Source Magic: The Origin of Art, Science, and Culture

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

An exploration of how magic can be found within all human activities

Offers a magical-anthropological tour from ancient Norse shamanism to the modern magick of occultists like Genesis P-Orridge

Looks at how human beings are naturally attracted to magic and how this attraction can be corrupted by both religious organizations and occult societies

Examines magic as it relates to psychedelics, Witchcraft, shamanism, pilgrimage, Jungian individuation, mortality, and the literary works of Beat icons like Burroughs and Gysin

Since the dawn of time, magic has been the node around which all human activities and culture revolve. As magic entered the development of science, art, philosophy, religion, myth, and psychology, it still retained its essence: that we have a dynamic connection with all other forms of life.

Exploring the source magic that flows beneath the surface of culture and occulture throughout the ages, Carl Abrahamsson offers a magical-anthropological journey from ancient Norse shamanism to the modern magick of occultists like Genesis P-Orridge. He looks at how human beings relate to and are naturally attracted to magic. He examines in depth the consequences of magical practice and how the attraction to magic can be corrupted by both religious organizations and occult societies. He shows how the positive effects of magic are instinctively grasped by children, who view the world as magical.

The author looks at magic and occulture as they relate to psychedelics, Witchcraft, shamanism, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY), the panic rituals of the Master Musicians of Joujouka in Morocco, psychological individuation processes, literary magical realism, and the cut-up technique of Beat icons like William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin. He explores the similarities in psychology between poet Ezra Pound and magician Austin Osman Spare. He looks at the Scandinavian Fenris Wolf as a mythic force and how personal pilgrimages can greatly enrich our lives. He also examines the philosophy of German author Ernst Jnger, the magical techniques of British filmmaker Derek Jarman, and the quintessential importance of accepting our own mortality.

Sharing his more than 30 years of experiences in the fields of occulture and magical anthropology, Carl Abrahamsson explores ancient and modern magical history to reveal the source magic that connects us all, past and present.

Reviews

Source Magic heralds what legions of countercultural readers have known (and sometimes jealously guarded) for years: Carl Abrahamsson is not only among todays leading occult writers and artists but is, in fact, one of this generations most vital public intellectuals. From The Prisoner to Ezra Pound, no single descriptor captures how Carl has pried apart the floorboards of postmodernityand done so as few are able: with laser-like precision, joie de vivre, and the literary power of an exploding sun. Carl is our magical Moses hoisting a fiery serpent in the cultural wilderness. I will be returning to Source Magic for a lifetime. * Mitch Horowitz, PEN Awardwinning author of Occult America and Uncertain Places *
Carl Abrahamsson is a rare voice of lucidity in the complex world of magic. He explains the most profound and esoteric knowledge in a way that just keeps the pages turning and the ideas flowing. Reading Abrahamsson is like starting a fire deep within the imagination that continues to warm the spirit long after reading. * Kendell Geers, South African artist *
Carls work always brings you to the edge of reality, asking you to peer through the veil and question if said reality even exists. In Source Magic, Carl stretches this further, inviting one to view life as a study in magic, in causal effect, in shapeshifting. By embracing life as a vessel for occulture and magico-anthropology and using this as his framework for his studies and explorations, Carl guides a new generation of thinkers into a future that asks what if and gets even more strange, surreal, beautiful, and mystical than one can dream. This book will change what you thought you knew about the possibilities of life and spirituality. * Gabriela Herstik, author of Inner Witch: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Craft and Sacred Sex: The Mag *

Author Bio

Carl Abrahamsson is a writer, publisher, magico-anthropologist, and filmmaker. The author of Occulture, Reasonances, and Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan as well as the editor and publisher of the irregular anthology of occulture, The Fenris Wolf, he lives in Smland, Sweden.