the occult in new york

beginning in the victorian era and continuing on into the mid 1900's most of england was obsessed with spirituality, the occult, witchcraft, ancient gods and the study of all things anywhere near related to the paranormal. after all, england was home to things like the hellfire club (sir francis dashwood's ocultish/satanistic cult of the mid-1700's). and home to internationally renowned (if controversial) archeological like the fascinating dr. margaret murray who in the 1920's wrote serious and scholarly papers on the history of the practice of witchcraft in medieval europe.

also during this time early photographers began an interest in documenting the occult. there is some question on whether this was a genuine interest in art, or whether the photographers were playing the charlatans just as much as some of the occultists of the day. taking advantage of families missing fathers, sons and brothers through various wars, the business of mediums and their scenances grew madly. i think it was common for most well-heeled folk of the time to have their own personal medium on call.

the metropolitan museum of art in new york city currently is hosting an exhibit called "The Perfect Medium : Photography and the Occult". their site describes it as the "historical intersection between photography and the once wildly popular interest in spiritualism." i can not tell you how much this excites me. it's many of my pet passions converging at once. mueseums, history, ghosts, the occult and interesting art.

i am hoping to make a trip to nyc in late october to go see some david usher shows and if i can actually make this happen - you can guarantee that you will be able to find me at that exhibit.

[music | tori amos, "never seen blue"]