The Magical Writings of Ithell Colquhoun

She was too surreal… even for the Surrealists. Ithell Colquhoun stepped into a movement built on dreams, rebellion, and the subconscious—and still managed to make them uncomfortable. While others flirted with mysticism, she went all in, studying the occult and refusing to separate her art from her inner life. That’s where the tension began. The Surrealists, led by André Breton, wanted control over the movement, and Colquhoun refused to choose between their rules and her beliefs. So they made the choice for her—and expelled her.

But she didn’t disappear. She kept creating, developing her own techniques, building a visual language that was entirely her own, and pushing deeper into the subconscious without permission or approval. For years, she was overlooked while others became icons. Now, her work feels more modern, more fearless, and more honest than ever—because she wasn’t trying to fit into a movement, she was building something beyond it. Some artists wait to be accepted. Others redefine what acceptance even means.

Ithell Colquhoun’s reputation as a provocative and accomplished visual artist and writer is becoming well established. However, less is known about her work as an occult and esoteric essayist, primarily because many of her essays were published in occult ephemera, and limited run local and specialist magazines. This illustrated talk will be an introduction to the wide range of topics that Colquhoun masterfully tackled, ranging from primers on the Kabbalah to Celtic spirituality, meditation, mysticism, and magical color theory.

Jessica Hundley Series Editor for TASCHEN Publications multivolume collection, The Library of Esoterica, a book series exploring the visual history of Tarot, Astrology and other esoteric traditions introduces the event.

Dr. Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic. She has a PhD in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA and has published academic and popular articles on a wide range of topics such as Paganism and the New Right, women’s esoteric art, Cornish cultural nationalism, Arthuriana, color theory, and occult performance art. She has written widely on artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun, notably the biography Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently editing a selection of Colquhoun’s esoteric essays. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and Spike Island, Bristol.

The Fisherman's Daughter - Tzarevna Scaling (2020)

A fishmonger's daughter drinks some tea rumoured to cure insomnia and enters into a hallucagenic fairy-tale world where she must complete a series of tasks to determine if she has what it takes to become a Tzarevna (the daughter of the Tzar). Click on the image above to be taken to the full film.

'Musical Holdouts' (1975)

An expansive survey of 1975 American musical subcultures that steadfastly refuse to be blanded by mainstream consciousness. Directed by John Cohen(1932-2019. From front porch banjo pickers in Appalachia and the Bluegrass Festival circuit to black children on the Carolina sea islands, cowboys, and Cheyenne and Comanche Indians, they have all retained their cultural identities despite pressures from the mass media and popular culture.—Folkstreams

Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King

Filmmaker Jeff Feuerzeig documents the strange career of Jad and David Fair's avant-garde rock duo, Half Japanese. Formed in the pre-punk 1970s and originally releasing their music on self-distributed cassettes, the brothers quickly gained renown in the fringe-rock underground due to their lo-fi recording style and deliberately minimal musical skills. The film includes interviews with both brothers as well as famous fans like magician Penn Jillette and Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker.

Fear of a Black Hat (1993)

Fear of a Black Hat is to Hiphop what Spinal Tap is to Metal.

Fear of a Black Hat is a 1993 American mockumentary film on the evolution and state of American hip hop music. Written and directed by Rusty Cundieff in his directorial debut, the film stars Cundieff, Larry B. Scott and Mark Christopher Lawrence. Fear of a Black Hat is similar in format to the satirical film about early 1980s heavy metal, This Is Spinal Tap. It is told from the point of view of a graduate student who is documenting the hip hop group N.W.H. (which stands for "Niggaz With Hats", a reference to N.W.A.) for a year as part of her thesis.

The title is derived from the 1990 Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 1993, and was later theatrically released on June 3, 1994. While critically acclaimed, it was a box office bomb. Its stature has grown in the years since its release and the film has acquired a cult following.

Good Vibrations

Engaging biopic of punk pioneer Terri Hooley, who opened a record shop in 1970s Belfast and helped foster the city's underground music scene.

Good Vibrations is a 2013 comedy-drama film written by Colin Carberry and Glenn Patterson and directed by Lisa Barros D'Sa and Glenn Leyburn. It stars Richard Dormer, Jodie Whittaker, Adrian Dunbar, Liam Cunningham, Karl Johnson and Dylan Moran. It is based on the life of Terri Hooley, a record-store owner instrumental in developing Belfast's punk rock scene. The film was produced by Chris Martin, with Andrew Eaton, Bruno Charlesworth and David Holmes. Holmes also co-wrote the soundtrack score.

The Naked Zoo (1970)

A seductive matron lives in Miami with her wealthy, wheelchair-bound husband. Frustrated, she beds a young author. The gravy train abruptly derails when her husband finds out, and murder ensues.

Canned Heat perform in the party scene, playing "One Kind Favor", from the 1968 record Living the Blues.

A cracker of an album:

The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg

The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg is a 1993 film by Jerry Aronson chronicling the poet Allen Ginsberg's life up to that point, along with his views on death; Ginsberg was in his mid 60s when the movie was first released, and died at age 70. The film has been completed and released a number of times due to changing technologies and world events. The first release of the film was in 1993 at the Sundance Film Festival after which it enjoyed an international festival run and USA theatrical run. When Aronson showed him the film the poet is reported to have nodded his head thoughtfully and said, "So, that's Allen Ginsberg."

After Ginsberg passed in 1997, Jerry Aronson decided to update the ending of the film to include the poet's passing, added a shot of Ginsberg's headstone in New Jersey, and added a new recording of Paul Simon singing Ginsberg's "New Stanzas for Amazing Grace" for the closing credits.

Liquid Crystal Vision - Documentary about Goa Trance

Liquid Crystal Vision (2002) is a 60-minute cult documentary exploring the spiritual and cultural roots of the global Goa trance movement. Directed by Omananda, the film features interviews with pioneers like Raja Ram and Goa Gil, featuring footage from Goa, India, and global parties, highlighting themes of dance as a, "global peace prayer," and personal evolution.

Features insight from key figures, including Goa Gil, Raja Ram, System 7, Youth, Swami, and Alex Grey. Features music by artists such as Shpongle, Irresistible Force, Banco De Gaia, Space Tribe, and Nick Doof and includes scenes from Goa (India), Portugal, Cambodia, Laos, and Burning Man.

The film explores the freedom to dance, the psychedelic experience, and the connection between ancient rituals and modern technology.

(פצצות בדרך לסוף העולם) Psychedelic Zion

"Psychedelic Zion" follows the ups and downs of three rave organizers who operate under the banner "Peace and Love Production." Filmed over the course of two years, director Isri Halpern follows the trio from their first ecstatic parties on the hillsides of the Galilee, into the living rooms of their religious, working-class families, and deep into the fray of their eventual and sometimes violent clashes with the police. In the midst of a public furor, they take their case to the government and the Supreme Court, fighting for the right to live out their psychedelic dreams. Full film in Hebrew with English subtitles.