Book Description

Rosaleen Norton achieved notoriety in 1950s Australia as a controversial pagan worshipper and artist who performed mysterious occult rituals in her secret Kings Cross coven and paid homage to the ancient Greek god, Pan. Nortons provocative visionary artworks soon plunged her into legal controversy, and she was widely criticised in the media for engaging in bizarre sexual practices with her lover, the poet Gavin Greenlees. Norton was also associated with the scandal that eventually engulfed the professional career of renowned musical conductor and composer, Eugene Goossens, who had arrived in Australia in 1947 and became a member of Nortons magical coven six years later. What has been little understood until now is that although Norton dedicated her magical practice to the Great God Pan and to a lesser extent Hecate, Lilith and Lucifer, she had many other occult and metaphysical interests that influenced her cosmology and world-view. Norton was intrigued by the visionary potential of Kundalini yoga and out-of-the-body trance-exploration as well as Aleister Crowley's Thelemic sex magick, and combined all of these elements in her ritual activities. Similarly fascinated by Crowley's approach to sexuality, Goossens proved to be a significant ally, offering to instruct Norton in the Goetia and reinforcing her Thelemic tendencies. HOMAGE TO PAN is an authoritative and fully-illustrated overview of Nortons life and metaphysical beliefs which provides a detailed insight into her pursuit of sex-magic and visionary art, and identifies her as a key practitioner of the Left Hand Path. HOMAGE TO PAN also provides, for the first time, a detailed comparison between Nortons visionary art and that of the acclaimed trance magician, Austin Osman Spare her influential British counterpart. HOMAGE TO