Illumination Spreads
Here at The Visible College, we’re continuing our mission to spread understanding of techniques to learn about the self and enable spiritual attainment. We represent a broad collaboration between practitioners, artists, authors, and scholars in esoteric fields, and we’re proud of the work we’re undertaking across Britain as 2025 begins.
What is the point of undertaking self-improvement with the esoteric arts, if you’re going to hoard the knowledge for yourself? We believe in a strong community and sharing knowledge and practice to help those who want to learn and grow in their chosen disciplines, whatever that looks like.
Spreading the Word
This week I invited Alan Chapman, our keynote for last year’s International Thelemic Symposium, to guest-host our podcast Sorcerous Intent which you can watch on YouTube and Spotify, presented below. This wide-ranging discussion, in our practitioner-expert dialectic structure, helps us to understand the nature of spiritual awakening with Alan’s depth of experience of learning, practising, and teaching.
Sef Salem and Alan Chapman discuss Crowley, Magia, and the nature of spiritual awakening with magician and entertainer Danny Buckler
As mentioned in the video, I’ve followed Alan’s work from afar for over a decade and we’ve had parallel experiences in the occult. Last Summer, following an email exchange in the run-up to the Thelemic Symposium, we met for coffee and discussed some of our adventures. In particular, we both joined different Orders in 2009, had very different journeys and ended up leaving to teach in a different way. We’ve even studied weird timeline enchantment to help navigate the headwinds of incarnation!
The Order he has built from Magia has parallels to our own Initiatory experience within Star Club, which begins its new Practitioner Cycle next month, but focuses on the core practice of unbinding the Self, binding that which is a distraction from the Great Work, and coming to terms with one’s own path and nature. This Silent Knowing speaks to the forcefulness of our own Will in the paradigm of Thelema, and the urge to undertake spiritual work above and beyond enchantment for results.
Collaborative Events
Glastonbury Tor
To this end, TVC focuses on the opportunities for practitioners and artists to come together in-person to discuss ideas and share practice. We’re supporting forthcoming events across the country, including the Glastonbury Occult Conference in February, the Isle of Wight Magick, Art, and Alchemy Conference in March, and the Star in the East Conference in King’s Lynn in May.
I’m looking forward to a return to Glastonbury as part of the Occult Conference’s Committee, and we’ve brought together eclectic practitioners from different paths to offer skills and information whom you might not necessarily see in one place otherwise! Drawn from London, Scotland, nearby participants, and even a Welsh invasion, the programme is truly diverse in thought and deed.
Isle of Wight Line Up
A month later, Dr. Bob Plimer leads the Isle of Wight event for its second year, and TVC will be offering an information stall and supporting Star Club’s Co-Founder Dr. Halo Quin as they deliver a lecture. It’s great to see Sian Sibley of the South Wales Occult Conference on the Bill, and Michael Staley of Starfire Books. Last year Bob attracted a great crowd and the venue is a wonderful castle on the sea front at Ryde, so I’d suggest picking up a ticket before they sell out.
Another new venture is Chris Lewis’s event in King’s Lynn, which is looking to be great. New events in areas which have historically not had much activity lets practitioners get together and meet others who otherwise would remain without access to the wider community, especially where there are mobility or transport issues, so we’re hoping this will be a success and we can say we were there for the first one! I will be speaking on relationships with spirits and magical preparedness, which is a good jumping off point to mention our retreat in April.
Conjuration Innovation
Here at Oxwick, we’re excited about hosting Grimoire expert David Rankine in April for a Conjuration Masterclass retreat, with a few places available, where you can learn all about the art and science of contacting spirits through techniques mastered by David over decades of experience. Here’s a sneak preview of some of the new material from David’s forthcoming Claves Spirituum to be published by Hadean Press:
“The early grimoires contain a hugely important component which was quickly lost, and whose significance seems to have been overlooked. This is the winds, and their role in transporting spirits to the conjuror.”
David Rankine
David will be offering this technique and more in his only UK in-person teaching for 2025, so we highly recommend you book your place now. I’ve been privileged to have worked with David as a friend and colleague for some years, and these techniques are making a startling impact on my own magical work, even with grimoires I haven’t previously been familiar with. I cannot recommend attending strongly enough whether you have a whole library of conjurations or are just starting out, you’ll find your practice boosted dramatically.
Extending Community
We’re looking to support a range of communities here at Oxwick and across the UK, with a Thelemic study group and a Recovery group in the offing, as well as the Star Moot held in Bristol alongside the Heathen and Pagan Moots. Our philosophy is that, if we hold a light for others, then illumination spreads.
So do you have an event or group you think we could facilitate, host, or otherwise help with? Contact us at info@visible-college.org if so, and we’ll see what shines through.
In LVX,