better living through hermetics

In an attempt to explain human sensitivities to electromagnetism, which was intertwined with spirit world research at the time, Silvanus Thompson FRS places his head in a large alternating magnetic field circa 1910. He describes experiencing a "bluish illumination superimposed on ordinary vision."

Reminds me of a Victorian version of Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski who in 1978 accidently stuck his head in a Russian particle accelerator. He reportedly saw a flash "brighter than a thousand suns".

S. P. Thompson, ‘A physiological effect of an alternating magnetic field’, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 82, 396–398 (1909–10)., 396–398 (1909–10).

an attempt to conjure quiet

working hard on alka's next release. admittedly, it has been very slow going compared to Principles of Suffocation and Dog Lost in the Woods which took about a year each to pull together. a number of factors this time around have prevented this, some of which involve the complexities of living properly, but a big reason being that this next release draws from many sources and seeks to combine metaphysical elements that do not go together simply.

the next release does have a couple pretty strong working titles: An Attempt to Conjure Quiet, which does seem to fit with my past LP names, but actually leaning towards a stripped down version of the same: Conjuring Quiet. i am working with a select core of semi-finished tracks and getting close to finalizing some. very pleased with the current formation of two dark pieces that actually have a classic early electronic vibe in the vain of Vladimir Ussachevsky, Tristram Cary and Louis & Bebe Barron; appropriately titled: Over Hills and Vales and Under Waves and Seas.

The Hermetic Library Anthology Album - Magick, Music and Ritual 1

click to order

"The Hermetic Library at Hermetic.com has an overall vision of Archiving, Engaging and Encouraging the living Western Esoteric Tradition. This is an anthology album of tracks by artists inspired by or who incorporate ritual and magick in their work. This anthology album will help promote artists to the audience of the Hermetic Library and beyond. It will also further raise awareness about the connection between magick, music, and ritual.

Over the last year, as a project of the library, I have created a group at SoundCloud, the Hermetic Library audio pool, for tracks and artists inspired by or manifesting the Western Esoteric Tradition. With this group I’ve been working to raise awareness that music and performance can be a form of ritual and magick. This has been a space for artists to share their music and other audio, as well as connecting artists who feel drawn to these topics and ideas, or, especially, incorporate and manifest ritual and magick in their works with other artists and a larger audience.


I encourage you to check out the Hermetic Library at Hermetic.com, if you aren’t already familiar with it, as that’s the reason this project exists and may also offer inspiration to you. The site was started in 1996 and has ever since consistently been an extremely popular resource for students and researchers interested in the Western Esoteric Tradition. You may also wish to check out other posts at the Hermetic Library blog and the Twitter and Facebook reflections to see how the library engages people in a living Western Esoteric Tradition.


Please join the Hermetic Library in promoting these artists who have contributed their work to this benefit anthology album project. All proceeds from album sales will support the library to help cover hosting costs and other expenses like materials acquisitions.


Additionally, this album is being released on the birthday of hermetic.com which was Dec 3, 1996. This release date marks the Hermetic Library's 15th year in existence."

hermetic.com
library.hrmtc.com
soundcloud.com/groups/the-hermetic-library

credits

Squaring the circle in the creation of sacred space

Document of a pretend Psychic in art action via boingybread

Tetragrammaton

Cymatics

alka on the NME

Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music

alka featured in Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music by Scott Morrow | new book from ALARM Press

At nearly 400 pages of full-color artwork and editorial, Chromatic: The Crossroads of Color and Music is a dynamic print presentation of independent musicians and artists who are using or exploring color in unorthodox ways. It’s a highly saturated, prismatic presentation of some of today’s most adventurous underground artists, including Sonny Kay, Seripop, John Zorn, Daft Punk, Sigur Rós front-man Jónsi, Blue Man Group,The Zhou Brothers, Ratatat, Holy Fuck, Damon Locks of The Eternals, Rob Mazurek, NewVillager, Andy Gilmore, and many others.

Over the course of Chromatic's 12 chapters, readers are introduced to:

- Performers who saturate their stage shows in vibrant shades

- Musicians who create concept albums based on color

- Kaleidoscopic, polychromatic cover art

- Composers and other famous musicians who experience musical synesthesia, the involuntary intersection of senses where someone might “see” notes as different colors or shapes

- Special guest editors and featured artists who share their inspirations

- The concept of audible color

- Wild illustrations of musical notes translated into hues to create elaborate geometric works of art

- Bands photographed in their favorite hues

A Formula that can shatter into a million glass bullets 1967

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi  1924-2005

pre-electronic glitch style screenprint

The Plague in Rome, 1869 Delaunay, Jules Elie

When Madeleine appeared it always rained, the people locked their houses, drew the curtains, prayed and painted crosses on their doors. They wondered who would be the next for last respects . . . began rehears- ing. Dressed in black with white carnations, weeping 'til their eyes were sore. And Madeleine would feel their sorrow, she only wanted friends, but the lady's doomed to wander until the very end--'til the end of time! It's just the price she had to pay for life eternal and she's sorry, and she's lonely--would love to make amends. But where Madeleine appears it always rains, the people lock their houses, draw the curtains, pray it won't be them--wandering 'til the end of time! We gather in a strict formation, hold hands in a circle and at twilight we all we all walk around the stones. And spirits dance, and bodies roll, hallucinations curtsey as the river priestess consecrates the bones. And that's the way it will be 'til the end of time . . . LEGENDARY PINK DOTS

Santiago Morilla :: Gioco Mostruoso - Montopoli, Italy

GIOCO MOSTRUOSO from santi mondadientes on Vimeo.

background music: alka

More information on the creation of this piece: http://www.santiagomorilla.com/index.php?/mural-works/giocco-mostruoso/

Hermes Trismegistus

Ascend with the greatest sagacity from the earth to heaven, and then again descend to the earth, and unite together the powers of things superior and things inferior. Thus you will obtain the glory of the whole world, and obscurity will fly away from you.

Projection on Gate :: Luuk Meuffels - Utrecht, NL

Projection on Gate from Luuk Meuffels on Vimeo.

background music: alka

radial arrangement of the Sephiroth, from Myer's Qabbalah, 1888

via: http://www.donaldtyson.com/denudata.html

Diagram of the Spiritual Spheres

Daphne Oram and Graham Wrench :: electronic music pioneers

Daphne outside her home and studio: The Tower Folly

Daphne and Graham's Photo-Optical "Oramics" Synthesizer

Daphne Oram from Setla Productions on Vimeo.

The Constitutions of the Free Masons 1734

The Constitutions of the Free Masons

Benjamin Franklin: Magic Circle

"Here is Ben Franklin's famous magic circle. Some of its properties: Each radius (including the center entry) sums to 360, as does each annulus (again, only if one includes the center too). Franklin has also highlighted 20 "excentric" annuli, each of which, together with the central 12, sums to 360. He also refers to 28 half-magic half-annuli; these and other nifty properties are described in my paper, "The Lost Squares of Dr. Franklin" (Amer. Math. Monthly, June-July 2001). There you will find the first published construction of the magic circle, as well as the first publication of Franklin's handwritten correction to James Ferguson's printed description.

The graphic here is taken from Sparks, and it preserves a couple of his typos."

from: http://www.pasles.org/circle.html

I'm yearning for cold weather and candles.

SOLIPSISTIC NATION NO. 242: ALKA, MEROHEDRA, ALEXEI BORISOV AND 80(SUN), LIVE

LISTEN :: HERE
(right click to download)

live electronic sets from:

alka “Live: Inciting HQ, Philadelphia”

merohedra “Live: Openmind stage at the Psycrowdelica Festival”

Alexei Borisov “Live: Yaroslavl”

80(sun) “Live"

a peta2 benefit

NEW FULL LENGTH ALBUM RELEASE 5/17/2011

The long awaited full length remix of Alka's last album "A Dog Lost In The Woods" hits the streets digitally today May 17th 2011. Eleven established indie electronic artists (some you probably know) have come together to remix Alka's last full length, and the best part is this release is a benefit for PETA2 (the world's largest animal rights group). All proceeds from this album will be donated to PETA2.


Remixes by Ruxpin, At Work, Axiotronic, City Rain, Idhren, Mick Chillage, Specta Ciera, Gate Zero, Drexon Field, Zoon van snooK, Kieron James, and more. Click the above image and play the album all the way through from the EE records site. Then support a great cause by picking up a copy from your favorite online retailer like iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, and more!

your next Phantasmagoria

Victorian optical devices :: Phantascopes, Photo-Rotoscopes, Kinetographs, etc.

last image in this set is the Victorian multimedia artist Émile Reynaud live at Theatre Optique circa 1890

for further detail on the Who's Who of Victorian Cinema and for information on the machines shown above visit: http://www.victorian-cinema.net/machines.htm

Worm is Green :: GLOW

artist: Worm Is Green

title: Glow

label: kilk records

catalog no.: KLK-2007

release date: 2011.05.04

barcode:

price: ¥ 1,680



1. Hopeful 

2. The Politician 

3. March On ! 

4. The Darkness 

5. Around The Fire 

6. Sunday Session 5.0 

7. Glow 

8. Electric Eyes 

9. The Hit 

10. There is a Pattern 

(bonus tracks) 

11. Hopeful (Ruxpin Remix) 

12. The Politician (Bitcrush Remix) 

13. March On ! (Roger O’Donnell Remix) 

14. The Darkness (Alka Remix)



Worm is green-the darkness (alka remix) by alka

Stanisława P Jun 25 1913 filmed ectoplasm

20 frames from Albert Freiherr von Schrenck-Notzing's cinematographic film taken on 25th of June 1913 of Stanisława P emitting oral ectoplasm. The bright flash from the photographic process caused the sensitive substance to retreat back into Stanisława, which is what you are viewing here. The complete film is archived at the University of Freiburg at the Institute of Parapsychology.

sOMn Ambulance

Always amazed at the variations of perceived imagery between individuals when listening to a particular piece of music. My track sOMn Ambulance was recently apart of a project where 12 filmmakers were independently partnered with 12 musicians to create a visual album. Video Produced and Directed by Tom Noakes as part of a collaboration between Clear Notice records and Crashburn Media.

alka - sOMn ambulance from Clear Notice on Vimeo.

the Golden Section

The angel of death stands between heaven and earth, holding a poison-dripping sword. Identified with Satan, he is full of powers, a diligent reaper, an old fugitive and wanderer like Cain, a beggar, a pedlar, an Arab nomad, a skeleton, capering with sinners and misers in a jugglers' dance. But the nightmarish angel presents a different face to the one who has died before death, who has attained some measure of the apathea of a saint.

We are told that Azrael, Death, appears to our spirit in a form determined by our beliefs, actions, and dispositions during life. He may even manifest invisibly so the man may die of a rose, a rheumatic pain, or of a rotting stench. When the soul sees Azrael, it falls in love, and its gaze is thus withdrawn from the body as if by a seduction. Great prophets and saints may even be politely invited by Death, who appears to them in corporeal form. Thus it was with Moses and with Mohammed. When the Persian poet Rumi lay on his deathbed, Azrael appeared as a beautiful youth and said, "I am come by divine command to enquire what commission the Master may have to entrust in you."

In fact, a strange connection becomes apparent between mors and amor, love and death. The moment of extinction in the pleasure of love resembles that of death, and thus, that of the mystical. In mythic terms, Eros and Thanatos are almost twins, for in some cases Death appears as a lovely youth and Eros as a withered starveling. Both love and death are gateways, hence their eternal adolescence and their fixation in the midst of the rite of passage.

from the Golden Section - Coil - Horse Rotorvator  - narrated by Paul Vaughan on the album, read from the book Angels: Messengers of the Gods by Peter Lamborn Wilson
painting - the angel of death - Evelyn De Morgan

forthcoming: alka :: compounded. out 17.5.2011

 

Immolated (Zoon Van Snook remix) - (04:04)
When You Abandon Your Youth (Drexon Field remix) - (04:38)
Lucent (Axiotronic remix) - (05:17)
I Am A Wreck (Gate Zero Reconstruction) - (03:51)
Israel (Idhren remake) - (05:27)
Separate (Snow [At Work]) - (06:25)
What Will Become Of Your High Existence? (City Rain remix) - (03:46)
I Am A Wreck (Ruxpin remix) - (04:10)
Collocation (Specta Ciera remix) - (04:35)
Separate (Kieron James Jandia remix) - (06:14)
What Will Become Of Your High Existence (Mick Chillage Ghostly Echoes remix) - (12:03)

tweaking knobs on ancient analog machinery