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The gathering for the critical pursuit of esoteric mysteries

10/09/2026

Katsukawa Shunshō, born 1726, was an ukiyo-e style painter and woodblock print artist whose work can be divided into two categories: yakusha-e (Kabuki actors prints) and bijin-ga.

By 1765, after establishing his own printmaking school, he was producing highly dramatic yakusha-e in his own unique style of nigao-e, or “images of true likeness.” Focusing on the actor rather than their dramatic role, Shunshō brought an unprecedented sense of individualism to the genre.

The above piece is a woodblock print illustrating a scene from the play “Edo no Hana Mimasu Soga (Flower of Edo: An Ichikawa Soga) (ca. 1783). This tragic tale follows a monk falling in love with a princess and dying alone and poor after being banished from his temple for the affair.

He proceeds to haunt his former beloved after his death, as seen in Shunsho’s depiction featuring actors Ichikawa Danjuro V as a skeleton, spirit of the renegade monk Seigen (left), and Iwai Hanshiro IV as Princess Sakura (right).

08/09/2026

The Christmas witch known as Grýla has been a figure in Norse mythology since the 13th century, but didn’t get connected to the holiday until the early 19th century, when poems began associating her with the holiday.

Dwelling in a cave in Iceland’s hinterlands, this formidable ogress only leaves to launch attacks on nearby town, snatching up misbehaving children, and bringing them home to boil in her cauldron.

She also possesses the power to detect disobedient children and incite terror like no other. Real life children in Iceland are terrified of her to this day, making this very much a living folklore, according to illustrator Brian Pilkington, that can inspire good behaviour.

It is said her powers are strongest in the winter, and therefore, she also acts as a personification of winter and darkness in Icelandic culture.

Image: Ink drawing of a draugr by Kim Diaz Holm

03/09/2026

Painted sometime between 1490 and 1510, The Garden of Earthly Delights is an enchanting surreal work by Hieronymus Bosch, consisting of three panels and totalling almost four metres in length.

The left panel depicts a paradise-like scene from the Garden of Eden, in which God presents Even to Adam. The middle panel, seems to continue from the first, with a matching skyline, though the tone is quite different as an array of naked figures, oversized animals, plants, and fruit dominate the landscape.

It is the right panel, however, as seen above that stands apart as a chromatically distinct depiction of Hell. Bosch’ artistic familiarity with this setting allows him to experiment with bizarrely disturbing imagery: a pair of knife-wielding giant ears, a man-eating bird-monster, and perhaps strangest of all, a pink demon singing from a musical score inscribed on a human’s backside.

Images: Upper half of right panel, lower half of right panel of the Garden of Earthly Delights (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

01/09/2026

This unsettling piece from Katsushika Hokusai’s series Hyaku Monogatari (One Hundred Ghost Stories, ca. 1830) features a fusion of two Japanese monsters: the “hannya” and the “yamanba”.

The hannya is a woman who has transformed into a horned demon as a result of jealousy, resentment, or obsession with her lovers, while the yamanba is a mountain witch who lives off the meat of kidnapped children.

In Hokusai’s darkly creative illustration, the horned hannya clutches the decaptiated head of a child, blood oozing from the wounds created by her long fingernails.

This image also recalls the Buddhist goddess Hariti, who used to eat all of the babies in her town, before one of her own children was kidnapped, leading her to understand the suffering she had caused. She then became Buddhist and took on the role of goddess and protector of children.

Could Hokusai’s “Laughing Hannya” with her disturbing look of glee come to the same compassionate conclusion?

27/08/2026

The recognition of our porosity, that our existence extends beyond our skin, can be an uncomfortable awakening. We are taught to have boundaries, to define ourselves as distinct individuals but when you look deeper, both spiritually and physically, we are not the separate entities we imagine.

Oxygen entering our body quite literally becomes its substance and when we exhale, what was inside merges with the outside world once again. Our scream can pierce silent surroundings and travel through the ear canals of those close enough.

Similarly, our energy is in constant exchange with everything around us. We can absorb emotions, ideas, perspectives, if we’re in close enough resonance, and effect the same change in others.

We are permeable beings, like waves forming in the ocean, trying in vain to maintain our so-called individuality.

But where do you end and the world around you begin?

Art by RF Pangborn

25/08/2026

In Greek mythology, the Hydra was a gigantic water-dwelling serpent with multiple heads. The most famous account of this creature takes places in Hercules’ Second Labour. As atonement for killing his family, the mythical ancient Greek Hero was tasked with slaying the Lernaean Hydra, as illustrated by Gustave Moreau.

In this work (1876), we see Hercules stand with a strikingly calm demeanour in the monster’s swamp ready to sever its seventh “immortal” head, which he will later bury.

The Hydra’s most notable feature was its regenerative ability; it was said that for each head that was decapitated, two more grew in its place. Therefore, many scholars interpret it as symbol of resilience l, regeneration and complex challenges that multiply when tackled directly.

Image: Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra by Gustave Moreau (Source: Art Institute of Chicago)

21/08/2026

The 1863 illustrated final edition of Jacques Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire infernal (originally published in 1818) marked a turning point in the study and representation of demons.

This wondrous compendium comprises almost six hundred pages detailing sixty-five different demons, including infamous figures from the works of Dante, Milton, and others, such as Asmodeus, Az**el, Bael, Behemoth, Belphégor, Belzebuth, Mammon, and Moloch.

One of the most striking is Amon, a peculiar hell beast with piercing pitch-black eyes, a “great and powerful marquis of the infernal empire” who appears as a “wolf, with a serpent’s tail . . . [whose] head resembles that of an owl, and its beak shows very sharp canine teeth.” Adding to the terror, Collin de Plancy writes that this frightful creature “knows the past and the future”.

Another curious illustration takes the form of Bael, “the first king of hell” who has “three heads, one of which has the shape of a toad, the other that of a man, and the third of a cat”. As if this wasn’t haunting enough, Le Breton decided it to adorn this demon with a number of fur-covered arachnid legs.

18/08/2026

The Draugr, a resurrected co**se of a Viking warrior, appears throughout Norse mythology, powerfully embodying the fears and values of this society.

Fueled by an insatiable bloodlust, they were known to slaughter any living being, whether human or livestock. Like modern ideas of zombies, their condition was believed to be contagious, as people killed by a Draugr would resurrect as one.

In Norse society, this mythological being wasn’t just thought of as a creepy fictional figure. They were a potent reminder to lead a moral existence as people who had been dishonourable, greedy or malevolent in life were thought to be more at risk of becoming one after death.

Their stories also discouraged hanging onto strong emotions such as jealousy and rage which could entrap a soul in its co**se, creating a Draugr. Therefore, these bloodthirsty beings can be viewed as chilling personifications of human flaws that transcend even physical death.

14/08/2026

The deep symbolism of the goat is well-known in occultism as exemplified by Baphomet, the Sabbatic Goat representing cosmic balance through the reconciliation of opposites.

In Tarot, this figure personifies the much-feared Devil card which warns against materialism, unbridled sexuality and otherwise toxic behaviour. However like with all Tarot cards it also possesses a light aspect which can signal good health, physical passion, or security.

At the end of the day, we can channel the strong-willed nature of this creature however we please. It is raw primal energy that we as herders of ourselves must mind carefully until we discern the best physical outlet.

11/08/2026

Merlin as Magician first emerged during the 12th century in the History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey Monmouth. As a mage of great distinction, his powers included disappearing/appearing at will, mind reading and the ability to alter his physical appearance. He also possessed prophetic gifts, allowing him to assist the Kings of Britain with furthering their kingdoms.

In medieval times, people believed demons to be smarter than humans with the ability to predict the future. This coheres with the fact that in Monmouth’s tale Merlin’s mortal mother conceived him with an incubus (a male demon), from whom he inherited these abilities.

What contributed to Merlin’s popularity at the time was the fact that he embodied the latest developments in medieval science. Astrology, prophecy and natural philosophy, his many talents, were all being avidly explored during the 1200-1500s. His appearance in popular media in various forms since is testament to the psychological pull of the occult mysteries to this day.

Image: Merlin (1893-94) by Aubrey Beardsley

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