The Art of the Occult: A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic (1) (Art in the Margins)

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The term occultism derives from the older term occult, much as the term esotericism derives from the older term esoteric. [11] However, the historian of esotericism Wouter Hanegraaff stated that it was important to distinguish between the meanings of the term occult and occultism. [19] Occultism is not a homogenous movement and is widely diverse. [13]

The Victorian era was a time of great artistic expression, and the occult-inspired art of the period was no exception. From the dark and mysterious works of the Pre-Raphaelites to the spiritual symbolism of the Arts and Crafts movement, the Victorian era saw a surge in occult-inspired art. These works of art were often used to explore the spiritual and emotional aspects of life, and they remain an important part of the artistic legacy of the Victorian era. The Reemergence of Satanic and Occult-Inspired Art in the 21st Century Considered to be the unspeakable name of God, written as YHWH. The four letter name has many pronunciations and can be seen over 7,000 times throughout the Hebrew Bible. As symbol, it was incorporated into the Greek Tetractys by Jewish Kabbalistic occult tradition as an evolving arrangement of ten letters. In gematria, YHWH has a numerical value of 72 (center image). The right image contains the Tetragrammaton in tetractys formation, accompanied by the late-Renaissance Pentagrammaton, below. Images created for magical purposes, sometimes attributed as signatures of demons, angels, and other beings. The word ‘occult’ comes from the latin occulus, meaning ‘hidden.’ The underlying assumption is that there is another, unseen world beyond that of the day-to-day existence—with magic offering the possibility of connecting these two worlds.” —Christopher Dell, The Occult, Witchcraft & Magic, 2016 Victoria Jenkins: This book tells a tale of the occult imagination and curiosity, often found in surprising places. Tate Britain’s 19th-century neoclassical architectural style is often associated with philosophies of the enlightenment, where magical practices and supernatural beliefs were discredited as superstition and something to be consigned to the past. Yet even the building’s walls are flanked by sculptures of sphinxes, mythological creatures associated with riddles and protectors of secrets. A great many artworks in this book are also very much at odds with the myth of a British sensibility that is reserved, stifled and prosaic. There is much wonder and weirdness to be celebrated!There is not much information on this mysterious French artist, but the remaining evidence about her life, work, and recognition is truly intriguing. The figures on her pastels can be seen as self-portraits, but also represent bodies that are quite androgynous. Androgyny was a concept popular among Symbolist artists, representing the next level of the development of the human soul, allowing it to surpass the biological and societal restrictions of sex and gender. Jacquemin even went as far as to implement her features into the drawing of the head of Jesus Christ which could have been understood as an outrageous act.

Marco Pasi suggested that the use of Hanegraaff's definition might cause confusion by presenting a group of nineteenth-century esotericists who called themselves "occultists" as just one part of a broader category of esotericists whom scholars would call "occultists". [39] Harminder Judge, who had an equally revelatory encounter with Tantric art, says that even 15 years ago, galleries would not have taken him seriously for engaging with spiritual subjects. “My interest in Tantra or Manichaeism? That kind of stuff was not cool: you’d get laughed out of the gallery. All of a sudden that’s valid,” he says. Ten years ago, Judge was celebrated for his ambitious performances, but lost faith with his own work and stepped away from the art world. A friend gave him Tantra Song, a book of abstract paintings made to assist meditation. It fuelled his desire to work in a new medium: highly polished gorgeously pigmented “paintings” built up in layers of plaster and wax.If future exhibitions are anything to go by, the art world’s enchantment by the occult appears to be more of a juggernaut than a fleeting trend. The Peggy Guggenheim in Venice is gearing up for Surrealism and Magic: Enchanted Modernity, an extensive survey of the myriad ways in which magic and the occult informed the development of Surrealism. (Due to run from April to September 2022, the exhibition will then move to the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, Germany from October 2022.) A symbol invented by John Dee, alchemist and astrologer at the court of Elizabeth I of England. It represents (from top to bottom): the moon; the sun; the elements; and fire. A serpent or dragon consuming its own tail, it is a symbol of infinity, unity, and the cycle of death and rebirth. Treister does not see herself within this lineage of spirit mediums, instead describing an interest in “areas of investigation currently unexplained by science, some of which may turn out to be differently accepted in future”.

Sigils created with magical powers by the Icelandic people. Pictured is the stave known as Ægishjálmur. The book taps into this archive collection as its main source, although artworks from the gallery collection predating this, and from the international collection are also featured in the book. A number of the female mystics whose work appears in The Art of the Occult also feature alongside Treister’s seance pictures in Not Without My Ghosts, which explores the idea of the artist as spirit medium. Among them are mystic artists of the 19th century such as Georgiana Houghton, who produced drawings with the assistance of spirit guides. As spirit mediums, women were afforded leadership they could not have assumed in Victorian society beyond the sphere of the seance. Many were also connected to the struggle for women’s suffrage.Perhaps, most of all, he represents something within us, that part of ourselves which is unknowable and uncontrollable. That such a concept of the goddess would undergird a new, more complex understanding of femininity is one of the most enduring and fascinating legacies of the 19th-century occult revival. Of course, this renewed archetype was very much of its time, emerging as an antidote to the rigidity and decay of an industrial, patriarchal society and mired in the anxieties of this context. This ambivalence is palpable in the works of numerous Symbolist artists and, indeed, these images are widely credited with having introduced the figure of the femme fatale. Often appearing as a powerful, mythical figure or a hybrid creature such as the sphinx, harpy or chimera – itself a manifestation of mutable, chthonic power – the femme fatale intertwines death and sexuality, invoking our most immediate impressions of destruction and creation. Fernand Khnopff’s painting The Caresses (1896) belongs to this repertoire: an image of affection and obsession, in which the sphinx embraces an androgynous Oedipus, her indulgent expression at odds with her tensed, possessive bearing. The erotic, commanding female figure also appears in several works by Gustave Moreau, whose 1864 Oedipus and the Sphinx inspired Khnopff’s canvas. Moreau’s The Apparition (1876–77) is one of the most recognizable images of the femme fatale, depicting a semi-nude, bejewelled Salome conjuring the gruesome head of John the Baptist, the rich, red tones of his encrusted, streaming blood echoed in her sumptuous robe. Classen, Albrecht (2017). "Magic in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Age: Literature, Science, Religion, Philosophy, Music, and Art. An Introduction". In Classen, Albrecht (ed.). Magic and Magicians in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Time: The Occult in Pre-Modern Sciences, Medicine, Literature, Religion, and Astrology. Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture. Vol.20. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter. pp.1–108. doi: 10.1515/9783110557725-001. ISBN 9783110556070. ISSN 1864-3396. This is thesubject of Christopher Dell’s new book The Occult, Witchcraft and Magic: An Illustrated History. Full of art, illustrations and photographs, the book brings togethera compelling visual history of magic and its uses, from ancient Egyptian magical spellsprinted on papyrus, to the film adaptation ofJ.R.R. Tolkien’s TheLord of the Rings. Osler, Margaret J.; Farber, Paul Lawrence, eds. (2002). Religion, Science, and Worldview: Essays in Honor of Richard S. Westfall. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52493-8.

Protection, 2023, by Paula Turmina will be on show as part of the Surrealism and Witchcraft exhibition at Lamb Gallery, London. Photograph: Courtesy of the artistSeeking to define occultism so that the term would be suitable "as an etic category" for scholars, Hanegraaff devised the following definition: "a category in the study of religions, which comprises "all attempts by esotericists to come to terms with a disenchanted world or, alternatively, by people in general to make sense of esotericism from the perspective of a disenchanted secular world". [38] Hanegraaff noted that this etic usage of the term would be independent of emic usages of the term employed by occultists and other esotericists themselves. [38]