Collectors of the work of early 20th-century English artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare have, up until now, been of a type. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin has a notable number of paintings, as did the late Genesis P-Orridge – founder of industrial sound provocateurs Throbbing Gristle. In his memoir, Orridge describes an acquaintance shaking and shouting: “Those paintings, cover them, they’re alive!” One particular work, The Ides, depicting two aggressive-looking self-portraits of Spare flanked by Romanian prostitutes, was turned to face the wall. Months later, after touring overseas, Orridge returned to discover house-sitters had turned the painting around and vanished, leaving rooms splattered with red paint. Spooked, Orridge sold the painting to Chris Stein of Blondie.
Kenneth Anger has died aged 96…
No 93 Jermyn Street became an ordinary grocery shop — albeit one where extraordinary things continued to happen. Churchill liked to say that ‘a gentleman buys his hats at Locks,… Read more »
Believing the coven to be a survival of the pre-Christian witch-cult, [Gerald] Gardner decided to revive the faith, supplementing the coven’s rituals with ideas borrowed from freemasonry, ceremonial magic and… Read more »
In the summer of 1901, the English occultist Aleister Crowley, age 25, stood before the Great Buddha at Kamakura. Having arrived in Yokohama just a few days before, he had crossed the Pacific from San Francisco via Honolulu and was in the midst of wrapping up a shipboard extramarital affair. He was also wrestling with a major life decision: Should he remain and live in Japan, or move on?
The Abbey of Thelema looks out on the wide Mediterranean. Italy has a long history of occultism and Crowley was likely aware of the various cults and religious sects that… Read more »
They are definitely not the first heavy metal act to sing about Aleister Crowley, but at this point in time, CARONTE are easily the most effective. “Wolves of Thelema” is… Read more »
Iconic American filmmaker Kenneth Anger has inspired generations of creative storytellers since the late 1940s. He is a unique visionary who drifts from pure poetry within his magical filmmaking to sardonic gossip in his bestselling “Hollywood Babylon” books.
There is magic in these here hills but also tales of evil – occultist Aleister Crowley was supposed to have raised the Devil in Carn Cottage, which now sits broken… Read more »
Huxley’s alleged psychedelic encounter with the Beast [in Berlin] has taken on the dimensions of an urban legend, and a quick perusal online will find it cited as fact on several websites, including those hosting the burgeoning number of academic books and papers devoted to Crowley. So, what did happen?
The former home of notorious occultist Aleister Crowley – once dubbed ‘the wickedest man in the world’ – is set to be restored after its owners were given the green light to repair the fire-damaged building. Permission to build 10 holiday homes in the grounds of Boleskine House, which overlooks Loch Ness, has also been granted by the Highland Council.
