Carl Abrahamsson's Blog, page 54
March 15, 2018
”I hereby recommend…” New books galore!
There’s been a veritable multi-trickle of good stuff seeping into the PO Box recently. I’m very pleased to see so many good books being published, and more people should know about it. Therefore, ta-daa… The must-read list of right now!
Aki Cederberg: Journeys In the Kali Yuga – A Pilgrimage From Esoteric India to Pagan Europe (Destiny Books 2017)
Aki is my dear friend and also a contributor to The Fenris Wolf over the years. Aki’s stories about his own pilgrimages and processes are amazing in this kind of chapter format. Now these pieces and many more have been brought together into a totality of a great spiritual adventure. And also contextualised by looking at similarities between Hindu and Nordic pagan cultures. It’s a fascinating read that truly sets associative anthropology/mythology muscles in action. And it makes me want to travel even more.
ORDER JOURNEYS IN THE KALI YUGA HERE:
https://www.amazon.com/Journeys-Kali-Yuga-Pilgrimage-Esoteric/dp/1620556790
Hereward Tilton & Merlin Cox (eds): Touch Me Not – A Most Rare Compendium of the Whole Magical Art (Fulgur 2017)
This is a real mindblower of a book. It contains a facsimile of an old grimoire from the early 19th century, and based in turn on medieval and 18th century German “Höllenzwang” books. Yes, it’s all about demons and infernal forces, to be commanded mainly in the pursuit of hidden treasures (seemingly a corner stone of the German mythological psyche). But although the bits and pieces of text are fascinating (and I’m sure some die-hards will probably try the efficacy of the supposed magic) I’m mainly loving this book because of the illustrations. The mix between figurative skill and a wonderful sense of infernal imagination becomes almost timeless. It ties in with weird medieval Christian fantasies as well as with surrealism (sort of 150 years ahead) as well as with William Blake as well as… You get the picture: it’s amazing stuff! This is the perfect coffee table book for any home owner with demonic inclinations. These creatures apparently exist. At least in the minds of their creators. And now also in the readers’ minds. Thank God.
ORDER TOUCH ME NOT RIGHT HERE:
https://fulgur.co.uk/books/edited-by-hereward-tilton-and-merlin-cox/touch-not/?v=f003c44deab6
Ithell Colquhoun: Taro As Colour (Fulgur 2018)
British surrealist Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) worked with many different media and expressions (also including writing) during her fascinating career. Gradually her art merged with esoteric and magical ideas. One of her projects was to manifest a tarot deck, and this book contains the plates in beautiful reproduction. Originally these were painted on enamel and exhibited together in 1977. The images look a bit like Indian Tattwa paintings that have been blown up, or Rorschach patterns. Included in the book is also Colquhoun’s essay about the images and ideas, as well as an essay by scholar Amy Hale. It’s a wonderful insight into the mind of an important artist who, together with Leonora Carrington, constitutes the main female axis of British surrealism. A lovely book!
ORDER TARO AS COLOUR RIGHT HERE:
https://fulgur.co.uk/books/ithell-colquhoun/taro-as-colour/?v=f003c44deab6
A nice little portrait film on Ithell C can be watched HERE:
Rain al-Alim: Jinn Sorcery (Scarlet Imprint 2018)
Another beautiful Scarlet Imprint tome! Their most recent title Jinn Sorcery is about… That’s right: Jinn Sorcery. With chapter titles like Conjuring Jinn for Dream Revelation, Al-Mandal: Techniques of Scrying, Jinn Workings and Evocation Rites, Summoning the Personal Qareen, and The Seven Jinn Evictions, we are here knee-deep in old school magic. It seems Scarlet Imprint are hell-bent on providing us with post-apocalyptic magical tools (a very intelligent idea), and this one is, on the surface, for those with an Arabic slant (the source material in the books stems mainly from Egypt and Morocco). But magic is, as we so well know, region- and timeless, so this collection would be useable for anyone anywhere with an inclination for the poetic grimoire-magic of yesteryear; thus hopefully catapulting it forwards into the future. Nice and cozy evening reading together with a stiff – please forgive me! – Jinn & Tonic.
ORDER JINN SORCERY RIGHT HERE:
https://scarletimprint.com/publications/jinn-sorcery
Send me more things to mention/write about… Books, records, movies, what have you: Carl Abrahamsson, PO Box 8105, SE-104 20 Stockholm, Sweden. Thank you.
And please remember to become a patron of these kinds of guerrilla intellectualisms:
March 14, 2018
Would you like to remix a track from my new album?
As you know, my most recent album The larval stage of a bookworm was released in January. Would you like to remix a track from the album?
It’s easy. First, just let me know that you’re interested by e-mailing me at: carl AT carlabrahamsson DOT com Then let me know if you have a favourite track from the album. Then we can go into specifics, and I’ll send you files to work with. The idea is to release an album filled with amazing remixes, as a follow up. It’s going to be pretty mind-blowing, that’s for sure.
If you haven’t already listened to the album, you can do that at Spotify and other streaming services. And if you want to be a really nice human being, you can also buy it direct from us at www.highbrow-lowlife.com (Appreciated!). No matter what, listen in and let me know which track gets your creative juices flowing.
Please note that I really appreciate your own creative efforts. Don’t pussyfoot! Remixing to me means not only changing levels and adding some effects (although that can be nice too), but rather a complete existentially reverberating overhaul. (Please also note that the reason I appreciate that attitude is because my own ways of working are so primitive. You’ll realise why and how when we get into a constructive discussion about the process…)
Looking forward to hearing from you. Until then, all beast wishes!
The larval stage of a bookworm on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5HaM6hxWawpUZ0GGHZiMu9
Photo by Vanessa Sinclair.
March 13, 2018
Occulture is now here to stay
Portrait of the author as a happy man by Vanessa Sinclair
One of the first premises of magico-anthropology is that “Magic is.” Exactly what it is, is another story; and one that has filled my life with joy and wonder. No matter where you look, you’ll find magic. Even supposed “anti-magic” people are immersed in it. I would even go so far as to say that everyone is involved in magic to some degree, or at least involved in magical thinking.
The relationship between an individual’s acknowledgement of this magic in general and his/her conscious integration of it is, according to me, an indicator of mental health and intelligence. That’s why adamant deniers of the “dark side” (whatever that means) are often just monotheistically compensating for their own fears by scapegoating others/the “other.” This rabid form of monotheism can also include other blind faiths, such as empiricism.
People who sport a more holistic and tolerant approach usually have an easier time acknowledging magic in the inner as well as the outer. And they’re usually a lot more prone to mind their own business – which has always been, is, and always will be a sign of higher intelligence. When you’re busy living a life filled with amazing phenomena and strange twists and turns, you simply have no time or energy to deal with pinpointing other people’s supposed weaknesses or faults. This is also a relationship bordering on an absolute equation: if you see someone obsessed with pointing fingers, rest assured they are exactly whatever they accuse the others of.
No matter what, magico-anthropology is a vast field of research and study, and it’s a joy to see how even conservative environments like academia are now opening up to a greater and more flexible understanding in regard to this endlessly fascinating area.
One angle or perspective that will always be central to magico-anthropology is the occultural one. We can’t understand any human era och region without looking at its culture. All other aspects are fickle and malleable when you look at them as isolated features; i.e. within a culture (politics, economics, etc). Only the strictly cultural expressions remain as valid memes in any greater human story (literature, art, music, architecture, etc). And how that specific culture looks at magic is indicative of its greatness and potential to stay alive beyond the scope of immediate temporality.
Although my recent book Occulture – The unseen forces that drive culture forward is basically an anthology of the most recent years’ lectures and essays, I’m now very happy to re-read it and see that it holds up well as a singular thought-form or attitude. It’s an attitude permeated not so much by a programmatic dogma of saying, “See, I was right, look at all this magic…” I prefer an attitude of awe and wonder saying, “Woweee, this is indeed amazing; let’s keep looking further and deeper and higher…”
Regardless if you’re looking at something distinctly occult in culture or something that carries magic more or less unconsciously (like a great deal of children’s tales, for instance), to me it’s clear that occulture is merging with the mainstream BIG TIME. Why this is, is something I intend to keep looking at and writing about. Occulture – The unseen forces that drive culture forward may be the follow-up to my Reasonances (Scarlet Imprint, 2014) but it’s even more a precursor or prequel to the next/upcoming volume of lectures and essays I’m currently preparing. I hope you’ll find Occulture inspiring and speculative enough to get your own critical thinking going. Because that’s how we progress as humans: we think about things in new ways. We think about things in magical ways.
OCCULTURE post publishing acknowledgements: Warm thanks for supporting my work are due Margareta Abrahamsson, Sofia Lindström-Abrahamsson, Jon Graham, everyone at Inner Traditions, Peder Byberg, Jack Stevenson, Lea Porsager, Bjarne Salling Pedersen, Peter Steffensen, Pam Grossman, Jesse Bransford, William Koch, Morbid Anatomy, Michael Moynihan and Annabel Lee Moynihan, Andrew M. McKenzie, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Gabriel McCaughry, Thomas Tibert, Alkistis Dimech, Peter Grey, Thorsten Soma, Jonas Plöger, Claus Laufenburg, Susanne Witzgall, Kerstin Stakemeier, Dariusz Misiuna, Katarzyna Drenda, Helena Malewska, Bartosz Samitowski, Krzysztof Azarewicz, Ania Orzech, Vera & Stojan Nikolich, Marko Štefan-Poljak, Andreas Kalliaridis, Fredrik Söderberg, Ida Månson, Elisabeth Punzi, Torben Hansen, Rasmus Hungnes, and Martin Palmer. Extra special thanks are due Vanessa Sinclair, to whom this book is lovingly dedicated.
You can order your copy of the book HERE
March 12, 2018
”Occulture: Challenging Inertia and Entropy” lecture on Vimeo
A lecture/webinar with Carl Abrahamsson, originally presented February 13th, 2018, for the Society of Sentience. You can watch it right HERE!
”What happens when routine sets in? Lack of motivation and will? When a formerly effective ritual turns into a dutiful ceremony? When a formerly pleasing situation turns into mere run-of-the-mill diluted experience? When an organism merely exists, apparently without meaning? Here’s where and when we encounter the terms entropy and inertia. They always set in sooner or later, perhaps as a necessary movement of decay before an actual decomposition, or, if we’re lucky, as an eye opener and instigator for change. When we are alive and somewhat conscious, we can make decisions about the direction of the energies. That’s a beautiful trademark of what it means to be a human being. But still, far too many humans accept defeat, decay and decomposition far too easily although it’s not at all necessary.”
For more information, please visit: societyofsentience.org If you want to stay informed about upcoming online lectures and webinars, please sign up for the newsletter here at carlabrahamsson.com
Carl Abrahamsson: The OCCULTURE lecture series 2018
Art, magic, and the occult have been intimately linked since our prehistoric ancestors created the first cave paintings some 50,000 years ago. As civilizations developed, these esoteric forces continued to drive culture forward, both visibly and behind the scenes, from the Hermetic ideas of the Renaissance, to the ethereal worlds of 19th century Symbolism, to the occult interests of the Surrealists. In this lecture series exploring “occulture” – the liminal space where art and magic meet – I reveal the integral role played by magic and occultism in the development of culture throughout history as well as their relevance to the continuing survival of art and creativity. Blending magical history and esoteric philosophy, I look at the phenomena and people who have been seminal in modern esoteric developments.
A Collective Mysticism lecture coming up
Mysticism exists in all cultures, all religions, all esoteric societies. The experience and its insights may then be clothed in cultural or religious clothing, but it’s always a highly personal phenomenon. Most cultures early on indoctrinate against this kind of experience and call it unreal or evil or devoid of meaning. Now we’re talking about power structures, that is collective defence mechanisms of organisms and processes. If someone within a given collective randomly experiences or allows him/herself to experience different and overwhelming things on the inside, free and without assistance from established and sanctioned professional proxies, there might a chance that others would want that too. Which could complicate things enormously…
April 1st, 2018, at 8pm ”European Summer Time” (GMT +2). 6pm GMT / 2-4pm EST / 11am-1pm PST.
Join me in this lecture about the problematic aspects of collective mysticism. There will be a Q & A afterwards. I’m looking forward to seeing you!
Join by paying $10 to PayPal-address: carl AT carlabrahamsson DOT com I will then send you an invite to the webinar platform.
Please feel free to share this information as much as you’d like. Thank you.
March 8, 2018
Excerpt from Occulture at Reality Sandwich
One of my favourite websites ever, Reality Sandwich, has excerpted a chapter from my book Occulture – the unseen forces that drive culture forward. It’s a chapter about the similarities between psychoanalysis and ritual magic that was originally presented as a lecture at the now legendary conference Psychoanalysis, Art & the Occult in London 2016.
Enjoy the excerpt HERE!
Purchase the book HERE!
March 7, 2018
The Fenris Wolf 1-3 is now available as an eBook
Trapart’s digital progress marches onwards, and now it’s time to celebrate The Fenris Wolf 1-3 hitting tablets and screens everywhere. And a good thing too, as physical copies of this memory lane volume are now officially down to three copies – available at www.trapart.net
We begin with iTunes and Kindle/Amazon. Google Play will follow shortly (also for the other Trapart eBooks).
Get The Fenris Wolf 1-3 at iTunes.
Get The Fenris Wolf 1-3 at Amazon.
And here’s what you get:
The Fenris Wolf 1-3
The humble beginnings of the renowned magico-anthropological journal, covering occulture, psychedelia and sexuality (and then some!). The first three issues are here anthologised in one volume. Originally published by editor Carl Abrahamsson between 1989-1993, and then republished by Edda Publishing in 2011. This digital edition is brought to you by the publishing house that carries on publishing The Fenris Wolf today: Trapart Books.
Edited by Carl Abrahamsson. Cover art by Fredrik Söderberg.
Contents:
Carl Abrahamsson Editor’s Introduction
Carl Abrahamsson ‘Zine und Zeit (2011)
The Fenris Wolf 1 (1989)
John Alexander: The Strange Phenomena of the Dream, Helgi Pjeturss: The Nature of Sleep and Dreams, Tim O’Neill: A Dark Storm Rising, Carl Abrahamsson: Inauguration of Kenneth Anger, Carl Abrahamsson: An Interview with Genesis P-Orridge, William S Burroughs: Points of Distinction between Sedative and Consciousness-Expanding Drugs, Carl Abrahamsson: Jayne Mansfield – Satanist, TOPYUS: Television Magick, Anton LaVey: Evangelists vs The New God
The Fenris Wolf 2 (1990)
Lionel Snell: The Satan Game, Carl Abrahamsson: In Defence of Satanism, Anton LaVey: The Horns of Dilemma, Genesis P-Orridge: Beyond thee Valley ov Acid, Phauss: Photographs, Jack Stevenson: 15 Voices from God, Jack Stevenson: 18 Fatal Arguments, Tim O’Neill: Art On the Edge of Life, Terence Sellers: To Achieve Death, Stein Jarving: Choice and Process, Tim O’Neill: Under the Sign of Gemini, 93/696: The Forgotten Ones In Magick, Tim O’Neill: The Mechanics of Maya, Coyote 12: The Thin Line, Genesis P-Orridge: Thee Only Language Is Light, Jack Stevenson: Porno on Film, Carl Abrahamsson: An Interview with Kenneth Anger
The Fenris Wolf 3 (1993)
Jack Stevenson: Vandals, Vikings and Nazis, von Hausswolff & Elggren: Inauguration of two new Kingdoms, Tim O’Neill: A Flame in the Holy Mountain, Frater Nigris: A Preliminary Vision, Carl Abrahamsson: The Demonic Glamour of Cinema, William Heidrick: Some Crowley Sources, Peter H Gilmore: The Rite of Ragnarök, ONA: The Left-Handed Path, Zbigniew Karkowski: The Method Is Science…, Fetish 23: Demonic Poetry, Ben Kadosh: Lucifer-Hiram, Freya Aswynn: The Northern Magical Tradition, Anton LaVey: Tests, Austin Osman Spare: Anathema of Zos, Rodney Orpheus: Thelemic Morality, Nemo: Recognizing Pseudo-Satanism, Philip Marsh: Pythagoras, Plato and the Hellenes, Terence Sellers: A Few Acid Writings, Hymenæus Beta: Harry Smith 1923-1991, Andrew M McKenzie: Outofinto, Beatrice Eggers: Nature – Now, Then and Never
February 13, 2018
In conversation with Mitch Horowitz and Ryan Peverly
February 5, 2018
A lecture on Lebensreform and sexual vitalism
It’s time for another online lecture/webinar in my OCCULTURE series!
Splendor Solis: Lebensreform and sexual vitalism in Germany
There has always existed a long tradition of alternative thinking, as well as nature-worship, in Germany. Why is that? The interesting and influential trail of alternative lifestyles and philosophies that manifested in Germany around the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries is an endless source of fascination. Nature-loving youth defied their heavy bourgeois programming and channeled/conceptualized a whole movement, including vegetarianism, sun-worship, nudism, fasting and an assortment of creative cures. Some of these early protagonists later moved on to America, specifically to the West Coast, and created a loose egregore that eventually gave birth to the hippies, and more.
Join me for an exciting look at some of the key players of this radical time in Germany, and at what they later on brought to the world.
When? Sunday, March 4th, 2018, at 20-22 CET (GMT+1) / 19-21 GMT / 2-4pm EST / 11am-1pm PST
After the lecture there will be an opportunity for a Q&A/discussion.
To take part of this lecture/webinar, please send $10 via PayPal to: carl AT carlabrahamsson DOT com After you have paid, I will send you all the relevant information/links. The number of attendee “seats” is limited, so please act fast.
January 30, 2018
Pillars: The scalding of Sapientia
Anathema Publishing has just released the amazing esoteric anthology PILLARS – The Scalding of Sapientia. I just got my copy and am mighty impressed! Not only am I in it (with the strange Mega Golem story in all its twists and turns) but take a look at this:
Denis Forkas Kostromitin , Sarah Sheil , Gabriel McCaughry, Robert W. Cook (Norot) , Nukshean, Chris Undirheimar , Paul Waggener , Johnny Decker Miller , Verónica Rivas , Mitchell Nolte , David S. Herrerías, Helene M. Arts , Ulric Gestumblindi’ Goding , Camelia Elias, Adrian Baxter, Craig Williams , Graeme de Villiers, Johannes Nefastos, Shani Oates , Cristian Drăghiciu (Vaenvs Obscvra), William Malone. and Néstor Avalos. That’s a hefty mix of thought provoking contemporary occult writing.
And the book is beautifully produced in every way. A real gem. You can find out more right HERE!
