Esoteric Art

 

 

The Cockatrice ( Esoteric Art) by Damian Osborne, mixed-media on board (egg tempera, tempera grassa and oil paint from burnt chicken bones and eggshells, with gold-leaf), 65 x 59cm, 2025.
The Cockatrice by Damian Osborne, mixed-media on board (egg tempera, tempera grassa and oil paint from burnt chicken bones and eggshells, with gold-leaf), 65 x 59cm, 2025. An esoteric painting with much mystical symbolism. Click to view.

Esoteric Art

 

Esoteric art is artwork that contains hidden spiritual meanings in the form of symbolism and visual metaphors. It draws from a deep well of religious and mystical tradition and from a rich source of secret knowledge. Art is the perfect vehicle for sharing this sacred wisdom because only those who have been initiated into these worlds and have a deep level of interest would understand the meanings behind these allegories.

Esoteric art has the advantage of other forms of secret communication because the ideas that permeate the images are not reduced to banal and simple answers that detract from the importance of spiritual questions and experiences. A picture can say more than a thousand words.

On the other hand, images do not yield their answers as easily as the written or spoken word. Thus, esoteric art can deliver the most suitable form of mystical initiation to an individual, depending on their level of personal understanding or familiarity.

The more you discover, the more you realise there is to discover.

I ‘draw’ a lot of artistic and personal inspiration from astrology, Christianity, alchemy and alchemical artworks and treatises. The confusing symbols are like hidden code which are visually marvelous and satisfyingly challenging to decipher. Alchemical art can often put the mind in a perfect receptive state, which is already a spiritual power such pictures can imbue. The hidden meanings may be transmitted subconsciously.

My hope is that my own esoteric art and allegorical paintings have this inherent quality. I would like to lift others — those who are ready to see — beyond the mundane.

I wrote more about Alchemical Art and Dreams here.

Many people may feel threatened by the ideas or spiritual power in occult or esoteric art. Others wouldn’t notice anything at all due to their own general blindness or lack of attention. These artworks are not necessarily for them. They are not for the ultra conservative who may be offended by such controversial concepts. Nor are these paintings and drawings meant for those who follow a path of darkness or promote subversive or demonic powers. I am very thoughtful and intentional about what I put into my art; that it is life-affirming and not imbued with evil or darkness. Some of my ‘darker’ works are actually important investigations into the realm of the personal shadow. As Jung said, “What is not brought to consciousness, comes to us as fate.”

Spiritual art also contains a quiet force in my own life as an artist, because it often makes me realise just how undeveloped I really am. Therefore, it can be humbling, and an important measure for keeping ones ego in balance.

 

Click on the image to view.