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'Austin Osman Spare (December 30, 1886 - May 15, 1956) was an English artist and magician. He was the son of a London policeman. As a child, he showed an affinity for art, and he briefly attended an art school. At the age of 13, he left school to become an apprentice to a stained glass maker. During his teen years, his fascination for the occult grew apace, heavily influencing the work he produced. In May 1904 one of his drawings was exhibited at the annual Royal Academy exhibition in London, generating a storm of publicity for the young artist.
'In October 1907 Spare exhibited his drawings at the Bruton gallery in London. His work resembled that of Aubrey Beardsley, but was full of grotesque, sexualized human figures and magical symbols. These elements appealed to avant-garde London intellectuals, and brought him to the attention of Aleister Crowley. Spare became a Probationer of Crowley's order Argenteum Astrum ("Of the Silver Star") in July 1909, but was not initaiated as a member, although he contributed four small drawings to Crowley's publication The Equinox. Crowley later characterized Spare as a "Black Brother", meaning that he did not approve of the goals of Spare's magical philosophy.
'In 1905, Spare published his first book, Earth: Inferno. It remains a powerful work and made clear Spare’s agenda: mystical, grotesque, often dark and polemic, Earth: Inferno seeks to challenge the reader to see the world askance, through the eyes of the artist. The book was privately published in 1905 - prior to his first notorious West End exhibition at The Bruton Gallery. If there had been any doubt as to Spare’s intent, this show dispelled any lingering uncertainty. One critic wrote: “His inventive faculty is stupendous and terrifying in its creative flow of impossible horrors …” Spare's iconoclasm and aversion to moralism as well as his sigilization was influential on the Western esoteric tradition that later came to be known as chaos magic.'-- Austinspare.co.uk. & Fulgur Limited
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'Spare's association with Crowley didn’t last long partly because, although barely twenty years old at the time, he had begun work on The Book of Pleasure, and was beginning to form his own ideas concerning the practice of magic. As well as drawings, it includes detailed instructions for his system of sigilization and the well known 'death postures'. He has much to say about human hypocrisy, religion and the meanings of true personal freedom and power. The Book of Pleasure reeks of diabolism to such an extent that Mario Praz in The Romantic Agony (Oxford, 1933) refers to Spare as an English "satanic occultist", and he places him in the same category as his nemesis Aleister Crowley. The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love) is seen by many as the core of Austin Spare’s magical philosophy and his most important and influential work.'-- Austinspare.co.uk. & Fulgur Limited
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p.s. Hey. It's not so easy to see Austin Osman Spare's booklets, but you can see two of them in the form of mid-to-low/mid-quality scans today. Nice? See you.
'Austin Osman Spare (December 30, 1886 - May 15, 1956) was an English artist and magician. He was the son of a London policeman. As a child, he showed an affinity for art, and he briefly attended an art school. At the age of 13, he left school to become an apprentice to a stained glass maker. During his teen years, his fascination for the occult grew apace, heavily influencing the work he produced. In May 1904 one of his drawings was exhibited at the annual Royal Academy exhibition in London, generating a storm of publicity for the young artist.
'In October 1907 Spare exhibited his drawings at the Bruton gallery in London. His work resembled that of Aubrey Beardsley, but was full of grotesque, sexualized human figures and magical symbols. These elements appealed to avant-garde London intellectuals, and brought him to the attention of Aleister Crowley. Spare became a Probationer of Crowley's order Argenteum Astrum ("Of the Silver Star") in July 1909, but was not initaiated as a member, although he contributed four small drawings to Crowley's publication The Equinox. Crowley later characterized Spare as a "Black Brother", meaning that he did not approve of the goals of Spare's magical philosophy.
'In 1905, Spare published his first book, Earth: Inferno. It remains a powerful work and made clear Spare’s agenda: mystical, grotesque, often dark and polemic, Earth: Inferno seeks to challenge the reader to see the world askance, through the eyes of the artist. The book was privately published in 1905 - prior to his first notorious West End exhibition at The Bruton Gallery. If there had been any doubt as to Spare’s intent, this show dispelled any lingering uncertainty. One critic wrote: “His inventive faculty is stupendous and terrifying in its creative flow of impossible horrors …” Spare's iconoclasm and aversion to moralism as well as his sigilization was influential on the Western esoteric tradition that later came to be known as chaos magic.'-- Austinspare.co.uk. & Fulgur Limited
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'Spare's association with Crowley didn’t last long partly because, although barely twenty years old at the time, he had begun work on The Book of Pleasure, and was beginning to form his own ideas concerning the practice of magic. As well as drawings, it includes detailed instructions for his system of sigilization and the well known 'death postures'. He has much to say about human hypocrisy, religion and the meanings of true personal freedom and power. The Book of Pleasure reeks of diabolism to such an extent that Mario Praz in The Romantic Agony (Oxford, 1933) refers to Spare as an English "satanic occultist", and he places him in the same category as his nemesis Aleister Crowley. The Book of Pleasure (Self-Love) is seen by many as the core of Austin Spare’s magical philosophy and his most important and influential work.'-- Austinspare.co.uk. & Fulgur Limited
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*
p.s. Hey. It's not so easy to see Austin Osman Spare's booklets, but you can see two of them in the form of mid-to-low/mid-quality scans today. Nice? See you.