Meetings With Remarkable Magicians: Life In The Occult Underground
Carl Abrahamsson
(Inner Traditions)
Carl Abrahamsson is a bit of a celebrity in the admittedly small pool that is the occult literature world. Prolific to the extent that almost all aiming to make a bean out of any creative venture have to be these days in order to keep their social media profile, and therefore sales, going, he has a substack blog stuffed with reviews, gives talks and workshops, treads the occult literary circuit talking about his books and is also a publisher, magico-anthropologist, filmmaker, and photographer. Since the mid 1980s he has been active in the magical community, promoting “occulture” as a way of life. Lets just say he keeps himself pretty busy. He has been at this for over 40 years, having started as a fanzine writer like so many of us, so has a foot in both the underground music and occulture camps, and in that time has met some interesting (and scary to some) magicians. These sort of magicians are a very, very long way from your pulling-rabbits-out-of-hats school of magicians. These are people who have a near religious devotion to an occult and esoteric lifestyle and immerse themselves fully into it. Abrahamsson's autobiographical book, fashioned after the Greek-Armenian spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff's 'Meetings With Remarkable Men', makes for fascinating reading. Stretching from 1984 through to 2020, much of the book is taken up with his regular interactions with the Temple ov Psychic Youth, set up by long time friend Genesis P.Orridge and Alaura O'Dell of Psychic TV.
It is hard to escape Mr P.Orridge whenever you dip into this area, and Abrahamsson also has a number of other books out detailing his various meetings and conversations with him over the years. The near obsessive devotion that P.Orridge seems to inspire in some has always been a bit of a mystery to me. He is an interesting character for sure, but not to the mythological extent that some would have you believe and certainly he has his flaws. Describing him as a 'remarkable magician' may be a step too far.
Its not all about him though. Another controversial character, Ming The Merciless look-alike the late Anton La Vey (founder of The Church of Satan and a very dubious character all round) is also featured, as are the OTO and Golden Dawn magical organisations. But remember, this is also an autobiography (of sorts), so these meetings are interspersed with details of Abrahamsson's personal relationships, musical partnerships, many travels, and life events, including a trip to India to visit a Tibetan monastery. There is an air of elitism and superiority infusing the book, a trait common in most occultists I have met, who have a tendency to look down upon those they regard as their intellectual or magical inferiors, and that risks obscuring the ideas and experiences they may have to share. Having said that, egotism is a flaw common to many who have devoted themselves to any particular field of study and become an expert in their field, so I can forgive that here. Having said that, Abrahamsson has had, and continues to have, a hyperactive and fascinating life far outside of everyday experience and is an engaging writer and storyteller to boot. This is well worth a read and Abrahamsson would describe his experiences recounted in here as a "life of wisdom and miracles" and lets face it, we are all looking for that in our own way.
Essential Information: 'Meetings with Remarkable Magicians' is available from online and real booksellers and the Inner Traditions bookshop here.
Image of Anton LaVey and Carl Abrahamsson by Blanche Barton
