of spirituality, and she assisted and collaborated with her father from her youth. Mary Anne married the Anglican Reverend Alban Thomas Atwood in 1859, and moved to his parish near Thirsk in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

where she spent the rest of her life. She continued private correspondence with several influential Theosophists until her death in 1910. Her final words were "I cannot find my centre of gravity." She is buried at Leake Church in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Works

Atwood's first publication, ''Early Magnetism in its higher relations to humanity'' (1846), was issued pseudonymously as the work of Θυος Μαθος (Gk. ), an anagram of Thomas South. ''A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery'' (1850) was written by Atwood at her father's request, and in parallel with his own composition of a lengthy poem on the same subject. Thomas South paid for the book to be published anonymously in 1850, but without having read it, trusting his daughter's judgement. Reading it after publication, he believed Mary Anne had revealed many hermetic secrets that were better left unpublished, and therefore bought up the remaining stock and, with his daughter, burnt them, along with the unfinished manuscript of his poem. Only a few copies of the book survived. Atwood published nothing after ''A Suggestive Inquiry''. Walter Leslie Wilmshurst, in his 1918 introduction to the reissue, laments that the thoughts of her later years did not find fruition in another work. He claims, however, that there is much to be found in her papers, of which he was then in possession. These have not yet been published. The special collections archive of the Brown University library currently holds around 700 of Ms. Atwood's letters.

Influence

''A Suggestive Inquiry'' was reissued in 1918 under Mary Anne's married name, with an appendix containing her table talk and memorabilia, and with an extensive biographical and philosophical introduction by Walter Leslie Wilmshurst. Principe and Newman (2001) considered ''A Suggestive Inquiry'' to be one of three books which started the influence of the spiritual interpretation of alchemy in early modern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

In popular culture

The writer Lindsay Clarke used the story of Thomas South and Mary Anne Atwood as a basis for his novel '' The Chymical Wedding'' (1989). The book ''A Suggestive Inquiry...'' was being read by

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

in the music video for the single ''

U + Ur Hand U, or u, is the twenty-first letter and the fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''u'' (pronounced ) ...

''.MTV news: ''What's Up With The Black Magic And Biker Outfits In Pink's New Video?''
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References

External links

*Rexresearch.com:
Hermetic Philosophy & Alchemy: A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery
'' HTML online text
Mary Anne Atwood Papers1882-1910
John Hay Library Special Collections, Brown University {{DEFAULTSORT:Atwood, Mary Anne 1817 births People from Dieppe, Seine-Maritime Writers from Normandy 1910 deaths 19th-century alchemists 20th-century alchemists English alchemists Hermeticists Pseudonymous women writers 19th-century English women writers 19th-century English writers 20th-century English women 20th-century English writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers

Works

Influence

In popular culture

See also

References

Further reading

External links