It was the straying that found the path direct.
For I am I: ergo, the truth of myself; my own sphinx, conflict, chaos, vortex—asymmetric to all rhythms, oblique to all paths. I am the prism between black and white: mine own unison in duality.
Only Art is Eternal Wisdom; what is not Art soon perishes. Art is the unconscious love of all things. ‘Learning’ will cease and Reality will become known when it comes to pass that every human being is an Artist.
My desires sprang forth as a mighty sun - all embracing - associating in the form - vortex, to enjoy ALL consciousness
Darken your room, shut the door, empty your mind. You are still in great company.
In our solitariness... great depths are sometimes sounded. Truth hideth in company.
Art can contradict Science.
Art is the instinctive application of the knowledge latent in the subconscious.
Great thoughts are against all doctrines of conformity
In a universe that defies description, all systems of belief can only be false.
Darken your room, shut the door, empty your mind. Yet you are still in great company - the Numen and your Genius with all their media, and your host of elementals and ghosts of your dead loves — are there! They need no light by which to see, no words to speak, no motive to enact except through your own purely formed desire.
The soul is the ancestral animals. The body is their knowledge.
Anyone is capable of anything (will plus belief is ability) if they themselves create the opportune moment and incentive. Heaven gives no genius to disbelievers and no vengeance worse than the body denied.
And remember, you shall suffer all things and again suffer: until you have sufficient sufferance to accept all things.
The more Chaotic I am, the more complete I am.
Embrace reality by imagination.
I am God, and all other gods are my imagery. I gave birth to myself. I am millions of forms excreating; eternal; and nothing exists except through me; yet I am not them they serve me.
The three heads of God were sundered from existence. Who shall say that this was accident? And likewise, who shall say that accidents be not but arabesques within some wider figure? Of this nothing is known.
Give me the death of my soul. Intoxicate me with self-love.
Author details
Austin Osman Spare: Biography and Life Work
Austin Osman Spare was a notable English artist and occultist. The story of Austin Osman Spare began on 30 December 1886 in London, England. The legacy of Austin Osman Spare continues today, following their passing on 15 May 1956 in London, England.
Austin Osman Spare (30 December 1886 – 15 May 1956) was an English artist and occultist who worked as a draughtsman , writer and painter. Influenced by symbolism and Art Nouveau , his art was known for its clear use of line and its depiction of monstrous and sexual imagery. In an occult capacity, he developed magical techniques including automatic writing , automatic drawing and sigilization based on his theories of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious self.
Legacy and Personal Influence
Academic foundations were established at Royal College of Art. Historically, their work is best remembered for Drawing, painting, occultism.
Philosophical Views and Reflections
Spare was regarded as an artist of considerable talent and good prospects, but his style was apparently controversial. Critical reaction to his work in period ranged from baffled but impressed, to patronizing and dismissive. An anonymous review of The Book of Satyrs published in December 1909, which must have appeared around the time of Spare's 23rd birthday, is by turns condescending and grudgingly respectful, "Mr. Spare's work is evidently that of young man of talent." However, "What is more important is the personality lying behind these various influences. And here we must credit Mr. Spare with a considerable fund of fancy and invention, although the activities of his mind still find vent through somewhat tortuous channels. Like most young men he seems to take himself somewhat too seriously". Our critic ends his review with the observation that Spare's "drawing is often more shapeless and confused than we trust it will be when he has assimilated better the excellent influences upon which he has formed his style."
Significant titles published since Spare's death include Poems and Masks, A Book of Automatic Drawings, 1974, The Collected Works of Austin Osman Spare, 1986, Axiomata & The Witches' Sabbath, 1992, From The Inferno To Zos (3 Vol. Set), The Book of Ugly Ecstasy, 1996, Zos Speaks, 1999, The Valley of Fear, 2008, Dearest Vera, 2010, Two Grimoires, 2011, and Psycopathia Sexualis 2022.
