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Many years ago a friend (a Cambridge graduate and journalist) opined that modern Paganism really hadn’t created any great art. This made me rather cross. Aside from the not insignificant issues of ‘what is art’?, and ‘great by whose definition?’ I claim that there is a vast array of excellent Pagan art, across every artform, in the contemporary world. Indeed if we allow the term Pagan to include, or be extended to, esoteric art, then it’s rather hard to find any art these days that isn’t influenced by, or springs directly from, a magickal sensibility.

The field of music is particularly rich. Whether we are dealing with the directly esoteric work of bands such as Current 93 (frontman Dave Tibet also happens to be a noted scholar of Coptic & Gnostic writings) or the hugely popular Qabalistically influenced work of Madonna. If we want a high-brow composer perhaps Philip Glass who describes himself as a ‘Jewish-Taoist-Hindu-Toltec-Buddhist’ is a possible candidate and certainly for folk music the Eisteddfod winning Damh the Bard is certainly ‘one of us’.

In the field of architecture one might suggest the Damanhur community who secretly created a vast system of corridors and amazing vaulted chamber temples inside an Italian mountain. As an example of what is clearly esoteric art this shines, quite literally, as a beacon of architectural brilliance. Then there are those artists who are less well known but are deeply embedded in their own practice and craft, creating objects which sing with beautfy, attention and a deeply Pagan sensibility. One of my favourites in this field at the moment is Phil Cowley Jones. Phil creates or rather ‘births’ the most exquisitly crafted, explicityly shamanic, tools at a level of skill that should see them exhibited in gallery spaces as well as being played by practitioners.

Pagan iconography at the London 2012 Paraolympics closing ceremony

Pagan iconography at the London 2012 Paralympics closing ceremony

For poetry I recommend the work of Peter Redgrove. As well as co-authoring the first major work on menstrual mysteries (The Wise Wound – Menstruation & Everywoman with Penelope Shuttle) and an excellent work on the subtle anatomy and sensory systems of our species (The Black Goddess and the Sixth Sense), he also produced numerous volumes of poetry and almost a dozen novels. Redgrove both writes about magick and was indeed a practitioner himself, both through his own practice and by using his writing as a vehicle for his Pagan sensibility.

For prose that often shades off into poetry, one should pause briefly to mention the work of Alan Moore (Peace Be Upon Him). Moore is, as he will tell anyone who cares to listen, a practising magician. His numerous writings include the graphic novel series Promethea which, for my money, is the most engaging text on the subject since Dion Fortune’s The Mystical Qabalah as well as being a ripping good yarn. His poetic vision Snakes & Ladders is, as they say in America, awesome.

For visual art, and perhaps also installation, we might mention the work of Alex Grey. Creating artworks which lay bare the psychedelic experience in paint isn’t an easy thing to do but Grey admirably pulls this off time and again. He’s also taken his painting to the next level by creating a total environment within which the work may be encountered in his Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York. Then there are the technically brilliant and deeply magical works produced by Una Woodruff. Not only is Woodruff a very successful artist in financial terms but her work expresses her own unique form of witchcraft, with each canvas being in itself a powerful spell.

Then there are all those artists who may not be banner-headline athame-waving occultists but certainly create work which is deeply indebted to the magickal revival. For instance earlier this year I got the opportunity to work with Jeremy Millar. Millar produces all kinds of art that is shown in galleries around the world. While we worked together on a project in North Devon we spoke about Voudou, possession and trance states and I shared with him my involvement with occultism. Part of the reason for the discussion was that his work had appeared in The Dark Monarch a major show at Tate St.Ives in 2010. The theme of the show was esoteric art and alongside Millar’s work was that of Derek Jarman (ritual film-maker and collaborator with occultist Genesis P.Orridge), Ithell Colquhoun’s surrealist work and the collages of tantric adept Penny Slinger to name but a few. In his work Millar had reproduced a text by artist Sol Lewitt but had altered it so that the word ‘artist’ was replaced by ‘magician’ and ‘art’ by ‘magic’.

Many expressions of modern spirituality (from Philip Glass’s ‘Jewish-Taoist-Hindu-Toltec-Buddhism’ to contemporary neo-paganism) emerge from processes which are at once intensely personal and widely syncretic. We learn from what’s around us and in doing so weave our own ongoing interpretation of the perennial wisdom. This process, of being inspired by the environment and finding a unique way to express that inspiration is, in my opinion, an important aspect of what it means to be an artist. It is for this reason that so much magickal art exists because there is a direct parallel between the artistic process and the autonomous development of one’s own spiritual path. Both are creative acts, both rely on a culture of freedom (the absence of draconian censorship in the case of art, or witch-hunting in the case of alternative spiritualities), both empower the individual to explore and continuously create their oeuvre (as an artist) or The Great Work (as an esotericist ). Both rely on a blend of persistent practice and playful inspiration.

To be charitable I could say that my former chum simply couldn’t see the wildwood for the trees. His post-modern ennui had perhaps dulled his appreciation of those glorious artistic creations emerging from, and influenced by, Pagan culture. Creations which were in fact around him all the time. But then beauty, like art itself, is mainly in the eye of the beholder. And if our eyes are closed then any beauty that is present will certainly elude us.

Frequent flyers on Air Baphomet will be aware that one of our major preoccupations is how we as magicians work with concepts of mystery. When words and concepts begin to break apart, how do we work with those technologies that allow us to effectively navigate inner-space? Whether via the use of Zen sitting practice or core shamanic practices we are seeking to enter those potent, chaotic realms within which the magician may seek to divine the currents of possibility (at least that’s the general idea!). This is the magic of the Void, and I’ve recently been expanding my appreciation of it by digging into Michael Kelly’s latest book “Draconian Consciousness”.

This the fourth draconian book written by the ever prolific Mr. Kelly, and in it he seeks to enter deep waters in mapping the path of initiation for those of us trying to manifest our inner work within the realm of midgard. In the book Michael explores the nature of the magicians character as they mature and the role played by the Void/Abyss as a necessary stage whereby more realised aspects of Self are uncovered. It is a work that at once seeks to evolve the psychocosm of the initiate, whilst remaining ever mindful of the need for sorcerous application at a material level.

If you’re new to his work, I’d recommend starting with “Apophis” the book in which he vividly describes the way of the dragon as divided into its seven “heads”. What follows is a brief review of Apophis that I wrote for “Mandrake Speaks” a couple of years ago:

“I’ll be honest, I really like this book. It doesn’t pull any punches; straight out of the gate:

“Draconian magic is in its very essence terrifying, alienating and antinomian, but – for the successful few – it is ultimately liberating, illuminating and joyous.”

No-one messes with the Draconian Mage

Now it could just be me, but to my eye a lot of contemporary magickal writing that purports to be weighty gives little advice as to how to actually do anything. Such writing is often quite successful in evoking a sense of the magickal and the liminal without giving concrete means for accessing real gnosis.

That’s why I like this book. For my money Apophis is one of the clearest expositions of what the draconian/Typhonian path might mean for the magickal practitioner. Although no longer a member of the Temple of Set, Mr. Kelly is very up front about how formative his time within the Temple was in terms of his current reworking and expansion of Draconian lore.

The work of Apophis (which is sub-divided into the seven heads of the great dragon) is concerned with the realities of awakening and the Setian goal of ‘becoming’ (“Xeper”). This process entails nothing less than the activation of consciousness as it relates to the emotions, the mind and the body. Drawing upon his experience as previous head of the Order of Leviathan within the Temple of Set, Kelly helpfully distils the Typhonian insights of Crowley, Grant, LaVey and Aquino and formulates a form of radical individuation somewhat akin to the Gurdjieff Work.

Although Kelly’s own journey has taken him outside of the Temple of Set, it is clear that he still finds great insight in exploring the “aeonic words” that have been channelled through that Order. The concepts of “Xeper” (become), “Remanifest” and “Runa” (mystery) are key in understanding how the magician engages with Apep, the raw, unformed, primal energy of the universe. Kelly explores this relationship via “the magic of the void” – this is a paired down empty hands magickal approach in which the adept sits with the void and thereby transforms/is transformed.

This is a work chock full of practical magickal experiments (some of which are highly amusing) which seek to locate and challenge the boundaries of our identities. Of especial interest for the Tantric practitioners out there is the focus on the dynamic role of the Scarlet Woman. The Order of Apep seems to be advocating a form of left hand path tantra in which the object of the magickians desire (whichever gender) challenges ones conditioning.

As the practitioner works through each progressive stage or draconian “head” an alchemical transformation of the self is sought- Siddhis becomes manifest and the ability to shape ones reality increases. Refreshingly Kelly sketches the last head as a potentiality that he is in the process of seeking to access. This seems in keeping with a work that is a once weighty and yet maintains a sense of humour and avoids po-faced mightiness.

Highly recommended.”

Buy Apophis or Draconian Consciousness