![]() L.A.’s homegrown institutions helped get the Library off the ground. “The freedom to define your own identity also means defining your own spirituality,” Hundley says, “and that’s built into so much of the ethos of Los Angeles.” Hundley has been fascinated by alternative spiritualities and the occult since she was a goth-punk teenager on the East Coast, “listening to Siouxsie Sioux and reading tarot cards.” She moved to Los Angeles in 1998, drawn to the city’s legacy of esoteric exploration and its renown as a place where dreams are made manifest and identity is mutable. Metaphysics and the counterculture are a through line of Hundley’s work, including a number of Taschen collaborations - most notably an overview of Dennis Hopper’s photography enriched by hours of interviews with the actor. When Taschen founder Benedikt Taschen suggested to managing editor Nina Wiener that the topic of “secret knowledge” was worth exploring more deeply, “Jessica was one of the first people I thought of to go to,” says Wiener. “The idea,” says Hundley, “was to create a super introductory, very inclusive and seductive way into these practices, which is through the art.” Taschen, with its lavish art production, made the ideal partner “because that’s what they do best.” “Witchcraft” is slated for September.Įdited by author, journalist and filmmaker Jessica Hundley, the series speaks the universal language of symbolism. Created by a team based in Los Angeles, the series debuted in August with “Tarot” volume two, “Astrology ,” just landed in bookstores. The Library of Esoterica, a new series from the art book publisher Taschen, acts as a bridge between the dark halls of history and the vast data at our fingertips. ![]() ![]() The democratization of the arcane is a welcome development, but the mystery of the occult will never lose its allure. ![]() Today, these quests are as simple as a Google search, a glance at an astrology app or a scroll through Instagram, where the hashtag #witchesofinstagram will lead you to nearly 6 million posts. Not so long ago, the discovery of esoteric knowledge was a rite unto itself, requiring research and travel, as many dead ends as discoveries. ![]()
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