Summer Learning Community // Prescription for Kenneth Anger
Please fill this prescription by our next Zoom meeting on July 15.
Reading:
Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics; (Chs. 1-2).
Churton, Tobias. Aleister Crowley in India: The Secret Influence of Eastern Mysticism on Magic and the Occult; (Chs. 1-3).
Hutchison, Alice L. Kenneth Anger : a demonic visionary; “Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome” (see photo gallery below).
"Ritual Use of Color in Invocation of My Demon Brother" by Deborah Allison — especially the sections “Kenneth Anger’s Ritual Use of Colour” and "The Colour Structure of Invocation of My Demon Brother".
For things to note in Lucifer Rising (deities, symbolism, locations, etc.) check out the article "Archaeology, Egyptology, and Occultism in Kenneth Anger’s Magick Lantern Cycle" by E. D. White — especially the section "Archaeology in Lucifer Rising".
Meditation:
Find and set up a up a dedicated space for meditation. Finding your space is an intuitive project. I recommend doing it at night or in the early morning. Nothing else should happen in this space except meditation and alchemical film screening.
Practice meditations on pages 38 & 48: “Concentration 101” & “Catching Thinking in the Act.”
Screening:
Eaux d’Artifice (1953)
Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1966 “Sacred Mushroom Edition”)
Scorpio Rising (1964)
Lucifer Rising (1972, 1980)
Tips for Screening:
Get your “set and setting” right with a 10-15 minute meditation before viewing.
Experiment with different musical accompaniment. What sounds good to you?
Ritualize the experience by lighting candles and setting a atmosphere that invites the imagination.
Supplementary:
Beauty and the Beast (1946) Jean Cocteau.
Orpheus (1950) Jean Cocteau.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) Dieterie & Reinhardt.
The Wormwood Star by Curtis Harrington (1956). It's very occult-y and it stars Majorie Cameron. Cameron's an interesting figure to focus on, since she was a Thelemite and was married to infamous occultist-rocket scientist Jack Parsons.
P. Adams Sitney Interviews Kenneth Anger on WNYC's "Arts Forum" (1972)
The Magician (1926) Rex Ingram