“Why do you think it does work? It’s not as if any of this stuff is true.” “Maybe devils love ritual as much as people do,” she said.
China Miéville, The Last Days of New Paris: A Novel [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library]
Tag Archives: Surrealism
Surrealism and the Occult
Surrealism and the Occult: Occultism and Western Esotericism in the Work and Movement of André Breton by Tessel M Bauduin, due in December from Amsterdam University Press, may be of interest.
“This book offers a new perspective on a long-debated issue: the role of the occult in surrealism, in particular under the leadership of French writer André Breton. Based on thorough source analysis, this study details how our understanding of occultism and esotericism, as well as of their function in Bretonian surrealism, changed significantly over time from the early 1920s to the late 1950s.”
Events at Treadwell’s through June, 2014
Here is a selection from the upcoming events at Treadwell’s Books in London for through June, 2014, which may be of interest.
Surrealism, Satanism and Witchcraft
16 May 2014
Dan ZamaniSurrealism celebrated Satan and the witch as powerful agents of social rebellion, and tonight’s speaker argues their inspiration came from Jules Michelet’s 1862 book La Sorciere, which was violently anti-Catholic as well as shockingly erotic. Some women Surrealists confidently cast themselves as witches, and the talk looks at three of them: Dorothea Tanning, Leonor Fini and Leonora Carrington. Dan Zamani is completing his PhD in art history at Cambridge; he returns to Treadwells by popular demand.
Price: £7
Time: 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start
Crowley’s Liber Nu
23 May 2014
Bob SteinTonight a longstanding magical practitioner of Thelemic magic examines one of Crowley’s most magnificent ritual texts, Liber Nu (‘The Book of Nuit’, a rite for attainment of the Goddess Nuit) and relates the extraordinary experience of preparing and then performing the rite at Gosse’s Bluff in Central Australia. He goes on to interpret Liber Nu as Crowley’s “how to write and do a high magic ritual.” Bob Stein has been a member of O.T.O. since 1983 and has been involved with the organisation since then in a range of capacities.
Price: £7
Time: 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start
Abraxas 5 Launch Party
30 May 2014Please join us for to celebrate Issue Five of Abraxas, the journal of esoteric studies issued jointly by Fulgur Ltd and Treadwell’s. We will have fascinating people, art, poetry and short talks. This issue has contributors worldwide on surreailsm, the Fellowship of Isis, Platonism, spirit-summoning, David Blank of the famed Oracle Magazine, an occult manuscript, Peladan, Bertiaux, and the wonderful ancient gods Antinous and Glykon.
Free, but please RSVP to [email protected]
Time: 7pm to 9:30pm. Short talks at 7:45pm
Elias Ashmole: London’s Forgotten Adept
2 June 2014
Ruth ClydesdaleElias Ashmole (1617–1692) is famed for founding the first public museum, the Ashmolean, a fact that overshadowed his importance in the history of occultism. He was the astrological advisor to Charles II, an early freemason, an alchemical secret-holder. He collected rare esotericism texts and even saved a fellow astrologer from the gallows. Tonight revives him from obscurity, celebrating his secret life. Ruth Clydesdale is a writer and astrologer with interest in the history of astrology and its links to magic, alchemy and art.
Price: £7
Time: 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start
Walking Tour: Occult London
7 June 2014 (and again on July 5th)
Delienne ForgetLondon’s secret occult history comes alive as you traipse the cobblestone streets of the West End, and you learn the secrets behind some of the area’s past magicians, witches and sorcerers: some famous, some infamous. Delianne Forget is a London registered Blue Badge Guide with a solid grounding in London history. A white witch herself, she also knows her cauldron potions from her good-luck charms. These tours return after a two year hiatus, due to popular demand.
Price: £10
Time: 2pm to 5pm, starting at a central London tube station. Look for the lady in the witch hat.
Aleister Crowley on Rock’n’Roll
19 June 2014Join us for a summer party to celebrate the launch of Gary Lachman’s new book: Aleister Crowley’s influence on rock-and-roll giants from the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, to Black Sabbath and Blondie, of which Lachman was a founding member. Gary will give an informal talk for about 20 minutes at about 7:45, and as ever we give most of the evening over to socialising, book-signing and gentle revelry. Please join us.
Free, but please RSVP to [email protected]
Time: Come anytime 7pm – 9:30pm. Short talk at 7:45.
Love Magic in Seventeenth-century England
20 June 2014
Alexander CumminsThis talk explores the occult theories and magical practices which grasped both the divinity and madness of love. Al Cummins takes us into the world of elemental humours, psychological notions of the passions, and the spiritual and physical mysteries of the heart. We will delve into the love magicians’ toolkit, examining means of seduction: from aphrodisiac herbs to conjuring matchmaking spirits … and onto bindings, leashes, and “erotic malefic” workings. A vibrant speaker, Alexander Cummins recently completed his PhD from Bristol: he is an historian of early modern magic, astrology and the passion. He is also a professional poet.
Price: £7
Time: 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start
And, Treadwell’s comes to New York!
New York City — The Night of the Witch
25 June 2014Two illustrated lectures on witchcraft in a vibrant double-bill. Witch Pictures — Pam Grossman and British Witchcraft — Christina Oakley Harrington.
Witch Pictures — Pam Grossman
The witch burst into Western art in the late 15th century and never left: the likes of Durer, Fuseli, Goya, and Blake used the image of magical women to titillate their patrons or reflect their own anxieties — with results both grotesque and beguiling. Then in the 19th century women took up the brush to create works inspired by personal occult experiences, reclaiming the witch, and we see a female ‘witchcraft’ in action in Abstraction, Surrealism, Modernism, making a corner of art history where craft and Craft are one and the same.
British Witchcraft — the Fifties to the Seventies — Christina Oakley Harrington
British Witchraft revived in the 1950s and 1960s. To the horror and fascination of the English press and public, some of these witches gave interviews and even allowed secret rites to be photographed. They wanted the world to know a non-Christian basis of ethics, a radical concept of the sacred, and the power of altered states of consciousness. Both tradition-based and forward-thinking, they were paradoxical yet compelling. Tonight’s speaker comes from the UK Wiccan community, and brings these characters to life and shares insights into their vision of the Craft.
Pam Grossman is the Brooklyn-based guiding spirit of Phantasmaphile, and was co-host of the 2013 Occult Humanities Conference at NYU. Christina Oakley Harrington is founder of London’s famed Treadwells Bookshop and a former academic; she also co-edits Abraxas Journal and gives occasional lectures.
Venue: New York City’s META Center, 214 W 29th Street. The talks will be followed by an informal social at a nearby restaurant: all are invited.
Tickets through Brown Paper Tickets
Time: 7pm – 9pm
Events at Treadwell’s for November and December, 2013
Here is a selection from the upcoming events at Treadwell’s Books in London for November and December, 2013, which may be of interest.
Treadwell’s Halloween Party
1 November 2013 (Friday)Honouring the Feast of Samhain
Friends and customers are warmly invited to our pagan Hallowe’en party, to remember the ancestors, the sacred dead, and to celebrate witches and ghosts in the ancient way – with jollity, music and convivial gathering. Come along! We will have a toast to the spirits, along with a short attunement, at 8pm, and general merriment through the evening. One free drink to everyone who comes wearing a witches’ hat.
FREE but you must contact us to be added to guest list (phone or ring)
Time: From 7pm to 11 pm
Spare: One Man Play
21-22, 29-30 November 2013
John ConstableLondon artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare (1886–1956) comes alive in this new one-man play. Set in the artist’s studio at the Elephant and Castle on the night of a Blitz bombing, it shows Spare growing old in poverty, yet fiercely committed to his vision. In the course of the night, a rogue sigil unleashes unpredictable consequences. This ‘play conceived as an act of magic’, performed by the author, is both an homage to AOS and a playful exploration of Constable’s own esoteric work to ‘set us free from ourselves.’ John Constable is a poet, playwright and magical practitioner best-known for The Southwark Mysteries, and for his acclaimed stage adaptation of Gormenghast. Previous solo shows include I Was An Alien Sex God (‘mind-blowingly weird’ The Independent). Premiere performances last Spring were sold out, and received acclaim.
Price: £10
Time: Doors 7pm, for a 7:30 start
Slenderman: Fight Fiction with Fiction
25 November 2013 (Monday)
Ian ‘Cat’ VincentSlenderman is a truly modern monster. Born barely four years ago in an internet Photoshop competition, this suit-clad faceless entity rapidly spawned a complex mythology online, in photo manipulations, shared-universe videos and games. Terms like ‘tulpa’ (thought-form) were used, and soon people were reporting sightings in the real world. If this being truly is crossing over from the imaginary realm, how does one fight it? Ian ‘Cat’ Vincent is a lifelong student of the occult, interested in pop-culture symbolism as the ‘hyper-real’ mythology of our times. Tonight he talks about Slenderman as an ideal target for pop-culture and post-modern magical approaches. Cat is a Fortean journalist whose work is in the Darklore and Apocalyptic Imaginary anthologies, and is a contributing editor to Daily Grail.
Price: £7
Time: 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start
Remedios Varo: Magic and the Goddess
4 December 2013 (Wednesday)
Daniel ZamaniRemedios Varo was a leading figure in the Surrealist avant-garde. But she was also an occultist interested in alchemy, astrology, tarot and the Goddess.Tonight we meet this remarkable practitioner, focussing on how Varo used Holy Grail imagery as an icon for female empowerment and pagan re-enchantment. Tonight’s speaker argues that we should recognise Varo’s contributions to 20th century female esotericism and to revived matriarchal goddess worship – and look deeply into into the messages in her art and life. Join us! Daniel Zamani is a doctoral candidate at Cambridge, working on on occultism and magic in Surrealism. In 2013, Dan was main editor of the Abraxas special issue and is currently co-organising a forthcoming major conference on occultism and visual culture.
Price: £7
Time: 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start
The Occultation of Surrealism
“The Occultation of Surrealism: A Study of the Relationship between Bretonian Surrealism and Western Esotericism” by Tessel Bauduin of the University of Amsterdam, is a thesis paper that may be of interest.
