The artwork and design of this issue was created by Mustafa al-Laylah. This is the fourth and final element of a full series of covers which has spanned the entire year. The cover design of this issue is the upper left quadrant from the full set of covers this year which can be combined to make a larger image, a collectable poster that combines the elements of all four seasons. The upper left quadrant, in this case, being related to a position on the wheel of the year and the typical correspondences between this time of year, this Summer season, and various things associated such as magical weapon, element, zodiac, cherub and so on. Mustafa has done a great job in combining various correspondences into a compelling and interesting image for this cover, and we now get to see the last part from the whole series of images finally revealed.
“This is part of a series of covers for 2013 EV which can be put together in the form of a quadripartite mandala signifying a variation of the classic “Wheel of the Year”. Each of these offerings contains elements of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim symbolism as a means of addressing the fact that each of the Abrahamic traditions has been affected/used by Hermeticism and/or the Western Esoteric Tradition, and, conversely, that each of these faiths in turn has also been affected by the magical or occult practitioners within its own ranks.
The Islamic tiles for instance were picked in order to communicate a vibrancy and motion to the piece with its harmoniously structured patterning while throughout the image is embedded the texture of various types of woods which imparts notions of stability and organicity.
A spectral wash of color (as in “related to the colors of the rainbow”, but also perhaps denoting a supernatural component) has been overlaid on the cover and set to a very low opacity. This in part refers to the Atziluthic root of color as used in the “King Scale” and is a technique I’ve used often even though the results are extremely subtle.
Also, the zodiacal bestiary that relates to the cardinal signs (and thus the solstices and equinoxes) will be included on each. In this instance the goat for Capricorn. Additionally, each cover will include (set into some object) a magical weapon appropriate to the element of the sign involved. In [Winter] the disk with a radiant Earth Hexagram is embedded into a wooden door. The Spring edition will have a Wand, the Summer – a Cup, and Fall the dagger/sword.” [via]
Mustafa al-Laylah (Fr. NRSYH) is an experimental, ceremonial magician who has lived in and loved the city of Dallas since the late eighties. Since that time he has colluded with a number of unusual groups that have been instrumental in shaping the cultural underground of that city. Some of these include the Hot Tub Mystery Religion, the Ordo Templi Orientis, the Illuminates of the Order of Thanateros, the Holy Moorish Orthodox Church of America, the Hazy Daze Collectif, and the Invisible College of Esoteric Disc Jockeys to name a few. He currently serves as the master of Bubastis Oasis and member of the Baphomet Rose+Croix Chapter (OTO-USGL), an ordained and active priest of Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, as well as a co-founder of the Khalwat-i-Khidr Lodge of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America/Moorish League. It is advisable that you should avoid prolonged contact with him if you value an overdeveloped sense of self-importance or have any suspiciously good-looking friends.
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Hermetic Library Anthology Project – Magick Music and Ritual 9
