Recommended to anyone with an interest in recent Pagan/countercultural history, this suitably artistic documentary delves into the radical life, art and legacy of Rosaleen Norton, known in her heyday as the Witch of Kings Cross.
The extraordinarily conservative climate of 1950s Australia was unable to perceive Norton’s lifeworks, which included the ritual veneration of Pan, Lucifer, Hecate and Lilith, sex magic, trance states, etc. as anything other than scandal and crime. Looking back, of course, she was actually a pioneer of many attitudes and sensibilities that have since gained – if not “mainstream respectability” – at least much greater understanding and appreciation than her ’50s Aussie persecutors were capable of.