The Art of the Occult: A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic (1) (Art in the Margins)

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The Seventy-Two Goetia Sigils from The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King by S.L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Hanegraaff, Wouter (2006). "Occult/Occultism". In Wouter Hanegraaff (ed.). Dictionary of Gnosis and Western Esotericism. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp.884–889. ISBN 978-90-04-15231-1. One of the most prominent ways in which the occult was used in Renaissance art was through the use of symbols and imagery. Many of the symbols used in Renaissance art were derived from occult sources, such as astrology, alchemy, and the Kabbalah. These symbols were often used to convey hidden meanings and to evoke a sense of mystery and power. For example, the use of the pentagram was often used to represent the five elements of nature, while the use of the eye was often used to represent the all-seeing eye of God. Represents the seven days of creation. In Islam, it represents the first seven verses of the Quran. It is the symbol of Babalon in Thelema. In Wicca, it is known as the Elven Star, Fairy Star or Septagram. Another Artist bringing Occult symbology into the visual Arts was Johfra Bosschart. Born in 1919 in Rotterdam as Franciscus Johannes Gijsbertus van den Berg or better known just as Johfra the Dutch Surrealist described his own work as “Surrealism based on studies of psychology, religion, the Bible, astrology, antiquity, magic, witchcraft, mythology and occultism”. The Artist's Zodiac series of paintings and later works are a mixture of a unique organic surrealism and and epic occult symbolism.

For the Symbolists, esoteric knowledge was a means of accessing the scope of the mind and the quintessence beyond appearances. And fin-de-siècle Paris had no shortage of material: Edmond Bailly’s Librairie de l’art indépendant (Bookshop of Independent Art), established in 1888, became a central meeting point for Symbolist artists and writers and for the discussion of occult topics, while Lucien Chamuel’s Librairie du merveilleux (Bookshop of the Marvellous) was popular with mystics and scholars. Theosophy was particularly influential. Founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and her colleagues in New York in 1875, the Theosophical Society aimed to distil common elements from the world’s religions and esoteric traditions and establish an essential, universal understanding. The idea of fundamental principles that could bridge East and West, Christ and the Buddha, was immensely attractive to a number of artists – particularly in a context of colonial expansion, which aroused interest in similarities as well as in differences. The artist Odilon Redon was amongst those who frequented Bailly’s bookshop. Engaged in Theosophy – particularly Édouard Schuré’s comparative studies of religious prophets – as well as Buddhist and Indian philosophy, Redon realized numerous depictions of religious figures that evade traditional iconography and narratives. He focused instead on themes of light, death and introspection, as in The Death of Buddha (c.1899) and The Sacred Heart (The Buddha) (c.1906), which was closely based on an 1895 drawing the artist had made of Christ and then renamed. Adopted by modern occultists and Satanists. Theistic Satanists may worship it as a deity or demon, while atheistic Satanists see it as a metaphorical symbol. The goat-headed Baphomet image seen here is a 19 th-century drawing made by Eliphas Levi as a metaphorical symbol from Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie. It was not originally created as a Satanic symbol or a deity. See also: Sigil of Baphomet and Statue of Baphomet. The eye of God within a triangle, representing the Holy Trinity, and surrounded by holy light, representing His omniscience.

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By Chris Occult Uncategorized March 13, 2023 The Satanic and Occult-Inspired Art of the Pre-Renaissance Period

The influence of the occult on the Surrealist movement was profound. It provided the movement with a source of inspiration and a way to explore the unconscious mind. The incorporation of occult symbols and imagery into their works, as well as their exploration of the marvelous, helped to shape the movement and its legacy. The Role of the Occult in the Art of the Renaissance The breath of dark symbolic Art is vast and we have only chosen a few areas where symbol has directly intertwined with the Dark Artists we admire. The Occult or Hidden arts require a natural fascination.. an interest in the Dark part of our nature we so often overlook. Occult Symbol A serpent or dragon consuming its own tail, it is a symbol of infinity, unity, and the cycle of death and rebirth. Peter requested to be crucified upside down, as he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ.

Occult Symbolism in Dark Art

And it’s not just historical artists who are having a moment. At New York University’s 80WSE Gallery in 2016, writer and practitioner Pam Grossman curated Language of the Birds: Occult and Art, an in-depth exploration of more than 60 modern and contemporary artists who engage with magical practice. Among them was Indian painter Rithika Merchant (b. 1986), a mid-career artist with a climbing presence, according to Limna. Merchant’s visionary paintings and collages are inspired by folklore, universal and natural motifs, and comparative mythology – stories that span across cultures. Jodorowsky's films have had a major influence on the surrealist and avant-garde movements, and he is considered a pioneer of the midnight movie genre. Some of his most famous films include "El Topo" (1970), "The Holy Mountain" (1973), and "Santa Sangre" (1989). In addition to his work in film, Jodorowsky has also been a successful author, publishing numerous books on spiritual, occult and philosophical subjects. Sacred Geometry Victoria Jenkins: There is a file from the archive of art critic and historian Joseph Paul Hodin which contains astrological horoscope charts and palm prints relating to Austrian artist, Oskar Kokoschka. Hodin turned to occult techniques as a strategy for biographical research, using the prints and charts in a process of character analysis he referred to as ‘psychography’. There are particular motifs that artists have turned to, for example, the witch, who, of course, has now been adopted as a feminist figure and appears in the work of artists such as Kiki Smith as a celebration of the outcasts of a patriarchal society.