Blog Archives
Devil’s Night
I don’t remember how old I was when I learned that Detroit was the only place with a Devil’s Night. I’m posting this on Thursday evening, but I won’t share it with anyone until Friday morning, just in time for the night before Halloween — Devil’s Night. The film Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages was [...]
Satan Francisco
Just in time for Halloween, it’s Speak of the Devil, the Anton LaVey documentary… Speak of the Devil: The Canon of Anton LaVey is a documentary film about Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey, released in 1993 through Wavelength Video. It contains footage of LaVey including interviews and performances, a tour of his San Francisco [...]
Burroughs: The Occult Connection
This week it was confirmed that the William Burroughs doc, Burroughs: The Movie, will be released by Criterion Collection in December. In the meantime, here’s a cool little video about Burroughs and his connections to the occult. It’s made by Imperium Pictures… Stay Awake! Please subscribe to my YouTube channel where I archive all of the videos [...]
I Ching According to Philip K. Dick
When we’re talking about the occult in China, we’re probably looking into the future. Today, with the economic and cultural uncertainty in the world’s oldest country, it seems China’s leaders are looking to magic to guide the way. Here’s the word from Reuters… Sometime in the last year, a group of mid-ranked government officials gathered [...]
Vincent Price on Witchcraft
“Welcome to the world of witchcraft, to the world of magic. Magic — the very world is magic.” So begins this great collection of stories and lectures on witchcraft and the occult by suave cinema spook Vincent Price. The actor’s LP recording Witchcraft-Magic: An Adventure in Demonology was released in 1969 and its track list [...]
Baphomet Unveiled
So this past weekend finally saw the unveiling of the Baphomet statue in Detroit. It looks pretty cool and the organization behind the event claims that it was the largest Satanic gathering ever. I think that title still goes to any Black Friday at Walmart, but I didn’t make the event so what do I [...]
Discovered: Rosetta Stone
Some discoveries are so profound, their influence can impact culture on more levels than one. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone on July 19, 1799 decoded the Egyptian hieroglyphics — a written language that had been dead for 20 centuries. “Rosetta stone” also became a universal phrase used to describe the final, indispensable clue that [...]
The Pendle Witches
The Pendle Witch trial in England in 1612 is notable for two reasons: the preponderance of documentation covering the trial and the body count it resulted in. It’s also noted for the testimony of a nine-year-old girl and the uncovering of a culture that had more to do with a family feud and capitalist greed [...]
Truer Detective
June 21 seems a long way off to wait for the premiere of the second season of True Detective. I’m not one to blog about television very often, but, as fans of the show know, True Detective is no regular television show. The first season featured a tour-de-force acting clinic by Matthew McConaughey and Woody [...]
Sorry, Witches
Nowadays, when we think of witches we imagine Halloween cartoons with warts on the ends of their big noses or maybe we even have a friend who celebrates the Spring equinox instead of attending Easter mass. 400 years ago the country of Norway killed 91 people found guilty of witchcraft during a century-long purge. The [...]
