Madeline Montalban (1910–1982) was an English astrologer and ceremonial magician who co-founded the esoteric organisation known as the Order of the Morning Star (OMS), through which she propagated her own form of Luciferianism. After moving to London in the early 1930s and immersing herself in its esoteric subculture, she taught herself ceremonial magic and associated with significant occultists, including Aleister Crowley and Kenneth Grant, and Wiccans like Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders. From 1933 until her death she wrote magazine articles on astrology and other esoteric topics. In 1952 she met Nicholas Heron, with whom she entered into a relationship, and they founded the OMS as a correspondence course in 1956, teaching subscribers their own magical rites. Viewing Lucifer as a benevolent angelic deity, she believed Luciferianism had its origins in ancient Babylon, and encouraged her followers to contact angelic beings associated with the planetary bodies to aid their spiritual development. Having refused to publish her ideas in books, Montalban became largely forgotten following her death, although the OMS continued under new leadership.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeline_Montalban

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

829:

Theophilos ascended to the throne of the Byzantine Empire, the last emperor to support iconoclasm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophilos_(emperor)

1535:

French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed along the St. Lawrence River and reached the Iroquois fortified village Hochelaga on the island now known as Montreal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier

1950:

Peanuts, the syndicated comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, featuring Charlie Brown and his pet Snoopy, was first published in major newspapers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts

1967:

Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall

2007:

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun walked across the Military Demarcation Line on his way to the second Inter-Korean Summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-Korean_Summit

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

splurge: 1. To gush, to flow or move in a rush. 2. To spend (usually money) lavishly or extravagantly. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/splurge

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I know that I have still before me a difficult path to traverse. I must reduce myself to zero. So long as a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his fellow creatures, there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa is the farthest limit of humility.   --Mahatma Gandhi https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi