IMAGO: Body. Vision. Magick. – Robert Allen (Theion)

In his groundbreaking work, Robert Allen restores the image to its rightful place at the heart of the Western esoteric tradition. He argues that the careful relation of image, vision and understanding holds the power to opening the portals to a magickal practice which is both initiatory and transformative. Imago investigates the root of the magical tradition in early Neoplatonism, especially their use of images as magical symbols of transformation and shows how these ideas permeate the practice of radical avant-garde theater artists like August Strindberg and Heiner Müller. Drawing on the work of occultists like Aleister Crowley and Austin Spare as well as poets and radical artists, Robert Allen discusses the awesome power of the images and develops a practical step-by-step guide to vision magick as a foundation for all esoteric practice. Divided into chapters which themselves constitute a journey into how the magickal imagination can be rehabilitated, IMAGO is intended to function as a very real initiation into the nature of the imaginative process itself.

The author: Robert H. Allen has been a practicing ceremonial magician for more than half a century; his life in magick began when he was 13 years old. In his late teens, he joined the Ordo Templi Orientis under the direction of Kenneth Grant, which is currently known as the Ordo Typhonis. He is also a senior member of the Temple of the Silver Star (TOTSS), a Golden Dawn patterned Thelemic Order, and an Instructor for the TOTSS academic track. In addition, Robert is an Initiate of the Jane Wolfe lineage of Aleister Crowley’s A.˙. A.˙.

On a more secular note, he holds a degree in fine art, and he is a former dancer, choreographer, physical theater artist, and director, working with significant choreographers and directors in the United States and Europe. His current focus is on teaching and education, having taught at major universities in the US, and he is a published author on performance technique and visionary art practice. Robert is a certified teacher in the Krishnamacharya Yoga tradition, as well as in the Michael Chekhov acting method. More recently, he has been integrating theater technique and magickal practice in a project called Performance Movement Magick. These workshops are ongoing and provide the practical foundation for his writing and pedagogy.