This past April, a very special photography exhibit took place in Brussels entitled On Paraphotography: Uncertainty, The Uncanny, & The Occult. This show featured work from artists Tereza Zelenkova, Paulina Otylie Surys, Joel-Peter Witkin and Jeffrey Silverthorn, plus selected works from from the private collection of vintage dealer Brad Feuerhelm. Looking at these images reminds me of the intense female presence in the occult, the celebration of the feminine – probably what makes it so evil and threatening to the patriarchal organized religions. These images are hugely inspirational and will take you into the netherworlds. Check out the retrospective of images that we have gathered from Harlan B. Levey Projects.
OliFant
August 1, 2013 at 12:53 am
“Looking at these images reminds me of the intense female presence in the
occult, the celebration of the feminine – probably what makes it so
evil and threatening to the patriarchal organized religions.”
On the contrary, I think it’s because of the patriarchal organised religions that female presence is so intense in the occult. The place of women has always been second to men in all main religions (and almost all societies I can think of). When the “Malleus Maleficarum” was written, it explained clearly that -and let me quote Wikipedia here- “the Devil’s power is greatest where human sexuality is concerned, for it was believed that women were more sexual than men. Libidinous women had sex with the Devil, thus paving their way to become witches.” Also, in animist religions, the notion of Gaia is linked to that of a “Mother Gaia”.
CVLT Nation
August 1, 2013 at 12:23 pm
Good point – I supposed I was thinking of the connection between older matriarchal belief systems and modern day occult. I agree that in response to organized religions, these older belief systems have been drawn upon in the occult, and so they celebrate a woman’s presence as goddess and sexual being. In the same vein, I think that part of the threat of the occult to organized religions is this very celebration of matriarchal systems that they destroyed so long ago, and are still campaigning against.