occult art | The Blog of Baphomet

Objects can be the anchors for our stories. Museums and gallery spaces are full of such objects which, depending on the skill of their curators, are intended to help enrich us by discovering new narratives about the world. By engaging with objects and their stories, from the past and present, we are able to set our own ideas and practices within a broader context.

Given the fact that visiting physical museums is off the cards for the moment, I was musing on how I could continue my practice of teaching and learning with objects, and hit upon a new way of blending my professional work with my occult practice. Simply put; I thought it would be fun to get in touch with some of my magical friends and ask them to share some of their favourite things on film. I’ve had many enthusiastic responses to my initial request, with one of the unexpected benefits of this process being that contemporary practitioners are sharing not only the story of their magical thing, but also deeper aspects of their practice. Think of this as a real-time archive of esoteric practice, a window into the attitude and approach of a variety of spiritual, entheogenic and esoteric folk.

My first guest, on ‘My Magical Thing’ is Dave Lee. Well known as a chaos magician it was fascinating to see Dave’s magical thing demonstrating the fact that he, in common with many practitioners of post-modern sorcery, had a solid grounding as a young occultist in the ‘classic’ (i.e. late 19th to early 20th century) practices and imagery of the Western occult tradition.

Magician and author Jake Stratton-Kent shows us a personal object of power, setting the tone for some of the films to come. With Jake we are not getting the grand tour of elaborate ceremonial occult bling, but instead an insight into what we might call ‘everyday magical things’. Objects that point to a key process in esoteric practice; the re-enchantment of the world, where there is no longer a simplistic divide between the sacred and the secular.

Next up, Tommie Kelly shows us a magical thing he created, a hypersigil which, initially, he thought had been a complete failure. Another essential teaching in magic this one; things that initially look like ‘failure’ may actually, when considered at as part of a bigger picture, be exactly what the magician wanted, or more likely, needed.

My dear friend Monika is a magical mermaid, who has translated a number of my writings into Polish. We know each other through our ceremonial practice. She presents a great teaching here, embedded in a powerful and moving artwork.

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone, two of the leading figures in the Wiccan community, have also contributed. Their magical things demonstrate the diversity of contemporary magical practices. They share with us a great story of receiving, and of giving in return, magical objects across cultures.

More stories from Alkistis Dimech, Amy Hall, Liz Williams, David Rankin and many more will be released over the next few weeks. As they say in the trade, please like, share and subscribe to my channel!

In more online news; since autumn of last year I’ve been developing resources to support exploring magical practices. Two courses are now available on the Deep-Magic.teachable.com site with more to be released soon.

Imagination and Wellbeing is a free course, designed to be accessible even if you’re not a card-carrying occultist. The course presents a collection of simple practices that require few, if any, props and which are suitable for use indoors. They include easy ways to use imagination and the body to find our centre, address stress, anxiety and depression, and to actively cultivate our capacity for curiosity, resilience and happiness.

Also available now is my course in Core Magical Skills which presents practical ways to engage with, or renew, your esoteric practice across the areas of meditation, bodywork, centering and banishing rituals, and spirit work. This course does what it says on the tin and, especially for those new to magic, aims to provide a solid grounding in the essential elements of practical magical work.

Do please sign up to my mailing list if you want news of future courses and special pricing offers, as they are made available.

I hope you’ll find these new resources useful, engaging, inspirational and fun.

Wishing you all well in this challenging time, and much success in your Great Work.

Stay Well, Stay High!

Julian

P.S. Treadwell’s Bookshop is also now providing some amazing online services and content. For more details please visit their website.

We welcome the summer here in the northern hemisphere in many ways, from public folk dances to intimate coven or solitary rituals. (For me this includes a ceremonial screening of The Wicker Man, a lineage tradition I received from Peter Grey.)

On the run up to May Day this year, across the world, we’ve seen some remarkable actions by Extinction Rebellion and other groups. This in the context of British politics, where we seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic of climate change, while wittering on about Brexit.

With the intention that our community can find ways to transcend current divisions and to unite in the face of the collapsing biosphere I’ve created this audio track. Feel free to deploy it in ritual that seeks to build common ground among all those demanding change and those who don’t get it yet. The core ritual technology in this tune is a recording of a wonderful naked protest action in the House of Commons. Why not sing along to the Padstow May Day carol and using the ‘Extinction Rebellion!’ chant, focus some positive vibes in the direction of these timely transformations. By all means go skyclad if you like 😀

“I trust the sight of the young people refreshes you.”

Beltane is the celebration of sexuality and so, from the archives, here’s another folky offering:

You may fancy a bit of dancing to celebrate summer coming in, so here are some tunes used during our Purple Magic rituals in the Chaos Craft Coven the Western Watchtower.

And last by not least, Beltane is the season to worship Pan; the god called from an imagined Arcadia into the heart of the late 19th and early 20th century literature as The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, ‘The Great God’ by Golden Dawn magician Arthur Machen and in many other guises.

In ancient times Pan was a dependable minor deity (once charmingly referred to, by Professor Ronald Hutton, as ‘the Citroën 2CV of Gods)’. By the dark dawn of the industrial revolution, when the ‘peasants’ got re-branded as the ‘working class’ of Britain this all changed. People flooded into the cities, driven off the newly enclosed land as the long haul of climate change began its exponential curve. The subsequent sense of loss for the countryside and rural life conjured Pan into the pens of poets, the brushes of painters and the temples and groves of occultists and witches. Let us reclaim and replant the wild wood from which we were untimely ripped by oppression and industrialization!