Carl Abrahamsson's Blog, page 5
July 24, 2025
Pressing Times
In this week’s WEEKLIES post at our Patreon, I write about the noble art of flower-pressing:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/weeklies-times-134602326
”I assume it’s also very much a Western pseudo-scientific-quasi-poetic attitude that essentially no longer exists: the desire to understand and interpret nature according to pioneering heroes like Darwin, von Humboldt, and of course, my Swedish namesake Carl von Linné (Linnaeus). But my experience tells me I have a hard time memorizing standard names as well as Linnaeus’s Latin ones – whereas traditional and genuinely Swedish names, often with bizarre local folk twists – are usually easily remembered. For instance, a nice and common ”Småkörvel” plant is technically named Anthriscus sylvestris, but has a multitude of weird names in Sweden: Hundkäx (dog’s biscuit), Hästkummin (Horse’s Kumin), Drottningens Spetsar (The Queen’s Lace). This anarchic-romantic-traditional naming fills me with great joy, as it can probably tell us more of the actual quality and possible meaning of the flower than any attempts at systematically taming the wild could ever do.”
#weeklies #flowerpressing #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson
Dream on, Dreamers
I spent just about every evening of my high school years at the Stockholm Cinematheque. That’s why I find Adair’s book and Bertolucci’s film version of The Dreamers interesting (despite the horrible ”May 68” romanticism):
https://anartapart.substack.com/p/a-labyrinth-of-mirrors
”Both works understand the cinematheque as more than a repository of films—it functions as an archaeological site where the sedimentary layers of cultural memory accumulate and interact. Like Proust’s madeleine, each screening triggers involuntary memories that collapse temporal boundaries. Yet this metaphor, powerful as it was in 2003, requires serious reconsideration in our current digital age. The physical cinematheque, with its darkened theater and communal viewing experience, has been largely supplanted by the algorithm-driven recommendation engine. Where once cinephiles gathered in sacred spaces to commune with celluloid gods, they now navigate infinite scrolls of content, each click generating data points that feed ever more sophisticated prediction models.”
#gilbertadair #bernardobertolucci #thedreamers #theholyinnocents #cinematheque #evagreen #anartapart #carlabrahamsson
July 22, 2025
Intro to John Michell
Just posted an introduction to John Michell, the lovely & trippy British esthete filled with a curious mind and many talents:
https://thefenriswolf.substack.com/p/patterns-of-the-past
”Many of his drawings illustrate concepts from his books: visualizations of the New Jerusalem pattern he identified at Glastonbury, geometric projections of stone circles, or diagrams of cosmic proportions. Others appear more intuitive—psychedelic visions capturing the energy patterns he believed animated sacred sites. In this way, Michell’s art functioned as both demonstration and revelation, a visual language for expressing ideas that transcended conventional scholarship.”
#johnmichell #thefenriswolf #carlabrahamsson
July 21, 2025
Shelf Magic is real
Vanessa just posted an excellent MAGIC MONDAY post at our Patreon about book shelf magic and the power of osmosis (and organization):
https://www.patreon.com/posts/magic-monday-of-134555074
”At some point in this process, I realized the connection. I specifically re-organized my psychoanalytic books and books related to my podcast, and voila! Rendering Unconscious Center for Psychoanalysis was born.”
#renderingunconscious #psychoanalysis #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson
Cronenberg’s Compulsion
Just posted an appreciation of the great David Cronenberg. Can’t wait to watch ”Shrouds!”
https://anartapart.substack.com/p/what-lies-beneath
”Cronenberg’s psychological horror is not about external monsters but internal disintegration. His characters are often intellectuals or professionals—scientists, doctors, artists—whose rational worldviews are systematically dismantled by subconscious drives. In this way, his films challenge Enlightenment ideals of the autonomous, rational self, suggesting instead that identity is porous, unstable, and deeply influenced by forces beyond conscious control.”
#davidcronenberg #shrouds #anartapart #carlabrahamsson
July 18, 2025
Tillbaka i Vimmerby Tidning!
För er som inte kunde dyka upp i bokhandeln i onsdags…
”Det som är vackert med det hela är att det finns i ett ögonblick, sen är det borta. Kombinationen i just det ögonblicket kommer aldrig finnas igen och den bilden som du tar kommer ingen annan att kunna ta på samma sätt, även om ni är på samma plats.”
Boken finns i Vimmerby Bokhandel eller på:
https://www.amazon.se/Vimmerby-Hembygd-Omnejd-Carl-Abrahamsson/dp/9198944908
#lokalpatriotism #vimmerbytidning #vimmerbybokhandel #vimmerbyhembygdochomnejd #carlabrahamsson
Strindberg’s Zeitgeist
Just posted an essay about Strindberg’s occult approaches as compared to other prominents of his era:
https://thefenriswolf.substack.com/p/strindbergs-zeitgeist
”Strindberg’s occult immersion, by contrast, was more reactive—a desperate attempt to understand seemingly supernatural persecutions and coincidences during his psychological collapse. This crisis-driven approach lent his occult writings an intensity and urgency distinct from the more measured explorations of contemporaries.”
#auguststrindberg #occulture #thefenriswolf #carlabrahamsson
July 10, 2025
New Classes Coming up!
New classes coming up… Pencil them in and sign up!
THE LEGACY OF HORROR: Aug 24-Sep 14 (four sessions on Sundays)
https://www.morbidanatomy.org/classes/p/the-legacy-of-horror-with-carl-abrahamsson
The legacy of horror haunts us throughout our lives. From terrifying children’s tales to teenage horror film rebellion, from mature refinements and curations of controlled titillation to the relentless horrors of contemporary times and the violent aesthetics of news and politics. More than ever before, it seems, we are immersed in deep-rooted aspects of horror as well as our conflicted reactions to them.
Over the course of four class sessions, Swedish author Carl Abrahamsson will take us on a dark journey through the history of horror. We will begin with the origins of horror, in which we examine its historical foundations. We will examine horror across media in which we trace its formal evolution of form, turn our eye to contemporary horror as expressions of modern fears, and end with horror in reality, with the news as horror narrative. Through image-rich lectures and class discussion, we’ll explore early myths, horror literature, films, radio, mergers with the horrors of “real” life (often media induced or controlled) and contemporary media in a gruesome and bloody Danse Macabre that will, perhaps, lead us all the way to the Apocalypse.
Back by public demand: Into the Devil’s Den and Back: An Introduction to the History and Magical System of Anton LaVey’s Church of Satan: Nov 16-Dec 7 (four sessions on Sundays)
This class—taught by Carl Abrahamsson, Magister of the Church of Satan and author of the book Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan: Infernal Wisdom from the Devil’s Den—will present an introduction to the theory and practice of Anton LaVey’s philosophy and magic. Having founded the Church of Satan in 1966, and written the infamous The Satanic Bible in 1969, LaVey’s mind was filled not only with ancient diableries but also a vast amount of syncretisms stemming from his filtering of contemporary times, as well as the highly subjective and personal kinks and obsessions he explored and integrated.
LaVey’s creative mind composed and codified a brand new kind of occultism he chose to call Satanism. This was not necessarily revolt against the monotheistic dogma of the ages but rather a celebration of a rebellious spirit that has existed in all human cultures and times —one of creativity, passion, anti-hypocrisy, magic, genuine culture, and a healthy sense of egotism.
We will go through LaVey’s history and sources of inspiration, as well as the many forms of magic he wove into the Church of Satan. And go through the impact he has had on popular culture. We will look at the history of Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan, Satanic Magic in theory, and Satanic magic in practice. We will also investigate a ”Satano-Gnosis” for the future.
After each presentation—which will including the use of images and film clips— we will encourage the assembled to participate in a lively discussion and Q & A.
#horror #morbidanatomy #antonlavey #churchofsatan #satanism #occulture #carlabrahamsson
June 19, 2025
New TOPY Class up ahead
Four Week Class Taught Online Via Zoom
Sundays, July 6 – July 27 2025
1:00 – 2:30pm ET (NYC Time)
PLEASE NOTE: Classes will be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time
Between 1981 and 1991, the magical order/network TOPY changed the game of contemporary occultism. By bringing in other sources of information and inspiration than classic western esotericism, this loose network of psychonauts opened the floodgates with forces like Austin Osman Spare, William Burroughs, and Brion Gysin, and then integrated them into a system/anti-system of ritual and behavior. Stressing the inclusion of artistic creation, cut-ups, non-binary outlooks, psychedelic research, and an overall shamanic way of life, TOPY showed that an alternative to inert systems and teachings was actually possible.
Drawing from his own experiences of actively working with TOPY (as administrator of TOPYSCAN and also TOPYEUROPE) Carl Abrahamsson contextualizes the work, teachings and legacy of this radical think-tank-cum-occultural-generator.
April 28, 2025
Magic Monday: Merging with the ideal
I just posted a new Magic Monday text to our Patreon, about the (possible) redundancy of all magical systems when it comes to getting to the core of magic. Paradoxical? Absolutely. As an appetite-whetter, I also publish this text here for free. There are over 250 similar Magic Monday texts at our Patreon, plus hundreds of other posts, clips, photos, music, etc by myself and my wife, Vanessa Sinclair. You should check it out:
https://www.patreon.com/vanessa23carl
Magic Monday: Merging with the Ideal
What if I claimed that all of the magical systems, structures, and shenanigans are completely redundant to magical success? Would you believe me?
Instead of claiming these things on wide, general levels, I’ll keep it on my own. I believe that all magical systems, structures, shenanigans etc are completely redundant to magical success.
This insight has been brewing for a while but just today it struck me: whatever we claim as being magical (or life) success, it’s essentially about merging with a perceived ideal that’s preferably our own to as large an extent as possible. This of course requires that we have an ideal. This ideal may not be a fixed point in time or space, but could be, and then mixed in with emotional and individuation-revealing aspects. But still, basically all work that’s not related to this process sounds pretty pointless, doesn’t it?
Isn’t fantasy, daydreaming, psychodrama (playing), psychoanalysis (formulation), and indulgence in models such as fictions more conducive to genuine self-knowledge than a thousand Liber Samekhs or Lesser Banishing Rituals of the Pentagram, etc? That self-knowledge that will eventually crystallize as an ideal? The ideal which becomes the yardstick of your very existence and all of what that entails?
I realize how radical this sounds (even to me), so I immediately put on my Devil’s Advocate hat and retaliate: ”Can’t all the magical rituals, banishings, meditations etc also be conducive to the process of self-knowledge and individuation?”
Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Being a ”lifer” in this weird sphere of contemporary occultism and its extension in ”occulture” I believe I have a wide perspective in which many branches are connected to the same sturdy trunk. The trunk has deep roots in the earth and reaches ambitiously towards the sky while photosynthesizing for the benefit of the overall biosphere. Although claiming genetic and cultural similarities and kinship, this tree is a unique individual.
Does the tree need to be involved in anything but its own growth? On a technical as well as moral level, can it even? Could it even?
As thoroughly documented in my book Meetings with Remarkable Magicians – Life in the Occult Underground I have been around the block in various constellations, and I don’t regret any of them/it. But in hindsight I feel that I’ve used a lot of general energy in unwise ways; meaning grasping for clever and attractive symbolic straws while reality itself was actually readily within reach. I’m sure we can all relate.
Then there’s the argument that the sum of your experiences is exactly what has led you to this realization. So… fair & fine, right? Absolutely, but it can definitely be a reminder for the future not to misdirect or leak energy in this way.
My greatest teachers in this regard have been my sources of inspiration in general – decidedly more having to do with my vocation/profession as an author rather than purveyors and disseminators of magical gimmicks. As an author I have my heroes, and the core of the inspiration from them have come alive in my own life and lifestyle. Surprisingly little of this has to do with occultism in itself (or other derivative ”isms”), and surprisingly much with a literally literary space-time continuum of which I am now an active custodian.
I can’t analyze and say to what extent ritual magic as opposed to a romanticized admiration has led to my feeling of daily bliss. Of course, everything has always mattered on some level. But… Focusing on the real essentials will probably be more to the point than hugging symbols and structures in pursuit of illusory acknowledgment from supposed authorities.
Which is your ideal dream-space? Dream-time? Dream-identity? Dream-work? (Etc) Do you need the Kabbalah-blah-blah to get a better overview? Invoke or evoke smelly demons according to some hysteric medieval grimoire? Be cynically chaotic/chaotically cynical online? When all is said and done, isn’t your own reflection in the mirror more revealing than a tarot spread?
Oh my, this is heretical stuff. But as I write this I am so supremely happy in my sun-kissed garden with the wife and the dog that it really must count for something. I have merged with my ideal(s), which have been crystallized by pilgrimages in both mind and body, to the point where I am now actively it/him/them/whatever.
Existential bliss is an arbiter I would trust more (and I do) than the knowledge that I have successfully penetrated this or that system according to plan, yet have come out on the other side exactly the same.
#occulture #vanessasinclair #carlabrahamsson
