Carl Abrahamsson's Blog, page 38

NO LONGER LONGER RIGHT NOW

“No Longer Longer” (Highbrow Lowlife HILO-003) – Rare and previously unreleased tracks from White Stains and Cotton Ferox founder Carl Abrahamsson. Electronic, emotional, embracing, energising, enveloping, enthusiastic sounds and musical structures from the early 1990s Scandinavian dark ambient scene.

Listen to this album HERE!

THE FENRIS WOLF 4 GOES E

The much sought-after fourth issue of The Fenris Wolf has now become an ebook. Although it’s honouring that this great book fetches really high prices on the second hand market, I prefer that people can have access to the material if they just want to read it and not necessarily be (like me) bibliophile shelf junkies!

GET THE FENRIS WOLF 4 HERE

The Fenris Wolf is a research journal focussed on the human mind, developments in comparative magico-anthropology, and on the occultural implications and applications of these fields of study. 

This issue contains material by/on Z’EV, Ramsey Dukes, Robert Taylor, Hiram Corso, Jean-Pierre Turmel, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Baba Rampuri, Aki Cederberg, Thomas Karlsson, Kendell Geers, John Duncan, Thomas Bey William Bailey, Payam Nabarz, Tim O’Neill, Philip Farber, Terence McKenna, David Beth, Peter Grey, Peter Gilmore, Kenneth Anger, Carl Abrahamsson, Ernst Jünger and LSD, the Dreamachine, the Process Church of the Final Judgement, Thelema and politics, astral machines, the past and future of psychedelic culture, Naga Babas, the Left Hand Path, blood mysticism, stellar magic, grimoires, and a unique series of ink images by Fredrik Söderberg.

Table of Contents:

Carl Abrahamsson – The whys of yesterday are the why-nots of today, Hermann Hesse – The Execution, Fredrik Söderberg – Black and White Meditations 1-23, Peter Gilmore – Every Man and Woman Is a Star, Peter Grey – Barbarians at the Gates, John Duncan – Hallelujah, Ramsey Dukes – Democracy Is Dying of AIDS, Tim O’Neill – The Technology of Civilization X, Thomas Karlsson – Religion and Science, David Beth – Bloodsongs, Payam Nabarz – Liber Astrum, Hiram Corso – Unveiling the Mysteries of the Process Church, Jean-Pierre Turmel – The Pantheon of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Kendell Geers – The Penis Might Ier Than Thes Word, Z’EV – The Calls, Robert Taylor – Dreamachine: The Alchemy of Light, Phil Farber – An Interview with Terence McKenna, Phil Farber – McKenna, Ramachandran and the Orgy, Thomas Bey William Bailey – The Twilight of Psychedelic America?, Ernst Jünger – LSD Again/Nochmals LSD, Baba Rampuri – The Edge of Indian Spirituality, Aki Cederberg – In Search of Magic Mirrors, Carl Abrahamsson – Thelema and Politics, Carl Abrahamsson – Someone’s Messing with the Big Picture, Carl Abrahamsson – An Art of High Intent?, Carl Abrahamsson – A Conversation with Kenneth Anger

Why not read another book?

I recently succumbed to one of those Facebook peer pressure things, and listed ten of my favourite books for ten consecutive days. You might enjoy them too, if you haven’t already come across them. No real order of preference here, just ten highly recommended books/authors.

1. Gore Vidal: “Kalki” – There are many reasons to appreciate Gore Vidal: his ambitious historical novels, his witty essays on (and criticism of) American politics and culture, and the absurdist novels of the late 1960s and 70s. I love them all, but his trippy novels have been more defining of my fiction writing in English than anything (or anyone) else. “Kalki” is especially great, and was a defining influence (a pretty obvious one) in and on my first novel “Mother, Have A Safe Trip.”

2. Ernst Jünger: “On the Marble Cliffs” – There are only a few books that I return to, over and over. Jünger’s literally fantastic tale of independence, morality and sense of humanity during times of authoritarian conflict is one of these books. It’s part “magical realism,” it’s part poetic fairy tale, and it’s also a very intelligent critique of the inherent brutality of all collectivist systems. Stylishly suave, penetratingly potent, and charged with an indescribable glamor that only true classics can pull off.

3. Ray Bradbury: “The October Country” – This volume is an early collection, with many of the stories stemming from the first ever Bradbury anthology: “Dark Carnival.” The overall “oeuvre” of Bradbury is staggering, and has been influential beyond belief when it comes to post WW2 American literature (as well as to myself). Stripped but never soulless, metaphorical but never pretentious; a master of condensation and engaging flights of fancy. The reason why I chose this book and not pretty obvious novels like “Something Wicked This Way Comes” or “Fahrenheit 451” is that the short story format is currently knocking on my own door… Knock, knock, who’s there?

4. Mikhail Bulgakov: “The Master and Margarita” – I have just finished writing a new novel called “The Devil’s Footprint,” in which Satan sets out to clean up the current human mess. While writing it, my mind often drifted towards Bulgakovian twists and turns. The integration of supernatural symbols and forces in an already absurd consensus reality is usually great fodder for fiction. But it takes sensitivity and, of course, a genuine sense of humour to be able to convey it all to a discerning readership. This 1938 mega classic is such a masterpiece, and transcends any specifically “Russian” (or, in Bulgakov’s case, “Soviet”) absurdist traditions; growing ever since then into a Sui Generis expression of sublime intelligence.

5. Italo Calvino: “If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller” – What happens when the book you’ve just bought mistakenly contains sections from another book? And you take it back to the store only to get another seemingly faulty book? And you then decide to investigate what’s going on because it never seems to end? While at the same time there’s a parallel narrative in and from all these different satellite books we come across during our reading, and the protagonists’ searching? Yes, a mind-bending maze indeed! Calvino is a most gleeful god in the pantheon of modern literature; a brainiac love child stemming from a feverish tryst between the minds of fellow gods Umberto Eco and Jorge Luis Borges.

6. Paul Bowles: “Call At Corazon” – A great anthology of superior Bowles short stories from between 1946 and 1985. The title story is one of my favourite short stories ever; summing up not only psychologically complex insights regarding the underlying sadomasochism of basically any relationship, but also some truly exquisite expressions of Bowles’s detached prose (as well as attitude). Paul Bowles wove his expat magic masterfully wherever he placed his typewriter, and this anthology is an invitation to go a-trippin’ with this enormously influential writer.

7. Hermann Hesse: “Pictor’s Metamorphoses and other stories” – Hard to pinpoint one work here, as we’re really talking about one highly influential author rather than one specific expression. This collection is quite wonderful though, as it really focusses on what makes Hesse such a master: the upheaval of the rational, expected, causal, petit bourgeois etc. Swinging between fairytales and allegorical psychological fables, Hesse fixes his gaze and his storytelling on what matters most of all: the timeless continuity of human endeavours, encapsulated in fanciful myths that inspire and strengthen these very endeavours – “the Salvation of the Poetic Principle through the ironic Metamorphosis of Mythos…” If we can’t elevate ourselves to be part of a mythic thinking and reasoning, we are mere soulless automata.

8. Haruki Murakami: “Hard-boiled Wonderland and the end of the world” – If you’ve followed this past week’s displays of influential books, you can probably see a pattern in my love for absurdist reinterpretations of the so called normal world. That said, there needs to be some Japanese weirdness in here too. There are many contenders (Akutagawa and Kawabata are among my faves) but let’s stick with a contemporary one: Murakami. His amazing novels (like the one displayed here) start out weird and then just snowball uphill with more bizarre Japanese antics and many a delightful pop cultural reference. A master in his own lifetime, and he still has a long way to go!

9. Yukio Mishima: “Thirst For Love” – Again, the inspiration for me lies more in the entire authorship than in this single book, but as such it is a fine and telling example. Sparse prose, elegant, polished surfaces, a detached observing of human frailty (and associated manipulations), and a gradual diving deeper into dark obsessions. The form is seductively normal but the content is a display of cruelty; emotional as well as sexual. That’s a pretty good summing up of Mishima as a person too: if the surface is correct, you can get away with a whole lot!

10. Jorge Luis Borges: “Collected Fictions” – Well, what can I say? Saving the best for last? Borges’s authorship is like the Holy Grail, and when you’ve truly found it, you’re immediately elevated – regardless if you’re a writer or just a reader. Borges offers several very important keys: keep forms accessible and then present the unexpected with conviction and determination. However, always with suave casual detachment. (As you have noticed or already knew, this attitude is present in all of the authors I’ve presented in this literary odyssey of inspiration and influence.) Being blind, Borges is ever the perfect Captain. All aboard his super tanker/thinker library ship, towards the horizon – the actual direction doesn’t really matter. Underneath the surface lie hidden creatures and obsessions; a little dip here and there will last us lifetimes of stories. Then we ambitiously write them all down, make books of them, and put them in the massive library hidden in the innards of the vessel; only to find that there are already infinite volumes containing the exact same stories on the shelves – all written by Borges, of course. We are mere mates on his big ship!

(Photograph by my fellow bookworm Vanessa Sinclair!)

Radio Mega Golem – Episode 2

Welcome to Radio Mega Golem: a transmission for and from the Mega Golem – the artwork created by Carl Abrahamsson in 2009, and which has since been partially added to by a number of other artists.

EPISODE 2: ”History Is A Composite Genome”

This particular episode is full of history. How and why did I give birth to the Mega Golem? What happened? Who contributed to its psycho-biological construction, and where are we at today? If history is nothing but a composite genome, how will our conscious interactions in the study of the Mega Golem play out? Are we in fact creating a self-sustaining feedback loop in which the Mega Golem is now already constructing us?

For more background information about the Mega Golem project, please read:

Carl Abrahamsson: Reasonances (Scarlet Imprint, 2014)

Carl Abrahamsson: Occulture – The Unseen Forces That Drive Culture Forward (Park Street Press, 2018)

If you want to support Radio Mega Golem and/or Mega Golem Incorporated, please join our patrons at: www.patreon.com/vanessa23carl

NEW MAGICAL ADVENTURES AWAIT

As you know, Vanessa and I have been on Patreon for a couple of years now, and it’s a truly great platform for us as diligent creatives. Beginning April 6th, we will focus on substantial writing about our magical practice(s) – individually as well as joint practitioners. We love writing and talking about these things, and it’s basically by “public demand” – many of our patrons and followers write to us, wanting to hear/read more.

Both Vanessa and I are convinced (based on decades-long experience) that art and magic are absolutely inseparable, and that is as it/they should be. But in these new writings, we will also delve into all possible and impossible aspects and types of magic – including witchcraft, glitchcraft, sexual mysteries, TOPY, Chaos, Thelema, Tarot, Satanism, Daoism, psychedelics and many other things. We will enthusiastically (un)cover the parts, in the belief that it’s all one big colourful totality of tangible potential.

These will be weekly posts for the $23 level (and up) on Patreon, and you can join the fun right HERE .

As you may have noticed too, we’re soon launching a brand new project: the novel “The Exquisite Corpse,” which we will publish in “instalments”/chapters on Patreon every other week (on the new and full moons). This exciting project will be launched when we reach $666 per month on Patreon – and that will happen very soon!

We’re moving forwards, and hope that you will want to join us in our exploration of ourselves, each other and the magical universe. Don’t be a stranger!

Sincerely, and with loving thanks,
Carl Abrahamsson
Stockholm, April 5th, 2020

PS. The photo of Vanessa and I by Bou Jeloud’s cave in Joujouka, Morocco, was taken by an unknown hand.

23RD MIND TV – EPISODE 3

Time to watch some good TV! We have just finished the third episode of 23rdMind TV. We discuss current times, our canceled trip to America, the passing of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sacred Intent, Loyalty Does Not End With Death, the revamping of the Highbrow Lowlife website, Sound 23 CD box set with Douglas Lucas, Radio Mega Golem, Trapart Film YouTube channel, Rendering Unconscious Podcast, the work of Adel Souto aka 156, Demetrius Lacroix & Botanica Macumba, and more.

Many thanks to our Patreon patrons for making 23rd Mind TV possible.

Beginning Monday, April 6, we will start posting weekly about our magical practices, both individually and together, for Patreon patrons at the 23rd Mind level and higher.

As well, when we reach $666 per month, patrons on the $10 or more level will receive two chapters per month of our novel in progress THE EXQUISITE CORPSE… presented on the new and full moon, which will eventually be published as a book.

Thank You! Enjoy!

SOUND 23: A GREAT RELEASE

A brand new release from Vanessa Sinclair & Douglas Lucas: “Sound 23”

An evocative collaboration between Vanessa Sinclair and American sound artist Douglas Lucas. This album contains eight tracks that weave Sinclair’s cut-up poems into revealing packages of sonorous delight. Sometimes harsh and aggressive, sometimes soft and alluring; always seductive in their joint efforts at upheaving the rational mind and its many intellectual accomplices. After the cataclysmic clash of rational refusal, we are here left with the purely sensual delight that comes from giving in to what random chance suggests, and what spontaneous creation actually brings.

The standard edition consists of a CD, an information sheet, three reproduced collages, one reproduced page from Vanessa Sinclair’s remix of Carl Abrahamsson’s novel Mother, Have A Safe Trip, and two photographs of the artists. Numbers 8-23.

The deluxe edition consists of a box containing a CD, an information sheet, three reproduced collages, three reproduced pages from Vanessa Sinclair’s remix of Carl Abrahamsson’s novel Mother, Have A Safe Trip, and four photographs of the artists, plus one original collage, signed by Vanessa Sinclair. Numbers 1-7.

A collaboration with Highbrow Lowlife (catalog number HILO-048). For more information about their other releases, please also visit the Bandcamp HQ.

A NICE REVIEW OF “SACRED INTENT”

A new review of SACRED INTENT in Elephant:

“The conversations really do, as you might expect with more than thirty years’ worth of chatter with P-Orridge, cover a hell of a lot of ground. There are barely any parts of the interview transcripts that deal with trifling matters or trivialities. Instead, the world is articulated through any number of often complex viewpoints – – – Everything is considered in these conversations—all the threads are woven together with a conviction and profundity that draws from both the knowledge of two very well-read people, who clearly do a hell of a lot of thinking, and from a spiritual standpoint that vacillates with the years. P-Orridge has a superb knack for translating the hard-to-comprehend into beautifully succinct snapshots of meaning.” (Thank You, Emily Gosling!)

The book is available HERE!

“Change Itself” c/o Satanic Temple TV

“Change Itself,” my documentary film about Genesis Breyer P-Orridge can now be watched at The Satanic Temple’s online TV. As a bonus, there’s an interview with me by William Morrison, in which we talk about the film and many other things… Good stuff!

Radio Mega Golem is out there!

The Mega Golem is an ongoing project that now definitely has a life of its own. For those of you not familiar with this project, I would recommend the “source” texts published in my books Reasonances (Scarlet Imprint, 2014) and Occulture – The Unseen Forces That Drive Culture Forward (Park Street Press, 2018).

As other artworks provided by many artists around the world constitute specific parts of the Mega Golem, this radio project and the particular episodes constitute its blissful moments of paroxysmic pleasure that human beings usually associate with their procreative urges.

This first episode is dedicated to the living and loving memory of Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (1950-2020), whose influence in and on the ethers has been immeasurable and invaluable. It has now been a full week since Gen’s passing, and it’s been a week of many turbulent emotions, much music-listening and memory-meandering.

Radio Mega Golem sort of pushed itself through the veil of sadness, and now it’s out there and lovingly demanding to be taken seriously. Enjoy!

New music, new words, new feelings… Don’t be afraid!