Salve! Like you I have no interest in Crowley at all and find his whole shtick just repellent, and silly. But, also like you, I love Sicily and, also, strange abandoned places. I really liked the point you made about the difference between the east and west coasts…the west feels so very different, more edgy, more undercurrents, than the east. I know Cefalù…but, thankfully, I don’t know Thelema…and don’t want to.
Interesting that Kenneth Anger - of the weird, and just as silly as Crowley, Scorpio Rising fame - had been there in 1955.
Yes total vibe shift from east to west. While I'm from the east, I feel more at home in Palermo. It's gritty, real, and multicultural. The Arab and Norman influences are everywhere from architecture to food. Agree about Crowley. He sounded like a crazy fool, but a great and prolific writer. I didn't know Kenneth Anger until researching this. Still, I'm fascinated by these people, especially the women who follow them.
Come mi manca la Sicilia! I agree completely with you re Palermo…it is wonderful, one of the most unique cities I know.
Kenneth Anger was, seemingly, in some ways just as silly as Crowley. Or I think so. But more genuinely creative…and I guess one can take that, rather than the silly occultism (I am about the least interested man in the world in the occult so I’m not exactly unbiased here…) as the takeaway. He did kind of set a marker in queer cinema that was a precursor to the far more erudite and beneficial Derek Jarman.
Fascinating article. When visiting old churches and cathedrals I get a sense of the centuries of worship that has taken place within their walls. It's as if the energy lingers, so I imagine the same might be true of a place where dark rituals have taken place. I can see how it would take a lot of courage to enter a place like that. The video looked a bit like the Blair Witch Project!
Oh I totally get that. And in your neck of the woods, those churches are really ancient. I wouldn't say I'm courageous. Stupid, for sure. And very good at convincing Jeff that it's a good idea. I would not do it alone.
Well it made a terrific article! Interesting that no effort has been made to preserve it as a place of historical interest, and not at all surprising in a religious country. He really is a dodgy character although the fascination with him is understandable. There's something deep within us that can't help being interested in charismatics. That's the point of them, I suppose.
There are quite a few areas of historical interest in Sicily that don't really get preserved. It would take deep pockets and lots of bureaucratic patience (and interest).
I see. Here in the UK the National Trust is big business. They are very geared up to preservation of old buildings. It's very commercial, with shops on site and lots of NT merchandise, which can be a bit annoying, but on the plus side they do plough a lot of it into maintaining places of interest. There's also English Heritage which cares for some places. Sicily has such an amazing history. It would be great to preserve it.
It really would be. My dad told Jeff and I about some incredible mosaics near our village. No signage, no people on the day we were there, and the floors have so much sunlight on them. Very sad. It's all about $
That's exactly right. I remember when I was a kid, watching 60 minutes with my folks on a Sunday, and the Jim Jones People's Temple footage was shown with all those dead people, the koolaid, and I just thought, wow, cults! I was hooked.
Fascinating.
I know! I couldn't believe my luck when I found out about it.
Salve! Like you I have no interest in Crowley at all and find his whole shtick just repellent, and silly. But, also like you, I love Sicily and, also, strange abandoned places. I really liked the point you made about the difference between the east and west coasts…the west feels so very different, more edgy, more undercurrents, than the east. I know Cefalù…but, thankfully, I don’t know Thelema…and don’t want to.
Interesting that Kenneth Anger - of the weird, and just as silly as Crowley, Scorpio Rising fame - had been there in 1955.
Yes total vibe shift from east to west. While I'm from the east, I feel more at home in Palermo. It's gritty, real, and multicultural. The Arab and Norman influences are everywhere from architecture to food. Agree about Crowley. He sounded like a crazy fool, but a great and prolific writer. I didn't know Kenneth Anger until researching this. Still, I'm fascinated by these people, especially the women who follow them.
Come mi manca la Sicilia! I agree completely with you re Palermo…it is wonderful, one of the most unique cities I know.
Kenneth Anger was, seemingly, in some ways just as silly as Crowley. Or I think so. But more genuinely creative…and I guess one can take that, rather than the silly occultism (I am about the least interested man in the world in the occult so I’m not exactly unbiased here…) as the takeaway. He did kind of set a marker in queer cinema that was a precursor to the far more erudite and beneficial Derek Jarman.
Nice yarn! Thanks!
Thanks for reading!
Fascinating article. When visiting old churches and cathedrals I get a sense of the centuries of worship that has taken place within their walls. It's as if the energy lingers, so I imagine the same might be true of a place where dark rituals have taken place. I can see how it would take a lot of courage to enter a place like that. The video looked a bit like the Blair Witch Project!
Oh I totally get that. And in your neck of the woods, those churches are really ancient. I wouldn't say I'm courageous. Stupid, for sure. And very good at convincing Jeff that it's a good idea. I would not do it alone.
Well it made a terrific article! Interesting that no effort has been made to preserve it as a place of historical interest, and not at all surprising in a religious country. He really is a dodgy character although the fascination with him is understandable. There's something deep within us that can't help being interested in charismatics. That's the point of them, I suppose.
There are quite a few areas of historical interest in Sicily that don't really get preserved. It would take deep pockets and lots of bureaucratic patience (and interest).
I see. Here in the UK the National Trust is big business. They are very geared up to preservation of old buildings. It's very commercial, with shops on site and lots of NT merchandise, which can be a bit annoying, but on the plus side they do plough a lot of it into maintaining places of interest. There's also English Heritage which cares for some places. Sicily has such an amazing history. It would be great to preserve it.
It really would be. My dad told Jeff and I about some incredible mosaics near our village. No signage, no people on the day we were there, and the floors have so much sunlight on them. Very sad. It's all about $
That's exactly right. I remember when I was a kid, watching 60 minutes with my folks on a Sunday, and the Jim Jones People's Temple footage was shown with all those dead people, the koolaid, and I just thought, wow, cults! I was hooked.