Esoteric Scotland

A reflection on the opening of Boleskine House.

We cannot recommend a visit highly enough.

Boleskine House: A Reflection on the Grand Re-opening Esoteric Scotland were delighted to the invited to participate in the Grand Opening of Boleskine house on the 10th and 11th of April 2026.Built in the eighteenth century on the south shore of Loch Ness, Boleskine House is perhaps most famous for its ownership by the English occultist and ceremonial....

Open Day at the Arthur Conan Doyle Centre in Edinburgh.

Please come along to our joint Open Day with the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre on Saturday 9th May, 11am-4pm😊

It has been a wonderful weekend celebrating the reopening of Boleskine House. Esoteric Scotland are delighted to have been involved in this important project.

There will be a more detailed post on the website as soon as possible.

For the time being all that can be said is THANK YOU and good luck now you are OPEN.

Finally managed to get a new article up!

The start of the year has been incredibly busy for so many reasons. Hopefully it will not be so long until the next one.

Where are Scotland's Medieval Magical Manuscripts? Understanding the difficulties in tracing Scotland's esoteric past. One of the best ways we can engage with the ideas of history is through an assessment of manuscripts, books and the marginalia contained within them. However, tracing works with provenance to Medieval Scotland is not without its pro...

Love this archive. They also have magic texts I hope to bring to you all in the future.

Hundreds of years of Scottish history at your fingertips, from the comfort of your own home - or visit us in person at 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh.

Accessible access is at the rear of the building, via West Register Street. 👉bit.ly/VisitUsSP

This week we explore Scotland's oldest surviving reference written in Scots to necromancy and astrology in John Barbour's The Bruce (c.1372).

Necromancy and Astrology in John Barbour's The Brus. Scotland's earliest surviving discussion on Necromancy and Astrology. The Brus (c.1372) is the earliest surviving example of Scottish literature composed in middle Scots. It tells the tale of the rise and reign of King Robert I of Scotland (r.1306-1329). The poem is comprised of close to 14,000 line...

On this day in 1899, Aleister Crowley purchased Boleskine House from artist and activist Mary Rose Hill Burton for twice its market value. He had identified the property as the ideal location for spiritual retreat, and it was here that he would practice the "magic of Abramelin" - a complex ritual that required specific conditions.

This evocative photograph by Jules Jacot-Guillarmod captures Crowley in the Scottish countryside during his 1905 visit to the house. During this stay, they worked on plans for the Kanchenjunga expedition which took place later that year - a historic mountaineering attempt that would end in tragedy.

Crowley's ownership of Boleskine is perhaps one of the the most famous chapters in the house's storied history, but it's just one of many fascinating tales connected to this remarkable property. As we restore the house, we're preserving all of its history - every owner, every era, every story.

Wow!
Cannot wait to visit Boleskine House. This fire place is magnificent.

Finn McCallum Stone Carving Fireplace in all it's glory, complete now with wood burning stove to bring warmth and charm to the space.

One of the most stunning features inside Boleskine House, the craftsmanship and detail are absolutely extraordinary and we just can't get enough!

Could this ring be evidence of Jewish Kabbalah in 13th century Scotland?

Check out the lastest post on the Esoteric Scotland Website.

13th century Kabbalist ring? - Isle of Bute Under Scottish law, all portable antiquities of archaeological, historical or cultural significance are subject to claim by the Crown through the Treasure Trove system. The Treasure Trove Scotland (TSS) project records all discoveries found within Scotland and there have been a number of Medieval ob...

What better night to start posting regularly on the website.

Check out the first article of many more to come.

Divination & Fortune-Telling in Robert Burns "Hallowe'en". Robert Burns, "Hallowe'en" (1785) is considered my many to be a work that helped to solidify the festivities of All Hallows Eve in Scotland (Nicholas, 2002,38). Burns poem forms part of a corpus of 18th century Scots poems that describe the customs and activities that Scots engaged in during Hallowe...