miu miu - the woman dress

In this promotional film for Miu Miu, the female pop trio Au Revoir Simone play witches who transform Italian actress Maya Sansa into the object of her desire, a fantastic red dress. While becoming your own object of desire is perhaps the ultimate capitalistic fantasy, it's the impossibility of this transformation that aids the life cycle of consumer goods.

"The Woman Dress" is an example of how advertising promises exactly what the product can never deliver, it is the fantastic supplement to the consumer economy. In real life, you buy a dress you love, your desire is temporarily fulfilled, but then you desire something else, another new dress, and so on. If only you could, by way of a magical process, become what you want. "The Woman Dress" stages then a kind of supernatural end to the fashion industry.

ghost - here comes the sun

witches on film

legend of the witches

Slides taken by Stewart Ferrar for use on the cover of the LP Legend of the Witches. The photos include, from beginning to end, photos of Alex and Maxine Sanders, Ritual Tools, the First Degree Inititation, Cakes and Ale and Cord Magic.

untermyer park

"David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) claims that he joined a cult in the spring of 1975. Initially, he said, the group was involved in harmless activities, such as séances and fortune telling. Gradually, however, Berkowitz claimed that the group introduced him to drug use, sadistic pornography and violent crime. They began, he claims, by killing dogs, mostly German Shepherds. Over a dozen mutilated dog corpses were discovered in Yonkers, especially near Untermeyer Park, which Berkowitz claimed was a frequent meeting place for the cult."

mysterium

Alexander Scriabin - Mysterium Part I: Universe

"Mysterium is an unfinished musical work by composer Alexander Scriabin. He started working on the composition in 1903, but it was incomplete at the time of his death in 1915. Scriabin planned that the work would be synesthetic, exploiting the senses of smell and touch as well as hearing. He wrote that

There will not be a single spectator. All will be participants. The work requires special people, special artists and a completely new culture. The cast of performers includes an orchestra, a large mixed choir, an instrument with visual effects, dancers, a procession, incense, and rhythmic textural articulation. The cathedral in which it will take place will not be of one single type of stone but will continually change with the atmosphere and motion of the Mysterium. This will be done with the aid of mists and lights, which will modify the architectural contours.

Scriabin intended that the performance of this work, to be given in the foothills of the Himalayas in India, would last seven days and would be followed by the end of the world, with the human race replaced by 'nobler beings'. At the time of his death, Scriabin left 72 pages of sketches for a prelude to the Mysterium entitled Prefatory Action. These sketches have been completed by Alexander Nemtin to form a three-hour-long work, a task that took him 28 years, and recorded." [Wikipedia]

invocation

Preparation of the Self:

1. Decide the time for the Ritual to commence.
2. Abstain from excessive eating or any sexual activity for the duration of 12 hours.
3. Refrain from sleep for the same duration.
4. During the Final Hour before the ritual is to take place, speak to no one.
5. At the beginning of this Hour of Silence, physically cleanse yourself through bathing.
6. Five minutes before the start of the ritual don your “Psychic Cloak” and be ready to begin at the striking of the Hour.

As You Begin:

Lay out the Rope
Light the Altar Candle
Begin with the LBRP
Light The Incense
Perform the Sign of the Rending of the Veil while calling out the Arcane Admitting Password
Announce the Purpose of the Call
Call out the Names of the Planets you represent
Say: “Admit me and do my bidding as I command.”
Knock upon the Altar 7 times
Firmly state your desire using clear and concise language
Finally, begin to quietly recite the Mantram placing the same emphasis on each syllable with eyes closed while visualizing the desire having already been carried out.

After approximately five minutes of recitation, proceed to the Dismissal:

“I Thank thee, Cosmic Powers

The Ritual is done.

All Forces, Entities, and Energies

Shall go about their business

Until again I call.

In the Ultimate Name,

Go in peace to do My bidding.

So Mote it Be”

Perform the Sign of the Closing of the Veil
Close your eyes, Say: “Fare Thee Well, All.”
With this, the Ritual is completed.