The Arts and the Occult, and how they combine for you

[Sedim Haba]

This thread is inspired by recent discoveries here by many of us, that many Occultists are also Martial Artists.

What about the other Arts? Music, Dance, Visual Arts, et al.

I will say that most of these are part of me, but let others start.

(yes, I looked there isn't a thread like this, at least not one I could find)

 

[Lion]

This is what Perplexity (AI) said about Picasso and magic:

• In a well‑known recollection about seeing African ritual masks in the Trocadéro Museum, Picasso is quoted as saying that painting “is not an aesthetic process; it’s a form of magic that interposes itself between us and the hostile universe, a means of seizing power by imposing a form on our terrors as well as on our desires.”
• He linked this “magical” function directly to his artistic path, saying that once he understood art in this way, he had “found [his] path,” indicating that the magical or protective role of images was central to how he conceived his work.

Magical thinking and his art​

• Biographical analyses note that Picasso was deeply superstitious and “exhibited a deep belief in magic,” including fears that hair clippings could be used to control him, and that he felt his images had real effects on the people depicted.
• Commentators argue that he treated Cubist fragmentation and certain series (such as works around death or guilt) as having an almost ritual power to undo or transform fate, describing his art as a “magic means” to destroy or change reality.
  

 

[Sedim Haba]

Interesting. I must say that as a Shaman, I became quite fixated on my Altar. I never had an altar in my LIFE, and all of a sudden it's being built up naturally even, like an innate, intrinsically visual space that is part of my Path. It happened quite by itself. My Familiar was guiding me tho, so it wasn't ALL me.

Post automatically merged: Saturday at 7:23 PM

Oh, yes, the hair (and nail) clippings are in Magic domain since ancient times. He didn't invent that.

 

[Morell]

Anything you do can become an act of magic. You just have to make it to become one.

Sometimes I draw an art for occult intentions, artistic sigil, picture for the altar, or even as a ritual itself.

I also started hand-writing most of the days as concentration practice, after reading that it actually is very heathy for the brain.

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[Sedim Haba]

Yes, calligraphy and magic go hand-in-hand.

No one's mentioned music yet, drumming is part of my path, a focal point for meditation and awareness.

It's also ancient, the heartbeat brought out into the wider space.

 

[Ohana]

I like to dance and that kind of feels magical sometimes.

I enjoy dancing to electric swing music which is a new genre combining both the music of old with the new electric music. Its very fun to dance to.

There's also the fun game of Just Dance which with a group is pretty fun. Its the full expression of oneself and can be pretty athletic.

I also enjoyed jumping on a trampoline when I was younger and I got pretty good at doing flips and moving constantly. That felt kind of fun and magical at times.

The art of movement with the rhythm to music I think is underrated. I've heard there used to be dance halls and a lot more dancing back in the 1920s. It seems like a very fun time except for the oncoming doom of the stockmarket crash.

 

[therootbeersprite]

I consider myself an Art Witch. My spells are made manifest by the literal process of making.

Some examples of magic and art: To make a sigil, you must physically draw it (even if you do so digitally). I often make poppets, which involves fiber arts. A witch ladder is another common form of a spell that must be physically made. It is also common to literally carve runes and sigils, especially into wax such as candles.

Some may even argue that ritual is a performance art, though I am not pulled towards ritualism, so I can't speak much to it.

Post automatically merged: Sunday at 9:34 PM

I've heard there used to be dance halls and a lot more dancing back in the 1920s. It seems like a very fun time except for the oncoming doom of the stockmarket crash.

Dances and dance halls are still a thing, they're just not as much a part of the popular culture. If you know what type of dance you are looking for, it is easier to search it out. For example, contra dancing is very popular all over the United States, and I know some people who regularly go to Swing and LindyHop events.

 

[Ohana]

Yeah thank you. I'll probably try to go find those dance halls around my area then. I wish dancing was more a part of popular culture though.

To me dancing is like breathing. When I can't express myself and who I am through dance I get sad. Its hard to describe in words but the movement makes me feel like I can breathe again and get all the emotional and physical energy I have out.

 

[deci belle]

Conjuring the Creative is an act of recognizing intelligence in the object of one's attention, or else imbuing one's attention upon an object, or even an abstraction of potential in terms of an unknown probability one puts into a contextual field (of process), set up for staging effects by experimentation.

The Creative is not a concept nor is is a conceptual property; the staging effect is a net set up to witness the Creative itself.

Twenty years ago, before abandoning film (still and motion-picture photography), I would stage effects for experimentation that would result in atmospheric anomalies using 35mm chromes (transparencies). People would refer to them as works in color-field, or else surrealism. I never bracketed the exposures (where's the adventure in that?).

At any rate, that's what I would set-up for when "hunting for intelligence." The series was in a gallery for a few years on Canyon Road in Santa Fe, in what used to be Gormley's old store in the 40s and 50s.

The only other experience I have in occult practice in terms of "performance" (technical) artistry is in motion-picture photography when I was a focus-puller, most notably when the camera was mounted on a dolly on a set with chiaroscuro lighting, with both 16 and 35mm cameras and super-speed telephotos (separate feature productions). What was so uncanny is that (besides being magical experiences in the moment), the camera operator was always so sure that the shot came out perfect on the first take (back before the 1st AC had access to a camera-mounted video monitor). I remember that on those occasions, besides getting that magical feeling, I was never sure that I had nailed the pull (focus adjustment while camera was moving), but the operator was nevertheless absolutely certain. Oh, I loved film so.

 

[AlfrunGrima]

I'm not only a witch, but a musician (Baroque oboe, oboe d'amore, oboe da caccia) and composer too. A composition is a kind of a separate world, a sacred space where I step in when I am working on it. It is another language of being me.

I experience that when doing magic as well. If you strip all the layers and masks from who I am, I am still a witch and musician. As a experiment I tried to abandon both in my life, and that was not possible. Me was not me anymore. I cannot even separate the two, they work in tandem. I use the same parts of me to make music, as I use in making/doing/living magic. In my mind it are not separate processes.

Overall, when not composing or doing/being witch, I am creative as well. Drawing, crocheting, knitting, quilting, writing, playing with words, playing with thoughts. And now my parents have a pottery workshop my hands are itching to work with that also. They are reusing the powdered remains for new work. and it is needing water to be used as new clay again. In my mind I can easily see that it would be interesting to make a few art works with clay mixed with water from different sources like a holy spring, a local stream, water with therein some dew gathered in the spring etc.

Towards witchcraft: here on the forum I only share the tested methods in witchcraft. But my mind is creative in making much more methods and rituals. I designed much more rituals than I could do myself in a lifetime. (however I work with just a few of them) I can easily come out bed with a complete new ritual in my mind, like I can for making compositions. I even have often dreams about doing both from a very young age and I must have been a very complex child to deal with.

For those who work with spirits, have you ever experienced that it influenced the creative things you make?

 

[Sedim Haba]

I'm not only a witch, but a musician (Baroque oboe, oboe d'amore, oboe da caccia) and composer too. A composition is a kind of a separate world, a sacred space where I step in when I am working on it. It is another language of being me.

I experience that when doing magic as well. If you strip all the layers and masks from who I am, I am still a witch and musician. As a experiment I tried to abandon both in my life, and that was not possible. Me was not me anymore. I cannot even separate the two, they work in tandem. I use the same parts of me to make music, as I use in making/doing/living magic. In my mind it are not separate processes.

Overall, when not composing or doing/being witch, I am creative as well. Drawing, crocheting, knitting, quilting, writing, playing with words, playing with thoughts. And now my parents have a pottery workshop my hands are itching to work with that also. They are reusing the powdered remains for new work. and it is needing water to be used as new clay again. In my mind I can easily see that it would be interesting to make a few art works with clay mixed with water from different sources like a holy spring, a local stream, water with therein some dew gathered in the spring etc.

Towards witchcraft: here on the forum I only share the tested methods in witchcraft. But my mind is creative in making much more methods and rituals. I designed much more rituals than I could do myself in a lifetime. (however I work with just a few of them) I can easily come out bed with a complete new ritual in my mind, like I can for making compositions. I even have often dreams about doing both from a very young age and I must have been a very complex child to deal with.

For those who work with spirits, have you ever experienced that it influenced the creative things you make?

"If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!" Sorry, couldn't help myself...

I love Classical music. But no instruments for it. I did play guitar in coffee houses in the 70's, Cat Stevens and John Denver covers mostly.
A bit of classical, but not an audience fav. Now, arthritis.

Art, I used to draw, but since I have level 3

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(common with Autism) I found the potter's wheel and clay better.

Since I acquired my Familiar, I'd say the main creative thing is my Altar. Never made one before, it was mostly Her doing.

 

[albie]

This thread is inspired by recent discoveries here by many of us, that many Occultists are also Martial Artists.

What about the other Arts? Music, Dance, Visual Arts, et al.

I will say that most of these are part of me, but let others start.

(yes, I looked there isn't a thread like this, at least not one I could find)

If you want something to happen...make a picture of it and get drunk and listen to great music and stare at the picture.

 

[glaive]

I love doing occult arts and crafts. Recently I restrung a set of prayer beads; I had initially put them on somewhat-shitty thread, and instead changed the linkage to loops of copper wire. I also sculpted a gorgoneion amulet.

For those who work with spirits, have you ever experienced that it influenced the creative things you make?

Yes! All the time. I often feel nudged to make small crafts by the spirits I work with for occult use, but they influence my fiction writing as well. I don't know exactly how to explain the fiction influence except that I intend to write a story with no initial occult influence, and by the end it feels almost dedicated to a certain spirit. I feel like they are very inspiring for all sorts of creative works.

 

[Sedim Haba]

If you want something to happen...make a picture of it and get drunk and listen to great music and stare at the picture.

Yes, indeed. I have several electronic picture frames in my house, in different rooms, displaying slideshows of pictures me & my Familiar agree on. (got them at resale shops)

 

[A.Nox]

This thread is inspired by recent discoveries here by many of us, that many Occultists are also Martial Artists.

What about the other Arts? Music, Dance, Visual Arts, et al.

I will say that most of these are part of me, but let others start.

(yes, I looked there isn't a thread like this, at least not one I could find)

For me the connection between the Arts and the Occult is not “inspiration” — it’s infrastructure.

Most people treat art as decoration around their practice.

I treat it as architecture.

Music, movement, geometry, narrative — all of them function as operational tools that adjust the magician’s internal state, cadence, and precision.

Music

is not about feelings — it’s about rhythm discipline.

A consistent beat regulates breath, sharpens timing, and stabilizes the operator’s focus.

It becomes a metronome for intention.

Dance / movement

is a physical expression of vector control — the ability to direct energy, inertia, and posture in a deliberate way.

Most magicians underestimate posture.

Your spine reveals more about your magical performance than your altar.

Visual arts

are basically symbolic compression.

You take a complex intention and collapse it into a sigil, a form, a geometry.

Good art functions like a magical executable — compact and potent.

Literature / storytelling

is not “imagination play”.

It’s an interface.

Narrative immersion allows the mind to bypass resistance and execute a magical task with significantly less friction.

If the operator can’t hold a story, they won’t hold a spirit.

To sum it up:

Art is not inspiration. Art is a control system.

It calibrates the magician more effectively than half the “traditional exercises” people insist on doing.

That’s how it combines for me.

 

[Keldan]

This is an interesting observation. I’ve never really thought about those two or that kind of combination together before.

When I was younger, my family pushed me to study martial arts. I hated it at the time because I wasn’t an active kid. Now I actually do martial arts, which still feels kind of funny.

I love music and dancing too. I used to rave after work and stay out until 6-7 am the next day. I still want to relive that one of these days, just not as hardcore. I also have an electric piano that’s been collecting dust, I really need to practice again. It just feels harder as an adult to make time for big hobbies.

I don’t draw much anymore either. I used to do 2D art for a gaming company, and it drained me when I had to produce a lot on request. It stopped feeling like personal expression and started feeling more like output for deadlines. I still love art though, and I enjoy going to galleries.

I used to dabble in writing as well, mostly as a copywriter. I’d only write poems when I had a potential love interest, and I’d also make crafts for them to make things feel more personal and artistic.

Overall, I just like being creative. It keeps me wanting to make new things. I also love decorating for holidays, and sometimes I’ll change up a section of the house just to refresh the vibe. So yeah, I think it’s hard for me to separate art, the occult, and who I am, they’re all tied together for me. I believe all of us are creative. Maybe we just haven’t found the right outlet yet, or the kind of art we actually enjoy making or doing.

 

[albie]

Yes, indeed. I have several electronic picture frames in my house, in different rooms, displaying slideshows of pictures me & my Familiar agree on. (got them at resale shops)

I choose to believe this...just to see what happens when I do.

 

[AlfrunGrima]

Most magicians underestimate posture.

Your spine reveals more about your magical performance than your altar.

Good to bring to the topic that magic is a very bodily thing. The spine is a really sensitive part of the body where the awareness of the tension of building up power and consciousness is present. I can't really do that if don't stand or sit with an upright spine or when I have an unstable posture. Building up that sort of things is an artwork in itself for me. Interesting to mention that I had to make drawings of the human body to get that clicked in my mind.

Regarding to the rhythm you mentioned, I just posted about it in a topic that @Van Horne just started. It is a highly useable method.

Other drawings were indeed an instrument like you described, they are part of the spell/magic or in fact a sigil in the form of a drawing. I make such drawings in a special book and every drawn line is connected to the energy flow from within the body. I keep that connection in a steady state most times except when I want to put an accent somewhere, then I build up tension till exact the amount I think it is best. I choose my colors and designs with uttermost care because I want to control things or express the power over the intention in the drawing. I needed to incorporate scent as well. So @Keldan now you are in touch with why I needed the scented inks. (However I switched to making the paper to scent)

 

[Lucien6493]

I'm not only a witch, but a musician (Baroque oboe, oboe d'amore, oboe da caccia) and composer too. A composition is a kind of a separate world, a sacred space where I step in when I am working on it. It is another language of being me.

I experience that when doing magic as well. If you strip all the layers and masks from who I am, I am still a witch and musician. As a experiment I tried to abandon both in my life, and that was not possible. Me was not me anymore. I cannot even separate the two, they work in tandem. I use the same parts of me to make music, as I use in making/doing/living magic. In my mind it are not separate processes.

Overall, when not composing or doing/being witch, I am creative as well. Drawing, crocheting, knitting, quilting, writing, playing with words, playing with thoughts. And now my parents have a pottery workshop my hands are itching to work with that also. They are reusing the powdered remains for new work. and it is needing water to be used as new clay again. In my mind I can easily see that it would be interesting to make a few art works with clay mixed with water from different sources like a holy spring, a local stream, water with therein some dew gathered in the spring etc.

Towards witchcraft: here on the forum I only share the tested methods in witchcraft. But my mind is creative in making much more methods and rituals. I designed much more rituals than I could do myself in a lifetime. (however I work with just a few of them) I can easily come out bed with a complete new ritual in my mind, like I can for making compositions. I even have often dreams about doing both from a very young age and I must have been a very complex child to deal with.

For those who work with spirits, have you ever experienced that it influenced the creative things you make?

Thank you so much for this @AlfrunGrima. I have never in my entire life heard an explanation of what I do and how I do it until now. I didn't even have a word for it, and really, it's not a doing so much as a world I step into when I am cooking, or writing, or out with my camera or doing ritual theater/sketch comedy/storytelling or even falling out of bed. It is a way of seeing, a way of being in the world; a relational space that shapes me even as I shape it; a deep reciprocity with the Mysteries. I'm a witch twenty-four seven. I'm doing it right now, witching. It's why I don't really care about technique because that comes out of navigating through perception. And I'll shut my yap now before I fall over my tongue trying to eat a cloud that won't hold still. But to answer your question...yes and no. No, because I never close myself off from the vertical axis. This world and the other one interpenetrate yet remain distinct so I can't really talk about influence so much as mutual reception. And but yes, of course I fell their influence because...well, just because...I'm not hung up on my own metaphysics, I suppose.

 

[therootbeersprite]

It is a way of seeing, a way of being in the world; a relational space that shapes me even as I shape it

I just want to highlight this, to emphasize this. Yes Yes YES!