Biography:Thomas Karlsson

Short description: Swedish occult writer

Thomas Karlsson (born 1972) is a Swedish occult and esoteric writer, with a PhD in the History of Religions from Stockholm University. In 1989 he founded Dragon Rouge, a Left-Hand Path initiatory organisation.

Occultism

In 1989, Thomas Karlsson and six other magicians founded Dragon Rouge, a Left-Hand Path initiatory organisation and a Draconian Tradition Order, led by Karlsson. As a book author, he concentrates on occult, philosophy, and paranormal topics. The Dragon Rouge website cites Carlos Castaneda, Julius Evola, and Kenneth Grant as some of the magical writers whose work is read by the order, as are texts by classical philosophers such as Herakleitos, Plato, and Plotinos, as well as modern philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and Henri Bergson. His personal influences include Sumerian mythology, alchemy, tantra, the goetia, and the qlippoth. In an interview dated in 2003, he claims he experienced astral projections 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, Grant and Anton LaVey.

Books

• Uthark – Nightside of the Runes (ISBN:91-974102-1-7).
  • a.k.a. Uthark – Im Schattenreich der Runen (German title, ISBN:978-3-935581-29-5) — incl. Therion-CD Secret of the Runes
• Kabbala, kliffot och den goetiska magin (ISBN:91-974102-2-5)
  • a.k.a. Qabalah, Qliphoth and Goetic Magic (English title, ISBN:978-0-9721820-1-0)
  • a.k.a. La Kabbala e la magia goetica (Italian title, ISBN:978-88-7169-213-5)
  • a.k.a. Kabbalah, Qliphoth und die Goetische Magie (German title, ISBN:978-3-939459-10-1)
  • a.k.a. Qabale, Qliphoth et magie goétique (French title, ISBN:979-10-94880-07-4)
  • a.k.a. Qábalah, Qlífot y Magia Goética (Spanish title)
• Astrala resor ut ur kroppen (ISBN:91-7894-005-2)
• Adulrunan och den götiska kabbalan (ISBN:91-974102-3-3)
  • a.k.a. Le rune e la kabbala (Italian title, ISBN:978-88-7169-207-4)
  • a.k.a. Adulruna und die gotische Kabbala (German title, ISBN:978-3-939459-04-0)
  • Revised and translated to English as: Nightside of the Runes: Uthark, Adulruna, and the Gothic Cabbala, Inner Traditions 2019 (ISBN: 978-1620557747)
• Götisk kabbala och runisk alkemi. Johannes Bureus och den götiska esoterismen (ISBN:978-91-628-8030-9) — Doctoral thesis, Stockholm University, 2010
• Bland mystiker och magiker i förorten (2012) (ISBN:978-91-974102-7-4)
  • a.k.a. Amongst Mystics And Magicians In Stockholm (English title, 2014)
  • a.k.a. L'éveil du Grand Dragon Rouge (French title, ISBN:979-10-94880-13-5)
  • 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

See also

• Magical organization

Further reading

• Granholm, Kennet (2012). "Dragon Rouge: Left-Hand Path Magic with a Neopagan Flavour". Aries 12 (1): 131–156. doi:10.1163/147783512X614858. 
• Granholm, Kennet (2012). "Metal and Magic: The Intricate Relation Between the Metal Band Therion and the Magic Order Dragon Rouge". in Cusack, Carole; Norman, Alex. Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion. 4. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. pp. 553–581. doi:10.1163/9789004226487_023. ISBN 978-90-04-22187-1. 
• Granholm, Kennet (2014). Dark Enlightenment: The Historical, Sociological, and Discursive Contexts of Contemporary Esoteric Magic. Aries Book Series. 18. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers. doi:10.1163/9789004274877. ISBN 978-90-04-27486-0.