Kenneth Anger: Paganism, Magic(k) & Alchemy on Film

A lot has been written on the work of independent filmmaker Kenneth Anger. In fact, so much has been written on his work that I really don’t have much to add other than my appreciation for what Anger’s work has given to me on a personal level. And so in this writing I would like to convey my appreciation for his films as they were meant to be taken, as literal rituals in the magickal arts. This entails elucidating the reader on some of the historical facts of Christianity, Paganism, Magic and Alchemy.

I have great personal interest in the ancient practices and have dedicated a bit of time in the study of each of the above mentioned; I also have a passion for film and art, making the films of Kenneth Anger interesting to me on a variety of levels. Much has been written on the films of Kenneth Anger, but nothing that I’ve read has encapsulated the importance of Anger’s use of film on a ritualistic level and how his system of beliefs could effect the world we’re living in today.

It’s well-documented that Anger’s films are meant to be magickal spells cast upon the viewer and although the symbols used are mentioned I haven’t read anything that goes into further detail. What do the symbols mean in a broader context? Is Anger using the symbols as they are meant to be used or has he appropriated them to use within the context of his own, unique cosmology? A lot has been written about the demonic nature of the films and Lucifer or Satan are popular figures within most of what I’ve read. We know that Anger holds Aleister Crowley in very high regard using his teachings as a basis for his practices. Anger is a prodigious filmmaker and artist which has also been documented rather thoroughly.

What I feel is missing, and what I hope to remedy in this piece, is the importance of an artist whose appreciation for ancient ‘religious’ practices didn’t die in the seventies along with the love and peace movement. Anger has literally, with cinematic and artistic mastery, documented magickal spells! Spells that are meant to be cast upon those who view his film. In a world that seems to be falling apart due to a lack of understanding about the world that we live with, the ideas and images that Anger puts forth in his films are more relevant than ever.

I may be reading a lot more into his films than he intended, but art is meant to be absorbed, processed and perceived by the viewer. This is my perception, I in no way pretend to know the mind of Kenneth Anger. I do believe that in order for one to fully appreciate Anger’s films one must have a basic understanding of Paganism, Magic, and Alchemy (presently and within an historical context) and how those practices were affected by the rise of Christianity.

There is a possibility that such attention to the Demonic and Luciferian aspects of Anger’s work has brushed aside the more valuable aspects of the films; especially if one considers the absolute importance of ancient practices. One of the threads tying together Paganism, Magick & Alchemy is the reverence for the intrinsic bonds that exist between humankind, nature and the Universe. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked perhaps in an attempt to exploit the darker elements of such practices as the dark side is far more romantic.

For example, I recently watched a documentary on Alchemy; the documentary didn’t mention anything about the practice other than the transmutation of lead into gold and the negative health effects of the practice. No mention of the fact that Sir Isaac Newton was a practicing Alchemist who wrote over one million, unpublished, words on the subject (After his death in 1727 the Royal Society deemed them “not fit to be printed”). Newton was a traditional Alchemist in the sense that he accepted the idea that Alchemy originated with Thoth (Hermes) in ancient Egypt. It was Newton’s Alchemical work that guided him to his findings on light and gravity.

Nostradamus was also a practicing Alchemist and physician. ‘His prophecies were composed with the aid of magical, astrological and cabbalistic books and were published in two parts, in 1555 and 1568. Both Napoleon Bonapart and Adolf Hitler, in their respective centuries, believed that their careers had been foreseen in Nostradamus’ prediction…’ (The Encyclopedia of Magic Witchcraft, by Susan Greenwood, page 163)

So I’d like to make an attempt at shedding some light on the positive elements of these ancient practices as used in Anger’s work and as I see it…

To understand the history of European religion and Christianity’s place in it is to understand how we’ve arrived in the current state of delusion; a state of crises as the environment is being destroyed by humankind’s overwhelming stupidity and it seems that we are in a constant state of war which we start under many guises but that, in reality, are all about the small percentage of the rich and powerful who wish to remain on top of the monetary garbage heap. At the expense of the welfare of the majority of people and of the environment these ‘Christians’ (as many of them are) seem to be without conscience.

Unlike Christianity Paganism, Magic and Alchemy held the natural world in very high regard seeing ‘Nature as a theophany, a manifestation of divinity, not as a Fallen creation of the latter’. (A History of Pagan Europe, by Prudence Jones & Nigel Pennick, page 2). Therefore Paganism, Magic and Alchemy create a sense of balance and equality among all living entities rather than taking the hierarchical, dominating approach that Christianity takes. The duality of Christianity, represented as good verses evil, strictly contrasts the Pagan view ‘which sees the rule of nature as either good (e.g. Stoicism) or neutral.’ (A History of Pagan Europe, by Prudence Jones & Nigel Pennick, page 59).

With the birth of the monotheistic approach of Christianity (and like religions) and the death of the plurality of Paganism came the further subjugation of the non-ruling classes by not only the state but also by the church which eventually became one. Like Paganism and Magic, the practice of Alchemy allowed the individual to empower themselves through the intrinsic bonds that exist in the natural world (the individual didn’t need a church or ‘priest’ to commune with ‘God’, ritual could be an individual experience, one on one with the elements); these bonds have been severed by Christianity further benefiting the ruling classes as Christianity is about the sanctioned domination of other cultures, societies, lands and nature.

Paganism, Alchemy and Magic use elaborate rituals linking ‘the people and the land in a sacred relationship.’ (The Encyclopedia of Magic Witchcraft, by Susan Greenwood, page 11) This appreciation for nature stems from animism, the belief that spirits reside in the natural elements. It would become quite natural for Christians to view themselves as superior to all things and beings in the material world including nature. Perhaps our current environmental crises and constant war mongering are a direct result of the egoism of Christianity.

In an attempt to maintain control and reign dominant over lands and people the Church deemed the establishment judge and jury persecuting and / or executing any group or individual who challenged their authority, ‘Christianity looked to extend its authority over its congregation, and as a result it began increasingly to view dissident sects with suspicion and to see them as a threat to its supremacy. All those who deviated from the Church’s orthodoxy in any way became labeled as heretics.’ Those individuals who the Church viewed as dangerous to their organization were subjected to various forms of torture and / or execution.

Throughout the High Medieval Period (950-1350) European rulers were persuaded and influenced by Christianity; as Christianity became the official religion of the kingdoms monotheism and the practice of androtheism (referring to God as masculine) reigned supreme. ‘In Christian Lands, the High Middle Ages were the crusading years. Christian dualism, never far beneath the surface of its official monotheism was first turned against the Islamic conquerors of Palestine, then against its Pagan
neighbors in the Baltic, and then against alleged heretics, infidels and apostates within its own jurisdiction.’ (A History of Pagan Europe, by Prudence Jones & Nigel Pennick, page 196)

The death penalty was introduced in 1215 in an attempt to deter ‘heretics’ and Pope Innocent III established the Inquisition affording the Church the opportunity to ‘take action’ against those who deviated from the System.

Up until the twelfth century the Church had viewed tales of Witches as nothing more than innocuous stories and superstitions. This changed in the 12th century as the Church became paranoid that secret organizations, who didn’t share the Church’s system of beliefs, were plotting the overthrow of the Church. The Church had always been suspicious of dissident sects, but with the growth of dissent came the growth of the Church’s lust for domination. Jews, lepers and homosexuals were believed to have been plotting the overthrow of the Church and thus became viable targets of persecution.

The Inquisition evolved into the Witch hunt leaving mostly women, although some men and children were effected, open to severe persecution. Once again accusations of orgies and the sacrifice of babies for the purpose of gaining supernatural powers flew through communities, ‘Trial records show accounts of Sabbaths and nocturnal flying from 1420 onwards.’ (The Encyclopedia of Magic Witchcraft, by Susan Greenwood, page 130)

The propagandistic tools utilized by the Church in its early days became apart of the institution. Accusations of cannibalism and the sacrifice of small children or babies to obtain blood for the Eucharist abounded striking fear into the followers of Christianity. In the 12th century the Waldensians became one of many groups who became the target of the Church’s dissatisfaction. When attempts to silence the Waldensians failed the group was excommunicated and then condemned three years after that. Threats of being burnt at the stake could not deter the Waldensians who chose a humble life of poverty; in observance of Christ they chose to renounce worldly pleasures.

Witchcraft was seen as the most deplorable of crimes as witches were thought to work against God; the Judge saw it as his natural duty, and right, to God to eradicate the evil that permeated society in an attempt to taint the good of humankind. ‘To this end, judges and magistrates were seen to have great power over the devil and his assistant demons…’ (The Encyclopedia of Magic Witchcraft, by Susan Greenwood, page 130) Various methods of torture were utilized in an attempt to gain confessions; the methods used by the courts ‘worked’ as convictions mounted.

One of many such [sadistic] accounts of torture took place in Germany, ‘In Germany, many courts used a ‘witches’ chair’, which was heated by a fire below.’ (The Encyclopedia of Magic Witchcraft, by Susan Greenwood, page 131) Another documented account of the atrocities committed by the Church /State reads as follows, ‘In Scotland, according to a pamphlet called Newes from Scotland published in 1591, a witch suspected of treason against the king, “was put to the most severe and cruell paine in the world, called the bootes”, and “his legges were crushte and beaten together as small as might bee, and the bones and flesh so bruised, that the bloud and marrowe sputed forth in great abundance.”’ (The Encyclopedia of Magic Witchcraft, by Susan Greenwood, page 131)

A modern parallel to the Witch hunts of the 13th century can be seen in the not too distant past; in the US, McCarthyism sent a surge of paranoia into the minds of Americans who saw communists as the modern day ‘witch’. The movement destroyed careers as people were ‘Black Listed’ most notably in the film industry. The eponymous movement began with a more ambitious than patriotic Joe McCarthy who began making outlandish accusations in 1950 against people working in the state department. The fervor lasted until 1954 (The same year that Anger’s original ‘Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome’ was completed) when a group of senators took a stand against McCarthy. Unfortunately, this four year ‘witch hunt’ left many with unsalvageable careers.

For over twenty years, from 1952 to 1973 (not including the prior and subsequent persecution of gays), homosexuality was thought to be an illness, gay people were thought to be sick; the persecution of that time extended its ugly tentacles of oppression out to African Americans, women and other ‘minorities.’ Through his films, Kenneth Anger broaches the un-broachable pulling queers out of the closet and setting them up where they belong, center stage. Christianity has continued to rob women of their proper positions of power (think Isis). Anger, unapologetically, gives it back.