SOURCE MAGIC (2023)
“Source Magic heralds what legions of countercultural readers have known (and sometimes jealously guarded) for years: Carl Abrahamsson is not only among today’s leading occult writers and artists, but is, in fact, one of this generation’s most vital public intellectuals. From The Prisoner to Ezra Pound, no single descriptor captures how Carl has pried apart the floorboards of postmodernity—and done so as few are able: with laser-like precision, joie de vivre, and the literary power of an exploding sun. Carl is our magickal Moses hoisting a fiery serpent in the cultural wilderness. I will be returning to Source Magic for a lifetime.”—Mitch Horowitz, PEN Award-winning author of Occult America and Uncertain Places
“Carl’s work always brings you to the edge of reality, asking you to peer through the veil and question if said reality even exists. In Source Magic, Carl stretches this further, inviting one to view life as a study in magick, in causal effect, in shapeshifting. By embracing life as a vessel for occulture and magico-anthropology and using this as his framework for his studies and explorations, Carl guides a new generation of thinkers into a future that asks what if and gets even more strange, surreal, beautiful, and mystical than one can dream. This book will change what you thought you knew about the possibilities of life and spirituality.” – Gabriela Herstik, author of Inner Witch: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Craft and Sacred Sex: The Magick and Path of the Divine Erotic.
“Carl Abrahamsson is a rare voice of lucidity in the complex world of magick. He explains the most profound and esoteric knowledge in a way that just keeps the pages turning and the ideas flowing. Reading Abrahamsson is like starting a fire deep within the imagination that continues to warm the spirit long after reading.” – Kendell Geers, artist
ANTON LAVEY AND THE CHURCH OF SATAN – INFERNAL WISDOM FROM THE DEVIL’S DEN (2022)
“Given the scope of available candidates for the title of Devil incarnate, one finds it difficult to imagine that Anton LaVey would even get a look in! LaVey was born in Chicago in 1930, and his ascendancy to High Priest of his very own Church of Satan is the stuff of “pulp” itself. He was a talented musician (affirmed by all who knew him), but a far from dependable narrator; his fanciful tales of working the burlesque bars and seedy carnivals are recalled here with tongues firmly in cheeks. That noted, Carl Abrahamsson’s collection of interviews with friends, lovers and fellow devo- tees provides a very human, humorous and sympathetic account of a man born to notor- iety. Neither a controlling mys- tic nor a heartless Darwinian, LaVey remained a gentleman and a loyal friend to all who shared his company, we discover. More Liberace with attitude than Lucifer, LaVey offered a brand of Satanism with
its roots in the hedonism that dominated post-war consumerist society. Tapping into the emergent self-help and personal growth industry, he mixed a bit of Nietzsche and some old fashioned anti- authoritarian individualism with a healthy dash of showmanship. This was a winning formula that appealed both to Hollywood stars and countercultural figures such as Jayne Mansfield and Kenneth Anger – by 1969 the San Francisco Black House was the place to be. With a run of successful titles to his name, notably The Satanic Bible (1969) and The Satanic Rituals (1972), LaVey began to attract media interest. No shrinking violet, he appeared on such primetime staples as Donahue and the Tonight Show and featured in Time and Newsweek. By putting magic back into popular culture LaVey helped consolidate Satanism as a legitim- ate philosophical discourse and weathered the Satanic panic backlash of later decades with wry aplomb. Testimony from such occult luminaries as the Crowleyan apostle Kenneth Anger, the current priestly incumbents of the Church, Peter Gilmore and Peggy Nadramia, and former partner Blanche Barton, all emphasise his enduring humanism and despair at collective hypocrisy. For a later generation of “esoter- rorists” such as Genesis P Orridge (1950-2020), LaVey demonstrated how spectacle offered an antidote to quotidian reality. Abrahamsson’s documentation of a complex personality is a welcome addition to existing biographical material and contextualises his life in a mature and unsensational manner. Regardless of what one may think of LaVey and his philosophy, he has more than earned his place in the ranks of countercultural mavericks and Abrahamsson celebrates this glorious fact. A fascinating portrait of a major media manipulator and raconteur – everybody’s favourite Satanist.” – Chris Hill, Fortean Times 431
“In Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan, the ‘Black Pope’ of modern Satanism finds his most able interpreter and biographer. Carl Abrahamsson, the doyen of occulture, has studied LaVey’s life and influence for years, focusing his peculiar instinct for the esoteric and transgressive on a character who brought the two into a piquant and appealing blend. Part showman, part huckster, part prophet and all devil, LaVey’s shaved head, Fu Manchu moustache, kitschy horns, and buxom coven brought a comic touch to a heresy that is more often taken all too seriously. Abrahamsson catches the smoky, saucy flavour of LaVey’s devilish humour with gusto. Tempted? You should be.” – Gary Lachman, author of Turn Off Your Mind and The Return of Holy Russia
“A rich, engaging, and insightful exploration of one of the most influential and misunderstood thinkers of late twentieth-century occultism… an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of Satanism and late-modern occulture.” – Manon Hedenborg White, senior lecturer of religious studies at Karlstad University and author of The Eloquent Blood
“Unique insights into the myth and man that was Anton LaVey – a must-read for anyone interested in the history and future of Satanism.” – Per Faxneld, PhD, senior lecturer at Södertörn University and author of Satanic Feminism
“Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan is an act of magic, for it takes you to the Black House asa 6114 California Street where you are invited to a party in the honour of Doktor LaVey. Carl Abrahamsson is the ideal host of the party – not only has he invited all the right people, but he will introduce them to you as he takes you by the arm and leads you through the house, making sure that you are having fun while generously sharing his profound about the Doktor. If you’re lucky, Doctor LaVey will show you a movie or play one of his many synthesisers. Enjoy the party!” – Henrik Bogdan, professor of religious studies at the University of Gothenburg, and editor of the Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism book series.
“At a moment when theres is increased academic interest in the history of Satanism and the gamut of Satanic religion has fanned out from the radical left to the alt-right, there is great value in revisiting Anton LaVey. With fresh analysis and precious interviews with friends and family, Carl Abrahamsson sheds new light on this controversial and enigmatic figure. The more we learn about LaVey, the more he appears as a node, linking diverse stream of culture from magic to art to politics.” – Joseph P Laycock, associate professor of religious studies at Texas State University and author of Speak of the Devil
“Abrahamsson’s work is a personal, sympathetic, yet nuanced portrait of one of the most enigmatic and fascinating figures of the twentieth century. Anton LaVey was a mercurial figure who contained within him paradoxes that continue to defy any simplistic interpretations of him. The diversity of his influence is clearly felt in this work. With several unique interviews and recollections of LaVey, this book will be essential reading for all future studies on Satanism.” – Fredrik Gregorius, associate professor of the history of religion at Linköping University and co-editor of The International Journal of the Study of New Religions
OCCULTURE (2018)
“What is important here is that Abrahamsson is taking occulture down interesting new routes, beyond the pentagrams and black leather that too often obscure its more subtle offerings and provide the uninitiated with kitschy reasons to dismiss it. He is showing that the occulturist perspective can provide new ways in which to see literature and even the art of writing itself. But what these writings do fundamentally is what all good criticism should: convey the passion and delight that the critic found in his subjects, so that the reader can share in this transformative bounty.” – Gary Lachman
“Occulture is one of today’s most learned, unexpected, and illuminating tours through occult cultural influences. Carl Abrahamsson will expand your doors of perception of what the counterculture really is. His chapter on Anton LaVey came to me as a revelation. I am filled with hope that a book like this can be published at a time like ours.” – Mitch Horowitz
“Occulture is a word that was inevitable. During the hyperactive phase of Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth in the 1980s we were casting around for an all-embracing term to describe an approach to combining a unique, demystified, spiritual philosophy with a fervent insistence that all life and art are indivisible. At any given moment our sensory environment is whispering to us, telling us hidden stories, revealing subliminal connections. This concealed dialogue between every level of popular cultural forms and magical conclusions is what we named ‘occulture’. Carl Abrahamsson takes this rendering of an innate cultural dynamic and exposes a multitude of parallel creative Universes that do that thing. So easy to perceive with hindsight but so invisible to the closed mind, he changes our means of perception – turning a straight line into an intricate spider’s web of possibilities and impossibilities combined. He performs magick; he concretises meaning and brings forth revelation into his carefully focused vision.” – Genesis Breyer P-Orridge
“These days, too much occult discourse comes off as grandiose, needlessly arcane, or desperately darker-than-thou. But decades of participant observation on the art-magic-transgression beat have given Carl Abrahamsson a more down-to-earth approach. Streamlining Crowley, LaVey, and postpunk chaos magic, these talks and essays offer up accessible, pragmatic, and psychologically savvy takes on the intuitive potentials of creative individuation. This is not another ‘system’ but spark plugs engineered for your own magical engine.” – Erik Davis
“A sharp, frank, and level-headed exploration of some of the most important figures and movements on the current edges of occultism. Highly recommended.” – Richard Smoley
“Carl Abrahamsson’s Occulture is itself a beautiful example of the phenomena it discusses. Erudite and a pleasure to read, the collected essays have the potential to nudge consciousness beyond the ordinary perspective of culture and history. A necessary read for students of culture and magick.” – Philip H Farber
“Carl Abrahamsson – that curator and champion of everything in occulture that is cool, edgy, trendy, and artsy – inspires us with this mind-expanding collection of essays: meditations on art, magick, sex, psyche, and society that collectively trace the supernatural’s proclivity to cross over from counterculture to mainstream, casting light on how we see and understand our world. Not to be missed!” – Richard Kaczynski
“Through this collection of articles, essays, talks, and misceollanea, Carl Abrahamsson emerges as a dedicated communicator who shares concepts, histories, and ideas with insight and imagination. Whether exploring the culture of Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth or the philosophies of Crowley, Steiner, Jung, and Paul Bowles, Abrahamsson’s work is never less than engaging.” – Jack Sargeant
“A welcome collection of insightful essays on the acculturation of society from the veteran chronicler of countercultures.” – Hymenaeus Beta