#173
Austin Osman Spare – Artist and Occultist
On this episode is Phil Baker. Author of ‘Austin Osman Spare-The Life and Legend of London’s Lost Artist’. We talk about Baker’s lauded biography of artist and Occultist, Austin Osman Spare. The book has a revised and expanded edition published in 2023.
Spare was an English artist and occultist who pioneered modern sigil magic and, though preceding it by decades, is considered the foundational influence of chaos magic. He rejected complex ceremonial magic in favor of personal, psychological techniques based on sigilization, automatic drawing, and focusing on the subconscious.
Spare fans include Alan Moore – Occultist, ceromonial magician and anarchist (Promethea, From Hell, and V for Vendetta).
And Moore’s real life long arch nemesis and fellow graphic novels writer Grant Morrison (All-Star Superman and Batman Run) is also a fan of Spare’s.
Music by Russian singer-songwriter Igor “Yegor” Fyodorovich Letov.
Listen on:
