Occulture

“The Runaway Child”

I first came across this poetic essay by the controversial anarchist philosopher Peter Lamborn Wilson – more widely known as Hakim Bey, author of the TAZ theory among many other provocative ideas – sometime in the early ’90s. I lost track of it over the years and only recently rediscovered the text, which (faint bell) … Read more“The Runaway Child”

The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift (1923)

A short newsreel capturing extremely rare footage of the Kibbo Kift at work and play. A post-First World War utopian movement, the Kindred broke from the jingoism and militarism of the Scouts and established their own plan for the betterment of individual kinfolk and the future of their society. Among their many innovations were aesthetic … Read moreThe Kindred of the Kibbo Kift (1923)

“Justified and Ancient” – the KLF and Tammy Wynette (1991)

Justified and Ancient was written and produced by the British music/performance art/culture-jamming group The KLF, who were inspired by the mock-conspiracy-theory, quasi-occult, “high weirdness” movement more-or-less started by the underground classic novel The Illuminatus Trilogy. Basically, they thought it would be hilarious to have country legend Tammy Wynette star in a pop-music video based on … Read more“Justified and Ancient” – the KLF and Tammy Wynette (1991)

“The Weird Travails of a Post-Satanist”

Stephen Bradford Long reflects on his time in the Satanic Temple: I didn’t have to work to see Satan as a hero. I didn’t have to contort my mind to see him — and the attendant iconography, dark though it may be — as beautiful and inspiring. Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t become a … Read more“The Weird Travails of a Post-Satanist”

“The Cult of Midsommar”

Mark Winegust interviews Martin Karlqvist & Patrik Andersson, who designed the elaborate rituals of the Hårga cult in the modern folk-horror classic movie Midsommar: MARTIN: It’s of course a lot of backwards engineering, because we knew what we had at an early stage, but it’s also highly influenced by my psychology studies,and the writings of … Read more“The Cult of Midsommar”

The Cult of Rame Tep (“Young Sherlock Holmes”, 1985)

The teenage Sherlock Holmes (Nicholas Rowe), John Watson (Alan Cox) and Elizabeth Hardy (Sophie Ward) investigate the sinister Cult of Rame Tep in this tense scene from Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). While the notion of a secretive and literally underground ancient Egyptian cult active in Victorian London strikes a romantic chord, various occult and esoteric … Read moreThe Cult of Rame Tep (“Young Sherlock Holmes”, 1985)