Tag Archives: Artist
Pan’s Daughter
Featured
The Magical World of Rosaleen Norton
Revised and Greatly Expanded Edition
Nevill Drury
Pan’s Daughter
The Magical World of Rosaleen Norton
(Revised & Greatly Expanded Edition)
Nevill Drury
Format: Softcover/326 pp/48 illustrations.
ISBN: 978-1-906958-41-1
£22.99/US$32/AUD$36(+$8p&p)
Click Here for Pan’s Daughter / USA
Click Here for Pan’s Daughter / UK
Click Here for Pan’s Daughter / AU
During the 1950s and early 1960s the Sydney-based trance-artist and Pan-worshipper, Rosaleen Norton, was well known in Australia as ‘the Witch of Kings Cross’ and was frequently portrayed in the tabloid press as an evil ‘devil-worshipping’ figure from the red-light district. Norton attracted attention from both the public at large and also the local police for engaging in bizarre pagan sex-rituals with her lover, the poet Gavin Greenlees. Details of these activities would surface from time to time in the local courts when Norton was defending her metaphysical beliefs and seeking to defuse claims that her magical paintings and drawings were obscene. Norton was also associated with the scandal that eventually engulfed the professional career of renowned musical conductor, Sir Eugene Goossens who had arrived in Australia in 1947 and became a member of Norton’s magical coven six years later.
Norton dedicated her magical practice to the Great God Pan and to a lesser extent Hecate, Lilith and Lucifer. She was also intrigued by the visionary potential of Kundalini yoga, out-of-the-body trance exploration and Aleister Crowley’s Thelemic sex magick and combined all of these elements in her ritual activities.
Pan’s Daughter is the only biography of Rosaleen Norton and provides the most detailed and authoritative account of her magical beliefs and practices. First published in Britain by Mandrake in 1993, it is now reissued in a revised and expanded edition.
“Brilliantly researched…outrageous and inspiring”
Fiona Horne, author of Witch – A Personal Journey and Witch – A Magickal Year
“A fascinating study. Drury’s understanding of the occult and spiritual realms makes Norton’s art and life comprehensible” Tom Thompson, Sydney Morning Herald
Dr Nevill Drury (1 October 1947 – 15 October 2013) is best known for his publications on modern Western magic, shamanism and visionary art. For many years he worked in the Australian book industry as an editor and art book publisher and in 2008 he received his Ph.D from the University of Newcastle for a dissertation on the art and magical belifes of Rosaleen Norton.
Ithell Colquhoun
Featured
pioneer surrealist artist, occultist, writer and poet
(reprinted)
Eric Ratcliffe
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Ithell Colquhoun / UK / £30
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Ithell Colquhoun / USA / US$40
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Ithell Colquhoun
pioneer surrealist artist, occultist, writer & poet
Eric Ratcliffe
Format: Softcover/312pp/90 illustrations (25 colour).
ISBN: ISBN 978-1869928-98-8
£30/US$40
Subjects: Art/Art History/Surrealism/Occult/Magick/Biography.
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The skills of Ithell Colquhoun in her main practice, that of artist and pioneer in this country of surrealistic art, have been long recognised. Additionally, other interests – alchemy, Earth-magic, active occultism, poetry, druidism, the pre-Christian pagan calendar, the history and membership of the Golden Dawn – and writing of and involvement in these interests by book publication and in a widely scattered field of correspondence, have created a miscellany of truly gargantuan proportion.
Eric Ratcliffe considered it was time to get together some of these pieces, to add something of what is known of Colquhoun’s early life and family history and to take the opportunity of listing a comprehensive calendar of her work and exhibitions. The result is neither strictly biographical nor a treatise on any one subject, but it is a first gathering of the roots, passions and multi-directions of this artist. It is a patchwork containing many launch-pads for exploration of the magical and mythical atmosphere which this artist existed in and created. Here therefore is a contribution towards solving a jigsaw and a wind-catch of the minor cyclones of lthell’s dedicatory interests, also serving as a record of her accomplishments in the art field.
REVIEWS
‘The subtitle of this book is: ‘Pioneer Surrealist, Artist, Occultist, Writer and Poet’, this multifaceted description captures the essence of who and what Ithell Colquhoun was about. Her connection to Cornwall is through the book The Living Stones, published in 1957, which was an early contribution to discovering the power of the Cornish landscape, prehistory and tradition and folklore. Even today, it continues to inspire people with its love for the ancient land of Cornwall…Ratcliffe’s biography made me want to go back and re-read The Living Stones, and no better thing could be said of a book such as this.’- Cheryl Straffon, Editor in Meyn Mamvro – Ancient stones and sacred sites in Cornwall – www.meynmamvro.co.uk
‘The author gives an excellent account of Colquhoun’s artistic career, explaining why she has been so overlooked (she stuck to her principles against the authoritarian demands of the British surrealist clique and consequently was expelled). Ratcliffe places proper emphasis upon the artist’s magical activities. She was a member of the OTO, Order of the Pyramid and Sphinx, Order of Holy Wisdom, Ancient Celtic Church and the Druid Order.
Despite having had the good fortune to read many of Colquhoun’s magical papers I learnt a great deal from this very well informed work. There is excellent bibliographical information including listings of unpublished typescripts and also as comprehensive as possible listing of her paintings and drawings.’
Ithell Colquhoun by Eric Ratcliffe, Mandrake of Oxford.
Reviewed by Ben Fernee @ Caduceus Books
‘Ithell Colquhoun was a pioneer surrealist artist, poet, writer, pantheist and occultist. Descended from Devonian ancestry, she was of Anglo-Indian birth and received her education in England at the Cheltenham Ladies College and later at the Slade School of Art in London.
After the war she moved to Cornwall where she spent the rest of her life. While at the Slade she became involved in Theosophical circles and then attempted, without success, to join Moina Mathers’ Alpha and Omega Lodge of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and Dion Fortune’s Fraternity of the Inner Light.
However during the 1950s she belonged to various occult groups including Kenneth Grant’s Typhonian OTO and Nu-Isis Temple, Dr WB Crow’s Order of the Holy Wisdom and Order of the Keltic Cross, Tamara Bourkhoun’s Order of the Pyramid and the Sphinx, as well as the Druid Order, the Cornish and Breton Gorsedd, the Ancient Celtic Church, Co-Freemasonry and the Fellowship of Isis.
This biography is profusely illustrated with many of Colquhoun’s paintings and also includes some of her writings and poetry. It is a fascinating study of a unique multi-talented woman who during her creative life contributed a great deal to both the artistic and occult fields. Recommended.’
Ithell Colquhoun, by Eric Ratcliffe.
Reviewed by Mike Howard in The Cauldron, issue 129, August 2008
THE BLOODY SACRIFICE
A personal experience of contemporary blood rites
Charlotte Rodgers
The Bloody Sacrifice
a personal experience of contemporary blood rites
Charlotte Rodgers
Format: Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-906958-30-5
£15.00 / US $24.00
Click HERE for UK edition
Charlotte Rodgers is a non-denominational magickal practitioner and an animist, and The Bloody Sacrifice is the story of her work with blood. It chronicles her use of road kill and blood in art, ritualised scarification and tattoo work, and the use of venous and menstrual blood in magick. Also included are Charlotte’s interviews with tattoo artists; priests from belief systems which utilise blood sacrifice; artists who use their own HIV positive blood as a medium; and those who use mortifications and body modification to effect changes in consciousness and self.
All here share a common bond of talent combined with an ability to articulate their beliefs. For example Louis Martinie, a priest in the New Orleans Voodoo Spiritual Temple. Martinie has integrated his Tibetan Buddhist beliefs into his Voodoo practice and in doing so shows how personal spiritual evolution can effect change within a syncretic religion. As a blood-related illness affected various parts of Charlotte’s life, she was given a chance to explore blood rituals in a very different way. Documenting this part of her journey gives an understanding of AIDS, HIV and HCV, and their effect on spirituality and contemporary blood rites.
Blood Ritual, with all its history, baggage and dangers hold the power to create change. Whether this power is held within blood and how much impact is created merely by our perception is for the reader to decide. The Bloody Sacrifice is an honest, modern and thought-provoking personal insight into an ancient aspect of our spirituality and creativity.
The Bloody Sacrifice. Charlotte Rodgers (Mandrake).
I opened The Bloody Sacrifice with more than a wee bit of trepidation. I knew I was not going to come across anything silly or self-indulgent, as the writer of this book is far too intelligent for that. What I found were open, honest and at times profound realisations that the author had come to through her exploration of blood, body, ritual and art. The interviews in the book are varied, relevant and very interesting. But, bar a couple of them, I wanted to hear more of the author’s voice, of her experiences and her conclusions. Rodgers is a natural priestess, regardless of what magical path she chooses to take or has taken; she has a natural capacity to connect deeply with inner world beings and learn directly, for both good and bad, from them. The main issue I was looking for, which would be guaranteed to show me if this person was switched on enough to actually truly work in this field, appeared almost immediately. Such paths into these areas are littered with unfortunate fools who have mired themselves in parasitical and low-life entanglements with inner beings, which effectively ensure that they go no further into the depths of magical realms. Not this author – she saw the traps immediately and neatly sidestepped them, learning naturally as she went deeper into the mysteries of power. Charlotte Rodgers has a powerful, clear and magical voice that I hope we will hear much more from in the future.
Highly recommended.
Josephine McCarthy – The Cauldron #140, May 2011.
Charlotte Rodgers Website
www.perdurabu.com
The Apophenion
A Chaos Magic Paradigm
Peter J. Carroll
The Apophenion
A Chaos Magic Paradigm
Peter J. Carroll
ISBN: 978-1869928650
Format: Softcover
£15.00 / US$24
Subjects: Chaos Magic
Click HERE for The Apophenion / USA
Click HERE The Apophenion / UK
Click here for Kindle UK Edition
Click here for Kindle USA Edition
From the Author
“My final Magnum Opus if its ideas remain unfalsified within my lifetime, otherwise its back to the drawing board.
Yet I’ve tried to keep it as short and simple as possible, it consists of eight fairly brief and terse chapters and five appendices. It attacks most of the great questions of being, free will, consciousness, meaning, the nature of mind, and humanity’s place in the cosmos, from a magical perspective.
Some of the conclusions seem to challenge many of the deeply held assumptions that our culture has taught us, so brace yourself for the paradigm crash and look for the jewels revealed in the wreckage.This book contains something to offend everyone; enough science to upset the magicians, enough magic to upset the scientists, and enough blasphemy to upset most trancendentalists.”
The Apophenion cover artwork by David Gough www.davidgoughart.com
”Apophenia is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. The term was coined in 1958 by Klaus Conrad,[1] who defined it as the “unmotivated seeing of connections” accompanied by a “specific experience of an abnormal meaningfulness”. Source Wikipedia
Praise for Peter J. Carroll’s works
“The most original, and probably the most important, writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley.” Robert Anton Wilson, author of the Cosmic Trigger trilogy.
“Magicians feared they had lost Him to the world of Theoretical Physics, but Zarathustra has come down from the mountain. The Apophenion is spoken – and proves the wait was worth it. Religion starts the hunt for Meaning, and with science Meaning is killed and served up as Truth. So we need magic, sowing the seeds of Meaning in everyday events, and we need art to cultivate them to public awareness. Thus does Apopheniareveal how to bring back meaning to our diminished lives.” Lionel Snell, Aka Ramsey Dukes, author of SSOTBME.
REVIEWS
THE APOPHENION
by Peter J. Carroll
“The most original, and probably the most important, writer on Magick since Aleister Crowley.”
-Robert Anton Wilson, author of the Cosmic Trigger trilogy.
“Magicians feared they had lost Him to the world of Theoretical Physics, but Zarathustra has come down from the mountain. The Apophenion is spoken – and proves the wait was worth it. Religion starts the hunt for Meaning, and with science Meaning is killed and served up as Truth. So we need magic, sowing the seeds of Meaning in everyday events, and we need art to cultivate them to public awareness. Thus does Apophenia reveal how to bring back Meaning to our diminished lives.”
– Lionel Snell, author of SSOTBME.
‘Framed as the outpouring of insight generated by the novel Goddess ‘Apophenia’, Pete Carroll’s new work is a real gem. Coming from a science background, this is his attempt to create a falisfiable model of why the universe looks the way it does, and just why magick can operate successfully.
In the inimitable Carrollian style we have come to know and love, our author sets out to demolish the edifices of being, consciousness, causality, the big-bang and more. In toppling these ontological Titans Pete discovers a universe of panpsychism and intense meaning.
If nothing else this agrees with my own views and is therefore a Good Thing. Pursuing this process through the scientific style of exploration means that quantum physics, special relativity et al show up pretty frequently in the text. If you buy this book expecting lists of planetary correspondence and ritual-by-numbers instructions you’re going to be disappointed.
However this doesn’t mean that this is all physics and no esoterica. Rather the point is that the reading of the universe that the author presents is suffused with magick. (Nevertheless there are some reassuring illustrations of occult entities and one explicit ritual – a rather lovely evocation of the Goddess Apophenia herself).
My reaction in reading this book was one of excitement. The suggestions that Pete advances tickle the mind delightfully. Certainly this isn’t Liber Null. It’s not a manual of techniques but instead concentrates on theory, yet that doesn’t make for a dull read. The theorisation presented here can light the touch paper of a hundred disciplines: cosmology and magick for sure but also Fortean studies, ethnography and especially neuro-biology.
Algebra explodes across the appendices of the book scattering the non-mathematicians towards the Epilogue where things are nicely rounded off in laypersons terms. The truth may well be that we live in vorticitating hypersphere with three dimensional time that, as the author beautifully asserts, “…invites us to become apprentice gods.” The very fact that I can now say ‘vorticitating hypersphere’ and know what that means is a testament to the authors explicatory powers.
The final and perhaps most wonderful thing about The Apophenion is how it demonstrates the development and maturation of Pete Carroll’s earlier writing. If nothing else this stands as a testament to the work of an individual (or perhaps conspiracy of selves!) who’s magick really does seem to work.
Eight chaospheres out of a possible eight!’
– Julian Vayne