The Art of the Occult
The Art of the Occult

Author: S. Elizabeth

Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Published: 2020-10-13

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 0711254168

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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.

Surrealism And The Sacred
Surrealism And The Sacred

Author: Celia Rabinovitch

Publisher: Westview Press

Published: 2002-04-14

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13:

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A vital new interpretation of the personalities, historical forces and intellectual paradigms that created Surrealist art

Occult America
Occult America

Author: Mitch Horowitz

Publisher: Bantam

Published: 2010-10-05

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0553385151

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From its earliest days, America served as an arena for the revolutions in alternative spirituality that eventually swept the globe. Esoteric philosophies and personas—from Freemasonry to Spiritualism, from Madame H. P. Blavatsky to Edgar Cayce—dramatically altered the nation’s culture, politics, and religion. Yet the mystical roots of our identity are often ignored or overlooked. Opening a new window on the past, Occult America presents a dramatic, pioneering study of the esoteric undercurrents of our history and their profound impact across modern life.

Surrealism and the Occult
Surrealism and the Occult

Author: Nadia Choucha

Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Co

Published: 1992-10

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9780892813735

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"Searching for a deeper understanding of the power and influence of surrealist art, Nadia Choucha clearly confirms that many surrealists and their predecessors were steeped in magical ideas. The Theosophical involvement of Kandinsky, the visionary paintings of Salvador Dali, the alchemy of Pablo Picasso, and the shamanism of Max Ernst and Leonora Carrington all demonstrate the fundamental and dynamic impact of magic and mysticism on surrealism. Surrealist artists believed that society had much to learn from the unconditioned, spontaneous forms of art produced by spiritual mediums, children, untutored artists, and the insane. In their attempt to tap the unconscious regions of the mind, the surrealists borrowed imagery from alchemy, the Tarot, Gnosticism, Tantra, and other esoteric traditions and sought inspiration from ancient myths, 'irrational' thought, and ethnic art. Enhanced by both color and black-and-white reproductions of fine art, Choucha's account explains the intimate connections between occult and surrealist philosophies and provides an essential key to the mysteries of the surrealist movement and the forces that give it life" --Back cover.

The Occult in Modernist Art, Literature, and Cinema
The Occult in Modernist Art, Literature, and Cinema

Author: Tessel M. Bauduin

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-05-15

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 3319764993

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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.

High Weirdness
High Weirdness

Author: Erik Davis

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-11-05

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 1907222871

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An exploration of the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson. A study of the spiritual provocations to be found in the work of Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson, High Weirdness charts the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality that arose from the American counterculture of the 1970s. These three authors changed the way millions of readers thought, dreamed, and experienced reality—but how did their writings reflect, as well as shape, the seismic cultural shifts taking place in America? In High Weirdness, Erik Davis—America's leading scholar of high strangeness—examines the published and unpublished writings of these vital, iconoclastic thinkers, as well as their own life-changing mystical experiences. Davis explores the complex lattice of the strange that flowed through America's West Coast at a time of radical technological, political, and social upheaval to present a new theory of the weird as a viable mode for a renewed engagement with reality.

Modern Occult Rhetoric
Modern Occult Rhetoric

Author: Joshua Gunn

Publisher: University of Alabama Press

Published: 2011-01-28

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 0817356568

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A broadly interdisciplinary study of the pervasive secrecy in America cultural, political, and religious discourse. The occult has traditionally been understood as the study of secrets of the practice of mysticism or magic. This book broadens our understanding of the occult by treating it as a rhetorical phenomenon tied to language and symbols and more central to American culture than is commonly assumed. Joshua Gunn approaches the occult as an idiom, examining the ways in which acts of textual criticism and interpretation are occultic in nature, as evident in practices as diverse as academic scholarship, Freemasonry, and television production. Gunn probes, for instance, the ways in which jargon employed by various social and professional groups creates barriers and fosters secrecy. From the theory wars of cultural studies to the Satanic Panic that swept the national mass media in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gunn shows how the paradox of a hidden, buried, or secret meaning that cannot be expressed in language appears time and time again in Western culture. These recurrent patterns, Gunn argues, arise from a generalized, popular anxiety about language and its limitations. Ultimately, Modern Occult Rhetoric demonstrates the indissoluble relationship between language, secrecy, and publicity, and the centrality of suspicion in our daily lives.

The Place of Enchantment
The Place of Enchantment

Author: Alex Owen

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2006-12-15

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 0226642038

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By the end of the nineteenth century, Victorians were seeking rational explanations for the world in which they lived. The radical ideas of Charles Darwin had shaken traditional religious beliefs. Sigmund Freud was developing his innovative models of the conscious and unconscious mind. And anthropologist James George Frazer was subjecting magic, myth, and ritual to systematic inquiry. Why, then, in this quintessentially modern moment, did late-Victorian and Edwardian men and women become absorbed by metaphysical quests, heterodox spiritual encounters, and occult experimentation? In answering this question for the first time, The Place of Enchantment breaks new ground in its consideration of the role of occultism in British culture prior to World War I. Rescuing occultism from its status as an "irrational indulgence" and situating it at the center of British intellectual life, Owen argues that an involvement with the occult was a leitmotif of the intellectual avant-garde. Carefully placing a serious engagement with esotericism squarely alongside revolutionary understandings of rationality and consciousness, Owen demonstrates how a newly psychologized magic operated in conjunction with the developing patterns of modern life. She details such fascinating examples of occult practice as the sex magic of Aleister Crowley, the pharmacological experimentation of W. B. Yeats, and complex forms of astral clairvoyance as taught in secret and hierarchical magical societies like the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Through a remarkable blend of theoretical discussion and intellectual history, Owen has produced a work that moves far beyond a consideration of occultists and their world. Bearing directly on our understanding of modernity, her conclusions will force us to rethink the place of the irrational in modern culture. “An intelligent, well-argued and richly detailed work of cultural history that offers a substantial contribution to our understanding of Britain.”—Nick Freeman, Washington Times