Category: art

Comet Observations – The Augsburger Book of Miracles, 1552

The Augsburger Wunderzeichenbuch (1552 ?) was a compendium of famous meteorological and astronomical phenomena  as well as selected illustrations from the Bible. The more interesting part here is that the writer associates the various comet appearances with specific disasters (disaster literally meaning an ill-starred event) in world history. In this work, the author does not make the distinction between comets and meteors which we do today. The segment on miraculous signs appears between the Old and New Testament portions and depicts several freak weather incidents and celestial apparitions from antiquity up to the year 1552.

“In 1401 A.D., a big comet with a tail… appeared in the sky in Germany. That was followed by a great, terrible plague in Swabia.”
The great comet of 1456 was actually excommunicated by Pope Callixtus III. Today we know this as Halley’s Comet. I’m not entirely sure what the smaller object is but it cannot be a comet since comet tails always face away from the sun. This must be a shooting star.
“In 1007 a wondrous comet appeared. It gave off fire and flames in every direction. It was seen in Germany and Welschland and it fell onto the earth.” This was then not a true comet but an impressive meteor.
“In 1546, in the month of August, the fire from the sky struck a tower in which were more than four hundred tons of powder, in Mechel in Niederland. And exactly half of the city burned down, which is also a special sign from God.”
The comet of 1300/1, most likely Halley’s comet again.

 

Roman Gods, Livre des échecs amoureux moralisés (1496)

Le Livre des échecs amoureux moralisés. Commissioned by Louise of Savoy. Transferred between 1515-1518 to the royal library of Blois. “The games of Love”, masterfully composed and filled with moral stories against foolish love, whose end (the book claims) is to show the error and deception that is fatuous love and its innumerable dangers.
Currently located at La Bibliothèque nationale de France. See it in full detail here.

Pluto and Proserpina among the Kingdom of Hades


Vulcan and Venus, her children


Pan


Jupiter


Saturn eating his young

Artist Spotlight – Scurvy Drunkard (Pt 2)

I remain ever impressed by this gal’s work, especially this time around. S.D. continues to produce excellently creative projects which explore the dark side of psychology, decay, madness, and fear. I just…love her! She has just published a photo series called Beautiful Corpses. Make sure to click on the images below to enlarge and take in all the details. I love the color choices and the contrasts. Follow her Instagram @scurvydrunkard

Beautiful Corpses

The obsession
with possession-
the utmost pointless pursuit.
The compulsive urge to preserve
these THINGS which can be seen
felt, or heard.
A washboard must be attained
Guzzling eggs, a dozen a day.
Perhaps a home to die in,
if you can find a way to pay.
Everything, in excess.
Perhaps some-body to display.
The borrowed land you call your own
will also waste away.
You have cried from the hunger
since the day you were born.
Reduced yourself to but a number
insatiably seeking to adorn
the skin you’re living in
always seeking outward things
when one could truly make their mark
if only one would look within.
If only one would look within.
All material traces, forgot
Blood oaths will clot
And the flesh will rot
The flesh will rot.


Magical Treasure Trove in Pompeii

This is a really interesting archaeological find, and right after I posted my own magical treasure trove. Recently in Pompeii, where excavations have been occurring in one form or another for the past three centuries, there was discovered a casket full of daily-use implements which also included a number of magical artifacts.

Amulets, gems and small objects re-emerge from the excavation of the Regio V. They were related to the female world, used for personal ornamentation or to protect from bad luck. They were found in one of the rooms of the House of the Garden.
Placed in a wooden box, it has been restored and has been brought to its former glory by the restorers of the Laboratory of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. They were probably objects that the inhabitants of the house could not take away before they escaped.

The wood of the box has decomposed and only the bronze hinges remain, well preserved under the volcanic material.
Among the numerous objects found, two mirrors, pieces of necklace, decorative elements made of faïence, bronze, bone and amber, a glass unguentary, phallic amulets, a human figure and various gems (including an amethyst with a female figure and a carnelian with a craftsman figure). In a glass paste is engraved the head of Dionysus, on another a dancing satyr.
The high quality of the amber and glass pastes and the engraving of the figures confirm the importance of the domus owner.
Soon the jewels will be exhibited, with other Pompeian jewels, at the Palestra Grande, in an exhibition that will be a follow-up of “Vanity”, the exhibition dedicated to jewels from the Cyclades and Pompeii, as well as from other sites in Campania.​
The full article is at Pompeii Sites

This is a very illuminating “snapshot” of the life of one ancient Roman household on the day of October 24, 79 CE.  Perhaps the casket was filled in the chaos of the disaster while the owner attempted in vain to take some of her belongings with her to escape, only to suffer the fate of Vesuvius. Just imagine what archaeological evidence you and I will leave behind for some future archaeologist to discover, 2000 years into the future.

Pompeii was a city full of magic at every corner. Photo: Altar of the Temple of Apollo, credit: Faustus

Magical kolossos – 2nd or 3rd c. CE

Clay figure with 13 bronze pins, discovered with a lead tablet engraved with a binding spell. A Roman “love magic doll”, showing a nude female bound and stabbed with 13 pins. Found in Antinoopolis with a lead curse tablet, this artifact is likely dated to the 2nd or 3rd century C.E.
1. brain: only think about me;
2. eyes: only have eyes for me;
2. ears: only have ears for me;
1. mouth: only speak about me;
1. heart: only have feelings for me;
1. vagina: only have desire for me;
1. anus: only have desire for me;
2. hands: only work for me;
2. feet: never walk away from me…

Antinoopolis was the pageant ground for a lavish and outrageous new mystery religion to rise up at the dawn of the new celestial epoch, the Age of Pisces. The priests of Antinous were supported and funded well by the state, and worshiped in great luxury and delight. Here, the Pax Deorum thrived as the cult of Antinous strived to commingle all the cultures and religions of the Empire. They were Greco-Roman Pagans trying to uphold Olympus in the middle of the Egyptian desert, surrounded by wild Gnostics, austere Catholics, genius Mathematicians and natural philosophers, the Roman garrison and every assortment of conjurer, and prophet of debauchery that could make his way up the Nile.
The Priests of Antinous venerated the beauty of young men, as living examples of Antinous, one superb manifestation of which was held to be the Divine Ephebe in living flesh, a boy of about nineteen years of age, perhaps the winner of the Antinoean Games, who was worshiped as the carnal and spiritual habitation of Antinous the God. We can be certain that the elegant priests were of the doctrine of the Libertines, placed as they were on the very edge of the world, surrounded by unknown Africa, clinging to the edge of the fertile Nile, with endless desert all around. The citizens of Antinoopolis must have felt as though they were not part of the world, that they were special, not subject to the normal rules and customs, and that they were the champions of civilization in the very extreme of barbarity.

After his deification, the constellation of Antinuous was regarded in the West until the re-classification of common constellations by the scientific authorities of the 20th century

The priests of Antinous kept the fire of the name of Antinous burning by reciting his ceremonies and oracles with a combination of Greek Chant and Egyptian bells. Flutes and harps accompanied the gestures of their ritual. The Christian Fathers tell us that all inflamed with drink, the priests fell upon each other in unholy lust. The Ancient Priests were also well-known for their magical spells, and a papyrus fragment bearing an Antinous Love Spell survives to this day. Thousands upon thousands of pilgrims came to Antinoopolis over five centuries to worship the beautiful god, and to hear the sayings of the oracle. Toward the end, as the Empire disintegrated, Antinoopolis became a place of magic and superstition, and the evidence from this period is that Antinoopolis had become a market for charlatans.

Osiris-Antinous, the Egyptianized form of the Roman God. Found in the villa of emperor Hadrian, now at the Vatican Museum

The Black House – In Virtual Reality

In 1966 Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan, with his infamous house at 6114 California Street in San Francisco as the headquarters. From there, he conducted public rituals, seminars and lectures on magic. He also kept his pet lion Togare there until its relocation to a zoo. After LaVey’s death, the property was demolished in 2001.
For those of us who never got to visit the House, there is still hope. Warlock Enki is currently working on a VR recreation of the Black House and the ritual chamber within. If you have never had a VR experience before, the technology is finally coming out of its infancy and is now quite good. Check out this preview below. Then go check out his Indiegogo campaign and donate today!