The Magick of Art(e): Delineations of the Divine If you can manipulate your own consciousness and perhaps that

of others, which is surely something all artists are trying to do whether they are magicians or not, then you will have effected an act of magic ~ Alan Moore What is art but the magical process of creating from nothing, filling the void of existence, that begs for meaning, needs to be defined, with our imaginings: crafting the images of gnostic revelation, rendering our visions unto the manifest canvas of life. As an artist I seek to define, via the individual sight of my subjective existence, the unseen dimensions of mind, soul, and spirit. in phantastic and emotive forms the truth as veiled by visions of my heart. Art is about creation, it is the pure intent of one who desires to share what they see and what they know, yet exists beyond the mundane spheres of commonality, with others in the hopes that they might perchance come to gleam, to catch, some small fraction of that which is within me. All the better if the viewer can come to see with their own eyes something that was not intended, something that was rendered and pulled forth from the realms of spirit just for them. In many ways this is the essence of art(e), to reach forth into the aethyrs, those zones and dimensions that are beyond the grasp of mere physicalities, with the open hands of the soul and bring to earth a glimpse of that which dwells ever outside of our own understandings, yet is intertwined with our emotional and spiritual beings. Within each of us there is a realm of heavens and hells, a world that is real in terms of how it effects us rather than how we see it. How often we seen the world around us without looking into the numerous worlds that exist beyond it. For me, art(e) is about capturing these fleeting moments of vision, of gnostic revelation, and giving this awesome and

inspiring force a form: it is the desire and will of the divine artist to use his power to imagine forth, as best he can, those subtle and yet otherworldly energies and manifest them within our own dimension of time and space. In doing this we create portals, only if even momentary glances, by which oneself and others may come to interact with these powers and energies of the otherside. Art(e) if interacted with intentionally and with the desire to engage with the force behind the form, one can step into these gateways using that momentary flux caught in time and use the symbolic inferences as a key to enter a world that exists both beyond the artist, the canvas, and the viewer, stepping into the force itself for a direct apprehension of the subject thus imaged forth by the artist. Art(e) is about affecting changes in the sub-conscious self via the conscious self, through symbolic interfaces between these two realms of the self the artist seeks to open within others those essential qualities that lead to a personal experience of that which one has seen with an inner eye and felt with an inner sense. There are a vast number of veiled, and perhaps even occult, realities that exist beyond the pall of man, and it is these 'worlds' that the artist desires to share. Whether these worlds or dimensions or astral zones, call them what you will, actually exist as we have come to understand that word, they are manifestations of emotive, mental, spiritual, both heavenly and infernal, spaces that are as real as what they make us feel. Their existence is not one of physical, tangible presence, their reality subsists within the emotions that they engender within our being. The physical world as we know it has become the greatest stumbling block and hindrance for a direct realization of the spiritual aspects of existence. We live in a world where what we see is what is, and yet this is not the whole, this is merely a part of the sum of that which exists. Daily we are brought face to face with this hidden otherworld and yet we chose not to interact with it directly because we have not been taught the proper ways in which to do this. So it is through

things such as art, writing, music, that we have discovered safe, but fleeting entrances into this emotive and gnostic sphere of understanding without creating an imbalance within our own self-created lives. We have been taught to erect these structures of existence that in several ways exclude the domains of spirit and soul for the sake of partaking in the objective ordalia of the mundane. We have become so busy with that which exists outside of ourselves that we have so little time to stop the world around us and take notice of that glorious and eternally radiant domain within. This is where art becomes important, and has been since time immemorial, it has been used to open one to an inner reality that is so often excluded and only perceived in glances that exists momentarily yet often craft changes within us by way of symbolic gateways that open out unto the vast and often hidden vistas of the soul. When we can by-pass the conscious filter with image and word, by fooling the conscious self that what we are doing is safe and natural, there is no upheaval of self, but rather a slow and determined change that comes naturally through a recollection of sorts via the sub-conscious self. We feed the hidden self with information through images and poetics that embody ideals of truth that enter us sub-consciously and over a period of time these ideas are feed back into our conscious selves as our own ideas and thoughts, perhaps even as memories and dreams. Both occultism, in its various forms, and art, are extremely dynamic, they have to be interacted with in order to get the optimum results from either. There is a 'current' in which one immerses themselves and whilst in this 'current' of power, of energy, of gnostic and ecstatic revelry, there is impressed upon the mind, body and soul visions and symbolic inferences, at times there can be a complete rending of the self and an elevation of the soul of the aspirant to levels outside of what we know as mundane existence and reality; many would call these excursions a projection of the self into the aethyrs, the astral, and it is here that most of what I do

comes forth. It is not always as intense, and each occasion will have its own distinct impressions depending on what it is that I seek to learn or to know, or to experience. There are also moments in which I do not call for such occurrences and yet they are wont to happen of their own accord, and these are usually the most powerful because they seem to possess a sense of divine and/or infernal providence. As an individual, the two have always been intimately connected. I reason that one may only exist in relation to the other, the two entwine in myriad ways and therein I find a degree of beauty, for both occult and artistic endeavours are forms of a higher kind of art(e) and represent a superior creative framework containing a vital essence, something that comes from a place beyond our own limited senses and existence. Occultism and esoteric practices always create within myself the ability to reach higher and more refined states of awareness wherein I can partake of a reality that is both a part of my own world and beyond it, and yet it also instills in me this amazing sense of self that is beyond the ego, fulfilling to both body and spirit, and it is with art that I came to find that I could share with others these ideas and visions, impressions and experiences. There is something highly creative and emotive, as well as spiritual and moving, about art, especially when one takes that step, whether consciously or subconsciously, to bring the two forces of occultism, in whatever form, and art, together, they are one and the same after all but in a slightly different manner. It is as if the artist binds to earth the powers of the realms of the spirit and yet having said this the artist must always be careful to make sure that the vessel he draws forth is a fit receptacle for the energies he wishes to pass on through the images he creates. The one thing that has always fascinated me about art in general was the ability to create something unseen by others, to bring it forth from a reality outside of the normal, and manifest it into something tangible, a work that others could see; that one could sit down and envision a creation on a purely

subjective level and bring that into manifestation, to objectify it, was magic! In truth that is the reality of art, whether woven together with the occult and esoteric or not, it affects, it changes, it illuminates, it is a catalyst for transformation, both in the viewer and the creator. As an artist I hope that the visions and experiences that I bind to image will indeed, for some, create within them some inkling of what I was going through, not just during the vision which gave birth to the piece, but also the process of creation which brought it into being, for both are important and have their place within the overall structure of my work. Art is divine and as such should be ensouled with the divine, whether heavenly or infernal. In knowing that my art creates in the viewer a mind-state somewhat akin to what I wish them to perceive there is also a aspect within art that can be considered sinister, as with all things there comes a blessing and a curse. Art is a power, whether one sees it as magical or not, it does indeed cause changes both within the consciousness of the one who perceives it as well as within the time and world it exists in. Art is a weapon and a shield, it is a holy word and diabolical treatise, it is important to remember however that we do indeed reap what we sow and as such we should be mindful of the creations we set loose upon this earth. In many ways art can also be viewed as a means to transmit knowledge of things which cannot be spoken and this I think is where art and the occult once again weave together, when an experience is beyond words it is not always beyond image, very often we can convey an idea, a vision, or the like, via a symbolic inference. Simply put, what we can not say we can show and in that art has its greatest place, the ability to reveal what is very often unseen by others. - Patrick John Larabee/January 2013