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Strube, Julian (2017a). "Occultist Identity Formations Between Theosophy and Socialism in fin-de-siècle France". Numen. Brill Publishers. 64 (5–6): 568–595. doi: 10.1163/15685276-12341481. Strube, Julian (2016a). "Socialist Religion and the Emergence of Occultism: A Genealogical Approach to Socialism and Secularization in 19th-Century France". Religion. Routledge. 46 (3): 359–388. doi: 10.1080/0048721X.2016.1146926. S2CID 147626697. One of the most prominent ways in which the occult was used in Renaissance art was through the use of symbols and imagery. Many of the symbols used in Renaissance art were derived from occult sources, such as astrology, alchemy, and the Kabbalah. These symbols were often used to convey hidden meanings and to evoke a sense of mystery and power. For example, the use of the pentagram was often used to represent the five elements of nature, while the use of the eye was often used to represent the all-seeing eye of God. Seeking to define occultism so that the term would be suitable "as an etic category" for scholars, Hanegraaff devised the following definition: "a category in the study of religions, which comprises "all attempts by esotericists to come to terms with a disenchanted world or, alternatively, by people in general to make sense of esotericism from the perspective of a disenchanted secular world". [38] Hanegraaff noted that this etic usage of the term would be independent of emic usages of the term employed by occultists and other esotericists themselves. [38]
Judge sees the art world’s new openness as a response to larger shifts. “Artists are pretty sensitive, outward-looking. I feel artists are moving toward the spiritual again to comment on the forces connected to the rise of the right in Europe or Trump in the US – these scary political movements.” Tantra, in particular, feels apt: it is “as much a reaction to conservatism as it is an ancient philosophy,” says Judge. To mark the launch of her new book, Visions of the Occult: An Untold Story of Art and Magic, Tate Archivist Victoria Jenkins invites us to step behind the veil and discover a remarkable array of clandestine artworks and ephemera.
Symbol Resources
Like Aberth, Merchant believes that global crises like the pandemic are a driving factor of their appeal: “I think it’s because the world is bonkers right now and everything is so out of control – people are literally looking for any kind of divine force to make sense of things, to give them some measure of peace.” Other contemporary artists leading this esoteric surge on Limna include mid-career American artist Harley Lafarrah Eaves and renowned French artist Hélène Delprat. The following is a list of symbols associated with the occult. This list shares a number of entries with the list of alchemical symbols as well as the list of sigils of demons.
Peter requested to be crucified upside down, as he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ. Partridge, Christopher (2004). "Occulture". The Re-Enchantment of the West: Alternative Spiritualities, Sacralization, Popular Culture, and Occulture. Vol.1. London: T&T Clark. pp.62–84. ISBN 0-567-08269-5. Environmentalism is another theme that plays strongly in art inspired by spirituality. This year brings renewed interest in the art of Monica Sjöö, a Swedish-born artist who described herself as a “radical anarcho/eco-feminist and goddess artist, writer and thinker involved in Earth spirituality”. A retrospective of her work is at Modern Art Oxford this month which moves to London next year. The idea of occult sciences developed in the sixteenth century. [10] The term usually encompassed three practices–astrology, alchemy, and natural magic–although sometimes various forms of divination were also included rather than being subsumed under natural magic. [10] These were grouped together because, according to the Dutch scholar of hermeticism Wouter Hanegraaff, "each one of them engaged in a systematic investigation of nature and natural processes, in the context of theoretical frameworks that relied heavily on a belief in occult qualities, virtues or forces." [10] Although there are areas of overlap between these different occult sciences, they are separate and in some cases practitioners of one would reject the others as being illegitimate. [10] The earliest use of the term occultism in the English language appears to be in "A Few Questions to 'Hiraf'", an 1875 article by Helena Blavatsky, a Russian émigré living in the United States who founded the religion of Theosophy. The article was published in the American Spiritualist magazine, Spiritual Scientist. [14]
Sacred Geometry
Another Artist bringing Occult symbology into the visual Arts was Johfra Bosschart. Born in 1919 in Rotterdam as Franciscus Johannes Gijsbertus van den Berg or better known just as Johfra the Dutch Surrealist described his own work as “Surrealism based on studies of psychology, religion, the Bible, astrology, antiquity, magic, witchcraft, mythology and occultism”. The Artist's Zodiac series of paintings and later works are a mixture of a unique organic surrealism and and epic occult symbolism. The Surrealists also drew inspiration from the occult in their exploration of the unconscious. They believed that the occult could provide them with a way to access the hidden depths of the human mind and explore the mysteries of the universe. This exploration of the unconscious was seen in the works of many of the movement’s most prominent figures, such as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, and Andre Breton. The book taps into this archive collection as its main source, although artworks from the gallery collection predating this, and from the international collection are also featured in the book.
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