Phantasmaphile

New Site!

Have a look at my sparkling new web site - just in time for the End of Days!  I'll still be blogging here per usual, just needed one place to house my various experiments and adventures.  Big thanks to Michelle Enemark for her beautiful design and dear patience.  And a very Happy Solstice to you and yours. 

Arthur, again

While I excitedly posted about Arthur's rise from the ashes here already, I feel compelled to crow about it again, having just finished reading my copy of the new issue last night.  First, let's talk content.  It manages to pack an impressively powerful punch in 16 (giant) pages, with pieces about occult ritual artist Frank Haines, oneiric comicsmith Rick Veitch, and Philly fingerpicking legend Jack Rose.  It also brings back old favorites, like Nance Klem's Weedeater column, Byron Coley & Thurston Moore's ars obscura reviews, and writing by the Center for Tactical Magic.  One of the barometers for me re: how much I'm enjoying reading something is how many notes it makes me take.  By the time I was done with this issue, I had a list 15 bullets long, with names of albums and books to check out, phrases I dug, and insights I was brought to.  Arthur is as inspiring as ever, to put it mildly.

Looks-and-feelwise, it's a beaut.  Released on newspaper in gembright ink and illustrated by today's finest fringe-gilders, it reminds us why print is still king.  Arthur in its new form is big and bold and wonderful to hold in your hands, preferably while accompanied by a mug full of tea and a lap full of felines.  Order your copy here.  

Ben Blatt prints

Ben Blatt  "Ice Medallion"  2012

Need some last minute holiday gifts for your lucky loved ones?  Then look no further than Ben Blatt's newly released selection of limited edition prints.  In his work, the spheres of natural history, sci-fi, and fantasy are nested inside each other, creating a wondrous new space that's fecund with bejeweled plantlife and miniature vistas.  It's a bit Buckminster Fuller meets Bosch.  Or Rousseau meets Lewis Carroll.  Best part is, the prints range between $100-$185 - perfectly reasonable rates for such rare beauty.  (There are more available that are not shown on his site, some for as low as $85, so do drop him an email to see what he has left.)

"Witches and Wicked Bodies" Exhibition

William Blake  "The Whore of Babylon" 1809

I've been saying for a while now that 2013 will be The Year of the Witch, and am actually in the process of exploring this more extensively through a few other projects which I'll be announcing here at some point soon.  In the meantime, it gives me no small amount of pleasure when I see further evidence of this, as in the "Witches and Wicked Bodies" exhibition that will be opening next year at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.  The show will be a comprehensive collection of witch imagery in fine art through the ages, and it sounds just delicious:

Witches and Wicked Bodies

• 27th July − 3rd November 2013
• Modern Two (Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) | £7 (£5)

Delve into the world of Witches and Wicked Bodies in this major new exhibition coming in summer 2013.

Discover how witches and witchcraft have been depicted by artists over the past 500 years, including works by Albrecht Dürer, Francisco de Goya and William Blake, plus pieces by 20th century artists such as Paula Rego and Kiki Smith.

Through 16th and 17th century prints and drawings, learn how the advent of the printing press allowed artists and writers to share ideas, myths and fears about witches from country to country.

Including major works on load from the British Museum, the National Gallery (London), Tate, the Victoria & Albert Museum, as well as works from the Galleries’ own collections, Witches and Wicked Bodies will be an investigation of extremes, exploring the highly exaggerated ways in which witches have been represented, from hideous hags to beautiful seductresses.

I have plans to travel to the UK next year, so I hope the timing will somehow work out so I can see this in person.

Thank you, Jordan Rockford, for making sure I knew about this! 

Quadrivium Oils

I was recently sent some sample oils from Quadrivium Supplies, and I could not be happier with them.  The ones I received are: Crown of Success, Road Opener, Money Drawing, Van Van, and Cut & Clear.  I'm extremely impressed by both their craftsmanship and their efficacy - and it must be said, they smell amazing!  Here's some more information about them:

Quadrivium Supplies, Inc. is a producer and distributor of supplies for ritual magicians. Our main product is Quadrivium Oils™, which are hand-made ritual oils, created according to the lunar calendar and planetary hours. Certain oils are electional, created at times determined by an expert astrologer trained in this discipline.

Each Quadrivium Oil™ is hand made, sealed, labeled, and packaged securely in a sealed bag with an insert that provides information about that particular oil, known or potential allergens/irritants in the oil, and other useful information. The oils are made with entirely natural ingredients, without chemicals, synthetics, or solvents.

Quadrivium Oils™ are sold directly to consumers through this website, and via wholesale or consignment to retail stores. If you're interested in purchasing one of our oils direct, please visit the oil index. If you are are interested in purchasing our oils for a retail establishment, please visit our wholesale information. There is a list of online and brick-and-mortar stores that carry our oils here.

We are always happy to interact with our customers on our Facebook page, our Twitter account, and the Quadrivium Supplies Blog.

I'm nearly out of the Crown of Success oil, as it's been my go-to for making spell bags and magick baths.  Cut & Clear was perfect for Samhain, and helped me start the new year by releasing what was no longer needed.  And you can bet after this season of holiday gift giving, I'll be getting more use out of the Money Drawing oil to help refill the old coffers!

Speaking of which, these oils would make perfect presents for your loved ones or yourself.  Many thanks to Quadrivium for sending these my way. 

Jungwook Kim

Jungwook Kim  2012

There's something riveting about Jungwook Kim's Korean ink drawings.  Her creatures are angelic and alien at once, part Renaissance icon and part Gigerian.  I wish I could get to her Seoul gallery, Skape, to commune with them in person, and swap secrets.  Her show of new work is up until Janurary 11th.  

And thank you, Ann McCoy, for the heads up.

Nostradamus Talk at Observtory!

Just a reminder that there will be a an excellent talk at Observatory on Thursday night about fascinating French seer, Nostradamus:

Apocalypse Now? The Lure of Nostradamus in Modern Times

 

An Illustrated Lecture with Stéphane Gerson, Associate Professor of French Studies at NYU

Date: Thursday, December 13th
Time: 8pm
Admission: $10
Presented by Phantasmaphile

All of us are familiar with the name Nostradamus, but who was he really? Why did his predictions become so influential in the Renaissance and then persist for nearly five centuries? And what does Nostradamus’ endurance in the West say about us and our own world?  Alone among French prophets and astrologers, Nostradamus and his puzzling quatrains have resurfaced in one historical crisis after another.  Whenever we seem to enter a new era, whenever the premises of our worldview are questioned or imperiled, they offer certainty and solace.

NYU historian Stéphane Gerson grew interested in Nostradamus in the wake of 9/11 and then undertook extensive research in Europe and the U.S.  In this talk, he will situate Michel de Nostredame in his world and then trace the singular posterity of his prophecies until they became our modern Gospel of Doom.  He will explain why so many people have gravitated toward his quatrains and suggest that we reconsider Nostradamus as a creature of the modern West rather than some antidilluvian relic.  Ultimately, the Nostradamus phenomenon tells us more about our past and our present than it does about the future.

Stéphane Gerson is a cultural historian of modern France and the author of Nostradamus: How an Obscure Renaissance Astrologer Became the Modern Prophet of Doom (St. Martin’s Press, 2012).  He is also the editor of a new edition of Nostradamus’s Prophecies for Penguin Classics. An associate professor of French Studies at NYU, Gerson has won several awards, including the Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History and the Laurence Wylie Prize in French Cultural Studies. Gerson lives in Manhattan and Woodstock, NY, with his family.

Come prepare for the end of the world!  Looking forward to seeing you there.

Aleister Crowley show

Aleister Crowley  "The Moon" Study for the tarot card 1921

Love him or loathe him, there's no question that Aleister Crowley has had a huge impact on the esoteric world.  Though best known as a writer, ceremonialist, and highly controversial and influential occult leader, he also dabbled in visual arts.  Australian readers can currently see some of this work in "The Nightmare Paintings: Aleister Crowley" up now at Buratti Fine Art through February 28th, 2013:

The Nightmare Paintings: Aleister Crowley is a rare exhibition of original paintings and works on paper created by the artist during his period at the Abbey of Thelema in Cefalu Sicily, 1920 - 1923.

Previously exhibited as part of the Traces du Sacred exhibition at the Pompidou Centre and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, it comprises work from Crowley's three areas of focus: portraiture, landscape and magical or trance paintings, providing a rare glimpse into Crowley's most active period as a painter and an insight into the unique ideas which have long remained ignored by the mainstream art establishment.

With curatorial support from Marco Pasi (Amsterdam University) and Giuseppe Di Liberti (Palermo University, Sicily), The Nightmare Paintings is presented in Australia by Buratti Fine Art  and will tour Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.

Though I'd describe his artistic skill as enthusiastic at best, these works are nonetheless fascinating artifacts from Crowley's dense interior landscape.

Rik Garrett's Magical Calendar

Rik Garrett  "January/Lilith" detail

Well this is exciting news.  Esoteric photographer extraordinaire, Rik Garrett, is creating a magical calendar series for 2013, after the gobsmacking De Croze/Orazi Calendrier Magique.  He'll be releasing each month's very limited edition print on the second Friday of the previous month.  These will sure to be highly prized collector's items, so I would snap these up if I were you, posthaste:

Inspired by the astounding Calendrier Magique, created by Austin De Croze and Manuel Orazi to document the year in magic for 1897, I am releasing a limited number of specially created prints each month for the year of 2013.

2013 is the perfect year for this project, immediately following the "apocalypse" that has been the topic of much debate.  As "apocalypse" means "the lifting of the veil," I look forward to depicting a post-apocalyptic world of mystery and secret knowledge passed down through the ages.

Images will be composed of photographs that I have taken, retouched via photocollage and other mixed media approaches.  Prints will be museum quality archival inkjet reproductions, signed and numbered in very small editions.

I will be releasing information regarding each monthly image on the third Friday of each month, at which point the limited number of prints will be immediately available.  Those who have purchased prints in the series previously will have access the the purchase information one day early, in order to assist those attempting to collect the entire year's worth of images.

Each month's print will be made available on the second Friday of the previous month.  In order to account for the holidays, the January print is planned to be released one week early, on December 7th.

Each print will be 13x19 inches, printed as an archival inkjet print on rag photo paper with no optical brighteners, signed and numbered in very limited editions.  The price of each print is planned to be $200 USD.

January's Lilith print will be limited to a very small edition of only 13.  In order to assist those who wish to collect the entire year's worth of prints, those who purchase any print will have early access to purchase others throughout the year.  For example, if you purchase the January print, you will have the ability to purchase the February print one day before the general public.

As an additional bonus, anyone collecting the entire year's calendar will also receive for free an additional 13th print not available for purchase otherwise.  

If you wish to be notified of the release of the first print, please send an email to rikgarrett@gmail.com with the subject "magical calendar."  

For regular updates, follow my blog.

Once again, January's print is being released TODAY, so definitely drop him a line ASAP if you'd like to be one of the lucky owners.

In unrelated but also crucially important December 7th news:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my glorious wonder of a husband, Matt Freeman!  I love you, my silly, brilliant darling.

Panos Tsagaris show

Panos Tsagaris  "Behold Thy Soul is a Living Star" diptych 2012

Panos Tsagaris has a new show up at Athens' Kalfayan Galleries entitled "Clothed with the Sun."  As with his earlier work, it features esoteric imagery made from photocopies gilded in 23 karat gold.  But this time around, the resonance between his chosen medium and the Greek economic crisis gives the work even more complexity:

Panos Tsagaris
“Clothed With The Sun”

Kalfayan Galleries (11 Haritos Str., Kolonaki, Athens)
Duration: 22 November 2012– 5 January 2013

Opening hours: Monday, Saturday 10.00 - 15.00 | Tuesday – Friday 10.00 - 20.00

Kalfayan Galleries are pleased to announce the solo exhibition of Panos Tsagaris
titled “Clothed with the Sun”, at the Athens gallery space (11 Haritos Street, Kolonaki,
Athens). The opening is on Thursday, 22 November 2012, from 20.00 to 22.00.

In his second Athens solo show Panos Tsagaris resumes his exploration into the occult and
mysticism. Fundamental in this new series of works on paper and newspaper is the use of
gold, whose symbolic powers and multifaceted connotations are appropriated each time as a
medium to comment on existential, cultural or socio-economical issues.

Integral part of his artistic practice is his vast collection of mystical and spiritual books
(first editions), mainly from the period between 1880 and 1930, the so-called ‘second
occult revival period’. In his new series of triptychs, the artist juxtaposes photographs with
excerpts from books in his collection. By covering or under laying parts of the text with gold-
leaf, Tsagaris re-contextualizes knowledge and comments on the mechanisms of perception.
Furthermore, during the last three years, the artist has been collecting newspapers that
deal with the ‘Greek crisis’. Using gold again, he intervenes on the pages of the newspaper,
creating a dialogue between a contemporary medium of mass communication with a
material-symbol of the Human Conscience.

Works that are inspired by the myth of Osiris also reflect this relationship between the
material aspect of human existence and the divine part of the soul. According to the myth,
Osiris was resurrected as the god of the Underworld, after his wife Isis gathered together
the scattered parts of his dead body, which had been torn into pieces by his brother Set.
Inspired by this myth, Tsagaris made a plaster cast of his body, which he then broke into
pieces and photographed them, signifying by this act our disconnection from our divine
nature and the beginning of the process of restoring the divine body within us.

In the abstract works titled ‘The ReUnion’, Tsagaris undertakes the subject of the
ascendance to a higher form of consciousness through the fragmentation of the ego.

The visitor is invited to an inner mystical journey aiming at the restoration of the bond
between the material aspect of human existence and the divine part of the soul. 

As some of you may recall, I had the honor of featuring Tsagaris' work in my 2011 show, "Alchemically Yours".  It's wonderful to see what he's been up to since.  The gritty xeroxes and gleaming gold leafing are a startingly beautiful and affecting sacred/profane dichotomy to behold in person, so I highly encourage lucky Athenians to view them as soon as possible.

Robin Rose Bennett

In celebratory news, this past weekend, I graduated from my 3-year herbalism apprenticeship with green witch, writer, and wisewoman, Robin Rose Bennett.  Having Robin as my teacher has revivified my life in countless ways.  She's taught me how to heal myriad physical ailments naturally, grown my knowledge of rituals and magick-making, and inspired me to start teaching my own classes as well.  Though my time as a student in her circle has come to a close, I know in my bones she'll continue to be an important mentor and friend for me moving forward.  I can't recommend her more highly, whether you are looking to increase your knowledge about plants, your intuition, or your connection to the spiritual realm at large.  She is a wonder.  Warm and wise, fierce and tender, she's exactly the kind of woman the planet needs more of. 

Intrigued?  Then do take a class with her at the Open Center here in NYC.  Her Herbal Alternatives to Antibiotics class is coming up in January, and she offers other classes throughout the year.  I also adore her book, Healing Magic: A Green Witch Guidebook to Conscious Living, and her moon and ocean meditation CDs.  They are all perfect gifts, whether for someone you know or for your dear self.  And of course, if you get hooked on her style of viridescent enchantment, there's always the 3-year apprenticeship to consider.