Join IAAM for a conversation with Alkistis Dimech and JD Kelley entailing the sensual, the body, the occult virtues, and astral magic.
https://astromagia-org.zoom.us/j/82343346930?pwd=eOpQoOZ8wqfCycUUrCAzkKuUEyLizh.1
[T]hey are called Occult Qualities, because their causes lie hid, and man's intellect cannot in any way reach and find them out. Wherefore philosophers have attained to the greatest part of them by long experience, rather than by the search of reason[…]
-Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy
Sanam Khatibi, Open Season, 2024
In this conversation we will explore the role that Venus and the associated intelligences are implicated in the capacities to sense and gain the experience and knowledge of the hidden world. By way of Venus as tutelary spirit, we will delve into aspects of both the theory and practice of sense perception, their connection to the body, the imaginal, and to culture, as well as their related histories and archives.
While it is required that we rely on the insights gained by our magical ancestors in the form of tables of correspondences with faith, especially in the field of astral magic, we may ask, what lies before the creation of such a list? By what capacities or sensibilities are such connections perceived, discerned, and established? Can such sensitivities be developed and cultivated?
Within astrology, and its role in astral magic, there is a heavy reliance on the mathematically precise. And, while such considerations are often vital, its emphasis exclusively often separates us from the immediate world of the senses, the sensual, and their connections to the body, the imaginal, and the shared archives are experience and knowledge.
In the long history of magic and related arts, the way of sympathy is instrumental to the signatures, the virtues, and the correspondences. In astral magic, these hidden qualities are often harmonised under planetary and stellar rulership. The celestial and the physical are inextricably linked by way of harmony.
Rose and all things rosy participate in and are connected to that which is Venusian. By their sympathy, they are the same. We could almost say that given the importance of sympathy in establishing connections with the astral and its many spirits, that the art of astral magic is highly Venusian in nature and action. We use that which is like the gods to attract the attention of the gods, to incline them towards us, our workings, and our requests. Equally, it is important to acknowledge the role Venus plays in opening us up to the world of Nature.
Recovering and developing the implicit sensibilities and capacities by which the planetary and stellar correspondences are established is key to the development of the practitioner and the art of astral magic. This conversation will not exhaust the topic, but by centering the sensing body, we hope to draw attention to relevant and often overlooked aspects.
Alkistis Dimech is a dancer-choreographer and writer exploring the carnal and occulted body through an archaeology and poietics of flesh. Her art is grounded in ankoku butô (dark dance), which she has practised and performed since 2002. The deep entwining of the body, the world and the imaginal are at the heart of her artistic, spiritual and magical practice.
With Peter Grey she co-founded and runs Scarlet Imprint, a small press which publishes on magic, esotericism and the sacred. Through her design and typography, she seeks to give material form to the spirit of the book, understanding that knowledge is communicated through all the senses. Selected works from 2008 to 2018 are gathered in The Brazen Vessel (S.I. 2019), and further dance and written work can be found at alkistisdimech.com
John-David (JD) Kelley finds his way through portent and presence. He is a student of magical and mystical traditions both young and old and an enthusiastic practitioner of astrology and astral magic. JD takes a poly-animist view in most of his goings-on.
JD is the current chair for the Scottish Astrological Association, the president of the International Association of Astral Magic, and the organiser of Astro Magia. You can find him at cunningasfolk.com where he teaches and practices his range of esoteric and interpretive arts, or you can follow his dance on all channels @cunningasfolk.