The digital screen is a potent magical medium. It allows one to gaze into cyber-realms containing artifacts of magic and the occult. By scrying such materials, the practitioner, researcher, and layperson alike may partake in unique and transportive experience. As with any form of magic, a kind of techne, or craft, is required: skills and approaches to aid and enact the full power of the medium.
As such, Scrying the Screen will guide attendees through the realm of digital library collections. This exploration aims to explore how libraries can serve as doorways for exploration centered on the visual & textual cultures of the occult sphere.
As a feature of the digital humanities, these digital collections usher us towards new vistas of expression, appreciation, and practice. Skills for navigating and utilizing these tools are vital components in the journey. In turn, this event will guide attendees through suggested approaches for exploration.
The presentation will draw on established library collections in a broad-yet-substantive survey of resources.
Featured materials will include alchemical manuscripts of a fantastical sort, ephemera from Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth, a close-up examination of a Fin de siècle magical calendar, a 1909 profile on the synesthesia of Pamela Colman Smith, and artistic considerations of an intermedia ‘grimoire’ from the French Lettrist movement.
May curiosity be your guide!
This file includes both lecture recording and resource handouts for this class.
Danny Scopelliti is a librarian, musician, and writer. He is based on the East Coast of the United States, on the fringes of the Finger Lakes region. Danny’s personal area of interest focuses on the intersection of library studies, information stewardship, and occultism. He is also concerned with the nature of the book as a repository of power in the context of esoteric & occult currents. Currently, Danny serves on the staff of The Occult Library project. For seven years, he has also utilized digital libraries to curate and examine the visual culture of the occult through his social media project, Curio Esoterica.
