Exorcism in Camera: An Experiment in Ontology (1999): from The Karen Smith Archive
Magic January 1, 2020 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.47659/m8.037.3.pro via Semantic Scholar
Summary
An artist documented a week-long series of rituals in 1999, attempting to be possessed and then dispossessed by seven planetary spirits using techniques from Agrippa's occult philosophy. Each daily ritual employed a bathtub, lamp, and audio cassette of incantations. The work presents these as ontological experiments exploring altered states of consciousness through adorcism and exorcism.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The artist's documented rituals demonstrate a practical engagement with occult techniques for summoning and banishing planetary spirits. |
Abstract
Karen Smith (1966–2017) had long been interested in altered states of consciousness. In seeking help with her own psychiatric illness, she came across Agrippa’s works on occult philosophy and the use of spoken-word formulas for entering and exiting differential states of being. These steps over the psychic threshold are known as adorcism and exorcism – the summoning and banishing of demons or spirits. Over the course of a week in 1999, she decided to try out some of Agrippa’s techniques. She chose to be possessed and then dispossessed by the seven spirits associated with the planets of classical antiquity. She documented one ritual per day. For each action, she used the same devices – a bathtub filled with water, a lamp and an audio cassette player with a tape featuring incantations pre-recorded by a ceremonial magician. Published here are the results of these ontological experiments.