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.
Also highly notable is that Norton effectively pioneered a completely original polytheistic neoPagan religion and artistic/magical practice in parallel with, but seemingly unrelated to Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente’s development of Wicca in the UK. Unlike the Wiccan founders, however, Norton was proudly countercultural and had no designs on producing a spiritual system that would be acceptable to the staid middle class.
It’s diverting to imagine what might have happened if Norton’s approach had spread beyond her personal practice and that of her small Sydney-based coven, or indeed what might happen if and when contemporary Pagan witches rediscover her life’s work en masse.