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Samhain Celebration II

4 Nov

Carved horse skull by Kvlt&Knochen, featuring the Samhain Harvest Seal

One week ago I took part in the second Samhain Celebration, hosted by the House of Inkantation, at The Londoner in Gotha. I attended bleary-eyed yet exited. I had worked until the very last minute on the artworks and merch, which included ink drawings of my sigilla magica, samples and glass jars with my self-made incense blends, the last Teufelskunst rosaries, postcards and the original art I had done for German doom band Werian.

The House of Inkantation folks prepared again a unique stage design, which was crowned by a horse skull, into which G. Bergfex of Kvlt&Knochen had carved and imbued with blood the official Samhain Harvest Seal. On the stage performed Rim Runa, Werian, Forndom, Sun of the Sleepless and Malokarpathan. Another special treat were the dedicated wooden boxes pyrographed by C. & M. Falkenstein.

Dedicated box with VIP pass and leather amulet, pyrographed by House of Inkantation

My company, the photographer Anne Ida Helmer, has set herself the goal to document me – by all means not an easy task. But I was glad to have her around. We spend the whole weekend in Gotha, touching base and forging future plans. It was nice to finally meet some of the people in person, whom I had done artwork for, and to get to know new faces. I was overwhelmed by the support and interest in my work. This made me forget the sacrifices of the past weeks. It was also refreshing to get to witness new music, bands I had and had not heard of before. I come out of this gathering with new art commissions, possible participation in new events and more.

Thanks to all involved, who made this year’s celebration of the end of summer a success beyond expectations. Thanks in particular to the House of Inkantation/Eisenwald, Mosaic, Werian, Photos of Kaos, Kvlt&Knochen and friends from Austria and Switzerland, the rest of the merch team, Forndom and Anne.

Below some impressions…

Art Crossing: Werian performing on the Samhain stage in Gotha, with art by me and House of Inkantation

Werian, Teufelskunst Wolfsbane sigil used on stage

“Wolf Shaman” artwork, done exclusively for the band Werian, accompanies their stage rituals

Werian, upcoming album Lunar Cult Society is available for pre-order

Sun of the Sleepless, intense performance

Inkantator K. performing with Sun of the Sleepless

For more visit my occult art website and shop at www.teufelskunst.com

Besides, Samhain Celebration III is already taking shape. Pre-sale tickets are strictly limited to 200.

Night Life and July Devils 2017

1 Aug

New series about the secret life taking place in the garden at night. Because these are sleepless summer nights and I am nocturnal again for various reasons.

I am spending most of my summer working and enjoying time in our garden. Hence dedicating again the monthly theme to this topic. The new flower beds are finished at last and new plants are added on a weekly basis. The black flower theme is coming along nicely. For more visit my garden blog.

June Devils 2017

1 Jul

 

Impressions from my month of June, including my ritual for the summer solstice 2017.

View the entire Flower Devils series here.

By the Willow, with Anne Ida Helmer Photography

19 Jun

I had the honor and pleasure of being photographed by professional photographer and photography teacher Anne Ida Helmer from Berlin.

We spent the whole day preparing and set to work in the evening, as the blue hour descended. Our meeting happened to coincide with the dark of the moon. The location is an old hollow willow tree close to the river. I refrained from a complex ritual set-up and instead focused on the act itself, burning Incense of Lilith and pouring libation of self-made pomegranate vodka for the spirits of the place. Whether we nurtured invisible specters or mainly ourselves – the religious aspect of occult ritual work is part of the complex topic explored by Anne in her ongoing series “Gravis” and “Krura“.

Anne’s website: http://www.anneidahelmer.de/

Images © Anne Ida Helmer 2017. All rights reserved. You may not copy, save or reproduce these images without the expressed written consent of the artist.

Sakura Whispers

8 Apr

Path of petals

Japanese Pavilion

Sakura Whispers

Dresden blue hour

Favorite time of day, dim light, overcast sky. New camera and lens. Minimal editing.

Pale Glow

8 Apr

April nightfall – chill, raindrops on pale petals of daffodils and tulips, roses

The garden after dark, all the myths…

In antiquity a marriage outside one’s social class would bring shame over the family. Abductions were staged to justify such liaison.(1) Against this background the story of the abduction of Persephone appears in a new light. It enabled her to be part of and live in two worlds, which were otherwise closed away from each other. She maintained the privileges of the world of the living, but also dined with the dead in the underworld and was let into its secrets. According to legend she picked daffodils when Hades ‘abducted’ her to the underworld. Her story remains fascinating, her flowers remind us of it.

Martin Luther too staged his abduction. Believed to be dead by his foes, he used the time ‘in the dark’ to translate the bible from original sources into German language (with a little help from his friends), one of the most significant cultural contributions of mankind. His signature flower became the rose. (2)

(1) Harold Roth, The Witching Herbs, p. 48 “Kidnapped Brides

(2) The Luther seal or Luther rose is a widely recognized symbol for Lutheranism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_rose

Besides…

I watched lots of docus on Arte +7. Yes, the one about the comet (so amazing) and the series on space time and matter. About the chief and the forests. Also earlier about the super plants. And now I am hung up on the magic garden series… eg this one about the garden as a place of initiation:  http://www.arte.tv/guide/de/057898-003-A/magische-garten

Pillars Perichoresis

19 Feb

Pillars Perichoresis, Anathema Publishing

Several of my artworks and one essay are featured in the now sold-out “Pillars – Perichoresis” anthology by Anathema Publishing, 2016. The book is a compilation of the first three “Pillars” journals and contains additional material that was not part of previous releases. I have contributed to all three journals and look forward to continue working with Anathema Publishing in the future.

Wounds

14 Feb

A collection of photographs of wounds, scars and malformations on trees

Isa

2 Jan

With the new year came the first lasting snow and in my mail arrived five little cat’s eye cabochons… I have been asked to do a runic incense for Isa and began gathering corresponding ingredients:

The rune Isa is written with a single straight vertical line. Its meaning is “ice”. Its associated tree and herb is the black alder and henbane, color black and stone is the cats eye (cymophane). Cats eye cabochons break the light in such manner that a single bright line appears across the stone. One could say the rune Isa is literally marked on it. (The effect is stronger under a light bulb or other single light source.) In Asia it is considered a magical stone that shows the direction to hidden and forgotten treasures. The stone comes in colors ranging from honey yellow to green to a dirty blue or gray. A special form is the Alexandrite, which changes color from blueish green to a deep blood red. I like the blueish gray versions best in this context, as these are also the colors of ice and winter.

Isa seemingly represents stillstand. It marks a time when to formulate dreams and vision and choose a direction. It calls for patience and contemplation, but not laziness. Now have to be done preparations and laid down the foundation for a future harvest.

New Year’s Moon, Venus, Mars Alignment

1 Jan

The first evening of the year 2017 gave a magical sight: the sharp sickle of the waxing moon’s crescent aligned with Venus and Mars at around 7 pm. In addition one could see structures on the dark side of the moon, which are usually merge with the dark night sky and are not visible. Perhaps the sky was brighter tonight due to light being reflected by dust particles in the air from last night’s fireworks. The photos were taken at around 7 pm in Dresden Dölzschen.