The Art of the Occult

October 15, 2020
This visual sourcebook for the modern mystic explores the link between art and magic through full-color images. While occult is often used to describe Satanic imagery, author S. Elizabeth (aka writer and blogger Mlle Ghoul) notes that the word actually means hidden, and the featured artwork illuminates humans' search for hidden knowledge of themselves and their place in the universe. The book is arranged around three main occult themes: The Cosmos (sacred geometry, astrology, alchemy), Higher Beings (deities as well as art inspired by the Kabbalah, theosophy, and the Hermetic tradition), and Practitioners (witches, spiritualists, astrologists, and others engaged in magic rituals). Each section includes art and artists that range from ancient to contemporary, figurative to abstract, and represent a wide variety of artistic mediums. The resulting juxtapositions reveal common threads; for example, a chapter on the four elements includes depictions by sixth-century scholar and archbishop Isidore of Seville, sixteenth-century mannerist painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo, and contemporary pop-surrealist Mark Ryden. The Art of the Occult will inspire visual artists, occult practitioners, and those who identify as both.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)