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A visual feast of eclectic artwork informed and inspired by spiritual beliefs, magical techniques, mythology and otherworldly experiences. Mystical beliefs and practices have existed for millennia, but why do we still chase the esoteric? From the beginning of human creativity itself, image-makers have been drawn to these unknown spheres and have created curious artworks that transcend time and place – but what is it that attracts artists to these magical realms? From theosophy and kabbalah, to the zodiac and alchemy; spiritualism and ceremonial magic, to the elements and sacred geometry – The Art of the Occult introduces major occult themes and showcases the artists who have been influenced and led by them. Discover the symbolic and mythical images of the Pre-Raphaelites; the automatic drawing of Hilma af Klint and Madge Gill; Leonora Carrington's surrealist interpretation of myth, alchemy and kabbalah; and much more. Featuring prominent, marginalised and little-known artists, The Art of the Occult crosses mystical spheres in a bid to inspire and delight. Divided into thematic chapters (The Cosmos, Higher Beings, Practitioners), the book acts as an entertaining introduction to the art of mysticism – with essays examining each practice and over 175 artworks to discover. The art of the occult has always existed in the margins but inspired the masses, and this book will spark curiosity in all fans of magic, mysticism and the mysterious.
Many modernist and avant-garde artists and authors were fascinated by the occult movements of their day. This volume explores how Occultism came to shape modernist art, literature, and film. Individual chapters examine the presence and role of Occultism in the work of such modernist luminaries as Rainer Maria Rilke, August Strindberg, W.B. Yeats, Joséphin Péladan and the artist Jan Švankmaier, as well as in avant-garde film, post-war Greek Surrealism, and Scandinavian Retrogardism. Combining the theoretical and methodological foundations of the field of Esotericism Studies with those of Literary Studies, Art History, and Cinema Studies, this volume provides in-depth and nuanced perspectives upon the relationship between Occultism and Modernism in the Western arts from the nineteenth century to the present day.
DIVDIVThis illuminating book reveals the surprising extent to which great and lesser knownthinkers of the Age of Enlightenment embraced the spiritual, the magical, and the occult./div/div
Healing the sick requires unalloyed benevolence, untainted even by latent selfishness. Therefore, a would-be healer must be physically and morally healthy, confident in his science and in himself. Only then can he heal effectively, safely, and permanently. There is nothing “spiritual” or “divine” in any of the latent occult powers in man. But interfering with someone else’s mind, whether consciously or unconsciously, is Black Magic, particularly since there is always more than a tinge of selfishness in the operator’s mind. The true Theosophist neither intrudes in others’ mind, nor hinders others’ freedom of thought. Hypnotism is the new scientific name for the old “superstition.” What the operator is using is not his “benevolent” will, as it is commonly thought, he simply bewitches the patient by means of his auric fluid. No one has the right to take the mind of another, for any purpose, into his possession. “Doing good works” in this way is likely to be vitally injurious, as all but those who are blind in their love of benevolence are compelled to acknowledge. Instead of healing, the hypnotisers awaken the dark forces of nature and end up inoculating the sick with their own ills and vices. Learning and doing good rightly, informed by higher knowledge, is far more effective and safe than the imprudent haste for good works. Though acceptance of Truth and practice of virtue cannot avert stored up Karma, good effects can be produced today and in future. Compassionate action is what really counts, not mere thoughts and wishful thinking. Central to spiritual development is unfeigned compassion-sacrifice which, when enacted, becomes altruism as much as “inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.” (Cf. Voice of the Silence, frag. II vs. 135 p. 31)
Occult traditions have inspired musical ingenuity for centuries. From the Pythagorean concept of a music of the spheres to the occult subculture of 20th-century pop and rock, music has often attempted to express mystical states of mind, cosmic harmony, the demonic and the divine--nowhere more so, perhaps, than in the music for films such as The Mephisto Waltz, The Devil Rides Out, Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Omen and The Exorcist. This survey explores how such film music works and uncovers its origins in Pythagorean and Platonic ideas about the divine order of the universe and its essentially numerical/musical nature. Chapters trace the influence of esoteric Freemasonry on Mozart and Beethoven, the birth of "demonic" music in the 19th century with composers such as Weber, Berlioz and Liszt, Wagner's racial mysticism, Schoenberg's numerical superstition, the impact of synesthesia on art music and film, the effect of theosophical ideas on composers such as Scriabin and Holst, supernatural opera and ballet, fairy music and, finally, popular music in the 1960s and '70s.
Explores the role of magic and the occult in art and culture from ancient times to today • Examines key figures behind esoteric cultural developments, such as Carl Jung, Anton LaVey, Paul Bowles, Aleister Crowley, and Rudolf Steiner • Explores the history of magic as a source of genuine counter culture and compares it with our contemporary soulless, digital monoculture • Reveals how the magic of art can be restored if art is employed as a means rather than an end and offers strategies to rekindle intuitive creativity Art, magic, and the occult have been intimately linked since our prehistoric ancestors created the first cave paintings some 50,000 years ago. As civilizations developed, these esoteric forces continued to drive culture forward, both visibly and behind the scenes, from the Hermetic ideas of the Renaissance, to the ethereal worlds of 19th century Symbolism, to the occult interests of the Surrealists. In this deep exploration of “occulture”--the liminal space where art and magic meet--Carl Abrahamsson reveals the integral role played by magic and occultism in the development of culture throughout history as well as their relevance to the continuing survival of art and creativity. Blending magical history and esoteric philosophy with his more than 30 years’ experience in occult movements, Abrahamsson looks at the phenomena and people who have been seminal in modern esoteric developments, including Carl Jung, Anton LaVey, Paul Bowles, Aleister Crowley, and Rudolf Steiner. Showing how art and magic were initially one and the same, the author explores the history of magic as a source of genuine counter culture and compares it with our contemporary soulless, digital monoculture. He reveals how the magic of art can be restored if art is employed as a means rather than an end--if it is intense, emotional, violent, and expressive--and offers strategies for creating freely, magically, even spontaneously, with intent unfettered by the whims of trends, a creative practice akin to chaos magick that assists both creators and spectators to live with meaning. He also looks at intuition and creativity as the cornerstones of genuine individuation, explaining how insights and illuminations seldom come in collective forms. Exploring magical philosophy, occult history, the arts, psychology, and the colorful grey areas in between, Abrahamsson reveals the culturally and magically transformative role of art and the ways the occult continues to transform culture to this day.
Sound and Light, hearing and sight, are always associated. But sound is seen before it is heard. It is useless to demand or expect from the learned men of our age that which they are absolutely incapable of doing for us, until the next cycle changes and transforms entirely their inner nature by “improving the texture” of their spiritual minds. Unless there is an opening, however small, for the passage of a ray from a man’s higher self to chase the darkness of purely material conceptions from the seat of his intellect, his task can never be wrought to a successful termination. For the sun needs an eye to manifest its light. And this, we think, is the case with the materialist: he can judge psychic phenomena only by their external aspect, and no modification is, or ever can be, created in him, so as to open his insight to their spiritual aspect.
Initiation teaches us to live a better life and to die with better hope. The Mysteries were known to unveil the operations of nature and lead to the contemplation of celestial powers. Magic was considered a Divine Science which led to a participation in the attributes of the Divinity itself. But it was Black Magic that led finally to the abolition of the Mysteries, and not Christianity, as is often erroneously thought.