photo by David Simmonsphoto by David Simmons / art by Teufelskunst
It’s wonderful to be receiving such feedback! Remember last year`s mandrake post about “Alien Monstress” and “Crippled Astronaut”? Well, who would have guessed that! First photo shows a recent post by obviously blessed and knowledgable David ‘Mr. Mandrake’ Simmons. Second photo is of the same root about a year ago and third is of my ink portrait, now framed and adorning D. Simmon’s wall. Thanks David!
For those who missed out on the virtual event, you can still order the VGS publication featuring my essay on Phytography (introducing the term) and my encounter with the guardian of the witch hazel, as well as two illustrations by me: https://viridisgenii.com/product/viridis-genii-series-7-vol-2/
For those who missed out on the virtual event, you can still order the VGS publication featuring my essay on Phytography (introducing the term) and my encounter with the guardian of the witch hazel, as well as two illustrations by me: https://viridisgenii.com/product/viridis-genii-series-7-vol-2/
My gratitude goes to the organizers Catamara and Marcus as well as the team of people that made it all possible, especially Kim, Katrink and Prof. Porterfield. Huge thanks also to the people that attended and took part in the workshops, especially David. We made it work, despite catching Covid, despite hurricanes and despite all the other obstacles. I am looking forward to the next point in time when the portals open for communing with the genii of the plant kingdom. Below is a summary of my presentation and workshop.
1 hour live presentation with Q&A
Creating Magical Images of Plants – Combining Phytography and Ritual Magic
1 hour lecture + 3 hour workshop included the following topics:
methods of ritual magic, sympathetic magic and planetary magic
indepth information on plant pigments
short history of nature printing
alternative photography processes feat. work by Malin Fabbri and Kristina Feldhammer
Datura wrightii flower at Pinwheel Cave California
examples of phytographs created with coffee and plants
workshop guides through the ritual creation of your own magical plant paper talismans
question & answer on anything plant/ritual related
Workshop materials provided to attendents included:
ritually harvested, pressed flowers and plants
absorbent paper
signed print of the witch hazel seal
Phytographs created during the 3 hour workshop:
Magnolia, hour of Venus
Fennel, hour of Mercury
California Poppy, hour of Mercury + Moon
Blue Lotus, hour of Moon
Witch Hazel, hour of Saturn
Phytographs created during VGS VII workshop, using planetary hours
I am pleased to be giving a lecture and hosting a workshop at this year’s Viridis Genii Symposium!
It is only possible thanks to the event being held online again that I am able to participate and share my knowledge. So this is a rare opportunity for people outside of Germany to attend and ask me all the questions that you always wanted to ask me about plants and my art with plants, including my plant sigils.
So what can you expect that will make it worth to purchase tickets?
You will:
receive a unique workshop kit with powerful magical plants that have been harvested ritually and are already arranged and pressed for you (to be purchased separately for a humble 12 USD fee)
work creatively in a relaxed and meditative surrounding
expand your ritual routine and connect collectively to the plant spirits
get a unique chance to ask me questions about your favorite plants
at the end you hold a concrete and potentially magical talisman in your hands
In the lecture I will introduce the term “Phytography” and guide you through the history of nature printing, from cave paintings, to medieval herbals, to Leonardo da Vinci, to modern alternative photography, including examples by contemporary artists such as Malin Fabbri and Kristina Feldhammer. We will talk about the “blood” of the plants and their other juices, plant pigments and in how far the coffee based phytographs that we will produce in the workshop can be considered “magical images” of the plants, through the use of sympathetic magic and astrological correspondences.
NOTE: The number of workshop participants is limited to 30!
Besides, there is an annual publication accompanying the event. This year’s book features my essay on Phytography, two illustrations and a lucid experience with the guardian of the witch hazel. The book has just arrived fresh from the print and can be ordered now from Rosarium Blends!
Note: deluxe ticket holders will automatically receive a copy.
Preview of the plants that come with the workshop kits – included among others are: thorn-apple, bryony, bindweed, lily-of-the-valley, forget-me-not, periwinkle, ferns, enchanter’s nightshade, barrenwort, wormwood, mugwort, fennel, various spring blossoms such as violets, daffodils, linden leaves, cherry, lilac, elder, hellebores etc. all carefully arranged and ready for use. It’s been a hell of a work… 😉
Crippled Astronaut and Alien Monstress Mandrake Roots
Here come “Alien Monstress” and “Crippled Astronaut” mandrake root.
They are two of the first mandrake roots I had purchased back when starting out with Teufelkunst as a “sorcery supply”. A lot has happened since then (such as moving across the country, motherhood and other things). Originally there were a few more of those old mandrake roots, but only these two survived the winters, drought and pests that came and went with the years. I took them out of their earthen homestead now, as I felt it was time. They are still sturdy and astronaut looks like she’s about to produce a new shoot. But as I am now busy preparing for presenting at this year’s VGS (see next post for more about my lecture and the workshop I am giving), and since I need to raise funds for new investments (ie a new laptop), I have decided to offer them for sale now. It is up to the new owner to decide whether he/she wants to dry them and care for their spirits in the form of a magical famulus or try a new round of growing and further fostering their green shape.
Along with the purchase you receive a portrait of the root drawn with India ink on ensouled paper. The drawing(s) will be shipped separately and a few months later after you have received the root(s), as I am yet to produce them.
Size, Weight and Pricing: 93 Euro for the “Astronaut” (~ 14 cm, 65 g) and 188 Euro for the “Alien Monstress” (ca 17 cm, 125 g) Prices are without shipping costs. Please inquire for an individual offer ensuring safe and fast shipping to your country.
NOTE: I have more dried and live roots available (see pictures below). Please contact me for individual offers including shipping.
I am writing to you from my “home office”. In this regard not much has changed. Except, I am no longer alone here, but in the constant company of my – now 10 months old – baby boy.
Corona forces us to stick together and stay home. Most of my time is spent with housework and watching after the little one and the big things he is doing. Since January 21st I am also trying to get back to working and making a living as an artist, since my parent leave has officially ended. But it is not simply getting back to business as usual.
I am currently not able to manage an online mail-order. I have hence removed the shopping cart from the Teufelskunst website.
(Do not worry, your accounts are not deleted and you can still access them – just email me and I send you a custom link.)
I plan to bring the shop back though. I also plan to start offering downloadable content, e.g. info material on spiritual working systems, herbalism as well as interviews with other artists and practitioners of occultism.
Once international shipping is working again, I may also bring back physical goods.
In the mean time I will accept individual commission requests for anything that counts as art and can be delivered digitally or in letter form. Especially illustrations/graphic design requests are highly appreciated, or if you would like to use any of my photography, illustrations or writing in a publication of yours…
You know my work. Have a look around on my social media.
Publishers could also chose from my large archive of plant and nature photographs (including a great amount of material I have not shared online), or commission me for purpose specific illustrations.
Now is the chance to get a custom piece from me!
To do so please use the contact form or e-mail me at info@teufelskunst.com
Honored to have been asked to take part in “ROOT”, the inaugural online exhibition hosted by The Organic Centre & creatively coordinated by artist Sarah Ellen Lundy as part of the pairs ongoing collaborative ‘Project Earth’.
For the coming 7 days the Teufelskunst Instagram and Facebook page will be filled with works by the talented Emery Kereru from New Zealand.
Emery is the first artist to hijack Teufelskunst. Read on why…
“Emry Kamahi Tahatai Kereru is a lifelong devotee of the black art from the Mot Valley, New Zealand. His works serve as record of a soul’s descent into perdition, through the arts bequeathed by fallen angels. He favours steel-point illustration as a medium, for its precision and control. Through symbolism he hopes to grasp the language of the divine and the mysteries of the Great Work. By realistic as possible illustrations of baneful witching herbs he has tried to capture the natural forms that carry a trace of their inmost essence. Faith is the basis of all he does, and he strives for as great a distance as possible from ego driven occultism and the empty regurgitation of familiar images and forms, disconnected from rooted contextual meaning. These works are true reflections of a lived experience beyond expression.”
Asked for his signature, Emry sent me this magic quare:
@e.m.s.a.r.t.s would you be willing to explain to my followers, how you went about constructing it?
E: “The magic square came to me during a period of intense prayer bathing in the river and fasting. It cyphers and rectifies my own name + arts mission into a Latin verse based on Revelation 21:8. EX MORTEM SECUNDUM ASCENSURA REVELATIO TEMPLUM SATHANAE, in seven descending columns, across the bottom line it reads simply A + O, which represents Spirit as the beginning and end of all, and the goal of the Great Work. The raising of the Temple, in a metaphoric sense, by the Sons of Fire, in 49 letters is 7×7, the Lord’s Prayer recited sevenfold and also 4 + 9 = 13, the bloodline of Lucifer. The weeds of the field are pulled up and burned in the fire, second death, which is perdition of the soul upon the descent of seven steps, to dedicate oneself to the spiritual work through the Devil’s pact.
The signification is that works are undertaken as an exercise of devotion and self rectification with approval of spirit.
So these works shown here are actually drawn on the blank pages from the beginning and end of bibles stolen from Christians. At the time I was hitchhiking to town once every week or two and living on about $20 a week mostly eating potatoes or weeds foraged off the land.
So I would hitch a ride to town, steal a Bible, buy a bottle of wine and a packet of lambs hearts and a few other small items. The rest of the books was used as firelighters for ritual fires of Cypress, Laurel even Yew or other specific woods.
The pages marked with the witching herbs are wordless, before Genesis and after Revelation. The rest is torn up and burned in the fire. The series is entirely symbolic and every work is prayed over with offerings to the plant spirits. Each took about three full days outside.”
The next image shows an impression from an exhibition of Emrys botanical drawings. It was this that caught my attention. I had known Emry from before, though only through e-mail contact. He was one of the first to order poison garden seeds from me. Nevermind he was in New Zealand…
Years later he sent me drawings he had done of various plants. It was just a glimpse, but it was clear, that he was serious about drawing and it looked good, meaning, professional. So I followed his steps in art and mixed media over the past 3 years. And it is with joy, that I now present to you this first small retrospective.
1 week, 9 posts. Watch out and enjoy the stories that come with each…
