Stewart Clelland

Stewart is a Scottish researcher, writer, educator, and independent scholar whose interests span religious studies, Western esotericism, history, and cultural heritage.

His work explores the ways in which religious, philosophical, and esoteric ideas have shaped individuals, communities, and wider society, with particular interests in Freemasonry, mysticism, symbolism, and the history of ideas.

A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a Trustee of the Boleskine House Foundation, Stewart has undertaken research in archives and special collections across the United Kingdom and Europe, working with a range of historical manuscripts, journals, and unpublished sources. His research interests include the history of religion, Western esoteric traditions, mountaineering history, folklore, and the relationship between belief, culture, and historical memory.

Alongside his scholarly work, Stewart is an experienced educator and public speaker. Through research, writing, translation, and public engagement, he seeks to make historical and esoteric subjects accessible to wider audiences while contributing to ongoing academic and cultural conversations.

Forthcoming work for Theion (expected Summer 2027):

Failure of the Will

Stewart Clelland’s Failure of the Will presents the first complete English edition of Jules Jacot-Guillarmod’s diary from the 1905 Kangchenjunga expedition with Aleister Crowley, fully annotated and accompanied by critical commentary. Set against the brutal grandeur of the Himalaya, the book follows an expedition where colonial ambition, occult will, human frailty, and the gods of the mountain collided. More than a Crowley episode, it restores Jacot-Guillarmod’s eyewitness record as a vivid account of command breaking down at altitude, under ice, illness, fear, and the immense pressure of Kangchenjunga itself.