T. Allen Greenfield

[nameless]

heres a magick sigil;

if anyone is interested there is a whole history and lexicon of hand sigils within occult traditions.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

Austin Osman Spare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spare would later claim that the German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler took an interest in his work after one of his portraits was purchased by the German embassy in London. According to this story, (the accuracy of which has never been verified), in 1936 Hitler requested that Spare travel to Berlin to produce a portrait of the Nazi leader, but that Spare refused, remarking that "If you are a superman, let me be forever animal." In the late 1930s, Spare would again tell this story, but changed several components of it, claiming that he had actually traveled to Berlin and produced the portrait, but that he had returned to London with it, where he had actually made use of it in the production of an anti-Nazi artwork.[75] When the Second World War broke out against Nazi Germany in 1939, Spare, an ardent anti-Nazi, tried to enlist into the army, but was deemed too old.[76] In the ensuing Blitz of London by the German Luftwaffe, Spare's flat and all the artwork in it was destroyed by a bomb on 10 May 1941, leaving him homeless.

Austin Osman Spare | Profiles | Features | Fortean Times UK

There is a third strand to Spare's career, inseparable from his art and magic. Like Salvador Dali and Baron Corvo, Spare was one of the great confabulators: a lie, he used to say, was just a truth in the wrong place. He could never stay with the daylight facts for long. In 1936, for example, Adolf Hitler tried to commission a portrait from Spare and offered to fly him out to Germany to paint it, but Spare defiantly refused, and briefly became a hero in the newspapers. So far, so true. But a couple of years later Spare revived the story and made the papers again. This time he had flown to Germany, he had made a portrait of Hitler, and he was going to incorporate it into an anti-Nazi work, perhaps even a magical one.

And this is only one of Spare's many interesting experiences. He studied hieroglyphics at first hand in Egypt; he had a respectful letter from Freud, deferring to his greater genius; he was the only survivor of a torpedoed troopship; he spent all night in No-Man's Land in a pile of corpses (in fact he didn't get to France until WWI had finished, although he did get as far as Blackpool) - and so it goes on. Even the existence of Mrs. Paterson is enigmatic, although an old woman of that name did live nearby.

Austin Osman Spare: Cockney visionary | Art and design | The Guardian

Spare might not be the first surrealist or the first pop artist, but some of his work is weirdly, irreducibly original. His attempts to "visualise sensation" with fleshly, ugly-bugly figures around 1910 are unlike anything else in Edwardian art, and his self-portraits "as" others in the 20s and 30s – as Hitler, as Christ, and as a woman – look forward to the work of Cindy Sherman and the Japanese artist Yasumasa Morimura, who has depicted himself as Chairman Mao, Hitler, and a Pre-Rapahalite maiden. Spare's sexually graphic self-as-woman pictures couldn't legally be displayed in their day, and they were quietly owned by EM Forster.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

if anyone is interested there is a whole history and lexicon of hand sigils within occult traditions.

I am. What references would you suggest?

 

[nameless]

I would warn the casual dabbler that there is alot of crap on the internet, as usual trawling and pasting is gonna edit you a bullshit tapestry of illuminati conspiracy and masonic woohaa. I dont know if there are any direct reference books but if you are arent a student of the occult then you would probably be unaware of the existence of hand gestures as sigils or aids to memory for example the judaeo cabalistic tradition have hand gestures to identify the sephiroth, I first came across these on tombstones in a prague cemetery.This is from the jewish virtual library;

for more on spare;

 

[nameless]

If anyone one wants to gain a foothold into perhaps an alternative theory to paranormal or unidentified experiences that doesn't rely on the inconclusive materialist approach based on a general consensus reality, sigil magic is a really interesting path to explore.

 

[Konrad Hartmann]

I dont know if there are any direct reference books but if you are arent a student of the occult then you would probably be unaware of the existence of hand gestures as sigils or aids to memory for example the judaeo cabalistic tradition have hand gestures to identify the sephiroth...

I might be more of a janitor of the occult.

The title is unappealing, but have you read this? Practical Sigil Magic: Creating Personal Symbols for Success: Frater U..: Amazon.com: Kindle Store

 

[nameless]

I am aware of it and him. This looks great. Anything bigged up by Peter J Carroll has got to be good.

 

[smcder]

If anyone one wants to gain a foothold into perhaps an alternative theory to paranormal or unidentified experiences that doesn't rely on the inconclusive materialist approach based on a general consensus reality, sigil magic is a really interesting path to explore.

interesting video on Spare, I've read just a bit and also on sigil magick - very interesting to me