The new Indiana Jones is being (partly)filmed in Cefalu.
The plot is a guarded secret so one can only hope…
The new Indiana Jones is being (partly)filmed in Cefalu.
The plot is a guarded secret so one can only hope…
The original movie has to be the only Hollywood blockbuster to feature ritual magic in it (near the end of the movie). Also, during the cafe scene Indie and archeologist Dr. René Belloq meet again in Egypt (for the first time since the opening scene near the Aztec temple) and Belloq describes how with a nudge he can bring Jones away from the light and into the darkness. It's an amazing movie and has everything in it. The one they did with Connery was one of the worst movies I've seen though.
https://www.lashtal.com/wiki/Aleister_Crowley_Timeline
The original movie has to be the only Hollywood blockbuster to feature ritual magic in it .
I think you may be correct there. There are other, non-Hollywood movies I can think of. The Devil Rides Out, The Attic Expeditions, and A Dark Song all come to mind, but that could be the only blockbuster that does.
The original movie has to be the only Hollywood blockbuster to feature ritual magic in it .
I think you may be correct there. There are other, non-Hollywood movies I can think of. The Devil Rides Out, The Attic Expeditions, and A Dark Song all come to mind, but that could be the only blockbuster that does.
I think the Rowan Atkinson character in Scooby Doo did some sort of Enochianesque chanting and there are many silly horror movies that have quasi 'Satanic' rites and/or Isisian invocation/evocation e.g. King Kong (how about that for invocation/evocation?) There's been some big movies that show explicit witchcraft practices though.
https://www.lashtal.com/wiki/Aleister_Crowley_Timeline
@david-dom-lemieux
I think the Rowan Atkinson character in Scooby Doo did some sort of Enochianesque chanting and there are many silly horror movies that have quasi 'Satanic' rites and/or Isisian invocation/evocation e.g. King Kong (how about that for invocation/evocation?)
True, plenty of pseudo-occult stuff, I was just thinking of movies that include something with a basis in real ritual magic practices. The exorcism and the magick circle in The Devil Rides Out, the Abramelin in A Dark Song, the rituals in the flashbacks and what may have been an attempt to become the Rebis in The Attic Expeditions, etc. There was also that movie I mentioned to Shiva recently that included an alien reincarnation of Crowley who performed a partial Bornless ritual in one scene.
You make a fun point about King Kong as invocation/evocation.
There's been some big movies that show explicit witchcraft practices though.
Paganism was kind of trendy in movies for a while.
King Kong (how about that for invocation/evocation?
I think that was a Sorcereristic evocation without prior invocation of some deity that can control mega-rillas. I remember the evocation (to visible appearance and mayhem), but the invoking part escapes me.
Note: Mickey Mouse pulled the same stunt in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Evocation without prior invocation. Mayhem. Why won't these people learn?
The exorcism and the magick circle in The Devil Rides Out,
Hilarious movie that. Note how the demon evoked in that scene is a smiling African man. Seemed to be all a bit British and colonial.
https://www.lashtal.com/wiki/Aleister_Crowley_Timeline
Hilarious movie that. Note how the demon evoked in that scene is a smiling African man.
I remember seeing that scene for the first time being confused and a bit annoyed at that choice.
I remember reading somewhere that the exorcism that Christopher Lee used in that scene was one that he'd researched himself and had added to the script to replace what was originally in it, but I don't know if that's actually true.
The bacchanalian ritual was surprisingly tame too. It felt more like interpretive dance than a Satanic ritual.
Seemed to be all a bit British and colonial.
Well, Dennis Wheatley himself was British and colonial, so I guess it fit.
The new Indy film has also been filming in the UK for awhile too. I heard ol' Harrison hurt himself doing stunts. He is a bit old for that.
I wonder if we will get more ritualising Nazis . If I had to hazard a guess filming at Cefalu has nothing to do with Crowley. We shall see....
When will Indiana Jones 5 take place?
Possibly in the 1960s, based on a tweet Mangold sent out in January 2021: “I’m mentally living in 60’s NYC right now cause that’s where all the movies I’m working on take place.”
Maybe I should start planning a vacation.
I know what I'd be doing instead of canoeing under local cliffs. 😉
@katrice If I am permitted to throw my two cents in, the subject of the occult in cinema is one of my favorite subjects for light reading and viewing. Though not a "blockbuster" my favorite Crowley inspired movies is 1973's the Legend of Hell House, written by Richard Matheson and directed by John Hough, and includes co-star, the great Roddy McDowell (one of my favs) The movie well worth watching. It is intelligently written and most important of all, has genuinely frightening scenes. The ending is a mind blower. The main "character" Emeric Belasko " who's energy haunts the mansion was based on Aleister Crowley.
the Legend of Hell House,
I am familiar with that movie. It's one of my favorites too! I love Matheson's work,and Belasco was played by legendary horror actor Michael Gough.
@katrice I agree with you, although admittedly I am not so familiar with the actor Michael Gough. On the subject of the Occult and cinema, have you ever watched the 1926 silent film, "The Magician"? Based on Sommerset Maugham' "The Magician" (I am sure you know the backstory for the character Oliver Haddo. Anyway, the actor Paul Weneger portrays the Crowley/Haddo character so well, I cannot but believe that he must have seen Aleister Crowley in person, as his mannerisms in the movie are so authentically those of Crowley (as I would imagine him to be) tall, imposing, with a bit of an arrogant swager, and exhuming a great self-confidence. If you have not already seen it, check it out.
Sorry, I meant "exude" not "exhume" Given the subject matter, it was an interesting slip of the keyboard.
@christibrany When you think about it, watching old movies in which the actors are long dead, live again at least in film. They are in a certain way ghosts on the screen, they are very much alive in that moment. The 2000 film "Shadow of the Vampire" sort of touches on that theme. Movies and cinema is a form of necromancy.
@christibrany Great! I would also recommend the German expressionistic and occult-related films, like The Golem, Faust 1926(Directed by F.W. Murnau) Faust is a particularly great film, the special effects are awesome given when it was made. If you like movies with magicians conjuring from forbidden grimoires, these films are made to order. And, yes, I would recommend you watch The Magician, 1926. It is on YouTube, and it is a pretty good print.
I agree with you, although admittedly I am not so familiar with the actor Michael Gough. On the subject of the Occult and cinema, have you ever watched the 1926 silent film, "The Magician"? Based on Sommerset Maugham' "The Magician" ( If you have not already seen it, check it out.
Michael Gough has been in dozens of movies, though he might be best known now as the guy who played Alfred in the Tim Burton Batman movies.
I've never seen the movie The Magician but I've read the book! I'll have to watch it! Thank you for the recommendation.
I've never seen the movie The Magician but I've read the book!
The book is better. In one scene a fellow catches the protagonist reading occult literature. He asked, "Aleister Crowley, I presume?"
That scene did not make it into the film. Naughty censors.
I've never seen the movie The Magician but I've read the book!
The book is better. In one scene a fellow catches the protagonist reading occult literature. He asked, "Aleister Crowley, I presume?"
That scene did not make it into the film. Naughty censors.
I've never seen the movie The Magician but I've read the book!
The book is better. In one scene a fellow catches the protagonist reading occult literature. He asked, "Aleister Crowley, I presume?"
That scene did not make it into the film. Naughty censors.
I have yet to hear someone say, "The movie is better than the book" You are talking about two totally different mediums. The film The Magician captures an era, as well as having stunningly beautiful set pieces. That is why I also recommend Murnau's Faust. Is Goethe's Faust better than the movie? Probably, but so what?
I agree with you, although admittedly I am not so familiar with the actor Michael Gough. On the subject of the Occult and cinema, have you ever watched the 1926 silent film, "The Magician"? Based on Sommerset Maugham' "The Magician" ( If you have not already seen it, check it out.
Michael Gough has been in dozens of movies, though he might be best known now as the guy who played Alfred in the Tim Burton Batman movies.
I've never seen the movie The Magician but I've read the book! I'll have to watch it! Thank you for the recommendation.
I hope you will, I think you will be delighted by it. As Halloween approaches, I think it would be fun for viewers of this blog to recommend their favorite occult-themed movie. My choice would be Rosemary's Baby, hands down the best screen adaptation of a book.
I've never seen the movie The Magician but I've read the book!
The book is better. In one scene a fellow catches the protagonist reading occult literature. He asked, "Aleister Crowley, I presume?"
That scene did not make it into the film. Naughty censors.
Just for that cut scene, the movie is worth watching. I had not read that, so I will look it up. Sounds like they were trying to avoid a lawsuit, Crowley loved suing people. When the Magician was released, Crowley was alive and well.
Don't forget that Albin Grau was a member of the Fraternitas Saturni, and he definitely did work some magick in to the movies he worked on, like the sigilized contact in Nosferatu.
Just for that cut scene, the movie is worth watching.
I agree. It was the "Crowley, I presume?" quote read to us by Frater Sol that got me to read the book. We attended the premiere of the film in glamorous Westwood, Caliph [UCLA territory].
I could find no other missing scene in the film.
@shiva I think my favorite scene in the film, (and there are many to be sure) was when the magician is in the Arabian tent with the dancing girl, sort of like the " Little Egypt" act at the Chicago World's Exposition of 1893. He claims that the horned viper (a real horned viper, not some cheesy rubber snake) if bitten, would not harm him. I don't know if Aleister Crowley ever tried anything like that, but the point is his incredible will power, to overcome even a venomous snake bite. The scene of Hell is interesting. It reminds me of Die Hexen, The Swedish silent film about Witchcraft through the Ages.
the sigilized contact in Nosferatu.
In the unlikely event that anyone here didn't know about it already.
In the unlikely event that anyone here didn't know about it already.
I saw the film, once. I do not remember this talismanic scene. I am an unlikely event.
I saw the film, once. I do not remember this talismanic scene. I am an unlikely event.
It's only onscreen briefly. It's the contract that the Jonathan Harker character hands to Count Orlok. I've read that Grau worked other things in to the set design too.
@katrice Not only do I remember it, but the back story is also fascinating. The letter from Nosferatu was based on an actual page of a grimoire kept in a Berlin library. The man who did actual graphics of the "Talisman" was none other than Hans Heinz Ewers, an early member of the Nazi party who wrote a biography about Horst Wessel. Ewers was gay and committed suicide when other party members found out. (Oddly, Ernest Roehm was also gay). I never thought that the letter from Nosferatu was a talisman, rather it is a fanciful idea of what a letter from a vampire might look like. Full of astrological and geomatric symbols.
Mr Mushroom,
I am sorry to correct you but Ewers didn't commit suicide. He got sick and died of TB. You may be thinking of another gay Nazi who did commit suicide (by freezing), Otto Rahn. And Ewers I don't think was out and out gay only, but rather one of those experimenting libertines, like Crowley for example.
As for favourite occult films, the most recent one that really caught my attention was The Dark Song.
Although it is more horror than occult, I thought Conjuring 2 had some very nice bits.
@christibrany Thank you! And you are so right! I'm glad there is another interested LASHTAL discussion member interested in the much-exaggerated occult-Nazi connections. While it is true that some early Nazis were interested in occult Germanic lore (Himmler, Karl Maria Wiligut et al) It was never an interest shared by Adolf Hitler. I am not familiar with Dark Song, or the Conjuring 2. I will have to check them out. Are you familiar with the movie Hereditary? Quite good.
@christibrany I would put it up there with The Exorcist. Not quite as graphic, but quite chilling and thought provoking.
Hans Heinz Ewers, an early member of the Nazi party
Uh-oh! Here they come again..
I never thought that the letter from Nosferatu was a talisman ...
Yeah. It could be called a Pact, Contract, Invocation-Evocation, etc. In Thelemic lingo, a Talisman is "a storehouse of power," so feel free to chose your term for a scribbled piece of parchment.
If it's a Grim-war, then it's just a Grammar, or we would call it a Liber.
I'm glad there is another interested LASHTAL discussion member interested in the much-exaggerated occult-Nazi connections.
Yes, but beware! He communicates with aliens and enjoys passing through the serpentine Tuat ... out of which he was recently shat. Oh, my Fanny Aunt, be careful.
Your term, "much-exaggerated" is noted a a subjective opinion.
Until you've digested Black Sun by Peter Moon, none of it really makes sense, except maybe The Spear of Destiny, and [remember] that your new pal, ChriSt, is a personal friend of Peter Moon.
It was never an interest shared by Adolf Hitler.
No, it never really showed up in the epic historical films, but we mustn't skip over The Thule Society and his initiation (all before things really got moving).
Returning now to Illinois Smith and Cefalu, we do find the Hun influence possibly "over-exaggerated," but Illinois Indiana films tend to magnify certain aspects that promote box-office sales.
Okay, I get the bit about the letter from Orlock was talisman. The "scribbling" seems to contain magic squares, astrological symbols and some Enochian letters. Or maybe it's just a thoughtful prop that went the extra step of being somewhat realistic. On the other subjects you mentioned, yes, I have read Black Sun, and The Occult roots of Nazism by Good-Rick Clark. The Spear of Desting is a cleverly written novel, Clark tears it apart in his book The Occult Roots of Nazism in the Appendix. Hitler was never a member of Thule, although his mentor Dietrich Eckart was. I never liked the Indiana Jones movie "Search for the Graal" The actor who played Hitler didn't look anything like him, and Nazis never burned books while a Party rally was going on, that was a separate event in 1933. Hitler thought that the research expeditions to Tibet sponsored by Henrich Himmler were a silly waste of time. I find the Indiana Jones movies to be loud and obnoxious. (Not unlike myself!)
Shiva, my mistake. I thought you went Good-Rick Clark's Black Sun, should have read your comment more carefully. Never heard of Peter Moon until now.
Shiva: Are you taking about Trevor Ravencroft's The Spear of Destiny? Or some other author's work?
The Spear of Desting is a cleverly written novel
Are you taking about Trevor Ravencroft's The Spear of Destiny? Or some other author's work?
I have absorbed them all. I don't remember the authors' names. I just correlated the data for 40 years, then I wrote my own [chapter] a while ago. Here. It is free.
https://mega.nz/file/RNYRRYKI#yGXKhiIhBDFGZQ7mZxxoiUOgXB7gQoPG7xLuq0hdYXk
@shiva LOL! I loved your essay/article. You summarize Ravenscroft's The Spear of Destiny quite succinctly, with all the supposed major players. If you have a copy of The Occult Roots of Nazism by Nicholas Goodrick-Clark, be sure to read APPENDIX E The Modern Mythology of Nazi Occultism, pp 217-225, he totally makes a fool of Ravenscroft's quasi-history. Don't get me wrong, I think The S. of D is an entertaining read and does have a certain plausibility to it. Dietrich Eckart was not an Occult Master who initiated Hitler into the "DARK FORCES" He was an alcoholic writer, newspaper editor, and had connections with well-heeled Bavarian citizens. The quote from The S. of D., supposedly uttered by Dietrich Eckhart "Follow Hitler, he will dance. But I will call the tune I have initiated him into higher consciousness" is utter Bull Crap. I'll get into the conspiracy theory that General Patton was the victim of a Soviet assassination plot some other time.
If you have a copy of The Occult Roots of Nazism by ...
Thank you for the reference related to further mental activity. I do not have a copy of any Naz Isms. I see that I have failed to state my state in stated terms that register.
I'll get into the conspiracy theory that General Patton was the victim of a Soviet assassination plot some other time.
You are citing "facts" about things here and there. I don't care about these, and I don't care about the absolute integrity of words writ by Frater Shiva. I prefer to stand back and watch the cause-and-effect holo-drama. A lineage of talismanic holders demonstrates a wave of Malkuthian dominance, along the line of folks who die when they lose their lance ... ending with Patton.
He took personal possession of the spearhead, then he gave it away ... then he died. When I, or you, or Patton die/dies/died, I/we/him are not interested in who-dunnit, but rather with re-orienting what's left (if any) and getting into the Primary Clear Light.
The Clear Light says this is the Jones in Cefalu thread. I find it interesting that the name Jones is seen (often?) in Thelemic lineage readings, and here it is again in ~1942 as he fights the Naz. Since he's always fighting the Naz (please be reminded of York Ignant), I guess it's only proper that the recurring subject be brought up again.
Any time any recurring subject gets mentioned (the Power of a single written or spoken WORD), such as Naz, RTC, Aiwass, Cairo, that sort of thing, it (the Word) evokes an immediate response of differing details (the devilish division is always in the details). This is why certain words (mostly sexual, toilet, or bloody oriented) are prohibited in polite society. People who wish to draw attention to themselves utter these words in polite society, and on certain forum threads.
Today's keyword, writ bold this cheery morn, which brings us back on-topic, is Cefalu. Why Cefalu? I never wanted to go there. What would Crowley think?
@shiva I know a movie that encompasses everything you are referring to: Dr. Phibes Rises Again. Lots of Egypto-mystical stuff going on. I am sure there are plenty of other things to do in Cefalu besides rummaging around a broken-down old house that is now a Mecca for thelemite zealots. I don't think Crowley would mind if you avoided it.
Nazis never burned books while a Party rally was going on, that was a separate event in 1933.
That must be the silliest argument I ever heard for not liking an Indiana Jones film. I hope you try not to intend that the Nazis were not "so evil to burn books at a party rally." All the while talking about a film that took quite some liberties with facts itself.
@the_real_simon_iff Silly or not, I still hated the movie. Historical inaccuracies like book burnings during a Nazi rally are the wet dreams of a Spielbergian mentality. I hated Schindler's List also.
I am not surprised. Good you enjoy the historical accuracies of The Magician.