The Art of the Occult

A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic

S. Elizabeth

• Publisher: Frances Lincoln
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780711254169
• Topic: Arte
• Subtopic: Arte religioso

A visual feast of eclectic artwork informed and inspired by spiritual beliefs, magical techniques, mythology and otherworldly experiences. Mystical beliefs and practices have existed for millennia, but why do we still chase the esoteric? From the beginning of human creativity itself, image-makers have been drawn to these unknown spheres and have created curious artworks that transcend time and place – but what is it that attracts artists to these magical realms? From theosophy and kabbalah, to the zodiac and alchemy; spiritualism and ceremonial magic, to the elements and sacred geometry – The Art of the Occult introduces major occult themes and showcases the artists who have been influenced and led by them. Discover the symbolic and mythical images of the Pre-Raphaelites; the automatic drawing of Hilma af Klint and Madge Gill; Leonora Carrington 's surrealist interpretation of myth, alchemy and kabbalah; and much more. Featuring prominent, marginalised and little-known artists, The Art of the Occult crosses mystical spheres in a bid to inspire and delight. Divided into thematic chapters (The Cosmos, Higher Beings, Practitioners), the book acts as an entertaining introduction to the art of mysticism – with essays examining each practice and over 175 artworks to discover. The art of the occult has always existed in the margins but inspired the masses, and this book will spark curiosity in all fans of magic, mysticism and the mysterious.

PART ONE

THE COSMOS

Fol.38r The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac and the Sun

Matfre Ermengaut, 13th century, vellum.

‘Creativity is that marvellous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition.’

— MAX ERNST

‘OUR FEEBLEST CONTEMPLATIONS OF THE Cosmos stir us,’ declared scientist Carl Sagan, ‘there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.’

Lift your eyes up into the vast sky: the sun’s dazzling rays pierce the billowing clouds at noon; the moon’s mistily glowing halo illuminates the shadowy midnight darkness; the incomprehensibly vast distance of starlight reaches us from the deep void of space. The universe is a panoramic painter’s palette of indescribable celestial beauty, but even with these remarkable visual cues it is difficult to conceive of its expansive frontiers, and many of its aspects are still too abstract for us to fully grasp or understand.

As the astrologers and alchemists once probed the universe through observation, experiment and theory, so too did the artists questioning the world we live in. From early fascinations with constellations, the zodiac and humankind’s place within that larger universe of lifecycles, fate and destiny, to the hidden patterns and spiritual truths present in the smallest atom to the largest spiralling galaxy; from attempting to understand the connections between the elements – earth, air, fire and water – in order to explain the nature and complexity of matter and spirit, to expanding upon these fundamental elemental building blocks in the exploration of alchemical ideas of transformation and arcane spiritual acts in the quest for immortality and eternal life. The cosmos and all it encompasses has long intrigued visual artists, and its myriad mysteries remain a recurring subject in our society and culture.

Through these artists’ eyes and various painterly interpretations of their brushstrokes, we can see how humankind has attempted to capture the immeasurable poetic grandeur of the cosmos, as well as the manifold changes in how we understand the universe and our place within it. The following chapters present introductions to these ancient and transformative ideas of alchemy, sacred geometry, the elements and the zodiac and, as Carl Sagan was also wont to say, the ‘contemplations’ by those learned scholars upon how these ‘greatest of mysteries’ were approached, analysed and assimilated. Reflective of an enduring captivation with these mystical cosmic themes and the philosophers who made it their life’s work to understand them, the paintings included here feature a vivid and diverse range of the mesmerising artistic representations inspired by these sacred occult concepts.

Theory of the elements: the four elements

13th century, fresco.

Zoroaster standing atop a fire-breathing salamader or similar mythological creature

From the alchemical manuscript Clavis Artis (1738).

I

THE VERY SHAPE OF THINGS

Sacred Geometry in Art

SILVERY, FROST-TIPPED SNOWFLAKES AND the prismatic, hexagonal wax cells of golden honeycomb; the iridescent overlap of fish scales and the dizzying spiral of a nautilus shell; the vast neural networks of our brains, and a fresh new tattoo depicting the delicate interlocking circles of the Flower of Life … What could these things possibly have in common? If you noted that they are each composed of intricate patterns, hinting at an underlying significance and synchronicity between seemingly disparate elements, from the smallest atom to the infinite universe itself, you have a keen eye and remarkable skills of deduction.

These wondrous displays of universal pattern recognition reveal to us certain proportions, cycles and patterns woven into the fabric of all natural creations – patterns which, at their core, contain certain mathematical constants that appear again and again, in myriad forms, across the span of centuries and everywhere in the world. It is believed that by studying the nature of these patterns and the relationships between them, insight and perspective may be gained into the mysteries of the universe itself. This ancient idea that mathematical principles and spiritual truths are profoundly interlinked is referred to as ‘sacred geometry’, a term used to encompass the religious, philosophical and spiritual beliefs that have emerged around geometry in various cultures throughout the whole of human history.

In a closer examination of what form these mathematical constants take, we look first to numbers. The Greek mathematician Pythagoras believed that reality is primarily mathematical and declared that...